-NW Durham writes of work of the settler on the Colville Reservation-
-Much Mineral Wealth
-Town of Inchelium springs up to accommodate the Indian trade
All the way from Kettle Falls to Fruitland, the 50-mile road down the Columbia penetrates a region that is copiously watered and beautifully forested, both on the Stevens and the Ferry sides of the stream. At frequent intervals clear brooks come tumbling down the hills and mountains, and everywhere the resolute settler is clearing away the primeval forest and substituting orchard foliage. As the country lacks railroad service, lumber and cordwood have no export market, and seasoned pine is offered as low as $8 a thousand. Along the Columbia and on the first benches yellow pine is prevailing wood in open, park-like expanses resembling the early-day forests around Spokane. On the upper benches are wide expanses of prairie land, and the deep draws leading down to the river are heavily grown with pine, fir and tamarack.
ROUTE OF THE TRIP
Our route from Meyers Falls bore through Kettle Falls, Harvey, Daisy, Edendale, Gifford, Cedonia, Hunters and Fruitland. Returning we crossed the Columbia on a current ferry at Hunters, climbed 800 feet to the little mining camp of Covada on the south half of the Colville reservation, and returned to the Stevens county shore. This drive of 12 or 15 miles on the reservation runs through a section rich in forest wealth, and mineral is everywhere diffused as shown by countless little dumps from shaft and tunnel.
ENTER COVADA BY NIGHT
Long before we came into Covada twilight had deepened into night, and only stars guided us dimly along the wooded road. The light from store and postoffice streaming out across the dark road was a sight to cheer, and cheerier yet the light that fell from the pleasant mountain home of Postmaster Nickens, where his good wife and helping daughter manifested the feminine pleasure of serving a bountiful supper to wayfaring and hungry men.
As the work of allotment of Indian lands is still in progress the South Half has not been opened to agricultural settlement and such development as exists is chiefly the work of natives. The South Half was opened to mineral entry nearly 15 years ago and a number of claim owners have demonstrated the fertility of the soil, the adequacy of rainfall and the mildness of the climate by growing garden and some fruits on their mineral claims. In like title the store and postoffice and the dwelling and barns of the postmaster sit on mineral locations.
PARKLIKE FOREST OF PINES
A continuous drop of seven miles through a parklike forest of pines, firs and tamaracks, carpeted with wild flowers brings the traveler again to the Columbia at the new town of Inchelium, on the reservation side, sprung up to accommodate the brisk Indian trade growing out of government payments. Here are two general stores, a postoffice, blacksmith, shop, hotel and feed stables. Inchelium creek, a clear, bold, mountain torrent, comes foaming from the hills. A few Indians and breeds were loafing in the pleasant spring sunshine and 100 yards away the Columbia ran with strong current to the south.
INDIANS GOOD BUYERS
"The Indians are good buyers," said a young man behind the counter of the larger store. "They never call for things by yard or pound; its 50 cents worth of this or a dollar's worth of that. They bring in their government drafts to be cashed, and that requires us to carry quite a sum in ready money. Some of the drafts run up to $200 and if we can't cash them the owners will go away to some other point and do their trading where their drafts are cashed. In buying they want to make each separate purchase a transaction to itself, paying for that article and receiving their change before proceeding to the next deal. Silver and gold they prefer to bills, for some of the older ones can not read paper money."
CURRENT FERRY BOAT
Another current boat runs from Inchelium to Gifford. Old timers in this country are familiar with the principle and mechanism of these ferries, but a description may interest the newcomers. A stout, steel cable spans the river, some 30 to 40 feet above the stream, and anchored securely on each shore to a stout scaffold, with reinforcement to an adjacent tree or rock. The flat-bottomed ferry boat, with a capacity of two teams, is swung to this cable with attaching lines that run freely on pulley wheels. The boatman pushes off with a stout pole, sets the rudder with a large steering wheel so that the boat lies at an acute angle with the big cable, and the pressure of the current against the craft pushes it quickly across the stream. In selecting a site a point must be found where the current flows strong from bank to bank. Fifty cents is the charge for a conveyance with two horses.
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