1920-08-28-colville-examiner-p9-work-on-road-to-detillion-bridge
August 28, 1920 Colville Examiner Page 9:
Correspondence from Miles
By A. E. Lewis
Fire has been raging for a week on the eastern end of former Spokane Indian reservation through the holdings of the Reeds’ and Deer Park Lumber companies’ timber, besides that of the Indian allotments. It is thought that the damage to large timber is not great, the fire being mostly confined to the underbrush and down logs. Most of the timber belt of the Colville reservation has been burned over, with the destruction of millions of feet of large saw timber; the products of several of the ranches were also burned.
The general merchandise store, dwelling, barn and outbuildings of Carroll Bros., in Meadow Valley on the west end of the former Spokane Indian reservation, near Miles, were burned on Tuesday night, Aug. 17. The buildings were quite a distance apart, but burned at the same time. There had been no range or forest fire in this region for some time, and the origin of the fire is unknown. We have been unable to learn if insurance was carried on the buildings destroyed.
An eight to ten foot vein of solid coal was struck last week in the incline shaft of the Chinook Coal company’s holdings on the west end of the former Spokane Indian reservation, near Detillion Bridge. This coal shows good quality, and is being burned under the hoisting boiler, and shows a very small amount of clinkers from the grate. This newly opened coal field is about 55 miles northwest of Spokane in the Spokane river valley, and judging from this discovery with the outcroppings in other parts of the Columbia and Spokane river valleys in this region, the coal deposits extend westward from the foot of the Deer Trail mountains to the Columbia river, and from Miles on the Spokane river to Hunters or above, in the upper Columbia valley in Stevens county. With transportation direct from Spokane, the coal situation of the Inland Empire would be relieved by the working of this immense coal bed. The North Star state highway from Davenport to Meyers Falls via Detillion Bridge now under construction, traverses this new coal field and will help supply the Big Bend farmers by truck over this highway.
A committee of fruit farmers and business men were at work last week on the Spokane river valley below Little Falls power plant to Peach on the Columbia, getting estimates of the amount of irrigable land needing electric power along this valley with a view of presenting the matter to the Washington Water Power company, for the purpose of getting a power line down the river to the irrigated tracts of River Homes, Crystal Cove and Peach from Little Falls and Long lake. They find that every farmer along the two rivers will purchase electric power for pumping water to their land, besides using it for domestic purposes. There are several thousand acres of land needing such power. The Ololim Copper company operating near Detillion bridge is desirous of securing electric power for operating their mine, and may put in an electric reduction plant. The Chinook Coal company is preparing to put in heavy hoisting and pumping machinery in their mine since the unearthing of the ten-foot vein of coal, as well as lighting for the mine workings. The farmers and fruit growers of the upper Columbia valley in the Fruitland-Hunters country are also anxious for electric power for irrigation and general purposes.
