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Various tales are related as coming from the Indians concerning the cleansing and healing qualities of the lake water; but the simple story of a herder with a band of scabby sheep who after being washed in the lake recovered of their.sores appealed most strongly to my belief, the sodic quality being so evident in the water as to recommend it without argument as an antiscorbutic. All this is not at all romantic,—I always avoid " health resorts" where one meets unwholesome people,—nevertheless, Medical Lake is a pretty place, with a population of nine hundred inhabitants, many of whom, it is said, have been healed of their infirmities by the lake waters.
On the bluff west of the lake is the State Hospital for the Insane, a large and handsome structure, which is not yet finished and furnished, but which adds a noble feature to the landscape. At the close of a pleasant day I returned to my hotel to listen to the music of the falls, and again to ponder upon the wonders of that strangely rapid development of material resources which is seen in its most surprising forms in the Northwest.
Perhaps one should not be surprised who studies the situation of Spokane Falls, which is the centre, as has already been indicated, of a great extent of productive country, whose conformation and arrangement are exceedingly fortunate. Within one hundred and fifty miles of Spokane are no less than twelve rivers. Of these the Columbia, Snake. Okanogan, Pend d'Oreille, Kootenai, and Spokaqe are important. The others are the St. Mary's, St. Joseph's, Coeur d'Alene, Methow, Colville, and Priest. The branches of all these make up a fine system of natural irrigation. Besides the use to which these streams can be put in floating the timber of the mountains to market, they are objects of beauty, and a joy to the resident or traveller alike. Several of them are connected with lakes charmingly picturesque in appearance and navigable. There are, besides, a great number of smaller lakes within a radius of forty miles,—one for every mile,—while in a radius of one hundred miles there are, large and small, fully eighty. The best known and most beautiful of these are-Lakes Coeur d'Alene, Pend d'Oreille, Kanisku, Diamond, Loon, Spirit, Fish, Hoodo, Hayden, Kootenai, Upper and Lower Arrow, Okanogan, and
