[CHAPTER XXII]
THE HOMEWARD ROAD
At the Dalles the travellers had changed from steamer to train, and, journeying all night on the cars, reached Walla Walla early next morning. Here they found a beautiful town of about five thousand inhabitants, situated in a section possessing a fertile soil and a delightful climate. Gardens were growing and fruit ripening, and all things were bright and green. Twelve miles from Walla Walla was the almost deserted town of Wallula. Here a branch line of the Northern Pacific Railroad took the party on to South Ainsworth on Snake River. Nothing could have presented a greater contrast than the two towns which were seen on the same day, Walla Walla and Ainsworth. The first was from every point of view attractive, the second a sand waste on the banks of the Snake River, a hopeless straggling little town of a dozen or twenty houses set down in the midst of a dreary desert of sage brush, utterly monotonous and uninteresting. Here the travellers were obliged to pass one day, and all through that day and all through the night the wind blew with steady, persistent force, carrying with it the sands of the plain, which it piled up here and there in great dunes and then lifted again and carried on to some other point. The sandhills were constantly shifting and being tossed backward and forward, as restless and inconstant as the waves of the ocean. Often the sand is piled high upon the sparse vegetation, and again it is carried away so that the roots of that vegetation are uncovered.
After one day here they boarded a train and left for Spokane Falls, which was just about at the end of the track which was being built eastward. As they jogged slowly along in the caboose of the freight train, which moved unsteadily over the newly laid track, they had an opportunity to see much of the country. At first there was little to it that was attractive, but after leaving Snake River the quality of the land seemed to improve, and Hugh frequently called attention to the good grass, and declared that he believed that some day this country would be full of cattle.
Jack, who had been thinking of what his uncle had said two or three days before, said to Mr. Sturgis: "You don't think, Uncle George, that any part of this country like Ainsworth will ever be good for anything, do you?"
"Yes, my boy, I do," said Mr. Sturgis; "of course we cannot see now how this country will ever be made use of, but fifty years ago who would have thought that the Salt Lake Valley was capable of cultivation, or thirty or forty years ago that Walla Walla would ever be a town. I believe that this country will fill up with cattle and for a little time will be a grazing country, and then I think that it will come to be a farming country. The winters here are mild, the soil is good, and there is plenty of water. There are going to be people here, and towns, but I don't know when."
A little distance after leaving a station called Summit they passed Big Lake, and here entered a territory where there were already farms. They could see frequently houses with good barns, and the fields were dotted with haystacks. There were also herds of cattle and horses, all fat and in good condition.
It was nearly night when they reached Spokane. As court was in session the town was thronged with people, and they had great difficulty in securing rooms. At last, however, a loft was found where they spread their blankets and passed a good night. Before dark, however, they took time to walk along the Spokane River to see the Falls, a series of beautiful cascades which were well worth looking at.
Mr. Sturgis had provided himself with letters from the officials of the Northern Pacific Railroad to the employees along the road, and the next morning they left for Lake Pend d'Oreille. Thirty-five miles travelling took them to Westwood, the end of the track, and there they took a stage for the Lake. The three were the only passengers, and the ride was long and dusty, yet possessed many features of interest. The road ran for the most part along the railroad's right of way, and they could see all the various operations of the building of this great transatlantic highway. After they had passed the end of the track they came to one of the enormous railroad camps which always precede the iron of a new road. Here was a real canvas city, and its inhabitants were white men, Chinese, horses, mules, and dogs. Everything was on a large scale. The eating tents covered an area equal to that of a good-sized town. There were hundreds of sleeping-tents. There were great forges at which many blacksmiths worked, and huge water troughs at which twenty-five horses could drink at a time. The bread-pan in the cook tent was large enough to serve a full-grown man as a bath tub. Hugh and Jack could only stare and wonder and point out to each other one astonishing thing after another; and even Mr. Sturgis, whose experience had been much wider than that of either of his companions, was much impressed.
As the stage approached the lake, the road became constantly rougher. They passed from the railroad camp and saw first the bridge workers, next the graders, and then the "right of way" men, whose business it was to chop their way through the forest and clear off all the timber along the line of the track for a width of fifty feet. After the timber was felled it was left to dry and was then set on fire.