Freighting
You will notice by the map marked “Lucky Mackay,” that
Mackay is situated in the very center of Lost River Valley, and in the central
part of the state of Idaho. It is the terminus of the Oregon Short Line
railroad. We have at his place an institution called “Green Forwarding House,” which is safe to
say that there is as much freight handled at this place as in any part of the
west. And about five hundred head of horses are in use hauling this freight to
the different points in interior Idaho, and to the different points west of
Mackay in Lost River Valley.
At the top of the map you will notice marked, “Alto
District,” which is described in another part of this paper, to this, together
with other points on west, Loon Creek, Challis, Clayton, Stanley Basin and
other mining points. Fine mountain roads have been built, making the freighting
a very pleasant business, and the result has been that a great many teams have
been pressed into service, and more are needed at present for the purpose of
taking in coke and other supplies to the great mines of the interior.
The freighting is worked very systematically, as all teams
are loaded both ways. Teams going into the interior of the country are loaded
with supplies and other materials for mines, while teams coming back bring rich
lead, copper and gold for treatment, and the prospects are that the day is not
very far distance when other smelters will be put in at Mackay to treat this
ore, and Mackay will not only be the commercial center, but smeltering center
for all mining properties of this district.
This industry makes a market for a great deal of grain, and
hay not only for the use of the freighters, but a great deal of grain is
freighted into the different mining districts of this point, where horses play
an important part in the mining enterprises being carried on.
Herewith is presented a picture of a freight outfit which is
just leaving Mackay. There are eighty horse in this one train, hauling fifteen
large freight wagons all loaded to the brim with coke for the smelters of the
interior and supplies for the mills, mines and the men employed therein. A
caravan of teams and an army of men are given employment in the freight
industry along and a market is created for all the grain grown on Lost river.
This business is the means of the distribution of thousands of dollars annually
among the farmers and business men of the valley.
Eighty Horse Freight Outfit Leaving Mackay for the
Mackay and Central Idaho Stage Co.’s Six Horse Concord
Stage. This Company Operates One Of The Largest Stage Lines in Idaho.
WHERE THE STOCK RANGE
The United States has recently established and is
maintaining forest reserves throughout Central Idaho. The Lemhi reserve is tributary
to Mackay, embracing in the neighborhood of a million acres. Nine men are
employed by the government on this one reserve, with headquarters at Mackay.
The purpose of the forest reserve is the preservation of timber, distribute
evenly and regulate the grazing of cattle, horses, sheep and other domestic
animals and for the prevention and extinguishment of fires.
Figures from the other reserves in effect in Central Idaho
are lacking, but we find by the records that there are in this reserve some
fifty millions of feet of merchantable timber, and that the reserve is now
affording grazing, at about 25 cents per head, for 18,500 cattle and horses and
71,800 head of sheep. The reserves direct the cutting of timber, issuing free
use permits for fuel wood and other domestic purposes, and see that the forests
are not damaged by wanton cutting. The sytem insures a wood supply and grazing
for large bands of sheep and herds of cattle for all time.
Mackay is a town of romance from the view point of endeavor.
Her people are happy in many great tasks. They are making headway but they are
still inviting the easterner, the man with a little money, strength and a clear
mind to join with them in accomplishing the development of the wealth God
planted here for the benefit of the human race. Come!
POWER POSSIBLITIES
Hydro-electric power – an energy generated by nature with
the aid of man’s inventions – will some time be the force that will operate a
system of mine railways and electric plants throughout central Idaho. Dozens of
streams, with thousand’s of cubic feet of water per second, offer every
advantage in the world to the electrical engineer and capitalist and natural
reservoirs abound in the mountainous region surrounding the big mines and
connecting the cities of this district. Already there is underway a proposition
to utilize the waters of Cedar creek, a short distance above Mackay, for the
generation of light and power to be used here, and other ideas along the same
line are fast coming to a head.
The main difficulty in mining at the present time is in the
transportation of ore and the operation of smelters and stamp mils. By
conserving the water power of the hills and turning it through hydro-dynamos,
sufficient power can be produced to run electric railways down to Mackay and to
turn the mighty mills at the mines. Salmon river alone could furnish such
power, while the other streams could furnish power for any kind of mill or
manufacturing plant that may later be established in this section.
Sunshiny days, over 300 in the year, makes Central Idaho the
best place to live in the entire West.
H W Weiler's Residence 1908 (may be the house on the corner of White Knob and Main)
Mackay's Baseball Team 1908
Baseball Game at Mackay 1908
The Way Mackay Turns Out On Our Nation's Birthday 1908.
No comments:
Post a Comment