MISSOURI RIVER, ALONG THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD.—There are many picturesque localities on the Upper Missouri River, a rich scenic region which has been neglected or overlooked by tourists. A finer scene of bold and rugged bluffs, carved into fantastic shapes by the water’s action, could hardly be found than the one so beautifully photographed on this page. One of our photographing party has stationed himself on top of the great rock for the double purpose of viewing the country and having his picture taken, the latter being intended by comparison to show the height and size of the rock.
KANANASKE’S FALLS, BRITISH AMERICA.
Some fifty miles east of Spokane, on the line of the Northern Pacific, is Hauser Junction, where the road branches southward, through the Cœur d’Alene Indian Reservation and a great mining region, while the main line runs around the north shore of Lake Pend d’Oreille, the most beautiful sheet of water in the northwest, and destined sometime to become a popular resort. Beyond the lake is the Flathead Indian Reservation, and at Missoula the two lines of road unite again. This city is a place of much importance, and admirably situated near the Junction of Hell Gate and Bitter Root River, a district of great scenic beauty. Flathead Lake lies sixty miles to the north, an emerald sheet of crystal water reposing within a bed of lofty cliffs, and belted in the center by a chain of wooded islands, while its waters are discharged into the Pend d’Oreille River, that dashes away through deep gorges in tumultuous flow. Forty miles from this picturesque lake are the Two Sisters’ Cascades, which pour over the opposite walls of a colossal amphitheater 2,000 feet high, and then unite to journey through gorge, over waterfall and across lovely meadows, catching perfume and inspiration on their way to the Pacific.
The way thence from Missoula is over a comparatively level stretch of country, until just west of Helena the road strikes the Main Divide of the Rocky Mountains, and to cross this broken region it is compelled to pursue a winding way.
Helena is reputed to be the richest city of its size in all the world, a claim well supported by appearances, for while having probably 15,000 inhabitants, it has all the conveniences of our largest cities, and in no other place of equal population are the public buildings and residences so magnificent and palatial. But aside from its wealth and beauty, the place is the center of a region as remarkable for its scenic attractions as for its silver mines. Eighteen miles north of Helena is the cañon of Little Prickly Pear, where precipitous walls rise to a varying height of 500 to 1,000 feet, and are gorgeously colored by strata of different formations, blending with hues of trees, shrubs, and vines that tenderly cling to their faces. Near-by is the portal through which the headwaters of the Missouri go madly careening, making a deep roaring sound as they dash between walls 1,000 feet high. Atlantic Cañon is only three miles further down the river, and next in quick succession appears the Bear’s Tooth, two monoliths that may be distinctly seen from Helena, twenty miles away.
