ven of the "whaleback" steamer, used
principally on our Northern lakes. The whaleback varies from a somewhat
clumsy looking craft, resembling in appearance very much the back of a
whale, to the much more attractive and navigable craft shown in the
illustration. These whalebacks have a very important part to play in
internal navigation. It seems able to withstand, readily, bad weather
and rough water. Unlike most vessels which are safe under these
conditions, it requires very little water to be safely navigated, and it
can carry heavy loads in six or eight feet of water.

The revival of the steamboat trade on our great rivers, and the
recovering from the railroads of at least a portion of the trade stolen
away, is a pet hobby among river men generally, and especially among
those whose parents taught them from the cradle up the true importance
of the magnificent internal waterways bountifully provided for our
native land by an all-wise Providence. It is seriously proposed to
attempt this revival by aid of whaleback steamers, and if the project is
carried out, the success which will attend the effort is likely to
agreeably surprise even the most enthusiastic among those who are now
advocating it.

CHAPTER XX.

THROUGH THE GREAT NORTHWEST.

The Importance of Some of our Newest State--Romantic History of
Montana--The Bad Lands and their Exact Opposite--Civilization Away Up in
the Mountains--Indians who have Never Quarreled with White
Men--Traditions Concerning Mount Tacoma--Wonderful Towns of the Extreme
Northwest--A State Shaped like a Large Chair--The Falls of Shoshone.

Within the last few years new States have been admitted into the Union
which, in themselves, form a magnificent empire. We allude to the great
Northwestern Territories which have become States within the last
decade, and which have added so much luster to the escutcheon of our
native land. The utmost ignorance prevails as to these States, and as to
the northwestern corner of the United States proper, a term generally
applied to this great Republic, with the exception of Alaska.

Every now and again the report comes of a great forest fire in the
Northwest, and occasionally the world is horrified by reports of a
terrible calamity of this character, involving great loss of life and
property. Owing to this fact there is a tendency to look on the
northwestern tier of States as one huge forest, ever offering a
temptation to that terrible destr