Several towns of some importance have sprung up in Idaho. Among the principal ones are Lewiston and Idaho City, the latter with a population of 889, Silver City, with 599, and the territorial capital, Boise City,' with 995. This city is situated in the southwestern corner of Idaho, one hundred and ten miles north of the southern line, and sixty miles directly east from where the western boundary joins the State of Oregon. The progress made in quartz-mining has been considerable. There are now thirty quartz-mills in operation; and twenty-five saw-mills and ten flouring mills. Churches, schools, and theatres are maintained. Four newspapers are published in Idaho, and the territorial and Supreme Court libraries, at Boise City, contain an aggregate of fifteen thousand books. Idaho, like many of the Territories of the United States, presents the somewhat remarkable condition of a preponderating element of foreigners in her population. The census of 1870 shows the entire population of the Territory to have been 14,999; of whom 7,114 were native and 7,885 were of foreign birth. Of the aggregate population, 10,618 were white and sixty colored, besides 4,274 Chinese. The Chinese in this Territory, as in every section of the republic west of the Rocky mountains, push their way into every portion, however remote; establishing their wash-houses, engaging as laborers, servants, and miners, and, while oblivious to latitude, language, laws, and customs, seem to fully comprehend the value of the charmer, gold, whose glitter brought them over deep seas and desolate plains and into the fastnesses of the great American deserts. CHAPTER XXXVII. WASHINGTON TERRITORY. History, area, and population-Boundary-Geography-Mountains. -Lakes-Rivers-Bays-Harbors-Seasons-Climate-Agriculture Grazing-Forests-Lumber-Commerce-Fish-GameNatives - Gold, silver, coal, and other mínes — Progress Railroads. WASHINGTON TERRITORY was, until 1853, a part of the Territory of Oregon, at which time it was by act of Congress erected into a separate Territory, with an eraa of 69,994 square miles This Territory is the extreme western portion of the United States south of British Columbia, and possesses the greatest extent of navigable waters of any State or Territory in the republic. Passing through the centre of the Territory, from north to south and from east to west on its eastern boundary, are one thousand miles of the Columbia river; and on its western shore are five hundred miles of the Pacific ocean, and within the circle of its great harbor-the inland sea, Puget sound-including islands, are three thousand one hundred miles of shore line, all accessible to the largest class ships; making an aggregate of four thousand six hundred miles of navigable water line in the Territory. Washington Territory is bounded on the south by the River Columbia, which forms the line between this Territory and the State of Oregon; east it is bounded by Idaho; west by British Columbia, the boundary being the forty-ninth degree of north latitude; on its northwest corner is the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, and upon its western line the Pacific ocean. The general features of the surface of this Territory are dense forests of fir and other trees, broad plains, numerous fertile valleys, rugged hills, and snow-capped mountains, whose bald and snow-clad tops stand high above the surrounding country; numerous lakes, great navigable waters, and dashing streams of much volume and beauty. The two chief mountain chains in Washington are the Coast Range, broken and irregular, and the Cascade range, bold and well-defined. In this latter range is the highest mountain between California and Alaska, Mount Rainier, about seventy miles southeast from Olympia at the head of Puget sound, and standing 14,444 feet above the waters of the ocean. In the same mountain chain, and about the same distance from Olympia as is Rainier, but a little more toward the west, stands Mount St. Helen's, 9,550 above the sea level. Forty-five miles directly north from the town of Dalles, on the Columbia, is Mount Adams, 9,570 feet in height. All these mountains are in the Cascade range, and their snow-clad summits can be seen from Olympia, the Columbia river, and surrounding country at all seasons of the year. Near the northwestern corner of the Territory, and about fifteen miles from the British Columbia line, and twenty-five miles directly east from the ocean, is Mount Baker, 10,700 feet in height, and a most prominent object from the waters of Bellingham bay, Straits of Fuca, Puget sound, and adjacent country. The next mountain of prominence in the Territory is Mount Olympic, and, although less in magnitude than any of those already named, owing to its location, is the most prominent feature of the whole country. It stands |