Class JE53. €1 <: < o \ — I Our Western Empire ; OR THE NEW WEST BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI THE LATEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE WORK ON THE States antr territories ®est of t^e Mississippi. CONTAINING THE FULLEST AND MOST COMPLETE DESCRIPTION, FROM OFFICIAL AND OTHER AtFTHENTIC SOURCES, OF THE GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, AND NATURAL HISTORY, (wiTH ABUNDANT INCIDENTS AND ADVENTURES,) THE CLIMATE, SOIL, AGRICULTURE, THE MINERAL AND MINING PRODUCTS, THE CROPS, AND HERDS AND FLOCKS, THE SOCIAL CONDITION, EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS PROGRESS, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OP THE WHOLE REGION LYING BE- TWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN. TO WHICH IS ADDED */HE VARIOUS ROUTES, AND PRICES OF PASSAGE AND TRANSPORTATION FOR EMIGRANTS THITHER; THE LAWS, REGULATIONS AND PROVISIONS FOR OBTAINING LANDS FROM THE NATIONAL OR STATE GOVERNMENTS OR RAILROADS; COUNSEL AS TO LOCATIONS AND PROCURING LANDS, CROPS MOST PROFITABLE FOR CULTURE, MINING OPERATIONS, AND THE LATEST PROCESSES FOR THE REDUCTION OP GOLD AND SILVER, THE EXER- CISE OF TRADES OR PROFESSIONS; AND DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF EACH STATE AND TERRITORY ; WITH FULL INFORMATION CONCERNING MANITOBA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND THOSE REGIONS IN THE ATLANTIC STATES ADAPTED TO SETTLEMENT, BY THOSE WHO DO NOT WISH TO GO WEST ; AND STATISTICS OP CROPS, AREAS, RAINFALL, ETC. BY L. P. BROCKETT, A. M., M. D. M :»JE OF THE EDITORS OF THE " NEW AMERICAN ENCYCLOPEDIA," " APPLiTON'S ANNUAL," AND "JOHNSON'S UNIVERSAL ILLUSTRATED CYCLOPEDIA," ETC., ET\^„ ETC. BY THE MUST DISTINGUISHED AKTISTS. BRADLEY, GARRETSON^&SOO^^'^T'^^nt of Asricultare PHILADELPHIA, 66 NORTH FOURTH STREET; BRANTFORD, ONT. WILLIAM GARRETSON & CO. COLUMBUS. O.; CHICAGO, ILLS.; NASHVILLE. TENN. ; ST, LOUIS, MO.; SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 1882. COPYRIGHT BY DR. L. P. BROCKETT, iSSo. ^' 56143 •\v; Preface. '<^t* fN the summer of 1879 ^^^ publishers of this work entered into negotiations with the writer for the preparation of a work on the West; it was to be an octavo volume of about five hundred ^ ^ pages ; and, having had considerable experience in geographical and historical works, the writer felt confident of its completion in the early spring of 1880. But as he proceeded with his work, both he and his publishers felt that their original plan was too circumscribed for the subject before them. The country to be described was vast, beyond our ordinary conceptions of vastness; much of it had never been adequately de- scribed, and the descriptions hitherto published were as far behind the existing facts as a ten-year-old almanac. The tide of immigration had doubled and quadrupled since 1876, and what was a howling wilderness, with only a half dozen straggling settlements, five years before, had already attained the popu- lation and organization of a State. The railways, which during the six years of financial depression, had added very little to their mileage in the new States and Territories, were now stretching their iron fingers across the continent,, pioneers instead of followers of settlement and civilization. The loaded traims groaned beneath the weight of the superabundant crops ; over all the hillsides the cattle roamed, fat, sleek and contented, in unnumbered thousands ; all the plains were spangled with millions of white-fleeced sheep. Along both slopes of the Rocky Mountains, from Texas to British America, in the summits and passes of the Sierra Madre, the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades, as well as in the smaller outlying ranges between, and even on the hills of the lower Coast Range, gold and silver, quicksilver and platinum, copper, lead and zinc, coal, salt and sulphur, were yielding up their treasures; and every day was adding largely to the amount. The population, which was pouring into this vast empire, was composed of almost every people under the sun; and while the leaven of sturdy law-abiding citizens from the Atlantic States was krge, it re- mained to be seen whether the amalgamation would result in an intelligent and patriotic citizenship; whether education, moral principle, and higher aims than mere money-getting, would gain the ascendency. (3) 4 PREFACE. Then the year 1880 proved, from almost its beginning, to be an exceptional year, especially in its relations to the West. Our decennial census was to be taken, and it would be possible by the close of the year, but not earlier, to ascertain whether the boasted increase of these Western States and Territories was justified by the cold and careful enumerations of the census supervisors. Six hundred thousand emigrants reached our shores during the year, and more than twice that number of our own citizens migrated to the West. The railway kings were enlisting their syndicates and making their combinations, which have resulted in a twelvemonth in arrangements for the speedy completion of four new trunk routes to the Pacific on our own territory, and of the Canadian Pacific on our northern border. Eleven States and Territories, heretofore either in part or wholly inaccessible by rail, are now, or will be in a few months, provided with railroad transit across their entire breadth or length; and the year on which we have entered is only carrying out right royally the plans and project.s of its imperial predecessor. It was evident to both publishers and author that our plans required extension and enlargement, and so we went from ordinary octavo to royal octavo ; from 500 to 700, to 1000, and finally to over 1300 pages. Resolved to represent what had never previously been even attempted, and what for lack of material could not have been attempted with success— ^the present condition of each of the States and Territories which go to make up "Our Western Em- pire " — no pains nor expense has been spared to gain from every source every fact which could illustrate their topography, geology and mineralogy, climate, soil, productions, mineral wealth, pastoral facilities, population, accumulated wealth, education and religion, with notices of the Indian tribes found in their borders. For these purposes, every book and pamphlet, official and other, every report, railroad publication, mining record, every newspaper and every telegraphic report affecting any of these States or Territories, has been carefully scanned to the number of more than three thousand, and a correspondence opened and maintained with many hundreds of officials and others. The result is before the public. It has been a labor of love, notwithstanding the toil it has required. That it is absolutely free from error is impossible ; but the great care which has been taken to secure accuracy leads to the hope that there are no errors of great magnitude. At all events, it could not have been completed with as great a measure of perfection as it now possesses, a day earlier than the present. No man was ever blessed with more kindly and thoughtful friends than the writer. Every request for information has been most promptly and heartily PREFACE. 5 met by those to whom it was addressed ; and in many cases voluntary contribu- tions of great labor and value have been added. Two most valued and helpful correspondents have died while the work was in progress: his Excellency, Wil- liam A. Howard, Governor of Dakota, and Hon. Alfred Gray, Secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture. Of the living, the warm and hearty thanks of the writer are due to his Excellency, Gen. John C. Fremont, Governor of Arizona, for valuable information relative to that Territory; to Hon. W. H. H. Beadle, of Yankton, Dakota, Superintendent of Public Instruction of Da- kota, for much information and valuable memoranda in regard to Southeastern Dakota and the Black Hills; to J. B. Power, Esq., of St. Paul, Minnesota, for a valuable essay, and many important documents in regard to Montana and Dakota; to H. H. Young, Esq., Secretary of Minnesota Board of Emigration, for documents, etc., relative to Minnesota; to Hon. Andrew McKinley, of St. Louis, President of Missouri State Board of Immigration, for letters and valu- able documents; to his Excellency, Albinus Nance, Governor of Nebraska, for many documents; to his Excellency, J. P. St. John, Governor of Kansas, and J. K. Hudson, Esq., Mr. Gray's successor as Secretary of the Board of Agricul- ture of that State, for documents; to Robert E. Strahorn, Esq., of Omaha, for valuable documents and descriptions; to A. L. Webber, Esq., of Hot Springs, and to United States Senator A. H. Garland, for aid in regard to Arkansas ; to A. L. Stokes, Esq., of Chicago, for valuable documents in regard to Oregon; to Edward J. Brockett, of Orange, N. J., for many valuable historical and de- scriptive works; to Charles C. Savage, Esq., of Brooklyn, for valuable docu- ments and information concerning Colorado; to Gen. N. A, Miles, U. S. A., for official reports of the exploration of the Yellowstone region ; and especially to Rev. Wayland Hoyt, D. D., of Brooklyn, for his invaluable aid in regard to Montana and the Yellowstone Park. There may be others whose aid ought to be acknowledged, but whose names are not now recalled. If so, they will please accept the grateful thanks of one whose memory of names is less tena- cious than of loving deeds. In the hope that this book may contribute to the honor and glory of our be- loved country, both at home and abroad, the writer subscribes himself the public's most humble servant. L. P. B. Brooklyn, February , 1881. Contents. Preface 3 Table of Contents 7 PART I.— OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER I. What it Comprehends— The West beyond the Mississippi— Its Area and Ex- tent Comparison with other Empires— Climate — Mountains — Natural Phenomena — Soil — The Alkaline, Volcanic and "Bad Lands"— Predomi- nance OF Arable and Pasture Lands— Nutritious Grasses in the Grazing Lands 33 CHAPTER 11. The Great American Desert : Where is it ?— The Hundredth Meridian—" Eli Perkins's" Scare— The Facts in Reply— Colonel (Brevet Brigadier-General) Hazen on the Northern Pacific — Governor Howard's Answer, and other Facts — Dakota— Wyoming and its Agriculture — Montana — B. R. and Mr. Z. L. White on its Crops— The small modicum of Truth in these " Desert " Stories — The reported " Desert " beyond the Rockies — The Utah and Ne- vada Desert — Testimony of Surveyors-General — The Texan Deserts and Arizona — The Great American Desert a Myth 37 CHAPTER III. The whole Region Abounding in Mineral Wealth — Production of Gold and Silver, other Metals, etc. — Forests — Grasses — Root Crops — Fruits — Vini- culture 5^ CHAPTER IV. Wild Animals and Game — Beasts of Prey — Grizzly and other Bears— Mr. Mur- phy's Grizzly Bear Story— The Cougar, Puma, or Panther— The Jaguar and other Felid^ — Lynxes— What sort of an Animal a Lynx is — The Marten and Weasel Tribe— The Gray Wolf— The Coyote— Is the Prairie Wolf a Coyote? — Colonel Dodge's Opinion — Amphibia — The Whale Tribe — Birds of Prey — Perchers and Song-Birds— Pigeons and Grouse — Waders and Swim- mers — Reptiles — Fishes — Mollusks and Crustaceans — Domestic Animals 56 CHAPTER V. Population — The Increase since 1870 — Tables Showing the estimated Increase in EACH State and Territory — Notes in regard to each State and Territory. 63 (7) 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. The Nationalities and Races Represented— The Indians — Different Tribes, and THEIR Characteristics — The Moquis ok Arizona — Note concerning then- Africans and Colored Persons generally— Chinese and Japanese— Hispano- Americans — Europeans of different Nationalities— British, British Ameri- can, German, Scandinavian, French, Ijalj an, Spanish, etc. — Americans born IN THE States • 66 CHAPTER VII. Characteristics and Peculiarities of the Population— Humorous Aspects of the Blending of different Nations— The New Dialect — Specimens of it— The Propensity to Humorous Exaggeration — Incidents, Manners and Habits of Ranch-owners and Ranchmen — Colonies of different Nationalities and Religions — Mennonites— Stundists — Mormons — Catholic Emigration — Asso- ciations of Capitalists for Mining, Herding, Wool-growing, or Farming Pur- poses — Other Modes of Settlement 71 CHAPTER VIII. Variety of Soils and Surface — Alkaline Lands — The Llano Estacado — Mez- QUiTE Lands — The Plains— The Bad Lands— River-bottom Lands— Soils — The Mulatto Soils — The Chocolate Soils— Geography and Geognosy — Geology— Characteristics of the Rocky Mountains— Glacial Erosion^ Horse-shoe Moraines— Volcanic Remains of the Yellowstone Country — The Geysers— Wonderful Lava Fields— Volcanic Mounds— The Vicinity of Salt Lake— Professor Geikie's Summary of the Geology of the Central Region— Mineralogy— Mineral Wealth of the West, not Surpassed in any other part of the Globe — Wide diffusion of Gold and Silver — Lead, Copper, Zinc — Iron found Everywhere— Nickel — Rarer Metals — Salt in Brine Springs, Lakes, Salt Marshes, and Rock-Salt— Borax- Asphaltum AND Petroleum— Lignite— Coal— Building-Stones— Colored Rocks and Clays— Precious Stones of all kinds— Porcelain Clays— Baryta— Ochres — Mineral Springs 8' CHAPTER IX. Climates— Varieties of Climate— Causes— Climate of North-West Coast- Small Range of Temperature on the California Coast— Extremes of Heat and Cold between the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada— Cold in Northern Dakota— Protracted and intense Heat at Fort Yuma— The Soldier's Test— Temperature on the Plains— The Rocky Mountain Cli- mate—Hot AT mid-day, Cool at Night- Annual Range from 55° to 65°— Healthfulness of this Climate— Rainfall— Great Variations— Compari- son of different Sections— Western Oregon and Northern California, 123 to 135 INCHES— San Diego and Fort Yuma, 3.80 to 2.00 inches— Gulf Coast 54 to 67 inches — Mississippi River to 97TH Meridian 45 to 28 INCHES— 97TH to II7TH MERIDIAN 25 TO 1 1. 5 INCHES— FARTHER WeST, H TO 42 INCHES— Causes of deficient Rainfall— Two-thirds of Arable Lands DO not require Irrigation— One-third do— Advantages of Irrigation- Crops larger and more uniform— Winds— Character and Effect of dip- CONTENTS. FERENT Winds— The Winds from the North— Gulf Winds— The Hot Winds FROM Mexico— Possibility of their mitigation as the Country becomes Settled CHAPTER X. The various Processes of Mining— Placer Mining— Gold Discovery in Califor- nia—Marshall's Specimens— Humphrey makes a Rocker— P. B. Reading's Experiment— John Bidwell's Discovery— Intense Excitement— The Pan— The Rocker— The Ditch and the " Tom "—The Sluice— Hydraulic Mining —Hydraulic Mining not ^stheti^-Desolation of the Regions where it HAS BEEN practised— Lode or QuUtz Mining— True Fissure Veins— The "Country" Rock— Chimneys, Chutes, or Bonanzas— Pockets— Cement De- posits—Contact Lodes— What is meant by a Contact Lode— Carbonates of Silver as rich as Sulphurets— Gold combined with Sulphurets— Mining AND Reducing Processes— Sinking a Shaft— Running an Adit— Cutting a Winze— Stoping— Depth of Mines— Great Heat of Deep Mines— The Water very Hot, 154° F. or more— Cost of Pumping out and Ventilating Mines— The Reduction of Pyritous and other Ores— Gold with Oxide of Iron- Cost of Reduction of Gold— Discoveries of Silver Ores— Silver widely diffused— Various Conditions and Combinations of Silver in the Ores- Modes of Reduction— The best Mining Regions— Placer Mining: the best Locations— Difficulties of Placer Mining— Difficulties of Lode or Vein Mining— The best Mines bought up by Capitalists— The best Locations for Experts 94 lOI CHAPTER XL Other Metals and Mineral Products— Quicksilver— Its Existence as Cinna- bar—Copper—Found IN Various Forms, as Malachite, Red, Blue, Yellow, AND Vitreous Carbonates and Oxides, Copper Glance, Pyrites, Native, etc., Occurs in nearly all the States and Territories— Lead and Zinc— Both Occur either as Galena (Sulphuret), Carbonate or Oxide, in most of the States and Territories— Iron— Everywhere and in all Forms in the Great- est Abundance— Can Supply the World with Iron and Steel— Platinum- Found Pure and in Combination with Gold, Iridium and Iridosmin in Cali- fornia, Oregon, Colorado, and Arizona— Tin— Occurs as Cassiterite or Oxide— Nickel— Found in Iron Ores— Iridium and Osmium— Tellurium— Rare Metals Found in Combination with Gold, and the latter also with Copper —Antimony— Arsenic— Manganese— The three Found in Various Forms in Combination with Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc, and Iron— Sulphur— Found Na- tive AND in Various Combinations with most of the Metals— Extensive Beds IN California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Yellowstone Park, etc. —Borax— In California and Nevada— Soda— In California, Nevada, and Utah— Salt— Coal— Four Distinct Coal Fields: Eastern, Bituminous; Sec- ond, Lignite-Cretaceous; Third, Lignite-Tertiary, but changed by Volcanic Action to Anthracite; Fourth, Bituminous, and Farther North, Anthracite —True Anthracite Coal also in Arizona— Asphaltum and Petroleum in California, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana— Mica— Alum- Kaolin- Wood and Charcoal as Fuel— Mineral Springs "5 lo CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. Agriculture— Arable Lands East of the Rocky Mountains— Minnesota Farming Lands and Products — Dakota Territory Farming Lands— Montana Farms- Iowa Farms— Missouri Farming Lands— Nebraska Farming Lands— Kansas Farming— Arkansas Farms— The Indian Territory as a Farming Region- Texas Farming, Grain, Cotton, etc.— Review of Farming Lands East of Rocky Mountains— Much Poor and Indifferent Farming — Revolution in Farming Produced kv Agricultural Machinery— Root Crops— Cotton— Sugar— Fruit Culture— Textile Fibres and Tobacco— The Rocky Mountain Region— Won- derful Results of Irrigation— Beyond the Rockies— From the Sierra Ne- vada TO THE Coast Range— CALiFORMfc\ — Viniculture in California — The Products of Oregon and Washington 131 CHAPTER XIII. Timber and Lumber — Reckless Waste of the Forest Growths— Only eight States AND Territories have Sufficient Forests for their own Supply, and some to Spare — Tree-Planting — The Forest Growths in Different Sections— Cal- ifornia Forests — What Trees are Planted— Cotton-Wood — Osage Orange — Catalpa — Maple, ETC. — The Eucalyptus Globulus Should be Planted — Why ? — Horticulture and Fruit-Culture — Floriculture — Wild Flowers — Market-Gardening i47 CHAPTER XIV. New Directions in which Agricultural Industry may be Developed, and in WHICH IT IS ALREADY DEVELOPING— MiLLET AND OTHER FORAGE CROPS — SlLK- CuLTURE — Rearing the Silk-worm— Stifling the Cocoons— Reeling — The Filature — ScHAPPfe or Spun-Silk — Cocoons do not bear Transportation well — Advantages of Silk-Culture in the West — The Silkville Experiment — Prices of Raw Silk and of Silk-worm Eggs — Probability of a Large Demand FOR Raw Silk — Textile Fibres— Flax and Hemp— Paper Stock : Esparto Grass, Tule, Marsh-Mallow, etc. — Ramie, Jute, Tampico— The Nettle— Dye Stuffs— Cochineal— Oil-Producing Plants— The Olive— Cotton-Seed Oil— Hemp-seed and Linseed Oil— Oil of Sunflower Seeds and other Seeds— Se- SAMUM Indicum — Tar Weed (Madia Sativa) — Pea-nut, Ground-nut or Goober — Castor Bean (Ricinus Communis and Sanguinarius)— Tea and Coffee Culti- vation—Fruit and Nut-bearing Trees and Shrubs— The Olive— Oranges and Lemons— Pomegranate— Fig— Banana, Plantain, Pineapple, Guava and OTHER Tropical Fruits— Papaw— Nut-bearing Trees and Shrubs— Introduc- tion OF Foreign Nuts— English Walnut — Italian Chestnut — Almond — Other Fruit-bearing Shrubs— Japanese Persimmon, Carob, Jujube, Mezquite, ETC. — Trees and Shrubs containing Tannin— The Sumacs— The Wattles— The SpiRiEAs or Hardhacks 152 CHAPTER XV. Stock raising — Cattle-herding, and the rearing of PIorses and Mules — The Grazing Lands — The Stock-growing Region, par excellence — Winter Care of Stock— Number of Cattle in the West in 1879 — The Herdsmen or Cow-boys — Stock-raising profitable if well managed— Stock-raising in Texas— Cli- CONTENTS. II MATic Advantages — Pasturing on the Great Ranges, or on one's own Land — Expense of rearing Cattle in Texas — The two Extremes in Stock-raising in Texas — Examples — Beginning on a Small Scale — Growth of a Texas Stock- RANCHE — Stock-raising in Kansas and Colorado — Joint-Stock Management OF A Ranche — The Colorado Cattle Company's Estate of Hermosillo — Another Colorado Company — Statistics — The Estimate of Mr. A. A. Hayes, Jr. — The Difference of Profit between " Store " Cattle and " Fat " Cattle Mr. Barclay's Account — The English View of the Matter — Stock-raising IN the Northern and Northwestern States and Territories — Shelter AND Food for Stock — Future Advantages for Shipping Choice Stock from these States and Territories to Europe — Dairy- Farming — Stock-raising and Dairy-Farming in California — Horse-Farming and Rearing Mules — Camels f 165 CHAPTER XVI. Sheep-Farming and Wool-Growing — Number of Sheep and Annual Increase of Lambs in each State or Territory — The Great Wool States — Improving the Breed — Merinos — Cotswolds — Southdowns — Leicesters — Tastes Dif- fer — Perils of the Flocks from Cold, Starvation, and Thirst — Winter Shelter and Winter Food Necessary in Kansas and farther North — Dis- eases OF Sheep — The Scab — The Tick — Grub in the Head — The Pale Disease — Paper Skin — The Foot-rot — The Black-leg — Pleuro- Pneumonia, etc. — The Sheep that Browse and the Sheep that Crop their Food — Shrubs and Plants Poisonous to Sheep — Sheep-Farming — The Shepherds — The Sheep- Farmer IN Colorado — The Purchase of the Sheep-Farm — Buying the Sheep — The Account — Beginning on a small Scale: the Man with only ^1,000 — Not Advisable to Marry, or bring a Family to a Sheep- Farm when starting WITH a very Small Capital — Crossing the Breed with the Big-Horn — The Angora and other Goats — The Rocky Mountain Goat 180 CHAPTER XVII. Employments in Cities, Towns and Villages — "A Man's got to have Sand " — No Place for Men easily Discouraged — Energetic and Industrious Men can do WELL — Horticulture, Floriculture, Arboriculture — How to Succeed in these Pursuits — Mercantile Business — The Road to Success for the Trades- man — Banking — The Professions, Clergymen, Lawyers, Physicians, En- gineers, Artists, Musicians, and Teachers of Music, Vocal and Instrumental — The Love of Music Illustrated — The Leadville Miner and his Piano — Teachers and Educators — Provisions for Education in the States and Terri- tories — Artisans of all Tradf^ — Machinists, Operatives, and Employes in Manufacturing Establishments — Employments connected with Mining, Re- ducing, Smelting and Refining Metals — Farming, Herding, and other Em- ployes — Day- Laborers — How to Spell " Lynx " — Facilities for Manufactur- ing — Water-Power, Steam-Power — Woollen Manufacture — Cotton Manu- factures AND Cotton Seed— -Other Textiles — Iron and Iron Wares — Machinery — Manufactures of Wood, etc 191 CHAPTER XVIII. The Future, the Glorious Future of this Grand Empire of the West — The Causes which have led to its Growth — Bishop Berkeley's Prediction — The 12 CONTENTS. "Empire " he saw — The Germ of the Great Republic — What the Empire is, AND what it is to BE — ItS GROWTH AND FUTURE CAPACITY — ThE FUTURE CLI- MATE — The Future Soil and Productiveness — Influence of Railroads in De- veloping this Region — The Gold and Silver Mines as aiding in the Devel- opment OF the Country — The Future of the Mines of the Precious Metals — The Western Slopes of the Rocky Mountains full of Gold and Silver — Results of Increased Production of Gold and Silver— Effect of Increased Production of other Metals — No Metal but Tin to be Imported — Mineral Earths and Elements to be Developed — Coal — Petroleum — Metallic and Mineral Products of the Far West in 1880 — The Production of a. d. 1900 — Vegetable Products — Wheat — Two Thousand Millions of Bushels in 1900 — Indian Corn — Corn Crop of 1879 — Influences affecting the Future of this Crop---Sorghum — Sorghum Sugar-^Its Future Production and- Consump- tion — Oats — Barley — Rye — Buckwheat — Egyptian Rice Corn — Rice, Note — Summing up of Cereal Products — Root Crops — Potatoes — Sweet Potatoes — Other Root Crops — Difficulty of Determining their Amount — Orchard Products — Textiles — Cotton — The Future Demand for Cotton — Wool — Wool Clip in a. d. 1900 — Silk — Probability of the large Production of Raw Silk here — Other Textiles — The Hay Crop — Dairy Products — Tobacco — Sugar, not from Sorghum — Hops — Oil-bearing Plants and Seeds — Summary of Vegetable Products, exclusive of Cereals — Fisheries of the Pacific and THE Gulf, of the Lakes and Rivers of the Interior — Fish-Culture, Present AND Prospective — Live-Stock in 1880 and 1900 — Forest Products— Various Ways in which Wood is used and destroyed — Probable Value of Forest Products in 1900 — Manufactures — Future of Manufactures — Commerce — Internal and Interstate Commerce — Its indescribable Extent — General Summary — Character of Future Population — Little Danger of War — Indians — Probable Early Extinction of Indian Tribes — The Colored Race — The Mexicans, Chinese and Japanese — Probability of a large Influx of Chinese on the Pacific Coast in the near Future — European Immigrants — Emigrants from the Eastern United States — The Character of its Citi- zens THE best Guaranty of its Future 206 PART II.— IMMIGRATION. CHAPTER I. Who Should Migrate to this Western Empire, and the Reasons Why — Desira- bleness OF Accurate Information— What English and Irish Farmers are Saying— This Book thoroughly Trustworthy, and written with no Inter- est but the Immigrant's TO Serve — Intentional and Unintentional Misrep- resentation — Who should not come — The Land-Grant Railway Companies, AND THE Emigration Societies — The Hardships to which the Immigrant was Subjected Thirty or Forty Years ago— The comparative Ease and Comfort OF THE Immigrant's Lot now — The Immigrant should not buy his Land before seeing it — All Lands not equally Desirable— Railway Pamphlets and Em- igration Society Circulars sometimes Overstate Advantages — The Immigrant should Examine for Himself — Age beyond which Emigration is Undesirable -^Other Classes who ought not to come — Invalids — Lazy People— Fickle CONTENTS. 13 People — Those who have no Money — Amount of Capital Necessary — This VARIES with the OCCUPATION — WHAT ARE NECESSARY EXPENSES — ALTERNATIVES FOR Men who have only ;^ioo or less, and a Family — Single Men can get ALONG, THOUGH NOT WITHOUT HARDSHIPS AND PRIVATIONS — WhY SOME EMIGRANTS ARE Dissatisfied — "Our Western Empire" preferred to other Countries by THE EmIGRANT-^WhY ? 237 CHAPTER II. The Routes by which "Our Western Empire" is Reached — What the Immigrant should do on reaching Castle Garden — The Journey at best a Wearisome ONE — The Northeastern Region — Chicago the Point of Departure for this Region — Cautions and Advice to the Immigrant when Travelling — The Cen- tral Region — St. Louis, Omaha, St. Joseph, Atchison, or preferably Kansas City the Points of Departure for this Region, and for most of the South- ern, Southwestern and Pacific Regions also — The Southern and Southwest- ern States and Territories also reached by Steamers on the Mississippi and the Gulf, and these and the Pacific States by Ocean Steamers from New York — The Southern Region— The Southwestern — The Pacific States and Territories — Time occupied by the Emigrant Trains and the Steamers — Table of Destinations, Routes, Points of Departure and Fares in the Autumn of 1879 248 CHAPTER III. The Selection of a Farm — How to obtain Land — Various Ways in which an Im- migrant with Capital may obtain a Farm very Reasonably — Advice to the Immigrant who has but little Capital — In what States and Territories, or parts of States, are there Arable Government Lands ? — How to obtain Gov- ernment Lands — Prices of Arable or Farming Lands — Purchase at Auction or Private Entry — Purchases and Locations with Bounty or Military Land- Warrants — Locations with Agricultural College Scrip — Pre-emption — The Homestead Sales — Laws extending the Homestead Privilege — Provisions FOR THE Benefit of Soldiers and Sailors of the late War, their Widows and Minor Orphan Children — Homestead Lands Exempt from Liability for Debts Previously Contracted — Fees for Homestead Entries — Land- Warrants — The Timber-Culture Act — Terms and Mode of Purchase of Timber and Stone Lands — The Desert Land Act — Purchases under it — Grazing Lands : how Secured 254 CHAPTER IV. Mining and Mineral Lands — The United States Laws and Regulations of the Land Office in regard to them — Extent of Claim — Rights of Claimants — Veins — How Controlled — Tunneling — Requirements of Location and Labor — How to Secure a Patent for them — Provisions for Placer Claims — Limita- tions and Liens — Placer and Lode Claims Jointly — Fees to Surveyors — Proof of Claims — Veins Crossing — Sites for Mills — Drainage, Easements, etc. — Vested Water-rights — Homesteads — Agricultural Lands — General Provision — Coal Lands — Who can Claim — Registering Claims — Conflicting Claims — The Act of 1874 — The Act of 1875 — Rules of the U. S. Land Office — Effect of the Act of 1872 — Extent of Surface Ground — Surface Rights — The Miner's Laws or Rules— Interpretation of the Statutes by the Land Office — General Instructions from Surveyor-General — Placer Claims— 14 CONTENTS. Mill Sites— Deputy-Surveyor's Fees — Proofs of Citizenship of Mining Claim- ants — State, Territorial and Local Rules or Laws — Nevada Statutes — Vir- ginia District, Nevada — Reese River District, Nevada — Statutes of Oregon — Quartz Statute of Idaho — Statute of Arizona — Mining Laws of Colorado — Supplementary Act to these Laws passed in 1874 — The Colorado Acr of 1877 — Mining Laws of New Mexico 270 CHAPTER V. Other Lands in some of the States more Desirable for Emigrants than Govern- ment Lands — State and Territorial Lands — Agricultural College, Uni- versity, AND School Lands — The Quantity, Prices, and Terms of Purchase — Other State Lands — Lands Granted to Benevolent Institutions — Desert and Swamp Lands — Lands held Under Mexican Titles in California, New Mexico, and Arizona — Some Danger of Conflict of Titles in these — The Texas Land System — Three Modes of Securing Homes in Texas under its Land Laws, viz. : By Settlement under the Homestead Donation Law ; By Locating a Certificate; or by Purchase from the State of Common School, University or Asylum Lands — No United States Government Lands in Texas — Railroad Lands — Extent of these in the different States and Terri- tories — Range of Prices — Methods of Selling for Cash — On Short Credit — On Long Credit — The Discounts for Cash Payments — Examples — Range of Prices — The Union Pacific, Central Pacific, Western Pacific, and Southern Pacific Lands — Their Rules for Selling — Their Terms higher and more Vigorously Enforced — Buying an Interest in a Mine — This does not Neces- sarily include Ownership of the Land over it — Buying Partially improved Farms — They Should not be Bought at too High a Price 345 CHAPTER VI. Farming Life — Management of a Farm at the West — The Best Farming Regions — What Crops are Best — The Immigrant Farmer should decide what Crops he wishes to Cultivate, beforehand — If Small Grains and Root Crops, he should DECIDE between SPRING WhEAT AND WiNTER WHEAT — SPRING WhEAT BeST IN THE Northern Tier of States and Territories — Why ? — Winter Wheat in the Middle Tier — Other Crops — Indian Corn — Sorghum — Oats — Root Crops — The Region of Moderate or Small Rainfall — Necessity of Irrigation on These — Its Advantages — Crops Certain — Requires more Capital but Gives BETTER Results — Hints to Immigrant Farmers — Deep Plowing Needed — Ro- tation of Crops — Some Manuring an Advantage — Agricultural Machinery — The Gang-Plow — Seed-Drill — Horse-Hoe — Cultivator — Reaper and Binder or Harvester, Mower, Horse-rake, etc., etc. — Should keep what Stock he CAN Feed — Sowing Grain in Drills, instead of Broadcast — Too much Seed Sown and not enough Care of its Quality — Hallett's Pedigree Wheat — The Immigrant in the South or Southwest — The Best Crops for him — Cot- ton IF HE chooses, but VEGETABLES, SMALL FrUITS, SwEET POTATOES, AND GENER- ALLY Market-Garden Produce, more Profitable on Account of its Earliness — Often Two Crops can be raised in a Season — Some of the Cereals and In- dian Corn do well in Northern Texas and Arkansas — Need of Fertilizers here — Their Accessibility — Semi-Tropical Fruits most Profitable in Ari- zona, Southern New Mexico, and Southern California — How Farming can be MADK MOST PROFITABLE 363 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. Western Farming Continued— What Capital is Necessary for a Comfortable Beginning on a New Farm at the West — What the Railway Men say ^1,000 WILL do — This Sum hardly Sufficient under Homestead or Timber-Culture Acts, avithout Great Privations — Fifteen Hundred Dollars Better A Larger Amount Needed in some States or Territories than in others — Less Money Needed in Arkansas or Texas than Elsewhere, but the Land Less Productive — The Disasters and Drawbacks to which the Western Farmer IS Liable before he is fairly Established — Drought— Grasshoppers or Bee- tles, Gophers — Cattle Diseases — Swine Plague — Cyclones — Prairie Fires or Floods — The Remedy or Preventive to be found in varied Locations — Varied Crops, or the Addition of Stock-raising to his other Farming — Buying a Par- - TiALLY Improved Farm — What is Bought — The Price varying in different Locations — Advice to those who are unable at first to Buy and Stock a Farm — Incidents of Farm-Life — Renting Land unadvisable — Great Farms objectionable — Why? — The Homestead and other Exemptions in the dif- ferent States CHAPTER VIII. The Immigrant as a Cattle-breeder and Stock-raiser — Methods of Stock-breed- ing in different States and Territories — The Texas Cattle-Ranche — The Large Ranche and the Small one — $15,000 to ;?25,ooo for the Former, and $4,500 TO $5,000 FOR THE LaTTER — ThE RaNCHE IN COLORADO ONLY LaRGE Ranches Profitable as a Rule' — How a Man with a Small Capital may EVENTUALLY HAVE A CaTTLE-RaNCHE OF HIS OWN — ThE HeRDER'S LiFE A LONELY ONE AND NOT WITHOUT ITS PERILS — WYOMING, MONTANA, CALIFORNIA — " THE Bulls of the Blessed Trinity " — Dangers from Grizzly Bears, Panthers, Jaguars — Dangers of the Great and continued Snow Storms — Necessity of A Shelter and Fodder for the Cattle in Winter — Joint-Stock Cattle- Ranches in Montana — Cattle easily Fatted there— In California the Stock choice and in Demand, both for Breeding and Dairy-farming — Cat- tle-breeding in New Mexico, Utah, Arizona — In Washington, Oregon, Ne- vada, and Idaho — Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Ar- kansas AS Cattle-breeding States — Lands best Adapted to this Pursuit — Different Methods Advisable in Different Sections — The Cow-boys or Her- ders : THEIR Care of their Herds — Their isolated, half-savage Life — Round- ing UP — Branding — Selecting the Steers and Heifers for Market — The Cap- ital Necessary for Success — Combining Dairying with Cattle-breeding, less Capital required — Good Management Necessary — Becoming Manager of a Joint-Stock Cattle-Farm in Montana or Dakota — A Fortune acquired in a Few Years by a Shrewd and Skilful Man— How a Poor Man can acquire a Cattle-Ranche in time — Statistics of the Cost of a Moderately Large Ramche CHAPTER IX. Sheep-farming and Wool-growing — The Best Regions and the Best Beeeds — Thk Most Direct Routes thither — The Methods of Sheep-farming in our West- ern Empire — The Texas Sheep-farms — Large Flocks Preferred — Small Ones less Profitable— The Experience of Texan Sheep-farmers — Col. James' Statement — The Kansas Policy that of Small Sheep-farms with other Farm- 379 390 l6 COJVTENTS. ING Carried on with it — Testimony ok Messrs. McIntosh, Uhl, Bryan, Hos- TETTER, GrINNELL, MaTHIES AND WaDSWORTH — ThE YoUNG COLORADO SHEEP-FaR- MER — Capital Requireh in different Sections — The Shepherds — Antagon- ism of THE Herders and Shepherds — Improving the Breeds — Wintering the Sheep — Water in Abundance a Necessity — Destruction of the Herds from Thirst — Snowing Under — Fatal Effects of a Severe Norther — The Shep- herd's Life more Isolated and with less Excitement than that of the Herder or Cow- Boy — Its Risks and Dangers — New Mexico the best Region for Large Sheep-farms, and Kansas and Nebraska for Small ones — How to Buy and Stock a Sheep-ranche — The Amount of Capital Necessary — The Cost and the Profits — Mr. Gray on the different Breeds of Sheep — Char- acter of the Varieties most Popular in the West — Diseases of Sheep — Mr. F. D. CuRTis's Essay — Parasites — Liver-rot— Pale Disease — Hydatids — Worms in the Head — Scab — Sheep-ticks — Foot-rot — Constipation — Colics — Diarrhcea and Scours — Inflammation of the Lungs — Snuffles and Snoring — Poisons — Abortion — Black-leg — Paper-Skin — Lung-Worm — Stricana — Sheep healthier in the North than in the South — The Enemies of the Sheep — How a Poor Man can become a Sheep-master 402 CHAPTER X. Other Farm Animals — Breeding Swine — Swine Husbandry less Popular in the Great West than East of the Mississippi — The States and Territories most largely engaged in it — Southern Swine generally of Poorer Breeds than those in the more Northern States — The Best Breeds — Berkshire, Poland- China, and Chester-White — Modes of Management — The Margin of Profit IN the Business — Diseases to which Swine are Liablb — The Hog-Cholera — Swine Plague or Hog- Fever — Great Destruction of Swine caused by this Disease — The Researches of Drs. Detmers, Law, Voyles, and Salmon into the Causes, Character, Symptoms, and Fatal Results of this Disease, and the Possibility of its Prevention or Cure — Swine-farming in Kansas and Iowa — Reports of Messrs. Coburn, LiNscorr Brothers, Prindle, Johnson, Sutton, and Keagy on Methods and Success in Swine-farming — Breeding of Horses, Asses, and Mules for the Market — This Pursuit very Profitable — The Mustang, the Broncho and the Burro — Dogs — The Shepherd Dog — Dogs for Hunting — The Greyhound ; Different Varieties — Pointers, Set- ters, Bull-Dogs, Coach-Dogs, Terriers — Mongrel Hunting Dogs — Indian Cur-Dogs — Crosses between Dogs and Wolves — W^orthless Dogs very De- structive of Sheep — The Raising of Poultry — Different Breeds — The Cross OF THE common BaRN-YARD FOWL WITH THE BrAHMA, HoUDAN, HAMBURG, BlACK- Spanish or Plymouth Rock the best — Bantams good Layers — Mr. A. P. Ford's Directions and Statistics — Other Fowls — Enemies of Fowls — Chicken-Chol- era — The Croup 440 CHAPTER XL Special Crops — Rice Corn — Pearl Millet — Other Millets — Alfalfa — Hungarian Grass — Sweet Potatoes— Pea-Nut or GroundNut — The Sugar Question once more — Ts NOT Corn worth more than Twenty Cents a Bushel to Man- ufacture into Sugar?— The Cultivation of Textiles — Flax, Hemp, Ramie, Jute, Tampico, Tule^ Nettle, Esparto Grass, the Brake or Swamp Cane — Some of the Cacti — Cultivation of Oil- Producing Plants — The Pea-Nut or CONTENTS. n Ground-Nut — Castor Bean, Olive, Flax, Rape, Hemp and Cotton Seed, Tar Weed, Sesame, Peppermint, Spearmint, Bergamot — Cultivation of Nut- bearing and Fruit-bearing Trees and Shrubs — English Walnut, Black Walnut, Hickory-Nut, Common Chestnut, Italian Chestnut, Almond, Fil- bert, Pecan, Hazel-Nut, Pawpaw, Persimmon, Japanese Persimmon, Pomegran- ate, Mandrake, Apricot, Medlar, Orange, Lemon, Shaddock, etc. — Ordinary Fruits, Apples, Pears, Quinces, Peaches, Plums, Cherries, Prunes, etc. — Small Fruits, Grapes, Zante Currants, Currants, Gooseberries, Straw- berries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Dewberries, Partridgeberries, Whortle- berries — Market Garden Vegetables — Employment for Professional Men, Artisans, Tradesmen, Florists, Market-Gardeners, Factory Operatives, etc. — Importance of Sustaining Schools and Churches 478 PART III.— THE SEVERAL STATES AND TERRITORIES DESCRIBED. CHAPTER I. ARIZOMA. Its Location — Extent — Addition to its Area by the Gadsden Treaty — Date of Organization — Only one-twelfth of its Area yet Surveyed — Topography — Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Canons — Remarkable Character of these Canons — They Drain the Mesas of their Moisture — The Canons of the Colorado— Their Descent by Major J. W. Powell and his Companions in 1869 and 1 87 1 — The Grand Canon of the Colorado one of the Wonders of the World — Table- lands — General Fremont's thorough Acquaintance with Arizona — His Proposition to Restore the Great Inland Sea in Southeastern California — A Moister Climate Secured to Arizona by this Measure — Soil, Climate, Temperature and Rainfall — Yuma the Hottest and Driest Place IN " Our Western Empire" — Wonders and Peculiarities of Arizona — Miner- als and Mines — Zoology — Adventures with Wild Animals — The Bite of the Skunk — Rabid Wolves— Productions, Mineral, Animal, Vegetable — Popu- lation — The Indians — Their large Number — Different Races — Some of them Industrious and Honest, others Thievish and Murderous — Nearly Extinct Races — The Extensive Ruins of Ancient Dwellings Inhabited BY Races now Nearly or Quite Extinct — The Casa Grande — Other Ruins — The Ancient Province of Tusayan — The Narratives of Colonel Powell and Professor Newberry — Situation of the Moquis Villages on Lofty Mesas — Their Dwellings usually Three or Four Stories High, and Terraced in Front — The Rear Walls Blank — The Lower Story a Granary — Windows of Selenite — The Neatness of their Apartments — Their Mode of Life — Hospitality — Politeness — Occupations — Economy — Industry — Their Bread of Different Colors — Virgin Hash — Ceramic Art — Blankets — Other Manufactures of Wool— Taste in Dress— Dressing the Hair — Salutations — Sunrise Worship — Theology — Gymnastic Exercises — Sacri- fices of Fruits and Seeds Only — Language Peculiar— Probably of Toltec Origin — White Inhabitants — Present Condition, and the Advantages and Facilities it Affords to Settlers— Letters and Communications ^ from Major-General J. C. Fremont, Governor of Arizona, and Colonel J. W. 1 8 CONTENTS. Powell, United States Army, Explorer of the Colorado, etc. — Probable Future — Biographical Sketch of Major-General Fremont, the Present Governor of Arizona 492 CHAPTER II. ARKAJ{SAS. Its Situation, Area, Extent — Topography — Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Valleys — Navigable Rivers and Railways — Soil — Climate — Rainfall — Minerals and Mineral and Hot Springs — Analysis of the Hot Springs — The Village of Hot Springs — The Inhabitants of the Adjacent Country — Vegetation — Woodland — Forest Growths and their Size — Fruits — Wild and Cultivated Grapes — Animals — Insect Pests — ArcH/Eology — Productions, Mineral, Vege- table and Animal — Crops — Live-stock — Manufactures — Commerce — Popula- tion — Origin of Population — Education — Religious Denominations — Exemptions — Donated Lands — Views of Hon. Charles S. Keyser, Hon. David Walker, W. A. Webber, Esq., and Hon. A. H. Garland, U. S. Senator, on the History and Probable Future of Arkansas 530 CHAPTER III. CALIFORJTIA, Its Situation — Topography — Mountains, Valleys, Lakes, Rivers, Harbors, Islands — Arable, Grazing, Timber and Worthless Lands, and the Probable Quantity of Each— Geology and Mineralogy — Gold and Silver in very MANY Forms — Quicksilver, Platinum, Lead, Copper, Tin, Arsenic, Iron in MANY Forms, Tellurium, Graphite, Borax, Salt, Soda, Sulphur, Gypsum, Barytes, Antimony, Ochre, etc., among the Metals and Minerals of the State — Mines and Mining Industry — Immense Production of the Precious Metals in the State — Twenty-one Counties Produce either Gold or Silver OR both — Increased Production in 1880 — Soils and Vegetation — Red, Adobe, Buff, Sandy, Tule, Desert and Alkaline Soils — The Forest Trees — The Sequoias, Redwoods and other Trees Peculiar to California — Description of the Giant Trees by Mr. Whitehill — Zoology — Great Variety of Animal Life — Beasts of Prey — Rodents Destroying Crops — Ground Squirrels and Gophers — Wonders — Professor Whitney's Description of the Yosemite Valley — Other Descriptions of the Adjuncts of Yosemite — Cloud Rest — " I Salute the Grandest View in the World " — The Tuolumne Valley — The Eight or Nine Groves of Giant Sequoias — The Calistoga Geysers — Natural Bridges — Caves — Grottos — Bell-sounding Rocks — Lakes, Salt and Fresh — The Death Valley — Professor E. W. Hilgard on Climates of the State- Mean Temperatures and Semi-annual and Annual Rainfall of Nine Locali- ties — Agricultural Products — Cereals — Professor Hilgard's Account of Wheat-growing— The " Giant-header," Thresher and Sacking-wagon — Dis- posing of the Straw — The Other Cereals — Beans — Potatoes— Other Vege- tables — Hops— Pea-nuts — Other Special Crops — Market Garden Crops and Small Fruits— California Fruit — Grapes and Wine— Forage Crops— Alfalfa Grasses — Stock-breeding and Dairying — Butter — Eggs — Apiaculture — Silk Culture— Manufactures — Railroads — Steamers — Commerce and Naviga- tion, Imports and Exports, Banks, etc. — California as a Health Resort — Population, how Classified — Education — Churches — Counties and Princi- pal Towns — History and Probable Future 55* CONTENTS. 19 CHAPTER IV. COLORADO. Situation, Boundaries, Area — Topography — Mountains — Six Distinct Ranges be- sides MANY Spurs and Isolated Summits — Fifty-two Peaks over 13,000 Feet, AND Several Hundred 10,000 Feet or more — Ten Towns or Mines over 10,000 Feet above the Sea, and Sixty-one over 5,000 Feet — Mountains Covered WITH Pine, Fir and Spruce up to the Timber Line— Valleys, Plains, Parks — North, Middle, South, San Luis, Estes, Egeria, Animas and Huerfano Parks the Largest, and Best Known; but there are Hundreds of Smaller Ones of great Beauty — Rivers — The North and South Platte, the Arkansas, Rio Grande, the Grand, Green, San Juan, Tributaries of the Rio Colorado, and THEIR Affluents — Lakes — Many of these at Great Elevations, as the Green Lakes, Chicago Lakes, etc. — Canons — Canons of the Arkansas, of the Gun- nison, of the Grand and the Green Rivers — Climate and Rainfall — Soil and Vegetation — Arable Lands — Nearly 16,000,000 Acres of these — A Part Require Irrigation — Great Facilitif^ for this — Crops as Affected by Irri- gation — Hon. Mr. Barclay's Statement about it — What an Intelligent En.gwsh Agriculturist and Member of Parliament thinks of Farming in Colorado — Present Forest Area of Colorado — Geology, Mineralogy — All the Geologic Formations of the Continent laid bare in the Canons or on the Precipitous Sides of the Mountains^Coal — The Lignite of the Terti- ary, AND THE Bituminous and Anthracite of the Coal Measures Found at Various Places in the State — Wonders Produced by Erosion — Mr. Pang- born's Descriptions — The Fossils of Talbott Hill — The Coal Mines o*' Canon City — The Grand Canon of the Arkansas — The Ancient Ruins in Southwestern Colorado — Animals — Mines and Mining Industry — Early Mining History of the State — Mining Product Prior to 1880 — The same by Counties — The Regions which are not known to Possess Mineral Deposits — The Extraordinary Development of Mining in the State since 1875 — Mining Districts — Description of each County known to Possess Min- eral Wealth — Its Mines and their Product — Farming — Extent of Arable Lands — Irrigation Largely Practised — Its Advantages — Rapid In- crease of Farming Products — Excellence of Colorado Cereals — Dairy- farming — Raising Horses and Mules — Wages of Farm-hands — Immense Yield of Irrigated Crops — High Farming — Stock-raising — Hon. Mr. Barclay's Description of Stock-raising in the State — Dairy-farming — Cattle should BE Fatted in Colorado and Kansas — Mr. Stratten's Experience — Wool- growing — Sheep-farming Profitable in Colorado — Its Rapid Increase — Growth of the Live-stock Interest in the State — Railroads — Education — Commerce — Population — Cities, Counties and Towns — Increase since 1870 — Counties — Churches — The Future of Colorado 623 CHAPTER V. DAKOTA. Boundaries, Area and Topography of Dakota — First Settlements — Organization — Rivers — Lakes — Dakota Divided into Four Sections: Northern, Central, Southeastern and Black Hills — Characteristics of each — The Bad Lands — Fossils there — Governor Howard's Description of these Sections — His 20 CONTENTS. Address — His Report to the Secretary of the Interior — The Surveyor- General's Report— Northern Dakota — The Description of it by Hon. James B. Power — The First Considerable Attempts to Cultivate the Red River Lands in Dakota — Wheat Culture there and its Success — Other Crops — The Towns of Northern Dakota — The Climate and Rainfall — The Facilities for the Transportation of Crops — Beyond the Missouri — Charles Carleton Coffin's Description in the Chicago Tribune — The Cor- respondent OF the Chicago Journal — Other Testimony — Bishop Peck, Messrs. Reed and Pell — Central Dakota — The Account of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Commission — Southeastern Dakota — Rev. Edward Ellis's Letter — Hon. W. H. H. Beadle's Description — His Compe- tency AS A Witness — Peculiarities of the Topography of Southeastern Dakota — Meteorology of Southeastern Dakota — The Black Hills — Mr. Zimri L. White's Description of this Region — Climate and Meteorology of the Black Hills — Gold-mining there — Four Classes of Minf^ — Cheapness OF Mining and Milling — Altitudes in the Black Hills — Population of Towns — Farming, Grazing and Market-gardening in the Black Hills — Social Life and Morals there — Railroads in Dakota — Indian Tribes and Reservations — Population of the Territory and its Character — Churches AND Religious Teachings — The Future of Dakota 7*1 CHAPTER VI. IDAHO TERRITORY. Topography — Boundaries — Length and Breadth — Area — Latitude and Longi- tude — Distribution of Area — Arable Lands — Grazing Lands — Timber Lands — Mining Lands — Desert Lands — Topography — Mountains — Valleys — Lakes — Rivers — Almo.st Wholly Drained by Affluents of the Columbia — Climate — Meteorology of Boise City — Geology and Mineralogy — The Precious Metals — Gold in Impalpable Powder on the Snake and Salmon Rivers — In the Bear River Region— On and Near Wood River — In the Salmon or Saw- tooth Range and along the Western Slope of the Bitter Root Mountains — Silver on East Fork of Salmon River and along Wood River — Copper AT Several Points — Other Metals and Minerals — Mineral Springs — Natu- ral Wonders — Sulphur Lake and Deposits — Salt Springs — Ice Cave — Soil and Vegetable Productions — Forest Trees — Zoology — Mines and Mining — Production of Gold and Silver since 1862 — Present Falling off — Great Mineral Wealth — Stock-raising — Sheep- Farming — Indians — Only 4,175 in THE Territory — The Culture of Arable Lands — Obstacles to the Progress of Growth of Idaho — The Lack of Railroads and of Wagon-roads — The Lack of Capital — Mormon Influence the Greatest Obstacle of all 778 CHAPTER VII. THE INI)IAJ{ TERRITORY. Minute Details concerning the Indian Territory not Necessary at the present time in this work — Why? — A few General Points in view of the Ultimate POSSIHILITY of a CHANGE, WHICH MAY PERMIT IMMIGRATION — TOPOGRAPHY — Length and Breadth —Latitude and Longitude — Area — Boundaries — Divis- ion INTO Indian Reservations or Nations — Areas of most of these — Tracts not yet allotted, and Indian Bands not permanently located — Number of Indians in the Territory in 1878 — Present Number — The Five leading CONTENTS. a Tribes, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks and Seminoles-Their Progress in Civilization-The Capitals of their Respective Nations-Their Farm Products in 1879-THEIR Live-Stock- Valuation of Real and Per- sonal Estate-Schools, Churches, Benevolent Institutions-Newspapers- Post-Offices-The Smaller Tribes and Bands less Civilized-Surface of THE Country-Mountains, Rivers, Lakes-Climate-Meteorology of Forts Gibson and Sill-Geology and Mineralogy-Soil and Vegetation-Forests — Railroads-The Character of the Population— Rev. Timothy Hill's Ac count of the Territory-The Indian Title to the Territory-History of THE Removal OF the Five Tribes and other Indians-Re-purchase of some of their Lands by the Government-Efforts to drive them from this Ter- ritory-The Outlook for the Future-Possession of their Lands in Sev- eralty their only hope— Indian Annuity Funds CHAPTER VIII. The Situation of Iowa-Meaning of the Name-Migration of the Pau-hoo-chees thither in X690-C0NTEMPORANEOUSLY Claimed by the French on Account of Father Hennepin's Discovery- Wars of the Pau-hoo-chees, or Iowas with the Sioux-French Trading-Posts on the River-Sale of the Province of Louisiana to the Spanish in 1763— Retrocession to France in x8oo-S^le to the United States in i8o3-Settlement of Julian Dubuque-The W^rs of the Iowas and Sioux-A New Enemy-The Sacs and Foxes Attack them and Drive them across the Missouri, about i828-Great Reduction in Numbers OF THE Iowas— White Settlement Commenced in 1832— Death ok Black Hawk— The Events in Civil History of Iowa to its Organization as a State in 1846-TopoGRAPHY and Extent of Iowa-Its Surface-Rivers-Lakes— Prairie and Timber Lands— Black Walnut Shipped to England— Geology and Mineralogy-The Drift, Loess and Alluvium-Cretaceous Rocks-Coal Measures-The Character of Iowa Coal-Comparison with European and OTHER Coals— No Gold or Silver in the State— Lead, Iron, Copper and Zinc-Lime— Building Stone— Gypsum Clays— Soil— Mineral Paint-Spring AND Well-water-Natural Curiosities-Climate, General Remarks-Pro- fessor Parvin's Tables— The Signal Service Statistics of the River Cities— Zoology— Soil and Agricultural Productions— Iowa an Agricultural State —Statistics of its Crops— Spring and Winter Wheat— Stock-raising— Dairy Farming— Population of Iowa at Different Periods— Railroads and Steam- boat Lines-The State Easy of Access-Public Lands-Railroad Lands- State Lands— Partially Improved Farms— Manufactures— Iowa as a Home FOR Immigrants— Education— Churches— Future Prospects of the State.. .. 814 CHAPTER IX. Kansas Geographically the Central State— Its Boundaries— Latitude, Longi- tude, Length, Breadth and Area— Its Surface, Declination and Elevation at Various Points— Rivers— L'akes-Hills— No Mountains in the State- Geology AND Mineralogy— The Geological Formations— The Quaternary, Tertiary, Cretaceous and Carboniferous and Lower Carboniferous Systems' Represented— Fossils— Great Variety of these— Economic Geology— Coal— 42 CONTENTS. Salt — Lead and Zinc — Gypsum — Building-Stone, etc., etc. — Gas or Burning "Wells— Soil and Vegetation — Native Trees — Trees Planted under the Timber-Culture Acts — Increase of Rainfall Produced by Breaking up the Soil — Evidence of this — Flowers — Zo5logy — Natural Curiosities and Phe- nomena — The Monument Rocks — The Pulpit Rock — The Rock City — The Perfc^vted Rock — The Fossil Moss Agates — The Selenite Beds — Climate and Meteorology — Meteorological Statistics — Rainfall — Agricultural Productions — Tables of Productions of 1877, 1878, 1879 — Grains — Special Crops — Orchards and Vineyards — Apiaculture — Live-Stock — Prices of Necessary Merchandise — Boarding — Valuations of Real and Personal Es- tate — School Statistics — No Mines or Mining except Coal, Lead and Zinc — Manufactures — Railroads — Lands for Immigrants — Population — Indians — Sources from which Population is Derived — Counties, Cities and Towns — Area and Population of Counties in 1879 — Schools and Education — Churches — Kansas a Home for Immigrants — Biographical Notice of Hon. Alfred Gray 854 CHAPTER X. LOVISIAJ^A. Louisiana not wholly within "Our Western Empire" — Its Location — Its Ex- tent AND Area — Its Surface and Topography — Rivers, Lakes and Bayous — Geology and Mineralogy — Iron, Salt, Sulphur — Other Minerals — Soil and Vegetation — Forest Trees — Zoology — The Jaguar or American Leopard, or Tiger, Alligators and Crocodiles — Climate — Malarial Fevers in the Delta — The Uplands Healthy but Hot — Meteorology of New Orleans and Shreveport — Agricultural Productions — Cotton, Sugar, Rice and Corn — The Soil Fertile, but the Farming Poor — Live-Stock — Manufacturing and Mining Industries — Commerce — Exports and Imports of 1880 — The great Facilities enjoyed by the State for Foreign and Coastwise Commerce — Railroads — Finances — Population — History as bearing on Population — Mixed Races largely Prevalent — The State not greatly increased by recent Immigration — Parishes or Counties — Principal Towns — Education — Churches — Not specially attractive to Immigrants at Present 887 CHAPTER XI. MIKJ^ESOTA. Minnesota the Centre of North America — Its Situation, Boundaries, Dimen- sions AND Area — Surface of the Country — The Three Slopes — Rivers, Lakes, etc. — The Lake State — Seven Thousand Lakes — Geology and Min- eralogy — Some Gold and Silver, more Iron and Copper — Minnesota an Agricultural State — Soil and Vegetation — Rich Soil — Forests — The Big Woods — The Prairie Lands — Tree-planting in Minnesota — Fruits — Zoology — Climate — Its Salubrity — Advance of the Annual Temperature as THE Country is Settled — Peculiarities of the Climate — Meteorology — Navigable Rivers and Railways — More than 3,000 Miles of Railroad in the State — Projected Railways — Land Grants — Agricultural Products — The Crops of 1878, 1879 and 18S0 — Special Crops — General Le Due's Efforts to Introduce the Amber Cane — Statistics of Crops — Grazing Lands — Live- stock — Statistics of Live-Stock — Dairy Farming — Statistics of Butter and CONTENTS. Cheese — Manufactures — Lumber and Flour, the Leading Articles — Immense Quantities of both Produced — Other Manufactures — Valuation and Wealth — Population — Statistics of Increase in Thirty Years — Nation- alities — The Indian Population — Education — School Fund — Public Schools — Universities, Normal Schools, etc. — Counties and Cities — Valuation — Population of Cities and Towns at Different Periods — Religious Denomi- nations — History — Conclusion 23 900 CHAPTER XII. MISSOVBI, Missouri's Situation — Boundaries and Extent of Latitude and Longitude — Face of the Country — Mountains and Hills — Valleys — Rivers and Lakes — Geology and Mineralogy — Economic Minerals — Lead — Zinc — Copper — Iron — Coal — Baryta — Cabinet Minerals — Building Materials — Mineral Springs — Zoology — Climate — Meteorology — Soil and Vegetation — Agricultural Products — Tables of Crops, 1878 and 1879 — Notes on the Crops — Live-Stock — Tables, 1879, 1880 — Adaptation of Missouri for Grazing and Dairy-Farm- ing — Manufactures — Mining Products— Railroads — Population — Notes on Population — Counties and Cities— Table of Cities— St. Louis — Kansas City — Lands for Immigrants — Immigration in the Past — Why it has largely passed by Missouri — The State now a Desirable one for Immigrants — Edu- cational Advantages — Public Schools— Normal Schools — Universities — Colleges and Professional Schools — Special Institutions — Religious De- nominations AND Churches — Historical Data 927 CHAPTER XIII. Situation — Boundaries— Extent — Mountains— Timber— Lakes— Rivers— Geol- ogy AND Mineralogy — Gold in Extensive Placers and Lodes— Silver — Copper— Lead— Iron— Other Minerals— Soil and Vegetation — Arable Lands — Grazing Lands— Timber Lands— Mining Lands— Desert Lands —Zoology — Climate — Blizzards— The " Chinook " Wind— Meteorology of Fort Keogh — Fort Benton — Helena — Virginia City — Mining— Enormous Yield of the Placers— Gold Lodes— Silver Lodes— The Stempi.e District— Last Chance Gulch, now Helena — Phillipsburg—Wickes— Butte— Peculiarities of the Butte Mines— Other Mines — Trapper District— Mining thus far almost Ex- clusively IN Western Montana — Probabilities of Mines in Southern and Southeastern Montana— Agricultural Productions — Testimony of Z. L, White— of Robert E. Strahorn— of Thomson P. McElrath— Enormous Crops, of Excellent Quality— Stock-Raising— Sheep-Farming— Breeding Horses and Mules — Gov. Potts' Experience — Manufactures— Objects of Interest— The Madison River— The Upper Yellowstone Valley— The Struggle of the Waters to Force a Passage Through— Other Wonders— Railroads— Best Routes for Immigrants at Present — Indian Reservations and their Population— Population of Montana- Counties and Assessment- Principal Towns of Montana— Prices of Articles of General Use— Average Wages — Education — Religious Denominations — Conclusion 955 24 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. KEBEASKA. Area and Extent — Boundaries — Comparative Area — Its Riverine Boundaries — Surface of the Country — Sense in which it is a Prairie — Its Gradual Ele- vation to the Base of the Rocky Mountains— The Nebraska "Bad Lands" The Rivers of Nebraska — The Missouri and Niobrara — The North and South Platte and their Affluents— The Loup and its Forks— The Republi- can River — General Direction of these Rivers— Geology and Mineralogy The Loess or Drift — Alluvial Deposits — The Great Pre-historic Lake — Tertiary Formation — Carboniferous Strata — The Coal Measures — Lignite IN THE Tertiary — Not much Economic Value to the Coals of Nebraska — The Peat Beds of the State — Soil and Vegetation— Fertility of the Loess Trees of the State— Zoology — Climate and Meteorology— Table — Agri- cultural Productions — Crops of 1877, 1878 and 1879— Wild and Cultivated Fruits Mr. E. A. Curley on the Wild Fruits — Grazing — The Live-Stock of THE State — Manufacturing Industry — Railroads — Population — Rapid Growth of the State — Indians— Financial Condition — Education — Lands FOR Immigrants — Government, School, University and Railroad Lands — Advice to Immigrants — Prices— Counties, Cities and Towns — Religious De- nominations — Historical Data — Nebraska as a Home for Immigrants 1004 CHAPTER XV. ?fEYAI)A. Its Boundaries, Extent and Area — Its Topography and Surface— Mountains, Lakes and Rivers— Its Climate and Meteorology— Geology and Mineralogy Minerals— Gold and Silver— Other Metals and Minerals — Permanency of its Mines — Their Great Depth — Mining Industry — The Counties Con- taining Mines considered in Detail— The Product of the Precious Metals IN Nevada since their First Discovery there — The Sutro Tunnel — Its Pur- pose AND Object— Its First Success less than was expected— Its probable Future Triumph — Zoology— Agricultural Productions— Adaptation of con- siderable Sections to Grazing— Extent of Arable, Grazing, Timbered and Mineral Lands— Tables of Agricultural Products and Live-Stock— Manu- facturing Industry— Railroads— Valuation — Population — Indian Reserva- tions—Counties AND Cities— Religious Denominations— Historical Data — Conclusion '^'^Z'h CHAPTER XVI. J^EW MEXICO. Topography — Boundaries (enlarged by the Gadsden Treaty) — Extent and Area — Mountains— Rivers and Lakes— Climate — Variety in Temperature— Mr. Z. L. White on the Summer Climate of the Territory— New Mexico as a Health Resort— Meteorology and Rainfall of various Points in the Ter- ritory—Geology and Mineralogy— Mineral Wealth of the Territory- Gold AND Silver— Other Metals and Minerals— Turquoise— Hot Springs— Coal— Bituminous, Lignite and True Anthracite— Coal found in New Mexico of the Best Quality and in Inexhaustible Quantities— Arable Lands — Their Quantity and Quality— Native Agriculture— Grazing Lands — New Mexico best Adapted to Sheep-Farming — Number of Sheep — Crops of CONTENTS. 25 1879 — Mining Industry — Governor Wallace on the Mining Districts — The Gold and Silver Production — Objects of Interest — The Canons and Ter- rible Dark Valleys and Caves of the Territory — The Seven Cities of Cibola — Evidences of Volcanic Action — Buried Cities — Abo and its Ruins — The Indian Skeleton Overwhelmed by Volcanic Ashes — The Vast Crater — Rock Cities— The Pueblo Pottery — How it was and is Made— The Zuni Blankets — Manufactures — Railroads — Great Development of Railways — Population — Table — Chief-Justice Prince on the Three Civilizations Found There— The Indian Tribes — The Pueblos — The Apaches- The Navajoes — Counties and Principal Towns — Education— Religion and Morals— Histori- cal Data — Conclusion 1056 CHAPTER XVII. orego:n'. Boundaries, Area and Ex'tent — Face of the Country — Mountains, Rivers, Lakes — The Valleys of Oregon — The Willamette Valley — Umpqua Valley — Rogue River Valley — The Numerous Valleys of Eastern Oregon — The Elevated Plains of Middle and Central Oregon— Mr. Tolman's Description of East- ern Oregon — Soil and Vegetation — Fertility of the Soil — The Great Wheat Valleys of Eastern Oregon — Forest Growths — Great Size of Forest Trees — Water Supply— Climate and Rainfall of different Sections- Meteorological Table of Portland, Roseburg, Umatilla, Astoria and Cor- vALLis — Geology and Mineral Wealth — Fossils — Gold and Silver — Lead AND Copper — Iron and Coal — Excellence of the Coal — Zoology — Oregon Fishes — Agricultural and Pastoral Products — Table of Crops and Live- stock — Fisheries — The Salmon Trade — Timber and Lumber Production and Exports — Wheat and Flour Exports — Wool — Total Exports — Manufac- tures — Labor — Wages — Price of Land and Facilities for Obtaining it- Railroads and River Navigation — Finances — Educational Facilities — Higher and Special Education— Population — Table— Characteristics of the Population — Indian Reservations and Tribal Indians — Counties and Princi- pal Cities and Towns — Religious Denominations — Historical Data — The Title of the United States to Oregon 1091 CHAPTER XVIII. TEXAS. Situation and Boundaries of Texas— Its Area and Extent — Vastness of its Area— Comparisons with other States and Countries— Face of the Country — Mountains in the Northwest — Isolated Summits and Ridges Elsewhere — Elevations of Various Points — Rivers, Bays and Estuaries in their Order from East to West — Texas Rivers not Navigable— Geographical Divisions of THE State and their Characteristics — Geology and Mineralogy— Min- erals — Forests and Vegetation — Zoology — Climate — Meteorological Table giving the Temperature, Rainfall, etc., at Eight Points in the State — Mining and Manufacturing Industries — Agricultural Productions — Tables of Agricultural Products and Live-Stock — Not all the Arable Lands of Texas of the First Quality — The Live-Stock of the State Commands Lower Prices than that of States and Territories farther North — Why ? — Rail- ig CONTENTS. roads and navigable waters— population — table of population— statistics Nativities of the Population — From Whence the Emigration — Counties AND their Finances and Valuation — Principal Cities and Towns — Education —Public Schools— Contradictory Statistics— Lack of Interest in them — Universities, Colleges and Professional Schools— Institutions for Blind and Deaf Mutes — Lands for Immigrants — Religious Denominations — His- torical Data — Early Settlements in Texas— Its Revolt and Independence of Mexico The Republic — Annexation to United States — Progress — Seces- sion ^Reconstruction — Present Constitution — Conclusion 1120 CHAPTER XIX. VTAE TERRITORY. Utah a Peculiar Territory— Its Location, Boundaries, Area and Extent — Forests and Vegetation — Altitude of its Mountains and Valleys — Zoology Geology — Mineralogy — Topography and General Reatures — The Great Salt Lake Basin — Cache, San Pete and Sevier Valleys — The Colorado Basin, East of the Wahsatch Mountains — Climate — Meteorology of Salt Lake City and Camp Douglas— Notes on the Temperature, Rainfall, ETC., OF other parts OF THE TERRITORY ADVANTAGES OF UtAH AS A SANI- TARY Resort — Diseases for which its Climate is Beneficial — Opinion of Eminent Army Surgeons on the Subject — Soil and Agriculture — Irrigation VERY generally REQUIRED — IMMENSE CrOPS WHERE IT IS PRACTISED — NoN-IRRI- gable Lands sometimes Productive with Deep Plowing — Timber — Yield of Cereal and other Products — Fruit-Culture — Stock-Farming — Sheep-Farm- ing — Evils of Migratory Herds — Gov. Emery's Complaints of California Flocks— Mines and Mining Products — Wide Distribution of Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Iron, Coal, Sulphur, Soda, Salt and Borax — The Mines of the Precious Metals in the Salt Lake Basin very Rich and easily ac- cessible — Railroads — Objects of Interest — The " Temple of Music " on the Colorado — Temples on the Rio Virgen — The American Fork Canon — It is called the " Yosemite" of Utah — The Great Salt Lake Mineral and Hot Springs — Finances — Population-Table — The Population of Utah peculiar — Its Early Settlement by the Mormons — Motives which led to their Migra- tion — Mormonism a Religious Oligarchy — Its Despotic Rule — Its Crimes — Polygamy its Corner-Stone — Its Defiance of the Government — Its Propa- gandism — Religious Denominations — Education — Moral and Social Con- dition — Counties and Principal Towns — Historical Data 1 154 CHAPTER XX. WASKIMGTON TERRITORY. Situation of Washington Territory — Boundaries — The Boundary Line at the Northwest and North — Its Area — Length and Breadth — Comparative Size — Topography and Divisions— Western Washington — The Puget Sound Basin — What Puget Sound Includes — The Beauty, Value and Importance of this Great Inland Sea — The Lowlands and the Mountain Slopes of West- ern Washington — Rivers and Harbors of Western Washington — Eastern Washington — Its Rivers — Its Lakes — The Great Plains of the Columbia — River Valleys — Geology — Mineralogy — Zoology — Climate — Meteorology ot Western Washington — Governor Ferry's Remarks on the Mildness of CONTENTS. 27 THE Climate, and the Reasons for it — The Climate of Eastern Washington — The Chinook Wind — Soil, Vegetation and Agricultural Productions — The Alluvial Farming Lands — Table Lands — Forest Growths — Agricultu- ral Products — Timber and Lumber — Soil and Productions of Eastern Washington — The Yakima County — Remarkably Fat Cattle — From Whence THEY COME — ThE WONDERFUL FERTILITY OF THE SoiL — THE MOUNTAIN SLOPES AND Mountain Tops as Rich as the Valleys — The Immense Yield of Wheat — Thirty-five to Fifty Bushels to the Acre — Exports — Population-Table — Indian Tribes and their Reservations— Partial Civilization of the Indians — Their Industry — Education — Counties and Principal Towns — Table of Population and Valuation of Counties — Chief Towns — Religious Denomina- tions and Public Morals — Historical Data — The American Title to Wash- ington AND Oregon — The Arbitration in regard to the Islands in the Gulf OF Georgia— The Early Settlers — Indian War in 1S55— Conclusion— Wash- ington Territory Desirable for Immigrants — The Best Routes thither — The Early Completion of the Northern Pacific probablj 1 189 CHAPTER XXI. WYOMIJfG TERRITORY. Situation — Boundaries — Length and Breadth — Form — Area —Topography — Mountains — Elevation of Various Points — Rivers, Lakes, etc. — Remarkable Character of its Drainage — Its Waters Discharged into the Pacific by the Columbia River, into the Gulf of California by the Colorado, into the Salt Lake Basin by the Bear River, into the Upper Missouri by the Madi- son and Gallatin, into the Middle Missouri by the Yellowstone and Big Cheyenne, into the Lower Missouri by the Niobrara and Platte, and into the Gulf of Mexico bt all these — Geology and Mineralogy — Coal — Petro- leum— Gold and Silver — Other Metals — Mining of Precious Metals not much Developed — Marble and other Mineral Products — Forests, Soil and Vegetation— Zoology — Climate — Mpzteorology of Cheyenne — Agricultural Productions and Stock-Raising — Manufactures and Mining — Mining Pro- ducts—Railways, Existing and Projected — Population and its Distribution — Education — Religious Denominations — Counties— Area — Population in 1880, AND Valuation in 1877— Principal Towns— Objects of Interest — The Yellowstone National Park made a Separate Chapter — Historical Notes — Early Spanish Occupation of Wyoming — Discovery of Arastras and Span- ish Buildings— Father de Smet — Captain Bridger — His Occupation running back to a time "When Laramie Peak hadn't begun to Grow" — Organization of the Territory — Indian Conflicts — The Custer Massacre — Advantages of Wyoming for certain Classes of Immigrants — Prospects in the Near Future 1213 CHAPTER XXII. THE YELLOWSTOJ^E J{AT10KAL PARK. Situation — Boundaries and Area — Its Recent Discovery and Exploration— Thk Act of Congress setting it apart as a National Park — The Park drained into the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico— Its Volcanic Character— Not of much Value as an Agricultural Region — Inaccessible except from thk 88 CONTENTS. North and West— Eastern Part not fully Explored— No Mineral Wealth YET Discovered except in the Northeast Corner — The Approach to the I'ARK AT the North — The Canon ok the Yellowstone, outside the Park — Cinnabar Mountain — "The Devil's Slide"— Entrance to the Park— Rapid Review ok the Objects to ke Visited — Sepulchre Mountain — Canon ok Gar- diner's River— Mammoth Hot Springs — Tower Creek and Falls— The Columns and Towers ok Tower Creek Canon — Mount Washburn— The Grand Canon of the Yellowstone — Yellowstone Lake — The Lakes of the Southern Tour, Heart, Lewis and Shoshone — The Cross Cut which avoids -PHESE The Upper and Lower Geyser Basins of the Eire Hole or Upper Madison River — The Geyskr Basins ok Gibbon's Eork— The Wonders of Beaver Lake and the Obsidian Clikks — Return to Mammoth Hot Springs — Time in which the Trip can be made — The Wonders in Detail — Mammoth Hot Springs — Mr. Strahorn's Description — The Route to Tower Creek Ealls and Canon — Hon. N. P. Langford and Lieutenant Doane's Eulogy ok them — The Ascent to Mount Washburn — Rev. Dr. Hoyt's Eloquent Pic- ture OK the View krom its Summit — The Descent krom Mount Washburn — The Old and the New Trail — The Grand Canon ok the Yellowstone — Its Bed Inaccessible at most Points — The Upper and Lower Falls ok the Yel- lowstone — The Latter at the Head of the Grand Canon — Dr. Hoyt's Eloquent Description of the Falls and the Canon — The Trail to Yellow- stone Lake — The Lake Itself — Its Shape Compared to the Human Hand — Professor Raymond's Criticism of the Comparison — The Elevation of the Lake — Professor Hayden's Statement only Correct if applied to Large Lakes — Height ok Colorado Lakes — The Yellowstone River Flows through the Lake — The Lake not its Source — Affluents of the Lake — Mineral and Hot Springs on its Banks — Its Waters generally very Pure and Sweet — The Trout Infested with Worms — Beauty of the Lake — Mar- shall's Description — Strahorn's Poetical Picture — Professor Raymond's Eulogy — Rev. Dr. Hoyt's Pen Portraiture of it — Moving Forward — The Upper and Lower Geyser Basins — Explanations in regard to Geysers — Those of Iceland the only others of Note in the World — Character of the Geyser Eruption — Old and Recent Geysers — The Upper Geyser Basin — Rev. Edwin Stanley's " Parade of the Geysers " — The Geysers not all in Action at once — Lieutenant Barlow on the Fan and Well Geysers — The Grotto — Mr. Norton's Description — Lieutenant Doane on the Grand Geyser — Professor Raymond on the Lower Geyser Basin — The Laugs or Extinct Geysers — Geyserdom not Paradise — Dr. Hoyt's Description of the Desolation — The Geysers and Hot Springs ok Gibbon's Fork — Beaver Lake — The Obsidian Cliffs — Mountains of Glass — Review of the whole — Accessi- bility of the Park — Its Future Attractions — Its Quiet and Beautiful Valleys and Glades — Distances within the Park 1227 CHAPTER XXIII. ALASKA. Relation of Alaska to Our Western Empire — Another Kamschatka — Absurdity of the Stories told of its Present or Prospective Productiveness — Its Furs, Fisheries and Timber somewhat Valuable — Peculiar Form of the Territory — The Bull's Head with two Long Horns — Its Three Divi- CONTENTS. 29 SIGNS, Sitka, Yukon and the Islands — Area — Population — Topography — Mountains — Rivers — The Limits and Area of each Division — Geology — Vol- canoes and Glaciers — Mineralogy — Coal — Metals — Minerals — Gold and Silver — Recent Discoveries — Zoology — The Divisions in Detail — The Sit- KAN Division— Its Fur Trade, Fisheries and Timber — Its Agricultural Pro- ductions confined to a few Vegetables — 2. The Yukon District of little Value, except for its Fur Trade, Whale and other Fisheries on the Coast — 3. The Island District — Some Arable Land on the Larger Islands, and A possibility of Future Dairy-farms there, though at too great Cost for ^UCH Profit — The Capture of the Fur Seal on the Pribyloff Islands the Principal Industry, though Fisheries may Increase — Detailed Account of THE Fisheries — The Population, Nationalities and Character — The Natives — KoLOSHiAN Tribes — Kenaian Tribes — The Aleuts — The Eskimo— Prin- cipal Towns and Villages — Meteorology of Fort St. Michael's and Una- lashka — Objects of Interest to the Tourist — Historical Notes — Can it be Commended to Immigrants ? 1266 PART IV.— THE LANDS OUTSIDE OF "OUR WESTERN EMPIRE." CHAPTER I. THE JVORTHWESTERM PROVIJfCES OF THE DOMIJ^'IOJf OF CANADA. I. British Columbia — Boundaries — Area— Islands — Soil of Islands and Coast — Soil and Surface of the Interior — Mountains — Rivers — Geology and Min- eralogy—Coal — Gold, Silver, etc. — Fisheries — Timber — Fur-Trade — Popu- lation — Indians — Chief Towns — II. The Northwest Territories — Extent — Recent Division — Lakes — Rivers — Mountains — Sdil — Clim.a.te Warmer THAN Manitoba — Wild Animals and Game Plenty — Rivers and Lakes Stocked with Fish — Population— Indians— Religion — III. Keewatin — The New Territory — Not much known of it — IV. Manitoba — Its Territory too Small — No Good Reason for this — Its Boundaries — Its Rivers — The Province Nearly a Dead Level — Climate — Rainfall — Meteorology of Fort Garry — Agriculture — Conflicting Accounts — Report of an " English Farmer" — Reply of "a Canadian" — Climate very Severe in Winter — Mr. Vernon Smith's Description of the Rivers and Lakes and their Future Usefulness — Earl Dufferin's Description — Mr. Vernon Smith on the Crops — Later Statistics not Available — Transportation — The Canadian Pacific — Its Present Condition and Prospects — Religion, Education, etc. — Principal Towns — Historical Notes — The Red River Settlement — Pembina — Assiniboia — Riel's Revolution— The Rapid Growth of the Province since IT became a Part of the Dominion 1282 ^o CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. HOMES FOR IMMIGRANTS <9JV THE ATLAJYTIC SLOPE. Why many Immigrants do not like to go to the West— Views of many of OUR OWN People on the Subject— Are there not Homes for these on the Atlantic Slope ?— Advantages of the East— Wisconsin and Michigan — Ohio, Indiana and Illinois — Tennessee — Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont— Massachusetts and Connecticut— Northern New York— Long Island— Advantages of New System of Ensilage here and in New Jersey — » New Jersey— The Southern Counties— West Virginia — North Carolina — East Tennessee— Northern Georgia— Florida— Conclusion 1303 / OUR WESTERN EMPIRE; OR, The New West Beyond the Mississippl PART I. OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER I. What it Comprehends — The West beyond the Mississippi — Its Area and Extent — Comparison with other Empires — Climate — Mountains — Natural Phenomena — Soil — The Alkaline, Volcanic and " Bad Lands " — Predominance of Arable and Pasture Lands — Nutritious Grasses in the Grazing Lands. " Our Western Empire " is of greater extent than any other Empire of Christendom except Russia and Brazil, and in population, enterprise, and advantages for future growth is the peer of any ; but it has no monarch, hereditary or elective, to rule its wide domain. It forms a large part — more than two- thirds of the Great Republic of the United States of America, and over all its vast extent, an intelligent and industrious, moral and capable people rule themselves. Their chief magistrates, their governors and executive officers, are men of the people, selected by the people, for short terms of service, and replaced by others, when those terms expire. What, then, do we understand "Our Western Empire" to comprehend ? All of that portion of the United States lying west of the Mississippi, and including the new Territory of Alaska. Its northern boundaries are the Arctic Ocean and Behrin^'s Sea and Straits west of the 140th meridian; and east of that, British America; its western limit the Pacific Ocean; Its southern, Mexico and the Mexican Gulf; its eastern, the Mississippi river 3 (33) 34 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. from its mouth to the Canada line, and the west line of British America, above the fifty-fourth parallel. It has an area of 2,671,884 square miles, of which 577,390 or about one-fifth, belongs to Alaska. It extends over 42° of latitude, and in its farthest western boundary, " by Ounalaska's lonely shore," over 103° of longitude. Leaving Alaska out of the question, as a mere dependency, the remainder of "Our Western Empire" comprises 24° of latitude and 36° of longitude, having a breadth of nearly 2,000 miles from east to west, and a length from north to south of 1,700 miles, with an area of 2,094,494 square miles. The whole of Europe except Russia, including the great German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Republic of France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Kingdoms of Turkey, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and the minor States and principalities, have in all only an area of 1,678,791 square miles, about four-fifths of "Our Western Empire " exclusive of Alaska, or including it, less than three-fifths. Its population is of course much less than that of the larger European States, though somewhat greater than that of the Brazilian Empire, and increasing at a rate never equalled in the world's history. No empire in tlie world has a greater diversity of climate ; from the more than six months' winter of the northern border, and the mountainous regions, on some of which rest eternal snows, to the tropical heats of Arizona and Southern Texas, there is the greatestpossiblediversity of moisture and drought, of heatand cold, of moderate, equable and health-giving temperature, and of rapid change, and fickle, inconstant skies. Like other large empires, it has great diversities of surface. Three ranges of lofty mountains traverse it from north to south with their numerous outlying spurs, their broad plateaux and table-lands rising to a height of 6,000 to 9,000 feet, their mesas or isolated flat-topped mountain summits, their deep and terrible canons, and their long valleys, sometimes narrow and precipitous, sometimes broad seas of ver- dure and flowers. These are: the Rocky Mountains, appropri- ately named "the backbone of the Continent," and occupying a THE WEST BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI. ^5 position about midway between the Mississippi river and the Pacific Ocean ; west of these, and parallel with them, the Sierra Nevada, or Snowy Range, whose peaks tower up into heights corresponding with those of the Alps ; and still farther west, and looking out upon the Pacific, the Coast Range, generally of lower altitude, but containing some lofty summits, whose snow-clad tops are the landmarks of the coast. Between the Rocky Moun- tains and the Sierra Nevada, is the great Utah or Salt Lake Basin, a vast depressed tract, none of whose streams flow out- ward, and some of whose lakes are salt and bitter. It has also its volcanic regions, and areas of erosion, where Dame Nature has played most fantastic tricks, now rearing lofty statues, monu- ments, castles, cathedrals, gateways, now scooping out vast series of basins of mineral waters either hot or cold, such as put all artificial baths to shame ; anon sending at intervals its eeyser- fountains two hundred and fifty feet into the air; or filling the quaking and trembling earth with jets of hot steam, reeking with sulphurous odors. At some points, after a fearful descent into some apparently dark and gloomy ravine or canon, all the hills or mountains around one seem to have put on their holiday attire; one has donned for its bridal veil a beautiful and semi- transparent waterfall, whose height Is so great that the water seems pulverized Into glittering dust ere it reaches the valley; another, with a greater supply of water, forms four or five gigantic cascades, each higher than Niagara, In Its downward career; while sdll another. In a rift between the mountain summits, forms a stream of moderate size In a perpendicular fall, a thousand feet or more, sheer down Into the valley. Broad lakes, some of them salt and some fresh, with many outlets or with none, are found on mountain tops or In the centre of wide valleys; while, as we have said, one vast basin has Its own system of lakes and rivers which find no way of reaching the sea. Like other empires, not all the land has a rich and fertile soil. There are mountains, where the rocks are cold, bleak, bare and precipitous ; there are canons and ravines, whose nearly perpen- dicular walls, from 3,000 to 6,000 feet In height, only let In the sunlight at midday, and their clayey and rocky sides, of parti- 26 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. colored hues, afford no hold for weed, vine, shrub or tree. There are plains, plateaux and mesas covered with alkaline powder, and having as their only vegetation the gray, lichen-hued sage-brush; plains on which the gentle rain and soft falling dew seldom or never descends — yet these monotonous and apparently barren plains, under the influence of irrigation, yield most abundant crops, and even the despised sage-brush furnishes a delicious pasturage for cattle. There are also considerable tracts where, in former times, the eroding influences of mountain streams have cut the det^p strata of clay into the most fantastic forms — lands so utterly barren, that no toil could extract from them the least vestige of a crop — the " Bad Lands " of the Canadian trappers ; and there are also some stretches of volcanic lands, for one of which the foul and mephitic vapors, and the earthquake shocks, have prompted the expressive name of Death Valley. But while these extraordinary displays of the power of natural forces render this Great West a true Wonderland, they really comprise but a small proportion of its surface, and no region of equal extent has a larger proportion of available and productive lands. The quantity of arable soil is immense. The wheat fields of Iowa, Minnesota, Northern and Southeastern Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska, the lands suited to the growth of Indian corn in these States and Territories, and in Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian Territory, and in portions of Colorado and New Mexico, the cotton lands of Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico, and, on the Pacific slope, the wheat and barley fields and the vineyards and orchards of California, the wheat and corn fields of Oregon and Washington, are beyond all comparison for ex- cellence, on this continent or any other. In the way of grazing lands, no other country can compare with them. There are not only the cattle upon a thousand hills or plains, but thousands and tens of thousands of catde on each vast plain or mountain slope. The States and Territories of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, North- western Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Cali- fornia, can furnish, within a few years, all the beef and mutton needed to feed the rest of the world. The grasses here are THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT: WHERE IS IT? yj more nutritious and fattening, and give to the flesh of the cattle a more gamey flavor than those of any other known country; and even those lands which were at first reckoned as portions of the Great American Desert, lands given over to alkaline deposits and sage-brush, and on which there was but very little rainfall, now prove admirably adapted to pasturage, and, either with or without irrigation, most bounteous in their production of grain and root crops. And in this connection we may well raise the question which we next discuss. CHAPTER II. The Great American Desert : Where is it? — The Hundredth Meridian — "Eli Perkins's" Scare — The Facts in Reply — Colonel (Brevet Brig- adier-General) Hazen on the Northern Pacific — Governor Howard's Answer, and other Facts — Dakota — Wyoming and its Agriculture — Montana — B. R. and Mr. Z. L. White on its Crops — The small Modicum OF Truth in these "Desert" Stories — The reported "Desert" beyond the Rockies — The Utah and Nevada Desert — Testimony of Surveyors-General — The Texan Desert and Arizona — The Great American Desert a Myth. Thirty or forty years ago all our maps had a wide space, and some of them two or three wide spaces, inscribed, "Great Amer- ican Desert." Nearly the whole of the present States of Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, and Western Minnesota ; the Territories of Wyoming, Dakota, Montana, and Idaho, Western Texas, and after we had conquered " a piece " from Mexico, Arizona, most of New Mexico, Utah and Nevada, were included in this comprehensive designation. By and by silver, and some gold, were found in Nevada, and in the neighborhood of Pike's Peak, in what is now Colorado ; but though the existence of the pre- cious metals there could not be denied, yet the terrors of the desert to be passed through (terrors of whose reality the wagon- trail marked at almost every step by skeletons of cattle, and too often, alas ! by the bones of emigrants, gave most ghastly proof) were such that only the most stout-hearted could brave them. After some years the tide of emigration, which at first had 28 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. been confined to the eastern counties of Kansas and Nebraska, and had not reached the western counties of Iowa, and still less those of Minnesota, began to rise and overflow the adjacent counties and districts. The Union Pacific, the Northern Pacific, the Kansas Pacific, and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railways had plunged into this desert, and being all land grant roads, had made the discovery that these lands were not really a desert, but were capable of yielding excellent crops, and of fur- nishing superior pasturage to cattle and sheep. The line of settlement has advanced with each year till now it has reached the loist meridian west from Greenwich, in Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota, and overleaping all barriers has extended to the foothills and peaks of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, and with moderate irrigation has pro- duced from these supposed desert-lands the most astonishing crops, and has furnished, as we have already said, pasturage so rich and abundant, to hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, that their flesh is more highly prized than any other in the market. Yet there have not been wanting those who from one motive or another, have sought to depreciate these lands, and have declared, in the face of the most conclusive evidence, that the ■whole region west of the looth meridian was a barren desert, incapable of producing crops or furnishing pasturage sufficient for the subsistence of men or animals, and that it would remain so until God changed the physical laws which govern the distri- bution of clouds, and rain, levelled the mountains, and made the climate like that of the East. It is very easy to theorize on these matters, and to demonstrate that because, according to certain premises, a certain result should follow, therefore it will inevitably follow ; but he is not a wise man who neMects to test the truth of his theories by facts. The two regions, which, within the past decade, have been per- sistently denounced by these pseudo-scientific theorists as portions of the Great American Desert, rainless, treeless, barren and incapable of ever being inhabited, are the regions lying near the lOOth meridian west from Greenwich and westward indefinitely, THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT: WHERE IS IT? 30 though some of these pessimists admitted that there might be some fertile valleys among the Rocky Mountains ; and second, the region from about the 107th meridian westward to the 114th. The first tract includes Western Texas, at least two-thirds of the Indian Territory, the western Uiird of Kansas, almost half of Nebraska, Eastern New Mexico, more than half of Colorado, nearly all of Wyoming, more than half of Dakota, and the wliole of Montana. In regard to Kansas, Nebraska, and Colo- rado, as late as the winter or early spring of 1879, Mr. Landon, a popular lecturer, better known to the public under his nom de plume of Eli Perkins, published in the Cincinnati Enqui7^er^ and soon after in the New York Siui^ the following article : LET EMIGRANTS WESTWARD LOOK OUT! An awful trap is being set for credulous emigrants. Thousands of these emigrants are settling west of the rain belt, and they don't know it. They are going out too far on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa P'e, the Kansas Pacific, the Union Pacific, and the Northern Pacific Railroads. " Where is the drought line? " asks the reader. " Draw a line from Austin, Texas, to Bismarck, Minnesota, on the Northern Pacific, and all west of that line is the drought country. Five years out of eight, crops will entirely fail west of this line. Last year was an exception to the rule, and this is why so many emigrants are venturing too far West this year. The land-sharks are deceiving them, and are pushing a vast army of emigrants into a famine region." "What makes this region west of the looth parallel a desert region?" " Because it rains just as much water as there is water evaporated each year. If it rained more water than is evaporated, it would run down into the ocean, and the land would soon be covered with water. Rains run to the ocean in rivers, and the air evaporates the water of the ocean and carries it inland. Clouds form rainfalls, and back goes the water on to the earth, then into the ocean again. Now, before the air from the Gulf or ocean reaches Bismarck, or the middle of Nebraska or Kansas, this wet air which started from the ocean becomes dry. There is no water in it ; the water has all fallen out of it in rain, and it has run back to the sea." " But why is San Antonio subject to drought when it is so close to the Gulf? " " Because the air of San Antonio, on the Staked Plains in Texas, and in Arizona, comes up through Mexico. It is dry before it starts. It does not come from the Gulf, Mexico is hot. A perpetual current of hot, dry air blows over Mexico and fans Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado with atmos- phere as dry as wind from the Desert of Sahara. This dry-air current, blowing 40 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. up from Mexico and Arizona, strikes the high mountains in Colorado. Here, in the centre of the continent, within seventy-five miles of Pike's Peak, is the source of the Red, Colorado, Rio Grande, Arkansas and Missouri rivers. This is the backbone of North America. The high, cold peaks condense any mois- ture that there may be in the air coming up from the south, and make it into snow. Then this cold, dry air passes on up the centre of the continent, making a perpetual desert. It prevents any damp air from coming east of the looth parallel. When we reach the Northern Pacific and Manitoba another current of wind, a damp current, blows from the Pacific Ocean. There is no desert there, where the Pacific wind heads off the wind from Mexico. Now, I say, thousands of innocent emigrants have taken up farms during the last year west of the rain parallel. Of course they will be ruined, and you will see them coming back broken-hearted and discouraged." " Will it always be a desert west of the looth parallel ? " " Yes, until the Almighty changes the course of the winds, takes down the mountain-peaks, and stops the clouds from raining all their water out in the East before they get to the desert." Eli Perkins. We will not stop here to notice the deplorable ignorance manifest in almost every line of this article of Eli Perkins, ignorance which would cause any intelligent school-boy of twelve years old to blush with shame, such as persistently speaking of meridians of longitude as parallels ; locating Bismarck in Minnesota, mistaking the longitude of the places of which he speaks, and contradicting himself by saying in one sentence that the air which reaches Bismarck is dry, and there is no rain in it, and in the next that " when we reach the Northern Pacific and Manitoba, another current of wind, a damp current, blows from the Pacific Ocean, There is no desert there, where the Pacific wind heads off the wind from Mexico." Yet Bismarck is on that Northern Pacific Railroad, and just south of Manitoba. It would be as well for " Eli Perkins" to eo to school for a few months before he attempts to write for the papers. Now please note the follow- ing facts. In Kansas, the rainfall at Fort Wallace, ninety miles west of the looth meridian, averaged yearly in 187 1, 1872, 1873, and 1874, 13.47 inches; in 1875, 1876, 1877, and 1878, 15.05 inches; an average gain of 1.58 inches yearly. In 1879, it was 15.30 inches in the first three-quarters of the year, and would undoubtedly reach 18 inches or more in the full year. This THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT: WHERE IS IT? ^j can hardly be called a rainless region. As to the crops in Kansas, this region west of the looth meridian has only been settled from three to eight years, and in that time there has been but one failure of the crops, and that not from drought, but from grasshoppers. The average yield of wheat in these counties was from nineteen to twenty-four bushels to the acre, and of corn forty bushels to the acre. The dairy products were much beyond the consumption. Colorado is between the I02d and the 109th meridians, and so, according to Mr. Landon, entirely in the desert ; yet its rainfall for 1876, 1877 ^""^ 1878, average 15.78 inches, and was much more than that in 1879, and in the lower and more arable lands ranged from nineteen to twenty-one inches. Owing to its vast mining wealth, but a very small portion of its surface has yet been cultivated; but in 1878, 66,691 acres yielded 1,310,000 bushels of excellent wheat, an average of 19.6 bushels to the acre, while the southern counties, which are the driest, yielded 22.6 bushels to the acre. In the same year, there were raised 750,000 bushels of other cereals, 450,000 bushels of potatoes and 50,000 tons of hay. The agricultural products of the State were valued at $3,515,000, aside from its live-stock, which was nearly five times as much. So far from being " ruined and coming back broken-hearted and discouraged," the agriculturists of Kansas and Colorado, west of the lOOth meridian, in 1879 broke up twice as much ground as the previous year and planted it in full faith of more abundant crops than the previous year, and were not disappointed. " Eli Perkins " seems to be a little in doubt whether the Great American Desert reaches as far north as the Northern Pacific Rail- road. He thinks there may be some Pacific moisture there, though how it manages to come over the Rocky Mountains, without having all its moisture squeezed or frozen out of it, he does not explain. But another of these scientific theorists entertains no doubts that the whole course of the Northern Pacific Railroad, from Minnesota westward through Dakota and Montana, and probably Idaho, and for fifty miles each side of that railway, is a perfectly barren desert and must ever remain so. He denounces ^2 OUR WESTERN' EMPIRE. (or did in 1874) the projectors and managers of the Northern Pacific Railway, as a company of swindlers, who were under- taking to palm off these worthless lands on unsuspecting emicrrants. A thousand acres of these lands would not, he thinks, yield a support for a single family. This voluble denouncer of a great public enterprise was Colonel W. B. Hazen, U.S.A., Brevet Brigadier-General, stationed for three years at Fort Buford, in Northwestern Dakota, and his only knowledge of the lands of this region, which he proclaimed to be a portion of the Great American Desert, was derived from three or four journeys up and down the Missouri river, in a steamboat. Colonel Hazen has undoubtedly heard of the " Bad Lands of Dakota," and might possibly have seen a portion of them, as they are near the Missouri, at one part of its course, but he was not warranted in concludinor that the whole of these grreat territories was of the same description. "The Bad Lands," lands where the mountain streams have eaten their way through beds of clay and have cut them Into most fantastic forms, are undoubtedly barren, and will probably produce nothing except minerals and fossils ; but they are of very moderate extent. Colonel Wm. H. H. Beadle, Superintendent of Public Instruction in Dakota, and late Private Secretary to Governor Howard, a man who has explored very thoroughly all parts of Dakota, says that " the Bad Lands " in Dakota do not exceed 75,000 acres of barren land (only about three townships), the rest being either arable or good grazing lands. Governor Howard, of Dakota, has well said in his report to the Secretary of the Interior, in September, 1879: It is but a short time since vast herds of buffalo roamed undisturbed over these prairies ; now farms stocked with cattle and sheep everywhere abound. It is not long since we were taught in our Eastern homes and in our schools, and learned from our geographies the story of the Bad Lands, the "Great American Desert," and were left to believe that Dakota for barrenness was only /equalled by the Desert of Sahara, and that its chilling blasts were equal to the cold of Greenland ; but since it has been demonstrated that Dakota has a soil exceedingly rich, has more arable and less waste land in proportion to its size than any State or Territory in the whole Union, and since millions of bushels of grain are already waiting transportation to the markets of the world, capital, proverbially timid, is stretching out its arms, and, with hooks of steel, is drawing to itself the carrying trade of an empire. THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT: WHERE IS IT? 43 In Northeastern Dakota alone in 1879 there were 375,972 acres of land under cultivation, of which 266,618 acres were devoted to wheat, and yielded 5,332,360 bushels of the best grade of wheat, an average of 22 bushels to the acre, though 40 bushels were often produced. Corn yielded 75 bushels and upwards to the acre, and oats from 60 to 75 bushels, while from 300 to 600 bushels of potatoes, and corresponding amounts of other root crops rewarded the farmer's toil. Southeastern Dakota is equally prolific in its crops ; and even in the Black Hills, which were supposed to possess no agricultural value, and were only prized for their mineral wealth, the husbandman's toil 'is rewarded by the most abundant returns. Wyoming, though largely a grazing Territory, has yet much arable land, and though this bugbear of a Great American Desert has in the past greatly hindered the settlement of this large and valuable Territory, which is destined to be in the not distant future one of the richest of all the Western States and Territories, settlers are beeinninsf to discover that some of the best lands on the condnent are to be found in its valleys and along its mountain slopes. The crops, on these apparently barren lands, when ferdlized by one or two irrigations annually, or even without them, by deep plow- ing, are almost incredible. Even the most unpromising of these lands are found by the stock-raisers to furnish the most nutri- tious pasturage. "The raising of cattle on an extensive scale is becoming important and profitable in Wyoming," says the Land Office Report for 1878. In regard to Montana we shall have more to say when we come to speak of its productions and climate as a separate Territory. The following item, however, is conclusive of the fact that it is not a desert agriculturally. The Land Office estimates the arable lands of the Territory at about 6,500,000 acres, and the grazing lands at nearly three times that amount. The crop correspondent of the New York Bulletiji sends the following from Chicago, Nov. 27th: "The United States consul at Winnepeg has lately published a letter in the St. Paul Pioneer Press with reference to the wheat-producing belt of the 'Far West.' The ardcle is full of interestine facts. He savs : 'The 44 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. most favored of all the territorial organizations Is Montana.* I have to-day received the following ' crop note ' from my corre- spondent there, which I send you Intact : "'BozEMAN, Gallatin county, Montana, Nov. 6, 1879. " 'Grain in tliis county nearly all threshed. A larger acreage of wheat and oats than ever before ; yield rather more than average. One field of spring wheat averaged fifty-three bushels per acre ; thirty acres in Jefferson valley averaged fifty-nine bushels. Fifty-five acres winter wheat averaged fifty-six bushels; six and a quarter acres of the same averaged sixty-nine bushels. The wheat crop of the county — winter and spring — will average at least thirty-eight bushels per acre. Many crops are nearly or quite as good as those mentioned. Many crops of oats turned out sixty to one hundred bushels per acre. In one field 1,030 bushels were threshed from nine acres. The oat crop of the county will average fully fifty bushels per acre. A very small area was sown in barley last spring ; will average about forty-five bushels. Quality of all kinds of grain good. B. R.'" Mr. Zimrl L. White, the accomplished, careful and conscien- tious correspondent of the New York Tribune, whom no one will accuse of the least tendency to overstatement, says of Mon- tana farming, after spending nearly two months there In the summer and autumn of 1879: "The average yield of wheat In Montana Is at least twenty- five bushels to an acre. Other writers have placed It at from thirty to forty bushels, and fifty bushels is by no means an un- common crop ; but taking the whole country together, I doubt if the farmer can depend upon much more than twenty-five. This is ten bushels, or 66 per cent, more, than what Is considered a good crop in the great grain States of the Mississippi valley. The wheat of Montana is also of a very excellent quality. An analysis of samples of Montana wheat, made at the Agricultural Department In Washington, shows 18 percent, more nitrogeneous or flesh-producing matter than Minnesota wheat, and that bulk for bulk It weighed about 6 per cent. more. I have before me a sample of spring wheat of the crop of 1878, raised by Mr. Reeves in the Prickly Pear valley, that averages to weigh sixty-four pounds to a measured bushel. Some of the crops of wheat that have been raised in Montana have been almost fabulous. Forty, fifty, and even sixty bushels to an acre are not uncommon crops. l^IIE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT: WHERE IS IT? 45 Several years ago the State Fair Association offered a premium for the best acre of wheat raised that season, and the award was made to Mr. Raymond, of the Prickly Pear valley, who had 102 measured bushels on a single acre. The committee who made the award were prominent citizens of Montana, and one of them has told me that the same year a farmer in the Gallatin valley raised an equally large average crop on a forty-acre lot, but as he could not show that he had more than 102 bushels on any single acre, the committee decided that he was not entitled to the premium. " I have seen in August this year many fields of wheat, both standing and in the shock, in the country around Helena, and I have not seen one that appeared to have less than thirty bushels to an acre. In many fields the shocks of grain stood almost as thick as the sheaves in the fields of the Mississippi valley, " Oats and barley grow as well as wheat. The average yield of oats to the acre is considerably greater than that of wheat, and the weight per bushel is much above the standard. Mr. Reeves gave me a sample of oats from his farm which he said would average to weigh forty-six pounds to a bushel. General Brisbin says that Mr. Burton raised a field of oats which aver- aged 1 01 bushels to an acre, and a field of barley on which there were 113 bushels to an acre. "The soil of Montana seems to be especially fitted for the pro- duction of large crops of garden vegetables. The best market garden I ever saw, if abundant yield is a criterion, is that of Mr. Dorrington in the Prickly Pear valley. He sold ^2,000 worth of strawberries, and his root crops, such as turnips, onions, beets, parsnips, etc., seemed literally to fill the ground. He expected to take ten tons of onions from a small patch of ground, and would receive five cents a pound for them in Helena. The fol- lowing table compiled by General Brisbin shows what the pro- duct of the gardens cultivated by troops at Fort Ellis was, In 1877: 46 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Company and Regiment. o II J= X • — MO II J2 u) Is ^5 «c2 Bushels Salsify. Heads of Cabbage. F, 2d Cavalry G, " " H, " " T ii ii ^f G, yth Infantry... Totals 1% 5 6 5 26>^ IjIOO 55° I,200 700 37865 90 60 130 50 6 336 60 60 35 150 40 7s7 60 35 40 25 12 50 40 10 20 25 20 3 3 3,6oo| 2,500 3-300 2,300 800! 12,500 172 105 75 " The value of the several articles If bought at the fort would have been: Potatoes, $3,865; onions, $2,352; turnips, $85; carrots, $206.40; beets, $315; parsnips, $225; salsify, $9.40; cabbage, $125. Total, $7,182.80. The garden crops at Fort Ellis in other years have been fully one-third greater for the same amount of ground. "As a rule the farms of Montana have to be irrigated, and in most of the valleys there is an abundance of water for this pur- pose. The cost of constructing good canals for the irrigation of 1 60 acres of land is of course considerable, but when once com- pleted the expense of keeping them in order is very small, while the ability of the farmer to regulate absolutely the amount of moisture which his crop shall have more than compensates lor all the extra labor and expense which irrigation makes neces- sary." The facts in regard to this region between the looth and lojth meridians seem to be (not reckoning too closely the exact line of either meridian) that there are some tracts, of very moderate extent in them, which are neither arable nor grazing lands — such as the " bad lands " of Dakota, and a small district of Nebraska and Wyoming, and portions of the Yellowstone Park and its vicinity; such, too, as some of the mountain regions in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, where there are frightful perpendicular precipices, from 1,000 to 5,000 feet in depth, the results of up^ heaval, volcanic action or erosion, but these constitute only com- paratively small and isolated tracts of a belt, 350 to 400 miles in width, and 1,700 miles in Icn-th. For the rest, at least one-fifth THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT: WHERE IS IT? ^y is arable, either with or without irrigation, and yields enormous crops ; three-fifths are the best grazing lands to be found any- where, and one-fifth is good and serviceable timber, much of it of large size. Can anything better be said of any land the sun shines on ? The proportion of lands susceptible of improve- ment is larger than that of Great Britain or Germany, and very nearly equal to that of France ; and the arable lands are richer and more productive without manures, than those of these coun- tries with them. But what of the second region, where the maps still keep up the inscription, " Great American Desert ? " Stretching westward from the 1 08 th meridian In Texas, Arizona and Colorado, the line trends still farther west, as it proceeds north, and occupies most of the Great Valley between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada or Cascade range, and includes Western Texas, the whole of Arizona, New Mexico, .Western Colorado and Wyoming, all of Utah and most of Nevada, Idaho, and Eastern Oregon and Washington Territory. The most ardent believers in a " Great American Desert " do not now, whatever they may have done in the past, venture to pronounce all of this territory a desert, for there are too many evidences that considerable por- tions of the region are remarkably fertile ; yet, taken as a whole, it is far less susceptible of immediate cultivation -than the first region already described. It Includes the Great Salt Lake Basin, with its peculiar volcanic formations, the great table lands of Western Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, and the equally ele- vated plateaux of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, and the deep and terrible canons of the Colorado and its tributaries. Nearly all this region is rich in minerals, and would eventually be occu- pied, were it an arid desert, throughout its whole extent; but there is a large quantity of arable land, capable with irrigation, which in most sections is practicable, of yielding immense crops; there are many millions of acres of grazing lands where all the flocks and herds of the continent could find good pasturage, and there are extensive forests, some of them of stinted growth, but others of gigantic pines, cedars, firs and tulip trees. Mingled with these are districts where all culture is impossible, where ^g OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Nature has indulged in her wildest freaks, and where all tlie forces of the volcano, the earthquake, and the erosive and de- structive power of glacier, river, lake, and mountain torrent, have combined to make ruins grander and more impressive, than those of all the wars which have taken place, since our planet was inhabited by man. Yet these desolations are not sufficiently extensive in any one section to make a very large desert, certainly not a " Great American Desert." One of the districts which the map-makers of the present year are most persistently designating as the " Great American Desert " is the western half of Utah, and the eastern half of Nevada. Yet of this very region, a writer of undoubted authority says, in the autumn of 1879: "The farmers here have developed something new in agricul- ture — new in this region at least. There are here and elsewhere vast tracts of ' desert lands,' or lands which are so high above the stream that they can never be irrigated. Several years ago wheat was sown upon small patches of this seemingly arid and valueless soil. A tolerably fair crop was raised without artificial moisture or unusual rain, and now broad areas of this kind of land are being put under cultivation annually, producing as high as twenty bushels of wheat per acre. These are really warm alltivial soils .formed by the crumbling of mountain ranges." The pamphlet issued by the Utah Board of Trade in 1879^ while commending the general fertility of the Territory under irrigation, which, is generally practised, and in some sections without it, says very frankly, of the region lying west of Great Salt Lake in that Territory : " The western third of the Territory from end to end is an alternation of mountain, desert, sink and lake, with few oases cf arable or grazing lands. Great Salt Lake covers an area of 3,000 to 4,000 square miles, and the desert west of it a stiil larger area. Rush valley has mining and agricultural setde- ments, but much more pastoral than arable land, and so has Skull valley to the westward. But from these south to the rim of the basin are only occasional habitable spots, and thry are due to springs. THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT: WHERE IS IT? aq Concerning the other States and Territories impHcated in this charge of being desert lands, we offer the following as the latest and most credible testimony. The Surveyor-General of Idaho says : " There are immense tracts of sage-brush lands — the so- called ' desert lands' — that only await irrigating canals, to make them as productive as most lands in the Western States, yielding their forty bushels of wheat per acre, as our people have often demonstrated by actual experiment." The Surveyor-General of Utah says : " Notwithstanding the opinion of many who deem our lands 'arid, desert, and worthless,' these same lands under proper tillage produce forty to fifty bushels of wheat, seventy to eighty bushels of oats and barley, from two hundred to four hundred bushels of potatoes to the acre, and fruits and vegetables equal to any other State or Territory in quantity and quality." The Surveyor-General of Nevada says : " In our sage-brush lands, alfalfa, the cereals and all vegetables, flourish in profusion where water can be obtained, and the State is swiftly becoming one of the great stock-raising States of the Union." The Surveyor-General of New Mexico says: "There is a much larger portion of New Mexico adapted to agriculture, than is generally supposed by those who have seen but little of the seasons, and what the capabilities of the soil are. The valleys of the San Juan, Rio Grande, Gila, Pecos, Red river, Dry Cimmaron and others, streams with their hundreds of tributaries, afford an immense area of arable land, the real extent of which is yet only partially known. Near the foot of the various mountain ranges there is sufficient rainfall to render irrigation unnecessary in many localities, even were it practicable ; and fine crops of corn, wheat, oats and vegetables are raised, while the mountain sides and plains, covered at all seasons with the nutritious gramma grass, afford an admirable range for stock." Of Northwestern Texas, an able Texan writer, who has spent years there, after speaking of the prevalent notions that it is a dry country adapted to nothing but grazing, and perhaps very poorly for that ; that it is too rugged for culture, even if the soil was of good quality, which they believe is not the fact, and that the herders are ruffians and brigands, says : " Nothing could be 4 CO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. further from the truth than these notions. While It is true that this vast territory which we are describing is mainly a grazing country, it is also true that it abounds in fertile valleys, and rich locations of large extent, which are as well watered and fertile as any in the nation. Its rivers are without exception formed from springs ; they are as clear as any crystal, and furnish water power that is almost limitless." Arizona alone remains of the possible deserts of this western region ; yet the Surveyor-General of this Territory tells us that the valleys of its rivers and streams are irrigable, and that when irrigated they yield immense crops ; while the hills and plains furnish abundant and nutritious pasturage, and stock-raising Is a profitable pursuit ; that the Territory furnishes more grain, flour, bacon, lard, butter, catde, mules and horses than are needed for home consumption, and that considerable quantities of all are ex- ported. Fruits are comparatively plenty and cheap. Still more conclusive on this point is the testimony of Major- General J. C. Fremont, the present Governor of Arizona. From actual investigation and a comparison of its present condition with what it was when he visited it thirty years ago, he declares that most of Arizona is arable, that its rainfall ranges from fifteen inches to twenty-four inches (this too was written when the rainfall had been much less than usual for five years ; in a letter to the writer about Christmas, 1879, he stated that they were then in the midst of an unprecedented rain storm which had lasted for nearly two weeks, had raised the rivers to a great height and had flooded much of the country), that the crops of wheat even when raised by the Indians were very heavy, the Maricopas sendlng-at one time in August, 1 879, 200 tons of wheat of the best quality to San Francisco, where it brought ^2.22 the hundred pounds, and that most of the Indian tribes were subsisting by agriculture. This surely cannot be a wholly desert land. But while it is almost mathematically proved that the " Great American Desert " is a myth, receding from us as we try to approach it, it is not to .be denied that here, as in other empires, there are some desert lands, treeless, though not quite rainless; MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PEO DUCTS. ci often incapable of cultivation, though they may be rich in fossils or in the precious metals ; and that in these deserts may be found some of the most wonderful phenomena on the globe. CHAPTER III. The whole Region Abounding in Mineral Wealth — Production of Gold AND Silver, other Metals, etc. — Forests — Grasses — Root Crops — Fruits — Viniculture. Most of these States and Territories abound in mineral wealth. All the Territories and all the States except Minnesota, Nebraska and Kansas have either gold or silver mines or both, and it is by no means certain that even these will prove to be exceptions, though it is to be hoped they may; for agricultural products furnish a surer and better avenue to the prosperity of the entire population, than the richest mines of the precious metals. The golden grain of these States is a better possession than the gold mines of California or Colorado, or the silver of Nevada or Montana. Yet we would not underrate the vast mineral wealth of this Western Empire. It is possible, though not at all certain, that some of the Peruvian mines or those of Mexico may have more extensive deposits of gold or silver than are already opened, or are yet to be discovered in the Great West; but the production of none of them has been as great, in so short a period, as that of our mines, and we have just arrived at a stage of progress, when our production may be almost indefinitely increased. During the first ten years after the discovery of gold and silver in California, and the West, it is difficult to estimate with accuracy the production of the precious metals there ; but Professor Rossiter W. Raymond, who has devoted much time and study to the problem, names, as the result of his inquiries, a sum total of gold and silver which, by adding the production of 1878 and 1879, gives an aggregate for the Great West for the thirty years ending 52 OUR WESTERN EMRIRE. June 30,1879, of ^1,947,055,834, almost two billionsofthe precious metals. By a singular coincidence these are very nearly the amount of the product of the ten principal items of our agriculture for the year 1879. That product was ^1,904,480,659. The completion of the Sutro tunnel in Nevada, which will make deep mining practicable, in those hitherto productive lodes, and the discoveries of carbonate ores of silver and chlorides or horn silver in Utah, in the San Juan and Gunnison districts and else- where, on the western slopesof the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, the new and extensive deposits of both gold and silver in the Black Hills, in Utah and in Montana, and the increasing annual production of bullion, warrant the belief that we are just enter- ing upon a new era in the production of the precious metals, which will far exceed that of the combined production of the Pacific States and Australia, twenty-five years ago. But our mineral productions in our Western Empire are by no means confined to gold and silver, Qidcksilvcr, which is an absolute necessity for gold mining the world over, is more abundant in California, Nevada and Arizona than anywhere else in the world, and though, in the past, tedious litigation has pre- vented the mines from yielding their full product, yet not only has the large demand for our own mines been supplied, but we have exported millions of flasks to other countries. Nickel, platinum, and in vast quantities, copper, lead, iron and zinc, are among the products of this young empire ; and coal of all quali- ties is scattered in localities where it is most needed. Portions of this Western Empire are lacking in forest growths. The vast prairies and plains east of the Rocky Mountains had been so often burned over by the Indians, either carelessly or to promote the growth of the grasses, on which the buffalo, their principal game, fed, that though in times long ago they were covered with heavy forests, they seemed to have lost their ability to sustain any large amount of timber. Only near the banks of streams was there any considerable growth of trees, and these, in some sections, only the comparatively worthless cottonwood. But this deficiency will soon pass away. Encouraged by the Timber culture act of Congress, and by the desire to produce MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 53 trees instead of sending great distances for lumber, millions of trees have been planted, largely of the rapidly growing kinds, as the ailantus, locust, Osage orange, etc. ; and even on the alkaline plains they are growing and thriving, and have already increased to a sensible extent die amount of the scanty rainfall. But only a portion of the region lying between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains can be called treeless. In Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Missouri, Arkansas, parts of Texas and the Indian Territory, there are vast tracts of heavy timber, and the lumber exported from some of these States forms a very considerable portion of their productive wealth. West of the Rocky Moun- tains there is generally no lack of forests, especially on the mountain slopes ; Utah, New Mexico and Arizona are, however, but sparingly supplied with timber, and much of the land suffers from drought except where irrigation is possible. On the Pacific slope, portions of California and Nevada, all of Western Oregon and Washington are remarkable for the jjio-antic heig-ht and bulk of their forest trees. The Redwoods and Sequoias, which range from 300 to 475 feet in height, are not the only giants of these forests ; several species of pine and fir and some of the cedars tower from 250 to 350 feet in height on the lower hills of the Coast range, in California, Oregon and Washington. In Eastern Washington and Oregon there are extensive, elevated plains, without much timber, which are very cold in winter and intensely hot in summer. In Wyoming and Colorado the mountains are generally clothed with forests, up to a point somewhat below the snow line ; but the plains, plateaux and foothills are very often devoid of trees, except along the water-courses, or where they have been planted by man. Over much of this vast territory, nearly all of it beyond the Rocky Mountains, and the alkaline plains east of that range, there is little or nothino- which can be called sod; the lonoj dry summers would destroy it if it existed. But the buffalo and gramma grasses, more nutritious than our cultivated grasses, are adapted to the summer drought, and furnish all the year round a most delicious pasturage for cattle. The bunch grass, and the white sage-brush (after frost), are eagerly cropped. 54 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Wherever, as in California, Nevada, and portions of New Mexico, the cultivation of orrasses for feeding cattle has been found desirable, the Alfalfa grass, a species of South American lucerne, which yields two or three enormous crops a year, and is admirably adapted to this climate, furnishes at small expense a succulent and nutritious food for cattle and sheep. Tiiere are also other forage grasses, most of them native to the coast, which amply supply the absence of our sod-making grasses in the Atlantic States. In the season of melting snows, and moderate rains, these desolate and dreary plains are resplendent with flowers of every hue, and many of them redolent of the sweetest perfumes. The root crops of this entire region are remarkable alike for their abundance, the great size they attain, and their ex- cellent quality. In the deep, rich, and easily penetrated soil of all these States and Territories root crops seem to run riot, and grow without stint. The common potato, the sweet potato and the yam, yield from 400 to 600 bushels to the acre, and are, perhaps, the most profitable crops which can be raised. Turnips, both yellow and white, carrots, beets, etc., yield fabulous quantities of such gigantic size that they are hardly recognizable. The whole melon tribe, including the pumpkin, squash, and cucumber, as well as the watermelon, muskmelon, cantelope, and citron-melon exhibit their greatest fertility and most abun- dant productiveness in the most arid and desert-looking of these lands. Arizona, Southern California, the southern part of New Mexico, and Western Texas, are peculiarly adapted to these creeping vines and their cooling fruits. This Great West is destined to be the garden of the world, in its cultivation and conservation of edible fruits and their products. Its great variety of climates and temperatures, and the elevation of its arable lands, even in semi-tropical regions, permits, and will continue to permit and demand, the produc- tion of the greatest variety of choice fruits to be found in any one region on the earth's surface. In the northern portion, the apples, pears, quinces, plums, cherries, and small fruits of Min- nesota, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 55 Northern California are unsurpassed either in size or flavor by those of any other part of the world. It has been asserted that the laro^er fruits of California, as well as its veg;^etables, thouorh of great size, lack the succulency and fine flavor of those raised in the Eastern States, but there is no reason to believe that this is true. Fruits carried to cfreat distances from their native soil, and kept for months or years, do lose something of their flavor, as is well known; but eaten where they are grown, they are unsurpassed in excellence. The belt below this, consisting of the States of Iowa, Missouri, Southern Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska, Wyoming, Northern Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Central California, adds to this list the peach, the apricot, and, above all, the grape. Already California is more largely en- gaged in the culture of the vine than any other country In the world. Every known species and variety which possesses merit is grown there, and though her great vineyards are so young, she is only second to France In the amount of her wine produc- tion. Nowhere can finer " raisins of the sun " be produced than there. Her peaches are excellent, but not so much attention has been given to their culture, as in other regions. The whole belt of States and Territories we have named are capable of a like development in viniculture with California. Their grapes may have a slightly diflerent flavor, and the wines produced from them may be as distinguishable, by the cultivated taste of the connoisseur, as those of Tokay and Xeres or Rheims ; but they will be in as great demand as the wines of the Californian vintaofe. Farther south, in Arkansas, the Indian Territory, Texas, Arizona, Southern New Mexico, Southern Utah and Nevada, and Southern California, sub-tropical fruits abound — the orange, lemon, lime, fig, olive, pomegranate, banana, guava, Madeira nut, pecan, and the finest and most luscious varieties of the peach, are some of the treasures which Dame Nature lays up for her children in the sunny South. There are also many native fruits and nuts, less widely known, but not less delicious or grateful to the taste, than those we have named, to be found in the forests of the Great West. 56 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER IV. Wild Animals and Game — Beasts of Prey — Grizzly and other Bears — Mr, Murphy's Grizzly Bear Story — The Cougar, Puma, or Panther — The Jaguar and other Felid^e — Lynxes — The Marten and Weasel Tribe — The Gray Wolf — The Coyote — Amphibia — The Whale Tribe — Birds OF Prey — Perchers and Song Birds — Pigeons and Grouse — Waders and Swimmers — Reptiles — Fishes — Mollusks and Crustaceans — Domestic Animals. Many of the wild animals of our Western Empire are peculiar to that region. The Bison or American buffalo, whose range extended originally from the Rocky Mountains to the Appala- chians, has for these many years past been only found west of the Mississippi, and as settlement and civilization advanced west- ward he has been driven back to the plains and foothills of the Rocky Mountains, a tract of not more than three hundred miles in width, and perhaps twelve hundred in length from north to south, and even this was encroached upon every year by the new towns springing up all along the line. Since the advent of railroads, crossing these plains, the number of bison has rapidly diminished. Many thousands were shot from the cars for fun, and left to die on the plains ; hunters destroyed tens of thousands for mere sport. More than as many more v^'ere slaughtered for the hams and tongues, and the Indians killed from one to two millions annually for the flesh, and the robes or skins. It is es- timated that within the past ten years, not less than twenty mil- lions of these noble animals have been slain, and that hardly more than 300,000 remain. The bison Is not found west of the Rocky Mountains.''' The moose, though plendful in British * Colonel Richard J. Dodge, United States Army, a famous hunter, speaks of another species, ©r at least a well-marked variety of the buffalo, known to hunters as the mountain or wood buffalo, or "the bison." It has shorter but stouter legs than the common buffalo, is very shy, and by no means plentiful even in its chosen haunts, and inhabits only the deepest, darkest defiles and canons, or the craggy and almost precipitous sides of mountains, from which it will not depart, while its congener prefers the plains. Except in one instance, no sportsman has bagged more than one, but its existence is well vouched for, though, so far as we are aware, it has never been described by any other writer. ROCKY MOUiNTAlN GOAT, ELK, RED DEER, BLACK BEAR, FOX, MOOSE, WOLF, PANTHER, GRIZZLY BEAR, COYOTE, PRAIRIE DOG, WILD CAT, BUFFALO, WILD HORSE. ZOOLOGY OF OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. cy. Columbia and Alaska, Is Only found in die region In the northern part of Washington Territory, in Northern Idaho, and Montana. The Elk, the next larcjest of the ijame animals east of the Rocky Mountains, has nearly the same range as the Buffalo, though It usually seeks the vicinity of the river valleys. It is less abundant than the bison, but has only partially escaped the Indls-' criminate slaughter to which those unfortunate animals have beenj subjected. They are often found In large numbers (three or four thousand It is said) in the great parks of Colorado, and in Mon- tana. There are three species of deer, the black-tailed, white-tailed, and mule deer; and at least one species of antelope, a graceful, beautiful creature. West of the Rocky Mountains, there is a representative of the Ibex family In the Bighorn or mountain sheep, and one of the goat family — the wild Rocky Mountain goat, whichi may, perhaps, be allied to the goat antelopes of the Himalaya Mountains. Of smaller four-footed game and rodents, there are six or eight species of hare and rabbits, one bearing the name of the Jackass rabbit, from the enormous length of Its ears; the beaver, musk rat and mammoth mole; squirrels of ten species, five of gophers or prairie dogs, the yellow-haired porcupine, four species of kangaroo mice, the usual variety of moles, rats, mice and dormice. Of beasts of prey there are a considerable number, and some of them formidable In size and strength. There are probably two species, and possibly three, of bears east of the Rocky Mountains : the black, the cinnamon, and a smaller brown one, known as the Mexican bear.* The bear Is omnivorous In his diet ; ants, grubs, mice, moles, squirrels, rabbits, eggs, berries, grapes and fruit, all seem alike to him, but if he has a special vanity, It is for honey. He does not attack man unless In ex- treme hunger, or in protecting the cubs ; but If attacked makes a very stubborn fight, especially at close quarters. His claws are very sharp and strong. Beyond the Rocky Mountains the formidable and somewhat ferocious grizzly bear, the largest American plantigrade, except possibly the Arctic or white bear, * Some practical zoologists contend that these are not different species but simply varieties. 5$^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. is added to the number. The black, brown, and cinnamon bears usually avoid a conflict with man unless attacked, when they fight fiercely. It is said that among the miners of Western Colorado, a class of men not lacking in courage or pluck, when some new-comer, ambitious to show his prowess, proposes to go out and hunt the bears, which are very numerous there, the shrewd old miner, who is well versed in bear nature, will reply: " Guess not ; I haven't lost any bear." The grizzly bear, espe- cially if hungry, is not wont to wait for a provocation to a fight, and he possesses so thick a hide and so much vitality, that it is very difficult to disable or kill him by even two or three well- aimed shots. When wounded his rag^e is fearful, and his lone and strong claws enable him to make very short work of an antagonist who comes within reach of them.* The cougar, puma or panther, sometimes called the American lion, is another very formidable animal ; somewhat smaller than the African Hon or the Bengal tiger, it has as much ferocity and almost as much strength as either. It is, however, cowardly like * Mr. J. M. Murphy, in his " Sporting Adventures in the Far West," devotes one chapter to the grizzly bear, and relates some very humorous stories of experiences in hunting it. Formid- able and ferocious as it is, the grizzly is terrified by the human voice, when loud yells and cries are uttered, and M'ill run away at once. Mr. Murphy says that a certain judge of San Francisco, who, while a good hunter and a capital humorist, was of somewhat intemperate habits, had en- gaged with a few friends to go out for a week's shooting among the grouse and quail, and was asked to be ready to join the party at a very early hour in the morning, so that a camping place could be reached in the afternoon. The night before starting he attended a ball and became so much intoxicated that on his way home he fell clown several times in the mire, much to the detriment of his evening dress and opera hat. Just after reaching home the carriage came to take him to the rendezvous, and he insisted on going in the plight he was in. After some re- monstrance he was taken as he was, and the party travelled to the mountains about forty miles distant, pitched camp and, building a fire, prepared for supper. A Spaniard approached them and said that there was a grizzly a few rods off in the bushes. The judge, who was dozing near the fire, roused up at once and said that he would go and bring it into the camp. His com- panions laughed at him and chaffed him, but his temper was roused, and seizing an empty shot- gun, he said he would prove his assertion, and strode off into the shrubbery. In about twenty minutes there was a great commotion in the bushes, and all the party seized their guns and pre- pared for some unknown danger. In another minute the bushes parted and out came the judge without a hat, and running with such speed as to cause his hair and coat-tails to stand out at right angles to his body. As he approached, he shouted at the top of his voice : " Clear the track; here we come, the bear and me, confound our souls." They did clear the track, and the judge rushed through the fire and did not stop till he had run a good half mile to the rear. His companions stopped the bear and caused it to retreat by a few yells and shots, but the fool- hardy judge was the butt of many a joke on his race with the bear. '?li^- ZOOLOGY OF OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Cq all its tribe, and seldom or never attacks man except when very hungry or In defence of its young. When attacked it is a for- midable animal, its strong claws and great muscular power giving it great advantage. It is, when full-grown, about four feet eight inches in length, exclusive of its tail, and weighs 150 or 160 pounds. It is an inhabitant of the forests, and rarely goes any great distance from them. The jaguar or American tiger is also found in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California. It is a larger and perhaps fiercer animal than the cougar, but is nowhere abundant and is not found at all north of the thirty-ninth parallel. A smaller, but equally fierce and perhaps equally cowardly member of the feline family, is the catamount, ocelot, or tiger-cat,* while the wild cat, with its short blunt tail, and the lynx, of which there are three species — the Canada lynx, the bay lynx or red cat, and the banded lynx — com- plete the wild felines of the region. Of the marten tribe and its congeners there are many genera and species. The marten proper or American sable, the fitch marten, stone marten, w^ol- verine or fisher, two species of skunk, the mink, the yellow- cheeked weasel, the otter and sea otter, the badger, raccoon ; five species of fox, the raccoon fox or mountain cat. Next in order come the wolves. The American large gray, dusky or black wolf (all these distinctions of color being found in the same species) Is a far less ferocious animal than his European congener ; he is cowardly, and when attacked by dogs or men always tries to find safety in flight. There are not more than one or two instances known where these, wolves have attacked a man, and then it was only when they were frantic with hunger, when a large pack of them were together, and when the man was carrying some game. They are great thieves, and will carry off lambs or sheep, pigs, calves or young colts, and when hunger has made them desperate, they will hunt antelopes, deer and even the buffalo. Their bite is very sharp, and they always endeavor to hamstring their prey, If It Is a large animal. They are so destructive to sheep and young cattle that great numbers *- This name is also given by some to the Canada lynx, but improperly, as all the lynxes differ in structure from the true cats. 60 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of them are killed by poison, usually by strychnine. There are a class of men in the West known as "Wolfers" who make a special business of killing wolves, and selling their pelts, which are valuable. This is a profitable business, but those who engage in it undergo great privations and hardships, and they very often spend their hard-won gains in miserable debauchery. The coyote or barking wolf is an intermediate link between the gray wolf and the fox, and maintains about the same posi- tion in this country which the hyenas do in the East. He is a thief, and a mean, cowardly, vile-smelling thief, but he subserves one useful purpose — he is an indefatigable scavenger, though a very dirty and cruel one. He will dig up the bodies of the dead and feast upon them, and every animal that is wounded or sick falls a prey to him. If nothing better can be found he will prey upon chickens, rats, mice, moles, or any other of the small rodents. A pack of coyotes have been known to attack a wounded buck and strip every bone clean in ten minutes. They are often covered with sores from feasting on dead bodies. Colonel Dodge Insists that the prairie wolf Is not the genuine coyote, and that the coyote is a meaner animal found only in Texas. The cetacea of the Pacific coast include the right and Califor- nia gray whale, the hump-back and fin-back, two beaked whales, the sperm whale, black fish, walrus, and three species of porpoise. The amphibia are the sea elephant, three or four sea lions, two species each of seal and sea otter. The birds of this vast territory number more than 500 species already described, and many more discovered but not yet fully described. There are twenty-five species of climbers, nearly two-thirds of them wood-peckers ; more than forty species of birds of prey, including six of the eagle family, twenty hawks, buzzard hawks and falcons ; twelve or thirteen species of owls; the king of the vultures, as large as the condor and the lammergeier; and the turkey-vulture or turkey-buzzard, so common in the South. Of the perchers, fiy-catchers, and grain-pluckers, most of them song birds, there are nearly 200 species ; in the first group are included crows, ravens, magpies, jays, jackdaws and king-fishers ; EAGLE, VULTURE, HAWK, PHEASANT, PTARMIGAN, CALIFORNIA I'ARrRIDGE, PRAIRIE HEN, TURKFA". FLAMINGO, CRANE, IBIS, SWAN, GOOSE, DUCKS. ZOOLOGY OF OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. gi in the second and third groups, fly-catchers, several speci-s of humming--birds, swallows, wax-wings, shrikes, tanager.-, r;)bins and thrushes, wrens, chickadees, grosbeaks, finches, linnets, orioles, larks and sparrows. The pigeon family have five or six representatives, including the California and the band-tailed pigeon, the ring, the turtle and the ground doves. There are probably two species of pheasant. The grouse family are numerous, and include blue grouse, ruffed grouse, the sage hen, which feeds upon the sage-brush of the alkaline lands and whose flesh though tender is very bitter; the prairie hen, at least five species of quail, two of partridges, and three or four species of ptarmigan. There are more than sixty species of waders, including cranes, herons, bitterns. Ibises, flam- ingoes, plover, kill-deer, avocets, English snipe, jack-snipe, sand- pipers, curlews, rails, rice-birds, etc., etc. The swimmers are still more numerous, over one hundred species having been described, including many species of geese, which frequent the lakes and broader streams, brants, teal of at least a dozen species, as many of ducks, the canvas-back being found in great numbers in his best estate, scooters, coots, sheldrakes, mergansers, pelicans, cor- morants, albatrosses, fulmars, petrels, gulls, terns, loons, dippers, auks, sea-pigeons, and murres. The reptiles of the Pacific coast, and its rivers and lakes, differ from those of the States and Territories whose waters drain into the Gulf of Mexico. In the former there are no true sauriaiis (alligators or crocodiles), except in the Colorado and its affluents; in the latter the alligator and probably the crocodile are found in great numbers below the thirty-fifth parallel. The Pacific States and Territories have five species of rattlesnake, and no other venomous snake unless possibly a viper; while the latter have as many species of the rattlesnake, and at least three other venomous snakes, and possibly more. There are about thirty species of harmless snakes, five of tortoises, seven or eight land turtles, terrapins, etc. ; about forty species of lizards, and nearly fifty frogs, toads, horned toads, salamanders, pro- teuses, etc., etc. There are more than five hundred species offish, most of them 62 (^^'R WESTERN EMPIRE. edible in the waters of the Pacific and the Gulf, and in the thou- sands of fresh and salt lakes, and the numerous rivers of this vast region. Among these are ten species of the Salmonidae, native to the Pacific coast, besides several others now naturalized; the taking, packing and canning of the salmon forms one of the largest and most rapidly increasing industries of Oregon and Washington Territory ; the rivers and lakes swarm with trout. Seven or eight species of the cod family, about twenty species of eels, ten of mackerel, and two of the bonita or Spanish mackerel, numerous species of the perch family and its congeners, the blue-fish, eight or nine species of bass, the lake white-fish (intro- duced) ; three species of tautog; one, the red-fish, a most delicious table fish ; about twenty species of Oat-fish and flounders ; twelve species of shad, herring, anchovies, etc.; nearly thirty of the carp tribe, weak-fish, balloon-fish ; and over forty of the cartilaginous fishes, sharks, rays, sun-fish, sturgeons, etc., etc. There are seventy-five species of mollusks, including a great variety of clams, quahaugs, oysters, mussels, scollops, and fresh-water unionidse, whelks, limpets, sea-snails, cuttle-fish, polypi, octopi, squids, nautili, etc. Of crustaceans, there are about twenty species, including lob- sters, crabs, hard and soft shell, king crabs, star-fish, fresh-water lobsters, shrimps, prawns, crawfish, etc. No country in the world has a larger proportion of excellent pasturage land. While much of this is as yet unoccupied by herdsmen, the amount of live-stock is increasing at an exceed- ingly rapid rate. The estimates of the Agricultural Department at Washington, which, on live-stock, especially in the West, are generally considerably below the truth, gave, in December, 1878, 3,807,500 horses, more than one-third of all in the United States; 630,300 mules, about the same proportion of the whole ; 3,650,- 000 milch cows, about one-third of the whole number in the Union; 11,588,000 other cattle, or more than one-half of the whole ; 19,000,000 sheep, or one-half of the whole ; and 12,000,- 000 swine, or almost two-fifths of the whole. The number in December, 1879, not yet reported, must be at least twenty per cent, in advance of these fiq^ures. INCREASE OF POPULATION. gj CHAPTER V. Population — The Increase since 1870 — Table Showing the Estimated Increase in each State and Territory — Notes in regard to each State AND Territory. This whole region is new to settlement, except the States of Missouri and Arkansas; the former was admitted into the Union in March, 1821, and the latter June 15th, 1836. Nine of the other States or Territories have been organized with their present boundaries over thirty-five years, and several of the States and all the Territories are less than thirty years old. According to the census of 1870, there were in the whole region west of the Mississippi 6,877,069 inhabitants, besides nearly 300,000 tribal or wild Indians. The growth of population since that time has been almost incredibly rapid. In order to show how rapid has been the growth of this region we present here- with the results of the census taken in June, 1880 — the official figures where it was possible to obtain them, and the approxi- mations in round numbers, where it was not. We have added to these the number of Indians on reservations, in every State or Territory where there were large reservations, taking our figures from the latest report of the Indian Office in 1879. It will be seen that the present population aggregates 1 1,421,274, an in- crease of 4,544,205, or about 67.5 per cent, within the last ten years. The great States regard an increase often or eleven per cent, in the population in ten years as a remarkably rapid growth, and only one or two of them attain that; but here has been an increase of more than six times their best growth in the same time; while fully three-fourths of this advance has been achieved during the last four or five years. The following table shows the extraordinary growth of some of these States and Territories ; and we explain below the causes which have induced this exceptional growth. OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. State or Territory. Population 1S70. 484,471 560,247 39,864 1,194,020 364,399 439,706 1,721,295 122,293 42,491 90,923 726,915 Population 1880. 802,564 864,686 194,649 1,624,463 995,966 780,807 2,168,804 452,432 62,265 174,767 940,263 State or Territory. Population 1870. Population 1880. Arkansas . California . Colorado {a) Iowa {F) . Kansas {c) Min'sota (^/) Missouri . Nebraska ( and topazes, precious beryls, chrysolite, amethyst, gold-stones, tourmalines, jades, the beautiful copper ore known as malachite, agates and carnelians of great beauty, jet, etc., etc., are sufficiently plentiful, in one part of the country or another. Porcelain clays, ochres, barytes, and other minerals and earths of economic use are found in most of the States and Terri- tories. Mineral springs, and waters of every variety and every degree of temperature, from boiling to freezing, are found everywhere in the mountains, and not a few in the plains. Col- orado, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, California, Arizona, Texas and Arkansas abound in these healing waters. In Colorado there are hundreds of them already claiming patronage, each with some peculiar merit. In the Yellowstone Park and its vicinity most of the springs are too hot for bathing ; but when partially cooled, possess remarkable hygienic virtues. CHAPTER IX. Climates — Variety of Climate — Causes — Rainfall — Comparison of differ- ent Sections — Causes of deficient Rainfall — Winds — Character and Effect of different Winds — The Hot Winds from Mexico. In a region extending 1,700 miles from north to south, and 1,800 from east to west, there would be a considerable range of climatic conditions, even if the whole tract were nearly a dead VARIATIONS OF CLIMATE. Oj level ; but when two-thirds or three fourths of It is traversed by mountain chains, many of whose summits have an elevation of 13,000 to 14,000 feet, and the average height of Its plateaux and valleys ranges from 4,000 to 8.500 feet; when on the more northern summits, snow lies throughout the year; and when the temperature of at least the western half is modified by the breezes and moisture from the Pacific, by the influences of the Pacific gulf stream, and by the climatic law that the Western coast of a continent has always a milder and higher temperature than the East coast; when, also, the temperature of the South- west Is elevated by the hot and dry winds which come from tropical Mexico ; and the cyclones formed in the Caribbean sea and the Mexican eulf contribute their share to the disturbance of atmospheric conditions, there would seem to be causes enough to account for the extraordinary diversities of cHmate which prevail In this Western Empire. The climate on the northwestern coast in Washingrton Ter- ritory ana Oregon Is temperate, and the range comparatively small. The mercury seldom rises above 90° P., in many seasons not reaching that figure, and rarely falls below 10° or 12°. In some seasons the lowest point reached is 18° or 20°. The average annual range is from 70° to 80°. The range on the California coast, at Los Angeles, San Diego, etc., is still smaller, in some years not exceeding 55° or 60°. In San Francisco the range is not over 50° or 53° — between 39° and 90° or 92°. These equable climates are very favorable to the health of invalids, es- pecially to such as are suffering from pulmonary diseases. East of the Coast range, and in a still greater degree, east of the Cas- cades or Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains, we find greater extremes of cold, and in some instances of heat also. The plains of Eastern Washington and Oregon have extreme heat in summer, rising sometimes to or above 100° F., and cold equally extreme in winter, falling to — 30° or even lower in winter* making the annual range not less than 130° F. But probably Pembina, in Dakota, just on the British line, 49° north latitude, is the coldest inhabited place in all this Western Empire, and as the summer heat is intense, though for a brief period only, its q5 our western empire. annual range Is the greatest. The spirit thermometer often marks — 50° in the winter, and in the winter of 1879-80 It is re- ported to have fallen to — 60°. As It attains 94° in the summer, this gives a range of 154°. The remainder of Dakota and Min- nesota is not subject to such extreme changes, though the valley of the Red river of the North seems to be the gateway through which the biting cold from the Arctic regions finds its way south- ward. The Interior valleys of California are much hotter in sum- mer than the coast, and the winter temperature is somewhat lower. Their range is from 76° to '^^° . In portions of New Mexico the climate is more equable, the mercury rarely rising in Santa Fe above 90°, though for one or two days In December it may drop to zero. But the hottest portions of this whole region are unquestionably Southern Arizona and Southern Texas. At Yuma, Maricopa Wells, Tucson, Phoenix, Wickenberg and other towns of Southern Arizona, and at Rio Grande City, Laredo, Corsicana and other towns of Southern Texas (Galveston ex- cepted, In consequence of Its island climate), the summer heat during June, July, August and September reaches 117°, and oc- casionally even more, and rises above 100° usually for three- fourths of the days of those months. Some years ago a company of soldiers were stationed at a fort in one of the Interior valleys of California, The weather was fearfully hot, the mercury at over 110° In the shade, and the men were grumbling as only soldiers can grumble at the heat. After a time one old soldier, bronzed by the tropical heats, said : " Boys, stop grumbling ; this weather is not to be compared with what we had at Fort Yuma." "Were you ever at Fort Yuma?" asked the soldiers. "Yes, I was there three years," said the veteran. " Well, how hot was It there ? How hloh did the thermometer get ? " "I don't know anything about your thermometers," answered the soldier ; " but I can tell you this: when I had been there about two years, two of our fellows died, and they were pretty hard fellows, too. Well, the second night after they died they came back after their blankets, and they hadn't wanted them once In all the while they had been in Yuma." In the region known as the plains, which embraces the greater VARIATIONS OF CLIMATE. 07 part of Minnesota, Iowa, Western Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Southeastern Dakota, Eastern Wyoming and Eastern Colorado, part of Arkansas and the Indian Territory, and Northern Texas, the climate is generally warm In summer, though the heat is not intense. The spring opens earlier as we proceed southward, and the autumn Is later. There are strong winds and some- times cyclones, but, except in Minnesota and Iowa, the snow does not cover the ground for any long period, and cattle and sheep require little or no shelter or winter feeding. Prudent herdsmen and sheep-masters make provision for fifty or sixty days shelter of their herds or flocks, and for feeding them during that time ; but in at least two seasons out of three, the food and shelter are not needed, or for a few days only. This does not apply to the two States named above, where the winter generally lasts for at least four or five months. There is, moreover, a very consider- able difference in the climate of these plains, resulting from their increasing elevation as we proceed westward. Though they are called plains and prairies, they are really plateaux, rising grad- ually from the Mississippi or Missouri river to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Their elevation on the eastern border of the plateau Is from 600 to 800 feet above the sea. At the western boundary of Kansas and Nebraska it is over 5,000 feet above the sea, and at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Eastern Colorado between 6,000 and 7,000 feet. Indeed, so gradual is the ascent, and so nearly of the same height with the passes in the Rocky Mountains (that over which the Union Pacific crosses being only about 8,700 feet above the sea) that passengers on that road often inquire, when they will begin to ascend the Rocky Mountains, after they have crossed this pass, or, as the western people say, " the divide." On these more elevated lands the sun may be hot at mid-day in summer, but the nights, and evening, and morning, are always cool and refreshing. The annual range of the thermometer is only from fifty-five to sixty degrees, and cattle, and sheep, except, perhaps, once in eight or ten years, can browse throughout the entire winter without shelter. The ab- sence of trees Iq the western portion of this plateau also modi- fies this climate to some extent, making the summer's heat more 7 gg OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. intense, and the cold, wintry winds more searching, and far- reaching in their effect. The changes now going on, all along this region, as the result of breaking up the hard beaten soil, and planting trees in great numbers, will not be without their effect in modifying the temperature ; and by the interposition of masses of timber, breaking the fury of the winds. There can be no doubt that, apart from such diseases as may be induced or aggravated by a rarefied atmosphere, this elevated reo^ion is more healthful than any other on our continent. There are enough who die from natural or unnatural causes, but the dry, pure, invigorating atmosphere of the Rocky Mountain pla- teaux is eminendy conducive to health, especially to those who are suffering from pulmonary diseases. Still to reap the full benefit of this climate, the health-seeker must stay there. A return to the East after one, or two, or even four years almost inevitably brings back the disease, and causes it to prove fatal. We have elsewhere discussed the rainfall of most portions of this vast Western Empire. It is even more varied in quantity, in different districts, than is the climate in temperature. The Northwest coast, in Washington, Oregon, and the extreme north- ern portion of California, have, at some points, a more copious rainfall than any other portion of the United States, though nearly approached by some points on the Atlantic coast. In two or three places in the States and Territory named, the annual pre- cipitation ranges from 123 to 135 inches, and once or twice has exceeded even the latter ficrure: ten or eleven feet of rainfall. At San Diego on the same coast, but nearly 1,000 miles farther south, the rainfall in 1876-77 was but 3.80 inches; and at Fort Yuma, near the mouth of the Colorado, in 1877-78, but 2.00 inches. These are the extremes. On the Gulf coast in Texas, the pre- cipitation is large, ranging from fifty-four to sixty-seven inches. In the interior the amount varies with the longitude. From the Mis- sissippi river to about the 97th degree of west longitude it ranges from forty-five inches to twenty-eight inches, diminishing as we proceed westward. From this meridian to about 117, it ranges from twenty-five inches to twelve inches, or perhaps 1 1.5 in some seasons. Farther west it rises to thirty-three inches, and COMFARA'in-E KAIXI-'ALL. Og between the Cascades and the Rocky Mountahis attains at some points to forty-two inches. Of course there are variations from north to south as well as from east to west ; variations produced also by the presence or absence of extensive forests, by the com- pactness of the soil, owing to its having been for hundreds of years trodden under the hoofs of millions of bisons, or its porous- ness from thorough cultivation. The electrical condition of the atmosphere has also much to do with the amount of precipitation. In general it may be said that fully two-thirds of the arable lands of the Great West have a sufficient amount of precipitation to raise any desired crops, with deep plowing, and the other third, while requiring moderate and in some cases very thorough irri- gation to produce the largest crops, are so situated as to be able at moderate expense to obtain all the water needed for this purpose, and under its influence yield such abundant crops as to pay, in one or at the utmost two years, the cost of the ditches. Indeed the proprietors of the irrigated lands look down with a half-con- temptuous pity upon the poor farmers who are dependent upon the rainfall alone for their crops. " Poor fellows," they say, " when they sow their grain or plant their crops, they can never tell what will befall them: they may have too much rain, and their crops will be drowned out, or rot in the earth, or they may not have enough, and their fields will be burned by the fiery breath of the sun ; they can never tell whether they can raise a crop or not. With us, now, the whole matter can be determined with mathematical exactness. W^e know just how much water is needed to bring the land to its highest productiveness, and we give it just that much and no more. If we have rains we irrigate less; if the season is dry, we turn on more water, and we have a good crop every year." As the vacillating judge said : " There is a good deal to be said on both sides of this question." We have already alluded to the high winds which prevail over some portions of this vast region ; but the investigations of the Signal Service officers have in a great degree systematized our knowledge on this subject. On the Pacific coast, and as far east- ward as the summit of the Sierra Nevada or Cascade Mountains, and possibly for a part of the distance, where they obtain access 100 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. through transverse valleys to the w^estern slope of the Rocky Mountains, the west winds from the Pacific Ocean, laden with moisture, sweep across the mountains and valleys, depositing much of their water as snow upon the mountains. These are cool but not cold winds. From Hudson's Bay and the ice-clad waters of the north comes down, especially in winter, a cold, piercing wind, through the broad valley of the Red river of the North, producing intense cold and often snows on the plains, and spending much of its fury on the Mississippi valley and States farther east. This is perhaps the source of the Texas Northers, though the severity of the cold has been much diminished before it reaches the Gulf coast. East winds are not prevalent in any part of this region, and when they do occur have no special character or significance. A south wind from the Gulf of Mexico is much more frequent, and is generally a moist and grateful wind ; sometimes in the summer it may bring with it electrical phenomena, and be the herald of destructive cyclones. The southwest wind which sweeps across Arizona, Western Texas, New Mexico, and Southern Utah, and Nevada, affecting also at times Western Colorado and Wyoming, is from Mexico, and haslbeen heated in its passage across the semi-tropical lands of Mexico and Central America till it blows a hot blast over these lands which intensifies the summer's heat, though it may make the autumn and winter milder. As the country becomes settled and cultivated, this hot wind will lose something of its intensity, and become rather an agreeable adjuvant in mitigating the cold of the wintry months. MINING PROCESSES FOR GOLD. AND SILVER. jqj CHAPTER X. The various Processes of Mining — Placer Mining — Gold Discovery in California — The Pan — The Rocker — The Ditch and the "Tom" — The Sluice — Hydraulic Mining — Hydraulic Mining not .-esthetic — Lode or Quartz Mining — True Fissure Veins — The "Country" Rock — Chimneys, Chimes, or Bonanzas — Pockets — Contact Lodes — Gold combined with Sulphurets — Stoping — Depth of Mines — The Reduction OF Pyritous Ores — Gold with Oxide of Iron — Cost of Reduction of Gold — Discoveries of Silver Ores — Silver widely diffused — Modes of Reduction — The best Mining Regions — Placer Mining: the best Locations — Difficulties of Placer Mining — Difficulties of Lode or Vein Mining — The best Mines bought up by Capitalists — The best Locations for Experts. We confine our attention for the present to mining for gold and silver, including, however, the ores of lead and copper and perhaps iron, with which they are found combined or com- mingled. Gold mining is of two kinds, and each kind has its several processes. These two kinds are PiW^r mining, and Lode mining. Silver is always found only in lodes, but these are of various forms or combinations. Placers are deposits of gold nearly In a pure state, which at some time, remote or recent, have been washed out of the veins or lodes into which they were injected by some convulsion of nature, by the long continued action of running water, and deposited with gravel or clay on the bed rock of the stream which bore them down its current. The beds of most of the streams (lowing from the mountains, especially if they have cut deep channels in the rocks in any portion of their course, were found to contain these placers, of greater or less value ; but the placers which are found in the beds of ancient streams, which by upheaval or change of course have ceased to flow, and are perhaps now many hundred feet below the surface, are usually more productive than those of more recent origin. The placer gold is free gold ; that is, it is uncombined with any other mineral, and may exist as a powder, as scales, or as little pellets or nuggets of considerable size. In California, as everywhere else, it was the first gold discovered, and therCy by accident. I02 <^^''^ WESTERN EMPIRE. The story of this discovery has been often related ; but the statement made by the late Hon. J. Ross Browne in 1867, when he was United States Mining Commissioner, is believed to be the only one which gives the facts as they were. Mr. Browne says: "It was on the 19th day of January, 1848, ten days before the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed, and three months before the ratified copies were exchanged, that James W. Marshall, while engaged in digging a race for a saw-mill at Coloma, about thirty-five miles eastward from Sutter's Fort, found some pieces of yellow metal, which he and the half-dozen men working with him at the mill supposed to be gold. He felt confident that he had made a discovery of great importance, but he knew nothing of either chemistry or gold mining, so he could not prove the nature of the metal or tell how to obtain it in paying quantities. Every morning he w^ent down to the race to look for the bits of the metal; but the other men at the mill thouo^ht Marshall was very wild in his ideas, and they continued their labors in building the mill, and in sowing wheat, and planting vegetables. The swift current of the mill-race washed away a considerable body of earthy matter, leaving the coarse particles of gold behind, so Marshall's collection of specimens continued to accumulate, and his associates becran to think there mio^ht be something in his Q-old mine after all. About the middle of February, a Mr. Bennett, one of the party employed at the mill, went to San Francisco for the purpose of learning whether this metal was precious, and there he was introduced to Isaac Humphrey, who had washed for gold in Georgia. The experienced miner saw at a glance that he had the true stuff before him, and after a few inquiries he was satisfied that the diggings must be rich. He made immediate preparation to go to the mill, and tried to persuade some of his friends to go with him, but they thought it would be only a waste of time and money, so he went with Bennett for his sole companion. " He arrived at Coloma on the 7th of March, and found the work at the mill Sfoinor on as if no eold existed in the neisfhbor- hood. The next day he took a pan and spade and washed some of the dirt from the bottom of the mill-race in places where COLD DISCOVERY IN CALIFORNIA. lO^ Marshall had found his specimens, and In a few hours Humphrey declared that these mines were far richer than any in Georgia. " He now made a rocker, and went to work washinof grold Industriously, and every day yielded him an ounce or two of metal. The men at the mill made rockers for themselves, and all were soon busy in search of the yellow metal. " Everything else was abandoned ; the rumor of the discovery spread slowly. In the middle of March, Pearson B. Reading, the owner of a large ranch at the head of the Sacramento valley, happened to visit Sutter's Fort, and hearing of the mining at Coloma, he went thither to see it. He said that If similarity of formation could be taken as proof, there must be gold mines near his ranch, so after observing the method of washing, he posted off, and in a few weeks he was at work on the bars of Clear creek, nearly two hundred miles northwestward from Coloma. A few days after Reading had left, John BIdwell, since representative of the northern district of the State in the lower house of Congress, came to Coloma, and the result of his visit was that In less than a month he had a party of Indians from his ranch washing gold on the bars of Feather river, seventy- five miles northwestward from Coloma. Thus the mines were opened at far distant points." On the 29th of May, 1848, the only paper published in San Francisco said: "The whole country, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and from the sea-shore to the base of the Sierra Nevada, resounds with the sordid cry of gold ! gold! gold! while the field is left half planted, the house half built, and every- thing neglected but the manufacture of picks and shovels, and the means of transportation to the spot where one man obtained ^128 worth of the real stuff in one day's washing; and the average for all concerned Is ;^20 per diem." " The towns and farms were deserted, or left to the care of women and children, while rancheros, wood-choppers, mechanics, vaqueros, and soldiers and sailors, who had deserted or obtained leave of absence, devoted all their energies to washing the auriferous gravel of the Sacramento basin. Never satisfied, however much they might be making, they were continually jQ. OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. looking for new placers which might yield them twice or thrice as much as they had made before. Thus the area of their labors gradually extended, and at the end of 1848 miners were at work in every large stream on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, from the Feather to the Tuolumne river, a distance of 1 50 miles, and also at Reading's diggings, in the northwestern corner of the Sacramento valley." For the first two years the miners who made these discoveries depended for their profits mainly on the pan and the rocker. The placer miner's pan was made of sheet-iron or tinned iron, with a flat bottom about a foot in diameter, and sides six inches high, inclining outwards at an angle of forty or fifty degrees. The gold was found, as it usually is, in a tough clay which enveloped gravel and large pebbles as well as sand. This clay must be thoroughly dissolved or reduced to the condition of fluid mud ; and so the miner filled his pan with it, went to the bank of the river or stream, squatted down there, put his pan under water, and shook it horizontally, so as to get the mass thoroughly soaked ; then picked out the larger stones with one hand and mashed up the largest and toughest lumps of clay, and again shook his pan under water, and when all the dirt seemed to be dissolved so that the gold could be carried to the bottom by its weight, he tilted up the pan a litde to let the thin mud and hght sand run out, repeating this process till all was washed out except the metal which remained at the bottom. After a time this process was found too slow, and the rocker took its place. This was constructed somewhat like a child's cradle, but the upper end was considerably higher than the lower, and contained a large riddle or colander of sheet-iron punched with holes on the bottom ; underneath the floor of the rocker was provided with cleats or riffles, extending nearly^ across, to catch the gold. The miner filled his riddle with pay- dirt and rocked the rocker with one hand while he poured water upon the dirt and riddle with the other. The water and the motion dissolved the clay and carried it down to the floor of the rocker, where the cleats caught the gold, while the mud and water ran off. The riddle could be taken off to throw out the larger stones. V A SECriON OF A MINE — HYDRAULIC MINING. THE ROCKER, THE TOM AND THE SLUICE. 105 Soon the rocker was abandoned because it could not work fast enough, and ditches were dug and flumes constructed to bring the water from a sufficient height to do the washing-out of the clay and gravel without so much manual labor and with more abundant production ; some of these flumes were very large and many miles in extent, and erected at an immense cost. With the ditches came in first the "Tom," which had previously been used in Georgia: a trough twelve feet long, eight inches deep, fifteen inches wide at the head and thirty at the foot ; a riddle of sheet-iron, punched with holes half an inch in diameter, formed the bottom of the "Tom" at the lower end, so placed that all the water and the mud should fall throuo-h the holes of the riddle, and none pass over the sides or end. The water fell into a flat box with cleats on the bottom, giving passage at alter- nate ends to the mud and water, while the gold was caught on the cleats or riflles. A stream of water ran constantly through the "Tom," into the head of which the pay-dirt was thrown by several men, while one threw out the stones too large to pass the riddle and threw back to the head the lumps of clay which had reached the foot without beino- dissolved. The "Tom" was succeeded by "the Sluice," a board-trough from a hundred to five thousand feet lonof, havinof a descent of one foot in twenty, and with riffles at the lower end to catch the gold. Twenty men or more could throw in the pay-dirt at the upper end, and the water in its long and rapid course would tear the lumps to pieces, and before reaching the end deposit the gold on the riffles, from which it is taken four or five times a day. Where the gold was in fine powder or scales, quicksilver was placed on the riffles to form an instantaneous amalgam, and thus very much of the gold was saved. This sluice was unquestion- ably the most efficient and successful of all the contrivances in aid of placer-mining ; but there was now a new difficulty, or a series of them, to be overcome. The placers in the river and creek-beds and near the surface of gravel-beds, were beginning to give out ; in many places, too, these placer-deposits had been traced up to the lodes or veins in the rocks which had been worn down by the water of the stream, and which had thus fur- jq5 067? WESTERN EMPIRE. nlshed the placer-deposits. It was discovered, also, that there were, In many places, extensive deposits of gold-bearing gravel, hills of considerable height and length, which had, untold ages before, been the beds of rivers, but had been upheaved, and were now rich placers, if they could be broken down and the pay-dirt run through the sluices. To do this by hand labor was too costly and wearisome. Even now. In the best sluices con- nected with good ditches, the labor of twenty-five or thirty men In a fair placer-deposit, was not sufficient to supply the sluice with pay-dirt, and much of the costly water ran to waste. The remedy for these difficulties was found in "hydraulic mln- ino-." The sluice was enlarged, and its upper portion expanded so as to take in a width of perhaps a hundred feet of the adjacent hill, which had previously been found to contain gold ; water was supplied to it from a ditch usually with a considerable head, and standing at a convenient distance, say 200 feet or more, from the face of the hill, a strong miner directed upon it a stream of water from a hose-pipe or nozzle having a diameter of three to six Inches, and a head of two or three hundred feet. The effect of this continuous stream of water coming with such force must be seen to be appreciated ; wherever it struck It tore away earth, gravel and boulders ; if the pipe was directed on a point some distance below the surface of the hill, the crust above it ^oon fell, and one, two or three hundred cubic yards of earth were washed into the sluice in a single day. Bars were placed across the sluice to arrest and turn off the larger stones and boulders, and four or five men could accomplish more and gain larger returns than four or five hundred by the old processes. This process of washing down the hills has been continued, and is still in progress in many portions of the gold-bearing regions of the Great West. Sometimes the clay which binds together the gold-bearing gravel and sand is too tough and compact to be broken down even by the force of the hydraulic stream ; then the miner tunnels the hill at its base and introduces an immense charge of gunpowder, giant-powder, gun-cotton, dynamite or nitro-glycerine, which, when exploded, breaks up the tough clay and renders the hitherto difficult task of the hydraulic pipe easy HYDRAULIC MINING. jq^ and swift. By this process of hydraulic mining the gold produc- tion has been largely maintained at nearly its old standard, and millions of dollars worth of gold bullion have been put upon the market. The ordinary placer mining is nearly at an end, except at some of the newer points. It is still conducted, to some ex- tent, in Arizona, New Mexico, in portions of Wyoming, and in the Black Hills ; but hydraulic mining is now practised wherever the ancient deposits of gold in gravel can be found, and water with a sufficient head can be obtained. Hydraulic, or even sluice mining is not an aesthetic pursuit; the regions where it is practised may be, before the miner's ad- vent, like the garden of the Lord for beauty ; but after his work is completed, they bear no resemblance to anything, except the chaos which greeted the eye of the seer at the dawn of the Mosaic record of the rehabilitation of the earth for the use of man, — "without form and void " — ^'Tohu e bohu'' — "the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness." It is impossible to con- ceive of anything more desolate, more utterly forbidding, than a region which has been subjected to this hydraulic mining treat- ment; boulders of all sizes are scattered over the surface, and around them coarse gravel, incapable of sustaining vegetation ; the streams are filled up with a fine. clay, and very possibly over- flow their banks, producing dreary marshes, and the whole vista is one of extreme desolation and ruin. We have already spoken of the tracing up of the gold deposits of the placers to the lodes or veins from which they had been washed out ; let us now turn to these veins or lodes, and ascer- tain what were the processes by which the precious metal was extracted from them, or, in other words, how lode, or, as it is often called, quartz mining is conducted. And, first, of the vein or lode. Where this contains gold (and it is of gold mining we are now speaking), it is almost always a vein of quartz, and usually of the milky opaque kind, scarcely showing any signs of crystallization. It is often found in slate, sometimes in porphyritic rock. The quartz is sometimes very hard, sometimes soft and crumbling; it may show the gold, if that is in particles of considerable size, but where it is in fine grains, ro8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. it frequently does not show It at all. The gold is very irreg' ularly distributed in the quartz, some portions being largely charged with it, while again, for long distances, the quartz vein is entirely barren of gold. Sometimes the vein contains rounded pebbles, or, as Eastern men would say , cobble-stones, of large size, of very hard quartz, containing no gold, but bridging or plugging the vein. These are generally surrounded by soft, sometimes crumbling, quartz, which usually contains some gold. They are called by the miners "boulder veins." Sometimes the course of the vein is blocked by a mass of porphyry or hard slate, which completely stops the miner's progress until it is cut through, and it may extend for several feet or yards. This is called by the miners a "horse." A true fissure vein Is one which is formed by the filling up of a crack or fissure in the harder rocks (occasioned by earthquake, upheaval, or in some other way) with conglomerate, quartz and other matters, into which gold, either free or In combination with other metals or minerals, has been injected at Intervals, in a fluid state. The width of the vein Is the width of the crack or fissure; Its length, the length to which the fissure extends within a mod- erate distance of the surface ; its depth may be limited by the depth of the stratum In which it occurs, but more generally ex- tends far lower than any mining excavations can reach. The fissures and the veins are found at all conceivable angles or dips. Rarely they are found nearly horizontal, but this though at first a seeming advantage. Is hardly a real one. Inasmuch as from the nearly level character of the land adjacent there will be great difficulty eventually In freeing the lower levels of the mine from the water which accumulates. Often the dip of the fissure and the strata adjacent is at an angle of twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty degrees with the surface; sometimes It is even perpendicular; and where the anofle Is considerable and the vein or lode is first discovered on a hillside or near its summit, a tunnel run at a much lower level, so as to strike the vein, affords the best means of dralninor It. o Not only does the fissure dip at very various angles, but it may penetrate the harder rocks at any angle varying from the TRUE FISSURE VEINS OR I ODES. 109 perpendicular, so that the entire vein may enter the rocks in a slanting direction, and the walls of slate or porphyry which en- close the vein, and are called in miners' parlance " country rock," may slope at an angle of forty-five degrees, or be even nearly horizontal in position, while they have at the same time the downward trend of the rocky stratum to which they belong. The true fissure vein may have, and the best veins often do have, chimneys, chutes, bonanzas, or branch fissures, generally connecting with the main vein or lode on its upper side, at an angfe of from thirty to forty-five degrees, which may be richer in gold than the main vein. These chutes or chimneys often extend downward into the true or main vein, and are thought to determine in part its value. The mining geologists think that they were deposited much as soot is in a chimney, the gold being in a fluid or easeous condition at the time. Gold as well as silver is sometimes found in considerable quantities in pockets, or small cavities in the rocks, and these, which are sometimes of moderate extent, m.ay yield a fortune to one or two men ; but these pockets are seldom connected with a true fissure vein, and when once exhausted, are not of any value, even as indications of the presence of fissure veins or lodes in the vicinity. It was supposed previous to 1877, ^^^^ ^^ experience of cen- turies in mining for gold and silver had developed all the modes in which the precious metals or their ores, were deposited in the earth, to be brought out for the use of man. The placer mines, and the veins or lodes, the true fissure veins, as they were called, were reckoned the only methods by which, in the processes of nature, large quantities of these metals or ores were deposited. There might be, indeed, pockets and chimneys of nearly pure metal, which, when the miner stumbled upon them, would add greatly to his profits so long as they lasted ; but these were only incidents or accidents, not to be taken into account in scientific mining. It was reserved for the opening of mines of silver and gold at Leadville, and subsequently at other points in the San Juan and Gunnison districts, and probably also in Utah, to bring to light two discoveries which are of the greatest importance to I JO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. miners and holders of mining property. The first and most obvious one was that silver, and to some extent also gold, in combination with lead, existed in large quantities and very rich ores, in other forms than the argentiferous galena or sulphuret, and that sulphur was not a necessary accompaniment of silver and gold ores, whether in combination with lead, zinc, copper, or iron. The carbonates of lead, etc., have proved the most produc- tive of combinations. The second discovery was still more important, and is only just beginning to be understood : it is, that the deposits of ore need not be in fissure veinSy or lodes, in placers, in pockets, or in chimneys ; but that there is another form, perhaps as productive, and certainly more easily worked — that of " contact lodes,^' by which are meant deposits of silver ore, spread with a considerable thickness over the surface of a stratum of rock, and following it in all its sinuosities and its dip over a great extent. Unlike the fissure veins, these are not of great depth, though sometimes they occur in two or three layers with the strata of sandstone or limestone between. These con- tact lodes generally occur in cavernous limestone or sandstone. As vv^e have already intimated, gold is found in the lodes, either free — i. e., pure or nearly so, or combined with sulphurets of iron, copper, lead or zinc, in the form of pyrites. Its treat- ment after it comes from the mine differs somewhat in the two cases. The amount of gold in the quartz is often very small — smaller one hundred feet below the surface than near the surface; but, except in the barren portions of the vein, not diminishing or increasing very greatly in the lowest levels which have been reached (and some of these exceed 3,000 feet, or three-fifths of a mile). Quartz or ore which will assay twenty- three or four dol- lars per ton, and which yields after being put through the stamp batteries and the amalgamating process eighteen dollars per ton, is regarded as very good. Not over one-fourth of the gold mines exceed this, and very many fall below it, and are yet worked at a moderate profit. The mining and reducing processes are these : A lode or vein having been traced out which bears evidence of being a true fis- sure vein, and the claim (1,500 feet in length, and 300 in width, MINING AND REDUCING PROCESSES. HI being the general extent of a single claim) being duly entered, the mine-owner begins operations by sinking a shaft in the line of the vein to ascertain its quality, and, when the shaft is down fifty or a hundred feet, running an adit or level along the course of the vein to ascertain its quality at that depth ; sometimes a winze is cut, — two adits at different levels cutting across the vein or veins at levels fifty feet apart, and connected with each other at their further extremity by a shaft which does not rise to the sur- face. Sometimes, if the shaft is on the top or side of a hill, a tunnel is run to it from the base of the hill for the purposes of drainage, ventilation and the more easy transportation of the ore. If on the examination of the quartz, or ore taken from the vein at this depth, the promise of success is good, additional capital is enlisted, and the shaft is constructed to a greater depth, levels or adits run at different levels and of considerable length, rails put down on the levels, steam-hoisting machinery set up at the mouth of the shaft, pumping machinery put in to relieve the mine of the accumulation of water (which is often very hot — as high as 154° F. in some of the Nevada mines), and stoping, either overhand or underhand, commenced, especially if the vein or veins dip at an angle of 40° or 50°. Stoping is the break- ing out with a pickaxe the quartz of the vein, and letting it fall on the level ready to be hoisted by the machinery. If the miner stands at his work and brings down the quartz from the vein at the level of his breast or above, it is called "overhand stoping;" if he picks it from about his feet or below and stoops, sits or crouches at his work, and the masses thus broken out fall to the level below, it is " underhand stoping." This mining, if profitable, may be extended to as great a depth as may be desired, the only checks upon it being, the great ex- pense of the pumping apparatus at considerable depths, and the difficulty of freeing the mine from water ; the more than torrid temperature in the deep mines, and the time and expense of hoisting the ores from such great depths. By a tunnel like the Sutro tunnel, the water can be carried off at moderate expense, the heat greatly mitigated by free ventilation, and the ores hoisted and brouorht to the surface at a much lower cost; but such tunnels are exceedingly expensive. 112 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The ore broken out and hoisted to the surface is now ready for reduction. If the masses are of large size they are at first put through the rock-breaker, which reduces them to the size of a goose-egg ; they are next conducted to the stamp-batteries or stamp-mill, where they are fed into the stamping-machine, a cylindrical machine, whose walls are of hardened chilled iron, its floor or mortar of the hardest steel, and a solid mass of chilled iron faced with hard steel, of cylindrical form, descends with a twisting motion upon the quartz, grinding and crushing it to powder — the inner surface of the cylinder is coated generally with quicksilver, and the powdered quartz mingled with water In the stamping-machine, flows out upon amalgamated copper plates, which have a sufficient extent to catch the larger part of the gold particles. The stamping-machine is cleaned out at frequent intervals, and the plates have their coating of amalgam removed, the superfluous quicksilver is squeezed out through buckskin, and the remainder expelled by heat, the sublimed quicksilver being recovered for future use. The gold remains a spongy mass, but is melted and cast in the form of an ingot. This is the improved process of to-day, the result of twenty- five years of experiment and invention. By this process about seventy-five per cent, of the gold is saved, whereas with the ruder processes of the arastra and the earlier stamp-mills, only from sixteen to forty per cent, of the gold was secured; and the working over of the tailings of the arastras and of the long Toms, and early sluices, by Chinese miners, yielded them a very profitable harvest of gold. A new process has recendy been devised, which, bringing galvanic action to bear upon the masses of ore of the size of a goose-egg, reduces them to a state of dis- integration, rendering the stamp-mills unnecessary and causing the lumps to crumble upon mere pressure, sets the entire gold in the ore free instantly, and thus dispensing with much cosdy ma- chinery, at the same time greatly increases the gold production. If, as was largely the case in Colorado and to some extent in some of the other States and Territories, the gold was combined with the sulphurets, and came from the mine as pyrites, it was, either before or after being put into the rock-breaker, roasted to MINING AND REDUCING PROCESSES. Hj expel the sulphur, which prevented amalgamation. This is now done at some mills in the open air, at others in furnaces. When roasted it is reduced to powder under water in the stamp-mills, amalgamated in the mortars, passed over the amalgamated cop- per plates, and beyond these made to flow over rough, thick, hairy, woollen blankets, which catch a considerable quantity of the gold which is saved by repeated washings ; the stream of water, still thick with the powdered quartz, falls into tanks called huddling tanks, where it settles, and from the lower portion of the huddled tailings, a dollar or two more of gold is extracted. By a process invented by T. A. Edison, the electrician, these huddled tailings are made to yield up a large and profitable residue of the sfold hitherto wasted. In the Black Hills, Dakota, the gold is largely combined or encrusted with oxide of iron, and requires a somewhat different treatment, to free It from the iron, which prevents the gold from amalgamating, and requires the patient labor of the Chinese to extract that which remains in the tailings. This oxide of iron, in the placer deposits, coats over the gold and gravel and forms a dense and firm cement, sometimes of great extent, which cannot be washed out in the sluice-boxes, but requires to be put through the stamp batteries like the quartz from the lodes. The gold mines of the Black Hills are so situated, far up on the hills, that the ore can be carried directly into the stamp-mills by chutes, and hence, though the gold ores are of low grade, averaging not more than ^lo or ^12 per ton, the cost of reduction is so small, ranging from ^1.80 to ^4.50 per ton, that the profit on these uniform low sfrade ores is better than is obtained on ores of higher grade, which cost more for reduction. Where the ores contain gold and silver in combination with copper, lead, or zinc, and sulphur, a more active, expensive and protracted treatment is necessary ; but this belongs rather to sil- ver than fTold-mlnlnQr. Where the raw amalo^amatlon and wet crushing process described above Is all that is necessary, gold can be reduced from the quartz for from ^3 to ^5 per ton, and thus, unless the transportation is too expensive. It is possible to reduce low grade ores, those containing from ^15 to ^20 of gold 114 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. to the ton, and ma^e a fair profit on the business. The plant or first cost of a stamp-mill of five, ten, or even twenty stamps is not now so Q-reat, as to deter the owners of a o-ood mine from setting it up ; or if it is the property of parties who are not miners but who understand their business, two or three mines of moderate size can keep it constantly employed. By this pro- cess, while from seventy to seventy-five per cent, of the gold is saved, much, generally all, of the silver is lost, and the whole of the copper, lead and zinc. Silver was first discovered, in any considerable quantity, in these States and Territories, in Nevada in 1S57 by the Grosh brothers ; but owinof to its beincr larofely combined with eold, and the death of the discoverers soon after, the discovery was not prosecuted at first very vigorously. In June, 1S59, the first great discovery of silver was made on apart of what is now known as the Comstock lode, the grounds of the Ophir Mining Company. Peter O'Reilly and Patrick McLaughlin were the discoverers, but as the land was claimed by Kirby and others, they employed Henry Comstock to purchase the land. Comstock negotiated at the same time one or two other claims, and finally purchased the whole tract, to which he gave his name, but appreciated its value so litde, that he sold it for a few thousand dollars, and reo^arded himself as havinij made an excellent bargain. From that o c:> o Comstock lode or vein, more than three hundred millions of dollars have been taken since that time — a period of twenty years. Silver is found in all, or nearly all, the different systems of rocks forming the crust of the earth, from Azoic to Tertiary. Like the gold and gold ores, it is found only in veins, though these are sometimes of great width, the Comstock lode varying from twenty to one hundred and fifty feet.* The depth of these veins, like those of the gold, has never been ascertained, but it is known in some cases to exceed 2,650 feet. The ores contain the silver in various conditions and combinations. In Nevada, it is com- * Since the partial failure of these veins, and the discovery of contact lodes at Leadville, the idea is gaining ground that a part of the deposits of the Comstock, and especially those veins a hundred and fifty feet wide, may be contact lodes. SILVER MINING AND REDUCTION. II5 billed with a certain proportion of gold, and is found as a sulphuret of silver and lead (argentiferous galena), a sulphuret of silver and copper (copper pyrites), of zinc, and combined with sulphurets of iron, antimony, tellurium and other base metals ; as native or virgin silver ; as chloride of silver or horn silver; as a richly argentiferous carbonate of lead, copper, zinc or iron, and in yet other combinations, which can only be reduced by long and tedious labor and at great expense. A large proportion of the silver from the mines on the Com- stock lode can be reduced by the dry stamping and amalgamating process. These are those in which the percentage of lead is small and that of gold large. In these cases the lead is lost, but the reduction costs only from four to five dollars a ton. Ores containing more lead, or copper, zinc, etc., are variously treated by roasting, smeking, treating with copper, iron, or " lead riches," mixing with salt to change the sulphurets into chlorides, chlorodizing, leaching, meking in a reverbatory furnace, etc. The ores of Colorado are partly sulphurets and partly carbonates, and in some of them there is a large amount of native silver. The Utah ores are very largely chlorides or chlorides and sulphurets, with some " horn " or native silver ; some of the California ores of more recent discovery are carbonates. Those of Montana are mosdy sulphurets, but mingled with such a variety of base metals and in such a condition that the reduction is effected with great difficulty. Indeed until the recent establishment of the Alta Montana mill and works at Wickes, most of the ores from the Montana mines have been only con- centrated, and sent out of the Territory for reduction. The Alta mill concentrates, and employs seven or eight different processes of reducUon, all of them expensive and requiring cosdy and complicated machinery. Ores are reduced by these processes at a cost of from $15.75 to $50, so that low grade ores do not pay for mining, if they contain much of the base metals. It is not necessary to occupy our pages with minute description of these various processes, or the machinery constructed for them. They can only be worked by experts, and the great competition for business in the numerous reduction establish- ments secures the miner against exorbitant prices. Il5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. It is difficult to say which are absolutely the best mining regions. There are advantages and disadvantages about them all, to the practical miner or the resident mine-owner. In those mines which have been established from fifteen to twenty-five years, like many of those in California and Nevada, the shares are high priced, if the mines continue to be valuable ; the depth of the mines is so great, and the danger of the accumulation of water so constant, that the expenses are enormous, and large as the dividends are, the assessments made on the shares for improve- ments nearly equal, and in some cases exceed all the declared profits. There are, indeed, all the appliances of civilization, and the miner or mine-owner is not subjected to the hardships and privations, from which those suffer who attempt to open mines in a new country. Placer mining is best adapted to the young and enterprising miner who has little or no capital. He needs at the outset only his tin or iron pan, his pick and shovel and perhaps a little quicksilver, and his haversack of provisions — ves, besides these he needs sufficient knovvledofe of mining to know where he will be likely to find a place with a moderately rapid stream of water at hand, and when found, to determine whether it will pay for working, or whether its best pay streaks have already been worked over. Even if his gains are but moderate at first, they will increase under favoring circumstances, till he can substitute the "Tom" for his pan, and the sluice for the "Tom," and employing help can increase his income rapidly. But placer mining is, in its nature, very uncertain. The miner may come upon barren spots where there is no pay-dirt, and his little hoard is fast becoming exhausted ; or, which is worse, he may come to the end of the placer, or, as in the Black Hills, may find it a hard lava-like mass, agglutinated and firmly cemented together by the oxide of iron, which he cannot wash away nor pulverize, and hence, like the tramp, he is obliged to move on. Meantime his life is of the hardest and roughest, his dwelling is either a dug-out in the side of a hill, or a sod-hut, reared and roofed by his own unskilful hands; his food is hard, coarse, and badly cooked, for he cooks it himself, as best he can ; he is much of the time in wet clothing, in his work of washing the gold • THE MINER'S CHANCES OF SUCCESS. Uy without society, without books, without a Sabbath or any reli- gious privileges. After a longer or shorter time, the placer gives out, and he must find another. What he has saved of his gains he has, but there is no right, no claim, to be disposed of; he can only pull up stakes, and begin again. For placer mining the Black Hills, Western Colorado, Montana, and perhaps some por- tions of Wyoming, and Idaho, Oregon, and Washington Terri- tory, offer the best locations. For lode or vein mining more capital is needed for success ; and a practical knowledge of mining is almost indispensable. It makes little difference whether the miner seeks a gold or silver lode; he must be sure of these four things: that he is not on land already claimed by anybody ; that any apparent vein he may discover is a true fissure-vein, and not a placer-deposit, nor a mere pocket; that the dip of the vein is such as to permit its successful working; and that the ores are of a sufficiently high grade to pay the costs of reduction and leave a small mar- gin of profit. Here again the privations in the mode of living come in, and unless the miner has considerable capital, he is lia- ble to see his money and his hard toil both go for little or noth- ing, and the great rewards for which he hoped, pass into the pockets of some one who has more money but less brains than himself; when he has reached the end of his means, and is obliged to sell at any price which the avarice of the buyer will prompt him to give. If he can hold out and hold on, and enlist sufficient capital to assist in the full development of his mine, there Is a fortune before him, but in all the mining reooo 00 And there will be of wool from 2,000 sheep, 5 lbs. each, or 10,000 lbs., at 21 cents . $2,100 00 1,500 lambs, 4 lbs. each, or 6,000 lbs., at 21 cents . 1,260 00 60 bucks, 17 lbs. each, or 1,000 lbs., at 15 cents . 150 00 3,510 00 ^6,960 00 Expetises : Herders, etc ^2,060 00 Shearing 3,560 sheep, at 6 cents 213 60 Hay and grain 350 00 $2,623 ^° Losses : On ewes, 4 per cent, on $6,000 $240 00 On bucks, 5 per cent, on $1,800 .... 90 00 On lambs, 7 per cent, on $3,000 .... 210 00 540 00 Depreciation : On ewes, 5 per cent, on $6,000 ;^3oo 00 On bucks, 5 per cent, on $1,800 .... 90 00 390 00 3,553 60 Net profits for second year $3,406 40 1 88 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. THIRD YEAR. The second year's lambs will be worth an additional 15 per cent., or, say (15 per cent, on ^3,000) ?4So 00 There will be 1,500 lambs from original 2,000 ewes, and, say, from new 750 ewes (one-half of 1,500, not more than 60 per cent, in first lambing, or, say, 450 — in all, 1,950 lambs, at $2 . 3,900 00 Wool will be : Prom 3,500 ewes, 5^ lbs. each, or 19,250 lbs., at 21 cents ^4>o42 50 Fromi,95olambs, 4lbs. each,or7,8oolbs.,at2icents 1,638 00 From 60 bucks, 17 lbs. each, or 1, 000 lbs.,, at 15 cents 15000 5,83050 ^10,180 50 Expenses : Herders and fodder ^2,970 00 Shearing 5,510 sheep, at 6 cents .. . 330 60 New corrals, etc 300 00 ^3,600 60 Losses : On ewes, 4 per cent, on ^6,000 .... ^240 00 On new sheep, 4 per cent, on $4,500 ... 180 00 On lambs, 7 per cent, on ^3,000 . . . . 210 00 On bucks, 5 percent, on ^i,Soo .... 90 00 720 00 Depreciation : On old ewes, 10 per cent, on $6,000 . . . $600 00 On bucks, 20 per cent, on $i,Soo .... 360 00 960 00 5,280 60 Net profits for third year $4,899 90 RECAPITULATION. First year's profits $2,596 40 Second year's profits 3,406 40 Third year's profits 4,899 90 Total $10,902 70 At the end of five years after selling off the original 2,000 ewes, which are now more than replaced by those of a better grade, which will give larger lambs, and yield heavier fleeces, and disposing also of 2,000 wethers and lambs, our young sheep- master finds that his net profits received within the five years amount to a little more than $37,500, and that he has still on hand 3,500 ewes and ewe lambs, 2,013 wethers and male lambs all over a year old, 150 bucks of high grade and good size, and SHEEP- FARMING ON A SMALL SCALE. l3g that the increased value of his land and buildings being added to his stock Its present value is ^28,767. In other words he has earnings, stock on hand and improved land to show to the amount of ^66,267, for an original investment of not more than ^13,200, or about 500 per cent, advance in five years. Extend the time to ten years, and if he can obtain land he will, after selling off his surplus stock to the amount of at least ^25,000, have a flock of 25,000 sheep, 450 bucks, and can shear from 180,000 to 200,000 pounds of wool annually, and his possessions, in land, buildings, and animals in the absence of any extraordinary misfortune, are worth from ^100,000 to ^120,000, and his net income over ^40,000 a year. Of course it is possible to build up a handsome fortune in the course of ten or twenty years from a much smaller beginning- than this ; there were instances, when lainl was lower and sheep- ranges on government lands were more available than now, when, an investment of ^1,000 resulted in an ample fortune in fifteen or twenty years. If, however, the emigrant knows something of the care of sheep, and has but a thousand dollars, our advice to him would be to secure land, if he can, under the Homestead and Timber-Culture Acts, or by pre-emption, and hire himself out in some capacity to a large sheep-farnier, either taking his pay in lambs to be herded with his employer's flock, or investing a part of his money in them, and gradually getting ready his cabin and corrals, putting out his trees, and hire, say, forty acres of his land broken and seeded to wheat, and perhaps an equal quantity to corn, Alfalfa or millet. In this way he can, at the end of three or four years, have a range of his own with 1,000 ewes to stock it and can go on swimmingly from that time. His wheat and forage plants, for wh;i ch there is a ready sale, will bring him not only an ample support, if he takes his pay for herding in lambs, but will give him additional means for the pur- chase of land and stock. But we would not advise a young man to marry or to bring his family to this wild primitive life till he has a comfortable cabin and sheep-ranche of his own. The life of the shepherd on a large sheep-farm is isolated and lonely, though not in most sections fraught with any considerable dan- igC OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ger; but his family would find it monotonous and wearisome beyond measure. In Texas the sheep-farmer usually resides with his family in a village, which may be ten, twenty-five, or even fifty miles from his farm and flocks. It is not necessary that he should be daily in attendance there if he has competent and faithful shepherds. As land becomes more valuable even for pasturage in this Great West, and there comes a demand for a hardier breed of sheep which can ascend to the higher mountain pastures, and whose flesh will be of finer flavor, it may be worthy of experi- ment to try the crossing of the wild native Rocky Mountain sheep or Big-horn with the largest Merino grades, and thus pro- duce a large and hardy breed which will combine the excellen- cies of both. The Big-horn ranges in weight from 250 to 350 pounds, and thrives and fattens where the common sheep would starve. Its coat or fleece is a fine and silky hair rather than wool. Its flesh is tender and of excellent flavor. Its form and motions are graceful. If these qualities could be grafted upon the Merino, without materially injuring the value of its fleece, though they might change its character, it would be a great gain to the sheep-masters. The rearinp' of the Anofora fjoat has become a favorite in- dustry with many of the larger stock-farmers of the West. A single stock-farm in Colorado has 8,000 of these animals, and they are largely raised in California, Texas, and to some extent in Kansas and Wyoming. Those raised here are usually grades from pure Angora or Syrian bucks crossed with selected she- goats of the native stock, and the crossing continued until the progeny is not more than one-eighth or one-sixteenth of the common stock. The mohair or curly glossy hair from these is said to be fully equal to the best Syrian mohair. They are hardy, of much larger size than the common goat, will live and thrive on the roughest and poorest fare, while their fleece is very valuable. If the so-called Rocky Mountain goat [Aploccrtis Montanus) is really a goat and not a goat-like antelope — a point not yet quite settled — a cross of this and the Angora goat, which it strongly resembles, might be still better. OTHER EMPLOYMENTS. jOI The flesh of the Angora goat is better than that of the com- mon goat, and it yields about four quarts daily of an excellent and rich milk, while the cost of its keeping is only about one- twelfth that of a cow. In some seciions this is an important consideration. CHAPTER XVII. Employments in Cities, Towns and Villages — Horticulture, Floricul- ture, Arboriculture — Mercantile Business — Banking — The Profes- sions, Clergymen, Lawyers, Physicians, Engineers, Artists, Musicians, AND Teachers of Music, Vocal and Instrumental — Teachers and Edu- cators — Artisans of all Trades — Machinists, Operatives, and Em- ployes in Manufacturing Establishments — Employments Connected with Mining, Reducing, Smelting, and Refining Metals — Farming, Herding, and other Employes — Day-Laborers — Facilities for Manufac- turing — Water-Power, Steam-Power — Woollen Manufacture — Cot- ton Manufactures and Cotton Seed — Other Textiles — Iron and Iron Wares — Machinery — Manufactures of Wood, etc. ** But," says the man who is contemplating a migration to the Great West, and who has read the preceding pages with great interest, " in all this, I do not find anything which exactly hits my case. I have not the capital necessary for the purchase or opening of a mine of gold or silver, of platinum or copper, of lead, zinc, or iron ; nor have I the education in metallurgy, which would qualify me for that business, if I had the capital. I am not familiar with the timber or the lumber trade, and the capital for engaging in that is lacking. I have no practical acquaintance with farming, am no judge of soils, and if I were to put what little money I have into a farm, I should probably lose it all, and find myself a penniless stranger in a strange land. I have never been accustomed to the care of larcre herds of cattle or flocks of sheep, and if I had, these callings require a capital which is far beyond my means. Is there not something which a professional man, or an educated man of small means, or of a limited fixed income, or a retired army officer, engineer, chemist, or govern- 102 OUR WESTER IV EMPIRE. ment clerk, banker's clerk, accountant, tradesman, gardener, florist, nurseryman, carpenter, builder, painter, mason, marble worker, glazier, tinman, jeweller, blacksmith, brass-founder, paper-maker, factory operative, or willing and honest day- laborer can do?" Yes, friend, there Is room enough and work enough for all these classes, and to whichever of them you belong, if you are in prime health and vigor, and have enterprise, patience, endurance, and even a small capital, you can do well in your calling. An English immigrant, who had tried a great variety of pur- suits without adhering long to any, and whom Mr. A. A. Hayes, Jr., met on a sheep-farm in Colorado, herding sheep at ^20 a month and his keeping, said to Mr. Hayes, with a grim resolu- tion, " I tell you a feller can just make money in this country, but lies got to have sandT Sand is the Colorado vernacular for grit, or dogged resolution. The Great West is no place for any man who is easily dis- couraged or disheartened, and who, after a two or three months' trial of a business, into which he has thrown very little energy, becomes home-sick, and concludes that he had better return to the East or to Europe. Such a man will not succeed anywhere. But to the man who has energy and pluck, who is not cast down because everything does not go just as he expected it would T the man who has given pledges to fortune, who has a wife and little ones dependent upon him, or who is looking for- ward to having a home to which he can bring one dearer to him than life, or who has parents or minor brothers and sisters, who must look to him for support, the man who knows how to do at least one thing well, and who is observant, patient, brave, honest and true, there is no part of the world where he can do better, whatever his calling, than this great Western Empire. Such a man has been an assistant to a market-gardener, florist, or nurseryman at the East or in Europe. He has become familiar with the plants, flowers, shrubs, or young trees to be raised, and with the best methods of propagating and cultivating them, and he has been sufficiently prudent and far-sighted to save $400 or $500 to start in his new home at the West. Let THE FLORIST OR MARKET- GARDENER. Iq, him locate his garden, or nursery, or market-garden, as near as may be to some one of the new towns, which are springing up all over this region. If he is early enough to take up his forty acres under the Timber-Culture Act, it will be just the thing, for he can plant his ten acres with trees for nursery purposes, and while obtaining his land for ten or fifteen dollars, can be making a profit from the trees, which give him the land. But if there is. no suitable location of this kind available, he can buy land from the government, near the railroad, for $2.50 an acre, or with sol- diers' bounty warrants, or from the railroad company, so that it will not cost him at the utmost over ^200 for the forty acres he takes, and this on suf^cient time, to enable him to realize on his first crop before paying for it. The breaking up the sod will be the first considerable expense, and this he can provide for, either by changing works with a neighbor, or, which will be better, by hiring out for a year to seme one in one of the same lines of business with himself. Meantime he can put in his first crop, and, if he is wise, he will make that a root crop, potatoes, beets, turnips, ruta-bagas, sweet potatoes, or something of the sort. From this crop, even on twenty acres, he will realize enough to build his cabin, stock his nursery, fiower-garden, or market- garden, and obtain a horse and wagon, or a pair of pack-mules or asses. Starting thus fairly in his second year, he will find, if he will make his place and wares known, that there is a ready and good market for everything he can raise ; and so rich is the virgin soil, that for perhaps a score of years, no manure, or at most only that made on the place will be needed. At the end of three or, at the most, four years from the time he first plants his foot in the West, he is so well situated as to be able to sup- port his family, or those dependent on him, in comfort, and that without impairing his business capital. If he is very enterprising he will be likely by this time to combine the three vocations of market-gardener, florist, and nurseryman, and acquiring more land, and employing the necessary help, he will soon be on the high road to fortune. The intending immigrant has been perhaps a clerk or small proprietor of a grocery or a dry-goods shop, or of a druggist's IQ^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. or apothecary shop. He has saved, by careful economy, |,6oo or ^800. He understands his business well, knows where, when and how to buy, and how to sell. What can he do ? This is the most difficult class to provide for, and yet the case is by no means a hopeless one. We would advise that the im- migrant should select some point where a village or town is just commencing, either in a mining or farming region, and visit it before purchasing his goods ; find out what goods will be wanted, and what quantities, and then, having secured a town-lot before they have had an opportunity to rise much, and, if he can buy to advantage, a forty-acre lot in the vicinity, and arranging for the erection of a shop, of sods, logs, or slabs, only so that it is suffi- ciently roomy and cheap, let him buy his goods, if east of the Rocky Mountains, at Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Joseph, Omaha, Kansas City, or Denver, Galveston, or Houston ; or if he needs and can afford a larger stock, at Chicago, St. Louis, or New Or- leans. There is no advantage in going farther East for the quanti- ties he will want, and, ere long, the commercial travellers will visit him and take his orders, if he will allow them to do so. At first he will be obliged to buy on credit in part, but as soon as possi- ble he should pay cash for his purchases, and in selling, a week's credit is better than a month's. Grocers, shopkeepers, and the mercantile class generally, are sure to be ruined if they buy and sell on credit. The shopkeeper should make his prices as low as possible, and deal justly and honestly by his customers, but he should insist on cash payments, or, at the utmost, give credit only for from ten to thirty days. Dping this, and buying closely, paying cash for everything as soon as possible, and living eco- nomically, the merchant, shopkeeper, or grocer, though he may not make money so rapidly as those in some other callings, can- not fail, whatever the times, and will be likely, in the course of a dozen years or so, to acquire a competence. The purchase of forty or eighty acres of land will prove -advantageous, as it will add to his credit much more than its value, and when improved will add to his profits also. For the young banker who is skilled in finance, and has a good credit at the East for his honor and integrity, even though he BANKERS, CLERGYMEN. igr may not have much capital, there is a good opening in almost every part of the West. Coming to a town or city with good references, and plenty of enterprise, he can, in the legitimate course of his business, make a fortune in a few years, if he will carefully avoid all reckless speculation. Men, and men in new mining and farming communities especially, are very credulous and reckless in trusting their money with anybody who will promise to take care of it for them ; but they will be furious if they find that they have been defrauded. But both mining and the sale of crops require banking operations, and if these are well and honestly conducted, the young banker has an excellent opportunity for success. The professions are somewhat in danger of being crowded, though " there is always," as Horace Greeley said, " plenty of room at the top," Clergymen coming to settle in the new towns or villages, if dependent upon their professions for a living, and having sufficient health to preach and act as pastors, will find it necessary in most cases, at first, to take an appointment from their denominational missionary boards, and draw a part of their pay from thence, as the young churches, in these new settlements^ are generally composed of those who have yet their fortunes to make ; and though they may be, and often are, liberal, even to an extent beyond their means, they cannot, at first, erect churches and support their pastors without aid. This condition of things is, however, but temporary, and the missionary societies at the East, with their wealthy clientage at home, furnish most of the aid required, till they are able to go alone. In cases of emigra- tion in colonies, of which we shall have more to say by and by, the colonies are often of a single denomination, and bring their pastors with them. This has usually been the case with the Scandinavian, Mennonite, and Roman Catholic colonies from Europe, and with many of those from the Eastern States. If a clergyman of moderate means, who is not disposed, on account of health or for any other cause, to devote himself solely to his clerical duties, migrates to this western region, the way is open to him, of course, to engage in farming, wool-growing, stock- raising, mining or any other reputable employment, and his jq5 our western empire. chances of success are not lessened by his profession, while he may, if he is really an earnest Christian man, do a great amount of OrQod. The lawyers have a better chance for a fortune than the clergy- men, especially in the mining districts, although they congregate there in large numbers. There is always a great deal of litiga- tion in regard to mining property, and the disposition of mining estates ; and in addition to this, crimes against the person, fights, shooting affrays, murders and suicides, the results of the two great vices of mining towns in their early history, — gambling and intemperance — are sufficiently rife to give employment to very many lawyers. In the farming towns there is less litigation, but conveyancing and disputes about boundaries, transportation, and prices of crops, and other matters, give the legal profession generally, a fair share of business. The joint-stock companies, which now carry on most of the mining, and a large part of the farming, stock-raising, and sheep-growing ranches, each have their counsel, and sometimes more than one. In addition to this, the legal profession have almost a monop- oly of politics. They slide into political life as easily as a duck takes to water, and sooner or later some of its prizes — mem- bership of the State House of Representatives, State Senate, or Congress, United States Senatorships, Judgeships, from the lowest to the highest, United States Commissionerships, United States Marshalships, Clerks of courts, and of counties, or State offices — fall to their lot. Physicians have not so good an outlook as the legal profession, though they swarm in the newer towns in great numbers, and perhaps the most arrant quacks have, at first, as good a chance as the best educated and most accomplished physicians. But time in this, as in most matters, brings about its revenges. Edu- cation, talent, integrity, and skill, will in the end triumph. There are probably, in most of the towns and villages of the West, more physicians than can get a living by their profession ; but some of them, who are skilful as chemists or metallurgists, will become connected with mining interests; others, accomplished botanists, anatomists, zoologists, or geologists, will turn aside to PHYSICIANS, ENGINEERS, ARTISTS. igj these pursuits, and perhaps fill a professor's or teacher's chair ; while others still will engage in farming, or sheep, or stock- raising; and with the rapidly increasing population, there will be room for more, if they are of the best sort. We cannot, how- ever, advise physicians, born and educated in Europe, to come to the West, unless they come with colonies of their own coun- trymen ; as our diseases and modes of practice differ materially from theirs, and our own physicians, like our own lawyers, would generally have the preference. For engineers, and especially mining and civil engineers, of high character, intelligence and integrity, there is a wide field. The immensity of the mining interest and its rapid development will furnish profitable employment for every honest and skilful mining engineer who will go there. It is not the mines, or smelting and reduction works of gold, silver, quicksilver or lead alone which will furnish employment to them, but the great iron, copper and coal interests also will give them ample business. Civil engineers and surveyors will find their services needed in the construction of railroads, in the superintendence and design- ing of machinery, in the laying out of new lands, in the construc- tion of new tunnels, draining and irrigating canals, and the erec- tion of great public works. The true artist is cosmopolitan, and will find himself as much at home, perhaps more, among the grand phenomena of nature in the West ; its lofty mountains, often lifting their heads to the perpetual snows; the broad valleys, covered with verdure and flowers; the deep and frightfully dark caiEions ; the unusual forms, often grand and inspiring, sometimes grotesque, into which the water currents and the glaciers have cut and moulded the rocks ; the geysers ; the hot springs with their rainbow-hued basins ; and all the wonders of scenery which Dame Nature spreads before his eyes as profusely as anywhere in the world, and he can draw from them an inspiration which will prompt him to loftier flights of genius than he has yet attained. But the artist is mortal, and must be sustained like the rest of the world, on mundane food, and wear such raiment as the exigencies of the seasons and of society demand. Can he find patrons of art in jgg OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. these new lands? Most assuredly he can, and the hicrher and purer his artistic attainments, the more abundant will be his patronage. The vast wealth attained by a large number of mining and other capitalists in this region, is freely lavished on objects of art, and they are not generally so ignorant as not to know a good picture or group of statuary when they see it. Nowhere is the true artist more sure of hearty appreciation than here. As to musicians and teachers of music, vocal and instrumental, there is no calling in greater demand. A very large proportion of the emigrants from Europe are Germans, lovers of music from their birth. Another considerable portion are Scandinavi- ans, equally gifted in natural fondness for music, while for the others instrumental and vocal music has come to be considered a necessity. Nowhere is the performance of a really excellent brass band more thoroughly appreciated than in any of these western towns ; the best opera-singers receive a far more enthu- siastic reception, in the towns and cities of this western region, than awaits them in the great cities of the East. Every church and hall has its choir, and every town of 3,000 inhabitants its musical association for culture in vocal or instrumental music. As an instance of the fondness of the western people for parlor- music, an incident related by a visitor to Colorado may suffice. This gentleman went to Leadville, Colorado, when it was in the formative plastic condition, in the winter or spring of 1878. There were very few even frame buildings yet erected, and the majority of the citizens were living in large tents, happy if they could secure boards enough for a floor to keep them from the mud. Sod-houses were also in demand, among those who found the tents a little too frail for the strong winds. The near- est accessible railroad station was 130 miles distant, and the roads leading to it were horrible beyond description. The low- est price of transporting freight from the railroad station to Leadville was fifty cents a pound, and the railroad freights to their final station were also very high. There were yet very few women in the town, as the accommodations were so rough and poor. He had been doing some business with a young man MUSICIANS AND MUSIC-TEACHERS. Ioq who was working energetically at a shaft of a new mine, and whom he found very intelligent, though roughly clad ; and at the conclusion of his business, the young miner asked him to go home and dine with him if he could put up with " canned vittles." He accepted the invitation, and the miner led the way through the mud to one of these tent-houses. They were met at the door by a very beautiful young lady, whom the miner introduced as his wife. She was plainly but tastefully dressed, and her manners and conversation showed that she was a well-educated, refined and accomplished woman. As she arranged the table for their meal, the visitor looked about the room, and was aston- ished to see on one side a Chickering grand-piano. " How did you ever get that here?" he asked. "Oh," was the reply, "it was brought piece-meal on the backs of pack-mules, and we put it together after it came." " But it must have cost you an enormous sum to transport it so far?" "Well, yes, a little under ^200, but then we were both so fond of music, and my wife is one of the best players I ever heard, and I was afraid she would be lonely here amid so many discomforts." The visitor expressed a desire to hear some pieces played, being himself a connoisseur In music, and when his hostess compHed with his re- quest, without any apologies or excuses, he was fain to confess that her husband had not overrated her skill. The railroad has but just reached Leadvllle, but among the wares offered for sale In Its principal thoroughfares, pianos and cabinet organs, as well as other musical instruments, hold a con- spicuous place. In the farming districts the great ambition of the farmer, after he has purchased and paid for his harvester, is to get a "pianny" for his daughter. "But," asks another anxious Immigrant, "can you tell us whether the schoolmaster, or the teacher of any description has a chance there?" "Yes, indeed! There is a very active de- mand for good teachers all over this vast region, greater per- haps in the northern and middle tier than in the south, but a good teacher will find employment very readily anywhere. The immense amount of school-lands and their judicious man- agement In all the new States and Territories, Insures for them, 200 Oi-K IVES TERN EMP/A'E. in the not distant future, such an endowment as can be found in no other country. Two sections (1,280 acres, or one-eighteenth of the whole area) in each township are set apart for common or public schools, and beside the interest on these funds, there is a State school fund, from the proceeds of fines, civil or military, the sale of estrays, etc., and a district tax which is at present three or four times the amount received from the school funds, Kansas, which is a fair representative of these States and Terri- tories, will have, when its school lands are sold, a school fund of $13,000,000 for its common schools alone. It expended on these schools, in 1879, about $1,400,000, of which a full million was paid for teachers' wages ; paying its male teachers a monthly average of about "^^iZ^ and its female teachers about $26. This included town and country ; the average wages in the towns were, of course, higher. In the older settled and more populous counties the average of monthly wages is, for the whole county, from $43 to $50 for male, and from $30 to $40 for female teachers. There are also liberal appropriations of lands, in all these States and Territories, for the endowment of a State University, a State Agricultural College, and generally of Normal Schools and State Institutions for the Blind and Deaf Mutes. There are also, in each State and Territory, many private and denomina- tional schools, some of them liberally endowed. These educa- tional endowments are not suffered to remain unused. The progress of common school, as well as of higher education, has been, in nearly all this region, rapid beyond any former prece- dent. No village, no hamlet even, is without its district school, and the settler pays no tax with greater alacrity, than that for the maintenance of the school. There are two or three excep- tions to this general prevalence of a desire for the best educa- tional privileges. In Utah the school funds, and generally the public schools, are under the control of the Mormons, and the opportunities of primary education do not average more than twelve weeks of tuition to the pupils in attendance, who are only 43.5 per cent, of the school population ; and the higher schools are few and EDUCATIONAL CONDITION. 201 not of high grade. This deficiency is partly made up by private or denominational schools, but these are not very well sustained. In New Mexico, where a large proportion of the inhabitants are Hispano-Americans and Pueblo Indians, and more than ninety-live per cent. Roman Catholics, the control of the school funds has fallen into the hands of the Jesuits and other monastic and teaching orders of the Roman Catholic Church, and these moneys have been perverted to exclusive denominational teaching, and even to paying the board of theological students in Roman Catholic seminaries. These abuses cannot be pre- vented until there is a more enterprising and larger non-catholic population ; but, until a change takes place, the Territory cannot come Into the Union as a State, since it has not a fully Repub- lican form of orovernment. o In Texas and Arkansas, there has been, until recently, less Interest in public Instruction than In some of the more northern States ; but this difference is fast disappearing, and the school systems of these States are being rapidly and efficiently organ- ized.* Texas has a large number of private and denominational schools, many of them of a high grade. On its admission into the Union, having been previously an independent Republic, It did not cede its unclaimed lands to the United States Govern- ment, but retained them all In its own possession. The State has, however, made a very liberal provision of lands for school purposes, and will eventually have a large school fund. For artisans of all the usual trades there is, in the newer States and Territories, ample employment. Carpenters and builders, masons and bricklayers, and generally tinners, painters, and glaziers, are in especial demand, and at fair wages. Bakers and confectioners find employment in the towns and cities, a-nd the plumbers, gas-fitters, and brass-founders are mostly confined to the larger cities. Butchers are, of course, wanted everywhere, and fishermien and fish-dealers find generally ample employment on the coasts, and in the rivers and lakes of the interior, which aibound in fish of most of the edible kinds. * The newly awakened zeal for public school education in Arkansas is said to be almost phe- nomenal ; and indicates a brilliant future for a State, which, in spite of great natural advantages, has, in the past, been apathetic, and lacking in public spirit and enterprise. 202 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Hatters and furriers find business enough where furs and pelts are so plentiful ; the blacksmith finds constant employ, and the saw-mill and grist-mill are kept busy, and profitably so. Machinists have abundant work in the minincr districts, and to some extent also in the farming region, since the universal use of agricultural machinery often necessitates repairs which are beyond the ordinary skill of the blacksmith ; and where there are extensive flouring mills, they, too, require the skill of an expert for their repairing. ManufachLring Is conducted with great advantage at many points, the admirable water-powers being so abundant, and oper- atives from woollen mills, cotton mills (a limited number), all kinds of wood-working factories, millers, sugar-boilers, brewers, smelters, furnace men, and workmen on coats, vests, and panta- loons, overalls, etc., etc., will find employment In Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, California or Texas, and the metal workers in most of the mining districts. Farm-hands, herdsmen, and shep- herds will seldom fail of employment, in the farming and grazing regions, if they are trustworthy and faithful, even though they may not have had much previous experience. The day-laborer, unskilled in any of the arts or trades, is wel- comed in all parts of the West, if he is honest, temperate, and willing to work. -On the farms there Is plenty of work for him, except In mid-winter; in the grazing districts, there is always need for extra hands at fair wages, and he can, if he will, acquire, for a merely nominal sum, a piece of land sufficient for the needs of his family, and erecting a sod-house at only the cost of labor, can be comfortably situated, and, in a few years, can attain what to him will be a competence, such as he could never have acquired in the East or in Europe. In the mining districts, too, there is abundant work for brawny arms and powerful muscles. Here, also, he can have what land he needs, almost for the asking, and the chickens, eggs, potatoes, and other vegetables he can raise, and the pigs he will contrive to keep, will always com- mand a high price at his own door. Then there are railroads to be built, canals and irrigating ditches to be dug, and sluices to be laid and tended. FACILITIES FOR MANUFACTURING. 203 The industrious, well-behaved, and honest day-laborer can nowhere have a better chance of bettering his position than in the Great West. Not a few of the great bonanza capitalists and mine-owners have, with commendable enterprise and industry, worked their way up from this very class. One of these men said to a friend, a few months ago, " Tom, I read the papers now-a-days what I can, though I make rather slow work of it, for you know my early eddication was neglected, all along of my having to carry a hod so much when I was a boy ; but I find some things in the papers that bother me. I thought I knew all the wild varmint about here pretty well, for I have shot enough of 'em, but the papers are telling about a new one, which they say is very plenty, but I don't seem ever to have heerd of it before." "What do they call it?" asked his friend. "A lynix," was the answer, " and that's what bothers me ; I don't seem to remember no lynixes round here." "How do they spell it?" asked the other. "L-y-n-x — lynix," said the capitalist. "Why that spells lynx ; you certainly know what lynxes are ? " ''Lymx, is it ? To be sure I do ; I've killed hundreds of 'em ; but who ever thought of spelling lynx that a way; I supposed it was spelt l-i-n-k-s. What a fool I was, to be sure." As to 77ianufactu7dng, it is believed that no part of the world offers greater facilities for it than this Western Empire. Wher- ever water-power is desirable, there is no lack of the most magnificent water-falls on the globe. In the whole northern tier of States and Territories, Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, there is water-power, yet unutilized, sufficient to put in motion all the machinery on the globe. In the middle tier — Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Colo- rado, Utah, Nevada, and California — there is an abundance; though in some of these States, as, for instance, in Kansas and Nebraska, the fall is not as great; while in the southern tier — Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Indian Territory, Arizona, and New Mexico — the water-power is sufficient, and more than sufficient, for all practical purposes, present and prospective. If it should be contended that, under favorable circumstances;. 204 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Steam-power is more economical than water-power, though we might be inchned to doubt it, where the water-supply was con- stant and from a sufficient head or height, still we can point the advocates of steam to the immense coal-beds already described, which traverse nearly or quite every State and Territory, and furnish a fuel which is very cheap, abundant and admirably adapted to its purpose. Within the next ten years wool will become one of the largest products of this region, and the wool- growers of the vast grazing districts will not consent to send their wool to the East, and have it manufactured there, to be returned to them, with its value enhanced, five or ten fold, or as in the finer goods, twenty or thirty fold. They will prefer to have it manufactured in their own vicinity, and thus not only the cost of a double transportation saved, but a considerable portion of the manufacturer's profit also. Already the woollen goods of California and Oregon have a much higher reputation, in certain lines, than those produced elsewhere in Europe or America ; and commanding the finest and most perfect machinery and workmen of the highest skill, with their wool at a lower price than it can be obtained elsewhere, there seems to be no good reason why any goods made wholly or in part of wool, should not be produced there, in the greatest perfection, and at the lowest price. The mohair goods made in part from the hair and fleece of the Angora goat, and in part from the long combing wool of the Cotswold or Leicester sheep, and, in the cheaper grades, a filling of cotton, can be made equally well here. The material is all at hand for making these goods of better quality, and at lower prices than they have ever yet brought. In the southern tier of States and Territories, the manufacture of cotton goods can find its finest development. By a process discovered a few years since, the cotton can be spun into yarns of all degrees of fineness, just as it comes from the field, unginned, and with its beautiful and glossy fibres unbroken and unbruised by the teeth of the gin, while the cotton seed can be pressed for its valuable oil, and its oil-cake sold to the farmers and stock-raisers for their cattle. The cloths made from this MANUFACTURES OF TEXTILES, IRON AND WOOD. 205 ung-'inned cotton will far surpass in beauty and durability any cotton croods made elsewhere ; while the cost of manufacture will be greatly reduced, and there will be no waste. Other textiles, the growth of this region — flax, hemp, jute, ramie, agave and other fibres, the cactus fibre and the tule rush, bunch grass, straw, etc. — can be manufactured very largely into cloths and into paper pulp, the uses of which are every day in- creasing, till already everything, from the driving-wheel of a locomotive, to a petroleum barrel, or a linen handkerchief, a house, a wash-pail, a lamp, or a pill-box, is made from it. But it is not simply in the department of textiles that the Great West offers the best field for manufactures. Iron and steel can be smelted and manufactured more cheaply than any- where else, and the telegraph wires which span the world, the rails which stretch across the continent, the steel plates for our new navy, the huge steel guns which will constitute its offensive armament, the locomotive and stationary engines, and the vast and complicated machinery used in the reduction or smelting of gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, lead, or zinc, as well as the agricultural machines which now cannot be manufactured fast enough to supply the demand, and the infinitude of iron and steel castings, will all be manufactured in this western land, not simply on its borders, as now, but in the very heart of the country. The manufactures of wood in all their numberless varieties of wooden ware, furniture, machinery, carriages, wagons, carts and drays, doors, sashes, blinds, and even houses all complete, with inner walls of a compound of paper and gypsum, are already largely produced in many parts of this Great West, and are desdned to an infinitely larger production, as the demand for them croes on increasine. There is then abundant room and employment for every honest, industrious man who will come, but no room for the idler, sluggard, or drone. 2o6 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER XVIII. The Future, the Glorious Future of this Grand Empire of the West — The Causes which have led to its Growth — Bishop Berkeley's Pre- diction — The "Empire" he saw — The Germ of the Great Repub- lic — What the Empire is, and what it is to be — Irs Growth and FUTURE Capacity — The future Climate — The future Soil and Pro- ductiveness — Influence of Railroads in Developing this Region — The Gold and Silver Mines as aiding in the Development of the Country — The Future of the Mines of the Precious Metals — The Western Slopes of the Rocky Mountains full of Gold and Silver — Results of Increased Production of Gold and Silver — Effect of Increased Production of other Metals — No Metal but Tin to be Imported — Mineral Earths and Elements to be Developed — Coal — Petroleum — Metallic and Mineral Products of the Far West in 1880 — The Production of a. d. 1900 — Vegetable Products — Whp:at — Indian Corn — Corn Crop of 1879 — Sorghum — Sorghum Sugar — Oats — Barley — Rye — Buckwheat — Egyptian Rice Corn — Summing up of Cereal Products — Root Crops — Potatoes — Sweet-Potatoes — Other Root Crops — Orchard Products — Textiles — Cotton — The future Demand for Cotton — Wool — Wool Clip in a. d. 1900 — Other Textiles — The Hay Crop — Dairy Products — Tobacco — Sugar, not from Sorghum — Hops — Summary of Vegetable Products, Exclusive of Cereals — Fisheries of the Pacific and the Gulf, of the Lakes and Rivers of the Interior — Fish-Culture, Present and Prospective — Live-Stock in 1880 and 1900 — Forest Products — Various Ways in which Wood is used and destroyed — Probable Value of Forest Products in 1900 — Manufactures — Future of Manufactures — Commerce — Internal and Interstate Commerce — General Summary — Character of future Population — Little Danger of War — Indians — Probable early Extinction of Indian Tribes — The Colored Race — The Mexicans, Chinese and Japanese — Probability of A LARGE Influx of Chinese on the Pacific Coast in the near Future — European Immigrants^Emigrants from the Eastern United States — The Character of its Citizens the best Guaranty of its Future. " Westward the course of empire takes its way; The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day ; Time's noblest offspring is the last." So wrote Bishop Berkeley more than a hundred and fifty years ago, when this Great Western Empire, which we have A VISION i)V OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. GROWTH AND FUTURE CAPACITY, 20/ endeavored to describe, was utterly unknown to the civilized world, except from the reports of adventurous navigators who had touched upon its southern or western shores, or the journals of Jesuit missionaries, who had established themselves in California, New Mexico, and Texas, or the few hunters and trappers who had penetrated up the Missouri or its tributaries. The empire which he then saw in vision (for he had not at the time of the publi- cation of this poem visited America) was composed of the colonies, which lay between the Appalachian range and the Atlantic. A population of not more than 1,200,000 was the nucleus of the future empire. Yet in this mere handful of people scattered along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia, lay the germ of the grandefit empire this world has ever seen — an empire destined to realize in altogether another sense than the late British premier gave to it, when he quoted a few months ago, the dictum of the great Roman orator, — Impei'umi et Libertas. Here is, and is to be, the empire in its vastness of extent, its teeming population, its immensity of resources, its ripe and universal culture, and its moral power over the nations of the earth, and united with this the ItQei^ty which is the right and privilege of a great people — a liberty which is not license, but law ; a government ^the people, for the people, and by the people. And of this great empire, the portion largest in population, most abundant in resources, and foremost in all great enterprises is to be the region lying between the Mississippi river and the Western Sea. To-day, this region has more than eleven millions of inhabitants. In a. d. 1900 it will have fifty millions. In a. d. 1950 who shall say how many ? The capacity of the country^, in point of production, to sustain human life, has never yet been tested ; but if, when our arable lands are not one-twentieth developed, and our grazing lands can feed twenty times the cattle and sheep now there, we are feeding fifty millions at home, and nearly twenty-five millions in Europe, what can we not do when our resources are tasked to their full extent? But where shall we begin to speak of the future of this goodly heritage, with which God has endowed this Nation ? We have 208 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. told 3-ou of its present varied but beneficent climate, with its western Gulf stream from the north, bringing mild and genial breezes to the Pacific shore ; of its torrid heats, coming up from Mexico, to be tempered by the Arctic cold from the Valley of the Red river of the North. Is there to be an improvement in its climates ? We fully believe so. The vast plains beaten almost to the solidity of stone by the hoofs of the buffalo for many hundred years, are being rapidly broken up by the plow, and warmth and moisture penetrate the soil. The rainfall is in- creasing, and these treeless plains are fast becoming clad with groves and islands of forest trees, which will turn what was once a desert into a fertile field. The mesas and plateaux beyond the Rocky Mountains, drained of their moisture by the deep canons, cut by the rivers, were once densely inhabited, and again, by the planting of forest trees, and the boring of drive and artesian wells, their capacity for cultivation, and for sustaining a large population, drawn thither by their mineral wealth, will be fully restored, and the region so lonof remarkable for its intense heat in summer will enjoy an equable temperature. Are we to look for any improvement in the soil and its culti- vation ? There is every reason to expect it. The greater rainfall will render those lands arable, which have not hitherto been con- sidered so ; and irrigation, which is only yet in its infancy, will develop the best qualities of a soil, whose fertility is almost incredible. Deep plowing and careful seeding should largely increase the grain crops, and the use of forage grasses and cotton-seed cake give opportunity for much larger herds of cattle and sheep on smaller ranches, than the great herds now occupy. All these changes will come, for the spirit of en- terprise and improvement is rife among these western citizens. It is difficult to predict to what points the tide of immigration will flow most strongly during the twenty or fifty years to come;. The extraordinary efforts made by the railway companies, which have lands to sell, have had a great influence in directing it toward certain States and Territories. The railway companies of Minnesota, the Northern Pacific and its feeders, have made known to immigrants both in Europe and the United States, the great LEADING FACTORS OF IMMIGRATION. 200 advantages offered by the climate, soil, and manufacturing privi- leges of Minnesota, and especially the great fertility and pro- ductiveness of the Red River valley, and the lands adjacent in Dakota ; while other railroad companies in Iowa and Southeast- ern Dakota have commended the farmmor lands of that section. o The Chicago and Northwestern Railway, with its extensive con- nections, the Wabash, and the Chicago and Burlington, all of them connected with the Union and Central Pacific Railways, as well as the latter roads themselves, have rendered great service to Iowa, Nebraska, and Northern Kansas, and Colorado, as well as to the Territories beyond. So, too, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway has been so important a factor in the settlement of Southwestern Kansas, and Southern Colo- rado, that it is within the bounds of truth to say that it has hast- ened their development by more than twenty years. The roads extending from Missouri, through Arkansas and the Indian Ter- ritory into Texas, as well as the Texan roads themselves, have added three-fourths of a million cf souls to the population of that State within the past ten years. On the Pacific Slope these agencies have not been so actively at work, but they are now fast developing at the Northwest in Oregon and Washington, and at the Southwest in Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico. The wonderful development of the mines in Colorado, Mon- tana, Utah, and the Black Hills, has contributed largely to the influx of population into those sections, within the past three or four years. There is every reason to suppose that the discov- eries of the precious metals in these States and Territories are as yet only in their infancy, and that they will go on for years to come with increasing magnitude each year; while New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Idaho, and Nevada, with its added facilities from its Sutro and other tunnels, and possibly Eastern Oregon and Washington, will fill up the measure of prosperity in this direc- tion to overflowing. it is vain to attempt to predict the quantities of gold and silver which will be produced in this region within the next fifty years : we only know that already the yield of silver has disturbed the pro- 14 2IO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. portionate value of silver and gold, which had existed for the last five hundred years, when fifteen ounces of silver would purchase an ounce of gold. Now the ounce of gold is worth more than fifteen and a half ounces of silver, and with our vastly increased production it will soon require sixteen ounces to purchase an ounce of gold. The prevalent opinion among the best mining geologists is that the western and some of the eastern slopes of the ranges composing the Rocky Mountain chain, and the spurs running east and west from it, are charged with lodes or veins of gold and silver-bearing ores; and there is every reason to believe that the eastern, and perhaps the western slope, of the Sierra Nevada, through its whole extent, is equally rich in these ores. They have been traced as far north as the line of British America, and, indeed, beyond it; they exist in Montana, Idaho, and Eastern Oregon, and Washington, in Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona (in the last three, perhaps, most abundantly of all), and in Western Texas. The valuable mines of California are mostly on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, though a few are on the eastern slope of the Coast Ranore. If this opinion of the geologists shall prove to be correct there is nothing to prevent the opening of three hundred thousand mines, all profitable, if well managed, and a yield of one thousand millions of gold and silver annually. Such a yield could not fail to produce two results : the further disturbance of the ratio between the values of gold and silver, since the production of silver will be far greater in bulk, and probably greater even in value, than that of gold ; and a universal advance in the price of other com- modities, or, which is the same thing, a depreciation of the pur- chasing power of gold. But it is not solely in the so-called precious metals that the production will be so greatly increased ; lead is combined with silver in certainly eighty per cent, of the ores ; copper and zinc with both gold and silver in a very considerable proportion, and iron, platinum, osmium, and other rare metals in a small num- ber. But all these metals, or rather their ores, are found in INCREASE OF METALLURGICAL DEVELOPMENT. 21I great abundance without any admixture of the precious metals, and the ores of lead, copper, zinc, and iron are capable of im- mense development. Another decade will see copper ores reduced, and the copper refined, in the immediate neighborhood of the mines. In such quantities that there will be no necessity of Importation of that metal, and still less of sending the concen- trated ores to Swansea, or anywhere else, for reduction. Iron and steel will be made so abundantly and cheaply from the very best ores and by the best processes, that, Instead of importing either to supply our greatly increased demand, we shall export both iron and steel to all the nations around us. Before the dawn of the twentieth century, tin will be the only metal we shall have occasion to Import ; and if, as seems probable, the small veins of tin already discovered in California, Nevada, Utah, Col- orado, and Texas shall enlarge as they go deeper Into the earth, this, too, may be stricken from the list of our Imports. Platinum, nickel, aluminium, all destined to play an Important part in our manufactures, In the near future, exist here, and can be produced as cheaply as anywhere else In the world. All the metallic and mineral earths and elements used in medicine, chemistry, farming, or the useful arts, and all the salts of these, either exist as the natural productions of this region, or are capable of easy transformation into the compounds adapted to use. Of other mineral products, coal exists in too large quantities, and of every known quality and variety, to make any lack of it possible for ages to come ; whether required for the production of heat or steam, for manufacturing or for smelting, for coking coal for the production of Iron and steel, or for family use, an- thracite, semi-anthracite, bituminous, seml-bltuminous and lig- nites, in all these forms, are to be had for the asking, at reason- able prices and at hundreds of points. Petroleum, whose existence has long been known, but which has not been largely developed, Is now found In such quantities in Wyoming and California as to have already become a large item in the traffic, and will eventually prove a formidable rival of the Eastern oil wells. If, before the close of the century, elec- 212 OUR WESTERJV EMPIRE. tricity does not become the universal illuminator, the oil wells of Wyoming- and California may be taxed to the utmost to supply the illuminating and heating material for this Western Empire. An eminent metallurgist and scientist has recently estimated the entire mineral production of the region west of the Missis- sippi for the year 1880 as worth ^1,000.000,000, and has given the items on which his estimate is based. With the wonderful development which is now taking place in ever^^thing appertain- ing to mineral products and metallurgy, it is certainly within bounds to predict that the product of the year a. d, 1900 will not be less than |; 5, 000,000,000, and the man who should esti- mate it at twice that sum could hardly be regarded as exces- sively sanguine in his anticipations. Turning now to the vegetable and animal products of this region, what shall be our forecast for them twenty years hence? Wheat, though not our largest grain crop, is the pioneer among the grains, being "especially adapted to new lands, easily raised, and readily marketed, usually at a paying price. We estimate that the population of the United States, in a. d. 1900, will be not far from one hundred millions, of whom at least 90,000,000 will require wheat bread ; and a barrel of flour, 200 pounds r= eight bushels of wheat, will not be more than a fair supply for each. This would require 720,000,000 bushels for home consumption. Our last year's product (1879) was in round numbers 450,000,000 bushels, of which fully one-half, or about 230,000,000 bushels, was grown west of the Mississippi. But our export demand is now from 150.000,000 to 200,000,000 bushels, and is constantly increasing. Within the next twenty years, all the wheat districts of this Western Empire will be traversed so thoroughly by railroads that the wheat-grower in Montana, Orecron, or Washino-ton will be able to obtain a fair price for his wheat, and to market it at once ; the greater part of the arable lands of the whole region, and especially the wheat lands, will be under cultivation ; better methods of plowing, seed- ing, and where necessary, irrigating and fertilizing the soil, will prevail, and the lowest average for the wheat crop will be twenty INDIAN CORN IN A. D. 1900. 213 if not twenty-five bushels to the acre. Under these circum- stances the wheat crop of that year ought not to be less than 2,000,000,000 bushels, and may exceed that amount. This would be ample for our own supply with 1,000,000,000 bushels of wheat or its equivalent in flour for export. This crop should certainly be worth 5^2,000,000,000. Indian corn is the largest of our grain crops, yielding, in 1879, in round numbers, 1,545,000,000 bushels. It is not certain to mature in the extreme northern portions of the Great West, but is a successful crop to the extreme southern limit, requiring for its perfection a longer summer than it can always command near the line of British America. We export of Indian corn and its various preparations, the equivalent of about 100,000,000 bushels, and our export of this is increasing ; though the foreign demand for it is less than for wheat. But our home consump- tion is large and varied. It forms the principal food employed for fattening cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry, is largely used for feeding horses, especially those which are constantly worked, forms the staple article of food of at least 6,000,000 of our peo- ple, is manufactured into corn-meal, samp, hulled corn, or hominy, maizena, corn-starch, common starch, glucose, sugar, and syrup, fusel oil and whiskey. When the price is low, and markets not easily accessible, it is burned instead of coal, being somewhat cheaper and making a hotter fire. Its leaves and stalks, green or dried, are used as a fodder for cattle, and from the juice of its stalks, cut when the corn is just ripe, a cane- sugar is made. In all of these ways this grain is utilized, large as the crop may be. Of this great crop which, at a low valuation, was worth nearly ^600,000,000, a little more than two-fifths or about 650,000,000 bushels was raised in the region west of the Mississippi ; lowa^ being second only to Illinois in the magnitude of its corn crop, and Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, and Minnesota being the other States of largest production. Although the produc- tion of this grain west of the Mississippi is destined to increase largely within the next twenty years, and may very possibly reach in that time the present product of the entire United 214 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. States or even a little more, yet we do not anticipate for it so rapid an increase proportionally as in the wheat crop, for several reasons. It cannot be grown so successfully or with as much certainty as some other crops in the whole of the region where the greatest agricultural activity and enterprise is displayed ; other crops produced more easily and with greater certainty, will, to some extent, take its place. Among these we may name the pearl and other millets, and the Egyptian rice corn, all of which yield larger crops and with less labor, and are better liked by cattle, and form a less heavy food for horses and swine ; the great progress which is making in the cultivation of barley, three-fifths of the whole crop being raised west of the Missis- sippi, and its substitution to some extent for corn for horses and cattle; and the wonderful impulse recently given to the culture of sorghum, and especially of the early amber sorghum, for the production of sugar. All the sorghums, as well as the millets, the rice corn, and the broom corn, belong to the Zea family, and the seeds of the sorghum furnish a valuable food for animals, while its stalk yields a considerably larger quantity of saccharine juice than the Indian corn. There is, however, an increasing demand for corn for the manufacture of grlucose sugrar and syrup. This industry has very recently become largely devel- oped, immense factories for its production having been estab- lished, mostly since January, 1880, in Buffalo, Chicago, and other cities and towns in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. One in Chicago has cost ^650,000, and is said to have a capacity of 20,000 bushels of corn, equal to 300 tons of sugar per day. The net profit is said to be 300 per cent. The export demand for corn, while increasing, is not likely to be enlarged very rapidly, and will be rather in its products than in the corn itself, since its cultivation is also increasing in the south of Europe. But with the multiplication of the facilities for speedy and cheap trans- portation, the price will be enhanced, and it will no longer com- pete with coal as fuel. Should the crop of corn, in the region west of the Mississippi, amount, in a. d. 1900, to 1,600,000,000 bushels, it would be perfectly safe to estimate its value at ^1,200,000,000. SORGHUM. 215 We have alluded to die great probable increase in the culture of sorghu7n, and especially of the early amber variety, which ripens its seed long before frost comes. Though the smallest of the sorghums, and yielding a smaller quantity of juice than the other, the early amber kind is the one best adapted to the Northern States and Territories. Careful and oft-repeated ex- periments demonstrate that in ordinarily good corn-land, either by manuring and irrigation, or without, as is the case in most of the arable lands of the Great West, a crop can be raised which will yield on an average a ton or more of raw crystallized sugar to the acre.* With that yield it would be by far the most pro- fitable crop which could be cultivated, as, in addition to the sugar, the leaves and seed form a very valuable food for cattle, and even the bagasse or exhausted stalks, where not required to furnish fuel for the evaporators, have a value for paper stock and for other purposes. Even if but three-quarters of a ton of sugar could be made to the acre, worth from ^70 to ^75 per ton, which is considerably below the present price of raw sugar, it would still be a very profitable crop, and one for which there would be an unlimited demand. We are importing annually from ^80,000,000 to ^100,000,000 value of sugar and sugar pro- ducts, besides the amount made in Florida, Louisiana and Texas from the sugar-cane ; and all our exertions to increase the pro- duction of sugar from the cane have proved ineffectual, and must continue to do so, because the sugar-cane cannot grow here from the seed, but is only propagated by cuttings, and gives but imperfect results, with very frequent failures. The culture of the sugar-beet for sugar has not, so far, proved successful on a large scale, and cannot probably compete with the sorghum. If, by the cultivation of this plant, we can supply the present and constantly increasing demand for sugar, and prevent any necessity of importation, the devotion of three or five million acres to this crop will be one of the best measures which our Western farmers can adopt. The processes for sugar-making * The experiments of the Agricultural Department in 1879, which were all with the early amber cane, give an average of 1,588 pounds to the acre, but these were not a fair test of what can be accomplished with other and larger varieties. 2i6 0^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. from sorghum are much simpler and less expensive than those for the sugar-cane. With an apparatus costing only from ^loo to $150, any farmer can boil it down to a syrup which will yield at least twelve pounds of sugar to the gallon, and the syrup can be crystallized from this at any time within a year. General Le Due advises that the farmers should not attempt anything more than the production of the syrup, and that there should be one or more sugar-mills in each county where the sorghum is culti- vated, which will find constant employment throughout the year in crystallizing the sugar from the syrup. It is not to be for- gotten, also, that when sugar becomes a domestic product, and the price of the refined article is lowered, as it will be, the con- sumption will be greatly increased, irrespective of the increase of our population, so that if we are paying ^150,000,000 for sugar now, we shall expend certainly ^500,000,000 for it twenty )'ears hence, with our population doubled, and their appetite for sweets increased. The next great cereal crop is oats, of which we now raise ?).bout 420,000,000 bushels in the entire United States, of which <)ne-third is grown west of the Mississippi. The present value of the entire crop is about ^125,000,000. Oats are so valuable both for human and animal food that we may confidently expect that the crop, which is so well adapted to the Northern and Central States and Territories, and yields so bountifully there (seventy to eighty bushels or more to the acre), will be more largely cultivated each year. Our exports of this grain, though not large (5,500,000 bushels In 1879), are increasing, while our imports of it have nearly ceased. We may safely set down the oat crop of the Great West, in a. d. 1900, at 500,000,000 bushels, and its money value as at least ^175,000,000. Of the other cereals, the production of barley, of which we now raise from 40,000,000 to 45,000,000 bushels, and import 6,000,000 or more, is likely to increase — not so much, it is to be hoped, for its use in the manufacture of malt liquors, as for its value for horses and cattle, and the fondness which the German, Scandinavian, and Russian emigrants have for it as an article of food. It is grown and marketed as easily as oats, and on suit- RYE AND BUCKWHEAT. 217 able soils yields almost as largely. It brings from seventy-five cents to a dollar a bushel, and on the newer lands is a fairly profitable crop. The product of barley In the Great West, in A. D. 1900, may be safely set down at 200,000,000 bushels, and worth as many dollars. Rye will also Increase moderately. The crop for the whole country now ranges from 23,000,000 to 28,000,000 bushels, and it Is worth from sixty to eighty cents per bushel. Not. quite one- fourth of the whole crop was grown west of the Mississippi. It is not here, as in Europe, now largely used for food, though there is some demand for it in the manufacture of whiskey ; it is seldom fed to cattle, but with the influx of emigrants from Central and Southern Europe, It will be more largely used for food. It grows well on poor soils, and most of the soil in the Great West is too rich for It. It may reach 50,000,000 bushels, west of the Mississippi, by a. d. 1900, but that will be Its utmost limit. Buckivheat, the cereal which is least grown in the United States, Its largest crop being only a little more than 13,000,000 bushels, Is hardly an appreciable crop, west of the Mississippi, 350,000 bushels being the largest crop ever grown there. It is not probable that It will become a very Important crop at any time, though it may reach 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 bushels, worth fifty or sixty cents per bushel. The Egyptian rice corn, and the pearl millet, both cereals belonging to the millet family, are likely to be largely cultivated, U^Ithin the next twenty years, both as forage plants, and for their seed or grains. They yield nearly as much seed as oats, and the amount of fodder which may be cut from them Is from forty to eighty tons of green forage, or from seven to ten tons of dry, in three cuttlnors, in a sinfjle season. The crrain of the rice corn is regarded by the Kansas farmer as superior to Indian corn for cattle and hogs, and many prefer its meal to corn or oat meal for human food. We may confidently expect that from these cereals or their congeners, the crop of a. d. 1900, west of the Mississippi, will not be less than 50,000,000 bushels of seed, or its equivalent of forage. 2i8 OUR WESTERiY EMPIRE. Thus much for the cereals.* We foot up the crop of a. d. 1 900 as follows : Wheat 2,000,000,000 bushels, Value $2,000,000,000 Indian Corn . . . 1,600,000,000 " *' 1,200,000,000 Sorghum Sugar, etc. . ** 500,000,000 Oats 500,000,000 " " 175,000,000 Barley 200,000,000 " ** 200,000,000 Rye 50,000,000 " " 40,000,000 Buckwheat . . . 5,000,000 " " 2,500,000 Millet and Rice Corn 50,000,000 with forage, " 50,000,000 $4,167,500,000 Of the cereal production at dates still farther in the future it is not wise to speak. Circumstances may change ; an oriental population, if largely in the ascendancy, may prefer other grains, and cultivate them by other processes, in the coming century; or root crops, or such edibles as the bread-fruit, the cassava, or the pith of the sago-palm, may be deemed preferable to those grains which we have been accustomed to consider the staff of life. The future century must provide its own bread. We turn next to the root crops and the vegetables, which, though perhaps neither tubers, nor bulbs, serve to sustain life in man and beast. Potatoes rank first in the list — our common, sometimes called Irish potatoes — because they did not come from Ireland, — the Solanum tuberosum. Of these about 185,000,000 bushels were grown in 1879, although it was not regarded as a very favorable year for this crop. Of these about one-third, or 62,000,000 bushels, were grown west of the Mississippi. The labor of harvesting this crop is greater than that required on some others, though now materially diminished by the use of the potato-digger ; but very few crops pay as well. In all the newer * We have not deemed it necessary to speak of the production of iice,oi which there are a few plantations in Western Louisiana and Texas ; it is undoulHedly capable of great develop- ment, and in the event of a large migration of Mongolians to this Western Empire within the next twenty years, may receive it ; but the experience of all the past is that, in warm climates, the cultivation of such cereals as require much labor and exposure of life and health, is not successfully prosecuted, except where labor is compulsory. Other cereals more easily cul- tivated will be substituted for this. The wild rice, a plant of northern growth, is extensively gathered for forage and hay, but is not cultivated, so far as we are aware. VEGETABLE AND ROOT CROPS. 2IQ lands, and many of the old ones, the yield is from 1 50 to 400 or even 500 bushels to the acre, while the price at the nearest market seldom falls below thirty-three cents per bushel, and ranges from this to sixty cents. A crop which will bring from ^60 to $125 per acre is a profitable crop for the emigrant to raise, and as there is, and is likely to be, a demand for all that are grown, we may well expect that there will be a great increase in the production. The autumn of the year 1900 will very pos- sibly give a crop of potatoes, west of the Mississippi, of not less than 650,000,000 bushels, worth probably half that number of dollars. The sweet potato and yam, though largely grown in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, and Kansas, will never approach to these figures, but may, twenty years hence, yield 50,000,000 bushels, and at a value of perhaps seventy-five cents per bushel. Neither of these tubers are exported to any great extent. In 1879, 625,000 bushels of the common potato were shipped to other countries, 550,000 bushels going to the West Indies and South America. There is some prospect of an in- crease of this demand both from the Pacific and the Texan ports, but the principal consumption will continue to be in the home markets. Of the other root and vegetable crops, turnips, rutabagas, onions, leeks, mangel-wurzel, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, peas, beans, pumpkins, squashes, melons, okra, spinage, celery, cucum- bers, tomatoes, pie-plant, egg-plants, salsify, green corn, radishes, lettuce, etc., though we know the present aggregate to be very large, and the prospective one vastly greater, yet it is difficult to arrive at any very definite estimates concerning it. The census of 1870 reported these products very imperfectly, probably omitting more than it reported. Its aggregates were nearly ^27,000,000, while it is perfectly safe to put down the actual production as nearly or quite ^50,000,000. Since that time these products have undergone an immense development, and what- ever may be the census figures, the actual production cannot fall short of ^100,000,000; indeed, the consumption of twenty- five of our largest cities would very nearly reach that sum. We 220 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. think that a fair estimate of the consumption of those articles by the 50,000,000 of people west of the Mississippi, in a. d. 1900, would not be less than ^150,000,000. The oj'chard prodticts and the small fruit sales, including the wine and raisins from the grapes, the cider, etc., from apples, and the preserved, dried, and canned fruits, are next to be considered. In 1870 these products for the whole United States, so far as reported, amounted to about ^53,000,000. Since that time the orchard, grape, wine, and small fruit products have nearly or quite quadrupled. The State of Kansas, which then was set down as having ^173,000 of these products, reported, in 1878, ^6,500,000 of orchard products alone, with less than half her trees in bearing ; California has made even greater advance, and Oregon, Washington, Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa at least an equal one. One hundred and sixty million dollars is a low estimate of these products for 1880, for the whole coun- try, and twice that amount is equally low for the region west of the Mississippi in a. d. 1900. Textiles come next in order. The cotton crop of 1879-80 is exceptionally large, the largest ever produced in this country, and, owing to the lateness and mildness of the autumn and early v/Inter, picking was continued much later than usual. It is esti- mated as equal to 5,750,000 bales of 480 pounds, worth not less than ^320,000,000. Nearly one-half of this great crop Is raised )vest of the Mississippi, mostly In Louisiana, Texas, and Ar- kansas, though the Indian Territory, California, Arizona, Kansas, and Missouri add small quotas to the amount. The State of Texas alone has excellent cotton lands, as yet mostly uncultivated, of sufficient extent to grow not only the whole crop of 1879, but the entire supply of cotton needed for the consumption of the world — about 1 2,000,000 or 1 3,000,000 bales. And as the cotton lands east of the Mississippi, unless their methods of cultivation are greatly improved, shall be worn out, and become sterile, the natural tendency will be to transfer the greater part of the cotton production to Texas and Arkansas, where virgin soils will yield larger crops. The culture of cotton in the South is not so scientific and thor- TEXTILES. 221 ough as it should be. The average yield per acre in Texas is only about 275 pounds per acre, when it should be, and might be, with proper management, 960 pounds. Greater efforts for improvement are now making than at any previous time, and these cannot fail to result in increased production per acre. Twenty years hence the largest demand for cotton vvill be for home consumption. Now less than one-third of the crop is retained here, and all the rest exported. That demand may reach 10,000,000 or 11,000,000 bales. If it does so, we believe that the whole amount or nearly the whole will be grown west of the Mississippi. We are led to this conclusion from the fact that the tendency in all our manufactures is to bring the place of manufacture as nearly as possible to the place of the produc- tion of the raw material. This is particularly true where the raw material is bulky and cumbrous, as is the case with cotton. For many long years the cotton was brought with great labor and cost to the shipping ports, sent thence to England and France, where it was made into yarns, thread, and fabrics, and these re- exported hither, and thus we were buying back our own cotton and paying from 400 to 600 per cent, for the privilege of doing so. Our manufacturers in New England sought to save a part, of these profits to our own people, but the transportation of the cotton from the South to New England cost nearly as much as to England, and though there was some gain, yet there was a more excellent way. Already the change has begun, and it will^ be carried forward with rapidity. The yarns, at least, will be made from the unginned cotton, near the place where it is grown, and the seed utilized for oil and food for cattle and horses, while the yarn supplied to mills, perhaps in an adjacent State, is there manufactured into cloths, stronger, more lustrous, more beau- tiful, and wearing longer than any made in English, French, or Northern mills, and at a lower price. Manufacturing in this way, we can export our goods instead of our raw material ; since no other nation can compete with us, either in the cheapness or the intrinsic value of our cotton goods. China, India, South America, Europe, and Northern and Southern Africa, and Aus- tralasia will gladly take all the cotton goods we can spare,' and 222 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. it will task the energies of our manufacturers to supply all these and our home market; while our agriculturists will be stimulated by the demand to make two bales of cotton grow where now only a half bale is grown. Wool has improved as much in quality as it has increased in quantity within the past decade, and the improvement and in- crease has but just begun. The wool clip of the region west of the Mississippi in 1879 exceeded 100,000,000 pounds, and was fully equal in quantity, and much superior in quality, to that of the whole United States in 1870. The rapid multiplication of flocks of sheep of improved grades, throughout the whole region, insures to that region within twenty years, an annual clip of not less than 350,000,000 pounds, of an average value of not less than twenty-two cents per pound, or an aggregate of ;^ 7 7,000,000. This will all be required at home, and we shall cease to import wool for our manufacturers. The hair of the Angora goat and the grade goats, and possibly also that of the camel, will also be largely in demand, and there will be a sufficient supply at remunerative prices. Probably these textiles will make up the amount to full ^100,000,000 by the year a. d. 1900. Raw, or rather reeled silk, is now imported, to the extent of from ^7,000,000 to ^12,000,000 annually, to be manufactured here. If common sense, without excitement or mania of any sort, shall ever take possession of the minds of our people on the subject of rearing silkworms, every farmer who has been five years on his place will be as sure to have a cocoonery as he will to have a barn. The children and young women of the household will rear the worms, gather and stifle the cocoons, and the town or village filature will reel them. Then instead of sending ^i 2,000,000 abroad for raw silk, and ^25,000,000 more for silk goods, we shall export both. Fifty millions of dollars will be less than the value of our raw silk and silk products, raised and made west of the Mississippi in the year a. d. 1900. Of the other textiles proper, flax, hemp, ramie, juie, cactus fibre, etc., they are all destined to have a considerable develop- ment, and if methods of bleaching equal to those provided by THE HAY CROP AND DAIRY INTEREST. 223 nature in Ireland, can be invented or discovered, there is no good reason v^hy the culture of flax, ramie, jute, hemp, nettle and cactus fibre, should not increase to an enormous extent. Flax is now cultivated principally for its seed, and the oil obtained from it. The present value of this for the United States is about ^5,000,000 ; that of hemp about ^2,000,000, and of the other textiles perhaps ^150,000 in all. To what extent these values may be increased within the next twenty years it is impossible to say. We imported in the year 1879 nearly 5^1,000,000 worth of raw flax, and ^1,829,000 of raw hemp; and ^^14,600,000 worth of manufactures of flax, and ^107,000 worth of manufactured hemp, $3,781,037 worth of raw jute, and $1,776,750 worth of manufactured jute. All of these articles and raw material should be produced here, and perhaps they will be, within twenty years. But we have not yet noticed a crop which ranks third among our great national products, being surpassed only by Indian corn and wheat — the hay crop. In 1879 ^^'=> 'was estimated by the United States Agricultural Department «/ 35,648,000 tons, having a value of $325,851,280. This crop, in the nature of the case, must increase ; the great increase of cattle and sheep will require it, in all the Northern and Middle States and Territories of the Great West,' and the magnitude which the dairy interest is assuming, will add to the necessity. Under this general head of hay, all plants cultivated for forage must be included. Much of the hay, in the north especially, is wild, and costs only the labor and expense of the gathering, but this will eventually give way to the cultivated grasses. The value of the hay crop of the Great West in a. d. 1900 will not be less than $700,000,000. Intimately associated with this crop is the dairy interest, which is now rapidly i^pcreasing under the stimulus of a large export demand, a demand which, by good management, may be almost indefinitely enlarged. The exports of butter and cheese in the year ending June 30, 1879, were $18,000,000, and for the coming year they 'will probably be much greater. It is estimated that 1,500,000,000 pounds of butter are now made in this country, and about 900,000,000 pounds of cheese; 1,000,000,000 gallons of milk are sold, and condensed milk to the extent of about 224 ^^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. ^6,000,000. The value of these dairy products in the aggregate is about $590,000,000. That the region west of the Mississippi will require in a. d. 1900 not less than $500,000,000 worth of dairy products is absolutely certain, and the export demand may reach another $100,000,000. Three other items close our sum- mary of vegetable production, present and prospective, viz. : I. Tobacco, the crop of which varies in different years, but its value is not far from $22,000,000 annually. The production of this in the Great West will be in the future quite large, as some of the land is admirably adapted for it, and it is regarded as a profitable and desirable crop. We doubt, however, if that region will in A. D. 1900 much exceed the whole present United States crop in quantity, though the quality may be somewhat better. It may be safely esdmated at $25,000,000. 2. Sugar and syrup from the sugar-cane, maple and sugar-beet. The value of these products in 1879 was about $18,000,000, and it does not seem to us likely to increase. As the sorghum sugar begins to tak*^. possession of the market, the sugar from the cane being in som •. sense a forced product, and an uncertain crop, will fall off. Tht: sugar maple is not a very abundant forest tree west of the Mis- sissippi, and will not gready increase Its present production of sugar ; while the sugar-beet sugar is so dependent upon the soil, and upon rather complicated processes of manufacture, and costs so much more to make than the sorghum, that it cannot add very materially to the aggregate producdon. We should be loth to allow more than $15,000,000 as the value of these products in A. D. 1900 west of the Mississippi. Adding to these the glucose ' product, mosdy from corn, and we have probably $75,000,000. 3. Hops have been a very uncertain crop, cultivated only in certain localities, and in many instances failing even there. It has been more successful in California than elsewhere in the West, but is so unreliable that it is difficult to estimate its prob- able prospective value. The crop of 1877 was the best for several years. It was about 23,000,000 pounds, and was valued at about $4,250,000 dollars. That of 1879 would not bring half that amount. It is doubtful if it will ever be worth $3,000,000 west of the Mississippi. SUMMAA'Y OF OTHER CROPS. 225 The oil-bearing plants and seeds are largely those which have other claims to be considered than the oil they produce. Yet they ought not to go entirely unnoticed. Cotton-seed oil is in such demand that its production is sure to increase largely. Linseed oil is also in great demand ; the oil from colza or rape- seed, and the other vegetable seeds of its class, tar-weed, sesame, etc., is always sure of a market, and the pea-nut or ground-nut is now largely cultivated for its oil. The castor-oil plant [Ricinus connnu7iis and sangimtarius) is largely cultivated in several States for its oil ; and we are just beginning in California, Texas, Arizona, and some other States, the cultivation of the olive, mainly for its oil. It is difficult to estimate the amount of all these oils which will be produced beyond the Mississippi twenty years hence with any great definiteness, but probably of them all, ^25,000,000 would be a very low valuation. Let us sum up now in regard to these farm crops other than cereals, and their yield in a. d. i 900. The Common, or Irish Potato . . 650,000,000 bushels, Value ^325,000,000 Sweet Potatoes 50,000,000 " " 37,500,000 Market-Garden Vegetables of all kinds ** 150,000,000 Orchard Products ** 320,000,000 Textiles — Cotton 10,500,000 bales *' 588,000,000 Wool " 77,000,000 Goat's Hair, Alpaca, and Camel's Hair ..." 23,000,000 Silk and Silk Products " 50,000,000 Flax, Hemp, Jute, etc " 30,000,000 Hay and Forage " 700,000,000 Dairy Products • . . . " 600,000,000 Tobacco ** 25,000,000 Sugar and Syrup, not from Sorghum " 75,000,000 Hops " 3,000,000 Oils ofVegetable Production, Cotton-Seed, Linseed, Olive, etc. " 25,000,000 Total 1^3,028,500,000 The fisheries of the Great West demand our attention also. The salmon fisheries of the Pacific coast and of the Columbia river have already attained a great magnitude, and but for the artificial replenishing of its waters with this right royal fish, they IS 22(5 O^^R WESTERN EMPIRE. would exhaust the supply within ten or fifteen years. In 1878 more than $10,000,000 worth of canned salmon was shipped from the vicinity of the Columbia river, and in 1879 the catch and shipments were fifty per cent, greater than the previous year. Salmon are also brought in large quantities from our great northern Territory of Alaska. ^ But this vast product from a single fish, greater than all the products of all the fisheries in the United States, in 1870, by twenty-five per cent., by no means exhausts the resources of the fisheries of the Pacific. The seal, sea-otter, sea-lion, and other fisheries of the mammals of the sea, amount to over $3,500,000, while the markets of the Pacific coast swarm with fish of all kinds ; and the whale fishery, conducted from Pacific ports, has taken the place of that from the former whaling ports of the At- landc. The Great Lakes at the Northeast and the coast of Texas and Louisiana on the South are teeming with edible fish. But far beyond these, in its aggregates, within the next twenty years, will be the fisheries of smaller lakes and rivers from ardfi- cial propagation. Every State and Territory of the interior can profit by this. Minnesota claims 7,000 lakes, many of them of considerable size ; Dakota, Montana, Oregon, and Washington abound in lakes. California has many, and most of them of great purity. Utah has them both of fresh and salt water, and all the States and Territories have greater or less numbers. Then the rivers, which have their sources and many of them their entire course in this region : the Columbia with its gigantic affluents, the Clarke and Lewis, or Snake; the Missouri, with its scores of affluents, some of them themselves mighty rivers ; the Platte, the Kansas, the Arkansas, the Red river of the South, and the Red river of the North ; the Brazos, the Colorado, and the Rio Grande of Texas and New Mexico ; the great Colorado of the West with its tributaries, the Grand, Green, San Juan and Little Colorado, the Sacramento and San Joaquin of California, and the Gila of Arizona, and the numerous bays and estuaries of the Pacific and Gulf coasts are also teeming with the finny tribes. All these lakes, rivers and estuaries are now being- stocked, or have already been supplied with thousands and mil LIVE-STOCK lA A. D. 1900. 227 lions of young fish of the best kinds ; the larger lakes have the lake trout, the land-locked salmon, the white fish, the muske- longe, the black bass, the grayling, and the smaller fry ; the streams are replenished with the brook trout, which, in some of them, attains a huge size, while in the streams flowing into the sea, the salmon is introduced, or its waste supplied, the shad, striped bass, white fish, Spanish mackerel, and other fish equally valuable, but not so well known, are introduced in large num- bers. The result is likely to be that fish will be plentiful in all parts of the West, and at such prices as to make them in de- mand for the food of all classes. The fish product of the Great West in a. d. 1900 will not fall below ^,100,000,000. We turn next to the live-stock of this vast region. In 1870 the States and Territories west of the Mississippi held, accord- ing to the census of that year, live-stock of the value of $347,- 350,790. In the summer of 1878 the numbers and value of the live-stock of the same regfion had increased until it was worth, at the very low prices then ruling, ^625,314,521, which was divided as follows: Horses, ^^204,753, 432 ; mules and asses, $45,367,560; milch cows, $92,870,880; oxen and other cattle, $i95>237,488 ; sheep, $39,424,200; swine, $47,160,981. The ratio of increase which had ruled from 1875 to 1878, if continued in 1879 and 1880 (and it has gone much beyond the average of those years), would give for the value of live-stock, in the sum- mer of 1880, in these States and Territories, $706,518,831 ; a lit- tle more than double the value of the live-stock of the same region in 1870. We are warranted in believing that, owing to the extraordinary activity displayed in all parts of that region, in the rearing of horses, mules, cattle, sheep, and goats, and the great care taken to improve the stock, as well as the increased attention paid to the breeding of milch cows, the census of 1890 will show the value of live-stock to be not less than $1,500,000,- 000, and that of 1900 somewhat more than $3,000,000,000. The greater part of this increase will be in the items of horses and mules, of milch cows, and of cattle for draught and for sale, and of sheep. Swine will increase when the population shall increase, but their increase will not be proportionally as rapid as that of sheep or neat cattle. 228 (^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. It is difficult to estimate what may be the future supply of 1^^ prodticts of the forest. Under this head are included all the timber, spars, and lumber exported or consumed in our own country, all railroad ties and track beams, all the wood used for fuel and for fencing, clap-boards, laths, shingles, telegraph poles, hoop-poles, shooks, staves, hogsheads, and barrels, every description of v/ooden w^are, the wooden portion of agricultural and other machines, house furniture, the wood used for car- riages, cars, wagons, trucks, sleighs and sleds, the consumption for spools, matches, tooth-picks, etc., etc., all barks of trees or shrubs used for tanning purposes, the wood made into paper pulp, all the tar, pitch, turpentine, rosin, and wood spirits, charcoal, crude, pot, and pearl ashes, and wood ashes generally. The timber and lumber production alone was in 1870, in the region west of the Mississippi, of the value of nearly ^125,- 000,000, and since that time it has enormously increased. The extensive forests of Northern Minnesota have furnished logfs enough for the immense saw-mills of Minneapolis and the upper waters of the Mississippi and its tributaries, to manufac- ture into timber, lumber, shinq-les, and staves for its great flour- ing mills, and for a wide region of the Northwest ; and Washing- ton and Oregon have been increasing, to an almost equal extent, their lumber production. The 40,000 miles of railway has gathered up all the available timber within its reach for railway ties and telegraph poles, for stations, snow-sheds, and signal- posts. The factories, which are turning out so many scores of thousands of agricultural machines and implements every year, are eating up the forest at a fearful rate ; the furniture produc- tion, though less extensive here than in the East, yet consumes year after year, vast quantities of the harder w^oods, as well as much pine and cedar. The consumption of the forest trees for fuel has been enormous and wasteful. In the mining regions, charcoal has been largely used instead of mineral coal for smelt- ing and reduction of the metals. The production of small articles of wood, such as spools, matches, tooth-picks, nine-pins, and of paper pulp, from bass w^ood, etc., etc., has used a far greater amount than is generally supposed. Fencing the farms has also PRODUCTS OF THE FOREST 22Q required vast quantities of timber, and the erection of log- houses, the timbering of mines, tunnels, and shafts which requires in some sections all the available timber for many hun- dred square miles ; the erection of bridges, and the making of corduroy roads, have added to the consumption of the forest till its aggregate, in any year of the past ten, must be enormous. The use of the bark of the hemlocks and oaks for tanning pur- poses has not hitherto been as great in the West as in the East, but it is increasing, and unless It can be supplied by the wattle, the mezquite, the sumacs, or the hardbacks, it must prove very largely destructive of timber ; and on the Pacific coast and in Louisiana and Texas there is a constantly increasing demand for naval stores, tar, pitch, rosin, and turpentine, which will ere long denude the mountains of the pine forests. In all these ways the products of the forest annually con- sumed In the region west of the Mississippi cannot have been less than ^500,000,000 at any fair valuation, and may have greatly exceeded that sum. Unless the planting of trees goes on much more rapidly than now, in the Immediate future, and some means are found of substituting other materials for wood, in many of the purposes for which it is now used ; as Iron and glass for buildings ; glass, metal, or stone for railroad ties ; paper made from straw and condensed Into a hard wood for furniture ; artificial stone or cement for supports of mines ; and coal for fuel and smelting purposes, the whole West will be, by the year 1900, a treeless region ; but before that time comes, the coming scarcity of forest trees will enhance the price of all the products, and even if the consumption should be no greater than now, its money value would not be less than a thousand million dollars. The manufacturing industry of this region did not make a comparatively large showing In 1870 with the Eastern States. Of the ^4,232,325,442 of reported manufactured products for the preceding year, only ^437,232,117, a less amount, probably, by «^6o,ooo,ooo or ^70,000,000 than the existing condidon of manu- factures there warranted, was set down as the production of the entire Western region, and of this amount, nearly one-half was to 230 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the credit of Missouri alone. At that time only Missouri, Califor- nia, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas and Texas had manufactures exceeding in value ^10,000,000. The other States and Terri- tories were new, and had not yet emerged from their almost wholly agricultural condition. Nine years later, Minnesota had manufacturing industries exceeding ^^75,000,000 in value ; Kan- sas about $95,000,000; Iowa more than $100,000,000; California more than $150,000,000; Texas about $50,000,000 ; and Missouri over $300,000,000. The newer States and Territories were wheeling into line, and in 1879-80 the total manufacturing interest of this region was over $1,000,000,000. In the near future, the amount of manufacturing here will exceed that in the East. The water-power, the raw material, the coal, the iron, the cotton, the wool, flax, hemp, jute, etc., the wood, copper, lead, zinc, grain, paper, and paper stock, every- thing indeed which enters into the composition of any kind of manufactured goods, is at hand. The skilled labor is there also, and if the capital is not now, it soon will be. It is not a rash or hap-hazard prediction, which we make, when we say that the census of a. d. 1900 (the twelfth census) will show that the manu- factures of the region west of the Mississippi exceed in annual product $5,000,000,000. The amount of the commerce of this Western Empire at the end of the next twenty years is not easily predicted. The number of good seaports on the Pacific coast is not as large as on the corresponding extent of the Atlantic, but a few of them are among the best in the world. On the Gulf coast, aside from New Orleans, which hardly belongs to our Western Empire, none of the ports are of the first-class, though several are good for all but the largest vessels. There is also a great extent of river and some lake navigation. The commerce with 'Eastern Asia, with Australasia, with the Sandwich Islands, with the Northwest Coast, Mexico, Central America, and the west coast of South America is likely to be greatly increased, and from the Gulf ports, Europe, the Mediterranean, Northern Africa, India, and the eastern coast of South America will be readily reached. SUMMARY OF ANNUAL PRODUCTION. 231 The internal and Interstate commerce, by coast and river steamers, and by tlie numberless railroads which gridiron the whole region, will also attain a magnitude almost beyond our conception. On the ocean and coast steamers, the river steamers, and the railroad freight trains, almost the entire yield of our mines, placers and quarries, of the farms and forest pro- ducts, and all the surplusage of live-stock, as well as the wool and hides, and the flesh of all the slaughtered animals, all the machinery, dry-goods, groceries, hardware, drugs, oils, etc., in- tended for the consumption of 50,000,000 of people, will be car- ried. We dare not attempt to reckon up the aggregate of this commerce, lest we should be accused of oriental extravagance of statement; but a summary of the various items of production, which we have demonstrated as probable twenty years hence, will give some Idea of what the outgoing commerce of that period may be, and the incoming commercial receipts will be very nearly as much more. We sum up, then, as follows : Mining Products and Quarries in A. d, 1900 ;$5, 000, 000, 000 Cereal Products 4,167,500,000 Root Crops, Textiles, Market Garden, Dairy Products, Hay, Tobacco, etc 3,028,500,000 Fisheries 100,000,000 Live-Stock 3,000,000,000 Forest Products 1,000,000,000 Manufactures 5,000,000,000 Grand Total ;g2i, 296,000,000 Or more than ten times our present national debt. It is to be remembered that this is only the valuation of the products and crops of a single year ; that it does not include either the value of the real or personal estate of the 50,000,000 who will inhabit our Western Empire at that time. And what shall we say of the population which, twenty years hence, will fill this vast region with life and industrial activity? Remember, it is but twenty years, but little more than half a gen- eration ; and many of those who are actively engaged in business now will be active and useful then ; but who that remembers the 2,2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. year before the civil war, and the changes through which our nation has passed in twenty years, can fail to realize that even two decades may separate us from an era, which seems to belong to the half-forgotten past, and from circumstances which have entirely changed our condition and character as a nation. There is very litde reason to apprehend either a foreign or a civil war within that time. The magnitude and comparative isolation of our territory prevents our position from being one which menaces any other great power; while our resources are ample to repel any foreign invasion. As to a civil war, there are now no sufficient causes to provoke it. While slavery existed, it was a standing menace against a free government. But, now, there may be temporary discontent, on the part of a single State, from some real or imaginary hardship ; while the great mass of States are so bound to each other by a multiplicity of ties, finan- cial, commercial, sanitary, charitable, literary, and religious, that there can be no general movement which would lead to a civil war. Questions like that of the disposition of the Indians, that of the prohibition of polygamy among the Mormons, and that of undenominational public schools, may excite a temporary ripple in the smooth sea of our prosperity, but the calm will soon return. A bitter Presidential contest may produce excitement and apprehension for a time, and some fear of Caesarism on one hand, or of a revolutionary dictatorship on the other; but the nation is too patriotic to sustain any attempts at unconstitutional rule. Vexed questions of the rights of labor and capital, or of the right to prohibit the migration of particular nationalities to our soil may excite temporary strife and discord, but in the end we shall settle down upon the broad principles of the universal brotherhood of man and the equality of all men before the law. It would have been better in some respects if our male suffrage had not been quite so nearly universal as it is, but the dangers apprehended from that source are now very nearly obviated. Let us glance, then, at the races and nationalities which will probably make up the 50,000,000 to be found west of the Mis- sissippi in A. D. 1900. It may, we think, be taken as a settled fact that by the com- PROBABLE DWINDLING OF INDIAN TRIBES. 233 mencement of the twentieth century, the Indian, especially in his nomadic condition, will have ceased to be a disturbing factor in the West. The tribes are diminishing in a very rapid ratio. In i860, there were somewhat more than 500,000 of them within the limits of the United States. In 1870, the number had dwin- dled to 383,000. In 1878, there were but 275,000, and the super- visors of the census, in 1880, will hardly report more than 250,- 000. At this ratio they would be extinct by A. D. 1900. This is hardly probable, but they will be so few as to be of very little importance. There are natural laws which would bring about this result in time, but it must be said that for nearly the whole of the present century the policy of our government has been to hasten it. They have been removed from one district of country, and from one reservation to another, and have been exposed to the frauds of unscrupulous traders, who have plied them with the vilest liquors, and have plundered them of all their property, while, in too many instances, the government agent has stood by and permitted the wrongs, without even protesting against them. Moreover, the government has not observed its treaty provisions, and the Indian, learning only the worst vices of civil- ization, has come to his death, either by vice, disease, or murder Inflicted by the whites. While we write, a treaty has been negotiated which will, very soon we hope, put an end to the system of large reservations and give to the Indians about 480 acres of land per family in severalty, and pay them an annuity, while the remainder of their reservations is to be put upon the market. This plan, just adopted on the great reservation of the Utes in Colorado, by which more than 1 1,000,000 acres of their lands are to be offered for sale, will undoubtedly be followed by similar action in regard to the great reservations in Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, California, and perhaps Arizona, and the Indian Territory. The measure is, in itself, a ofood one, but to be of much benefit to the Indians it should have been adopted years ago. The diminution and final extinction of the Indian races will not be materially delayed by It. We may safely predict^ that with the exception of the Indian 234 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Territory, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and possibly Idaho, Montana, Washington and Dakota, the Indian will, by a. d. 1900, have ceased to be an appreciable element of the population, and even in these Territories, except possibly the Indian Territory, their numbers will be so small as to excite no alarm, and lead to no difficulties. Nearly 200,000,000 acres of land, some of it excellent farming land, and perhaps more containing valuable mineral deposits, will thus be thrown upon the market. The colored race, which in 1870 numbered in all the States and Territories west of the Mississippi less than 900,000, or only about one-sixth of the whole number in the United States, has since that time increased largely by immigration ; and probably at the census of the present year will show i ,400,000 or 1,500,000 in that region. The natural increase in this race is not likely to be large, for in time they too will become extinct, under the pressure of a higher civilization, but the accessions from the East will continue for some years to come. It is doubtful, however, whether there will be more than 3,000,000 or 3,500,000 in the territory west of the Mississippi in a. d. 1900. The Mexican races, whether HIspano-American or pure Indian, fail to hold their own by the side of our more robust civilization. It is to be hoped, both for our sakes and theirs, that the mania for annexation may not seize our people before that time, and Mexico be brought into the Union, either peacefully or by force — for our sakes, because we have already a sufficient territory, and the accession of a weak nation almost wholly uneducated, and speaking another language than ours, would degrade rather than improve our national character; and for theirs, because they would inevitably be placed in an inferior position, and might be goaded to a resistance which would prove fatal to them. But, for the Mexicans who are residing in the Great West, we can predict no considerable accessions, except from Immigration. They are not aggressive, and taking an inferior's position, they will be likely to be kept there. The Chinese and Japanese are likely to be exceptions to the general law in regard to weaker races. The immigration of the Chinese hitherto has been, with but few exceptions, of the coolie or CHINESE AND OTHER NATIONALITIES. 23 C peasant class. When a better class come, bringing their families, such a tide of immigration will pour in upon the Pacific coast, as will materially change the situation of affairs there, thouo-h not necessarily for the worse. The better classes in China are by no means barbarians, but people of as much refinement and delicacy of manner as can be found anywhere, and in morals vastly the superiors of their persecutors in California. It is worthy of notice, that wherever the Chinese have emigrated in considerable numbers, they have always in the end become the masters of the countr)^ however intelligent and physically vigorous and powerful the natives might be. This has been the result at Singapore, at Saigon, at Bangkok, and in other parts of Malaysia. They can, if they choose, plant 50,000,000 of Chinese colonists on the Pacific coast and the interior, within the next twenty years ; but that will hardly be their policy. If they obtain a foothold they will become largely engaged in commercial transactions, in which they possess great skill, and the peasant class will be in demand for both skilled and unskilled labor. We regard it as altogether probable that the census of 1900 will report not less than 10,000,000 of them west of the Mississippi. Of the emigrants from Europe, it is probable that the nation- alities will prevail in about the following order : Germans, Irish, Scandinavians, English, Scotch and Welch, Italians, Russians, Canadian French, French, Swiss, Spanish, Belgians and Hol- landers. There will also be a considerable number of emigrants from the West Indies, and from South America. But the larger proportion of immigrants will be from the States east of the Mississippi, not a few of them originally European emigrants, who are now drifting westward ; others, the children of such emigrants, but a fair proportion of the genuine Yankee stock, drawn thither to become farmers, mine-owners, stock-raisers, sheep-masters, or manufacturers. Very many of our best citizens are among these setders in the Great West, and they will do good service in making it and keeping it patriotic, loyal and pure. The future of this Western Empire is to be what its citizens 236 '^^■^ WESTERN EMPIRE. shall make It. With all the advantages of mineral wealth vastly surpassing that of Ormuzd or of Ind ; with a soil of such extent and fertility, that it could supply the world with bread, with flocks and herds beyond the dream of the most opulent of the patriarchs of the East, and all the elements of material prosperity in such abundance as to defy description, if Its citizens are industrious, enterprising, intelligent, moral, law-abiding, God- fearlno- men and women, there is in reserve for It a future which not all the dreams of the poets, or the rapt vision of the seers, can describe In too glowing colors — a future which shall make the ancient Paradise a- modern reality, and cause men to flock thither, as to a new Eden. But if industry and enterprise are lacking, if morals are debased, and intelligence wanes ; if reverence for law and order is lost, and there comes a time when they do not fear God and keep His commandments ; if pride, self-confidence, and fullness of bread, lead to all the vices which ruined the empires of the Old World ; all this material wealth and prosperity, all these advantages of situation and production, will only make its downfall the more sudden and terrible. And its swift de- struction will call forth a wail of anguish from all the nations of the earth, as much deeper and more distressing, as its position had been grander and more imposing, than that of any of the older empires. Which shall it be ? a government of the people, for the people, by the people ; a government firm and persistent for liberty and law, for freedom, justice, and right, between man and his fellow-man, and between man and his Creator ? or a government without law, without justice, without purity, without right, and without order ; — an anarchy, where men's evil pas- sions and corrupt practices, all the arts of the demagogue, all the schemes of the hypocrite, and all the vices of the debauchee are allowed to destroy the nation, without check or restraint ? Rome and Greece, Babylon and Nineveh, Corinth and Ephesus, the most powerful empires and cities of their times, owed their ruin to this uncontrolled spirit of license and mis- rule, and in modern times, we have seen powerful nations brought to the verge of destruction from the same causes. Let us heed the warning while there is time. PART 11. IMMIGRATION. Who Should Go, and Why? The How, When and Where of Emigration to the Far West. CHAPTER I. Who Should Migrate to this Western Empire, and the Reasons Why — • Desirableness of Accurate Information — Intentional and Unin- tentional Misrepresentation — Who should not come — The Land- Grant Railway Companies, and the Emigration Societies — Age Beyond which Emigration is Undesirable — Other Obstacles— Amount of Capital Necessary — This varies with the Occupation — What are Necessary Expenses — Why some Emigrants are Dissatisfied. "Are you thinking of emigrating to tliat ' Far West ' in America, about which we hear so much lately ?" asks one neigh- bor of another in England, in the winter of 1879-1880. "Yes," is the reply. " I am thinking of it very seriously, but I find it hard to come to a decision. All my acquaintance are here ; I feel strongly attached to the country and place in which I was born and reared, where I found my good wife, and where my little ones were born. England is very dear to me ; and yet I cannot buy an acre, no, nor a rood of ground, even to be buried in ; I must be a tenant all my life, and liable to be evicted at the landlord's pleasure. I had, in past years, laid up a little money, but it is fast going, in these past three years of bad crops, low prices, and poor markets, and yet I am paying five pound rent per acre for my place. Then again, my children cannot get on here, and as I belong to the Methodists, they can have no chance unless they go to the church, which I don't like (237) 2^8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. to have them do. Now, I am told that I can take up a farm of 1 60 acres in that western country, under what they call the Homestead Act, for less money than I pay rent for one rcre here, and excellent land too, and that in five years' time I can have as good a farm as this — yes, and better — all my own, and a steady income of ^500 or ^600 a year, and good schools and churches, all convenient. When I consider all these things I think I must go, though it will be a sore thing to leave dear old England. How I wish now, that I had some book, or some- body that I knew wouldn't deceive me, to tell me all about the country, just as it is, and enable me to decide what I oughj; to do." There are many thousands not only in England, but in Ireland and Scotland, Germany, Sweden and Norway, in Austria and Russia, in Italy and France, who are asking themselves and others the question, Vv^hether it is not best to emigrate to this far- off western land, and thus escape from evils, discomforts, and oppressions of all sorts, which have become well-nigh intolerable. And there are scores of thousands more in our own country, who, from one cause or another, are revolving the same ques- tion in their own minds, and are sincerely desirous of light in reg-ard to it. To all such honest inquirers, we propose to give the informa- tion which they seek, and we beg leave to assure them at the start, that we have no object in view, except their benefit. We have no interest in any railroad, land grant, colony, mining, farming, stock-raising, or wool-growing company or organiza- tion west of the Mississippi river ; we do not own a square foot of land west of that river, and do not expect to do so ; but we know the country, its advantages and disadvantages, and we propose to state these honestly and fairly. We could obtain the indorsement of all the governors, senators, and representatives of that entire region, to the truthfulness and fairness of our book, if it were needful ; but we think that every one who will read it will be satisfied for themselves that it is an honest and trustworthy book. Having thus avouched the honesty of our purpose, and the HORRORS OF THE OLD EMIGRATION. 239 knowledge of the subject which we possess, we will proceed to answer the very important questions, Who should emigrate, and why ? The emigration societies, the railroad companies, and the steamship agents, would answer the question very promptly, by saying, " Every one who has the means to reach the West should go ;" and they would be greatly in the wrong, and if they were believed, would do much wrong to emigrants by such an answer. No ! 7iot every one who has the means to reach there should go; not even every one who has from ^1,000 to ^10,000 to invest, after reaching the country. The question, "Who should go?" requires a previous consideration of many other questions before it can be rightly answered. There are always many hard- ships attending emigration ; not so many now as there were in former days, when the European emigrant took passage across the Atlantic in the steerage of a sailing packet, and was tossed on the waves, with but scant fare and horrible accommodations, for from thirty to sixty, or seventy-five days, and landing at the end of his tedious voyage, at New York, found himself the prey of the landsharks and confidence men, who swarmed around him. He was very fortunate, if he succeeded in making his way by barge and canal boat to Buffalo, and thence by other sailing vessels to distant Ohio, Indiana, or Illinois, and amid the forests, or the wide treeless plains, shaken by chills and fever, reared his rude log-hut, and set out resolutely to make a home and a for- tune for his family. That is not so very long ago either. Forty or fifty years ago, the emigrant had to take all these hardships into the account, if he would make his home in the West. It is not thirty-five years, hardly more than thirty, since those who sought homes beyond the Mississippi were obliged to go with their huge wagons — " prairie schooners " they were called — drawn by five, eight, or even twelve yoke of oxen, carrying with them their entire household goods, and travelling for many weeks, eight or ten miles a day, before reaching their new homes. When we compare the present facilities of travel and settle- ment with the hard lot of these pioneers of civilization, and the 240 ^^-^ WESTERN EMPIRE. speed and safety with which our emigrants reach their desired location, and the perils and dangers from Indians, from storms and snows, from hunger and thirst, from the giving out of their cattle, or the prairie fires — perils which marked the whole trail from the Mississippi to the Pacific with the skeletons of their cattle, and, not so rarely as could have been wished, with human bones also — with the present freedom from these dangers and miseries, we are almost inclined to declare that there are now no hardships for emigrants to face. This, however, would not be quite true. To the emigrant from Europe, the ten or twelve days' passage in the steerage of these magnificent ocean steam- ships, though a vast improvement on the old sailing vessels, is not quite an " earthly paradise," as indeed it could not well be. Most of these steamship lines, also, are in some way connected with some one or more of the emigration companies, which, in turn, have their arrangements with some of the great railway companies, and are under obligations to send their emigrants to particular sections of country, where their lands are situated. Of course, these emigration companies and railroad agents extol their particular section in the highest terms, and cannot say any- thing too strong in disparagement of every other region. They have no intention, probably, of misrepresenting either their own lands, or the lands in other States or Territories; but human nature must be differently constituted from what it now is, if the emigrant does not find that some things have been overstated, and that the advantages of other localities have been unduly depreciated. There are two remedies for this difficulty : one, that the emi- grant should inform himself thoroughly before making arrange- ments to come to this country, what will be the best location for him, taking into consideration climate, chances of employment, accessibility to good markets, prices of land, condition of society, advantages of education, etc., etc. His sources of information must be free from all temptation to misrepresentation and self^ interest, and they must be from parties who are fully informed of the present condition of affairs there, for so rapid are the changes which are taking place in this Great West, that statements which PRESENT HARDSHIPS OF EMIGRATION. 24I were perfectly true two years ago, are now very far from the truth. It has been our sole object in the preparation of this work, to make it as perfect a guide to the emigrant as it could be made, one which should be in every respect impartial, and have no interest except that of the emigrant to serve. If the intending emigrant will study such a book faithfully, he will find no diffi- culty in determining what is the best locality for him, and then can make his arrangements with that steamship or emigration company, which will take him directly to his desired location ; but he should be careful to make no contract, binding him to pur- chase land of any emigration company till he has seen it for him- self. He can, of course, procure his tickets and transportation at a considerable reduction, if he takes his land from the emi- gration company, but the extra cost of this will much more than make up the difference, if the land they allot to him should prove undesirable from any cause. The other way of avoiding the difficulty is this : the emigrant, having by inquiry and study come to a conclusion as to the best location for him, takes passage on a steamer for New York o^ New Orleans, and thence by rail to the point where he desires to settle, leaving his family, if he has one, behind him, till he can provide a home for them. This will cost him more than to buy his ticket from the emigration company, but if he wants a farm, he can take up his land under the Homestead or Timber-Cul- ture Acts, or pre-empt it, and the cost under either of the former plans will not exceed ^25 for 160 acres, and under the latter not over $1.25 per acre with thirty months to pay for it, while that must be very poor land which he can get from the emigration company at anything less than ^5 per acre. As soon as he is able he can send for his family, and buying the ticket here it will cost him no more than if he had bought it of the emigration company. But, in whatever way the emigrant secures his land, there are still hardships ; his first home will be in all probability a log-cabin, an adobe,* or a sod-house. If he purchases in the northern, or even the central tier of States or Territories, the deep snows, and the consequent embargo on travel, will annoy * A house built of sun-dried bricks or of clay mortar. 16 242 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. and distress him, as being so different from all his past experi- ence. The climate, too, may, very possibly, affect his health at first ; an unusual languor and listlessness may oppress him, the effect of his acclimatization. There will be times when he feels as if he must go back to his European home ; as if he could not endure life in a region where everything is so different from the home of his childhood. But if he is brave and resolute these feelings will soon pass away, and when his first crop is harvested and sold, he will look forward hopefully to a better future than he could have had at home. In general we may lay down these rules in regard to immi- gration : 1. Age. A man who has his fortune to make, or a family to support, should not emigrate from Europe to the West, after he has passed his forty-fifth year. There may be a few excep- tions to this, but they are very few. After a man has reached his forty-fifth year, he finds it far more difficult to change all his habits and modes of life and thought, than when he was younger. If he Is a farmer, stock-raiser, or sheep-master, or has been a foreman or manasfer In either of these callino-s, he will find that it is necessary to learn all his business anew, from the difference in soil, climate, and ways of doing business. A capitalist who has money to invest In these or any other kinds of business, can come and make his investments at any age, when he is able to travel, and examine the property for himself; but we are not making a book for capitalists, but for workingmen. 2. As a general rule an invalid, or a person in feeble health, will not find it advisable to come to the West to become a per- manent resident, unless he has sufficient property to Insure his support. Some do migrate under these circumstances, espe- cially those whose lungs are affected, and In Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Southern California, New Mexico, Utah, or Washington Territory, find positive benefit ; while Arkansas, Texas and Arizona have a good reputation for rheumatic affec- tions. But, in either disease, the beneficial result is contingent upon a permanent residence there. To come away, even after several years. Is, In most cases, certain to prove fatal ; while a WHO SHOULD NOT COME. 243 majority of those who go to these States and Territories for their health, after a brief and temporary improvement, suddenly become worse and die of the disease. The invalid, if he will come, should not stay in the larger towns but resort to the hills, where an open-air life is possible, 3. No man should come who is averse to work, or who ex- pects, by coming, to lead an easier life, for some years at least, than he is leading at home. Since the primeval sentence at the expulsion from Eden, " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou return unto the ground," there has been no reprieve from toil, of hand, or brain, and there will not be, till the lost Eden returns, which will not be in our day. Industry will reap a better reward here than elsewhere, and the honest toiler may hope, in the later years of life, to enjoy a competence ; but it can only be procured by hard and wearisome labor. 4. No man should come whose temper is fickle, and who will give way at the first rebuff and become discouraged, despondent and home-sick. The persevering, earnest, and sanguine worker, who grows stronger under defeats and discouragements, who will not give up, is the man to succeed. 5. No man can come with much hope of success, unless he has a little capital beyond what is necessary to bring him to the West. This is particularly true of a man who has a family. If he brings his family with him, which it is not always wise to do at first, they must have something to live upon till he can receive some return for his labor; and he will need money to purchase his land, break it up, sow it, cultivate it, and reap the harvest. If he attempts to raise stock, or to keep sheep, still more capital will be wanted ; if he starts a market-garden, a nursery, or raises flowers for profit, he must still have some capital to start with ; if he is a mechanic or a tradesman, he cannot start without some capital. How much he must have will depend very much on what he proposes to do ; for what would be sufficient for a mechanic or a market-gardener, might be too little for a farmer, a stock-raiser, or a tradesman. The safe rule will be, as much as the emigrant can command ; but in no case less than $500 after the travelling expenses are 2AA Oi'/^ WESTERN EMPIRE. paid ; and for a farmer, stock-raiser, sheep-master, miner, or tradesman, not less than $i,ooo, and as much more as he can honestly command. If the man has a family, these sums should be doubled. " But," asks the intending emigrant, " isn't it possible to go to the West and settle down with less money than this ? With the utmost economy I have not been able to save but £\oo in ten years, and it will take at least ^25 of it to pay the passage and trans- portation for myself and family. Must I be cut off from all hope of realizing the object for which I have been saving and working so long?" No, friend ; hope springs eternal in the human breast, so you need not give over hoping ; but as to the emigrating, you have just a choice of two alternatives : either to postpone your emigra- tion for two, three, or five years, in the hope of being able to make up the amount you need — a somewhat doubtful expedient in the present depressed condition of the markets and failure of the crops; or, leaving with your family, say ^75 of the £100, take the rest and go alone to the West, and seeking employment as a farm-hand, or herder, or shepherd, or miner, secure as soon as possible a homestead farm of 80 or 160 acres, on which the only payments will be from fourteen to twenty-five dollars (^2 i6j". to ;^5) ; get twenty acres of it broken up by changing works, and have it planted to root crops, or sown with wheat ; by the second year a sod-house can be built and a crop raised, which will not only pay for further improvements, but leave £20 or £,2"^ to be sent to the family at home. At the end of four or five years, with good management, you can send for them, and welcome them to a home, humble and rude indeed, but your own, and with a fair prospect of improving your condi- tion rapidly. We recommend the latter alternative, because homestead lands, in desirable locations, are becoming daily more scarce, and in two or three years may not be obtainable at all. But to come with a family, with too small a sum to sustain them, and make the necessary outlay for the scanty comforts of the pioneer, until you can receive a return from your crops, is to expose yourself and them to severe suffering, and, perhaps, to THE DISSATISFIED EMIGRANT. 245 premature death. Farther on we propose to show what can be done with ^i,ooo by a careful and intelHgent emigrant. 6. It is unwise for aged people to come, even if it is with their young and robust children. The hardships of the pioneer life fall with peculiar severity upon the aged ; they miss the little comforts and privileges to which they have been for many years accustomed ; and the fatigues and exposures they must undergo very often shorten their days, without adding to their happiness. It is because these precautions have not been heeded, because so many emigrants have come without more means than were just sufficient to carry them to their destination, firmly believing that they could pick up money in the streets, or that they could obtain employment which would be immediately remunerative, that there are so many disappointed and homesick emigrants in the country. Without employment, without money or food, sick from the long voyage and journey, from the change of climate and water, or possibly from some malarious influences to which they have been exposed, they are indeed in a pitiable condition ; and though the kind hand is almost invariably stretched out to help them (for the western people are full of kindness and charity) they often become so utterly wretched as to be unmindful of the kindnesses they have received ; and even when they have been helped to return to their old homes, they will often denounce the country and those who have aided them in the strongest terms, when the fault has only been with themselves, that they came hither so entirely unprepared for their new life on the frontier. The prudent, energetic emigrant who comes expecting hardships, but prepared to meet them, who does not expect others to do for him what he can do for himself, and who recognizes the necessity of providing for his own support and that of his family until he can receive returns for his labor, will encounter soma hardships, but he will rejoice in triumphing over them, and very soon will be in a position to help others. The emigration societies and the land-grant railroads, though they make such a fair showing, and paint in such glowing colors the prosperity of the emigrants who have come out under their auspices, cannot guarantee success to those emigrants who have 246 O^R WESTERN EMPIRE. no disposition to help themselves. The railroad companies and the emioration societies also crive the emiorant from six to eleven years to pay for their land, but the price is high, and the interest at from seven to ten per cent, adds materially to the price, vv^hile the first payment comes hard on a man who has little or no money, and his title is not complete till he has paid for the land, "U'hile a default in payment works a forfeiture of his farm, and the loss of most of what he has paid. Meanwhile, if he has no money, how is he and how is his family, if he has one, to be fed before he can raise a crop, or earn money for immediate support? Neither the emigration society nor the railroad company can or will support him. He would have done better to have gone to work for any one who would give him his board and even mod- erate wages, and if he could secure a farm under the Homestead or Timber-Culture Act, he would at least have no heavy debt to weigh him down, and no ground of anxiety about his own food and raiment. No industrious, willing, able-bodied man need starve if he reaches the West alone, with but a dollar in his pocket, but he will rkot accumulate property so rapidly as if he had a little to start with. John Jacob Astor, the founder of the Astor family, once said, that the only difficulty he had in accumulating his vast estate was in earning the first thousand dollars. We have purposely presented the dark side of the picture to emigrants, because they need to know the worst as well as the best. The rosy and pleasant side is presented to them every day, and they are tempted to believe that there are no shadows till they come into the actual experience of them, and then they find them so dark and gloomy that they are ready to recoil from them, and say, " If we had only known, we would not have come." But the emigrant who goes to the West with small means should know beforehand that there are awaiting- him and his family, if he has one, exposures to severe cold and intense heat ; hard beds, perhaps of pine or spruce boughs, or dried leaves on the ground ; scanty food at times, with hunger for his only sauce ; poor cooking, from the want of proper utensils ; clothing THE HARDSHIPS OF THE EMIGRANT. 247 which he would have disdained at his old home ; a lack of all the conveniences of life ; very possibly at first no schools, no church, no post-office within twenty or thirty miles ; a house of one or two rooms built of sods or of logs, with a floor of earth, and upon this humble house, perhaps the summer's sun beats fiercely, and the winter's snows may bury it out of sight. But he should know also that these privations and discomforts will be but temporary; that in, perhaps, four or five years, he will have a pleasant home and farm, with all the comforts of life, and all his own ; that school and church, and town-hall and post- office, with perhaps a daily mail, will all have come by that time ; that good clothing and the luxuries of choice beds, excellent and toothsome fare, and the music of organ or piano, may gratify his tastes ; and knowing these things, he should decide whether the privations of the first few years were worth enduring, for the sake of the comforts and substantial benefits which will probably follow. There is another view of this subject of emigration to which attention should be directed. For some years past great efibrts have been made to direct emigration to other countries than the United States ; the Dominion of Canada, Australia, Brazil, Bue- nos Ayres, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Chili, have sought to attract emigrants to their respective countries. The Dominion and Australia have been moderately successful, for the whole influence of the British Government has been exerted, properly enough, in their favor ; but the emigrants to Canada have had much greater hardships to undergo than those to our western country, and very nearly two-thirds of them have eventually crossed the border and located themselves under the Stars and Stripes.* The Australian emigrants have struggled manfully with the trying climate, and the very great hardships which they have had to encounter, but many of them have come into the * Lately there is much complaint among the emigrants to Manitoba, that by recent Acts of the Colonial Legislature, they cannot secure lands within five miles of the proposed railway to the Pacific coast for less than six dollars per acre, and all homesteading is cut off from that belt, and, further, that by the Act of July last, the homestead grant, however distant from market, is limited to eighty acres, while the United States Government make it 160 acres. 248 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. West by way of San Francisco, and the tide of emigration to the United States to-day is more than four times that to Australia. The emigration to the South American States has in most cases proved a complete failure. Liberal as were the offers of the governments, the whole matter was badly organized and man- aged, and the sufferings of the emigrants became so intolerable that they were glad to escape to their old homes with the loss of everything, being indebted in many cases to the consuls of their respective countries for a free passage homewards. The present rapid influx of emigrants from Europe to the United States, and their strenuous objections to going to any other country, shows conclusively that the experience of sixty years of emigration has convinced the people of Europe that the' will fare best here. CHAPTER II. The Routes by which our Western Empire is Reached — The Northeastern Region — The Central Region — The Southern — The Southwestern — The Pacific States and Territories. The immiofrant who has valiantlv resisted at Hamburg;, Bre- men, Rotterdam, or Havre, at Southampton, Liverpool, Glasgow, Bldinburgh, or Cardiff, the blandishments of the emigration com- panies, and the glowing representations of the railway companies, and who lands at Castle Garden, New York, unpledged to any company, and under no obligation to take a poor route when there is a better to be had, may well rejoice in his freedom ; but he will find himself beset by as hungry a horde of runners and canvassers for all the different routes, as ever drove a poor man to distraction. If he has made up his mind to what section of the West he will migrate (and he should have done this before leaving home), our advice to him would be to stop over a day at Castle Garden and make choice of the route which will bring him most directly, quickly, and safely to his desired destination. He cannot well do this from the flaming posters placarded there ; nor from the ROUTE FOR NORTHWESTERN EMIGRANT. 249 noisy vociferations of the runners; and there Is a strong possi- bility that even some of the officials may have been slightly in- fluenced by interested persons to give the preference to one route or another from motives not altogether disinterested. Knowing where he wishes to go, and knowing also, as he may, what railway lines will take him thither most surely, directly, with the greatest amount of comfort, and the smallest amount of cost. he can make up his own mind as to his route as well as anybod), else can do it for him, and, as all the routes have their real eastern termini at Castle Garden, he can purchase his tickets there and have no further trouble, except occasionally looking out for his meals and his baggage, till he reaches his destination, or the railway terminus nearest to it. The journey on an emigrant train will be at the best a long and weary one, but if he has a fellow-countryman or shipmate of his own way of thinking, and bound for the same vicinity as himself, the companionship will relieve the journey of some of its tedium for both. If our immigrant is a farmer, or farm-hand, and desires to establish himself in Iowa, Minnesota, Dakota, Northeastern Montana, or Nebraska, he will probably find It desirable to make Chicago his point of departure for the Northwest. Chicago is distant from New York about 950 miles, the five trunk roads running thither varying from 933 to 975 miles In the length of their lines to it. There is very little room for choice between the Hudson River and New York Central, the Erie, the Penn- sylvania Central, and the Baltimore and Ohio roads, all of which run trains through to Chicago. They are all good roads, and give the immigrant as nearly the worth of his money as they can possibly afford. These lines, we believe, now all make close connection with the Chicago and Northwestern lines, which are the connecting lines with the Northern Pacific, and the Minne- sota, Iowa, and Dakota Railways. By taking a through ticket, via the Chicago and Northwestern, to any point reached by this railway or its connections, he will be insured a passage with as few annoyances as he will find on any route. One precaution he should not fail to take. The number and class of his railway 2 CO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ticket, and the railroads over which he is to pass, and the num- bers and stamps of his baggage checks, should all be noted down in a little memorandum, and he will do well occasionally to see that all his baggage is on board. In case of loss of either baggage or ticket, he will recover damages much more readily if he can tell on which of the affiliated roads it was lost and what were the numbers. He should also have a printed time-table of the roads over which he passes, which will be furnished him for the asking at the office of the railroad on which he is to travel, in Castle Garden. It seems a pity to be obliged to caution a man against his fellow-man, especially when he is a stranger in a strange land ; but it is necessary to say, once for all, not only to emigrants from Europe, but to our own people who may be migrating westward, that it is best to be shy of strangers, unless they are introduced to you by those whom you have reason to confide in as honest and trustworthy, and even then it is not necessary or wise to become too confidential with them, to tell them all your family history, to show your money to them, or inform them just the amount you carry about you. It is very imprudent and foolish to engage in any games of chance or skill with strangers, especially in any involving the winning or losing money. If you win, your antag- onist has probably lost what he can ill afford to lose ; if you lose, as you probably will (for generally, it is only sharpers who pro- pose to play in a public conveyance), you will feel the loss and have occasion at the same time to lament your folly. Never manifest a suspicious disposition in regard to those who are about you. If there is anything you cannot understand, ask the con- ductor, courteously and pleasantly, and he will generally be cour- teous in his reply. Do not make yourself conspicuous by loud talking, or a swaggering manner. There are always people on the train who will weigh a man at what he is really worth, not at the value he may set upon himself. Do not judge of people by their dress or their pretensions. You will often find in the West, a millionaire in plain, rough clothing, or an eminent scholar in a dress which might be worn by a tramp ; while a gambler, black-leg, or horse-thief may sport his diamonds, or dress in irre- proachable taste. ROUTES FOR THE PACIFIC STATES. 251 The immigrant who is attracted to Nebraska, Kansas, Colo- rado, Wyoming-, Western or Central Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, or New Mexico, Texas or Arizona does not need to make Chicago his point of departure, unless he chooses to do so. His more direct route will lie through St. Louis ; and Omaha, Nebraska, Kansas City, Missouri, St. Joseph, Missouri, or Atchi- son, Kansas, will be his points of departure. Omaha is the east- ern terminus of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railways, though recently a part of its traffic has been transferred to Kan- sas City. St. Joseph is the terminus of the St. Joseph and Den- ver branch of the Union Pacific, and is otherwise a railroad cen- tre of some importance, Atchison is the eastern terminus of the central branch of the Union Pacific and also of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the most enterprising and energetic railway in the Western Empire, but which is now also extended to Kansas City. The last-named place has recently become one of the greatest railway centres west of the Mississippi. It is the most easterly terminus of the Union Pacific, and commands from its position the travel and transportation of the Kansas Pacific, the Denver Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, the Utah and Northern ; the Missouri, Kansas and Texas ; the Houston and Texas Central ; the St. Louis and San Francisco, and the Texas Pacific. All these roads but one are now controlled by one man, or rather by a combination, of which he is the head. The immi- grant leaving New York by either of the great trunk roads, Erie, New York Central, Pennsylvania Central, or Baltimore and Ohio, will do better as matters now stand, to buy his through tickets via the Wabash Railway, which connects directly at Kan- sas City with all these roads. By either of the other lines, Chicaeo and Northwestern, or Chicag^o and Burlingfton, he will be obliged to change cars and re-check his baggage at Kansas City, Omaha, Atchison or St. Joseph. He may be required to do so on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, but probably he will not. If the emigrant's destination is to Oregon or Washington, he will still find it best to take this route going by the Union and Central Pacific, and stopping off at Kelton or at Junction, twenty miles east of Sacramento, and going thence by stage and rail to 2C2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Oreeon or Washino-ton, or contlnuin": on to San Francisco and taking a steamer thence to Portland, Oregon. If the emigrant's destination is to Southern CaHfornia or Arizona, this route is still the best, taking the Southern Pacific Railway at Lathrop on the Central Pacific, and going by this railway to Southern Cali- fornia, or to any point in Arizona between Yuma and Tucson. The States and Territories on the Pacific can also be reached from New York at about the same expense by steamers to San Francisco, via Panama Railroad, and other steamer lines plying from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon, to the Columbia river and Puget Sound, and southward to Los Angeles, San Diego, and up the Gulf of California to Fort Yuma, near the mouth of the Rio Colorado. Very soon, probably within two years at the farthest, all Southern Arizona, Western Texas, and Southern California, will be reached by a much shorter and more direct route through Texas. Those emiofrants whose destination is to Missouri, Southeastern Kansas, Arkansas, Indian Territory, Western Louisiana or Texas, will make St. Louis their point of departure, and can go from thence either by Mississippi river steamer to any points below, and by New Orleans steamer to any points on the Texas coast, or by Missouri river steamer to any points in Missouri, Dakota or Montana, lying on that river or on its principal navigable affluents, such as the Dakota, Yel- lowstone, Jefferson, Gallatin, etc., etc. If they prefer, however, to continue their journey by rail, they can go from St. Louis by the Cairo and St. Louis, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern ; the Atlantic and Pacific, or the Missouri Pacific with its continuation in the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, and some of its branches, and the Texas Pacific. Or they may take the New Orleans or Galveston steamers from New York and qto direct to Louisiana or Texas. On the railroads the emigrant trains move slowly, being under the necessity of switching off frequently, as the faster trains have the right of way. The emigrant train from Kansas City or Omaha to the Pacific coast, on the Union and Central Pacific Railways, is usually nine or ten days on its journey. The emi- grant cars are fairly comfortable, about equal to the third-class cars in Europe. They have no cushions, are warmed by flat- RAILROAD FARES. 2C^ topped Stoves, on which the passengers can heat any food or drinks they need for young children or invaHds ; have an arrange- ment by which, by the use of boards furnished by the company, bunks can be made in which, with the aid of coats, blankets and shawls, the passengers can sleep as well as in the steerage of a steamship. The following table, compiled with great care, gives the railroad fares which prevailed in the autumn of 1879: Destination. States and Territories. Portland, Oregon . Portland, Oregon. Portland, Oregon., Portland, Oregon . Fort Benton, Montana. Fort Benton, Montana. Helena, Montana Helena, Montana Helena, Montana Denver, Colorado Pueblo, Colorado Colorado Springs, Col.. Canon City, Colorado . . Alamosa, Colorado. ... Del Norte, Colorado . fLeadville, Colorado. fLake City, Colorado ■fSanta Fe, New iMcxico . . MesiUa, New Mexico . . . . Ojo Caliente, New Mexico Cheyenne, Wyoming Emporia, Kansas Wichita, Kansas Hutchinson, Kansas Great Bend, Kansas Kinsley, Kansas Dodge City, Kansas Ogden, Utah Salt Lake City, Utah Provo, Utah York, Utah San Antonio. Texas Galveston, Texas . . . Waco, Texas Denison, Texas Fort Worth, Texas Vinita, Indian Territory . . Fort Smith, Arkansas Houston . Texas Dallas, Texas Deadwood, Black Hills, Dakota E>eadwood, Black Hills, Dakota Virginia City, Nevada Carson, Nevada Los Angeles, California... . San Diego, California \ Tucson, Arizona #75.00 I^JO.OO 108.00 75.00 II?. 53 46.50 97-50 61 50 68.50 33-56 33-56 33-56 35-56 38.56 41.56 47-56 55-56 51.81 98.31 5356 40.00 16.76 I7.S6 17.41 18.46 19.41 20.11 60.00 62.00 64.50 66.00 36.90 33.00 29.50 25-50 27.00 20.00 28.55 30.50 27.50 OS.OO 67.00 75.00 Railroad or Steamer Routes, and Points of Departure. via San Francisco & Oregon S. S. Company via U. P. R. R. and Stage by Kelton & Umatilla, via U. P. R. R. & Stage by junction Redding and Roseburg By Pacific Mail to San Francisco, and thence by Steamer to Portland By Union & Cen. Pacific, and Utah & Nor. R. R. By Missouri River By Union & Ccn. Pacific, and Utah & Nor. R. R. By St. Louis & IVIissouri River _ Later rates by Union Pacific, Utah & Northern R. R...... via St. Louis, Kansas City, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fa R. R via St. Louis, Kansas City, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R via St. Louis, Kansas City, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R via St. Louis, Kansas City, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R . R via St. Louis, Kansas City, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa TFe R . R via St. Louis, Kansas City and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R.' By Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R.,orby Union Pacific, Colorado Central, and Stage . By Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. By Union Pacific R. R By Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. By Union Pacific By Union Pacific & Utah Narrow Gauge R. R. By St. Louis & Missouri, Kansas & Texas R. R. By U. P., and Stage from Sydney to Deadwood. By Northern Pacific, and Stage from Bismarck. By Union and Central Pacific By Union, Central & Southern Pacific - 32.56 84.00 48. 00 20.00 20.00 20.00 22.00 25.00 28.00 34.00 42.00 38-^5 84.7s 40.00 3.70 4.80 4.35 5.40 6.35 7.05 46.44 48-44 50.94 52-44 30.93 39.00 47.00 43. = 5 89-75 45.00 20.00 1.70 9.80 9.35 10.40 "•35 12.05 40.00 42.00 44.50 46;oo 40.00 47.00 55.00 66,00 69.00 83.00 '103.00 37.00 88.00 53-0O 55-50 15. 55 28.00 25.00 27.00 30.00 33.00 39.00 47.00 43.25 89.7s 45.00 1.70 9.80 9.35 10.40 it-35 12.0S 50.00 52.00 55.00 56.50 27.40 23.50 20.00 16.00 17.50 10.50 19.05 21.03 iS.oo 30.00 *In March, 1880, the Utah and Northern R. R. was completed to Helena, Montana, and the fares to that town and to Fort Benton, have consequently been reduced somewhat on this route. fThe completion of the railroad to Leadville, Alamosa and Santa Fe, has reduced these fares somewhat. JThe Southern Pacific is now completed to Tucson, and fares are lower. 254 ^^'-^ WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER III. How TO OBTAIN LaND — GOVERNMENT LaNDS — PRICES OF ARABLE OR FARMING Lands — Purchase at Auction or Private Entry — Pre-emption — The Homestead Sales — Land-Warrants — The Timber-Culture Act — Terms AND Mode of Purchase of Timber Lands — Grazing Lands: how Secured. Having arrived at his destination, the immigrant, if a farmer, or if disposed to invest in arable lands, looks about him, to see how- he can best secure a farm. If he is a member of a colony formed in Europe, or in our own Eastern States, or if he comes out under the management of an emigration company, he is spared that trouble. He takes what is allotted to him, whatever its quality, and without any privilege of change ; or if he is allowed a voice in the allotment, it must still be in the same tract of land. Not all the immigrants, however, are disposed to come into such an arrangement as this. It is very well in a small colony, where all the colonists are friends and acquaintances, and where the town lots and farming lands are about equally eligible, to unite together in this way, but to be only one of several thousands to whom land is allotted without choice of the party who is to cultivate it, and without the stimulus of individual enterprise, though it may suit foreign colonists, is not much to the taste of our independent and self-reliant American emigfrants. We will suppose, then, that our immigrant, having decided where he desires to locate his farm, proceeds to secure it. There are many ways in which he may do this ; some of them depending upon the amount of money he has at command, others upon the locality itself, and the amount and desirableness of the govern- ment land in the market. If he has a sufficient capital and proposes to farm his own land, he will perhaps find it advisable to purchase a partially improved farm from some settler who desires to pay off the debts he has incurred and start anew on government land farther west. There are very often such oppor- tunies by which an immigrant, who has some capital, may, for less money than he would have to expend on new and unbroken lands, procure a good farm, with such improvements as may enable him HO IV TO SECURE A FARM. 255 to enter upon it at once. In all these cases, however, he should carefully examine his title, and see that there are no clouds on it. If, however, there is no such opportunity where he wishes to locate, he will do well to purchase, if he can find it, government land of the best quality, either at auction or by private entry, being careful to select a farm with either a spring or running water on it, and, if it is to be had, one of the alternate sections on or near a railway line, present or immediately prospective. The land, if not near a railway, will be held by the government at $1.25 per acre and the fees, which may bring the price up to ^1.33 or $1.35 per acre. If it is within the railroad limit the price will be $2.50 per acre, with the fees, which may bring it up to ^2.60. In either case, he will do well if he can afford it to take a quarter-section (160 acres) in this way. If he needs more hereafter he can probably secure it at a less cost. But it may happen that there has been such active emigration to that neighborhood, that there are no desirable quarter-sections to be had, among these alternate sections along the railroad, and that the remoter lands are, for some reason, not desirable. Or, it may be that there is no railroad In the immediate vicinity, or that the lands have not been surveyed, and so put upon the market. In the first case, he can probably buy the railroad land, paying a little more for It, usually ^5 per acre, but receiving a liberal discount for cash payment. In the second case, he may be obliged to pre-empt his land, in which case he will have thirty- three months to pay for it, and a longer time if it is not surveyed, but meantime does not receive a full title ; or he can enter It provisionally under the Homestead or the Timber-Culture Act, receiving his full title In five or eight years. Or, he may find some school lands or other State lands in the vicinity, which he may be able to purchase on fair terms ; or, at the very worst, if there Is no survey, no railroad near, no State or Territorial lands ready for purchase, nothing but a mining settlement just sprung into existence, which will afford him a good market for whatever he can raise, he can "squat" on the land, taking his chance of dispossession, but with pay for his improvements, if the land should prove to be mining land, and filing a pre-emption claim as soon as possible. 2e6 (^^'^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. The immigrant who has but Httle money will take a somewhat different course. He will do better to look out for a quarter- section under the Homestead Act, or the Timber-Culture Act, or both, if he needs so much land, and he will find it for his advantage, if there are lands near a railroad, to secure those, taking if he chooses, only half the quantity and thereby saving something on entry fees. His entry fees for eighty acres (an eighth of a section) will be about $14, and if he takes the same quantity under the Timber-Culture Act, it will cost him ^14 more; but he obtains his full title only at the end of five years of cultivation (unless he was a soldier in the late war, when the time of service in the war is deducted), and under the Timber- Culture Act, not till the end of eight years, though the tree-plant» ing is extended over the whole time, a certain quantity being planted each year. If there is no opportunity to obtain a desirable farm in this way, the next best mode is by pre-emption,j which will give him at least thirty-three months, time for two crops, before he will have to pay for his land. Or failing this, the school lands, which though of slightly higher price are usually sold on time, in seven or ten annual instalments, or he may purchase on long credit, though at a higher price, railroad lands in an eligible location. In order that there may be no possibility of misunderstanding the piiovisions under which government lands are sold, we give below the acts and inter- pretations of them, by the United States Land Office, under which the public lands are sold or given to settlers for farming or grazing purposes, and also the laws in regard to timber lands and mining lands. These have been compiled and compared with the reports of the office with great care, and are believed to embody every particular necessary for procuring government lands under all circumstances. We ought to say, that there is very little government land eligible for farming purposes in Iowa, Missouri, Eastern Kansas, Eastern Nebraska, or California, and none in Texas, though the State has vast quantities for sale at merely nominal prices. In some of the other States and Territories grazing and timber lands are greatly in excess of those adapted to cultivation. In Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, HO IV TO SECURE GOVERNMENT LANDS. 257 Wyoming, Western Nebraska, Western Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, there are still large quantities of arable lands, and a considerable amount in Utah, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, and Arizona, though in all these the grazing and mineral lands largely predominate. HOW TO OBTAIN GOVERNMENT LANDS. I. Arable Lands. — The following is compiled from circulars issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and is explicit in reference to the manner of acquiring title to public lands : There are two classes of public lands — the one class at ^1.25 per acre, which is designated as minimum^ and the other at ^2.50 per acre, or double minimum. Title may be acquired by purchase at public sale, or by ordinary " private entry," and in virtue of the pre-emption, homestead, and timi ^;r-culture laws. BY PURCHASE AT PUBLIC SALE. 1 . This may be done whe'-e lands are " offered " at public auction to the highest bidder. BY " PRIVATE ENTRY " OR LOCATION. 2. The lands liable to disposal in this manner are those which were offered at public sale, but were not then sold, and which have not since been reserved or otherwise withdrawn from market. In this class of offered and unreserved public lands, the following steps may be taken to acquire title : CASH PURCHASES. 3. The applicant will present a written application to the register for the district in which the land desired is situated. Thereupon the register will so certify to the receiver, stating the price, and the applicant must then pay the amount of the purchase-money. The receiver will then issue his receipt for the money paid, and when the proceedings are found regular, a patent or com- plete title will be issued. 17 258 OUR WESTERN- EMPIRE. LOCATIONS WITH WARRANTS. 4. Application must be made as in cash cases, but must be accompanied by a warrant duly assigned as the consideration for the land; yet, where the tract is $2.50 per acre, the party, in addition to the surrendered warrant, must pay in cash $1.25 per acre, as the warrant is in satisfaction of only so many acres, at ^1.25 per acre, or furnish a warrant of such denomination as will, at the legal value of $1.25 per acre, cover the rated price of the land. The following fees are chargeable by the land officers, and the several amounts must he. paid at the time of location: For a 40-acre warrant, 50 cents each to the register and receiver — total, ^i.oo For a 60-acre warrant, 75 cents " " " *' 1.50 For an 80-acre warrant, j^i.oo " " " " 2.00 For a 1 20-acre warrant, $1.50 " " ** " 3.00 For a 160-acre warrant, ^2.00 " " " ** 4.00 AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE SCRIP. 5. This scrip may be used — First. In the location of lands at ^^ private entry'' but when so used is only applicable to lands not mineral, which may be sub- ject to private entry at $1.25 per acre, restricted to a '' qiiarter- section,'' or it may be located on a part of a " quarter-section," where such part is taken as in full for a quarter; but it cannot be applied to different subdivisions to make an area equivalent to a quarter-section. The manner of proceeding to acquire title with this class of paper is the same as in cash and warrant cases, the fees to be paid being the same as on warrants. Second. In payment of pre-emption claims in the same manner and under the same rules and regulations as govern the applica- tion to pre-emptions of military land warrants. Third. In payment for homesteads commuted under section 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. PRE-EMPTIONS ADMISSIBLE TO THE EXTENT OF ONE QUARTER-SEC- TION, OR ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY ACRES. 6. These are admitted under sections 2257 to 2288 of the Re- PRE-EMPTION OF LANDS. 259 vised Statutes of the United States, upon "offered" and "un- offered" lands, and upon any of the unsurveyed lands belonging to the United States. The pre-emption privilege is restricted to the heads of famihes, widows, or single men over the age of twenty-one, who are citizens of the United States, or who have declared their intention to become citizens, as required by the naturalization laws. 7. The right of pre-emption for one quarter-section, or i6o acres, at the price of $2.50 per acre, to the alternate United States or reserved sections along the line of railroads, is continued by the Revised Statutes. 8. Section 2281 thereof protects the rights of settlers along the line of railroads, where settlement existed prior to with- drawal, and in such cases allows the land to be taken by pre- emptors at $1.25 per acre. 9. Where the tract is ''offered'' land, the party must file his declaratory statement, as to the fact of his settlement, within thirty days from the date of said settlement, and within one year from date of settlement must make proof of his actual residence on, and cultivation of, the tract. 10. Where the tract has been surveyed and not offered at public sale, the claimant must file his declaratory statement within three months from date of settlement, and make proof and payment within thirty months after the expiration of the three months allowed for filing his declaratory notice, or in other words, within thirty-three months from date of settlement. 11. Where settlements are made on unsurveyed \2Si.i^?,, settlers are required, within three months after the date of the receipt at the district land office of the improved plat of the township em- bracing their claims, to file their declaratory statement, and thereafter to make proof and payment for the tract within thirty months from the expiration of said three months. When two or more settlers on unsurveyed land are found upon survey to be residing upon, or to have valuable improvements upon, the same smallest legal subdivision, they may make joint entry of such tract, and separate entries of the residue of their claims. 12. Should the settler, in either of the aforesaid cases, die 26o ^^^ WESTERN ExMPIRE. before establishing his claim within the period limited by law, the title may be perfected by the executor, administrator, or one of the heirs, by making the requisite proof of settlement and pay- ing for the land ; the legal representatives of the deceased pre- emptor being entitled to make the entry at any time within the period to which the pre-emptor would be entitled if living. LAWS EXTENDING THE HOMESTEAD PRIVILEGE. 13. The laws extending the homestead privilege, embraced in sections 2289 to 2317 of the Revised Statutes, give to every citizen, and to those who have declared their intention to become citizens, the right to a homestead on S7irvcyed lands. 14. To obtain homesteads, the party must make affidavit before the register or receiver that he is over the age of twenty- one, or the head of a family ; that he is a citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention to become such ; and that the entry is made for his exclusive use and benefit, and for actual settlement and cultivation. 15. Where the applicant has made actual settlement on the land he desires to enter, but is prevented, by good cause, from personal attendance at the district land o'ffice, the affidavit may be made before the clerk of the court for the county within which the land is situated. 16. On compliance of the party with the foregoing require- ments, the matter will then be entered on the records of the dis- trict office, and reported to the General Land Office. 17. An inceptive right is vested in the settler by such pro- ceedings, and upon faithful observance of the law in regard to settlement and cultivation the register will issue his certificate, and make proper returns to the General Land Office as the basis of a patent or complete title for the homestead. In making final proof, it is required that the homestead party shall appear in person at the district land office. But where, from good cause, the witnesses of said party cannot attend in person at the district office, their testimony may be taken before any officer authorized by law to administer oaths. 18. Where a homestead settler dies before the consummation THE HOMESTEAD LAW. 26 1 of his claim, the widow, or, in case of her death, the heirs may continue the settlement and cultivation, and obtain title upon requisite proof at the proper time. If the widow proves up, the title passes to her; if she dies before proving up and the heirs make the proof, the title will vest in them. Where both parents die, leaving infant heirs, the homestead may be sold for cash for the benefit of such heirs, and the purchaser will receive title from the United States. 19. The sale of a homestead claim by the settler to another party before completion of title, is not recognized by the General Land Office, but would \>^ prhna facie evidence of abandonment, and might give cause for cancellation of the claim. A party may relinquish his claim, but on his doing so, the land reverts to the government. Where application is made to contest the validity of a homestead entry on the ground of abandonment, the officers will set apart a day for a hearing, giving all the parties in interest due notice of the time and place of trial. The expenses incident to such contest must be defrayed by the contestant, who must ascertain when notice of cancellation is received, and theii make formal written application for the tract, which, after cancellation, is open to xho. Jlrst legal applicant. 20. As the law allows but one homestead privilege, a settler relinquishing or abandoning his claim cannot thereafter make a second entry ; but where, a party having made one entr)^ it is cancelled as invalid, for some other reason, he is not thereby de- barred from enterinof arain. Where an individual has made settlement on a tract and filed his pre-emption declaration therefor, he may change his filing into a homestead, if he continues in good faith to comply with the pre-emption laws until the change is effected. 21. If the homestead settler does not wish to re^nain five years on Ills tract, the law permits him to pay for it with cash or warrants, or agricultural college scrip, itpon making proof of settleinent and adtivation for a period not less thajt six months from the date of entiy to the time of payment. This proof of actual settlement and cultivation must be the affidavit of the party, made before the district officers, corroborated by the testimony of two credible witnesses. 262 (^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. 22. There is another class of homesteads deslg-nated as "ad- joining farm homesteads." In these cases the law allows an applicant, owning and residing ow an origi?ial farm, to enter other land lying contiguous thereto, which shall not, with such farm, exceed in the aggregate 160 acres. In applying for an entry of this class, the party must make affidavit describing the tract which he owns and upon which he resides as his original farm. In making final proof, it is not required that he should prove actual residence on the separate tract entered ; but it must appear that he has continued for the period required by law to reside upon and cultivate the original farm tract, and has bona fide made use of the entered tract as part of the homestead. 23. Provisions for the be7iefit of soldiers and sailors of the late war, their widoivs a?id minor orphan children: Sections 2304, 2305, 2306, 2307, 2308, and 2309 of the Revised Statutes, for the benefit of soldiers and sailors, their widows and minor orphan children, provide : First. In section 2304, that every soldier and officer of the army, and every seaman, marine, and officer of the navy, who served for not less than ninety days in the army or navy of the United States "during the recent rebellion," and who was honorably discharged, and has remained loyal to the government, may enter, under the provisions of the homestead law, 1 60 acres of the public lands. Second. In section 2305, that the time of his service, or the whole term of his enlistment, if the party was discharged on account of wounds or disability incurred in the line of duty, shall be deducted from the period of five years during which the claimant must reside upon and cultivate the entered tract, but the party shall, in every case, reside upon, improve, and cultivate his homestead for a period of at least one year. Third. That any person entitled to the benefits of section 2304, who had, prior to the 22d of June, 1874, made a homestead entry of less than 160 acres, may enter an additional quantity of land sufficient to make, with the previous entry, 160 acres. Fourth. That the widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, then the minor orphan children, of a person who HOMESTEAD LANDS JO SOLDIERS, ETC. 263 would be entitled to the benefits of section 2304, may enter lands under its provisions, with the additional privilege accorded, that if the person died during his term of enlistment, the widow or minor children shall have the benefit of the whole term of enlist- ment. Fifth. That any person entitled to the benefit of section 2304 may file his claim for a tract of land through an agent, and shall have six months thereafter within which to make his entry and commence his settlement and improvement upon the land. 24. The following is the course of proceedings for parties to avail themselves of the benefit of these sections of the Revised Statutes in making homestead entries : First. On the party producing proper proof of his right to do so, immediate entry of the tract desired may be made ; but if the party so elect, he may file a declaration to the effect that he claims a specified tract of land as his homestead, and that he takes it for actual settlement and cultivation. Thereafter, at any time within six months, the party may come forward, either in person or by agent having his power of attorney, make his entry of the land, and commence his settlement and improvement. Second. The claims of widows and minor orphan children may be initiated by declaration as above. Minor orphan children can act only by their duly appointed guardians, who must file certified copies of the powers of guardianship. Third. Applications for additional entries must be for a quantity which, with the original entry, will not exceed 1 60 acres. Where the party's first entry has been consummated, the register and receiver will require him to make application and affidavit in the forms prescribed, and to pay the same fee and commissions as in cases of original entry. Then, to complete the transacUon, the party will make payment of the usual final commissions on the entered tract, for which the receiver will issue his receipt. In case the party has not made proof on his original homestead entry when he applies for additional land, he will be allowed to make the additional entry on proper application and affidavit as above stated, and paying the usual fee and commissions. Thereafter, when the party shall make final proof on the original entry, he 2^4 ^^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. will be required to pay the final commissions on both entries, when a final receipt will be issued for the money, and thereupon a final certificate issued to call both for the tract in the original entry and the additional tract. 25. The following proof will be required of parties applying for the benefits of these sections, in addition to the prescribed affidavit of the applicant : First. Certified copy of certificate of discharge, showing when the party enlisted and when he was discharged ; or, if this can- not be procured, then the affidavits of two respectable, dis- interested witnesses, corroborative of the allegations contained in the prescribed affidavit on these points. Second, In case of widows, the prescribed evidence of military service of the husband, as above, with affidavit of widowhood. Third. In case of minor orphan children, in addition to the prescribed evidence of military service of the father, proof of death or marriage of the mother. Evidence of death may be the testimony of two witnesses or certificate of a physician duly attested. Evidence of marriage may be a certified copy of marriage certificate, or of the record of same, or testimony of two witnesses to the marriage ceremony. 28. All lands obtained U7ider the homestead laws are exempt from liability for debts contracted piHor to the issuing of patent therefor. 29. For homestead entries on lands in Kansas, fees are to be paid according to the following table : Acres. One hundred and sixty Eighty Forty Eighty Forty Price per acre. M 25 I 25 1 25 2 50 2 50 Commission Payable when entry is made. Payable when certificate issues. $\ 00 ^4 00 2 GO 2 GO I GO I GO 4 00 4 GO 2 GO 2 GO Fees. Payable when entry is made. ;io 00 5 00 5 00 10 00 5 00 Total fees and com- missions. ^18 00 9 00 7 00 18 00 9 00 Note. — Where entries arc made on 1^2.50 land by officers, soldiers and sailors, under section 2304 of the Re- vised Statutes, double the amount of the above commissions must of course be paid — that is, for 160 acres of ^.50 ^ at the date of entry, and %% upon proving up. TIMBER-CULTURE ACTS. 265 LAWS TO PROMOTE TIMBER CULTURE. 31. The Timber-Culture Act of June 14th, 1878, amendatory of the act of March 13th, 1874 (sections 2464 to 2468 of the Revised Statutes), is to the following effect: First. The privilege of entry under this act is confined to per- sons who are heads of families, or over twenty-one years of age, and who are citizens of the United States, or have declared their intention to become such. Second. The affidavit required for initiating an entry under this act may be made before the register or receiver of the dis- trict office for the land district embracing the desired tract, or before some officer authorized to administer oaths in that district, who is required by law to use an official seal. Tkh'd. Not more than 1 60 acres in any one section can be entered under this act, and no person can make more than one entry thereunder. Fourth. The ratio of area required to be broken, planted, etc., in all entries under the act of June 14, 1878, is one-sixteenth of the land embraced in the entry, except where the entered tract is less than forty acres, in which case it is one-sixteenth of that quantity. The party making an entry of a quarter-section, or 160 acres, is required to break or plow five acres covered thereby during the first year, and five acres in addition during the second year. The five acres broken or plowed during the first year, he is required to cultivate by raising a crop, or other- wise, during the second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cut- tings, during the third year. Thefive acres broken orplowed during the second year, he is required to cultivate, by raising a crop or otherwise, during the third year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings, during the fourth year. The tracts embraced in entries of a less quantity than one-quarter section are required to be broken or plowed, cultivated, and planted in trees, tree seeds or cuttings, during the same periods, and to the same extent, in proportion to their total areas, as are provided for in entries of a quarter-section. Provision is made in the act fof an extension of time in case the trees, seeds or cuttings planted 266 (^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. should be destroyed by grasshoppers, or by extreme and unusual drought. Fifth. If, at the expiration of eight years, or at any time within five years thereafter, the person making the entry, or, if he or she be dead, his or her heirs or legal representatives, shall prove by two credible witnesses the fact of such planting, culdvation, etc., of the said timber for not less than the said period of eight years, he, she or they shall receive a patent for the land em- braced in said entry. Sixth. If at any time after one year from the date of entry, and prior to the issue of a patent therefor, the claimant shall fail to comply with the requirements of this act, or any part thereof, then such land shall become liable to a contest in the manner provided in homestead cases ; and upon due proof of such failure the entry shall be cancelled, and the land become again subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by some other person under the provisions of this act. Seventh. No land acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of final certificate therefor. Eighth. The fees for entries under the act of June 14, 1878, are ten dollars, if the tract applied for is more than eighty acres, and five dollars, if it is eighty acres or less; and the commission of reg- isters and receivers on all entries (irrespective of area) are four dollars (two dollars to each) at the date of entry, and a like sum at the date of final proof. Ninth. No distinction is made, as to area or the amount of fee and commissions, between minimum and double-minimum lands ; a party may enter 1 60 acres of either on payment of the prescribed fee and commissions. Tenth. The fifth section of the act entitled "An act in addi- tion to an act to punish crimes against the United States and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1857, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations and affidavits required or authorized by this act. Eleventh. The parties who have already made entries under APPEALS UNDER TIMBER-CULTURE ACTS. 267 the Timber- Culture Acts of March 3, 1873, and March 13, 1874, of which the act of June 14, 1878, is amendatory, may complete the same by compliance with the requirements of the latter act ; that is, they may do so by showing, at the time of making their final proof, that they have had under cultivation, as required by the act of June 14, 1878, an amount of timber sufficient to make the number of acres required thereby, being one-fourth the num- ber required by the former acts. 32. The following regulations are prescribed pursuant to the fifth section of the act of June 14, 1878, viz.: First. The register and receiver will not restrict entries under this act to one quarter-section only in each section, as was for- merly done under the acts to which this is amendatory, but may allow entries to be made of subdivisions of different quarter- sections ; provided that each entry shall form a compact body, not exceeding 1 60 acres, and that not more than that quantity shall be entered in any one section. Second. When they shall have satisfied themselves that the land applied for is properly subject to an entry, they will require the party to make the prescribed affidavit, and to pay the fee and that part of the commission payable at the date of entry. Third. When a contest is instituted, as contemplated in third section of the act of June 14, 1878, the contestant will be allowed to make application to enter the land. Should the contest result in the cancellation of the contested entry, the contestant may then perfect his own, but no preference right will be allowed unless application is made by him at date of instituting contest. Fo2irth. In all cases under this act it will be required that trees shall be cultivated which shall be of the class included in the term " timber," the cultivation of shrubbery and fruit trees not being sufficient. PRESENTATION OF APPEALS. 33. Any party aggrieved by the rejection of his claim has a right to appeal from the decision of the register and receiver to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and from him may still further appeal to the Secretary of the Interior. All 268 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. appeals to th'^ Commissioner must be within thirty days from the date of land officer's decision, and all appeals to the Secre- tary within sixty days after service of notice. If not appealed, the decision is by law made final. II. Timber and Stone Lands. — The laws of the United States permit the sale of lands unfit for cultivation, but valuable only or chiefly for the timber and stone they contain, and not with- drawn from ordinary sale as mineral lands ; but die purchaser must be a citizen of the United States, or have legally declared his intention to become a citizen. The minimum price of such lands is to be two dollars and fifty cents per acre, with the usual fees, and the purchaser from the government is restricted to i6o acres or less. III. Desert Lands. — By the following act of Congress passed March 3, 1877, entitled, "An act for the sale of desert lands, in certain States and Territories," provision was made for the sale of such lands as could only be made valuable by irrigation : Be it enacted by the Sejiate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for any citizen of the United States, or any person of requisite age " who may be entitled to become a citizen, and v/ho has filed his declaration to become such," and upon payment of twenty-five cents per acre, to file a declaration, under oath, with the register and the receiver of the land district in which any desert land is situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract of desert land, not exceeding one section, by conducting water upon the same within the period of three years thereafter: Provided, hoivcver. That the right to the use of water by the per- son so conducting the same on or to any tract of desert land of 640 acres shall depend upon bona fide prior appropriation ; and such right shall not exceed the amount of water actually appropriated and necessarily used for the purpose of irrigation and reclamation; and all surplus water over and above such actual appropriation and use, together with the water of all lakes, rivers, and other sources of water supply upon the public lands and not navigable, shall remain and be held free for the appropriation and use of the public for irrigation, mining, and manufacturing DESERT LANDS ACT. 26q purposes subject to existing rights. Said declaration shall describe particularly said section of land if surveyed, and If unsurveyed shall describe the same as nearly as possible without a survey. At any time within the period of three years after filing said declaration, upon making satisfactory proof to the register and receiver of the reclamation of said tract of land in the manner aforesaid, and upon the payment to the receiver of the additional sum of one dollar per acre for a tract of land not exceeding 640 acres to any one person, a patent for the same shall be issued to him : Provided, That no person shall be permitted to enter more than one tract of land and not to exceed 640 acres, which shall be in compact form. Sec. 2. That all lands, exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands, which will not, without irrigation, produce some agricultural crop, shall be deemed desert lands within the meaning of this act, which fact shall be ascertained by proof of two or more credible witnesses under oath, whose affidavits shall be filed in the land office in which said tract of land may be situated. Sec. 3. That this act shall only apply to and take effect in the States of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and the Territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota, and the determination of what may be con- sidered desert land shall be subject to the decision and regulation of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. More than 1,000,000 acres of these lands were sold before June 30, 1S78, a period of fifteen months after the law took effect. Provision will probably be made for the entry of these desert lands as homestead lands under the same provisions, as they will in most cases prove valuable as wheat lands or for root crops. IV. Grazing Lands. — Up to 1880 grazing lands could only be purchased, except in Texas, or from the great land-grant rail- ways, on the same terms as other agricultural lands; and, as a consequence, in the thinly settled States and Territories, the greater part of the herds were pastured on the unsold and -generally unsurveyed government lands. As these were 2^0 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. gradually encroached upon by the farmers, die stock-raisers had begun to be desirous of purchasing their pasturage lands, which being usually on the mountain slopes were not generally con- sidered arable. The laws in regard to agricultural lands made this almost impossible ; but a bill was introduced into Congress at its recent session (i 879-1 880) which will probably obviate the existing difficulty. It provides for the sale of grazing lands (which are carefully defined) in quantities of eight square miles or less, at nominal rates, with the usual fees. CHAPTER IV. Mining and Mineral Lands — The United States Laws and Regulations OF THE Land Office in regard to t: a — State, Territorial and Local Rules or Laws. V. Mining and Mineral Lands. — The United States laws regulating mining lands and mineral resources have been very often modified, but are now reduced to a practical basis ; these laws, however, are to some extent modified in their operations by the State mining laws, and the local regulations in the mining districts. They are at this time as follows : LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES, RELATIVE TO MINING LANDS AND MINERAL RESOURCES, RESERVED FROM SALE UNDER THE PRE-EMPTION ACTS. [From Revised Statutes of the United States, being a full text of all laws now in force concern- ing mining rights.] Chapter 6. — Sec. 2318. In all cases land valuable for minerals shall be reserved from sale except as otherwise expressly directed by law. — Sec. 5, July d^, 1866. Sec. 2319. All valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging t > the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and purchase, and the lands in which they are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the United States, and those who have declared their MINING AND MINERAL LANDS. 271 intention to become such, under regulations prescribed by law, and according to the local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States. — Sec. i, May lo, 1872. EXTENT OF CLAIM. Sec. 2320. Mining claims upon veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits heretofore located, shall be governed as to length along the vein or lode by the customs, regulations, and laws in force at the date of their location. A mining claim located after the loth day of May, 1872, whether located by one or more persons, may equal, but shall not exceed 1,500 feet in length along the vein or lode, but no location of a mining claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located. No claim shall extend more than 300 feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, nor shall any claim be limited by any mining regulation, to less than twenty-five feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights existing on the loth day of May, 1872, render such limitation necessary. The end lines of each claim shall be parallel to each her. — Sec. 2, May 10, 1872. RIGHTS OF CLAIMANTS. Sec. 2321. Proof of citizenship under this chapter may consist, in the case of an individual, of his own affidavit ; in the case of an association of persons unincorporated, of the affidavit of their authorized agent, made on his own knowledge or upon informa- tion and belief; and in the case of a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory thereof, by the filing of a certified copy of their charter or certificate of incorporation. — Sec. 7, May 10, 1872. VEINS — HOW CONTROLLED. Sec. 2322. The locators of all mining locations heretofore made, or which shall hereafter be made, or any mineral vein, lode, or ledge, situated on the public domain, their heirs, and assigns, 2^2 ^"^'^ WESTERN- EMPIRE. where no adverse claim exists, on the loth day of May, 1872, so long as they comply with the laws of the United States, and with State, Territorial, and local regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United States governing their possessory title, shall have the exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, and ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside of such surface lines extended downward verti- cally, although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular in their course downward as to extend outside the vertical lines of such surface locations ; but their right of possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward, as above described, through the end lines of their locations, so continued in their own directions that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins or ledges ; and nothing in this section shall authorize the locator or possessor of a vein or lode which extends in its downward course beyond the vertical lines of his claim to enter upon the surface of a claim owned or possessed by another. — Sec. 3, May 10, 1872. TUNNELLING. Sec, 2323. Where a tunnel is run for the development of a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of possession of ail veins or lodes within 3,000 feet from the face of such tunnel on the line thereof not previously known to exist, discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface ; and locations on the line of such tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made by other parties after the commencement of the tunnel, and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence, shall be invalid ; but failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins on the line of such tunnel. — Sec. 4, May 10, 1872. REQUIREMENTS OF LOCATION AND LABOR. Sec. 2324. The miners of each mining district may make regu- REQUIREMENTS OF LOCATION AND LABOR. 373 latibns not in conflict with the laws of the United States, or with the laws of the State or Territory in which the district is situated, governing the location, manner of recording, amount of work necessary to hold possession of a mining claim, subject to the following requirements : The location must be distinctly marked on the ground, so that its boundaries can be readily traced. All records of mining claims hereafter made shall contain the name or names of the locators, the date of the location, and such a description of the claim or claims located by reference to some natural object or permanent monument as will identify the claim. On each claim located after the loth day of May, 1872, and until a patent has been issued therefor, not less than ^100 worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made during each year. On all claims located prior to the loth day of May, 1872, ^10 worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made by the loth day of June, 1874, and each year there- after, for each 100 feet in length along the vein until a patent has been issued therefor ; but where such claims are held in common, such expenditure may be made on any one claim, and upon a failure to comply with these conditions, the claim or mine upon which such failure occurred shall be open to relocation, in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made : Provided, That the original locators, their heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, have not resumed work upon the claim after failure and before such location. Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners to contribute his proportion of the expenditures required hereby, the co-owners who have performed the labor or made the improvements may, at the expiration of the year, give such delinquent co-owner personal nodce in writing or notice by publication in the newspaper published nearest the claim, for at least once a week for ninety days, and if, at the expiration of ninety days after such notice in writing or by publication, such delinquent shall fail or refuse to contribute his proportion of the expenditure required by this secdon, his interest in the claim shall become the property of his co-owners who have made the required expenditures. — Sec. 5, May 10, 1872. 18 2^4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. HOW TO SECURE PATENT. Sec. 2325. A patent for any land claimed and located for valuable deposits may be obtained in the following manner : Any person, association, or corporation authorized to locate a claim under this chapter, having claimed and located a piece of land for such purposes, who has or have complied with the terms of this chapter, may file, In the proper land office, an application for a patent, under oath, showing such compliance, together with a plat and field notes of the claim or claims In common, made by or under the direction of the United States Surveyor-General, show- ing accurately the boundaries of the claim or claims, which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground, and shall post a copy of such plat, together with a notice of such application for a patent, in a conspicuous place on the land embraced in such plat previous to the filing of the application for a patent, and shall file an affidavit of at least two persons, that such notice has been duly posted, and shall file a copy of the notice in such land office, and shall thereupon be entitled to a patent for the land in the manner following : The Register of the land office, upon the filing of such application, plat, field notes, notices, and affidavits, shall publish a notice that such application has been made, for the period of sixty days, in a newspaper to be by him designated as published nearest to such claim ; and he shall also post such notice in his office for the same period. The claimant, at the time of filing this application, or at any time thereafter, within the sixty days of publication, shall file with the Register a certifi- cate of the United States Surveyor-General that $500 worth of labor has been expended on improvements made upon the claim by himself or grantors ; that the plat is correct, with such further description by such reference to natural objects or permanent monuments as shall identify the claim, and furnish an accurate description, to be Incorporated In the patent. At the expiration of sixty days of publication, the claimant shall file his affidavit, showing that the plat and notice have been posted in a con- spicuous place on the claim during such period of publication. If no adverse claim shall have been filed with the Register and the Receiver of the proper land office at the expiration of the PLACER CLAIMS. 275 sixty days of publication, it shall be assumed that the applicant is entitled to a patent, upon the payment to the proper officer of 5^5 per acre, and that no adverse claim exists ; and thereafter no objection from third parties to the issuance of a patent shall be heard, except it be shown that the applicant has failed to comply with the terms of this chapter. — Sec. 6, May lo, 1872. PROVISIONS FOR PLACER CLAIMS. Sec. 2329. Claims usually called "placers," including- all forms of deposits, excepting veins of quartz or other rock in place, shall be subject to entry and patent under like circumstances and conditions, and upon similar proceedings as are provided for vein or lode claims ; but where the lands have been previ- ously surveyed by the United States, the entry in its exterior limits shall conform to the legal subdivisions of public lands. — Sec. 12, July 9, 1870. Sec. 2330. Legal subdivisions of forty acres may be subdivided into ten-acre tracts, and two or more persons or associations of persons, having contiguous claims of any size, although such claims may be less than ten acres each, may make joint entry thereof, but no location of a placer claim made after the 9th day of July, 1870, shall exceed 160 acres for any one person or association of persons, which location shall conform to the United States surveys ; and nothing in this section contained shall defeat or impair any bona fide pre-emption or homestead claim upon agricultural lands, or authorize the sale of the im- provements of any bona fide settler to any purchaser. — Sec. 1 2, July 9, 1870. Sec. 2331. Where placer claims are upon surveyed lands, and conform to legal subdivisions, no further survey or plat shall be required, and all placer mining claims located after the loth day of May, 1872, shall conform as near as practicable with the United States system of public land surveys and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys, and no such location shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant, but where placer claims cannot be conformed to legal subdivisions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands ; and where by 2y6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the segregation of mineral land in any legal subdivision a quan- tity of agricultural land less than forty acres remains, such frac- tional portion of agricultural land may be entered by any party qualified by law, for homestead or pre-emption purposes. — Sec. lo, May lo, 1872. LIMITATIONS AND LIENS. Sec. 2332. Where such person or association, they and their grantors, have held and worked their claims for a period equal to the time prescribed by the statute of limitations for mining claims of the State or Territory where the same may be situated, evidence of such possession and working of the claim for such period shall be sufficient to establish a right to a patent thereto under this chapter, in the absence of any adverse claim ; but nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to impair any lien which may have attached in any way whatever to any minin^^ claim or property thereto attached prior to the issuance of a patent. — Sec. 13, July 9, 1870. PLACER AND LODE CLAIMS JOINTLY. Sec. 2333. Where the same person, association or corpora- tion, is in possession of a placer claim, and also a vein or lode included within the boundaries thereof, application shall be made for a patent for the placer claim, with the statement that it in- cludes such vein or lode ; and in such case a patent shall issue for the placer claim, subject to the provisions of this chapter, in- cluding such vein or lode, upon the payment of ^5 per acre for such vein or lode claim, and twenty-five feet of surface on each side thereof The remainder of the placer claim, or any placer claim not embracing any vein or lode claim, shall be paid for at the rate of ^2.50 per acre, together with all costs of proceedings; and where a vein or lode, such as is described in section 2320 of this act, is known to exist within the boundaries of a placer claim, an application for a patent for such a placer claim which does not include an application for the vein or lode claim, shall be construed as a conclusive declaration that the claimant of the placer claim has no right of possession of the vein or lode claim ; FEES TO SURVEYORS. 279 but where the existence of a vein or lode in a placer claim is not known, a patent for the placer claim shall convey all valuable and other mineral deposits within the boundaries thereof. — Sec. II, May lo, 1872. FEES TO SURVEYORS. Sec. 2334. The Surveyor-General of the United States may appoint in each land district containing mineral lands as many competent surveyors as shall apply for appointment to survey mining claims. The expenses of the survey of vein or lode claims, and the survey and subdivision of placer claims into smaller quantities than i6o acres, together with the cost of pub- lication of notices, shall be paid by the applicants, and they shall be at liberty to obtain the same at the most reasonable rates, and they shall also be at liberty to employ any United States Deputy Surveyor to make the survey. The Commissioner of the General Land Office shall also have power to establish the maximum charges for surveys and publication of notices under this chapter, and in case of excessive charges for publication, he may designate any newspaper published in a land district where mines are situated, for the publication of mining notices in such district, and fix the rates to be charged by such paper ; and to the end that the Commissioner may be fully informed on the subject, each applicant shall file with the Register a sworn state- ment of all charges and fees paid by such applicant for publica- tion and surveys, together with all fees and money paid the Register and Receiver of the land office, which statement shall be transmitted, with the other papers in the case, to the Com- missioner of the General Land Office. — Sec. 12, May 10, 1872. PROOF OF CLAIMS. Sec. 2335. All affidavits required to be made under this chap-^ ter may be verified before any officer authorized to administer oaths within the land district where the claim may be situated, and all testimony and proofs may be taken before any such officer, and, when duly certified by the officer taking the same, shall have the same force and effect as if taken before the Res^is- 2^3 ^^^ IVESTERN EMPIRE. ter and Receiver of the land office. In cases of contest as to the mineral or agricultural character of land, the testimony and proofs may be taken as herein provided, on personal notice of at least ten days to the opposing party ; or if such party cannot be found, then by publication of at least once a week for thirty days in a newspaper, to be designated by the Register of the land office as published nearest to the location of such land ; and the Reo-ister shall require proof that such notice has been given. — Sec. 13, May 10, 1872. VEINS CROSSING. Sec. 2336. When two or more veins intersect or cross each other, priority of title shall govern, and such prior location shall be entitled to all ore or mineral contained within the space of intersection ; but the subsequent location shall have the right of way through the space of intersection, for the purposes of con- venient working of the mine ; and, where two or more veins unite, the oldest or prior location shall take the vein below the point of union, including all the space of intersection. — Sec. 14, May 10, 1872. SITES FOR MILLS. Sec. 2337. Where non-mineral land not contiguous to the vein or lode is used or occupied by the proprietor of such vein or lode for mining or milling purposes, such non-adjacent sur- face-ground may be embraced and included in an application for a patent for such vein or lode, and the same may be patented therewith, subject to the same preliminary requirements as to the survey and notice as are applicable to veins or lodes ; but no location hereafter made of such non-adjacent land shall exceed five acres, and payment for the same must be made at the rate as fixed by this chapter for the superfices of the lode. The owner of a quartz-mill or reduction works not owning a mine in connection therewith, may also receive a patent for his mill-site as provided in this section. — Sec. 15, May 10, 1872. DRAINAGE, EASEMENTS, ETC. Sec. 2338. As a condition of sale in the absence of necessary HOMESTEADS ON MINERAL LANDS. 279 legislation by Congress, the local Legislature of any State or Territory may provide rules for working mines involving ease- ments, drainage, and other necessary means to their complete development, and those conditions shall be fully expressed in the patent. — Sec. 5, July 26, 1866. VESTED WATER RIGHTS. Sec. 2339, Whenever, by priority of possession, rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing or other purposes, have vested and accrued, and the same are recognized and acknowledged by the local customs, laws and decisions of courts, the possessors and owners of such vested rights shall be maintained and protected in the same ; and the right of way for the construction of ditches and canals for the purposes herein specified, is acknowledged and confirmed ; but whenever any person in the construction of any ditch or canal, injures or dam- ages the possession of any settler on the public domain, the party committing such Injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such Injury or damage. — Sec. 9, July 26, 1866. Sec. 2340. All patents granted, or pre-emption or homesteads allowed, shall be subject to any vested and accrued water rights, or rights to ditches and reservoirs used In connection with such water rights, as may have been acquired under or recognized by the preceding section. — Sec. 17, July 9, 1870. HOMESTEADS. Sec. 2341. Wherever, upon the lands heretofore designated as mineral lands, which have been excluded from survey and sale, there have been homesteads made by citizens of the United States, or persons who have declared their intention to become citizens, which homesteads have been made, improved, and used for agricultural purposes, and upon which there have been no valuable mines of gold, silver, cinnabar or copper discovered, and which are properly agricultural lands, the settlers or owners of such homesteads shall have a right of pre-emption thereto, and shall be entided to purchase the same at the price of $1.25 per acre, and in quantity not to exceed 160 acres, or they may 23o OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. avail themselves of the provisions of chapter five of this title, re- lating to homesteads. — Sec. lo, July 26, 1866. AGRICULTURAL LANDS. Sec. 2342. Upon the survey of the lands described in the pre- ceding section, the Secretary of the Interior may designate and set apart such portions of the same as are clearly agricultural lands, which lands shall thereafter be subject to pre-emption and sale as other public lands, and be subject to all the laws and regulations applicable to the same. — Sec. 11, July 26, 1866. IN GENERAL. Sec. 2343. The President is authorized to establish additional land districts, and to appoint the necessary officers under exist- ing laws wherever he may deem the same necessary for the public convenience in executing the provisions of this chapter. — Sec. 7, July 26, 1866. Sec. 2344. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be con- strued to impair in any way rights or interests in mining property acquired under existing laws. — Sec. \'],July 9, 1870; Sec. 16, May 10, 1872. Sec. 2346. No act passed at the first session of the Thirty- eighth Congress granting lands to States or corporations, to aid in the construction of roads or for other purposes, or to extend the time of grants made prior to the 30th day of January, 1865, shall be so construed as to embrace mineral lands, which in all cases are reserved exclusively to the United States, unless other- wise specially provided in the act or acts making the grant. — Sec. 10, Januaiy 30, 1865. COAL LANDS. Sec. 2347. Every person above the age of twenty-one years, who is a citizen of the United States, or who has declared his intention to become such, or any association of persons severally qualified as above, shall, upon application to the Register of the proper land office, have the right to enter, by legal subdivisions, any quantity of vacant coal lands of the United States not other- wise appropriated or reserved by competent authority, not ex- IVHO CAN CLAIM COAL LANDS. 28 1 ceeding i6o acres to each individual person, or 320 acres to such association, upon payment to the Receiver of not less than ten dollars per acre for such lands, where the same shall be situated more than fifteen miles from any completed railroad, and not less than twenty dollars per acre for such lands as shall be within fifteen miles of such road. — Sec. i, March 3, 1873. WHO CAN CLAIM. Sec. 2348. Any person or association of persons severally qualified as above provided, who have opened and improved, or shall hereafter open and improve, any coal mine or mines upon the public lands, and shall be in actual possession of the same, shall be entitled to a preference right of entry, under the pre- ceding section, of the mines so opened and improved : Provided, That when an association of not less than four persons, severally qualified as above provided, shall have expended not less than ^5,000 in working and improving any such mine or mines, such association may enter not exceeding 640 acres, including such mining improvements. — Sec. 2, ibid. REGISTERING CLAIMS. Sec. 2349. All claims under the preceding section must be presented to the Register of the proper land district within sixty days after date of actual possession, and the commencement of improvements on the land, by the filing of a declaratory state- ment therefor; but when the township plat is not on file at the date of such improvements, filing must be made within sixty days from the receipt of such plat at the district office ; and where the improvements shall have been made prior to the expiration of three months from the 3d day of March, 1873, sixty days from the expiration of such three months shall be allowed for the filing of a declaratory statement, and no sale under the provisions of this section shall be allowed until the expiration of six months from the 3d day of March, 1873. — Sec. 3, ibid. ENTRIES AUTHORIZED. Sec. 2350. The three preceding sections shall be held to 232 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. authorize only one entry by the same person or association of persons ; and no association of persons, any member of which shall have taken the benefit of such sections, either as an indi- vidual or as a member of any other association, shall enter or hold any other lands under die provisions ; and all persons claiming under secUon 2348, shall be required to prove their re- spective rights and pay for the lands filed upon within one year from the time prescribed for filing their respective claims ; and upon failure to file the proper notice, or to pay for the land within the required period, the same shall be subject to entry by any other qualified applicant. — Sec. 4, ibid. CONFLICTING CLAIMS. Sec. 2351. In case of conflicting claims upon coal lands where the improvement shall be commenced after the 3d day of March^ 1873, priority of possession and improvement followed by propei filing and continued good faith, shall determine the preference right to purchase. And also when improvements have already been made prior to the 3d day of March, 1873, division of the land claimed may be made by legal subdivisions, to include as near as may be the valuable improvements of the respective parties. The Commissioner of the General Land Office is authorized to issue all needful rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this and the four preceding sections. — Sec. 5, ibid. Sec. 2352. Nothing in the five preceding sections shall be construed to destroy or impair any rights which may have attached prior to the 3d day of March, 1873, or to authorize the sale of lands valuable for mines of gold, silver or copper. — Sec. 6, ibid, THE ACT OF 1874. An act to amend the act entitled "An act to promote the development of the mining resources of the United States," passed May lo, 1874. Be it enacted by the Sejiate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That the provi- sions of the fifth section of the act entitled 'An act to promote the development of the mining resources of the United States," passed May lo, 1874, which requires expenditures of labor and UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE RULES. 283 improvements on claims located prior to the passage of said act, are hereby so amended that the time for the first annual expenditure on claims located prior to the passage of said act, shall be extended to the ist day of January, 1875. — Approved June 6, 1874. THE ACT OF 1875. An act to amend section two thousand three hundred and twenty- four of the Revised Statutes, relating to the development of the mining resources of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congi'ess assembled, That section 2324 of the Revised Statutes be and the same Is hereby amended so that where a person or company has or may run a tunnel for the purpose of developing a lode or lodes, owned by said person or company, the money so expended in said tunnel shall be taken and considered as expended on said lode or lodes, whether located prior to or since the passage of said act ; and such per- son or company shall not be required to perform work on the surface of said lode or lodes in order to hold the same as re- quired by said act. — Approved February 11, 1875. To these mining laws should be appended the RULES OF THE UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE. (Under the Act of Congress of May lo, 1872, and novp in force.) 1. It will be perceived that the first section of said act leaves the mineral lands in the public domain, surveyed and unsurveyed, open to exploration, occupation, and purchase by all citizens of the United States, and all those who have declared their intention to become such. LODE CLAIMS PREVIOUSLY LOCATED. 2. By an examination of the several sections of the foregoing act it will be seen that the status of lode claims, Xoz-dX^d. previous to the date thereof, is not changed with regard to their extent along the lode or width of surface, such claims being restricted and governed both as to their latei'al and linear extent by the State, Territorial, or local laws, customs or regulations which were in 2g4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. force in their respective districts at the date of such locations, in so far as the same did not conflict with the Umitation fixed by the mining statute of July 26, 1866. ENLARGEMENT OF RIGHTS. 3. Mining rights acquired under such previous locations are, however, enlarged by said act of May 10, 1872, in the following respect, viz. : The locators of all such previously taken veins or lodes, their heirs and assigns, so long as they comply with the laws of Congress, and with State, Territorial, or local regulations not in conflict therewith, governing mining claims, are invested by said act with the exclusive possessory right of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, or ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside of such surface lines extending downward vertically, although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular, in their course downward, as to extend outside the vertical lines of such locations at the surface ; it being ex- pressly provided, however, that the right of possession to such outside parts of said veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward as aforesaid, through the end lines of their locations, so continued in their own direction, that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins, lodes, or ledges ; no right being granted, however, to the claimant of such outside portion of a vein or ledge to enter upon the surface location of another claimant. LIMITS OF THE LAW. 4. It is to be distinctly understood, however, that the law limits the possessory rights to veins, lodes, or ledges other than the one named In the original location, to such as were not adversely claimed, at the date of said act of May 10, 1872, and that where such other vein or ledge was so adversely claimed at that date, the right of the party so adversely claiming is in no way impaired by said act. ANNUAL LABOR. 5. From and after the date of said act of Congress, in order to NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW. 285 hold the possessory title to a mining claim previously located, and for which a patent has not been issued, the law requires that ten dollai^s shall be expended annually in labor or improvements on each claim of one hundred feet on the course of the vein or lode until a patent shall have been issued therefor ; but Vv'here a number of such claims are held in common, upon the same vein or lode, the aggregate expenditure that would be necessary to hold all the claims, at the rate of ^lo per loo feet, may be made upon any one claim, a failure to comply with this requirement in any one year subjecting the claim upon which such failure occurred to relocation by other parties, the same as if no pre- vious location thereof had ever been made, unless the claimants under the original location shall have resumed work thereon after such failure, and before such relocation, FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE LAW. 6. Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners of a vein, lode, or ledge which has not been patented, to contribute his pro- portion of the expenditures necessary to hold the claim, or claims so held in ownership in common, the co-owners who have per- formed the labor, or made the improvements as required by said act, may, at the expiration of the year, give such delinquent co- owner personal notice in writing, or notice by publication in the newspaper published nearest the claim for at least once a week for ninety days ; and if upon the expiration of ninety days after such notice in writing, or upon the expiration of one hundred and eighty days after the first newspaper publication of notice, the delinquent co-owner shall have failed to contribute his pro- portion to meet such expenditure or improvements, his interest in the claim, by law, passes to his co-owners who have made the expenditures or improvements as aforesaid. RIGHTS UNDER OLD PATENTS. 7. Rights under patents for veins or lodes heretofore granted under previous legislation of Congress, are enlarged by this act, so as to invest the patentee, his heirs or assigns, with title to all veins, lodes or ledges throughout their entire depth, the 286 '^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. top or apex of which hes within the end and side boundary hnes of his claim on the surface as patented, extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes or ledges may so far de- part from a perpendicular in their course downward as to extend outside the vertical side lines of the claim at the surface. The right to possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges to be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward through the end lines of the claim at the surface, so continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins or ledges ; it being expressly provided, however, that all veins, lodes or ledges, the top or apex of which lies inside such sur- face locations, other than the one named in the patent, which were adversely claimed at the date of said act, are excluded from such conveyance by patent. FINAL DECISION. 8. Applications for patents for mining claims pending the date of the act of May loth, 1872, may be prosecuted to final decis- ion in the General Land Office ; and where no adverse rights are affected thereby, patents will be issued in pursuance of the provisions of said act. EFFECT OF ACT OF 1 872. 9. From and after the date of said act, any person who is a citizen of the United States, or who has declared his intention to become a citizen, may locate, record and hold a mining claim of fifteen hundred linear feet along the course of any mineral vein or lode subject to location ; or an association of persons, severally qualified as above, may make joint location of such claim of fifteen hundred feet, but in no event can a location of a vein or lode made subsequent to the act exceed fifteen hundred feet along the course thereof, whatever may be the number of persons composing the association. EXTENT OF SURFACE GROUND. 10. With regard to the extent of surface ground adjoining a EXTENT OF SURFACE GROUND. 287 vein or lode, and claimed for the convenient working thereof, the act provides that the lateral extent of locations of veins or lodes made after its passage shall in no case exceed three Jmndred feet OJi each side of the middle of the vein at the siuface, and that no such surface rights shall be limited by any mining regulations to less than twenty-five feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights existing at the date of said act may render such limitations necessary, the end lines of such claims to be in all cases parallel to each other. SURFACE RIGHTS. 11. By the foregomg it will be perceived that no lode claim located after the date of said act can exceed a parallelogram fifteen hundred feet in length by six hundred feet in width, but whether surface ground of the width can be taken depends upon the local regulations or State or Territorial laws in force in the several mininof districts ; and that no such local reo^ula- tions or State or Territorial laws shall limit a vein or lode claim to less than fifteen hundred feet along the course thereof, whether the location is made by one or more persons, nor can the sur- face rights be limited to less than fifty feet in width, unless ad- verse claims existing on the loth day of May, 1872, render such lateral limitations necessary. THEIR OWN LAWS. 12. It is provided in said act that the miners of each district may make rules and regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United States, or of the State or Territory in which such dis- tricts are respectively situated, governing the location, manner of recording, and amount of work necessary to hold possession of the claim. It likewise requires that the location must be so distinctly marked on the ground that its boundaries may be readily traced. This is a very important matter, and locators cannot exercise too much care in defining their locations at the outset, inasmuch as the law requires that all records of mining locations made subsequent to its passage shall contain the name or names of locators, the date of the location, and such a de- 288 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. scriplion of the claim or claims located, by reference to some natural object or permanent monument, as will identify the claim. RECORDING CLAIMS. 13. The said act declares that no lode claim can be recorded until after the discovery of a vein or lode within the limits of the ground claimed ; the object of which provision is evidently to prevent the encumbering of the district mining record with use- less locations before sufficient work has been done thereon to determine whether a vein or lode has been really discovered or not. WHAT CLAIMANT SHOULD DO. 14. The claimant should, therefore, prior to recording his claim, unless the vein can be traced upon the surface, sink a shaft, or run a tunnel or drift to a sufficient depth therein to discover and develop a mineral-bearing vein, lode or crevice ; should deter- mine, if possible, the general course of such vein in either direc- tion from the point of discovery, by which direction he will be governed in marking the boundaries of his claim on the surface ; and should give the course and distance as nearly as practicable from the discovery shaft on the claim to some permanent, well- known points or objects, such for instance, as stone monuments, blazed trees, the confluence of streams, point of intersection of well-known gulches, ravines or roads, prominent buttes, hills, etc., which may be in the immediate vicinity, and which will serve to perpetuate and fix the locii-s of the claim and render it sus- ceptible of identification from the description thereof given in the record of locations in the district. NAMES OF ADJOINING CLAIMS. 15. In addition to the foregoing data, the claimant should state the names of adjoining claims, or, if none adjoin, the relative positions of the nearest claims ; should drive a post, or erect a monument of stones at each corner of his surface ground, and at the point of discovery, or discovery shaft, should fix a post, stake or board, upon which should be designated the name 0/ DETAILS— TUNNEL RIGHTS. 28q the lode, the name or names of the locators, the number of feet claimed, and in which direction from the point of discovery, it being essential that the location notice filed for record, in addi- tion to the foregoing description, should state whedier the entire claim of fifteen hundred feet is taken on one side of the point of discovery, or whether it is partly upon one and partly upon the other side thereof, and in the latter case, how many feet are claimed upon each side of such discovery point. FILING NOTICE. 1 6. Within a reasonable time, say twenty days after the loca- tion shall have been marked on the ground, notice thereof, accu- rately describing the claim, in the manner aforesaid, should be filed for record with the proper recorder of the district, who will thereupon issue the usual certificate of location. HOLDING POSSESSORY RIGHT. 1 7. In order to hold the possessory right to a claim of fifteen hundred feet of a vein or lode located as aforesaid, the act re- quires that until a patent shall have been issued therefor, not less than one hundred dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made thereon during each year, in default of which the claim shall be subject to relocation by any other party having the necessary qualifications, unless the original locator, his heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, have resumed work thereon, after such, failure and before such relocation. IMPORTANCE OF DETAILS. 18. The importance of attending to these details in the man- ner of location, labor and expenditure, will be more readily per- ceived when it is understood that a failure to give the subject proper attention may invalidate the claim. TUNNEL RIGHTS. 19. The fourteenth section of the act provides that where a tunnel is run for the development of a vein or lode, or for the »9 290 OUR WESrERN EMPIRE. discovery of mines, the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins or lodes within three thousand feet from the face of such tunnel on the line thereof, not previ- ously known to exist, discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface ; and locations on the line of such tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the sur- face, made by other parties after the commencement of the tun-^ nel. and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence, shall be invalid, but failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins or lodes on the line of said tunnel. EFFECT OF FOURTEENTH SECTION. 20. The effect of this section is simply to give the proprietors of a mining tunnel, run in good faith, the possessory right to 1,500 feet of any blind lodes cut, discovered or intersected by such tunnel, which were not previously known to exist, within 3,000 feet from the face or point of commencement of such tunnel, and to prohibit other parties, after the commencement of the tunnel, from prospecting for and making locations of lodes on the line thereof and within said distance of 3,000 feet, unless such lodes appear upon the surface, or were previously known to exist. CONSTRUCTION OF TERMS. 2 1. The term "face," as used in said section, is construed and held to mean the first working face formed in the tunnel, and to signify the point at which the tunnel actually enters cover, it being from this point that the 3,000 feet are to be counted, upon which the prospecting is prohibited as aforesaid. PROPER NOTICE. 2 2. To avail themselves of the benefit of this provision of law, the proprietors of a mining tunnel will be required, at the time they enter cover, as aforesaid, to give proper notice of their tunnel location, by erecting a substantial post, board or monu- ment, at the face or point of commencement thereof, upon which should be posted a good and sufficient notice, giving the names PROPER NOTICE— S IVOR, \ STATEaMENTS. 2QI of the parties or company claiming the tunnel right, the actual or proposed course or direction of the tunnel, the height and width thereof, and the course and distance from such face or point of commencement to some permanent, well-known objects in the vicinity by which to fix and determine the locus in manner heretofore set forth appHcable to locations of veins or lodes; and at the time of posting such notice they shall, in order that miners or prospectors may be enabled to determine whether or not they are within the lines of the tunnel, establish the boundary lines thereof by stakes or monuments placed along such lines at proper intervals, to the terminus of 3,000 feet from the face or point of commencement of the tunnel, and the lines so marked will define and govern as to the specific boundaries within which prospecting for lodes not previously known to exist is prohibited, while work on the tunnel is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence. SWORN STATEMENTS. 23. At the time of posting notice and marking the lines of the tunnel, as aforesaid, a full and correct copy of such notice of location, defining the tunnel claim, must be filed for record with the mining recorder of the district, to which notice must be attached the sworn statement or declaration of the owners, claimants or projectors of such tunnel, setting forth the facts in the case, stating the amount expended by themselves and their predecessors in interest in prosecuting work thereon, the extent of the work performed, and that it is bona fide their intention to prosecute work on the tunnel so located and described with reasonable diligence for the development of a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, or both, as the case may be. MISCELLANEOUS. 24. This notice of location must be duly recorded, and with the said sworn statement attached, kept on the recorder's files for future reference. 25. By a compliance with the foregoing, much needless difficulty will be avoided, and the way for the adjustment of 2Q2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. legal rights acquired in virtue of said fourth section of the act will be made-much more easy and certain. 26. This office will take particular care that no improper advantage is taken of this provision of law by parties making or professing to make tunnel locations ostensibly for the purpose named in the statute, but really for the purpose of monopo- lizing the land lying in front of tlieir tunnels to the detriment of the mining interests and to the exclusion of (^^//^//rt'i? prospectors or miners; but will hold such tunnel claimants to a strict com- pliance with the terms of the act ; and as reasonable diligence on their part in prosecuting the work is one of the essential con- ditions of their implied contract, negligence or want of due diliofence will be construed as workingr a forfeiture of their rigfht to all undiscovered veins on the line of such tunnel. GOVERNMENT TITLE TO VEIN OR LODE CLAIMS. 27. By the sixth section of said act, authority is given for granting title for mines by patent from the government, to any person, association or corporation having the necessary qualifi- cations as to citizenship, and holding the right of possession to a claim in compliance with law. CORRECT SURVEYS. 28. The claimant is required in the first place to have a correct survey of his claim made under authority of the Surveyor- General of the State or Territory in which tlie claim lies ; such survey to show with accuracy the exterior surface boundaries of the claim, which boundaries are required to be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground. POSTING COPY OF PLAT. 29. The claimant is then required to post a copy of the plat of such sur\^ey in a conspicuous place upon the claim, together with the notice of his intention to apply for a patent therefor, which notice will give the date of posting, the name of the claimant, the name of the claim, mine or lode, the mining district or county ; whether the location is of record, and if so, where FIELD NOTES— RIGHTS TO THE PREMISES. 203 the record may be found; the number of feet claimed along the vein, and the presumed direction thereof; the number of feet claimed on the lode in each direction from the point of discovery, or other well-defined place on the claim ; the name or names of adjoining claimants on the same or other lodes, or if none adjoin, the names of the nearest claims, etc. FIELD NOTES. 30. After posting the said plat and notice upon the premises, the claimant will file with the proper register and receiver a copy of such plat, and the field notes of survey of the claim, accompanied by the affidavit of at least two credible witnesses that such plat and notice are posted conspicuously upon the claim, giving the date and place of such posting ; a copy of the notice so posted to be attached to and form a part of said affidavit. RIGHTS TO THE PREMISES. 31. Attached to the field notes so filed, must be the sworn statement of the claimant that he has the possessory right to the premises therein described, in virtue of a compliance by himself (and by his grantors, if he claims by purchase) with the mining rules, regulations and customs of the mining district, State or Territory In which the claim lies, and with the mining laws of Congress ; such sworn statement to narrate briefly, but as clearly as possible, the facts constituting such compliance, the origin of his possession, and the basis of his claim to a patent. SUPPORT OF AFFIDAVIT. 32. This affidavit should be supported by appropriate evidence from the mining recorder's office, as to his possessory right as follows, viz. : Where he claims to be a locator, a full, true and correct copy of such location should be furnished, as the same appears upon the mining records ; such copy to be attested by the seal of the recorder, or, If he has no seal, then he should make oath to the same being correct, as shown by his records. Where the applicant claims as a locator. In company with others, who have since conveyed their interests In the lode to him, a copy 2Q4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of the oricjinal record of location should be filed, tog-ether with an abstract of title from the proper recorder, under seal or oath as aforesaid, tracing the co-locator's possessory rights in the claim, to such applicant for patent. Where the applicant claims only as a purchaser for valuable consideration, a copy of the location record must be filed, under seal or upon oath as afore- said, with an abstract of title certified as above, by the proper recorder, tracing the right of possession by a continuous chain of conveyances, from the original locators to the applicant. DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS. '^2,' In the event of the mining records in any case having been destroyed by fire or otherwise lost, affidavit of the fact should be made, and secondary evidence of possessory title w^ill be received, which may consist of the affidavit of the claimant, supported by those of any other parties cognizant of the facts relative to his location, occupancy, possession. Improvements, etc.; and in such case of lost records, any deeds, certificates of location or purchase, or other evidence which may be in the claimant's possession, and tend to establish his claim, should be filed. PUBLISHING NOTICE. 34. Upon the receipt of these papers the register will, at the expense of the claimant, publish a notice of such application for the period of sixty days. In a newspaper published nearest to the claim, and will post a copy of such notice In his office for the same period. WHAT NOTICE MUST EMBRACE. 35. The notice so published and posted must be as full and complete as possible, and embrace all the data given in the notice posted upon the claim. 36. Too much care cannot be exercised in the preparation of these notices, Inasmuch as upon their accuracy and completeness will depend, in a great measure, the regularity and validity of the whole proceeding. FII.IXC; CERTIFICATE. 37. The claimant, cither at the time of filing these papers with SURVEYOR-GENERAL'S INSTRUCTIONS. 295 the Register or at any time during the sixty days' publication, is required to file a certificate of the Surveyor-General that not less than $500 worth of labor has been expended or improvements made upon the claim by the applicant or his grantors; that the plat filed by the applicant is correct ; that the field notes of the survey, as filed, furnish such an accurate description of the claim as will, if Incorporated into a patent, serve to fully identify the premises ; and that such reference is made therein to natural objects or permanent monuments as will perpetuate and fix the locus thereof. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FROM SURVEYOR-GENERAL. 38. It will be the more convenient way to have this certificate Indorsed by the Surveyor-General, both upon the plat and field notes of the survey filed by the claimant as aforesaid, 39. After the period of sixty days of newspaper publication has expired, the claimant will file his affidavit, showing that the plat and notice aforesaid remained conspicuously posted upon the claim sought to be patented, during said sixty days' publi- cation. 40. Upon the filing of this affidavit the Register will. If no ad- verse claim was filed in his office during the period of publication, permit the claimant to pay for the land according to the area given In the plat and field notes of survey aforesaid, at the rate of ^5 for each acre and ^5 for each fractional part of an acre, the Receiver issuing the usual duplicate receipt therefor; after which the whole matter will be forwarded to the Commissioner of the General Land Ofifice, and a patent issued thereon If found reofular. 41. In sending up the papers in the case, the Register must not omit certifying to the fact that the notice was posted In his office for the full period of sixty days, such certificate to state dis- tinctly when such posting was done, and how long continued. 42. The consecutive series of numbers of mineral entries must be condnued, whether the same are of lode or placer claim.s. 43. The Surveyor-General must continue to designate all sur- veyed mineral claims, as heretofore, by a progressive series of numbers, beginning with lot No. ^il i" each township; the claim 2c)6 ^UR WESTERN EMPIRE. to be SO designated at date of filing the plat, field notes, etc., in addition to the local designation of the claim ; it being required in all cases that the plat and field notes of the survey of a claim must, in addition to the reference to permanent objects in the neighborhood, describe the locus of the claim with reference to the lines of public surveys, by a line connecting a corner of a claim with the nearest public corner of the United States surveys, unless said claim be on unsurveyed lands at a remote distance from such public corner; in which latter case the reference by course and distance to permanent objects in* the neighborhood will be a sufficient designation by which to fix the locus until the public survey shall have been closed upon its boundaries. ADVERSE CLAIMS. 44. The seventh section of the act provides for adverse claims i fixes the time within which they shall be filed to have legal effect, and prescribes the manner of their adjustment, 45. Said section requires that the adverse claim shall be filed during the period of publication of notice ; that it must be on the oath of the adverse claimant ; and that it must show the nature, the boundaries, and the extent of the adverse claim. 46. In order that this section of law may be properly carried into effect, the following is communicated for the information of all concerned : 47. An adverse mining claim must be filed with the Register of the same land office with whom the application for patent was filed, or, in his absence, with the Receiver, and within the sixty days' period of newspaper publication of notice. 48. The adverse notice must be duly sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths within the land district, or before the Register or Receiver; it will fully set forth the nature and extent of the interference or conflict ; whether the adverse party claims as a purchaser for a valuable consideration or as a locator ; if the former, the original conveyance, or a duly certified copy thereof, should be furnished ; or if the transaction was a mere verbal one, he will narrate the circumstances attending the pur- chase, the date thereof, and the amount paid, which facts should BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT OF CLAIMS. 2Q7 be supported by the affidavit of one or more witnesses, if any were present at the time ; and if he claims as a locator, he must file a duly certified copy of the location from the office of the proper recorder. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT OF CLAIMS. 49. In order that the '' botmdaries"' and '' exterit''' of the claini may be shown, it will be incumbent upon the adverse claimant to file a plat showing his claim and his relative situation and position with the one against which he claims, so that the extent of the conflict may be the better understood. This plat must be made from an actual survey by a United States deputy surveyor, who will officially certify thereon to its correctness ; and in addition, there must be attached to such plat of survey a certificate or sworn statement by the surveyor as to the approximate value of the labor performed or improvements made upon the claim of the adverse party, and the plat must indicate the position of any shafts, tunnels, or other improvements, if any such exist, upon the claim of the party opposing the application. 50. Upon the foregoing being filed within the sixty days as aforesaid, the Register, or in his absence the Receiver, will give notice in writing to both parties to the contest that such adverse claim has been filed, informing them that the party who filed the adverse claim wdll be required within thirty days from the date of such filing to commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to determine the question of right of possession, and to prosecute the same with reasonable diligence to final judgment, and that should such adverse claimant fail to do so, his adverse claim will be considered waived, and the application for the patent be allowed to proceed upon its merits. 51. When an adverse claim is filed as aforesaid, the Register or Receiver will Indorse upon the same the precise date of filing, and preserve a record of the date of notifications issued thereon ;- and thereafter all proceedings on the application for patent will be suspended, with the exception of the completion of the publi- cation and posting of notices and plat, and the filing of the neces- sary proof thereof, until the controversy shall have been adjudi- cated in court, or the adverse claim waived or withdrawn. 2p8 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. 52. The proceedings after rendition of judgment by the court in such case, are so clearly defined by the act Itself as to render it unnecessary to enlarge thereon in this place. PLACER CLAIMS. 53. The tenth section of the act under consideration provides: " That the act entitled 'An act to amend an act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes,' approved July 9, 1870, shall be and remain In full force, except as to the proceedings to obtain a patent, which shall be similar to the proceeding prescribed by section six and seven of this act for obtaining patents for vein or lode claims ; but where said placer claims shall be upon surveyed lands and conform to legal sub-divisions, no further survey or plat shall be required, and all placer mining claims hereafter located shall coov form, as nearly as practicable, with the United States system of public land surveys and the rectangular sub-divisions of such surveys, and no such locations shall Include more than twenty acres for each Individual claimant ; but where placer claims can- not be conformed to legal sub-divisions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands," etc, 54, The proceedings for obtaining patents for veins or lodes having already been fully given, It will not be necessary to repeat them here ; it being thought that careful attention thereto by applicants and the local officers will enable them to act under- standingly in the matter, and make such slight modifications In the notice, or otherwise, as may be necessary In view of the different nature of the two classes of claims ; placer claims being fixed, however, at ^2.50 per acre, or fractional part of an acre. 55, The twelfth and thirteenth sections of said act of July 9^ 1870, read as follows : 56. It will be observed that that portion of the first proviso to the said twelfth section, which requires placer claims upon sur- veyed lands to conform to legal sub-divisions, Is related by the present statute with regard to claims heretofore located, but that where such claims are located previous to the survey and do not PLACER CLAIMS. 299 conform to legal sub-divisions, survey, plat, and entry thereof may be made according- to the boundaries fixed by local rules, but w^here such claims do conform to legal sub-divisions, the entry may be effected according to such legal sub-divisions without the necessity of further survey or plat. 57. In the second proviso to said twelfth section, authority is given for the sub-division of forty-acre legal sub-divisions into ten-acre lots, which is intended for the greater convenience of miners in sco^reeatino- their claims both from one another and from intervening agricultural lands. 58. It is held, therefore, that under a proper construction of the law, these ten-acre lots in mining districts should be con- sidered and dealt with, to all intents and purposes, as legal sub- divisions, and that an applicant having a legal claim which con- forms to one or more of these ten-acre lots, either adjoining or cornering, may make entry thereof, after the usual proceedings, without further survey or plat. 59. In cases of this kind, however, the notice given of the application must be very specific and accurate in description, and as the forty-acre tracts may be subdivided into ten-acre lots, either in the form of ten by ten chains or of parallelograms, five by twenty chains, so long as the lines are parallel and at right angles with the lines of public surveys, it will be necessary that the notice and application state specifically what ten-acre lots are sought to be patented, in addition to other data required in the notice. 60. Where the ten-acre subdivision is in the form of a square, it may be described, for instance, as the " S. E. y^ of the S. W. y^ of the N. W. ^," or if in the form of a parallelogram, as aforesaid, it may be described as the " W. y^ of the W. y^ of the S. W. y^ of the N. W. y^^ (or, the N. y of the S. y of the N. E. y^ of the S. E. ^) of section , township , range ," and as the case may be ; but, in addition to this de- scription of the land, the notice must give all the other data that is required in a mineral application by which parties may be put on inquiry as to the premises sought to be patented. 61. The proceedings necessary for the adjustment of rights 200 OUK WESTERN EMPIRE. where a known vein or lode is embraced by a placer claim, are so clearly defined in the eleventh section of the act as to render any particular instructions upon that point at this time un- necessary. 62. When an adverse claim is filed to a placer application, the proceedings are the same as in the case of vein or lode claims already described. QUANTITY OF PLACER GROUND SUBJECT TO LOCATION. 63. By the twelfth section of the said amendatory act of July 9, 1870, (third proviso,) it is declared "that no location of a placer claim hereafter made shall exceed i 60 acres for any one person or association of persons, which location shall conform to the United States surveys," etc. 64. The tenth section of the act of May 10, 1872, provides that "all placer mining claims hereafter located shall conform, as near as practicable, with the United States system of public land surveys, and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys; and no such locations shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant." 65. The foregoing provisions of law are construed to mean that after the 9th day of July, 1870, no location of a placer claim can be made to exceed 1 60 acres, whatever may be the number of locators associated together, or whatever the local regulations of the district may allow ; and that from and after the passage of said act of May 10, 1872, no location made by an individual can exceed twenty acres, and no location made by an associa- tion of individuals can exceed 160 acres, which location of 160 acres cannot be made by a less number than eight bona fide locators, but that whether as vmch as twenty acres can be located by an individual, or i 60 acres by an association, depends entirely upon the mining regulations in force in the respective districts at the date of the location ; it being held that such mining regu- lations are in no way enlarged by said acts of Congress, but remain intact and in full force with reo^ard to the size of loca- tions, in so far as they do not permit locations in excess of the limits fixed by Congress, but that where such regulations permit MAKING PROOF OF PLACER CLAIMS. ^qi locations in excess of the maximums fixed by Congress as afore- said, they are restricted accordingly. 66. The regulations hereinbefore given as to the manner of making locations on the ground, and placing the same on record, must be observed in the case of placer locations, so far as the same are applicable ; the law requiring, however, that where placer claims are upon surveyed public lands, the locations must hereafter be made to conform to legal subdivisions thereof 67. With regard to the proofs necessary to establish the pos- sessory right to a placer claim, the said thirteenth section of the act of July 9. 1870, provides that " where said person or associa- tion, they and their grantors, shall have held and worked their said claims for a period equal to the time prescribed by the statute of limitations for mining claims for the State or Territory where the same may be situated, evidence of such possession and working of the claims for such period shall be sufficient to establish a right to a patent thereto under this act, in the absence of any adverse claim." 68. This provision of law will greatly lessen the burden of proof, more especially in the case of old claims located many years since, the records of which in many cases have been de- stroyed by fire, or lost in other ways during the lapse of time, but concerning the possessory right to which all controversy or litigation has long been settled. 69. When an applicant desires to make proof of possessory right in accordance with this provision of law, you will not re- quire him to produce evidence of location, copies of conveyance, or abstracts of title, as in other cases, but will require him to fur- nish a duly certified copy of the statute of limitations for mining claims for the State or Territory, together with his sworn state- ment, giving a clear and succinct narration of the facts as to the origin of his title, and likewise as to the continuation of his pos- session of the mining ground covered by this application ; the area thereof; the nature and extent of the mining that has been done thereon ; whether there has been any opposition to his pos- session or litigation with regard to his claim, and if so, when the same ceased; whether such cessation was caused by compromise ^p.-y OCA- ll'ESTER.y EMPIRE. or by judicial decree ; and any additional facts, within the claim- ant's knowledge, having a direct bearing upon his possession and bo7ia fides which he may desire to submit in sL^tport of his claim. 70. There should likewise be filed a certificate under seal of the court having jurisdiction of mining cases within the judicial district embracing the claim, that no suit or action of aiv char- acter whatever, involving the right of possession to any portion of the claim applied for is pending, and that there has been no 1; ligation before said court affecting the title to said claim or any part thereof, for a period equal to the time fixed by the statute of limitations for mining claims in the State or Territory as afore- said, other than tl at which has been finally decided in favor of the claimant. 71. The claimant should support his narrative of facts relative to his possession, occupancy, and improvements, by corrobora- tive testimony of any disinterested person or persons of credi- bility, who may be cognizant of the facts in the case, and are capable of testifying understandingly in the premises. 72. It will be to the advantage of claimants to make their proofs as full and complete as practicable. , DEPUTY SURVEYORS — CHARGES — FEES OF REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS, ETC. 'J 2,. The twelfth sectiori of the said act of May 10, 1872, pro- vides for the appointment of surveyors of mineral claims, author- izes the Commissioner of the General Land Office to establish the rates to be charged for surveys and for newspaper publica- tions, prescribes the fees allowed to the local officers for receiv- ing and acting upon applications for mining patents and for adverse claims thereto, etc. 74. The Surveyor-General of the several districts will, in pur- suance of said law, appoint in each land district as many compe- tent deputies for the survey of mining claims as may seek such appointment; it being distinctly understood that all expenses of these notices and surveys are to be borne by the mining claim- ants, and not by the United States ; the system of making de- posits for mineral surveys, as required by previous instructions. DEPUTY SURVEYORS AND THEIR DUTIES. ^q^ being hereby revoked as regards field work, the claimant having the option of employing any deputy surveyor within such district to do his work in the field. 75. Without regard to the platting of the claim and other office zuoi'lz in the Surveyor-General's office, that officer will make an estimate of the cost thereof, which amount the claimant will deposit with any Assistant United States Treasurer, or desig- nated depositary, in favor of the United States Treasurer, to be passed to the credit of the fund created by " individual deposi- tors for surveys of the public lands," and file with the Surveyor- General duplicate certificates of such deposit, in the usual manner. 76. The Surveyor-General will endeavor to appoint mineral deputy surveyors as rapidly as possible, so that one or more may be located in each mining district, for the greater conven- ience of miners. ']']. The usual oath will be required of these deputies and their assistants as to the correctness of each survey executed by them. 78. The law requires that each applicant shall file with the Reeisiter and Receiver a sworn statement of all charges and fees paid by him for publication of notice and for survey, together with all fees and moneys paid the Register and Receiver, which sworn statement is required to be transmitted to this ofiice, for the information of the Commissioner. 79. Should it appear that excessive or exorbitant charges have been made by any surveyor or any publisher, prompt action will be taken with the view of correcting the abuse. 80. The fees payable to the Register and Receiver, for filing and acting upon applications for mineral land patents, made under said act of May 10, 1S72, are five dollars to each officer, to be paid by the applicant for patent at the time of filing, and the like sum of five dollars is payable to each ofiicer by an adverse claimant at the time of filing his adverse claim, 81. All fees or charges under this act, or the acts of which it is amendatory, may be paid in United States currency. 82. The Register and Receiver will, at the close of each 204 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. month, forward to this office an abstract of mining applications filed, and a register of receipts, accompanied with an abstract of mineral lands sold. '^'^. The fees and purchase-money received by Registers and Receivers must be placed to the credit of the United States in the Receiver's monthly and quarterly account, charging up in the disbursinof account the sums to which the Regflster and Receiver may be respectively entitled as fees and commissions, with limitations in regard to the legal maximum. 84. The thirteenth section of the said act of May 10, 1S72, provides that all affidavits required under said act, or the act of which it is amendatory, may be verified before any officer authorized to administer oaths within the land district where the claims may be situated, in which case they will have the same force and effect as if taken before the Reg-ister or Receiver, and that in cases of contest as to the mineral or agricultural character of land, the testimony and proofs may be taken before any such officer on personal notice of at least ten days to the opposing party, or, if said party cannot be found, then, after publication of notice for at least once a week for thirty days, in a newspaper to be designated by the Register as published nearest to the location of such land, proof of such notice must be made to the Register. 85. The instructions heretofore issued with regard to disprov- ing the mineral character of lands, are accordingly modified so as to allow proof upon that point to be taken before any officer authorized to administer oaths within the land district, and that where the residence of the parties who claim the land to be mineral is known, such evidence may be taken without publica- tion, ten days after the mineral claimants or affiants shall have been personally notified of the time and place of such hearing; but in cases where such affiants or claimants cannot be served with personal notice, or where the land applied for is returned as mineral upon the township plat, or where the same is now or may hereafter be suspended for non-mineral proof, by order of this office, then the party who claims the right to enter the land as agricultural will be required, at his own expense, to publish a notice once each week for five consecutive weeks in the news- MILL-SITES. 205 paper of largest circulation published in the county in which said land is situated ; or, if no newspaper is published within such county, then in a newspaper published in an adjoining- county, the newspaper in either case to be designated by the Register, which notice must be clear and specific, embracing the points required In notices under instructions from this office, of March 20, 1872, and must name a day after the last day of publication of said notice, when testimony as to the character of the land will be taken, stating before what magistrate or other officer such hearing will be had, and the place of such hearing. MILL-SITES. 86. The fifteenth section of said act provides, "That where non-mineral land, not contiguous to the vein or lode, is used or occupied by the proprietor of such vein or lode for mining or milling purposes, such non-adjacent surface-ground may be embraced and included in an application for a patent for such vein or lode, and the same may be patented therewith, subject to the same preliminary requirements as to survey and notice as are applicable under this act to veins or lodes : Provided, That no location hereafter made of such non-adjacent land shall ex- ceed five acres, and payment for the same must be made at the same rate as fixed by this act for the superfices of the lode. The owner of the quartz-mill or reduction works, not owning a mine In connection therewith, may also receive a patent for his mill-site as provided In this section. 87. To avail themselves of this provision of law, parties hold- ing the possessory right to a vein or lode, and to a piece of land not contiguous thereto, for mining or milling purposes, not ex- ceeding the quantity allowed for such purposes by the local rules, regulations or customs, the proprietors of such vein or lode may file in the proper land office their application for a patent, under oath, in manner already set forth herein, which application, together with the plat and field notes, may include, embrace and describe, in addition to. the vein or lode, such non- contiguous mill-site ; and after due proceeding as to notice, etc., a patent will be issued conveying the same as one claim. 3o6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. %%. In making the survey in a case of this kind, the lode claim should be described in the plat and field notes as "Lot No. ^il^ A." and the mill-site as " Lot No. 2)1^ B," or whatever may be its appropriate numerical designation ; the course and distance from a corner of the mill-site to a corner of the lode claim to be in- variably given in such plat and field notes, and a copy of the plat and notice of application for patent must be conspicuously posted upon the mill-site as well as upon the vein or lode for the statutory period of sixty days. In making the entry, no separate receipt or certificate need be issued for the mill-site, but the whole area of both lode and mill-site will be embraced in one entry, the price being ^5 for each acre and fractional part of an acre embraced by such lode and mill-site claim. 89. In case the owner of a quartz- mill or reduction works is not the owner or claimant of a vein or lode, the law permits him to make application therefor in the same manner prescribed herein for mining claims, and after due notice and proceedings, in the absence of a valid adverse filing, to enter and receive a patent for the mill-site at said price per acre. 90. In every case there must be satisfactory proof that the land claimed as a mill-site is not mineral in character, which proof may, where the matter is unquestioned, consist of the sworn statement of the claimant, supported by that of one or more disinterested persons capable from acquaintance with the land to testify understandingly. 91. The law expressly limits mill-site locations made from and after its passage to five acres, but whether so much as that can be located depends upon the local customs, rules or regulations. 92. The Registers and Receivers will preserve an unbroken consecutive series of numbers for all mineral entries. PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP OF MINING CLAIMANTS. 93. The proof necessary to establish the citizenship of appli- cants for mining patents, whether under the present or past enactments, it will be seen by reference to the seventh section of the act under consideration, may consist, in the case of an in- dividual claimant, of his own affidavit of the fact ; in the case of STATE AND OTHER LOCAL MINING LAWS. -i^n an association of persons not incorporated, of the affidavit of their authorized agent, made on his own knowledge or upon in- formation and behef that the several members of said association are citizens ; and in the case of an incorporated company, organ- ized under the laws of the United Slates, or the laws of any State or Territory of the United States, by the filing of a certi- fied copy of their charter or certificate of incorporation. 94. These affidavits of citizenship may be taken before the Register or Receiver, or any other officer authorized to adminis- ter oaths within the district. STATE AND OTHER LOCAL MINING LAWS. Repeated allusions are made in these mining laws and rules of the United States Government, to the State and other local laws and regulations, as restricting, or otherwise modifying, the action of the United States laws. With the changes which have been made in the government laws within the last six or eight years. and the perfection they have reached through careful observation of their action, there is far less necessity for these local laws than there was, a few years ago, and we cannot learn that in Utah, Montana, or the Black Hills, any such laws or rules have been established. In California, and in Nevada, almost every county or mininor district b.ad its own minincj laws ; Nevada had also n State law, but California did not. Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, have their State or Territorial laws, the last named Territory, from its peculiar situation, having a somewhat lengthy code. We give below these State, Territorial, and District laws, so far as they are to be obtained, as they are of great importance to the mine-owners, and those who are intending to purchase mining property. STATUTE OF NEVAIW C( >\CERNING MINING CLAIMS. The followinor are the main sections of a statute of the State of Nevada approved February 27, 1866: Section i. Any six or more persons who are males of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, holding mining claims in any mining district, or who hold mineral lands not ^q3 our western empire. within the boundaries of any estabhshed mining district, may form a new mining district embracing said claims, at a meeting of such persons to be called by posting for five days in at least five conspicuous places within the limits of such proposed new district, notices in writing stating the place and time for holding such meeting, describing as near as may be the limits of such proposed new district, and signed by not less than five of such persons. At said meeting all males of the age of twenty-one years and upward holding mining claims, or any interest therein, within said limits, may vote, and by a majority vote determine whether said new mining district shall be established, and its boundaries, which shall be within the limits named in said notices ; and thereafter the persons so qualified and holding mining claims in such newly established district shall proceed to select a name therefor and elect a district recorder, who shall be qualified as aforesaid. He shall perform all the duties required of him by law, and shall, within thirty days after qualifying, file and record in his office a record of the proceedings of said meeting. No district formed under the provisions of this act shall be divided by any county line. Mining districts now existing may be con- tinued. Sec. 2 2. On and after the second Saturday of July, 1866, all locations of mininof claims shall be made In the following manner : On a monument not less than three feet high, firmly established in a conspicuous place on the claim, there shall be placed a plainly-written notice embracing a description of the ground claimed, the date of location, the name of the claim, the name of the company, and the names of the locators, with the number of feet claimed by each, and a copy of said notice, accompanied by a written request for a survey of said claim by the district recorder, shall, within thirty days after the making of such loca- tion, be filed in the office of the district recorder of the district in which said claim is located ; and in case there be no legally authorized district recorder in and for the district, or the claim be outside of the limits of an organized mining district, then, and in that case, said notice may be filed in the office of the county recorder of the county in which said claim is located ; and a NEVADA MINING LAWS. ^OQ written request for a survey by the county surveyor shall be served upon the county surveyor within a reasonable time there- after; the county surveyor, or his deputy, shall perform all the duties required of a district recorder by the provisions of this act. He shall keep a record of all his transactions in such cases, and for such services he may charge and receive the same fees allowed by law for his services in like cases. Within thirty days after the making of such location there shall be done on said claim, as assessment work, to hold the same up to and including- the day preceding the first Saturday of the then following August, excavation involving the removal of fifty cubic feet of earth or loose material, or five cubic feet of solid rock, for each two hundred feet in the claim ; and, as soon as may be thereafter, said district recorder shall survey the same and record the notice of survey as provided in section 14 of this act; and said district recorder shall file and record a certificate in regard to the assess- ment work, which shall be substantially in the following form : DISTRICT, COUNTY, NEVADA, DAY OF MONTH OF YEAR. This is to certify that on the claim governed by the company, surveyed on date, there has been done by or on behalf of said company sufficient work to hold said claim up to the first Saturday of August next. , Distinct Recorder. Sec. 23. Any person may locate mining claims in favor of others, but no person shall be entitled to hold by location more than two hundred feet of any one ledge, except by virtue of discov- ery of the same, for which he shall be entitled to hold two hundred feet additional. In the case of locations made as extensions, the location of two hundred feet by virtue of discovery is allowed. No claim shall, in the aggregate, exceed in extent two thousand feet on any one ledge. Sec. 24. Any location made on a ledge by authority of this act shall be deemed to include all the dips, spurs, angles, and variations of said ledge. The locators of any ledge shall be entitled to hold one hundred feet on each side of it, except ,IO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. where they would by so doing invade the territory of a claim previously located. Sec. 31. On the first Saturday of August, 1866, at which time the first assessment year shall begin, this act shall supersede all district mining laws, and thereafter said laws shall be considered as repealed : Provided, Any and all rights heretofore acquired under and by virtue of such distinct mining laws shall be deter- mined in accordance with said mininor laws existinof at the time when said rights were acquired. During the period extending from and including the ist day of May, 1866, to and including the day immediately preceding the first Saturday of the following August, no claim shall become subject to relocation by reason of the non-performance of assessment work. Locations may be made under this act at any time on and after the second Saturday of July, 1866, at which time the district recorders elected under this act shall, if qualified, enter upon the discharge of their duties, and on and after said second Saturday of July, no location shall be made under district mining laws. Sec. 32. The doing of assessment work, or the payment of assessment dues, shall not be required in order to hold a claim during any assessment year, if during the year next preceding such assessment year there has been done on said claim, by or on behalf of the claimants thereof, an amount of work costing, at a fair valuation, not less than fifty cents for each foot in said claim ; but in all other cases assessment work shall be done or assessment dues shall be paid as provided in this act. Assess- ment dues shall be paid for every assessment year by the parties holdinof the claim to the district recorder elected under this act, before the first Saturday of August, commencing the assessment year for which they are paid, except as otherwise provided in this section. Sec. 33. Except as otherwise provided in section 32, every mining claim located and held under district mining laws, on which, before the ist day of May, 1866, there has been work done involving the excavation of fifty cubic feet of earth or loose matter, or five cubic feet of solid rock, for each 200 feet in such claim, shall be subject to assessment dues. On every mining REGULATIONS OF VIRGINIA DISTRICT. ^11 claim located and held under district mining laws, on which such work has not been done before the ist day of May, 1866, assess- ment work shall be done on or before the day immediately pre- ceding the first Saturday of August, 1866. The doing of such assessment work or the paying of such assessment dues shall enable the owner of said claim to hold the same for the next ensuing assessment year, commencing on the first Saturday of Auorust, 1866. Sec. 34. The assessment work done within the thirty days after the location of a claim under this act, as provided in section 22, shall hold the same only up to the beginning of the assessment year following the date of said location, and for such next en- suing assessment year and for every year thereafter, except as provided in section 32 of this act, such claim shall be subject to assessment dues. Sec. 45. The extraction of gold or other metals from alluvial or diluvial deposits, generally called placer mining, shall be subject to such regulations as the miners in the several mining districts shall adopt. 18. REGULATIONS OF THE VIRGINIA DISTRICT, NEVADA. The following are the regulations of the district of Virginia City, Nevada, adopted September 14, 1859: Article i. All quartz claims hereafter located shall be 200 feet on the lead, including all its dips and angles. Art. 2. All discoverers of new quartz veins shall be entitled to an additional claim for discovery. Art. 3. All claims shall be designated by stakes and notices at each corner. Art. 4. All quartz claims shall be worked to the amount of ^10 or three days work per month to each claim, and the owner can work to the amount of 5^40 as soon after the location of the claim as he may elect ; which amount being worked shall exempt him from working on said claim for six months thereafter. Art. 5. All quartz claims shall be known by a name and in sections. Art. 6. All claims shall be properly recorded within ten days from the time of location. ^12 <^UR WESTERN EMPIRE. Art. 7. All claims recorded in the Gold Hill record, and lying in the Virginia district, shall be recorded free of charge in the record of Virginia district, upon the presentation of a certificate from the recorder of the Gold Hill district, certifying that said claims have been duly recorded in said district ; and said claims shall be recorded within thirty days after the passage of this article. Art. 9. Surface and hill claims shall be 100 feet square, and be designated by stakes and notices at each corner. Art. 10. All ravine and gulch claims shall be 100 feet in length, and in width extend from bank to bank, and be designated by a stake and notice at each end. Art. 1 1. All claims shall be worked within ten days after water can be had sufficient to work said claims. Art. 12. All ravine, gulch, and surface claims shall be recorded within ten days after location. Art. 13. All claims not worked according to the laws of this. district shall be forfeited and subject to relocation. Art. 14. There shall be a recorder elected, to hold his office for the term of twelve months, who shall be entided to the sum of fifty cents for each claim located and recorded. Art. 15. The recorder shall keep a book with all the laws of this district written therein, which shall, at all times, be subject to the inspection of the miners of said district ; arid he is further- more required to post in two conspicuous places a copy of the laws of said district. 19. REGULATIONS OF REESE RIVER DISTRICT, NEVADA. The following are the regulations of the Reese River District, Nevada : Section i. The district shall be known as the Reese River Mining District, and shall be bounded as follows, to wit: On the north by a distance of ten miles from the overland telegraph line, on the east by Dry creek, on the south by a distance of ten miles, from th<^ overland telegraph line, and on the west by Edward's creek, where not conflicting with any new districts formed to date. Sec. 2. There shall be a mining recorder elected on the ist REGULATIONS OF REESE RIVER DISTRICT. 313 day of June next for this district, who shall hold office for one year from the 17th of July next, unless sooner removed by a new election, which can only be done by a written call, signed by at least fifty claim-holders, giving notice of a new election to be held, after said notice shall have been posted and published for at least twenty days in some newspaper published in or nearest this district ; and the recorder shall be a resident of this district. Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the recorder to keep in a suitable book or books a full and truthful record of the proceedings of all public meetings ; to place on record all claims brought to him for that purpose, when such claim shall not interfere with or affect the rights and interests of prior locators, recording the same in the order of their date, for which service he shall receive ^i for each claim recorded. It shall also be the duty of the recorder to keep his books open at all times to the inspection of the public ; he shall also have the power to appoint a deputy to act in his stead, for whose official acts he shall be held responsible. It shall also be the duty of the recorder to deliver to his successor in office all books, records, papers, etc., belonging to or pertaining to his office. Sec. 4. All examinations of the record must be made in the full presence of the recorder or his deputy. Sec. 5. Notice of a claim of location of mining ground by any individual, or by a company, on file in the recorder's office, shall be deemed equivalent to a record of the same. Sec. 6. Each claimant shall be entitled to hold by location two hundred feet on any lead in the district, with all the dips, spurs, and angles, offshoots, outcrops, depths, widths, variations, and all the mineral and other valuables therein contained, the discoverer of and locator of a new lead beinof entitled to one claim extra for discovery. Sec. 7. The locator of any lead, lode, or ledge in the district shall be entitled to hold on each side of the lead, lode, or ledge located by him or them one hundred feet ; but this shall not be construed to mean any distinct or parallel ledge within the two hundred feet other than the one originally located. Sec. 8. All locations shall be made by a written notice posted ^I^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. upon the ground, and boundaries described, and all claimants' names posted on the notice. Sec. 9. Work done on any tunnel, cut, shaft, or drift. In good faith, shall be considered as being done upon the claim owned by such person or company. Sec. 10. Every claim (whether by individual or company) lo- cated shall be recorded within ten days after the date of location. Sec. 1 1. All miners locating a mining claim in this district shall place and maintain thereon a good and substantial monument or stake, with a notice thereon of the name of the claim, the names of the locators, date of location, record, and extent of claim. It is hereby requested that owners in claims already lo- cated do comply with the requirements of this section. Sec. 12. The recorder shall go upon the ground with any and all parties desiring to locate claims, and shall be entitled to re- ceive for such service one dollar for each and every name in a location of two hundred feet each. Sec. 13. It is hereby made the duty of the mining recorder, upon the written application of twenty-five miners, to call a meet- ing of the miners of the district by giving a notice of twenty days through some newspaper published in the Reese river district, which notice shall state the object of the meetingr and the place and time of holding the same. Sec. 14. The laws of this district passed July 17, 1862, are hereby repealed. Sec. 15. These laws shall take effect on and after the 4th day of June, 1864. 20. QUARTZ statute OF THE STATE OF OREGON. Section i. That any person, or company of persons, estab- lishing a claim on any quartz lead containing gold, silver, copper, tin, or lead, or a claim on a vein of cinnabar, for the purpose of mining the same, shall be allowed to have, hold, and possess the land or vein, with all its dips, spurs, and angles, for the distance of three hundred feet in length, and seventy-five feet in width on each side of such lead or vein. Sec. 2. To establish a valid claim the discoverer or person QUARTZ STATUTE OF OREGON: ^IJ wishing to establish a claim shall post a notice on the lead or vein, with name or names attached, which shall protect the claim or claims for thirty days ; and before the expiration of said thirty days he or they shall cause the claim or claims to be recorded as hereinafter provided, and describing, as near as may be, the claim or claims, and their location ; but continuous working of said claim or claims shall obviate the necessity of such record. If any claim shall not be worked for twelve consecutive months it shall be forfeited and considered liable to location by any per- son or persons, unless the owner or owners be absent on account of sickness, or in the service of their country in time of war. Sec. .3. Any person may hold one claim by location, as here- inafter provided, upon each lead or vein, and as many by pur- chase as the local laws of the miners in the district where such claims are located may allow ; and the discoverer of any new lead or vein, not previously located upon, shall be allowed one additional claim for the discovery thereof. Nothing in this sec- tion shall be so construed as to allow any person not the dis- coverer to locate more than one claim upon any one lead or vein. Sec. 4. Every person, or company of persons, after establish- ing such claim or claims, shall, within one year after recording or takincT such claini or claims, work or cause to be worked to the amount of fifty dollars for each and every claim, and for each successive year shall do the same amount of work, under penalty of forfeiture of said claim or claims: Provided, That any incorporate company owning claims on any lead or vein may be allowed to work upon any one claim the whole amount required as above for all the claims they may own on such lead or vein. Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the county clerk of any county, upon the receipt of a notice of a miners' meeting organizing a miners' district in said county, with a description of the boun- daries thereof, to record the same in a book to be kept in his office as other county records, to be called a "book of record of mining claims ;" and, upon the petition of parties interested, he may appoint a deputy for such district, who shall reside in said district or its vicinity, and shall record all mining claims and ,1(5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. water rights In the order In which they are presented for record; and shall transmit a copy of such record at the end of each month to the county clerk, who shall record the same in the above-mentioned book of record, for which he shall receive one dollar for each and every claim. It shall further be the duty of said county clerk to furnish a copy of this law to his said deputy, who shall keep the same in his office, open at all reasonable times for the inspection of all persons interested therein. Sec. 6. Miners shall be empowered to make local laws in re- lation to the possession of water rights, the possession and working of placer claims, and the survey and sale of town lots in mining camps, subject to the laws of the United States. Sec. 7. That ditches used for mining purposes, and mining flumes permanently affixed to the soil, be and they are hereby declared real estate for all Intents and purposes whatever. Sec. 8. That all laws relative to the sale and transfer of r^l estate, and the application of the liens of mechanics and laborers therein, be and they are hereby made applicable to said ditches and flumes: Provided, That all Interests in mining claims known as placer or surface diggings may be granted, sold, and conveyed by bill of sale and delivery of possession as in cases of the sale of personal property: Provided f mother, That the bills of sale or conveyances executed on the sale of any placer or surface mining claim shall be recorded within thirty days after the date of such sale, In the office of the county clerk of the county in which such sale is made, In a book to be kept by the county clerk for that purpose, to be called the record of conveyances of minlnor claims. Sec. 9. Mortgages of Interests in placer or surface mining claims shall be executed, acknowledged, recorded, and foreclosed as mortfjacres of chattels. Sec. 10. The county clerk shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar each for every conveyance or mortgage recorded under the provisions of this act. 21. QUARTZ STATUTE OF IDAHO. The following is the statute of Idaho in regard to quartz claims : QUARTZ STATUTE OF IDAHO. ^I/ Sec. I. That any person or persons who may hereafter dis- cover any quartz lead or lode shall be entitled to one claim thereon by right of discovery, and one claim each by location. Sec. 2. That a quartz claim shall consist of tttvo hundred feet in length along the lead or lode by one hundred feet in breadth, covering and including all dips, spurs, and angles within the bounds of said claim, as also the right of drainage, tunnelling, and such other privileges as may be necessary to the working of said claim. Sec, 3. The locator of any quartz claim on any lead or lode shall, at the time of locating such claim, place a substantial stake, not less than three inches in diameter, at each end of said claim, on which shall be a written notice specifying the name of the locator, the number of feet claimed, together with the year, month, and day when the same was taken. Sec. 4. All claims shall be recorded in the county recorder's office, within ten days from the time of posting notice thereon : Provided, That when the claim located is more than thirty miles distant from the county seat the time shall extend to fifteen days. Sec. 5. Quartz claims recorded in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of this act shall entitle the person so recording to hold the same to the use of himself, his heirs and assigns : Provided, That w^ithin six months from and after the date of recording he shall perform, or cause to be performed, thereon work amounting in value to the sum of one hundred dollars. Sec. 6. Any person or persons holding quartz claims in pursuance of this act shall renew the notice required in section 3 at least once in twelve months, unless such claimant is occupy- ing and working the same. Sec. 7. The conveyances of quartz claims heretofore made by bills of sale or other instruments of writing, with or without seals, shall be construed in accordance with the local mining rules, regulations, and customs of miners in the several mining districts, and said bills of sale or instruments of writing con- cerning quartz claims without seals shall h& prima facie evidence -[8 ^<^'^^' ll'^-^SJ-£A\V EMPIRE. of sale, as if such conveyance had been made by deed under seal. Sec. 8. Conveyances of quartz claims shall hereafter require the same formaiities and shall be subject to the same rules of construction as the transfer and conveyance of real estate. Sec. 9. The location and pre-emption of quartz claims here- tofore made shall be established and proved when there is a contest before the courts, by the local rules, customs, and regulations of the miners in each mining district where such claim is located, when not in conflict with the laws of the United States or the laws of this Territory. Sec. 10. This act to take effect and to be in force from and after its approval by the governor. Approved February 4, 1864. 23. statute of ARIZONA. The following is the statute of Arizona on the registry and government of mines L^nd mineral deposits, with the exception of the sections providing the manner in which the rights of miners shall be enforced by the courts: Sec. I. All mining rights on the public lands of the United States, as well as rights acquired by discovery on the lands of private individuals, are possessory in their character only, and such possessory rights shall be limited, regulated, and governed as hereinafter provided. Sec. 15. Every mining claim or pertenencia is declared to consist of a superficial area of 200 yards square, to be measured so as to include the principal mineral vein or mineral deposits, always having reference to and following the dip of the vein so far as it can or may be worked, with all the earth and minerals therein. But any mining district organized in accordance with the provisions of this chapter may prescribe the dimensions of said mining claim or pertenencia for such district: Provided, That in no case the dimensions so prescribed shall exceed the number of yards allowed by this section ; and further provided. That no such miningf district shall diminish the extent of the territorial claim to one pertenencia, as defined in this section. MINING REGULATIONS OF ARIZONA. -.jO Sec. 1 6. Any person discovering or opening a vein or other mineral deposit in this Territory, not actually worked or legally owned by other parties or registered in accordance with this chapter, shall by properly denouncing and registering the same be entitled to claim and hold a possessory right to a tract of land to the extent of two mining claims or pertenencias, including the said vein or mineral deposit, and conforming as nearly as possible to the general direction thereof, each to be measured 200 yards long by 200 yards wide, the direction of the lines to be deter- mined by the person claiming. Sec. 1 7. If two or more persons are associated, and have formed a company for the exploration and working of mines, and one or several shall make discoveries of mineral deposits in consequence thereof, said company so engaged in exploration shall be entitled to denounce and register one discovery claim only upon each lode. Sec. 18. It shall be lawful for the claimants of a mine or mineral lands to locate and take p^ssesfion of public lands for a mill site and other neci^jsary works connected therewith, which shall not exceed one-quarter section, containing a stream or other water suitable for the purpose. They shall have a right to place a dam or other obstructions on such stream, and to divert its water for the above uses and purposes. They shall, within the time and in the manner prescribed in this chapter for the registration and denouncement of mines, proceed to denounce and register the same with the clerk of the probate court, and they shall be known as auxiliary lands. And if within three years from the day their notice of claim is so recorded they shall expend in fitting the same for a mill, or in placing a mill or reduction works thereon, the sum of $100, they may cause the record of such work to be made and proceedings for confirming their title to be instituted as provided in section 29 of this chapter, with like effect, and receive a certificate of title as thereon provided, conforming as nearly as they can to the require- ments of that section. Instead of the work required by section 32 of this chapter they shall use the machinery or other works erected upon said land for mining purposes at least thirty days 5 20 <^^-^ WESTERN EMPIRE. '' in each year. Such claims shall be subject to all the provisions of this chapter which are applicable to mining rights, and may be abandoned and relocated. All rights to auxiliary lands acquired under the laws of any mining district before this act takes effect shall be valid, and the owners of the same, upon complying with the provisions of this section, may take the like proceedings to confirm their titles, with a like effect. Sec. 19. It shall be the duty of all claimants of mining claims, mineral lands, and auxiliary tracts, to at once define the extent and boundary of them as nearly as possible, by good substantial monuments or other conspicuous marks, in the presence of the recorder of the mining district, or of some witness who shall prove to the satisfac-tion of the recorder that the same has been done, and to post up a public notice of their claim at the opening of the principal vein, and to have them properly registered and recorded within three months from the time of first claiming them at the office of the mining district recorder according to the provisions of this chapter. Such record shall give a faithful description of the veins, mineral deposits, and tracts of lands, the character and bearing of the veins or deposits, and their con- nection with natural monuments or conspicuous objects in the vicinitv. Sec. 20. No person shall change his original monuments or boundaries of mineral or other lands, but if a subsequent investigation makes this convenient or necessary, and it can be done v/ithout prejudice to other parties, then such change shall take place by the sanction of the judge of the probate court, provided they are properly recorded, and the new boundaries and monuments fixed at once when the original ones are re- moved. Sec. 21. All minerals, woods, waters, earths, and vegetation found within the boundaries of any tract of land registered and claimed for mining shall be exclusively used by him or them who are legally entitled to the possession of the land wherein or whereon they are situated, so long as they are used for mining purposes only : Provided, That no one shall have the right to prevent transient persons from using the waters along the pub- MINING REGULATIONS OF ARIZONA. 32 1 lie highways, where they were provided by nature in natural tanks, springs, streams, or otherwise, nor from making such equitable disposition of the waters as the legislature shall pre- scribe. Sec. 22. No person shall have the right to impede or incon- venience travelling by fencing up the public roads, filling them up with rubbish, or undermining them so as to endanger their safety, neither shall any one change their established direcdon without sanction of the proper authorities. Sec. 23. Whenever two or more persons or parties explore and prospect one and the same vein, and at or about the same time but at different places, and without knowledge of each other, then he or they who shall prove first occupancy shall havQ the right of first location, taking the principal point of excavation as the centre of their claim or claims on each side along the general direction of such vein or deposit. The other parties shall proceed by the same laws after the others have fixed their boundaries. Should there be left vacant ground between the different pardes, then it shall be at the option of the first dis- coverers so to change their boundaries as shall best suit them, and have them recorded accordingly. Any other parties shall locate in the order of the Ume of their arrival on the vein or mineral deposit. Sec. 24. Whenever two or more parties shall select the same mine or mineral deposit for exploration, and the parties first on the ground, knowing the other parties to be at work, shall fail to give warning, either verbally or in writing, of their priority claim on such vein or deposit, then that portion of the mine situated between the main excavations of the two parties shall be equally divided between them, irrespective of the number of members each company may have : Provided, That the intervening por- tions shall not exceed the quantity of land allowed by the pro- visions of this chapter. Sec. 25. The laws and proceedings of all mining districts established in this Territory for the denouncement, registration, and reguladon of mines, mining claims, mineral lands, and auxiliary lands, prior to the day this act takes effect, are hereby 222 0^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. legalized and declared to be as valid and binding In all court.s of law as If enacted by this legislative assembly, to the extent and under the conditions and restrictions herein contained, I. All rights, claims, and titles to any veins, mineral lands, or mineral deposits, and auxiliary lands, acquired before this act takes effect, under, by virtue of, and in conformity to the laws of said mining districts, are hereby declared to be valid and legal, and shall be respected and enforced in all courts of this Terri- tory, when sustained by the evidence herein provided ; but no amount of work done thereon shall be construed to give a per- petual title thereto, but shall give such title only and such rights and privileges as are provided in section 29 of this chapter; and no person v^'ho was at the time of the location of his claim an inhabitant of this Territory shall forfeit his claim because he was not a resident also of the minlngf district in which his said claim was located. And no such right, claim, or title shall be con- sidered as abandoned provided the claimant shall within six months from the day this act takes effect file with the clerk of the probate court of the county in wiilch his claim is situated a brief description of the same, giving the name of the district in which the lode is situated, and of the lode or lodes, and the ex- tent of his claim thereon, with a declaration that he intends to retain and work the same according to law, unless such claim has been forfeited and subject to re-location under the laws of such mlnlnof district before this act takes effect. II, All records and all papers required by the laws of said mining districts to be deposited with the recorders of said dis- tricts for record shall be received as evidence of their contents in all courts of this Territory, and shall not be rejected for any defects in their form, when their contents may be understood, but shall be valid to the extent provided by said mining laws, except as hereinbefore restricted : Provided, That such records and papers are deposited with or recorded by the clerk of the probate court of the county in which said mining district is located, and within three months from the time this act takes effect; and if said records or papers are lost or mutilated, or if such recorder of a mining district shall neglect or refuse to MnV/jVC REGULATIONS OF ARIZONA. •33 deposit the same as aforesaid, an affidavit of their contents made by any person interested therein, or certified or sworn copies thereof, may be so recorded, and shall- have the like effect. III. All conveyances of mines, mining rights, mineral and auxiliary lands made prior to the time this act takes effect shall be valid and binding to pass the title of the grantor thereof, although defective in form and execution, if their contents can be understood, and as such shall be received and regarded in all courts of this Territory: Provided, That such conveyances shall be deposited with or recorded by the clerk of the probate court of the county where said mines are situated, within three months from the time this act takes effect, and if lost or mutilated, copies or affidavits of their contents, executed as aforesaid, may be recorded as provided above. Sec. 26. Every recorder, register, clerk, or other recording officer, of every such mining district, or who has at any time acted as such recording- officer, within three months after this act takes effect, shall deposit with the clerk of the probate court of the county in which said district or greater part thereof is situated, all records which he has so kept, and all papers deposited in his hands for record, and papers so made or deposited with his predecessors in said office, which are in his hands as aforesaid, or he shall so deposit certified copies of the same. And such records and other papers shall be securely k^pt by such clerk, open in office hours to public inspection, and copies of the same duly certified by him shall be received in all courts of justice, and have the saine effect as the originals. And any such recorder, register, or other recording officer of each mining district who shall neglect or refuse to comply wuth the provisions of this section shall be liable in damages to the party injured thereby, and shall be liable to be punished by the judge of probate of the county in which said mining district, or the greater part thereof, is situated, for contempt, by fine not exceeding <^5,ooo and imprisoned not more than one year, and shall be incapable of holding any such office and mining claim. Sec. 27. Mining districts now existing may be continued, or new mining districts may be established in the manner and for the purposes hereinafter provided. 2 24 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. I, The recorder of every mining district now existing shall at the same time that he deposits the records of said districts with the clerk of the probate court, as the last preceding section re- quires, take an oath before the judge of said court that he will faithfully perform the duties of his office until another recorder shall be elected and qualified In his place, which oath shall be recorded by the clerk of the probate court. He shall record in a book to be kept by him for that purpose all notices of claims or rights to veins, mineral deposits, mineral lands, and auxiliary lands which may be left with him to be recorded, and shall note on all papers which may be received by him to be recorded, the time when they were so received by him, and they shall be con- sidered as recorded from that time. He shall, when requested by any such claimant, go \vlth him to his claim and see that the same is measured by metes and bounds, and marked by substan- tial monuments on the surface of the earth, and shall make a record of the same, and of the time when it was done, and cer- tify It to be correct, or shall make a record and certificate of the same on the evidence of a credible witness, who was present when the same was done, and is cognizant of the facts, and whose name shall be entered on the record. He shall, when re- quested by any such claimant, go with him to his claim and ex- amine any shaft that may be sunk by him, or tunnels that may be opened to the same, and make measurements of the same, and a record and certificate as aforesaid ; and he shall in like manner examine, measure, or estimate, and make and record a certificate of any work which is required by law to be done by a claimant. And the said recording officer shall, quarterly, file with the clerk of the probate court of the county in which said district is located a copy by him certified of all records made by him for the three months last preceding, which shall be duly recorded by said clerk, and a copy of said record duly certified by him shall be evidence of its contents in all courts of this Territory. And such recording officer shall be liable to all the penalties provided in the preceding section If he shall neglect or refuse to perform any of the acts and duties required of him by this section, but shall not be required to perform any such ser- MINING REGULATIONS OF ARIZONA. ^25 vice until his fees for the same, to be fixed by the mining dis- tricts, are paid him, if he requests it. And if any paper deposited with him for record is required to be recorded by the clerk of the probate court, he shall at the time said paper is so deposited with him take and receive the fee fixed by law for recording such paper by said clerk, and pay tlie said clerk said fee when he deposits said paper with him to be recorded as aforesaid. All such mining districts ma)i make laws not inconsistent with the laws of the Territory, may elect officers for the government of such districts, and fix their compensation, but all such acts and proceedings shall be recorded, and all records and papers thereof filed with the clerk of the probate court as aforesaid. II. Any number of persons, not less than twelve, owning mining claims in any mining district, or in any contiguous mining districts, or who have discovered and may wish to denounce a mine or mineral lands, not within the limits of any established mining district, may proceed to make a new mining district at a meeting of persons holding claims in such district so to be estab- lished, and of claimants in any districts to be divided or to be Ificluded therein. They shall cause a notice in writing, and Simecifying the limits of said contemplated district, signed by them, to be posted in three conspicuous places in said district, and if any part of an established district is to be included therein, by leaving a copy of said notice with the recorder of said district at least ten days before the day of said meeting. At said meeting all persons holding claims as aforesaid may vote, and may determine by a majority vote of those present whether said new district shall be established, and its limits, but within the boundaries named in the notice for said meeting, and thereupon the persons holding claims in such newly established district shall proceed to select a name, and make laws therefor, and elect a recorder, who shall be qualified as aforesaid, who shall perform all the duties and be subject to all the liabilities provided in this chapter for such officers, and shall file with the clerk of the probate court as aforesaid a record of the proceedings of this and all subsequent meetings at the time and in the manner herein provided. 2 26 <^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Sec. 2S. It shall be the duty of all claimants of mineral tracts to sink at least one shaft of thirty feet in depth, or to run a tunnel of fifty feet in length, in the body of the vein or in the adjoining rock, so as to test the vein from the surface, for the purpose of ascertaining the character and capacity of such mineral deposit, within the space of one year from the day of first' taking possession thereof, and they shall notify the recorder of the mining district that said shaft or other work is completed, and that they intend working the vein or mineral deposit. And the recorder shall examine said work in person, and make and record a certificate of the result of such examination, which shall contain a statement of the condition and quality of the vein or mineral deposit, the amount of labor performed, and a general view of the results obtained. Said report shall be accompanied by three specimens taken from different parts of the work, which said specimens, with a copy of the record so made by him, shall be filed by him within the time required by this act In the office of the clerk of the probate court. And said clerk shall make a record of the same. Such specimens shall be numbered and described by him, and be preserved for the use of the mineralogical professorship of the University of Ari- zona. Sec. 29. The judge of the probate court, at any time within thirty days after the record made by the clerk of said court, as provided In the preceding section, upon complaint in writing made to him by such claimants, describing fully their claims, stating the labor perfonPied by them, and the certificate thereof, and that the registration of the same has been made as required by law, and requesting that their title thereto may be confirmed, shall cause a summons, under the seal of his court, to be issued, requiring all persons Interested to appear at a day named there- in, and which shall not be less than sixty days from the day the same was issued, and show cause why the title of such com- plainants and claimants should not be confirmed, a copy of which complaint and summons, duly attested by the clerk of the probate court, shall be published twice in the territorial news- paper, and be kept posted in the office of said clerk from the PERFECTING TITLE TO MINING CLAIMS. 327 day of issuing- the same to the return day thereof; and if no person shall appear on such return day to contest the right of the claimants to such claims, the judge of probate shall examine all the records filed in the office of his clerk relating to such claims, and if he finds that the said claimants have in all respects com- plied with the provisions of this chapter, he shall make a decree in substance that the complainants have complied with the laws of this Territory relating to the denouncement and registration of mines, have acquired a perfect title to their claims (describing the same) until the ist day of January, a. d. 1868, and forever after unless abandoned by them. And the said clerk shall give the said claimant a copy of such decree, under the seal of the court, which shall be conclusive evidence of title in any pro- ceedings relating to such claims, until they are abandoned. And unless the persohs adversely interested and contesting the title of the complainants shall appear on the day named in said com- plaint, and proceed as hereinafter provided, they shall be forever barred from contesting the title of said complainants to such claims. And if the contestants shall so appear they shall on that day or some day to be fixed by said judge proceed to file an answer, setting forth their claim and case, and the proceedings shall then be conducted in conformity to the provisions of this chapter and the code of civil practice. And whenever a final decree is made thereon, determining the title to said claim or mine, by said judge, or by any other court on appeal, the said judge shall cause a record to be made in the office of his clerk of such decree, and a certified copy thereof may be made as aforesaid, with the like effect. And any claimants of mineral lands who before this act takes effect have in any way or under any law acquired a title to such mineral lands, after filing with the clerk of the court their evidence of title and description of claim as required by this chapter, may cause an examination of the shaft sunk by them or other work done by them to be made as aforesaid, and take the like proceedings for the confirmation of their titles, with the same effect : Provided, This section shall not apply except when the complainants are in possession of such mine or mining rights, claiming title thereto. 2 28 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Sec. 30. By reason of the Indian wars and unsettled condition of the country, the time within which a shaft is required to be sunk, or other labor performed on a claim, shall not commence until two years from the day this act takes effect, and all the pro- visions of this chapter relating diereto are suspended for that time ; but any claimant may sink a shaft or do such other labor, and at any time after the record of their claims with the probate court, and thereupon institute proceedings to confirm their tides, and be entided to all the rights and privileges provided for in this chapter. Sec. 31. No single person or company shall be compelled to sink shafts or make other improvements on more than one of the tracts of land claimed by him or them for the same vein or mineral deposit; and any number of claimants on the same vein or mineral deposit, who may unite for said purpose, sliall be allowed to concentrate labor, capital, and energy to any one single point which to him or them shall be the best suited to as- certain to the best advantage the general character, quality, and capacity of that particular vein or mineral deposit, and may take the like proceedings to confirm their titles. Sec. 32. After the work required by section 28 of this chapter has been performed, and the record thereof made as therein pro- vided, two years shall be allowed the claimants of mineral lands to develop the same, and procure machinery and provide for working the same ; and during that time the same shall not be considered abandoned, although no work be done thereon : Pro- vided, That in such an event, they shall annually, and before the ist day of June in each year, file with the clerk of the probate court an affidavit signed by them that they have not abandoned such claims, but Intend, In good faith, to work them ; and said term of two years shall not commence until the ist day of January, a. d. 1868. And after the expiration of said term of two years, it shall be obligatory upon claimants to such mineral lands to hold actual possession of them and work the vein, which' obligation shall be considered as complied with by doing at least thirty days' work thereon in each year; but if such claimants are prevented from working such vein by the hostility of Indians or other good cause, MINING ON PRIVATE LANDS. -,2g rendering said working difficult or dangerous, diey may, ly au- thority of the judge of probate first obtained, be relieved from performing labor thereon from time to time, but for not more than one year at any one time, during the condnuance of such cause. Sec. l^)' -^"y person who may discover a mineral vein or de- posit as aforesaid, which is not included within a mining district, or which may be in a mining district in which there is no legally authorized recorder, may acquire title thereto, and to auxil!;iry lands, by giving notice as aforesaid, and recording the same with the clerk of the probate court of the county in which the same is situated, and may take the same proceedings, with the like effect, with the clerk of the probate court that are required to be taken w^ith the recorder of a minincr district. Sec. 34. Discoverers of mines on lands in the legal ownership or possession of others, and not public lands, before doing the work of sinking the shaft required by section 28 of this chapter, shall pay to such parties such com.pensation for the use of the same as may be awarded by the judge of probate upon complaint of either party, or shall give bond to such parties for payment of the same, and sureties to be approved by said judge; and whenever it becomes necessary or advantageous to construct tunnels for the purpose of drainage, ventilation, or the better liauling of ores or other subterraneous products or minino- i:iaterials, it shall be lawful for any party or parties to construct such tunnel or drift through all private and public property: Provided, That all damages arising from such subterranean works to the other pardes, to be determined as provided above, shall be paid by the parties for whose benefit such tunnelling is done, to be paid before such work is commenced, or security given to the satisfacdon of the judge of probate for the payment of the same ; but no damages shall be paid on public lands when claims for such lands shall be set up after such tunnel shall have been projected or actually in process of construction : Pi'ovided, That the lapse of dme between projecdon and actual work shall not exceed ninety days, and that the tunnelling pardes give timely nodce of their project to any new claimant of the so affected ground. --Q OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Sec. 35. Whenever such tunnel as mentioned in the preceding section shall intersect or traverse mineral deposits, or run along lodes claimed and held by other parties, then it shall be at the option of the owners of such other mineral deposits either to pay one-half of the expense of excavation for the distance that such tunnel runs through their mineral deposits, and secure the whole of the ores excavated, or to divide the ores with the tunnelling parties, the latter paying all expenses of excavation ; or, it shall be optional with either party to abandon all claim to the ores excavated. Sec. 36. If, in the construction of such subterranean works, new veins or deposits are encountered in ground not claimed or owned by other parties, they shall become the property of th(; party for whom such tunnel is constructed, and shall be denounced and registered as is required of new mines, and shall be governed by the same laws as are prescribed in this chapter. Sec. 2)1' ^^y claimant or claimants not complying with any of the foreo-oine conditions and obliorations, shall forfeit all rio-ht to any such recorded or unrecorded claims to mineral and auxiliary tracts ; and it shall not be lawful for him or them to register such claims anew within a period of three years after such forfeiture. All such tracts shall be free for working and registry to any but those excepted in this section. Sec. 38. All veins and mineral deposits situated on public lands, which have not been worked and occupied from the time of the acquisition of the Territory by the United States up to the time of the passage of this chapter, except as herein pro- vided, shall be considered as abandoned and subject to registry and denouncement. Sec. 39. All veins and mineral deposits that have been or may \vi abandoned hereafter shall, in all cases and respects, be gov- erned by the laws regulating the opening and working of new veins and deposits, as prescribed in this chapter. Sec. 40. Whenever any mine, vein, or mineral deposit shall have been abandoned or forfeited in accordance with the provi- sions of this ciiapter, and registered anew by other parties, it shall be obligatory upon such parties to give the former owners warning ABANDONED MINING CLAIMS. 33I thereof, so as to remove from the tract, within the space of three months, anything he or they may think vahiable or useful. Such warning shall be given in the nearest newspaper published in the Territory, and by posting it at three of the most conspicuous places in the county where the mine is situated. Three months after the expiration of such warning, any and all buildings, furnaces, arrastras, metals, and every other species of property which mav still remain on the o-round of such mine, vein, or mineral deposit shall become the undisputed property of the new claimant, without compensation of any kind to any person what- ever. Sec. 41. Any person taking possession of or entering upon a mining claim or auxiliary lands, registered according to the pro- visions of this chapter, and before it is abandoned, shall be ousted therefrom in a summary manner by the order of the probate judge, and the malfeaser shall be adjudged to pay all damages and costs consequent thereon. Sec. 51. It shall be the duty of persons who may discover and claim mining rights or mineral lands, at the same time that they may define the boundary of their claim or claims to any lode or mine as required by the provisions of this chapter, to lay off and define the boundary of one pertenencia, as required by the pro- visions of this chapter, adjoining their claim or claims, which shall be the property of the Territory of Arizona. And at the same time that they present their notice of claim or claims to be recorded by the recorder of the mining district, they shall also present to such recorder the claim of said Territory. And, if said discoverers and claimants shall neglect or refuse to present to such recorder the claim of said Territory as aforesaid, they shall forever forfeit all claim to the mine or ledge so discovered by them. Any record- ing officer recording the claim or claims of such discoverers and claimants, when the claim of said Territory is not filed therewith as aforesaid, shall be subject to all the penalties provided in section 26 of this chapter. Such claim shall be recorded as pro- vided in this chapter for like claims, but no work shall be required to be done thereon, nor shall it be considered to be abandoned so long as- it is the property of the Territory; and if sold, the --2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. time within which the purchaser shall be required to work said claim shall commence from the day of sale, except when the time is suspended as before provided. Every clerk of the probate court, as soon as he records- the said claim, shall send a copy of his record to the treasurer of the Territory, and no fees shall be charo-ed by any recording officer in any matter relating to said claim. And the Territorial treasurer may, at any time after six months from the day he receives such record as aforesaid, and at such time and place as in his opinion will be most for the interest of the Territory, cause such claim to be sold at auction to the highest bidder; but every such sale shall be at least twice adver- tised in the Territorial newspaper, and be held at his office, or the office of the clerk of the probate court, or the recorder of the minino- district of the county where the claim is situated. And the treasurer is authorized to make a deed of the same to the purchaser in the name of the Territory ; and the amount received by him shall be added by him to any fund now or here- after provided' for the protection of the people of the Territory of Arizona against hostile Indians, and be expended as provided by law. And after all such expenses as are incurred by the Terri- torial authorities for the purpose of destroying or bringing into subjection all hostile Indian tribes in this Territory are liquidated, then all remaining or accruing funds, out of all or any sales of Territorial mining claims, shall be applied as a sinking fund for school purposes. Sec. 52. The extraction of gold from alluvial and diluvial deposits, generally termed placer mining, shall not be considered mining proper, and shall not entide persons occupied in it to the provisions of this chapter, nor shall any previous section of this chapter be so construed as to refer to the extraction of gold from the above-mentioned deposits. Sec. 53. This chapter shall be in force and take effect from and after the ist day of January, a. d. 1865. MINING LAWS OF COLORADO. ^^^ MINING LAWS OF COLORADO. AN ACT CONCERNING MINES. Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of Colorado : EXTENT OF LODE CLAIM. Section i . The length of any lode claim hereafter located may equal but not exceed 1,500 feet along the vein. DIMENSIONS. Sec. 2. The width of lode claims hereafter located in Gilpin, Clear Creek, Boulder and Summit counties, shall be seventy-five feet on each side of the centre of the vein or crevice ; and in all other counties the width of the same shall be 150 feet on each side of the centre of the vein or crevice : Provided, That here- after any county may, at any general election, determine on a greater width, not exceeding 300 feet on each side of the centre of the vein or lode, by a majority of the legal votes cast at said election ; and any county, by such vote at such election, may determine upon a less width than above specified. CERTIFICATE OF LOCATION. Sec. 3. The discoverer of a lode shall, within three months from the date of discovery, record his claim in the office of the recorder of the county in which such lode is situated by a loca- tion certificate, which shall contain: ist, the name of the lode ; 2d, the name of the locator ; 3d, the date of location ; 4th, the number of feet in length claimed on each side of the centre of the discovery shaft; 5th, the general course of the lode as near as may be. WHEN VOID. Sec. 4. Any location certificate of a lode claim which shall not contain the name of the lode, the name of the locator, the date of location, the number of lineal feet claimed on each side of the discovery shaft, the general course of the lode, and such descrip- tion as shall identify the claim with reasonable certainty, shall be void. DISCOVERY SHAFT. Sec. 5. Before filing such location certificate the discoverer 334 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. shall locate his claim by first sinking- a discovery shaft upon the lode to the depth of at least ten feet from the lowest part of the rim of such shaft at the surface, or deeper, if necessary to show a well-defined crevice. * Second, by posting at the point of dis- covery on the surface, a plain sign or notice containing the name of the lode, the name of the locator, and the date of discovery. Third, by marking the surface boundaries of the claim. STAKING. Sec. 6. Such surface boundaries shall be marked by six sub- stantial posts, hewed or marked on the side or sides which are in toward the claim, and sunk in the ground, to wit: One at each corner and one at the centre of each side line. Where it is practically impossible on account of bed-rock or precipitous ground to sink such posts, they m.ay be placed in a pile of stones. OPEN CUTS, ETC Sec. 7. Any open cut, cross cut or tunnel which shall cut a lode at the depth of ten feet below the surface, shall hold such lode the same as if a discovery shaft were sunk thereon, or an adit of at least ten feet along the lode, from the point where the lode may be in any manner discovered,' shall be equivalent to a discovery shaft. TIME. Sec. 8. The discoverer shall have sixty days from the time of uncovering or disclosing a lode to sink a discovery shaft thereon. CONSTRUCTION OF CERTIFICATE Sec. 9. The location or location certificate of any lode claim shall be construed to include all surface crround within the sur- face lines thereof and all lodes and ledofes throuorhout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside of such lines extended downward, vertically, with such parts of all lodes or ledges as continue to dip beyond the side lines of the claim, but shall not include any portion of such lodes or ledges beyond the end lines of the claim, or at the end lines continued, whether by dip or otherwise, or beyond the side lines in any other manner than by the dip of the lode. RE-LOCATION OF CLAIMS. o,c CANNOT HF. FOLLOWED. Sec. io. If the top or apex of a lode in its longitudinal course extends beyond the exterior lines of the claim at any point on the surface, or as extended vertically do\^mward, such lode may not be followed in its longitudinal course beyond the point where it is intersected by the exterior lines. RIGHT OK WAV AND RIGHT OF SURFACE. Sec. II. All mining claims now located, or which may here- after be located, shall be subject to the right of way of any ditch or flume for mining purposes, or any tramway or pack-trail, whether now in use or which may be hereafter laid out across any such location : Provided always, That such right of way shall not be exercised against any location duly made and recorded and not abandoned prior to the establishment of the ditch or flume, tramway, or pack-trail, without consent of the owner, except by condemnation, as in case of land taken for public highways. Parol consent to the location of any such easement, accompanied by the completion of the same over the claim, shall be sufficient without writings. And pi'ovided further. That such ditch or flume shall be so constructed that the water from such ditch or flume shall not injure vested rights by flooding or otherwise. Sec. 12. When the right to mine is in any case separate from the ownership or right of occupancy to the surface, the owner or rightful occupant of the surface may demand satisfactory security from the miner, and if it be refused, may enjoin such miner from working until such security is given. The order for injunction shall fix the amount of the bond. RE-LOCATI(3N OF CLAIMS Sec. 13. If at any time the locator of any mining claim here- tofore or hereafter located, or his assigns, shall apprehend that his original certificate was defective, erroneous, or that the re- quirements of the law had not been Complied with before filing; or shall be desirous of chaneinof his surface boundaries; or of taking in any part of an overlapping claim which has been aban- doned ; or in case the original certificate was made prior to the 2^5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. passage of this law, and he shall be desirous of securing the bene- fits of this act, such locator or his assigns may file an addi- tional certificate, subject to the provisions of this act: Proindcd, That such relocation does not interfere with the existing riehts of others, at the time of such relocation ; and no such relocation, or t!:e record thereof, shall preclude the claimant or claimants from proving any such title or titles as he or they may have held under previous location. PROOF OF DEVELOPMENT. Sec. 14. The amount of work done, or improvements made during each year, shall be that prescribed by the laws of the United States. FORM OF AFFIDAVIT. Sec. 15. Within six months after any set time, or annual period herein allowed for the performance of labor or making improvements upon any lode claim, the person on whose behalf such outlay was made, or some person for him, shall make and "^co- 1 an affidavit in substance as follows : State of Colorado, ) - ss County of j Before me, the subscriber, personally appeared who, being duly sworn, saith that at least dollars' worth of work or im- provements were performed or made upon [here describe the claim or part of claim] situate in .mining district, county of State of Colorado. Such expenditure was made by or at the expense of. owners of said claim, for the purpose of said claim. [Jurat.] (Signature.) And such signature shall be prima facie evidence of the per- formance of such labor. WORKING OVER OLD CLAIMS. Sec. 16. The relocation of abandoned lode claims shall be by sinking a new discovery shaft and fixing new boundaries in the same manner as if it were the location of a new claim ; or the relocator may sink the original discovery shaft ten feet deeper than it was at the tim.e of abandonment, and erect new or adopt the old boundaries, renewing the posts if removed or destroyed. In either case a new location-stake shall be erected. In any RECORD FOR CLAIM. 32/ case, whether the whole or part of an abandoned claim is taken, the location certificate may state that the whole or any part of the new location is located as abandoned property. RECORD FOR CLAIM. Sec. 17. No location certificate shall claim more than one location, whether the location be made by one or several locators. And if it purport to claim more than one location, it shall be absolutely void, except as to the first location therein described. And if they are described together, so that it cannot be told which location is first described, the certificate shall be void as to all. Sec. 18. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. Sec. 19. This act shall be in force from and after June 15, 1874. Approved February 13, 1874. SUPPLEMENTARY ACT. ^ '^ Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of Colorado: JURISDICTION' OF AUTHORITIES. Sec. I. In all actions pending in any district court of this Territory, wherein the title or right of possession to any mining claim shall be in dispute, the said court, or the judge thereof, may, upon application of any of the parties to such suit, enter an order for the underground as well as the surface survey of such part of the property in dispute as may be necessary to a just determination of the question involved. Such order shall designate some competent surveyor, not related to any of the parties to such suit, or in anywise interested in the result of the same ; and upon the application of the party adverse to such application, the court may also appoint some competent surveyor, to be selected by such adverse applicant, whose duty it shall be to attend upon such survey, and observe the method of making the same; said second survey to be at the cost of the party asking therefor. It shall also be lawful in such order to specify the names of witnesses named by either party, not exceeding three on each side, to examine such property, who shall here- 338 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. upon be allowed to enter Into such property and examine the same ; said court, or the judge thereof, may also cause the re- moval of any rock, debris, or other obstacle in any of the drifts or shafts of said property, when such removal Is shown to be necessary to a just determination of the questions involved : Provided, howeve?^, That no such order shall be made for survey and Inspection, except in open court or In chambers, upon notice of application for such order of at least six days, and not then except by agreement of parties or upon the affidavit of two or more persons that such survey and inspection Is necessary to the just determination of the suit, which affidavits shall state the facts In such case, and wherein the necessity for survey exists ; nor shall such order be made unless it appears that the party asking therefor has been refused the privilege of survey and in- spection by the adverse party. WRITS RESTORING POSSESSION. Sec. 2. The said district courts of this State, or any judge thereof, sitting In chancery, shall have, in addition to the power already possessed, power to issue writs of Injunction for affirma- tive relief, having the force and effect of a writ of restitution, restoring any person or persons to the possession of any mining property from which he or they may have been ousted, by force and violence, or by fraud, or from which they are kept out of possession by threats, or whenever such possession was taken from him or them by entry of the adverse party on Sunday or a legal holiday, or while the party In possession was temporarily absent therefrom. The granting of such writ to extend only to the right of possession under the facts of the case in respect to the manner in which the possession was obtained, leaving the parties to their legal rights on all other questions as though no such writ had Issued. PENALTIES FOLLOWING UNLAWFUL ENTRY. Sec. 3. In all cases where two or more persons shall associate themselves together for the purpose of obtaining the possession of any lode, gulch or placer claim, then In the actual possession of another, by force and violence, or threats of violence, or by FORCE OF VIOLENCE. - ,o stealth, and shall proceed to carry out such purpose by making threats against the party or parties in possession, or who shall enter upon such lode or mining claim for the purpose aforesaid, or who shall enter upon or into any lode, gulch, placer claim, quartz-mill or other mining property, or not being upon such property, but within hearing of the same, shall make any threats, or make use of any language, signs or gestures, calculated to intimidate any person or persons at work on said property from continuing to work thereon or therein, or to intimidate others from engaging to work thereon or therein, every such person so offending shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not to exceed $250, and be imprisoned in the county jail not less than thirty days nor more than six months ; such fine to be discharged either by payment or by confinement in said jail until such fine is discharged at the rate of $2.50 per day. On trials under this section, proof of a common purpose of two or more persons to obtain possession of property, as aforesaid, or to intimidate laborers as above set forth, accompanied or followed by any of the acts above specified by any of them, shall be sufficient evi- dence to convict any one committing such acts, although the par- ties may not be associated together at the time of committing the same. FORCE OR VIOLENCE. Sec. 4. If any person or persons shall associate and agree to enter or attempt to enter by force of numbers, and the terror such numbers are calculated to inspire, or by force and violence, or by threats of violence against any person or persons in the actual possession of any lode, gulch or placer claim, and upon such entry or attempted entry, any person or persons shall be killed, said persons, and all and each of them so entering or attempting to enter, shall be deemed guilty of murder in the first degree, and punished accordingly. Upon the trial of such cases, any person or parties cognizant of such entry, or attempted entry, who shall be present, aiding, assisting, or in anywise encouraging such entry, or attempted entry, shall be deemed a principal in the commission of said offence. 240 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Sec. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Approved February 13, 1874. THE ACT OF 1877. An Act to provide for the Drainage of Mines, and to regulate the Liabilities of Miners, Mine- Owners and Mill-Men in certain cases, and to repeal all Territorial acts on the subject. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado : DRAINAGE. 1830. — Sec. I. Whenever contiguous or adjacent mines upon the same or upon separate lodes have a common ingress of water, or from subterraneous communication of the water have a common drainage, it shall be the duty of the owners, lessees or occupants of each mine so related to provide for their pro- portionate share of the drainage thereof. PENALTY FOR NON-COMPLIANCE. 1 83 1. — Sec. 2. Any parties so related failing to provide as aforesaid for the drainage of the mines owned or occupied b^jT them, thereby imposing an unjust burden upon neighboring mines, whether owned or occupied by them, shall pay respec- tively to those performing the work of drainage their proportion of the actual and necessary cost and expense of doing such drainage, to be recovered by an action in any court of competent jurisdiction. COMMON INTERESTS. 1832. — Sec. 3. It shall be lawful for all mining corporations or companies, and all individuals engaged in mining, who have thus a common interest in draining such mines, to unite for the purpose of effecting the same, under such common name and upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon ; and every such association having filed a certificate of incorporation, as provided by law, shall be deemed a corporation, with all the rights, incidents and liabilities of a body corporate, so far as the same may be applicable, SUBJECT TO ACTION. 1833. — Sec. 4. Failing to mutually agree, as indicated in the preceding section for drainage jointly, one or more of the said ACTION TO RECOVER— WATER RIGHTS. 34 j parties may undertake the work of drainage, after giving reasonr able notice ; and should the remaining parties then fail, neglect or refuse to unite in equitable arrangements for doing the work, or sharing the expense thereof, they shall be subject to an action therefor as already specified, to be enforced in any court of com- petent jurisdiction. ACTION TO RECOVER. 1834. — Sec. 5. When an action is commenced to recover the cost and expenses for draining a lode or mine, it shall be lawful for the plaintiff to apply to the court, if in session, or to the judge thereof in vacation, for an order to inspect and examine the lodes or mines claimed to have been drained by the plaintiff; or some one for him shall make affidavit that such inspection or examination is necessary for the proper preparation of the case for trial ; and the court or judge shall grant an order for the underground inspection and examination of the lode or mines described in the petition. Such order shall designate the number of persons, not exceeding three, besides the plaintiff or Ihis representative, to examine and inspect such lode and mines, srnd take the measurement thereof, relating to the amount of v^ater drained from the lode or mine, or the number of fathoms of ground mined and worked out of the lode or mines claimed to have been drained, the cost of such examination and inspection to be borne by the party applying therefor. The court or judge shall have power to cause the removal of any rock, debris, or other obstacles in any lode or vein, when such removal is shown to be necessary to a just determination of the question involved: Provided, That no such order for inspection and examination shall be made, except in open court or at chambers, upon notice of application for such order of at least three days, and not then except by agreement of parties, nor unless it appears that the^ plaintiff has been refused the privilege of making the inspection and examination by the defendant or defendants, or his or their agent. WATER RIGHTS. 1835. — Sec. 6. That hereafter, when any person or persons, or corporation, shall be engaged in mining or milling, and in the ^42 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. prosecution of such business shall hoist or raise water from mines or natural channels, and the same shall flow away from the premises of such persons or corporations, to any natural channel or gulch, the same shall be considered beyond the control of the party so hoisting or raising the same, and may be taken and used by other parties the same as that of natural water-courses. 1836. — Sec. 7. After any such water shall have been so raised, and the same shall have flown into any such natural channel, gulch or draw, the party so hoisting or raising the same shall only be liable for injury caused thereby, in the same manner as riparian owners along natural water-courses. EXPLANATORY. 1837. — Sec. 8. The provisions of this act shall not be construed to apply to incipient or undeveloped mines, but to those only which shall have been opened, and shall clearly derive a benefit from being drained. EVIDENCE. 1838. — Sec. 9. In trial of cases arising under this act the court shall admit evidence of the normal stand or position of the water while at rest in an idle mine, also the observed prevalence of a common water-level or a standing water-line in the same or separate lodes ; also the effect, if any, the elevating or depressing the water by natural or mechanical means in any given lode has upon elevating or depressing the water in the same, contiguous or separate lodes or mines ; also the effect which draining or ceasing to drain any given lode or mine had upon the water in the same, or contiguous or separate lodes or mines, and all other evidence which tends to prove the common ingress or subterraneous communication of water into the same lode or mine, or contiguous or separate lodes or mines. Approved March 16, 1877. TAXES Section 3, Article 10, of the Constitution of the State of Colorado, reads as follows : "All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects MINING LAWS OF NEW MEXICO. 343 within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and collected under general laws, which shall prescribe such regulations as shall secure a just valuation for taxation of all property, real and personal : Provided, That mines and mining claims bearing gold, silver, and other precious metals, (except the net proceeds and surface improvements thereof,) shall be exempt from taxation for the period of ten years from the date of the adoption of this constitution, and thereafter may be taxed as provided by law. Ditches, canals, and flumes owned and used by individuals or corporations for irrigating lands owned by such individuals or corporations, or the individual members thereof, shall not be separately taxed, so long as they shall be owned and used exclusively for such purpose." MINING LAWS OF NEW MEXICO. An Act to Regulate the Manner of Locating Mining Claims, and for Other Purposes. CONTENTS. Sec. I. Location — bounds to be marked; notice of name of locator ; make record in three months. Sec. 2. Record books must be provided. Sec. 3. Value of labor on mining claims defined. Sec. 4. Locations heretofore made, there being no adverse claims, may file claim within six months. Sec. 5. Ejectment in mining claims and real estate. Sec. 6. Repeals former acts. Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of New Mexico : Sec. I. That any person or persons desiring to locate a miningclaim upon a vein or lode of quartz or other rock in place — bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper or other valuable deposit, must distinctly mark the location on the ground so that its boundaries may be readily traced; and post in some con- spicuous place on such location, a notice in writing, stating thereon the name or names of the locator or locators, his or their intention to locate the mining claim, giving a description thereof by reference to such natural object or permanent monu- ,^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ment as will identify the claim ; and also within three months after posting such notice, cause to be recorded a copy thereof in the office of the recorder of the county in which the notice is posted ; and it is provided that no other record of such notice shall be necessary. Sec. 2. In order to carry out the intent of the preceding section, it is hereby made the duty of the probate judges of the several counties of this Territory, and they are hereby required to provide, at the expense of their respective counties, such book or books as maybe necessary and suitable in which to enter the record hereinbefore provided for. The fees for record- ino- such notices shall be ten cents for every one hundred words. Sec. 3. That in estimating the worth of labor required to be performed upon any mining claim, to hold the same by the laws of the United States, in the regulation of mines, the value of a day's labor is hereby fixed at the sum of four dollars : Pj'ovided, hoiuever, That in the sense of this statute, eight hours of labor actually performed upon the mining claim shall constitute a day's labor. Sec. 4. All locations heretofore made in good faith, to which there* shall be no adverse claims, the certificate of which locations have been or may be filed for record and recorded in the recorder's office of the county where the location is made, within six months after the passage of this act, are hereby confirmed and made valid. But where there may appear to be any such adverse claim, the said location shall be held to be the property of the person having the superior title or claim, according to the laws in force at the time of the making of the said locations. Sec. 5. An action of ejectment will lie for the recovery of the possession of a mining claim, as well as of any real estate, where the party suing has been wrongfully ousted from the possession thereof, and the possession wrongfully detained. Sec. 6. That " an act concerning mining claims," approved January i8th, 1865, and an act amendatory thereof, approved January 3d, 1866; also, an act entitled an act to amend certain acts concerning mining claims in the Territory of New Mexico, approved January ist, 1872; be and the same are hereby STATE AND TERRITORIAL LANDS. 245 repealed : Provided, That no locations completed or commenced under said acts shall be invalidated, or in anywise affected, by such repeal. Sec. 7. That this act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage. Approved January ii, 1876. CHAPTER V. State and Territorial Lands — Agricultural College, University, and School Lands — The Quantity, Prices, and Terms of Purchase — Other State Lands — Lands Granted to Benevolent Institutions — Desert and Swamp Lands — The Texas Land System — Railroad Lands. Emigrants to Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Nevada, or California, may find that some of the lands held by ihe State are more eligibly situated, or for one reason or another more desirable, than the government lands, while the prices are so moderate as not to be beyond their reach. What are these State lands ? They are : 1. The public school lands, which, in all the newer States and Territories, are two sections, the sixteenth and thirty-sixth, 1,280 acres in each township, which has been surveyed in these States and Territories. These are often very valuable lands. They are usually sold for from ^4 to ^6 per acre, payable with interest at seven, eight, or ten per cent., in ten annual instal- ments. By selecting those which have a stream flowing through them, or a spring, the purchaser may often become the owner of a very valuable property. The quantity of these lands is from 2,500,000 to 5,000,000 acres. 2. University and Agricjdtural College Lands or Scrip for thein. — Congress has granted a quantity of lands, usually about 46,000 acres, or the privilege of locating that quantity of land on any government lands, usually in the State or Territory, to each new State and Territory, for the founding and maintenance of a State or Territorial University. These lands are located by 346 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. State or Territorial officers, and do not always rate quite as high as the school lands, though they may be as valuable. They are sold at present, in most of the States and Territories, at from ^3 to ^6 per acre. The Agricultural College lands or scrip are granted only to the States, under the law of 1862. The grant is of 30,000 acres for each Senator and Representative in Congress when the grant is made ; the scrip issued for it having the privi- lege of location in any State or Territory where there are govern- ment lands unsold. This land scrip of the various States is often in the market, and is purchasable at various rates, from ^2 to ^5 per acre. There are also grants from Congress of lands for the building of State prisons, for insane hospitals, institutions for deaf mutes, blind and idiotic children, etc. Some of the States have also received from Congress grants of swamp and over- flowed lands, and of desert lands, which had been long in the market without selling. Some of these lands are of excellent quality, and with slight expense for drainage or irrigation will be very productive. There are also bounty land warrants capable of location on any government lands, the scrip for which was granted to soldiers of the war of 181 2, the Florida war, Mexican war, or the late civil war. These, which usually realized to the original owners but about fifty or sixty cents per acre, are now held at from ^3 to ^4.50 per acre, but, for some purposes, are well worth the money. In California, New Mexico, and Arizona there are lands yet held under Mexican titles, sometimes of great extent, but these are, for the most part, pasturage lands. There is always a liability to a conflict of titles in relation to these, and therefore they are less desirable than government lands in which the title is absolute and without a flaw on which to base a liti^ration. When the Republic of Texas was annexed to the United States and became the State of Texas, her public lands were not given up to the United States Government, as all the other public lands had been, but were retained by the State for the purposes of edu- cation, internal improvements, etc. From the proceeds of these lands the State has built several railroads, has laid the foundation for a very large school fund, and endowed a university, asylums, TEXAS LANDS— HOW SOLD. 347 etc. The school fund now amounts to ^3,500,000, and when the school lands are all sold will probably approach ^i8,ooo,(X)0. The Land Commissioner of the State oives the followine account of the three methods by which the public lands are furnished to settlers at prices below those of most of the other States and Territories. It should be understood, however, that not all of these lands are of the best quality : " Persons desirinof to secure homes in Texas can do so either (i) by settlement under the homestead donation law, (2) by locating a certificate, or (3) by purchase from the State of common school, university or asylum lands. " Under the first mode, every head of a family who has no other homestead can acquire title to 160 acres, and each single person of eighteen years of age can secure eighty acres, by settling on the same and occupying and improving it for three consecutive years. Application must be made to the surveyor of the county in which the party desires to settle. The fees for surveying and retCirning field notes to the general land office are from ^10 to ^15. After three years' occupancy, proof of which fact must be made, patent will issue to the settler or his vendor. Patent fee, $5. " Under the second mode, land certificates or warrants can be located upon any vacant and unappropriated public land. These certificates are of two characters, viz. : ' Straights ' and * alter- nates.' The * straights ' are those issued to early settlers as headrights or for service in the Texas revolution, and to some railroad and ditch companies, and are located without any reser- vation for public schools. These certificates are worth from fifteen cents to thirty-five cents per acre, according to quantity — the largest bringing the lowest figure. 'Alternates' are issued to railroads and other works of internal improvements, and require the survey of double the amount of land called for by the certificate. This is divided in two equal parts, one-half of which patents to the owner, and the remainder is reserved for common schools. These certificates can be bought for about ten cents per acre. " The State does not sell any certificates, and they can only be 2^8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. bought from the persons or corporations to whom they were issued. Under either of the above modes first-class land must not be expected in the older and settled counties, but must be sought in the west and northwest. " By the third mode, viz., purchase, choice homes may be secured. Within the settled and organized counties of the State there are about 12,800,000 acres of common school lands, 219,- 000 acres of university, and 407,615 acres of asylum lands. These are all for sale on ten years' time; the university and asylum lands to actual setders in tracts of 80 to 1 60 acres, at a minimum price of $1.50 per acre; the common school lands in tracts of 160 acres to three sections, or 1,920 acres, at a mini- mum of ^i per acre. These lands are among the finest in the State, and are to be found in almost every organized county. Application for purchase must be made to the county surveyor, in whose office will be found a map and general description of the lands of his county." We come next to railroad lands. The great enterprises which were proposed for opening highways from the Mississippi to the Pacific coast, and for encouraging the settlement of lands far ])eyond the frontiers, were too vast to be undertaken by private corporations without government aid in some shape. When, in the midst of our civil war, it became desirable to initiate a system of railways, which should connect the Mississippi valley with the Pacific coast, it was found necessary not only to grant lands along the line, alternate sections, to a width of ten miles on each side of the track or road-bed, but, as these lands could not be made readily available, the government loaned its credit, issuing bonds to the amount of ^^54,700,000, and taking bonds of the roads in return. On these bonds the United States gov- ernment has paid interest beyond what has been repaid, to the amount of more than ^26,000,000. Similar aid was subsequently granted in the way of bonds, though in smaller amounts, to the Kansas Pacific, the Western Pacific, and the Sioux City and Pacific Railroads to the amount of nearly ^10,000,000 more, and Interest to the amount of ^4,500,000 has been paid on these bonds by the government, so that these roads have been furnished with RAILROAD LAND- GRANTS. o^g bonds and interest by the United States to the amount of over ^96,000,000, besides the land-grants, which amounted on the Union and Central Pacific and their branches to about 9,018,000 acres. But the grants of land for aid in railroad construction were, by no means, confined to these roads which received bonds ; other roads projected because of the success of the first trans- continental railway, made their plans and surveys with termini on the Pacific coast, and demanded both land and bonds, and received the former, but not the latter. The Northern Pacific was the largest and boldest of these enterprises, and as deserving as any one of them. It proposed to extend its line from Duluth, on Lake Superior, to the mouth of the Columbia river, with several branches, its general course being between the 45th and 47th parallels. It has a land-grant of about 6,000,000 acres, in alternate sections, on both sides of its road-bed, and is now operating more than 800 miles of its road. In general, it may be said, that all the railroads in Minnesota, Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, Oregon, Wash- ington, and Idaho are land-grant railroads, either as branches of the great trunk roads, or by direct grant under their own cor- porate titles. , After the Union and Central Pacific and the Northern Pacific, the most important of these are the Chicago and Northwestern and its branches and leased roads, the Wabash and its connections, the Burlington and Missouri River, the Kansas Pacific, the Denver Pacific, the Atchison, TopeTca and Santa Fe, with its branches and extensions, the Denver and Rio Grande, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern, the Memphis and Little Rock, and the Little Rock and Fort Smith, the Texas Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Western Pacific, the Atlantic and Pacific, the St. Louis and San Francisco, the Oregon Central, and the Oregon and California, the Utah Central, Utah Southern, and the Utah and Northern. The Texas railroads are also land-grant railroads, but obtain their lands within that State from the State itself, and not from the National Government. These roads have, in all. oco <^UR WESTERN EMPIRE. not far from 35,000,000 acres already patented to them, and nearly as much more yet to come when surveyed and when their lines are completed. Each road has its schedule of prices, its plan of payment by instalments, and its rate of interest for its lands. The prices for the lands on the line of the same road vary according to their location, their distance from markets, the character of the land, and the length of the credit given. It is perhaps sufficient to say in regard to the States and Terri- tories east of the Rocky Mountains, except in Texas, that the railroads sell their lands at prices ranging from %2 or $2.50 to ^10 or ^12 per acre, according to the location, distance from markets and from neighbors, quality of soil, necessity of irriga- tion, and general productiveness. They usually have schedules of terms, according to the length of credit given on the lands; thus, at eleven years' credit, a first payment of from ten to twenty- five per cent., with interest in advance on the remainder, and interest annually in advance ; the second payment on the princi- pal being on the third or fourth year, and subsequently annual payments of principal and interest until the whole is paid up. Generally, in these long credits, the price per acre is about ten per cent, more than on shorter credits. A contract to give a deed is issued about the third year, but no warranty deed is given till the last payment has been made. They have also schedules for six years, for three years, or some of them for two^ and for cash ; in these, the price is ten per cent, lower than in the first, the interest is not paid till it has accrued, and there are other small discounts. Where cash is paid in full at the time of pur- chase, a discount of twenty-five per cent, is made by some roads and thirty-three and one-third per cent, by others. Timber lands are held at a higher price than prairie lands, varying, however, in different States and Territ iii^ wheat is a very certain crop, jvinia- wheat an exceed- ingly uncertain one. During the long and severe frosts, the roots of the winter wheat are frozen, or winter-killed, and in many instances it does not recover its vitality. Some winter wheat is sown in Minnesota, Northern Dakota, and more in Iowa, but it proves very nearly a failure, while the spring wheat yields from twenty-one to forty bushels, or even more, to the acre. WINTER IVnEAT, MAIZE AND SORGHUM. ^5r branches, and that they can be sent to Europe direct, and will ordinarily bring- largely remunerative prices there. Root crops of all kinds yield enormously over the whole of this region. The immigrant who wishes to preserve this abundant productiveness of his lands, should do two or three things which very many of the farmers there do not do ; he should plow deeply ; the soil is from five to ten feet, or even more, in depth, and will yield con- tinuous large crops, if the ground is plowed to a depth of from eighteen inches to two and a half feet, but this should be done in the fall, and with a thorough harrowing, in the spring the soil will be in fine condition for a crop. He should rotate his crops, not after the five years' plan adopted in England and on the continent, but, perhaps, one year of grain, one of root crops, and one of clover. Alfalfa, Hungarian grass or millet, thus allowing the constituents withdrawn from the soil to be replaced. He should also keep horses and mules for his work, oxen and cows, sheep and swine, and though it is a general matter of belief with the settlers on these new lands that they need no manuring, he will not find his crops at all diminished, if he uses upon his lands all the manure, liquid as well as solid, produced by his animals, and he can consume a part of his crops at home, and turn them into products which will pay him better than to sell them direct. If our immigrant prefers to raise winter wheat, Indian corn, sorghum (though the early varieties of the sorghum will do well almost to the Canada border, while the latter and larger varie- ties yield more bountifully in the central belt), he will find Southern Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Wyoming his best region east of the Rocky Mountains, and Northern and Central California, some districts of Nevada, Utah and Western Colorado, west of these mountains. Here, too, most of the root crops, and many special crops, such as the castor-oil bean, pearl millet, Egyptian rice corn, sweet potatoes, alfalfa, and Hungarian grass do well. Especially can we commend Kansas and Ne- braska and Eastern Colorado for the winter wheat and Indian corn crops, among the States and Territories east of the Rocky Mountains. But we must caution immigrants, even in these States, that they should not press forward beyond the line of ,66 <^^'^^' WESTERN EMPIRE. general advance in their settlement of these farming lands. That line is moving westward at about the rate of fifteen miles a year in Kansas and Nebraska, but it is not well for the immi- grant to go to the front at first, for these reasons : As we go westward from the Missouri river to the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, the amount of rainfall diminishes, and there is dan- ger of drought, which would be fatal to corn, though the wheat, ripening earlier, might not be so much affected by it. The rain- fall is increasing as the line of cultivation moves westward, because the spring rains are absorbed where the hard surface or crust has been broken ; but where the soil has been beaten solid for hundreds of years under the hoofs of millions of buffalo, all the rain which falls either runs off or is speedily evaporated. The deeply-plowed lands drink in the rain, and the vegetation which springs up gathers the moisture from dew and showers and suffers it to be more slowly evaporated and return in rain. We know, that taking one year with another, the rainfall which ten years ago, on these unbroken lands, west of the 9Sth meri- dian, was only 10.5 or 1 1 inches annually, has steadily increased, till in 1879 it was 17 or 17.5 inches. Even with this amount some of the crops would be the better for irrigation ; but with the prospect of an increasing rainfall each year the settler can bide his time. Two things can be said in regard to the danger from drought in this region of very moderate rainfall: first, that though the amount of rain is perhaps somewhat less than could be desired, it always falls just at the right time to help the crops, and is not so violent or copious as to uproot or injure them; second, in the valley of the Upper Arkansas, where much of this land is situated, there is a remarkable provision of nature to prevent injury to plants and grains ; the river and its branches, though fed in the spring by mountain torrents, never overfiows its banks, but its valley, which is alluvial, is underlaid at a depth of eight or ten feet by a close, solid clay, and the water spreads out and flows under the surface of this loam and above the clay, saturating the loam with moisture. The soil of this valley re- tains its moisture even when there is no rain for three months or more, and the crops do not suffer from drought. The valley DRY LANDS AND IRRIGATION. 367 of the Platte, in Nebraska, is somewhat similarly protected from drought. With the increasing rainfall that portion of these States east of the meridian of 99° west from Greenwich, is not now in any great danger from drought ; while the lands west of that meridian which are cultivated can generally, at moderate expense, be provided with irrigating canals. In Eastern Colo- rado the lands are still more elevated than in Kansas, ranging from 5,000 to 6,500 or 7,000 feet above the sea. Portions of this land are too high for corn crops to be raised with certainty, as the cool nights and somewhat early frosts may prevent its ripening ; but most of it will, when irrigated, yield most astonish- ing crops of corn, wheat, oats, and potatoes. The immigrant who does not come as a member of a colony, or under the direction of an emigration company, will hardly find it advisable to farm lands requiring irrigation unless he has a considerable capital to invest. The first cost of irrigating canals or ditches is considerable for a single individual, and can better be borne by a colony, where there are a considerable number to use the water thus obtained. Still, where a man has sufficient capital to take ilp a square mile (640 acres) of the so- called desert land, which can now be purchased by the payment of ^160 down and $640 more at the end of three years, construct his irrigating ditch, which may cost him from ^i.ocoto ^3,000, according to location, stock his farm and break up one-half of his land, which will cost him ^2,000 more, or ^2,500 with his cabin and corrals, he can rely with considerable certainty upon gathering crops from this 320 acres under cultivation before the expiration of the three years from the time of taking the land, of a net value of not less than ^25,000 on an outlay of not more than ^7,500 or ^8,000 at the outside, and he will have his land clear and his irrigating canals ready for further operations. Some farmers on these lands have done much better than this.'=' The advantage of irrigation is that the crop is always certain. If the * In Northern Colorado, California, and perhaps some of the other States and Territories, land and irrigation companies have been formed, often with English capital, which buy large tracts of land, construct irrigating canals, sometimes of fifty or sixty miles in length, and sell the land with the guaranty of water for irrigation at from J13 to ^15 per acre. Many purchasers have found this plan profitable. ^58 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. rainfall is greater than usual, less irrigation is required ; if it is less than usual, more water can be turned on, and these lands which, when watered, are the richest and most fertile in the West, respond with a great crop every year. Of course' irrigation does not entirely preclude the dangers from the insect pests, the Rocky Mountain locust or grasshop- per, and the Colorado beetle or potato bug; but it is a partial preventive to the ravages of both, and the farmers of those regions have learned how to prevent serious evils from their depredations, by early and deeper plowing, ditches, fire-pits, and the protection of the grouse or prairie hens from indiscriminate slauo-hter. The enterprising farmer will find farming greatly facilitated, when his land is once broken, by the use of agricultural machinery and improved methods of cultivation. We cannot urge upon him too strongly the necessity of deeper plowing than is generally practised, and thorough harrowing and cultivation. For these purposes, and especially on prairie lands, he will find it wise, if he can, to procure the best kind of gang-plows, and those which will turn the deepest furrows, the best harrows, cul- tivators and horse-hoes. And having procured good agricultural machines, he must take good care of them, not exposing them to the weather to rust and crack and fall to pieces when not in use. If the farmer keeps as much stock as he should, say for a farm. of 1 60 acres or tw-ice that quantity, a pair of stout, strong and serviceable horses, a pair of good mules, one or two yoke of oxen (better two than one), two or three good milch cows and half a dozen pigs, and cultivates ten or twenty acres in forage grasses, such as Alfalfa, Hungarian grass, millet or Egyptian rice-corn, he will, if he manages well, accumulate manures which will restore to the soil the elements which his wheat, barley, oats and corn have taken from it, and though his neighbors may laugh at him for doing so, his enormous crops will show that he is wise in putting his fertilizers on even prairie soils. But to return to the new agricultural machines: The ordains and root crops are sown so much better and so much more rapidly by the use of some of the drills or seed-sowers, and the AGRICULTURAL MACHINES NECESSARY. 360 farmer who uses them has so much more opportunity to diversify his crops, and make those accurate experiments in regard to improved seeding and the cultivation of new crops, as well as to employ profitably his teams in work for others, that they very soon pay for themselves. He must not, however, forget that his crops need careful cultivation, and that weeds grow in the West as well as in the East. His Indian corn, his sorohum and his root crops, as well as most special crops he may cultivate, will need, certainly two or three times in the season, careful cultiva- tion with the horse-hoe. His fruit trees and small fruits will yield much better for being carefully cared for, and the insect pests destroyed before they have had time to destroy the fruit or foliage of the trees. If he cultivates hops, pea-nuts, beans, broom- corn, tobacco, castor beans, sweet potatoes, flax, hemp, jute, or any other special crop, on a moderate scale, devoting a few acres to them, he will find that all, or nearly all, of these crops exhaust the soil and require, for success, the free use of the manures he has been accumulating ; and as rich soil is almost invariably a weedy soil, he will require for these crops a more earnest and constant conflict with weeds than with most others. Very early, in this middle belt of States and Territories, does the harvest commence. The hay crop is not so important here as in the East, and not so important as it will be a few years hence. If the farmer has any considerable crop of the small grains he must of course use the harvester in Catherine them — his own, if he can possibly afford to buy one ; if not, a hired machine. Threshing machines, with all the attachments for winnowing, assorting and sacking the grain, are very often owned by men who go from farm to farm, and thresh and sack the grain. The eye of the master should be on all these operations to avoid waste and carelessness, and to see to it that all the grain is gathered, threshed and delivered. In harvesting the corn and sorghum crops, the practice is very general, now, of gathering the ears of corn first and then cutting and stripping the stalks, the leaves being cured for fodder, and the stalks bound and sent immediately to the sugar mill, the heads of the sorghum and rice-corn being cut off after they are 270 <^^'-^ VVESl/iKX EMPIRE. buncllec!;" when the corn or sorghum seeds are just ripe and not too hard, the stalks yield the largest quantity of crystallizable sug^ar. The husking and shelling of the corn, both now performed by machinery, the digging of the potatoes, also effected by a machine, the gathering of the other root crops and fruit, make the farmer's life in these early autumn days a very busy one. No sooner is the ground freed from the crops of the season than the autumnal plowing, especially for winter grains, commences. In these regions more attention should be paid to a rotation of crops than is generally practised. It may not be feasible or desirable to attempt the five years' rotation which is recommended by the best English farmers — but root crops should succeed grain, and clover or the forage grasses the root crops, and even on the best soils, deep plowing, a moderate use of manures, or the occasional plowing in of a green crop will be found to yield ample returns in the crops which follow. It Is a fact which should be carefully considered by all intelli- gent farmers, that even on these new lands, each year of cultiva- tion of the cereals produces a smaller yield to the acre. Montana and Dakota now boast their thirty or thirty-five bushels of wheat to the acre, but Minnesota and Kansas, even with their larcre amount of new lands, do not average quite twenty-one bushels ; while Iowa and Missouri, with lands somewhat longer cultivated, cannot report more than from eleven to fifteen bushels ; and Arkansas, with her careless culture, produces an average of but six bushels. This falling off In the yield per acre of the wheat crop is equally marked in the States east of the Mississippi — Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Michigan is, at present, an exception, because her lands are newer. The reason of this rapidly diminishing yields is not mysterious or inexplicable. The soil of the prairies is only scratched to a depth of three or four inches ; there is no rotation of crops ; both the grain and the straw are removed from the soil ; except, * The seeds or heads of both the sorghum and the rice-corn, aside from their value for sow- ing the next season, are nearly or quite equal to corn as food for animals, either whole or ground, and are eagerly sought for by them. QUANTITY OF SEED TO THE ACRE. ^jrj that in some sections, the latter is burned, either to get rid of it or as fuel for the steam-threshers and other implements, and the alkalies and earths thus taken from the soil, and not returned to it in any way, impoverish it. The remedies are deep plowing, restoration to the soil of what the crops have taken from it, and a rotation of crops. The great Dalrymple farms of north- eastern Dakota, ten years hence under the present mode of culti- vation, will not yield ten bushels of wheat to the acre. There is no excuse for thus wasting the goodly heritage which the Almighty has bestowed upon us. On one other point there is need of improvement, viz.: in the quantity of grain sown to the acre. Under the old system of sowinof it broadcast, there was ereat waste ; two bushels or two and a-half of seed- wheat was regarded as the smallest amount which should be used in sowing an acre. The new method of drilling the wheat has materially reduced the quantity deemed necessary, but it is still too large In Minnesota and Kansas eighty to eighty-five pounds of seed, equal to forty or forty-thre^ quarts, per acre, is the usual allowance. Yet, there is no state- ment connected with agriculture, and especially with the cultiva- tion of the cereals, more capable of absolute mathematical demon- stration than this, that the quantity of seed now used is aboitt five times larger than is necessary. The seed, whether of wheat, barley, or oats, should be carefully selected, the finest and largest ears being culled, and those from seed which has shown the most disposition to tiller or expand, so as to produce the greatest number of stalks from one seed; and the ground being thoroughly harrowed and pulverized, the seed should be drilled In at the dis- tance of ten inches apart each way (twelve inches apart if they can be sown the last of August or the first of September) ; the amount of seed being dependent upon the date of sowing of the wint^'^r grains. The earlier the sowing, the smaller the amount of seed required ; the more perfect and extensive the tillering, the better the resistance to the winter's cold, and the earlier and larger the crop. This is no idle theory, but the result of twenty years' careful experiment by Major F. F. Hallett, of Manor Farm, Kemptown, England, one of the most successful wheat-growers ^72 O^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. of that country. By a careful selection, running through a long series of years, Major Hallett succeeded in producing and ex- hibited to the British Association from a single grain of the ordi- nary red wheat, plants which produced ninety-four stems, each crowned with its ear of wheat, and from a single ear of this wheat 124 grains, or a total production of over 10,000 grains from one.* This extraordinary result is not reached by any increase in the amount of manures (all wheat land is manured in England, and the ordinary crop is about thirty-four bushels to the acre), or by any new process of tillage, but by the careful selection of the best and most productive seed, now known bothjn England and this country as " Hallett's pedigree wheat," early sowing, and the sowing of the grains at a distance of twelve by twelve inches apart. By these means Major Hallett. sowing his wheat the last week in August, and sowing but five pints to the acre, was able to obtain a yield of seventy bushels to the acre, in extensive wheat fields, for a series of years. He states that for every week of delay after the middle of September there should be an addition of from three to four quarts of seed, but every week's delay increases the danger of winter-killing, diminishes the amount of tillering, and the probable quantity of the crop per acre. Wheat sown about the first of September comes up in seven days ; about the first of October, in fourteen days ; the first of November, in twenty-one days ; the first of December, not under twenty-eight days. These figures would be rather exceeded than diminished in the West. We recapitulate : the essentials to great success in the raising of cereals in the West are: deep plowing; the restoration to the soil of the elements taken from it, either by manuring, plowing in of green crops, or the turning up of a new stratum of soil ; rotation of crops ; in the cultivation of winter grains, a very careful selection of the best and most productive seed ; early sowing, not later than the first of September; and sowing by drill, each grain being ten or twelve inches distant from each other, to give *Tlii^ loult ot incicasiii;^ the production by tillering was not confined to wheat, for Major Hallett exhibited to the British Association at the same meeting a ])lant of barley from a single grain with no stems, and a plant of oats from a single grain with 87 stems. ADVANTAGES OF A LARGE YIELD. j^i It opportunity to tiller. The seed per acre thus sown should not exceed from six to eight quarts to the acre, and the yield should be more than double what it now is, and should not diminish from year to year. Some western farmers may say that it is of no use to increase the production of grain, for the market is often glutted, and the prices are not remunerative. The folly of such a position is easily demonstrated, for in the first place, the market is not glutted with the best quality of grain, it is only the poorer quali- ties which are salable only at low prices ; there may be a fluctua- tion in prices in different years, but the best grain is not raised at a loss in any year. In the next place, suppose that it is not desirable to increase the c^uantity of grain raised, is it not easier and every way better to raise 6,000 bushels from 100 acres, than the same quantity from 300 acres? If your farm consists of 320 acres, and you can raise 6,000 bushels of wheat from loo acres, can you not put the other 220 acres in oats, barley, Indian corn, sorghum, or root crops, and thus realize triple profits on your land ? Even if wheat is down to eighty-five cents a bushel, as it was two or three years ago, doesn't it pay better to realize ^51 an acre from it with the same labor than to realize only $17 ? Our cereal crops are so important to our national wealth and prosperity, that we have felt justified in devoting considerable space to the consideration of the methods by which their produc- tion per acre can be greatly increased, and we believe that our readers will appreciate our labors in this direction. Let us now turn to the immigrant farmer who has decided to try farming in the milder and more tropical southern belt of States and Territories. He seeks a home in Arkansas, Western Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, or Southern California, If he comes from Europe he finds a climate and crops to which he has hitherto been wholly unaccustomed. This is also true of immigrants from Illinois or the Ohio valley, in our own country; but a large proportion of the American immigrants into Arkansas, Texas, etc., are from the Southern Atlantic and Gulf States, where the climate, crops, etc., do not essentially differ from those of Texas and the States and Territories adjacent. The farmer 2^4 OUR WESTER X EMPIRE. who migrates to this res^ion can have a much wider choice of crops than the northern farmer ; whether he can or will find his labor better remunerated remains to be proved. Arkansas, Texas, and Southern CaHfornia are the three sections in this region in one of which the farmer will be most likely to settle, for Louisiana is not sufficiently healthy for settlers from a north- ern climate, and Arizona and New Mexico, as well as Northwest Texas, have too litde rain-fall to be attractive to farmers gen- erally. It is not indispensable if an emigrant settles in Arkansas or Texas, that he should devote himself exclusively to the culture of cotton, or indeed that he should grow it at all. Much less should he reason that because rice and cane-sugar are produced there he must necessarily cultivate those crops. These States have lands adapted to a great variety of crops, and when all the circumstances are taken into account, perhaps one crop is as profitable as another. If the emigrant selects his farm in any of the coast counties, he will find the land some- what high priced, but he can raise sea-island or long staple cotton, and if he cultivates his crop skilfully he ought to make at least A bale to the acre of this valuable product ; or he can grow rice dr sugar cane, though for the latter he will require a large capital for his sugar works. The middling, or short staple cotton, can be grown here, though not so profitably as fifty or sixty miles north, as the land is too valuable ; nor is this land well adapted to wheat, but all the subtropical fruits as well as most of those of more temperate climates, and most of the root crops can be cultivated with great profit from the early date at which they ripen. Two crops of sweet or Irish potatoes can be raised in the long season, and the first will be at least six weeks earlier than in the vicinity of St. Louis. Strawberries, raspberries, peaches, grapes, plums, as well as bananas, olives, figs, oranges, lemons, guavas and all market garden vegetables grow luxuriantly, and are all from six to eio^ht weeks earlier than in the North. The trade in these articles of produce, between the coast counties of Texas and St. Louis and Chicago, is large and constantK' increasine. CROPS IN' TEXAS. 375 If the emigrant prefers a farm seventy or eighty miles back from the coast, he is in Eastern Texas in the *' timber country," where he can engage If he chooses In the lumber business with a good opportunity to make money; and the land here is fair for cotton, excellent for corn, and yields moderate crops of wheat. In Central Texas, at this distance from the coast he will find the best cotton lands In the State, and If he will give his undivided attention to his crop he can raise two bales of cotton to the acre ; but he must not let the weeds overrun it, nor the worms destroy it.'-' The easy-going planters around him will not set him a good example in these respects. Their shallow plowing without manure, their scant and slovenly cultivation, and careless picking, yields from half to three-fifths of a bale to the acre, and with an Indolence born, or at least nurtured by the protracted heat of the long season, they are content with this result ; and it Is no more than fair to say that our energetic immigrant, after a fewyears' experience of the enervating Inlluencc of the climate, will very possibly fall into the same careless ways, A hundred miles or more north from the Gulf coast, in North- eastern and Central Texas, is a good region for the cultivation of the cereals, Indian corn grows well and yields fairly every- where In Texas, except in the arid lands in the northwest of the State ; but the lands of which we are now speaking yield good crops of wheat, oats, barley and millet as well as corn, Texas is not, however, one of the great cereal-producing States. Her wheat crop Is not more than sufficient in ordinary years for the consumption of her own people. A moderate amount of flour and wheat (2,212 barrels of the former and 4,614 bushels of the latter in 1879) are exported, but the importation of wheat is more than twenty times, and of flour about twelve times as much. There is no good and sufficient reason why, in these more elevated lands, where the heat is not so enervating, the quantity of all the cereals annually produced should not be ten or twenty * A Mr. S. C. White, of Jasper, Texas, claims to have discovered and have practised for seven- teen years a method by which his growing cotton is rendered perfectly luorm-proof, and offers all an opportunity of testing his process. The discovery, if it proves to be one, will be invaluable for the cotton crop. 2 -5 ^^'^"^ IVES TERN EMPIRE. times what it is ; corn is a crop so admirably adapted to these lands, and the demand for it at New Orleans on the one side, and throughout Arizona on the other, as well as the large home market, should make this a favorite crop with the immigrants. The production of wheat, barley and oats also might easily be increased almost indefinitely. Good corn land is also good land for sorghum, and bo-h can be planted in February, and if two crops are not produced from the same fields in a year, as they might be, of the earlier varie- ties, it is entirely practicable to have the sorghum pkinted at different times, so as to have the juice extracted from tiie stalks and boiled down into syrup in those months when other labor is not driving. Another very important consideration in favor of this mode of cultivation is that the leaves and seeds make an excellent fodder for milch cows, as well as other cattle, when the heat of summer has dried the grasses. The millets yield a large amount of forage and almost as much sugar as the sorghum. Root crops also yield largely in this region of Texas, and there is the great advantage that the best qualities of Irish potatoes as well as sweet potatoes can be ripened so early as to be put in the Northern markets full six weeks earlier than those grown in Illinois or Iowa, and so bring a better price. It is claimed, and we presume correctly, that of both kinds of potatoes two crops can be raised on the same land every year. Of other miscel- laneous products named in the consideration of the productions of the central belt, all can be produced with equal advantage here by proper care and good farming, and the crops will be largely remunerative. But Texas lands, especially after several years' cropping, and mere scratching the surface with a light plow, will not yield large crops without deep plowing and thorough, not lavish, manuring. It may as well be said here as anywhere that, except in the cotton and grain region of Central Texas, the soil though fair is not of the first class, and will very soon run down without careful cultivation and a moderate use of fertil- izers. Fortunately, some of the best of these, after farm-yard manures, plaster of Paris, some of the marls, and alkaline earths, salt, etc.. are easily accessible in the neighborhood of most of PROSPECTS IN ARKANSAS. ^yy the farms, while guano, fish guano, and the natural and artificial phosphates can be purchased at a moderate price. The soil does not leach, and fertilizers are retained for a considerable time, so that often the second crop after their application is better than the first. The other portions of the State, as well as part of South- western Texas, are better adapted to grazing than to cultivation ; still, much of these could be cultivated and would yield large crops if they were irrigated ; most of the region of Northwestern Texas is capable of successful irrigation, either from the Pecos or the Rio Grande or their affluents, or where these cannot supply water, by artesian wells, and thus irrigated, It would prove the most pro- ductive land in the State. But irrigation costs money, and, while the State has so much unimproved land of moderate fertility for sale at such low prices, it is not probable that the lands which require irrigation will be taken up except in rare instances. Arkansas has little or no land adapted to rice or cane sugar crops ; but her cotton lands in the Mississippi, Red, Arkansas, and White river bottoms, and her corn lands on the higher levels, are very productive. Arkansas is awakening from the lethargy which has so long bound her, and though she has as yet but few immigrants, industrious and enterprising men would find her lands on many accounts desirable. Race and slavery antipathies are dying out; the new school laws are being put in operation with great success ; the lands are rich and cheap, and markets generally accessible. The days of careless and slovenly tillage of the soil are fast passing away. Twenty thousand enterpris- ing, clear-headed, and skilful farmers, intelligent and upright in character, could almost revolutionize the State and make it a region which would be as desirable a home for immigrants as any other of the Western States. ' But the twenty thousand should come in groups of considerable size, and plant villages or setdements, which may become models to rouse a spirit of emulation on the part of those already there. The farming lands of Arizona mosdy lie along the Gila and its tributaries, though there are some good lands farther north which are irrieated. The Rio Colorado and its affluents, the Colorado --S OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Chiquito, Flax river, and in the northeast the San Juan, run through canons so deep as to drain very effectually the moisture from the mesas or table lands. Still, irrigation is possible on many of these lands, and would make them very productive, while the occasional protracted storms, might by cultivation, be made to give place to a larger and more equally distributed rain- fall. The mineral wealth of Arizona will call a population thither sufficient to make irrigation practicable, and then as in former ao-es. this region will show its thriving farms, its beautiful vil- lages, and its populous cities. In the central part of the terri- tory, not far from Prescott, the Maricopis Indians raise large crops of wheat of such excellence that it commands the highest price in San Francisco, in competition with the best California wheat. Southern California is the garden of the State. Vast crops of wheat and barley are grown here, and the vineyards, olive- yards, and plantations of pomegranates, almonds, Madeira nuts, etc., give the country an almost tropical appearance. Cotton does not succeed so well as other crops here on account of the long dry season. The climate is delightful, and is regarded as particularly bene- ficial to those suffering from pulmonary diseases if they come before the disease has progressed too far. Although much of the land is taken up in very extensive ranches, there are still, especially along the route of the Southern Pacific Railway, many desirable farming lands, both of the government and the railway grants. ''WHAT A THOUSAND DOLLARS CAN DO." 37Q CHAPTER VII. Western Farming Continued — What Capital is Necessary for a Comfort- able Beginning on a New Farm at the West — A Larger Amount Needed in some States or Terriiories ihan in others— Advice to those who ARE unable /\T first "CO BUY AND StOCK A FaRM — INCIDENTS OF FaRM-LiFE — Renting Land unadvisacle — Great Farm^ ot.jectionable — The Home- stead and other Exemptions in the different States. In a former chapter we have referred briefly to the amount of capital needed for successful farming ; but we cannot too strongly impress upon die mind of the immigrant, the necessity of a mod- erate capital, if he proposes to own and develop a farm at once. it is possible for an immigrant to bring his family, unless it is a very large one, and most of his children too young to work effectively, to any of the newer districts of Dakota, Montana, Nebraska and perhaps Kansas and Minnesota, or to Washing- ton Territory or Oregon, if after reaching his destination he has ^1,000, but he can only do this by securing his land under the Homestead or Timber-Culture Acts, or pre-empting it, or buying on long credit of a railroad company, emigration company or school lands of the State, which are usually sold payable in ten annual instalments. Even then it will in all probability be a very severe struggle for him for the first four or five years, especially if there should be any bad years, from a long and severe winter, a very late spring, drought, grasshoppers or other insect plagues. In Texas or Arkansas he may do better as the land is cheaper, but the cheap lands are generally less productive, and a large part of Texas suffers from occasional droughts. The following statement of "what can be done with $i,ooo by an Industrious, energetic farmer in the Arkansas Valley in Kan- sas," Is put forth by the Land Department of the Atchison, To- peka and Santa Fe Railway. It is nearer the truth than any statement we have seen published by any railroad or emigration company, but It Is rather highly colored, nevertheless. This was published. in the autumn of 1879, and there may be, even In so short a time, some changes In the prices. It should be said also 2 go 067? WESTERN EMPIRE. that these lands are not more fertile than other lands in Kansas and elsewhere, and are occasionally subject to drought. The programme as there laid down, if the emigrant has but the ^i,ooo, requires incessant and very severe labor, and the margin, which leaves nothing for furniture, is much too meagre for the support of a family for fifteen months or more, and will require some other sources of income or the incurring of indebtedness. But here is the statement: *' First payment on 1 60 acres of railroad land, on six years' time, a-t the rate of $4.80 per acre, will be $1 72.80 ; house of two rooms and small kitchen, $250; team and harness, $180; breaking- plough, ^22 ; harrow, ^10; cow, 5^30 ; interest payment on land one year from purchase, ^44.80 ; total, ^^709. 60 — leaving a bal- ance of *^29c).40 for seed and support of family until crop can be raised. Nearly every family coming to Kansas to make a home have more or less furniture, farming implements, etc., which they can rarely sell to advantage. By inquiring of our nearest agent, they can ascertain the cost of chartering a car to destination, or rate per 100 pounds, and if the amount they will sacrifice on the sale of their goods is greater than the cost of transporting it to their new home, they can readily see It will pay to bring these things along, and they will find them very useful, if money with which to lay in a new supply is scarce. " The cost of starting on a new farm in a new country of course depends largely on the size of the family, and the economy, energy and perseverance of the farmer, but no man with a family should come to the Arkansas valley with less than $1,000 to start with. For a man of limited means, it is most advisable to come in the early spring, say in February or March. A week or two will get his house up, and his fam.ily settled, and then he is ready for business. No time is wasted in clearing the land of stumps and stones ; it lies all ready for the plow, entirely free from either, and the farmer commences at once turning over the sod. In a few weeks enough sod will be broken to enable him to put in a fair crop of barley, rye or broom corn ; the latter does well on sod, and is one of the best paying crops in the State. Enough vegetables can be raised for family use the first year. "WHAT A THOUSAND DOLLARS CAN DOr 38 1 A few hogs and chickens kept through the summer will, when added to the spring crops and vegetables, carry an industrious and economical family through to the following spring. If ready cash is scarce the first year, work can generally be had for a team in the neighborhood, and by this means a hard-working man can earn a little now and then, to carry him along while making his own improvements, until his first crop has matured, "After the spring crops have been put in the ground, enough new ground can be broken during the summer, which, when added to that already in spring crops, will enable him to put in at least fifty acres of fall wheat. He will not be able to buy a grain drill of his own the first year, but he can secure the use of one from a neighboring farmer, and pay for its use by a day or two's work with his team. In harvesting his wheat, in June following, the same course will have to be pursued as in drilling, i. e., by ex- changing labor. This wheat crop, when harvested and marketed, gives him the ready money with which to meet current expenses, make necessary additions to his stock of implements, improve- ments on his farm, and provide enough for the next payment on his land. " This makes two crops raised from the same land within fifteen months from the time of his commencement on his new farm. The quick returns that can be secured in so short a time, is what makes it possible for men with limited means, but with industri- ous habits, to secure a farm and home of their own. "After harvesting his first crop of wheat, the farmer begins to realize the reward of his toil. Each year adds to the number of acres cultivated, and to the productiveness of the farm, and the occupant is usually able, by the third year, to pay up on his land and take a deed. By this time, by dint of hard work, frugality and some self-denial, he has made himself a comfort- able home, all his own, and nearly all paid for from the products of his farm, which will in a few years become valuable in conse- quence of the rapid growth of the country — yet it was secured, and a start made on it, including cost of house, stock, imple- ments, etc., with a capital of less than ^i,ooo. If the farmer is a man of taste, he will at the end of five years have his farm all ^g2 CiYv' WESTKRX EMPIRE. surrounded and divided by a beautiful Osage orange hedge fence, and groves of forest trees, fruit-bearing orchards, small fruits of all kinds, and flowers and ornamental shade trees will surround his home. All these improvements, that in the East- ern States would have required a heavy outlay of money and many years of time, are here secured in a very short time at a nominal cost. "The new setder is not obliged to spend any money in fencing his farm. The herd-law protects his fields, and he can devote all his time to the breaking of sod and growing of crops. Fences can be grown with Osage orange that will turn stock in four years, and costing only the farmer's own labor in caring fgr them. "If the settler can find on the alternate sections of the lands along the railroad, any desirable lands as yet unsold, he can pre- empt 1 60 acres for very small fees, to be paid for at the end of thirty-three months, for $2.50 per acre, the sum of $400 and some fees to the amount of $20 or $25, or he can take up 80 acres in Homestead and 80 more under the Timber-Culture Act; the fees for botli being about $30 or ^36, but he will not obtain a clear title under from five to eight years. By securing his land by one of these methods his payments will at first not exceed ^30 or $36, and so he will have from $136 to $142 more for the support of his family, making his entire sum $425 to $431 for their support for fifteen or oftener twenty months, aside from what vegetables and other produce he can raise in that time. From this small sum must be deducted what he has to pay fqr furniture or the freig^ht of it if he has brouQ;ht it with him, and also probably for pigs and poultry, though a part of this can come out of the item of interest payment on land one year from purchase, $44.80." We think it might be possible for an energetic, industrious farmer, who is a good manager, to live with his family, and plow, sow, and stock his farm on $1,000, till he can realize from his crops, if he pre-empts his land, or secures it under the Home- stead or Timber-Culture Act; but buying railroad land, even on six years' time, it w^ould be impossible, unless he had other "WHAT A THOUSAND DOLLARS CANNOT DO." 383 sources of income, or overworked himself and his team. The item of "$250 for house of two rooms and small kitchen," might be diminished by living in a sod-house or a dug-out, but this is not pleasant. With an additional $500 many of the difficulties would be avoided. Care and economy would still be necessary, and there w^ould be many privations and inconveniences to be endured, but if he is not visited by drought, grasshoppers, or other insect or animal pests, and neither the cattle disease, nor cyclones, nor prairie fires visit him during the first three years after his immigration, he may, at the end of that time, have a good farm all his ovvn, and wathin two years more be so situated as to enjoy life, though only on condition of hard and steady labor. The disasters to which we have alluded, though sufficiently distressing at any time, are peculiarly severe and ruinous when they fall upon a farmer who is just looking forward to harvest- ing his first full crop. In a few days, perhaps in a few hours, his crops of grain and of vegetables are swept away and not a vestige of them left; or under the blaze of a summer's sun, un- tempered by clouds or rain, his arid fields have failed to yield a harvest ; or the insect and rodent tribes, banded together for the destruction ot his crops, have destroyed alike what is above and what is under the surface ; or more terrible still, the prairie fire rushes irresistibly over cabin, hay-ricks, and stacks of grain, scarce permitting himself and family to escape, scorched and blistered, from their burning home; or, once more, the swift moving storm plowing through the young and thriving village, involves scores or hundreds in a common disaster ; houses, barns, churches, forest trees, the growing grain or the gathered crops, are alike torn and scattered to the four winds of heaven, and it is much, if many lives, but an hour before joyous and full of hope and activity, are not also destroyed. Disasters by flood are infrequent in the West, though they sometimes occur along the upper affluents of the Mississippi and the tributaries of the Missouri. Yet, while these disasters visit the western settler only at ,34 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. irregular and sometimes distant intervals, and cannot always be guarded against by any known precaution, their possibility is to be taken into the account, as a drawback upon what might otherwise be a perilous prosperity, and as the farmer attains a better position, he will do well to seek, if he can, to become the owner of a second farm (not falling into the error of trying to hold too much land) differently located, and, if possible, adapted to a different kind of culture. If his first is a grain farm, his second may be devoted to root crops, or sorghum, or forage grasses, or to some of the specialties already noticed ; if the first is on a prairie or in a valley, the second may be on a hill-side, in the timber, or at least by the banks of a stream, or he may gradually work into the rearing of cattle or sheep, or horses or mules. The cyclone or the prairie fire may spare one if the other is swept as with the besom of destruction ; or if the grass- hopper or locust, the weevil or the cutworm, the caterpillar, or the gopher and mole destroy his grain or root crops on one farm, there may be something left on the other. The young man with but little capital, but with no one dependent upon him, can, of course, commence farming with a small sum, but he will find his account, after purchasing or securing his land, and breaking it up and sowing his crop, in hiring out to some farmer in the vicinity, and working his way up to competence, in five or six years. At the end of that time he may be the owner of a good farm and farm-buildings, mainly the result of his own labor during those years. To those possessing somewhat larger means, say ^4,000 or ^5,000, a better plan is to buy a partially improved farm, from some of those settlers who are constantly disposed to obey the policeman's injunction, and " move on." In many instances these settlers have either pre-empted their lands, secured them under the Homestead Act, or bought of the railroad companies, and in either case, have become embarrassed from some cause, and unable to make the desired payments, and so they are disposed to sell out, and moving to the extreme frontier try again. Some of this class have thus moved on, by successive stages, horn Eastern Iowa or Missouri to the frontier of Kansas, Nebraska. BUYING AN IMPROVED FARM. jgj Dakota, or even into Montana, Wyoming, or Utah. If their land is a homestead claim, it is worth only the improvements, as they have no title, and leaving it before the five years are up, the fee simple reverts to the United States government, and can be entered anew, either as a homestead, or by pre-emption, or pur- chase at government price. If pre-empted by the original settler there is probably a sum due to perfect the title. The purchaser should see to it that there are no liens on the property for taxes or judgments, but that his title is perfectly free from cloud. Gen- erally, a purchase of this kind can be made for considerably less than it has cost, at the ordinary price of labor. The cabin and other buildings will probably be poor or indifferent, and there may be no fences, or very imperfect ones, but this is not of much consequence, as the herd law, in most of the States and Terri- tories, protects the setders' crops, and better buildings are not expensive ; but, on the other hand, a considerable pordon of the land has been broken by the plow and harrowed, and has yielded one, two, or three crops, and there may be a growing crop on it at the time. The first crop, with the superficial plowing so gen- erally practised, is generally the best one, but the purchaser can, and will if he is wise, put in his plow for his next crop " beam deep," and turn up fresh and virgin soil for a more plentiful harvest. A farm of i6o acres, conveniently situated, and near a railroad or navigable river, may be purchased in this way with clear tide, cabin, sheds for stock, eighty acres under cultivation, and with perhaps a growing crop, the necessary live-stock, wagons, harness (the latter a little the worse for wear), and plows, hoes, rakes, and other agricultural implements, though hardly much agricul- tural machinery, in Dakota, Western Nebraska, Western Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, or Montana, or in Oregon or Washington Territory for $800 or «^ 1,000. In Minnesota, Missouri, Eastern Nebraska, or Eastern Kansas, or in California, and probably in Texas, it would cost about twice as much, but the buildings and fences would be better. There are two courses, either of which the man who has a family and has but little more than money enough to take him -25 286 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. and them to their destination may choose; for without the ;^i,oooor $1,500 lie cannot buy a farm, nor support his family on it while vvaitinij for his first or second crop, even if the land were given him outright. He may rent a farm with a cabin and the land broken, agree- ing to give half the first full crop for the rent the first year, and %\ to $1.50 per acre thereafter, but he must still have money to buy his furniture, agricultural implements, and necessary live- stock, and to support his family till his first crop comes in. This will require at least $450, and that amount is more than he proba- bly has. Or he can hire out his own services to some larQ-e farmer, and those of such members of his family as are able to w^ork, and secur- ing a homestead claim, erect his humble cabin, and after four or five years of hard work, he may succeed in getting his farm clear of debt, but not well stocked, nor very well cultivated. The pri- vations he and his family must undergo before he reaches this point, and indeed for two or three years after, will be very painful and severe, but in the end, perhaps, they will feel paid for their sacrifices. Hard as this life is, for so long a time, it is much better than renting a farm, and yet very many are to be found who are anxious to rent lands. Indeed, so much are farms in demand for rent, that as we have noticed elsewhere, Englishmen of fixed incomes, retired army or navy officers, clergymen, and retired civil officers have come to this country in very con- siderable numbers, purchased railroad and other new lands, hired them broken with tlie plow, erected cheap cabins, and rented them, deriving '^ much better interest for their money from the rental, than tJiey could realize in England. In many instances these foreign purchasers become the possessors of large tracts of land, and iluis lay the foundation for a landed aristocracy in the future. Renting farms is not a good practice in our Western Empire. It is not wise for those who hire the farms, and it will in the end prove injurious to the owners if they settle in the vicinity of their lands. The policy of our government and of our RENTING FARMS UNWISE. ^S? institutions is to have the land held in small parcels, not more than 1 60 acres, by as many holders as possible, one requisite being that these landholders shall be citizens of the United States or have declared their intention to become such. One result of these settlements with small farms is the speedy establishment of schools, churches, newspapers, and all the appliances of an intelligent, high and pure civilization. The rented lands, especially with absentee landlords, contribute nothing to this. The farmer who rents his farm of a wealthy land- lord is not, except in States where a poll-tax is exacted, a tax-payer, and has no special interest in the promotion of schools or general intelligence; the building up of a village, and the improvement of the moral character of the community, and its subordination to law, are matters which do not concern him. His only object is to get as much from his farm as possible, and spend as little on it as is consistent with that object ; for renting as practised in the West tends to demoralize a man and to bring out his greed, selfishness and meanness, and indeed all his worst traits. We have already referred briefly to the evils attendant on farming on a large scale; but we cannot speak too strongly in reprobation of it in its effect on the future welfare of those portions of the West where it prevails. California has suffered the most from these overgrown farms or ranches, and Texas and Colorado have also been materially hindered in their growth by them, and now Western Minnesota, Northern Dakota and Montana, are in danger of injury from the same tendency to own vast tracts of farming lands. The Northern Pacific Railway, after its disaster of 1873, disposed of its lands already patented to it at $2 to $2.50 per acre and received its preferred stock and its bonds at par in pa) -"lent. As these were for a time held at very low prices, sev'. al men of large weal '1 \v^o knew the value of these lands too.c the opportunity of procuring large tracts, paying for them in bonds and stock, and thus secured immense properties at fron^i twenty to twenty-five cents per acre. These lands have been generally sown in wheat and other easily cultivated crops, and 25,000 to 35,000 acres in wheat has been a not unusual crop on ^88 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. some of these great farms, and some of the wheat-fields of Southern California have been very nearly as large. This brings in a large revenue to the proprietors, ^200,000 or ^300,000 annually for the present, but the objections to it are these: 1. The soil is not properly tilled; the plowing is of the shal- lowest, merely scratching the ground ; the same crop is sown on each field year after year, and the yield per acre diminishes every year. The grain is all sent away, the straw and refuse burned in large heaps. Nothing is left to feed the soil or re- place what is taken from it. 2. There are no villages, no schools, no trade built up, noth- ing to encourage, and everything to discourage permanent set- tlement. The proprietor chooses to cultivate his own land, and desires no neighboring small landholders. 3. This mode of cultivation encourages tramps and wandering farm laborers, and discourages families and homes Each divi- sion of the great farm has its superintendent, who has his head- quarters during the farming season in his division, with excellent stables for his numerous horses and sheds for the agricultural machinery. There are rude temporary cabins whore the travel- ling laborers sleep at night well packed together, and a large cabin where the cookincj is done for the entire di^'ision. The men who come from all quarters are hired by the day or week, and dismissed as soon as their work is done. The superintend- ent and foremen are in the saddle all day through the plowing, harrowinor sowing^ and harvesting: and threshinor, overseeino- their workmen and dismissing them at once if they are not thor- oughly efficient. When the work is completed, the men are sent off without a word, and their future welfare is not a matter of consideration with any of the employers, who do not even know the names of their men. 4. These vast farms, often comprising two, three, or four townships, are utterly opposed to the genius of our institutions, and prevent that healthy growth of population, manufactures, mechanism, and the industrial progress which has made our country what it is. Even the machinery, the horses, the pro- visions are purchased in large distant cities. Small farms with HOMESTEAD PROVISIONS. ,3g flourishing villages close at hand, a thrifty trade, manufactures struggling into existence, and the hearty feeling of good-will on the part of all the inhabitants of the neighborhood, the desire "to live and let live," furnish a much better basis for a new and enterprising State, than these overgrown estates in which are developed the worst features of large proprietorship, without any of its redeemino^ traits. Most of the States and Territories have homestead exemption laws which protect the struggling and impecunious young farmer from the danger of attachment of his farm, or house, or house- hold goods, by summary process. Some of the States have probably gone too far in these exemption laws, and have opened the way for cunning and unprincipled men to defraud their cred- itors easily; but, as a general rule, these laws are not abused. It is a question with many wise political economists whether it w^ould not be better to abolish all stay laws, and all laws for the collection of debts, and make credits depend solely upon the character of the purchaser. Were this rule tried, we think there mig^ht be some men who would find it difficult to obtain much credit. We give the Homestead Exemption law of Minnesota as a fair average of these laws throughout the West. Kansas, Ne- braska, and Dakota exempt 1 60 acres instead of eighty, while Iowa exempts but forty; Arizona, California, Idaho, and Texas exempt homestead or dwelling to an amount not exceeding ^5,000, and furniture, books, tools, live-stock to a limited amount besides. Other States and Territories vary in amount from ^1,000 to ^2,500 or ^3,000 on the homestead, with other ex- emptions. The following are the provisions of the Minnesota law : "That a homestead consisting of any quantity of land, not ex- ceeding eighty acres, and the dwelling-house thereon and its appurtenances, to be selected by the owner thereof, and not included in any incorporated town, city, or village, or instead thereof, at the option of the owner, a quantity of land not exceed- ing in amount one lot, being within an incorporated town, city, or village, and the dwelling-house thereon and its appurtenances, -.^.^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. owned and occupied by any resident of this State, shall not be subject to attachment, levy, or sale, upon any execution or any other process issuing- out of any court within this State. This section shall be deemed and construed to exempt such home- stead in the manner aforesaid during the time it shall be occu- pied by the widow or minor child or children of any deceased person who was, when living, entitled to the benefits of this act." The same law provides, in addition, that furniture shall be exempt to the amount of $500; animals, with food, and farming utensils, $300; provisions, tools, the books or instruments of pro- fessional men, etc., ^400. CHAPTER VIII. The Immigrant as a Cattle-ereeder and Stock-raiser — Methods of Stock- breeding IN Different States and Territories — The Texas Cattle ranche — The Ranche in California, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana — Cattle-breeding in New Mexico. Utah, Arizona — In Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho — Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas as Cattle-breeding Stai es — Lands best Adapted TO this Pursuit — Different Methods Advisable in Different Sections — Scenes in a Cattle-ranche — " The Bulls of Trinity " — The Cow-boys OR Herders: their Care of their Herds — Their isolated, half-savage Life — Rounding up — Branding — The Capital Necessary ior Success — How a Poor Man can acquire a Cattle-ranche in Time — Statistics of the Cost of a moderately large Ranche. Our immigrant, like the sons of Jacob, has " had his trade or occupation about cattle from his youth until now," and he desires m migrating to this Western Empire to continue in the business with which he is familiar ; or he has heard wonderful tales of the great success and wealth gained in cattle-farming, and he believes that a similar success is within his reach, if he follows the busi- ness. This latter view of the case is one more likely to be enter- tained by one who emigrates from one of our Eastern States than by a European, for our Yankee is a universal genius and believes himself capable of doing anything and everything which any man has ever done — and generally^it must be acknowledged, CATTLE-BREEDING IN TEXAS. -.^^ he is successful in what he undertakes — while the European im- migrant generally prefers to follow the particular line of busi- ness to which he has been trained. How, or under what circunistanccs, can the immigrant 20 into the business of stock-raisinof as it is conducted here, witli a fair prospect of success? There are several other questions to be answered before we can reply definitely to this. These ques- tions are: 1. Where does he propose to establish his cattle fa.rm ? 2, What amount of capital has he ? 3. Has he any per- sonal acquaintance with the busyness ? 4. Is he informed as to the methods used in stock-raising? 5. Is he qualified to take the management of a large cattle-ranche owned by a joint-stock company a.nd conduct it successfully? A cattle-ranche or cattle-farm in Texas is one thine ; one in Colorado, or Montana, or Wyoming is quite another. If our immigrant proposes to start a cattle-farm in Texas, he will require less capital than for such an enterprise farther north ; for his cattle will cost less money, he need not buy much land, certainly not at the beginning, his buildings can be fewer and less costly, he has no occasion for barns or shelter corrals, his herders or cow-boys will be mainly Mexicans, and their wages will be lower, and aside from the expense of rounding up and branding his cattle, with a herder for each 1,000 or 1,500 head, they will take care of themselves, and he need not see them oftener than once a year. To counterbalance these advantages, however, the general run of Texas stock is decidedly inferior in quality ; they are long- horned, not of large size, very wild, and do not take on flesh readily. They cost less when two or three years old, and when ready for market bring a lower price, both alive and as beef carcasses. The cattle froni Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and particularly from Montana, are larger, of better breeds, not wild, fat readily and will bring much higher price both alive and as dressed beef. They require somewhat more care, and a more intelligent class of herders, and should have some preparation made for shelter and for fodder during the wintry weather, but do not always get it. The cost of rearing steers, in the large way, in Texas is only ^02 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. about forty to fifty cents per head per annum ; in the central and northern tiers of States and Territories, it rany a Mr. C, formerly of Geneva, N. Y., as reported by Mr. W. H. Coleman in the Christian Union, of May 19, 1880. "In March, 1876, Mr. G. H. Wadsworth took up under the Homestead and Timber-Culture Acts 320 acres of government land, situated eleven miles south of the Arkansas river, in Pawnee county, and the same distance from Lamed, the county-seaL The first improvement on the land was the building of a stable, consisting of six posts covered with straw, sided up with rough lumber, with sod wall on the outside. This house was used by the men breaking prairie and opening up the farm, during the summer. In August of the same year, Mr. Wadsworth moved his family to his farm. In October, he brought his flock, 2,085 head in all, and turned on the range. Before winter set in Mr. Wadsworth had built two sheep-sheds, each one hundred and twenty-eight feet long by twenty-nine feet wide, one running east and west, cornering with the other running north and south, forming two sides of a square pointing to the northwest and open to the southeast. A light portable fence running around ^14 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the Open sides of this square completed the corral. A stable was also built, measuring fourteen by thirty-two feet, and con- nectine with the south end of the shed running north and south. At the same time a well was dug, thirty feet deep, and a wind- mill put up, with a capacity for raising water for 10,000 sheep. In 1877, Mr. Wadsworth built his present residence at a cost of about ^1,500; and in 1879, a granary large enough to hold 2,500 bushels of wheat, with shed for farming implements and two buggies, twenty-four by thirty-two feet, at a cost of $100. The roof was thatched with broom-corn, and fastened with wire. There are no fences on the farm except the portable one around the corral, the herd law being in force in the county. On the right are two sheds, one hundred and twenty-eight by twenty- nine feet each, which cost, including corral, $525, the lumber used costing ^30 per thousand feet. On the south, and connect- ine with the shed runnincf north and south, is the stable, fourteen by thirty-two feet, which cost ^20. Next south is the sod shanty, the first home, which cost $75. Farther south is the granary and tool-shed already mentioned, while back of this is the new home. The wind-mill cost $50 ; the well underneath, ^20. Near the wind-mill is a reservoir made of two-inch plank, five by six- teen, and three feet deep, supplying four troughs, each sixteen feet long and one foot wide ; ample to water 4,000 sheep ; cost ^35. Near the well are appliances for dipping. The boiler is . eighteen inches deep, thirty inches wide, and eight feet long, with plank sides and galvanized iron bottom, in a clay and partly excavated furnace; the smoke-stack is ten-inch stove-pipe — total cost, %']. The dipping-vat is built of two-inch pine, and is six- teen inches wide, five feet deep, and twelve feet long at the top. The end farthest from the dripping-platform is perpendicular, but the end nearest the platform slopes from the upper edge inward, for six feet, or to the middle of the vat, forming at once the end and the bottom of one-half of it. On this slope are nailed cross-slats, to give the sheep a foothold to walk out. It leads to the dripping-platform, an ascending inclined plane, six- teen feet long by ten feet wide, divided by a fence supporting a cut-gate at the lower end, and at the upper end a gate for each MR. WADSWORTH'S SHEEP-RANCHE. ^jr division. The floor is made of matched stuff, with half-inch strips covering the joints. Over these, and crossways, are nailed inch strips, to give the sheep a foothold. The half-inch strips make the floor water-tight, make a clear run-way under the cross-slats for the drip, and guide it back to the vat. When one division of the platform is filled with drying sheep, the cut-gate is swung so as to shut them in and open the lower end of the other division. When this is nearly filled, the upper gate of the first division is opened, and the sheep are driven out by way of the descending platform, making room to gather in a fresh let from the vat while those in the other division are dripping. These steps are repeated until all are dipped, thereby economiz- ino- time and fluid. " The portable corral fence is so arranged that the pen from which the sheep are taken to the vat holds only loo sheep at a time, and connects by a gate with a larger pen capable of hold- ing i,ooo. The liquor used for dipping is made of tobacco, fifty pounds, sulphur two pounds, and arsenic one pound, for each lOO sheep ; cost, $2.30. The liquor is prepared the day previous to dipping, when the large reservoir from the well is brought into use. The liquor is boiled and run off into this reservoir. On dipping-day the liquor is run back into the boiler, again heated, and gradually fed into the vat as needed — since it is much more effective when used warm. Cost of vat, ^10.50, dip- ping-platform, |,6, and boiler, ^7 ; cost of apparatus complete, ^23.50, with which four men can dip 3,000 sheep in one day. The sub-ranche is six miles from the farm — its improvements consisting of shepherds' sod house, ^50 ; well, wind-mill, and watering-troughs, ^100; with sheds and corral for 2,000 sheep, $400; total, $550. Mr. Wadsworth furnishes the following statement of receipts and expenditures for the three years he has been engaged in the sheep business on his present farm : COST OF RANCHE. Shepherds' house ^75 00 Sheds and corral 525 00 Windmill, well, and watering-troughs ... 105 00 4i6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Dipping-vats, boiler, etc ^23 50 Incidentals 50 00 Total $778 50 The land on which the ranchc is located was homesteaded, and cost the usual government fees. Operations commenced Octo- ber I, 1876, with 1,000 ewes, 1,062 wethers and lambs, and 23 bucks — 2,085 head in all. Receipts and expenses for the year ending October i, 1877: EXPENSES. Two shepherds .... $600 00 Shearing 150 00 Dipping 85 00 Grain . 210 00 Hay 200 00 23 sheep, died 57 5° 15 sheep, killed by wolves and dogs 37 50 RECEIPTS. Wool sold ■ $i)95o 00 Ewes sold ij250 00 Wethers and bucks sold . . 225 5° Total ;^i,34o 00 For year ending October i, 1878: EXPENSES. Total ^3*425 50 Two shepherds .... $600 00 Grain 175 00 Hay 140 00 Shearing 150 00 Dipping 85 CO 14 sheep, died 35 00 13 sheep, killed by wolves and dogs 32 50 RECEIPTS. Wool sold $2,150 00 Ewes sold i>375 00 Wethers and bucks sold . . 762 50 Total $1,217 50 For year ending October i, 1879 EXPENSES. Two shepherds . . . Grain Hay Shearing, dipping, etc. . 16 sheep, died . . . . Total ^$4,287 50 $600 00 I 20 00 125 00 300 00 40 00 Total ^r,i8s 00 RECEIPTS. Wool sold $1,800 00 Ewes and wethers . . . 1,750 00 Total $3,550 00 A COLORADO SHERP FARM. .^j For these three years the total expenses are ^3,742.50, total receipts, ^i 1,263, leaving a net cash profit of ^7,420.50 on orig- inal investment of ^4,948.50. The original flock was worth ^2 each, or ^4,170 in all. From this he has graded up a flock of 2,200, all young and in fine condition, valued at ^3 each, or $6,600 in all. This gives an additional profit of 5^2,430. The entire original stock of ewes and wethers has been disposed of by the ordinary sales, so that only young and well-graded sheep now remain. Mr. Wadsworth combines general farming with sheep-raising. In addition to the 320 acres secured from the government, he has bought 480 more, at a cost of $1,400. In 1877, he had twenty acres in wheat, yielding 400 bushels; in 1878, he had 130 acres in wheat, yielding 3,000 bushels; in 1879, he had 75 acres in wheat, yielding 858 bushels. And now he has growing seventy-five acres of wheat and forty acres of rye. The wheat has pastured the sheep every winter, much to the benefit of both. The items of hay and grain in the statements of expenses were not bought, but raised on the farm, and the charge against the sheep account is placed to the credit of the former account. Millet, rye, and wheat straw, with corn sown thick, cut green and cured, are used as the principal winter feed, about one ton of fodder being required for every 100 sheep. Mr, Coleman's narrative of the Colorado sheep-ranche is as follows : In the fall of 1 874, G., a young man of consumptive tendencies, after several years of office work in Geneva, N. Y., and elsewhere, found his health steadily failing, and was led to spend the winter in Colorado. He rapidly improved during his stay there, and by spring had decided to remain and engage in sheep-farming. He entered eighty acres under the homestead law, in El Paso county, about twenty- five miles from Colorado Springs, and stocked it with 1,250 long-wooled Mexican sheep, at $2 delivered, and twenty-five Merino bucks from the east at $25 each. He was industrious and a good manager, and now, at the end of five 27 4l8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. years, he has eighteen ranches,* 6,000 sheep, and occupies 100 square miles of land. The slender, delicate young man has grown rugged and robust, and weighs 184 pounds. From letters and conversations I propose to briefly outline the character of a Colorado sheep-farm. A ranche or ranch is a definite term for a spring of water and some rude buildings, and an indefinite amount of grazing land. These springs are found at various points on the plains, mostly in ravines, and several miles apart, and the owner is entitled, by mutual consent of the farmers, to graze the land on either side halfway to the next spring. It is an object therefore to buy as many springs and as little land as possible. In securing new ranches, G. would enter them in his herdsmen's names, and then buy of them at a low figure. The spring is literally the main- spring of sheep-farming, as the land is valueless without water, and wells have been sunk 600 and 800 feet without obtaininof water. There is neither dew nor rain except for a brief time in^ spring. The water is carefully used, being pumped into reser- voirs, and the sheep watered from troughs. The native grass is thin and wiry, and grows in bunches six or eicht inches hieh. Once eaten off it does not renew itself in the same season. The sheep are pastured all the year round, and hay is fed only when the grass is buried in snow. The range needed for each sheep is five acres, as frequent shifting is neces- sary. The buildings are a pitch-pine cabin for the ranchmen, and a corral or sheep-pen, 100 by 150 feet square, and enclosed by a tight board-fence six feet high. It has no roof, as experience shows that sheep in covered pens are often smothered by snow- drifts. When exposed to a storm the sheep pack together and keep warm. After the pasturage at one ranche is exhausted the furniture of the cabin, the pump, and the troughs are carried to the ranche that is next used. The ranchmen are often intelligent Eastern men, who have *In most of the Western States and Territories the ranche or ranch is the name ajiplied to the entire sheep or cattle-farm, and these sections of it, to which the sheep are moved for new pasture, are called sub-ranches, or, as in Australia, statiojis. THE SHEPHERD'S MONOTONOUS LIFE. a\(\ come to Colorado for their health. They get about %20 per month and board. Two usually occupy the same cabin for com- pany, and each man is to take care of about 2,000 sheep. They do most of their cooking- at night, after the day's work is over, so as to start out at sunrise, and be with the sheep during the day. Contrary to the common idea, they do not ride, but o-o afoot, and seldom use dogs — if the owner knows it. Their pro- visions are brought to them at regular intervals, and are chiefly canned fruits and flour. They get their meat from the flock. So great is the consumption of baking-powder (which is a costly article) that G. finally bought it by the barrel, and issued regular (diluted) rations. The work of the herdmen is monotonous. The sheep are to be driven and watched by day, and watered and corraled at night, and that is about all there is to it, most of the time. Sundays are the same as other days, and the ranchman soon forgets the days of the week. At night he plays cards, or, if he has books and papers, which is rare, he reads. G. takes pains to save papers and distribute them in rotation to his men. Dur- ing storms the sheep are held in the corral for several days, but are then driven out, even if the storm has not abated, and from the wind-swept spots they get a bite. Every day they are counted in a rough way, by counting up all the black sheep, whose num- ber is known, and once a week they are separately counted by passing them through a narrow passage into the corral. By the use of a swing-gate the sheep can be diverted to either part of the corral, when it is desired to separate any grade or class of sheep. There is a steady leakage in a large flock, and when counted they are always three or four short. The lambing time is arranged to come in May, to avoid the rains of March and April. The percentage of loss is usually small in a well-managed herd. Two years ago 2,225 ewes raised 2,006 lambs. One hundred and thirty-eight were dropped in one day, and in ten days 1,100. Up to January 13. 1878, only two sheep and three lambs were lost out of 4,700. But the following winter was very severe, and the lambing of 1879 was reduced to an average of fifty to fifty-five per cent. G.'s was sixty- eight per ^20 ^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. cent., and he lost 175 laml3S. The clip of wool was also reduced. When 1,000 sheep and 1,000 lambs are turned into the corral there is a tremendous bleating until the lambs and their mothers get together. A long, narrow pen, with divisions holding one sheep each, is used for the sheep without lambs. A motherless lamb is given to each one, and they are kept together until the lamb is owned — usually two days. The bottom boards of the pen are nailed on the outside of the posts, so that the lambs can slip under when in dancrer of beinor lain on. The lambs are weaned the first of October, and taken to another ranche. Shearing is usually done in June, but G. waits till July, both to gain in weight of fleece (a sheep sometimes gains a pound of wool-weight in a hot week), and to get help at a lower figure than he could when everybody was shearing. The work is don<; by Mexicans, who come north for the purpose. They get five cents per sheep, and shear fifty to one hundred per day, using shears with very long blades. The sheep are not washed. A Mexican sheep shears thirty cents' w^orth of wool, a grade sheep one dollar's worth. G.'s shearing is done by twelve men in two weeks. As fast as the fleeces are delivered to the tyer the shearer receives a ticket, and at the close of the shearing two or three men are usually found to hold all the tickets. The Mexi- cans are ereat ^amblers, and contrive to lose their earnino-s before they are in hand. Each fleece is put in a box with four strings, and tied, then put in large sacks holding 500 or 600 pounds each. These are drawn to market by a "bull team;" either three wagons fastened together and drawn by twelve yoke of oxen, or one wagon drawn by seven yoke. G.'s clip of 1878 was 18,000 pounds, which cost two cents by rail to Boston, and netted there twenty cents per pound. It can, however, be sold to good advantage at Colorado Springs, and the clip of 1879, 20,000 pounds, G. "pooled" with a neighbor who had 30,000 pounds, and by careful watching of the market, with weekly tele- grams from an Eastern wool-house, the lot was sold for twenty- four and a-half, when others were getting twenty and twenty-two cents. El Paso county wool is rated two or three cents higher than other wools, but the cold weather of the previous winter reduced the clip an average of one pound per head. SUCCESS OF THE COLORADO SHEEP-FARM. .^j Diseases do not trouble sheep as at the East. Foot-rot dis- appears, the dimate is so dry. Scab is cured by a strono- tobacco wash, made in a vat through which the sheep are driven, and up an incline plane, which saves the drip. Ticks are killed by it also. The losses in sheep-farming are caused by insufficient shelter, poor feeding and nursing, and the inroads of rattlesnakes and wolves. A summary of G.'s investment is as follows: 1,250 ewes bought in iS 75 at ^2 , ^2,500 00 Merino rams 1,000 00 3,500 00 Five years' sale of wool ;^i2,5oo 00 1,000 old Mexicans and others sold 2,500 00 15,000 00 Value of present herd 15,000 00 He raised 2,000 lambs in 1879, ^""^ ^'^^ have 2,500 ewes in 1880. He proposes when his flock of 6,000 is increased to 10,000, to send the surplus lambs in the fall to Western Kansas, where corn is cheapest, feed till spring, and ship to Chicago, where diey will bring $4.50 per head ; $2.50 will cover expenses. But the Leadville excitement is opening a home market, which may change this plan. A neighbor sold 775 wethers for $3,100 ($4 each), hay and grain being scarce this winter, and G. was offered the same price for 500 three-year olds, but declined it. We have already (in Part I.) given an account of those great sheep-farms where the flocks number 30,000, 50,000 or even 80,000 head, and the profits are reckoned by tens of thousands of dollars annually. The men who own these great properties must have begun, or would now find it necessary to begin, with from $1 5,000 to $50,000 or more, of capital ; and many who have come to the West from Europe v/ith more than the latter sum have, after two or three years' experiments with sheep-farming, been sold out by the sheriff, and in some instances have been obliged to seek employment as shepherds, perhaps on the same ranche where they had once been proprietors. The counties of El Paso, Pueblo, Huerfano, Fremont, Las Animas and Bent, in Colorado, have many stories to tell of these young men who 422 <^<^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. played the Grand Seignior on so large a scale, and would come into Colorado Springs or Pueblo, driving their four-in-hands and spending several days at a time in reckless dissipation. Neglect- ing their business, they were constantly fleeced by sharpers, till their capital was all expended, and they were often too far down in the scale of social demoralization, to retrace their steps and regain their lost manhood. No man can succeed either in stock- raising, sheep-farming or general agriculture, who does not give his whole thoughts and attention to his business. There are duties which must be performed by subordinates, but unless the eye of the master is constantly over them, and he understands when they perform their duties properly, and exercises proper discipline and authority, besides performing his own special duties, there will be neglect and heavy losses. One of the class of wealthy proprietors in Colorado, and one of the best of them, for he did, to some extent, superintend his sheep-farm, had directed, in the autumn of 1877, sheds to be built for the protec- tion of his sheep from the severe snow storms which once in eight or ten years visit that region, and also ordered the gather- ing of a quantity of wild hay for them. But his orders were dis- regarded, and in March, 1878, his flock, or at least a section of it, of over 1,000 sheep, were caught, and they, and the Mexican shepherd who tended them, followed each other over the brink of a deep gulch, and fell over into the gulch and were lost. Late in the spring the melting of the snow uncovered, in that Big Corral Gulch, the bodies of a thousand sheep or more, and among them, amid evidences of his struggle to save his sheep, lay also the body of the faithful Mexican shepherd. It was not in Palestine alone that it could be said, " the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep." There can be no question, that to the wool-grower whose only object is to realize a fortune speedily in sheep-farming, New- Mexico offers the greatest inducements. The climate is pleasant, though dry ; there is not much agreeable society, and very little enterprise among the inhabitants, it is true, the old Spanish forms and formalities and the iron yoke of Jesuitism oppress and Impoverish the people, but emigrants from other lands and SHEEP-FARMING IN NEW MEXICO. 423 from the Eastern States are cordially received, and both the mining and stock-raising interests are being developed with con- siderable rapidity. The present Chief-Justice of the Territory, Hon. L. Bradford Prince, says that " sheep-raising is the most important industry in the Territory ; the region for sheep-farms extends from the headwaters of the Canadian river in the ex- treme east to the San Juan country in the far northwest. The sheep of New Mexico are already counted by the million, but there is abundant room for new enterprises both as to number and quality. To commence the business properly requires a capital of ^5,000, which will buy 2,000 sheep and provide for all necessary expenses until a regular income is derived from the flock. No business can be safer, surer or more healthful ; but, like all others, it requires work and attention ; and if any one thinks that sheep-raising is to be conducted profitably by living in town and having flocks roaming the prairies under irresponsi- ble herdsmen, without personal attention, he had better remain at the East." The native sheep of New Mexico is a descendant of the Span- ish Merinos, brought there 340 years ago, and has degenerated from its early type, but when bred with pure improved Spanish Merino bucks it is capable of becoming in the third or fourth generation a most valuable sheep for wool, and the wool product is there much more valuable than the mutton product. The flock doubles every year under good management; it is said to be capable of demonstration that sheep can be well kept, through- out the year, at a cost not exceeding fifteen cents the head, and that the yield of wool, beginning with two pounds for each ewe and two and a half for each wether, can be increased in five years by careful breeding to five and six pounds per head, and the quality of the wool so much improved that it will bring from twenty to twenty-eight cents per pound. In other Territo- ries and States it is said, that the Mexican ewe, especially the im- proved ewe, which is the product of a cross with other and larger breeds, seldom or never bears twins ; but in New Mexico twin lambs are so common that their number fully makes up for any losses in the flock, and it is an underestimate to reckon the ^24 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. annual increase of the flock at one hundred per cent, of the ewes. As the mutton Is of no particular account in New Mexico, the whole profit turning upon the wool, the young wethers at two years old are exchanged, after shearing, for more ewes to increase the stock of wool-producers. A sheep-farmer, in three years' time, beginning with a flock of 5,000 ewes and 100 bucks, will have 18,000 sheep and lambs, and will shear from 40,000 to 50,000 pounds of wool, and in five years he will shear 40,000 sheep and obtain 120,000 pounds of wool or more. In New Mexico, while the rainfall is scanty, the snow and rain on the mountains fill the streams, and the facilities for irrigation and for preserving the water in reservoirs are generally good. Sheep thrive better in a dry than in a wet country, and they require water but once a day, and this they can have without difficulty. Artesian wells generally succeed well on the plains in this Terri- tory. There are no diseases here to which sheep are liable, and the few destroyed by wild animals are the principal losses. The corrals are usually of adobe or sun-dried bricks, and can easily be made, where they are not already, proof against wild animals. Neither the jaguar nor the grizzly bear are found in New Mexico, and the cougar or panther and gray wolf are not abundant. The brown or cinnamon and the black bear seldom attack sheep when in care of a shepherd, and never in a corral, and the coyotes are too cowardly to attack any except the sick, lame, or wounded. No provision for sheep in the winter is necessary in New Mexico. There are no heavy snows there, except high up in the mountains, and the floods which sometimes pour down such torrents of water into the Rio Grande and its tributaries, are either skilfully turned into the reservoirs for irrigation, or are drank up by the thirsty sands of the river beds. The railways which already traverse, or will soon cross the Territory in different directions, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and its branches, the Denver and Rio Grande, the St. Louis and San Francisco, and perhaps also the Atlantic and Pacific, or a branch of the Texas Pacific, will make New Mexico convenient of access, and enable her to send her products to market on favorable terms. SHEEP-FARMING IN CALIFORNIA. ^25 California is favorably situated for sheep-farming, especially Southern California, but the higher price of her lands, and the fact that so large a portion of them are arable, renders the busi- ness somewhat less profitable than in New Mexico, thouo-h she has a better market for wool in San Francisco, and more encour- agement to grade her flocks up to the best quality of both felt- ing and combing-wools, and higher inducements to raise sheep for mutton, as well as for wool. The California flocks number nearly 8,000,000 sheep, and include some of the best breeds to be found on this continent both for wool and mutton. In South- ern California the flocks are driven to the hills in the summer and return when the autumnal rains have started the new grass on the foot-hills and on the plains. Alfalfa, Hungarian grass, and the millets are raised largely for forage for the best breeds of sheep, and their use tends to produce the uniformly fine fibre so characteristic of the best grades of California wool. The sheep-farming of Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, as well as that of Dakota and Minnesota, difl'ers from that of the States and Territories farther south mainly in the necessity for more ample provision for shelter and fodder for winter, and the greater length of the winter season. The flocks in most of these States and Territories (Oregon only excepted) are seldom very large ; the aggregate sheep of the other five States and Territories probably aggregating not much over 2,000,000, while Oregon alone has about 1,500,000. Eventually [7robably Washington, Montana, Dakota, and perhaps Idaho will be found to be well adapted to the raising of fine wooled sheep. Utah, also, is a good sheep country, though there is in some parts of the Territory a lack of water. Wyoming is better adapted to catde than sheep, and Nevada will probably raise a larger proportion of cattle than sheep, though perhaps not very large numbers of either. To recapitulate : we believe for the sheep-farmer who has but a very moderate capital, say not more than ^2,500 or ^3,000, New Mexico offers the best opportunity, and Kansas and Ne- braska the next best ; for those with somewhat larger capital, from $5,000 to $15,000, Colorado, Southern California or Texas, ^26 C»^'-^'' WESTERN EMPIRE. if they wish to avoid buildingr shelters and gathering fodder. Oregon, Montana, Dakota, and perhaps Utah, if they are not averse to these precautions. Those having a larger amount of capital can do well in Texas, better, perhaps, in California, and still better in Colorado or New Mexico ; while, if they choose to make the provision for wintering their sheep, Wyoming, Mon- tana or Dakota afford excellent opportunities for conducting sheep-ranches of the largest kind and with excellent profits. For mutton sheep and lambs, which will, at the same time, yield large fleeces of combing- wools, the succulent pastures of Mon- tana and Dakota afford the best feeding grounds, and they also furnish orasses which make the fibre of the Merino wool long, even and fme. We give here a few brief descriptions of the different breeds of sheep most popular throughout the West, for which we are indebted to the late Hon. Alfred Gray, Secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture. The Merino is a fine white-wool sheep, of a dark, greasy appearance, medium size, snug build, body shortish, round and thick, good quarters, legs short, stout and woolly, ears short, cheeks and forehead to the eyes thickly covered with wool, skin wrinkled or in folds, weight loo to i8o pounds, fleece twelve to twenty-nine pounds, wool two to three inches long. The rams * have curled and convoluted horns. It is classed as a wool sheep. Histoiy. — The Merino originated in Spain, in the first century. It is a cross between the Tarantine, of Southern Italy, and the best native sheep of Spain, and was introduced into the United States in 1800. In Spain, this breed was driven from the south northward every spring, 400 miles, and back in the fall ; each journey was made in six weeks. The name. Merino, is a modi- fied form of the name of the special officer in charge of this highly valued breed. The Southdown is a whitish, coarse, short-wool, hornless sheep, medium size, fine form, well-balanced proportions, hind- quarters square and full, thighs massive, breast broad, fore- quarters well developed, legs short and trim, face and legs dark- brown or black and without wool. Yearlings yield seventy-five BREEDS OF SHEEP. .27 to eighty pounds, dressed weight. Average weight of fleece about six pounds. Its wool makes flannel and soft goods. It is classed as a mutton sheep. History. — 1 he Southdown is an English breed, developed by carefully inbreeding common sheep inhabiting the hilly portions of Southern England from its earliest history. The improve- ment began about one hundred years ago. The name of the breed is taken from the low chalk hills or downs of Southern England, where it was developed. The Hampsiiiredown is a whitish, coarse, medium-wool, horn- less sheep, good size, much resembling the Southdown, but larger, and with longer and coarser wool. Yearlings weigh eighty to a hundred pounds, and yield a fleece of six to seven pounds. It is a mutton sheep. History. — The Hampshiredown originated in England about seventy years ago, in a cross between a pure Southdown and a white-faced horned sheep of that district, from the " downs " of which section it derives its name. The Leicester is a white, medium, coarse, long-wool sheep, of large size, square and angular build, long, slender, clean head and ears. Eyes and facial bones about the eyes prominent, hind-quarters tapering toward the tail, legs good length, slender and clean. Yearlings dress loo pounds and at two years 150 pounds. Full grown have reached 380 pounds, live weight. Average weight of fleece seven to eight pounds. It is a mutton sheep. History. — This breed was developed in England over 100 years ago by a Mr. Bakewell, from the common sheep of Leicestershire, from which district it derives its name. The method of breeding was kept secret. They were introduced into the United States by General Washington. The Lincoln is a white, coarse, long-wool, hornless sheep, surpassing all other breeds in weight of body and length of wool. It has dressed ninety-six and a quarter pounds to the quarter. Two year-olds dress i 20 to 160 pounds, and yield a fleece of ten to fourteen pounds washed wool, measuring nine inches and over in length — used for worsteds. It is a mutton sheep. ^2$ O^^ WE STERN EMPIRE. History. — The Lincoln originated in England less than loo years ago, as a cross between a Leicester and a common breed now extinct, but then inhabiting the low, alluvial and rich herbaged flats of Lincolnshire, from which it takes its name and where it best flourishes. The Cotswold is a white, coarse, long-wool, hornless sheep, large size, long bodied, broadening from shoulders to rump, head well tapered from ears to nose, finely proportioned, and covered to between the eyes with a thick forelock of wool, ears long and well formed, legs good length, well shaped and clean. Weight of yearlings about 120 pounds; full grown have dressed 344 pounds. Weight of fleece about eight pounds. Wool some- times nine inches long, and widely used for woollens. It is a mutton and wool sheep. History. — The Cotswold originated in England less than 100 years ago, as a cross between a Leicester and descendants of common sheep imported from Spain in the twelfth century. Its name conv-s from the cots or huts built in the hilly wolds or fields where it was developed and established. OxFORDDOWN is a whidsh, coarse, long-wool, hornless sheep of medium size, round bodied and short legged, face and legs dark, a Cotswold-shaped head and thick-set and somewhat curly fleece of eight to nine pounds of wool five to seven inches long, used for worsteds. At fourteen months it dresses eighty to eighty-eight pounds. A mutton and wool sheep. Histo7y.- — The Oxforddown originated in Oxfordshire, England, since 1830, whence Its name. It Is a cross between a Cotswold ram and a Hampshlredown ewe, followed by careful inbreeding. Cheviot is a white, coarse, medium-wool, hornless mountain sheep of medium size, long bodied, hind-quarters and saddle full and heavy, fore-quarters light, face strong featured and massive, head and legs generally white, but sometimes dun or speckled. At three years they dress eighty pounds. The fleece yields about five pounds, and is used for Scotch tweed and cheviot cloth. It is a mutton and wool sheep. History. — The Cheviot Is a cross between a Lincoln and a breed of common sheep found in the hilly parts of the Scottish BREEDS OF SHEEP-ANGORA GOAT. ^20 lowlands, believed to be descended from common sheep of Spain, cast ashore here in 1588, from wrecks of the Spanish Armada, The Improved Kentucky is a white, coarse, long-wool, hornless sheep, heavy bodied and heavy fleeced, resembling the Cotswold, but the quality of its wool, midway between the Leicester and Cotswold, distinguishes it. It is a mutton and wool sheep. History. — The Improved Kentucky is an American breed originating in Frankfort, Kentucky, about forty years ago. It came from successful crosses, as follows : Beginning with local, common ewes and a Merino ram, the issue was crossed with a Leicester ram, this with a Southdown ram, this with a ram one- quarter Southdov/n and three-quarters Cotswold, this twice successively with Cotswold rams, this with an Oxforddown ram, and this with a mixed Cotswold, Oxforddown and Leicester ram, followed by careful inbreeding. The Caraman or Fat-Tailed Sheep is a white, short, soft-wool sheep, of different varieties and sizes, but readily identified by its remarkable tail, which weighs from fifteen to twenty and in some instances 50 pounds ; the fat being used by some in place of butter. History. — The Caraman is a native sheep, found in portions of Asia and Africa, and by some is regarded as a separate group. Those now in the United States are from recent importations from Karamania, in Asia Minor. The Angora Goat is of a grayish white, about as large as a medium-sized sheep, has a square build, a straight back, hog- shaped head, lifted ears, large, long, wavy horns rooted close together on top of the head, and spreading at once latterly and pointing a little backward, a tuft of long, coarse hair under the chin, clean, trim legs, and undercoat of short, coarse hair, and an outer one of long, curly, soft and silky hair, termed mohair. Both coats are used, and together weigh about two and a half pounds. History. — The Angora goat is an improved variety of a com- mon goat, native of the district about Angora, in Asia Minor. It was imported into this country about fifteen years ago. The Cashmere Goat is generally of a grayish white, built 430 OUR WESTERN EM TIRE. much like a sheep, Is of medium size, back near the hips a little crowning, ears long, wide and drooping, no tuft under the chin, small horns, sometimes spiral, shooting out near each other from top of the head, erect or slightly spreading and pointing a little backward, a long, heavy outer coat of coarse hair and an under coat of soft, silky, fluffy wool, weighing about one-half pound, and used for Cashmere shawls. History. — The Cashmere goat Is a noble species of the goat, inhabitlno- the higrh table-lands of Cashmere, Thibet and fc> o ' Mongolia, in Central Asia. It was imported into the United States about fifteen years ago. Diseases of Sheep. — It is perhaps desirable to add here a brief description of the diseases to which sheep are liable, especially as It Is as true now as It was twenty years ago, that the diseases to which sheep are liable in this country are very different from those which affect them in Europe. The late Hon. Henry S. Randall, in his valuable treatise on Sheep Hus- bandry, published In i860, and subsequent writers on diseases of sheep, have called attention to this fact. It Is true, also, that diseases which prevail In one section may be entirely unknown in another. Thus the foot-rot has prevailed extensively In Texas, and to some extent in Southern California and Southern Kansas ; but is entirely unknown In the Northern States, and Territories of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Dakota and Minnesota, and very infrequent in the middle belt of States and Territories. The scab Is found everywhere, but Is now treated successfully. Worms In the head are not common In the West; though they kill many sheep in England and some in the Atlantic States. Inflammation of the lungs is less common than In England, but does occur. Mr. Frank D. Curds, of Charlton, Saratoga county. New York, one of the most intelligent, accomplished and successful of our American sheep-masters, has described so briefly and so well the greater part of the known American diseases of sheep, that we cannot do better than to give to our readers his essay, only supplementing it with two or three western diseases, which he has failed to notice. DISEASES OF SHEEP. 42 1 Sheep are very delicate animals to treat when diseased. They are easily discouraged, and when sick lose their appetite and rapidly become enfeebled. It is by far the wisest course for every shepherd to study carefully the habits of sheep and their nature, and to endeavor, as far as possible, to regulate their diet according to their natural wants, and to do nothing to shock them either by terror or abrupt changes In their management. They will not bear sudden changes of food, sudden chills, or sudden changes of extreme heat and cold. Regularity in feed- ing and evenness In temperature are essential pre-requlsltes to their healthful condition. They will not endure wet, neither will they thrive on low, marshy ground. The different' breeds have somewhat different characteristics, and they are not all alike easily affected with the same diseases, as, for instance, fine- wooled sheep having flatter feet, with closer connection between the hoofs, are more liable to foot-rot than the coarser-wooled varieties, with more upright feet and wider space between the bisections. The latter, however, on account of their open and distended nostrils (they have larger lungs and require more space for the circulation of air into the respiratory organs), are much more liable to the attacks of the gad-fly {CEsirus ovis) than the smaller breeds with more contracted nostrils. The fine- wooled are much more hardy in our changeable American climates than the coarser-wooled breeds, hence precautionary manacrement in res^ard to climatic inHuences and carefulness in diet are not so necessary, as they are not so subject to colds and stomach disorders, colics, etc. There are several infectious dis- eases which prevail among sheep. The two oldest and most common in America are foot-rot and scab. There are also other parasitical disorders which infest the internal organs of sheep. The latter have been far more destructive in foreign countries than In this. They have prevailed disastrously in England^ South America, and Australia. We shall speak of internal para- sites {eniozoa) under the head of parasites, with such subdivisions of the subject as apply to the various forms and indications of the disorder as manifested in this country, and of external para- sites [epizoci) under the appropriate names of scab and ticks. 432 O^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Parasites. — The most ancient and disastrous of the maladies caused by the development of worms in the body is the iivcr-rot, which is caused by the presence of sucking worms, like leeches, which are developed in the liver. These worms or flukes pos- sess the power of self-impregnation, and are propagated by eggs, of which they produce immense numbers. These eggs are car- ried along with the bile into the stomach, and so passed out with the excrement of the sheep. They are supposed to be hatched in stagnant water, in which they develop into a form of mullusks. But as the disease {liver-rot) is almost unknown in the United States, and especially in the West, we will not take time or space to fully describe it. There is another worm which is developed in the lungs and bron- chial tubes of sheep. These worms cause the " pale disease " in lambs, which has been so fatal in many sections of this country^ The worm is akin to the gape- worm in chickens, and is a species of Stro7igylus, a slender, thread-like worm. They are supposed to tje breathed into the lungs or taken into the mouth while feeding, from whence they make their way through the trachea Into the air-passages, in which they produce such derangement in aeration or the purification of the blood as to cause irritation and violent coughing. The important functions of the blood being Interrupted, paleness of the skin and debility of the body soon follow, and result in the death of the animal. The disease is more prevalent or fatal among lambs than among sheep. As soon as a lamb is attacked a poor appetite ensues, which helps to reduce the strength. Such penetrating medicines as turpentine, sulphur, and assafcetida may be given, which, through absorption, will reach the lungs, and in the earlier stages of the disease may effect a cure. In order to allow free and full absorption, no food should be given for several hours afterward, nor for a few hours before. Twenty grains of assafcetida and a half teaspoon of spirits of turpentine are all that should be administered at one dose to a lamb. One-third more may be given to a full-grown sheep. This may be followed by a table- spoonful of sulphur daily, mixed with molasses. As the appetite is capricious and feeble, in order to keep up the strength gruels THE LUNG WORM IN SHEEP. 4,^ should be poured down. The turpentine and assafoetida may be mixed with a tablespoonful of Hnseed or castor oil. Infected sheep should be kept by themselves, and well ones should not be allowed to run in the same pasture, nor upon ground where the manure of diseased sheep has been spread. There are. besides the above, parasites {^hydatids) or worms in the bladder and in the intestines. The latter, when prevalent among lambs, are fatal. The first symptoms of their prevalence is a falling off in condition and mild diarrhoea. The worm is a species of tape-worm, and is swallowed by the sheep in an embryo form, and may have been dropped by a dog or other animal. Emaciation rapidly follows. The excrement is soft and mixed with mucus, and by close observation worms may be observed in it. As soon as the presence of the disease is apparent, a dose of turpentine should be given, from one-half to one oun're, according to the size of the sheep. This may be mixed with an ounce or two of linseed or castor oil, and should be given ev*iry three days for two weeks, or until no worms are voided, Nounsh- ing gruels should be given during the time of treatment. The purgative will have better effect if the animal is required to fast a few hours before and after administering the dose. Copperas will not cure the disease. When given in small quantities it acts as an astringent and keeps the worms in the body, and when given in large quantities it is an active poison. The same dose of turpentine and linseed oil is the best remedy for parasites in the bladder and kidneys. Worms in the head are not so common in this country as in England, owing to the fact that so large a proportion of our sheep are of the smaller breeds. The gadfly [CEstrus ovis) in the summer months deposits its eggs, with a sting, in the nostrils of sheep. At the season of the year when this fly is active, sheep stand huddled together with their noses inward and close to the ground to avoid being stung. After being hatched the grub crawls up the nostrils and feeds on the mucus until it reaches the upper passages, where it remains until it arrives at maturity, and then passes out of the nostrils to the ground, where it ultimately develops into a fly. Sometimes they penetrate to 28 ... OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 434 the brain, causing the sheep to lose its appetite and die a hno-ering and painful death. We have known them to pine away, scarcely eating anything for weeks — simply breathing — until they die of starvation, or were killed to put them out of their misery. There is no remedy except in the first stages of the disease, when the maggots are passing up the nostrils. This may be known by violent shaking of the head, sneezing, and runnino- around. Tobacco-smoke blown up the nostrils at this time, or the smoke of a small quantity of burning sulphur, may cause them to lose their hold on the membranes, when the sheep will cast them out. Some people pour spirits of turpen- tine into the nostrils. They lay the sheep upon its back so that the liquid will run into the head ; but this is a dangerous and cruel practice. In the first stages, in the hands of a skilful person, it is possible to open the passages of the head and remove the maggots, without permanent injury to the animal. Smearing the noses of sheep in July and August with tar, two or three times a week, will, to some extent, prevent the attacks of the gadfly. Scab. — The worst form of external parasites is the Acarns scabiei. This insect is a mite in size and attaches itself to the skin, into which it burrows. It multiplies rapidly and cuts off the connection of the cuticle from its attachments to the body, when it becomes dry and hard, and the wool is loosened and falls out. Its presence can easily be determined, as the sheep is uneasy and inclined to rub itself against any convenient thing. Unless they are destroyed, the whole body will soon be covered, causing oreat distress to the sheep and entire loss of the fleece. They will also be conveyed to other sheep, and eventually spread through the whole flock. One female will produce thousands of insects in a few days. The proper cure is to dip the animal in a solution of sulphur and tobacco, in the proportions of four parts of tobacco and ten of sulphur to a gallon of water. The stems of tobacco will answer every purpose, if thoroughly steeped. The sulphur may be stirred in the liquid. Patches of loose skin and wool should be removed before the sheep are immersed. The liquid should be as warm as the hand will bear, and time should DISEASES OF SHEEP— THE FOOT- ROT. ^^c be given for it to penetrate every part. After dipping, the animal should be left in the yard until dry, when it would be well to smear all the raw and denuded portions of the body with coal- tar, heated sufficiently to flow freely. The coal-tar will assist in healing, and protect the sore places, adding very much to the comfort of the sheep. Sheep-ticks. — These insects [MelophagMs ovinus) prey upon the surface of the body and torture the sheep greatly by piercing the skin and sucking the blood. It propagates rapidly, and is so voracious that it soon depletes the sheep of needed blood and causes them to become poor and weak. Their presence may be known by the rough, loose, and dangling appearance of the fleece, the locks of which are torn out by rubbing in order to get rid of the pain caused by the bite of the ticks. The most effectual remedy is to dip the sheep in a strong decoction of tobacco. The numbers may also be reduced by dusting snuff or powdered tobacco in the wool. After shearing, the ticks leave the old sheep and fasten to the lambs. The latter should be dipped immediately, and again after the lapse of three weeks. In this way a flock may be rid of ticks, which are a costly and torturinof nuisance. Foot- ROT. — This disease is contagious, and may be produced by allowing sheep to run on low, wet ground. It is an ulceration upon the heels and between the toes, which excrete fetid matter. It is most common in the fore feet, and may be known by lame- ness. Lameness, however, does not always proceed from this cause, but may be produced by foul feet or from inflammation of the interdigital canal, which opens at the bottom of the foot. When this canal or duct is closed by any foreign substance, in- flammation will ensue. The prompt removal of the obstacle and the probing and cleansing of the duct will generally effect a cure. When there is ulceration, there must be prompt and effective treatment. Canker of the foot, which shows itself by spongy or fungous sprouts at the bottom, can be cured by the same treatment as for foot-rot. The hoofs should be pared away so as to expose the bottom of the ulcers, when the whole foot, and especially the ulcerous portion, should be thoroughly 4^6 ^<^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. smeared with an ointment of powdered blue vitriol, one pound ; verdigris, half a pound ; linseed oil, one pint ; tar, one quart. This combination makes a salve which will adhere to the foot. Carbolic acid reduced (five parts of water to one of acid) would be an effective remedy, and would also be the best cure for canker of the foot. Healthy sheep should never be allowed in a pasture where those affected with foot-rot have run until a winter's frosts have intervened, which will destroy the virus. Incipient foot-root caused by feeding on wet ground may be checked without difficulty by prompt applications of blue vitriol in liquid form, or by diluted carbolic acid ; but when the disease becomes thoroughly ulcerous, several applications of the remedies recommended are necessary to effect a perfect cure. Constipation. — We have known fatal constipation, accorr - panied with fever, to prevail in the spring of the year following a long and severe winter, during which fodder became so scarce as to compel farmers to turn out their sheep before the fresh grass had started. The sheep ate of the dry and frost-bitten grass so heartily as to cause it to become clogged in the rumen, producing constipation in whole flocks. In some neighborhoods it was so general that it was supposed a contagious disorder had broken out among them. A number died before the cause was discovered. Purgatives, together with restraining the sheep from feeding in the fields, soon restored the flocks to their nor- mal condition. Colics. — These troubles are caused by costiveness or flatu- lence, which also causes stretches (lying on the ground and roll- ing about), the latter being more of a symptom than a disease. A change of food in this case, as well as in the opposite case of scours, is the first thing to be done. Injections of warm water and soap, or linseed oil, followed with an ounce of the latter or of castor oil, or four ounces of Epsom salts, given by the mouth, is the first remedy in cases of costiveness or colic. Powdered sulphur and salt should be frequently given as correctives and aids in digestion. Abrupt changes from dry to succulent food are dangerous, and should never be made on an empty stomach, as these animals, like cattle, are equally subject to bloat, and INFLAMMATION OF LUNGS. .,- 437 with them it is more rapid in its results. A change from dry feed to green, without an admixture of dry feed followino-, has produced fatal colic even when the pasture was stinted. Diarrhoea and Scours. — The former disorder is very common to lambs while sucking and during the first winter. Unless checked, diarrhoea will soon run into the more serious condition of scours, and rapidly deplete the tender animal of needed strength. A teaspoonful of laudanum and a tablespoonful of strong ginger tea will often check diarrhoea, but if it should not, there must be given a tablespoonful of castor oil, followed by astringents. Inflammation of the Lungs. — Sheep are not apt to be affected with lung diseases, as, under ordinary circumstances, nature has provided them with ample protection, but when exposed they will sometimes have severe inflammation of the luno-s. We had a valuable ram die within twenty-fours with pneumonia, which was caused by being left tied in the wind after having been washed for exhibition at a fair. We have had Leicester sheep which, for a whole year, were afflicted with consumption, and manifested perfect symptoms of this debilitating disorder. Where symptoms of inflammadon of the lungs are apparent, the animal should immediately be bled and given a purgative. After this, doses of tartar emetic may be added, one grain to each every few hours, with flaxseed tea. If it is possible, a counter-irritation should be made upon the chest. The nostrils must be kept clear and clean. Snuffles and Snoring. — The stoppage of the nostrils with mucous secretions, which may be caused by a slight cold, or by dust or some other foreio-n substance irritatinor the linine mem- branes, is of frequent occurrence, but may be obviated by spong- ing out the nostrils with some soothing lotion. Snoring may be produced by a more serious cause, such as tumors or abscesses in the throat or in the cavity of the chest. When they are dis- cernible, they may be treated according to their character. Catarrh is frequent with sheep exposed to the changes of the weather, or when wintered in close and badly ventilated stables. Local treatment, such as sponging the nostrils or inhaling the 428 <^^'-^ WESTERN EMPIRE. fumes of burning tar, will usually clean out the nostrils and afford relief. Poisons. — Sheep will eat almost every plant that grows, which makes them valuable in keeping a farm free from foul stuff. On this account they are often poisoned by eating laurel. Saint John's wort, and other poisonous herbs. The effects are some- times confined to the stomach, producing a derangement which may be corrected by mild doses of cathartics. The lips and mouth are often made sore by eating poisonous plants, especially Saint John's wort, which sometimes makes the mouth so sore that the sheep cannot eat. In all such cases aperient medicines should be administered, and the lips and mouth dressed with a healing ointment. A change of pasture is also essential to get rid of the cause. Abortion. — On account of the timid nature of sheep they are easily frightened, and when roughly handled or chased by dogs they are apt to abort. Dysentery and other acute derangements of the stomach will sometimes produce this same disorder, hence abrupt changes in diet should be avoided, and a mixture of dry and green food given through the winter. Roots are very essen- tial to the good health of sheep. Salt and water should always be accessible, as sheep desire to drink often and but little at a time. If these sanitary recommendations are carefully carried out, sickness among sheep will be very much lessened, especially in the severe forms of abortion or other disturbances of the uterus. The black-leg is a disease which has affected lambs in- various parts of the country. Its character seems uncertain, though generally believed to be connected with disease of the lungs. The legs seem to become powerless and the flesh turns black. The disease generally proves fatal in a short time. It may be the same kno>vn as lung-worm in other sections, but this is doubtful. Some attempts at medication have proved beneficial in delay- ing the fatal termination, while others have apparently hastened it. As a general rule, the administration of anti-septics and stimulants, such as diluted carbolic acid, powdered charcoal, " STRICANA IN SHEEPr .^g minute doses of sulphate of iron (copperas) and cayenne pepper seems to be indicated, though when the disease is fairly developed, it is doubtful whether any medicadon will prevent a fatal termination. The disease is not contagious, though it may be epidemic in certain localities. The disease described by Mr. W. B. Shaw, of Beverly, N. Y., in the following paragraph, as paper-skin, seems to be identical with what Mr. Curtis calls " the pale disease " in lambs. Lambs in this locality have been scourged for several years past with a disease called " paper-skin," which seems to be worse in wet than in dry seasons. It is not uncommon to lose an entire flock by the disease. It attacks the lambs at the age of from three to five months, and those in good flesh are as liable to it as those that are in poor condition. When attacked, they become very pale and weak, apparently almost entirely bloodless. The stomach contains small red worms, and frequently, in addition, the animal will be found to have tape-worm. We have no knowledge of the cause of the lung-worm — a name given for the want of a better, perhaps. It affects young sheep in a greater degree and to a greater extent than matured animals. The worm is a small white one, and is found in con- siderable numbers in the luno-s, or in the tubes connecting the windpipe with the lungs. The disease is less frequent than either of those named above, but the fatality is greater in com- parison with the number affected. The symptoms are weakness, failure to eat, loss of flesh, and a cough. This disease is but little understood by the wool-grower. Stricana or strichina is perhaps a very incorrect name for another disease affecting sheep. It is caused by a very small worm, so minute indeed, that it cannot be seen without the aid of a magnifying glass. It is believed to cause the sheep to pick or bite the wool from its sides, flank, and other parts, until the fleece becomes more or less ragfored and wasted. The skin becomes rough and shows symptoms of disease. It is not contagious, but attacks sheep of all ages. It is more damaging in flocks that have been closely bred " in and in " for many years; indeed, this is the case with most diseases. As both a . •_, OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 440 preventative and cure, wood and cob ashes with salt are used with partial success. We have seen sheep in Vermont and Massachusetts badly affected with this disease as well as in our own State. The sheep in the more Northern States and Territories of the Great West, are as a rule less subject to disease than those of the Southern States and Territories. This is probably due to the absence of marshy and moist lands, the purer and more elevated atmosphere, the great range of pasturage and the absence or rarity of those insect and vegetable pests which produce and promote disease among these harmless animals. CHAPTER X. Other Farm Animals — Breeding Swine — Swine Husbandry less Popular IN THE Great West than East of the Mississippi — The States and Terri- tories MOST largely engaged IN IT — The Best Breeds — Modes of Man- agement — The Margin of Profit in the Business — Diseases to which Swine are Liable — Breeding of Horses, Asses, and Mules for the Mar- ket — This Pursuit very Profitable — Dogs — The Shepherd Dog — Dogs FOR Hunting — The Greyhound ; Different Varieties — Pointers, Set- ters, Bull-dogs, Coach-dogs, Terriers — Mongrel Hunting Dogs — Indian Cur-dogs — Crosses Between Dogs and Wolves — Worthless Dogs very Destructive of Sheep. The whole of " Our Western Empire" reported, at the close of 1879, but a little more than 12,000,000 swine, only about one- third of the whole number in the United States. Iowa had nearly 3,000,000, one-fourth of the whole number, and Missouri another fourth. Of the other half, Texas had a little more than 2,000,000, or one-third; Kansas and Arkansas respectively 1,300,000 and 1,200,000, and the remainder were divided amono- the other States and Territories ; those on the Pacific slope having the smallest numbers. Beyond the Rocky Mountains, rearing swine is not a favorite pursuit with the farmers, partly perhaps because the climate and seasons are not so well adapted to the animal, and partly because there is more difficulty in protecting a herd of SWINE-BREEDING IN THE WEST. ^I swine from the attacks of wild animals, and from other thieves, than sheep or neat-cattle. Sheep are easily driven or led, but the swine seems to have inherited the perversity of his ancestors, and persistently seeks to go in the very direction that he should not. There are, however, hogs and hogs ; some breeds are quiet, gentle, and well-behaved, while others, lank, lean and long-limbed, will spring over a fence as nimbly as a shepherd's dog, and though fleet of foot, and of evil and pugnacious temper, possess few or no good qualities to counterbalance these objectionable ones. The Southern swine are not, as a rule, of the best breeds, though there have been great efforts made of late in Texas to improve the stock, and with a commendable degree of success. Iowa is, after Illinois, the largest raiser of swine in the Union, and in that State, Missouri and Kansas, which follow after in the numbers of their swine (the three States having about 7,000,000, worth about ^42,000,000), great efforts have been made to raise only the best stock. In these States, long experience has led the best farmers to prefer two or three breeds, and their crosses. In Kansas, and we think in Iowa and Missouri, these breeds are the Poland- China, especially as improved by D. M. Megie ; the Berkshire, either the English or the improved large Berkshire ; various crosses of these two, some preferring the Berkshire and others the Poland-China boar with the sow of the other breed, and the Chester White, either pure or crossed with the Berkshire. A very few cling to the Essex and Suffolk breeds, but the number of these, as well as the advocates of the pure Chester Whites, are decreasing every year. The general opinion seems to be that the Poland-Chinas make the largest and most quiet hogs, and give the best return for the money expended on them, and give the largest litter, but are rather too large in bone, and require a great amount of feeding. The Berkshires have smaller bones, and their meat is in the right place to make fine hams and shoul- ders, and their flesh is very fine-grained. They are the best for the farmer's own packing, but do not weigh as much at a year or a year and a-half old as the Poland-Chinas, and do not have as large a litter as the Poland-Chinas. It is universally agreed that ^^2 ^^^'^^ WESTER y EM EIRE. the crosses of these breeds make altogether the best animals for market. These crosses should weigh at one year old, when fat- tened, from 350 to 450 pounds, and at eighteen or twenty months from 650 to 700 pounds. With corn at twenty cents a bushel, and some pasture, and proper treatment, pork can be made in Cen- tral and Western Kansas at from ^2 to $2.25 per 100. pounds, and it will bring from $2.87 to $3.50 per hundred, live weight. Most of the diseases, to which swine are subject, can be pre- vented much more easily than they can be cured, and the sensi- ble and judicious swine-breeder will find that, by avoiding crowd- ing, damp and filthy pens or wallows, by occasional changes of pasture, and the use of green food, and mashes when the dry food is too constipating, it will be possible to ward off disease, and to have a perfectly healthy herd of swine. The various forms of worms which infest swine — the tape-worm, the trichina, and the round worms — are, to a considerable extent, the result of gross and foul feeding, and of filthy and close pens. The hog is not an uncleanly animal if he has the opportunity to be clean. The great losses sustained, for some years past, by those engaged in rearing swine, from the disease variously known as Hog-Cholera, Swine-Plague and Hog-Fever (losses amounting in 1877 to more than ^12,000,000), led the United States A gj'iail- tural Department at Washington to make, in 1878, a very thorough investigation of the disease, including its history, symp- toms, causes, diagnosis, prognosis, post-mortem appearances, preventive measures and treatment. The investigation was con- fided to four of the most eminent veterinary surgeons in the United States — Drs. H. J. Detmers of Chicago, James Law of Ithaca, N. Y., D. W. Voyles of New Albany, Ind., and D. E. Salmon of Swannanoa, N. C. — each of whom spent months in the investigation, pursuing it independently of all the others, and without conference with them. The results of these investiga- tions were published in a very valuable volume in the autumn of 1879, with numerous colored plates of the appearances of the lunes, stomach and intestines, and tables and records of the con- elusions to which they came. These reports are so able and exhaustive, and of so high and conclusive authority, that we be- THE SWINE-PLAGUE OR HOG-CHOLERA. aa-. lieve we are doing a valuable service to the farmers of the United States, and especially of the West, in giving- a brief summary of the results of their researches. They will serve, at least, to show that the only safeguard against the disease lies in measures of prevention and precaution, which every farmer engaged in raising swine should adopt ; that great pains should be taken to keep swine in a perfectly healthy and vigorous condition, and that their pens and troughs, as well as the swine themselves, should be kept clean; that close inbreeding is wrong, as weakening the con- stitutions of the animals and rendering them more liable to dis- ease ; and that where the disease appears, the infected herd should be kept isolated, thorough disinfection practised daily, and all diseased hogs killed at once, and either buried very deeply or burned, so as to prevent the spread of the infection ; that the owners of the slaughtered hogs should be repaid two-thirds of their value, if they will report the cases immediately on the out- break of the disease and follow directions ; that all hauling of diseased or dead hogs along public roads or by railroad trains, or in any way exposing other herds to infection, should be pro- hibited under heavy penalties, and all communication of the infection by fodder, running water or the clothing of swineherds or others, should be prevented; and the lots on which these dis- eased herds or animals have been penned even for a single night, should be disinfected, and plowed deeply to prevent the spread of infection. But we can perhaps best benefit our farming friends by giving summaries of these reports in the very words of the veterinary surgeons ; and, first, of the DESCRIPTION OF THE DISEASE. The disease, though popularly called Hog- Cholera, has really no resemblance to cholera or to malignant pustule. It has somewhat more resemblance to the pleuro-pneumonia which has proved so destructive of catde ; but is not identical with that dis- ease. It is undoubtedly contagious and infectious, and the ex- periments and researches of these veterinary surgeons, many times repeated and under a great variety of circumstances, .^. OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. together with their post-mortem examinations, have proved that it can be transmitted, by inoculation and by devouring portions of the flesh of diseased animals, to other swine, and to rabbits, sheep, and dogs as well, and produces the same symptoms and as often the same fatal termination, as where it is communicated by ordinary contact. The veterinarians are agreed in these points, that it is produced by the transmission of a specific germ, a bacillus as some of them call it, into the stomach or circulation, and that this germ is propagated with inconceivable rapidity and may promote diseased action in any organ or set of organs, the lungs, liver, stomach, bowels, lymphatics, kidneys, muscles, nerves or brain, but that the lungs and the lymphatic glands are always affected, and the other organs and tissues, one or more of them often. The best name for it is Sivine-Plagiie or Hog- Fever. The disease does not originate from filth, crowding, and improper or heating food, but when it has been once communi- cated to any member of a herd of swine, its propagation is gready accelerated, and its mortality hastened and aggravated by impure and unwholesome surroundings. SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS. The disease is ushered in by a cold shivering, lasting from a few minutes to several hours, frequent sneezing and more or less coughing. The temperature of the body Is increased, and though it is a difficult matter to ascertain the exact temperature 'without a struggle which will, of Itself, increase the temperature, yet enough seems to have been ascertained to make It certain that it ranges between two or three and ten or twelve degrees above the normal or healthy temperature. There Is also at first a partial, and soon a total loss of appetite ; a rough and some- what staring appearance of the coat of hair ; a drooping of the ears (characteristic) ; loss of vivacity ; attempts to vomit (in some cases) ; a tendency to root In the bedding and to lie down in a dark and quiet corner ; a dull look of the eyes, which not seldom become dim and Injected ; swelling of the head (observed in several cases) ; eruptions on the ears and on other parts of the body (quite frequent) ; bleeding from the nose (in a few SWINE-PLAGUE : HOW RECOGNIZED. a.^ cases) ; swelling of the eyelids and partial or total blindness (!n five or six cases) ; dizziness or apparent pressure on the brain ; accelerated and frequently laborious breathing ; more or less constipation, or in some cases, diarrhoea ; a gaunt appearance of the flanks ; a pumping motion of the same at each breath ; rapid emaciation ; a vitiated appetite for dung, dirt and saline sub- stances ; increased thirst (sometimes) ; accumulation of mucus in the corners of the eyes (very often at an early stage of the dis- ease) ; more or less copious discharges from the nose, etc. The peculiar offensive and fetid smell of the exhalations and of the excrements may be considered as characteristic of the disease. This odor is so penetrating as to announce its presence, espe- cially if the herd of swine is a large one, at a distance of half a mile, or even farther, if the wind is favorable. If the animalr are inclined to be costive, the dung is usually grayish or browr.- ish black, and hard ; if diarrhoea is present, the fseces are semi - fluid, and of a grayish green color, and contain in some cases an admixture of blood. In a larcje number of cases the more ten- der portions of the skin on the lower surface of the body, between the hind legs, behind the ears, and even on the nose and on the neck, exhibit numerous larger or smaller red spots, or (sometimes) a uniform redness (Red Soldier of the English). Toward a fatal termination of the disease this redness changes frequently to purple, A physical exploration of the thorax re- veals, if pleuritis is existing, frequently a plain rubbing sound. As the morbid process progresses the movements of the sick animal become weaker and slower ; the gait becomes staggering and undecided ; the steps made are short, as if the animal was unable to advance its legs without pain ; sometimes lameness, especially in a hind leg (not very often), and sometimes great weakness in the hind quarters, or partial paralysis (oftener) make their appearance. The head, if the animal is on its legs, seems to be too heavy to be carried, and is kept in a drooping position with the nose almost touching the ground ; but as a general rule the diseased animals are usually found lying down in a dark and quiet corner with the nose hid in the bedding. If a fatal terminadon is approaching, a very fetid diarrhoea (usually ^^5 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. one or two days before death) takes the place of the previous costiveness ; the voice becomes very pecuHar, grows very faint and hoarse ; the sick animal manifests a great indifference to its surroundings, and to what is going on ; emaciation and general debility increase very fast ; the skin (especially if the disease has been of long duration) becomes wrinkled, hard, dry, parchment- like, and very unclean ; a cold, clammy sweat breaks out (observed several times, once as early as forty-eight hours before death), and death ensues either under convulsions (com- paratively rare), or gradually and without any struggle. A peculiar symptom, which, however, has been observed only once, in a litter of nine pigs, about a week old, at the beginning, or in the first stage of the disease, may here be mentioned. It con- sisted in a peculiar and constant twitching of all voluntary mus- cles. All nine pigs died, and I am sorry that I had no oppor- tunity to make any post-mortem examination. In some cases numerous eruptions (ulcerous nodules) appeared on the tender skin on the lower surface of the body between the lees and behind the ears, and in a few cases whole pieces of skin (in one case as large as a man's hand) were destroyed by the morbid process, sloughed off, and left behind a raw, ulcerous surface. In another case a part of the lower lip, of the gums, and of the lower jaw-bone had undergone ulcerous destruction. Wherever pigs or hogs had been ringed, the v/ounds thus made showed a great tendency to ulcerate. In several cases the morbid process had caused sufficient ulcerous destruction to form an opening directly into the nasal cavities large enough to enable the animal to breathe through, instead of through, the nostrils, which had become nearly closed by swelling and by exudations and morbid products adhering to their borders. In those few cases in which the disease has not a fatal termi- nation the symptoms gradually disappear, coughing becomes more frequent and easier; the discharges from the nose, for a da)' or two, become copious, but soon diminish, and finally cease alto- gether; appetite returns, and becomes normal; the offensive smell of the excrements disappears ; sores or ulcers that may happen DISTINCTIVE SYMPTOMS OF SWINE- PLAGUE. 447 to exist, show a tendency to heal; the animal becomes more lively, and gains, though slowly, in flesh and strength ; but some diffi- culty of breathing, and a short, somewhat hoarse, hacking cough remains for a long time. The diagnosis, or distinctive symptoms of the disease, are thus detailed by Dr. Detmers : "The diagnosis is very easy, especially if swine-plague is known to be prevailing in the neighborhood, or has already made its appearance in the herd, and if the fact that many animals are attacked at once, or within a short time and in rapid succession, are taken Into consideration. As symptoms of special diagnostic value, scarcely ever absent In any case, may be mentioned the drooping of the ears and of the head; more or less coughing; the dull look of the eyes ; the staring appearance of the coat of hair; the partial or total want of appetite fgr food; the vitiated appetite for excrements ; the rapid emaciation ; the great deblHty ; the weak and undecided, frequently staggering, gait ; the great indifference to surroundings ; the tendency to lie down in a dark corner, and to hide the nose, or even the whole head in the bed- ding, and particularly the specific, offensive smell, and the peculiar color of the excrements. This symptom is always present, at least in an advanced stage of the disease, no matter whether con- stipation or diarrhoea is existing. As other characteristic symp- toms, though not present in every animal, deserve to be men- tioned : frequent sneezing ; bleeding from the nose ; swelling of the eyelids ; accumulation of mucus in the inner canthi ot the eyes ; attempts to vomit, or real vomiting ; accelerated and diffi- cult breathing ; thumping or spasmodic contraction of the ab- dominal muscles (flanks) at each breath, and a peculiar, faint and hoarse voice in the last stages of the disease." The PROGNOSIS or probable result of the disease is decidedly unfavorable, but is the more so the younger the animals or the larger the herd. Among pigs less than three months old the mortality may be set down as from ninety to one hundred per cent. ; among animals three to six or seven months old the same is from seventy-five to ninety per cent. ; while among older animals that have been well kept and are in good condition, and ^3 ^<^''^' WESTERN EMPIRE. naturally strong- and vigorous, the mortality sometimes may not exceed twenty-five per cent., but may, on an average, reach forty to fifty per cent. The prognosis is comparatively favorable only in those few cases in which the morbid process is not very violent; in which the seat of the disease is confined to the respiratory organs and to the skin ; in which any thumping or pumping motion of the flanks is absent; and in which the patient is, naturally, a strong, vigorous animal, not too young and in a good condition ; further, in which but a few, not more than two or three, animals are kept in the same pen or sty, and receive nothing but clean, uncontaminated food and pure water for drinking, and in which a frequent and thorough cleaning of the sty or pen pre- vents any consumption of excrements. The duration of the disease varies according to the violence and the seat of the morbid process, the age and the constitution of the patient, and the treatment and keeping in general. Where the morbid process is violent, where its principal seat is in one of the most vital organs — in the heart, for instance — where a large number of animals are kept together in one sty or pen, where sties and pens are very dirty, or where the sick animals are very young, the disease frequently becomes fatal in a day or two, and somedmes even within twenty-four hours. On the other hand, where the morbid process is not very violent or ex- tensive, where the heart, for instance, is not seriously affected, and where the patients are naturally strong and vigorous, and well kept in every respect, it usually takes from one to three weeks to cause death. If the termination is not a fatal one, the convalescence, at any rate, requires an equal and probably a much longer time. A perfect recovery seldom occurs ; in most cases some lasting disorders — morbid changes which can be re- paired but slowly or not at all — remain behind, and interfere more or less with the growth and fattening of the animal. From a pecuniary standpoint, it makes but little difference to the owner whether a pig affected with this plague recovers or dies, because those which do survive usually make very poor returns for the food consumed, unless the attack has been a very mild one. THE GERMS WHICH PRODUCE THE DISEASE. ^g We have already spoken of the contagious and Infectious char- acter of the disease, and of its propagation by means of the diffu- sion of germs. These germs, though of a very low order of structure, are propagated in th^. stomach, intestines, or blood of the swine with extraordinary rapidity. They are believed to be a species of the Bacteria, the family name of these yeast or de- structive o-erms. Dr. Detmers and some others have oriven this particular species the name of Bacillus Suis, or " little Bactei^ia of the swine." How it enters the stomach, bowels, or blood of the swine is a question which has been very carefully investigated. It was at first believed that these germs (which are very minute) were dried and reduced to powder by the action of the sun and wind, and so taken up by the wind, and carried to a distance when they were inhaled and taken into the lungs by the swine, and thus affected the system of the animal. This theory is now exploded, for very good reasons. The inhalation of these germs does not seem to be attended with injurious effects ; and the present belief of veterinary surgeons, as well as of Intelligent swine-farmers, is that while these germs are taken up by the air and carried to a considerable distance, they are deposited upon the grass by the dew, or by light rains, or fall into streams or creeks and Impregnate the water, so that those swine which feed upon the grass or drink the water thus charged with bacilli take the germs Into their stomachs, and not only become infected themselves but infect others. Dr. Detmers says : " I have not been able to learn of any herd remaining ex- empted after the disease had once made its appearance In the immediate neighborhood, unless the animals constituting the herd were free from any external lesions (sores, wounds, or the like), were watered from a well, fed with clean food, and shut up during the night and in the morning till the dew had disappeared from the grass, either In a bare yard not containing any old straw stacks, or in sties or pens. Animals allowed to run out on a pasture, or on grass, clover, or stubble-fields at all times of the day, and animals that had external sores or wounds, con- tracted the disease sooner or later In every instance where the plague made its appearance in the neighborhood. Further, the 29 J CO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. plague, at least during the summer or while a south wind was pre- vailing, seemed to have a special tendency to spread from south to north. If the history of swine-plague is inquired into, it will probably be found that that tendency has been prevailing every year. This year, for instance, the disease made its appearance, as I have been informed, for the first time, in Wisconsin. These facts, of course, could not fail to be suggestive. So I conceived the idea that the contagious or infectious principle, abundant in the excretions of the diseased animals, might rise in the air in daytime, be carried off a certain distance by winds, and come down again during the night with the dew. That such might be the case appeared to be possible, because the excrements of hogs, if exposed to the influence of sunlight, heat, rain, and wind, are soon ground to powder (partially at least), which is fine enough to be raised into the air and to be carried off by winds. Moreover, as the bacillus-germs, which, I have no doubt, must be looked upon as the infectious principle, are so exceedingly small, it appears to be possible and even probable that they are carried up into the air by the aqueous vapors arising from evaporating urine and moisture contained in the excrements, and from other evaporating fluids (small pools of water), which may have become polluted with the excretions of sick hogs. To ascertain the facts, I collected dew from the herbage of a hog-lot occupied by diseased animals, and also from the grass of an adjoining pasture, and on examining the same under the microscope I found the identical bacilli and bacillus-germs invariably found in the blood, other fluids, and morbid tis- sues of swine affected with the plague. Consequently, I have come to the conclusion that the bacillus-germs rise into the air during the day, are carried from one place to another by the wind, and are introduced into the organism of the animal either by eating herbage (grass, clover, etc.), or old straw covered with dew, or by entering wounds and being absorbed by the veins and lymphatics. There is, however, still another way by which the contagious or infectious principle is conveyed from one place to another. It is by means of running water. It has been observed that wherever swine-plague pre- HO IV THE DISEASE IS TEANSMITTED. 451 vailed among hogs that had access to running water (as small creeks, streamlets, etc.), that all the hogs and pigs which had access to the creek or streamlet below contracted the disease, usually within a short time, while all the animals which had access above remained exempted, unless they became infected by other means." Dr. Detmers thinks that this infection is not carried through the air to a greater distance than a mile, and perhaps not so far, but that the infection travels in this way with the prevailing direction of the winds. " One thing," says Dr. Detmers, " I am sure of, and that is that an exclusive corn diet, as has been asserted by several agricultural writers, wallowing in dirt and nastiness, starvation, in-and-in breeding, etc., although by no means calculated to pro- mote health or to invigorate the animal organism, cannot con- stitute the cause and cannot produce a solitary case of swine- plague, unless the infectious principles (the bacilli and their germs) are present. If they are, then, of course, dirt and nasti- ness, consumption of unclean food and of dirty water, facilitate an infection, and warmth and moisture, pregnant with organic substances, or organic substances in a state of decay, are un- doubtedly well calculated to preserve the bacillus-germs and to develop the bacilli!' The propagation of these germs by inoculation in healthy pigs, and also in rabbits, sheep, and young dogs, and the develop- ment of the swine-plague with all its characteristic symptoms and its fatal result, tried so many times by all these veterinary surgeons, demonstrates conclusively that the bacilli germs were the specific sources of the contagion. PREVENTIVE MEASURES. Dr. Detmers expresses very clearly and forcibly the measures which these four veterinary surgeons agree in recommending. " If any transportation of, or traffic in, diseased and dead swine is effectually prohibited by proper laws, a spreading of the swine- plague on a large scale will be impossible, and its ravages will remain limited to localities where the disease-germs have not ^5 2 ^UR WESTERN EMPIRE. been destroyed, but have been preserved till they find sufficient food again. In order to prevent such a local spreading, two remedies may be resorted to. The one is a radical one, and consists in destroying every sick hog or pig immediately, wher- ever the disease makes its appearance, and in disinfecting the infected premises by such means as are the most effective and the most practicable. If this is done, and if healthy hogs are kept away from such a locality, say for one month after the dis- eased animals have been destroyed, and the sties, pens, etc., dis- infected with chloride of lime or carbolic acid, and the yards plowed, etc., the disease will be stamped out. I know that this is a violent way of dealing with the plague, but in the end it may prove to be by far the cheapest. The other remedy is more of a palliative character, and may be substituted if swine-plague, as is now the case, is prevailing almost everywhere, or in cases in which the radical measures are considered as too severe and too sweeping. It consists in a perfect isolation of every diseased herd, not only during the actual existence of the plague but for some time, say one month, after the occurrence of the last case of sickness, and after the sties and pens have been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected with carbolic acid or other disinfectants of equal efficiency, and the yards, etc., plowed. Old straw-stacks, etc., must be burned, or rapidly converted into manure. It is also very essential that diseased animals are not allowed any access to running water, streamlets or creeks accessible to other healthy swine. Those healthy hogs and pigs which are w^ithin the possible influence of the contagious or infectious principle, perhaps on the same farm or in the immediate neighborhood of a diseased herd, must be protected by special means. For these, I think, it will be best to make movable pens, say eight feet square, of common fence-boards (eleven fence-boards will make a pen) ; put two animals in each pen ; place the latter, if possi- ble, on high and dry ground, but by no means in an old hog-lot, on a manure-heap, or near a slough, and move each pen every noon to a new place, until after all danger has passed. If this is done the animals will not be compelled to eat their food soiled with excrements, and as dry earth is a good disinfectant, an in- PR EVE NT! VE MEDICATION OF LITTLE USE. a-^ fection, very likely, will not take place. Besides this, the troughs must always be cleaned before water or food is put in, and the water for drinking must be fresh and pure, or be drawn from a good well immediately before it is poured into the troughs. Water from ponds, or that which has been exposed in any way or manner to a contamination with the infectious principle, must not be used. If all this is complied with, and the disease not- withstanding should make its appearance and attack one or another of the animals thus kept, very likely it will remain con- fined to that one pen. "If the hogs or pigs cannot be treated in that way. It will be advisable to keep every one shut up in its pen, or in a bare yard, from sundown until the dew next morning has disappeared from the grass, and to allow neither sick hogs nor pigs, nor other animals, nor even persons, who have been near or in contact with animals affected with swine plague, to come near the animals intended to be protected. That good ventilation and general cleanliness constitute valuable auxiliary measures of prevention may not need any mentioning. The worst thing that possibly can be done, if swine-plague is prevailing in the neighborhood, is to shelter the hogs and pigs under or in an old straw or hay stack, because nothing is more apt to absorb the contagious of infectious principle, and to preserve it longer or more effectively than old strawy hay, or manure-heaps composed mostly of hay or straw. It is even probable that the contagion of swine-plague, like that of some other contagious diseases, if absorbed by, or clinging to, old straw or hay, etc., will remain effective and a source of spreading the disease for months, and maybe for a year. "Therapeutically but little can be done to prevent an outbreak of swine-plague. Where it is sufficient to destroy the Infectious principle outside of the animal organism, carbolic acid is effec- tive, and, therefore, a good disinfectant ; but where the conta- gious or Infectious principle has already entered the animal organism Its value Is doubtful. Sdll, wherever there Is cause to suspect that the food or the water for drinking may have become contaminated with the contagion of swine-plague, It will be ad- 454 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. fisable to give every morning- and evening some carbolic acid, Bay about ten drops for each animal weighing from 120 to 150 pounds, in the water for drinking ; and wherever there is reason to suspect that the infectious principle may be floating in the air, it will be advisable to treat every wound or scratch a hog or pig may happen to have immediately with diluted carbolic acid. During a time, or in a neighborhood in which swine-plague is prevailing, care should be taken neither to ring nor to castrate any hog or pig, because every wound, no matter how small, is apt to become a port of entry for the infectious principle, and the very smallest amount of the latter is sufficient to produce the disease." "Still, all these minor measures and precautions will avail but little unless a dissemination of the infectious principle, or disease- germs, is made impossible, i. Any transportation of dead, sick, or infected swine, and even of hogs or pigs that have been the least exposed to the contagion, or may possibly constitute the bearers of the same, must be effectively prohibited. 2. Every one who loses a hog or pig by swine-plague must be compelled by law to bury the same immediately, or as soon as it is dead, at least four feet deep, or else to cremate the carcass at once, so that the contagious or infectious principle may be thoroughly destroyed, and not be carried by dogs, wolves, rats, crows, etc., to other places." Another thing may yet be mentioned, which, if properly exe- cuted, will at least aid very materially in preventing the disease-, that is, to give all food either in clean troughs, or if corn in the ear is fed, to throw it on a wooden platform which can be swept clean before each feeding. TREATMENT, " If the cause and the nature of the morbid process and the character and the importance of the morbid changes are taken into proper consideration, it cannot be expected that a therapeu- tic treatment will be of much avail in a fully developed case of swine-plague. ' Specific ' remedies, such as are advertised in column advertisements in certain newspapers, and warranted to be infallible, or to cure every case, can do no good whatever. TREATMENT OF SWINE-PLAGUE. J55 They are a downright fraud, and serve only to draw the money out of the pockets of the despairing farmer, who is ready to catch at any straw. No cure has ever been found for glanders, anthrax, and cattle-plague, diseases that have been known for more than two thousand years, and that have been investigated again and again by the most learned veterinarians and the best practitioners of Europe, and there is to-day not even a prospect that a treatment will ever be discovered to which those diseases, once fully developed, will yield. Neither is there any prospect or probability that fully developed swine-plague will ever yield to treatment. It is true that the bacilli S2iis and their germs can be killed or destroyed if outside of the animal organism, or within reach, on the surface of the animal's body. Almost any known disinfectant — carbolic acid, thymic acid, chloride of lime, creosote, and a great many others — will destroy them. But the dacilli a.nd their germs are not on the surface of the body, except in such parts of the skin and accessible mucous membranes (conjunctiva and gums) as may happen to have become affected by the mor- bid process. They are inside of the organism, and not only in every part and tissue morbidly affected, in every morbid product, and in every lymphadc gland, but they are also in every drop of blood and in every pardcle of a drop of blood circulating in the whole organism. Who, I would like to ask, will have the audacity to assert that he is able to destroy those bacilli and their germs without disturbing the economy of the animal organism to such an extent as to cause the immediate death of the animal ? But even if means should be found by which these bacilli and their germs can be destroyed without serious injury to the animal, a destrucdon of the same will not be sufficient to effect a cure. Important morbid changes must be repaired ; extensive embolism is exisdng in some very vital organs ; a rapid, proliferous growth of morbid cells has set in ; some of the intestines (caecum and colon) may have become perforated ; exudations have been de- posited In the lungs, in the thoracic cavity, in the pericardium, and in the abdominal cavity ; the heart Itself may have been mor- bidly changed, and every lymphadc gland in the whole organism become diseased. How, I would like to know, will those quacks ^<5 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. who advertise their 'sure cure' and their high-sounding 'spe- cifics " to swindle the farmer out of his hard-earned dollars and cents — how, I ask, will those quacks restore, repair, stop, and reduce all those morbid changes ? "Still, I do not wish to say that a rational treatm-^.nt can do no good ; on the contrary, it may in many cases avert the worst and most fatal morbid changes, and may thereby aid natui'e consider- ably in effecting a recovery in all those cases in which the disease presents itself in a mild form, and in which very dangerous or ir- reparable morbid changes have not yet taken place. A good dietetical treatment, however, including a strict observance of sanitary principles, is of much more importance than the use of medicines. In the first place, the sick animals, if possible, should be kept one by one in separate pens. The latter, if movable — movable ones, perhaps six to eight feet square and without a floor, are preferable — ought to be moved once a day, at noon, or after the dew has disappeared from the grass ; if the pens are not movable, they must be kept scrupulously clean, because a pig affected with swine-plague has a vitiated appetite, and eats its own excrements and those of others, and, as those excrements contain innumerable bacilli and their germs, will add thereby fuel to the flame ; in other words, will increase the extent and the malignancy of the morbid process by introducing into the organ- ism more and more of the infectious principle. The food given ought to be clean, of the very best quality and easy of digestion, and the water for drinking must be clean and fresh, be supplied three times a day in a clean trough, and be drawn each time, if possible, from a deep well. Water from ponds and water that has been standing in open vessels, and that may possibly have become contaminated with the infectious principle, should not be used. If the diseased animal has any wounds or lesions, they must be washed or dressed from one to three times a day with diluted carbolic acid or other equally effective disinfectants." Dr. Detmers experimented with carbolic acid — ten drops for each hundred pounds of live weight of the hogs, administered three times a day in the water given the hogs for drinking. Two pf the nine on which it was tried, survived, but did not, com- CARBOLIC ACID A PREVENTIVE. 45- pletely recover, and were not in good condition for fattening a month later. About this percentage recover with or without treat- ment. Of experiments with other medicines, he says, and his experience was almost exactly that of the others : "The principal medicines tried were carbolic acid, bisulphite of soda, thymol, salicylic acid, white hellebore or vcratriun album, as an emetic, alcohol, and sulphate of iron, and it has been found that neither of them possesses any special curative value. In a few cases in which most of the lesions were external, applications of very much diluted thymol or thymic acid produced apparently good results ; the animals recovered, but might have recovered at any rate. Diluted carbolic acid has been used for the same purpose and with the same results. An emetic of white hellebore or vei'atrum alburn was given to some shoats (about eight or nine months old, and property of Dr. Hall, at Savoy), in the first stage of the disease, and seems to have arrested the morbid process immediately ; at least the shoats recovered. In other more de- veloped cases, it did no good whatever. Bisulphite of soda, saHcylic acid, and carbolic acid were used quite extensively, but no good results plainly due to the influence of those drugs have been observed in any case in which the disease had fully developed, either by myself or by others. Sulphate of iron has proved to be decidedly injurious. Mr. Bassett used it quite persistently for forty-five nice shoats. Forty-three of them died, one recovered from a slight attack — it had external lesions, which were treated with carbolic acid — and one remained ex- empted. To bleed sick hogs, in some places a customary practice among farmers against all ailments of swine, has had invariably the very worst consequences, and accelerated a fatal termination. A great many farmers in the neighborhood of Champaign have used several kinds of ' specifics ' and ' sure cure ' nostrums, but none of them are inclined to talk about the results obtained, and so it must be supposed that the latter have remained invisible. \ "A case which I should have related, deserves to be Tiodced. Mr. Crews had forty-odd hogs, of which he had lost ten or twelve, and was losing at the rate of two to four a day. I .-g OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. advised him to separate those apparently yet healthy, or but slightly affected, from the very sick ones ; to put the former in a separate yard, not accessible to the others ; to feed them clean food ; to water them three tlme^ a day from a well, and to cTive to each animal, two or three times a day, about ten drops of carbolic acid in their drinking water. He did so, and saved everyone he separated (fourteen in number), while all others, with the exception of two animals which died later, died within a short time." Dr. Salmon had made many experiments In the treatment of the disease with bisulphite of soda, salicylic acid, bichromate of potassa, and bromide of ammonia. These were all administered at an early stage of the disease. The first two mitigated the symptoms somewhat, but in most instances the fatal result followed. The last two did not produce any appreciable result. Dr. Law recommends the following measures to arrest and extirpate the disease : Without entering at this time into all the details of the necessary restrictive measures, the following may be especially mentioned : i . The appointment of a local authority and inspector to carry out the measures for the suppression of the disease. 2. The injunction on all having the ownership or care of hogs, and upon all who may be called upon to advise concernlnor the same, or to treat them, to make known to such local authority all cases of real or suspected hog-fever, under a penalty for every neglect of such injunction. 3. The obligation of the local authority, under advice of a competent veterinary inspector, to see to the destruction of all pigs suffering from the plague, their deep burial In a secluded place, and the thorough disinfection of the premises, utensils, and persons. 4. The thorouo-h seclusion of all domestic animals that have been in contact with the sick pigs, and in the case of sheep and rabbits the destruction of the sick when this shall appear necessary. 5. Unless, where all the pigs in the infected herd have been destroyed, the remainder should be placed on a register and examined daily by the inspector, so that the sick may be taken out and slaughtered on the appearance of the first signs of illness. 6. Sheep and rabbits that have been in contact with the GENERAL SANITARY MEASURES. .-^ 459 sick herd should also be registered, and any removal of such should be prohibited until one month after the last sick animal shall have been disposed of. 7. All animals and birds, wild and tame, and all persons except those employed in the work, should be most carefully excluded from infected premises until these have been disinfected and can be considered safe. 8. The losses sustained by the necessary slaughter of hogs should be made good to the owner to the extent of not more than two-thirds of the real value as assessed by competent and disinterested parties. 9. Such reimbursement should be forfeited when an owner fails to notify the proper authorities of the existence of the disease, or to assist in carrying out the measures necessary for its suppression. 10. A register should be drawn up of all pigs present on farms within a given area around the infected herd — say, one mile — and no removal of such animals should be allowed until the disease has been definitely suppressed, unless such removal is made by special license granted by the local authority after they have assured themselves by the examination of an expert that the animals to be moved are sound and out of a healthy herd. 11. Railroad and shipping agents at adjoining stations should be forbidden to ship pigs, excepting under license of the local authority, until the plague has been suppressed in the district. 12. When infected pigs have been sent by rail, boat, or other mode of conveyance, measures should be taken to insure the thorough disinfection of such cars or conveyances, as well as the banks, docks, yards, and other places in or on which the diseased animals may have been turned. Other measures would be essential in particular localities. Thus in the many places where the hogs are turned out as street scavengers, and meet from all different localities, such liberty should be put a stop to whenever the disease appears in the district, and all hogs found at large should be rendered liable to summary seizure and destruction. The great difficulty of putting in practice the means necessary to the extirpation of the disease will be found to consist in the lack of veterinary experts. No one but the accomplished veterinarian can be relied on to distinguish between the different ^50 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. communicable and destructive diseases of swine, and to adopt the measures necessary to their suppression in the different cases. In illustration I need only to recall the numerous reports in which what is supposed to be hog-cholera has been found to depend on lung-ivonns, on any one of the four different kinds of i7itestinal round-worms, on the lard-worms, on cmbiyo tapc-zvorms, on malignant anthrax, on pneumonia, or on erysipelas. To class all these as one and apply to all the same suppressive measures would be a simple waste of the public money, but to distinguish them and apply the proper antidote to each over a wide extent of territory would demand a number of experts whom it would be no easy matter to find. This state of things is the natural result of a persistent neglect of veterinary sanitary science and medicine as a factor in the national well-being, and must for a time prove a heavy incubus on all concerted efforts to restrict and stamp out our animal plagues. It will retard success under the best devised system, and will sometimes lead to losses that might have been saved, yet if an earnest and prolonged effort is made, the obstacle should not be an insuperable one,and the United States should be purged not of this plague only, but of all those animal pestilences which at present threaten our future well- being. The rearinof and breeding of swine is conducted in connection with other farming, and often, and perhaps most profitably, on dairy farms. Where the swine can have good pasture and plenty of buttermilk, or sour milk with their food, they thrive well. Where there are large herds of swine, if the farmer raises also large crops of corn, or the Egyptian rice-corn, he can fatten his swine very cheaply. The business of rearing swine either for sale or for breeding purposes, or for pork, is, aside from the risks of epidemic dis- eases, very profitable. A man with a farm of a half-section, 320 acres, well in hand, sixty acres of it in corn, or thirty in corn and thirty in rice-corn, and a dairy herd of thirty to fifty cows, can begin operations with, say, thirty young sows of the Poland- China or improved Berkshire breed, and three or four boars of the alternate breed, a total outlay of not much over ^200; may REARING SIVINE PROFITABLE. 4^1 count upon two litters a year (the best times are in March and September), and an increase for the two Htters of fourteen to each sow, and may market the next year 350 fat hogs weighing an average of over 400 pounds each, at $3.50 to ^4 per hundred pounds' Hve weight, at the lowest price netting him ^4,900, and have enough left to give him at the end of the ensuing year a herd of 800 to 1,000, and his grass and corn being consumed on his farm its value is enhanced thereby (if he is a good manager) to nearly double its previous value. We give a few reports of swine-farming in Kansas as a typical State in this industry, from the farmers themselves, as exhibiting their methods of breeding and the best way of making swine- farming profitable. F. D, Coburn, Pomona, Frmiklin County, Kansas. — " Thirteen years' experience breeding swine in Kansas; improved Berk- shires present stock ; a few of my reasons for preferring this breed are : their flesh is the highest quality of pork, they have great vitality, strong digestive and assimilative powers, will attain heavier weight, yet can be readily fattened at any age, sows are unequaled for prolificacy, are good sucklers and careful mothers, have wonderful uniformity in color, marking, and most valuable points of a good hog. A first-class Berkshire should be glossy black, white strip in face, feet and tip of tail white, body deep and moderately long, straight back, hams thick and full, legs straight, short, and strong, face short, wide between eyes, neck short and thick, jowl heavy, indicating quick, easy feeder, ears moder- ately small, slightly inclined forward, tail small, hair fine and thick, skin fine and pliable. Berkshire boars crossed on Poland- China sows make best pork hog in the world. Use my boars first at from seven to ten months old ; sows, at from eight to twelve months old ; two litters a year are not too many, with facilities for giving proper care ; have thern come early in April and early in September ; first two and a-half or three months of a pig's life should be in temperate weather. At one year old, my hogs, in good order, weigh 300 to 400 pounds. Being with- out pastures, I grow special green crops for them in summer, particularly sweet corn, to be cut and fed in stalk; use some 462 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. milk, with ground rye, wheat bran, shorts, and other stuffs, which make an agreeable and healthful variety; crowding, or very warm sleeping-places, I avoid. Don't consider it profitable to cook feed, with corn at twenty cents per bushel, but with wind or other cheap power, it would often be profitable to grind and soak for forty-eight hours before feeding. Summer pasture necessary; the hog is emphatically a grass-eater ; red clover and blue-grass best. No disease among my hogs ; try to raise stock with robust constitutions ; don't confine to exclusive corn diet 365 days in the year ; don't let them crowd in large numbers ; give them my per- sonal attention, and have had no occasion to curse my luck or the hog-cholera ; principal causes of disease, mean class of hogs, kept in a mean way, by negligent farmers. Experience has proven to me that good pork, at a cost of two cents per pound, brings more than corn at twenty cents per bushel. Sold pork in 1879 for $3.25 to ^4 per 100 pounds, live weight. This State presents no obstacles to success in this branch of farm industry; lack of success and profit is with the man who practises false economy, by using year after year runty, ill-favored animals as sires, instead of pure-bred boars, of any breed, that would im- prove the value of their stock from fifty to 100 per cent, by the first cross ; lack of clover, blue-grass and artichoke pastures, pure water and shade; the idea prevails that 'any fool can raise hogs,' hence no care in studying new breeds and methods." Linscott Bros., Holton, yackson Coimly, Eastern Kansas. — "Twenty years' experience; now raising pure-bred Poland- China ; they are more quiet, sows make better mothers, are bet- ter sucklers, more prolific, pigs never get mangy, easily fattened at nine months old ; if desirable to keep longer, will continue growing till thirty months old; when fattened, have less waste, bring higher prices; best grass hog; will make two pounds of meat on grass to one of any other breed ; grass meat being cheapest meat made, this is a great advantage. Marks of pure- bred, in color, nearly black, some white, occasionally sandy spots, long body, deep sides, heavy hams, short legs, when fattened, should ' roll a cob,' rather large ears, drooped, rather short head, slightly dished face, has more meat back of shoulders than other EXPERIENCE OF KANSAS FARMERS. ^g^ breeds ; when well-fattened will have meat clear down to hocks. Poland sow with Berkshire boar, best cross for pork hog, among pure-bred, but we prefer pure Polands. Use boars first time not under eight months old, sows not sooner than eight, rather at twelve months old ; old sows may have two litters ; young ones, one litter a year, and that in May or June ; if I raised two litters, April one, and October one. Average increase, eight pigs per litter. Our hogs at one year old, in good order, weigh 350 to 500 pounds; at two years old, 600 to 900 pounds. Have lost none by disease in five years. Let sows run on grass; feed soaked corn and slop of equal parts, bran and ship-stuff; those we wish to turn in fall, keep feeding on same until corn is dented in fall, then take off grass, put up, and feed corn ; for breeding, wean at eight weeks old ; let run on grass, with less amount of slop-feed than pork pigs ; put sows, when dry, on clover, without grain, until frost. Never let boar run with sows ; stand him, only serving once. Summer pasture absolutely necessary for profitable pork-raising ; clover and blue-grass best. Have had no prevailing disease among our hogs in Kansas — seven years. Sold pork in 1879 at four cents per pound, live weight. Well- fattened hogs should weigh 400 pounds or over, at one year old." E. M. Prindle, Marena, Hodgeman County, Western Kansas, — "Two years' experience breeding swine ; pure Berkshire present stock ; think they mature earlier, fatten with less feed, endure close confinement, or can get their own living better than any other breed. Best cross among pure-breds for pork, Berkshire with Poland. Have bred males at eight months, but it is too young ; sows at eight months, and not oftener than three times in two years ; have litters come in April and May. At one year old my hogs weigh 250 to 300 pounds. No disease among them ; too close confinement in uncleanly enclosures is likely to produce sickness. Don't think it profitable to grind and cook feed, with corn at twenty cents per bushel. Summer pasture good, but not necessary. Costs not over two cents per pound to grow pork in Kansas, with corn at twenty cents per bushel. In 1879 pork brought four cents per pound, live weight. For a fat hog, at one year old, 2)':)0 to 350 pounds is good weight." 464 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. y. M. yohnson^ Hai^veyville, Wapaunsee County, Eastern Kansas. — " Twenty years' experience breeding swine; now raising pure- bred Poland-China : prefer diem, because of their gentle, quiet dispositions, large size, early fattening qualities, non-liability to disease, compared with a white hog ; body good length, short legs, broad, straight back, deep, full sides, full square hams, heavy shoulders, drooping ears, not too large, short head, wide between eyes. Best cross for pork among pure-breds, Poland and Berkshire. First breed boars at nine months old ; sows, at same age, twice a year ; have litters come in March and Septem- ber. In good condition, at one year old, my hogs weigh 375 to 400 pounds. Thus far, in Kansas, have kept them confined, hav- ing no pasture fenced ; keep breeding sows separate from other hogs ; have corn and rye ground to make swill ; feed dry corn. One year ago quite a number of farmers tried boilers, but found no profit in it. Not necessary to have summer pasture to make a good hog, but less expensive ; red clover best. Never had any disease among hogs in this neighborhood. Costs about two cents per pound to grow pork in Kansas, counting corn at twenty cents per bushel. Average price received for 1879 pork, %2>'Z1 P^'' 100 pounds, live weight. At a year old, a well-fattened hog ought to weigh 400 pounds. No drawbacks to success here ; but when corn is high, there is no money in feeding and raising hogs in close pens." A. S. Siitton, Vespei^, Lincoln Connty, Central Kansas. — " In 1875, I raised twelve pigs from two sows, one a Poland China, the other a good grade ; have used pure Berkshire males on above sows and offspring ; have tried no other kind, having been very successful with these; in 1876, had the two old sows and six young sows of the 1875 pigs; raised and sold 100 pigs that summer, and increased my herd some; in 1877, sold fewer pigs, but began to fatten them ; sold that year, in pigs, shoats, and fat hogs, over 100, and had at the highest on hand 200 ; in 1878, fattened and sold 100; sold fifty or more young ones, and had at times 300; in 1879, fattened about 100; sold over 100 shoats, weighing over 100 pounds each, fifty or more pigs and sows; had as high as 400 at one time ; now have 200. Berkshire is a EXPERIENCE OF KANSAS FARMERS. ^gj^ fine-haired, black hog, some white in face, white feet, small, erect ears, round, symmetrical body, and short legs. Think Berkshire on our Western stock produces as good results as any other, making a beautiful, easily-kept hog. In my large herd, don't use boars first younger than one year, and have used same ones two years, biit think one year preferable ; can't keep my sows sepa- rate ; should be one year old at time of first litter ; breed them twice a year; they will begin to farrow April 15th this year, and continue till next November ; when I had fewer, had litters come in March and September ; saves labor and feed to have them come, as much as possible, in the growing season of the year, and a larger percentage of pigs can be saved. Stock hogs, at a year old, weigh 200 pounds; fat ones, 300 pounds and upwards. Have had no disease ; think close, foul pens a fruitful source of it. Since getting a large number, am compelled to put each sow in pen by herself, just before pigging time, and keep them there till pigs are three or four weeks old, then put several together in a small field or yard, with shelter and pasture ; also have a yard with fence open sufficiently to let pigs through, so as to feed them extra ; have a three-acre lot, with water and shelter, for fattening purposes ; balance run in a sixty-acre field of prairie with horses, cattle, etc.; water and straw sheds for shelter; feed corn twice a day; have had 400 together, but stronger ones are apt to cheat younger ones out of their feed. Don't think it necessary to grind and cook feed ; pasture is necessary for health as well as for feed ; have so far used only prairie grass. Pork at three cents per pound, live weight, will leave a margin for profit. Received ^2.62^/^, $3.40 and ^3.62^ per 100 pounds for 1879 pork. I know of no drawbacks to success in this branch of farm production in Kansas." M. B. Keagy, Wellington, Suin7ier County, Southern Kansas. — "Ten years' experience breeding swine; pure-bred Berkshires present stock ; prefer them because I have had best success with them ; will make as much, if not more, pork, under one year old, as any other; think they care more for their pigs, and make bet- ter sucklers ; best hog to follow cattle, active when quite fat, and not liable to cholera. A pure-bred should be black, with white 30 ^56 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. on face, feet, and tip of tail, very short head, good length of body, large hams, stand wide apart on front feet, nearly straight on back and belly from head to tail, short in legs. My experience is. that Poland-China and Berkshire make best cross among pure- breds for pork. Consider one year old best age to first breed boars ; sows, at from nine to twelve months ; have best luck with two litters a year, in March and September. At one year old, in good condidon, mine weigh about 350 pounds. Average in- crease, about seven pigs to a sow. Have had no disease among my swine ; confinement and poor treatment causes it. Have not bred more than five to eight sows per year, and when I find a good mother, think it best to keep her four or five years ; have fed on corn mosdy, as we have but litde tame grass here ; let run along creek part of time ; don't think best to confine them ; by all means, separate males from females as soon as weaned. Have ground and cooked feed, with profit, when pigs were small and learning to eat. Consider summer pasture necessary to obtain best results ; clover best of any I have tried. Think cost of growing pork in Kansas is about two cents per pound, count- ing corn at twenty cents per bushel. Sold 1879 pork at three and a half cents per pound, live weight. Weight of a well-fattened year-old hog should be about 400 pounds. Many farmers con- fine too much ; seem to think anything good enough for a hog ; I think them a nice animal, if they have an opportunity." The breeding- of horses, asses and mules for the market is a profitable business, but is not prosecuted on a large scale except in Texas, California, Oregon, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and, re- cently, Colorado. The greater number of the Texas horses are of two kinds, the Mustang — the wild and half wild descendants of Barbary horses or Spanish horses, brought over here by the early Spanish conquerors ; they have degenerated in size, and are of fitful and vicious temper, but tough, wiry and sure- footed, with great powers of endurance — and the Indian pony, a descendant from English and French horses, also half wild and tough, but possessing perhaps less powers of endurance, and a better temper than the Mustang. A cross of these gives a very serviceable horse, though not entirely free from vices. MUSTANGS AND BRONCHOS. .57 There are, both here and in California, where the mustano- is very common, many horses thoroughbred and of the best blood, as well as grades from the most renowned English, French and American stocks, and there are those who are largely encrao-ed in rearing and breeding these very fine animals. It is claimed, and probably with truth, that some of the finest horses on this continent are owned in California, Colorado and Texas. But very little of these finer strains of blood is to be found in the droves, sometimes consisting of 10,000 or 20,000 horses, which are intended to supply the needs of the tens of thousands who want one, or a dozen, or a hundred horses for work. The mustangs, Indian ponies, and the cross between the two go by the general name of broncho throughout the West, just as the name of " Canuck " is given to all the Canadian horses at the East. Without the broncho (notwithstanding all his bad habits) the western settler, and especially the large farmer or the ranche- owner, would hardly be able to exist, and the Indian certainly would not. The shepherd follows his flock on foot, but the vaqtiero or herder, the cow-boy, as this western herdman delights to call himself, would be utterly bereft of all his importance if he could not exhibit his skill and horsemanship by careering about on his broncho. The stages or Concord coaches, which in such numbers traverse all parts of the Rocky Mountains to which the railways have not yet penetrated, are all drawn by bronchos, and all the relays are from the same stock. At every station, also, of all the railways, there are numerous conveyances, Concord coaches, buggies, lumber-wagons, buckboards, and often the more pretentious carriage, to which, in the absence of blooded stock, there are attached from one to four or six of these moun- tain horses. But while the "broncho" has great labors to perform, and often with scanty and indifferent fare, his humble, patient, and much-endurino- convener, the " burro," has a still harder time of it. Every sort of long-eared animal, except the mule, from the stately Spanish or Maltese ass down to the gentle little donkey bestridden by the young tyrant in knickerbockers, goes by the name of "burro," and its office is to bear burdens. Over the ^58 0^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. passes of the Great Divide, nine, ten and eleven thousand feet above the sea, passes never tracked by a wheel, and only pene- trable by the sure-footed ass during the four summer months, the patient little donkey picks his way, bearing a heavy load of concentrated ore, or panniers of " canned vittles," or perhaps furniture or grain, which could not by any other mode reach the mining camps far up in the mountain gulches. Strange that an animal so gentle, meek and patient, should, by the mingling of a nobler strain of blood with its own, give birth to a progeny so thoroughly perverse and refractory, yet so indispensable on account of its hardiness and strength as the mule. This contrary, obstinate, sulky brute, whose intelligence seems to be wholly concentrated on the best mode of accom- plishing the greatest amount of mischief and destruction, is nevertheless invaluable in all the western lands. He commands a price at least fifty per cent, higher than that of a horse of the same grade ; and is universally employed in hauling ore, timber, miners' supplies, groceries, dry-goods, furniture, hardware, etc., etc. Unlike the burro, the primary function of the mule is not to cross the " Divides " on mountain trails, but to draw over the roads, good or bad (generally the latter), those huge wagons with their loads of from two to four tons. A mule-team may consist of four, six or eight mules. But there are pack-mules also, which bear on their backs heavy loads, fastened to them with all the packer's skill, and which, if well bound with the skil- ful but complicated diamond hitch,* will resist the determined and desperate efforts of the mule to rid himself of it. But woe to the packer who, in his zeal to display his skill, comes within * This is a peculiar fastening of the ropes which bind the pack on the mule's back, and the ability to execute it successfully is regarded as one of the highest attainments among the moun- taineers. It is related of one of Professor Hayden's corps, that at one time he was separated from his companions and fell into a camp of packers and mule-drivers. His new companions looked with contempt upon the delicate and apparently frail youth, and began to badger him. " V'ou are nothing but a tender-foot," they said; "what business have you u]i here, among men that have been in the mountains for years ? You had better go home to your Yankee friends and let them take care of you. We don't need any ' tender-feet ' up here." " I may be a tender- foot," replied the young man, quietly, "probably I am; but I can put the diamond hitch on a mule's pack with any of you." " Can you ? " asked his t^'iientors, in astonishment. " Then you are welcome to the best we have in camp." DOGS OF ALL KINDS. ^gg reach of the heels of this vicious brute; he will find it looking most demurely, but without the slightest warning those legs will lash out with lightning speed, and whosoever and whatsoever is within their reach, will feel that they possess all the hardness and elasticity of steel, and will not desire to repeat the experiment. The rearing and breeding of mules is not a very expensive business. It is only necessary to have the male parent of laro-e size and of good proportions ; the mother may be a mare of almost any breed ; even the Indian ponies or the mustangs answer the purpose. The mule colts are much hardier and tougher than the horse colts, and feed upon anything which comes in their way, shavings, sage-brush, weeds, buffalo grass or anything else. They bring a high price because the demand is always greater than the supply. There is probably no agri- cultural business which will return surer and more liberal profits, upon a moderate outlay, than this. We regret that we are un- able to give figures, but the horse and mule-breeders, if not a close corporation, are at least close-mouthed, and will not, as the slang phrase goes, give themselves away. Our record of domestic animals and their relations to the farmer, stock-raiser, or sheep-master would not be complete without a notice of the dog. Nowhere is it more true than in the Great West, that " there are doers and doofs." From the shepherd-dog or colly, which rivals man in point of intelligence, or the graceful and fleet grey-hound, whether of English, Danish or Italian breed, to the base cur-dogs which are always found around an Indian camp, base, sneaking, half-starved brutes, half wolf or coyote, the descent is almost infinite. The sheep-farmers complain bitterly of the ravages of these cur-dogs (and some- times, it is to be feared, of the better sorts) among their flocks, and often in their haste and anger, demand that all dogs shall be slaughtered or banished from the State, not even excepting the' collies, which, with rare exceptions, are the best friends of the sheep ; but while it is to be wished that th^ might succeed in destroying all the mongrels and curs, we cannot desire the destruction of the more beautiful and intelligent canines who are not destroyers of sheep or cattle. ^yQ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The shepherd-dog is truly the companion of his master, Hstens to and understands every word spoken in his hearing, and is so faithful in guarding his woolly flock that he will sacrifice his own life for their preservation. We may be told that sometimes even these dogs have proved unfaithful to the trust confided to them, and have killed the sheep they were set to protect. This may be true in very rare instances, but have there been no cases where men, honored and trusted, have proven false to their trusts ? If so, why visit on a poor dog the punishment due to man, with his superior intelligence ? In those parts of the West where game is still plentiful, hunt- ing dogs are in great demand, and there are many kennels of superior breeds. The hunters in Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Dakota and on the Pacific slope, have many fine dogs adapted to the great variety of game found there. The pointers and setters for feathered game, are of excellent quality, and the stag-hounds, employed for hunting the deer and elk, are not sur- passed anywhere. The fox-hounds and wolf-dogs are not always quite so good, but answer a tolerable purpose. Very few of the most plucky dogs like to attack the grizzly bear, for a single blow of its powerful claws kills them. They are not in so much fear of the black or cinnamon bears, and often render efficient aid to the hunters in brinoino- them down. The whole tribe of cur-dogs, Indian dogs, mongrels, and crosses on the coyote or the gray wolf are a nuisance, and kill more sheep than the coyotes or gray wolves, ten times over. The laws for the destruction of these pests are very strict and severe, but it is difficult to carry them into effect. Where there are Indian camps there are sure to be scores of these wretched dogs, mangy, ugly, and half-starved, but the Indian values them very highly, and some of the savage tribes offer them as sacrifices at the burial of their dead braves, while others, when hard pressed, cook and eat them. Most of them seem to be on excellent terms with the coyotes, the most despicable of all the carrion hunters of the wolf tribe, and it is not always easy to distinguish which is dog and which coyote. We have alluded, incidentally, more than once to the rearing RAISING POULTRY. .-. 4/1 of poultry, as a pursuit to be followed in connection with a grain- farm, a market-garden, or even a laborer's " little patch " of land. There is hardly any crop which a farmer will find more profit- able, in the small way, to help out his income, than a crop of chickens. We do not recommend the breeding of fancy fowls, which most people find unprofitable. Neither would we advise the establishment of a chicken factory. These are well enough in their way and are probably sometimes the sources of a large revenue ; but they require capital, experience and skill. But every farmer can have fifty or a hundred hens; the barn-yard variety is the best if crossed with Brahma, Houdan or Hamburg, Black Spanish or Plymouth Rock males. If the children want a brood of Ban- tams, indulge them. The outlay is inconsiderable, and the fresh eggs and the chickens pay a large profit. Take these examples: Raising Poultry in Iowa. — Mrs. D. W. Gage, near Ames, Iowa, raised in 1871, 600 chickens, of which about 150 were Brahmas and Houdans, the rest being half-blood. One Brahma cock, nine months old, weighed 1 1 ^ pounds. The poultry brought at Ames 6 cents per pound, live weight, while pork brought $3.20 per hundred. Mrs. Gage states that she can raise poultry as cheaply as she can pork, weight for weight, and gen- erally sell for twice as much. As to her method of rearing, for three or four days after hatching, the chickens were fed with hard-boiled eggs and cheese-curd, after which they received mush made from corn-meal and wheat. Mrs. Gasre recommends willows planted close as a shelter for fowls ; the leaves also afford them an agreeable food. She finds the Brahmas profitable for market, but for the home-table prefers Houdans. Mr. Arthur P. Ford, of Charleston, S. C., an experienced fowl- raiser, thus records his experience in the extreme South, which will be of interest in those States and Territories south of the thirty-fifth parallel : " Breeds. — The best breeds suitable to our climate are the Game, Black Hamburg, Spanish, Dominique, and the common Barn-yard, and also crosses between the Brahma and any of the 472 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. foregoing. The large thoroughbred Asiatics do not thrive south of the thirty-fifth parallel of latitude ; the climate is too warm for them ; they may live two or three years, but their progeny in- variably degenerates. This is now a very generally accepted fact among those who have had experience in raising fowls in the South for actual profit. The dark colors are the hardiest, and in every way the most remunerative. Light-colored fowls are generally delicate, and nearly always inferior layers and set- ters. Persons forming a stock from any of the six varieties named should be careful to select the dark colors. White fowls are very pretty for the fancier, but they are an injudicious invest- ment for the ordinary poultry-raiser in the South. " Houses. — Fowls should in all cases, wherever practicable, be allowed to sleep on trees for the eight months from ist March to 1st November; they enjoy the privilege very much, and are always healthy; whereas when sleeping in houses during this warm period they will be constantly liable to all the diseases that appertain to their kind. When the cold weather comes on they should be put into the house at night, as they will not lay well during the winter if exposed to the cold rain and ice. The house should be placed upon the highest part of the grounds assigned to the fowls, in order to secure thorouorh drainage. It should be built of inch boards, placed two inches apart, to afford good ventilation ; the roof should be close, the floor covered with dry, loose sand, and the roost made of two-inch laths, and slipped between the openings, in order that they may be withdrawn fre- quently and cleansed with kerosene oil. The house should con- tain nothing whatever except the roosts ; no nests or boxes should be allowed in it ; and it should be whitewashed at least twice during the winter, and the floor frequently cleansed and supplied with fresh loose sand. "Lice. — Red lice will infest a fowl-house, even during the winter, in the South, and will be principally found on the under sides of the roosts, in small mahogany-colored patches. These lice infallibly cause sore heads, swelled eyes, and the dangerous disease known to fanciers as roup ; they are instantly killed, how- ever, by applications of kerosene oil ; and for this purpose the POULTRY RAISING IN THE SOUTH. 473 roosts should be withdrawn and oiled at least every three weeks. When fowls have sore heads, caused by these lice, they will die, unless promptly taken in hand. A simple but infallible cure is to grease their heads daily for three or four days with olive-oil, and make them sleep on the trees in the open air. The large white lice will never be found on fowls that sleep on trees during the spring and summer months ; but if allowed to occupy a house, these lice cannot be escaped, and the fowls will show their pres- ence by appearing droopy, and having colorless combs and gills, and unless they are relieved they will die. "Water. — Pure, clean drinking-water is absolutely essential to the health of all poultry; impure water is a prolific source of cholera in summer, and of roup in winter. During the cold weather a little red pepper put into the drinking-water of fowls will be found beneficial. This is a good tonic, and warms up the hens and induces them to lay. Another excellent provision is to place at the bottom of the vessel of water a piece of assafce- tida, which impregnates the drink with its tonic equalities and is very wholesome. Fowls drink but little water at a time, but they drink very often ; and in the course of the day consume a surprisingly large quantity of it. " Food. — The food should be varied occasionally from hard grain, to flour or meal mixed with a little water, and should be fed to them principally in the afternoon, in order that they may have a supply for quiet digestion during the night. During the winter months fowls require more food than they do at other times, for they are unable to obtain insects, and the cold weather renders more food actually necessary. If fowls are fed well during the cold weather, they will lay well ; but they will not lay during the winter without an abundant supply of food. Chan- dlers' scraps, or oil-cake, that can be obtained at all soap-factories at two cents per pound, will be found very valuable food, given two or three times a week, but if fed too freely it will scour the fowls, as it is very greasy. An abundance of green food, fresh grass, etc., is absolutely indispensable during the summer, and should also be given the fowls during the winter whenever practicable. .y^ OUR WESTERN- EMPIRE. "■ Range. — A dry range is essential ; fowls will not thrive in damp localities or on dirty premises. They should never be allowed access to rotted manure heaps, as the ammonia gener- ated by such heaps always causes sore eyes and, if continued, death. There is a very great difference between an ordinary stable, or cow-yard, and a compost heap ; in the former the fowls obtain much food without risk, but in the latter the food obtained is always at the cost of disease. "Setting Hens. — Hens should never be set between ist May and ist September, as the small lice will become trouble- some during the warm weather ; and the young chicks will not thrive. Tliey may be set advantageously at any time between September and May; but the chicks will require much care and protection if hatched during the cold winter months. The hardiest chicks and most easily raised are those hatched during the months of February and March. Only the eggs of the finest, healthiest hens should be set, and particularly those from the best layers ; but eggs from hens that have had attacks of roup should never be set, as the constitutions of such hens are always weakened by this disease, and the chickens will be liable to similar attacks. It is certain that only strong, healthy hens can lay eggs that will produce strong, healthy chickens. The nests should always be made on the ground, so that the eggs can obtain the natural amount of moisture essential to hatching; and never under any circumstances should hens be allowed to set or even to lay in the fowl-house. They should be taken care- fully from the nests once daily, and given corn and water ; but when hatching has actually commenced they should be let most rigidly alone. " Chickens. — The young chickens should be kept in coops for at least one month after being hatched, or many of them will be lost by injuries and various accidents. A little meat, finely chopped up and fed to them occasionally, will be found of great advantage. Only the largest, best formed should be kept for stock, and the inferior should be sold or eaten. " Profits. — A stock of three cocks and twenty-seven hens will be found very manageable and remunerative by any family in the POULTR Y RAISING. . ^ - 4/5 country, and will yield an abundance of eggs and chickens for consumption and sale annually. The profits of keepino- fowls in a practicable, ordinary way may be demonstrated by the followino- statement, calculated for a period of two years : " Debtor. To 30 heads of fowls, at 75 cents per pair %\\ 2< To allow 8 to die in two years and be replaced at 75 cents per pair . 3 00 To 48 bushels of feed, at 50 cents 24 00 Fowl-house c 00 46 dozen eggs for setting, at 15 cents 6 90 Balance of profit in two years 88 85 ; gi39 00 " Creditor. By 277 dozen eggs, at 15 cents ^41 55 By 506 chickens hatched, less 100 died, say, 406 raised, at 20 cents . 8i 20 By manure saved in two years 5 00 By 30 head of fowls, at 75 cents per pair 1 1 25 $139 00 "Thus, thirt)^ heads of fowls will pay a clear profit of ^88.85 in two years, or an average of $1.48 each annually. Good speci- mens of the breeds named will produce annually about sixty to seventy eggs each. The settings should average thirteen, and of these about eleven will hatch. The extension of poultry-rais- ing should in every way be encouraged, as it increases the supply of good food at a very reduced cost." Turkeys are also a source of profit near villages and large towns. Where land is plenty, as at the West, it pays well to give poultry a tolerably wide range, accustoming them to come home at night to roost and be fed. They will make havoc with the grasshoppers and locusts, and prevent losses from these pests. They fatten easily, although they require care when they are young. They always command a good price, and as Mrs. Gage says of the fowls, it costs no more, pound for pound, to raise them than it does pork, and they will bring three or four times the price. >p,5 <^U^ WESTERN EMPIHE. Ducks and geese are also profitable where there is water. The latter especially have a triple value, for their eggs, their flesh and their feathers, which are plucked from the living bird, once or twice a year. This is a large business now in some parts of Texas, and is conducted on an extended scale. Pigeons are easily raised, especially in the vicinity of towns ; they are very prolific, and the young pigeons or squabs command high prices. The raising of poultry in the West is attended with some risks, as they have many enemies. Foxes, coyotes, raccoons, weasels, crround-hoCTs, and other four-footed marauders, and the whole tribe of hawks, owls and vultures, are ready to pounce upon the helpless fowls. But a still more formidable enemy is the so-called " chicken cholera," a disease which has made sad havoc in the poultry- yards of all parts of the country. Many farmers have lost hun- dreds of fowls, and' where a flock are attacked from twenty-five to ninety per cent. die. Ducks, geese and turkeys are as subject to it as hens and chickens. The disease is contagious and goes through an entire flock when one or two are affected. The symptoms are: at first, the fowl begins to mope around, some- times seeming to have a full crop, but oftener an empty one; it will not eat, but drinks often, and seems to be very thirsty; the comb and wattles become a dark red, nearly a black color; the droppings are at first of a pale green color, then dark green and yellow, but grow thinner, clearer and more liquid with each evacuation, till utterly weakened and prostrate, in the course of from twelve to forty-eight hours the fowl dies, usually with great appearance of agony. Many times they will use their last re- maining strength to crawl or flutter away under bushes or a fence to die. The liver is always found to be diseased. They sometimes have an appearance of fatness, but this is due to dropsical effusion. The discharges and the flesh of the fowls have a most offensive odor. That the cause of this disease, like that of the so-called "hog cholera," was a germ or organism of a contagious nature, and capable of the most rapid propagation, was discovered in France rROF. PASTEUR'S DISCOVERIES. -_«- ■ by M. Moritz, of Upper Alsatia, and M. Toussaint, of Alfort, French veterinary surgeons, in 1878 and 1879. Sig. Peroncito, a veterinary surgeon of Turin, also corroborated their investiga- tions. It was reserved, however, for M. Pasteur, the eminent French physiologist and chemist, to apply the knowledge already obtained on this point to practical use. In a paper " on virulent diseases, and especially on the disease commonly called chicken cholera," read before the Academic des Sciences, February 9th, 1880, and translated and published here by P. Casamayer, Ph. D., in the "Journal of the American Chemical Society," Prof. Pasteur details the results of his experiments carried orf for many months with this specific poisonous germ, by which he has dem- onstrated that its virulence may be gready diminished, and that if the chickens are inoculated with this modified germinal poison their sickness will be slight and they will be perfectly protected from the original disease. In a word he has applied Jenner's principle of vaccination to the chicken cholera. The processes by which this may be accomplished are so simple and the results so satisfactory that we presume it will be largely practised where there is danger of the prevalence of chicken cholera. But until this method can be more generally made known and adopted, it is certainly best that measures of prevention should be resorted to, and that the roosts and henneries should be kept perfectly free from vermin, by the free use of whitewash and kerosene oil, that no lice or other insects should infest the fowls, and that they should have pure water and perfectly clean feed, with fine gravel, red pepper, and occasionally a little assafoetida put in their water to act as a tonic. Their food should not be exclusively of corn, but meal, bran and other articles should be given a part of the time. They should have no access either to their own droppings, or any manure heaps, especially if any dis- ease prevails among other domestic animals, but should have during the day the range of a large, and if possible, gravelly lot. Another disease which affects fowls very often, and is con- siderably destructive, though less so than the chicken cholera, is roup. Under this name several distinct diseases, though all affecting the air passage, are included. It is sometimes .^3 (^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. analogous to croup, and the fowls die of suffocation ; at other times it is only a severe catarrh, and sometimes a contagious one; at still other times it is an inflammation of the lungs or a sort of pleuro-pneumonia. These are all caused primarily by damp and unwholesome temperatures at the roosts, foul air, currents of air, etc. The symptoms are sneezing, mucous discharge from the nostrils, froth in the corners of the eyes, and a tendency to suffocation — stimulating food, red pepper, and bran mash, are as good as any medicines internally, and the external application of a wash of sulphate of iron (copperas), spirits of turpentine or kerosene to the head and throat (taking care that none of it enters the eyes), are the best external remedies. If the mucous discharge is copious and offensive, separate the sick fowls from the rest of the flock, as, at this stage, the disease is contagious. A lump of borax of the size of a chestnut dissolved in one or two quarts of their drinking water, is a very good remedy for the suffocating trouble of the throat. CHAPTER XL Special Crops — Rice Corn — Pearl Millet — Other Millets — Hungarian Grass — Sweet Potatoes — Pea-nut or Ground-nut — The Sugar Question once more — Is not Corn worth more than Twenty Cents a Bushel to Manufacture into Sugar? — The Cultivation of Textiles — Flax, Hemp, Ramie, Jute, Tampico, Tule, Nettle, Esparto Grass, the Brake or Swamp Cane — Some of the Cacti — Cultivation of Oil- Producing Plants — Castor Bean, Olive, Flax, Rape, Hemp and Cotton Seed, Tar Weed, Sesame, Peppermint, Spearmint, Bergamot — Culti- vation OF Nut-bearing and Fruit-bearing Trees and Shrubs — English Walnut, Black Walnut, Hickory-nut, Common Chestnut, Italian Chestnut, Almond, Filbert, Pecan, Hazel-nut, Pawpaw, Perslmmon, Japanese Persimmon, Pomegranate, Mandrake, Apricot, Medlar, Orange, Lemon, Shaddock, etc. — Ordinary Fruits, Apples, Pears, Quinces, Peaches, Plums, Cherries, Prunes, etc. — Small Fruits, Grapes, Currants, Gooseberries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Dew- berries, Partridgeberries, Whortleberries — Employment for Profes- sional Men, Artisans, Tradesmen, Florists, Market-Gardeners, Factory Operatives, etc. In previous chapters we have endeavored to place before the settler the results attained by skilful farmers and stock-raisers, SPECIAL CROPS. .-g in the ordinary crops and avocations of an agricultural or pastoral life. It now remains for us to show what special crops have proved, or are likely to prove, profitable, when their culture is undertaken under favorable circumstances. We have already said in our First Part, that above the thirty- second parallel of north latitude, the best first crops which a settler can raise, on new lands, are wheat or the root crops. But, after the arable land of the farm has been under the plow two or three times, and a rotation of crops seems desirable, it is well for him to turn his attention to some other crops in addition to his wheat, oats, barley, corn and potatoes, which with proper care he may find, perhaps, more profitable than the staples which he has been cultivating, and must still condnue to cultivate on the larger part of his farm. If he has any cows, kept for dairy purposes, any sheep or swine, he will do w^ell to turn his attendon first to forage plants, or to those which, in addition to their value for this purpose, yield some other important product. The different variedes of Sorghum, differing in their time of ripening, in their size and in the amount of saccharine matter they contain, answer an admirable purpose for both these crops. They can be sown early and cut just as the seed ripens, the leaves stripped for forage and the tops either reserved for feeding stock or for sowing, while the stalks can be crushed for the saccharine juice, hidian co7^7i may be made to furnish a triple product in the same way; the leaves being used for forage, the stalks for sugar and syrup, and the bagasse or dry crushed stalks used for fuel or for paper, the corn preserved for its various uses, not the least profitable of which is now the manufacture of glucose sugar. With such a demand as there now is for corn for this and other purposes, it ought to be worth much more than twenty cents a bushel, at which price it has been sold, for several years past, in Western and Central Kansas, and even within ten or fifteen miles of a railway. There is some dispute in regard to the healthful character of the glucose sugar and syrup, which are now made to the extent of many millions of pounds annually in Chicago, St. Louis, and Buffalo, some contending that as made, it contains free sulphuric acid and other 480 (^UR WESTERN EMPIRE. substances which are very injurious ; others insisting- that it is perfectly devoid of any injurious quaHty, and equal in quality to any sugar in the market. These crops are both easily raised, and can be cultivated with- out any special instructions. Broom com is largely cultivated in several of the States and Territories, and is a very sure crop, growing and ripening wherever sorghumand Indian corn will ripen. In Kansas the average yield is about 580 pounds to the acre. It always finds a prompt and ready sale, and brings from ^20 to ^25 per acre. Another excellent plant for both forage and grain is the Egyptian rice corn, or Pampas rice. It has been extensively tested in Kansas, and while inferior to Indian corn as a forage plant, its grain is richer in fattening qualities, yields on good land a larger crop, and stands drought better than any other grain, ripening its grain where Indian corn and all the cereals failed. It is not only excellent for fattening stock, swine and poultry, but when ground yields a richer, better and more appetizing food for family use than any of the other cereals. It yields from forty to sixty bushels of grain to the acre, and as it tillers very widely, requires less seed for sowing than other grains. Another of these forage plants which promises fairly, is the pearl millet. Its yield of forage is enormous ; it can be cut four or five times in a season, and will yield from fifty to eighty tons of green forage, or seven to ten tons of dry, to the acre. It stands drought much better than Indian corn, and though its stalks are not as sweet and somewhat more woody than those of the corn (it is one of the sugar-producing plants), it yields a much larger quantity, and in its green state is eaten with great avidity by cattle. The seeds or grain are excellent food for cat- tle or poultry, though not quite so rich in the fat-producing prin- ciples as the rice corn. It is sometimes confounded with the German millet, an inferior plant, and one of much less value for forage, though even this yields from five to six tons of dry forag-e to the acre. Alfalfa, a species of Lucern, long cultivated In Chili and Peru, has been very widely introduced into California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas as a forage grass, and is HUNGARIAN GRASS— THE TEXTILES. ^•g.j much liked. It has a long tap-root which reaches far down below the surface and draws moisture from the depths of the soil below, so that it does best in a dry climate. The grass is perennial, and these tap-roots, in the course of four or five years, grow to the size of a carrot. It yields four or five crops, in all from five to eight tons of hay, in a year, which is very nutritious and eagerly sought for by horses and cattle. It does not flourish well in cold climates, and cannot be successfully cultivated north of 40° north latitude, Hungarian grass, a species of millet very nearly akin to the Sitaria Germariica or German millet, is also a great favorite as a forage plant throughout the West. It grows to the height of three or three and a half feet, and yields from two to four tons of hay per acre. It is better to cut it before it seeds, and to take off two or three crops a year. It is an annual, but is better on the plains tha^n timothy or common clover. The seed should not be fed to horses or cattle alone, but should be mixed with bran or some lighter food, as it is very rich and stimulating and often proves a powerful diuretic. The product of this grass in Kansas, in 1878, was ^1,782,000. It is said to exhaust the soil miore than the Alfalfa. Another class of special crops, which will often pay a very handsome profit, are the textiles. Some of these, as cotton, jute, ramie, and the cacti, can only be successfully cultivated in the southern portion of our Western Empire. All, or nearly all, these flourish well in Texas, Arkansas, the Indian Territory, Southern Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Nevada, and Southern California. Cotton, Yik^^ax and hemp, is valuable not only for its textile product but for its seeds, which produce a valuable oil, and a rich oil-cake for feeding cattle, of which we shall have more to say by-and-by. It can be raised as far north as Kansas, or in the latitude of Southern Illinois, but is not a very profitable crop above the 35th parallel, yute is a shrub of the order Tiliaceae, to which the linden or basswood trees also belong. It is an annual, a native of the East Indies, but is easily cultivated in the extreme Southwestern States. The fibre has many uses ; though too easily affected by moisture for cordage. 31 ^g2 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. it is largely used for gunny-bags, for paper stock, as a substitute for hair, for cheap carpeting, and employed in the adulteration of cheap silk and mohair goods, etc., etc. The settler in Texas, Arizona, or Southern California would hardly find any crop more remunerative. The ra?me or China grass, like the hemp and the nettle, belongs to the family of Urticaceae, or nettle-like plants. It yields a beautiful fibre, stronger than hemp, finer than flax, and of a beautiful whiteness. It will grow wherever cotton grows, yields three crops a year, of about 1,500 pounds of fibre to the acre, and ought to be largely cultivated. The different species and genera of the cactus do not require cultivation. They abound in Texas, Arizona, Southern New Mexico, and Southern California, and especially the peninsula of Old California. Many of the species have an abundance of long, Vi^hite fibres, easily obtained by crushing them between rollers, and these can be used to advantage for many purposes. In Southern California they are curled and used for filling mat- tresses, for which their elasticity admirably adapts them. The brake, or sivamp-cane, which is our only plant akin to the bamboo of the eastern continent, abounds along the shores of the Gulf and the southern rivers. It is one of the best materials known for the production of paper stock, and by an ingenious machine is easily reduced to a tough and fibrous pulp of great stren^^^th. The tide, a rush found abundantly on the islands and shores of the California lakes and rivers, is also an excellent material for paper stock. So is the pahnetto, which will grow on the poorest lands in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico, as well as in Arkansas and the Indian Territory. The Agave Americana, a native of Mexico, but sufficiently hardy to grow anywhere south of 40° north latitude, yields a fibre nearly equal to hemp, and capable of being extensively raised on sandy and dry lands. This is good for cordage, for brushes, for which purpose it is sold as tanipico, and for paper stock. The Esparto grass, which is found in the south of Spain and on the coast of Algeria, Is in great demand In England and to some extent here for paper stock. It grows very profusely FLAX, HEMP AND NETTLE. ^3, on the poorest lands, and at the price now paid for it would be a very profitable crop for the poorer lands, as there is a great demand for paper pulp, for all descriptions of manufactures. Flax, Linum Usitatissinium ; hemp. Cannabis Saliva ; and the nettle, Urtica Dioica, and other species, and we might probably add the New Zealand flax, PJiormiiim tenax, which would be a valuable addition to our textiles, are all natives of temperate climates, and are cultivable in any part of " our Western Em- pire," except where the conditions of drought prevent. All of them draw very heavily for growth and nourishment upon the soil, and rank as exhausting crops, requiring for their best growth a rich and highly manured soil ; but all of them are pro- fitable when properly cultivated ; the flax and hemp yielding not only the lint, but seeds which produce valuable oils used by painters and artists ; and the nettle being very valuable as a forage plant aside from its fibres. The New Zealand flax is about twenty per cent, stronger than hemp, and is well adapted ''.o the manufacture of cordage. We are not aware of any other economical use of its seeds or leaves except for textile purposes. Where the soil and rainfall are adapted to these crops, as in Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Eastern Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota, and Western Oregon, their cultivation, though attended widi considerable labor, even with the present improve- ments, cannot fail to be profitable. The breaking of flax and hemp, i. e., the process of removing the woody portion from the fibre, was formerly a difficult and laborious process, but, thanks to the inventive skill of some American mechanics, it is now only a light amusement. The bleaching of the flax (hemp is not often whitened), as practised in Ireland, is a process requiring a peculiar climate and the constant presence of moisture. It is possible that Minnesota, and perhaps Oregon, might furnish the required conditions with their numerous lakes and their some- what plentiful rainfall. But the cultivation of flax and hemp, especially the former, for the seeds alone is very profitable. In Kansas, in 1879 (not a favorable year for these crops), flax was raised for the seed only on nearly 70,000 acres, and the net profit was more than ^9 per acre. Hemp was raised in that 4^84 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. State the same year on only 606 acres, but the crop sold mainly for the lint for about ^56 per acre. The nettle is not yet much cultivated as a textile and forage plant ; but the climate is better adapted to it than that of Germany, where it has proved a great success. The netde fibre is fine and even and of great strength, so that it is well adapted to the manufacture of fabrics for sum- mer wear, as well as to fine cords, etc. For these purposes it is thought to surpass flax, and it grows well on a poor soil, though, of course, not as large as on a rich one. Turning now from, textiles to oil-producing plants, we notice, •first, after the textile seeds, cotton, flax and hemp, all of which yield oils of great commercial value, and which form a constantly increasing product both for home consumption and export, a very valuable though humble plant which is destined yet to be- come a very important product of the soil — the Arachis Hypo- gcsa, known as the pea-nut, ground-nut, or goober. This sin- gular plant possesses a variety of claims upon our consideration ; its straw or vines when cured make an excellent hay or forage which cattle eat greedily; the nuts or seeds, enclosed in a hard shell and spreading and ripening beneath the soil like the tubers of a potato, are, when baked or roasted, in great demand among children, and grown people also ; while they yield on pressure a clear, pure oil, which for salad purposes is equal to olive oil, and is of great value for illuminating and lubricating purposes, and is also used for the manufacture of the better qualities of soap. The nuts when powdered are, in France, largely mixed with cacao for the manufacture of chocolate, and in the so-called chocolate condiments, are substituted for the cacao. The pea- nut is very easily cultivated, and in a good soil yields a large and profitable crop. It is raised in considerable quantities in Tennessee and in Kansas, and to some extent in other States. It yields from twenty to fifty bushels to the acre, and with good cultivation on good land, the crop may easily be increased to 80, TOO, or even 125 bushels. The price simply for use for roasting purposes varies from twenty-two cents to ^i per bushel; the first being an exceptionally low price caused by a sudden glut in the market which was unprepared for it at the time. OLIVES AND SESAME. .^- With a simple oil-mill and a sufficient local supply to keep the mill running, and facilities for marketing the product, we think the price might readily advance to ^i, or even more, per bushel. Hardly any crop so easily raised will pay better. The culture of the Olive, which is not only practicable bu$ lucrative in Texas (possibly in Arkansas), in the Indian Terri- tory, in Arizona and Southern California, is eminently desirable, wherever it is possible, both for the fruit and the oil. It is hardly necessary to go into particulars in regard to the methods of cultivation of this Interesting plant, as most of those who would be likely to cultivate it have already been engaged in its culture in Southern Europe, and if not, can easily learn from those around them the best processes of propagating and training it. Pure olive oil, though a little liable to become rancid from the vegetable mucilage it contains, is generally regarded as the best of the vegetable oils, though, for many purposes for which it is used, the oil of the seeds of the SesaDuim Indiaim, of the ground^ nut already described, or of the Madia Saliva, the tar-weed of the Pacific coast, all of which are cultivated for the oil expressed from their seeds, is preferable. These plants are all worthy of cultivation, as they yield on an av.erage about 500 pounds of oil from the seed produced on an acre. The seeds of the summer and winter rape, the coleworts, rocket, gold of pleasure, sunflower, white poppy, turnip cabbage and Swedish turnip, all of them plants which can be matured in any climate where Indian corn, will ripen, yield from 385 pounds to 875 pounds of oil to the acre's product. There are also a few oil-producing plants whose oils have a medicinal, character, or perhaps have a certain value for the per- fumer, which may be cultivated with profit by the farmer, especially on the prairie lands. The most noted of these is the castor bean of castor oil plant, Ricinus Conmiunis or Sangtiinariits. This is cul- tivated somewhat largely in Kansas and other States ; fifty-five counties in Kansas having 68,179 acres planted with it, in 1879^ though only twenty-two counties raised over 1,000 bushels each ; and the product being valued at ^766,143, or about ^11.26 per acre. This is a low average, as with ordinarily good cultivation Ag5 OUR WESTERN' EMPIRE. the crop should be from twenty to twenty-five bushels per acre, and with special care should reach thirty bushels. In the absence of any oil-mills near, the price of the beans was %\ per bushel. Witli an oil-mill near, as they might have had in the counties having large crops of it, they would have been able to realize at least $1.50 per bushel, and still have left a large margin of profit to the manufacturer. The plant Is of large, rank growth, and matures its beans In a summer of ordinary length. It is planted in Kansas In March, April or May, according to the locality. Peppermint and spearmint are largely cultivated in some sec- tions mainly for the oil, though the dried herbs are sold in small quantities. In Illinois there are large tracts sown with them for this purpose, and the culture proves profitable. Bergamot is sown for the same purpose. These plants can be profitably cultivated, If there Is a distilling apparatus in the vicinity to distil off the oils. They are a crop easily raised, as they require no weeding or hoeing. If planted on clean land, and can be harvested with the mower or harvester. Among other special crops, we may notice also those of the nut-bearing and fruit-bearing trees and shrubs, not included in those of the ordinary orchard. Under the Timber-Culture Act, though orchard trees are not allowed to be reckoned among those planted for the purpose of holding the land, yet quite a variety of the nut or fruit-bearing trees are permitted. Among those which are native to our soil are the butternut and black walnut, three species of the hickory, the chestnut, of which there are two or three varieties, and its congener, the chinquepin, of which there are two ; the horse- chestnut and the buckeye, which though not edible by. man are prized by some animals and have an economic value for their starch; the pinon pine, whose edible nuts furnished food to Fremont's men and to many explorers since ; two or three species of the beech, whose three-cornered nuts are greedily seized by swine and squirrels ; the pecan nut, a shrub ; the filbert, which though not native Is naturalized; the hazel nut; and of imported nut-bearing trees, the English walnut, called also the Madeira nut, and the Italian chestnut. The last two NUT-BEARING TREES AND SHRUBS, ^g- are very valuable additions both to our shade and fruit trees. The nuts of the English walnut are in great demand and are largely imported. The Italian chestnut furnishes a flour which is only inferior to wheat, and which forms the only or principal farinaceous food of the Italian peasants of the Apennines. Its cultivation would therefore be the introduction of an additional fo>od product of great value. Our native chestnut is undoubtedly capable of great improve- ment both in size and quality of its nuts, and the wood, which forty or fifty years ago was regarded as only fit for rails and the like, is now prized as one of the best of our native woods for cabinet work. The emigrant farmer, who has settled on "the plains," when planting trees, as it is his duty and for his ad- vantage to do, will do well to set some of these noble, kingly trees. They may not grow so rapidly as ailantus, locust or bois d\irc, but they will be worth a great deal more when they are grown. Orchards of fruit trees, as well as fruit-bearine shrubs, are very desirable and profitable everywhere in the West. Our space does not permit us to enumerate all the varieties of apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, quinces, and other fruits very widely cultivated in all or nearly all these States and Territories, The apple and pear do well almost everywhere, though of course different varieties are cultivated in different regions. The apples of Iowa, Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Oregon and Washington are of excellent quality and command high prices. Equally valuable, though of different varieties, are the apples and pears of the middle belt of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and, to some extent. New Mexico ; while Arkansas, the Indian Territory, Northern Texas, and those portions of Arizona where fruit-growing is practicable, produce excellent apples, but do not succeed so well with pears. The apples of Oregon are of such excellence that they are largely exported not only to San Francisco, which is an excellent fruit market, but to the cities and countries along the Pacific coast of South America, and to the Sandwich Islands. Quinces grow best along the banks of streams, but the New ^^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. York market receives from California, quinces of gigantic growth, like all the California fruits, but also of the most ex- quisite and delicate flavor. Plums, apricots and nectarines, being all liable to the sting of the curcullo — " the little Turk," as the farmers call him — are more successfully cultivated by the side or banks of lakes or streams, where their little enemy may be shaken off into the water and perish. Cherries do well only in certain localities, but are very profitable where they can be cul- tivated. The peach Is successfully raised as far north as Iowa and Southern Dakota, and to the extreme southern limit, but the southern varieties ripen much earlier than those farther ilorth, and command the best prices In consequence of their early ripening. A peach orchard, well cared for and managed with enterprise, In Texas, Arkansas, or the Indian Territory, should prove a fortune to Its owner. Of shrubs or small trees, yielding fruit, there are the date plum, or persimmon, Diospyros, of which there are two American species, both very astringent before being touched with the frost, but pleasant afterward, and the Japanese persimmon, greatly superior to the American In all respects, and now extensively Introduced ; the fig, a favorite fruit in the southern and middle tier of States, where It ripens with- out difficulty ; the pawpaw, or custard apple, Anona, which grows wild, but Is easily cultivated, and a Peruvian species of very delicious flavor, Anona Chcrimoya ; the pomegranate. Introduced into California, and the mandrake, PodopJiyllmn pcltahnn, whose fruit, when carefully ripened. Is equal to that of the pawpaw. All of these, as well as other fruits which only grow wild, do not flourish well In the northern tier of States and Territories, but are In their best condition In the central or southern tier. The lemon, lime, orange, and shaddock will only mature with cer- tainty in Texas, Arizona and Southern California ; but a very good Chinese variety, which should be Introduced here, ripens and withstands frost and other changes in that country, above the latitude of 40° north. Of the smaller fruits, the grape. In different species and varie- ties, Is cultivated from the British boundary line to the Gulf Coast. The vineyards of California are of immense extent, and GliAPES AND SMALL FRULTS. a^^ every grape known to European vine-growers is cultivated there ; the wines of California are improving every year, and eventually must control the market. Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, Southern Arizona, and, in a less extensive sense, Kan- sas and Nebraska, are also noted for their vineyards. The wines of Missouri and Texas have a high reputation. The production of raisins, and especially "raisins of the sun," has been success- fully prosecuted in California, and might be in Arizona and Texas. The Zante currant or grape of Corinth, a small grape which is imported in immense quantities for plum-puddings and for the use of the Germans, might easily be raised here. The other small fruits, strawberries, raspberries, of two species and several varieties, blackberries, also of several varieties, dew- berries, whortleberries, currants, black, white, and especially red, gooseberries, and several species of mulberry, which differ from the others in p-rowinof on a tree instead of a shrub or vine ; the partridge or wintergreen berry, etc., etc., are for the most part cultivated, and all are cultivable, and will add a very material sum to the farmer's income. All of them bring good prices and find a ready market in their season. Their cultivation is not difficult, and the returns are very considerable, and come at a season of the year when they are particularly convenient. We should call attention here also to the advantages of the cultivation of vegetables, etc., or, what is known in the vicinity of our larger cities,' as "market-garden truck." A settler in the neighborhood of one of these western towns or villages, and especially the mining villages, if he has a farm of i6o acres, or even of eighty or forty, can make a handsome fortune in a few years, if he will devote ten or twenty acres to the intelligent cultivation of these vegetables : such as asparagus, celer}^ early beets, peas, string-beans, lima and kidney beans, new potatoes, sweet early corn, salsify, egg-plant, cauliflower, kale, cabbages, onions, leeks, garlics, squashes, carrots, early turnips, ruta-bagas, mangel-wurzel, etc., etc., adding, if he can find room and time, the small fruits. In a chapter of our First Part we have already pointed out the opportunities which " Our Western Empire " offers to men who ^go ^<^'^ IVESTEKX F.Mr IRE. have not been accustomed to farming-, and who have no special adaptation to it. There are very few of them who are not too old for successful emigration, and who possess industry and energy, and a little capital, who will not find, in the course of five or six years, that their condition has been materially im- proved by their removal. All such persons should buy a little land, even if it be not more than forty acres ; the time will come within the next twenty or thirty years when land even in the West will be very valuable and not easily obtained ; and those who have trades or professions, or pursuits which yield them a comfortable support, though they may not desire to farm their lands, yet desire a good vegetable and a good flower-garden. They need also pasture for one or more horses, one or two cows, and perhaps some swine and poultry. Their land, mean- while is growing in value constantly, and in their declining years may become their most important possession. We would especially urge this upon professional men, clergy- men, lawyers, physicians, artists, etc., and also upon merchants, tradesmen and master-mechanics. Florists and nurserymen can do well with small tracts of land, and will find their business, if well managed, a surer road to wealth than a large farm. Even day-laborers, especially near the mining villages and tov^'ns, will be able, by raising vegetables, keeping a cow, the inevitable pig, and a moderate stock of poultry, to make a much better living than they could in " the old country." The concentration of a large population in these districts so sparsely settled hitherto, will, of necessity, bring in a great variety of manufactures, and thus furnish ample employment to many operatives ; but to each of these we would say, in all kind- ness : endeavor, as soon as possible, and even at considerable sacrifice, to become the owners of a little land, and to have a home of your own. It is the first step toward independence, and when you have "A little home well filled, A little farm well tilled, A little wife well willed," and the olive-plants begin to be numerous about your table, you SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES. .gj will not be so anxious for strikes, nor regard the behests of a labor union as so imperative ; if wages are too low, you can till your own acres and wait till they are higher — but, by all means, secure you a little homestead. To all classes of settlers we would say, farther: in your zeal to establish yourselves in your new homes, do not forget to rear the school-house within convenient distance of your dwelling. Whether you have children or not, the school is one of the strongest safeguards of free institutions. The State has gener- ously made ample provision, or what will be in time ample, for supplying it with good and efficient teachers, and what the State cannot now do a light tax will accomplish. If your children, and the children of the community, can be well educated, they will be the better fitted to become the rulers and leaders of a great State. And we have still another injunction for you : In all your set- tlements, whether large or small, give your aid freely toward the early establishment of Christian churches. We urge this, with- out reference to the question, whether you are yourselves believers or unbelievers in Christianity, It will not take you long to learn that a church will do more to preserve and main- tain good order and respect for law, will give you a purer and better social condition, and a higher standard of morals, than a gambling-den, a liquor-saloon, or a low varieties theatre ; as you love your families, as you seek after the best interests of society and the promotion of justice and good order, give the preference to the church over these institutions which are fraught with so much evil. PART III. THE SEVERAL STATES AND TERRITORIES DESCRIBED. CHAPTER I. ARIZONA. Its Location — Extent — Topography — Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Canons — Table-lands — Its Soil, Climate, Temperature, and Rainfall — Its Wonders and Peculiarities — Its Minerals and Mines — Its Zoology — Adventures with its Wild Animals — Its Productions, Mineral, Animal, Vegetable — Its Population — The Indians nearly Extinct Races — The Ancient Province of Tusayan — White Inhabitants — Its Present Condition, and the Advantages and Facilities it affords to Settlers — Letters and Communications from Major-General J. C. Fremont, Gov- ernor of Arizona, and Colonel J. W. Powell, United States Army, Explorer of the Colorado, etc. — Its Probable Future. The Territory of Arizona occupies a part of the southwestern portion of " Our Western Empire," though separated from the Pacific by Southern Cahfornia and the rocky and terrible desert of Lower Cahfornia, above the head of the gulf; it does not extend so far south as Southwestern Texas, but is comprised between the parallels of 31° 20' and 2)7° of north latitude, and between the meridians of 109° and 114° 35' west longitude from Greenwich. But a small portion of it has been surveyed, and as its western boundary along the Colorado of the West is irregular, there is some doubt about its actual area. It is esti- mated, in the last Land Office Report, at 113,916 square miles, or 72,906,240 acres. The probability is that it will be found to exceed this amount by several thousand square miles. Its form is somewhat irregular ; on the north it is bounded by the Territory of Utah, the thirty-seventh parallel forming the boundary as far (492) i ! Ji;o Loiigjlude Wpst io» r--../' } "^ ,-- m .,. ' f .cJ^V *"v-if o ,-— — T f -i. .'. :v ..' u- l//>U.f/ ('"l>iiafViefy ^AjoOiojttrMin M '-\^;r4 ,j b>^ V Safari A ^aBmiftm/fr lVs,„,A,fr„v. W V ^^ ■'^. ^yg^,. ■r5w~:5"" j Arispe^ 3I3 Loiigitudp Wpst Sja : ^'yjt'yt//// /^r y>'rru//n'iKyi>. ///''J/ BOUNDARIES AND ORGANIZATION. ^g^ west as the 114th meridian, which forms the western boundary of Utah ; this meridian forms also the western boundary of Arizona as far south as the thirty-sixth parallel, where the Colo- rado of the West crosses the angle formed by the meridian and parallel, and proceeds northwest and then west-southwest, and turning sharply south at Callville, just after it emerges from the Grand Cailon, flows southwardly thence to the Gulf of Califor- nia, forming, for all this distance (about 500 miles), the western boundary of Arizona. The original southern boundary, acquired from Mexico in the Treaty of Guadaloupe-HIdalgo (February 2d, 1848), was the river Gila, the most considerable of the lower affluents of the Colorado, and the only one which is navigable for any considerable distance. By the Gadsden Treaty, made at Mexico, December 30th, 1853, all the territory lying south of the Gila to the border of the Mexican State of Sonora, was conveyed to the United States. The southern boundary now runs due west along the parallel of 31° 20' to the iiith meridian, and thence west-northwest in a stralg-ht diaofonal line till it reaches the Colorado in about 32° 30'. The Territory is bounded on the east by New Mexico. The law authorizing the organization of the Territory was passed February 24th, 1863, and the Territorial Government inaugurated December 29th, 1863. It has never been thor- oughly explored, and, up to 1880, only about 6,100,000 acres had been surveyed, about one-twelfth of its area. Its area is about equal to that of all the New England States, New York and New Jersey. The country is mountainous in much of its extent, though there is but little regularity about its mountain ranges. In the middle and northeast there are elevated plateaux of vast extent having a mean altitude, varying from 3,000 to 7,500 feet above the sea, and from these plateaux volcanic cones and hills rise at many points. In the north a mesa or plateau stretches away far into Utah Territory. South of the Gila river the plain sinks almost to the sea-level, but in the southeast and along the Sonora line, there are fourteen or fifteen detached ranges, and four or five isolated peaks. Many, perhaps most, of the mountain ranges have a general course from northwest to .g. OUR WESTER X EMPIRE. southeast, but the Mogollon Mountains, and some of the ether o-roups extending into New Mexico, have an east and west direction. The highest known elevation in the Territory is Mount San Francisco, at the northern end of the lofty San Francisco plateau, from which it rises to a height of 12,700 feet above the sea-level. Scattered among these mountain ranges, detached and isolated mountain summits, plateaux and mesas, are many valleys of great beauty and fertility, but the river valleys are generally narrow ravines, gorges and canons, accessible to the rays of the sun only at high noon, and whose precipitous and nearly perpen- dicular walls excite ten-or rather than pleasure. The valleys of the Colorado Chiquilo, or Flax river, and of the Rio Salinas, or Salt river, are exceptions to this, being the garden spots and p-ranaries of the Territory, and the bordering mountains fur- nishing great stock-ranges where the cattle are sometimes too fat to be driven. _ The most remarkable feature of the topography of Arizona is the tendency of its rivers and streams to form canons, of great depth and with precipitous sides. Either the strata through which these rivers have cut their way to the Gulf of California are more friable and easily eroded than the same strata else- where, or the great descent of the rivers and their immense volume when swollen by the rains and melting snows give them a force which is irresistible. The whole Territory is drained by the Colorado river and its tributaries. Most of these tributa- ries — all, indeed, except the Gila, which is in itself a large river — enter the Colorado high up in its course ; the San Juan, which enters the northeast corner of the Territory and receives a con- siderable affluent, the Rio de Chelly, there ; and the Colorado Chiquito, or Flax river, with Its important affluents, the Rio Puerco of the West, Rio Ouemado, and Chevelon's Fork, falling into the parent stream above the Big Canon of the river, and forming deep, dark and precipitous canons of their own. The Colorado itself, through more than 600 miles of its course through Arizona, flows through deep canons, and receives nearly 200 streams, large and small, all of them coming through gorges of DESCENT OF THE GRAND CANON. .gc less depth, and falling over the as yet only partially eroded rocks in cataracts, into the main stream. Its descent in these 600 miles is more than 3,000 feet. The Big or Grand Canon is one of the wonders of the world. Its descent has been several times attempted, and was accomplished, though not without loss of life, by a party under command of Major J. W. Powell in 1869, and again in 1871. The narrative of these descents, as given by the intrepid explorers, is of the most thrilling interest. Through its whole course, except the last 500 or 600 miles, and through the entire course of its principal affluents, these canons succeed one another, each one in the downward course of the current being deeper, darker and more terrible than its predecessor. At irregular intervals there are rapids, cataracts, and falls of great height, while every one of the tributary streams plunges into the main river through a minor canon of its own, by a cataract often of 150, 200, or 300 feet. The W.w stalwart men, provided with every necessity for their perilous journey, and stocked with ample supplies, who, on the 30th of May, 1869, had started from the Green river station, in four boats, to descend the Colorado, had passed through the last of the great canons, on the 29th of August, their numbers reduced to six, their boats to two, hatless, shoeless, and ragged, their provisions exhausted, their instru- ments broken, and they themselves battered and bruised by their conflicts with rapids, cataracts, whirlpools and rugged rocks^ The walls of their long prison house were in some places more than a mile in height, and in their dark gorges they could only catch a glimpse of the sun at high noon. Yet the monuments, towers, cathedrals, castles and lofty battlements of all conceivable colors, were grand, impressive and often beauti- ful beyond description ; and worn and wearied as they were, they were full of enthusiasm over the accomplishment of their perilous voyage. Three of those who had left them were slain by Indians ; one returned to Utah. The river is navigable, though with some difficulty, on account of its numerous rapids, from Callville, Nevada, at the terminus of the Grand Canon, to its mouth, a distance of 612 miles. 4q6 our western empire. Neither the Colorado Chiquito nor the San Juan are navigable, but their canons and the rapid descent of their waters are only inferior to those of the parent stream. The lower waters of the Colorado are not much higher than the Gulf of California, and, indeed, flow at one point through a broad and almost stagnant lake. The Gila rises in the mountains of New Mexico, and for about one-half of its course traverses a mountainous region, though it does not at any point cut for itself deep or precipitous gorges. From the mouth of the Rio San Pedro its course is through a less elevated region, and a part of the distance is navigable and without rapids. These deep canons of the principal rivers drain much of the surrounding country of its moisture, and render large tracts unfit for anything but grazing, and still larger ones unfit for that, un- less by aqueducts, reservoirs, or artesian wells the necessary water can be supplied for stock. In the existing condition of the country, much of the rainfall which, in some seasons, is abundant, or sufficiently so for the country, if it could be saved, is wasted, runninof off from these hard-baked table-lands into the canons and not penetrating the soil. Yet this soil under irriga- tion Is wonderfully productive. The lands which can be irrigated yield sixty-five bushels of the finest wheat in the world to the. acre, and proportionate quantities of other cereals ; while Indian corn and the root crops are produced In almost incredible quan- tities. Fortunately for the Territory, very much of this land which once produced large crops can be reclaimed; many.of the gorges and ravines can, at small expense, be made reservoirs, and thus treasure up the water which comes down from the melting snows of the mountains, or that which now runs off^ Into the canons after heavy rains, and this can be used with great advantage for irrigation, for the watering of live-stock, and for mining purposes ; while deep plowing and the breaking up of the hard and dry sod will render the soil far more pervious and absorbent of the rains, and so capable of more easy cultivation. But on these mesas and high table-lands, where there are no streams available for purposes of irrigation, artesian wells have never failed to bring water, and usually with sufficient head and GENERAL FREMONT'S ACCOUNT OF ARIZONA. ^gy in sufficient quantity to flow of itself without pumping and to supply pools or reservoirs of great extent. No man living is more familiar with the physical geography of Arizona than Major-General John C. Fremont ; * he explored it thirty-six years ago in his expeditions for the discovery of routes for railways to the Pacific coast, made under the direction of the government; he traversed considerable portions of it later in the interest of the Pacific railways, of which he was the pro- jector and president, and, since 1877, as Governor of the Terri- tory, he has devoted much attention to its physical geography with a view to the development of its mining, agricultural, and grazing interests. His recent proposition to our government to restore, by a short ship-canal, the great inland sea which for- merly existed in Southern California, east of the San Bernardino Mountains, where its dry basin is now far below the sea level, was so full of sound sense, so broad and comprehensive in its spirit, and fraught with so many advantages to that whole region, that it should be acted upon promptly. The evaporation from that sea would ensure a moister atmosphere and a greater rain- fall to Western Arizona, and in connection with other measures would render that Territory the garden-spot of all the West, as well as its treasure-house for its mineral wealth. In his Report to the Department of the Interior in October, 1878, General Fremont thus describes the topography of the Territory, with especial reference to its central portion along or near the line of the thirty-fourth parallel — a region which pretty fairly represents the general character of the Territory, being less moist and hot than that along and below the Gila, but per- haps somewhat hotter than that north of the Grand Canon and above the thirty-sixth parallel. " Broken ranges of mountains, swelling occasionally into lolry peaks and pine-covered masses, and alternating evenly with elevated valleys or mountain basins of greater or less size, rep- resent in general terms the face of the country in Arizona. Its water-ways are the Colorado and Gila rivers, with their tribu- taries, of which none enter either stream in the lower part of its * See biographical sketch of General Fremont at the elose of this chapter. 32 .q3 our western empire. course. The valley of the Colorado, between Its river, hills or bordering mountains, is dry, stony, and barren, the mountains naked rock. Crossing these in journeying from Ehrenberg east- ward, a traveller in spring would find this country covered with bloom, the shrubs and trees being represented mainly by acacias and cacti, and the ground covered with low-flowering plants among grass growing thinly. Except for some shrub-like trees and gigantic cactus [Sagua^'d), ocotillo, and yucca trees, the ridges here along are still of naked glistening, and black or bar- ren, rock, showing no signs of water. The acacias, Palo vcrdc\ and other trees crowd down into the dry stream-beds, reaching after the water below the sands, but the ocotillo and tree-cactus delight in the stony and dry mountain sides. In the rainy sea- son these stream-beds are short-lived torrents. This is the country traversed by the desert roads. But this character of desert, applied to the valleys, comes only from the heated air and absence of water, and not absence of vegetation. A run- ning stream would make anywhere here a garden. "After some seventy miles, as the crow flies, over such coun- try'-, what may be called fertile mountains are reached ; that is to say, mountains more or less covered with shrubs and grass, and having springs and running streams, and affording good cattle- ranges. Continuing eastward, the country in this respect steadily improves, until, after travelling over about a hundred miles of air distance from Ehrenberg, scattering junipers of very sturdy growth appear, several feet in diameter, with here and there small oaks and locust trees ; and presently the road enters among pines, which thenceforward generally cover the more upland parts of the country to the eastward. " The elevation here is probably 5,000 feet in the valleys, the surrounding mountains rising several thousand feet higher. On the higher ranges, such as the San Francisco and Moorollon, these open woodlands become extensive forests, where the pines reach sometimes a solid growth of six feet in diameter. From Prescott the San Francisco Mountains show grandly in the hori- zon of hills some sixty-five miles away to the northeast, and 12,700 feet above the sea. These and the Mogollon Mountains scARcn^y OF ivater. .^^ 499 are the principal water-sheds of Arizona, rising from elevated plateaux of 6,000 or 7,000 feet into peaks between 9,000 and 1 3,000 feet above the sea. They make a forest country averao"- ing forty miles in breadth, extending through the Territory south- eastwardly over the headwaters of the Gila and probably into Mexico. North and east of these ranges, and running up into the flanks of the mour^.tains, and reaching doubtless, far to the south, are reported to be the great coal-fields of Arizona.* " In contradistinction to the Eastern States, where the streams maintain themselves in gathering strength from mountain to sea, dryness is one of the striking features of this whole elevated region. Streams and springs are few and far apart. The larger streams gather no affluents, but waste them- selves in absorption and evaporation, and the smaller ones usually sink and disappear under the first valley which they enter, where the soil is generally light and loose enough to absorb them. But the water can there always be found ; in the lower country, at variable depths of 50 to 250 feet, and usually only a few feet below the surface in many of the upland valleys. This may give the necessary provision of water for the farms in the valleys, while the mountains furnish it sufficiently for stock. There are two seasons of falling weather : the heavy summer rains, when the washes and stream-beds become temporary tor- rents, and the winter season of rains and snow. Now, at the end of October, the falling weather of the winter has not yet commenced, except in the high mountains. The days are warm, the sky is uninterruptedly cloudless, but ice makes at night, and a light snow has just fallen in the San Francisco Mountain. The grass there is beginning to dry up, and the northern face of the mountain is probably covered with snow. * From Mr. A. O. Noyes, who had a saw-mill twelve miles from Prescott, and who was fur many years engaged here in the lumber business, I learn that the pines in the Prescott Basin run from an average diameter of twenty-eight inches to four feet in the largest trees. But ihiy do not make good lumber, because there are so many knots in the trees, caused by fires, and because so many trees have been struck by the lightning, which is one of the local features hero. There are also in this basin some very fine spruce trees, nearly four feet in diameter. In the large belt of forest to the north all is clear, fine timber, with an average diameter of four feet, reaching to five feet in largest trees. Mr. Noyes has cut here some 25,000,000 feet of lumber. He tells me thnt on his hooks are crosses against the names of over 300 men, with whom he had dealings, « lui h.ive been killed by Indians. .QQ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. "The Little Colorado (Colorado Chiquito) and Salt river (Rio Salinas) regions are reported to be the granaries of the Territory. Tlieir valleys are becoming garden-spots, and the bordering mountains great stock-ranges, where the cattle are sometimes too fat to be driven. Like California, the country is favorable to animal life. In the Salt River valley there are probably 100,000 acres under cultivation; in the Gila valley, between the Pima villages and the mouth of the canon, about 50,000; in the Santa Cruz valley, about 25,000; and 25,000 more in all the southern district. In the Salt River valley the amount under cultivation is being rapidly augmented to the full extent of the water supply. On the San Pedro river the land is sparsely occupied, and mostly for grazing ; and farther to the eastward the country is better adapted to grazing than agriculture. Many years ago I found on the San Pedro and neighboring country many wild cattle which had belonged to ranches now deserted, where the people had been killed or driven off by Indians. So far as my present knowledge goes, the grazing and farming lands comprehend an area about equal to that of the State of New York." In his report for 1879, dated November 20, 1879, General Fremont gives these additional items respecting the southern and northern portions of the Territory : " Near the end of February of the present year I found fig trees budding and apricots in bloom at Phcenix. The cotton- wood trees which line the streets were in full spring foliage, and the fields were orreen with Alfalfa and grrain. The town is on the Salt river tributary of the Gila, about 1,800 feet above the sea. The river here runs through a broad valley plain encircled by mountains. It furnishes abundant water for irrigation, and the acequias or water-ditches are spread out over the valley in a space eight or ten miles broad. Streams of running water, which one met in every direction, gave a very grateful sense of freshness in this dry country of Arizona, and remains of old acequias used by the former Indian population show that with them, too, it was a favorite place. For seven or eight months of the year the weather is said to be pleasant, but hot for the CLIMATE AND SOIL OF ARIZONA. cqi remainder. The town is the centre of an important farming district, and its growing prosperity is secured and made perma- nent by its position, which is indicated by the country surrounding it. The trade of a large neighboring Indian reservation has been an element in its prosperity, and now the Southern Pacific Railway passes within thirty miles of the town. . . . Except its bottom lands, which are of unusual productiveness and strength, the valley proper of the Colorado, below the canons, that which lies between the bordering river hills over a space of fifty miles, is dry, hot and barren. All else is fertile and habitable. In its east and west course runninof throuofh the northern limit of Arizona, the Colorado borders and encloses a beautiful country. Here in the canons the Indians from a remote time have grown excellent fruit and grain, and with their produce have maintained a primitive trade with other tribes. In fact this whole northern I'egion has the resources to sustain a wealthy population, and create a permanent and valuable trade for the first railway which has the enterprise to penetrate it. The climate is healthy and the country fertile ; wooded and grassed from the Colorado hills eastward Into New Mexico. Water in abundance will undoubt- edly be had when adequate means are employed to get It. Its inexhaustible grasses will support immense herds, and its great coal fields and heavy forests of timber, continuous through the Territory, will command a ready market. It has broad valleys of farmlne lands, and in Its mlnlna- districts are abundance of copper, silver and gold." A correspondent of the New York Daily Times, writing from Tucson, May 26, 1880, complains that that region and the Globe mining district east of It, In fact the whole of Southeastern Arizona, lack water and timber. There Is, however, a con- siderable tract of pine of large size, the forest being twelve miles long and two miles wide, beside the cottonwood and mezqulte, which are used for fuel, and bring ^8 to $10 a cord. The Pinal creek, which furnishes water to this district, sinks in the sands once or twice in its course for a distance of ten or twelve miles, but water can always be found by digging In its bed. Still there is unquestionably a scarcity of water In this as In many other CQ2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. parts of Arizona, though by adopting such measures as were adopted by the highly civihzed Indians who had populous towns in all this region ages ago, and adding to these acequias and reservoirs, drive wells and artesian wells, this desert land may ao-ain be made to blossom as the rose. The climate of Arizona may, perhaps, be inferred from what has already been said. It varies in different parts of the Territory. The lowlands, from Fort Yuma eastward, along \\mi valley of the Gila and farther south between the thirty-second and thirty-third parallels, are extremely hot m summer. May, June. July, August, and September are the hottest months, and a record of 112*^ Fahrenheit in the shade is not very infrequent during those months. During the other months of the year the heat is not excessive, and the dry air makes it healthy. The; rainfall is principally in July and August in this part of tlie Territory, though there is occasionally a season of rain in Deceniber and January.'-' It is, however, a characteristic of the heat of Arizona, that it is not enfeebling or oppressive, and that there is much less liability to sun-stroke than in the towns and cities of the north. 'Tn the southeastern portion of the Territory," says General Fremont, "the climate is especially agreeable. In the Sierra de Santa Caterina, the Pinalena Mountains, the Chiricahui Mountains, and the Peloncello Range, as well as the Cordilleras de Rio *Yuma (latitude 32° 43' 32'^) is probably the hottest place in the United States. Army ofticers assert that it has reached a temperature of 126° Fahrenheit m the shadu. In 1877-7S, the signal-service officers reported 106 days, between April 29 and October 3, in which the maximum temperature was above 100°; thirty days in which it was above io8°, and twelve days in which it was above 110°. On four days it stood at 112°, and on one at 113°. Tucson, though a little further south (latitude 32° 28^), is not so hot. Its maximum was HO°, and only tifty-one days, all in the summer months, exceeded 100°. Phoenix (latitude 33° 18 ), Wickenburg (latitude t^t^ 58'), and Maricopa Wells (latitude ■Ty'^ 10') approach Yuma in temperature, the temperature exceeding 100° for seventy-nine, eighty-two and eighty-six day> respectively, and reaching 112° more than once. P'lorence (latitude 33° 2') is very much like Tucson in its temperature. Prescott, the capital of the Territory (latitude 34° 29'), 5,700 feet above the sea, has a very fine climate. In 1878, but two days exceeded 100°. The mean of summer temperature did not exceed 84°. The mean of the year was 65° 49''. Camp Verde, in nearly the same latitude, but less elevated, had thirty-six davs in which the temperature exceeded 100°, and several times reached 108°. Camp Crant (l.uitude 32° 25'), on the San Pedro river, but above the canons of the Gila, was below Prescott in temperature, never exceeding 95° in summer, though its winter minimum was not below 24°, while that of Prescott was I®. CLIMATE OF ARIZONA. cq? Gila, north of the river, and just on the borders of New Mexico, the character of the country is greatly improved. It is sufficiently well watered, and in greater part an exceptionally rich pasture ground, which the mild and even climate of all the year makes favorable to animal life. Its annual rainfall is twenty-four inches, and as this occurs mostly in the summer months, the grass remains fresh and green the year round. . . . This grazing country comprehends large tracts of agricultural land which will become valuable because situated in the midst of a rich mining region, and the railroad which is about to penetrate it will carry off its surplus produce." The northern and northwestern part of the Territory is not so well known, and has not been so fully explored as the central and southern portions. The region of the Cerbat Mountains, south of the Great Bend and Grand Canon of the Colorado, w^as visited by General Fremont in December, 1878. He represents it as a grass-covered country, with valjeys and mountain ranges well wooded with both juniper and pine. The juniper of this region is a laro^e forest tree often four or five feet in diameter. In the Wallapai Valley, just east of the Cerbat range, is Red lake, the largest lake in the Territory, which receives the waters of a ver)' considerable creek. There are numerous large springs in this valley ; north and east of the Colorado is a region very little known. It is mountainous, but the mountains so far as known are believed to be mesas, isolated, lofty and flat-topped table lands. North and northeast of the Flax river or Colorado Chiquito, between the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth parallels, after crossing a region known as the Painted Desert, from the variegated colors of its rocks, lies the ancient province of Tusayan, with its groups of villages of the Moquis or cliff-dwellers, and the ruins of their ancient towns, which we will describe presently. Yet farther to the northeast, between the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh parallels and the 109th and iioth meridians, just west of the Navajo reservation, are extensive beds of anthracite coal said to be of excellent quality. There are also in the Alesa la Vaca (Plain of the Cows) and the Calabasa Mountains, rich to4 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. deposits of gold, silver and copper. " The face of the country here," says General Fremont, "presents mountain ranges with broad intervening valleys running into each other by easy passes. The hills and lower ridges are wooded with juniper and pinon pine, worthy sometimes to be called forests, the higher ranges with yellow pine. The valleys, occasionally of several hundred thousand acres in extent, are covered with varieties of the most nutritious grass, among them bunch and gramma grass. This would be notably a grazing country if water could be had, but the scarcity of it repels settlement, and at present it is mostly unoccupied. The great trough of the Colorado near by seems to have drained it of all except what is afforded by occasional springs and the streams in the higher mountains. But no attempt to store and retain water by dams, or to obtain it by artesian or flowing wells, has been made." The elevation of this region insures for it a mild and equable temperature. The rainfall of Arizona is a variable quantity in the different sections of the Territory and at different seasons. The five years previous to July i, 1879, had been, throughout Arizona, years of drought ; the rainfall had been very slight, except in a very few localities, through the entire Territory, and hence the reports of the amount of rain during that period must be regarded as below the average of ten or twenty years. This long season of drought is now happily ended. In a private letter to the writer, dated December 30, 1879, General Fremont said: "The whole country here (Prescott) is covered with snow, and the streams are impass- able. We have had for a week a continued storm of rain and snow. Nothing like it has been known for many years past. There had been so little falling weather for the last five years that even the pine trees were beginning to die in the mountains. Now all vegetation will revive, and the Territory will be greatly prosperous during the coming year." The rainfall in Arizona is usually almost wholly during July and August, and so heavy a rain in December was without precedent. The signal-service year, July 1, 1877, to June 30, 1878, the first in which we had any full meteorological reports from Arizona, gave the rainfall at the different stations as follows : Yuma, two inches , Wickenburg, GEOLOGY AND MINEROLOGY OF ARIZONA. cq? five inches; Tucson, 13.03 inches; Stanwix (six months), 0.65 of an inch; Prescott, 13.81 inches; Phoenix, 5.01 ; Maricopa Wells (eight months), 4.89 inches ; Florence, 7.18 inches ; Camp Verde, 10.81 ; Camp Grant, 8.96 inches; Burke's (seven months), 0.88 inches ; Bear Springs, twenty-four inches. Geology and Mineralogy. — The only extensive geological ex- plorations which have been made in Arizona are those along the walls of the canons of the Colorado river. From the upper waters of the Green and Grand rivers, whose union forms the Colorado of the West, to the mouth of the Gila at Yuma, it is estimated that the river has cut through strata representing a thickness of 25,000 feet, or five miles of vertical height, and that there are exposed in its course every geological formation found in North America, from the quaternary alluvial deposits to the primary azoic rocks, and that at some points in its course the rocks have been altered by volcanic action and that vast streams of lava have been injected into the canons. Of these strata, worn through by the great volume of water which has thus torn for itself a passage, about 16,000 feet of nearly vertical descent, are within the bounds of Arizona. There are, of course, the superficial deposits, alluvium, and perhaps diluvium, and certainly loess, and the clay and sandstone detritus from the wearing down of the rocks, but we doubt whether there are many strata as high up as the tertiary among the surface- rocks of Arizona. The coal-beds in the northeast of the Terri- tory are said to be anthracite and of excellent quality; but whether they are from the tertiary lignites and bituminous coals which have been transformed into anthracite by volcanic action like the coal-beds in New Mexico, or whether they are true anthracites from the carboniferous strata, seems to be doubtful. If they are the latter, they are the only anthracites of that period between the Mississippi river and the Pacific coast. Of marbles of all colors and shades, of sandstones, white, pink, orange, buff, vermilion and brown, and granites, rose-colored, gray, slate- colored and blue, there is no end. The mineral wealth of Arizona is undoubtedly very great. Its veins and placers of gold, silver, copper and lead, and its car- co6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. bonates and oxides of iron, platinum and quicksilver are dis- tributed very widely over the Territory. Gold is found free both in placers and in quartz lodes ; silver in galena, and com- bined with both lead and copper as sulphides and carbonates ; copper is also found alone in the form of gray sulphurets ; quick- silver in the form of cinnabar and perhaps other com_binations ; tin, platinum and nickel nearly pure; iron ores of all kinds, and well situated for producing the finer qualities of iron and steel ; besides the anthracite coal in the northeast there is bituminous coal adapted to smelting purposes at Camp Apache and else- where. Immense deposits of salt of the purest quality have been discovered, and there are large beds of sulphur, gypsum, hydraulic lime, valuable mineral springs, natural loadstones o( great magnetic power, and fossil woods of many varieties. There are also opal pebbles, garnets, red, white and yellow; azurite, malachite, chalcedony, sapphires, opals, and possibly some dia- monds. Gold and silver mining was prosecuted by the Spaniards and Mexicans for many years before the Territory came into the possession of the United States, and some of these mines are still largely productive. Among these were the Cerro Colorado, now known as the Heintzelman mine ; the Mowry, Santa Rita, Salero, Cahuabi, and San Pedro, and the quicksilver mine of La Paz. Many others have since been discovered, and new mines are being constantly opened. They are found in all the ex- plored portions of the Territory, and seem to indicate that the mineral wealth of Arizona is greater than that of any other Ter- ritory of the West. For mining purposes all the explored por- tion of the Territory below the thirty-sixth parallel has been divided into mining districts. These are most numerous in the southeast, though the new developments are to a considerable extent in the central and northwest portions. Those most noted in the southeast are the Dos Cabezas, the Sierra Bonita (north of the Gila), the Dragoon Range district, the Globe district, the Tombstone district, the Huachuca district, the Patagonia, the Washington and the Harshaw districts, the Santa Rita dis- trict, die mines of which have been worked for many years, and MINING DISTRICTS IN ARIZONA. -q- with profit, A number of new mines have been opened at the south end of the Santa Rita mountain, the Oro Blanco and the Arivaca districts, and still further west, the Baboquivari dis- trict, and near the Colorado the Gila City district, which, after ' being abandoned as a placer mine many years ago, has recently come to the surface as having a rich quartz ledge of great extent. These are all, except the Sierra Bonita, south of the Gila river. North of that river, and beginning at the west, is the Castle Dome district, the ores of which are mostly areentiferous o-alena • the Pioneer, Pinal, Tiger and Peck districts ; the Bradshaw, Oro Bonito, Gray Eagle, Silver Prince, Silver Belt and Cabinet mines, Ruffner's Camp (copper and silver), and the Verde mines. Richer than any of these is the great Mineral Park district, above the thirty-fifth parallel and on the meridian of 114° 20', a belt nearly a hundred miles long, and which General Fremont says, " carries between porphyry walls a mile and a half breadth of ore matter, which is interspersed with veins principally chlorides of silver. These are said to be very rich, reaching several hun- dred dollars the ton. The whole mass is said to carry silver." The Bradshaw and other districts within a circuit of thirty miles around Prescott, the capital of the Territory, have many rich mines. The great obstacles in the way of successful mining in Arizona have been hitherto the dangers from hostile Indians, the lack of capital, want of good roads or railroads, and the scarcity of water and timber. Some of these obstacles are now removed. The greater part of the Indians in the Territory (the Apaches in the extreme east, and the Pi-Utes in the north alone being somewhat uneasy) are now peaceable and friendly to the whites. Much of this quiet and good order is due to the skil- ful management of General Fremont and Major-General Willcox, the army officer in command of the military district of Arizona. The Southern Pacific Railroad traverses the southern pordon of. the Territory from west to east, while the Texas Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe are rapidly approaching from the east. Toll and good wagon-roads traverse all the southern and central pordons of the Territory. Capital is flowing in rapidly, and though the vicinity of some of the mines is very bare co8 OUR IV E STERN EMPIRE. of timber, there is an ample supply in other portions of the Ter- ritory, which will be brouc^ht thither by some of the railways. The want of water is still a difficulty in some of the mines, and will cause the abandonment of those where it cannot be obtained, but the construction of acequias or water ditches, or the repair of those constructed many years ago by the Indians, the building of reservoir dams, and the boring of artesian or drive wells, will supply many of the mines which have hitherto lacked. Very many rich veins or lodes have been opened by individuals, gen- erally farmers or stock-raisers, which have not come upon the market at all. Their owners have not sufficient capital to de- velop them extensively, and hence there has sprung up a prac- tice which General Fremont denominates " gold-farming," which, so far as we are aware, does not prevail to any considerable ex- tent elsewhere, A farmer, who has discovered a gold lode or placer on his farm, as very many of them do, proceeds with his iarm-work or cattle-breeding just as the other farmers do, but when he has a leisure day he picks out a few bushels of ore from the lode, or of gravel from the placer, washes out the gold with the pan, or amalgamates it, if fine, and then expels the quick- silver by a slight roasting, puts the gold in a sack or pouch, and the next market-day sells it at the nearest town. He thus sup- plies himself with funds, and knowing his mine will not deterio- rate by keeping, reserves to some future day any complete de- velopment of it. The prospects for the speedy opening of the immense mineral wealth of Arizona to the world are now much brighter than ever before. But with this prospective development there are flock- ing into the Territory hosts of " mining sharps," as the miners call them, unprincipled men who will bond a mine which, while imperfectly opened, may prove to be either a pocket or a vein, ,and which, until it is further developed, may be dear or cheap at ^5,000, but which is very probably in a district with very little water or timber, and providing themselves with opinions from some of their partners in rascality, will come East and work up this doubtful property into a gold mine with a capital of from ^250,000 to ^1,000,000, and interesting a few friends in the mat- GOLD-FARMING— QUESTIONS TO MINE-SELLERS. eoQ ter, dispose of the greater part of the capital to the unwary, who will be very likely to find themselves swindled most egregiously. For the purpose of exposing these frauds we would counsel any one who wishes to invest in mining property in Arizona, or, indeed, elsewhere, before purchasing to institute the following inquiries: What is the exact location of your mine? How near is it to a permanent supply of water, sufficient for the mine? What is that water — a spring, creek, or river ? Is it a perpetual stream, or does it intermit and lose itself in the sands, reappear- ing, perhaps, miles below ? What timber is there near the mine, and at what price is it held ? What progress has been made in the mine by shafts, tunnel, or winze ? What amount and value of ore is now upon the dump ? What is the average assay, and what the actual practical yield per ton ? What is the estimated present value of the mine as appraised by skilful and honest experts ? These points being satisfactorily ascertained, the investor may be justified in offering about one-fifth of what is asked for the mine, though he would be safer if he offered only a tenth.* The vegetation of Arizona is peculiar. The lower valley of the Colorado and that of the Gila as far east as the Rio Santa Cruz are for the most part low and dry. In the spring, the cactus, which abounds in all its species here, and delights in a dry and desert land, is in full bloom, and pleases the eye with its gay and beautiful colors. There Is very little grass here, and that little dries up under the summer's Intense heat, but is renewed by the rains of July and August. The mountains are covered with scrubby pines and junipers, and along the streams there is a thin line of cotton- woods. In the desert lands, the mezquite and iron-wood con- tend with the cactus for a place in the parched soil, and these furnish a moderate supply of fuel, though there are bituminous coals in the Gila valley which supplement what is lacking. In * In suggesting these inquiries and urging this caution, we do not intend to imply that there IS any doubt that the mineral wealth of Arizona is vast, and perhaps greater than that of any other portion of the West; but the distance to markets is so great, the expenses so heavy, the obstacles so many, and the facilities for deception so numerous, that great caution on the part of the buyer is absolutely necessary. -jQ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the cas::( rn and southeastern parts of the Territory there are more streams, and the mountains are covered, though sparsely, with pine and juniper. North of the Gila there is in the east an extensive mass of mountains known as the Mogollon Moun- tains, which ?re covered with yellow pine, pinon or nut-pine, and juniper, while the valleys which are watered by the streams which unite to form the Colorado Chiquito, and the Salinas, San Carlos, Bonito, Prieto, and Azul, affluents of the Gila, are cov- ered with rich grasses and are excellent grazing and arable lands. A broad but elevated valley lies between the Mogollon and the San Francisco range, which is watered only by the San Francisco river and its affluents, and by one or two small lakes, and by one or two creeks which flow into the Salinas. This valley plateau is but litde known, but in its upper portion at least is probably very dry. The lower portion is said to be an excellent erain region. Another extensive mountain mass, extending more than 200 miles from north to south and about 125 from east to west, of which the San Francisco Mountains form the eastern barrier, and which is traversed by many fertile valleys and some lofty mesas or plateaux, extends westward to the Black Mountains, which overlook the Colorado valley. Nearly in the centre of this mountain mass is situated Prescott, the capital of the Ter- ritory, which is 5,700 feet above the sea, and enjoys a fine climate, not too hot or too cold, a pure air, and freedom from m.alaria. The atmosphere here is very dry and highly electric, at times almost painfully so. Thunder-storms are very frequent in sum- mer, and so many of the pine trees, which are abundant here, have been struck by lightning that they are unfit for lumber. Most of these mountains are covered with yellow pine, juniper, and pinon pine, with some oaks, and much good lumber is fur- nished from those thirty or forty miles north of Prescott. In this reo-ion, as well as farther south, those fruits which delio;;ht in a hot climate and do not require too much moisture, flourish in perfection. The peach, apricot, fig, banana, and where they have been planted, the olive and pomegranate, yield abundant fruit. The orange, lemon, and lime probably require more WILD ANIMALS OF ARIZONA. ejl moisture. Some of the palms, particularly the date and talipot palms, would undoubtedly do well in the Gila, Salinas, and Santa Cruz valleys. Of the reeions north of the Colorado and the Colorado Chiquito, there is hardly enough known to justify any consider- able description of their vegetation. Near the Colorado the land is so thoroughly drained of moisture as to be almost a desert. East of the Colorado Chiquito is a broad plateau, a por- tion of which is volcanic in character, and is laid down upon the maps as a " painted desert," probably from the color of its lime- stones, shales, and sandstones. North of this are the villages of the Moquis, where, in the past, the water has been treasured up in reservoirs for domestic purposes and for irrigation. On portions of these mesas they w^ere accustomed to cultivate their fields of blue, red, yellow, orange-colored and white corn, keep- ing each carefully in fields by itself, and garnering them in sep- arate granaries. Their crops of these would indicate a fertile soil, and the grazing was good for their goats and sheep. A laree mesa in the extreme northeast is called Mesa la Vaca, which would indicate that it had formerly been a pasture ground for cattle. The Navajos, who have a large reservation, partly in Arizona and partly in New Mexico in this northeastern corner, are famous for their flocks -of sheep, numbering it is said nearly or quite a million. Zoology. — Geographically, all the wild animals of the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, and the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, should find homes in the forests and plains of Arizona. Perhaps occasional specimens of nearly all of them may be found ; but, as a matter of fact, wild animals are not very numerous in Arizona. Of the larger game the elk is rare, but there are two species of deer, the Rocky Moun- tain antelope, the bighorn or mountain sheep, and the Rocky Mountain goat or goat antelope. Most of them were more abundant in the northern part of the Territory than in the south- ern. Of the smaller game, there are the sage hare, the jack rabbit, and several species of squirrels. Of the larger beasts of prey, the grizzly bear is very rare, if he inhabits the Territory at 512 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. all ; the black and cinnamon bears are more numerous. The puma or cougar is found in the forests, though less numerous than in better- watered countries; the jaguar is found in the low lands, though less abundant than in Texas. The ocelot, the wild cat and the lynx are occasionally found in the forests, as well as the red or gray wolf, and one or two species of fox. The prairie wolf, usually called the coyote,* is not found in the Territory, though the true coyote, a miserable little cur of an animal scarcely larger than a fox, is occasionally seen ; but there are peccaries, raccoons, opossums, skunks, and the gopher or prairie dog or marmot. There are said to be large herds of mustangs or wild horses in the plains of Southern Arizona. Of birds there are a considerable number, many of them of gay-colored plumage. The Wheeler expedition sent to the Smithsonian Institution 500 specimens, and 183 distinct species, and others have since been discovered. Game-birds are abundant, pheasants, partridges, quails and grouse, especially the sage-hen and the prairie-hen. The crane, ibis and flaminsfo are amono: the birds of Southern Arizona. Eagles, vultures, buzzards, hawks and owls are numerous; the king- vulture, little inferior in size to the condor or lammergeier, a rare bird in North America, is only found in the United States, in this Territory and in Texas. There are many varieties of fish found in the rivers, some of them edible fish of oreat delicacy and peculiar to this Territory. Several species of fish have been discovered in the mineral springs. There are also many species of mollusks. The reptiles and serpents of Arizona are formidable, and in some parts of the Territory numerous. There are alligators in the Gila and Lower Colorado, horned toads, lizards, scorpions, and centipedes in the chaparral and among the cacti, rattlesnakes on the mesas or table-lands of Central and Northern x^rizona. The skunk, in other sections a harmless animal, except for his fearfully offensive odor, is, in all the region below the fortieth par- * Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, United States Army, a very high authority in all hunting matters, insists (" The Plains of the Great West ") that the coyote is an insignificant little animal hardly larger than a fox, and is found only in Texas, Arizona and Mexico; and that the prairie wolf, so often called a coyote, and so abundant on the " plains," is really an entirely different and much larger specie.* of the canine family. ADVENTURES WITH WILD ANIMALS. ri? allel, very much dreaded for his carnivorous propensity. Finding his way into a camp, or where settlers are sleeping on. the ground under tents, he proceeds without any hesitation to bite and gnaw the face or hands or feet of the sleepers, and his appetite for human flesh and blood once aroused he will return to his repast even if driven away. These bites in very many cases produce hydrophobia, though the animal itself shows no signs of rabies. These animals are very numerous in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, the Indian Territory and Texas, and though many thousands of them are killed every year for their skins, the fur being in great demand in the fashionable world, they do not seem to diminish in numbers. Colonel R. I. Dodge relates a case of these skunk bites, which, happily, did not prove fatal. It occurred in the Guadaloupe Mountains in Texas, not far from the southeast border of Arizona. A soldier and his comrade were sleeping in a common or A tent. The soldier dreamed that he was being eaten up by some animal, but a sort of night- mare prevented his moving. After some time, however, the pain and horror together woke him up to find a skunk eating his hand. With a cry and sudden efifort he threw the animal from him. It struck the other side of the tent and fell upon the other man, who, recognizing the intruder, rushed out of the tent. The bitten man, who had heard of the surely fatal result of skunk- bite, was so paralyzed with fear and horror that he made no effort to get up, and seeing the skunk coming towards him again buried himself in the blankets. The skunk walked all over him, apparently seeking for an opening, and finding none began to scratch the blankets as if trying to dig out his victim. The mental condition of this poor fellow can better be imagined than described. In the meantime the other man had loosened the tent pins and lifted up one side of the tent, letting in the moon- light; then pelting the animal with sticks, from a distance, at last frightened it so that it ran off into the deep, dark bank of the river. This skunk emitted no odor, and was undoubtedly simply hungry and not rabid. The man came to Colonel Dodge in the morning with his hand bound up, and asked if there was any cure for a skunk- bite. The colonel's heart sunk within him, but ti4 ^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. he made lijrht of the matter and examined the wound. The whole ball of the right thumb was torn, lacerated and gnawed in a fearful manner. He had no caustics or other means of cauteri- zation, and so long a time had elapsed that he thought they would have done more harm mentally than good physically. So he had the wound carefully and thoroughly washed with Castile soap, cut off the protuberant pieces of mangled flesh, and, binding it up, kept on a simple water-dressing till the wound healed, which was in about ten days. The man was with Colonel Dodge for more than a year after this, but never experienced any ill effects except temporary pain from the wound. Colonel Dodge says that this was the only non-fatal case of which he knew in that region, though in other sections they were not often fatal. The gray wolves not unfrequently suffer from rabies or go mad, and in that condition lose all fear, and will rush into houses, tents, etc., biting every one whom they can reach. Productions of Arizona. — In 1879 there was about ^3,500,000 of gold, silver and copper sent to San Francisco from Arizona. In 1880, the amount will, in all probability, be over ^8,000,000, and as soon as railroads, now constructing, are completed through the Territory, the mineral exports will be much increased, and lead, anthracite coal, platinum, quicksilver and other metals will be added to them. Wheat is the principal vegetable production exported. It is of excellent quality, fully equal to the best California, and where irrigation can be practised, the yield is enormous. We have no statistics of the vegetable crops gathered the last year, and be- lieve none have been collected. Fruit, of semi-tropical qualities, is beginning to be extensively cultivated. Lumber and timber can be produced in some quarters, sufficient not only to supply the home demand, but to have considerable quantities to export. The Papago Indians, in the southwest, the Pimas and Maricopas, in the south and central region, the Mohaves, and to some ex- tent, the Yumas, in the west and on the Lower Colorado, and the more civilized bands of the Apaches in the east, cultivate the soil and obtain a livelihood from it, the Maricopas and Papagos ex- porting considerable grain to San Francisco. In the northeast INDIAA'S OF ARIZONA. cje the Navajos are largely engaged in sheep-farming, as already noticed. The Hualapais and the Yavapais, as well as some of the Apaches, are more inclined to a nomadic life, but will make good herdmen. The Apaches in the southeast, and the Pah- Utes or Pi-Utes, in the north and northwest, are not inclined to any industry, and are roving, troublesome and thievish. The white population of Arizona is, according to the census just taken, almost 42,000 and rapidly increasing. In i860 there were 6,482, and in 1870 there were 9,658. There has been within the past two years, a rapid influx of persons interested in mines and mining, as well as some who preferred agricul- tural pursuits, or the rearing of cattle and sheep. In 1870 there were 32,052 Indians in the Territory; the number has prob- ably somewhat diminished since that time, as the small-pox and other fatal diseases have raged among them, and some of the tribes have scarcely escaped starvation, but they must numbei nearly 29,000 at the present time. Besides the tribes we have named, there are other smaller bands, such as the Suechis, Apache Mohaves, Apache Coyoteros, Cosninas, Chemehuevis and Wallapis. The Apaches, who num- ber about 5,000, and have a large reservation in the southeast, are divided into six bands : the Tontos, Pinals, Arivapas, Mes- caleros, Bonitos and Cochise's band. They are, for the most part, treacherous and mischievous, and have of late been raiding in New Mexico, but have met with summary punishment. With the exception of these and the Pi-Utes in the north, the Indians of Arizona are friendly to the whites, peaceable, and, for Indians, industrious. There are, all over Arizona, ruins of ancient dwellings, castles and fortified villages, together with acequias or water-conduits, caves and dwellings hewn out of the rocks, or built up with large stones and evidently formerly containing a large population. Of these ruins, Hon. A. P. K. Safford, formerly Governor of the Territory, and its Commissioner at the Centennial Exposition, says: " Many portions of the Territory are covered with ruins, which prove conclusively that it was once densely populated by a peo- ti^ OUK WESTERN EMPIRE. pie far in advance, in point of civilization, of most of the Indian tribes. There is no written record of them, and it is only a matter of conjecture who and what they were. Occasionally a deserted house is found sufficiently well preserved to ascertain the character of the architecture. The walls of the Casa Grande, situated on the Gila, near Sanford, are still two stories above the g-round. In size, the structure is about thirty by sixty feet; the walls are thick, and made of mud, which was evidently confined and dried as it was built. It is divided into many small rooms, and the partitions are also made of mud. The floors were made by placing sticks close together and covering them with cement. Around and near the Casa Grande are the ruins of many other buildings ; but, by the lapse of time, the decay of vegetation has formed earth and nearly covered them, and all that now marks the place where once a stately mansion stood is the elevation of the orround. Near the Ancha Mountains are ruins not so ex- tensive, but in far better preservation than the Casa Grande ; and near these ruins are old arastras, for the reduction of silver ores — which indicate that this old people were not unmindful of the root of all evil. On the Verde river are immense rooms dug in from the sides of high, perpendicular sandstone banks, that can only be reached with ladders. " Very little information is obtained by excavating these ruins. Pottery of an excellent quality, and ornamented with paint, is found everywhere, and occasionally a stone axe is unearthed, but nothing to indicate that they were a warlike people ; on the con- trary, scarcely an implement of defence can be found, though there are reasons to believe, from the numerous lookouts or places for observation to be seen on the tops of hills and moun- tains, and the construction of their houses, that they had enemies, and that they were constantly on the alert to avoid surprise; and also, that by the hands of these enemies they perished. It is not improbable that the Apaches were the enemies who caused their destruction. Indeed, the Apaches have a legend that such is the case. During the past year I opened an old ruin at Puebla Viejo, on the Upper Gila, and found the bones of several human beings within ; also the bones of a number of domestic animals. ANCIENT RUINS IN ARIZONA. e,- On the fire, an olla (crockery-ware vessel) was found with the bones of a fowl in it, and it appeared as though the people within had resisted an attack from an enemy, and had finally been mur- dered. Shordy after, I visited a ruin in Chino valley, twenty miles north of Prescott, and over three hundred miles from Puebla Viejo, and there found that Mr. Banghart had opened a ruin on his farm. In it he found the bones of several human beings — five adults and some children — and the evidences were unmis- takable that the inmates had died by violence, as the door and window had been walled up with stone, evidently to resist a hos- tile foe. The subject is an interesting one, and it is to be hoped that further excavations may throw more light upon the subject. The ruins of towns, farms and irrigating canals, that are to be seen on every hand through this vast Territory, give abundant proof that this country was once densely inhabited, and that the people who lived here maintained themselves by cultivadng the soil. Probably that is about all we shall ever know of them. Many hieroglyphics are to be seen on rocks in different portions of the Territory, but by whom made, or what they mean, no one knows. " In excavating a well between Tucson and the Gila, at the depth of one hundred and fifty feet, pottery and other articles, the same as are found in the vicinity of ruins, were taken out." But by far the most interesting of these ruins, inasmuch as they are not wholly ruins, but some of them inhabited by the remnant of the original tribes which built them, are those of the ancient province of Tusayan, in the northeastern part of the Territory. Seven of the sixty or more towns which constitute this once populous province, are still inhabited by the Moquis, who are undoubtedly the descendants of the original nation which once occupied the whole of this Territory, and who still adhere to the religion of their fathers. Of the sixty towns, thirty are still inhabited, but all except the seven are under the con- trol of Cathoiic priests, and the Pagan rites and ceremonies are prohibited ; but occasionally the inhabitants steal away from their villages and join with the Pagans of the " Province of Tusayan " in their rites and worship. There are other groups of these vil- -jg OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. lao-es on the San luan river in New Mexico and Southwestern Colorado, which have been visited by Professor J. S. Newberry and his companions, in i860, whose language, religion, etc., are identical with these. Colonel J. W. Powell, United States army, visited the province of Tusayan in 1871, and spent about two months in studying the language, manners, customs, and religion of these Interesting people. The narratives of Professor New- berry (which has not been published) and of Colonel Powell are both full of Interest, and from them we glean a few particulars in addition to those already given in Part I., chapter vi., page 6^], which will, we think, be of Interest to our readers. The villages of these Moquis are always situated on some lofty mesa or isolated table-land, difficult of access; their dwellings are of stone, usually three or four stories high, and around an inte- rior court, common to the village. The outer walls are blank and inaccessible, and the inner court is only approached by a covered way easily defended. Entering the village plaza or in- terior court-yard, the houses are joined together, forming a con- tinuous wall outside, and within the court they are built in terraces, the second story being set back upon the first, the third upon the second, and the fourth upon the third. There are no doors or low windows to the first story ; access to it is had only by ascending a ladder to the top of the story and then descend- ino- another to the floor of the first. This lower story is for the most part a store-house where the corn or other grain used by the family Is stored, each color of the corn by itself. The second story, or sometimes the third, contains the family room, which is twenty or twenty-four feet by twelve or fifteen in width, and about eight feet high. Usually all the rooms are plastered care- fully, and sometimes they are painted with rude devices. For doors and windows there are openings only, except that some- times small windows are glazed with thin sheets of selenlte, the transparent flat crystals of gypsum. To go up to the third or fourth story you climb by a stairway made in the projecting wall of the partition. In a corner of each principal room a little fire- place is seen, large enough to hold about an armful of wood; a stone chimney is built in the corner, and often capped outside THE DWELLINGS OF THE MOQUIS. cig with a pottery pipe. The exterior of the houses is very irreo-u- lar and unsightly, and the streets and courts are filthy, though in the centre of each court is a large, deep fountain and pool, which is used for bathing ; but within the houses great cleanli- ness is observed. Separated from the houses, indeed belonging to the village, is the kiva, called Estufa, " the Sweat House," by the Spaniards. It is a large underground room in the court- yard or plaza, chiefly intended for religious ceremonies, the church, in fact, of the village, but also used as a place of social resort. A deep pit is excavated in the shaly rock and covered with long logs, over which are placed long reeds, these, in turn, covered with earth, heaped in a mound above ; a hole or hatch- way is left, and the entrance to the kiva is by a ladder down this hatchway. The people are very hospitable and quite ceremonious ; they are also remarkably polite. Enter a house and you are invited to take a seat on a mat placed for you upon the floor, and some refreshment is offered, perhaps a melon with a little bread, per- haps peaches or apricots. After you have eaten, everything is carefully cleared away, and with a little broom made of feathers of birds,* the matron or her daughter removes any crumbs or seeds which may have been dropped. They are a very economi- cal people ; the desolate circumstances under which they live, the distance to the forests, and the scarcity of game, together with their fear of the neighboring Navajos and Apaches, which prevents them from making excursions to a distance, all com- bine to teach them the most rigid economy. Their wood is packed from a distant forest on the backs of mules or asses, and when a fire is kindled but a few small fragments are used, and when no longer needed the brands are extinguished, and the re- maining pieces preserved for future use. Their corn is raised in fields near by, out in the drifting sands, by digging pits eighteen inches to two feet deep, in which the seeds are planted early in the spring, while the ground is yet moist. When it has ripened it is gathered, brought in from the fields in baskets carried by * Some of these brushes or brooms are very beautiful, and are made of the feathers of hum- ming-birds and other birds of gny plumage found in that region. po O'-^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. the women, and stored away in their rooms, being carefully corded. They take great pains to raise corn of different colors, and have the corn of each color stored in a separate room. This is ground to a fine flour in stone-mills, then made into a paste like a rather thick gruel. In every house there is a little oven made of a flat stone eighteen or twenty inches square, raised four or five inches from the floor, and beneath this a little fire is built. When the oven is hot and the dough mixed in a little vessel of pottery, the good woman plunges her hand in the mix- ture and rapidly smears the broad surface of the furnace rock with a thin coating of the paste. In a few moments the film of batter is baked ; when taken up it looks like a sheet of paper. This she folds and places on a tray. Having made seven sheets of this paper bread from the batter of one color and placed them on the tray, she takes batter of another color, and, in this way, makes seven sheets of each of the several colors of corn-batter. They have many curious ways of preparing their food, but ])erhaps the daintiest dish is "virgin hash." This is made by i:hewinof morsels of meat and bread, rollincr them in the mouth into little lumps about the size of a horse-chestnut, and then tying them up in bits of corn-husk. When a number of these are made, they are thrown into a pot and boiled like dumplings. The most curious thing of all is, that only certain persons are allowed to prepare these dumplings; the tongue and palate kneading must be done by a virgin. An old feud is sometimes avenged by pretending hospitality, and giving to the enemy dumplings made by a lewd woman. In this warm and dry climate the people live principally out of doors or on the tops of their houses, and it is a merry sight to see a score or two of little naked children climbing up and down the stairways and ladders, and running about the tops of the houses engaged in some active sport. In every house vessels of stone and pottery are found in great abundance. These Indian women have great skill in ceramic art, decorating their vessels with picture-writings in various colors, but chiefly black. In the early history of this country, before the advent of the CUFF l»\vi:llkks. D/^ESS AND HABITS OF THE MOQUIS. 521 Spaniards, these people raised cotton, and from it made their clothing; but between the years 1540 and 1600 they were sup- plied with sheep,, and now the greater part of their clothing is made of wool, though all their priestly habiliments, their wedding and burying garments, are still made of cotton. The weaving is mostly done by the men, and their woollen blankets are re- markable for their density and their fine texture. They are perfectly water-proof, as w^e have already noticed, page 67. Men wear moccasins, leggings, shirts and blankets ; the women, moccasins with long tops, short petticoats dyed black, sometimes with a red border below, and a small blanket or shawl thrown over the body so as to pass over the right shoul- der under the left arm. A long girdle of many bright colors is wound around the waist. The outer garment is also black. The women have beautiful, black, glossy hair, which is allowed to grow very long, and which they take great pains in dressing. Early in the morning, immediately after breakfast, if the weather is pleasant, the women all repair to the tops of the houses, tak- ing- with them little vases of water, and w^ash, comb and braid one another's hair. It is washed in a decoction of the soap plant, a species of yucca, and then allowed to dry in the open air. The married ladies have their hair braided and rolled In a knot at the back of the head, but the maidens have it parted along the middle line above, and each lock carefully braided or twisted, and rolled into a coil supported by little w^ooden pins, so as to cover each ear, giving them a very fantastic appearance. The politeness of the people is shown in their salutations. If you meet them in the fields they greet you with a salutation signifying, " May the birds sing happy songs in your fields." If you do one of them a favor, even though a very slight one, he thanks you ; if a man, he says " kwa kwa;" if a woman, "es-ka-li." It Is an interesting feature in their language that many words are used exclusively by men, others by women. " Father," as spoken by a girl, is one word ; spoken by a boy, it is another ; and nothing is considered more vulgar among these people than for a man to use a woman's word, or a woman a man's. At the dawn of day the governor of the town goes up to the -22 OUR WESTERN EMPTRE. top of his house and calls on the people to come forth. In a few minutes the upper story of the town is covered with men, women, and children. He harangues them briefly on the duties of the day; then, as the sun is about to rise, they all sit down, draw their blankets over their heads, and peer out through a little opening and watch for the sun. As the upper limb ap- pears above the horizon every person murmurs a prayer, and continues until the whole disk is seen, when the prayer ends and the people turn to their various avocations. The young men gather in the court about the deep fountain, stripped naked, except that each one has a belt to which are attached bones, hoofs, horns, or metallic bells, which they have been able to pro- cure from white men. These they lay aside for a moment, plunge into the water, step out, tie on their belts, and dart away on their morning races over the rocks, running as if for dear life. Then the old men collect the little boys, sometimes with little whips, and compel them to go through the same exercises. When the athletes return, each family gathers in the large room for breakfast. This over, the women ascend to the tops of the houses to dress their hair, and the men depart to the fields or woods, or gather in the kiva to chat or weave. The theology of these people seems to be complicated. They acknowledge a Supreme or Great Spirit, the Creator of men, symbolized by the sun or by fire, but consider the planets, sun, moon, and stars the workmanship of a beneficent spirit of miracu- lous power and strength and most loving disposition, who dwelt among men and exerted his various powers to help them. This beneficent divinity, who bears strong analogies to the Hercules of the Greeks, the Divine Emperor of the Chinese, and the Hia- watha of the Northern Indians, they named Ma-chi-ta, and they never tire of telling of his loving tenderness to complaining and ungrateful humanity. But they worshipped also the powers and forces of nature, at least to the extent of prayer and homage. The aridity of their soil made water, and especially rain, a prime necessity, and Col- onel Powell gives us a prayer which he heard addressed, with a variety of other ceremonies, to Mu-ing-wa, the rain-god, by one RELIGIOUS WORSHIP OF MOQUIS. 523 of the Moqui priests : " Mu-ing-wa ! very good ; thou dost love us, for thou didst bring us up from the lower world.* Thou didst teach our fathers, and their wisdom has descended to us. We eat no stolen bread. No stolen sheep are found in our flocks. Our young men ride not on the stolen ass. We be- seech thee, Mu-ing-wa, that thou wouldst dip thy brush, made of the feathers of the birds of heaven, into the lakes of the skies and scatter water over the earth, even as I scatter water over the floor of this kiva ; Mu-ing-wa, very good." After scattering white sand over the floor, the old priest prayed that during the coming season Mu-ing-wa would break the ice in the lakes of heaven, and grind it into ice-dust (snow), and scatter it over the land so that during the coming winter the ground might be pre- pared for the planting of another crop. Then, after another ceremony with kernels of corn, he prayed that the corn might be impregnated with the life of the water, and made to bring forth an abundant harvest. After a ceremony with certain jewels which seemed to be a part of the sacred emblems kept in the kiva, he prayed that the corn might ripen and each kernel be- come as hard as one of the jewels. This petition would seem to imply the desire that it might be preserved from the insect pests which do not attack the corn when it has become plenty. There seems to be in their theology no place for the sacrifice of animals, much less of human beings. All their sacrifices were of fruits, flowers, and seeds. The villages visited by Prof New- berry in the San Juan region differed very little either in their religious w^orship, their habits and customs, or their language from these inhabitants of Tusayan. They cultivated only the blue corn, and their bread, made in the same way as that de- scribed by Colonel Powell, resembled nothing else so much as a ream of druggists' blue paper. Colonel Powell, after careful inquiry, estimated the inhabitants of these seven villages as about 2,700. The names of the villages are O-raibi, Shi-pau-i- luv-i, Mi-shong-i-ni-vi, Shong-a-pa-vi, Te-wa, Wol-pi, and Si- * This declaration would seem to identify Mu-ing-wa, the rain-god, with Ma-chita, their heroic deliverer and helper, for it was one of his special benefits conferred upon man that he brought him up from the lower world and raised for him the sky to its present altitude. e24 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. choam-a-vl. Prof. Newberry found a smaller number, perhaps not much more than 1,000, on the mesas of the San Juan region ; but the ruins of their towns and villages, some of them of great size and strength and of remarkable architectural beauty, crown the summits of almost every mesa and hill-top throughout Ne- vada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern Cali- fornia. " Not only Salt Lake City, but nearly every settlement in the Territory of Utah, and many in the State of Nevada," says Colonel Powell, " are built on the site of one of these ancient towns. They have been found also on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, near Golden City, and southward from that point." Who were these people, and from whence did they come ? Colonel Powell, on somewhat insufficient evidence, thinks them related to the Shoshones, Utes, Pi-Utes, and Comanches, and regards the Navajos and Apaches, with some of the smaller tribes in California, as the intruders who have pursued them so mercilessly and nearly destroyed them from off the face of the earth. The arguments by which he supports this theory seem to us far from satisfactory. The erection of these massive build- ings, the progress in agriculture, the entire avoidance of a no- madic life, the proficiency in ceramic art, the ability to spin and weave wool and cotton so dextrously, the daily preparation of skilfully cooked food, the worship of the sun, the virgin priest- esses, and the complex system of religious belief, all indicate a superiority over the Utes, Shoshones, and Comanches which is entirely incompatible with any recent common origin with them, whatever may be the supposed affinities of language. It is no new thing for a conquered nation to force upon its conquerors its own lanQTuag^e. The Saxons did this with the Normans ; the Malays have done it with the Chinese. Their affinities of race, habits, and manners, as well as religion, seem to be much nearer to the Toltecs and Peruvians than even to the Aztecs, from whom they differ in language, and In the sternness and cruelty of their religious practices, while their difference from the Sho- shones, Utes, and Comanches is infinitely greater. Colonel Powell says that some of the inhabitants of the thirty towns ARIZONA AS A HOME FOR EMIGRANTS. cr>c which were destroyed have become nomadic, " for the Co-a-ni-nis and Wal-Ia-pais, who now live in the rocks and deep goro-es of the San Francisco Plateau, claim that they once dwelt in pueblos or towns near where Zuni now stands." This is possible, thouo-h from what little is known of these tribes, the Pimas or Maricopas would seem to have had stronger claims to such an origin ; but, if true, it is one of those cases of degeneration or moral lapse, which can only be accounted for on the Biblical ground of Adam's fall. That these Moquis and their kinsmen, the ancient cliff-dwellers, were originally of Asiatic origin, and migrated from that portion of Asia inhabited by the Aryan race, is too evident to need demonstration ; and those who are so zealous to find on this continent the descendants of the lost ten tribes, may find among them a more hopeful quest than among the Anglo-Saxons of Europe or America. Returning to the general subject of the Territory of Arizona, we have but litde to add. The populadon of the Territory in 1870 was only 9,658 whites and civilized Indians, and about 25,000 tribal Indians. The recent census (1880) makes the white population 40,441 and adding tribal Indians it is probably about 65,000. It is now divided into five counties — Yuma, Pima, Maricopa, Mohave and Yavapai. The last named has an area as large as the State of Iowa. The principal towns are Tucson, the former capital, which had in 1870 a population of 3,224. Its present population is estimated at somewhat more than 6,000 ; the Southern Pacific Railway now extends to it. Arizona City, situated at the junction of the Gila and Colorado, population in 1870, 1,144, "ow estimated at about 1,600. Prescott, the present capital, which had, in 1870, 668 inhabitants, has now about 2,000. It is, like Tucson, central to a fine mining country. Phoenix, on the Rio Salinas, is a thriving and growing town, though very hot in summer. Ehrenburg, on the Colorado, is the chief shipping point for Central Arizona. Florence, Sanford, Mineral Park, Hardyville and Wickenburg are also places of some importance. We can hardly recommend this Territory to the emigrant 526 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. farmer, though those who take up favorably situated lands near the mining centres, and can have facilities for irrigation, will undoubtedly do well. The soil when irrigated is fertile enough to produce any crop. The stock-raiser and the sheep-farmer will find excellent irrazinij lands and a o-ood market in Arizona, nor except in the extreme north or the southeast need they have any great apprehension of Indian raids. Wild beasts certainly exist there, but they are less numerous than in the other new Territories, and the losses from them will not be large, while the profits of both cattle and sheep-raising are certain and speedy. But mining is the pursuit in which Arizona, like the adjacent State of Nevada, is likely to be pre-eminent. Transportation for mining products is now good and will soon be better; capital is flowing into the Territory. The Indians have ceased to be trou- blesome in ihe minintr districts, and wood and water, two indis- pensable requisites for successful mining, though not as abundant as desirable, are yet to be had and without excessive cost; while the placers, veins and lodes, already opened or now opening, indi- cate deposits of the precious metals, richer than those of any other State or Territory in the West. The future of Arizona, after long years of waiting, trial and disappointment, seems now to be assured. It has purchased this right to a future prosperity with the blood of some of its best citizens, slain either by the fierce, treacherous and bloodthirsty Apaches, or by the still more bloodthirsty and reckless outlaws, who, prior to its territorial organization, made it their refuge and planned and executed there the most gigantic crimes. But they have now been driven from the Territory, and its present citizens are quiet, peaceful and law-abiding. GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT. No description of "Our Western Empire" would have any claims to completeness, which failed to do justice to the great ser- vices rendered to almost every part of that vast region by Gen- eral Fremont. His fame as an explorer, resolute, intrepid, yet thoughtful of his men, successful, notwithstandino- innumerable obstacles, always grappling with broad principles, yet ever mind- ful of die minutest details, has become world-wide, and the title BIOGRAPHY OF GENERAL FREMONT. 537 of the "Pafhfi7ide)%' everywhere bestowed upon him, bears testi- mony to the universal recognition of his great Qierits in the way of discovery and exploration. But his executive services have not been less conspicuous, or rendered with a smaller measure of self-sacrifice. He has devoted his life to the Great West; in his eftbrts for its development, he has lost more than one colossal fortune, earned by the most extraordinary labors, but has never repined over his losses. A man of impetuous spirit, of great daring and unbounded energy, but sensitive and delicate as a woman in regard to everything which concerned his honor, he has made many friends whom he has bound to him as with hooks of steel, and has also had some enemies, the bitterness of whose hatred seemed almost infernal in its malignity. But he has out- lived the hostility of even these foes, and now in the ripeness of his intellectual faculties, and with a vio^or which is born of his long outdoor life, he is devoting his great powers to the develop- ment of that one of the Territories of " Our Western Empire," which has hitherto been considered the most hopeless, from its arid climate, its intense heat, and the violence and treachery of the Indian tribes which roam over it. And in this great effort he is likely to succeed. He has won the confidence of most of the tribes, and led them forward to an agricultural and quiet life, and even the savage and treacherous Apaches could not refuse to listen to one whom they had known for thirty-five years as the bravest of the brave, and as a commander who had severely punished their offences, but had shown a magnanimity in his treatment of the conquered, which far exceeded their deserts. In all the region south of the forty-ninth parallel, the name of John C Fremont is honored and reverenced. John Charles Fremont was born in Savannah, Ga., January 21st, 18 13. His father was a Frenchman, his mother a Virginian. He was educated in Charleston College, graduating with honor in 1830 at the age of seventeen. His attainments in applied mathematics gained him a position as instructor in mathematics in the United States Navy from 1833 to 1835. He accompanied Captain Williams, United States Army, in a survey of the Cherokee country in 1837-8, and in 1838-9 assisted Nicollet in exploring the country C28 ^^^ WESTER.Y EMPIRE. between the Missouri river and the British line. While thus engaged he w^s appointed second Heutenant of topographical engineers, July 7th, 1838. On the 19th of October, 1841, he married Jessie, daughter of Hon. Thomas H. Benton, of Missouri. In May, 1842, he began, under the authority of the government, the exploration of an overland route to the Pacific; examined the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, ascended in August the highest peak of the Wind River Mountains, now called Fremont's Peak, and returning late in the autumn of 1842, published a report highly commended by Humboldt in his "Aspects of Nature." In the summer of 1843, in another expedition, he explored the Great Salt Lake, and reached Fort Vancouver, near the mouth of Columbia river, in November of that year. Attempdng to return by a more southern route, his progress was impeded by deep snows, and his party suffered severely from hunger and cold. Changing his course he returned through the Great Basin and the South Pass, having exhibiter! a fortitude and daring rarely surpassed, and was breveted cap tain, July 31st, 1844. In a third expedition in 1845 ^^ explored the Sierra Nevada, California, etc. In March, 1846, he success- fully repelled an attack by Mexicans near Monterey; was major commanding battalion of California volunteers, July to November, 1846; was appointed lieutenant-colonel of mounted rifles, 27th May, 1846 ; was appointed soon after Governor of California by Commodore Stockton, whose authority was disputed by General Stephen Kearney. Arrested by the latter, he was tried by a court-mardal, and found guilty of mutiny and disobedience. The finding was disapproved by the President, who offered him a full pardon. This he declined, and resigned his commission. In 1848 he undertook a new expedition across the continent. His guide lost his way, and, after experiencing incredible hardships, he returned with the loss of one-third of his party to Santa Fe. Renewing his efforts he successfully encountered the hostile Apaches, and in 100 days reached the Sacramento river. In 1849 he settled in California, having purchased the auriferous Mariposa tract, which was believed to be worth many millions of dollars. In his efforts to develop this somewhat too rapidly, BIOGRAPHY OF GENERAL FREMONT. C2Q he fell into the hands of some sharp New York bankers, who by adroit management (for in financial matters he was as open- hearted and simple as a child) contrived to deprive him of the whole of this magnificent property. He had previously had six years' litigation in regard to it, but in 1855 the Supreme Court of the United States confirmed his title. But during all this time he was actively engaged in the service of his country. In 1849 he was a commissioner to run the boundary line between the United States and Mexico, He used his great influence to make California a free State, when the struggle between the South and the North, in regard to the increase of the slave States, was at its height. In 1850-51 he was the first United States' Senator from California. In 1850 he received from the King of Prussia a gold medal in token of his great services to science, and the same year the great gold medal of the Royal Geographi- cal Society of London. In 1853 he led at his own expense a fifth expedition across the continent, and succeeded in finding a new route to the Pacific, about ladtude 38° north. In 1856 the Republican party, then recently organized, made him its nominee for the Presidency, and he received 1 14 electoral votes against I 74 for his successful competitor, Mr. Buchanan. In the fall of i860 he visited Europe, where he was received with great honors. On the 14th of May, 1861, he was appointed a major-general of the United States army, and placed in command of the Western District, with head-quarters at St. Louis. In August he issued an order emancipating the slaves of those who should take arms against the United States. This order was annulled by Presi- dent Lincoln as premature. He commenced a vigorous pursuit of the insurgents, whom he had finally overtaken at Springfield, Mo., when, by the intrigues of other commanders, he was re- moved from the command, November 2d, 1861. Three months later he was assigned to the command of an army, poorly equipped and without sufficient supplies, in the mountain dis- trict of Virginia, where he was directed to operate against the skillful rebel general, Stonewall Jackson. His operadons were unsuccessful, mainly from the want of efficient support. When General Pope was appointed to the command of the ^rmy of 34 530 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Northern Virginia, General Fremont declined to serve under an officer whom he outranked, and resigned his commission. But he was too pure a patriot to refuse his aid to the government, though he might deem them slow in their action, and his purse and influence were all at their command. In May, 1864, a portion of the Republican party, dissatisfied with the dilatoriness of the government, nominated General Fremont for the Presi- dency at the coming election in November. At first he accepted, but soon perceiving that his continued candidacy would injure the Republican cause, and might throw the power into the hands of its enemies, he withdrew and supported Mr. Lincoln cordially. For some years after the close of the war he took no part in public affairs, but prosecuted with great energy measures for the promotion of a Southern Transcontinental Railway to follow nearly the line of the thirty-fifth parallel. He visited Europe repeatedly in behalf of this railway, and urged a land-grant for it with every prospect of success; but the panic of 1873 crushed the enterprise for the time, and disheartened some of the pro- moters of it in France. General Fremont's health was seriously impaired for some years; but, on his partial recovery, he was appointed Governor of Arizona, where he is again exerting all his energies for the development of the Great West, and laying broad and deep plans for turning these arid deserts into a fruit- ful field. CHAPTER II. ARKANSAS. Its Situation, Area, Extent — Topography — Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Valleys — Navigable Rivers and Railways — Soil — Climate — Rainfall — Minerals and Mineral and Hot Springs — Vegetation — Animals — Pro- ductions, Mineral, Vegetable and Animal — Crops — Commerce — Popu- lation — Origin of Population — Education — Religious Denominations — Manufactures — Exemptions — Donated Lands — Views of Hon. Charles S. Keyser, Hon. David Walker, W. A. Webber, Esq., and Hon, A, H. Garland, U. S. Senator, on the History and Probable Future of Arkansas. Arkansas and Louisiana form the southeastern States of " Our Western Empire." Arkansas is washed by the waters of /* hlUCy , MA C d N ,. ^ ,„ ,_ carrollD., hiV^'^.-^nS^H**- ; ■** ' a. uUtta* "Bo vlin ^ 1 1 CD r?^ C A i / fS_ii BOOmE: V> ^ oarrollI\, ^l^rCTE- *TTE C L/A y J t erl ^__ATJ^K'^'''^ -''"vvrftt VARR tU B « t( ^ S (-T CAU At jAjy^E ^ R'""Q \^ IB AR RY STONE CHRJSTI^ DOUGLAS ;"' HOWELL fi^'=c_ '^i^,,^^^::^^^^ ^f^ v/AS^mnTn^ MAD SOlJ Jasper 'r^^f^^rf » > JMdlurne ^'V""^ 'l WASHINGTON MAD S0)< Jasper ^\^^PS.e}, u, "* >^j!Me]l)un Bate4\Tl!p aRAlGrJEAD .,0. It JOHNSON P L I -^ I INUtfLnU ^ JOHNSON J L I B -o R^"E iW' ' ■','^ 14 26 105 139 I 86 ^55,282,300 1 1,760,420 3.797.146 2,380,840 391.875 3.820,775 9,202,875 1,524,840 : ...^88,161,071 Corn, bushels Wheat, " Oats, " Rye, " Irish potatoes, bus Sweet " " Hay, tons of crops Remarks. — There were, of course, a number of minor crops, such as sor- ghum, melons, squashes, cucumbers, market garden products, small fruits, grapes and wine, not included here, which would very probably bring the aggregate up to $100,000,000; but 1875 ^^^s a year of exceptional productive- ness which has not on these crops been equalled before or since, and we are inclined to believe that $88,000,000 will cover the entire value of the average agricultural products. The Agricultural Department's estimate in 1878 wa.s less than half that sum. Live-Stock in January, 1879. (Agricultural Department Estimate.) Animals. Horses Mules and asses Milch cows Oxen and other cattle Sheep Swine Number. 180,300 89,300 187,700 357.000 293.500 1,123,500 Value. $7,347,225 4,606,987* 2,490, 779t 3.430,770 437.315 2,696,400 Total value $20,999,476 * Probably an under-estimate. f Probably an over-estimate. Cattle, horses, mules, and sheep thrive and keep fat the year through, without feeding, in the central and southern portions of the State, where, in addition to the native grasses, they feed and do remarkably well on small cane, which, in many locali- 35 C ^5 O^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Manufactures, in Arkansas, are yet in their infancy, but have made considerable progress since 1870, when there were only 1,364 manufacturing establishments, great and small, in the State, employing 4,452 hands of all ages, using $2,137,738 of capital and $4,823,651 in value of materials; paying $754,950 in wages and producing goods and wares of the value of $7,699,676. There were also home manufactures of the value of $807,573. Of the whole number of manufacturing establishments, 283 were cotton gins, 272 flour and meal mills, mostly small grist-mills, the average capital being only $1,750, and 212 saw-mills. There were two cotton and thirteen woollen manufactories. There are now numerous large flouring mills, and the Arkansas brand commands a high price in the St. Louis markets. The cotton and the woollen mills have greatly increased, and a new manu- facture, that of oil from cotton seed, has been built up within the past seven or eight years. Arkansas has now the largest cotton seed oil mills in the world. There are also factories for wagons, tobacco and cigars, stoneware, brooms, doors, sash, blinds, leather, etc. The magnificent water-powers in the State and the cheap- ness of fuel for the production of steam, as well as the liberal encouragement given by the State to manufacturing and mining establishments in exempting them from taxation, the large pro- duct of cotton and wool, the extensive forests of hard woods, and the valuable deposits of iron, coal, and lime in close proximity, offer the best inducements for the development of manufactures on the largest scale. Population. — The population of the State in 1870 was 484,471, an increase of only 49,021 over the population of i860. Several causes had conspired to produce this result, among others the civil war, the emancipation and escape of many of the slaves, the ties, grows luxuriantly the entire year through, affording a nutritious range during the winter. Fat cattle from this State find a ready market at St. Louis and Memphis. Prairie and Lonoke counties do a considerable iiusiness in this line. They shipped last year several hundred car- loads of cattle raised on the prairie. This business has been found, by those who have tried it, more profitable even than farming. Hogs can be raised here without cost. They fatten readily in the fall from the abundance of mast in the woods. Large numbers of hogs are driven to Little Rock, Memphis, and other markets during the fall and winter from the northwestern counties. POPULATION OF ARKANSAS. C47 depression in business, and die hopelessness of the inhabitants in regard to their future. Since 1870, great changes have taken place in the State. The construction of railroads, the introduc- tion of new branches of industry, the improvement in the means of education, a good market for all agricultural products, and the development of the resources of the State through the infu- sion of new blood by immigration has greatly promoted its growth, and the census of 1880 shows a population of the large number of 802,564, an increase of 318,093 from 1870. It is fair to say, however, that the accuracy of the enumeration is doubted in some quarters. The change in the character of the populadon is also marked. In its early days, both as a Territory and a State, it had within its borders a great number of outlaws — ruffians, gamblers, high- way robbers, murderers, horse-thieves and brigands. Human life was not safe, and crime was rife. Every man went armed, and the " soft notes of the pistol " were heard everywhere day and night ; while a man was made an offender for a word, and was often shot down in sheer wantonness. The natural conse- quence of this state of things was that the better disposed part ot the community were compelled to take the law into their own hands. Vigilance committees were appointed, and when the outlaws found their occupation gone, they retaliated by banding themselves together as " Regulators " and raiding the settlements. For some years a desperate warfare was waged between these outlaws and the rest of the community, and the services of Judge Lynch were often called for. At length law and order triumphed ; the outlaws were driven out, and peace and quiet were established. It was time. Busi- ness was paralyzed ; and ignorance and brutishness prevailed. In this partial restoration to order, some attention was paid to education, and from 1850 to i860 there was a rapid growth, the population doubling, and a decided advance being made in the fiocial condition of the people. The number of slaves was very large, and some of the worst evils of slavery were rife there. With the commencement of the war, the old outlaw spirit revived, and for some years there was anarchy again. But the friends c ^3 <5^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. of law and order were, after a time, in a majority, and they have succeeded in putting down ruffianism completely. The era of railroads was late in opening in Arkansas, but it helped materially in producing order, enterprise and development in the State, The people are now law-abiding and orderly ; the carrying of fire-arms is prohibited, and the prohibition pretty well enforced. The people are industrious and desirous of improvement ; strangers who come into the State to settle are cordially welcomed and protected ; and all things being taken into account, the State is a desirable one for immigrants to settle in. Great efforts are now making to improve the system of public school and higher education, and an advance on this subject is perceptible. If the emigrant from the busy States of the East or Europe find the citizens a little slow or apathetic, in regard to progress, it is to be attributed to the influence of their early history. There is a most commendable desire for improvement manifested, and if an intellieent class of emio-rants come into the State and endeavor to promote its interests, the State will become in a few years one of the best in "Our Western Empire," in all the elements which conduce to a permanent prosperity. Religious Denominations. — The Methodists are the leading religious denomination in the State, but are divided into the adherents of the " Methodist Episcopal Church, South," and those of the " Methodist Episcopal Church," as the northern body is called. The next denomination, and but little inferior in num- bers, are the Baptists, with whom may also be numbered in this general estimate, the Christians, Disciples or Campbellites. After these come the Presbyterians, in several divisions, such as the Southern Presbyterian Church, the Cumberland Presbyterian, Presbyterian Church (north), etc There is a Roman Catholic diocese and a few churches, per- haps fifteen or twenty ; an Episcopal diocese with about the same number ; a few Lutherans, etc. Education. — One of the best indications of progress in the State is the advance which it is making in education. In 1870 two-fifths of the population above ten years of age could not read or write, and of these 133,339 illiterates, 64,095 were whites EDUCATION IN ARKANSAS. r^g and 69,222 colored. There are still not over one-fifth of the school population (between the ages of six and twenty-one) in attendance upon the schools, but there are better and more effi- cient teachers, and the schools are held for a greater number of weeks in the year. The schools assisted by the Peabody fund are also improving, and those in the larger towns are up to the grade of similar schools in other States. The half dozen colleges in the State are doing well and advancing their requirements for admission. The Industrial University, at Fayetteville, is doing a good work, but there is great need of more thorough agricultural education. The farming is, much of it, slovenly, and calculated merely to skim the surface of the soil and thus render it barren, than to improve it. When on excellent cotton lands the average crop is but 273 pounds to the acre, but little more than half a bale ; when the average wheat crop, in a good year, is but six bushels to the acre, of Indian corn but twenty-four bushels, of oats the same, and of potatoes but 121 bushels, the fault is not in the land but in the cultivator, and there should be some force somewhere to stir up such indolent and inefficient farmers. There are a few men of force in the State, men who have the in- terests of the State at heart, and are ready to do all they can to promote its prosperity ; among them we may name the present Governor, Hon. W. R. Miller; Hon. A. H. H. Garland, United States Senator; Hon. David Walker, Hon. Charles S. Keyser. Dr. G. W. Lawrence, late United States Centennial Commis- sioner, Hon. W. A. Webber, and others. These gentlemen may be too sanguine in regard to the rapidity of the future growth and prosperity of the State ; but they are well versed in its his- tory, and -they have proved their faith by their works and the zeal with which they have labored for its interests. We should not do justice to the State, and to those who are so desirous of its growth and prosperity, if we neglected to state the special advantages which are offered by the State government to im- migrants. The exemption laws of the State are singularly favor- able to the settler. The homestead law ot the State is more liberal than that of any other State in the Union ; the homestead of any married 550 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. man or head of a family, to the value of ^2,500, or 1 60 acres of land outside of a city or village, and the homestead in any city or village, not over one acre of land and improvements of that value, and one-quarter of an acre and improvements, without regard to value, are exempted from execution. The benefits of this exemption, should the head of the family be removed by death, inure to his widow while she remains unmarried ; also to his children during their minority. In addition to his wearing*- apparel, the personal property of any resident citizen of the State, to the value of $500, to be selected by such resident, is exempted from sale or execution, or other final process of any court issued for the collection of any debt. No taxation for State purposes is allowed beyond one per cent. All capital invested in the manufacture of cotton and woollen goods and yarns, agricultural implements and machinery, in tan- neries, in the manufacture of cotton-seed oil, in minine and in smelting furnaces, shall be exempt from taxation for a period of seven years from and after the thirtieth day of October, 1874, the date of the ratification of said Constitution : provided, that the capital invested in such manufacturing establishments shall ex- ceed ^2,000 ; and, provided further, that no person, corporation or company having, prior to the passage of this act, invested capital in any such manufacturing establishment in this State sh.all be entitled to the exemption herein provided for, unless the capital stock so invested shall be increased twenty-five per centum of its value as determined by the last annual assessment. The United States lands in tlie State exceed in quantity 7,500,000 acres, all of which are for sale at ^^1.25 and $2.50 per acre. Some of these lands are excellent, and some not' so good. The homestead law of the United States applies to them. The State has also about 3,000,000 acres of land subject to entry and sale, besides nearly 1,000,000 acres of swamp lands, not yet approved to the State by the General Government, and about 681,000 acres of forfeited lands for non-payment of taxes. Of these the internal improvement, seminary, saline, and swamp lands, amounting to about 70,000 acres, are for sale at from ^2 to ;^3 per acre, and small fees. The school lands, of which there • SITUATION OF CALIFORNIA. 55 1 are over 1,000,000 acres, are for sale at ^1.25 to ^2 per acre, and the forfeited and unconfirmed swamp lands, about i ,600,000 acres, are for sale at fifty cents per acre and fees, or are donated to the settler in quantities of 160 acres on proof of residence and cul- tivation and improvement of five acres, and the fees, which are about six dollars. The railways in the State have lands to the amount of about 2,600,000 acres for sale on several years' time at $2.50 per acre. With these facilities for purchase and settlement, the lands of Arkansas offer to the immigrant homes which are within the reach of all. The land may not all of it be of the highest qual- ity, though there is much excellent land there, but there is none of it from which an industrious man cannot make a comfortable living. CHAPTER III. CALIFORNIA. Its Situation — Topography — Mountains, Valleys, Lakes, Rivers, Harbors, Islands — Geology and Mineralogy — Soils and Vegetation — Zoology — Wonders — Prof. E. W. Hilgard on Climates of the State — Agricul- tural Products — Manufactures, Mines and Mining Industry — Rail- roads — Steamers — Its Commerce and Navigation, Imports and Exports, Banks, etc. — California as a Health Resort — Population, how Classi- fied — Education — Churches — Counties and Principal Towns — Its His- tory AND Probable Future. California is one of the largest States of "Our Western Empire," and stretches for 700 miles along the Pacific coast. It is between the parallels of 32° 28' and 42° north latitude, and between the meridians of 114° 30' and 124° 45' of west longitude from Greenwich. It formed a part of the territory ceded by Mexico to the United States at the close of the Mexican war, and is bounded north by Oregon, east by Nevada and Arizona, south by Lower California, and west by the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific coast of California trends southward from the Oregon line S-2 <^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. to Cape Mendocino in latitude 40°, and thence in a nearly south- easterly direction to the coast of Lower California. The area of the State is 188,981 square miles, or 1 20,947,840 acres, or about the combined areas of New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, Ohio and Michigan. Its length is 700 statute miles, and its averaee breadth more than 200 miles. Topography. — The mountain systems of California are vast in extent, diversified in character, rich in mineral wealth, and unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur of scenery. They may be considered under two great divisions: the Sierra Nevada or Snowy Mountains, on the eastern border, stretching with its spurs over a breadth of about seventy miles in a series of ranges ; and the Coast Range, which, in its several chains, in- cludes about forty miles in breadth, extends near the coast the whole leneth of the State and into Lower California. These two ranges unite near Fort Tejon in latitude 35° and again in latitude 40° 35', and separating again form the extensive and fertile valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento. The two lines of ranges of the Sierra Nevada may be traced in regular order for a distance of nearly seven degrees by their two lines ef culminating crests, which rise in varying heights from 10,000 to 1 5,000 feet above the sea. There does not seem to be as much order in the position and direction of the summits of the Coast Range, peaks of widely varying heights and entirely different mineral constitution being found in close proximity. The summits of the Coast Range vary in altitude from 1,500 to 8,000 feet. The highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada are Mount Shasta, Lassens Butte, Spanish Peak, Pyramid Peak, Mounts Dana, Lyell, Brewer, Tyndal, Whitney, and several others of less note. Those of the Coast Range, though richer in minerals, are less lofty and less noted. On the eastern side of the crest line of the Sierra Nevada are a chain of lakes, including the Klamath lakes. Pyramid, Mono and Owen lakes, lying wholly east of the range, and Lake Tahoe, a gem of the purest crystal water, far up in the mountains, occupying a depression between two summits. The depression, in which most of these lakes are situated, continues southward I in K ^0; TOPOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA. BC^ to the entrance of the Gila river into the Colorado. For a con- siderable distance northward from the southern limit of the State it is many feet below the ocean level, and creoloeical investi<^>'a- tions show that it was once the bed of a large lake or estuary communicating with the ocean by a somewhat narrow strait. It has recently been proposed to reopen this strait as a ship canal, which could be done at a very moderate expense, and thus re- store this ancient land-locked sea, to modify the climate, and remove the drought from a region once populous, but now exces- sively arid. A similar depression, though not quite so extensive, exists on the western slope of these mountains for a width of about fifty miles, and contains several lakes. The region lying east of the Sierra Nevada is called the east- ern slope ; that between the foot-hills of the Sierras and the Coast Range is known as the California Valley, and that west of the Coast Range is called the Coast Valley, or simply the Coast. Another geographical division is made by drawing an east and west line across the State in the latitude of Fort Tejon, that part of the State lying south of this line being called South- ern California. The country between this line and one extend- ing east and west through Trinity, Humboldt, Tehama and Plumas counties is called Central California ; all north of this is known as Northern California. Central California contains about three-fourths of the known wealth and population of the State. The Monte Diablo division of the Coast Range, about 150 miles long by 50 miles wide, is a striking landmark of the State when approached by sea, and from its summit may be obtained the finest views of the varied scenery and landscapes of Cali- fornia which can be found anywhere. The valleys of the Sacramento and the St. Joaquin, though the largest, are by no means the only valleys of California. There are hundreds of them of greater or less extent, and many of them remarkable for fertility and beauty. East of the Sierras, in Southern California, some of these valleys, the deepest por- tions of a former extensive inland sea, are now salt lakes and ^54 OUR WESTERN- EMPIRE. are surrounded by most forbidding and unpleasant scenery. In Mono, Fresno and Kern, Inyo and San Bernardino counties tliere are several of these salt lakes, and in the last-named county, among the other evidences of volcanic action, is that combination of horrors known as the sink of the Amargoza river or "Death Valley." It is 150 feet and probably more below the level of the sea, intensely hot, dry, and sulphurous. California is, for the most part, well watered, but the Coast Range limits the length of its navigable rivers except in two or three instances. The Rio Salinas is the only navigable river on the coast which discharges directly into the Pacific below Cape Mendocino, but the Sacramento river from the north and the San Joaquin from the south, large and navigable rivers, both discharge into the beautiful Bay of San Francisco. The Klamath river at the north, rising in the Klamath lake, flows through 2. crooked valley to the ocean, but is not navigable for any con- siderable distance. This is also true of the other rivers north of the Golden Gate. Most of the rivers east of the Sierras, in the long, depressed basin already described, discharge into lakes in the basin, and have no connection, direct or indirect, with the ocean. The harbor of San Francisco is the finest on the whole Pacific coast, fifty miles in length by nine in width, landlocked and ap- proached by the Golden Gate, five miles in length with a width of one mile, and having nowhere less than thirty feet of water. That of San Diego, at the southern extremity of the State, is next in importance, and, with its railway connections soon to be completed, will prove a formidable rival to that of San Francisco. The other harbors, ten or twelve in number, are either shallow or not well protected from violent winds, and need breakwaters or other improvements. There are many islands along the coast, some of them small and rocky, like the Farallones off the Golden Gate, and inhabited only by seals, sea-lions, and aquatic birds ; others are large and adapted to grazing or cultivation. The amount of arable lands in California, including those which only require irrigation to make them productive, and are so situated that they can be irrigated, and the swamp or iuU GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 555 lands which, when reclaimed and protected from overflow, yield the largest crops in the world, is estimated at not less than 60,000,000 acres, or about one-half the area of the State ; the erazincr lands on the mountain slopes and on the sides of the valleys are estimated at 40,000,000 acres more, and the forest areas, much of them too steep for cultivation, were officially stated at 9,604,607 acres in 1872, but have been considerably diminished since that time. There are then somewhat more than 10,000,000 acres which, from one cause or other — some being under water, some volcanic and barren, or arid and not irrigable, or bald and bare mountain peaks — are worthless. This is, however, but one-twelfth of the area of the State. Geology and Mineralogy. — The Coast Range and its foot-hills generally belong to the tertiary system, but at San Pedro bay (about latitude 34°) the cretaceous rocks come to the coast, to be replaced at the mouth of the Margarita river (about -x,?)^ 10') by quaternary or recent alluvial deposits which extend to the southern line of the State. It is these alluvial deposits which General Fremont believes have filled up the ancient strait or estuary which led to the now dry and desert site of the inland sea, which formerly occupied a large part of Southeastern Cali- fornia, and which he urofes our orovernment to re-onen and thus render an extensive portion of Western Arizona and South- eastern California again habitable. At two points of the Coast Range, viz.: at the Monte Diablo mines, in Contra Costa county, nearly east of San Francisco, and in Mendocino county (about latitude 39° 30'), the tertiary coal or lignite crops out in extensive beds. The first of these has been worked for many years, and produces a fair burning coal, of which about 150,000 tons are annually sent to market. The valleys lying between the Coast Range and the Sierras belong mostly to the cretaceous formation, though in the extreme south they are overlaid by alluvial sands. There is very little gold in these valleys except in placers which have been washed down from the mountains, though occasionally pockets, and pos- sibly true veins, have been found in metamorphic rocks belong- ing as high up in the series as the cretaceous. This may be due to volcanic action in ages long past. ee5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The greater part of the auriferous and argentiferous rocks of the State belongs to the triassic and Jurassic strata, which form the surface rocks of the Sierra Nevada from the Columbia river nearly to the head of the Gulf of California. It is in these triassic and Jurassic strata that most of the gold and silver deposits from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific occur. South and west of the sierras, and in the vicinity of the upper waters of Kern river and its tributaries, is an extensive volcanic region, where basaltic and porphyritic rocks, sulphurous and chalybeate springs, deposits of sulphur and large tracts of lava and lava ashes are found. A somewhat similar though much smaller tract exists in Sonoma county, between two spurs of the Coast Range. There are geysers here, and other indications of former volcanic action. Much of the region east of the sierras is of recent formations, though modified by former volcanic action, and is forbiddincr to the last deo:ree. The lakes or sinks, often very deep, are always salt and bitter, and often without water most of the year. The beds of the lakes are covered with alkaline deposits. The famous Death Valley, the Dry Lakes, of which there are at least a dozen, Dry Salt Lake, Owen's Lake and other sinks of this region giwQ striking evidence of its former volcanic character, and of the great changes which have taken place, some of them within modern times in this part of the State. The earthquakes of 187 1 were most violent in this section, especially in Kern, Inyo, and San Bernardino counties. Mineralogy. — Gold is found pure, in scales, fine dust, in nuggets and in crystals, and in combination with copper, silver, lead, zinc, cinnabar, arsenic, iron, sulphur, tellurium, iridosmine, etc. Silver is found native, though very rarely, as a chloride (horn-silver), in combination with lead as argentiferous galena, sulphurets and carbonates of silver and lead, with copper as copper glance, red silver ore, etc., and with several of the rarer metals as well as with sulphur, iron, etc. Copper exists in the form of native copper, and as malachite, copper glance, rubescite, azurite, chalcopyrite and chrysocolla, in combination with sulphur, etc. Mercury or quicksilver appears as cinnabar very abun- dantly throughout the Coast Range, as coccinite in Santa Barbara, GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 557 and native in the Pioneer claim and elsewhere. There are now about sixty mines of quicksilver in the State, and the supply- increases with the ever increasing demand. Platinum has only been found in California in placers, thoucrh its occurrence in veins with gold or silver is not improbable. Tin is found as cassiterite or binoxide of tin in the Temiscal range about sixty miles from Los Angeles, and in grains else- where. Lead is abundant as galena all over the State, and in many cases carries a considerable percentage of silver. The molybdate of lead (Wulfenite) occurs in one or two localities. Arsenic occurs pure in Monterey county, and as arsenilite in one or two counties, and is extracted as white oxide in smeltino- several ores. Iron exists in various forms, as chromic iron, as haematite, as magnetic and specular ores, and as oxide or bog iron ore In several localities. Tellurium occurs native and in combination with gold and silver and copper, and forms one of the most refractory of ores. Diamonds (so called) are found in several localities, but are not probably the genuine article, though they possess many of the properties of the diamond. Graphite occurs in Tuolumne county and elsewhere ; borax and boracic acid in one or more lakes and in the marshes adjacent ; salt as rock-salt, as brine, and evaporated from the sea water and from the numerous salt lakes ; soda, both as caustic soda in deposits of a hundred feet or more in thickness and of great extent, and as carbonate of soda around some of the alkaline lakes, and in the volcanic valleys ; sulphur, pure, and in sulphurets and sulphates; gypsum, barytes, antimony, ochre, alabaster, fluorspar, corundum, and cobalt in the form of erythrine, abound in various parts of the State. Magnesite, iridosmine, magnetite, limonite, tourmaline, pyrolusite (binoxide of manganese), zircon, garnets, chrysolite and haysine are the other principal minerals. Coal, as already stated, occurs in several localities. Petroleum and bitumen are found in several of the coast counties, and the former, after many mishaps and failures, has become one of the standard products of the State, and is now supplying a con- siderable part of the local demand. Mines and Mining. — California is one of the great mining .rg OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. States. Her production of the precious metals has been larger than that of any other State or Territory, though Nevada has approached it, and amid all changes, and with the exhaustion of the ordinary placer-mining, the State has still maintained a very large yield, and is likely to increase rather than diminish it. Gold or silver or both have been discovered in paying quantities in eighteen counties of the State and possibly more. Of these coundes all (except Humboldt, Klamath and Del Norte, which have deposits only in the shore and beach sands, being all coast counties, and Los Angeles, in which silver mines have recendy been discovered) are situated along the eastern or western slopes of the Sierra Nevada; some of them extending also across the valley to the eastern foot-hills of the Coast Range. These counties, with the character of their product and the processes used in obtaining it, are as follows, beginning with the southern- most: I. Inyo — silver mines in veins or lodes, mostly in Owen's valley and on the western slope of the Inyo or Buena Vista Mountains, one of the parallel ranges of the Sierra Nevada, Irom twelve to thirty miles southeast of the head of Owen's Lake. There are 700 or 800 claims here, and many of them are worked successfully. 2. Mariposa county, lying on the western slope of the main range of the Sierras, and having the famous valley of the Yosemite within its borders. The mines are mosdy in the west and southwest part of the county, and the greater part of them, on the Mariposa estate, were once the property of General Fremont. Besides these there are the Oaks and Reese mines, which are largely productive. These are gold only, and in quartz veins. 3. Tuolumne county, lying immediately north of Mariposa on the western slope and foot-hills of the Sierra. The mines, mostly gold, though there are a few silver, and all in veins or lodes, are in the west and southwest pordon of the county. There are somewhat more than fifty mines. 4. Calaveras county, situated northwest of Tuolumne, but on the same range. The mines are scattered throughout the county. There are many gold mines in quartz veins, and exten- sive placers (of gold), but they are very nearly exhausted. MINING IN THE COUNTIES. ccq 5. Amadoy county, immediately north of Calaveras, a small county, but rich in gold deposits. It has twelve or fifteen mines, mostly in the Mrestern part of the county, gold in quartz veins, and yielding well, 6. Eldoi^ado county, the county in which gold was first discov- ered. This county is partly in the Sacramento valley, and is drained by one of the affluents of the Sacramento river. The mines (gold in quartz veins), which have always been produc- tive, though the placers have long since given out, are situated mostly in the western part of the county. There are a dozen or more large stamp mills and a greater number of mines. 7. Placer county, north and northwest of Eldorado. Lake Tahoe is mostly in this county, and the Central Pacific Railway traverses the entire length of the county from southwest to northeast. There are many placers and large deposits in the former beds of what are known as "dead rivers," which are being worked by the process of hydraulic mining. There are also some quartz veins which yield liberally. The product is gold exclusively. There are about forty mines and placers now worked. 8. Nevada county, north of Placer county, is probably the richest of all the counties of California in mineral wealth. Its gold mines and placers, many of them very rich, are scattered all over the county. Its placer gold is nearer to absolute purity than that of any other mines or placers in the State. Of the 1 30 placers recorded, the gold product in most ranged from 900 to 976 (absolutely pure gold being 1,000), and the "You Bet" claim gold assayed 994. The gold from the thirty-seven quartz veins of the county did not assay quite so high, but ranged from 798 to 875. 9. Sierra comity, north of Nevada county, is noted for its hydraulic mining. Through this county, on a ridge one or two hundred feet above the adjacent lands, is the ancient bed of a river, which the miners know as the Big Blue Lead, whose sands, for a depth of five or six feet or more, and for a distance of probably a hundred and ten miles, were rich with gold. It had been upheaved in the volcanic changes through which the Sierras r5o OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. have passed, and wherever Hving streams cross its ancient bed with their deep canons, they wash down rich masses of gold dust. The miners have been breaking down the blue gravel of this "dead river" bed by tunnels, blasting, and the hydraulic pro- cess, for the past twelve or thirteen years, and have reaped a rich harvest. In this county was found, in August, 1869, a nugget of gold weighing 95^ pounds, worth ^21,156.52. 10. Yuba county, southwest of Sierra, is also a famous county for hydraulic mining, having five or six large deposits of gold. 1 1. Butte county, west of Yuba, has many quartz veins rich in CTold. Seven or eio^ht larcre mines are worked. 12. Plumas county, north of Sierra, has in the eastern and cen- tral portions of the county fifteen or twenty gold mines, some of them hydraulic, others quartz mines. 1 3. Alpine county, situated on the extreme eastern border of the State, on the crest of the Sierras, between latitude 38° 20' an;,! 38° 50'. The ores here are sulphuretsand antimonial sulphurets in all of them silver predominates, in some with a liberal per centage of gold, in others with considerable copper. The claims, which are very numerous, are all of them worked by opening- adits or tunnels. This requires more capital at first, but is necessary in so mountainous a region. The mines, so far as developed, yield very well, — from $40 to ^75 per ton of ore, — thouofh there are difficulties in the reduction. 14. Shasta county, in the northern part of the State, the forty- iirst parallel passing through it, has deposits and quartz veins of gold and copper. The gold mines yield either free-milling gold or gold combined with sulphurets of copper, lead or zinc. The mines, eight or ten in number, which are worked, are in the western part of the county. 15. It has generally been supposed that the western slope of the Coast Range was barren of ores of the precious metals, but recent developments show that the silver-bearing ledges are found there .as well as on the eastern slope of the same range, or on both slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Los Angeles county, in the southern part of the State, on the coast, has hitherto been regarded as the finest agricultural county in the State, but TERRACE-MINING.. rgj recently there have been discovered extensive veins of silver there, and numerous mines are clustering around Silverado in the southern part of the county. The ore is argentiferous galena (sulphurets of silver and lead), and the assays range from ^i8 to $200 per ton. The beach deposits of Del Norte, Klamath and Humboldt counties of gold in iron sands are not simply those found in the sands washed by the tides, and which are common to all coasts which have rivers discharcringr into a sea or ocean from sfold- bearing mountains ; these sands, though extending ten miles out from die coast, contain gold in such small quantities, as hardly to repay the labor of collection ; but they occur in terraces or old beaches and bluffs, sometimes two or three miles back from high- water mark, and from 250 to 1,200 feet above the sea. In thes? bluffs or terraced beaches are extensive layers of iron sand, rich in gold, and varying in thickness from a few inches to three or four feet. The miners call this terrace-mininor. Several of thes.e o strata have been discovered, one at five miles below Trinidad, in Klamath county, one at Crescent City, in Del Norte county, one in Humboldt county, and one at Randolph, Curry county, Oregon. These terraces indicate either an upheaval of the coast or a retrograding of the ocean. The falling off in the production of silver in the Comstock lodes of Nevada has produced a reaction in favor of the gold placer and quartz mines of Cahfornia, and there is at the present time (August, i85o) a greater activity in gold mining in Cali- fornia, than at any time for the last fifteen years. All the gold mines in the counties named above have been reopened, and are now actively worked with a greatly increased production ; more than a hundred new quartz mills have been erected within the past year and a half, and are now actively at work, and many new mines and placers have been opened and developed in the counties which have previously yielded gold, while Trinity, Klamath, Fresno, San Bernardino, and Mendocino counties are added to the list of mining counties. It is confidently predicted that the gold yield of California, in 1880, will be much greater than in any year since 1866. 36 c62 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Soils and Vegetation. — " In a region of such vast extent," says Professor E. W. Hilgard, "traversed by mountain ranges formed of rocks of all kinds and ages, there is, of course, an endless variety of soils, to describe all of which would exceed our limits, even if the data were available. Unfortunately this is far from being the case, the geological survey" (of which Professor Hil- gard was the chief) "having paid but little attention to the ex- amination of soils, which, it is true, is a subject requiring special qualifications and care on the part of the observer to insure use- ful results. There are, however, some general features devel- oped on a large scale in the more thickly settled parts of the State, a brief summary of which may find an appropriate place here." " It is well known that the main axis of the Sierra Nevada is formed by granitic rocks, which in the northern portion of the range, as well as on the slopes, are usually overlaid by clay slates and shales, forming the proverbial ' bed-rock ' of the gold- placers and gravel-beds. The soil derived either directly from the granites or from the older portion of the slate-s — in other words, the gold-bearing soil of the Sierra slope — is an orange- colored (commonly called ' red ') loam, more or less clayey or sandy according to location, and greatly resembles, on the whole, the older portion of the 'yellow loam' subsoil of the Gulf States. Of course it contains much more of coarse materials in the shape of undecomposed rock, and its sand-grains are sharp instead of rounded. It is the predominant soil of ' the foot-hills,' and where ridges extend from these out into the Great Valley, they are usually characterized by the red tint, which gradually fades out as the ridges flatten into swales in their approach to the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, being lost in the gray or black of the ' adobe,' or the buff of the river-sediment soils. Its admix- ture is everywhere, I believe, found to be advantageous to the other soils ; and in the foot-hills themselves it proves to be highly productive, as well as durable, easy of tillage, and what is termed a ' warm ' soil. The rocks of the lower slope of the Sierra, but more especially those of the Coast Range opposite, are predominantly of a very clayey character, soft gray clay THE SOIL OF THE VALLEYS. 563 shales and laminated clays alternating with ledges of soft clay sandstone and brittle hornstone. Their mechanical and chemi- cal decomposition results, therefore, in the formation of gray, buff, or sometimes almost white clay soils, which occupy the hill- sides and higher portions of the valleys, while in the lower por- tions the admixture of vegetable matter, especially in the pres- ence of a comparatively large amount of lime, causes them to appear dark, and often coal-black. These soils constitute the ' adobe,' so often mentioned in connection with California agri- culture. They are substantially the same, both as to tilling qualities and chemical composition, as the prairie soils of the Western and Southern States. Like these, they are rich in plant food, durable and strong, yielding the highest returns of field crops in favorable seasons and under good culture, but sensitive to extremes of wet or dry seasons, and of course more in cultivation, as well as more liable to crop failures, than lighter soils. " During the dry season the adobe soil, unless it has been very deeply and thoroughly tilled, becomes conspicuous by the wide and deep gaping cracks which traverse it in all directions, some- times to a depth of several feet, precisely as in the ' hog-wallow prairies' of the Southwestern States. Of course the effect of rains is here also similar in causing a bulging up of the masses between the cracks when the material which has fallen into the latter expands forcibly on wetting. Hence the 'hog-wallow' surface is as familiar in California as in Texas ; and the fact that a traveller outside of the Sierras in the dry season is rarely out of sight of some such land is eloquent as to the wide prevalence of the 'adobe.' On the steep hillsides of the Coast Range the sun-cracks aid in giving foothold to stock ; and during the rainy season the water running into them to the bed-rock causes numberless land-slides, such as gave rise to the memorable case of Hyde vs. Morgan. As it is well ascertained that at a former geological period the entire interior valley, as well as the Bay of San Francisco, was fresh-water lake basins, the bulk of the adobe soil would seem to represent ancient lake, or rather, perhaps, swamp deposits, which are therefore found in corresponding e54 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. positions in most of the connectinor valleys. On the bay we find usually only a narrow strip of sandy soil running along the beach ; inland of this a level belt of black adobe (or at times salt marsh), from which there is a gradual ascent toward the foot of the Coast Range, the soil becoming lighter colored and mingled with bowlders and rock fragments. The nature of the materials, as well as the form of portions of this slope, characterizes them almost inevitably as the result of glacial action. "The peninsula on which San Francisco is situated is overrun with the dune sand drifted from the ocean beach for a distance is scarcely heard in the State, the more indefinite and general term 'valley' being in general use. The obvious reason is that there is in most cases no very definite terrace, but a rather gradual slope from the bank to the bordering hills. The Sacramento and San Joaquin have not, as a rule, raised their immediate banks perceptibly above the rest of the flood-plain, becau.se the sediment they carry is not such as will subside at the shghtest diminution of velocity, but is apt to be carried some distance inland. At the ■points of its upper course the San Joaquin, and in the lower THE TULE LANDS. 555 portions both it and the Sacramento, subdivide into numerous sloughs traversing wide belts of more or less marshy flats, sub- ject to overflow, and covered with a rank growth of ' tule/ This name applies, strictly speaking, to the round rush {Scirpus Lacush^is), which occupies predominantly the tide-water marshes, here as well as on the Gulf of Mexico. The farther from salt water, however, the more it is intermingled with (or locally almost replaced by) other aquatic grasses, sedges, and cat-tail flag {Typha), affording, together with the young ' tule,' excellent pasture nearly throughout the year. Here as elsewhere in such districts, the cattle soon acquire the art of keeping themselves from getting bogged, by maintaining a sort of paddling motion when on peaty ground, while draught-horses require to be pro- vided with broad ' tule-shoes.' These tule lands, embracing a large number of rich and partly reclaimed islands, such as Union, Brannan, Sherman, and others, forming part of the counties of Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Solano, continue with varying width along the east shores of Suisun and San Pablo bays, and up the tributary valleys of Napa, Sonoma, and Petaluma, nearly to the limit of tide-water. It is noteworthy that, as regards salubrity, the tules, at least so far as they are within reach of brackish tide-water, are less liable to malarious fevers than the upper portions of the great valleys. " The soil of the tule lands is of two principal kinds : sediment land, found chiefly along the Sacramento and other streams, c;irrying much 'slum ' from the hydraulic mines ; and peaty land, more prevalent along the San Joaquin and its branches. The latter kind consists almost entirely of tule roots, in various stages of freshness and decay, to a depth of from two to twenty and more feet ; in the latter case we have the ' float land,' which rests on the w^ater-table and rises and falls more or less with it. Like the ' Prairie Tremblante,' near New Orleans, it often trem- bles under the tread of man, but will nevertheless sustain herds of cattle without the least danger, its bulges forming places of refuge for them in time of high water. An excellent fuel has been made by pulping this mass and forming it into bricks like true peat. c56 (^^^^ WESTERN' EMPIRE. " The tule lands were long thought to be worthless except for pasture purposes; but it has now come to be well understood that they are in large part of extraordinary fertility, and, if pro- tected from overflow by levees, are almost sure to yield abundant crops every year, even in seasons when those of the uplands fail for want of moisture. In their reclamation the construction of levees is of course the first thinof needful. The sediment land can then be taken into cultivation at once by the use of large sod-plows, resembling the prairie plows of the Western States. It is usual to burn off the rushes and native grasses previous to plowing, especially in the peaty lands where the plow would otherwise find no soil. But here the fire penetrates several feet down, either to the underlying soil or to moisture, leaving behind a layer of ashes so light that the plow is useless. At the proper season grain is then sown upon the ashes, and either brushed in or trodden in by sheep, and extraordinary grain-crops are thus produced during the first years, the duration of fertility depend- ing, of course, upon the soil underlying after the ashes have been exhausted. The tule lands bordering upon Tulare lake are of a different character from those of the lower rivers. The soil is heavy, consisting of fine sediments mixed with gray clay and shell debris, contains a large supply of plant food, and with proper cultivation will doubtless prove as highly productive as are the soils of the Great Tulare plains themselves. "The soils of the Mojave desert seem on the whole to be rather light, whitish silts, of whose possible productiveness little can as yet be said, except that without irrigation culture is hope- less. In striking contrast with these close soils of the San Joaquin valley are those which prevail south of the Sierras, San Fernando, and San Gabriel, in the Los Angeles plain and its tributary valleys, the home of the orange, lemon, and olive in their perfection. The fine rolling uplands (' mesas ') of that region are generally covered with a brownish, gravelly loam, from eight to twenty feet in thickness, which, with tillage, assumes the most perfect tilth with ease. It is a generous, 'strong' soil, varying locally so as to adapt itself to every variety of crop, yet readily identifiable by its general character from Los Angeles to ALKALI SOIL. 567 San Diego. In most respects it may be considered a variety of the red soils of the Sierra slope already described, like which it appears to be pre-eminently adapted to fruit culture. " The soils of the plain to seaward of Los Angeles, and of the coast plains south of Santa Barbara generally, so far as not modified by the sediments of the streams, seem to be uniformly characterized by a very large amount of glistening mica scales, distributed in a rather sandy, dark-colored mass, destitute of coarse materials. They are easily cultivated and highly pro- ductive when irrigated, although not unfrequently afflicted with a certain taint of ' alkali.' This, however, when not too strong or salt, is here readily neutralized by the use of gypsum. " 'Alkali ' soil is the name used in California to designate any soil containing such unusual quantities of soluble salts as to allow them to become visible on the surface during the dry season, as a white crust or efflorescence. They are of course found chiefly in low, level regions, such as the Great Valley, and the plains to seaward of the Coast Range ; sometimes in continuous tracts of many thousands of acres, sometimes in spots so interspersed with non-alkaline land as to render it impossible to till one kind without the other. The nature and amount of salts in these soils is of course very variable. Near the coast the 'alkali' is often little more than common salt, and can be relieved only by drainage or appropriate culture. At times we find chiefly magnesian salts, when liming will relieve the trouble. But in the Great Valley the name 'alkali' is in most cases justified by the nature of the salt, which almost always contains more or less carbonate of soda, and sometimes potassa. The presence of these substances, even to the extent of a fourth of one per cent., while it may do but little harm during the wet season, results in their accumulation at the surface whenever the rains cease, and the corrosion of the root-crown, stunting, and final death of the plants. But when stronger, as is too often the case, the seed is killed during germination. Moreover, land so afflicted cannot be brought to good tilth by even the most thorough tillage. Fortunately, a very effectual and cheap neutralizer of this, the true ' alkali,' is available in the form of gypsum, which transforms r^3 O^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. the caustic carbonates into innocent sulphates. Wherever the amount of alkali present is not excessive, the use of gypsum relieves all difficulties arising from the presence of the former. Moreover, analysis shows that in many cases large amounts of important mineral plant-food, such as potash, phosphates, and nitrates, accompany the injurious substances ; so that when ti-e latter are neutralized, the previously useless soil may be expected to possess extraordinary and lasting fertility. Abundant deposits of gypsum have been shown to exist in many portions ot the State since attention has been directed to its importance in this connection. " On the eastern affluents of the Sacramento river, the Ameri- can, Bear, Yuba, Feather, and other streams heading in the region where hydraulic mining is practised, a new kind of soil is now being- formed out of the materials carried down from the o gold-bearing gravels. The enormous masses of detritus washed into the streams, filling their upper valleys to the height of sixty feet and more with boulders and gravel, while a muddy flood of the finer materials overruns the valley lands in their lower course, have given rise to a great deal of complaint on the part of farmers; and the 'mining debris question' has been the subject of numerous lawsuits, and of much angry debate in the legislative halls. In some cases the lands so overrun are definitively ruined; in others the new soil formed is of fair quality in itself, but as yet unthrifty; in many, the best quality of black adobe is covered many feet deep with an unproductive 'slum.' By the same agency, the beds of the Sacramento and its tributaries have become filled to such an extent as to greatly obstruct navigation and to cause much more frequent overflows, whose deposit, however, appears to improve, in general, the heavy lands of the plain, as well as the tules. It is difficult to foresee a solution of this question that would be satisfactory to all parties con- cerned ; the more as the navigation of the bay itself is begin- ning to suffer from the accumulation of deposit, the reddish sediment-bearing waters of the Sacramento being always distin- guishable in front of the city from the blue water brought in by the tides." THE MARIPOSA GROVE OF SEQUOIAS. 560 Much of the soil of the State, especially of the mountain slopes, is pt'culiarly adapted to the growth of gigantic forest trees. Of these there have been recognized and described forty-eight genera and one hundred and five species in the State, the greater part of which are not only indigenous but only to be found on the Pacific slope. Of these forty species are evergreens, found mostly on the mountains of the Coast Range and the Sierras. The most remarkable of these are the two species of Scqiwia, Sequoia gigantca, or mammoth tree, and Sequoia sempervii^ens, or California Redwood. Of the former there are nine orroves known in the State, though the largest trees have been felled by the barbarity of the showmen, who could not be contented without despoiling the forests of their monarchs, the growth of thousands of years, only that they might exhibit their own mean- ness and brutishness for a miserable pittance. Some of these trees were more than 450 feet in height, with a circumference near the ground of not less than 120 feet. The giant Eucalypti of Australia may have had a somewhat greater circumference, but they were not as tall as these. The largest now standing is said to be 376 feet in height and 106 in circumference. The Mariposa and Calaveras groves are the best 'known, though not the largest, of these collections of mighty trees. Mr. A. R. Whitehill, of the Chicago Tribune, who has recently visited several of these groves, thus describes the "Grizzly Giant," and the Mariposa grove in that paper : " The principal tree in the grove is the one known as the • Grizzly Giant,' and the eye and sense of the spectator are at once bewildered at the size of its mighty proportions. At the base of this tree the carriage road stops, and the trail for horses begins. Carefully measuring the circumference with a line car- ried for that purpose, we found it to be over ninety-three feet at the base, and this not counting the burnt-away portions, which would have made the total still greater. We measured thirty- one feet as the diameter. At the base were five openings, any one of which seemed larcre enough for the accommodation of a o o camping party ; and immediately around these the bark was gone. From the ground to a height of about eleven feet the 570 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. tree contracted perceptibly ; then, perfectly round, it shot up with scarcely a change to the lowest limbs, which were fully loo feet from the ground. On one side were about ten limbs, vary- ino- froni two to six feet in diameter, and on the other about twelve almost as large. The largest limb was probably 1 50 feet from the ground, and this was fully twenty feet in circumference where it left the trunk. Shooting out in a straight line for a distance of thirty feet or more, it curved then suddenly upward in a perpendicular direction, and, at a distance of seventy-five feet more, was lost in the upper foliage. Secondary branches, as lar'T^e as a full-grown eastern oak, shot out from this primary branch as a trunk, and there again produced other branches, to the third and fourth generation. Some of these branches were decayed ; some were moss-covered ; some were in the full vigor of their extraordinary growth. The top of the tree seemed to have been broken off, perhaps by lightning ; and the appearance of the whole was that of a war-worn veteran of the Sierra. " It was near dusk when we had finished our inspection of this mighty tree. We were over a mile above the level of the sea, and six miles from our stopping-place for the night. Still we lingered. Although it was then June, yet the eternal snows of the mountains were everywhere around us, and, as the huge banks and drifts stretched away off in the distance, the melting power of heat and the elements was on every side defied. Not a weed or blade of grass relieved the monotony of the view ; not the chirping of an insect or the twittering of a bird was heard. The solemn stillness of the night added a weird grandeur to the scene. Now and then a breath of wind stirred the topmost branches of the pines and cedars, and, as they swayed to and fro in the air, the music was like that of Ossian, 'pleasant, but mournful to the soul.' There were sequoias on every side almost twice as high as the Falls of Niagara ; there were pines rivaling the dome of the Capitol at Washington in grandeur; there were cedars to whose tops the monument of Bunker Hill would not have reached. There were trees which were in the full vigor of manhood before America itself was discovered ; there were others which were yet old before Charlemagne was f THE GIANT TREES OF MARIPOSA. 571 born ; there were others still growing when the Saviour himself was on the earth. There were trees which had witnessed the winds and storms of twenty centuries ; there were others which would endure long after countless generations of the future would be numbered with the past. There were trees crooked and short and massive ; there were others straight and tall and slender ; there were pines whose limbs were as finely propor- tioned as those of the Apollo Belvidere ; there were cedars whose beauty was not surpassed in their counterparts of Leba- non ; there were firs whose graceful foliage was like the fabled locks of the gods of ancient story. It was a picture in nature which captivated the sense at once by its grandeur and extent ; and, as we drove back through six miles of this forest luxuri- ance, with the darkness falling about us like a black curtain from the heavens, and the mighty canons of the Sierra sinking away from our pathway like the openings to another world, then it was not power, but majesty ; not beauty, but sublimity ; not the natural, but the supernatural, which seemed above us and before us." The Sequoia scinpevzdrcns, or Redwood, is a very stately tree, attaining a height of 300 feet and a circumference of seventy- five or eighty feet. It is the most valuable timber-tree of Cali- fornia, but is fast disappearing, being confined to the upper por- tion of the Coast Range, not appearing below San Luis Obispo and but sparingly below .San Francisco, and disappearing entirely whf !i hlU^d, being replaced by other trees. Its gigantic congener does not appear on the Coast Range, but is confined to four or five counties along the western slope of the Sierras. Both of these trees belong to the cedar family. The sugar pine {^Pimis La7nbertiand) is almost the peer of the Redwood in size and commercial value. Its wood is white, straight-grained, clear and free-splitting. Its height is sometimes 300 feet, and its circum- ference forty-five feet. It has cones eighteen inches long and four thick ; a sweetish, resinous gum exudes from the harder portion of the wood, tasting much like manna, and having cathar- tic properties. There are fifteen other species of pine, of which the finest are the Pinus ponderosa, or yellow pine, 225 feet high. C^2 ^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Pbms Sabiniana, Sabine's or nut pine, which has an edible cone or nut much valued by the Indians, and Pinus irisignis, or Mon- terey pine. This and the yellow pine are similar to our yellow and pitch pines at the East, and are in demand for flooring pur- poses. The other species of pines rise from 30 to 100 feet in height, but are not so much prized. There are six species of true fir, one of them, Abies Douglasii, Douglas's spruce, being 300 feet in height, and three of the others, stately trees, 100 feet or more in height ; the western balsam fir, Picea grandisy grows to the height of 1 50 feet. The California white cedar — Libocednis decurrens — grows to the height of 140 or 150 feet. There are also four species of cypress, three of juniper, two of arbor-vitse, and one of yew — TaxiLs brevifolia — which attains the height of seventy-five feet. The wild nutmeg — Torrcya Califoniica — the California laurel — Orcodaphue Californica — the madrona — Arbutus Menziesii — and the manzanita — Arctostaphylos olaiica — are all beautiful ever- greens. There are twelve species of oak, two of them ever- green or live oaks, the rest deciduous. The burr oak — Quercus macrocarpa? — is the largest of these, but its wood, like most of the others, is principally valuable for fuel. The Qtierais Garry- ana, sometimes called white oak, though not a large tree, has a dense, fine-grained wood, used for making agricultural imple- ments. There is one of the chestnut family, the Western chin- quapin, a fine tree, sometimes attaining a height of 125 feet. There are four acacias, thorny enough; three poplars, or cotton- woods, one very large ; two alders ; the Mexican sycamore ; one species of walnut — Juglaiis rupestris — a fine tree ; three species of dogwood or Cornel, all differing from the Eastern dogwoods ; four wild lilacs; two wild cherries, both shrubs; two maples — Acer macrophyllwn — a large and beautiful tree — and Acer circi- natum — the vine maple, a smaller tree, found only in the moun- tains. There are three yuccas, two species of willow, a box elder, an Oregon ash, and the flowering ash, which is not a true ash, one species of buckeye, one of ironwood, a Parkinsonia or greenwood, small but elegant ; two or more species of cactus, a native persimmon, and the valuable Japanese species ; the pis- CALIFORNIA TREES, SHRUBS AND GRASSES. 573 tachio-nut and many species of semi-tropical trees which are unknown elsewhere. The shrubs and small fruits are numerous, but the cultivation of these and of grapes and edible nuts and berries belongs rather to horticulture. There are many medi- cinal plants and shrubs, some of them possessing very valuable qualities. Grasses are very numerous, and some of them highly nutritious, but they are nearly all annuals, and except in the foggy regions along the northwestern coast, there are hardly any native grasses which will make a sod or which are adapted for hay. The greater part of the State is entirely destitute of anything like a permanent sod, and aside from the wild oat {Avena sativa), the wild barley i^Hordeum jubatiwi), the burr clover {Medicago de7iticidatd) and four or five species of native clovers, which are annuals, and are cured by the sun at the beginning of the dry season, but form for a time good pasturage, the farmer and stock-raiser is compelled to rely on Alfalfa and the forage grasses and cereals, Hungarian, German, and pearl millet, Egyptian rice-corn or Dhurra, oats, wheat, rye, sor- ghum as a forage plant, etc., for late feeding of his stock. Wild flowers abound in California, many of them those highly prized by florists elsewhere, of remarkable beauty of form and color, and some of them exceedingly fragrant. The lily and syringa families, many of them shrubs and even trees, and con- spicuous alike for beauty and fragrancy, are found growing wild and filling the air for long distances with their perfume. Of cryptogamous plants, the quantity and variety is almost without limit. One hundred species of mosses have been described, and the mushrooms, seaweeds, lichens and fungi are still more abundant. Zoology. — There are 115 species of mammalia in California, of which twenty-seven are carnivorous, including the grizzly, black, and brown or Mexican bear, the raccoon, badger, two species of skunk, the wolverine fisher, American sable or mar ten, mink, yellow-cheeked weasel, California otter and sea otter, the cougar, jaguar, wild cat, red lynx and banded lynx, raccoon fox or mountain cat, gray wolf, coyote or barking wolf (this differs somewhat from the prairie wolf, and is becoming annoy- e-. OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ingly abundant In the State, preying upon lambs, young pigs, fowls, etc.), five species of fox, three or four species of sea-lion, two species of seal, and the sea-elephant. The larger and more formidable of these carnivora are becoming rare in the State except in some of the more sparsely inhabited counties ; the grizzly and other bears are found in the mountains, but the /elides, especially the cougar, jaguar, and the lynxes are rare, and the gray wolf is not often found near the settlements. Of the insect eaters, there are two moles, two shrews, and six- teen species of bats. Of the rodents, there are the beaver, the sewellel or mammoth mole, five species of ground-squirrels, pests which multiply by the million and levy their assessments upon the grain crop, often carrying off half the crop and riddling the stacks and sacks of grain, and even finding their way into the barns and storehouses. There are also five species of tree- squirrels, more harmless in their character. Of the mouse family there are eighteen species, including three naturalized ones. The musk-rat, jumping mouse, four species of kangaroo mice, and five of gophers, a pest almost as destructive of trees, shrubs, and plants as the squirrel is of the grain. There is a yellow- haired porcupine, six species of hares and rabbits, some of them peculiar to the Pacific coast, and a coney or rat-rabbit. Of ruminants, there are the elk, the white-tailed, black-tailed, and mule-deer, the American antelope, the mountain goat or goat- antelope, and the big-horn or mountain sheep. Of the cetacea, as well as of the sea-fishes, California claims justly all that are found in the waters of the Pacific within the bounds of the United States, possibly excluding Alaska. This includes the right and the California gray whale, the hump-back and fin-back, two of the beaked whales, the sperm whale, the black fish and three species of porpoise. Of birds there are 350 species or more, recognized as natives of California. There are twenty species of climbers, fifteen of them wood-peckers ; of birds of prey there are thirty-seven species, including five of the eagle family, ten species oi buzzard- hawks, four hawks and four falcons; twelve species of owls ; the king of the vultures, and the turkey-buzzard, or turkey-vulture. OBJECTS OF INTEREST IN CAIIFORNIA. 575 There are eleven species of perchers in the first group, including the crows, ravens, magpies, jays, and king-fishers; 148 species in the second and third groups, the insectivorous and granivor- ous perchers, including the fly-catchers, humming-birds, swallows, wax-wings, shrikes, tanagers, robins and thrushes, wrens, chicka- dees, grosbeaks, finches, linnets, larks, orioles, and sparrows. There are but three species of pigeons, the band-tailed pigeon, and the turde and ground-doves. Of grouse there are the blue grouse, sage-cock, prairie-hen, and ruffed grouse, and three new species of quail. The waders are numerous, fifty-one species having been described. These include cranes, herons, bitterns, ibises, plover, kill-deer, avocets, snipes, sandpipers, curlews, rails and coots. Of swimmers over ninety species have been de- scribed, including many species of geese, brant, teal, ducks, scooters, coots, sheldrakes, mergansers, pelicans, cormorants, albatrosses, fulmars, petrels, gulls, terns, loons, dippers, auks, sea-pigeons and murres. Of the fishes, about 240 species have been discovered in the lakes, bays, rivers, and on the sea-coast of California, of which more than 200 are edible. These include nine species of the salmon family, four of the cod family, a dozen eels, seven or eight species of mackerel; numerous species of the perch family and the allied genera ; two tautogs, viz., the red-fish and the kelp-fish; fifteen flat fish and flounders; nine species of shad, herring and anchovies, two of them introduced from the East; twenty-two carps, and thirty-five species of cartilaginous fishes, sturgeons, sharks, rays, sun-fish, etc., etc. There are sixty species of mollusks, including a great variety of clams, oysters, mussels, scollops, whelks, limpets, sea-snails, cutde-fish, squids, nautiluses, etc., etc. Of crustaceans there are eight or ten species, including crabs, king-crabs, lobsters, shrimps and craw-fish. Of the reptiles there are great numbers, though there are no true saurians (alligators or crocodiles), except in the Colorado river on the southeast border of the State. There are three species of tortoise, possibly some terrapins, thirty-one lizards, five rattle-snakes, twenty-five species of harmless snakes, twenty-three frogs, several toads, horned toads, salamanders, etc. q-5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Objects of Intei'est and Wonder. — First among these is the far- famed valley of the Yosemite, known everywhere as one of the wonders of the world. The best and most accurate and satis- factory description of this wonderful valley ever written is that from the pen of Josiah D. Whitney, LL. D., State Geologist of California, and a member of the National Academy of Science. This description, slightly condensed, we give below : " The word Yosemite means ' a full-grown grizzly bear,' and was not the aboriginal name of the valley itself, but that of a noted chief of the tribe inhabiting it. The present Indian name of the Yosemite is said to be Ah-wah-nee. " The Yosemite valley is situated in the Sierra Nevada of California, about 150 miles in a direct line a little south of east from San Francisco, nearly in the centre of the State of Califor- nia, north and south, and about midway between the east and west bases of the Sierra, which is here not far from seventy mih.'s in width. It is a level area, about six miles in length, and from half a mile to a mile in width, and is sunk nearly a mile in depth below the general level of the adjacent region. It has very much the character of a gorge or trough, hollowed in the moun- tains in a direction nearly at right angles to their general trend. This gorge has not a regular form, but while its general direc- tion remains nearly the same, its sides advance and retreat, with angular projections and recesses, thus giving a great variety of outline to the enclosing masses. The river Merced, which rises in the Sierra, some fifteen miles higher up than the head of the valley, in the group of mountains of which Mount Lyell is the dominating peak, runs through the Yosemite with many graceful windings, and gives rise at the head of the valley to the remark- able waterfalls, which will be noticed farther on. Two branches of the main Merced also enter the valley near its head ; one, the Tenaya Fork, which rises in a beautiful mountain lake of the same name, comes in from the northeast ; the other, the Illilou- ette, enters from the south. These tributaries join the Merced through deep canons, as the mountain gorges in the Sierra are always called ; but there are several other smaller streams which also enter the valley, leaping over its walls, and giving rise in THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. cy? almost every instance, to Interesting falls ; which, however, are not in general of any great size, except during the early part of the season, when the snow upon the adjacent mountains is meltinof. "The pleasure-seeking traveller, who visits the Yosemite, does not confine his explorations to the valley proper, but from vari- ous commanding points adjacent to it obtains a great variety of views of the groups of peaks which form the crest of the Sierra in that region, as well as of the spurs which extend down from the main range, or stretch along parallel with it. Thus a jour- ney to the Yosemite properly includes a tour around its exterior, or at least one or more visits to prominent points of view above it, from which the observer cannot only look directly down into the depths of the valley below him, but also command a variety of views of lofty and in part snow-clad ranges, which offer among themselves most remarkable contrasts of form and structure. " In noticing the details of the scenery of the Yosemite, the valley proper may first be considered. The prominent features here are : the great elevation of the walls which enclose it ; the remarkable approach to verticality in these walls; their great height and their wonderful variety and beauty of form. To these features may also be added the attractions of the mag- nificent waterfalls which occur at various points on both sides of the valley, although these, as already noticed, must be seen early in the season in order that the traveller may be greatly im- pressed by them. In entering the Yosemite by the roads which approach it from the lower end, the visitor notices that he has before him a valley of a different type of form from those he has before been accustomed to see. He passes from a V-shaped gorge or canon into one which may be fairly called U-shaped, since its walls rise almost vertically from its floor. This change of form is strikingly impressed on the visitor as he approaches what may be called the gateway of the Yosemite. Here he sees before him, on the north side of the valley, the mass of rock called El Capitan, and exactly opposite the Bridal Veil and Cathedral Rocks. At this point the distance across the valley is only a mile, measured from the summit of the Bridal Veil Rock 37 cyS OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. to that of El Capitan, and at the base of these cHffs there is only just room for the river to pass. El Capitan is an immense block of granite projecting squarely out into the valley, and presenting two almost vertical faces, which meet in a sharp edge 3,300 feet in perpendicular elevation. The sides or walls of this mass are bare, smooth and entirely destitute of vegetation. It is doubtful if anywhere in the world there is presented so squarely cut, so lofty and so imposing a face of rock. On the oppo- site side of the valley is the grand mass of the Cathedral Rocks, divided into two parts by a deep notch between them. The most striking face of the larger Cathedral Rock is turned up the valley, but on the side facing the entrance there is a feature of great beauty, namely, the Bridal Veil F"alls, made by the creek of the same name, which, as it enters the valley, descends in a vertical sheet of 630 feet perpendicular, striking there a pile of debris, down which it rushes in a series of cascades, with a vertical descent of nearly 300 feet more, the total height of the fall being 900 feet. This creek flows through the entire year, but tiie fall is only great when the amount of water is near its maximum. When the stream is neither too full nor too low, the mass of water, in its fall, vibrates with the varying pressure of the wind blowing in the daytime up the valley in the most beautiful and remark- able manner. It is this fluttering and waving of the sheet of water which has given it the poetic but somewhat fanciful name it now bears, that of the Indians having been Pohono, a term having reference, it is said, to the chilliness of the air under the high cliff and near the falling waters. There is also a charming fall in a deep square recess of the rocks opposite the Bridal Veil, and just below El Capitan. This fall, which is over 1,000 feet high, is called the Virgin's Tears. It runs, however, but a short time during the early summer months. "Passing up the valley after entering between the Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan, the level area or river-bottom increases to nearly half a mile in width. This area is broken up into small meadows, gay with flowers in the early summer, and sandier regions on which grow numerous pitch-pines, and some oaks, cedars and firs. The walls of the valley continue lofty and THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. r^Q broken Into the most picturesque forms. Of these the Three Brothers and the Sentinel Rock are the most conspicuous. Nearly opposite the Sentinel Rock Is one of the most attractive features of the Yosemite, namely, the fall made by the descent of Yosemite creek down the wall on the north side of the valley. The vertical elevation of the edge of this fall is 2,600 feet, but the descent is not in one unbroken sheet. There is first a vertical fall of 1,500 feet, then a descent of 626 feet In a series of cascades, and finally one plunge of 400 feet on to a low talus of rocks at the foot of the precipice. The body of water is not large, and It decreases considerably as the season advances, be- coming very small, in ordinary years, by the end of August. The width of the stream in June and July is usually about twenty feet, and its depth about two feet. The beauty and grandeur of this fall, however, taken in connection with the majesty of its sur- roundings, give it a claim to be rank( d among the most remark- able natural objects in the world. There are certainly very few waterfalls which can compete with It. "At the head of the valley the falls of the Merced river are of ofreat interest. There are two of them with beautiful interven- ing rapids. The lower one Is called the Vernal Fall, and is about 400 feet in vertical height. The upper, the Nevada Fall, is about 600 feet In elevation. The body of water In these falls is large, and the effect very grand. As the Merced river is fed by melting snows high up in the Sierra, the amount of water is not so much diminished toward the end of the season as it is in the case of the smaller creeks heading at an Inferior elevation; thus the falls of the Merced usually remain extremely picturesque and attractive objects during the whole summer. " The dome-shaped masses of granite which characterize the vicinity of the Yosemite are also extremely grand. The North Dome, on the north side of the valley, lends itself to beautiful combinations of scenery, as seen from various points a little above the Yosemite Falls. The Sentinel Dome, on the opposite side, is not visible from the valley itself, but it affords a magnifi- cent view from its summit of the valley and its surroundings, and especially of the high Sierras. A projecting cliff called r3o OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Glacier Point, a little lower than this, and just on the edge of the valley, is also much visited for the sake of the grand view which it offers of the whole region, but especially on account of its favorable situation with reference to the Half-Dome, of which it commands a most wonderful view. The rock thus named is the highest point in the immediate vicinity of the Yosemite, rising to an elevation of 4,737 feet above the general level of the yalley. The Half-Dome has the appearance of having been originally a dome-shaped mass which has been split into two garts, one of which has sunk down and disappeared ; hence the name. It fronts the Valley of the Tenaya fork of the Merced with a very steep slope, crowned by a vertical wall of fully 1,600 feet in elevation, formino- too^ether a mass of rock of the most astonishing form and imposing magnitude. Arrangements are now made by which this Half-Dome, or, as it is now called, the South Dome, may itself be ascended. It is a weary climb, pos- sible only by the aid of a rope of great strength fastened to the rock by iron staples every fifteen feet, by which the climber works his way, hand over hand, for about 1,500 feet; but the view at the top is grand and beautiful. Still more magnificent is the view from Cloud's Rest, fourteen miles away by the trail, and a most fatiguing journey, but once reached, the traveller feels that he has seen 'all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.' "The rocky citadel juts out into space, so that you seem isolated from the world, and held pendant over the valley. Around you is an unbroken horizon of mountain peaks, with the great valley in the centre, its walls dwarfed to pigmy pro- portions. The lesser mountains and barren rolling ridges re- semble nothing so much as a storm-tossed ocean turned to stone. A more absolute desolation could not be conceived. You feel the weight of the centuries that look down upon you from the lonesome peaks of the Sierras. The spectacle reminds one strongly of maps of the moon ; it gives the same impres- sion of lifeless repose after giant upheavals of mountains and rending of rock-buttressed walls. Thomas Hill, the artist, says that he once took a seven days' camping excursion about the YO SEMITE AND TUOLUMNE VALLEYS. 58 1 valley, with a nephew of the present Czar of Russia. At all the other peaks the Prince found some mountain in the Alps or the Himalayas the view from which surpassed the one before him. But when the summit of Cloud's Rest was reached, he took off his hat and said: 'I salute the Grandest view in the world.'" The Yosemite valley was given by Congress to the State of California in 1864 to be "held for public use, resort, and recrea- tion," to be also " inalienable for all time " with the conditiofi that portions of the valley might be leased, the income arising from such leases to be expended " in the preservation of the property or the roads leading thereto." The grant is managed by commissioners appointed by the governor of the State. Wagon roads, railroads and trails have been built to afford more convenient access to the valley, and to various points command- ing remarkable views of the valley and its surroundings. The Tuolumne river, another tributary of the San Joaquin, which enters it a few miles north of the Merced and drains Tuo- lumne county as the Merced does Mariposa, also has its sources in the Sierra Nevada, and about fifty miles northwest of the Yosemite valley, flows through another valley nearly or quite as picturesque and grand as the Yosemite and with as many and as lofty waterfalls. But these remarkable valleys do not furnish all the natural wonders of California. In Tulare, Fresno, Mariposa, Tuo- lumne, and Calaveras counties there are groves of the gigantic Sequoias, whose vast height and wondrous beauty would well repay a journey across the continent. In Napa county, near Calistoga, is a narrow valley where ar^ all the evidences of recent, and, indeed, existing volcanic action. The whole valley or canon is filled with flowing (not spouting) hot springs, which are called geysers (an inappropriate name, though they are very singular in their action, flowing with inter- missions), and the whole soil is covered with a crust of sulphur, iron-rust, and other mineral deposits, and filled with steam from the boiling water. The ground shakes under the foot-steps, and is so hot as to be uncomfortable to the feet. Besides these there are the natural bridges and the chyote 582 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. caves of Calaveras county, with their bell-sounding rocks, the magnificent grotto near Grizzly Flat, in El Dorado county ; of the lakes, Tahoe, the gem of the mountains, almost at the sum- mit of the Sierras, and the smaller but romantic Lake Donner on the boundary line of Nevada ; Mono (salt) lake, in Mono county, not far from Yosemite ; Klamath lake, in the north ; Tulare lake in the county of the same name ; and the wild vol- canic region in the southeast in Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino, and Kern counties ; that region of horrors enclosing the sink of the Amargoza river, the " Death Valley," of which we have already spoken, 400 feet below the level of the sea, while within sight of it the Sierras tower 14.000 or 15,000 feet above the sea. This deep depression, forty miles long and eight or ten wide, is partly crusted over with salt and soda and other alkalies several inches thick, and partly composed of an ash-like earth mixed with a tenacious clay, sand, and alkali so soft that no animal can cross it without being mired. There is no vegetation on any part of it, and the temperature during at least six months of the year ranges from 110° to 140° Fahrenheit. Climates. — Prof E. W. Hilgrard thus describes the various climates of the State : "Taking as a convenient point of view the central portion of the State, the climates of California may be roughly classified as follows : "I. The bay and coast clhnatc. Its prominent characteristics are, first, the small range of the thermometer, caused by the tempering influence of the sea, the prevailing winds being from the west. The average winter and summer temperature at San Francisco thus differs by only about 6° Fahrenheit (53° and 59° respectively). Snow rarely reaches the level of the sea, and is sometimes not seen for several seasons, even on the summits of the Coast Ransfe.* A few liofht frosts with the thermometer at between 28° and 32° Fahrenheit for a few hours during the *The winter of l8So was one of the exceptional years in which snow did reach the coast, and the thermometer marked i8° Fahrenheit. This severe weather was very destructive to flowering plants and shrubs, but was said not to have occurred for more than thirty years pre- viously. Ordinarily, the fuchsia and heliotrope live and thrive in the open air there in winter. BAY AND COAST CLIMATE. rg, night is the ordinary expectation for winter, while in summer the number of ' hot ' days on which the thermometer reaches 80° or more, rarely exceeds eight or ten. These occur chiefly in Sep- tember and under the influence of the 'norther,' which causes the hot dry air of the interior valleys to overflow the barrier of the Coast Range. Under a brilliantly clear sky, it sweeps over the mountains, accompanied by clouds of dust, and, like the hot breath of a furnace, it licks up all moisture before it, wilting and withering the leaves of all but the most hardy plants, cracking and baking the soil, loosening the joints of all wooden structures, whether wacrons, furniture, or houses, and causincr the latter to resound at night with the splitting of panels and similar unearthly noises, to the discomfort of the nervous sleepers, that at such times comprise the vast majority of the population. This uni- versal infliction fortunately lasts but rarely more than three days, when the welcome sea-fog, which has been kept standing like a wall forty or fifty miles in the offing, gradually advances, and with its erateful coolness and moisture infuses fresh life into the parched vegetation and the irritable, panting population. " During the winter months the north wind is equally dry, but at the same time cold ; and while it then sometimes lasts a week or more, it causes but little discomfort or damage, save occa- sionally to the young grass and grain. The second distinctive feature of the coast climate is the fofjs brou^rht in from the sea by the prevailing west winds or summer trades, as the result of their crossinor the cold Alaskan current in-shore. The sea-foes, coming in regularly almost every afternoon from the latter part of June to that of August, and more or less throughout the year, often with a gorgeous display of cloud pictures, temper materi- ally not only the heat, but also the summer drought; so that under their influence plants requiring but a moderate degree of moisture can, in a loose soil, grow throughout that season. In the latitude of San Francisco it thus happens that in the coast climate sub-tropical and northern plants may thrive side by side; the latter (such as currants and cranberries) ripening with ease and in great perfection, while the fig, grape, orange, etc., though growing luxuriandy, can ripen their fruit only in valleys pro- c84 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. tected by mountain ridges from the direct influence of the sum- mer trade-winds. Thus while a broad river of fog may be pour- ing in at the Golden Gate, covering the two cities and spreading out on the opposite shore to a width of eight or ten miles, the hamlet of San Rafael, only fourteen miles to the north, but under the lee of Mount Tamalpais, and the old town of San Jose, under the protection of its seaward mountains, forty miles to the south, are mostly basking in full sunshine, and ripen to great perfec- tion not only the grape, but also the more tender fruits of their groves of fig and orange. 2, Climate of the great inteiior valley. "The average winter temperature is lower than that of corresponding portions of the coast, although the niinimimi is little, if at all, below that of the latter. Sub-tropical plants, therefore, winter there almost as readily as on the coast. In summer, however, the average temperature is high, often remaining above ioo° Fahrenheit for many days, the nights also being very warm. At the same time, however, the air Is so dry as to render the heat much less oppressive than is the case east of the mountains, sunstroke being almost unknown. Standing on the summits of the Coast Range In summer, and looking down upon the thick shroud of fog covering all to seaward, the white masses can be seen drift- ing against the mountain side, and, rising upward, dissolving Into thin air as soon as, on passing the divide, they meet the warmth of the Great Valley. From points In the latter the cloud-banks may be seen filling the mountain passes and some- times pouring like a cataract over the summit ridges, but power- less to disturb even for a moment the serenity of the summer sky, or to yield a drop of moisture to the parched soil of the San Joaquin plains. The unwary traveller, starting from Sacramento or Stockton on a hot summer's day without the thought of shawl or overcoat, may find himself chilled to the bone on crossing the Coast Range, and runs Imminent risk of rheumatism or pneu- monia. On the other hand, the San Franciscan, feeling the need of having his pores opened by a good perspiration, can have his wish gratified in an hour or two by taking the reverse direction. The 'norther' is, of course, more frequent In the great valley INTERIOR CUM ATE. cg- than on the coast ; but its dryness and high temperature are not so much of a change from the ordinary condition of things, and it therefore does not cause such general remark, disturbance, or damage unless unusually severe. 3. Climate of the slope of the Siei^ra Nevada. " The essential features of the climate of the Great Valley may be roughly said to extend to the height of about 2,000 feet up its flanks into the ' foot-hills,' with, however, an increasing rainfall as we ascend, and therefore greater safety for crops and less absolute depend- ence upon irrigation. Higher up, the influence of elevation makes itself felt ; snow falls and lies in winter, while the summers are cool ; and we thus return to the familiar regime of seasons as understood in the Middle and Northern States, including, especially in the more northern portion, the phenomenon of summer thunder-storms, M'hich are almost unknown on the coast and in the San Joaquin valley. The same general features come into play more and more as we advance northward in the hilly and mountainous regions lying north of San Francisco bay, toward the Oregon line, marked also in general by a gradual increase of timber growth. The features of the three principal climates described intermingle, or are interspersed, according as the valleys are open to seaward, run parallel to the coast, or are in communication with the great interior valley. We thus find numberless local climates, ' thermal belts,' and privileged nooks a(iapted to special cultures which may be impracticable in an adjoining valley, and almost insular as regards the region where similar conditions are predominant. To the southward, the chief climates above defined are modified by three factors, viz. : the increase of temperature, the decrease of rainfall, and the de- crease, from about San Francisco southward, of the feature of summer fogs. As regards temperature, the extreme range is still very nearly the same at Los Angeles as at San Francisco ; but the averages are very considerably higher at the former point, that of the winter being 60°, that of summer about 75° Fahrenheit. At intermediate points along the coast, local varia- tions excepted, the averages vary as sensibly as the latitude. As to rainfall along the coast, its decrease is slow, descending 586 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. from twenty-four inches at San Francisco to fifteen at Santa Barbara, twelve at Los Angeles, and nine to ten at San Diego. But in the interior valley the decrease is much more rapid, as previously stated, modified locally, according as the divide of the Coast Range is so high as to preclude the access of moisture from the sea, or low enough to admit its influence. The .same factor influences also the cooling and moistening effect of the summer winds and fogs, which temper the summer climate of the Los Angeles plain, but fail to reach the Mojave desert or the fervid plains ot the upper San Joaquin valley." We supplenivMit this general statement by the following table, corrected to the latest date. It is the average in most cases of twenty years : Places. San Francisco Sacramento Humboldt Bay Benicia . Monterey . Vi.salia . San Diego . Los Angeles Fort Yuma Mean temperature. Spring. t . ill V 2 Hi 2 2 rt g 56.3° 58-5° 59-5° 71.5° 58.8^ 62.1° 51-9^ 47-9^ 56.6° 59-9° 52-0- 56.5° 57-5' 67.0° 53-o^ 60.5° 43- 5 -^ 49.0^ 58.0° 54.0^ 60.6° 59-4° 58.6^ 59-o^ 79-5° 69.1'^ 68.6^ 57-o^ 60.9° 63.8° 65.1° 51.0^ 48.6^ 54-1° 54-3° 55-5^ 62.4° 61.6= 61.7^ 72.0^ 90.0' 75-5" 57-°'' 73-5^ In 1878, the maximum temperature was reached in San Fran- cisco, September 15th to iSth, when the thermometer stood at 86°, 90°, 92° and 93° Fahrenheit. In no other days of the year, except one in October, did it reach 80°. The lowest point was reached on the 4th of January and was 39° F'ahrenheit. There were no frosts during the year. The extreme range of the year was 54°. In Sacramento the highest point reached was 103°; for three days the thermometer rose above 100° ; for twenty-three days it exceeded 95°, and for sixty- three days it was above 90°. The lowest point was reached January 3d. It was 27°. For six days there were frosts. The extreme range was 76°. In San Diego the thermometer indicated 91° on the first of AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. ^gn September, but did not reach 90° on any other day. It exceeded 80° only eleven days of the year. The minimum was for three days in January, 38°. The range was 53°. Visalia (latitude 36° 20', west longitude from Greenwich 1 1 9. 1 6) reached 106.5°, ]^^y 14th. During twenty-three days the temperature exceeded 100°, and for sixty-nine days it ex- ceeded 95°. The minimum, January 4th, was 24°. There were eight days of frost. The range was 82.5°. Los Angeles (latitude 34° 3', west longitude from Greenwich 118° 16') reached 93° on the 20th of July and the ist of Septem- ber. Seven days exceeded 90°. The minimum was 36.5° on the xi^X. of December. There were no frosts. The ranee was 56.5°. Fort Yuma (latitude 32° 43', west longitude 114° 36') reached 113°, July 19th; four days were above 112°; eleven days above 110°; fifty-three above 105°, and one hundred and six above 100°. In other years the maximum had been as high as 126°. The minimum, December 31st and January 3d, was ■^'^°. Ranore %o^. Aoricultural Products. — Professor Hileard has treated these in a manner so attractive, that we quote from him, in part, in re- gard to them. Speaking at first of cereal crops, he says : " Of all the field-crops grown in the State, wheat is the most important at this time. It was the first culture on a large scale introduced on the subsidence of the gold fever, and the returns received proved to be so much greater and more certain than those from the placer mines that it extended rapidly, and has ever since remained the largest and most generally appreciated product of California agriculture. The amount produced in 1878, an average year, was 22,000,000 of centals, of which 8,069,825 were exported as grain, and about 500,000 barrels of flour. In the markets of the world the wheats of the Pacific coast are noted for their high quality, the plumpness and light color of the ' berry,' and the high percentage of first-class flour it furnishes in milling. At home the extraordinarily high product per acre of forty to sixty bushels, and even more, under very im- perfect tillage, for a number of consecutive years, forms a strong eg3 0^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. incentive to this culture. Nor is the California wheat-grower obliged to be very careful in the choice of his seed. Probably every known variety of wheat has in the course of time been brought and tried here ; but all, in a short time, seems to assume very nearly the same peculiar California type, upon which, in fact, it would seem hard to improve materially. It is almost ludicrous, at times, to compare the eastern seed with its Califor- nia offspring, which has undergone the ' swelling process ' of one season's orrowth in her orenerous soil and climate. It is but fair to say that substantially the same peculiarities are observable in the wheats of Oregon, grown in the valley of the Willamette and on the plains of the Upper Columbia. Since the growing season in the greater part of California extends, with little interruption from cold, from the beginning of November to June, the distinc- tion between winter and spring grain is also in a great measure lost. The farmer plows and sows as early as practicable, watch- ing his chances between rains, in November and December if he can, in March if he must, or at any convenient time between ; increasing the amount of seed sown per acre in proportion as there remains less time for the grain to tiller. Should the ears fail to fill, he can still make hay. " Much discussion has been had concerning the merits of early as compared with late sowing. The objections against the former practice are that copious early rains may start the growth too rapidly, the chances being that in that case but little more water will fall until Christmas. It is true that the weather-wise may sometimes gain materially by delay in sowing ; but the general result of experience seems to be that it is better in the long run to take the risk of having to sow twice, rather than that of being kept from sowing at all, until too late, by persistent rains. It has therefore become a very common practice to ' dry-sow ' grain in summer- fallowed land in September and October. The seed lies quiescent in the parched and dusty ground until called forth by the rains, and in clean fields and ordinary seasons such grain generally yields the highest returns. The preparation of the ground for the crop on the large wheat farms is usually made by means of gang-plows with from two to six shares, drawn by HARVESTING IN THE LARGE WAY. ^^q from three to five horses or mules, three animals very commonly walkinof abreast. At the critical season it is not uncommon to see half a dozen such implements and teams at work in a single field, closely followed by a wagon carrying seed-grain and the centrifugal sower, which showers the grain upon the fresh-turned furrows, in strips thirty or more feet wide. Before the day ends the great (usually flexible) harrows have also performed their work, and thirty or forty acres of what was a stubble-field in the morninir have been converted into a well-seeded o-rain-field. Of late, appliances for seeding and covering have been attached to the gang-plows themselves, so that the whole task is performed in one operation — certainly the perfection of labor-saving machinery. Seed drills are as yet in but limited use; although nowhere, probably, would drilling be more desirable, in order to admit of subsequent culture, for want of which crops often totally fail on the heavier soils. During the rainy season the covering is often done by rolling alone, and on harrowed ground the roller is frequently used later in the season, in order to compact the surface so as to mitigate the drying effects of ' northers.' " In the grain harvest (which begins in the second week of June) the 'wholesale' mode of procedure is equally prevalent. The scythe is used only to cut the way, and that on small farms ; then follows the reaper, hired if not owned by the farmer himself. But the binding and shocking process that is to succeed is far too slow for the large grain-grower, who has his hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of acres to reap within the short time allowed by the exceedingly rapid maturing, which threatens him with serious loss by shedding, the air being at that season very dry even at night. His implement is the giant header, pushed into the golden fields by from four to eight horses. Its vibradng cutters clip off the heads with only a few inches of straw attached, on a swath sixteen and even twenty-eight feet wide, while a re- volving apron carries the laden ears to a wagon driven along- side, and having a curious, wide, slanting bed for their reception. Several of these wagons drive back and forth between the swaths and the steam-thresher, where, within half an hour, the grain that was waving In the morning breeze may be sacked ready for ego OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. shipment to Liverpool. Even this energetic mode of procedure, however, has appeared too slow to some of the progressive men in business, and we have seen a wondrous and iearful combina- tion of header, thresher and sacking-wagon, moving in procession side by side through the doomed grain. If this stupendous com- bination and last refinement shall prove practically successful, we shall doubtless next see the llouring-mill itselt form a part of this agricultural pageant. Where farming is not done on quite so energetic a plan, the reaped and bound grain being at that season perfiictly safe from rain, is left eidier in shocks or stacks until the threshing party comes around, mosdy with a portable engine often fed with straw alone, to drive the huge 'separator,* whose combined din and puffing will sometimes startle late sleep- ers, as it suddenly starts up in the morning from the most unex- pected places. Two wagons usually aided by some ' bucks ' (a kind of sledge-rake, which also serves to remove the straw from the mouth of the thresher) feed the devouring monster. In an incredibly short time the shocks or stacks are cleared away and in their stead appear square piles of turgid grain-sacks and broad, low hillocks of straw. Both products often remain thus for six or eight weeks, the grain getting so thoroughly dry in the interval that there is frequendy an overweight of five or more per cent, when, after its long passage in the damp sea air, the cargo reaches Liverpool. The moral question thus arising as to wlio is entitled to the benefit of this increase I will not pretend to determine ; but the producers say that they rarely hear of any differences in their favor. "The manner of disposing of the straw is one of the weakest points of California agriculture. Near to cities or cheap trans- portation, much of it is baled like hay, and finds a ready market, but in remote districts it is got rid of by applying the torch ; and these 'straw fires' habitually redden the autumn skies as do the prairie fires in the Western States, covering the whole country with a smoke haze, as a faint reminiscence of the Indian summer, which is not otherwise well-defined on the Pacific coast. This holocaust of valuable materials, which might be made the means of some slight return of plant-food to the soil, is a standing re- CALIFORNIA BARLEY, RYE AND OATS. cqi proach to those who practise it; yet they have some excuse in the fact that the pecuHarities of the cHmate do not make it as easy to convert it into manure as is the case in countric s having summer rains. For in winter the temperature is, alter all, too low to favor rapid decay, while during the summer months the intense drought soon puts an end to fermentation. It tlierefore takes two seasons to render the straw fit for plowing in : and in the mean time, as left by the thresher, it occupies consi(ierable ground. As yet, the conviction that straw-burning is penny- wis- dom and pound-foolishness has not gained sufficient footliold to induce the majority of wheat-growers to take the pains of putting the straw into stacks with concave tops, to collect and retain the water. But those who have done so report that the resulting improvement of the soil pays well for the trouble. The practice of burning will, of course, disappear so soon as the system of large-scale planting gives away, as it soon must, to that of mixed farming on a smaller scale. "Of the other cereals, barley and oats are the only ones that can as yet lay claim to general importance ; and the meiliods of culture are much the same. Like the wheats, so the barlejs of California are of exceptionally fine quality, that of the ' Cheva- lier ' variety being so eagerly sought for by eastern brewers that but little of it finds its way into California-brewed beer. The common (six and four rowed) barleys are, however, themselves of such high quality that the absence of the highest grade grain is certainly not perceptible in the quality of the beer, into which, unlike most of its eastern brethren of St. Louis and Chicago, nothing but barley and hops find their way. The various kinds of oats are produced for home consumption only, the difficulty being very commonly that the straw becomes so strong as to interfere seriously with its use for forage. Rye is grown to some extent in the mountain counties, and yields a splendid grain, called for chiefly by the taste of the German population for rye bread. Some Polish wheat {Triticunt polonimiu) is grown under the name of 'white rye.' Maize is thus far grown but to a small extent, compared with wheat, barley, and oats ; not, how- ever, because of any difficulty in producing corn, which, both as eg2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. to quality, size, and yield per acre, can compete with any in the Mississippi valley. The large foreign element in the population limits the demand for corn-meal, and, as before remarked, on account of the mild winters, hog-raising on a large scale is not likely to become important in the State. A good deal, however, is planted for green-soiling purposes in connection with dairies. The planting is generally done very late in April, and in May after everything else has been attended to, since in the coast climate a crop of corn is often made without a drop of rain from the time of planting, when the season has been one of abundant moisture. Of late, several millets, and among them especially the DJiJirra or Egyptian corn, are coming into favor. The Dhurra, though not as much relished by cattle as maize fodder, will admit of three cuttings each season, when irrigated, and the meal made from its grain is by many preferred to corn-meal, while as a chicken-feed it is, apparently, superior to anything else. " Of other field crops, the 'beans' that formed the chief solace of the Argonauts of early days are still prominent, especially where the Mexican element is somewhat strong. To them * frijoles ' are still the staff of life, supplemented by the ' tamales,' the native preparation of the ' roasting-ears ' of green corn. "The Irish potatoes grown in California are not, as a rule, of first quality, but incline to be watery. The tuber is largely im- ported from Utah under the name and style of ' Salt Lake pota- toes,' albeit much that is sold under that brand is of California growth. The sweet-potato flourishes especially in the lighter soils of the coast south of San Francisco ; its quality would not be likely to be criticised by any but those who have been accus- tomed to the product of the Gulf States or of the Antilles. " The big pumpkins of California have acquired a world-wide reputation not unlike that enjoyed by the sea-serpent. The un- prejudiced observer, however, readily appreciates the fact that when a well-organized pumpkin has ten months' time to grow instead of three or four, it has every reason to give a corre- sponding account of its stewardship. But while a laudable ambition to excel may result in the production of three hundred- SUGAR-BEE TS—HOF- GR O WING. 593 pound pumpkins, it is but fair to say they are not the rule ; being inconvenient to handle, and, like other organisms exceeding a certain age, inclined to be hard and tough. The same is true of mammoth beets (mangel-wurzel), carrots and turnips, which, when left out in the field during a mild winter, continue incon- tinently to grow and develop until the time comes to put in another crop. The dairy-men and stock-breeders raise these crops largely, and are chiefly responsible for the production of the monsters. " The sugar-beet succeeds admirably in a large portion of the State, and in appropriate locations yields a juice of extraordinary richness ; as much as nineteen per cent, is clarified in some cases (but I can vouch for fifteen only from personal experience), and a fair degree of purity. Several prosperous beet-sugar factories already exist, the failures reported having apparently been due to mismanagement. It is difficult to see why, with such material and the possibility of keeping up the supply for nine months by the planting of successive crops, this industry should not become one of the most important and lucrative in the State, and fully able to compete with any sugar-cane planting that may hereafter be introduced in the southern portion of the coast. " Hop-growing is an important industry in the middle portion of the State, especially in the Sacramento valley and in the Russian river region, north of San Francisco bay. The pro- duct is of excellent quality, and is much sought after by Eastern brewers. " Of other crops of minor or only local importance may be mentioned the culture of pea-nuts, chiefly in the coast region south of San Francisco ; of the chiccory root, in the neighbor- hood of Stockton, supplying a large amount of the parched and ground ' old government Java coffee ' sold by grocers. In the same neighborhood the culture of the ' Persian insect-powder plant' (Pyretknmz carneuni) is being successfully carried out, the product being in very general requisition on account of the pre- vailing abundance of fleas. This neighborhood supplies a quality of mustard that is somewhat overwhelming to the novice, and even for plasters should be diluted with flour. Were rape-seed 38 eg. OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. oil in demand, the fact that the whole State is overrun with the plant that produces it, as a most troublesome weed, proves what could be done with it if fostered. " Nothing, probably, strikes the new-comer to California more forcibly, and nothing certainly more agreeably, than the advan- tages offered by a climate where plants can ordinarily be kept crrowing from ten to twelve months in the year, provided water is supplied. The immigrant desiring to make a home for him- self is delighted to find that the rapid growth of shrubbery and rtowers — and among them many that he has so far seen only nurtured in greenhouses — will enable him to create around him in the course of three seasons, on a bare lot, a home atmosphere that elsewhere it would have required ten or more years to establish. The housewife, however industriously disposed, is not ill-pleased to find herself relieved from the annual pressure of the ' preserving season ' by the circumstance that fresh fruits are in the market at reasonable rates during all but a few weeks in the year ; so that a few gallons of jellies is all that is really called for in the way of ' putting up.' It is not less pleasing to her, as well as to the rest of the family, that a good supply of fresh vegetables is at her command at all seasons, and that the Christmas dinner, if the turkey does cost thirty cents a pound, may be graced with crisp lettuce, radishes, and green peas just as readily as it may be celebrated by an open-air picnic on the green grass under blooming bushes of the scarlet gooseberry. Of course there are seasons of preference for each vegetable, but among the great variety naturally introduced by the various nationalities there are few that cannot be found in the San Fran- cisco market at almost any time in the year — if not from local culture, then from some point between Los Angeles and the mouth of the Columbia, The truck-gardens are largely in the hands of the Italians and Portuguese, who have brought with them from their home habits of thrift ; and their manure piles, windmills for irrigation, and laborious care of their unceasing round of crops on a small area, render their establishments easy of recognition. Their products are distributed partly by them- selves, partly by the ubiquitous Chinese huckster, trotting with FRUIT CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. cqc his two huge baskets under a weight that few Caucasians would carry for any length of time. Not a few Chinese also are en- eaeed in the truck-farminof business. The veo-e tables are in general of excellent quality, and it may be truly said that in no city in the United States is the general quality of fare so good, so well adapted to every variety of taste, and, last but not least, so cheap, as in the city of the Golden Gate ; and nowhere is the decoration of even the humblest homes with flowers and shrub- bery more universal, and at the same time so generously aided by nature. "In no department of industry, probably, is the reputation of California better established than in regard to fruit culture. Its pears seem to have been the pioneers in gaining the award of special excellence ; grapes and cherries have rapidly taken a place alongside, and, last, oranges and lemons have come to dis- pute the palm with Sicily and the Antilles. The most striking peculiarity of California fruit culture is its astonishing versatility, not to say cosmopolitanism ; for the variety of fruits capable of successful culture within the limits under consideration in this article probably exceeds, even at this time, that found elsewhere in any country of similar extent, and is constantly on the in- crease by the introduction of new kinds from all quarters of the globe. Doubtless, in time, each district will settle down to the more or less exclusive production of certain kinds found to be most profitable under its particular circumstances, so far as the large-scale cultures are concerned ; but whosoever raises fruit mainly for home consumption will hardly resist the temptation offered by the possibility of growing side by side the fruits of the tropics and those of the north temperate zone — the currant and the orange, the cherry and the fig, the strawberry and the pineapple, the banana and plantain, as well as the apple and the medlar. It would be supposed that the quality of these products must of necessity suffer grievously under the stress of their mutual concessions of habit; and this, of course, is true as regards the highest qualities of the extremes, under the judg- ment of the expert, but unperceived to a surprising degree by the taste of the public in ^e general market. The oranges 5g5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. grown in some of the sheltered valleys of the Coast Range, and on the red soils of the foot-hills, as far north as Butte county, often successfully dispute the precedence of the product of Los Ano^eles and San Bernardino. " In view of the short time within which this industry has developed, and of the multitude of nationalities which have taken part therein, it is not surprising that many important questions relating to it should still remain unsettled, and that the best regular routine for the several districts, or even for general practice, should as yet not have been established. Too many different varieties, whose adaptation to the local and general climate is undetermined, fill the orchards, and give rise to im- mense quantities of unmarketable fruit, that ulumately fall to the share of cattle and hogs. The high price of labor and of transr- portation from remote districts condemns another large part to a similar fate, especially in favorable seasons, when the local market soon becomes glutted with fruit unable to bear shipment to the East. Curiously enough, even at such times, the prices of fruit to the consumer are generally higher than is the case at corresponding times in the Western States, showing irrefragably that the cost of production is higher, and consequently that only fruit of high quality can bear exportation. Inattention to this point has rendered unprofitable, or worse, many of the refrigera- tor-car shipments heretofore made, and the same want of proper care in assorting the various qualities is one of the chief causes of frequent business failures of those supplying the markets of San Francisco. This practice, however, is fast being improved upon, and the disposal of the surplus fruit by drying is beginning to relieve, to a very great extent, the glut that has often de- pressed prices below the paying point. The exportation of dried fruits of all kinds is doubtless destined to become one of the most important branches of agricultural industry in the State, both on account of quality and of the natural facilities for the drying process offered by the dry summer air. It is found to be absolutely necessary to exclude in the drying operations all access of insects, which otherwise lay their eggs on the fruit and spoil it within a year. This is now very generally and effectu- THE CULTURE OF SUB-TROPICAL FRUITS. 597 ally accomplished by the use of the best drying apparatus, not uncommonly in co-operative factories erected by companies or granges. The quality of the prunes, plums, apricots, pears, etc., cured by some of these establishments is not behind the best of the kind imported from France and Italy, but as yet the neatness and convenience of the packages is not so generally what would be necessary to render them equally attractive to the purchaser. "While the orange, lemon, lime, and other sub-tropical fruits are more or less in cultivation up to the northern third of the State, they form the specialty of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and adjoining counties, where also the pineapple, banana, guava, and other more stricdy tropical fruits are mainly under trial. In a measure, what has been said above of the more northern fruits applies here also. While much fruit of the highest quality is produced, much also is still in the experimental stage, and some very poor lots are occasionally thrown upon the market. The subject has lately, however, been earnesdy taken in hand by the young but proportionally energetic Hordcultural Society of South California, in which a number of the most intelligent men have combined to determine in the shortest possible time, by systemadc experiments, discussion, and scientific invesdgadon, in connection with the agricultural department of the university, the practically important quesUons relating to this culture. While the orange and lemon product is marketed without diffi- culty and at good prices, the millions of excellent limes borne by the hedges customary in the southern part of the State are still mosdy allowed to decay where they fall. The manufacture of citric acid can hardly fail before long to put an end to this waste of precious material. The pomegranate, which is to some extent similarly used, generally finds a ready sale for its fruit. The olive, so universally found around the old missions as a relic of the past, has not so far found its place in general culture ; and on the shelves of the grocers in the cities we still find the same mixtures of cotton-seed, pea-nut, and other oils, with a modicum of the genuine product of the olive, that form the standing complaint of salad-eaters throughout the United States. The subject of olive culture has of late attracted considerable 5^8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. attention, and small quantities of excellent oil have been made in various parts of the State, proving beyond cavil that its pro- duction can be made an important industry. The culture of the fio- in California is co-extensive with that of the vine, and both fresh and dried fruit of the highest quality is found in the market. "As to nuts, the European walnut, Italian chestnut and almond are those whose culture on a large scale has been successfully carried out. The filbert may also be mentioned. Of these, the almond has been made the subject of the largest experiments, and, as might be expected, there have been numerous disappoint- ments in consequence of the selection of unsuitable localities, subject to light frosts at the time of bloom. The best results have been obtained in situations moderately elevated above the valleys, ' thermal belts,' where the cold air cannot accumulate. The quality of the product leaves nothing to be desired, where proper care is had in selection of varieties. " The Japanese persimmon promises here, as in the Southern United States, to prove an important acquisition. The jujube, the carob, the pistachio nut, and many others are under trial. "Of small fruits, the strawberry is in the market during the twelve months of the year. Raspberries and blackberries are largely grown, both for market and canning. The currant is of especial excellence and size, and is extensively grown between the rows in orchards. Gooseberries have not been altogether successful in general culture. "A good deal has been said and written about coffee culture. It was currently reported that a kind of coffee grew wild in the foot-hills, and of course the real coffee must succeed. The 'wild coffee,' however, is simply the California buckthorn {^Frangula Cali/ornica), and of course no more suitable for a beverage than turnip-seed. True, coffee trees are now growing at numerous points in the State, but it is not probable that the culture will prove a success outside of South California. "The grape-vine was among the culture plants introduced earliest by the Catholic missionaries. The similarity of the Cali- fornia climate to that of the vine-growing regions of the Mediter- COFFEE AND GRAPE CULTURE. Cqq ranean would naturally suggest the probable success of vine culture, corroborated by the fact that a native vine, albeit with a somewhat acid and unpalatable fruit grows abundantly along the banks of all the larger streams. The grape variety introduced by the missionaries, and still universally known as the ' Mission ' grape, was probably the outcome of seed brought from Spain ; it most resembles that of the vineyards which furnish the ' Beni- carlo ' wine. It is a rather pale-blue, small, round berry, forming at times very large and somewhat straggling bunches. It is very sweet, especially in South California, has very little acid, very little astringency, no definite flavor, and, on the whole, commends itself as a wine-grape only by the abundance of its juice and its great fruitfulness. The American immigrants found this vine growing neglected around the old missions, along with the olive, fig and pomegranate. It soon attracted the attention of the European emigrants from wine-growing countries, was resusci- tated and propagated, and still forms the bulk of the vineyards of California. We have good testimony to the effect that the wines made by the missionaries were of very indifferent quality, owing partly, of course, to the inferiority of the grape used, but chiefly to the primitive mode of manufacture ; the entire caskage consisting of a few large, half-glazed earthenware jars [tinajas), from which the fermented wine was rarely racked off, being mostly consumed the same season. Still, the luscious grapes and refreshing wines of the missions are dwelt upon with all the delight that contrast can impart by travelers just from the fiery ordeal of the Arizona deserts, or the thirsty plains of the Upper San Joaquin. The European wine-makers soon improved vastly upon the processes and product of the padres, but, in accordance with the fast ideas of the early times of California, they impru- dently threw their immature product upon the general market, and thereby damaged the reputation of California wines to such a degree that it is only of late years that the prejudice thus created has been overcome, not only in consequence of better methods of treatment, and greater maturity of the wines when marketed, but also, and most essentially, by the introduction of the best grape varieties from all parts of the world. The result 5qo our western empire. is, that at this time, a large part of the wines exported are either partially or wholly made of foreign grape varieties, and, as a whole, v,^ill compare favorably with the product of any European country, while among the choicer kinds now ripening there are some that will take rank with the high-priced fancy brands of France. It is true that so far all California-grown wines are recognizable to experts, a peculiar flavor difficult to define, which has been called ' earthy,' recalling to mind that of the wines of the Vaud and of some of Burgundy. But this peculiarity re- mains unperceived by most persons, and is not comparable in intensity to the ' foxy ' aroma of wines made from the American grape varieties. *' Another prominent peculiarity of the California wines is that they are generally of considerable alcoholic strength, as the re- sult of the intense and unremitting sunshine under which they invariably ripen. This is especially the case in the Los Angeles region, whose natural wines are by many, at first blush, thought to be ' fortified,' since they not only reach the maximum alcoholic strength attainable by fermentation, but even then retain a very perceptible amount of unchanged sugar. This circumstance interferes, of course, with the safe daily and sanitary use of the native wines at home, and explains the fact that as yet a not in- considerable amount, of French clarets especially, is imported into California for table use by the foreign-born population. This folly (for such it must be considered in this point of view) has already been in a measure remedied by the use of such varieties as the Hungarian ' Yinfandel ' and others of a more acid and tart character ; and it is quite probable that it will be found desirable to limit the time of exposure of the ripe grapes to the su<7ar-makincr autumn sun in order to restrict still further the alcoholic strength of some of the wines. Of course, the German and French vintners are difficult to convince that there may be in California too much of the blessed sunshine, every hour of which, in their native climes, adds to the market value of their product. This is but one of the many points in which the vini- cultural practice of California seems susceptible of improvement. We find elsewhere that long experience teaches the vintners of CALIFORNIA WINES. 5qI each country how to obtain the best possible results under their particular conditions; and it is not surprising- that duringr the short period of experience had in California, and with the tend- ency of Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, French and Germans to introduce each the practice of his own country under circum- stances so different, the best methods and uniformity in quality should not yet have become fixed. What is true of wine-making proper is equally so of the modes of culture. The padres natur- ally adopted the system of short pruning prevailing in their own country, and the later comers as naturally continued it, and, oddly enough, applied it almost indiscriminately to the other grape varieties brought from Northern France, Germany and Hungary, in some cases even to the varieties of the native American stock, altogether unused to such summary treatment. The experimental stage in California wine-making is also strik- ingly evidenced by the great variety of grapes still found in the vineyards of progressive growers, as the result of which we find in the markets and in fairs a most tempting and beautiful dis- play of the grape varieties of all countries ; and nothing can be more convincing as regards the peculiar adaptability of the State to this industry than the excellence of most of these, often sur- passing in this. respect the best of their kind in their original homes. Yet we can hardly wonder at this in a climate which allows the currant and the orange to ripen side by side. "Another drawback to the quality of the wines thus far is the tendency of each vine-grower to make his own wines, involving not only an unnecessary multiplication of costly buildings, caskage, etc., but also the unfounded assumption that wine- making is an easy thing, and can be managed by any one having a moderate amount of common sense; whereas, on the contrary, the production of the best possible result from a given material requires in this case, as in other manufacturing industries, a very considerable amount of knowledge and good judgment, which can be in some degree replaced by mere practice only in countries where long experience has settled all into a regular routine. The introduction of large wineries, managed by pro- fessional experts (like the magnificent establishment of Buena 5o2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Vista, near Sonoma Town), has gone far toward redeeming the wines of California from the reproach cast upon them by the hasty marketing of first crude efforts, which has, until lately, caused much of the native product to be sold under foreign labels. They have always possessed at least the merit of being made of the grape pure and simple, ungallized and unpainted, not so much, i)crhaps, as the result of superior virtue of wine- makers on the Pacific coast as because the superabundance and low price of grapes reduces the temptation to adulterate or 'correct' the natural product to a minimum. Even within the last few years some vineyards In the Interior have been In part harvested by turning In hogs; and other uses for the surplus product have been sought and found In the making of an excel- lent syrup by evaporation of the must. The growing appre- ciation and consequent betj;er price of California wines will probably hereafter prevent recourse to such expedients. "A detailed consideration of the methods of wine-making Is be- yond the limits of the present article, but it should be said that after the picking of the grapes (usually by Chinese) the means and appliances used in the succeeding processes are generally (as in other branches of agriculture in California) of the most approved and efficient kind, and the operations conducted In the most cleanly manner. The reported treading of the grapes by the feet of 'Greasers' in the southern part of the State applies only to the pommace destined for distillation into brandy ; albeit for certain kinds of wine {c. g., Port) the treading process Is deemed Indispensable In Europe, and, after all, feet can be washed as clean as hands. "Again, there are in California, as elsewhere, regions whose soil and climate favor the development of the highest qualities in wines, while there are others whose product, however abun- dant, good-looking, and pleasant to the palate when fresh from the vine, will fail, even with the best management, to yield a beverage fit for exportation. "The volcanic soils of the beautiful valleys of Napa and Sonoma have thus far achieved the highest general reputation for wines of fine bouquet ; yet even there the products of adjacent vine- THE BEST VINEYARDS. 6q^ yards sometimes differ widely, and these differences are not yet, as a rule, sufficiently considered by the producers, or by those who blend the several products for market. The red soils of the foot-hills of the Sierra also give high promise of fine wines, and in the Coast Range those of the valley of San Jose arc note- worthy. The wines made from the sugary berries of Los Angeles are, of course, very similar to those of South France, Spain and Portugal — fiery, and with a heavy body, but less 'bouquet ' than those grown farther north. Its least deserving wine (if it may be so classed at all) is perhaps the far-famed Angelica ; and the mission grape almost alone is in bearing there as yet. " The vineyards planted on the heavier soils of the Sacramento plain yield a large part of the table grapes for the home and eastern markets, and seem destined to become one of the chief regions for the raisin-making industry, to which the climate of the great interior basin is, of course, especially adapted in conse- quence of its rainless summers and intense, dry heat, sweetening the grape to the utmost, and rendering the curing process easy. Owing probably to a combination of favorable soils and good managem.ent, some of the Muscatel raisins from near Woodland, in Yolo county, have proved fully equal to the highest quality of those imported from Malaga. Unfortunately the commercial standing of California raisins, like that of its wines, has been in- jured by putting into market such as, from the mode of curing, did not possess the requisite keeping qualities. The efficient drying apparatus now introduced obviates this objection, and being accompanied by a superior style of packing, it is probable that raisin-making will hereafter take its place, alongside of wine- making, among the most important industries of the State, as in- deed the increased demand and large advance in price already indicates. "Brandy-making, also, has not been neglected, but in conse- quence of unfavorable Federal legislation has until lately labored under great disadvantages. Most of the native 'Aguardiente ' has been distilled from pommace, and is, of course, rather hot and rank-flavored. In the Los Angeles region it is, to a great 5o4 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. extent, the ' first run ' of the grapes only that is made into wine, no presses being used ; hence the brandy made from the residue is of higher quahty. The distillation of brandy from wine itself (now so rare in France) from the best of foreign grapes has been made a specialty by General H. Naglee, of San Jose, and the quality of the product is far above that of any imported now in the market. That the extensive importation of grape varieties should result in the introduction of their formidable enemy, the" Phylloxera, is not surprising ; but we may well wonder at the in- difference with which that now well-known fact is regarded by the majority of wine-growers, even in districts in which the in- sect has already made its appearance, and has shown its power for harm. This is due largely to the fortunate, as well as unex- pected and hitherto unexplained, circumstance that the progress of the pest has been remarkably slow as compared with its sweep- ing advance in Europe, though evidently not less sure. It is as though the winged form were not produced at all, or very much restricted in its powers of locomotion. It therefore seems quite possible to check, and perhaps stamp it out by timely pre- cautions. But nothing of the kind has been done, and the penalty of this neglect has already been dearly paid in the Sonoma valley, the region chiefly afflicted. Sonoma Mountain seems to have proved an effectual barrier against its transmission to the Napa valley. The ravages of the insect are also reported from some other localities, but no noteworthv damasfe has thus fir been heard of. Of other vine pests, the OidiMni and a kind of black knot are the chief; but, on the whole, the damage done has been merely local and easily checked, and it may be truth- fully said that to the grape vine, as to the human race, the climate of California is exceptionally kind." '^Forag-e Crops. — The strong tendency of the farming popula- tion of California to engage in stock-raising, dairying, and wool- growing, and the fact that the rainless summers of the greater part of California exclude from its agricultural system, at least on unirrigated land, both permanent meadows and clover, render absolutely necessary the cultivation of forage plants suitable for such climatic conditions. The search for these was early begun and is far from being yet concluded. FORAGE CROPS. 5^e "The most obvious expedient, adopted at the outset, and still supplying the bulk of dry forage, is the cutting of the ordinary cereal crops for hay before the grain ripens. ' Wheat hay ' and 'barley hay,' which, with oats similarly cured, constitute the main mass of the hay crop, are among the Californian oddities that first strike the agricultural immigrant. Most of the late sown grain, as well as so much of the early sown as from any cause does not promise a good grain crop, and the ' volunteer crop ' that commonly springs up from the seed shed in harvesting the previous season's grain on land left untilled, is devoted to this purpose, for which it generally becomes fit some time in May, according to location. Oddly enough, embarrassment not un- commonly arises on fresh and strong land, from the fact that the straw is so strong and tall as to render it unsuitable for cutting.'- into hay. A great deal also is cut at too late a period, when the grain is almost full-grown — it being well known that it is then that the greatest total weight is harvested ; the quality, however, is in that case of course injured. During hay-making time (end of April to that of May) the weather is usually so dry that there is little difficulty about curing. There are no sudden thunder- storms to call for a hasty garnering of the hay. So little danger is there that injury from rains will occur after May that the shocks are often left exposed for many weeks to the bleaching action of dew and sunshine. The regular practice, however, is to gather them into large rectangular ricks, built without much reference to protection from rain, but mainly with regard to the convenience for pressing into bales. This is mostly done by contract with gangs or ' pressers,' usually consisting of four men with a wagon and press, who perambulate the country from June to October. " Undoubtedly the most valuable result of the search after forage crops adapted to the California climate is the introduction of the culture of Alfalfa; this being the name universally applied to the variety of Lucerne that was introduced into California from Chili early in her history, differing from the European plant merely in that it has a tendency to taller growth and deeper roots. The latter habit, doubtless acquired in the dry 6g6 ^<^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. climate of Chili, is of course especially valuable in California, as it enables the plant to withstand a drought so protracted as to kill out even more resistant plants than red clover; as a substi- tute for the latter, it is difficult to over-estimate the importance of Alfalfa to California agriculture; which will be more and more recognized as a regular system of rotation becomes a part of the general practice. At first Alfalfa was used almost exclusively for pasture and green-soiling purposes ; but during the last three or four years Alfalfa hay has become a regular article in the general market, occasional objections to its use being the result of want of practice in curing. On the irrigated lands of Kern, Fresno, and Tulare counties, three and even four cuts of forage, aggregating to something like twelve to fourteen tons of hay per acre, have frequently been made. As the most avail- able green forage during summer, Alfalfa has become an invalu- able adjunct to all dairy and stock-farming, wherever the soil can, during the dry season, supply any moisture within two or three feet of the surface. ''Grasses. — Of the ordinary pasture and meadow grasses of Europe and the East, but a few have to any extent gone into cultivation. One of the most unsuited to the climate, viz., Ken- tucky blue grass, is carefully nurtured by daily sprinklings as the chief ingredient of lawns, for which the Eastern immig^rant generally maintains a preference, often satisfied at an inordinate cost of money and labor, and sometimes of health. As water for household purposes is almost universally kept under press- ure from elevated tanks or water-works, the hose and lawn- sprinkler are probably in more general use here than in any other country ; and innumerable attacks of rheumatism and malarious fever are traceable to their intemperate use, even to the injury of the coveted grass itself But few attempts have as yet been made to find an acceptable substitute for the costly blue-grass lawn. Among those which promise best are the Italian rye grass, which remains green all summer without irri- gation in the bay climate ; and, with proper treatment, doubtless the Bermuda grass could also be used. In either case, fully six out of seven weekly sprinklings might be dispensed with. This STOCK-BREEDING AND DAIRYING. 607 rye grass [Lolium Italicum, niultifioruni) has in some districts become so naturalized as to be cut for ' volunteer hay,' while at other points it is regularly cultivated with irrigation, if needed. In the tule lands and other naturally or artificially irrigated regions, the soft meadow grass {Ho/cus lanaius), under the sin- gularly inappropriate name of ' mezquite,' as well as the orchard grass {Dactylis glouierata) have come into use for pasture as well as hay ; but the latter is not found in market. So of the millets {^Paiiicum Italiczim, Germanicum), which are locally in use. Of late various species and varieties of sorghum are com- ing into favor; among these especially the Dhurra, or Egyptian corn, and the pearl millet {Pe7iicilla7^a spicata). Other forage plants are under trial in various portions of the State ; but thus far none can compare in importance with the cereal grasses and Alfalfa. It is probable that hereafter some of the native grasses and clovers, now considered as weeds only, will be found profit- able for culture. '' StocJz-breedmg and Dairying. — Prior to the American occu- pation, the breeding of sheep, horses, and, to a less extent, of neat cattle, roaming in flocks over the extensive ranches, was the chief occupation of the inhabitants ; and to a great extent the remnant of the original Spanish-Mexican population still clings to the old pursuit, which affords an easy livefihood, and permits of indulgence in that dolce far niente which seems to be impossible to the 'Americanos,' however varied may be the nationalities that compose the population of the United States. It thus happens that even where the ' ranche ' and stock are owned by Americans, the herders are to a great extent still the native 'vaqueros,' who, mounted on their hardy mustangs, and with the old-time lasso (more properly ' lazo '), coiled around the horn of their high Mexican saddles, and rarely more than a rope to guide their steed, may be seen careering around the steep hill-sides with a disregard of all the ordinary precautions against the breaking of necks, that is quite straining to the nerves of novice lookers-on. As a matter of fact, accidents very rarely happen to these wild riders ; and their efficiency in keep- ing in bounds and ' corraling ' the cattle intrusted to their care, 5o8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. on the most rugged ground, is remarkable. It Is but fair to say, however, that their practice has been quite successfully imitated by other nationalities, and that many a swarthy herdsman now- a-days responds more promptly to the Saxon or Norse saluta- tion than to that of the Mexican-Spanish dialect. "The purely pastoral method of stock-raising is, of course, gradually receding before the advance of agriculture proper to the more thinly settled regions ; maintaining itself, however, in some of the large ranches owned by parties declining to sell to small farmers. The obvious disadvantage of being entirely at the mercy of the seasons, thus sometimes losing in a single dry year all the increase of a previous succession of favorable ones, has gone far toward the introduction of a safer system, in which the hardy and nutritious Alfalfa serves to carry reduced numbers of stock of correspondingly higher quality safely through the dry months. In few States, probably, is the value of improved breeds more highly appreciated than in California ; and nowhere, probably, can the best strains of the more important breeds be seen in greater perfection. The one domestic animal of com- mon note, not as well represented in California as elsewhere, is the hog ; the obvious cause of the comparative neglect being the absence of a sufficiently long and regular period of freezing weather, whereby the safe packing and curing of pork, hamr-, etc., is rendered too precarious. While, therefore, fresh pori: of excellent quality is commonly found in the markets, the sup- plies of bacon, ham, and lard are, as a rule, furnished by the Western States, and partly by Oregon. Foremost in numbers among the rest is undoubtedly the sheep, in its double capacity of wool-bearer and producer of some of the best mutton in the world; a combination which has doubtless contributed much to the preference given it on the part of the somewhat inert native population. Easily satisfied with scanty pasturage, and in the southern part of the State scarcely needing shelter, the sheep is the very animal ^or the swarthy inhabitant of the adobe house, who loves to take his ease lounging on the airy veranda, asking of fate no luxury beyond a due allowance of cigaritos, and not at all envious of the greater comforts and riches of his unquiet, hard-working, and ever-scheming Saxon neighbor. CALIFORNIA SHEEP. gOQ "The common sheep of the country, while far from being a high-bred animal, is yet superior in many points to the stock commonly found in other countries, and its adaptation to the climate has rendered it profitable in cases where improved stock failed to pay. The Spanish Merino, whose blood doubtless runs in the veins of the native stock, seems to be best adapted to its improvement, and the best of this breed has been imported into the State. The wool-clip is among the most important products of South California ; but it would seem that the attainment of the highest quality requires some change from the natural con- ditions of pasturage, which present too great a contrast between the wet and dry seasons to insure perfect uniformity of the fibre. This, however, can undoubtedly be accomplished by the intro- duction of the proper forage plants. In dry seasons, such a;? that of 1876-77, the mortality among the larger flocks has some- times amounted almost to annihilation. The sheep-owners of the plains, in order to save something, have driven their flocks to the foot-hills and valleys of the high Sierras, leaving their route marked with the festering carcasses of the weaker animals, and sweeping every green thing before them, to the dismay of the dwellers in the invaded regions, who were thus sometimes themselves reduced to extremities. In ordinary seasons, this migration has its regular methods and routes, the herds ascend- ing the mountains in the wake of the summer's drought, and returning to the foot-hills or plains to winter. " Of other fleece-bearing animals the Angora or Shawl goat has attracted considerable attention, and seems to succeed well ; but the industry has not as yet assumed large proportions, chiefly, it seems, on account of the want of a regular market sustained by competition among the purchasers. ''Of Horses. — The Mexican mustang, a rather undersized yet hardy and serviceable, but proverbially tricky, race, descended from the Spanish breed, and therefore far from being inferior blood, still forms the greater portion of the horses in common use in California. The larger American horse brought from the Eastern States, although preferred for heavy work, is not so well adapted to the mountains, and requires higher feeding. 39 6 10 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The two varieties are, of course, rapidly mixing, and better blood than that of many California studs it would be hard to find anywhere. Fast horses and fast men have here, perhaps, more than elsewhere been the bane of the ao-ricultural fairs, whose real and important objects have, until lately, been most frequently swallowed up in that of an opportunity for betting" and horse-racing, to the disgust of the agriculturists. The in- troduction of the more useful breeds has not, however, been neglected, as is evidenced by the fine Norman and Percheron dray-horses seen on the streets of San Francisco. A tolerable riding-horse can probably be bought for less money in California than anywhere else in the United States, the mustangs (which are generally of light build) being bred in large herds on pas- tures, with little care and therefore little expense. But when the excursionist pays twenty or thirty dollars for his steed he must not expect to find it trained to gentleness and affection, for the ' breaking-in ' process which these animals undergo on the ranches has but few of the features that Mr. Rarey would recom- mend. The unwary horseman will pay for his experience by many an unexpected nip or kick, or by being left on foot at in- convenient distances from his destination, in consequence of a dexterous slip of the rein from his arm, a sudden rush under a tree with low branches, or a 'bucking' process of exceptional suddenness and violence. The mustang will, ordinarily, abandon these practices in proportion as it feels that the rider is 'up to' its tricks ; but the latter should never be found altogether off his guard against them, as he might safely do with a well-educated horse. " The neat cattle of California, previous to the American occupa- tion, were chiefly of a type whose ancestry may still be seen on the pastures of Andalusia — a middle-sized race, lightly built, bearing medium, long, but aggressively-pointed horns, which, combined with an irritable temperament and a fair capacity for speed, render the proximity of a herd of these cattle not altogether pleasant to the novice. Like its cousin, tb- Texas Long-horn, now familiar to the West, it is a hardy, prolific race, yielding a fair quality of beef, and a thick and tough hide, well NEAT CATTLE OF CALIFORNIA. 6ll adapted eidier to the production of sole leather or to that of the strong rawhide thongs, which serve the Mexicans in place of rope, twine, nails and other domestic appliances deemed indis- pensable by more pampered nations. As milkers, however, its cows are a failure ; nor are its oxen remarkable for either docility or disposition to engage in agricultural pursuits, being the natural result of a nomadic life on wild pastures, from which they were driven in and ' corraled,' for branding or slaughtering, only a few times in the course of the year. All this, of course, has mate« rially changed since the advent of the American. The immi- grants brought their cattle with them over the plains, and found' no reason to exchange the progeny of these for the pugnacious natives. The latter have, therefore, greatly diminished in num- bers, and are little seen In the more populous regions, retiring before the advance of culture like their original masters. The gentler race that accompanied the Americans across the Rocky Mountains now dots the plains and foot-hills of the Great Valley of California ; and since their weaker brethren mostly perished' on that trying and weary voyage, a process of selection has taken place, as a result of which the worst breeds of ' scrubs ' are rarely seen in the State. Moreover, the tendency to improvement that is so apparent in tlie use of perfected appliances of every kind has manifested itself at least equally in the Importation of the best breeds of neat cattle, among which the Short-horn, Jersey, Alderney and Ayrshire, and to some extent the Devon, have found especial acceptance, and are represented by some of their best strains. Much discussion prevails as yet in regard to the relative merits of the various breeds under the peculiar climatic conditions of California ; but already they are beginning to be- come localized In accordance with their several adaptations to local climates, which can be found to suit all ; and perhaps in^ time the tawny race of the Swiss Alps will find a congenial range on the Sierra Nevada. "The production of beef is as yet limited by the requirements of home consumption; but the dairy Interest Is rapidly assuming a wider range, and with an increasing knowledge of the modifi- cations of the processes demanded by climatic conditions, the 5t2 . OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. quality of dair)^ products is improving so much tliat as a market for all but the choicest kinds, California will soon be closed to the Eastern producer, and will, perhaps, compete with him in foreign markets. The average quality of the milk supplied to San Francisco and Oakland, from the numerous ' dairy ranches ' on the coast and bay and in the Coast Range, is greatly superior to that generally found in Eastern cities ; one obvious reason being that in the absence of distilleries there is no opportunity or temptation to feed the cows on unhealthy offal ; nor do the sleek and healthy cows that range the breezy hills of the coast ever need to be propped or slung up in order to enable them to stand the milking process. ,It is believed that an undue increase of bulk from a too free use of the pump is all that the milk con- sumers of these cities ever have to complain of. ''Builcr is now very generally of fair quality, some brands being quite up to the 'gilt-edge' standard. It is usually sold in rolls supposed to weigh two pounds, but in reality always several ounces below that weight — a circumstance so well understood,, however, that the practice hardly amounts to deception. The price per roll rarely falls below fifty cents to the consumer, and rano-es more generally from sixty cents to $i.io about Christmas time, when even that which has been packed in casks with salt during the spring and summer brings seventy cents. "The intimate connection (to the housekeeper at least) of butter with eggs suggests a few words on that subject in this place. The demand for eggs is unusually large in California cities, in consequence of the commonly prevailing practice of not only single men and women, but also small families in moderate circumstances, living in lodgings, and taking an easily made breakfast of eggs, bread and coffee, thereafter going to the res- taurant for dinner, and thus avoiding the pains and pleasures of housekeeping. Whatever may be said of the desirability of this practice in a social point of view, it manifests its effects in the price of eggs, which rarely falls below thirty cents per dozen to the consumer, and is more frequently among the fifties and up- ward ; even so, fowls cannot often be bought at less than eighty cents apiece, and ^i is a common price. Poultry-keeping is BEES IN CALIFORNIA. 5j>, therefore a very remunerative pursuit when judiciously managed, since feed is as cheap as elsewhere ; and it is one of the indus- tries which have not, as yet, been overdone. There are no special difficulties to be overcome in poultry-raising in Califor- nia ; yet a great deal of money has been lost in attempts made by persons unfamiliar with its proper management. There is no lack of the improved breeds, but among them the Leghorns seem to enjoy the widest acceptance at this time. '' Apiaculture is common throughout the State, and nowhere is the product of the bee of finer flavor, or marketed in a more attractive form. The best of improved hives are in common use, and the market is always supplied with the frames filled with the delicate, almost white, comb. Of course the improved varieties of bees have been introduced, and in the southern part of the State especially this industry is practised on a scale not often tb be met with elsewhere, as can readily be seen from the figures showing the export, amounting in 1878 to no less than three and a half millions of pounds. How kindly the honey-bee takes to even the desert region of that country is well illustrated in what has been supposed by many to be a ' snake ' story, but what is an unquestionable fact; namely, that some miner?, prospecting^ in Arizona, struck a regular 'fissure vein' of honey in a rock^ ridge, where the bees had been making deposits for years, and, although the vein-contents were not what they had been search- ing for, they took to it kindly and worked it, extracting therefrom \\ fabulous amount of honey. Another adventurous colony took possession of the court-house cupola at San Bernardino, and had accumulated several hundred pounds of honey when discovered. The bee is very fond of the flower of the mountain sage {Arte- misia), as well as of a number of odier desert plants, and is thus afforded unlimited pasture through three-fourths of the year. It seems that certain kinds of flowers, not yet identified, impart to the honey a tendency to become turbid after straining, from the separation of minute white crystals, whose nature has not as yet been ascertained. Such honey, whose other qualities are gener-- ally of the highest, has been unjustly suspected of adulteration in Eastern and English markets. The prejudice arising from ^j . OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. (his merely conventional defect will soon be overcome, and South California will doubtless become one of the largest, if not the largest, honey-producing country of the world. ''Silk-culture is at present almost extinct in California in con- sequence of the reaction against the mania for this industry that i^eean in the State some eig^hteen years agfo and raofed with unabated fury for several years, inflicting severe losses upon those who indulged in the popular delusion that the silk-worm would thrive in the State without any special precautions in the way of shelter and such intelligent care as can be given only by those versed in its treatment. Some of the airy sheds that were} supposed to be an adequate protection against the compara- tively slight changes of temperature are still extant, as monu- ments of that flush period when mulberry trees were thought to t>e the only nursery stock worth having. It can hardly be ■doubted that the advantages offered by a climate in which th(i food of the worm is available during all but two or three months in the year, yet free from the excessive heat that elsewhere mili- tates against the insect's well-being, will ultimately assert them- selves in the resumption of silk-culture in a calmer mood. It has been very successfully kept up, on a small scale, by Mr. ^ustavus Neumann, of San Francisco, showing pretty conclu- sively that it is not the nature of the climate, but adverse com- mercial and industrial circumstances that at present keep the rise of silk-culture in check," The tables on page 615 show the leading agricultural products of the State (except grapes and wine) for the year 1878 as esti- mated by the Agricultural Department; the statistics of 1879 are not yet received. They give also the estimated live-stock of the State in January, 1879. In regard to items not entering into these statistics, we may say that in 1877 California had 30,000,000 grape vines, most of them in bearing, one county (Los Angeles) alone having over 16,000,000 ; of fruit trees, common to temperate climates, 340,000 in bearing, and of sub-tropical fruit trees, the almond, lemon, Drange, olive, fig, etc.. 500,000. Of wine 6,400,000 gallons were exported in 1S77 over the Central Pacific Railway, and about C/i:OPS AND LIVE- STOCK JN CALIFORNIA. 615 45,000,000 pounds of wool, beside die large amount retained for home consumption. Of salmon, mostly in tins, 7,841,680 pounds were shipped eastward in 1877 ; of borax 536,000 pounds. Crops. Quantity Av'ge yield Number of acres V.ilue per bushel or Products. produced. per acre. cf each crop. ton. 1 Indian corn bushels 3,467,250 34-5 100,500 .60 $2,080,350 Wheat . 41,990,000 17- 2,470,000 1.03 43,240.700 Rye . . 195,000 15- 13,000 •75 146,250 Oats . . 4,350,000 30- 145,000 .69 3,001,500 Barley . 14,950,000 23- 650,000 .65 9,717,500 Potatoes . 4,377.600 114. 38,400 .98 4,290,048 jHay . . tons 1,271,000 2.05 ( 20,000 4,036,900 12.61 16,027,310 $78,512,658 i Li ve-stock . — Ani mals. Number. Average price. Value. Horses .... Mules Milch cows . Oxen and other cattle Sheep Swine 273,000 25,700 459,600 1,010,000 6,889,000 565,000 ;^43-95 66. 24 25.90 18.91 1.61 5-95 $11,998,350 1,702.36s j 11,903 640 19,099,100 I 1,091.290 3.361,750 ^59.156.498 Mmiufacturing Products. — California, not content with being the richest agricultural State and one of the best minini^ States of '* Our Western Empire," aspires also to a high rank as a manu- facturing State, for which, indeed, she has many facilides. Her earliest manufactures were connected with her mining interests, mining implements and machinery, and generally, miners' sup- plies. In these she has been remarkably successful, and at the present time some of the best mining machinery known is pro- duced at San Francisco, and in other California cities ; the excep- tional size and excellence of her forest trees led to the produc- tion of lumber for mining, building, and railroad purposes, and to the finer manufactures of wood as furniture, etc.; the vast herds of cattle and the great quantities of hides placed upon her market led to the establishment of tanneries and to the produc- tion of leather for harness, saddles, hunters' trappings, etc., a class of manufactures very greatly to the taste of her Hispano- (5 J 6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. American population ; and her vast flocks of sheep made her chief city one of the best wool markets in the country and stimu- lated manufactures of several classes of woollen goods, in which she has attained great excellence. Her immense production of wheat led to the establishment of extensive flouring mills, and the San Francisco flour has a great reputation. The develop- ment of grape culture naturally led to the manufacture of wine and brandy. Carriages and wagons, and iron manufactures and iron castings were the outcome of the production of mining machinery and miners' supplies. Of other manufactures, most have grown out of her commerce. She buys largely of unmanu- factured tobacco, which is made up there into cigars, chewing and smokino- tobacco. The raw surar received from the Sand- wich Islands is manufactured into refined sugar, syrup, and can- dies ; and the bags in which her grain is exported are manufac- tured in her own mills. Gunpowder, dynamite, giant-powder, and chemicals, which also figure among her products, are mostly in demand for the mining districts and miners' supplies. What amount of capital is invested in her manufactures, and what is the annual value of the products now, it is difficult to say. In 1870 the amount of capital reported (and very much under- stated) by the census was ^39,728,202, and the annual product stated was ^66,594,556. It would undoubtedly be three times the amount, if not more, in both cases at the present time. Mining Products. — The official statement of the production of gold and silver in California in 1879 gives $18,190,973 as the amount, but this does not include considerable sums forwarded to the East in private hands, nor the amount used for manufac- turing and other purposes in the State, nor what was on hand at the mines, mills, and smelting works at the close of the year, but only what was either deposited at the mint or passed through the express com.panies. There is to be added to this also about 5^1,000,000 worth of lead (5.55 per cent.), parted from the silver in the smelting works. Dr. Rossiter W. Raymond, late United States Mining Commissioner, and now editor of the Mining Excha7ige yournal, the highest authority on this subject, esti- mates that, throughout all these mining States and Territories, JiAILlVAYS IN CALIFORNIA. 617 and especially in California, the gold and silver product is only about one-tenth of all the mineral products of the State ; that the quicksilver, platinum, copper, lead, iron, tin, coal, borax, soda, salt, sulphur, gypsum, marble, granite and other building stone, mineral waters, etc., together aggregate nine times as much as the precious metals. However it may be with the other mining States and Territories, this estimate probably very closely ap- proximates the truth in California ; so that we may put the entire amount of mining and mineral products for the year 1879 ^^ about ^181,900,000. Raihuays. — The present railway system of California is very simple, though it traverses almost the entire State. The Central Pacific and its branches, one of which stretches up almost to the Oregon boundary, and others extend to Calistoga, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Soledad, and Monterey; and the Southern Pacific, «:omposed mainly of the same stockholders and directors, extend from Redding on the north to Fort Yuma in the southeast and from the Nevada line to a dozen places on or near the coast. The Central Pacific extends to Ogden, where it joins the Union Pacific ; and the Southern Pacific, crossing the Colorado at Yuma, has nearly traversed Arizona, and is making its way as rapidly as possible to El Paso on the Rio Grande. The Southern Pacific is now pressing forward its construction with all speed, intending by arrangements with roads already built, to make its eastern terminus within a twelvemonth at Galveston, Texas, and thus find an outlet for the rich products of Southern California, by way of the Mexican gulf, and the Atlantic. Two other roads are proposing to enter California at the south; the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe, or its extension, the St. Louis and San Francisco, already beyond Santa Fe, will probably cross Arizona on or near the thirty-fifth parallel, and, sending one branch through the rich Mexican State of Sonora, make one terminus at Guaymas on the Gulf of California, and another either at Santa Barbara or San Diego ; while the Texas Pacific, following the valley of the Gila river, will also make its western terminus at San Diego. With the exception of the completion of the Oregon Railway and the extension of some two or three 5i8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. branches to the coast, these seem to be nearly all the railways whicli are practicable for the State. Commerce and Navigation of iJie State. — The two customs districts of San Francisco and San Diego (the latter, however, being of only small account) stand third in the United States in the amount of their imports, which in 1879 were $35,105,639, sixth in the amount of their exports, which were in 1879 $35-575-838, and second in the amount of foreign exports, which were the same year $4,1 1 7,886. The number of vessels entering these two seaports from for- eign countries in 1879 was 579, having a tonnage ot 645,262 tons; the number which cleared for foreign ports was 676, having a tonnage of 752,431 tons, in both cases about equally divided between American and foreign vessels. The vessels engaged in the coasting trade and fisheries are not reported at the custom houses, except when they have for- eign goods on board, so that the greater part of the coasting trade is not reported. But of the number which come under the conditions, there were 382 vessels entered of 417,992 tons, and 3S9 vessels cleared with an aggregate of 378,627 tons. The number of registered, enrolled and licensed vessels in the two districts was 918, their tonnage 200,319 tons. But the greatest commerce of the State is conducted over her railways. We have no returns of this commerce later than the close of 1878, and these only over the Central Pacific and its branches, which, however, carries the greater part of the freight. The freiglit over this road in that year was 3,575,573,390 pounds = 1, 787, 7S6TV(fo tons — and the freight received therefor was 1^10,802,276. The ocean steamers from the port of San Francisco ply be- tween that port and Panama, between that port and the Sand- wich Islands, and those crossing the Pacific go to Hong Kong and Yokohama. There is also an indirect steamer trade, and a direct one with sailing vessels with the South American ports on the west coast, and with Australia, New Zealand and the islands of the southern seas. Bajiks. — There are seven national banks in California, all re- CALIFORNIA AS A HEALTH RESORT. 5t0 deeming their own notes in gold, as all the California banks have done since 1861. These banks have a capital of ^4,000,000 and a circulation of ^1,534,000, and a large amount of deposits. There are besides these 115 State banks and trust companies, private banking houses and savings banks, with an aggregate capital of ^31,707,107, and deposits in December, 1879, of •^81,019,951. Some of the private banking houses do an im- mense business. California as a Health Resoi^t. — The data which we have already given show conclusively that the coast region of Cali- fornia from San Francisco southward, with its small annual range of temperature, and the very slight mean difference be- tween the averages of the winter and summer months, its clear, dry and bracing air, and its abundant nitrogenous food and lus- cious fruits, is the best region to which an invalid with weak lungs or a tendency to predominance of the white tissues could pos- sibly come. What has been deduced theoretically from these premises proves to be true in practice ; there is no better cli- mate for consumptives, scrofulous persons, or those of ansemic tendency than the coast of California from the 38th parallel southward. The ocean winds may be a little harsh at San Fran- cisco, though the temperature is otherwise unobjectionable ; but at San Jose, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Soledad, Santa Barbara, San Buenaventura, Los Angeles, Florence, Anaheim, Wilmington, San Bernardino and San Diego, the climate is simply perfect. Farther north, from the 39th to the 42d parallel, the mountains come closer to the coast, the shores are forbidding and very sparsely inhabited, and the rains are too many and too heavy to make it pleasant. The valleys between the Sierras and the Coast Range are very pleasant in winter, but the summers are intensely hot and dry. On the mountain slopes there is every variety of climate, but Lake Tahoe, the Yosemite and the Sequoia groves, though healthful and pleasant summer resorts, are not spe- cially adapted to invalids of this class. Many of the mineral springs of the State have a high reputation for rheumatic and cutaneous diseases. The Warm Springs of Calistoga, in Napa county, and the Sulphur Springs and waters at the "Geysers," not far distant, are largely visited by invalids. 520 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Population. — The population of California in 1870 was, ex- cluding tribal Indians, 560,247 ; with these Indians, 582,031. Of these 499,424 were whites, 4,272 colored (/. i- /J/r////fi'tWf? /t'J'j/ fro ill Gr eenmc l \ to7 I \r7i7 ■^ '« ■ ■ 'Ji. OF ■1-3 S,ah. ofAUIes 4- -4.2 >f^- \ I- I 'irffihiiajlii^. ' V - . ; G - R A r^ D ■■ ' V' . i Mf - 'A B'M , I TEA ] V 2 s<\ TtuffaUaj r-J ;'.»».,//-'■ H t N S ,A U|E : - j ^ . c « l) ■" J= > s J 1 It If 11 c 0- c . S 2 3 3 S s c - II lii IP i_ «J ^ 6 <^ lis •3 2 = 1 a* ■a ii e N u 01 >> 1) c rt ;2| 2 3 c < Denver Colorado Springs Pike's Peak 5.197 ft- 6.023 ft- I4.r47 ft 49-5° 47.8° 18.7° 48.1° 45.° 13.6° 69.2'^ 64.6° 35-5° 49-5° 48.8° 206° 31-3° 32.8° 5-03° 99° 93° 58.2° 32 6 above 50°. 25 -3° —23.6° 9 2 86 111° 96.° 81.8° 18.63^ 19.48-^ 27.82° West of the mountains the snow comes earlier and lies longer and the mean temperature of winter is lower. The averao-e elevation of the towns is higher, averaging at least 8,000 feet. These towns ar so new that we have not statistics of their climate which can be depended upon. The quantity of the snow-fall is not great except on the moun- tain ranges and higher elevations. In the mountain towns it begins early and lies late, blocking the trails and passes over the mountains, and requiring often a circuitous journey to reach them. The railways now building will be protected from these heavy snows generally by snow sheds. The snow never entirely disappears from altitudes of from 12,000 to 14,400 feet. Soil a7id Vegetation. — Of the 104,500 square miles which con- sdtute the area of Colorado, it is difficult to estimate very accu- rately what proportion should be considered as arable land, for several reasons. But a small portion, comparatively, of the State has been surveyed ; only one-third in all, including the great area of pasturage, mining and dmber lands. The great amount of land included in railroad grants, and the still greater quantity in Indian reservations, most of which are now in process 5^2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of extinction, the uncertainty whether land at first regarded as desert, or, at most, as sterile grazing lands, may not prove to be arable land of the very best quality when irrigated ; and the almost daily discovery of new means of irrigation. It was roughly estimated in 1878 that there were about 15,000 square miles of arable lands, or lands which would become arable with irrigation, in the State. With the great increase of irrigating canals con- structed since that time, and the large body of good lands which will be thrown on the market by the treaty with the Utes, con- firmed by Congress in June, 1880, which sets free nearly 1 1,400,000 acres, and the cultivation of the great parks which is just beginning, there can hardly be less than 25,000 square miles endtled to that designation to-day, or in round numbers, 1 6,000,000 acres. Probably not more than one-fifth of this is under cultiva- tion, though the amount is rapidly increasing. "The soil at the first glance does not look promising. It is composed of a fine, dark-brown mould mixed with gravel, very compact, but at the same time very porous and friable. When the gravel has been completely decomposed, or the soil consists of fine dust, blown or washed from the higher portions of the plains (called bluffs), it inclines to clay. Near the surface the earth is darker than lower down, but the quality is essentially the same and very uni- form throug^hout. The soil is indeed so rich in the mineral con- stituents of plants, and its depth so great, that with a proper supply of water, it yields larger and finer crops of wheat, barley and oats than any other State in America. Water, however, is necessary, except in the bottoms of the shallower valleys trav- ersed by streams ; and the cultivable land is thus limited to the area that the water of the mountain streams will suffice to irri- gate. The agricultural portion of the State is now mainly the strip of land, ten to thirty miles broad, which extends from north to south, the whole width of the State, along the plains at the base of the foot-hills. Owing to the general fiatness and gradual sloping character of the ground the land can be irrigated at small cost. Between Denver and the northern boundary of Colorado, six principal streams, besides the river Platte, flow from the foot- hills across the plains. The water from these streams is con' IRRIGATION IN COLORADO. 633 veyed in canals or ditches, which are sometimes as much as fifty miles long. Some of the smaller canals have been built by co- operation among the farmers. In other cases they are owned by local joint-stock companies, of which the shares are held prin- cipally by the farmers themselves. The largest of all — the Lari- mer and Weld Canal — is the property of the Colorado Mortgage Company of London. It is fifty miles long, from twenty-five to thirty feet wide at the bottom, and carries water to irrigate 40,000 acres. The company itself owns 20,000 acres, which, with a right in perpetuity to sufficient water for irrigation, it is selling at $13 to $15 per acre. The land is sold in quantities of eighty acres and upwards. At this rate the land is freely purchased, payment being taken in five installments for the convenience of buyers. Setders on the public lands can buy water for $5 per acre. By homesteadinof a settler can become owner of 1 60 acres for a few dollars, but he must reside on it for five years before he can get a title. The settler may choose to pre-empt, in which case resi- dence for six months, together with the execution of certain im- provements, gives a title. By pre-emption the land may be obtained for $1.25 an acre if distant from a railway, or $2.50 an acre if in the vicinity of a railway. A settler can only homestead or pre-empt once. Railways are owners of land along their lines, in square miles alternately with the public lands, which are subject to homesteading and pre-emption. Railways sell their bind at prices varying from ^3 to |,6 an acre, according to cir- cumstances. " The undulation of the plains makes plowing and irrigadon very easy. The water is supplied to the farmer, not directly from the main canal, but from a subsidiary ditch, formed with a plow along the surface of the plain, on a nearly uniform slope. The farmer excavates with his plow a similar smaller trench along the top of the land he intends to plow^ and then, making breaks in the lower side, allows the water to flow over the whole surface of the field. After two or three days the land is ready for plowing, and the water is turned &ff. After irrigation, a pair of light horses will turn over the soil at the rate of an acre a day, or a gang-plow, drawn by four or six horses, will break up 534 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. ten acres in the same time. Cereals require to be watered once or twice in the season. The custom is to break new land in August, September, and October, turning the sod two or three inches deep, and the winter frost pulverizes it, and makes it into a good seed-bed by spring. Old stubble-land is irrigated in a similar manner before being plowed, either in autumn or spring, and the seed is sown as soon after plowing as possible. The soil, once thoroughly wet, is very retentive of moisture, and no more irrigation is necessary till June, when the water is again turned over the crops for a day or two. The land is very easily tilled and cleaned, and irrigation is a simple process, as may be easily understood from the fact that one man alone (exchanging, it may be, help with a neighbor in harvest) can cultivate eighty acres under crops in rotation, and that, too, without working so hard as a small farmer in this country (England). Self-binding reaping machines are in general use, and give complete satis- faction. Threshing macliines, driven by steam or horse-power, are driven from farm to farm as at home. " Colorado produces all kinds of crops and vegetables grown in England, with the addition of many that flourish only in a warmer climate, such as Indian corn, sugar-beet, tomatoes, etc. Grapes and peaches ripen in the open air, and in the southern parts of the State grapes and plums grow wild. Flax is also occasionally met with, growing wild. The wheat and barley raised on the irrigated lands are as fine as any in the world. The average crop of wheat is from twenty to twenty-five bushels per acre ; of barley, about thirty-five bushels ; and of oats, it is asserted that in the uplands the yield is occasionally as high as from eighty to ninety bushels per acre. Specimens of cabbages, mangolds, swedes, and beet root of enormous size, are exhibited at the State fair ; but as cattle-feeding is not yet practised, they are raised chiefly for domestic use. But the average of crops is not much indication of what the soil, in the hands of a skillful farmer, may be made to yield. The majority of those who have taken to farmine in Colorado, knew little or nothino- of the busi- ness when they settled, and their cultivation would generally be considered slovenly at home. When the soil is well cleaned CROPS OF COLORADO. ga-, and tilled, and the supply of water adequate, a return of thirty- five and forty bushels of wheat per acre may be reasonably ex- pected ; and in several cases last season (1879), although the crops are not considered generally large, over forty-five bushels of wheat have -been threshed out.* The prices to be obtained are, and must continue to be, tolerably high. The quantity of land as yet under cultivation is not sufficient to supply the fast increasing mining population, and as the nearest competitor is about 500 miles away, the Colorado farmer has the cost of car- riage in his favor. The demand for poultry, butter, eggs, and milk is great, and in supplying it the industrious farmer's wife can add very materially to his income. Wheat sells at from $8 to $9 per quarter (eight bushels) ; barley, from $6.25 to $7.50 ; oats from $4.38 to $5 per quarter. Hay is sold at from $12.50 to $15 per ton of 2,000 pounds; butter from 25 to 38 cents per pound, and eggs from 25 to 31 cents per dozen. Farm labor of satisfactory quality can, without difficulty, be obtained. Wages are about $25 per month, with board and lodging, which cost as much more. The laborer is engaged by the month, and, although he is dispensed with from October to April, he finds employment at the stock-ranches or the mines, and the farmers easily get hands when they need them. As a general rule, however, farmers in Colorado work on their farms themselves ; but they have the satisfaction that the land is their own, and that in such a climate, and with such a soil, labor is much lighter and more agreeable than is dreamed of in this country (Great Britain). For the same reasons the cost of labor per acre, although the wages paid to the laborer are high, is scarcely, if at all, greater than the farmer has to pay in Scotland, and by those who have capital, farming is being prosecuted on a * Mr. Barclay is, as he should be, wisely conservative in his statements concerning the crops in Colorado as affected by irrigation. Where, as in Greeley, Evans, Longmont, etc., and still more in the south of the State, the farmers are skillful, and apply the water judiciously, crops of wheat of eighty or one hundred acres have turned out sixty to seventy bushels of wheat to the acre for the whole crop, and in some instances even more; while Indian corn, which our British friends do not fully appreciate, yields, under irrigation, not the fifty or seventy bushels which are elsewhere considered a good crop, but two hundred bushels and more, over large tracts of land, and oats yield seventy-fiye to one hundred bushels. Barley is not so largely grown in Colorado as to make the amount raised at all certain, but it would doubtless do quite as well as wheat. 6tt^ OUK WESTERN EMPIRE. large scale with great profits. During two or three months in the year there is little, if any, work to be done on farms, but a pushing man may hire out his team and make a good bit of money in the winter months."'"'' In 1871 the amount of wood-land and forest gj'owths in Colo- rado was estimated, by the United States Land Office, at 6,667,000 acres, or one-tenth of the area of the State. The esti- mate was, of necessity, a mere guess, since at that time not more than one-sixth of the area of the State had been surveyed, and much of it was entirely unexplored. Very large quantities of the timber have since been sacrificed for railway ties, buildings, and machinery, for mining supports and machinery ; for dwell- ings and fuel, for flumes, aqueducts and bridges, and the thou- sand uses to which wood is put. It is hardly probable that the present forest area of the State exceeds one-fifteenth of its sur- face. Much of the timber on the mountains is large, but it ceases before the snow-line is reached. The principal forest trees are the pines of six or eight species, including the white, the yellow (a large fine tree, much like the Georgia), the mit- phie, and some others ; several species of fir and spruce, large and beautiful trees, the cypress in Southern Colorado, several species of oak, the chestnut and the chinquepin, the hickory, black walnut, horse-chestnut, etc., etc. The great parks in the spring and early summer are resplend- ent with beautiful wild flowers. Geology and Mineralogy. — Within the limits of the State, on its varied surface, down the precipitous sides of its lofty moun- tains, and on the deeply eroded sides of its great canons may be found every geological formation known on this continent. In general it may be said that the plains of Eastern Colorado are tertiary and alluvial, being formed largely of the loess which has for ages washed down from the mountain summits. The axis of the Rocky Mountain ranges is eozoic, and yet it has been so completely upheaved that the granite strata are completely broken and reversed, and form the surface rock of the summits of the highest mountains. In the valleys between the ranges *Hon. J. W. Barclay, M. P., in the Fortnightly Review, January, 1880. THE NATURAL WONDERS OF COLORADO. 637 the great parks are tertiary. At numerous points on the moun- tain sides and in the canons the coal crops out, sometimes ter- tiary Hgnites, but as often from the upper coal measures, and in the southwest from the lower coal measures. Sandstones, lime- stones, slates and shales of every geologic age crop out, espe- cially in Western Colorado, and triassic and Jurassic rocks appear both in the San Juan country and in the region lying between Pueblo and the Spanish peaks. In the vicinity of many of the coal beds the rocks are cretaceous ; while the Devonian and Silurian systems are largely represented in the south and south- west. In the upper valleys of the Rio Grande del Norte, and in the vicinity of some of the affluents of the Grand river, there are evidences of extensive volcanic action. The erosive action of large streams having a rapid descent and perhaps also of glaciers (though this is not quite setded) has nowhere produced such remarkable results as in Colorado, It is not only manifest in those deep canons which are only rivalled in Arizona, but in such wonderful productions as the " City of the Gods," in the White river region, in the northwest part of Summit county, where a tract large enough for a citv is cut into the semblance of cathedrals, castles, towers, and dwell- ings, in ruins indeed, but glorious in their ruin — the spires, domes, terraces and many storied temples set in such regular order and with such broad avenues between that it seems impossible that it should be other than the work of human hands ; or the similar though less extensive wonders of Monument Park, Talbott HiJl and the Bottle Rocks ; or the remarkable arrangement of the rocks (which may or may not have been the result of erosion) in the " Garden of the Gods ;" or the Royal Gorge, or the Grape Creek and Temple canons, or the Grand canon of the Arkansas, and farther west the Great canon of the Gunnison. For an interesting account of some of these wonders, especially those of Fremont county, as well as of the remarkable bones of the gigantic Camarasuras and other fossils, reptiles and mam- mals of the Jurassic period which, in size as well as geologic age, surpass all previous discoveries, we are indebted to Mr. J. G. Pangborn, author of the " New Rocky Mountain Tourist," a part 5^8 '^^'^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. of whose very vivid description of a tour through this true won- derland we here introduce to our readers. " RattUng over the bridge spanning the Arkansas at the city's* feet, we speed on through clumps oi richly foliaged trees, and in a few moments are at the entrance of the canon, catching a glimpse, just as we enter between its towering walls, of the Grand canon of the Arkansas and the cosy-looking bath-houses at the springs near by. A quick word of wonder at the height and the closeness of the walls, a sharp turn of the road, and look- ing back, the way is lost by which we came. Here in the solitary mountains we are alone. No world behind ; no world before. Turn upon turn, and new walls rise up so abruptly before us as to cause an involuntary cry of terror, soon relieved, however, as our excited senses become more familiar with the new tension upon them. Awe still holds us bonden slaves, but the eye drinks in such beauty as fairly intoxicates the soul. On either hand the walls loom up until only the slender opal of a narrow strip of sky forms exquisite contrast with the pine-covered heights. Rifled boulders every now and then wall in the road on the river side, their base washed by the creek, wild and beautiful in Its whirl and roar. Here the perpendicular piles of rock are covered with growths of trees that ascend in exact line with the wall and cast their shadows on the road below. Nature's grape- vines trail along the ground and cling around the trunks of the trees, hanging like Arcadian curtains and making bowers of the most exquisite character imaginable. Between these, we catch bewitching glances of the creek on its merry, tempestuous way to the Arkansas, its sparkling surface throwing back rapid re- flections of masses of green foliage and trailing vines. Deep pools give back the blue of the cloudless sky, and as base accom- paniments come in the dark shadows of the canon walls with their sharply drawn ridges and truncated cones. Here and there, all along the wild way, are rushing cascades, tortuous twists of the stream, gayly lichened or dark beetling rocks, mossy nooks or glowing lawns, and overhead the cottonwoods mingling their rare autumnal splendors of red and gold with the sombre green * Canon City. GRAPE CREEK CANON. 639 of pine and cedar. The canon is beyond question the most beautiful in marvellous coloring, wondrous splendor of foliage, picturesque cascades and winding streams of any in Colorado. The Grand canon of the Arkansas is deeper, but it is awful as seen from the only point of view, that from the top, and the sen- sations caused in strongest of contrast with those experienced in Grape Creek canon. The walls of the latter are so gorgeous a variety of colors as to fairly bewilder with their splendor : red — from the darkest tinge of blood to the most delicate shades of pink ; green — from the richest depths to the rarest hues of the emerald ; blue — from the opal to the deepest sea, variegated until almost defying the rainbow to excel in exquisite blending. These glorious transitions of color meet one at every turn, and the contrast formed every now and then by tremendous walls of bare, black rock, or broad seams of iron ore set in red or green, render all the more striking the singular beauty of the canon. Over the walls on either side, the grapevine, from which the canon takes its name, climbs in wonderfully rich profusion, and in autumn, when the leaves become so delicately tinted and the vines hang thick with their purple fruit, the effect is something to call to mind but never to describe. Added to the indescribable beauty of the vines are the many-colored mosses which paint the rocks in infinite variety of hue, ofttimes growing so high and rank as to reach to the very pinnacle of the topmost rocks and fringe their craggy brows so lavishly as to render them almost symmetrical in appearance as seen below. At different points these moss- covered walls rise to the height of i,ooo feet, and so completely do they hem one in on all sides that with but slight stretch of im- agination the place could be viewed from below as a gigantic, moss-covered bucket, but one that never 'hung in the well.' Just above Temple canon, and where Grape creek enters the canon of its name, the walls are exceedingly high and precipitous, and in the coolest nook of their shadows, where sunlight can never reach, is a quiet, placid pool of water clearer than a crys- tal, and so faithfully reflecting back the curiously and brilliantly colored rocks overhanging it, as to have gained the name of Painted Rock Pool. It is a very gem in itself, and its setting ,640 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. and the rare grandeur of die surroundings, is well in keeping. Those visidng the canon should not fail to follow up the course of the creek from the point where it debouches into the canon. It will have to be done on foot, but the wholly unexpected sur- prises of the hour or two's ramble will more than repay the ex- erdon. The walls of the sides of the parent caiion are fully 1,500 feet in height, and so narrow that the tall pines and cot- tonwoods keep the gorge in a tender half-light, broken at mid- day by glaring rays that give a magical charm to the scene. On all sides from points in the walls of rock, tufts of grass and blue- bells grow, forming, with the grapevines, most pleasing pictures in contrast with many-tinted rocks, in the crevices of which their roots have found nourishment. The walls are of almost as many colors as there are sharp turns in the creek's course, and rarr. and perfect in beauty is the amphitheatre of black rock with pearly-white veins running in every direction, the whole over- hung by climbing vines and their pendant berries. Just at the entrance to Temple canon is a little grove of cottonwoods. Their pendant swinging boughs meet in perfect arches over- head, and the profusion of their polished, brilliant leaves renders complete the most charming of bowers in which tQtake the noon- day lunch and prepare for the climb into Temple caiion, which must be done on foot. Temple is a side canon, with entrance from Grape Creek canon, some four and a half miles from Canon City, and was discovered but a year or two ago. "The climb is not steep, though rather rough, especially to effect an entrance into the Temple proper, which is to the right of the little canon, and can only be accomplished by clambering over several-huge boulders, which, if removed, would render the illusion of a temple and stairway all the more striking. Once passing in through the great rifts of rock, for all the world like the stairway to some grand place of amusement, the body of the Temple is reached, and to the tourist's astonishment, before him is a stage with overhanging arch, with 'flats' and 'flies,' with dressing-rooms on either side, and a scene already set as if for some grand tableau. If so intensely realistic from the parquet, as the broad circling floor might aptly be termed, or from the TEMPLE CANON AND THE TEMPLE, 5^1 parquet or dress-circles, as the higher ledges would suggest, the clamber up to the stage itself renders it all the more so, for there is found ample room for a full dramatic or operatic com- pany to disport upon, while in the perpendicular ledges and caves on either side, twenty-five to thirty people might retire and not be observed from the body of the hall. The stage is at the least thirty feet deep, and some sixty to seventy broad ; the arch above fully one hundred feet from the floor of the canon, the stage itself being about forty feet above the floor. The arch is almost as smooth and perfectly proportioned as if fashioned by the hand of man, and during the wet season the water from a stream above falls in a great broad sheet over its face to the floor of the canon below. At such times the effect from the stage of the Temple is, as can be imagined, exceedingly fasci- nating, for there, entirely protected from the water, one looks through the silvery sheen out upon the scene below. Upon the rear wall of the stage quite an aperture has been hewn out by some action, and the shape it is left in is peculiarly suggestive of tableaux preparation. Away up in the very highest crevice under the arch a pair of eagles have mated for years, and though most darinof efforts have been made to reach the nest none have succeeded. The coming of visitors is almost invariably the occasion of a flight from the nest, and breaking in so suddenly upon the supernatural stillness of the place is apt to cause a shock to the timid not readily forgotten. There is absolutely not a solitary sign of vegetation about the Temple ; all is bleak, bare and towering walls, and a more weird spot to visit cannot possibly be imagined. Coming out from the Temple itself the tourist should by all means clamber up to one of the lofty pinna- cles in the adjoining canon, for the sight from them down upon the mighty masses of rock below, the cottonwoods, the stream in Grape Creek canon and the lofty walls beyond is one to be treasured up among the brightest recollections of the tour. " One could spend days in Grape Creek and Temple canons alone, but our week demands that we should spend the second day in Oak Creek canon, with its wonderful formadons of arches, deep tints of evergreens and w^lth of wild flowers. 41 (,A2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. " Oak Creek canon is left with unfeigned regret, and as we toil up the ascent on the return trip we cast many glances back to aid memory in fixing its beauties upon the mind. A couple of miles over a road the tamest imaginable, after the three miles of down grade, brings us to the base of Curiosity Hill, well named, as is speedily proven by the discovery of all sorts of odd and beautiful little specimens of ribbon moss and linear agate crystals and the like. The surface of the hill is one vast field of curiosities, and so plentiful and varied are they that even those usually wholly indifferent to such things soon find themselves vying with the most enthusiastic in exclamations of delight upon finding some particularly attractive specimen. By blasting, large bodies of the most perfect crystals are obtained, invariably bedded in ribbon agate of the most beautiful colors and shapes, and polishing readily, they form beyond all comparison the love- liest of cabinet attractions. Many very valuable specimens of blood agate have been found on Curiosity Hill, and for agates of all hues and forms it is possibly the most satisfactory field for the specimen-seeker in Southern Colorado. Trotting homeward we watch the blazing splendor of the sunset upon the lofty heads of the rocky monarchs around us, while the cool twilight of the open park between us and Canon City envelops all about our road. "Next morning we are off for Oil Creek canon, which is wholly different from others seen thus far. The windings of the road in following the heavily-wooded stream are decidedly of a ro- mantic character, running now through a bewitching little grove, and the next moment joining with the merry waters and keeping them close company until another cluster of aspens or firs causes a separation of sight only, for the music of the foaming stream comes to us through the leaves, thus rendering the meeting all the more delightful. A half mile from the mouth of the canon we come upon the oil wells from which the stream takes its name, and about which its perfect purity is polluted by the pe- troleum that lies thick upon its surface. Some considerable surface work has been done at the wells in the way of tubing and the like, and they have been yielding more or less oil for 7 HE TIVIN J^OKJS. 643 the past fifteen years. Preparations are now being made, how- ever, for boring for liowing wells, and the probabihties are that more oil will be taken from them this year than ever before since the first discovery. Beyond the wells the road winds around and about in enticing proximity to the stream, and then leaving it, winds high above, crossing picturesque bridges, and finally emerges into the open known as Oil Creek Park, hemmed in on all sides by ranges of sandstone that show a countless succession of rock sculptures, the effect heightened by the brilliancy and va- riety of the coloring. High up on the ridges are the crumbling ruins of castellated battlements, formidable bastions suo-crestive of frowning guns, lofty and imposing sally-ports, portcullis, moats and drawbridges. Great cliffs have fallen, and avalanches of rock have plunged their way down the hillsides; yet here and there and everywhere upon the walls stand the grim battlements, as if defying wind, storm and time. The most imposing of these tremendous ruins are the Twin Forts, standing upon the very verge of a precipitous wall of 500 feet of alternate layers of creamy yellow and brilliant red. One looms up a hundred feet or more above the wall, but the other is sadly battered and rapidly crumbling away. Along the wall are numberless towers of rock worn by the action of the elements into fantastic shapes, and many of them looking as if the breath of a child would topple them over. Progressing on through the park we fancy in each transformation of rock some familiar thing, while the mighty tiers extending toward us ofttimes call vividly to mind the bulwarks of great ships of the sea stranded here to be worn away to dust. Directly ahead of us, as we near the centre of the park, we catch full glimpses of new and singular rock sculpture, the entire south end of the park showing tier upon tier of rock so striking in resemblance to stockades and outlying fortifica tions as to cause one to involuntarily seek not only for the colors, but the soldiers defending them. Back of the stockades, stern, dark and cold, rises Signal Mountain, and still back of it the long, wave-like lines and great snowy domes of the Sangre de Christo range, their stupendous proportions dwarfing all below into little- ness. ^^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. " The road, as it nears the head of the park, abruptly dashes into a thickly grown grove of pinon trees. We halt for a mo- ment to get a full view of the largest pinon tree in Colorado, and probably in the country, and after entertaining something of a contempt for the scraggy little trunk of the average pinon tree, it is quite refreshing to behold one fully three feet in di- ameter, though all the more uncouth and ugly for its unwonted circumference. The pifions bear extraordinary quantities of the sweetest litde nuts, but outside of this they are of no possible worth. Around the sharpest and steepest of curves, a dash across the madly-surging stream, and a helter-skelter scramble up a low but exceedingly rocky ascent, and we are at the mouth of Marble Cave, so near in fact as to barely escape falling into it in looking for it. The ragged, jagged crevice by which the cav..- is entered is anything but enticing, and the sensation experienced as on-Ss head is all there is left above ground is far from the pleasantest. "The descent is almost perpendicular for a hundred feet or more, and the staircase formed by the broken ledges on eithei- side of the chasm far from soothing to one's nerves, especially as all the lights obtained are the meagre glintings which steal through the three-cornered opening above and struggle faindy half way to the bottom of the rift of rocks. Stumbling over un- seen boulders, and barely escaping serious contact with the en- compassing walls, we grope to the point w^here our guide has kindled a fire, and find it the intersection of the two main halls of the cave. The ghastly flare thrown upon the walls by the burning pine chills us to the bone, and a tremulous inspection of the situation adds no warmth. We are in a strange and awful rift in some buried mountain, the walls so narrow that our elbows touch on either side, and so weird and terrific in height, as seen through the heavily-rolling smoke, as to look ten times tiie 1 50 feet our guide informs us is the distance to the roof. The pine burns brighter, the smoke grows thicker, but we press on, now crawling on all-fours into some wondrous chamber of stalactite and stalagmite, and anon tugging up a strand of rope over frio-htful boulders that have fallen from thv-- dizzy height MARBLE CAVE AND TALBOTT HILL. gj^C above, to obstruct man in learning the secrets of this awful con- vulsion of nature. We penetrate into Satan's Bower, we look shudderingly into his Punch Bowl, and gasp as we throw our- selves into his Arm-Chair. We draw longest of breaths in Queen's Grotto, and the shortest when thoughts of the way back over those fearful rocks crowd in and demand consideration. Certainly the clear blue sky never was half so lovely as when we finally stand under it again. The cave is, as its name implies, encompassed by marble walls, and the specimens of marble brought from its innermo'St recesses, as seen in the full glare of the sun, are exceedingly beautiful in their mottled surface of red and white. The marble is susceptible of the highest and richest polish, and parties in Canon City use it for artistic as well as practical purposes. All about the hill, from the low crest of which the cave is entered, are the finest specimens of jasper, agate and shell rock, and not far distant are immense trees petrified to solid rock, and where broken often showing beauti- ful veins of agate and crystals. On the return trip we take more notice of the cosy and comfortable farm-houses scattered throughout the park, and become much interested in the details of the yield of grain — principally wheat — secured through the system of irrigation practised so extensively in the State ; in fact, no grain whatever can be successfully cultivated in Colorado without irrigation. Midway in the park we pull up at the pleas- ant home of the gentleman who is to show us to the top of Tal- bott Hill, where Professor Marsh, of Yale College, and Professor Cope, of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, have parties at work exhuming the recently discovered bones of ani- mals, compared to which in proportions and importance the mastodon sinks to insignificance. We at once leave the road and make direct for the wall of blood-red rock on the west side of the park, and a short drive bringing us to its base, we alight. Reaching- the summit, the long-drawn breath of relief is half choked by the indescribable magnificence of the view, and for the first time we appreciate the sublimity and grandeur of the Sangre de Christo range. A few more steps and we are at the tent of Professor Cope's party, and all within and without is 5^6 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. heaped-up bones, rocks now, and many of them so perfectly agatized that at a casual glance it would stagger any but a scientist's belief that they were ever covered with flesh. As seen, here, however, it is so palpably apparent that the seeming rock and agate are bone as to leave no room for shadow of doubt. Before us are perfect parts of skeletons so huge as to prepare one for the belief that Noah's Ark was a myth ; sections of vertebrae three feet in width ; ribs fifteen feet long ; thigh-bones over six feet in leng-th — and the five or six tons of bones thus far shipped East comprising only the parts of three animals. In one pit the diameter of the socket of the vertebrae measured fif- teen inches, width of spinal process forty-one inches, and depth of vertebra; twenty-nine inches. In another place there was a thiorh-bone six feet and two inches in lengrth ; a section of back- bone lying just as the monster rolled over and died, with eleven ribs attached, the back-bone twenty feet long and from sixteen to thirty inches deep, and the ribs five to eight feet in length and six inches broad. Just showing upon the surface was a part of a thigh-bone twenty-two inches in width and thirty in length, and near it a nine-foot rib four inches in diameter, a foot wide at six feet, and where it articulated with the vertebrae, twenty-three and a half inches in width. The entire rib was fifteen feet in length. All over the hill we come upon little piles of broken bones which will require days of patient labor and skillful hand- ling to properly set in place. The first discovery of the fossils was made in April last by a young graduate of Oberlln College, who, teaching a country school in the park five days in the week, spent his Saturdays about the hills hunting deer, and occasion- ally getting a shot at a grizzly. Immediately upon satisfying himself of the character of the discovery, the young man wrote to his old Professor in Ohio, and subsequently to Professor Cope, of Philadelphia. Hardly had the latter organized his party of exploration before Professor Marsh had his, under the leadership of Professor Mudge, of Kansas, duly equipped, and by the mid- dle of May both parties were actively engaged excavating, setting up and preparing for shipment the bones which Professor Marsh declares are seven million years old. GIGANTIC CHARACTER OF FOSSILS. 647 "The first animal discovered was of entirely new genus and species in scientific circles, and was named the camarasuras su- premus, from the chamber of caverns in the centres of the vertebrae. Of the first petrifactions exhumed was a femur or thigh-bone six feet in length, scapular or shoulder-blade five and a half feet long, sacrum, or the part of the backbone over the hips — corresponding to four vertebrae united in one — forty inches. Vertebrae immediately in front of this measured in elevation two feet six inches, and the spread of the diapophyses was three feet. Professor Hayden, the widely-known chief of the United States Geological Survey, upon visiting this place and inspecting these and other parts of the animal, declared it his conviction that the beast must have been fully a hundred feet in length. The thigh-bone, measuring some six feet, stood over the hips eighteen to twenty feet. The animal was undoubtedly shorter of front than of hind legs, and Professor Marsh thinks it had the power to raise up like a kangaroo on its hind legs and browse off the leaves of the trees from sixty to eighty feet in height. The professor also gives it as his opinion that the 'critter' fed entirely upon grass and leaves, the vertebrae of the neck being some twenty-one inches in length, and the spread of the diapophyses three feet, this being understood of cervical vertebrae. The skeleton is not completely exhumed, though between 7,500 and 8,000 pounds of bone have been shipped to Professor Cope. A part of the jaw of a laelaps trihedrodon, ten inches long, and containing eight teeth varying from five to eight inches in length, has also been shipped. Recently a leg bone of this same animal was exhumed and found to measure a little over four feet, and with a portion of the head all crushed into small pieces, sent on to the professor. A part of the femur of another animal has been found, measuring six feet, but somewhat lighter than the others. The vertebrae are three feet six inches in eleavtion, showing a very tall brute, but not so heavy as the camarasuras. When found, it was lying on the right side with vertebrae and ribs of that side in place, the ribs measuring over six feet in length, and the prongs where they join the back fifteen inches in width. Many of the bones of the camarasuras are misplaced (5^8 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. and broken up, quite a pile being found at the spot where several of the teeth of the trihedrodon were discovered, thus indi- cating the preying of the one upon the other. While the general estimate of the age of these huge fossils among American geol- ogists is seven million years, English scientists declare them fourteen million years old. Both the camarasuras and the trihedrodon were of the Jurassic period, being found in beds, which, according to Professor Marsh, correspond with the Wealden beds of England. All this section of the country must have been a plain when so much of Colorado was covered by an ocean, and before the mountains were formed. The fossils are found in rock long upheaved, its character now a sort of shale or marlite, which upon being dug out and exposed to the air crumbles to pieces. In most instances it is free from bone decay, the parts of animals taken out being remarkable for their clean and per- fect solidity. Marsh and Cope agree that the camarasuras was the largest and most bulky animal capable of progress on land of which we have any knowledge, it being very much larger than the mastodon, which was of a much later period. "Professor Mudge, with his party, is working about three- quarters of a mile distant from Professor Cope's camp, and very recently discovered portions of an animal of even more monstrous proportions than those already referred to, and of entirely dif- ferent genus and species from either. The explorations of the Marsh and Cope parties will be pushed with all possible vigor, the entire scientific world being intensely interested not only in the work here on Talbott Hill, but in the setting up of the gi- gantic skeletons at Yale College and the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia. Excursions from several of the leading colleges to the scene of the discoveries are planned for the sum- mer, and the season's work promises to add to the lively in- terest in scientific circles. •' The next morning our way is southward ten miles or more to the coal mines, stopping at the iron spring a little over three miles from town. It is up a short, dry gulch leading off from the road, and quite peculiar, inasmuch as the water springs from and has worn its tiny channel up the very edge of a long, thin ridge that COAL DEPOSITS OF CAA'OX CI'lY. 640 juts out into the gulch. Over the face of the ridge the water has scattered its iron sediment with lavish freedom, but only in this is there anything that to the eye indicates aught but spotless purity in the wonderful clearness of the spring. To the taste, however, the iron at once asserts itself, and the water is so strongly charged with it as to render it the healthiest of bever- ages. We drink our fill, and are off for the coal mines. An hour, and we are bowlincr alono- in a coal truck attached to a blind mule, through a vein of solid coal something over five feet in diameter. It is a weird ride, this mile or more into the inky bowels of the earth, the faint shadows from our diminutive lamps causing a ghastly effect not at all lessened by the blackness of the coal on either side and overhead. Every few feet we peer into the dusky depths of the apparently unending series of side chambers, catching quick glimpse of the little fire-bugs, as the miners look to be, as we pass so swiftly on. We see not the forms of the men, their faces, nor their hands, only the lamp- wicks' sickly flaring from the unseen hats. Every now and then piles of powder in canisters almost block up the entrance to the chambers, and at one point we are shown the very fuse that sent a poor miner to his death but a day or two before. But still the old, blind mule trots on, and the passing through and rapid closing behind us of the heavy, oaken door, that preserves the little of wholesome air left in the drift, is as if it barred us for- evermore from the world behind. The ride in appears an age ; /he ride out but of a moment's time in comparison. There are eighty-six side chambers, or rooms, as the miners know them, in the main entry, fifty-seven in another entry, and in all, four miles of track upon which the coal is carried to the outer world. The veins average five feet two inches, and run three and one-half miles east and west, and ten miles north and south. A hundred miners are at work, and the yield averages 400 tons per day. The gigantic, solid lump of coal eight feet nine inches long, six feet across and four feet four inches high, that attracted such great attention at the Centennial, being beyond all comparison the greatest single piece of coal on exhibition, was taken from this mine. It weighed seven tons, and was cut and brought out (3rQ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of the mine in three days. Caiion City coal is probably the finest bituminous coal in the world, and is so extensively used through- out the West as to require the running of special trains for coal alone, on the Denver and Rio Grande road, which has its own track to the mines. The supply is beyond all human calculation, for the valley of the Arkansas is one vast coal bed for mile upon mile. "On the return trip we make quite a detour to the east, to spend a little time at the gypsum beds, which are twelve feet in thickness. " Leaving the hotel immediately following an early breakfast, next morning, a drive of twelve miles brings us to the Grand Canon of the Arkansas. Disappointment is bitter, and feelings of resentment almost beyond control, as nowhere can" the eye discover the caiion. In the immediate foreground the pinon growth is rank and dense ; just beyond, great, bleak ridges of bare, cold rock contrast strongly with the profusion of foliage hiding everything beneath from sight, while away in the dim dis- tance the snow-crowned peaks of the continental divide are out- lined sharp and clear against the solid blue of the morning sky. Though grand beyond anything we have seen in amazing extent of vision, the mind is so wrapped up in the anticipation of full realization of the gloom, and vastness, and solemn grandeur of the Grand Canon, as to resent almost angrily their apparent absence. A half dozen steps from the clump of pinon trees where the horses have been fastened, and all thoughts of resentment, of disappointment and chagrin vanish, and a very cry of absolute terror escapes us. At our very feet is the canon — another step would hurl us into eternity. Shuddering, we peer down the awful slopes ; fascinated we steal a little nearer to circum.vent a very mountain that has rolled into the chasm, and at last the eye reaches down the sharp incline 3,000 feet to the bed of the river, the impetuous Arkansas, forty to sixty feet in width, yet to us a mere ribbon of molten silver. Though surging madly against its rocky sides, leaping wildly over gigantic masses of rock and hoarsely murmuring against its imprisonment within these lofty walls, it finds no avenue of escape. Every portion of these marble THE ROYAL GORGE. ^c\ bastions Is as smooth as if polished, and as stationary as the mighty walls that look down upon them from such fearful height. " Fairly awed into a bravado as reckless as it is strange to us, we crawl out upon tottering ledges to peer into sheer depths of untold ruggedness ; we grasp with death-like clutch some over- hanging limb and swing out upon a promontory beside which the apex of the highest cathedral spire in the world would be as a sapling in height. We crawl where at home we would hardly dare look with telescope, and in the mad excitement of the hour tread, with perfect abandon, brinks, the bare thoughts of which, in after recollection, make us faint of heart and dizzy of head. Eager now for still greater horrors of depth, blind to every- thing but an intolerable desire to behold the most savage of nature's upheavals, the short ride to the Royal Gorge is made with ill-concealed impatience. If our first experience upon the brink of the Grand Canon was startling, this is absolutely terrify- ing, and the bravest at one point become the most abject of cowards in comparison at the other. At the first point of obser- vation the walls, though frightfully steep, are nevertheless sloping to more or less extent ; here at the Royal Gorge they are sheer precipices, as perpendicular as the tallest house, as straight as if built by line. So narrow is the Gorge that one would think the throwing of a stone from side to side the easiest of accom- plishments, yet no living man has ever done it, or succeeded in throwing any object so that it would fall into the water below. Many tourists are content with the appalling view from the main walls, but others, more venturesome, work their way 600 to a 1,000 feet down the ragged edges of a mountain, that has parted and actually slid into the chasm, and as we have come to see it all, the clamber down must be accomplished. For some distance we scramble over and between monstrous boulders, and then reach the narrow and almost absolutely perpendicular crevice of a gigantic mass of rock, down which we must let ourselves 100 feet or more. As we reach the shelf or ledge of rock upon which the great rock has fallen and been sundered, we glance back, but only for a second, the thought of our daring making us grow sick and dizzy But a step or two more, and the descent just 6^2 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. made sinks into utter insignificance compared to what is before us. Then we had the huge walls of the parted rock as the rails of a staircase : now we have naught but the smooth, rounded surface of the storm-washed boulders to cling to, and on either side of our narrow way, depths, at the bottom of which a man's body could never be discovered with human eye. Behind us the precipitous rocks, over and through which we came ; ahead of us the slender barrier of rock overhanging the appalling chasm, and all there exists between us and it. Cowards at heart, pale of face and with painful breath, we slowly crawl on hands and knees to the ledge, and as the fated murderer feels the knotted noose fall down over his head, so feel we as our eyes extend beyond the rocks to catch one awful glimpse of the eter- nity of space. Few dare to look more than once, and one glance suffices for a comprehension of the meaning of the word depth never before even dreamed of, and never afterward forgotten. The Gorge is 2,008 feet sheer depth, the most precipitous and sublime in its proportions of any chasm on the continent. The opposite wall towers hundreds of feet above us, and if possible to imagine anything more terrifying than the position on this side, that upon the other would be, were its brink safe to ap- proach. Overhanging crags, black and blasted at their summits or bristling with stark and gnarled pines, reach up into pro- foundly dizzy heights, while lower down monstrous rocks threaten to topple and carry to destruction any foolhardy climber who would venture upon them. Among all the thousands who have visited the Grand Cailon and the Royal Gorge harm has befallen none, for, despite the seeming horror of the situation, the appall- ing depths and rugged paths, the fascination of the danger appears to give birth to greatest caution. The Canon, except in the dead of winter, is approachable only from the top, the w^alls below being so precipitous, and the river such a torrent, as to defy all access. When frozen, as the waters are for brief periods during the coldest months, the way up the canon may be accom- plished, but only at the risk of personal comfort and not a litth^ danger. Mr. Talbott, the photographer at Canon City, ventured into the canon last winter with his apparatus, and, after infinite THE WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY. 65, trouble, secured the excellent views which afford us some con- ception of the grandeur of the gorge from the bottom. "Returning to Canon City, we conclude to remain about the hotel for a day resting, and deciding upon the route of a tour through Southern Colorado, taking in the San Juan country. Chalk Creek, California Gulch, Twin Lakes, South Park, etc. We have enjoyed to the fullest the jaunts of a day, and now long for a month on the road with headquarters wherever night may overtake us. The reader may be inclined to ask if there are no more comparatively short trips, with Canon City as the base, and the reply would be, there are, and so many in fact as to be almost beyond enumeration. A most enjoyable four to five days' tour is that from Canon City to the wild and picturesque region of the Sierra Mojada, or Wet Mountains, thirty miles via Oak Creek Canon to Rosita, altitude 8,600 feet, and return via Wet Mountain valley and Grape Creek canon. This is a ' tim ber liner,' as an old prospector would denominate so wide and high a range of altitude, and affords capital opportunities for the enjoyment of life ofttimes above the clouds. Near Rosita are several distinct craters, and in the very accessible grass-covered, cone-shaped hills that rise 500 feet or more above the town are innumerable mines. About them are found the most beau- tiful specimens of crystallization, different kinds of spar and pyrites of most brilliant hues. The ride down the little grassy gulch or glade to obtain a nearer view of the Wet Mountain valley, and the Sangre de Christo range beyond its western limit, is a very delightful one, looking at sunset time like some grand painting with the point of view at the small end of the vista, and the eye, ranging down the timber-girted glade to mountains 1 3,500 feet in altitude, beholds the massive and majestic peaks rolling and swelling against the clearest sky ever mortal eye was gladdened with. Many Englishmen have made homes in the valley, often called ' The Britons' Paradise,' a name which seems appropriate to the tourist, after leaving the grayish green of the foot-hills and reaching its bright green meadows, starting up here a prairie dog and there a rabbit, and crossing and recross- ing its trout-filled silvery streams. In the valley is the famous (^CA OU/: UESTERN EMPIRE. Lake of the Clouds. The fourth night ends at Canon City, and the expense of the trip hardly averages ^5 per day, including everything. Another exceedingly pleasant trip from Canon City is to Poncho Springs, sixty-five miles up the Arkansas river, for which a running description of the drive through the Upper Arkansas canon will suffice. Engaging a seat in the regular buckboard line leaving Canon City every other day, the start is made immediately after early breakfast, and the sun is hardly over the mountains before the sublimely grand confines of Grape Creek canon are reached. A word as to the buckboard, for beyond all comparison the most comfortable and enjoyable of all vehicles for mountain travel, it deserves at the least a passing mention. Built expressly for Barlow & Sanderson, the great stage men of Colorado, the buckboard of their lines is a roomy, double-seated, open vehicle, the slatted bed lying directly upon the axles, and the seats set well up on fish-plate springs, the jar consequent upon striking rock or stone is almost lost before it reaches the seat. There is none of the rolling, swaying motion of the bulky coach, or of the short, jerky action of the apdy named ' Jerkee.' There being no top, the eye ranges at will, and the bed of the conveyance is so near the ground one can readily spring out and walk when so inclined, many preferring so to do when climbing long hills. '• Emerging from Grape Creek canon the road winds through Webster Park, thence into Copper Gulch, at the head of which is a towering gateway of solid rock, and passing through it to the top of the divide the scene is grand beyond all conception. Directly ahead is the snowy range, with its white-capped crests looming high above the clouds, which hang about the rocky breasts below as if loth to leave their ample resting-place. To the left is the Greenhorn range, to the right the great conti- nental divide, and imagination could not picture sight more sub lime. Through Seven-mile Gulch the road enters Pleasant Park, with its rugged rock sculptures, its densely-wooded slopes and grassy lawns. On every side are most curious monuments formed of monster boulders one atop the other, and holding position, by apparendy so frail a thread, that the gust of a mo- THE CLIFF HOUSES OF THE SAN JUAN. 5- c ment's duration would hurl them from dizzy heights to the level of the park. While in the park, magnificent views are obtained of Mount Blanca and Pike's Peak, either of them not less tl.an eighty miles away, and at the summit of the divide between Pleasant Park and the South Arkansas — altitude 7,800 feet — the view in all directions is beyond description. From this the descent is commenced ; at nightfall the solid, comfortable and roomy old stone house, known, Colorado over, as Bales', is reached, and with it the South Arkansas. Twenty miles farther is the Chalk Creek region, with its hot springs, fishing and hunting, and thirty miles beyond are the noted Twin Lakes. Fifteen miles from the lakes is California Gulch, with the wonderful Mount of the Holy Cross to the north." There are, in the southwestern part of the State, in La Plata, Conejos, and San Juan counties, and around the head-waters of the sources of the San Juan river, many of those ruins of houses cut in the rocks of the perpendicular cliffs, or on the summits of the isolated mesas or table-rocks, of which there are so many hundreds of examples in New Mexico, Arizona and Southern Utah. This whole region was densely populated ages ago, and by races far superior to the existing tribes of Indians. The Moquis, already described in our account of Arizona, may possi- bly belong to the same race with these cliff-dwellers, for they have similar ideas in regard to their dwellings and languages, customs, habits and religion, entirely diverse from any of the other Indian tribes, but some of these ruins are many centuries old. They were in their present condition of ruins when the Spaniards first penetrated here, 330 or 340 years ago. That they had formidable enemies, whose attacks they evaded by their fortified dwelling-places, seems evident ; but w^hether those enemies were Apaches, Aztecs, or other tribes or nations, now, like themselves, extinct, does not clearly appear. The extent of these ruins, often 250 by 600 or 700 feet, the massive blocks of stone of which some of them are constructed, and the vast labor by which others were hewn out of the solid rock, are well fitted to excite our admiration. The Estufas or chapels, for their worship of the sun in these buildings, were very large and ge6 <^^'^^' yy^S'Ii^^ibeen much developed, but everywhere the prospector has been rewarded for his toil. The whole regions, watered by the sources of the Uncompahgre, the Upper San Miguel, the Rio del Codo, and the headwaters of the Dolores, is full of lodes of great rich- ness and of a most peculiar character. They are believed to be true fissure veins, and not contact lodes like those of Lake county ; but many of the lodes are very wide, from three to forty feet, and contain pay streaks running side by side, and only sep- arated by clay or thin slate partitions, in which gold and silver in various and unusual forms are found, separate yet in the same lode. Sometimes several of these wide and multiform lodes run side by side. The " Begole Mineral Farm," now owned by the Norfolk and Ouray Reduction Works, is one of these singular mineral veins, but they are abundant in all the eastern part of the county. Mr. Frank Fossett thus describes the Begole Mineral Farm : " The Begole ' Mineral Farm ' is one of the wonders of this part of the State. It is near the town of Ouray, and at about 800 feet greater elevation.* It comprises forty acres of ground, being four claims 1,500 feet long by 300 wide, and was at first supposed to be a horizontal deposit of silver-bearing ore, but subsequent developments prove it to contain four mineral chan- nels or lodes, from tea to twenty feet wide. One of these lodes * Ouray is 7,640 feet above the sea. SAN MIGUEL DISTRICT. 5gg has a streak of bright, fine galena with heavy spar — the former carrying over loo ounces of silver, and forty per cent, of lead, and another streak of thirty-ounce galena with much antimony. Another lode has a very rich gray copper vein in a ganc^ue of quartzite, and often milling from ^400 to $700 a ton. A third lode carries sulphurets, and in places chlorides. This property was discovered and located in 1875 t»y Augustus Begole, an old Arizona miner, and John Eckles, They had worked it in the summer seasons up to the fall of 1878, when they sold it for |;75,ooo to the Norfolk and Ouray Reduction Company, who had built works at Ouray." There are numerous other mines of perhaps greater promise than this in the immediate vicinity of Ouray. One of them — the Grand View mine — yields from ^100 to $150 to the ton in gold, and from ^10 to ^20 in silver. The Mount Sneffles District, west of Ouray, has no superior among the silver regions of Southwestern Colorado. It has many hundreds of lodes now actively worked, and most of them are very rich; some — like the Chief Deposit, the Yankee Boy, etc. — producing ore that mills from 300 to 500 ounces of silver, and one or two, more than that to the ton. Most of the Mount Sneffles veins carry large amounts of gray copper as well as galena, while ruby silver and silver glance often occur. Some of the ores of this, as well as the San Miguel district, have heavy galena and zinc ores, which carry silver to the extent of $300 to the ton. The San Miguel district is developing a body of ores even richer and more promising than those of the Mount Sneffles dis- trict. The lodes here are in pay streaks of alternate gold and silver, or sometimes of both combined, and in all possible forms. On the Upper San Miguel, Turkey Creek and Howard's Fork, there are many hundred claims already recorded, and most of them are worked with profit despite the difficulties and enormous expense of transportation. In the summer of 1880 two or three smelters and concentration works were set up in this region. " Ingham Basin," near Columbia, one of the new towns of the Upper San Miguel, is remarkable alike for its mineral wealth and its natural wonders. The placer deposits of the San Miguel 44 (5oo OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. river are pronounced by California experts the richest that have ever been found on this continent, and they are now preparing to work them with the largest and best hydraulic appliances. An eminent French mining engineer, M. Cuemeyngs, after a careful examination of the chief mining districts of Colorado, has just decided to purchase for his principals, a Parisian banking- house, the Pandora mine, near San Miguel Park, on the upper San Miguel river, pronouncing it the richest and most favorably situated mine he had seen. Another mining engineer, Mr. E. M. Pearce, says of the San Miguel Park region : " This is the very heart of the mineral wealth of the Rocky Mountains." The Dolores country, of which Rico, the chief town, is not yet a year old, is situated in the southern part of Ouray county, and is sixty-five miles from Animas City, the latest terminus of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway. This is destined to be the great attraction of Colorado miners for 1 880-1881, rivalling in richness Eagle river or the Gunnison country. Rico has about 1,500 inhabitants. Senator Jones, of Nevada, and his associates, have already purchased a controlling interest in some of its rich mines. The Dolores Plateau extends over most of Western Ouray. Gold and silver are said to exist there, but there is also reason to hope that with irrigation these lands may prove arable and productive, or at least well adapted to grazing. The ruins scattered over all that region indicate that hundreds of years ago, this as well as the other plateaux of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico were densely peopled by an intelligent, agricultural people. With the possible exception of the great county of Gunnison, whose mineral wealth is as yet but slightly developed, Ouray county gives the promise of a greater out-put of the precious metals in the near future than any other county of the State; Lake county may overshadow it for a time from the great con- centration of capital in and around Leadville, but when the con- tact lodes of Leadville begin to diminish their yield, the Ouray mines, true fissure veins, will be at their best and with a certainty of permanency ; while the rich placer deposits will yield for years GUNNISON COUNTY. 691 to come their millions of free gold. With railway communica- tion, and a possibility of large agricultural production and pas- toral wealth on the western plateaux, the county has a mao-nifi- cent future before it. Gunnison county is the latest of the mining regions of the State to be explored, and may prove to be the wealthiest. The county is very large, having an area of over 10,000 square miles. Summit county forms its northern boundary, Lake, Chaffee and Saguache bound it on the east, Saguache, Hinsdale and Ouray on the south, and Utah on the west. It is traversed by the Grand river and its numerous affluents, two of which, the Gunni- son and the Rio Dolores, are themselves large and important rivers. The Gunnison has more than a hundred tributaries, some of them important rivers, and the Dolores has a considera- ble number, of which the San Miguel is the largest. In the northeastern part of the county, the Roaring Fork of the Grand river, with a score of affluents having its sources in the Sawatch (Saguache) Range, winds its way among the interminable group of peaks which go to make up the mass known as the Elk Moun- tains. Each of these tributaries of the Grand river, large and small, has, like the parent stream, its canon, sometimes very dark and deep, through which it finds its way to join the waters of the larger river. The Grand canon of the Gunnison rivals some of the most remarkable canons of the Rio Colorado of the West. The first discoveries of silver were made in this county in 1872, though there had probably been surface-diggings there in i860 or 1 861. The discoverers, in 1872, were two brothers, George and Lewis Waite, who had drifted over the mountains from Fair Play in Park county, prospecting for minerals. They wandered into the Elk Mountain region, and there found a vein of silver that cropped to the surface above the bed of a small creek. They carried some of the ore to Denver, then the near- est point where a satisfactory assay could be procured, and found that it contained both silver and gold in paying quantities. With very little means they set about constructing a tunnel through Whopper Mountain, the location of their mine. Two or three times they were obliged to leave their mine for several months, 5q2 <^^"^ WESTERN EMPIRE. and go to Falrplay and work as miners in order to procure the means for obtaining supplies for the cruelly cold winters in the mountains, but they toiled on faithfully for seven years, when the reward came. In 1878 and 1879 the overflow from Leadville beoan to come into the Elk Mountain reo^ion, and while the brothers had secured for themselves three very excellent lodes, called the Whopper, Index, and Teller, very many new claims 'were entered in their immediate vicinity on the affluents of Roaring Fork ; others on East river, a branch of the Gunni- son ; Cooper creek, and others still on the Crested Buttes, and on Slate creek. It was computed that over 18,000 persons visited these mines in the summer of 1879, and 50,000 or more in the spring and early summer of 1880. To reach the head- waters of the Gunnison from Leadville, fifty miles away, it was necessary to cross a lofty range of mountains where the passes were filled with gigantic snow-banks. In one place an immense deposit of snow was tunnelled and cut through in order to reach the land of promise ahead of those who would come with the summer. More than two thousand claims were recorded in 1879. The mines are all high up on the mountains, and the winter is long and severe. There are only about five and a half months in which work can be done in the open air; but in the tunnels work is carried on through the winter. The ore is mostly silver, with a moderate amount of gold. It is galena, ruby silver, horn silver, gray copper and native silver, and ranges from 100 to 500 or even 1,000 ounces of silver, and from one to six ounces of gold to the ton. There are now several smelters in the mining region, where numerous mining towns have sprung up within a year. Gothic City has about 2,000 inhabi- tants ; Gunnison, the county-seat, perhaps as many, while , Crested Buttes, Irwin, and some other settlements are rapidly growing. There is a possibility of a railway — an extension of the Colorado Central — to Gunnison, within a year. The mines thus far located are about six miles east of the bounds of the Ute Reservation. If that reservation reverts to the United States under the recent treaty, the whole course of the Gunni- son river will be prospected, and probably valuable mines dis- SUMMIT COUNTY. 693 covered. Gunnison county produced ;^30o,ooo, mostly silver, in 1879, the first year of its development. Summit county has an area of about 5,000 square miles. It extends from the crest of the Snowy range westward to Utah, and lies entirely on the Pacific slope of the mountains. Clear Creek and Park counties bound it on the east, Grand and Routt on the north, and Lake and Gunnison on the south. It embraces a large amount of country adapted to farming and pastoral pur- poses, and is rich in silver lodes and gold placers. The yield of the latter has been very great, and that of the lode veins will evidently be immense in the near future. In the western por- tion are coal measures of excellent quality. Its scenery is grand and magnificent. Mountain ranges bor- der and intersect it in almost all directions, and among them are noble rivers, and hundreds of sparkling streams and dashing waterfalls. Vast forests of pine and spruce extend up the moun- tain sides, and here and there are broad valleys, green as emerald and watered by the purest streams. The first silver lode opened in Colorado was the Coaley, in Summit county. Its discovery came about in this way: Some gulch miners from the Blue river or Georgia gulch were hunt- ing for deer in 1861, and getting out of bullets manufactured a few from the outcroppings of what they called a lead vein. A year or two later they were in Nevada, and found that the silver- bearing galena ores of that section very much resembled the material which had supplied them with bullets in the Colorado Mountains. They wrote to an old friend in Empire and advised him to go over and locate the lode. After some delay he did so, but never made a fortune from it. Yet it led to a great silver excitement and to the development of the Georgetown silver district. That great natural barrier, the Snowy range, has acted as a serious drawback to Summit county's progress and advance- ment. The heavy snows blockaded the entire region from the outside world in the winter season, and the difficulty of crossing mountains from 12,000 to 1^,000 feet hiorh caused freiehtino- and travelling to be slow and very expensive. Matters have assumed 5q4 our IVESTERN EMPIRE. a different shape during the past few months. New wagon roads have been built at much lower elevations and on better grades, furnlshinof connection with Georo-etown and Leadville. Rail- ways are also projected and surveyed to both of these points. An extension of the Colorado Central Railroad is to be com- pleted to Breckenridge and Leadville this year. The leading towns of Summit are Kokomo, Carbonateville, and Summit City in the Ten Mile section — all founded within eicjhteen months — Montezuma and Saints John in the Snake river region, and Breckenridge in the Blue river placer country. The total mineral production of Summit county from 1861 to January, 1880, was $7,336,912, of which $6,360,912 was gold, $820,000 silver, $130,000 lead. In the early years of Colorado mining, the tributaries of the Blue river in this county were among the most productive in placer gold of any in the Terri- tory. The Georgia, French, and Humbug gulches, the Blue and Gold Run, the Illinois, McNulty, and other placers yielded large amounts; for several successive seasons a million a season was taken out. The yield continued to be large for several years, and has been continued to the present time; and the great enterprises in hydraulic mining, inaugurated in 1878 by the Fuller Placer Company, and by L. S. Ballou, are on a more gigantic scale than any others east of California. The first named company have constructed a flume or flumes tliirty miles in length, bringing the water from a lake on the eastern slope of the " Great Continental Divide," which was over i 2,000 feet above the sea, through a pass in the divide 1 1,810 feet above the sea, and, after using it in their hydraulic mining, suffering its waters to fall into a tributary of the Grand river and thus find their way into the Pacific. The product of these placers, in 1879, was over $100,000, and, in 1880, will reach at least $500,000. It is estimated that from $8,000,000 to $12,000,000 will be realized from these placers. They can only be worked for five and a-half months in the year on account of the great elevation. There are several important mining districts, old and new, on the eastern border of Summit count), in the Blue river valley, that are attracting much attention. Of these the gold placers SUMMIT COUNTY. ggr of alluvial deposits of the Blue and Swan rivers and their tribu- taries are the oldest. Extending north from these among the monntams is a belt of veins carrying silver and lead. The Snake river region contains both argentiferous galena and sulphuret, and copper-bearing veins. There are some very rich veins in the vicinity of Montezuma, Saints John, Peru, Geneva, and Hall Valley — all located on the main range or some of its spurs. Near the headwaters of the Blue, carbonates have lately been found. The Snake river mining region comprises Peru and Monte- zuma districts, and lies on the western slope of the Rocky Moun tains. Its elevation is from 9,000 to 13,000 feet above sea-level, and its distance from Georgetown and Ten Mile is from twelve to twenty miles. Gray's Peak and other mountains of great height overlook and partly enclose it, and with its magnificent forests and grassy vales presents a landscape grand and pictur- esque in the extreme. Snake river enters the Blue from the east at nearly the same point where Ten Mile comes in from the south. East of the Montezuma section are the Geneva district mines, located on the crest of the Continental Divide, and on the line of Clear Creek and Summit. The great excitement, however, at the present time is over the Ten Mile district. This locality has become famous during the past seventeen or eighteen months. Rich galena veins have been opened in the mountains west of Ten Mile river, and sev- eral thousand men have assembled there. The indications are good for one of the leading silver districts of the State. Further west valuable mineral discoveries are reported in the Eagle river reofion, but these were made this season, and of course sufficient time has not yet elapsed for their development. The ,fame of Ten Mile has brought in people enough to prospect the county very extensively, and there is no doubt but that its min- eral wealth is of the first order. The Ten Mile District comprises the converging slopes ot two parallel ranges of mountains and the intervening valley ot Ten Mile creek. The upper and settled portion of this valley is a mile wide and 11,000 feet above sea-level. The westerly (^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. range, containing most of the mines, is from i,ooo to 1,500 feet higher, is called the Gore range, and further north is divided by the Grand river. On the east Ten Mile range has several peaks from 13,500 to 14,200 feet high. The creek was called Ten Mile because it was supposed to be ten miles long, but it is in reality seventeen miles in length. The two ranges bordering Ten Mile valley extend northward from the main divide on either side of a depression called Arkansas Pass. This is four- teen miles north of Leadville, and from it, waters flow towards either ocean. About two miles further west the Eagle river starts from Tennessee Pass. McNulty gulch empties into Ten Mile creek near its source and the site of the new town of Carbonateville. It gave its main gold product in i860, 1861, 1862, but is still worked by Colonel James McNassar, and turns out from $4,000 to $7,000 a summer. Its total yield from i860 is estimated by old miners at nearly $360,000. Further down Ten Mile are the Follett placer dig- gings. This region had been prospected by several different parties, but no high grade ore was found in quantity. In the summer of 1878, George B. Robinson, a leading Leadville merchant, out- fitted an old prospector named Charles Jones, and the Seventy- eight, Smuggler, and other mines of the Robinson group were found, and subsequently the Wheel of Fortune and Grand Union. Then people began to move over that way, and to stake off claims sometimes on top of the snow in mid-winter. Leadville and Ten Mile have afforded a rich harvest for surveyors. In this elevated region snow falls deep and often, and there is usually five or six feet of it on the ground from January to late in April, but nothing could stop the fever-heat of excitement that set in with the year 1879. Men kept coming in over routes that were terrible to think of; trees were felled, cabins built, tents pitched on top of the snow, and prospecting carried on, irrespective of the difficulties in the way. The lack of surface indications were made up for by a superabundance of faith. The miner would seek for unclaimed ground, clear away the snow from a chosen locality, and then commence to sink in TEN MILE AND KOKOMO MINES. ^o-r search of deposit or vein. This hazardous style of prospecting was occasionally successful, and a few good strikes were re- ported on Sheep, Elk and Jack Mountains, all of which greatly advertised the fame of Ten Mile. Town sites were staked off for a distance of six miles down the valley, and the dull roar of the miner's blast or the echo of the woodman's axe could be heard all day long among the stately forests of pine. The embryo cities of Kokomo, Summit, or Ten Mile, and Carbonateville presented a strange medley of log cabins, tents, and primitive habitations, and the prices of town lots compared in altitude with the places in which they were located. There were from thirty to fifty arrivals daily all through the spring, when the melting snows made the imperfect roads almost im- passable. With the opening of the summer of 1S79 Kokomo claimed a population of 1,500, and had an organized city govern- ment, a bank, hotels, stores, saloons, saw-mills, and the tele- graph, where there was not a single settler a few months before. A newspaper and several smelters have been sent there, and are already in camp. There are over 3,500 people in the entire district. Smelting works and a home market for the mining product was the great necessity, and this has now been supplied. The Robinson consolidated mines, which embrace twelve or more distinct claims, all on the same incline vein, are the great mines of this section, and are yielding immense quantities of silver. The whole mountain side seems to be interlaced with these rich veins. The formation of this part of the mountain is an indefinite amount of red sandstone, about four feet of shale, thirty feet or less of micaceous sandstone, lime, mineral, crystal lime, and sandstone formation of unknown thickness. In places where this structure maintained the usual depth, the ore is forty or fifty feet below the surface. On Sheep Mountain, overlooking the valleys of Ten Mile creek and Eagle river, vast deposits of silver ore, mostly car- bonates, and probably, like those of Leadville, " contact lodes," have been discovered and worked. Some of these mines yield 200 ounces of silver or more to the ton. The Eagle river starts from the vicinity of Tennessee Pass, 5 g OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. west of the head of Ten Mile, and flows northwesterly between the Gore and a more westerly range of mountains into the Grand. It is the newest mining district of the almost unexplored reo-ions of Western Colorado. The mountains that enclose it are said to contain many silver veins, some of them assaying from one to eleven hundred ounces. Many prospectors went in there, in the summer of 1879, and in a beautiful park the embryo metropolis, Eagle City, was located. West of the headwaters of the Eagle is the Mountain of the Holy Cross, whose eastern face always shows vast beds of snow, which have the form of a cross. This snow fills two mammoth ravines. The height of the cross is about 1,500 feet and the arms are each about 700 feet long. The climate of the Eagle river country, and of that beyond, is fine. The river valleys form excellent grazing lands, and lower portions are adapted to farming. The country is full of wild game, and the streams abound in fish. Stimmit county, west of the 107th meridian, is now included in the Ute Reservation ; but when, as is now confidendy expected, that vast tract is released to the United States government, a great extent of arable and grazing lands, and many rich deposits of the precious metals will be opened to the setders who will soon fill the region. Grand county includes the Middle and North Parks, and the slopes of bordering mountains, together with the Rabbit Ears range. Some silver veins have been discovered in the latter, but are generally of low grade. It is claimed that carbonates have been discovered in both parks, but this does not seem to be authenticated. Placer mining is carried on at Willow Creek in Middle Park, and in several localides in North Park, and good returns are reported. Routt county is the northwestern division of the State. It is composed of mountain ranges and spurs, divided by rivers, and bordering valleys well adapted to grazing, and sometimes to farming. There are extensive placer lands on the headwaters of the Snake and Elk rivers, which are operated by several com- panies and individuals. The principal of these is the Interna- tional Company of Chicago, near Hantz's Peak, which has been ROUTT COUNTY. gog making preparations for work on a large scale for several sum- mers, and is now in shape to push matters. This tract of land is supplied with great flumes and ditches, miles in length, and with hydraulics, which command an immense amount of paying gravel. About ^10,000 was taken out in a few weeks in the summer of 1879. The Elk river ditch and flume is seventeen miles long, and two other ditches combined are six and a half miles long. Three giant hydraulics are used, one with 1,300 feet of iron pipe, and another with 500 feet. A bed-rock flume has been run. In drifting and washing, a dike of porphyry and 1 70 feet of slate have been passed through. There are over 1,000 acres of gravel land ; and from forty to sixty men were employed, and over ^60,000 of gold produced in the year 1879. A branch of the Colorado Central has been projected to enter the county from Middle Park and extend through Steamboat Springs and Hayden to Windsor, at the junction of Fortification creek and Yampah, or Bear river, the largest tributary of Green river. Steamboat Springs, and, in the southwest part of the county, that extraordinary instance of nature's architecture, the "City of the Gods," are wonders well worth visiting. Part of Routt county is included in the Ute Reservation. The Green river, one of the constituents of the Colorado of the West, and its two great tributaries, the Yampah, or Bear river, and the White river, with their affluents, drain the county, and ex- hibit canons of great depth. It is believed that the coal meas- ures so largely developed in Gunnison and Summit counties are found in Routt county also ; but the county is at present almost wholly unexplored, so far as its mineral wealth is concerned. yefferson, J-{uer/a?io, and Arapahoe counties have considerable deposits of coal, but are classed among the farming and grazing court ties. With the exception of Las Animas county, which has in its western section large beds of excellent coking coal in the vicin- ity of Trinidad, none of the other counties of the State, beside those named above, are known to possess important mineral deposits. The remainder, as well as some of those which con- tain the precious metals, are either farming or grazing counties. „QQ OVR WESTERN EMPIRE. The arable lands of Colorado comprise at least 15,000 square miles of its territory, while the grazing lands are at least four, a;id possibly five times that quantity. All or nearly all the ara- ble lands require irrigation, but when irrigated they yield enor- mous crops, and the deposits from the canals maintain and increase the fertility of the lands, while the water dissolves the alkaline and other ingredients of the soil, and insures large crops every year. The first cost of these canals and ditches from the mountains is considerable, but it is in most cases borne by one or more communities of farmers, and the expenditure is followed by such large and abundant returns that it is not seriously felt. Of late incorporated companies have been constructing these canals and renting the water, and in some cases have purchased laroe tracts of land, which they sell in farms of 80 to 1 60 acres ♦with the water- right at from ten to fifteen dollars per acre. The largest of these companies is the Weld and Larimer Canal Company, an English corporation. It has a canal, as we have elsewhere said, fifty-four miles in length and capable of irrigating 40,000 to 50,000 acres. The Greeley Canal is thirty-four miles long, and waters a region almost as large. There are many of these canals also in the southern part of the State. "It is," says Mr. Frank Fossett, "a well-established fact that heavier and more reliable crops can be obtained by the aid of artificial irrigation, taking one year after another, than where the uncertain natural rainfall is depended on. . . . The prosperous, well-to-do farmers along the South Platte, the Cache-la-Poudre, Saint Vrain, Boulder, Ralston, and Clear creeks, the Fountaine, Cucharas, and the Arkansas and Las Animas or Purgatoire rivers, are all illustrative of the truth of this statement. Rich waving fields of grain now greet the eye where once were bar- ren, uninhabitable wastes, and vegetables of such prodigious size, and in such immense quantities, are raised as would astonish those unaccustomed to the crops grown on Colorado soil. F"arming has often been enormously remuneradve, and few that have followed it steadily have failed to accumulate money or property. Many men have well-stocked farms of great extent and value, the result of a few years' industry and effort. We THE FARMING COUNTIES. ^qI can hardly distinguish critically between the fanning and the grazing counties, since many of the latter, under the influence of irrigation, are largely productive of grains and root crops — but in general it may be said that Larimer, Weld, Arapahoe, Douglas, Boulder, Jefferson, El Paso, Pueblo, Las Animas, Saguache and Costilla, as well as Conejos, Rio Grande and La Plata have large quantities of arable land, and some of the western counties are probably not deficient in this respect. Some of these counties have also a reputation as grazing or sheep-growing counties — El Paso and Las Animas in particular being noted for their sheep farms and cattle ranches, and Weld and Arapahoe having some reputation in the same line. The grazing and sheep-raising counties, paj" excelle?ice, are Bent, Weld, Elbert, Arapahoe, El Paso, Las Animas, Pueblo, Douglas, Huerfano, and Saguache, "The annual farm products of Colorado are steadily increas- ing in quantity and value. Correct data of a detailed character have been difficult to gain, and reports from various sources are often conflicting. The farmers are not always willing to have the full extent of the wheat crop known, lest prices fall to a lower figure than might otherwise be obtained. Consequently, it is sometimes difficult to get correct estimates. Millers and speculators always figure out a much larger crop than the farmers are willing to acknowledge. The former are the buyers, and work for low prices, while the latter are the sellers, and, of course, want as much money for their products as it is possible to get. "The farming product of 1877 was far ahead of that of any preceding year. The season was a remarkably favorable one, and the acreage of land sown or planted was much greater than ever before. The result was that a large portion of the farmers, who had previously suffered losses from grasshoppers and from other causes, came out with a handsome cash balance in their favor, as did those who had newly embarked in the business. The good fortune attending the season of 1877 caused an increase of tilled land in 1878 of at least twenty-five per cent. In some sections the acreage in wheat was one-third greater, and •J02 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. in Other fifty or sixty per cent. The harvest was not as boun- tiful, however, as in the preceding year. While the aggregate • may have been somewhat greater for the entire State, the return of grain and some other crops per acre was considerably less. In the northern counties this was partly due to frequent rains just before the harvest time, causing wheat to ' rust.' In South- ern Colorado no such misfortune was reported. "The total agricultural productions of Colorado, for 1878, ex- clusive of stock, may be summed up, as follows : Wheat 1,310,000 bush. Corn Oats Barley Rye Potatoes Hay Garden produce Butter, cheese and eggs, milk — dairy product 306,000 250,000 150,000 50,000 450,000 50,000 tons Total ;i, 310, 000 210,000 125,000 80,000 30,000 350,000 800,000 250,000 350,000 13,515,000 The year 1879 was one of larger production as well as of much more extended acreage. In every agricultural product named above there was a marked advance ; while the vast influx of settlers, capitalists, speculators and tourists furnished a ready market for all that the farmers of the State could produce, and at prices which were satisfactory to the producer. While the returns of the census which, perhaps, may not prove very accu- rate, are not yet at hand, there are sufficient data to make it cer- tain that the product of the nine items named above exceeded in 1879 ^6,500,000, and would have found a ready market had they- reached three times that sum. The average yield of wheat has been from twenty to twenty- five bushels. Possibly twenty-two bushels come nearer the truth, taking one year with another. There are many farms and belts of land that yield thirty, forty, and occasionally fifty bushels to the acre. This, of course, is far above average returns of the State. Colorado flour is the finest in the world. Quantities of WHEAT, ETC., BY IRRIGATION. 703 it are shipped to Illinois and other States. Oats, rye, barley and other cereals do as well proportionally as wheat. Potatoes return all the way from loo to 500, and, rarely, 700 and 800 bushels to the acre. The average runs from 100 to 200. Vege- tables of nearly all descriptions grow to prodigious size both on mountain and plain. The comparatively inexpensive system of irrigation constantly replenishes the soil. The water is let into the ditches and on to the land in June, when the streams are full 1 of mineral and vesfetable matter borne down from the mountains. The water goes down into the ground and leaves the mineral and vegetable substances on the surface, adding to the soil. The ground continues productive after years of cultivation, because the irrigation brings in new material. Corn does not thrive as well in the northern counties as small grains, owing to the chilly night atmosphere, yet the yield is considerable and steadily get- ting larger. South of the " Divide " it does much better and large crops are raised — sometimes seventy-five or eighty bushels to the acre. Large quantities of hay are cut and cured in the parks and in most of the larger plains and mountain valleys. The good prices prevailing in the mining camps make this an important article to the farmer and stock-owner. For along time fruit culture in Colorado was deemed imprac- ticable. The experiments and experiences of the past few years show that fruit of various kinds can be raised successfully, and in some of the southern counties profitably and extensively. There are thrifty orchards of apple and peach trees at and near Canon City. North of the " Divide" much more difficulty has been experienced ; but apple trees are made to grow and bear fruit when protected from the winds by other trees. Several very fair crops of apples have been obtained in Jefferson, Boulder, Larimer and other counties. The dairy has become an interest of no little importance within the past few years. Owing to the nutritious character of Colo- rado grasses, the milk, butter and cheese are of unrivaled ex- cellence. Large quantities of these articles are sold in the numerous towns and camps. Several cheese manufactories have recently been established in El Paso, Boulder and Larimer coun- -^, OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 704 ties. There, and in Arapahoe and Jefferson, more than else- where, are remarkably large numbers of superior cattle, many of them of the best blooded stock, and valued at very high figures. Some of the finest cows and bulls of eastern localities have been purchased and imported by these enterprising farmers of the far-away Colorado border. There are finely-stocked dairy-farms in other sections beside the counties enumerated, including Douglas, Fremont, Lake and Saguache, but those named first take the lead. At the State and county fairs the displays of Durham, Alderney, Hereford, Shorthorns, Jersey and Swiss cat- tle, and of stock crossed therewith, are very fine. There is a remarkably large amount of money invested in horse-flesh in Colorado, and the average quality of stock is very high in some quarters. The liveries and private stables (espe- cially the latter) of such cities as Denver, Leadville and Colorado Springs are of a very high order. On the farms are large num- bers of horses, some of them splendid draft, work or saddle animals. Good blood is as manifest there as among the fast trotters of the towns. Colorado can make no such showing in amount of farming products as the Mississippi valley States, where farming is the main Industry; but in the yield per acre, or in quality of wheat and beef cattle, and extent of stock-farms, she far surpasses them. With little care or trouble these Colorado uplands and river bottoms turn out nearly or quite double what an equal area gives in Illinois or Iowa, and far more than is known in Minnesota or Kansas. Wages of farm hands usually range from ;^i5 to ^20 per month, with board, for the entire year or season, or about the same as female domestic servants receive. Laborers hired especially for harvesting receive from two to three dollars per day and board. There is quite a difference in the prices received for farming products, according to locality. No country has a better market, and one beauty of this is, that it is right at home. Hay is usually from ^20 to ^^o per ton in the mountain mining camps, and about half that sum on the farms of the plains and parks. By the cental, or hundred pounds, potatoes ranged dur- rROFITABLE WHEAT CROWING. y05 ing the past year or two from $1.50 to $1.75 ; corn from $1.50 to $1.75; wheat, $1 to $1.70, or from seventy cents to %\ per bushel ; flour, ^2.20 to $3 per hundred ; oats, $1.75 to $2.50. Before the railways reached Colorado there were occasional scarcities of articles of food. A single potato crop of a moun- tain farm near Central cleared for its owner ^17,000 one year when potatoes did not do well on the plains. Many years ago receipts were often very large, from the sale of crops on such larofe ranches or estates as those of Colonel Craie and others. A leading farmer near Denver, w^ho, from his penchant for potato culture, has been called the Potato King, usually raises from 40,000 to 60,000 bushels annually from 200 to 300 acres of land, and has received for his crops all the way from ^40,000 to ^70,000. He plants those varieties that are found to do best, and, as in most parts of the State, many grow to prodigious size. The highest reported yields of any extensive potato crops run from 500 to 800 bushels per acre. These are exceptional cases ; but 200 and 300 bushels to the acre are common returns. Magnificent crops of the finest quality of wheat ever grown are usually harvested in the fertile and beautiful valleys of the Boulder creek, and of Ralston, St. Vrain, Poudre, Clear, Bear, and Saguache creeks, and in parts of the Las Animas, and Ar- kansas and Platte valleys. The profits of a farm in those locali- ties are often many thousands of dollars annually. Some far- mers have hundreds of acres in wheat, and harvest from 5,000 to 15,000 bushels per annum. From three to six times as much land is usually sown in wheat as in oats or corn. The most approved sowing, planting, and harvesting machinery are used, and steam threshing-machines are moved from one place to another, as their services are required. These machines handle from 40,000 to 90,000 bushels each in the more populous dis- tricts. In July, 1877, over ^75,000 worth of farming machinery was sold in Boulder county alone. Greeley colony has over 35,000 acres of land under ditch, most of it in a high state of cultivation. Some fifty or sixty square miles of territory were made available for agriculture by the recent completion of a section of twenty miles of the Larimer 45 no6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. and Weld Canal. The total length will be fifty-four miles, and a tract of country thirty-six miles long, and from three to ten miles wide, will be irrigated. The canal starts from the Cache- !a-Poudre river, at the Colorado Central Railway crossing, and continues eastward until the Denver Pacific is crossed. A part of this land was pre-empted, and some is being sold at from ^3 to $10 per acre. Western Colorado is beginning to be settled up by miners and farmers. For many years the great Sierra Madre acted as a barrier to immigration and advancement ; but population is moving in that direction at last. Beside the wonderful mining discoveries of that region, the farming and pastoral resources are considerable. There are fine parks and numberless valleys enclosing the streams. These are extremely fertile, and will prove very serviceable and valuable now that a demand has arisen for their products. The Gunnison river alone has from 50,000 to 100,000 acres of farming land available for irrigation that is lower than San Luis Park, and which yielded 20,000 tons of hay last season. We have devoted considerable space in Parts I. and II. to the advantages and disadvantages of stock-raising and sheep-farm- ing in Colorado. Both pursuits are carried on with greater suc- cess and in a more thoroughly satisfactory way in that State than in any other. It is not necessary for us to recapitulate what we have said there; but we give below the statements of a thor- oughly intelligent English gentleman, Hon. J. W. Barclay, M. P., himself interested at home in the cattle business, and who has spent many months in the last four years in Colorado, returning thence to England in November, 1879. Mr. Barclay has no motive for over-coloring his account of stock-raising in the State, and his views will be interesting to our readers as those of a competent foreign observer. Mr. Barclay says: "But although a great fiiture undoubtedly awaits the farming interest in Colorado, the present profit is greatest for the stock- keepers. There is, indeed, probably no part of the world where a young man with a few thousands can employ himself more MR. BARCLAY ON STOCK-RAISING. ^07 agreeably or profitably than in rearing cattle on the plains of Colorado or Wyoming, or in the Parks of the Rocky Mountain ranges. A couple of thousand dollars, expended on houses and the erection of corrals in the neighborhood of a permanent stream, will form a basis of operations, and he can graze his flocks of sheep or herds of cattle on the public lands around without rent. The outlay is for the food and wages of his 'cow- boys;' and after providing for that expense, he may devote the whole remainder of his capital to the purchase of graded heifers and good shorthorn bulls. Graded heifers may be got across the mountains in Montana, California, or in Oregon, at a cost of 5^15 each. Shorthorn bulls, fairly bred, and suitable for tlie country, can be purchased at from ^50 to $100. Sheep of satis- factory quality are driven, or rather eat their way, from Califor- nia, and can occasionally be bought in Colorado or Wyoming at ^3. When crossed with a better class of sheep they soon im- prove, and yield fleeces of five to six pounds. *' If the stockman has the faculty to select good men — and such are to be had out in the West — he need not make himself a prisoner in his ranch, but may treat himself to a month's hunting in the mountains, or even to a trip to England, without imperil- ing his interests. How long the present system will last, of pas- turing on the public lands, is uncertain. Last summer a Com- mission of Congress was engaged on an inquiry into the best system to be adopted with regard to the public lands, and an idea is entertained that the government will sell land suitable for grazing, but too dry for cultivation, in lots of eight square miles, about 4,000 acres, at a low figure. Should this policy be adopted, the ranches will be fenced in, and a much higher type of cattle can then be advantageously introduced than would pay when, as at present, the cattle of different owners roam together on the plains. The profits of the present system are enormous, not- withstanding the low price of cattle. A three-year-old steer, weighing alive about 1,200 pounds, fetches only ^20. The in- crease of the stock, after deducting deaths, is about eighty per cent, on the number of the cows, if the cattle are fairly weD attended to. The attention required is not much. To cut the OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. grass with a mowing-machine in some of the meadows, and to save the hay for the emergency of a snow-storm severe enoug'i to debar the cattle from their food, is all that is necessary. But even that slight precaution is, I fear, rather the exception than the rule in the Colorado ranches. "The ease with which meat may be grown out in the West was forcibly impressed on my attention by an incident I observed in the North Park. The North Park is a great undulating plain within the Rocky Mountains, at an elevation of 7,000 or 8,000 feet. The drove I saw consisted of 3,000 cattle, of a size and quality that would have attracted favorable notice in any of ou/ markets at home. They had been feeding on very nutritious grass in the Park all summer, and were expected to weigh 1,400 pounds. They were born on the Pacific slope, and were feeding 'here, as a resting-point in their journey from California east- wards. They were part of a lot sold to Chicago dealers at ^37.50 a head, and were going to Illinois to be fattened for the English market, and would reach Liverpool, ready for the butcher, early in 1880. Thus cattle that first see the light on the shores of the Ifacific are driven slowly, at the rate of about ten miles a day, as far as the centre of America, and after grazing there for a year, are carried by railway to the maize-growing States, whence, after a stay of a few months, they make their final journey to Liver- pool. These are facts that lead to reflection. Only ten years ago, cattle from the Eastern and Middle States were taken west- ward across the mountains to California, but the tables are now turned. Cattle-breeding has developed so rapidly in the Pacific States, as not merely to supply the demand there, but to pour its surplus of the improved American cattle back to the East, and thus to supplant the inferior Texas breed, which in a few years may be expected to disappear altogether. It is computed that during the present year 50,000 cattle have made the journey eastwards across the plains. " Looking at the capacity for development shown by facts like these, it is idle to imagine that the supply of American cattle will become exhausted within any time that can be mentioned in the proximate future. These plains, covering thousands of square EXPORTATION OF STOCK— CATTLE. y^ miles, are specially adapted for rearing cattle. But there is one direction in which a government, even moderately ac- quainted with the interests of beef-producers, might confer a benefit upon the farming interest. We cannot compete with the American stock-keeper in the earlier stages of meat production, but in the last stage of all — the fattening for the market, which is at present done in Illinois and other maize-growing States — the farmer in this country has facilities which would enable him to distance his American competitor. The cattle I saw were to be transported by rail to Illinois at a cost of $6.25 or $7.50 per head; for other $25 a head those cattle could be landed at Liverpool. The store cattle sold in Colorado for $37.50. These would be sold at a profit to all concerned in Liverpool at $75 a head, and when fattened, could be sold readily, even in these bad times, for $100 a head. But this profit of $25 a head is forced into the pockets of Illinois farmers by the wisdom of our government, which prohibits the importation of store cattle for the farmer, and admits only fat cattle for the butcher. Such conduct from the * farmers' friends ' is not kindly,'^ "Those who say that there is disease among American cattle, and that what the farmer wants above all things is protection from disease, betray a want of acquaintance with the facts of the case. The real opposition comes from a few breeders of cattle who have the ear of the government, and who object to any store * Mr. Barclay's argument that the British graziers should import American "store cattle," instead of allowing the butchers to import American fat cattle, is admirable from his stand-point. It is, indeed, their only hope of making any profit from their agricultural products while they remain there ; but we draw from it two very different lessons, viz.: 1st. That the British grazier will do very much better to sell his lands or his lease, and come over here, and raise cattle, whei-e! he can do it at an undoubted profit, and become the proprietor of broad lands which would forni a ducal estate at home ; and second, that our stock-raisers in Colorado and other States and Territories of " Our Western Empire " may just as well fatten their own cattle and sheep, which they can do at small cost, and thus command from ^jSgo to $100 for them in the Liverpool market as to sell them to Illinois speculators at ^537.50 per head, and let them make all the profit. Corn, barley, rye, millet, Egyptian rice corn, sorghum seed, and the fattening root crops can be raised in Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, Montana or Dakota at half the cost of their production in Illinois, and containing a larger measure of carbonized or fattening food to the Imshel ; and with the present facilities for shipment, they will be able to place their finest beeves ( nd there are no better anywhere) in Liverpool, at a net cost to them of not over ^40 or $4^ a iiead, while they will command on landing from $^ to $ilo per head. The Montana cattle, It' is said, fatten almost too well on the nutritious bunch grass alone. ^lO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. cattle being imported, whether in health or disease ; but the great body of farmers want cheap store cattle, and they can have them both cheap and healthy from the natural breeding grounds of the West, if only the government would put itself to a little trouble and exercise a little care and common sense. There never has been any disease in the Western States, or in Illinois, Iowa, or Michigan. The direct route for cattle is throug-h those States on the main lines of railway, and, crossing into Canada at Detroit or Port Huron, they could be shipped from Canadian ports. Cattle could thus be carried to England without ever ap- proaching at any point within hundreds of miles of any place where disease has existed. Those acquainted with the system of transport know that simple and effective arrangements could be made insuring that only western cattle should pass into Canada, and the only hope I see for the British grazier is in get- ting these cattle. The attention of the department was called to this suggestion by a question put in the House of Commons last session, but the mouthpiece of the government would not conde- scend so far as even to promise an inquiry. Such neglect we are unfortunately but too familiar with, and there seems little hope of a change, until farmers or mercantile men insist on having some men in the government of this commercial and agricultural country, who know practically something of the country's interests. I cannot but think that we should be better off if we interfered less in our neighbors' affairs, and paid some attention to our own." Dairy- Farming. — Though so new a country, Colorado has many remarkable advantages for dairy-farming. The small parks on the eastern side of the divide, where the valleys of the streams are not ravines or canons — parks which contain from loo to i,ooo acres each — form the best pasture grounds for a dairy-farm to be found anywhere ; the grass is rich and nutri- tious ; the water is abundant, cold, and pure; and the soil is so fertile that it yields in profusion, the roots, grains, and forage plants necessary to produce the greatest quantity of rich milk. Good cows of the Alderney, Jersey, and Holstein breeds are to be had at reasonable prices in the State, and the dairy-farmer, selecting cows which will yield at least fourteen pounds of butter DAIRY- 1- ARMING IN COLORADO. yu a week during the season, and selling or rearing his calves, can make a very handsome profit on a moderate investment. Good butter always commands a good price in Colorado — from twenty- five to forty-five cents a pound, and the supply is never equal to the demand. Mr. H. Stratten, the leading dairy-farmer of the Cache la Poudre valley, Larimer county, makes the following statement of the profits of dairy-farming, as the result of his own observation : "We will suppose eighty acres to have been tilled as a grain farm ; the dairyman will put in forty acres to a mixed crop of corn, potatoes, oats, and barley for general crop, and seed down the remaining forty to Alfalfa. This will take 800 lbs. of seed, which, at 14 cents per lb,, will cost $112. As the first blossoms appear on the Alfalfa, the crop must be cut, which ordinarily wnll just about pay for cutting; the second cutting, quite late in the fall, will, under favorable circumstances, cut one ton per acre. This forty tons of Alfalfa, with the straw and fodder raised on the forty acres set apart for the general crop, with the addition of such grain feed as the cows require, will be sufificient to keep a twenty-cow dairy in full feed until the first cutting of the Alfalfa the second year. We will suppose the farmer has made his se- lection of twenty good butter cows, about the first of October, and made the necessary preparations to keep them in comforta- ble quarters, putting the cows at once on full feed ; we will figure what the result will be. Twenty cows fed as above will produce two hundred pounds each of gilt-edge butter, which properly marketed in Denver and the mining camps, will net 35 cents per pound; and 4,000 lbs. of butter at 35 cents equals ^1,400. Twenty calves properly raised and fed, will, at one year old, bring $250; chickens raised on the surplus milk and refuse grain will net ^200 more, which makes a total of <^i,85o, or an average of ^92.50 per cow. The first cost of cows will be about ^35 each. By making a good selection of native cows, then grading up with some good butter-making breed, the farmer will in a few years have a fine herd of dairy cows, worth at the lowest figure ^50 per head." We have devoted considerable space already in Parts I. and 7 12 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. II. to sheep-farming in Colorado, in connection with other States ; it only remains to speak of the extent and success of the sheep- farming interest in the State. In 1870, Colorado had not more than 20,000 sheep. In 1880, she has not far from 2,500,000. The increase in the number of flocks of sheep is without any precedent in the history of the rapidly growing States of the West. The counties which are most largely engaged in sheep- farming are El Paso, Las Animas, Huerfano, Conejos, Pueblo, Elbert, Bent, Arapahoe, Larimer, and Weld. The sheep in the so-called Mexican counties, Conejos, Las Animas, and Huerfano, are mostly Mexican sheep, though a few of them have been im- proved by crossing with a superior breed ; but in the other coun- ties they are almost entirely of improved breeds. The Mexican sheep yields but three or four pounds of wool, while it costs as much to keep and care for it as the improved Merino or Cots- wold grade, which yields from six to twelve pounds. As good Merino wool is worth on an average twenty-five cents per pound or more, this difference in yield makes a great difference in the value of the sheep. In 1879, Colorado is said to have marketed 7,000,000 pounds of wool, worth ^1,400,000; reared over 1,000,000 lambs, worth at the lowest estimate $1.50 each, or ^1,500,000, and sent to market or consumed at home 200,000 sheep worth $2.50 each, or ^500,000 more. In 1880, she will sell 10,000,000 pounds of wool, worth $2,500,000; rear 2,000,000 lambs, worth $3,000,000; and sell or consume 300,000 sheep, for which she will receive $900,000, an aggregate of $6,400,000. "Thus far," says Mr. Frank Fossett, "the business of sheep- raising in Colorado has been very profitable. A flock of 1,800 ewes, costing $4,500, were placed on a ranche in Southern Col- orado. In eight years, 1,600 sheep were killed for mutton and consumed on the ranche, and 7,740 were sold for $29,680. There are 14,800 head on hand, worth $3 per head, $44,400. The clips of wool paid for the shepherds' hire and all current expenses. The result shows a net profit over the original in- vestment of $69,520, equal to 193 per cent, per annum for eight years in succession. Per contra, out of a flock of 1,200 very fine SHEEP-FARMING IN COLORADO. 71^ selected ewes, worth ^4 per head, 800 died during a storm of two days in March, 1878. The 400 that survived raised in the summer of that year more than that number of lambs. " Many of the sheep men have two ranges for their herds — one for summer and the other for winter. The herder usually col- lects the sheep at night on a side hill, and sleeps by them. They lie quietly unless disturbed by wolves, who are the most trouble- some in stormy weather. Shepherd dogs are very useful in the protection and herding of sheep, and are born and raised, and die with them. Lambs are weaned about the first of October. Sheep will travel about three miles out on to the range and back to water or the herding grounds each day. Those coming to Colorado to engage in the sheep business should engage on a sheep ranche, and stay there long enough to understand all about the methods of conducting the business. In selecting or taking up land for sheep-growing, plenty of range or room, with hay land and a water supply, are requisites for successful opera- tions. Good sheep should be purchased to begin with, as they are the cheapest in the long run, and close attention must be given to the business in order to make money and build up a fortune. " While large numbers of the sheep of Colorado are of American breeds, hosts of them are native Mexican sheep. Still larger numbers are of mixed blood, obtained by crossing the long- leofSfed, ea-unt, coarse, lis:ht-wool Mexicans with Merino rams. The Cotswold has not been crossed so successfully with the full- blood Mexican, but makes fine stock when crossed with the three-quarter Merino. This brings size to the sheep, weight to the fleece, and length of staple. Since Colorado has been found to be the sheep-growing State of the West, large herds have been driven into her borders from other sections. California has been a heavy contributor, on account of the small expenses and large profits attending sheep-raising here as compared with the Pacific slope. Thirty thousand sheep were driven in from that State in the spring of 1879." The number of horses, asses and mules in the State is large in proportion to the population, and is rapidly increasing in two jj. OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. directions: the number of wealthy mine-owners has greatly muhipHed within two or three years, and these men all crave the best horses to be procured for money, and have already brought into the State very many choice animals ; the mines and the rail- roads, as well as the immense freighting business, require a large and constandy increasing supply of horses and mules larger and heavier than either the broncho or mustang. To meet this latter demand, and to some extent the former also, such great corpora- tions as the Colorado Catde Company, of the Hermosillo Estate, have undertaken the rearing of many thousands of horses and mules, and find the enterprise largely profitable, even more so than cattle-breeding. It is impossible to estimate with any very close approximation to accuracy, the present value of the live-stock interest of Colo- rado. So rapid is its growth ; so sudden the transition from a " waste, howling wilderness " to a compact and populous State ; from the sage brush, the alkaline plains, and the frightful preci- pices and canons, to the fields green with future harvests and dotted all over with thousands of catde, sheep, horses and mules, that figures which frighten us by their enormous amount prove strangely and ridiculously inadequate to express the enormous strides which every material interest is making in this land of wonders. It is known that the increased valuation of the live-stock interest in 1878 (not the total value, that was many times more) over the previous year was ^6,200,000. It is known also that the increase of the same interest in 1879 more than doubled these figures. In 1880, from the various causes we have specified, they must have doubled again, and, possibly, much more than doubled. When v/e add to this the receipts, gains and profits of the farming industry for the same three years, which mounted {n that time from $4,000,000 to more than $13,000,000, we have an aggregate which for so young a State is astounding. Railroads. — No State west of the Missouri river is so thor- oughly interlaced with railways now completed, or soon to be completed, as Colorado. At the northeast the Union Pacific enters the corner of the THE RAILWAYS OF COLORADO. 715 State at Julesburg, on the North Platte, but soon passes north into Wyoming ; at Cheyenne, Wyoming, it controls the Colorado Central, which extends from Cheyenne through Larimer, Boulder, and Jefferson counties to Golden, and thence over another line to Denver ; this road has also its extensions in progress through Western Boulder, Grand (traversing the Middle Park) and Routt counties, to Steamboat Springs, and Hayden to Windsor, on Fortification creek, as well as through Gilpin county to Black Hawk, and through Clear Creek county to Georgetown, and is now building a further extension through Summit county to Leadville. The Union Pacific also controls the Denver Pacific, which extends through Weld and Arapahoe coundes to Denver. Under the same general control is the Kansas Pacific, and the newly reorganized Missouri Pacific, which, starting from Kansas City, Missouri, crosses Kansas from east to west, and passes through Bent, Elbert and Arapahoe counties to Denver. The Denver, South Park and Pacific, which, starting from Denver, had its western terminus in 1878 at Webster, in Hall's Valley, pushed on, in 1879, to Breckenridge and Leadville, reaching the latter city early in 18S0, and following the west side of the Arkansas river valley, crossed the main divide (the Saguache range) at Cottonwood Pass, reached Gunnison in August, and is now pushing on for Lake City (Hinsdale county), 125 miles distant, which it will probably enter by January, 1881. From Buena Vista, in Chaffee county, to Leadville, its trains and those of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway run over the same track. From Denver, the Denver and Rio Grande goes southward to El Moro, extending a branch along the Arkansas river to its source, reaching Leadville; also westward from Cuchuras, in Huerfano county, as hereafter described, across Costilla to Ala- mosa, whence one branch goes to Del Norte in Rio Grande, and another through Conejos to Anemas City, in Plata county. But the ereat railroad of Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico is the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. This railway, stardng from Kansas City and Atchison, crosses the State of ^l6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Kansas on the line of the valley of the Arkansas river, which it follows in Colorado, through Bent and Pueblo, where it connects with the Denver and Rio Grande, en route for Leadville, and at La Junta, in Bent county, sending an arm southwestward and southward through Las Animas county, past the great coal fields and mines of Trinidad, reached Las Vegas, and crossing the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, paused for a little at Santa Fe, and is continuin:; its southern route down the valley of the Rio Grande to Mcsilla, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, and stretchinor thence across Chihuahua and Sonora — Mexican States — will make its southern terminus at Guaymas, on the Californian Gulf. By its connection with the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway, and the Atlantic and Pacific, to all whose privileges it has fallen heir, it proposes also to strike westward from Santa Fe along the route of the Flax river, one of the affluents of the Rio Colorado of the West, cross Arizona, bridge the Grand Canon of the Colorado with a single span of 400 feet, 1,600 feet above the water, and make a western terminus at San Diego or Los Angeles. Neither the Union Pacific, the Northern, the Southern or the Texas Pacific has conceived a grander scheme for crossing the continent, or prosecuted it with such unfaltering energy and such audacity of enterprise and engineering skill. Its crossing of the Raton Mountains in Southern Colorado; its passage carved along the perpendicular precipices of the Grand Canon of the Arkansas, and its other engineering feats, have excited the ad- miration of the greatest engineers in the world. In Colorado it has made a close alliance with its former rival, the Denver and Rio Grande, and the two having divided Southern Colorado and New Mexico between them, the latter has extended a line through Huerfano, crossing the Sangre de Christo range at Veta Pass, at the height of 9,339 feet, through Costilla county and the San Luis Park, to Alamosa, whence one branch traverses Conejos and La Plata counties, and is now completed to the Las Animas river, with an eventual terminus, perhaps, on the San Juan river; the other branch follows the Rio Grande on the line be- tween Rio Grande and Saguache counties, to the famous mineral EDUCATION IN COLORADO. yiy springs of Wagon-Wheel Gap, and then turns westward through Hinsdale and San Juan counties to Silverton, where it is to meet an extension of the Las Animas branch to and through Ouray, and up the valleys of the Uncompahgre and Gunnison rivers to the Grand river, and thence into Utah. Another important branch of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe east of the Great Divide is now in process of construction from Canon City into Custer county to Rosita and Silver Cliff, the region of the new chloride mines. Within three years, and possibly less, there will be no county in the State untraversed by some of the lines of the Colo- rado Central, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, the Denver and Rio Grande, or some of the roads with which these are affiliated, and the State will have more than 2,000 miles of railway. In January, 1880, there were 1,326 miles in operation. There are now more than 1,450 miles. The wagon roads, sometimes built at great expense, are for the most part, excellent and safe. The ascents and descents are sometimes frightful, but the* drivers are cool, couraofeous, and thoroughly skillful men, and accidents are very rare. These remarkable facilities for travel and transportation, so speedily created, have aided greatly in the development of the State, and have helped to place it at once on an equality with much older States in commerce and in all the appliances of the highest civilization. California, at the end of twenty years after her admission into the Union, even with her wonderful growth, had not the facilities already possessed by Colorado in the fourth year since her reception by Congress. Education. — Colorado has an excellent public school system, modeled after the best systems of the Western States, and its public school law of 1876, amended slightly by later legislatures, is enforced with an enterprise and ability characteristic of every- thing undertaken by the State. It is fast accumulating a mag- nificent school fund, and its citizens pay no taxes so willingly as those for educational purposes. Its scattered population, espe- cially in the grazing districts, has rendered the maintenance of public schools difficult in some of the counties ; but wherever towns, villages, farming and mining districts and camps have ^iS OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. been established, there are e^ood schools organized without delay. Denver is noted for its public schools, which are of the highest character. Leadville, the same month (July, 1877) that it assumed its corporate character, though then a small mining camp, established a public school, and has since multiplied its schools as rapidly as they were needed. Greeley, Evans. Longmont, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Canon City, Rosita, Silver Cliff, and all the rest, have made haste to establish schools. There is a State University at Boulder endowed with lands by the government and supported by the State. It has a prepara- tory and a normal school department, and is about organizing its full course of university study. There is a college at Col- orado Springs which has four courses of instruction — prepara- tory, normal, collegiate, and mining and metallurgy. The terms for tuition are only ^25 a year, so that it is practically free. At Colorado Springs there is also a State Deaf Mute Institution, not yet, we believe, fully organized. There is a State Agricul- tural College at Fort Collins in aclive operation, and Farmers' Institutes are held in connection with it every winter. Aside from these there are several private or denominational institutions of collegiate character already founded, and others in prospect. The education of the young in Colorado will be amply provided for. Churches and Religious Denoiniitations. — When we consider that Colorado is but four years old as a State, and that many of its larger towns and cities have not been in existence more than three or four years, we shall find that the religious progress of the State has been very commendable. The Roman Catholics have a large diocese, a considerable number of their adherents being Mexicans, of whom there are many in the southern coun- ties, and many also of other nationalities in the central and northern counties. There is also a Protestant Episcopal diocesf with a smaller number of adherents, but very active and efficient. The Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, German Reformed, and many of the minor sects are also represented in the State by numerous congregations. Population. — In 1870 Colorado had but 39,864 inhabitants, POPULATION, COUNTIES AND CITIES OF COLORADO. ynj about what Denver and Leadville each have to-day. When admitted to the Union, in 1876, it was considered doubtful whether she had more than 75,000. To-day she has, including tribal Indians (2,530), 197,179. Counties. — The State has thirty-one counties, viz. : County. County-Seat. Valuation, 1878. Estimated valuation, July, 1880. Area, Square miles Population, 1879. Population, June, 1880. Arapahoe .... B it ;$i 1,076, 761 00 2,279,376 00 3,097,320 00 1,93^,99' 31 244,346 00 319,-71 90 500,654 oo 951,713 00 1,202,052 52 3,076,395 00 946,363 00 1,827997 00 63,866 75 62,014 00 564,396 50 796,038 38 1,988,529 00 603,858 92 254,447 00 1,502,330 00 1,455,230 00 220 622 95 ' 796,239 00 3,069,639 00 501,874 00 74 661 00 637,6^7 00 255,3 = 8 00 16.7,360 00 2,583,827 00 4,800 9,126 792 1,240 437 2,S58 1,685 1,100 833 6,030 2,628 1,263 .58 4,278 11,000 1,528 1,584 792 400 4,095 1,825 9,072 2,333 2,222 2,412 ',332 5,000 3,3'2 726 8,289 10,494 31,000 3,000 12,000 500 3,000 6,000 4,000 5,000 3,000 2,500 9,000 4,500 7,500 - 500 1,500 4,000 5,000 7,500 15,000 i,5co 5,000 12,000 3,000 3,000 9,000 3,500 300 3,000 3,000 6,cxx) 7.500 190,300 58.645 1,654 9 746 6.510 7,''46 5,6j5 2,i-7Q 8,tS2 2.486 1.7 9 7,952 4,7.'i5 6,489 417 8,237 1.499 4.124 6,810 23824 1,110 4,£92 8,904 2,670 3.'-70 7,615 1,944 140 1,973 1,087 5,4:9 5,646 5,000 7,000 000 000 B. aider ChaiTee CLar Creek.. . Coneios Costilla Boulder Georgetown 4,000 750 I,,JOO 2,000 1,400 1,300 5,6eo 2 , 5e 2,800 100 200 1,000 2,000 2,600 30,000 60 3,000 2,000 750 1,500 7,^ 1,000 100 1,000 850 1,400 7,000 000 000 000 000 '.00 COO coo 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 San Luis Rosita Castle Rock Kiowa Colorado Springs . . . Canon Central Dju^las Elbert El Paso Fremont Gitp n Grand ... Gunniion Hinsdale Huerf; no JfTer-.oa Lak^ La Plata Laritier Las Animas . . . Ouray Park Hot Sulphur Springs Gunnison ... Walsenburg ...... Golden Leadville PnrtottCitv Fort Collins 'I'rinidad ... Oui-ay Pi'cblo Rio Grande. . . R lutt . Saguache San Juan Snmmit Weld Pu.-Mo Del Norte Breck-nridge Total S43.055.4i9 22 $126,450 000 I04,6<9 Cities and Tozons. — The following are the principal cities and towns of Colorado with their population, so far as can be ascer- tained, in 1870, 1875, 1S79, and 1880: Cities and Towns. Denver Leadville* Central, ) Black Hawk, V Nevadaville. ) Pueblo & South Pueblo C lorado Springs Georgetown Boulder Trinidad Golden Greeley Lake City Population, i37j. 1S75. 1875. 18S0. 4,759 none 17,000 none 28,000 12,000 35,630 14,820 4,401 5,000 6,500 7,200 666 5,000 6,000 6,500 none 2,500 5,000 6,000 802 3<3 4,000 2,800 5,000 3,200 5,400 4,000 ■;62 2,000 3,000 3,200 587 480 2,000 2,000 2,500 2,"; 00 3,200 2,800 none 400 1,200 1,800 Cities and Towns Canon City Del Norte Rosita Silver Cliff..... Kokomo Silvcrton Ourav Ten Mile City. . Brownsville & \ Silver Plume, j Buena Vista . . . Carbonateville. . Alamosa Population, 1870. 1875- 1879. 229 800 3,200 none 1,200 1,500 none 1,000 2,000 none none 1,200 none none 1,500 none 500 1,000 none none 1,000 none none 500 150 700 900 none none 500 none none 150 none none 800 1880. 500 ,200 I 500! *This is within the city limits alone. Its suburbs, which belong in the miner's phrase, to the same mining camp, contain I7,cxx) or 1 8,000 more. ^2o OUR WESTERxY EMPIRE. Of course, In such a heterogeneous assemblage of all creeds and nationalities, there are many who never attend public wor- ship, and who are perhaps open scoffers at all religion — skeptics and infidels, either of the more intellectual and professedly scien- tific sort, or of the coarse brutal class, the American representa- tives of the Communists, Nihilists and Socialists of condnental Europe. The Mormons, too, have been planting their missions in Southwest and Southern Colorado, in the hope of at least winning a sufficient number of adherents to secure the vote of the representatives of Colorado in Congress in favor of the admission of Utah, as a Mormon State, into the Union. But it is a very gratifying fact that none of our newer States have come into the Union with a better or more deserved repu- tation for good order, safety of person and property, and morality in its highest and best sense. From its central posiuon, its rapid yet healthy development its extensive and constantly increasing facilities of railway com- munication, its immense and as yet only partially developed mineral wealth, its productive farming and grazing lands, and its intense enterprise, we may safely predict that Colorado is des- tined to be the leading State of the Rocky Mountain region, and not improbably the leader in wealth and power of the new " Western Empire." Two decades of such growth and progress as that of the last four years will place it among the grandest of American States ; the peer of New York in population and in wealth, and exerdng an influence over all the sisterhood of States west of the Mississippi which will justify its claim to be the Empire State of the West. BOUNDARIES OF DAKOTA. 721 CHAPTER V. DAKOTA. Boundaries, Area and Topography of Dakota — First Setilements — Ok- GANIZATION RiVERS LaKES DAKOTA DIVIDED INTO FoUR SECTIONS*. Northern, Central, Southeastern and Black Hills — Characteristics OF each — The Bad Lands — Fossils there — Governor Howard's De- scription OF these sections — Governor Howard's Address — His Report to the Secretary of the Interior — Biographical Notice of Governor Howard — The Surveyor-General's Report — Northern Dakota — The Description of it by Hon. James B. Power — Charles Carleton Coffin's Description in the Chicago Tribune — The Correspondent of the Chicago Journal — Other Testimony — Bishop Peck, Messrs. Reed and Pell — Cen- tral Dakota — The Account of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Commission — Southeastern Dakota — Rev. Edward Ellis's Letter — Hon. W. H. H. Beadle's Description — His Competency as a Witness — Meteor- ology OF Southeastern Dakota — The Black Hills — Mr. Zimri L. White's Description of this Region — Climate and Meteorology of the Black Hills — Gold-mining there — Four Classes of Mines — Cheapness of Mining and Milling — Altitudes in the Black Hills — Population of Towns — Farming, Grazing and Market-gardening in the Black Hills — Social Life and Morals there — Railroads in Dakota — Population of the Territory and its Character — The Future of Dakota. Dakota Territory as now^ constituted lies between the parallels of 42° 30' and 49° north latitude, and between the meridians of 96'' 20' and 104 west longitude from Greenwich. There is also a small tract of about 2,000 square miles, lying between Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, of an irregular and partially triangular form, which was overlooked when Wyoming was organized, which be- longs to Dakota, though no jurisdiction is exercised over it by the Territory, and it is at least 450 miles from its nearest bound- ary. This little tract is traversed by the Utah and Northern Railway, and includes a small slice of the Yellowstone Park. Dakota is bounded on the north by the Northwest British Terri- tory and Manitoba, east by Minnesota and Iowa, south by Nebraska and the Missouri river, and west by Wyoming and Montana. Its area is 150,932 square miles, or 96,596,480 acres. 46 «22 ^^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. It is about 450 miles in length from north to south, and 350 miles from east to west. The first settlements in the Territory were made in the south- east in 1859 in Yankton and vicinity, but were very few and scattering. It was first organized as a Territory in 1861, con- taining then a vast territory, which has since been reduced by the organization of other Territories till, in 1868, it was reduced to its present area. The Missouri river traverses the Territory from Fort Buford in the northwest to Sioux City in the south- east, and is navigable for the whole distance. Its largest afflu- ent, the Yellowstone, enters it opposite Fort Buford, just as it enters the Territory. The Missouri receives eleven or twelve large tributaries on the south side, and about the same num- ber on the north side, within the limits of the Territory. The Red river of the North rises in Lake Traverse (latitude 46°), and flowing due north forms the eastern boundary of the Territory for more than 200 miles to the boundaries of Manitoba, and enters Lake Winnipeg in the northern part of that province. The Red river has two large affluents, the Pembina and the Sheyenne, and several smaller ones. The Souris or Mouse river, a tributary of the Assiniboine, one of the Canadian rivers, drains the northwestern part of the Territory. The Minnesota river, a tributary of the Mississippi, has its source in Big Stone lake, and several of its affluents rise in Southeastern Dakota. Of the tributaries of the Missouri in Dakota, the principal on the north side are the Big Sioux, and the Dakota or James. The latter is nearly 400 miles in length, a river of considerable vol- ume, but is not navigable in any part of its course. On the south side of the Missouri, the principal affluents are : the Niobrara, which forms the boundary between Nebraska and Dakota for a considerable distance, and its tributary, the Keyapaha ; the White river, the Big Cheyenne, with its north and south forks (the for- mer bearing also the name of La Belle Fourche), the Owl river, the Grand river, and the north and south forks of the Cannonball river, the Heart river, the Big Knife river and the Litde Missouri. The whole Territory is well watered. Dakota has very many lakes, some of them, like Lakes Minne- GOVERNOR HOIVARD'S REPORT OF 1878. 723 Waukan, Traverse, Big Stone, James, Kampeska, etc., of large size, and all of remarkable beauty. Dakota was formerly divided into two or three distinct sec- tions, and since the cession of the reservations of the Sioux and other Indian tribes a fourth has been added. Northeastern, or perhaps more properly Northern Dakota, extends across the State fifty miles or more on either side of the Northern Pacific Railway, from the Red River valley to the bounds of Montana. It is, for the most part, a very fine wheat region. The soil is rich, deep and easily tilled, and yields large crops of the cereals, and of potatoes and other root crops. Central Dakota, the new division, includes much of the former Sioux reservation. This is also good land for the cereals, for Indian corn, the root crops, and some portions of it for grazing. The third section, South- east Dakota, is almost wholly farming land, and along the river valleys and the plains, which extend back from them, there is no better land anywhere on the continent. The so-called Bad Lands {mauvaises tevj'es) of Southern Dakota are of much less extent than has generally been supposed. They are entirely in this section, and there are but 75,000 acres (about three townships in all) of them. There is said to be another small tract in the northwest, but not much is known of them. The adjacent lands, though not so good for farming, are yet superior for grazing ; and the Bad Lands themselves yield at least an ample crop of fossils.* The late Hon. William A. Howard, Governor of Dakota and previously Governor of Michigan, in his report to the Secretary of the Interior, under date of December i6th, 1878, thus de- scribed three of these sections : "The Territory of Dakota is very large, being nearly 400 miles square, or more than four times as large as the State of Ohio. The settlements are principally confined to three distinc ' localities as remote from each other as possible, and of very difficult and expensive communication with each other. *In these Bad Lands have been discovered some of the most remarkable fossils yet found in America. The whole region is the cemetery of the extinct monsters of the cretaceous anii earlier geologic ages. ^24 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. " The settlements of Southeastern Dakota, in which is located the present capital, extend from Northeastern Nebraska mainly in a northern direction up the Big Sioux, the Vermilion, and the James rivers. These settlements are extending north along the border of Northwestern Iowa and Southwestern Minnesota as far as Lake Kampeska, and as far west as the James river. Although the population is sparse at present it is rapidly filling up. Southeastern Dakota has a population at the present time of not less than 50,000, and probably 60,000. " Northern Dakota is settled, or rather settling, along the west bank of the Red river of the North, from Richland county, opposite Breckinridge, down to Pembina, on the line of the British possessions, crossing the Northern Pacific Railroad at Fargo, and extending west along the line of that road to Bis- marck. Population, perhaps 40,000. "The other settlement is in the Black Hills, occupied mainly by a mining population, and containing a population at the present time of 10,000 at least, and probably 12,000. "I suppose it is about 350 miles in a straight line from Yank- ton to Deadvvood. But the only feasible way of getting there involves travel of at least 900 miles, and an expense greater than the journey from Yankton to Washington, and requiring more time to perform it. The distance from Yankton to Pem- bina as the ' crow flies ' is at least 400 miles, and requires more time and expense than a visit to the capital of the nation. " The three sections are not only remote from each other and of difficult access, but their interests are separate and not identical. "In a commercial point of view. Saint Paul and Duluth are the objective points of Northern Dakota, while Chicago and Milwaukee will naturally drain Southeastern Dakota. Mean- while the vast wealth of the Black Hills will swing to the right or left as it may best force itself out, or as railroad enterprise shall open a more direct way over which it may move. The great Indian reservation west of the Missouri river contains 56,000 square miles, about the size of all Michigan, including both peninsulas. Of course this will prevent settlement, and GENERAL PROGRESS OF DAKOTA. ^25 tend to turn the business of the Black Hills to the south or north of itself." At this time the treaty with the Sioux, which resulted in their relinquishing the greater part of their reservation in Central Dakota, had not been consummated, and that reservation was necessarily a barrier to any ready or easy communication with the Black Hills throuorh Dakota. Governor Howard added : "The resources of this Territory are both agricultural and mineral, and of vast extent, only partially developed as yet; but enough has been done to demonstrate the fact that Dakota, con- sidering her vast extent of territory, has agricultural resources scarcely second to those of any State in the Union. Dakota has on the east side of the Missouri river at least 60,000 square miles of land fit for the plow. It is believed that at least 1 5,000,000 bushels of wheat will be produced next year."* * In an address delivered by Governor Howard at Yankton, before the Congregational Asso- ciation, November ist, 1879, he said, among other things: " In 1858, when it was proposed to admit Minnesota to the Union as a State, it was strongly opposed on the ground that such a region could never sustain the permanent population of a State. It was said that when the fur trade was exhausted and some pine lumber cut, in a few years, the region would be abandoned as it could not sustain animal life, especially that of man- kind. But look now, after only twenty years, at the great State of Minnesota with its thirty or forty millions of bushels of wheat, and filling up to its utmost borders with a thrifty population. Here now is Dakota Territory, nearly 400 miles square, and it has more acres of arable land than any State in the Union except possibly Texas. It is more than three times as large as New York and about four times the area of Ohio. It has met the same objections as Minnesota, and is now overcoming them in the same way. Lines of railroad are rapidTy building across our rich plains, and new communities are forming on eveiy hand. I was told that on that part of our eastern border between Eden and Big Stone lake there was for some time last summer an average of 300 teams and wagons per day entering Dakota. The same is true of Northern Dakota, where the marvellous growth of country and towns is a constant surprise. The Gover- nor alluded to Fargo and its growth and to that of Grand Forks as about equal to it. He then touched upon the population, wealth and development of the Black Hills. He was there just after the fire at Deadwood, and spoke with eloquence and high respect for the sterling manhood and self-reliance of the people under that misfortune. He noted special instances of manly traits shown, of the fair play exhibited in respect to disputed titles where so much depended on possession. He described the great mines and the new discoveries and developments steadily jjrogressing. His general summary of the advantages and resources of all Dakota was masterly and strong. He declared that we now had at least 150,000 population and many thought more. Of these one-third had come in the last eight months and one-half in eighteen months. The railroads are going forward, more people are coming, new centres of population are forming and the future is assured. The Governor then declared that if every church would quadruple its eflbrts in Dakota, it would only fairly fill the present needs of new forming communities. He y2^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Hon. Henry Espersen, United States Surveyor-General of Dakota, in his report to the United States Land Office, in No- vember, 1879, thus states the conditions of soil, climate, agricul- ture and minerals of thej^c quality of these lands is said to be generally not inferior to those of the Red River valley. They yield immense crops of wheat, oats, barley, corn and potatoes. The land is mostly prairie, though the borders of the streams are heavily wooded. There is coal near the Missouri and of very fair quality. The region is well watered. The lands are mostly as yet unsurveyed, but can be procured under Soldiers' and Sailors' Homestead Law by soldiers or their families, under the General Homestead Act, the Timber-Culture Act or by pre-emption. The very liberal timber-culture law of the government, pro- tecting forest tree culture on the western prairies, is supplemented by a law of Dakota, which provides that for every five acres of timber in cultivation, forty acres, with all the improvements thereon, not exceeding ^i,ooo in value, shall be exempt from taxation for a period of ten years from the time of planting. Another law of the Territory provides that no land shall be deemed increased in value for assessment purposes by reason of such timber culture, no matter how much its real value may be enhanced thereby ; so that any industrious man, no miatter how poor, can come here, and in eight years be the owner of 240 or 320 acres of land, with an abundant supply of timber just where he wants it, and be entirely exempt from taxation the entire time, unless he should put more than ;^4,ooo worth of improvements upon his land during that time. The Chicago and Northwestern Railway, which is building railways in Central Dakota, though it has no land grants there, "We might add almost indefinitely to this testimony, from unprejudiced observers. Rt. Rev. G. W. Peck, one of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, writing in October, 1879, of this region, says : " Imagine a vast plain, somewhat undulating, and yourself in the midst of it, and splendid farms and immensely larger unbroken farming lands extending to the horizon in all directions ; and then think two thousand miles on beyond — nearly every acre sandy loam, vegetable mould or alluvial deposits from two to six feet deep [deeper than that. Bishop,] the greater proportion of the whole richer and finer than the gardens of the East — and you will begin to have some idea of this northern Northwest." Rev. H. J. Van Dyke, Jr., Newport, R. I., contributed to Harper's Magazine for January, 1880, an account of his visit there in September, 1879, ^"^^ confirms the testimony of the others in the fullest degree. Messrs. Reed and Pell, members of Parliament, sent as commissioners to ascertain the causes of England's agricultural depression, and the advantages offered to agricul- tural emigrants from Great Britain by Manitoba and British America, returned home with a high estimate of the superiority of Dakota lands and farming, to that of Manitoba. -r^a OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. has issued a pamphlet encouraging immigration to that region for the sake of bringing business to its lines, which it proposes to extend to the Black Hills. Some of its statements are interesting, and, on the best of testimony, truthful. They say: " It should be understood, by the prospective settler, that the lands of this central belt consist almost exclusively of prairie, there being no timber, save fringes along the water-courses. The Western farmer does not need to be told of the ease with which a prairie farm can be brought under cultivation ; but the farmer from the more Eastern States may be informed, that all that it is necessary to do to bring the prairie under cultivation, is to plow under the prairie grasses in the same way as he plows the meadow at home ; and at once he has a field that is fit for the reception of any kind of seed, thus getting the land into as good shape for farming purposes as he could do if it had been covered with timber (as all of the Eastern States have been), after he had expended twenty to forty years' labor in getting rid of the timber and the always-following stumps. " To give the Eastern farmer some idea of the cost of making a productive farm in Central Dakota, we quote from a very readable article, recently published in the Atlantic MontJily, from the pen of one of the oldest settlers in the ' New Northwest.' ' The Territory appeals more directly to the man who desires a. farm of i6o or 320 acres, than to him who aims to emulate the Grandins, Dalrymples and Casses of the more northern part of the Territory, who have their ten, twenty, or even forty thousand acres in a farm.' As our estimate gives the cost of producing one acre of wheat, with hired labor, we will first say, that good men are plenty at all seasons of the year, at the following wages: from November ist to April ist, ^15 per month; from April ist to May ist, $18 ; from May ist to August ist, $16; from ^^.ugust ist to August 15th, ^2 per day ; from August 15th to September 15th, $1.50 per day; from September 15th to November ist, ^18 per month. " The following is a careful estimate of the cost of raising wheat, furnishing everything: COST OF RAISING WHEAT. 747 Plowing 2^ acres per day, $20 per month wages, 77 cents per day. t cts- m. Per acre 31 Interest on team $375, harness $25, plow $50 — ^450. Per acre . . 02 2 Wear and tear, 25 per cent, on outfit. Per acre 112 Board man per day, 20 cents ; team 45 cents. Per acre 26 Stable men's labor and board. Per acre 20 (Stable men, wear and tear and interest on team and harness for one year included.) Sowing 35 acres per day, wages $20 per month, 77 cents per day. Per acre 02 2 Board, man 20 cents, team 45 cents per day. Per acre 019 Wear and tear on seeder, $55, 25 per cent. Per acre 03 9 Interest at 10 per cent. Per acre 02 Harvesting (wire or cord binder) for wire or cord. Per acre ... 50 15 acres per day, wages ^20 per month, 77 cents per day. Per acre . 05 i Board of man 25 cents, team 50 cents per day. Per acre .... 05 Interest on reaper, $250, at 10 per cent., 150 acres per machine. Per acre 16 Wear and tear on reaper, $250, at 25 per cent., $62.50, 150 acres per machine. Per acre 41 6 Shocking man, 77 cents per day, 10 acres per day, and board at 25 cents. Per acre 10 2 Threshing, 25 men at $2 per day, 40 acres. Per acre i 25 Board, 25 men at 25 cents per day, 40 acres. Per acre 15 ^ Interest and wear and tear on thresher and engine. Per acre ... 10 Marketing man, 77 cents; board 20 cents; board of team, 45 cents; 4 acres. Per acre 32 5 Freight, 13 cents per bushel. Per 20 bushels 2 60 Incidentals, including interest and wear and tear on permanent in- vestment. Per acre 2 00 Total cost per acre ;^8 69 6 " This estimate makes the cost of an acre of wheat, yielding twenty bushels, placed in Chicago, with an allowance of ten per cent, interest on the whole investment for land, improvements, machinery, tools, and stock, and also of twenty-five per cent, for wear and tear of tools, machinery, and stock, to be $8.70, not including seed. Allowing ^i for the seed will make the cost of one acre of wheat, yielding twenty bushels, laid down in Chicago, and paying an ordinary interest, or profit, of ten per cent, on the entire investment, $9.70, or forty-eight cents a bushel. With wheat at eighty-five cents a bushel in Chicago, this would give - ^3 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. an additional profit of thirty-seven cents a bushel, or $7 40 per acre. "From this calculation, the profit of a greater or less yield can readily be computed, the cost of raising remaining the same." In regard to climate they give the following table, the result of the observations, we believe, of United States officers at Fort Sully:* Rain an d Snow. Temperature. inches. Wet Prevailing Months. days. winds. Ma.vimum. Minimum. Rain. Snow. January . . 53° — 16^ ^% iH 3 ! N. W. February . 55^ —201^° H sA 2/' N. W. March . . 69° -4° sH A% 7 IW. N. W April . 77° 8° 7/8 8/ S. E. , May . . . 89° 39° aH 4/1 s. June . 97° 69° aVa 6 S. S. w. July . . . 103^° 72- rA 8 S. W. August . . 102^° 68° 6/8 7 s. ( September . 93° 41° z'A 3/2 s. October . . 84° 19° aVz Ya ii/j N. W. 1 November . 67° 29° Ya 3/8 3 N. W. December . Total . 49° —18° 5/ 5 N. W. 47-75 24 69-5 • 11 1 . 1 , 1 1* , ' 1 . 1 From this it will be seen that the climate is less severe than it is in Illinois, Northern Indiana, Ohio, New York, or any part of New Enorland. The Chicago and Northwestern Railway has two lines pene- trating Central Dakota — one from Tracy, Minnesota, northwest to Watertown, and to be extended westward to the James or Dakota river; the other from Tracy westward to Huron, and to be extended to the Missouri river the present season, and eventually to the Black Hills ; it is hardly probable that any other railway (except possibly a branch of the Northern Pacific to the Black Hills) will for some years to come traverse this part of the Territory, and their rates for freight and transportation of emigrant movables and crops are therefore of interest. We * It is not stated whether this table was for a single year or an average of several years. It was probably the former, as the rainfall is exceptionally large for the latitude. COST OF EMIGRANT FREIGHT. »^g therefore give them the benefit of the following declaration of their terms and reasons for them : FREIGHT RATES. Emif^rin"; IVIovsbles. pei Ci.\. loo lbs. Chicago to Volga, Dak., ;^45;.oo $1.25 " " Tracy, Minn., -l5.oo i.io " Marshall, " ^r-.oo i.io " These special rates are open to all, whether setivr-rs on com- pany's land or not. "The term emigrant movables applies to all hon-^^ehold goods, farm machinery, wagons, live-stock, trees and shrubbery, prop- erly included in the outfit of intending settlers, but does not include general merchandise, lumber, provisions, or grain (unless intended for seed, or for feeding animals in transit). When a car contains live-stock (whether horses, mules, or cattle), one maji will be passed free to take care of it. Those who live along the lines of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, and desire to reach the Free Land District of Central Dakota, should apply to the nearest agent of the Northwestern Railway, who, if he is not already supplied with rates to Tracy, Marshall, and Volga, will, on application, be furnished them, as it is the intention of this company to do all that it possibly can, by the most favorable rates, to have this fertile belt made as accessible to its patrons as are any other lands in the West. As these lands are owned entirely by the United States, and are not, in any manner or form, controlled by the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, or by any other railway or corporation, no person or corporation, except the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, will be in any way interested in their settlement ; and the only interest that the Chicago and Northwestern Railway has, or will have in the set- tlement of these lands, is merely that accruing out of the fact that after they are settled, it will reap some benefit from the shipments of the products of the farms along the line to Chicago or Milwaukee, which, as will be seen, lie almost at their doors. It may not be necessary to suggest to the prospective setder of these lands, that the earlier settlers in this tract will have a great advantage over those who come later, as the first will, for many \ -HQ OUJ? WESTERN EMPIRE. years, have to provide for the recent comer, who thus will fur- nish a home market for many of the products that will be grown in the next five years. Besides, as will be noticed by our map, these lands lie directly in the course of the traveller to the min- ing camps of the Black Hills, which, being, in no sense of the word, an agricultural district, will always have to be provided by the nearest farming lands, not only with provisions, but also with horses, mules,' live-stock of all sorts, and forage for them, thus offerino- another and very valuable market for those who occupy this Free Lafid district. A third market for the products of these lands will, for many years to come, be found along the Missouri river; and as the Chicago and Northwestern Railway will very certainly reach the Missouri river during the year 1880, there is no doubt that steamboat lines will be established from the point where the road reaches the river to all points on the upper Missouri, Yellowstone, Big Horn, and other navigable streams in the far Northwest. " The passenger rates announced are : from Chicago to Mar- shall, Minn., round trip, $21.85, single trip, $13.65 ; from Chicago to Volga, Dak., round trip, $24, single trip, $15. At Marshall, round trip tickets can be purchased for any points on either of the company's roads in Central Dakota at two cents a mile each way." We come next to Southeastern Dakota, the section which has been longest settled, or rather the longest known to the public, for, with the exception of Yankton, Sioux City, and Sioux Falls, there are very few towns in this section that have been settled more than half a dozen years. The region is well watered and the soil is of the very best. The railways now built or build- ing in this section make it very accessible, and the Missouri, Big Sioux, and White rivers add to the means of traversing it. The railways are from Sioux City to Yankton, Sioux City to Sioux Falls, and from the latter town to Fire-Steel on the James river, already completed, and soon to be finished to Brule City, on the Missouri. The Rev. Edward Ellis, who has explored all parts of Dakota within the last two years, writing to New York, in May, 1 880, says : SOUTHEASTERN DAKOTA. ^rj "The most desirable part of the Territory for a permanent home is the southeastern — first of all, because of its climate. It is milder and more seasonable, better adapted for fruit and all kinds of garden sauce. The water supply is also more abundant. Nearly all the rivers of Dakota converge in the southeast cor- ner. The geographical position of Southeastern Dakota will always maintain a decided advantage over the more northern positions. There is any amount of government land that can be secured now, near the lines of these new railroads which are opening up this section. Counties where desirable land can be found are Kingsbury, in the vicinity of Lake Thompson ; Miner, Bramble, and Davidson, in the valleys of the Vermilion and the James ; also McCook, Turner, and Lake, but these last-named counties are more thoroughly settled. Brule county, on the Missouri, is reported to be one of the finest counties in the Ter- ritory, and the railroad running through the centre of it makes it a desirable point for location." The following communication, prepared for the writer by Hon. W. H. H. Beadle, for several years United States Surveyor- General of Dakota Territory, and now Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Territory, and Private Secretary (until his death) for the late Governor Howard, gives much information not easily attainable concerning the whole Territory, but is specially full in regard to the southeastern portion. Mr. Beadle is probably more thoroughly familiar with the whole Territory than any other man living, and is not, and has not been, con- nected with any railroad company or colonization scheme which might warp his judgment. " Dakota Territory contains 150,000 square miles or 96,000,000 acres, which is nearly all prairie. Southern Dakota will contain 78,000 square miles.* There are erroneous impressions con- cerning it which are sometimes favorable, generally unfavorable. To understand it properly, its general physical features are of * It was a favorite idea of Governor Howard, toward the close of his life, that the Territory should be divided into Northern and Southern Dakota ; the two divisions, or future . tates, havinj,' a nearly equal area. The southern half would include the Black Hills, which would soon b« readied by railroad lines from the East. -C2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the first importance. In the first place but a very small part of it is mountainous, and this part is the Black Hills, which are hills, rather than mountains. Dakota does not lie among or upon the Rocky Mountains. If one will begin in New Mexico and follow along the Rocky Mountains, it will be found that they run nearly due north, through New Mexico, Colorado and into Wyoming, where they turn decidedly westward and then northwestward, leaving outlying lower ranges, spurs and hills to the north and northeast as far as the Black Hills. The traveler upon the Union Pacific Railroad observes this. He ascends along the Platte and the Lodge Pole to or a little beyond Cheyenne, and finds himself upon the elevated mountain plateaux; and thence westward he follows a mountain divide, from which the country is generally lower toward the Yellowstone and Missouri, and also southward toward the Bear, Grand and Green rivers, of the Colorado. He commences to descend into the Utah basin, and the mountain range goes north-northwest through Idaho and Montana (including part of Western Wyoming). "Ascending the Missouri river from Omaha, the course is nearly north, to the southeast corner of Dakota, where it bends decidedly west for over loo miles, and then north and northw^est for 300 miles, where it turns westward and heads far toward the Pacific ocean, in the Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone coming in from the west-southwest. "These features, in physical geography, materially affect the character of the surface, soil, climate and agricultural products of Dakota. For instance, one would naturally expect that the heavy bend toward the west of the Missouri river would bear with it westward, the extent of fertile lands, etc., which are found in Eastern Nebraska. Then, too, the elevation above the sea at Yankton is only about 1,100 feet, but from this on the ascent ' is more and more rapid. " The general elevation of the plains about the foot-hills around the Black Hills is from 2,500 to 3,000 feet, and this is the highest part of the Territory. "No mountains lie to the north or northwest. " The Continental valleys of the Mississippi (and Missouri) pass MR. BEADLE ON SOUTHEAST DAKOTA. 75c; on to those of the Red river of the North, the Saskatchewan and the McKenzie — to the Arctic ocean. These streams, or their tributaries, interlock in Minnesota and Dakota, and from St. Paul to the Missouri river westward or a little north of that, is the line of greatest elevation east of the Missouri river in Dakota, being 1,500 feet at highest points. It is a general plain or prairie, with few hills even, except the so-called ' co- teaus,' which are nine-tenths rich agricultural or grazing lands, and are not mountains at all ; merely regions of land more ele- vated than the intervening great valleys. " Most people understand what is meant by the * Great Plains ' of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, etc. They He in an almost per- fect inclined plain from the foot of the mountains eastward to the Missouri river, and, down this incline, the rivers are cut like grooves. The general surface is quite uniform. Take this ex- ample to understand Southern Dakota. It is composed of two such inclined plains upon a smaller plan. All that east of the Missouri river and up to about the forty-sixth parallel is a general inclined plane, sloping to the south, down and across which flow the Big Sioux, the Vermilion and the Dakota (or James) rivers, and the Missouri itself. The northern border is about 400 feet higher than the southern. That part of the south half of Dakota lying west of the Missouri is another //<2«^ inclined to the east — properly a part of the ' Great Plains ' of the west extended up there. Its highest part is about 4,000 feet (mountains) and average lower part about 1,400 feet, Down across it flow the Keya Paha and Niobrara (near it in Nebraska), the White, Chey- enne, Moreau, Grand and Cannon Ball rivers. This region in- clines more sharply, the streams are more swift, and the country is a little more rough than further south. The so-called Bad Lands occupy a small part only — not over 75,000 acres — which is not good grazing lands. We will now briefly refer again to each one of these regions. " The western part has, especially in its southeastern quarter, and along the Missouri river, a fine body of agricultural lands, suited to wheat, rye, barley, oats and corn. As one passes west it becomes more suited to grazing, and is covered with a rich 48 754 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. growth of the best grasses — especially those which, curing upon the ground, afford winter grazing. This has been amply tried for many years by the herds kept by, and for feeding, the Indians. When we reach the valleys of the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche, the agricultural character again decidedly im- proves, and the plains between these streams and the Black Hills are being rapidly occupied as farms, stock-ranches, vegeta- ble gardens, dairy farms, etc., as seems most profitable, to supply the people in the Hills with food. The valley of the Belle Fourche and its larger tributaries, is very delightful and fertile, one of the loveliest summer views in the West, wide, smooth and beautiful. The French called it ' La Belle Fourche ' — the beautiful branch — i. e., of the Cheyenne. The Hills themselves are a real wonder-land. I have travelled through them and been in the principal mines. The examination changed my opinion. I look upon them as surpassingly rich in gold. They are peculiar — different from other gold regions. The same rule of expectation does not apply. They disappoint every one — but favorably. They are in gold somewhat as Leadville, Colorado, is in silver. Within five years everybody will recognize this, and within ten years that region will be a constant wonder in its gold product. I do not own a cent of interest there, directly or indi- rectly. Railroads will be there in two years or less, and then machinery, supplies and all conveniences will be cheaper, so that the mines can be opened and worked extensively, and it will be- come more than ever a wonder-land, because it is known, and not because it is 7iot known, "Southeastern Dakota has an area of 35,ocx) square miles, nearly every square foot of which is rich. It is generally well watered, has a deep dark prairie loam soil, mixed in places with a very small per cent, of sandy loam. It nearly all slopes slightly to the south and receives the spring rains and sunshine, making its seasons early and its soil warm to germinate the spring seed. Its great crops are wheat and corn, men being divided as to which is the more profitable of the two. Its third great interest is cattle-raising. These three represent about equally the re- sources of the farmers. As we go farther north, wheat domi^ SOUTHEASTERN DAKOTA. yrr nates, as the country is newer, and this crop can be more quickly turned. Farther south, corn equals wheat in importance, and in some counties stock-raising- is chief. Take Yankton, Clay and Union counties, and during the last year they have sold about 2,000 head of cattle each, mainly ready for beef or to be fed tem- porarily in Iowa. They have sold about 3,000 head of hogs each, and about one and a-half million bushels of wheat. These are the three oldest counties. " Southeastern Dakota has twenty-thj;,ee organized counties, a population of 90,000 people, with 430 miles of railroad in opera- tion — perhaps 460 nearly so. It will have 700 miles by Novem- ber I, 1880. It has an excellent advance in schools, churches and all social organizations. Its population is consolidated and continuous, and it is law-abiding and enterprising. Its villages and towns are marked by newspapers, church edifices and school-houses. " The climate is warmer than would be expected. Its summer is long, and corn matures and fully ripens every year. In win- ter there are occasional stormy days, which are sometimes severe ; but usually the winters are fair, sunny and dry. The United States Signal Service reports will show temperature for a series of years at Yankton and Fort Sully — fair tests, except that Sully is on the west edge of the best agricultural lands. " Did you ever observe the disappointments that meet people who go by rail to California, Nevada and Utah in the hope of a cure for lung and other diseases? I have seen them come back suffering greatly. The trouble is, the too great and too sudden change from the more damp sea-coast and lake cHmates, to that very dry air. But the men of '49, the early overland immigrants and travellers to California, were celebrated for robust health. Their journey improved and cured weak lungs, bronchial, catarrhal, and like diseases. Why? They went slowly from one to the other. They travelled by horses or with oxen across Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota, Wyoming, etc. They took a long period of out-door summer life in this intermediate region. The same treatment will produce the same results now. The region of the Missouri valley in Dakota is the best in the world for such 756 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. summer travel and sojourn, and should be taken before the transfer even to Colorado, though that is better than California at first. I do not extend this idea. Its statement will be under- stood, as the history of the early days gave the best proof of its value." We add, on the opposite page, the meteorology of the two sta- tions of the Signal Service Bureau in Southeastern Dakota, and as Fort Sully station was changed to Dead wood in December, 1877, we have completed the year from the Deadwood report, the lati- tude being nearly the same, though the altitude of Deadwood is considerably higher. We give a later meteorological report from Deadwood and Lead City farther on. We come next to the smallest, but, in some respects, the most important section of Dakota, the mineral region known as " The Black Hills." Let Mr. Zimri L. White, the accomplished and judicious correspondent of the New York Tribune, who visited and explored the Hills In the summer of 1879, describe for us the topography and history of the region. We may say in pass- ing, that the Black Hills extend westward into Wyoming TerrI tory, and are between the 43d and 45th parallels of latitude and the 103d and 105th meridians of longitude. "The Black Hills, or Cheyenne Mountains, are a detached spur of the Rockies lying between the two forks of the Cheyenne river (one of the largest tributaries of the Missouri), whose con- fluence is near their eastern boundary. The North Cheyenne, or Belle Fourche, flowing from a point In Wyoming Territory west of and nearly opposite the centre of the Hills, bears off to the northeast and then to the southeast, forming a sort of an ox- bow, while the South Cheyenne separates the Hills from the Southern plains. The area thus embraced is about 5,000 square miles, and may be divided into three parts — rugged mountains containing mineral veins and deposits, grass-covered foot-hills and prairies, capable of supporting enormous herds of cattle, and fertile valleys which, with or without irrigation, will produce all the grain, hay, potatoes and other vegetables that the future population of the Black Hills can consume. " The mountains proper, as distinguished from the foot-hills, METEOROLOGY. 7S7 Fort Sully. Deadwood. srsr — «— i 3 few \ o ft o ft g o < ft O o §^ ft > c C <— t 3 ft p > -g •—1 p 3 C P /2 X 1 ft ft •-t s- • • ^ ^ ■ 1 1 •-I ^ (» ] ^ ^ ^ Maximum c\ 0^ ^* Ol 8 o VO VO to ON 00 On On %j\ ON VO 4>- ^^ Temperature. 1 1 „ Minimum . 4>. ^4 "" to 0\ ^ o Mean 1 Kn ^J O ■M ■^ VO (.n VO ON 00 OO to oo Temperature. >< OJ »-( O O OJ 4>. ^1 oo OJ ►- O > a\ „ 4^ 00 ON On 00 ^4 00 o u> 3 Rainfall. Ul " ^ -J^ VO ^1 o ^4 yj\ 1-1 O * * * * * 10 to to O VO NO VO VO VO ij\ U\ fj\ * 00 On o K> U) ^J 00 1-1 o 9 o o to Oj ON »-J ON «^ VO 4^ OJ •I Ov a\ lj\ cn Cn --» ^J •-4 Ov ON a n> Oj l-n NO to ^i ^-J to o O ON Humidity. ft • >-l h) 00 00 »-i 41. to Oi 1-1 VO »^ Cfi Cfi m 3 1 "Z 'Z C/5 n p "Z n p % m ■^ 2.^ ^1. r/1 n n M 3 3 W 3 Z n tt p r/) "^ W 3 3 ^ 5* tn tn •^ 00 NO VO 00 ^j 00 •^J On ^ ^ ^ Maximum 3 ft 3 E. ^J ^» 04 '■O u> ON -o 00 o ^ to On ON O Temperature. . 1 1 1 Minimum 1-4 1 to 00 4^ 4>. 4». to 00 to O o Temperature. u> (^ -»»• ON •^ ^4 On KJ\ - Mean -(i. ON 4:^ Oo On ■^ n U) oo "9 3 O M U> 00 ^J N 4!>. j OJ to to to to to to to to OJ to o o o NO VO VO NO VO VO VO VO o NO 00 GO o ^4 OO vO Pressure. 00 o •^ •»4 ^J o to 00 4>- VO 4!i- " N 4^ CT^ 00 VO to ON to 00 ^J o < > 2; ^J •v| o. ON ON ON ^ On On On ^J ^4 ON VO KJ\ ON 00 to 4^ 4i. OJ tn 4!' VO Humidity. ?1 2: Ol u> 00 10 NO 4^ 4i. VO On O 00 - -4 '^ .^ 5< ^ C/2 'J) z 51 - ■* m "Z v: '^ Z J/J ;2: C/3 5^ j^ w 55 C/5 M 2-^ —.5 n °" c 5 s <;; w :^ w ■i M W M CA) 03 2 M w 5J ^ w c« C/3 w X Z ^ W CAl << D- llr /I W M w !z; ^ :^ C/3 W Z W w .:^ ft "A o o OS Oo I Oo o > m M < n ?^ pj •13 O 73 H ^rg OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. cover about two-thirds of the area to which the name Black Hills applies. These are generally steep, covered with pine forests or the bare trunks of trees that have been killed by fires, and separated from each other by gulches and canons through which small streams flow. These mountains are remarkably rich in minerals, although they have not been sufificiently explored to make it possible to estimate the value of their deposits. The gold mines are most developed, but there are silver mines rich enough, in promise, at least, to induce men who have capital and experience to purchase them and to Invest their money in ex- pensive mills for reducing the ores. Specimens of very rich cop- per ore have also been found, but I have heard of no mines being worked. Salt deposits have been uncovered, and machinery is now on the way to the Hills to enable the owner of one mine to try the experiment of manufacturing salt from the rock. Petro- leum of excellent quality and in inexhaustible quantities has also been discovered, and many wells are already worked. Coal has been found in considerable quantities, and is now being tested in the ofold mills near Deadwood. The (jold mines exceed all others in value, and will probably continue to do so as long as there is mining in the Black Hills, but some of the other mineral deposits are of such character and promise as to invite capital and enter- prise in their development. " The foot-hills are covered with the richest and most nutri- tious grasses. Unlike the plains, where the grass-roots stand apart, leaving small spots of bare ground between them, the carpet Is close and thick at the bottom, like the tame grass of a. meadow In the East, and when cut shows a heavy swath, and cures either standing or as hay, retaining Its bright, green color and Its rich juices. These foot-hills, where the land Is too dry for cultivation, and water for irrigation Is not available, are ex- cellently adapted for grazing. The grass furnishes good feed all winter, and the winds blow the snow off from the hills while It lies in the valleys, and the numerous canons and bluffs afford shelter for the cattle during storms. No one now feeds or shelters his cattle in the winter; the value of Individual animals that may die from exposure not being great enough to warrant SIOUX CLAIMS TO BLACK HILLS. 755 the extra expense of such care. At the same time I am inchned to think that in the end a Httle feeding and shelter would pay in the better condition the cattle would be in in the spring and the better prices that would be realized. It is estimated that there are now 100,000 head of cattle in the hills, but the grass seems hardly to have been touched. Stock-raising will eventually become one of the most important industries in the region. "The arable lands of the Black Hills are from 500 to 600 square miles in extent, and consist of bottom lands along the streams and prairies and lower slopes of the foot-hills between the water-courses. The former generally need no artificial irri- gation, but the latter require more water than the rains furnish and that is available in sufficient quantity in the brooks and creeks. The aericultural lands are of marvellous richness. "The Black Hills were in the heart of the Sioux country until February, 1877, and were so jealously guarded by the Indians that white people who visited them did so at the peril of their lives. The Indians did not live in the Hills. They had a super- stition that the Great Spirit never intended these mountains for the habitation of man. The terrific thunder storms which are frequent here, perhaps had something to do with this belief. They said that the Great Spirit had covered the Hills with trees to furnish the Indians with tepee poles, and filled the foot-hills with antelope and deer to supply him with food when the buffalo were scarce ; and they frequently made excursions here, but never remained long. From one end of the Hills to the other, I am told, there are nowhere to be found the evidences of a lone encampment of Indians, The Sioux have known of the existence of gold in the Black Hills for many years. A third of a century ago, it is said, they showed to Father De Smet, the Roman Catho- lic missionary, who spent his life amongst them, and in whom they had the most implicit confidence, large nuggets which they had picked up in the gulches. He warned them not to show these nuggets to white men, as it would arouse their cupidity a-nd cause the Indians to be driven out of the country. Never- theless, rumors of the mineral wealth of the Hills did get abroad, and evidences have been found that a few adventurers came here -5o 0^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. in search of gold many years ago, and actually began to work the placers. They were probably all massacred by the Indians.* " Several government expeditions were made into the Black Hills before that of General Custer, in the summer of 1874, and the report of each showed the presence of gold and other min- erals. The first of these was that of Captain Bonneville, in 1834. General Harney came in here in 1855, and the highest peak in the Hills was named in his honor. Other expeditions led by Warren visited the Hills in 1856-57, by Dr. Hayden in 1858-59, and by General Sully in 1864. The dates of these visits I give on the authority of a resident of this city, as I have access to no records by which I can verify them. I have said that the explor- ations of each of these parties proved the presence of gold in these mountains ; but no excitement was caused by their reports, because no one supposed that the precious metal existed here in sufficient quantities for profitable working. General Custer's expedition in 1874 is still remembered by most nevv^spaper readers. The practical miners who accompanied him reported excellent ' prospects,' that Is, that in washing out the gravel of the streams in pans they obtained gold in sufficient quantities to make it pay for working. The reports of these miners were received with incredulity In the East ; and, during the winter of 1874-75, the question was widely discussed whether there was gold In the Black Hills or not. " So great was the public interest in the discoveries reported by those who accompanied General Custer that. In the summer of 1875, the Interior Department sent out an exploring expedi- tion in charge of Professor Jenney, a young geologist. He came Into the Hills with a train and escort, went pretty well over them, and made a map of the country. He discovered gold In many places, and more than confirmed Custer's reports of the previous year. Professor Jenney did not visit Deadwood and Whitewood gulches, the timber being so thick that he could not get to them with his train. But the adventurous placer-miners of the West did not wait for a scientific report upon the country, * Mr. Robert E. Strahorn, in his " New West Illustrated," has traced the history of some of these parties who fell victims to their adventurous spirit. Some of them commenced operations in placer-mining as early as 1852. PROFESSOR yENNEY'S EXPLORATION. y^i but braving the hostility of the Indians and other dangers, they began to settle along the streams in the Hills in the summer of 1875, and to wash out the gold dust. The government forbade all persons to enter this country, and the President, I believe, issued a proclamation warning people against invading the ter- ritory that had been set apart for the Indians. But it is impos- sible to keep an old placer-miner out of gulches where there are ' pay streaks ; ' he will go through fire and water to reach new diggings. Hundreds of men came in here in spite of the proc- lamation and in spite of the orders to military commanders to arrest people found on the road or in the Hills. The soldiers even came to the Black Hills, and going up and down the gulches, gathered up the miners, confiscated their provisions, and took them to Fort Laramie or to the military posts on the Upper Missouri. But the adventurers came in here faster than the soldiers could take them out, and most of those arrested, even, as soon as they were released, as they all were when a military station was reached, came directly back if they had money enough to procure provisions. The government, having told the people through its exploring expeditions that there was gold in the Black Hills, could not keep them out without send- ing its whole army to guard the avenues of approach, and the policy of forcible removal was abandoned about the middle of November. "The men who came to the Hills in 1875 and the following winter settled principally in the southern part, on Spring and French creeks. Custer City was the most important town, and Rockerville also became the centre of rich placer diggings. The mines in that region were all in the gulches, and during the first year considerable quantities of gold dust were taken out. I have not visited that region, but I have been told by a gentleman whose experience and scientific attainments cause one to have great confidence in him, that there are on Spring and French creeks the largest placer deposits in the world. He saw a man dig up a wagon-load of the gravel and haul it to a small creek where he washed out ^46 worth of gold from it. This deposit, this gentleman says, he has examined for a distance of fifteen ^52 ^^-^ WESTERN EMPIRE. miles in length and twelve miles in width. It is not all as rich, by any means, as the wagon-load of which he spoke. Gold always runs in streaks, but the extent of it is very great. It is not now available for the want of water. " When the discoveries of gold in Deadwood and Whitewood gulches, on the site of this city, and above and below it, were made, the first workings were very rich, and the fame of them soon attracted the people here from all parts of the Hills, Cus- ter City was almost deserted, and for a year or so Deadwood was one of the liveliest mining camps in the country. But, although the placer-mines in these two gulches and their tribu- taries paid well for a time, the prosperity they brought was only temporary, and, if quartz mines had not been discovered and opened, Deadwood would now be a deserted village. Out of fifty placer claims, a dozen or so are now being worked, chiefly by Chinamen who pay to the owners fifty cents a day royalty for each man who works. By carefully washing over the tail- ings and the gravel which was left because it was ' lean,' these Chinamen are able to earn from ^i to $1.50 a day, and with that they are contented. " The existence of veins of quartz in the hills above Dead- wood was known to the early miners here, but none of them seem to have appreciated their value. When they ' prospected ' them they showed only from ^2 to ^15 worth of gold to a ton of ore, and nobody seemed to think that ore of that grade would pay for mining and milling. And the first attempts to reduce the quartz here were failures pecuniarily, and none of them can be said to have been really profitable until the California capi- talists came here, developed the mines, and began to take out and reduce the ore on a laro-e scale. " Very few valuable quartz gold mines, or mines which by sufficient development have been proved to be valuable, have yet been discovered outside of the great belt above this town. One or two mines which promise well are said to have been opened in the Rockford District, about twenty-five miles south of here. I shall visit that region and probably write a letter from there. A new mine has also been discovered near Custer CLIMATE OF THE BLACK HILLS. 763 City, from which some astonishingly rich ore has been taken. The reduction of about 800 pounds of that ore, and the obtain- ing from it of gold at the rate of $147 a ton, has caused con- siderable excitement in Deadwood. " In closing this general description of the Black Hills, I may say that the country looks as though it had been settled ten years instead of three. In the mines it is difficult to realize the pos- sibility of accomplishing as much as has been done in two years. The farms that are cultivated have already lost their appearance of newness, if they ever had it. Good roads have been built in every direction over and around the Hills, and travel is as safe upon them as upon a New England or New York turnpike. Two years ago (in 1877) camping equipage was a necessity for the traveller, now there are comfortable wayside inns every twenty-five miles, and frequently at shorter intervals. The game that abounded in the hills has disappeared, and civiliza- tion has already gained the mastery, " The climate of the Black Hills is, on the whole, delightful. The elevation is sufficient (from 4,000 to 6,000 feet) to make the air pleasant without being too much rarefied for health or com- fort. The midday sun is sometimes hot, but on no one of the •past ten days (in the middle of July) has the heat been oppres- sive, and the nights are delightfully cool, I have slept .under blankets every night since I came to Deadwood, and one or two evenings I found a light overcoat comfortable when going out upon the street. The winters here are rather long, the latitude being about that of St. Paul, Minnesota ; but the towns are all situated in the canons and surrounded by high mountains, which shield them from the cold winds and temper the rigor of the climate. During the last three years the summers have been long enough to ripen all kinds of grain and vegetables. During the first year after the settlement of Deadwood there was con- siderable sickness here, the prevailing disease being mountain fever. This was probably caused by digging up the gulches, the banks of which in many places were covered with a rank growth of vegetation. There is now probably no more healthful place in the United States than this city, and I know of few more com- fortable ones in summer, if the climate alone is considered." ^6^ ^U^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Sergeant J. O'Dowd, of the United States Signal Service at Deadwood, furnishes the following summary of the meteorology of that city for the year ending June 30th, 1 879. The observations from July ist to December, 1878, were taken at Lead City, two miles from Deadwood, and at several hundred feet higher altitude- J878. ^1 si ^ 3 a J s -0 n 6 V- H H H H ^° July 67.14 63-25 92 41 s. 5-77 16 August 65.85 62.80 85 46 s. 2.61 9 September .... 49-15 63.16 Z(> 27 s. 2.06 8 October 39-58 60.50 72 6 N.W. 1. 81 13 November .... 36.72 63.67 66 3 s. 0-75 3 December .... 18.26 72.47 54 —25 N. zM II 1879. January 21.76 65-85 56 —24 s.w. 0.58 3 February 24-45 68.80 53 — 12 s.w. 0.72 5 March 34.80 62.00 71 —5 s.w. 0-51 9 April 45-5° 53-00 71 20 N.E. 7.69 8 May 53-80 63.20 81 29 N. E. 5-03 13 June Totals for year . , 61.30 57-40 92 37 S. 4.67 18 43-19 63.01 92 —25 35-83 116 It will be observed that the heaviest rainfall, 23.16 inches of the 35.83, of the year was in the months of April, May, June and July — the months in which the crops would be most benefited. The mines of the Black Hills yield both gold and silver, though the silver deposits were not discovered till some time after active mining for gold had made the region widely known. The gold mines may be included in four classes: i. Placers. 2. Quartz veins between slate walls. 3. Quartz veins between porphyry walls, 4, Cement deposits. The placers in the Black Hills are of great extent, and some of them have yielded very large sums. Elsew^here in this work we have described the methods of placer mining, the use of the pan, the rocker, the Tom, the sluice and the hydraulic pipe, flume and sluice, and, as placer mining is much the same in the Black Hills as elsewhere, it is not necessary for us to repeat what we have said of these processes. Two points, however, DRY GULCHES IN THE BLACK HILLS. 75,- may be noticed: ist. That dry placers or gulches — that is, beds of clay or gravel containing a considerable amount of free gold, but at such a distance from water having sufficient head to wash the gold, and consequently requiring that the dirt should be brought to the water, or the water to the placer at considerable cost — are not usually considered very profitable to work unless the amount of gold is large. In the Black Hills these dry placers or gulches have proved so rich that the dirt has been brought from some of them by wagon loads to the water, and where they were more extensive, it has been found profitable to construct ditches or flumes of several miles' length, to bring a mountain stream to supply the pipes for hydraulic mining. These placers seem to be distributed all over the hills. The first were discov- ered near the southern border, on Spring and French creeks, near the present sites of Custer City and Rockerville. Others still more profitable have been discovered near Deadwood ; and nearly all the gulches between the two points, a distance of fifty or sixty miles, yield rich pay-dirt, and most of them are profit- ably worked. These placers are so rich, and there are so many of them yet undeveloped, that placer mining will probably be conducted with profit here for many years to come. But second, it is the natural law of placers, that after a period of time, which may be longer or shorter according to their extent and depth, and the thoroughness with which they are explored, they are worked out and become worthless. To the penniless miner they offer the chance of acquiring a fortune ; but no man should buy into a placer mine, with the impression that he has a per- manent property. It is good so long as it lasts, and how long that may be it is hard to say. A placer claim in the Black Hills extends 300 feet along the gulch, and from rim to rim. "The second class of gold mines found in the Black Hills — quartz in slate, or between slate walls — is represented by the great ' belt ' above Deadwood, on which the mammoth mines of the Hills are situated. The country rock, that is the rock of which the mountains are formed, is micaceous slate which has been thrown up at an angle of about 50°. Between the walls of this slate is a vein of brown quartz containing free gold in «66 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. small quantities, and separated from the country rock on each side by a layer of chloritic slate often containing more gold than the quartz itself. The vein is of enormous width — from 40 to 150 feet — but is frequently divided by 'horses' of slate, or large bodies of that substance extending into or across the vein. The rock in these ' horses ' is sometimes rich enough to work, but generally is quite barren. " There are two theories of the formation of these veins ; and while there seems to be sufficient ore in all the largfe mines for present purposes, the future of these properties may depend in great degree upon which of these theories proves to be the cor- rect one. The first is that advanced by Professor Jenney, the young geologist who was sent to explore the Black Hills in 1875 for the Interior Department, and who is now a resident of Dead- wood. He holds that these ledges of gold-bearing rock are true fissure veins — ' interlaminated fissures,' he calls them, that is, fissures opened between the layers of the slate rock, and not across the line of stratification. The auriferous quartz, he says, has been formed by the water solutions which have come up from below. He accounts for the ' horses ' of slate in the vein by likening the cleaving of the rock to the splitting of a piece of oak wood. When a wedge is driven into it, particles of the wood cling from side to side across the opening made by the wedge. So, he thinks, when the rock was opened, bodies of slate extended across from one wall to the other, and remained in that position when the aqueous solution from below came up, surrounded them, and deposited the gold-bearing quartz. He explains the fact that the slate walls and horses contain gold by saying that the slate, which had minute spaces between its layers, soaked up the mineral-bearing fluid, which in some cases re- placed the particles of slate. As a rule, the impregnation of the slate becomes less as the distance from the wall of the vein increases. Believinof the veins to be true fissures, Professor Jenney supposes that they extend into the earth for an indefinite distance, and probably grow richer in their lower portions. Pro- fessor Jenney believes that after these veins were formed the ocean covered what are now the Black Hills, and that by its DIVERSE THEORIES ABOUT THE LODES. y^y action it tore down the surface, scattering fragments of the vein all over the country. Evidences of marine action are easily to be found in the vicinity of the mines. " The other theory held by several geologists of much learn- ing and experience is that the vein matter was precipitated from an aqueous solution that covered it. Their explanation and argument is this: The foot-wall of these veins is slate, a forma- tion which everybody knows is of aqueous origin. The vein of quartz is deposited on this slate parallel with its line of stratifica- tion, just as one layer of rock is deposited on another. Above the vein we also find slate, and above that, where it has not been carried away by the action of the elements, a cement formation also of aqueous origin. These facts point conclusively to a hori- zontal deposit of the vein matter on a slate bed. The precipi- tant was probably oxide of iron, and it is therefore very natural that those ores containing the largest proportion of oxide of iron should be the richest in gold, as they are. After all these de- posits had been made, the hills were gradually thrown up in their present forms under water. "If the true fissure vein theory is correct (and it is the one most generally accepted by the most experienced miners), then there is reason to believe that the ore extends far into the bowels of the earth. And even if the theory of an aqueous deposit or precipitation is accepted, the fields over which these deposits took place may have been so great that when turned up upon their edges they may be practically inexhaustible. These quartz veins between slate strata seem to be, in many respects, the analogues of the ' contact lodes ' of silver in Col- orado, and may have had a similar origin. "The quartz veins between porphyry walls have not been sufficiently developed to make it safe to give an opinion in regard to them. Some of the best mines of this class are situ- ated in Strawberry gulch, about seven miles east of Deadwood, and in some of them considerable bodies of ore have been found. In another year, when a few mills shall have been erected near them for the purpose of working their ores, and development has been pushed further, more will be known of their value. It -58 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. is an interesting fact that they have already attracted the atten- tion of the rich Cahfornia miners and capitahsts who have de- veloped the great ' belt ' above Deadwood, and that it is possible that they may purchase one of the most promising of them and see what it contains. " In many of the placer mines, a little below the bed of the stream but considerably above bed rock, a layer of hard cement, consisting of sand, gravel, and boulders, and carrying free gold held together in one hard, conglomerate mass by oxide of iron, has been found. This substance has been a great obstacle to gulch miners on some claims. They had no means of crushing it to free the £fold, and to remove it in order to gret at the aurif- erous gravel beneath was very expensive. On the hill-tops, which have withstood best the action of the elements, similar cement deposits have also been found, varying from one and a-half to twelve and eighteen feet in thickness. Some of these are very rich in gold and others very lean. A number of mines have been opened on the cement beds and are now working successfully, while others have already worked out their pay ore. The rock is reduced in the same manner as quartz, by stamping and amalgamating. A cement deposit may be very valuable as long as it lasts, and may bring to its owners large profits, but its value depends entirely upon its extent and character. Like a placer (and it is, in fact, nothing but a solidified placer), it will some day be worked out and become worthless. Attempts have been made to sell these cement beds and the mines opened on them as true fissure veins, which they are not. Very possibly the ore ' prospects ' and ' mills ' as high as it is represented ; but the wrong done to the proposed purchaser consists In giving the impression that it is a true fissure vein, when it is in reality only a solidified placer and may and probably will soon become exhausted." The gold mines, aside from the placers and cement deposits, in the Black Hills, have been again classified by the mining men as those on the Bonanza Belt in the neighborhood of Deadwood, and those not on the belt. The mines on the belt which have attained the greatest reputation are the Father De Smet, the LOW GRADE GOLD ORES PROFITABLE HERE. ^gn Deadwood, the Golden Terra, the Highland, the Homestake, the Grant and the Old Abe mines. The Roderick Dhu and the Pierce are also believed to be on continuations of this belt. The belt is about two miles in length and from looto 200 feet in width. The mines not on the belt, in the vicinity of Deadwood, are the Caledonia, which comprises four claims, and covers in all territory 1,500 feetlongand 1,100 in width, though in two parcels. Several deposit mines are also included in this class, and a num- ber of smaller mines. There are also new mines of great promise at Rockford, about twenty-five miles east of Deadwood, and at Custer City and Rockerville, in the southern part of the Black Hills. The silver mining thus far has been mostly at Galena, on Bear Butte creek, about twelve miles east of Deadwood. There are other silver deposits, but these are the most promising. The ores are chiefly sulphurets and chlorides, mixed with quartz, oxide of iron and manganese, antimony and arsenic. There are some rich carbonates, but they do not appear In very large quan- tities ; there are also some specimens of horn silver and a little free silver. The ores average from 30 to 150 ounces of silver to a ton, the low-grade ores being most abundant. The immense cost of transportation (^40 a ton) has prevented the mining of low grade ores, and a small smelter, working imperfectly, has charged ^75 per ton for reduction. These difficulties will soon cease, as railroads, and larger and better smelters come in. A large proportion of the gold veins produce an ore which elsewhere would be regarded as of low grade ; many of them running at from ^9 or ^10 to ^13 or ^15 per ton. But they are so favorably situated, that they can be run by chutes directly into the mill, without being handled at all. The large mills of 120 stamps or more are also run at much less proportional ex- pense than the smaller ones, while they do ten times as much work. Gold can be mined and milled at these mines and mills at from ^2 to ^5 per ton, and the mines are so situated that the expense is not likely to increase for a long time to come. While the grade of the ores is low, the quantity seems to be inexhausti- 49 770 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. ble, and the quality improves slightly as the depth increases. Thus it comes to pass that ores yielding from ^9 to ^15 per ton pay a better profit, as well as a steadier one, than ores of much richer grade, which are more difficult to mine, less easily milled and which must be carried to greater distances to be marketed successfully. Mr. White states the yield of the Black Hills mines in 1878 as $3,500,000; in 1879 as about $4,500,000, and in 1880 as probably $6,000,000. The Black Hills form the most elevated portion of Dakota, indeed the only portion which rises above 2,000 feet, or generally above 1,500 to 1,800 feet. The following table gives the altitude of the principal summits and towns of this region, though some of the points named are in the Wyoming portion of the Hills : Inyan Kara Peak 6,500 Bare Butte 4,800 Floral Valley. 6,196 Crook's Monument .... 7,600 Harney's Peak 7>44o Belle Fourche . . . . . . 3,734 Castle Creek Valley . . . . 6,136 Dodge's Peak ....;. 7,300 Terry's Peak 7,200 Warren's Peak 6,900 Custer's Peak 6,750 j Crow Peaks 6,200 Devil's Tower 5,100 I Dead wood 4^425 Rapid City 3,175 | Rockerville 4,125 Crook City 3.725 i Pactola (estimated) • . . . 4,000 Rochford (estimated) . . . 4.500 1 Custer City " 4,200 The present population of the cities and settlements of the Black Hills is hardly less than 30,000, and may exceed that. A year and a half since (in January or February, 1879), it was esti- mated at 1 8,000, and was probably divided very much as follows • Deadwood 6,000 | Rapid City Golden Gate 700 I Crook City Lead City 2,500 : Custer City Rockerville 600 Spearfish City Rochford 600 Sturgis City 300 Sheridan 200 Tigerville 200 Central City 2,000 •Gayville 800 500 500 400 250 200 250 Hill City Galena Pactola, Hayward and other settlements 2,500 Total 18,000 BLACK HILLS BOTH AGRICULTURAL AND MINING. yyi The Black Hills region is primarily, then, a mining region ; one which has been very largely taken possession of by capital- ists, and its mining operations conducted on a scale which has been hardly equalled elsewhere in the West ; its stamp-mills aggregating more than 1,500 stamps, and these generally of the largest and most powerful character, and its gold production larger than in the same number of mines elsewhere. This char- acter of the region will be likely to continue and increase, for years to come. But it would be a great mistake to suppose, as some have supposed, that the Black Hills must be dependent wholly or mainly upon other regions for its supplies of food, clothing or manufactures. The valleys and foot-hills, as well as much of the hill country itself, are covered to a great depth with an exceedingly rich soil, and its production of grains, root crops and market garden vegetables and fruits will be ample ere long for the supply of the 50,000 or 75,000 people who will gather there. Those portions of the Hills and adjacent country which are not suited to mining or farming are admirably adapted to ^-izing, and even portions of the much berated "Bad Lands" arv^ covered with rich and nutritious grasses. It is just the region for dairy-farming, and the mining towns will furnish a ready and profitable market for the milk, butter and cheese which can be produced. Sheep-farming will also prove profit- able here, though perhaps the Cotswolds, Leicesters, Southdowns and Lincolns would pay better than the smaller wool sheep ; for the market for mutton will be close at hand, and the combing wools will bring as good prices as the felting wools, though for other purposes. We see no reason why this may not become the region for the production of the best quality of mutton. The fine water-powers in the vicinity, and the coal mines which are readily accessible, as well as the large deposits of copper, lead and iron which are awaiting development, must ere long make it an important manufacturing region, and in a few years we may expect to see the immense quantities of mining and agricultural machinery which are needed, as well as all the mani- fold manufactures of wool and iron which are needed there, pro- duced on the spot instead of being, as now, brought from Chi- --2 <^UR WESTERN EMPIRE. cago, the capital of a treeless region, across 800 or 1,000 miles of prairie, to a region of forest growths. For so new a country, the educational and religious institutions of this as of other sections of Dakota are of a high order. Not Deadwood alone, but all the new towns of the Black Hills have excellent schools and good churches. For these the whole Ter- ritory is largely indebted to the active exertions and excellent in- fluence of the late Governor Howard and his efficient coadjutors. The social condition of all parts of the Territory is gready higher than that of most new settlements. Mr. White writes of the towns of the Black Hills : " Deadwood is a remarkably quiet, orderly, law-abiding town. This is the more remarkable when it is remembered that at the time it was first settled this was an Indian reservation, over which the Territorial authorities had no jurisdiction. " The people who came here organized a temporary govern- ment of their own, the only sanction of which was common con- sent, but its laws were recognized and obeyed for about a yeai and a half. When the treaty with the Sioux was completed in February, 1877, opening the hills to settlement, the government that had been improvised was dissolved, but the Territorial officers did not arrive here until forty days later, and in the meantime there was not even the semblance of a government, and yet order was preserved, ''There are public gambling-houses in Deadwood, but they are not numerous, nor do they thrust themselves upon the atten- tion of the stranger by open doors or bands of music. The o-amblinof is almost without exception conducted in back and second-story rooms, and the proprietors of the houses are not apparently having a prosperous time of it. There is one variety theatre here, and although I have not attended one of its per- formances, its programme contains nothing that seems to be objectionable as variety shows go. Its performances close at a seasonable hour. There is also one dance-house on Main street. Of drinkine-saloons there are of course an abundance. " On the other hand, Deadwood is a city of homes. Small but tastefully built cottages are springing up by scores on all the RAILROADS L\ DAKOTA. 773 residence streets, and people who are in business here have brought their famihes. Any newcomer will find intelligent, refined, cultivated society here for himself and family. Religious organizations have been established, schools founded ; and remote as the Black Hills are, and difficult of access, no one need hesitate to make his home here through fear that he will not find good society. Even the people w^ho are seeking their fortunes in the remote gulches are by no means barbarians. Many of them are well educated, and are respected in the dis- tant homes they have left, although they may now have to rough it and put up with many privations. Straws show which way the wind blows, and here is one : I dined the other day with a miner who thinks he lias made a ' great strike.' He lives in a log-house, miles out of town, but in one corner of the room, which serves as parlor and dining-room, stood a piano on which was a large pile of popular music, and I saw on the table the latest numbers of some of the popular magazines and illustrated journals." We have spoken of the means of railroad communication in different sections of the Territory. These are constantly increas- ing in numbers and mileage till the Territory promises soon to be traversed by them in nearly all directions. The following list, prepared by Hon. Henry Espersen, United States Surveyor- General for Dakota, gives their condition in November, 1879, and we have added the facts so far as they can be ascertained of their present condition: There is a very complete system of railways, built or building, into or through the Territory. The Northern Pacific Railroad, extending from Fargo, on the eastern boundary, to the Little Missouri, 351 miles, and to be extended to the Yellowstone by January i, 1881. The Winona and Saint Peter's Railroad (Chicago and North- western), now running to Watertown, near Lake Kampeska, and located west to Dakota river. The Dakota Southern Railroad, from Sioux City, Iowa, to Yankton, and projected northward up the valley of the Dakota river, completed to Brule, on the James. The Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railroad, with some eighty miles yj^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. built of a line from Canton to the Missouri river; completed in 1880 to the Missouri. Also a line upon which work is now in progress from Eden to Yankton. The Sioux Falls and Pembina Railroad, up the Big Sioux River valley, of which some seventy miles are in operation. The Dakota Central Railroad, located from Garey to the Dakota river, upon which work is now progressing ; completed to Huron, on Dakota river. The Worthington and Sioux Falls Railroad (Saint Paul and Sioux City), of which about forty miles are built, having Yank- ton for its objective point ; and The Southern Minnesota Railroad, building from Flandreau to Sioux Falls. The total length of road now in operation in the Territory is almost 1,200 miles. Indian Tribes and Reservations. — The Indian reservations in Dakota, in January, 1880, still comprised about 42,000,000 acres, about seven-sixteenths of the entire area of the Territory. This vast area is cut up into several reservations in different parts of the Territory, As it is largely in excess of the needs of the Indians, arrangements are making by the government to purchase considerable portions of it, and to distribute the remainder in severalty to the Indians, giving them also the interest of the purchase-money of the lands which the govern- ment buys from them, as annuities. There were on these reservations in January, 1880, 26,530 Indians of all ages. Of these 25,237 were Sioux or Dakotas, of twenty-one different bands or sub-tribes; 1,393 (^he Indians at the Fort Berthold Agency) were the remnant of other tribes formerly hostile to the Sioux, and were divided as follows: Arickarees, 720; Gros Ventres, 448 ; Mandans, 225. Since the severe punishment of Sitting Bull and his band for their massacre of General Custer and his troops, and their escape into British America, the remaining bands of Sioux have been peaceful and friendly to the whites. They are, for the most part, making decided progress in civilization. With the almost complete destruction of the POPULATION OF DAKOTA, »y^ buffalo, they have very generally abandoned the chase, except a moderate amount of hunting and trapping of the fur-bearing animals, and with each year an increasing number of them are turning their attention to the raising of cattle and horses, to drawing freight, and to the simpler forms of agriculture. Very many of them have built for themselves comfortable log-cabins in the place of the tepees or lodges of skins in which they for- merly dwelt. Of the Sioux 10,162, or more than two-fifths, have assumed and constantly wear citizens' dress. Of the Fort Berthold Indians, only one-twentieth have done this, but the num- ber is increasing every year. Religious instruction as well as secular education is imparted to the Indians at each of the ten agencies, and the more promising Indian children are now in con- siderable numbers sent East to receive higher instruction, and on their return become not only teachers but leaders of their people in their progress toward civilization. The present population of the Territory, including 26,148 tribal Indians, is 162,328; of which Northern Dakota has about 36,000, Central Dakota 10,000, Southeastern Dakota 74,000. Black Hills 16,000. The inhabitants of Northern Dakota are very largely of European birth, though there is a sufficient American element, mainly from New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, to maintain American institutions. The Mennonites, Russians who have been associated with them in Russia, and who have come here for the religious and civil liberty they can- not enjoy there, Norwegians and Swedes, and some Germans ; the Catholic colonies from Belgium, France, and Ireland, which have come over under the direction of the Catholic Emigration Societies — these make up the bulk of the settlers of the northern section. Considerable numbers have come from Manitoba, dis- satisfied with the homestead laws there and with the lack of enterprise and push in that colony. The inhabitants of this section are not, for the most part, of the poorer class of emi- grants. One company of Russians recendy brought with them ;^490,ooo ; and the Mennonites are usually men of property. In several cases they have bought large blocks of land, sometimes 100,000 to 200,000 acres, and settle on them so as to have entire communities of their own faith. ^^5 <^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. In Central Dakota the emigration is largely European, Nor- wegian, Swedish, and German, with a considerable admixture of American families. In Southeastern Dakota the American fami- lies predominate, though there are here also Mennonite, Bel- gian, German, and Irish colonies. The farming lands of this region are more generally in small holdings, and the class of immigrants who are occupying them are of a character superior to those who are settling in many other regions. It is a very desirable region for the best class of farmincr immierants. The character of the population of the Black Hills has been already described. They are, as a rule, superior to most mining populations. When the division of this Territory is accom- plished, as it will be when railroad communication is established from the East with the Black Hills, the southern part will prob- ably have for its northern boundary the forty-fifth parallel as a continuation of the line of Wyoniing, and the new State may also have that portion of Wyoming which contains the western half of the Black Hills, as it will be desirable to have that region under one government. This region will have a sufficient popu- lation for admission into the Union as a State by that time. The northern part of the Territory, while the largest, will probably have no mineral products except coal, and possibly lead ; but it will be a rich farming and grazing country, and accessible both by its rivers and railways to the best markets. Churches and Religious Teachi^igs. — The population of Dakota, though drawn from such diverse sources, has more of the reliorious element in it than is found in most of the States or Territories of the West. Several of the colonies, of which there are a considerable number in the Territory, are founded in part on religious principles. This is especially the case with the Mennonite settlements, in which there are from 10,000 to 20,000 people, and the Roman Catholic colonies, which are rapidly increasing in numbers and already give full employment to an active and energetic bishop. The Scandinavian immigrants are mostly Lutherans, and they bring their clergymen with them, and establish churches at once. The Germans, when not Catholics, are mostly rationalists, and not favorably disposed toward religion, J'JiOSPECTS OF DAKOTA. n^y though some of them are very earnest in their Christian zeal. But the large numbers of immigrants from the Eastern States were mostly from Christian homes, and they manifest their remembrance of their early associations by rearing schools and churches at once in these new villages, even while they them- selves may be living in a dug-out or a sod-house. All of the Protestant denominations seem to be very fairly represented, and all manifest much zeal in organizing churches and gathering congregations. The irreligious element is stronger in the Clack Hills than elsewhere in the Territory, but from Mr. White's testimony already quoted, it seems that there is less Sabbath- breaking and open, unblushing vice there, than in most mining districts. Taking it all in all, there is not at the present time a better region for the farmer or stock-raiser than Dakota, and those who prefer a mining region can be as well accommodated in the Black Hills as in any part of the West, especially if they do not propose to engage personally in mining. Other States and Territories may boast of greater natural wonders and more grand and delightful scenery, though, in both these particulars, Dakota has much to produce emotions of sur- prise, awe, and delight ; but what gives this Territory its peculiar charm is its thorough adaptation for quiet and beautiful homes. The sun shines on no fairer land, and on none where so many circumstances combine to make a residence so home-like and delightful. -Tg OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER VI. IBAEO TERRITORY. Topography — Boundaries — Length and Breadth — Area — Latitude and Longitude — Distribution of Area — Arable Lands— Grazing Lands — • Timber Lands — Mining I-ands — Desert Lands — Mountains — Lakes — Rivers — Climate — Meteorology of Boise City — Geology and Miner- alogy — The Precious Metals — Other Metals and Minerals — Mineral Springs — Natural Wonders — Sulphur Lake and Deposits — Salt Springs — Soil and Vegetable Productions — Forest Trees — Zoology — Mines and Mining — Production of Gold and Silver since 1862 — Present Falling off — Great Mineral Wealth — Stock-Raising— Sheep-Farming — The Culture of Arable Lands — Obstacles to the Progress of Growth OF Idaho — The Lack of Railroads and of Wagon-roads — The Lack of Capital — Mormon Influence the Greatest Obstacle of all. Idaho Territory is one of the central or interior Territories of the northern tier, in form much like a huge chair. Its northern and very narrow boundary (at the top of the chair) is British America, while the seat of the chair is bounded on the north by Montana. The Bitter Root Mountains, one of the principal ranges of the Rocky Mountains, form the eastern boundary between Idaho and Montana, and between it and Wyoming the boundary follows the 1 1 1 th meridian west from Greenwich. On the south, following the 42d parallel, it is bounded by Utah and Nevada ; on the west it is bounded by Oregon and Washington Territory, the line being the 117th meridian to the mouth of the Boise river, thence along the Snake river for 350 miles to Lewis- ton, and thence northward along the 117th meridian to British America. The southwest corner of Yellowstone Park is within the bounds of Idaho. The Territory lies between the 42d and 49th parallels of north latitude, and between the 1 1 ith and 1 1 7th meridians of longitude west from Greenwich. It is about 410 miles long from north to south, and a little less than 300 miles wide at its widest portion. Its area as stated at the Land Office is 86,294 square miles, or 55,228,160 acres. There are very diverse estimates of the proportions of this area in arable, graz- iLon^tud iofrom Greeiivrich ik'9 -i^^ "\\>»( 3;3lTom Wnslnniito JO j's) 2* 7Sst,if" -4-- o (^eyjl"/ y///// /5k ^rru/i^'iS/i). //JS/ ARABLE LANDS TN IDAHO. yyg inor, timber and mining lands, and desert or worthless lands. Governor Brayman, with a somewhat imperfect acquaintance with the Territory, of which only one-eighth has yet been sur- veyed, makes the following estimate which those more familiar with the Territory regard as absurd: "An approximate estimate of the quality of these lands will afford, suitable for cultivation in their natural state, 15,000,000 acres; capable of reclamation by irrigation, i 2,000,000 acres ; grazing lands, 5,000,000 acres ; timber lands, 10,000,000 acres; mining tracts, 8,000,000 acres; the 4,228,160 acres of desert are destitute of timber and min- erals, and beyond the reach of irrigation. Large portions of the mining tracts bear timber also." The Surveyor-General, Hon. W. P. Chandler, with a some- what wider knowledge, writes at about the same time to the Land Office : "Any estimate of the number of acres of the vari- ous classes of land in this Territory, so broken in its surface and varied in its climate and altitude, can be only approximate. Of its total area of 55,228,160 acres, I believe 12,000,000 acres to be agricultural, either in its natural state or as it may be reclaimed by irrigation with the available water now flowing in the streams; 25,000,000 acres pasture lands; 10,000,000 acres timber lands; and the remainder, 8,228,160 acres, may be considered worthless, consisting of inaccessible mountain peaks and lava beds." The surveyor-general would probably include the supposed 8,000,000 acres, or thereabout, of mining-lands in the 25,000,000 grazing and the 10,000,000 acres of timber lands. This last estimate is undoubtedly nearer the truth than the governor's, but in the amount of grazing lands which require always some water, it would seem to be somewhat excessive. A Territory whose average rainfall does not exceed twelve inches, and more than three-fourths of that in the winter and spring, leaving the entire summer and autumn parched and rainless, cannot well have more than one-fourth of its area arable land without irriga- tion. There are undoubtedly fertile valleys in Idaho, wherewith, and in some years, without irrigation, large crops can be raised, but these are the exception, not the rule. The Territory might become a moderately good grazing country, if its neighbors. ^^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Montana, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington, were not so much better adapted to grazing. It is primarily a mining country, and when the railroads now projected or in progress have given it access to a market at reasonable rates it may, if the Mormons and Indians will refrain from killing the immigrants, yield a large amount of the precious metals, and raise enough grain and root crops, beef and mutton to supply its own inhabitants, but there will be little of either to export, at least for some years to come. Topognipky, Mountains, Lakes, Rivei's, etc. — Idaho is a moun- tainous Territory, more so, perhaps, than any other of the States or Territories of "Our Western Empire," although there are no summits as lofty as those in Colorado, California, Oregon, Wash- in eton or Arizona. The altitudes rancre from 2,000 feet above the sea in the Snake River valley to nearly 10,000 feet at the summit of some of its loftiest peaks. Its general average of elevation is above 4,000 feet. On its northeast border from Lake Pend d'Oreille and Clark's fork of the Columbia river down to the Lewis or Snake river at the Wyoming boundary, the Bitter Root Mountains, one of the main ranges, though not the highest range, of the Rocky Mountains, separate it from Montana ; almost parallel with these is an irregular range trend- ing in ofeneral from northwest to southeast, known as the Salmon River Mountains, one of the outlying ranges of the Rocky Moun- tains. These traverse the central portion of the State. On the west, near the eastern bank of the Snake river, from the Weiser to the Salmon river, is a range of hills 5,000 or 6,000 feet in height. The southern part of the Territory, south of the Snake river, is an elevated plateau, and in the southwest an alkaline desert. There are many valleys between these ranges of mountains and these elevated plateaux, some of them of considerable breadth and fertility ; others broad but barren ; others still narrow and fertile, and ^thers yet mere rocky defiles and canons. There are about twenty lakes of considerable size, and a great number of small lakes or ponds in the Territory. The largest are Lakes Pend d'Oreille, Coeur d'Alene and Kaniksu in the north, the Pay- THE SNAKE RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. ^gj ette and Weiser lakes in the centre, Rocky, Bar, Market, De Lacy and Jackson's lakes in the east, and Bear lake in the southeast. The whole of Idaho, except a very small tract in the southeast, belongs to the river system of the Columbia river and drains into the Pacific ocean. The exception is Bear river and lake In the southeast, the waters of ^p/hich are discharged into the Great Salt lake. There is also a bare possibility that some one of the sources of the Green river, one of the constituents of the Colorado of the West, may rise in the mountains of the southeast, interlac- ing there with the sources of the Snake river or Lewis' fork. But more than 80,000 of the 86,000 square miles of the Terri- tory are drained by the great tributaries of the Columbia and their affluents, and five-sixths of the 80,000 miles by the Lewis' fork or Snake river and its branches. The northeast corner is drained by the Kootenai, an affluent of the Columbia, which joins it in British Columbia, and the Pend d'Oreille or Clark's fork crosses the Territory a little above the forty-eighth parallel. The Spokane river, another of the tributaries of the Columbia, which flows through Lake Coeur d'Alene, drains a plateau thirty or forty miles in width, and below this the Snake river, the largest constituent of the Columbia, occupies the whole Territory. The Palouse, one of Its principal affluents, in Washington Territory, drains a plateau south of the Spokane, and the Snake river itself, rising by several sources in Wyoming Territory, flows northwest, then southwest, west, northwest and north, having a course of about 1,100 miles in this Territory, receiving during its course between thirty and forty tributaries, some of them, like the Salmon, Boise, Owyhee, Bruneau, Wood and Weiser, being themselves large rivers. The Salmon river drains the central part of the Territory. The Snake river, owing to its numerous falls and rapids, is not navigable In Idaho, but. becomes navigable at Lewiston, the point where it leaves the Territory. At Its headwaters, and for a considerable distance below, there are rich bottom lands, which, though 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, will, it is thought, prove productive. For 150 miles below these, it flows through a broad valley of moderately rich and fertile land. At or near the mouth of Bannack river it 782 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. enters a deep, rocky canon, through which it passes for seventy- five miles. In this canon are several very large falls, one of them the celebrated Shoshone falls, exceeding Niagara in height (being 200 feet), and rivalling it in the volume of water and the orrandeur of its surroundincrs. Climate. — The meteorology of Ida^jo is somewhat meagre. The Signal Service Department has but one station in the Territory, that at Boise City, and their deficiency has not been, so far as we are aware, made up by private observations. Boise City is cen- trally situated, but its elevation is only 2,877 ^^^t, and it gives but an indefinite idea of the temperature, rainfall, etc., of the more elevated tracts where nearly all the mines and many of the agri- cultural districts are situated. The following table and the appended note give all the particulars furnished by the Signal Service office : METEOROLOGY OF BOISE CITY, IDAHO TERRITORY. Latitude 43° 40'. Longitude 116° 6^. Elevation above sea-level 2,877 f'^^^- 1877-1878. Months. 1877. July August . . . . September . October . . . November . December . 1878. January . . . February . . March . . . . April May June Year. . . . 1^ e5 V 1 £ £ f2 rt 2 1 c a s|! H H H 106 44 74-9 98 43 73-9 91 32 61.0 74 21 49.0 63 18 41. 1 54 8 30-9 1 55 7 34-3 57 28 39-7 75 26 48.0 77 23 51.2 86 29 1 58.8 96 43 72-3 106 7 52-9 48 29 49 54 57 53 99 per cent 36.8 33-3 48.0 57-1 69.6 67.9 66.2 67-5 62.0 5'-7 49-9 38.9 54-1 T3 ^rt •0 5 € ■5 15 S c = il = .2 £&: «* c «s< < in. in. 0.35 29.509 0.09 29.572 0.27 29653 0.85 29.792 2.05 29-934 O.OI 30.074 1-73 30.081 2.18 29-931 1.63 29.997 0.37 29.914 1. 18 29.961 0.86 29-975 "•57 29.866 Direction of Winds in the order of frequency. N. E., N., S. W. N. E., S., N., N. W. S., Calm, N. \V., N.. N. S., Calm, \y., N. S., Calm, N. E., N. Calm, W., N., S. W. S., Calm, W., N. N. E., E., S., W., Calm. S., Calm, W., N. E., E. W., Calm, N. W., N., S. W., S. N. \V., N., N. E., W., S. E., E. N. W., N. E., S., N. E. S., Calm, N., N. E., W., N. W. The Signal Service Report for 1878-9 varies but very little from the above. The maximum temperature of the year was 103°, and the minimum 5°, the range, 98°, varying only one degree from the previous year, while the mean was 52.7°. The rainfall was for the autumn of 1878 1. 10 inches; for the winter of 1878-9, 5.37 inches; for the spring of 1879,4.38 inches, and for the summer of 1879, 1. 46 inches, making 12. 3I inches in all, or .74 of an inch more than the previous year. It is noticeable that 9.75 inches of this, or nearly four-fifths, fell in the winter and spring, and the proportion was about the same as the year before. GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 783 Geology and Mineralogy. — The geology of the Territory has been only partially investigated. The mountains, like the Rocky Mountains generally, are at their summits and on their western slopes, granitic or feldspathic, with, perhaps, some metamorphic rocks on their sides. The valleys are on their surface alluvial or diluvial — the result of the constant wear and erosion of the steep mountain slopes. Oftener perhaps than in other States and Territories, this debris from the mountains is a very«fine dust — especially in the valleys of the Salmon and Snake rivers. The ofold washed out of the veins or lodes in the mountains has been ground by attrition to the finest flour, so fine that although all the sand and the soil along those river valleys for many miles contain large quantities of it, it could not be separated by washing, and was only to be secured by running it very slowly over electro-plated silver plates, covered with mercury. In the centre of the southern half of the Territory there is an extensive volcanic plateau, inaccessible and unexplored, destitute of soil or vegetation. The Bear river region, in Southeastern Idaho, as well as that bordering on the Yellowstone Park, is vol- canic in its character. Among its minerals gold has been found in the fine impalpable powder already mentioned, in large grains and nuggets, and in gold veins and lodes along nearly the whole course of the Snake and Salmon rivers, in the Sawtooth or Sal- mon river range of mountains at almost all points, and at many points on the western slope of the Bitter Root mountains. On the east fork of Salmon river and about the sources, and indeed in nearly the whole length of Wood river and at the southern termination of the Sawtooth range, silver is very plentiful, and silver mining would be conducted with great success were the facilities of transportation of the rich ores less difficult.* Copper is found in very rich ores — sixty-five to seventy per cent., and also native copper of great purity in Bear Lake county, and in the * This Wood river region, a district about eighty miles long and forty miles wide, is just now the scene of great excitement from the discovery of a number of rich silver lodes on both sides of Wood river. It is declared by some to be a second Leadville, and hundreds and per- haps thousands are flocking thither from Utah, Nevada, California and some from Northern Colorado. Whether they will come to stay remains to be seen. 734 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Snake river copper mining district. It is also combined with sil- ver in the Sawtooth range and the Wood river district. Lead in the form of galena or sulphuret and carbonate of lead is found in all the silver mines, and an ore yielding about seventy- eight per cent, of pure lead is found in the Bear river. Iron is abundant and in all forms. Coal is found in great quantities and of excellent quality for coking and furnace purposes along Bear lake, and is also mined at Smith's fork and on Irvin creek. The Mammoth mine here shows a vein seventy feet thick of clear coal, and with adjacent veins, separated by thin veins of clay, will aggregate 200 feet in thickness. The Utah and Northern Railroad, which passes near, will soon open this great mine to a market. There is also a large bed of very good coa.\ in Northern Idaho near Lewiston, and another in Boise county, about twenty-five miles north of Boise City. Antimony, arsenic and surphur are found in considerable quantities, the latter especially in the volcanic districts. In Bear Lake county, nea: the Bear river, there is a sulphur lake very heavily encrusted with sulphur, and a mountain eighty-five per cent, of which is pun; sulphur. The " Soda Springs," now becoming a popular resort from Salt Lake City, are in the same vicinity, near the Bear river and the Utah and Northern Railroad. Mr. Robert E. Strahorn, who has recently explored this won- derful region which gives so many evidences of volcanic action, past and present, thus writes of it in the Neiv West Illustrated of December, 1879: " Soda Springs, a hamlet of probably one hundred souls, is located within a stone's throw of Bear river, near the latter's ' big bend ' in Southeastern Idaho, and thirty-five miles east of Oneida Station, Utah and ?sorthern Railway. It takes its name from a group of noteworthy springs in the vicinity, and thrives mainly upon the latter's fast-increasing popularity. "One spring is graced with a lively steam vent which finds its way upward through a massive boulder. Fremont named it ' Steamboat Spring,' on account of its measured puff which resem- bles that of an engine. The waters of this spring are utilized in a comfortable bath-house near by. A group of four of the other THE SODA AND OTHER SPRINGS. 785 springs have attracted particular attention on account of the curative properties of the waters. The strongly minerahzed fluid is also ever bubbling up from the depths of pretty basins in Bear river, in Soda creek, along the streets of the village — in fact, everywhere in the vicinity — and is as pleasant as a beverage, as it has been found exhilarating and strengthening as a tonic. Invalids with some of the most deep-set and loathsome blood diseases claim to have found a perfect cure in these fountains. A mile distant are other and not less interesting springs, the waters of which are so thoroughly charged with calcareous matter as to quickly form a coating of limestone upon any object immersed in them. "'V. de V.' thus humorously writes of the great Hooper Spring : * Hooper Spring, one mile from the main town, is not surpassed in the world. Eight or ten springs all bubble up within a radius of ten or twelve feet, and all unite in one and flow off into Soda creek, in a stream six feet wide and four feet deep. This is the most powerful spring in the world. Its water is very highly charged. It is surprising how much people drink. Five pints is the usual draught; ten will blow a man up ; and then, if you can find his mouth, twenty more will reunite the fragments, free him from disease and set him on his feet, regen- erated and born again. The water from this spring is bottled and sold. It will when known become famous the world over. No mineral water I ever drank has such a delicious taste ; none causes such an appetite. The men that drink it can't do with- out it; children cry for it; old people renew their youth at this fountain.' "The Octagon Spring has received some attention from Cap- tain Hooper, who has a handsome summer villa near by, and in summer we find scores of visitors seated under the rustic shade^ drinking the life-saving fluid from early morn until late at night. We meet here the lame, the halt, and even some that are nearly blind, all testifying to the wonderful benefits they derive from these waters. The mineral constituents of these springs render them the best of alteratives, and very efficacious in scrofulous and glandular difficulties, and for all diseases of the skin. They 50 -,86 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. are also an excellent diuretic, and contain enough Iron to make them of value as a tonic. One quart of the water from the * Octagon Spring ' contains : Grains. Sulphate of magnesia 12.10 Sulphate of lime 2.12 Carbonate of lime 3.86 Carbonate of magnesia 3.22 Chloride of calcium 1.33 Chloride of magnesium 1.12 Chloride of sodium 2.24 Vegetable matter .85 "There is sufficient carbonic acid gas to give the whole a power over disease. As a beverage these waters resemble in taste the famed Saratoga. A few minutes' walk away is a beau- tiful spring called the Ninety Per Cent. It is all soda save ten per cent. The water is delicious. It contains no iron. "Four miles southeast of Soda Springs is Swan lake, one of the loveliest natural gems in the Wasatch chain. It reclines in an oval basin, whose rim is ten feet above the surrounding country. The shores are densely covered with trees, shrubs, and the luxu- riant undergrowth native to that country. The outlet is a series of small moss-covered basins, symmetrically arranged, the clear water overflowing the banks, trickling into the nearest emerald tub, then successively into others, until it forms a sparkling stream and dances away to a confluence with the Bear river in the valley below. " The rim is apparently formed by petrifaction, and extends down as far as the eye can penetrate the clear crystal water. Timber and bodies of trees coated with a calcareous substance can be seen in the depths, but no bottom has yet been reached in the centre, and it is supposed that it is fed by subterranean springs from the base of the mountain. "Adjacent to this fit abode for water nymphs is the singular sulphur lake, out of whose centre liquid sulphur incessantly boils and coats the shores with thick deposits, looking as though it might be a direct out-cropping of Plutonian regions. Near by THE ICE CAVES OF IDAHO. 787 is a mountain, eighty-five per cent, of which is pure sulphur. Mr. Wilhams is now hauling several tons of it to Oneida Station for shipment to Mr. G. Y. Wallace, of Salt Lake, who will experi- ment with it to ascertain whether it will pay to make it an article of commerce. The great sulphur deposit extends from the base of the mountain to an unknown depth, width and breadth. Re- move the top crust anywhere near where it crops out and you find almost pure sulphur. The bed must be of immense area. You can load a wagon with your hands without pick or shovel as quickly as you could fill it with corn. You can take up a rock and touch a match to it and it will burn up, leaving a black sub- stance which probably represents the impurity. A piece that weighs a pound will leave a lump of this about as large as a pea. " Four miles from the village is the great ice cave, which a recent visitor describes as follows : ' This cave is situated very close to the roadside, on a level stretch of prairie about midway between the two crossings of the Bear river. We commenced the descent just as the heavens were reverberating with deep- rolling thunder and the rain pouring down in a perfecdy reckless manner, thereby making us feel that it was an opportune time to shelter ourselves beneath the arching rocky cavern. Follow- ing our guide, we descended a rocky stairway some twenty feet to a level grassy rotunda some hundreds of feet in circumference, walled in by solid lava rocks. From this we descended still fur- ther over a rugged, rocky pathway, about twenty feet, when we found ourselves on the congealed floor of the immense ice cave, where ice can be found all the year round. While our guide was lighting our tallow dips, we surveyed the rocky walls which surrounded us. The roof, some ten feet above our heads, was filled with little niches or pockets, which had been utilized by cave swallows, while the side walls were as perpendicular and solid as though hewn by the hand of man out of solid rock. Coursing our way over the ice, which was apparently firm and solid for a distance of about lOO yards, we came to a huge pile of lava rock which had rolled from the roof and almost choked up the passage-way. Our guide bade us follow him, and we soon found ourselves once again in a clear open way, wide and y88 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. high enough to drive a six-horse stage-coach comfortably. This smooth tunnel we follow for probably lOO yards, when we again descend a rocky stairway, some ten feet or more, and stand upon what apparently was once the bed of a large river, with a per- fectly solid sandy floor. The roof and side walls are here found to be covered with minute stalactites which, reflecting the light of our candles, lend a weird aspect to the surroundings. We now proceed onward several hundred feet through this perfectly .symmetrical tunnel to the end, or what appears to be the end.' "About two miles to the northwest of the ice cave is a slum- ■bering volcano, out of which came part of the immense bodies of lava that cover this plain for miles around. The rim of the crater Is almost circular, and stands up about 200 feet above the devel of the plateau below. In the cooling process, the heart of ^the crater settled down about 100 feet below the rim, leaving a perfect representation to the student of nature of an immense extinct volcano. We have been able, during our short sojourn in this wonderland, to clearly trace nearly fifty immense extinct volcanoes, which appear, from the apparent age of the lava beds, to have been flowing about the same time. "All kinds of o-ame common to the western mountains can be found in the region surrounding Soda Springs. Bear, deer, elk, mountain lions, mountain sheep, sage hens, and ducks are espe- cially plentiful. Trout fishing in Soda creek. Eight Mile creek, ■ Bear river, and Blackfoot river, is of that character which can be appreciated even by the novice. Cast your hook in almost any of these waters, and prepare for a two or three pound trout as an almost instant result. "The altitude of Soda Springs is 5,738 feet. The warmth of summer is tempered by the coolness of the nights. Blankets are not uncomfortable even in the warmest nio-hts of Aupfust. The atmosphere is dry, like all mountainous regions, and is therefore very favorable to consumptives or those afflicted with pulmonary diseases. This was once the favorite resort of Brigham Young, and is still the regular summering place of numerous Salt Lake City merchants, who have built appropriate residences. " Salt is also one of the Idaho minerals. The Salt Springs THE ONEIDA SALT PRODUCTION. 78^ which have been utilized since 1866, are in Oneida county, near the Wyoming border, about fifty miles northeast of the Soda Springs, on the Old Lander emigrant road leading from South Pass to Oregon. The road passes directly along the fiat below the spring, where, before being concentrated in pipes, the water had spread out and, evaporating in the sun, formed large masses of salt crystals which attracted the attention of passers-by and led to the discovery of the spring fiowing from the hillside above. It is clear and sparkling as the purest spring water, and never would be suspected of containing mineral. The valley in which it is situated is known now as Salt Spring valley, and is about ten miles long by an average of one mile wide ; through it fiows a. rapid stream well filled with mountain trout. " The Salt Springs were first taken up by B. F. White, Esq. (the present owner), and partner, in June, 1866, and works have since been in constant operation, every year witnessing an increase in the demand, until almost the entire stream flowing from the spring has been utilized. The salt is made by boiling the wateri in large galvanized iron pans, into which it is led by wooden pipes leading direct from the spring, thus insuring perfect clean- liness, and a uniformly white, clean and beautiful product. The water is kept constantly running into the boilers, andjis kept at: a boiline heat all the time. The salt is shoveled out once in every thirty minutes, and after draining twenty-five hours is thence thrown into the drying-house, there to remain until sacked and prepared for shipping. The most scrupulous clean- liness is observed in every operation, and when the immense banks of salt lie piled up in the drying-house, they resemble huge snow-banks more than anything one could imagine. It takes from two to four months for salt made in this manner to dry and ripen, and for this reason it becomes necessary to keep on hand a large supply, so that at any time a thousand tons of the purest and whitest salt in the world may be seen here in these far west, * Oneida salt works.' "Following is an analysis of the Oneida salt, made by Dn Piggot, the well-known analytical chemist, of Baltimore. It shows a higher percentage of pure salt than the celebrated Onondaga 7QO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. brand, manufactured at Syracuse, while neither ' Liverpool,' 'Turk's Island ' or 'Saginaw' salt approach it in purity, or are as white, clear or soluble in liquids : Chloride of sodium (pure salt) 97-79 Sulph. soda 1.54 Chloride of calcium .67 Sulph. magnesia Trace Total 100.00 "In 1866 only 15,000 pounds of salt were here manufactured; but the demand in Idaho, Utah and Montana has so steadily in- creased that the product has averaged about 600,000 pounds per annum up to 1877. In 1878 it ran up to 1,500,000 pounds, and in 1879 to nearly 2,000,000 pounds, much of the production of the last two years having been consumed in Montana smelting works. It is sacked in 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 pound bags, and is laid down at points 200 miles distant by wagon transportation at from three to four cents per pound." Soil and Vegetable Productions. — We have already stated our conviction that the amount of arable land in Idaho did not greatly exceed one-fifth of its surface, even including those lands ca- pable of successful irrigation. Of course in a Territory of which not one-seventh, including mining lands, has been surveyed, such a conviction must rest partly on general principles. Our reasons are these: The Rocky Mountains, which form the east- ern boundary of the Territory, present only their western face to it ; and in the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada and other high mountain ranges on this continent having a general di- rection from north to south, the western face or slope is precip- itous, and has very little arable land, though portions of the mountain below the snow-line may be covered with timber. But it is precisely these precipitous mountain sides which are oftenest the places of deposit of the precious metals. In Idaho we have not only the western face of the Rocky Mountains, but the long and bold spur of that range known as the Salmon River and Sawtooth Mountains, the latter name being given as characteristic of their precipitous faces. There is also a rocky wall overlooking the val- THE BARREN LANDS OF IDAHO. ygi ley of the Snake river for a long stretch of its course, and the deep, dark canon through which it flows for seventy-five miles in the lava lands. There are furthermore the alkaline lands, a desert and dreary waste, the lofty tnesas and plains, not irrigable, and unfit even for erazinof without it, and the hillsides and foothills facing- the east, which, though affording good pasture grounds in many instances for herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, are not adapted to cultivation. In short, it is only the river valley and bottom land, and not all of these, which can properly be called arable lands, and with an average rainfall of only twelve inches, more than three-fourths of it between November and April, even these must often, perhaps not always, be irrigated. The soil, when irrigated, is generally fertile ; perhaps not so rich as that of Montana, or California, or the Willamette valley, but it yields for a first crop from twenty-five to forty bushels of wheat, fifty bushels or thereabouts of barley, and fifty-five of oats. Corn does not do well, except in the river bottoms, the season being too short for it. Fruits are said to be raised with great success, especially in Northern Idaho. The forest trees of Idaho are mainly those of the Pacific slope, but rather of Oregon and Washington, than of California. The various species of pine, including the pinon or nut pine, the P. pondei^osa or yellow pine, and several other species of fir, spruce, tamarack and cypress, the red cedar, though not the "Redwood," the white cedar, the juniper, and some of the hardwood trees, as the oak of three or four species, chinquapin, hickory, etc., etc., are the principal frees of its forests. At full age, the pines, firs and cedars attain a height of about 1 50 feet. Like the Pacific States generally, it has very little sod, though the bunch grass is found on most of the grazing lands, and is so nutritious that cat- tle fatten upon it very readily. Wild flowers abound in the valleys, and many of them are of remarkable beauty. Lands upon which are found in luxuriant growth the bunch grass, larkspur and the wild sunflower of the Pacific coast, are well adapted to the growth of cereals, and these are the most com- mon products of the plateaux of Northern Idaho. Wild fruits abound in Northern and Central Idaho, especially the wild y^2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. berries and wild cherries, though the wild cherry of the Pacific coast is a shrub, and not a tree. Its fruit is, however, more edible and pleasant than that of the East. Zoology. — The wild animals of the Territory are, in general, those of Oregon and California. The grizzly bear is seldom seen, but has been found in the Territory. The black and cin- namon bear are common ; the puma, cougar, panther or moun- tain lion (the beast is known by all four names) is troublesome, especially in the grazing lands ; the gray wolf and the western coyote, all the fur-bearing animals, the martin, fisher, lynx, pos- sibly the ocelot, the otter, mink, muskrat and beaver, as well as the smaller rodents ; the marmot or gopher, sewellel and other species of mole are abundant. Moose {Alecs Americmitis) are found occasionally in Northern Idaho. Naturalists insist that the moose and true elk are identical ; but the animal generally known as the elk or Wapid {Cei^vus Canadensis) differs materially from the moose, and is the largest of the deer family in America ; it roams over the whole Territory ; two other species of deer are distinguished by the hunters ; the bighorn or Rocky Mountain sheep is found in considerable numbers on the mountains and in the lofty valleys, and occasionally the Rocky Mountain goat or goat antelope is seen. The antelope of the plains is rare, if seen at all, west of the mountains, and the buffalo is not now, we believe, seen in this Territory, though said formerly to have been found here in vast herds. Of birds, there are considerable numbers, the raptores or birds of prey predominaUng, though the grouse, pheasant and ptarmigan families are abundant. Song-birds are not as abundant as in more southern climes. There are a few reptiles and serpents. The rivers and lakes abound with fish. Salmon trout, brook and lake trout and many other species of edible fish, among which the Red fish, found only in four lakes in the world, of which two are in Idaho, is the special boast of the people of the Territory, are abundant in the lakes and streams of the Territory. Mines and Mifting. — The product of the mines of Idaho from the first attempt at mining there to the present time, a period of about twenty years, is somewhat more than ^70,000,000. More GOLD AND SILVER MINING IN IDAHO. 7^ than three-fourths of this has been from placer mining, and has been, of course, gold. The placers yielded, from 1866 to 1870 or 1872, from ^7,000,000 to ^10,000,000 per annum. In 1868 and 1S69 there had been signs of the exhaustion or unprofitable working of the placers, and attention began to be turned to quartz and lode mining. It should be said that the success of the placer mining on the Snake river was greatly impeded by the fineness of the gold dust ; it was, in the miner s language, flour gold, and pan, rocker and "Tom" could not separate it from the finely powdered clay in which it was found. A hundred pounds of pay dirt might contain, and often did, two or three pounds of gold or even more ; but the old process of washing would hardly gain a quarter of an ounce. Of late new and better processes have enabled the miners at some points to secure the greater part of this gold previously wasted. The gradual failure of the placers stimulated the prospecting for lodes of gold and silver, and from 1867 to the present time the discoveries of valuable mines have been very frequent, and some of them of veins which yielded remarkable quantities of gold and silver. Owyhee county, which had, in 1869, ten mines actively at work, and thirty or forty mining claims, and which was producing from ^1,000,000 to ^1,400,000 per annum, is now apparently almost deserted, very little having been done there since 1876, in consequence of the bad management and frauds of the officers of the laro-est mines and the failure of the Bank of California; while the greater attractions of the Salmon river gold fields, the Snake river gold fields, the gold and silver mines of the Sawtooth ran^e and the Wood river district, the Yellow Jacket district, Yankee Fork, East Fork, Bay Horse, Custer City, Challis, Silver Star and other districts and mines have com- pletely overshadowed them. A few mines are still worked in a small way in Owyhee county ; a larger number in Alturas county, though not very profitably ; most of these are silver and will be more profitable when transportation is cheaper. Boise county has many mines, both of gold and silver, in course of develop- ment, the mines of the south part of the county being gold, while those of the northern part are both gold and silver. The Snake y . OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. river gold fields belong to placer mining. Lemhi county, in which is the Yankee Fork mining district, and the remarkable Charles Dickens, Challis and Custer Mountain lodes, gives prom- ise of crreat producUveness for the next few years. In Idaho county, Northern Idaho, there are a large number of gold and silver-bearing veins, but no roads to bring in the machinery, no mills to work the ore, and nothing but pack-mules to carry the ore some hundreds of miles to points where it can be reduced. It requires ore of very high grade to pay such heavy expenses. Ada county, in which the capital, Boise City, is situated, has many excellent silver lodes, but very poor facilities for reducing them cheaply. The production of gold and silver in 1878 was estimated at $1,878,000, and for 1879 at over $1,000,000. There would be, if there were good roads to drive catde to market, excellent opportunities to extend the grazing interest gready in this Territory, for some of its grazing-lands are equal to those to be found anywhere, and a market could be found fof them from Northern Idaho by the Northern Pacific, and from Central and Southern Idaho by the Utah and Northern and Union Pacific Railroads. There are perhaps 20,000 catde sent out of the Territory yearly, but the business is not prosecuted with any energy, and amounts at the utmost to not more than $400,000 per annum. The wild animals are too numerous and fierce to make sheep-farming profitable at present. The farming crops are limited by want of a farming populadon, good roads and good and easily accessible markets, and small as is the populadon of consumers, the production of grains and root crops does not more than consume it. Indians. — There were formerly a considerable number of hosdle and warlike Indians in this Territory, but by wars and outbreaks they have been reduced until there were in 1880 only 4,020 Indians in all in the Territory, viz.: 460 Bannocks, 1,040 Shoshones, 1,208 Nez Perces, 712 mixed Shoshone Bannock and Sheep-eater, 600 Pend d'Oreille and Kootenai. Their reserva- tions amount to 2,748,981 acres, or more than a square mile to an Indian. About one-fifth of them have adopted citizen's dress and are pardally civilized. HINDRANCES TO IDAHO'S PROSPERITY. 705 Surrounded on all sides by Territories in which the most in- tense activity and energy prevails, Idaho may be compared to a Sea of Sargasso, whose tranquil surface is ruffled by no wind, and over which are gathered vast masses of sea-weed and drift-wood, the home of foul birds of prey. There is undoubtedly great mineral wealth in Idaho ^Territory, but with the exceedingly imperfect facilities now existino- or likely to exist for some time to come, for reducing the ores, or sending the bullion to market, there can be very litde induce- ment for capitalists to engage in mining operations. There is hardly a good wagon road in the Territory ; most of the trans- portation of ores, machinery, farming implements, furniture, etc., is on the backs of pack-mules. The two railroads — the Utah and Northern, which passes near the eastern boundary into Montana, and the Northern Pacific, now being constructed across the ex- treme northern portion of the Territory — the Pend d'Oreille country — however much they may benefit other interests, are not so situated as to render any material aid to the mining interests of the Territory, or to diminish, except very slightly, the cost of transportation to reduction works and markets. If the projected Oregon division of the Utah and Northern Railroad, extending from Portneuf to Boise City, and thence west into Oregon, were likely to be built, it would afford prospective relief; but it was projected to prevent the progress and completion of the North- ern Pacific, and having failed in that, it will prove too unprofita- ble and too costly an experiment to be undertaken by so con- servative an institution as the Union Pacific Railway. There are, indeed, two projected branches of the proposed road of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company from Wallula, on the Columbia, northeastward, to reach eventually Moscow, in Northwestern Idaho, near Lake Coeur d'Alene, and southeastward to Baker City in Oregon, a continuation of which might strike the mouth of Weiser river ; but these will not be built for some years, if ever, and without connections in the Ter- ritory, would be of little or no value. Meanwhile, all the interests of the Territory are suffering and are likely to suffer. She has not only the products of her mines. «^ OUR WESTERN^ EMPIRE: but might have also considerable amounts of grain to sell to her own people, if it could be transported, and if there were induce- ments in the market, which would be afforded by a rapidly in- creasing population, the amount might be gready increased. She might engage largely in stock-raising and dairy-farming, but she has no roads over which her agricultural and pastoral products could be sent to markets either within her own bounds or without them. It may be asked why does she not build wagon roads, which would at least facilitate inter-communication, and would in time lead to railroads ? There are several reasons. The construction of wagon roads over so rough a country, if not impracticable, is very difficult and expensive. If application had been made in season probably the general government would have made some grants of lands for their construction, though that would not perhaps have effected its object ; but the policy of the government has been for several years past decidedly opposed to land grants for either railroads or wagon roads. Private or corporate capital might do this, as It has In other States, but the obstacles are many, and capital is timid. The In- dian tribes have been, until recently, more or less hostile. But perhaps a still stronger objection to the free immigration which would have forced the construction of these roads, has been the fact that for the last ten years it has been the settled purpose of the Mormon leaders in Utah to take possession of Idaho and of other adjacent Territories also, If possible. They have planted their colonies In every eligible position In Southern and Central Idaho, and have driven away, as far as possible, other Immigrants, unless they would submit to their authority and dictation. The result has been disastrous. The Mormon authority is an autocracy or an oligarch^' ; and free and Independent men could not and would not submit to it. The Territory was settled much earlier than Montana or Dakota, but whereas it had in 1870 a population of 15,000, exclusive of Indians, It has now only 32,611, and this Increase is very largely of Mormon colonists sent by the central authority at Salt Lake City to establish them- selves there. There is no enterprise, no progress, and the Ter- ritory, with its great mineral wealth and Its favorable position, is THE INDIAN TERRITORY. ygj likely to remain undeveloped and largely unpeopled as a conse- quence of Mormon greed and evil influence. In such a Terri- tory we cannot invite immigrants to settle. CHAPTER VII. THE INDIAN TERRITORY. Minute Details concerning the Indian Territory not necessary at the PRESENT TIME IN THIS WORK WhY ? A FEW GENERAL PoiNTS IN VIEW OF the ultimate possibility of a change, which may permit immigration — Topography — Length and Breadth — Latitude and Longitude — Area — Boundaries — Division into Indian Reservations or Nations — Areas of MOST of these — Tracts not yet allotted, and Indian Bands not perma- nently located — Number OF Indians in the Territory in 1878 — Present number — The five leading Tribes, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks and Seminoles — Their Progress in Civilization — The Capitals of their Respective Nations — Their Farm Products in 1879 — Their Live-Stock — Valuation of Real and Personal Estate — Schools, Churches, Benevolent Institutions — Newspapers — Post-Offices — The Smaller Tribes and Bands less Civilized — Surface of the Country — Mountains, Rivers, Lakes — Climate — Meteorology of Forts Gibson AND Sill — Geology and Mineralogy — Soil and Vegetation — Forests — Railroads — The Character of the Population — Rev. Timothy Hill's Account OF the Territory — The Indian Title to the Territory — His- tory of the Removal of the Five Tribes and other Indians — Re-pur- chase OF some of their Lands by the Government — Efforts to drive them from this Territory — The Outlook for the Future — Possession OF THEIR Lands in severalty their only hope — Indian Annuity Funds. Though comprised within the limits of "Our Western Em- pire," and probably destined eventually to form one of its States, when the Indians shall have become citizens, and the aeeressive spirit of the Western settlers shall have ceased to covet their lands, or to propound the atrocious sentiment "that the only good Indian is a dead one " — yet, in the present condition of affairs, we should not be justified in going into minute details respecting the Indian Territory, inasmuch as it is by solemn treaties the exclusive home of the red man, and all explorations 7q8 our western empire. or descriptions of it, having in view the promotion of white emi- gration thither, are strictly forbidden. We shall therefore only describe it; briefly give an account of its Indian inhabitants, their locations, condition, property and productions, and their probable future, and pass on to other States and Territories to which the immigrant may have free access. The Indian Territory is situated between the parallels of 33° 35' and ^^° north latitude, and between the meridians of 94° 20' and 103° west longitude from Greenwich. The greater part of the Territory is between 94° 20' and 100° west; but a narrow strip thirty-five miles in width, and extending from the looth to the 103d degree of longitude, separates Northwestern Texas from Kansas and Colorado, and that strip watered by the Cimarron and Canadian rivers, forms a part of the Indian Terri- tory. Its length from east to west along the northern border is 470 miles, and south of latitude 36° 30', 310 miles. Its breadth east of the looth meridian averages about 210 miles. Its area is now stated as 69,304 square miles, or 44,154,240 acres. It is bounded on the north by Kansas and Colorado ; on the east by Missouri and Arkansas ; on the south by Texas, from which it is separated as far west as the looth meridian by the Red river; west of that meridian by the parallel of 36° 30'. Its western boundaries are Texas and New Mexico. Not quite one-thir- teenth of its surface is in forests; the remainder is prairie, deep ravines, or wider valleys, and pleasant mountain slopes. Besides a considerable portion still unassigned, the Territory contains eighteen or twenty Indian reservations. The Chero- kees have two tracts : one of 5,960 square miles in the north- east, east of the 96th meridian, and bordering on Kansas and Ar- kansas. They also own a strip containing about 8,500 square miles, about fifty miles wide along the Kansas border from the Arkansas river, west to the looth meridian. The Choctaw res- ervation, 10,450 square miles, is in the southeast, bordering on Arkansas and Texas. The Chickasaw reservation, 6,840 square miles, joins this on the west, and is separated from Texas by the Red river. The Creek reservation, 5,024 square miles, is in the eastern central part of the territory, between the Chero- ALLOTMENTS OF TERRLTORY TO DLFFERENT TRLBES. ygg kees and Choctaws. The Seminole reservation, 312.5 square miles, lies southwest of the Creeks, and north of this that of the Sacs and Foxes, 756 square miles. A tract of 900 square miles, lying west of the Seminole reservation, is set apart for the citizen Pottawatomies and the Absentee Shawnees. West of the Cherokees' second reservation, and bounded north by Kansas, and southwest by the Arkansas river, is the Osage reservation of 2,345 square miles ; and northwest of this is the little reserva- tion of the Kaws, 156 square miles in extent. These are late comers, though not the latest, having been removed from Kansas in 1873. T^"""*^ Kiowas, Comanches and Apaches occupy a tract of 5,546 square miles in the southwest, bounded on the east by the Chickasaw reservation. North of these the Arapahoes and Cheyennes have a tract of 6,205 square miles. Fragments of ten tribes, viz.: the Quapaws, the Confederated Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas, Piankashaws and Miamies, the Ottawas, the Shawnees, the Wyandots and the Senecas, severally, have reservations, aggregating in all 297 square miles, in the north- east corner of the Territory, east of the Neosho river. There are eight affiliated bands of Wichitas, Keechies, Wacoes, Tawacanies, Caddoes, lonies, Delawares and Penetethka Comanches, who are gathered around an agency on the Washita river, west of the Creek country, but they have no reservation. The Modocs, the remnant of Captain Jack's band, and about 400 Kickapoos and Pottawatomies, were sent to the Indian Territory in 1873, and the Modocs were placed tem- porarily on the Shawnee reservation, and the latter settled on a tract on the Kansas border west of the Arkansas river. The Poncas and some bands of the Sioux were sent into the Terri- tory in 1876 and 1877; some of the Arizona Indians about the same time, and some bands of Utes still later. In 1878 the Indian office reported the whole number of In- dians in the Indian Territory as 75,479. The increase by births, and the additional bands which have been sent in since that time, may have increased the total number to 78,000. These are for the most part recognized as civilized or partly civilized Indians. The greater part of them wear citizen's dress, and a fair propor- gQQ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. tlon have farms or herds of cattle or sheep, and can read or write at least in their own language. This is especially true of the five leading tribes, the Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chicka- saws and Seminoles. They are capable now of becoming citizens. They have churches and schools, legislatures of their own, and have for many years maintained self-government with perhaps no more failures than some of the States of the Union. The capital of the Cherokee nation is Tah-le-quah ; of the Chicka- saws, Tishemingo ; of the Choctaws, Armstrong Academy ; of the Creeks, Ok-mul-kee ; of the Seminoles, We-wo-ka. In 1878-9 these five civilized tribes cultivated 237,000 acres of land, and raised 565,400 bushels of wheat, 2,015,000 bushels of corn, 200,500 bushels of oats and barley, 336,700 bushels of vegetables, and 176,520 tons of hay. They own 45,500 horses, 5,500 mules, 272,000 head of cattle, 190,000 swine, and 32,400 sheep. Among other products of Indian labor during the same year were 8,100,360 feet of lumber sawed, 132,886 cords of wood cut, 200,600 shingles made, 387,000 pounds of maple sugar made, 164,000 pounds of wild rice gathered, 17,000 woollen blankets and shawls woven, 2,530 willow baskets made, 3,800 cords of hemlock bark peeled, 211,000 pounds of wool clipped for sale, and 3,600 barrels of fish sold. These tribes were much broken up during the late civil war, many of them having taken part in it, a majority probably on the side of the South, yet in 1872 they had so far recovered from its effects that their property, real and personal, was valued at $15,257,700, and is now estimated at over $20,000,000. The population of these tribes is about 55,000. In 1873 they maintained 164 schools with 182 teachers, and 4,300 scholars in average attendance. The number of churches is not known, but in 1872 there were 7,090 Indian members of the different churches. The Cherokees have an orphan asylum with ninety inmates. The Creeks have also an orphan asylum. There are three weekly papers published in the Territory, one English and Cherokee at Tah-le-quah, one English and Choctaw at New Bogy, and one English at Caddo. There are twenty- eight post-offices in the Territory. Of course, many of the smaller bands of Indians, especially SURFACE AND CLIMATE OF INDIAN lERRITORY. gOI those more recently sent there, have not attained to this measure of clvihzation, but for the most part they are improving and will continue to improve if under favorable influences. Su7^face, Moitntams, Rivers, Lakes. — The surface of the Terri- tory, like that of Kansas, at the north of it, has a general declina- tion toward the East. In the southwest the Wichita Mountains attain to a moderate elevation, and in the east there is a continu- ation of the Ozark and Washita hills from Arkansas ; beyond these the country spreads out into rolling prairie lands rising gradually to the west, and in the north there are table lands rising from 3,500 to 4,500 feet above the sea. The Territory is well watered. The Red river, which forms its southern boun- dary, receives numerous affluents great and small on Its northern bank : the Arkansas, which is the principal river of the Territory, has for its largest tributaries the Canadian, the north fork of the Canadian, the Cimarron or Red fork, and the Little Arkansas, on its south bank, and the Neosho, Verdigris, and Illinois on the north, and is Itself a mighty stream where It enters the Territory from Kansas. Owing to the falls which obstruct it, the Arkansas is only navigable in the Indian Territory as far as Fort Gibson, where the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway crosses It. The Red river Is navigable for nearly the whole distance along the southern border of the Territory. None of the tributaries of the Arkansas are navigable for any great distance, though sev- eral of them are large streams and afford permanent water power. The Territory Is well watered, surpassing Kansas in that respect. Climate. — The climate is generally mild and salubrious, but inclined to be dry in the northwest. In the southwest there are tracts of marshy lands where intermittent and remittent fevers prevail. The mean annual temperature in the southeast is 60°, in the northwest 55°. The annual rainfall, which, in the south- eastern extremity of the Territory is fifty-two inches, decreases to thirty-five inches in the central region, and is less than twenty inches in the northwest corner. The followinof table olves the meteorological statistics of Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas river ; at the mouth of the Neosho, and at Fort Sill, on Cache creek, in the southwest of the Territory. 51 802 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ^■rt ^ 0\ CC NO lO r^ ro \j-> m NO NO ^ 3-0^= . ro ■»!■ u-i On 00 NO ON On 00 ro 00 o 00 oo rt 5 « o ■So 'i- N \r> NO •^ NO *^ *^ ^ 00 o - "O •3injW3dui3x in ui i/^ ri vd ro in in in ro no' o "1 in NO in On in ri •& UE3J^ ir> t^ t-» r- m 'I- 'I- ■f ^ m NO NO r^-. C) ^ g Pi ■ajnjBJ3dui3X o 2 vO "^ On »/^ "% Tl- o o o r^ 00 Ti- m QO ■ajnjBjsdiuax uinuiixBjV _ 0\ On 00 00 OO ■* N t>. On N O N N ° ON On On On t^ l^ t^ On On 3 S •3JIUBJ3dUJ3X JO r'l ro ON u^ N N Tt- r-. (N) O in Tj- rt s3ui;^ lEiiuuv ° 00 Tj- ^ Ti- NO NO m in m in m ■s put; Ajmuoi^ D:; p w j? ^ W H 1 ■si" C 3 — cr izi w ^" fl^ C/j c/5 . cn W " . W C/3 1 c w CO W W C/3 cr: - ^ en ■ c/5 fcu ' ^" tn Cfi (/: C/3 « ~ c/: ^ - u: u c/: C/2 Ui . c« « m •^ (X CA) in fe; N On OC ^ NO On o On O •^ m N „ »~-. c O OC t^ N ro ►- o r^ -^ •& 00 w-N NO •irau!«a ■"vd «s Cf) N NO ^ ro M N N t^ NO o^ Tj- fe; »^ vO vn 00 N m t^ On no NO NO •"i- m n r)- Tj- rn ON Of M t^ • izi o C ON On ON On On O O 00 00 r^ CO 00 '^ sjnssajjj UE3J^ On On O O ON C?N ON ON On M M M c< M ro fO f) M cs M M M O H Pi O m «« i^ m ro On 1-^ ►« r O r ro C*H •XjipiinriH on i~» t^ OC m NO Tf ro UE3J^ S.^ vO vO NO r^ NO NO NO NO m NO r^ r^ ►~:) SjniBJaduiax n "^ W iTi On (^ O m ro O a >-> NO ON oq JO aSuey ° 00 "*•*■* W% NO m m m m in "i- (^ S •3jrnEJ3dui3X ^ U-) PO •- 'J- - ^ ro ON On no 'i- tJ- >-^ uinuiiuij^ iri un Tj- ro •-• "^ c^. •34rHEJ3duj3X n 00 l^ 00 O r^ "" On NO ON t^ O ro ►-I uinuiixEj^ ° ON On ON On 00 t-^ ^ s . •ajnjEasdmax o o M OC N. li^ r^ d in fo d 4 O 00 On in m On 00 4 rt *o t^ t^ t--. NO ■* ■^ ro 'il- m NO NO t>. d t*5 E-H ■ Q ■ •*o o < . If) o: X < 00 e V u U 9, c X. C 1 O ;2; s a; u D Q 00 r C S a, ► CQ ^ "> Geology and Mineralogy. — The geology of the Territory has not been very thoroughly explored. It seems to partake more of the characteristics of Kansas than of Arkansas, and some of SOIL AND VEGETATION. 303 its formations extend across the Red river into Northern Texas. Some of its mountains have azoic rocks near the surface, while in others, especially those of the central part of the Territory, the cretaceous period seems to have been predominant. There are in the west and northwest extensive deposits of gypsum, and in the Cherokee country are found coal, iron, good brick clay, marble of fine quality, and a yellow sandstone suitable for build- ing purposes. It is probable that there is copper, and perhaps salt in the southwest, as the beds of copper ores come to the Red river in Wichita and Clay counties, Texas,"^' and there are salt springs in the same vicinity. Salt also abounds in the northwest of the Territory, and many of the springs and streams are very salt. There has been no search for the precious metals in the Territory, and their existence is not known with certainty. The coal beds are an extension of the coal deposits of Mis- souri and Arkansas. At McAllister, in the Choctaw country, a mine is worked by a large force of white men, who pay a royalty to the Choctaw government; and near Muscogee, in the Creek Nation, is a fine mine of rich coal. All the coal mined in the Territory is bituminous, and of the best quality. Soil and Vegetation. — The valleys of the Wichita range are fertile and have good timber, water and grass, and generally the region south of the Canadian river possesses a fertile soil and is well adapted alike to cultivation and grazing. There are exten- sive forests in the northeastern portion of the Territory, but about three-fifths of the Cherokee country is rocky, and only fit for grazing. Between the 97th and 98th meridians there is a nar- row belt of timber called the " Cross Timbers," extending from the Cimarron, or Red fork of the Arkansas, to and beyond the Texas border. The region west of this and north of the Cana- dian river is reported to be sterile, without trees or niuch grass, with only a few sickly shrubs and cacti, and the soil covered with an alkaline or saline deposit. This land will produce nothing without irrigation, and may require also a plentiful application of gypsum, but with these measures it may yield abundant crops. The principal forest trees are the cottonwood, oak of several * Copper has been discovered, but not mined, at several points in the Territory. 3o4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. species, sycamore, elm, hickory, ash, yellow pine, osage orange or bois d'arc, pecan and hawthorn. Wild grapes of excellent flavor abound. The arable lands of the Territory are well adapted to cereal and root crops, and the yield per acre of wheat, Indian corn and oats is large. In the hilly and broken country the fruits of the temperate zone do well. Apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, and small fruits of good quality are largely raised. Railroads, etc. — Aside from the river navigation, there is one railway which crosses the eastern portion of the Territory from north to south, viz. : the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, extending from Sedalia, Missouri, to Denison, Texas, where it joins other Texas roads. The Atlantic and Pacific Railway, from Pacific, Missouri, also enters the Territory from the northeast, and forms a junction with the Missouri, Kansas and Texas at Vinita, in the extreme northeast of the Territory. This road, the Atlantic and Pacific, had projected a route crossing the Indian Territory from east to west along the valleys of the Cimarron and Canadian rivers, but in the strife of the different transconti- nental routes and the difficulty of obtaining the right of way through the Territory, we believe this project has been given up. The Character of the Popidation. — Rev. Timothy Hill, D. D., long a missionary in the Indian Territory, and thoroughly con- versant with the tribes which occupy it, thus describes them in a communication to the New York Evangelist in the summer of 1880: " The present population is about 80,000. I have conversed with a large number of men, native and long resident there, and none have placed it less than the number given, and some have placed it as high as 100,000. There can be but little doubt of 80,000. Without any claim to absolute accuracy, I place the pop- ulation as Indians and people of Indian extraction about 62,000 ; colored, 8,000; and whites, 10,000. The Indians are well classi- fied into civilized and uncivilized. In the former class come the Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, Chickasaws, a remnant of Delawares, who are Cherokee citizens ; a part of the Shaw- nees, Pottawatomies, and Senecas. We shall gain in definite REV. MR. HILL ON THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 805 impression if we consider each of these tribes and classes by themselves. " Easily foremost are the Cherokees. They occupy the north- east portion of the Territory (except a limited portion in the ex- treme northeast corner), with only one district or county south of the Arkansas river. The Cherokee government has a popu- lation of about 18,000, but only some 12,000 of them are Indians, the remainder are colored and white. These people all live in houses, some of them large and well furnished. They live com- fortably, and are slowly gaining property and increasing the com- forts of life around them. The war stripped them bare, and they are now only regaining some of their lost property. The lan- guage of the Cherokees is extremely difficult to acquire ; but a large number of them speak English, and no difficulty would be found in travelling nearly all over their country without an inter- preter. But to reach the full bloods, an interpreter will fre- quently be needed. " 2. The Creeks occupy a region directly west of the Chero- kees. They are a lower type of men, less attractive in personal appearance, less keen in intellect, than the Cherokees ; but they are more industrious than the Cherokees, and are probably making more rapid advances in civilization. The Creeks are greatly intermingled with the blacks. The Creek government has probably a populadon of about 13,000, of whom some 2,000 are blacks. " 3. Next to the Creeks are the Seminoles, a separate tribe of the same general origin as the Creeks, and speaking nearly the same language, but with a separate government. They are much mingled with the blacks, but are gaining in civilization rapidly. The long contest which they kept up with the United States in Florida, sufficiently attests their courage and general skill. "4. The Choctaws occupy the southeast portion of the Terri- tory. I have been among them but little, and from personal observation cannot say much. They are the strongest in numbers of the civilized tribes, numbering about 16,000 Indians. They refused to give the blacks — their former slaves — citizenship, as gQ5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the Cherokees, Creeks and Seminoles did. They are less ad- vanced in the arts of civiHzed Hfe than the Cherokees, but are gaining steadily. " 5. The Chickasaws are a small tribe of the same general origin as the Choctaws, and speaking nearly the same language. They are, in some things, in advance of all the other civilized tribes, as their land is sectionized, although not yet allotted in severalty, as they cannot do that without consent of the Choc- taws. There are many white men living among them, probably a larger number than any other tribe, many of them intermarried with the half-breeds, and thus citizens, and others living among them as renters of land, mechanics, or hired laborers, of the Indians or Indianized whites. " 6. Besides the five civilized tribes who have a separate gov- ernment, there are others quite as much advanced as any Indians. There is a remnant of the Delawares, who are well advanced in all the arts of life. They are more quiet and orderly than any other Indians cultivating their land. "Added to the Delawares are the Ottawas, not long since resi- dent in Kansas — a quiet people, supporting themselves by culti- vating their land. The Pottawatomies, a small tribe recently from Kansas, are partially civilized, some of them United States citizens. "All these civilized tribes live in houses, dress like other peo- ple, and many of them speak the English language well. I never saw a blanket-Indian among any of these people ; and perhaps the only peculiarity that would be noticed in the dress, is a fondness for bright colors with the women, and a disposition to place a feather or plume of some sort in the hat of the men. But a trader, who has lived among them many years, recently said to me, ' The change in the character of goods now sold is very marked. We sell fewer beads and trinkets and cheap jewelry, and we sell in the place of these a much better quality of cloth, and much more substantial goods for woman's wear. The advance in these things has been quite marked.' "The uncivilized Indians are the remnants of a large number of tribes gathered from widely different regions, and greatly CIVILIZED AND UNCIVILIZED INDIANS. 807 differing- in character. I suppose them to amount to about 12,000. These remnants differ greatly in personal appearance and prospective importance. The Osages, Nez Perces and Modocs are fine-looking people, fair size, well formed, and inter- esting in personal appearance — at least some of them. The Poncas are less interesting in appearance, and the Kaws and Quapaws are vile in character, and far gone in physical ruin, in consequence of the diseases of crime and vice. With most of these bands I have no intimate acquaintance, but I have seen the Modocs, Poncas and Nez Perces, and have been in the Quaker school of the Ouapav^s. " In looking at the present condition of the Territory, the negro has a prominent place. The civilized Indians were all slaveholders before the war, and some of them held large num- bers. In the reconstruction that followed the war, the Chero- kees. Creeks and Seminoles admitted their former slaves to citi- zenship ; but the Choctaws did not, and I think also the Chicka- saws. These negroes are more industrious, as a class, than the Indians, and more thievish. " The prejudices of the Cherokees against the blacks are as intense as any white man's can well be, but the Creeks are much less prejudiced than the whites. I never saw a half-breed Chero- kee and negro, but some of the most prominent families of the Creek and Seminole nations are of this mixed race, and it is not a very rare thing to find persons whose ancestry will be found in the three. A former politician of the Creek tribe, a man of honor and influence, possessed the general features and personal , appearance of an Indian ; but his African relationship was appa- rent in a woolly head, which he shaved, and covered with a wig of Indian hair. " The white population is an element of great importance, and rapidly gaining in numbers and influence. This class consists of missionaries and teachers, and their families, aggregating quite a number ; railroad employes, licensed traders, mechanics, and a large number who have intermarried in the Indian tribes. There is a Iaro;e force of coal-miners at McAlister. The crovernment officials are not numerous, but they are in positions where their 8o8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. influence is strong, and in some instances extremely deleterious. The licensed traders are a numerous and influential body. The entire trade of all the Territory is in the hands of white men or half breeds. I do not think a full-blood can be found behind a counter in all the Territory. These men remain long in the Territory, have their families there, and many of them intermarry with the educated half-breeds, and thus become citizens. From the contact I have had with this class of white men, I should place them higher in morals and influence for good than the average government officials. Another class of white men are scattered all over the Territory — those intermarried with the Indians. Many of them are respectable, honest and good men ; but many others of them are abandoned men, outcasts from society. Wicked, corrupt and criminal, they become the teachers of crime and villainy, and the source of unmitigated evil to the Indians. "A most important element in the estimate of this country, is the mixed race, commonl)^ known as half-breeds. All persons who lay claim to any consanguinity with the Indians, are popu- larly designated half-breeds. This class is rapidly increasing, both by the frequent intermarriage of new-coming white men, and the raising of larger families by the native half-breeds than are usually seen among the full-bloods. It is said that in a given number of half-breed families, and an equal number of full- bloods, the children will be more numerous in the half breed families. The number of births in the two classes of families would probably not be materially different, but a larger propor- tion of full-bloods will die in infancy and childhood. The full- blood father will take but little care of his babe, especially if it is sick ; while the white or half-breed father will have more knowl- edge, and take better care of his child, so that the death-rate will be less. The half-breeds occupy the great majority of all the offices in the native governments ; they are the law-makers and executive officers and teachers of the people. Some of them are well-educated gentlemen, and occasionally some of the young ladies possess a fair share of personal beauty." The Indian Title to this Tej'r'itory. — At the first settlement of INDIAN TITLE TO TERRITORY. gOQ this country by whites, they found the whole continent peopled, sparsely it is true, by tribes of Indians. They were of diverse origin, and were not themselves in all probability the original inhabitants of the land. Every year brings us new evidence that one or two, possibly three, races had preceded them in the occu- pation of this vast continent. Yet at that time they had the right of possession, and had held, at least by that title, much of it for some hundreds of years. The whites, coming in by hun- dreds of thousands, pushed the Indian tribes westward step by step, and gained possession of their lands — sometimes by con- quest, oftener by treaty, and, perhaps, oftener still by purchase. As a result of these various methods there were, in 1825, two centuries after the advent of the whites in what is now the United States, east of the Mississippi, only some small fragments of tribes in New England, New York and Pennsylvania, some larger but not hostile bands in Michigan and the Northwest Territory generally, a considerable body of Indians in Wisconsin Territory, and the partially civilized but resolute tribes of Chero- kees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles in Northern Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. These tribes had once or twice been at war with our people, and though they had been defeated after a long and vigorous struggle, their defeat was not an inglorious one. The first four tribes were no lonorer nomadic ; they occupied their own farms and dwelling-houses, had their own churches and schools, and were in many respects as fully civilized as most of the whites around them. But the white people of these States had looked with envious and greedy eyes upon their lands, and were determined to drive them out and take possession. Some of the streams running through these lands were discovered to carry gold in moderate quanti- ties ; the land in these mountain farms was rich, and the careful culture of the Indians put to shame the slovenly farming of the whites ; though there were millions of acres of government lands in these States to be had at nominal prices, yet they seemed poor by comparison with these Indian farms, and it was these that they wanted and must have. Added to this was the argument so decisive with a class of Southern people: "The 3 10 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. owners of these lands were nothing but Indians, anyhow ; and therefore had no rights which a white man was bound to respect." The claim of the whites to these lands, it should be said in justice to the State of Georgia, had been anticipated as early as 1802 ; for in that year the United States government entered into a compact with that State, covenandng for certain consideradons, that as soon as it could be done peaceably and on reasonable terms, the tide of the Cherokee Indians to land within the limits of Georgia should be exdnguished. It was not until the adminis- tration of President Monroe (181 7-1825), that the State of Georofia became clamorous for the fulfilment of this covenant, and very soon thereafter the other States, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, though they had no such compact with the United States, added their clamor to hers, demanding, under threats of forcible duster, the prompt removal of these tribes from their limits. In consequence of their persistence President Monroe sent a message to Congress, we think in 1824, in which he submitted a proposition for the removal of all the Indian tribes from the lands then occupied by them within the several States, and organized Territories east of the Mississippi, to the country west of that river, i. e., to Louisiana Territory. At that time neither Texas nor any part of the region west of the summits of the Rocky Mountain range, below latitude 42° north beloneed to us. In that messacre President Monroe said, that " experience had demonstrated that in the present state of these Indian tribes it is impossible to incorporate them, in such masses, in any form whatever, into our system. It has been demonstrated with equal certainty, that without a timely anticipation of, and provision against the dangers to which they are exposed, under causes which it will be difficult if not impossible to control, their degradation and extermination will be inevitable. The great object to be accomplished is the removal of these tribes to the country designated, on conditions which shall be satisfactory to themselves and honorable to the United States. This can be done by conveying to each tribe a good title to an adequate portion of land to which it may consent to remove, and providing for it there a system of internal government which shall protect DELAY IN TRANSFERRING THE INDIANS. gn its property from invasion, and by regular progress of improve- ment and civilization prevent that degeneracy, which has gener- ally marked the transition from one to the other state." Presi- dent Monroe in this message overlooked two things, viz., that the lands to which he proposed to move these tribes were already held by other tribes whose title to them was better than ours ; and that in our onward progress as a nation the time might come, as it has within little more than half a century, when the new lands to which he proposed to remove them would be demanded by the whites, and efforts made to drive them to some other region. Congress was not ready to act, and the matter went over to the administration of President John Quincy Adams. In 1826 the Secretary of War made a full and exhaustive report, in which he suggested many difficulties in carrying out such a pro- ject as President Monroe had advocated, and expressed his fears, " that should the removal be made, it would not be effective, since it was probable the same propensity which had conducted the white population to the remote regions which the Indians now occupy, will continue to propel the tide of immigration, till it is arrested only by the distant shores of the Pacific.'* Notwithstanding these apprehensions, the Secretary of War felt it necessary to submit a plan and prepare a bill for the con- sideration of Congress, providing for this removal. Among the provisions of this bill were: that the country to the west of the Mississippi, to which the tribes should be removed, should be set apart for the exclusive abode of the Indians ; that they should be removed as individuals or families, and not as tribes ; and if circumstances should justify it, the tribal relation should eventu- ally be dissolved, and the Indians amalgamated in one common nation, with a distribution, of the property among the individuals. The great difficulty, that the Indian from past experience could not be induced to trust our promises, must in some way be ob- viated. Notwidistanding the urgency of the Southern people and the excited and anxious condition of the Indian tribes, no ac- tion was taken until 1830, the second year of General Jackson's administration, when Congress passed a law authorizing the President to cause the territory west of the Mississippi, to which gl2 OUR IVES TERN EMPIRE. the original title had been extinguished, and which was not included within the limits of any State or organized Territory, to be divided into a suitable number of districts for the reception of such tribes or nations of Indians as might choose to exchange the lands on which they then resided, and to remove West. The law authorized the President to solemnly assure the Indian tribes with whom the exchange was made, that tke United States would forever secure and guarantee to them and their heirs or suc- cessors^ the country so exchanged with them. The President, in pursuance of this law, offered the most sol- emn guaranties, on the faith of the nadon, to the tribes that might be willing to make the exchange, and offered them transportation and certain annuities as a further inducement. Under this offer the larger part of the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and subsequently the Seminoles, Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Chippewas of Roche de Bceuf, Sacs and Foxes, Wees, Piankashaws, Kaskaskias, Peorias, and other tribes, made the exchange, and were told that these lands should be their permanent homes forever. Except the tracts which were ofranted to the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles, the remainder of the transplanted tribes were allotted lands within the boundaries of the present State of Kansas. Since the organization of that State, all these emigrant tribes have, notwithstanding these solemn guaranties and pledges, been removed to the Indian Territory, and their permanent homes taken from them. The government purchased from the Creeks in 1867 a por- tion of their lands, which it still holds, as well as some other lands in the Territory, with the inteHtion of placing other small bands of Indians there, when it has extinguished the titles to their lands elsewhere. Efforts to Drive the Indians from their Territory. — Meanwhile, there has been a very strong pressure on the part of western adventurers, to enter upon these lands solemnly pledged to the Indians, with the ultimate purpose of crowding them out. Dur- ing the last session of Congress, in May, 1880, a bill was intro- duced and strongly urged, for the organization of the Indian Ter- EFFORTS TO DRIVE THE INDIANS FROM TERRITORY. 813 ritory as a regular Territory under government control, by the name of Oklahoma. Thus far, the government has successfully resisted the encroachments of white settlers and adventurers upon this Territory, except the passage of one or two railways, and these, it is said, were asked for by the Indians ; but the pres- sure is growing stronger every day, and unless the Indians agree to hold their lands in severalty or individually (under certain restrictions in regard to alienating them), it may require the whole military power of the nation to restrain these lawless adventurers from taking it by force. If the lands are allotted to the Indians in severalty, and they, as fast as they become civilized, become citizens, the surplus of their lands may be sold by the government as their guardian for their account and the amount received funded, furnishing a further annuity to each member of the tribes. There are now held by the United States Government funds invested for the Indian tribes to the amount of 5^5,180,066.84, besides ^84,000 abstracted by officials at the beginning of the late civil war and not yet replaced. Of; this amount ^1,768,175.30 is held for the Cherokees ; ^1,308,- 664.82 for the Chickasaws ; ^513,161.70 for the Choctaws ; $467,501.62 for the Delawares ; $76,993.66 for the Creek orphans, and the remainder for other tribes, some of them those removed from Kansas in 1867. If these measures can be effected without injustice and wrong, the time may come when a part of this great Territory may be legitimately opened to white settlement, and the Indian farmers be led, by the sharp competition which will follow, to become bet- ter agriculturists and better citizens than they would under any other circumstances. But until that time shall come, and it must, in any event, be several years hence, we cannot consider the Indian Territory as either a legitimate or desirable field for immigration. gj^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER VIII. IOWA. The Situation of Iowa — Meaning of the Name — Migration of the Pau- HOO-CHEES thither IN 1690 CONTEMPORANEOUSLY CLAIMED BY THE FRENCH ON Account of Father Hennepin's Discovery — Wars of the Pau-hoo- CHEES, OR lOWAS, WITH THE SlOUX FrENCH TrADING-PoSTS ON THE RlVER Sale OF THE Province OF Louisiana TO the Spanish in 1763 — Retroces- sion TO France in 1800 — Sale to the United States in 1803 — Settle- ment OF Julian Dubuque — The Wars of the Iowas and Sioux — A New Enemy — The Sacs and Foxes Attack them, and drive them across the Missouri, about 1828 — Great Reduction in Numbers of the Iowas — White Settlement Commenced in 1832 — Death of Black Hawk — The Events in Civil History of Iowa to its Organization as a State in 1846 — Topography and Extent of Iowa— Its Surface — Rivers — Lakes — Prairie and Timber Lands — Black Walnut Shipped to England — Geol- ogy and Mineralogy — The Drift, Loess and Alluvium — Cretaceous Rocks — Coal Measures — The Character of Iowa Coal — Comparison with European and other Coals — No Gold or Silver in the State — Lead, Iron, Copper and Zinc — Lime — Building Stone — Gypsum Clays — Soil — Mineral Paint — Spring and Well-water — Natural Curiosities — Climate, General Remarks — Professor Parvin's Tables — The Signal Service Statistics of the River Cities — Zoology — Soil and Agricultu- ral Productions — Iowa an Agricultural State — Statistics of its Crop? — Spring and Winter Wheat — Stock-raising — Dairy Farming — Popula- tion OF Iowa at Different Periods — Railroads and Steamboat Lines — The State Easy of Access — Public Lands — Railroad Lands — State Lands — Partially Improved Farms — Manufactures — Iowa as a Home for Immigrants — Education — Churches — Future Prospects of the State. Iowa, the name of one of the easternmost of the central belt of States and Territories composing " Our Western Empire," lying between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The name, which was that of a river within its bounds, and also of the Indian tribe which dwelt on the banks of that river, is said to mean, in the Indian tongue, " The Beautiful Land." The Indians who eave it and themselves this name were not the original in- habitants of this region, but migrated hither from the country of THE IOWA INDIANS OR PAU-HOO-CHEES. 815 the great lakes (perhaps Michigan) where they had borne the name of the Pau-hoo-chees, about 1690. They increased in numbers and power here till they became the most formidable of the Indian tribes of the Northwest except the Sioux, with whom they were constantly at war. That portion of the State lying on the Mississippi is supposed to have been visited by Father Hen- nepin in 1680, and it was probably in consequence of his explo- rations that the French government soon after took formal pos- session of it and erected two or three trading-posts along the river. Their occupation of the Territory was, however, of so tri- fling a character as not to excite the displeasure of the Iowa chief, Mau-hau-gaw, or his successors, Mahaska I. and II. Their power remained undiminished, though the French title to this as a part of the province of Louisiana had passed to Spain in 1763, returned to France in 1800, and been purchased as Louisiana Territory by the United States in 1803. In this long interval, two or three French families had settled in the Terri- tory. Notable among these was Julian Dubuque, who, in 1788, settled on the banks of the Mississippi, and commenced trading and mining lead there. Eleven years later another Frenchman, Louis Honori, established himself as a trader at the head of the " rapids of the river Des Moines." But the power of the lowas was beginning to wane. They had fought off their old enemies, the Sioux, and held possession of most of the Territory, but a new enemy now came upon them. The Sacs and Foxes, Illinois tribes, finding civilization pressing hard upon them, crossed the river about 1824, and began to make encroachments upon the hunting-grounds of the lowas. Conflicts followed, and finally, about 1828, a fierce battle was fought between the invaders and the invaded near the present village of lowaville, in Davis county, in which, after a long and terrible struggle, the lowas were vanquished and the Sacs and Foxes occupied their hunting- grounds along the Mississippi. The lowas moved sullenly westward, and finally crossed the Missouri. When the whites began to setde west of the Mississippi, in what was then the Territory of Missouri, in 1831 and 1832, the Sacs and Foxes were the occupants of all the eastern and southern pordons of 8i6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the Territory, while the warlike Sioux held undisputed posses- sion of the northern portion, about the headwaters of the Des Moines and the lakes. At this time the lowas, once so powerful and warlike a tribe, had been reduced, in their new home beyond the Missouri, by wars, whiskey and small-pox to about 1,300 souls. After the close of the " Black Hawk War," in 1833, the power of the Sac chief. Black Hawk, waned, and his rival, Keokuk, who had favored peace with the whites, was recognized as the chief of the Sacs and Foxes. Black Hawk died in October, 1838, on the Des Moines river. Let us now recapitulate its political or civil history, aside from any claim of Indian proprietorship, which in this case, as we have seen, was merely the right of the strongest. 1. It was first claimed by France in 1682 or 1683, by virtue of Hennepin's discovery. 2. In 1 763, as a part* of the province of Louisiana, it was ceded to Spain. 3. October i, 1800, it was retroceded with the same bounda- ries by Spain to France. 4. April 30, 1803, France ceded the province of Louisiana to the United States. 5. October 31, 1803, a temporary government was authorized by Congress for the newly acquired Territory. 6. October i, 1804, it was included in the "District of Louisi- ana," and placed under the jurisdiction of the territorial gov- ernment of Indiana. 7. July 4, 1805, it was included as a part of the "Territory of Louisiana," then organized with a separate territorial govern- ment. 8. June 4, 181 2, it was embraced in what was then made the "Territory of Missouri." 9. June 28, 1834, it became part of the "Territory of Michi- gan." 10. July 3, 1836, it was included as a part of the newly organ- ized " Territory of Wisconsin." 11. June 12, 1838, it was included in, and constituted a part of the newly organized " Territory of Iowa." AKEA AND EXTENT OF lOlVA. 317 12. December 28, 1846, it was admitted into the Union as a State. A7'ea and Extent. — Iowa is about 300 miles in length, east and west, and a litde over 200 miles in breadth, north and south ; having nearly the figure of a rectangular parallelogram. Its northern boundary is the parallel of 43° 30', separating it from the State of Minnesota. Its southern limit is nearly on the line of 40° 31' from the point where this parallel crosses the Des Moines river, westward. From this point to the southeast cor- ner of the State, a distance of about thirty miles, the Des Moines river forms the boundary line between Iowa and Missouri. The two great rivers of the North American continent form the east and west boundaries, except that portion of the western boun- dary adjoining the Territory of Dakota. The Big Sioux river from its mouth, two miles above Sioux City, forms the western boundary up to the point where it intersects the parallel of 43° 30'. These limits embrace an area of 55,045 square miles; or, 35,228,800 acres. When it is understood that all this vast ex- tent of surface, except that which is occupied by the rivers, lakes and peat-beds of the northern counties, is susceptible of the highest cultivation, some idea may be formed of the immense agricultural resources of the State. Iowa is nearly as large as England, and twice as large as Scotland ; but when we consider the relative area of surface which may be made to yield to the wants of man, those countries of the Old World will bear no comparison with Iowa. Surface. — The surface of the State is remarkably uniform, rising to nearly the same general altitude. There are no moun- tains, and yet but little of the surface is level or flat. The whole State presents a succession of gentle elevations and depressions, with some bold and picturesque bluffs along the principal streams. The western portion of the State is generally more elevated than the eastern, the northwestern part being the highest. Nature could not have provided a more perfect system of drainage, and at the same time leave the country so completely adapted to all the purposes of agriculture. Looking at the map of Iowa, we see two systems of streams or rivers running nearly at right 52 3t^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. angles with each other. The streams which discharge their waters into the Mississippi flow from the northwest to the south- east, while those of the other system flow toward the southwest, and empty into the Missouri. The former drain about three- fourths of the State, and the latter the remaining one-fourth. The water-shed dividing the two systems of streams represents the highest portion of the State, and gradually descends as you follow its course from northwest to southeast. Low-water mark in the Missouri river at Council Bluffs is about 425 feet above low-water mark in the Mississippi at Davenport. At the cross- ing of the summit, or water-shed, 245 miles west of Davenport, the elevation is a,bout 960 feet above the Mississippi. The Des Moines river at the city of Des Moines has an elevation of 227 feet above the Mississippi at Davenport, and is 198 feet lower than the Missouri at Council Bluffs. The elevation of the east- ern border of the State at McGregor is about 624 feet above the level of the sea, while the highest elevation in the northwest portion of the State is about 1,400 feet above the level of the sea. In addition to the grand water-shed mentioned above, as dividing the waters of the Mississippi and Missouri, there are between the principal streams, elevations commonly called " di- vides," which are drained by numerous streams of a smaller size tributary to the rivers. The valleys along the streams have a deep, rich soil, but are scarcely more fertile than many portions of these undulating prairie "divides." Rivers. — As stated above, the rivers of Iowa are divided into two systems or classes — those flowing into the Mississippi, and those flowing into the Missouri. The Mississippi, the largest river on the continent, and one of the largest in the world, washes the entire eastern border of the State, and is most of the year navigable for a large class of steamers. The only serious obstructions to steamers of the largest size are what are known as the Lower Rapids, just above the mouth of the Des Moines. The government of the United States has constructed a canal, or channel, around these rapids on the Iowa side of the river — a work which will prove of immense advantage to the com- merce of Iowa for all time to come. The principal rivers which RIVERS OF IOWA. 3jg flow through the interior of the State, east of the water-shed, are the Des Moines, Skunk, Iowa, Wapsiplnicon, Maquoketa, Turkey •and Upper Iowa, One of the largest rivers of the State is the Red Cedar, which rises in Minnesota, and flowing in a south- easterly direction, joins its waters with the Iowa river in Louisa county, only about thirty miles from its mouth, that portion below the junction retaining the name of Iowa river, although it is really the smaller stream. The Des Moines is the largest interior river of the State, and rises in a group or chain of lakes in Minnesota, not far from the Iowa border. It really has its sources in two principal branches, called East and West Des Moines, which, after flowing about seventy miles through the northern portion of the State, converge to their junction in the southern part of Humboldt county. The Des Moines receives a number of large tributaries, among which are Raccoon and three rivers (North, South and Middle) on the west, and Boone river on the east. Raccoon (or 'Coon) rises in the vicinity of Storm lake, in Buena Vista county, and after re- ceiving several tributaries, discharges its waters into the Des Moines river, within the limits of the city of Des Moines. This stream affords many excellent mill privileges, some of which have been improved. The Des Moines flows from northwest to south- east, not less than 300 miles through Iowa, and drains over 10,000 square miles of its territory. At an early day, steamboats at certain seasons of the year navigated this river as far up as the " Raccoon Forks," and a large grant of land was made by Con- gress to the State for the purpose of improving its navigation. The land was subsequently diverted to the construction of the Des Moines Valley Railroad. Before this diversion several dams were erected on the lower portion of the river, which afford a vast amount of hydraulic power to that part of the State. The next river above the Des Moines is Skunk, which has its source in Hamilton county north of the centre of the State. It traverses a southeast course, having two principal branches — their aggregate length being about 450 miles. They drain about 8,000 square miles of territory, and afford many excellent mill sites. g2o <5<^^^' IVE STERN EMPIRE. The next is Iowa river, which rises in several branches among the lakes in Hancock and Winnebago counties, in the northern part of the State. Its great eastern branch is Red Cedar, having its source among the lakes in Minnesota. In size, Red Cedar is the second interior river of the State, and is of great importance as affording immense water-power. Shell Rock river is a tributary of Red Cedar, and is valuable to Northern Iowa, on account of its fine water-power. The aggregate length of Iowa and Red Cedar rivers is about 500 miles, and they drain about 12,000 square miles of territory. The Wapsipinicon river rises in Minnesota, and flows in a southeasterly direcdon over 200 miles through Iowa, draining, with its branches, a belt of territory only about twelve miles wide. This stream is usually called " Wapsi " by the setders, and is valuable as furnishing good water-power for machinery. Maquoketa river, the next considerable tributary of the Mis- sissippi, is about 160 miles long, and drains about 3,000 square miles of territory. Turkey river is about 1 30 miles long, and drains some 2,000 square miles. It rises in Howard county, runs southeast, and empdes into the Mississippi near the south line of Clayton county. Upper Iowa river also rises in Howard county, flows nearly east, and empties into the Mississippi near the northeast corner of the State, passing through a narrow, but picturesque and beautiful valley. This portion of the State is somewhat broken, and the streams have cut their channels deeply into the rocks, so that in many places they are bordered by bluffs from 30c to 400 feet high. They flow rapidly, and furnish ample water- power at numerous points. Having mentioned the rivers which drain the eastern three- fourths of the State, we will now cross the great "water-shed" to the Missouri and its tributaries. The Missouri river, forming a little over two-thirds of the length of the western boundary line, is navigable for large-sized steamboats for a distance of 1,950 miles above the point (Sioux City) where it first touches the western border. It is, therefore, THE MISSOURI AND BIG SIOUX RIVERS. 821 a highway of no little importance to the commerce of Western Iowa. During the season of navigation last year, over fifty. steamers ascended the river above Sioux City, most of which, were laden with stores for the mining region above Fort Benton. We will now refer to the larger tributaries of the Missoni, which drain the western portion of Iowa. The Big Sioux river forms about seventy miles of the western boundary of the State, its general course being nearly fn -m north, to south. It has several small tributaries, draining the counties of Plymouth, Sioux, Lyon, Osceola and O'Brien, in NortL western Iowa. One of the most important of these is Rock river — a bt ;- tiful little stream runnino; throuo;h the counties of L,?n and Sioux. It is supported by springs, and affords a volume of water sufficient for propelling machinery. Big Sioux river v/ac once regarded as a navigable stream, and steamboats of a small size have on several occasions ascended it for some distance. It is not, however, now considered a safe stream for navigation. It empties into the Missouri about two miles above Sioux City, and some four miles below the northwest corner of Woodbury county. It drains about i,ooo square miles of Iowa territory. Just below Sioux City, Floyd river empties into the Missouri. It is a small stream, but flows through a rich and beautiful valley. Its length is about lOO miles, and it drains nearly 1,500 square miles of territory. Several mills have been erected on this stream, and there are other mill sites which will doubtless be improved in due time. Little Sioux river is one of the most important streams of Northwestern Iowa. It rises in the vicinity of Spirit and Okoboji lakes, near the Minnesota line, and meanders through various counties a distance of nearly 300 miles to its confluence with the Missouri near the northwest corner of Flarrison county. With its tributaries it drains not less than 5,000 square miles. Several small mills have been erected on this stream, and others doubtless will be when needed. Boyer river is the next stream of considerable size below the Little Sioux, It rises in Sac county and flows southwest to the Missouri in Pottawotamie county. Its entire length is about g22 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 150 miles, and drains not less than 2,000 square miles of terri- tory. It is a small stream, meandering through a rich and lovely- valley. The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad passes down this valley some sixty miles. Going down the Missouri, and passing several small streams, which have not been dignified with the name of rivers, we come to the Nishnabotna, which empties into the Missouri some twenty liiiles below the southwest corner of our State. It has three principal branches, with an aggregate length of 350 miles. These streams drain about 5,000 square miles of Southwestern T'owc . They flow through valleys of unsurpassed beauty and iiertility, and furnish good water-power at various points, though in this respect they are not equal to the streams in the north- eastern portion of the State. The Southern portion of the State is drained by several streams that flow into the Missouri river, in the State of Missouri. The most Important of these are Chariton, Grand, Platte, One Hun- dred and Two, and the three Nodaways — East, West and Middle. All of these afford water-power for machinery, and present splendid valleys of rich farming lands. We have above only mentioned the streams that have been designated as rivers, but there are many other streams of great importance and value to different portions of the State, draining the country, furnishing mill-sites, and adding to the variety and beauty of the scenery. So admirable is the natural drainage of almost the entire State, that the farmer who has not a stream of living water on his premises is an exception to the general rule. Lakes. — In some of the northern counties of Iowa there are many small, but beautiful lakes, some of which we will notice. They are a part of the system of lakes extending far northward into Minnesota, and most of them present many interesting fea- tures which the limits of our sketch will not permit us to give in detail. The following are among the most noted of the lakes of Northern Iowa: Clear lake, in Cerro Gordo county; Rice lake, Silver lake, and Bright's lake, in Worth county; Crystal lake, Eagle lake, Lake Edward, and Twin lakes, im Hancock county; THE LAKES OF IOWA. 823 Owl lake, in Humboldt county; Lake Gertrude, Lake Cornelia, Elm lake, and Wall lake, in Wright county; Lake Caro, in Ham- ilton county; Twin lakes, in Calhoun county; Wall lake, in Sac county; Swan lake, in Emmet county; Storm lake, in Buena Vista county; and Okoboji and Spirit lakes, in Dickinson county. Nearly all of these are deep and clear, abounding in many excellent varieties of fish, which are caught abundantly by the setders at all proper seasons of the year. The name "Wall Lake," applied to several of these bodies of water, is derived from the fact that a line or ridge of boulders extends around them, giving them somewhat the appearance of having been walled. Most of them exhibit the same appearance in this respect to a greater or less extent. Lake Okoboji, Spirit lake, Storm lake, and Clear lake are the largest of the Northern Iowa lakes. All of them, except Storm lake, have fine bodies of tim- ber on their borders. Lake Okoboji is about fifteen miles long, and from a quarter of a mile to two miles wide. Spirit lake, just north of it, embraces about ten square miles, the northern border extending to the Minnesota line. Storm lake is in size about three miles east and west by two north and south. Clear lake is about seven miles long by two miles wide. The dry rolling land usually extends up to the borders of these lakes, making them delightful resorts for excursion or fishing parties, and they are now attracting attention as places of resort, on account of the beauty of their natural scenery, as well as the inducements which they afford to hunting and fishing parties. Prairie and Timber. — One of the peculiar features of the topography of the northwest is the predominance of prairies. It has been estimated that about nine-tenths of the surface of Iowa is prairie. The timber is generally found in heavy bodies skirting the streams and lakes, but there are also many isolated groves standing, like islands in the sea, far out on the prairies. The eastern half of the State contains a larger proportion of timber than the western. The following are the leading varie- ties of timber: White, black, and burr oak, black walnut, of ex- cellent quality, but now almost entirely picked out and shipped to England, butternut, hickory, hard and soft maple, cherry, red 82J, OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. and white elm, ash, linn, hackberry, birch, honey locust, cotton- wood, and quaking asp. A few sycamore trees are found in certain localities alone the streams. Groves of red cedar also prevail, especially along Iowa and Cedar rivers, and a few isolated pine trees are scattered along the bluffs of some of the streams in the northern part of the State. The oreat demand for timber for railroad construction, for ties, stations, bridges, and for a time for fuel, as well as for dwell- ings, telegraph poles, for agricultural and mining machinery, and mine supports, has within the last decade nearly stripped Iowa of its most valuable timber ; and the English movement for cull- ing out all her valuable black walnut trees, working them up roughly by portable saw-mills, and shipping the timber at once, is likely to deprive the country of one of its best sources of supply of this valuable wood. Nearly all kinds of timber common to Iowa have been found to grow rapidly when transplanted upon the prairies, or when propagated from the planting of seeds. Only a few years and a lltde expense are required for the setder to raise a grove suffi- •rlent to afford him a supply of fuel. The kinds most easily propagated, and of rapid growth, are cottonwood, maple, and walnut. All our prairie soils are adapted to their growth. Tree-planting is encouraged by national and State laws, and is now actively practised, but it will be long before these trees will, blither in quality or quantity, supply the loss of those which have been so recklessly sacrificed. Geology and Mineralogy. — The surface geology of Iowa, like that of Nebraska and pardy of Kansas, is peculiar and very interestine from its relation to the soil of the State. Far back in the glacial period this whole region, including Iowa. South- eastern Dakota, Nebraska, and Eastern Kansas, was less ele- vated thar. It now is, and formed the bed of a vast lake at least 500 miles in length and nearly that in width. Through this lake flowed the Missouri, which had then received its greatest affluent, the Yellowstone. Its other principal tributaries at that time (lowed into the lake. For ages numerous streams brought Into \he lake the debris of mountain and hill, and the glaciers added lOJVA COAL. 325 their contribution from their moraines. At length there came a time of upheaval ; this vast lake was drained till it became an immense marsh of soft and plastic mud ; through this the rivers ploughed their way, cutting through the deposits of gravel, of silica, and of decayed vegetation easily, and left on either side high bluffs, which, however, having no rocky bond of union, often crumbled and fell into the streams. After another long period the marsh became dry land, and its surface, composed of drift or gravel, loess or bluff deposit, a very fine and rich silicious powder, and alluvium as the result of decayed vegetation, fur- nished the finest soil in the world. But beneath this surface, which is of varying, though everywhere of considerable thick- ness, the rivers, which have plowed their way through its lowest layers, reveal other important and economically valuable strata. The cretaceous beds underlie this vast alluvial and diluvial deposit, and below them we come to the coal measures of the carboniferous era, whose existence was first discovered from their outcrop in the river bluffs. "The coal of Iowa is bituminous, and is a true coal, not a lig- nite. It covers an area of at least 20,000 square miles, and coal is successfully mined in more than thirty counties of the State. It is not of identical quality in all parts of the coal field, but that produced in Appanoose, Boone, Davis, Dallas, Hamilton, Har- din,- Jefferson, Mahaska, Marion, Monroe, Polk, Van Buren, Wapello, Webster, and perhaps some other counties, is of excel- lent quality and easily raised. "The great productive coal field of Iowa is embraced chiefly within the valley of the Des Moines river and its tributaries, ex- tending up the valley from Lee county nearly to the north line of Webster county. Within the coal field embraced by this val- ley deep mining is nowhere necessary. The Des Moines and its larger tributaries have generally cut their channels down throuofh all the coal measure sfrata. "The coal of Iowa is equal in quality and value to coal of the same class in other parts of the world. The veins which have so far been worked are from three to eight feet in thickness, but it is not necessary to dig from one thousand to two thousand feet 826 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. to reach the coal, as miners are obliged to do in some countries. But little coal has in this State been raised from a depth greater than one hundred feet. " Professor Gustavus Hinrich, of the State University, who also officiated as State Chemist in the prosecution of the State geological survey, gives an analysis showing the comparative value of Iowa coal with that of other countries. The following is from a table prepared by him — lOO representing the combus- tible : Name and Locality. Brown coal, from Arbesan, Bohemia . Brown coal, from Bilin, Bohemia . . Bituminous coal, from Bentheu, Silesia Cannel coal, from Wigan, England Anthracite, from Pennsylvania . Iowa coals — average c t c c u o g J3 rt O" ^ U pa < f^ W > 36 64 3 II 114 88 40 67 16 00 123 81 51 49 21 5 126 80 61 39 10 3 113 «7 94 6 2 2 104 96 50 50 5 5 no 90 "In this table the excess of the equivalent above 100, ex- presses the amount of impurities (ashes and moisture) in the coal. The analysis shows that the average Iowa coals contain only ten parts of impurities for one part of combustible (carbon and bitumen) being the purest of all the samples analyzed except the anthracite from Pennsylvania. "Twelve years ago (in 1868) the production of this coal in Iowa was reported as 241,453 tons, or more than six million bushels. It has increased steadily since that time, and in 1877 had reached over 1,500,000 tons, or about forty million bushels. It is still increasing, and is used in several of the adjacent States. ''Peat. — During the last thirteen or fourteen years large deposits of peat, existing in several of the northern counties of the State, have attracted considerable attention. In 1866, Dr. White, the State Geologist, made careful observations in some of those counties, including Franklin, Wright, Cerro Gordo, Hancock, Winnebago, Worth and Kossuth. In 1869, Hon. A. R. Fulton dlso visited the counties named, and from personal observation THE PEAT BEDS. 827 was convinced that the deposits of peat were as extensive as repre- sented by the State Geologist. It is estimated that the counties above named contain an average of at least four thousand acres each of good peat lands. The depth of the beds is from four to ten feet, and the quality is but little, if any, inferior to that of Ireland. As yet, but litde use has been made of it as fuel, but when it is considered that it lies wholly beyond the coal-field, in a sparsely timbered region of the State, its prospective value is regarded as very great. Dr. White estimates that i6o acres of peat, four feet deep, will supply two hundred and thirteen fami- lies with fuel for upwards of twenty-five years. It must not be inferred that the presence of these peat beds in that part of the State is in any degree prejudicial to health, for such is not the case. The dry, rolling prairie land usually comes up to the very border of the peat marsh, and the winds, or breezes, which pre- vail through the summer season, do not allow water to become stagnant. Nature seems to have designed these peat deposits to supply the deficiency of other material for fuel. The penetra tion of this portion of the State by railroads and the rapid growth of timber may leave a resort to peat for fuel as a matter of choice, and not of necessity. It therefore remains to be seen of what economic value in the future the peat beds of Iowa may be. Peat has also been found in Muscatine, Linn, Clinton, and other eastern and southern counties of the State, but the fertile region of Northern Iowa, least favored with other kinds of fuel, is peculiarly the peat region of the State. Neither gold nor sil- ver has been found in Iowa, except a very small percentage of the latter in the galena or lead ores. "■Lead. — Since the year 1833, large quantities of lead have been mined in the vicinity of Dubuque, and the business is still carried on successfully. From four to six million pounds of ore have been smelted annually at the Dubuque mines, yielding from sixty-eight to seventy per cent, of lead. So far as known, the lead deposits of Iowa that may be profitably worked are con- fined to a belt of four or five miles in width along the Mississippi, above and below the city of Dubuque. ''Other Metals. — Iron, copper and zinc have been found in g28 OUR WESTER ^r EMPIRE. limited quantities in different parts of the State — the last-named metal being chiefly associated with the lead deposits. "Lime. — Good material for the manufacture of quick-lime is found in abundance in nearly all parts of the State. Even in the northwestern counties, where there are but few exposures of rock * in place,' limestone is found among the boulders scattered over the prairies and about the lakes. So abundant is limestone, suitable for the manufacture of quick-lime, that it is needless to mention any particular locality as possessing superior advan- tages in furnishing this useful building material. At the fallow- ing points parties have been engaged somewhat extensively in the manufacture of lime, to wit: Fort Dodge, Webster county; Springvale, Humboldt county ; Orford and Indiantown, Tama county; Iowa Falls, Hardin county; Mitchell, Mitchell county; and at nearly all the towns along the streams northeast of Cedar river. ''Building Stone. — There is no scarcity of good building stone to be found along nearly all the streams east of the Des Moines river, and along that stream from its mouth up to the north line of Humboldt county. Some of the counties west of the Des Moines, as Cass and Madison, as well as most ot the southern counties of the State, are supplied w^ith good building stone. Building stone of peculiarly fine quality is quarried at and near the following places: Keosauqua, Van Buren county; Mt. Pleasant, Henry county ; Fairfield, Jefferson county ; Ottumwa, Wapello county; Winterset, Madison county; Fort Dodge, Webster county; Springvale and Dakota, Humboldt county; Marshalltown, Marshall county; Orford, Tama county; Vinton, Benton county ; Charles City, Floyd county ; Mason City, Cerro Gordo county; Mitchell and Osage, Mitchell county; Anamosa, Jones county; Iowa Falls, Hardin county; Hampton, Franklin county; and at nearly all points along the Mississippi river. In some places, as in Marshall and Tama counties, several spe- cies of marble are found, which are susceptible of the finest finish, and are very beautiful. ''Gypsum. — One of the finest and purest deposits of gypsum known in the world exists at Fort Dodge, in this State. It is MINERALS AND SOIL OF IOWA. 826 confined to an area of about six by three miles on both sides of the Des Moines river, and is found to be from twenty-five to thirty feet in thickness. The main deposit is of uniform gray color, but large masses of almost pure white (resembling alabas- ter) have been found embedded in the main deposits. The quan- tity of this article is practically inexhaustible, and the time will certainly come when it will be a source of wealth to that part of the State. So far, it has only been used to a limited extent for paving and building purposes, if we except the fraud practised upon our Eastern cousins by those who manufactured from it that great humbug and swindle of the century, the ' Cardiff Giant! ' Plaster-of-paris manufactured from the Fort Dodge gypsum has been found equal to the best in quality. ''Clays. — In nearly all parts of the State the material suitable for the manufacture of brick is found in abundance. Sand is ob- tained in the bluffs along the streams and in their beds. Potter's clay, and fire-clay suitable for fire-brick, are found in many places. An excellent article of fire-brick is made at Eldora, Hardin county, where there are also several extensive potteries in operation. Fire-clay is usually found underlying the coal- seams. There are extensive potteries in operation in the coun- ties of Lee, Van Buren, Des Moines, Wapello, Boone, Hamilton, Hardin, and perhaps others. ''Soil. — It is supposed that there is nowhere upon the globe an equal area of surface with so small a proportion of untillable land as we find in Iowa. The soil is generally a drift deposit, with a deep covering of vegetable mould, and on the highest prairies is almost equal in fertility to the alluvial valleys of the rivers in other States. The soil in the valleys of our streams is largely alluvial, producing a rapid and luxuriant growth of all kinds of vegetation. The valleys usually vary in extent according to the size of the stream. On the Iowa side of the Missouri river, from the southwest corner of the State to Sioux City, a distance of over one hundred and fifty miles, there is a continuous belt of alluvial ' bottom,' or valley land, varying in width from five to twenty miles, and of surpassing fertility. This valley is bordered by a continuous line of bluffs, rising from one to two hundred gjo OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. feet, and presenting many picturesque outlines when seen at a distance. The bluffs are composed of a peculiar formation, to which has been given the name of loess or ' bluff deposit.' It is of a yellow color, and is composed of a fine silicious matter, with some clay and limey concretions. This deposit in many places extends eastward entirely across the counties bordering the Mis- souri river, and is of great fertility, promoting a luxuriant growth of grain and vegetables. ''Mineral Paint. — In Montgomery county a fine vein of clay, containing a large proportion of ochre, was several years ago discovered, and has been extensively used in that part of the State for painting barns and out-^houses. It is of a dark red color, and is believed to be equal in quality, if properly manufac- tured, to the mineral paints imported from other States. The use of it was first introduced by Mr. J. B. Packard, of Red Oak, on whose land there is an extensive deposit of this material. "Spring and Well Water. — As before stated, the surface of Iowa is generally drained by the rolling or undulating character of the country, and the numerous streams, large and small. This fact might lead some to suppose that it might be difficult to procure good spring or well water for domestic uses. Such, however, is not the case, for good pure well water is easily ob- tained all over the State, even on the highest prairies. It is rarely necessary to dig more than thirty feet deep to find an abundance of that most indispensable element, good water. Along the streams are found many springs breaking out from the banks, affording a constant supply of pure water. As a rule, it is necessary to dig deeper for well water in the timber portions of the State, than on the prairies. Nearly all the spring and well waters of the State contain a small proportion of lime, as they do in the Eastern and Middle States. There are some springs which contain mineral properties, similar to the springs often resorted to by invalids and others in other States. In Davis county there are some 'Salt Springs,' as they are com- monly called, the water being found to contain a considerable amount of common salt, sulphuric acid, and other mineral ingre- dients. Mineral waters are found in different parts of the State. CLIMATE OF IOWA. g^j ^'Natural Curiosities. — Aside from Its walled lakes and some very beautiful waterfalls, the State does not abound in natural wonders. The ' Ice Cave ' at Decorah, in the northeastern part of the State, deserves notice. It is under a bluff on the north bank of the upper Iowa river, and has this wonderful peculiarity that while in winter no ice is to be found in it, it forms in spring and summer, and thaws out again upon the advent of cold weather. Nine miles east of Decorah, on Trout river, there is an underground stream navigable for canoes, and which has been explored for a long distance. ''Cliinatc and Meteorology. — The average or mean temperature, from a series of observations taken at different points and in different years, is found to be 48°. The temperature of the win- ters is usually somewhat lower than that of the Eastern States, but that of the other seasons higher, so that all vegetation is forced forward rapidly to maturity. There is a somewhat less average amount of rain than that which falls in the States bor- dering on the Atlantic. The quantity which falls yearly in Iowa is lound to average about forty and one-half inches, and of snow thirty inches — equivalent to three inches of rain, making a total of forty-three and one-half inches. There is occasionally a sea- son which greatly exceeds the average in the fall of rain, but never one marked with such extreme drought as to occasion a failure of crops. "The opinion may prevail to some extent that the climate, especially of Northern Iowa, is rigorous, and the winters long and severe. It is true that the mercury usually sinks lower than in the States farther south, but at the same time the atmosphere is dry and invigorating, and the seasons not marked by the fre- quent and sudden changes which are experienced in latitudes farther south. The winters are equally as pleasant and more healthful than in the Eastern or Middle States. Pulmonary and other diseases, arising from frequent changes of temperature and miasmatic influences, are almost unknown, unless contracted elsewhere. Winter usually commences in December and ends in March. The spring, summer, and fall months* are delightful. Iowa is noted for the glory and beauty of its autumns. That 832 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. gorgeous season denominated 'Indian summer' cannot be de- scribed, and in Iowa it is peculiarly charming. Day after day, for weeks, the sun is veiled in a hazy splendor, while the forests are tinged with the most gorgeous hues, imparting to all nature something of the enchantments of fairyland. Almost imper- ceptibly, these golden days merge into winter, which holds its stern reign without the disagreeable changes experienced in other climes, until spring ushers in another season of life and beauty." We have endeavored to obtain definite and detailed statistics of the meteorology of localities which should represent as fully as possible the differences of temperature and rainfall, etc., in different sections of the State. Our statistics are very full for the whole eastern border, and for some of the cities of the interior, but are defective for the western counties, though we know in general that as we proceed westward the average tem- perature on the same parallels is somewhat higher, the winters a little less severe, and the rainfall slightly diminished as compared with those on the eastern border. The following statistics of the meteorology of Muscatine and Iowa City are by Professor Parvin, and are from the averages of thirty years : Table showing the Average, or Alean Temperature of the Seasons, for the years 1839 to 1 869, inclusive ; also the Mean Temperature of the months nearest thereto, and the Extremes of Temperature. Seasons. Temperature. Months Nearest Seasons. SorinfT . ... 47° 44' 70° 37' 44° 52' 23° 37' 47° 57' April 48° 50' 70° 70' 49° 50' 23° 25' Aupust Autumn ... October December Year RANGE OF TEMPERATURE. Highest 99° OO'' -30° 00' 129° 00'' August 31st, 1854. January l8th, 1857. Lowest Range .'. METEOROLOGY OF IOWA. 333 Table giving the MontJily Thermometrical Results in degrees for the years lS68 and 1869 — the ob^rvQfions being made at the door of the State University, Iowa City, by Prof. T. S. Parvin. Mp^HS. January.. . February . March .... April May June July August... . September October . . November December Sums... . Means . . 6.4 14.6 36.2 547 63.8 75-6 60.9 52.2 42.9 33-2 48S.9 40.7 24.4 32.1 48.4 52.2 71.0 78.5 89.1 78.7 66.2 58.4 43-9 28.2 nz 21. 1 430 44.0 61.7 693 76.5 69.4 59-6 48.3 36.6 20.9 673-1 5637 56.1, 46,9 50 55 75 78 84 92 96 92 81 IZ 63 50 576.151 889 '3-37 25.29 42.69 44.69 61.69 70.75 80.79 69.12 58.76 49.84 37-97 21.19 -16 -27 3 18 46 47 53 48 32 30 18 -18 234 48.01 74 19 1 369. c % 7 2 9 £ E g >, 3 A. M. p. M. p. M. .5 E E c « B -* S % 18.9 34-1 24.9 26.02 48 -14 19.9 34-7 27.4 27.00 62 -^ 22.3 39-2 29.7 30.26 72 -12 .S9-4 55.6 45.3 47.09 80 20 52.8 69.8 62.3 60.01 82 40 60.3 75-2 65.1 66.07 85 44 64.7 7«.3 70.0 70.86 86 55 68.8 80.6 74-9 74-36 93 57 56.1 72.7 62.3 63-23 88 33 34.7 53-1 40.8 42.72 78 16 27.5 z'>^.z 30.6 32.12 70 5 21.6 29.9 25-3 25.46 46 - 2 487.0691.5 557.0565.20 890 234 40.6 57.6 46.4I 47- 10 74 19 Table giving the Monthly and Annual Quantity of Rain and Snow reduced to water ; the Maxi- mum, Minimum, and Alean Amounts from 1848./0 1869. Years. 3 c « •—1 March. 0, < May. June. July. August. 1 0. u 2 % > B 1 For the , Year; ■ Mean ....... 1.52 2.21 2.78: 3.79 \ \ - 4.95 4-59' 4-68 5-69 4.24 3-65 ; 3-27 2.34 44.27 Least .12 .38 .43 .55 1.42 .21 .80 1.36 1.13 .21 .19 •32 23-3^5 Greatest 4.19 580 8.60 j 1 1.80I 12.60! 14.30! 8.6p 1 14.00! 9.92 !,9-i6 ! 5.76 i 1 1 ! 11 1 1 6.25 74-49 Table showing the Monthly and Annual Quantities of Snow in inches, for the years 1848 to 1869, inclusive, according to records kept by Prof. T. S. Pai~vin, at Muscatine and Iowa City. Years. 3 >— < a. < October. November. E Q For the Years. Means 6.70 6.73 3-93' .76 .40 4-73 9.21 33.23 . .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .10 7.90 Greatest 24-25 27.00 16.15 6.00 4.10 30.00 29.52 61.97 53 834 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. g g 1 -^ o o ►-^ o 0=; o ^1S " c n » ^ „ K . « « •^ .1 « «. V Wc« ^« rs xn W w ^ ">• ^'i^, ^ H ^ iz; c "o ^ w;^- ^.oi ^2; '^ w z H '^.^. c« w« >w C If . M v\ ro Ov m >o CO ro r>. •-• >-« ■^ o\, UEnj^ ^^ VO VO VO l-^ . u^ m "*■«; 3 - ■SSUE^ •<■ fn -l- "^ "^ ■<^ ? ■* «3 °«§ m r^ « \o 00 00 ro M s •ucaj^ «• H H in H m m rn «-g 5 a. - m ■♦ ro ro "* in vo •uinuiiuii^ o T ;?; m •* E^ •»* OS 1 M 0\ S! ;^ !? - m ,^ 00 03 \n -4- lA in M in m m a o — H ■mnuiixEi^ o <»> Ok o> 00 '^ "' r^ R 00 Ov H 1°^ izi rc/i CO . rn .u i 6 . en ;z; w u pj ^ N NO M NO 1^ n8 0\ ,_^ fO „ 00 O •j353UioJi:g C Ov ON O^ o- b; o o o Ov 1^ o ^ JO 3Jnss3J(£ ui;3j\[ "■ Ch o. o> o- On o o ^ On ? On On w N „ m 00 CO N „ ^ NO > •IIEJUIEH •"1 CO M ■* C4 M N in ■* o •Xjipiuinjj NO ■«• On t^ N • 5- NO ^ •uinuiixEi^ 1 °'§N NO ON On 00 « nS NO IS nS NO c s, §■ E ^ o :z; METEOROLOGY OF IOWA. 835 .. Table skowiKg the Dates cf the Earliest and Latest Frost and Ice for the years 1839 to 1869, inclusive ; also, the Time of Disappearance and Depth of Frost, and the Thickness of Ice from 1856 to 1869, according to records kept by Prof. T. S. Parvin, at Muscatine attd Iowa City, Iowa.. Years. 1^39 1840 1841 1842 iJ^43 •■•• 1844 1845 1846 1847... 1848 1849 1850 1851 T852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 185S 1859 i860 1861 ,... 1862; . ... .. ...i 1863 1864 ....i.. 1865.... ,,^,.1. 1866 .;■..•.. 1867 1868 1869 Apr. 17 Apr. 27 Apr. 12 May 4 May 2 M.iy 21 May 25 Apr. 15 May 26 May 10 May I Apr. 23 May 5 May 20 May 25 May 2 May 6 Apr. 19 May 20 Apr. 26 Apr. 23 May I May 4 Apr, 24 Aug. 25* May II May n May 2 May 6 Apr. 5 May 19 Latest May 26 Earliest | Apr, 5 Mean . | May 4 Sept. 12 Sept. 28 Sept. II Sept. 17 Oct. 8 Oct. 10 Sept. 21 Oct. 2 Oct. 9 Sept, 23 Oct. 8 Sept. 7 Sept. 28 Sept. 26 Sept. 10 Oct. 5 Sept. 27 Sept. 24 Oct. 14 Sept. 12 Sept. 2 Sept. II Oct. 23 Oct. II Aug. 29 Sept. 19 Oct. 2 Sept. 21 Oct. 23 Sept. 17 Sept. 26 Oct. 23 Aug. 29 M ay 23 Mar. 12 Sept. 24 Apr. 10 29 12 II II 20 20 18 18 20 20 18 20 21 II 18 Ice. A 4J ^ 4) "■ jz 1 i ►J w a Mar. 25 Nov. 7 Apr. 18 Oct. 3 Apr. 14 Oct. 17 Apr. 28 Oct. 19 May I Oct. 8 Mar. 30 Oct. 16 Apr. 8 Oct. 5 Apr, 13 Oct. 18 May 4 Oct. 14 Apr. 26 Oct. I Apr, 20 Oct. 13 Apr. 23 Sept. 29 May I Oct. 15 Apr. 22 Sept. 26 May 13 Oct, 2 May 2 Oct. 15 May 6 Oct. 25 Apr. 19 Sept. 24 27 May 12 Oct. 20 12 Apr. 16 Oct. 7 [O Apr. 23 Oct. 6 [O Apr. 2 Oct. 24 [I Apr. 16 Sept. 24 . 21 Apr. 6 Oct. 25 : 20 Apr. 8 Oct. 7 20 Apr. 14 Oct. 18 . JO Apr. 6 Oct. 15 t8 Apr. 6 Oct. 31 , 24 Apr. : 6 Nov. 4 18 Apr. 8 Nov. I 22 Apr. 13 May 13 Apr. 2 Oct. 13 . 20 27 [O Nov. 7 Sept. 24 Apr. 18 Oct. 15 18 On page 834 we give the Signal Service statistics for Keokuk, Davenport, and Dubuque, which, though a little differently * The year 1863 was very cold, not only in Iowa, but throughout the country, and there was frost in evei^ month of the year. It has only once or twice in thirty years seriously injured the corn crop. When the spring is late the fall is generally lengthened, so that the crop has time to mature. 536 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. arranged, give substantially the same particulars in regard to these cities ; the chapter on Nebraska will give the meteorology of Omaha, which very fairly represents Western Iowa. Zoology. — The wild animals of Iowa are rather those of the Mississippi valley than of the "Plains" or the Rocky Mountains. The buffalo and the antelope, which once coursed over its prairies, are not now among Its wild game ; and the elk (wapiti), if he ever had his habital in the State, has it no longer. The Virginia deer is abundant in some parts of the State, the black-tailed or mule deer is seldom if ever seen east of the Missouri river. Bears, the black or brown species, are still found, though less numerous than formerly. The felidce — panthers, wild cats and lynxes — and the mustelidcB — fishes, martens, minks, skunks (espe- cially the last), and the muskrat and beaver — are sufficiently numerous to reward the hunter and trapper for his labors. The gray wolf is much less abundant than formerly, and so is the yelping prairie wolf, perhaps miscalled coyote. The common or red fox is still found in considerable numbers, especially in the northern, western and southwestern parts of the State. Marmots or gophers, woodchucks or ground-hogs, the porcupine, the raccoon, and more rarely the opossum, are among the other wild animals of the State. Rabbits and hares, squirrels of sev- eral species, brown and black rats, half a dozen kinds of mice and moles of several species, are the other principal mammals of the State. Of birds and especially game birds Iowa has its full share. Wild geese, many species of ducks, brant and teal, a half dozen or more species of the grouse tribe, including the prairie-hen, the quail, the partridge and the ptarmigan, many species of snipe, woodcock and other waders, pigeons and doves of several species. Song-birds are also In great variety, and the birds of prey, especially eagles, vultures, hawks and owls, are sufficiendy numerous. There are not so many reptiles as in some States, though the number of serpents is considerably large, and Includes with many harmless species three or four poisonous serpents, among which two species of rattlesnakes are the most numerous. There are several species of batrachians, but no true saurians in the State. The numerous rivers, streams BETTER FARMING NEEDED. g^^ and lakes are well stocked widi fish, mosdy of edible species. There are many excellent trout streams, especially in the north and west of the State. Agriculture, Sail and Productions. — We have already described the constituents of the soil of the State. It is only necessary to say, further, that a soil from four to ten feet deep composed of these substances and with such rocks underlying it as those which constitute the basis of the Iowa lands, and an abundance of water both in its streams and the rainfall, should not be sur- passed in fertility by any soil on the globe. Yet bad farming may make even this soil less productive than it should be. If there is no rotation of crops, and the same fields are devoted to wheat or corn, or other cereals or root crops year after year, and the constituents thus drawn from the soil are not in any way returned to it ; if there is very shallow plowing, no manuring, .ind little or no care to eradicate weeds, it will not be matter for surprise if the yield of wheat or corn grows less and les^ with each year. In this neglect of deep plowing, rotation of crops, and the use of fertilizers, we do not mean to insinuate that Iowa farmers are sinners above the farmers of other States or Territories adjacent ; on the contrary we believe that much of the Iowa farming is better than that of the neighboring States. It is now thirty-four years since her admission into the Union as a State, and her eastern counties have been long cultivated. In many respects in the diversity of her products, the excellence and perfection of her fruits, and the wide introduction of new varieties from Northern and Northeastern Europe, and the general thrift of her farming, she is entitled to high commendation. But with that magnificent soil, and the constant breaking of new land for wheat, the first crop of which is usually the largest, and on lands immediately adjacent, in Dakota and Minnesota, yields from twenty-five to forty bushels to the acre, we cannot but think there is something wrong, when the average wheat crop of the State, year after year, is only from thirteen to fifteen bushels per acre. In Eno-land with a soil by no means so well adapted to wheat culture as that of Iowa, and after centuries of culture, the average crop is 838 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. thirty-four bushels to the acre. Spring wheat is a more certain crop than winter wheat, yields better, and brings a higher price. Iowa is not quite so well adapted to corn as Illinois, Nebraska or- Kansas, an untimely frost sometimes, though rarely, injuring the crop ; but in average years she might very easily produce a much larger amount to the acre than she does, and with the attention she is giving to earlier ripening varieties of both corn and sorghum, she might make sure of a crop sufficiently early to escape all danger of frost save in an exceptional year like 1863, when there was frost every month. The average crop of corn per acre in the State ranges from thirty to thirty-five bushels per acre, an amount which leaves very little if any margin of profit. The Agricultural College of the State at Ames, in the centre of the State, raised in 1879, on new land and in a somewhat un- favorable year, fifty-seven bushels to the acre on sixty-five acres. The superintendent insists that eighty bushels to the acre ought to be 'the minimum crop in an average season with fair culture. It is a matter of satisfaction that in 1879 there was a small advance in the average product per acre. Oats are of excellent quality, but the yield is very much less per acre than it should be. In 1876 it was but twenty-three and a half bushels to the acre ; in 1878 thirty-six and a third bushels to the acre, and in 1879 thirty-six bushels. All over the State there are farms, where, with ordinarily good culture, oats, in large fields, average year after year sixty to sixty-five bushels per acre. Barley should yield somewhat more than wheat, especially on new lands, but the average yield, which should be from thirty-five to forty bushels, ranges from twenty to twenty-five bushels. Rye and buckwheat are for the most part raised on the poorest lands, and seldom yield more than from nine to twelve bushels per acre, and are not therefore profitable crops to raise. Potatoes, and the root crops generally, do well in Iowa, espe- cially on the western or Missouri slope, the soil being admirably adapted to them, but the yield, though fair, is not so large as it should be. At the Agricultural College at Ames, in the centre of the State, the yield averages about 240 bushels of potatoes to THE CROPS OF 1878 AND 1879. 83a- the acre; elsewhere it is much lower. With such a soil as that of Iowa, 350 bushels to the acre should be the minimum, in an^ ordinarily favorable year, and of turnips, beets, carrots, etc.,; from 600 to 750 bushels. \ bnk The following table shows the acreage, yield, quantity raised^ per acre, average price and total value of each of the principal crops of Iowa in 1878 and 1879, according to the United States Agricultural Department: Crops and unit The Crop of 1878. The Crop of 1879. >.-d 2 £ 1 >r6 1. "-■S X. c of measure. II i^2 3 S " 1. 3 2 iiantit oduce < I. 0. u 3 1 o;5. s s. > < ^l <4 0. > O-o. 3 u > 2 H Indian com, bus. 175,256,400 .37-4 4,686,000 Jo i6 ^28,041, 024 191,600,000 40. 4,790,000 ^•24 $47,421,000 Wheat, 30,440,960 9-4 3,238,400 ■ 50 15,220,480 37,485,000 10,2 3,675,000 92 34,486;2oo Rye, 431,600 16,6 26,000 35 151,000 437.250 15.6 27,500 54 236,115 Oats, 38,332,800 ^6.3 i,o5,6,oco •13 4,983,264 37,008,000 S6. 1,028,000 23 8,511,840 Barley, " 5,088,000 24- 212,000 •33 1,679,040 4,796,000 22. 218,000 45 2,158,200 Buckwheat, " 123,200 14. 8,800 •51 62,832 i57>5oo 18. 8,750 69 106,925 Potatoes, " 10,070,000 I.03 100,700 .26 2,618,200 8,901,000 86. 103,500 32 2,848,320 Hay,* tons. 3,564,000 1.80 1,980,000 3.60 12,830,400 3,064,600 1.54 1,990,000 4 54 i3.9'3,284 11,307,900 $65,586,300 11,840,750 11109,681,884 Other crops have attained a considerable magnitude in Iowa. Among them we may name : Sorghum, which has been cultivated to a moderate extent for fifteen or twenty years, but in 1878, 1879 and 1880 has taken a new departure. The Early Amber Sorghum, though not the most profitable variety in the amount of its yield of the saccharine juice, is yet better adapted than most of the others to Iowa, in consequence of its early ripening, the ripening of the seed being the condition precedent to the production of the greatest amount of crystallizable sugar, and giving the additional advantage, that the seed and the leaves, both furnishing excellent food for cattle, can be preserved. The crops of 1879 and 1880 are both very large, and are likely to in- crease very greatly in the future. Other plants of the Zea family, such as broom corn, Hungarian grass, the German and pearl millet and the dhurra and Egyptian * This includes also hay from forage crops, Alfalfa, Hungarian grass, millet, etc. • 840 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. rice corn, if these two are not, as some suppose, identical, are coming into somewhat extensive cultivation in the State, and will prove valuable additions to its forage crops, while the rice corn and pearl millet yield grains which are valuable for the food of man and animals, and the broom corn is always a profitable crop. Iowa is well adapted to the culture of the castor-bean, and it proves a profitable crop when it is planted early and has time to ripeti before the frost. This crop is one which will be more prof- itable if a sufficient number of farmers engage in its culture to furnish employment to an oil mill in the immediate vicinity, as they can then obtain a much better price for the beans. The pea-nut or ground-nut might be successfully cultivated, especially in Southern and Southwestern Iowa, and while the vines are ex- cellent for forage, the nuts command a good price, and if there is an oil mill near, they may be ground for the oil at a good profit. But notwithstanding its extremes of temperature, Iowa has be- come famous for its fruits. The soil is well adapted to these, and great attention has been paid to the production and culture of hardy varieties which would withstand the extreme cold of some of the winters. The efforts made for this purpose have been Very successful. Many varieties of apples and pears have been importedfrom Northern Russia, Northern China and Japan, which, after acclimation, have proved the best of these fruits for sum- mer, autumn and winter use. The peach does not flourish quite as well, though some of the more hardy varieties do well. The plum and cherry are very successfully cultivated. The value of farm, market garden and orchard products re- ported in the State census for 1875, as gathered the preceding year, was $133,440,855. The census of the present year will probably show nearly double the amount. But Iowa has been most successful, perhaps, in stock-raising. Her live-stock, as enumerated at the last State census, in 1875, was as follows. We give for the sake of comparison the statis- tics of the United States Department of Agriculture, January, 1880: LIVE-STOCK IN IOWA, 841 Live-stock according to Census of 1875, Live-stock Report of U. S. Agricultural Depart- ment, 1880. Animals. Number. Number. Price per Head. ;^52.oo 66.00 24.20 23.12 2.50 6.36 Value. Horses .... Mules and asses Milch COWS . Other cattle* . . Sheep .... Hogs Hogs slaughtered and sold for slaughter in 1875 • • • 700,617 36,820 528,483 1.405.582! 3.139.973 2,514,421 778,407 44,702 723.534 1.370,368 454.410 2,798,400 $40,477,164 2.950,332 17,509.523 31,682,908 1,136,125 17.797.824 Total value . . . . $111,553,876 Iowa has maintained the front rank in the production of pork, (or which its agricultural products give it great advantages. The question has come to be one of mathematics entirely. Given corn, sorghum seed, rice corn or millet at a certain price per bushel, and also given a fixed price per loo pounds forpork, either live or dead weight, which pays best, all things considered — to sell the corn or other grain, or to fatten hogs with it ? We have seen in Part II. that in Kansas, with corn at from twenty to thirty cents a bushel according to locality, the farmers decided that there was more profit in using it to fatten hogs than in selling it. The Iowa farmers nearer the great markets have come to the same conclusion with corn at a somewhat higher price. But with the new demand for corn for glucose sugar, the price may be so much enhanced, that unless other grains can be substituted for corn for fattening purposes, such as sorghum seed, millet, rice, corn, etc., the quantity of pork made may be seriously diminished. The present year there seems to be no diminution in the quantity, but what there may be in the future remains to be seen. Iowa is, we believe, sixth or seventh among the States and Territories of •* Our Western Empire " in the number of her * Except working oxen in the census of 1875. In 1880, working oxen are included, f This includes 9,690 thoroughbred short -horns. g^a OUR WESTERN EMPIRE, sheep. While the cost of rearing a sheep is somewhat greater than in Western Kansas, Colorado or New Mexico, care in the selection of the best breeds and in preserving them from disease and enemies makes it a fairly profitable pursuit. On this subject, facts are worth very much more than theories. We introduce therefore without apology the carefully tabulated results of five years of sheep-farming in Crawford county, Western Iowa, by one of a num.ber of Holstein farmers who had been accustomed to the care of sheep all their lives, and who had emigrated to Iowa, and engaged in the business there. As these farmers all started substantially alike in the business, they have followed the same course of feeding, and the results have been about the same. The staple of wool has been combing, delaine, medium, coarse and fine ; it has been sold in the Philadelphia market at prices ranging from eighteen to twenty- eight and a half cents per pound, netting twenty cents per pound. In feeding, they have found the blue joint grass most excellent, and ample for summer feed. In winter they feed corn in the stalk, cut for fodder. The ewes have sheaf oats after January I St. The grain consumed per head is about five bushels, costing eight to ten cents per bushel, in the shape in which it is fed ; as Mr. Henry Lehfeldt said : " The sheep husk their own corn and thresh their own oats, and the sheep farmer has nothing to do but be lazy." The theory of feeding is, as the food is cheap, to keep the sheep at all times in the very best condition ; and to that end they are allowed all the grain they will eat. They are fed no hay. They found a little trouble in that the sheep some- times ate too freely of corn and became over-heated. This they have learned to remedy. They also found it injurious to feed corn to ewes with lambs after the first of January ; some losses were had from this cause. Straw sheds, open to the east, about four feet high, in a protected yard, are all that is used for shelter. We asked if any diseases affected the sheep. We received the emphatic reply, " No, none whatever." These farmers are from Holstein, and are thoroughly intelli- gent in their business. They were raised shepherds. The EXPERIENCES OF HOLSTEIN SHEEP FARMERS. 843 business of raising and fattening sheep for the Hamburg-London market they were brought up to. They handled Cotsvvolds in Holstein, and said Cotswolds did as well here as in Holstein, if not better. They prefer the Cotswold. The Southdown is good for mutton but deficient in wool. It was as profitable to raise and fat them here as in Holstein and more so. COST. Sept., 1875, cost of 500 ewes at ^2.50 $1,250 00 Sept., 1875, co^^ ^^ ^5 bucks at $20 (Cotswold) ...... 300 00 May, 1876, fed 50 acres corn and oats in sheaf at $5 per acre . . 250 00 Sept., 1876, cost of attendance i year 200 00 May, 1877, fed 100 acres of corn in stalk and oats in sheaf at ^5 per acre 500 00 Sept., 1877, cost of attendance i year 250 00 May, 1878, fed 125 acres of corn in stalk and oats in sheaf at $5 per acre 625 00 Sept., 1878, cost of attendance i year 250 00 May, 1879, fed 125 acres of corn ia stalk and oats in sheaf at $5 per acre 625 00 May, 1879, cost of attendance i year 190 00 Add for annual interest account — Sept., 1876, intferest On ^1,^50 i year at lO per cent, per annum , ^155 00 May, 1877, interest on $250 i year at 10 per cent, per annum 25 00 Sept., 1877, interest on $1,855 ^ year at 10 percent, per annum 185 50 May, 1878, interest on $775 i year at 10 per cent, per annum 77 50 Sept., 1878, interest on $2,200 i year at 10 per cent, per annum 220 00 May 30, 1879, interest on $1,477.50 13 months at 10 per cent, per annum 160 96 May 30, 1879, interest on $2,769 9 months at 10 per cent. per annum 207 67 Amount of interest charged $1,040 (>2, Total cost of investment $5,480 63 RETURNS. May 30, 1876, sold 4,125 pounds wool, clip 1876, 500 ewes at 20 cents per pound net $825 00 844 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. May 30, 1877, sold 8,992 pounds wool, clip 1877, 500 ewes, 525 yearlings, at 20 cents $^3798 40 May 30, 1878, sold 8,992 pounds wool clip 1878, 500 ewes, 525 yearlings, at 20 cents i;798 40 May 30, 1878, sold 525 fat sheep at 1^7.50, sold in March and April . 3,937 50 May 30, 1879, sold 8,992 pounds wool, clip 1879, 500 ewes, 525 yearlings, at 20 cents Ij798 40 May 30, 1879, so^d 525 fat sheep at $7.50, sold in March and April . 3,937 50 May 30, 1879, on hand 500 ewes with lamb at ^4.50 per ewe ^2,225 00 15 bucks for service at ;^2o 300 00 535 yearlings (shorn) at ^2 . . I5050 00 Add for annual interest account — May 30, 1879, interest on $825 i year at 10 per cent, per annum $82 50 May 30, 1878, interest on 52,705.90 i year at 10 per cent. per annum 270 59 May 30, 1879, interest on ;^8, 712.30 i year at 10 percent. per annum 871 23 Amount of interest credits $1,224 32 Total returns from investment ;g 18,894 52 Net returns %^ZA^l ^9 A large proportion of the stock-raising in Iowa consists in the purchase of " store cattle," as the English farmers call them, from Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas, and fattening them either for exportation to England or for the Chicago, New York or Boston markets. The distance which the cattle are to be driven is somewhat less, the grain and forage somewhat cheaper, and the distance to a shipping port or to market about the same as from Central Illinois. There is also a greatly increasing demand in Iowa for cattle for dairy farming. At the recent National Dairy fairs and congresses Iowa has taken the first prizes for the best butter, and has attained high rank also for the production of the best cheese. The demand for these products all over the West is constantly increasing and they command high prices. POPULATION OF IOWA. g^P Raih'oads and Steam Navigation. — Iowa is traversed from east to west by five railroad lines, which, with their branches, reach nearly all the counties ; these are, beginning with the northern tier of counties, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St, Paul, the Iowa Division of the Illinois Central, the Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, and the Chicago, Burling- ton and Ouincy. As all these have Chicago for their eastern terminus, so all of them, either directly or by the intervention of north and south roads, centre at Council Bluffs and Omaha, on the western border of the State. Six railroads cross the State from north to south, many of them having branches. These are the Dubuque and Minnesota and its continuation, the Chicago, Clinton and Dubuque, the Davenport and St. Paul, the Burling ton. Cedar Rapids and Minnesota, with which a northern branch of the Illinois Central forms a junction at Cedar Falls; the Cen- tral Railway of Iowa, the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Keokuk, and the St. Paul and Sioux City, which hugs the eastern bank of the Missouri. The entire number of miles of railway in opera- tion in Iowa, January i, 1880, was 4,750. This was aside from sidings, double tracks, etc. Popidation. — The growth of population in Iowa has been rapid, not quite equalling, perhaps, in its percentage that of some of its younger sisters, but sufficiently so for a healthy development. During the last decade, when the tendency of the inhabitants of the States of the Mississippi valley has been to migrate to the newer west, Iowa has not only held her own, but has increased twenty-six per cent. The following table shows the population at different periods of its history. The official figures of the population in 1880 have just been made public, and they give a total footing of 1,624,463. In 1838 . 1840 . 1844 . 1846 . 1847 . 1849 . 1850 . 1851 . 1852 , 22,859 In 1854 43»ii4 1856 75-152 1859 97,588 i860 116,651 1863 152,988 1865 191,982 1867 204,774 1870 230,713 1880 326,013 519,055 638,775 674,913 701,732 754,699 902,040 1.194,020 1,024,463 3-5 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. There are large German and Scandinavian elements in the population, but the majority of the inhabitants are of American birth. There is one small Indian reservation of 692 acres, occu- pied by a band of the Sac and Fox Indians. It is on the Iowa river, in Tama county, and the Indians number 345 ; 164 males and 181 females. They have made considerable progress in civilization, own and occupy permanent houses of their own, cul- tivate their lands and raise horses. They have a considerable amount of property aside from their annuities, good schools, and many of them have adopted citizens' dress. Counties. — There are ninety-nine organized counties in the State, the names of which follow : Counties. Adair, Davis, Jefferson, Pocahontas, Adams, Decatur, Johnson, Polk, Allamakee, Delaware, Jones, Pottawatomie, Appanoose, Des Moines Keokuk, Poweshiek, Audubon, Dickinson, Kossuth, Ringgold, Benton, Dubuque, Lee, Sac, Black Hawk, Emmet, Lind, Scott, Boone, Fayette, Louisa, Shelby, Bremer, Floyd, Lucas, Sioux, Buchanan, Franklin, Lyon, Story, Buena Vista, Fremont, Madison, Tama, Butler, Greene, Mahaska, Taylor, Calhoun, Grundy, Marion, Union, Carroll, Guthrie, Marshall, Van Buren, Cass, Hamilton, Mills, Wapello, Cedar, Hancock, Mitchell, Warren, Cerro Gordo, Hardin, Monona, Washington, Cherokee, Harrison, Monroe, Wayne, Chickasaw, Henry, Montgomery, Webster, Clarke, Howard, Muscatine, Winnebago, Clay, Humboldt, O'Brien, ' ' ' Vv^inneshiek, Clayton, Ida, Osceola, Woodbury, Clinton, Iowa, Page, . , ; Worth, Crawford, Jackson, Palo Alto, . , . Wright. Dallas, Jasper, Plymouth, • • Cities and Large Towns. — The following are the largest cities CITIES AND LARGE TOWNS OF IOWA. 847 and towns of the State, with the population of the first seven according to the census of 1880; the others according to the census of 1875 : Des Moines . . 22,408 Dubuque . . . 22,254 Davenport , 21,834 Burlington . . i9'45o Council Bluffs . 18,059 Keokuk . . 12,117 Muscatine . 9'987 Clinton , . 7,028 Sioux City . 4,290 Ottumwa 6,326 Mount Pleasant 4,563 Iowa City . 6,371 Lyons . . 3,784 Cedar Rapids 10,104 Cedar Falls . . 3,270 Marshalltown . 4,384 Waterloo . 5,508 Waverley 2,405 Washington 2,189 Oskaloosa . . 4,263 Fort Dodge , • 3,537 Fort Madison • 4,305 Vinton 2,389 Indianola i-,884 Bella 2,536 McGregor . . . . 1,852 Charles City . . . 2,269 De Witt ..... 1,754 Hamburg 2,058 Independence . . . 3,424 Osceola 1,701 Maquoketa . . . . 2,112 Webster 2,262 Atlantic 1,832 Albia 1,883 Chariton 2,174 Mason City .... 1,703 Boone 2,332 Winterset 2,433 Newton 2,354 Lansing 2,280 Marion 2,047 Fairfield 2,343 Decorah 2,597 Lands for Settlers. — The whole area of the State, which origi- nally belonged to the United States, has been surveyed. Of the amount — 35,228,800 acres — there have been granted to the State the School and University lands, and 3,449,720 acres selected (not all yet approved or patented) as swamp lands ; to railroad companies in the State about 3,000,000 acres, or in all somewhat more than 10,000,000 acres of lands. The greater part of the desirable government lands have been taken up either by pur- chase or pre-emption, or under the Homestead or Timber-Cul- ture Acts. There are, however, in the western part of the State, some lands, mostly alternate sections with the railroad land grants, still unsold. These are generally double minimum lands; that is, they are held at $2.50 per acre. In the fiscal g^g ^UR WESTERN EMPIRE, year 1879 the government disposed of 11,600 acres of these lands to actual settlers, 9,750 acres of which were under the Homestead or Timber-Culture Acts, The State has a large amount of land yet for sale, including its School, University, Agricultural College, and swamp lands. The latter are for the most part only entitled to this name in a Pickwickian sense, being, in many instances, the best lands in the State. All the State lands are held at prices above the government rates, though varying with different localities or market facilities, the range of prices being generally from ^3 to ^10 or ^12. The railroads have also a considerable quantity of land to sell, and most of it of very good quality. The rail- road lands are all prairie, and are divided according to location, soil, etc., into grazing and farming lands ; the grazing lands, though of fair quality for pasturing cattle or sheep, are not so rich or fertile as the farming lands. They are held at about ^2.50 per acre, and where taken in considerable quantities are sold on a liberal credit. The farming lands bring from $3.50 or ^4 to ^10, according to locality, fertility, and convenience of access to markets. It is also often possible to buy partially im- proved farms at very reasonable prices. The long period of financial depression, the partial failure of the best crops from storms, cyclones, or other disasters, the grasshopper plague, the prevalence of the Colorado beetle, and epidemics of hog cholera, which greatly reduced their herds of swine for several years, have interfered with the prosperity of Iowa very sensibly in the past. About nine or ten years ago, the farmers of Iowa were very generally in debt either for their farms or their agricultural machines, and the ironclad notes, which the manufacturers' agents exacted from the farmers, gave a lien on the farms which resulted in the foreclosure of the mortoras^es in thousands of cases, and it seemed for a time as if the entire body of farmers would have to go into bankruptcy. It was at this time that the organization known as " Patrons of Husbandry " became very popular in the State. The granges, local, county, and State, were well man- aged, and, by associated action, they succeeded in rescuing the greater part of the farmers from their nearly bankrupt condition. LANDS FOR IMMIGRANTS IN IOWA. g^p enabled them to procure their agricultural machines for cash at one-half (sometimes at one-third) of their previous credit price, and their farm supplies in the same way. This course pursued energetically for a series of years, has enabled the Iowa farmers very generally to redeem their lands from mortgages, and though they had a succession of poor or indifferent crops, and did not till their farms to the best advantage, they have emerged into a condition of comparative independence, and, with better crops and their ambition roused to attempt better culture, the future of agriculture in Iowa seems much brighter than a few years ago. It is no part of our purpose to chant the praises of the Patrons of Husbandry or any other secret organization. All of these organizations have their faults, and at times undoubtedly may exert a prejudicial influence on the interests of the State or nation ; but, at the time of which we speak, their influence in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, and some other States was highly beneficial to the farmers. In many instances, the settler of limited means, who has pur- chased a tract of Iowa prairie lands, has found himself compelled to wait for eighteen or twenty months before he could realize anything from his land, inasmuch as the thick, tough prairie sod beaten down for ages by the hoofs of the buffaloes and the In- dian ponies, will not rot sooner than that time, sufficiently to yield a crop of any value. To such an immigrant, looking for- ward with anxiety and terror, to coming months of privation for himself and family, and ready to give way to despair, we beg leave to commend the following very practical suggestions from an Iowa farmer who knows by personal experience the success of the plan he recommends : " How to bridge over the first year on a new piece of prairie has been one of the most difficult of problems for the settler of limited means to solve. The uncertainty of being able to sup- port their families until a crop of grain could be raised, has pre- vented thousands from beginning the healthful and independent life of the farmer. Nature, though ever kind and bountiful, will allow no trifling with her requirements and processes. To raise grain successfully, the tough, thick prairie sod, the result of 54 gco OUR Western empire. untold years of luxuriant vegetation, must be thoroughly rotted. This will not take place the first season of breaking, and there- fore, the most that can be hoped for that season, in the way of grain, is a crop of 'sod corn,' w^hich, though sometimes excel- lent, is yet an uncertain and unreliable resource as a means of support. "Is there any crop which can be planted the first season upon breakinor of that year which will afford the farmer assurance of return for his labor from the very beginning of his operations ? This question has occupied the most thoughtful attention of many of our best and most intelligent farmers, and a complete answer has been found during the past three or four years in the culture of flax upon new breaking. From the experiments made during several seasons, it may be considered as setded that the requirements for the growth and maturity of this crop are afforded as amply by new breaking, as by land previously cultivated. From many instances within our knowledge, em- bracing fields varying from lo to 400 acres in extent, we select one, and give below the details. The net result in this case is not as favorable as in some others, but the selection is made because the details are complete, and have been verified by affidavit. •' Mr. Eugene Fuller, formerly of Sandwich, 111., upon his farm near Storm lake, in Buena Vista county, Iowa, raised fifty acres of flax on new breaking last year (1878) with the following result : Receipts. — 275 bushels of flax-seed raised on 50 acres of breaking, sold at $1.25 per bushel $343 75 Expenses. — Breaking 50 acres at $2 per acre |ioo 00 25 bushels seed at $1.25 per bushel 31 25 Cost of putting in seed, 25 cents per acre .... 12 50 Cost of cutting and stacking, 50 cents per acre . . 25 00 Threshing, 9 cents per bushel 24 75 ;^i93 50 Profit $150 25 " It will thus be seen that the farmer doing his own breaking, seeding, and cutting would be at an expense of only $1.12 per JOIVA MANUFACTURES. 85 I acre for seeding and threshing, and that the net result, after paying all expenses, is ^3 per acre. Other cases reported to us have given the net profit as high as $5.50 per acre. Besides the profit on cultivation, the crop is a great advantage to the land for the succeeding crop, as it leaves it clean and in better condition than if permitted to remain idle.* The importance of this new departure in farming cannot be over-estimated, for it is nothing less than a year's gain in cropping, and that at the mosi important time to the settler, the beginning of his enterprise, when the call upon his resources is greatest. The man of limited means need no longer be deterred from buying a home by the fear that a year must be lost after breaking before the farm will yield returns." Manufactures, — Iowa has always been regarded as an essen- tially agricultural State, yet she has from the first taken a deep interest in manufactures, for which her fine water-powers and her large production of excellent coal give her extraordinary facilities. Her flouring mills are very numerous and on a large scale. She has also extensive smelting works, agricultural implements and machine works, carriage, wagon, and car works, creameries, cheese factories, plaster mills, sorghum mills and sugar refineries, cotton, woollen, and silk mills, etc. The growth of manufactures in the State has been very large during the last decade and is now rapidly increasing.-]* Until the returns of manufactures for the census of 1880 are received and published, it is useless to conjecture thepresentamount of these in the State ; but, though the aggregate is certainly less than that of the great manufacturing State of Missouri, which joins Iowa on the south, yet it will reflect high honor upon its industry and enterprise, *The cortical fibre of the flax stalk, though nearly worthless as flax, is valuable for pap>er stock, after being run through a flax breaker, and will bring, anywhere within icx» miles of a good paper mill, from seventy to eighty dollars a ton, for that purpose. The best writing and map papers can be made from it. fin 1874, the State censns, which omitted all the small industries, and only enumerated nineteen kinds of manufactures, reported 3,203 establishments, employing 18,854 men, and producing goods valued at ;S39,263,3lo. The probability is that this sum was not at that time oiie-half of the actual production of that year; and the progress since 1854 has been enormous. 852 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Educatio7ial Advantages. — The State has made ample pro- vision from the first for the education of all its children and youth. Beginning- with the higher instruction, it has a State University at Iowa City fully organized and under an able faculty, having 284 students in its collegiate and 232 in its professional departments, and taking rank with any State University in the country; a State Normal School at Cedar Falls, having a prin- cipal and five other professors and 237 teacher pupils in 1879; a State Agricultural College at Ames, well endowed, and with a faculty of 24 professors and teachers, and 305 students. There are also 99 Teachers' Institutes held every year, one in each county, where for from two to four weeks the teachers of the public schools are instructed by the ablest professors and teachers who can be obtained. Below these come the public schools, graded and ungraded. Of these schools there are now 10,951, occupy- ing 10,791 school-houses, of which 10,719 are substantial build- ings of frame, brick, or stone. The appraised value of these school-houses in 1879 was ^9,066,145, an increase from $38,506 in 1849, thirty years before, of 241 times the amount. There were 21,152 teachers employed in these schools, viz.; 7,573 males, 13,579 females, and the average compensation for the whole State was $31.71 per month for males, s.nd $26.40 for female teachers. The whole number of persons of school age of both sexes (between five and twenty-one years) in the State was 577,353, out of a total population of about 1,500,000; of these, 431,317 were enrolled on the school registers, and the average attendance vi^as 264,702. The average cost of tuition per month was $1.49 per head. The total expenditure for school purposes annually was $5,051,478, or about %Z-ZZ ^^^ each inhabitant of the State ; of this amount $2,927,308 was for teachers' salaries, $1,149,718 for school-houses, apparatus, etc., and $979,452 for fuel and other contingencies. The permanent school fund amounts to $3,484,411, and is constantly increasing. The income from this, $276,218 in 1879, is distributed to the schools, but the remainder, $4,775,260, is raised by district taxa- tion and local funds. The teaching is for the most part of a very high order. BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS AND CHURCHES. 853 Beside this liberal course of public instruction, the State has special schools for deaf mutes, the blind, and for orphans and deserted children, and refonnatories for neglected, wayward, and vicious children. There are, moreover, fifteen or twenty colleges, and very many academies, collegiate schools and seminaries, mostly under the control of the different religious denominations. The immigrant coming to Iowa with his family need not fear that they will be deprived of the opportunities of gaining an educa- tion, whatever his own circumstances m'ay be. Religious Denominations. — The general tone of society in Iowa is eminently moral, and, to a considerable extent, religious. In no State west of the Mississippi are so large a proportion of the inhabitants connected with some religious denomination. The Methodists take the lead, both in the number of members and the adherent population ; the Presbyterians, Catholics, Congre- gationalists, Baptists, German Reformed, Lutherans, Episco- palians, and minor sects follow after in about the order desig- nated. Every village, even the newest, has one or more churches. The religious, like the secular teaching, is generally of a hi^h order. The immigrant coming to Iowa either with a large or small capital may not find the avenues to large immediate wealth so wide as in some of the newer States and Territories, but if tem- perate, industrious, and frugal, he is sure to acquire a com- petence in a few years ; and, meanwhile, he has the advantages of established organizations, good society, excellent educadonal and religious institutions, a fertile soil, and easily accessible markets. §54 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER IX. KAMAS. Kansas Geographically the Central State — Its Boundaries — Latitude, Longitude, Length, Breadth and Area — Its Surface, Declination and Elevation at Various Points — Rivers — Lakes — Hills — No Mountains IN the State — Geology and Mineralogy — The Geological Formations — The Quaternary, Tertiary, Cretaceous and Carboniferous and Lower Carboniferous Systems Represented — Fossils — Great Variety OF these — Economic Geology — Coal — Salt — Lead and Zinc — Gypsum — Building-Stone, etc., etc. — Gas or Burning Wells — Soil and Vegeta- tion — Native Trees — Trees Planted under the Timber-Culture Acts — Flowers — Zoology — Natural Curiosities and Phenomena — Climate and Meteorology — Meteorological Statistics — Rainfall — Agricultural Productions — Tables of Productions of 1877, 1878, 1879 — Live-Stock — Valuations of Real and Personal Estate — School Statistics — No Mines or Mining except Coal, Lead and Zinc — Manufactures — Popu- lation — Indians — Sources from which Population is Derived — Counties, Cities and Towns — Schools and Education — Churches — Railroads — Kansas a Home for Immigrants. Kansas is, geographically, the central State of the American Union, and one of the largest and most enterprising of the great States of the central belt of " Our Western Empire." It is bounded on the north by Nebraska, on the east by Missouri, on the south by the Indian Territory, and on the west by Colorado. It would be a perfect parallelogram, but that the Missouri river cuts off a slice of its northeast corner, and hands it over to Mis- souri. It is situated between the 37th and the 40th degrees of north latitude, and between the meridians of 94° 35' and 102° of west longitude from Greenwich, and is 404 miles long from east to west, and 208^ miles wide from north to south. The latest Land Office Report makes its area 80,891 square miles, or 51,770,240 acres. Topography and Surface — Rivers and Lakes — Plains, Pi'aines and Valleys. — The topography of the State shows an alternation of broad, level river valleys and high rolling prairies, the whole forming a series of gentle undulating plateaus, sloping at an TOPOGRAPHY OF KANSAS. 855 average inclination of seven and a-half feet per mile from the mountains toward the Missouri river. Thus at Monotony the al- titude is 3,792 feet; at Wallace, Kansas, 3,319 feet; at Ellis, 2,135 feet; at Abilene, 1,173 feet; at Topeka, 904 feet, and at Wyandotte, ']Q'] feet. The elevations of corresponding points in the Arkansas valley and on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, are a little lower in the west, but a little higher as we eo east, showinor a moderate declination from north to southwest, as well as a more marked one from west to east; thus, Sargent, at the west boundary of the State, is 3,129 feet; Lakin, 3,013; Kinsley, 2,200; Newton, 1,433; Burlington, 1,055, and Fort Scott, 912 feet. The principal rivers of the State are the Missouri, which washes its northeastern corner for a distance of forty or fifty miles ; the Arkansas, which leaves the State near the 97th meri- dian, after traversing the whole southern and southwestern por- tion of it ; the larger tributaries of this noble river, the North and South Forks of the Cimmaron, Salt and Red Forks of the Arkan- sas, Chikaskia, Verdigris and Neosho rivers on the south bank, and the Pawnee and Walnut creeks on the north bank ; but most important of all for the State, the Kansas or Kaw river, one of the largest tributaries of the Missouri, with the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers, by whose union it is formed, and its numer- ous affluents, the Big Blue, the Solomon, the Saline, the Soldier, the Beaver, the Delaware, the Stranger, the Sappa, the Grass- hopper and the Wakarusa, There are also a few smaller streams in the northeast, affluents of the Missouri, like the Nemaha, etc. These streams form one of the grandest systems of water-courses in the whole country. Though the surface is rolling and attains so considerable an elevation toward the western border of the State, there are no mountains, nor hardly any ranges of hills in the State ; occasion- ally the bluffs along the rivers are of considerable height above the streams, and in rare instances one or two isolated buttes, or masses of rock, like Castle Rock, in Gove county, the Twin Buttes, in Rooks county, or the Bluff, in Clarke county, attract attention. The State is not remarkable for lakes or ponds, but 8^6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. rather for their absence. There are more in the comparatively arid western counties than in the eastern. The river valleys or river bottoms, as they are called, are very fertile, but except in the Ar- kansas valley, are sometimes flooded by the swelling of the streams from the melting of the snow. Geology and Minera/ogy. — Professor B. F. Mudge, the emi- nent State Geologist, has described at considerable length, and with maps and sections, the geology, general and economic, of the State. The following summary gives as good an idea of its very simple geological formations as can be obtained without a geo- logical map. As we have already said, the surface has a gradual but double descent to the east and to the south, or south-south- east. The streams follow the same general direction. The sur- face, for the most part, is a gentle rolling prairie, with few steep hills or bluffs, and the ravines are not often precipitous or deep. The soil which forms the surface of the whole State, in both val- ley and high prairie, is the same fine, black rich loam, so common in the Western States. The predominating limestones, by disin- tegration, aid in its fertility, but the extreme fineness of all the ingredients acts most effectively in producing its richness. On the high prairie it is from one to three feet deep ; in the bottom it is sometimes twenty feet. There are a few exceptions to this general fertility in the most western and southwestern counties, but they constitute only a small proportion of the whole. The State is so well drained that there are very few valleys with stag- nant ponds, and there is not a peat swamp of fifty acres within its boundaries. The lands toward the Colorado border are often spoken of as alkaline lands, but Professor Mudge says that they are not so. In fifteen years of exploration he had never found but two springs containing alkalies, and had never seen ten acres of land in one place which had been injured by it. Professor Mudge says that there is nowhere to be seen in the State any violent disturbance of the strata, marks of internal fire, or even any slight mctamorphic action in any of the deposits. The uplifting of this State and the adjoining country from the level of the ocean must have been slow, uniform and in a per- pendicular direction, which has left all the strata in a nearly hori- GEOLOGY OF KANSAS. 357 zontal position. He believes, from his knowledge of western geology, that this took place after the rise of the Rocky Moun- tains, and probably did not come to a close until the Drift Period. A general vertical section of all the formations seen in Kansas would be, in descending series, as follows : I. Quaternary System. Alhiviiwi. The surface deposit all over the State, from five to fifty feet deep in the river valleys, and forming the richest soil. Bluff or Loess. Found most largely in the eastern part of the State, par- ticularly on the banks of the Missouri and for some distance back from it. It is the same deposit seen in Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska. Drift. Mostly in the form of boulders found on the tops of bluffs and high prairies along both sides of the Kansas river, especially on the north side from the Missouri nearly to the Republican river. II. Tertiary System. Pliocene. Seen only in the northwestern portion of the State, where it covers an area of about 9,000 miles. It occupies the greater part of seven counties along the Nebraska border beginning at the Colorado line, and a part of ten other counties in the northwest and west. The following are the names of these counties : Cheyenne, Rawlins, Deca- tur, Norton, Phillips, Smith, Jewell, Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, Graham, Wallace, Greeley, Wichita, Scott, and small tracts of Gove and Ellis. Ten of these counties are yet unorganized. The material of the Pliocene deposits consists of sandstone of various shades of gray and brown, with occasionally a small admixture of lime. The total thickness of it is about 1,500 feet. When it appears on the surface it resembles coarse gravel. It is seldom seen above the alluvium except where it caps the hill-tops in Wallace and Sheridan counties. III. Cretaceous System. This system covers an area of over 40,000 square miles, or more than half the surface of the State. It extends from the Colorado border in the west and southwest as far east as Marshall and Morris counties, touching the Nebraska line in Jewell, Republic, Washington, and Marshall counties; the Indian Territory in Kansas, Stevens, Seward, Meade, and Clark counties, and the Colorado line in Wallace, Hamilton, Stanton, and Kansas. Niobrara Group. The Niobrara occupies a belt of the country next adjoining the Pliocene, about thirty miles in width in the northern part of the State, but gradually widening to more than twice that extent in the Smoky Hill valley. It is composed of chalk and chalky shales. This is said to be the only genuine chalk in North America. It ranges from seventy-five to two hundred feet in thickness. The shales sometimes contain fine crystals of calc spar. The soil overlying this group is rich and fertile and admirably adapted both for culture and grazing. 8^3 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Fort Benton Group. This group is composed of a white or yellowish limestone, about sixty feet in thickness, a bluish black or slate-colored shale of about the same thickness, and shales interstratified with lime- stone layers containing an abundance of fossil shells, and ranging from 50 to 140 feet in thickness. There are some thin impure beds of lignite in the lower strata, but of little value. The Fort Benton occu- pies the central and northeftstern portions of the tertiary system in the State. Dakota Group. This group occupies mostly the southwestern portion of the State. There are no triassic or Jurassic rocks in the State, and the Dakota group rests directly on the Permian. The maximum thick- ness may be 500 feet. It is almost wholly composed of sandstone. The soil overlying this formation is regarded as the best in the State, being admirably adapted to wheat, easily drained, and very fertile. It is also an excellent fruit district, especially adapted to pear culture. The whole thickness of the cretaceous formations in the State is estimated to be 960 feet. IV. Carboniferous System — Permian Group. — Upper Carboniferous. These two groups may be described together. They cover wholly or in part thirty-eight counties, and an area of nearly 20,000 square miles with a thickness of about 2,000 feet. The strata are nearly horizontal, though dipping slightly to the northwest in most cases. The deposits consist of limestones, clay shales, sandstone, and, m the upper portions, gypsum and chert beds. In the lower strata the hmestones are more compact and uniform and the chert beds less numerous. This limestone contains from three to five per cent, of magnesia. The soil which overlies them is good, and the underlying limestone helps to fertilize it. Some of the oldest and best counties in the State are in these formations. Coal Measures. The area embraced in the coal measures is about 9,000 square miles, and .seventeen counties in tlie southeastern and eastern part of the State lie wholly or in part within its limits. All these counties are in some degree supplied with coal. How large a portion of this territory may be so situated as to give the opportunity for work- ing profitable mines cannot at present be decided. Most of the mines which have been opened yield good and some of them largely profit- able returns. The material of the deposits of the coal measures, in which seams or veins of coal are found, are siipilar to those of the Upper Carboniferous, but more varying. The blue clay shales and other shales are in some locations very thick and soft — sometimes 1,000 feet or more. The sandstones are firmer, and are used for flag and grindstones. Professor Mudge believes that the indications show that this part of Kansas was under the ocean, and then raised to dry land at least sixty times during the period of the coal measures. FOSSILS OF KANSAS. 3 eg V. Lower or Sub-Carboniferous System. Keokuk Group. The only representation of the Lower Carboniferous in Kansas is to be found in a small triangle in the extreme southeast, in Cherokee county. Here alone in the entire State of Kansas there is some evidence of local disturbance of the strata, which, however, may have taken place gradually, as there seems to be no evidence of volcanic action. This little tract seems to be allied to the adjacent region of Mis- souri, which contains some of the richest mines of lead and zinc in that State. Both metals, or rather their ores, have been found in pay- ing qiianlitiis in this corner of Kansas, along Short creek, and nowhere else in the State, except in most insignificant amounts. The thickness of the stratified rocks of Kansas is in all esti- mated by Professor Mudge as 5,210 feet. All these groups and formations contain more or less fossils, and some of them are very rich in them. In the Bluff or Loess are a few fresh water and land mollusks, the mastodon gigmiieus^ the elephas Americanus, a gigantic horse, probably eqttus excelsMs, and several small mammals. In the Pliocene there are numerous fossils, most of them silicified. Among them are bones of deer, beaver, a large animal of the ox kind, two and possibly three species of the horse, one three-toed and of very small size, an- other very closely allied to the present horse, a wolfj ivory and bones from the elephant or mastodon, bones of the rhinoceros and camel, etc. There have also been found the bones and cara- pace of a large fresh water turde, five feet in length, smaller turtles and mollusks. But the great field for fossils is in the cretaceous system, and especially in the Niobrara group, where from the mollusks and fishes to the saurians. Pterodactyls and birds with jaws and teeth, the palaeontologist is constantly stumbling upon new wonders. Fossil sharks, nearly fifty species of fossil fish, of which many hundred specimens have been collected, half a dozen of marine turtles, between thirty and forty species of crocodiles and other saurians, some of monstrous size, one seventy feet long with a head six feet in length, huge Pterodactyls of forms and size hitherto unknown, and birds with teeth and vertebrae like a fish. g5o ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. The Fort Benton group is more noted for the number and variety of its Ammonites, and has also a few fish and saurian remains. The Dakota group has a few fossil mollusks and fish, and one saurian, but is most noteworthy for its fossil flora and plants, especially dicotyledonous plants. Professor Lesquereaux found over seventy species, mostly dicotyledons, in Kansas, and all in this formation. Among these are four sequoias, closely allied to the gigantic redwoods of California, one or more pines, and eight other conifers, five poplars, six willows, eight oaks, six buttonwoods, seven species of sassafras, five magnolias, two figs, one palm, two cinnamon trees and a considerable number of extinct genera and species. Intermingled with these were numerous ferns, some of gigantic size. Professor Gray thinks all these plants migrated hither from Greenland, which once had, a sub-tropical climate. In the Permian and upper carboniferous groups there are land plants and a considerable number of mollusks and corals. In the coal measures are found fossil ferns and calamites, crinoids and trilobites, numerous species of fish, and especially fossil sharks, one with nearly 2,500 teeth in the lower jaw, and footprints of reptiles and saurians equal to the famous ones of the Connecticut valley. Eco7iomic Geology and Minerals. — Coal is the first mineral in this State in point of Importance. It is mined at many points in the region of the coal measures ; and though differing some- what in quality, it is in general a good bituminous coal, coking well and yielding from 8,000 to 9,000 cubic feet of gas to the ton, but requiring more than average care in the purification. That mined at Leavenworth is of the same class as the rest, a shaft over seven hundred feet in depth having been sunk to the coal measures. About 1,500,000 bushels (45.000 tons) are raised here annually, and about 120,000 tons in all the region. Lead and zinc are found in paying quantities in Cherokee county, in the extreme southeast of the State. About 6,000,000 pounds of lead ore are raised at Short creek, and zinc is smelted at New Pittsburg, in Crawford county. ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND MINERALS OF KANSAS. 86 1 Kansas possesses salt springs and saline deposits of sufficient strength and purity to supply the whole Mississippi valley if necessary. In the southwestern part of the State, below the great bend of the Arkansas, there are extensive beds of salt from six to twenty-eight inches in depth, caused by the drying up of salt ponds, or the salt branches of the Cimmaron river ; but as this region is not yet settled or easily accessible, it will be some dme before it is ready for market. A more accessible region is that in the Republican and Saline valleys, where there are extensive salt marshes, yielding a brine of great purity. The magnesia in the brine just as it comes from the marsh, is only from three to five-tenths of one per cent. Gypsum is found in many places in Kansas; in the western part of the State, in Wallace county, in most beaudful compound crystals; in Seward and Mead counties, in the southwest, near the Cimmaron river, there are beds of selenite crystals of great extent. In Marshall county, in the north, there is a heavy bed of it underlying at least four townships. It is manufactured at Blue Rapids. In Saline county is another bed of nearly equal extent. It is in demand both as a fertilizer and for buildino- o purposes. Lime and hydraulic cement are produced at Leavenworth, Lawrence and Fort Scott. Kansas has a great variety of excellent building stone, limestone, sandstone and gypsum, and all are extensively quarried. There are numerous gas or burning wells in the eastern part of the State. There is probably a deposit of petroleum some- where in the coal measures, but borings to the depth of i,ooo feet have failed to reach it, though they have yielded a permanent supply of gas. A well at lola yields 10,000 cubic feet daily. These wells are at Wyandotte — one there yielding 48,000 cubic feet daily — at Fort Scott, Rosedale and many other places. The illuminating power is about seven-tenths that of the best coal ofas. Soil and Vegetation. — From what has been said under the head df geology, the reader will naturally and correcdy infer that there is very little poor land in Kansas ; i. e., land which cannot 862 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. by proper cultivation and irrigation be made to yield good crops. This is true. Aside from the barren salt basins and desert lands of Southwestern Kansas on bodi sides of the Cimmaron (if, indeed, that is wholly an exception), and some few gravelly patches in the northwest, both together not amounting to a single county, there is a smaller quantity of barren land in Kansas than in any State in the Union. We say this with a full knowledge that the counties west of the hundredth meridian are generally unorganized as yet, that the amount of rainfall is less than in th€ Eastern counties, and that where the land is as yet unbroken, the sage-brush and the bunch-grass grow, and but little else, and that except in the valleys of the streams, or when planted by man, there are very few trees, and the winds rush down from the Rocky Mountains with terrific force. We are not disposed to conceal or diminish any of these apparently untoward facts; yet we adhere to our declaration. This soil, beaten down by the hoofs of buffaloes for centuries, is not now their pasture-ground, and when the hard-packed roots of the bunch-grass and the sage-brush are broken up by the plow, and loosened so that air and moisture can get in, the rainfall increases, the soil drinks it in instead of letting it run away, and ^s the soil is broken up again, and planted or sown with wh^;at, or corn, or flax, or turned over to the blue joint erass, \he moisture continues to increase, and in three or four years the rain, which comes most largely in May, June, July, and August (four-fifths of the whole falling in those months), pushes forward large crops, while the trees which have been planted for about the same length of time, break the fierce winds, and help to increase the amount of rain. Of five towns beyond the ninety-ninth meridian — Fort Hays, McPherson, Kinsley, Dodge City and Fort Wallace — the rainfall, which has hitherto been about twelve to fourteen inches, was as follows in the order in which they are named, in 1879: 16.26 inches; 32.05; 15.03; 15.43; 16.58. The season of the year at which the rain comes makes an immensfe difference ; the growing crop has the moisture just when it needs it, and it grows thriftily in consequence. This SOIL AND VEGETATION OF KANSAS. 863 rainfall will continue to increase, and will make this portion of the State as fruitful in its crops as any other. But if there should be a lack of rain, it is easy, with the constantly increasing elevation of the land and the rivers and streams westward, to irrigate all these lands when once broken to the plow, and then their yield will demonstrate that they are indeed the most fertile lands upon which the sun shines. Land which will yield thirty- five to forty bushels of wheat or a hundred bushels of corn, eighty bushels of oats and fifty of barley, or 250 to 300 or more bushels of potatoes to the acre, cannot be called barren land, even if it requires irrigation to enable it to do this. Alono- the banks of the rivers of Kansas and elsewhere there are now many trees, those not on the river banks having been very generally planted. The practice of using the Osage orange for hedges in place of any other fence is very common, and adds very greatly to the beauty of the farms as well as to the protec- tion of the crops and stock from the high winds. The trees planted under the Timber-Culture Act and under State laws have been possibly to a larger extent than was desir- able, the quickly growing trees, such as the white and yellow Cottonwood, willows, box elder, honey locust, ailantus, soft maple, and basswood or linden ; the State Agricultural Society have strongly urged the addition to the list of the elms, black walnut, white and other oaks, hickories, pecan, coffee bean, several spe- cies of ash, the red cedar, the sugar or hard maple, and the western catalpa {catalpa speciosa), a fine, hardy, and handsome tree. The native flowers of Kansas are very abundant and beautiful, and deck the broad prairies with a glory which must be seen to be fully appreciated. Zoology. — The wild animals of Kansas are those of the plains, not those which are peculiar to the Rocky Mountains, still less those of the western side of the Great Divide. The buffalo or bi^pn are not plenty anywhere in these days, but the remnants of the vast herds which formerly shook the solid earth by their steady, heavy gallop still pass at some seasons of the year :)ver Southwestern Kansas and thence into the Indian Territory and 354 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Western Texas. The antelope of the plains is also found in larofe numbers in Western and Southwestern Kansas. We doubt if the elk is now to be found in Kansas, though some years ago he occasionally appeared in the western counties. Deer are plenty, and the smaller game, hares, rabbits, squirrels, and the rodents generally. Of beasts of prey the black and brown bear, the panther or cougar, lynx, wild cat, opossum, rac- coon, weasel, fisher, marten and skunk, are most common. The gray or black wolf is not abundant in the State, and the coyote or the prairie wolf is found mainly in the central and western countieDo Game-birds are very abundant in the west and south- west, ducks, brant, teal, mallards, and wild geese being found in great numbers in their season on the Arkansas river as well as on the Republican and Smoky Hill. On the plains the prairie hen still exists in moderate numbers ; if it had been as plenty as formerly the "grasshoppers" or Rocky Mountain locusts would never have reached the farm lands. Other members of the grouse family are quite abundant, especially sage-hens, quails, and ptarmigan. Song-birds are numerous, and many of them of fine plumage. The native edible fish of Kansas are several species of perch, sunfish, catfish, roach, black bass, one or two species of trout, etc. Shad, salmon, salmon trout, grayling, an eastern species of black bass, etc., have been introduced through the Fish Commission, but the success of these introductions is not yet fully demon- strated. The reptiles are much the same as those of Arkansas and Missouri. Natural Curiosities and Phenomena. — In a prairie State like Kansas there are comparatively few of these. The most re- markable are the Monument Rocks in Gove county, the Pulpit Rock in Ellsworth county, the Rock City, and the Perforated Rock near by, in Ottawa county, the Table Rock in Lincoln county, and the masses of gypsum and selenite in the gypsum beds. Some of the fossil bones of vertebrates in the tertiary had been so thoroughly silicified as to be converted into moss agates of great beauty. This is particularly the case in Wallace and Sheridan counties. The moss agates of that region, not fossils, are very perfect. ^ T>k KISSIAN VILLAGE. KANSAS — A UUG-OUT — HAVING CLIMATE OF KANSAS. 85r Climate and Meteorology. — No State in the Union, certainly none in " Our Western Empire," has been so thorough in record- ing its climatic changes as Kansas. This has been due largely, indeed almost entirely, to the persistent and untiring efforts of the excellent Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, the late Hon. Alfred Gray, to whom not only the State but agricul- turists and scientists everywhere owe a debt of gratitude which can never be fully repaid. His admirable reports, prepared with so much labor and with such accuracy and completeness amid great bodily suffering and wasting disease, attest alike his philan- thropy and his devotion to his work. We may say in general that the climate of Kansas is a very desirable one. The summer months are in most parts of the State rather hot, the average mean temperature being for June about 75°, for July about 84.5°, and for August about 77.5°. The extremes of the winter months are sometimes very great, though not of long continuance; the average minimum of December is about — 12^, that of January about the same, while February was about +7°. The mean temperature of December was about 31°, of January about 24.5°, and of February 34.5°. These extremes are very great, but the air is so pure, and the extreme heat and cold are so tempered by it that the climate is a very healthy one. There are, as in all prairie States, at times, very high winds, sometimes accompanied with storms, though oftener not ; and these winds are sometimes destructive, and oftener annoying, but their general effect is puri- fying and healthful. The rainfall is increasing, and may, at some not very remote day, become excessive. A marked character- istic of it is that it is much larger in the months of May, June, July, and August than in all the rest of the year, and that the month of June has from one-third to one-half of the whole rain- fall of the year. With these general remarks we submit the meteorological tables of fifteen places in different parts of the State for 1877-1880. 55 866 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. November, 1877. December, 1877. January, 1878. February, 1878. 1.1 U 1 J^ " is 't; •=' 2 ! h If! 1 X 1 s s -p 3 0.-- r; cj: : clj- c eratu h. emp< onth emp onth VIon i ^-^ ax : c Stations. rt . ES :-i oMrt 'p"'p"l oil e ^- Es ei ■ S can Temp of Mont aximum T ature of M inimum T ature of M ainfall for ean Temp of Mont aximum T ature of M inimum T ature of M ^1 : p a aximum T ature of M inimum T ature of M ainfall for p R ■"2 E ^j rt rt ' U Srt u 3 "rt S [S IS ] P< ! S F jS 1 « ° s S S 1 Pi ^ S s OS Paxter Springs '42". 64: 68°! 10°: 3.05 46°.26 68°! 14°! 5-: 36°. 75 64° 10° 2.10 43° -23 64° 20° 3-97 Lawrence .... 39 23 64 I 9 I 47 44 -43 68 i 10 2.21 33 -97 ss 7-5 3-°5 40 22 6b 15.5' 2.Hb Leavenworth.. 39 -5 64 9 2 44 44 -2 67 13 .3-18 33 80 56 6 2-34 40 20 1 6b 18 1 2.94 Manhattan. ... Independence. 38 .70 44 -90 65 7^ _ 90 07 1.65 33 09 37 -7° 59 42 18 bH 6 1.14 10 2 47 -2° 71 15 3.10 64 10 2.69 80 68 18 398 Fort Hays „ .66 68 10 I 28 38 .00] 72 4 3-5° 33 -oo 57 — I 1.24 37 33 1 70 8 •78 Fort Larncd. 37 -ofi 66 — 2 20 37 .66 70 8 2.44 30 .31 58 5 • 51 30 75 j 68 13 .80 Salina 41 .00 66 9 I 38 45 -ool 66 ID 2.50 31 .88 56 6 1.25 3« 47; 72 14 1.29 Osborne 37 -7' 64 2 57 39 -78 62 1 IS 1-35 35 -oo 60 7 ■13 40 00 73 8 1-75 I 50 93 =;6 2.65 2.70 4.36 30 .50 30 .61 54 2.60 .50 '■,6 84 64 'i6 .40 .69 Kinsley . . . Dodge City... 38 .60 71 °i 39 -oo 68 10 64 — I .21 34 90 70 12 ■13 Fort Wallace.. 36 .31, 73 ! ! —6 1 06 28 .11 75 8 2.15 32 .00 57 9 38 .20 1 70 18 i->3 March, 1878. April, 1878. May, 1878. June, 1878. u 3 O.X. I.A •5 i 3 Ou= P " if; .p c Stations. 5 ^ E 3 p ^^ s c:e c ux E 3 j= ^ !s :i : - ex. o-j: c ^ O.J= i-ri c - a^- ax c :j i D.j= P.X c Stations. E c = « S c u E j; ■s 2 rt rt E c •-" G'o ■ 3 ,, E i ^o p rt E c H^ S V. ■53 rt rt 3 ■) .eg 1 vJ: ^^ p rt aximum Tem ature of Mont inimum Tem ature of Mon U 1 ■- ean Tempers of Month. aximum Terr ature of Mon inimum Ten- ature of Mon 1 1 'rt S s s fii ^ ■s. s oi S S >^ \ ti S jS Hi OS Baxter Spring! 80° -.ni loo'^ 70° 3.00 1 1 1 I^wrence . . . 78 -45 P8 sS 4-3" 177°. 14I gS^ 56- 2.22 67° -ss 94° -5^ 4i°| 2.51 55° .55; 87 ' 20° 1 .44 Leavenworth. 80 .3c 100 61 3.08 1 78 .90; 99 58 3-3' 67 .8c 93 41 1 2.6^ 55 .201 86 1 20 1. 10 Manhattan... 78 .09 95 52 12.71 1 76 .88 97 47 2.66 66 .gt 93 37 3-22 50 .361 8g 17 1.06 METEOROLOGY OF KANSAS. 867 Stations. Independence Fort Hays. . Fort Lamed Croat Bend Salina Gaylord . . . Oiborne . .. McPiierson Kinsley.... Fort Wallace Creswell . . Cedar Vale July, 18 c o E p 3 ° 6 H 'S 3 81°. 70 49 106 40 [ 99 54 1 '°° 00: 102 So .is .5 15 1 65^ August, 1878. September, 18 es'e = t-'S i^S E^ 3 o 81°. 50 81 .50 82 .00 78 .83 79 .62 79 -'o 61' 79 .02 64^ E o 6s .50 72 .00 68 .65 63 -97 66 .22 72 .40 67 .87 ■^ o y. 3 46° •45 2.25 1.46 2-53 2.40 .76 October, 1078. E£ ^§ p o 58'^. to 55 •<» 60 .00 Esie c' r" O »J O i E oi 56 .66, 86 52 .00 91 55 .60 88 4.70 Spr. ■39 4.06 .09 Stations. January, 1879. February, 1879. March, 1879. April, 1879. 3 y c ° s s t ■S2 D.JP 1 = P p '3 ^? E p ° S n ES ■S2 04= SS ^% S'o u .St5 P _p Mean Temperature of Month. Maximum Temper- ature of Month. Minimum Temper- ature of Month. J3 P •S. _p '« 3 « ll p w sl S f. 'S 5 U c .5 "a Oi Lawrence Leavenworth.. Manhattan. ... Independence. Great Bend. .. Salina - Gaylord Osborne 23° -49 23 -63 21 .25 27 .80 24 -55 24 .00 25 -05 22 .87 53° 56 58 70 64 70 64 -16=3 -14 -14 -8 -14 -18 -20 -II •37 1. 16 ■75 2.03 1.07 135 ■75 1. 00 .85 •45 155 2.12 ■87 34° -06 32 -93 74° 69 5° ■41 •54 48° .22 46 .42 46 .64 51 ■SO 47 ■fii 52 .00 87° 84 85 86 90 92 11° 9 10 16 10 12 ■37 •32 •85 ■05 ■30 56^ .40 55 ^37 53 ■70 58 .70 57 ■OS 59. 00 84^ 83 78 90 86 88 20° !9 ■so 18 26 2t '9 4 3 3 4 4 4 3 4 6 4 2 18 57 21 76 62 67 02 87 7S 49 98 40 80 36 .30 35 ^55 35 •00 74 76 8x II 6 7 1.30 •25 .12 29 .64 70 2 .10 •38 .36 •45 .88 .08 46 .00 89 13 55 •gfi 85 20 Fort Wallace.. Creswell Cedar Vale.... Dodge City. .. 20 .42 24 .11 29 .79 23 .86 68 55 65 61 -8 -12 -3 -9 30 ^95 30 .12 37 -94 32 .54 84 78 78 74 2 6 12 6 42 .58 44 ■30 47 ^72 86 90 12 II ■15 •17 53 ^76 53 -iS 61 .63 59 ^97 6d .79 86 84 ^7 8q 25 24 26 '9 McPherson. . . 1.50 1 ^ i II i Stations. ■0 3 3 •0 3 "5) p 3 May, 1879. June, 1879. July, 1S79. u 3 rt p « Maximum Temper- ature of Month. Minimum Temper- ature of Month, p p 'rt Pi 3 S hJ p'o OsP E S .S b Minimum Temper- ature of Month. Rainfall for Month. ■■J p 1" Minimum Temper- ature of Month. P IS •2 a Lawrence .... Leavenworth.. Manhattan.. .. Independence. Great Bend . . . Salina Gaylord 38° 58' 39 21' 39 '2' n ^', 38 22' 39 00' 39 45' 95° 16' 94 54' 96 40' 98 38' 98 00' q8 '.a' 884 896 1,200 800 ',845 1,243 I-8qq 69° .50 68 .96 68 .57 69 .30 68 .S3 71 .00 93° 92 95 91 98 103 43° 41 44 5' 40 39 1.60 3-04 1.79 .92 .18 1.58 73° .22 73 -35 T?. .80 76 .90 77 ■00 75 -oo 97° 93 93 102 103 45° 46 52 50 33 43 7-M 9,00' 8,48: 3-54' 2.6s| 8.79! 4- 171 79°. 14 79 ■Ss 79 .20 85 .90 80 .00 90 .00 97° 97 98 104 98 103 62° 61 67 70 62 62 3 4 4 3 6 6 4 66 99 26 79 72 07 1 868 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Stations. Osborne 39° 30' 98° 45 Kinsley |j7 58 99 46 Fort \Vallace.. 39 00' 101 34 Creswell 138 20'! 97 ji Cedar Vale. . .. 37 8'i 96 27' Dodge City... 37 45''ioo 00' Fort Hays .... 38 59' ^ 99 00' McPherson.. . 138 2o'l 97 40' 2,000 2,226 3,3^8 1,375 1,000 2,630 2,107 »,557 May, 1879. e cuA I ci.-^ I - 1,^ O (,«J o JUNH, 1879. 670.82 •17 96° 50' 72 .99 63 .09 69 .89 100 ll_ , 1 aj= ^A S = H HS s--^ st^ H Z ps s s July, 1879. 73° .601 94^ 77 .48 108 75 .40: too 77 .93 102 76 .oo| . . . . 78 .34; 100 48°! 3-83 .... 3.65 6-93 6.3; 4.4c 2.60 7.00 i. 1 I a.jd . !S " 5 i^S H V. y. zL S 57 100° 92 ' 108 &ji 100 20 102 1 t-3 63° 59 67 72 40 ... 37 105 Stations. Lawrence. . . . Leavenworth. Manhattan... Independence Great Bend. . SaUna Gaylord Osborne Kinsley Fort Wallace.. Cre^well Cedar Vale.... Dodge City.. . Fort Hays McPherson . . . August, 1879. c!iS E t 71> -73 77 -70 77 -56 77 -3° 77 -5° 79 .00 77 -74 75 -98 75 -23 80 .38 75 -60 81 * September, 1879. October, 1879. S iS 56 .30 70 .50 65 .25 71 .00 23 90! 66 .45 37|i 24J 64 .15 69 .23 71 .07 66 .17 62 .17 .40 92" .90 j 90 I E-s 60°. 46 87°. 5 62 .10 84. 5 61 .13 86 .0 62 .80 91 .0 59 .20 88 .0 65 .00 90 .0 25^.5 26 .0 24 .0 31 .0 27 .0 25 .0 61 56' 58 64 59 48 ■25 91 .0 .0 16" .0 .0 .28 90 .50 76 •79 91 .0 ■7 .0 31 45 10 .0 ■5 .0 2.81 4.25 2.63 2.49 .10 1.80 •23 ■ IS .40 2. '16 2.87 .60 November, 1879. a c o E'o 26 76^.5! 16'' 60 73 .5 1 16 50 70 .ol 13 40,80 .0 00 76 .0 00 75 .0 78 77 -o 67 .0 17 Stations. Lawrence. . . . Leavenworth. Manhattan Independence. Great Bend. . , Salina Gaylord Osborne Kinsley Fort Wallace., Creswell Cedar Vale Dodge City. .. Fort Hays. . . . McPherson..., December, 1879. E o .'-I o 5 o : E o i s !.i ^ 2 ^ 1 E " 26° .23 65°.5J-9" 26 .70 63 .0 — 8 28 .75 '74 .0 32 .90 64 .0 32 .00,74 .0 28 .00 79 .0 158 .0 23 .16.57 -o 23 .39:72 .0 23 .60I78 .0 29 .38,66 .0 25 .70 70 .0 -10 —4 10 'LSS January, 18 41" -23 41 .40 37 .16 45 -So 40 .25 36 .12 41 .60 38 .20 ES ES ss is 'S 3 s S 67 20". 5 20 .0 15 .0 21 .0 16 .0 15 .0 2.00 .56 1.54 •45 .75 •25 Spr. 1. 6s February, 18 37" 90 36 .62 42 .30 37 .50 41 .00 36 .46 37 -5° 37 -lo 38 .30 30 .48 ax ES S E 6 c 4) o Spr. March, 1880 ES E ii ■- 3 « « 42° .381 79": 42 .90! 76 41 .04 I 80 47 -oo] 78 41 .501 84 46 .00 86 40 .32 83 40 .10 44 -97 28 .90 2.5- 4.0 -a.o 5-0 -i.o -3.0 3-0 -4.0 7.0 -8.0 2.03 2.22 ■SO 1.46 •54 .90 •75 .lo .68 1.42 .04 RAINFALL OF KANSAS. SUMMARY OF RAINFALL FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1878. FIRST, OR EASTERN BELT. 869 Stations. ! [Baxter Spr'gs. I Lawrence I Leavenworth. . .'Manhattan.. . . Iliidepeiidence. u ^ "S T3 c « J J 37" V 94"" 37 3« 5« 95 It. 39 21 94 54 39 12 96 40 37 « 95 37 tC . r.^ r-. " OD JD jo >. ■6 00 r^ c^ t^ •0 3 < > E u Q 3 C d >— > 2 J2 0. < c 3 "3 1— I 820 5.30 2.10 3.Q7 3.00 4.60 6.80 5.92 3.00 884 '•47 2.21 13.05 2.s6 2.67 s.4a S.66 S.67 4.30 896 2.44 3-''8|2.34 2.94 2-.35 2.86 5.28 5.27 3."8 1,200 1.90 1.65 12.35 1.44 1.77 2.02 4.04 5.02 12.71 8 JO 2.07 J.IO 2.69 3.9a 3.13 3.50 10.06 8.13 2.93 Eb I 3 I < I 37-74 38.54 36.85 39- 84 43-79 SECOND, OR MIDDLE BELT. Great Bend . . . Salina. Osborne McPherson. . . Creswcll Gaylord Kinsley. Fort Wallace. . Dodge City. . . 38° 22' 98° 38- 1,845 39 00 98 00 1,127 39 30' 98 45' 2,000 38 20' 97 40' 1,557 38 20' 97 " 1,375 11' 2.28 1.25 1.29' .88 1.37 38 2.501 2.70 1.75' 1.70 1.55 57 1.35 1. 01 .69; i.ooi .50 50I 2.65! 2.60 2.15I 1.95; 2.30 ...... I 2.84I 2.04 5.08; 2.42 4.65 1.95 1.96 4-15 532 -22 I 3 .69 .19 ! 12 ■30 I 5 -72 3 •35 I I -75 2 -OS 13 -35 I 2 -67 3 451 1-26 25 .19 10 .21 15, 4.70 401 4.06 30.19 2993 28.21 41.80 38.49 THIRD, OR WESTERN BELT. 39 45 98 50 1,800 37 58 99 46 2,226 39 00 loi 34 3.318 37 45 100 00 2,600 .. . 1 •13 .40 .52 .70 10.64 4.79 -93 2-70 ■.50 ■75 1-65 .60 ,5.18 5.37 .06 2.15 .oS .13 1.48 .44 i.bs 6.37 .56 4.36 .21 1. 13 I.OI 1.06 4.63 2.19 5-75 3.26 1.61 3.41 1.46 1.25 I. 10 .60 Spr 1.00,2.53 4.48 1 .76 .29 .09 31.51 25-78 19.44 22.09 RECAPITULATION. First, or Eastern Belt . . Second, or Middle Belt. Third, or Western Belt. . J3 E ti E t^ ! >00 z Q i 2.19 3-09 1 1. 00 2-49 1 .60 2.7s ! ■5 00- 2.51 3.04 ; 2.88 3.60 \ 6.49 1.42 I. 18 1 1.63 1. 21 ■ 4-44 •53 .67 1 1.08 .68 1 4.29 5-83 1 7- 58 1 5-37! 4-97 5-97 6.31 r^ J3 Vi E« 6« 3 H." < t« 2.64 2.28 "00 o " o I. OS 2.541 1-561 1.57 2.74I 1.39I .24 Mean for 12 months — First, or Eastern Belt 37- 58 inches. " " " " Second, or Middle Belt 27.89 " " " " " Third, or Western Belt 21.73 " SUMMARY OF RAINFALL FOR 1879. FIRST, OR EASTERN BELT. Stations. Lawrence Leavenworth . . Manhattan. .. , Independence . tj Cedar Vale..-. t •75 2.03 2.12 85 76 7-14 9.90 3-54 6.37 7-14 9.90 8.48 3-54 6.37 I -03 .18 1. 61 4.12 5.69 2.81 4-25 2.63 2.49 2.87 2^39 2.34 .62 5-17 2.00 32-68 41-55 36.45 33.08 33-17 SECOND, OR MIDDLE BELT. Great Bend I 1.07 iSalina 1.35 iGaylord .75 Osborne i.oo Creswell I 1.55 •05 4-95 •31 2.65 •.30 4.62 X.38 8.79 3-67 I -.58 417 4.02 2.65 3.8s •15 6.49 .84 6.93 6-79 6.72 4-07 3-37 7.88 r.65 2.10 •23 r.90 2.10 -35 1-95 1-30 2.30 1-37 •23 • 15 2.16 1.90 2.77 4-99 .65 20. •35 34- .00 17- .00 22. • 58 36. 870 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. THIRD, OR WESTERN BELT. Stations. Kinsley ! .85 Fort Wallace | .45 Dodge City ■ .87 Fort Hays I .... McPherson | 1.50 2.00 2.44 .90 ■50 1.70 ^.6s 2-31 3-37 1.08 7.01 2.24 i 4.40 3.90 3-75 1 . 2.60 7.04 3.02 1 . 7.00 6.25 4.20 I. .60 1503 16.58 iS-43 16.26 32.05 Agncultural Productions. — Kansas is pre-eminently an agri- cultural State, and the efforts of her State Agricultural Board and of her railroad companies to develop her agricultural inter- ests have been crowned with the most wonderful success. Her race for the supremacy in agricultural products has been rapid beyond all precedent. Take wheat as an example: In 1872 she produced 2,155,000 bushels; in 1878, 32,315,358, leading all the States in winter wheat. In 1879 the season was unfavorable for winter wheat, but favorable for the spring wheat, and the wheat crop in Kansas fell off to 20,551,000, but the crop of 1880 more than makes up all deficiencies. The following official statement shows what were the agricul- tural crops of 1877, 1878, and 1879: Crops. Winter Wheat bu. Rye bu. Spring Wheat bu. Corn bu Barley bu, Oats bu Buckwheat bu, Irish Pot.itoes bu Sweet Potatoes bu. Sorghum gall Castor Beans bu Cotton lbs Flax bu Hemp lbs Tobacco lbs Broom Corn lbs Millet and Hungarian., .tons Timothy tons Clover tons Prairie Hay tons Timothy Pasture acres Clover Pasture acres Blue-grass Pasture . . .acres Prairie Pasture, under fence * Total 1 Average Number of Acres Amount of Product. Value of Product. Average Yield per Acre. Price per Bushel, Gall., Lb. or Ton. Average Value per Acre. 857,125.00 10,800,295.00 % 9,662,508.20 12.60+ S0.89+ *ii.27+ 119,971 00 2,525,054 00 806,092.81 21 05- ■32- 6 72- 206,868 00 3.516,410 00 2,577,620.52 17 00- •73 + 12 46+ 2,563,112 00 103,497,831 00 20,206,184.92 40 38- .20- 7 88 + 79-704 00 1,875.323 00 582,977.32 23 53- iie-- 7 31 + 310,226 00 12,768,488 00 2,050,001.77 41 16- 6 61- 4,112 37 57.974 41 46,380.53 12 64- .80-- 11 28- 45,018 00 3,119,084 00 2,056,078.80 69 29- .66- 45 67+ 1,726 23 201,423 50 201,928.94 lib 68-t- i.oo-f- 116 91- 20,783 75 2,390.131 25 1,195,065,63 115 00 .50 57 50-- 50.845 25 578.356 00 578,356.00 11 37+ 1. 00 11 37-- 597 62 ioi,595 40 10,159.54 170 00 .10 17 00 27.735 M 291,309 57 305,875.05 10 50-f- 1.05 11 03+ 1,801 70 1.657,564 00 99.453 84 920 00 .06 55 20 717 35 530,839 00 53,083.90 740 00 .10 74 00 21. =47 14 16,917,712 00 6^4,414.20 800 00 .04- 32 00 164,529 GO 427,602 25 1,765,583.59 2 60- 4.10+ 10 734- 25,212 50 40,318 29 225,262.89 I 60- 5-59- 8 93 + 9.796 66 18.337 04 107,362.19 I 87-- 47-- 5.85 + 10 ,(>- 503,612 00 741.763 60 2,432,660.57 1 3.28- 4 83 4,202 23 1,445 49 21,209 31 553,717.00 5,595,304 99 $45,597,051-21 AGRICULTURAL CROPS OF KANSAS. 871 Showing the Number of Acres, Amount and Value of each Product of Principal Crops of the Farm, for 1878. . ' ' Crops. Acr Value of Product. I Average Average ' Price per Yield Bu., Lb. per Acre, or Ton. Average Value per Acre. Winter Wheat bu. Rye bu. Spring Wheat bu. Com bu. Barley bu. Oats bu. Buckwheat . bu. Irish Potatoes bu. Sweet Potatoes bu. Sorghum gall. Castor Beans bu. Cotton lbs. Flax bu. Hemp lbs. Tobacco lbs. Broom Com lbs. Millet and Hungarian., .tons. Timothy Meadow tons. Clover Meadow tons. Prairie Meadow tons. Timothy Pasture acres. Clover Pasture acres. Blue-grass Pasture acres. Prairie Pasture acres. I.297.555-0O 127,842.00 433.25700 2,405,482.00 56,255.00 444,191.00 4,582.66 51,279.00 2,266.93 20,291.88 30,928.75 5'^ 9 -30 37,001.70 529- 79 553-15 20,220.17 144,081.00 40,121.12 12,429.42 667,503.00 8,820.00 3.770-25 27,876.73 701,421.00 26,518, 2,722, 5-796. 89.324. 1,562, •7,411. 85. 4.256. 269. 2.333. 358. 86. 424. 487. 409 16,065 432. 64. 24 .955-00 ,co8.oo ,403.00 ,971.00 ,793-oo ,47300 ,928.20 ,336.00 .083.57 ,566.20 .894.75 ,581.00 ,770.88 ,406.80 ,331.00 ,566.00 ,243.00 .553-76 ,229.52 ,963 00 ■^15,658,466.87 816,602.40 2,782,599.97 17,018,968.79 562,260.33 2.9'!7,9oo.63 68,742.56 1,683,936.00 224,846.61 1,166,783.22 448,618.38 7.792-36 424,770.88 29,244.40 40,933.10 602,458.76 1,782,555-30 362,241.52 137.154-45 3.157.557-85 Total I 6,538,727.85 920, 740 794 3 29 + 38 + 13 + 78 + 07- 69 + 60+ 53+ 00 61- 95- ;?49.9i4.434-38 59 + 30 48+ 17- 36- 16+ 80 39 + 84- 50 25 09 00 06 10 04- 12 + 61 + 66+ 19 + IJ12.06- 6-39- 6.71 + 6.31 + 9.98- 6.28- 14.46+ 32.42— 99.70+ 57-50 14.50 '5- 30 11.48- 55-20 74-00 29.79 + 12.36+ 9-03 + I I .04- 4-72 + The value of farm products for the year 1878 is as follows Field products ^49,914,434.38 Increase in farm animals 6,401,871.30 Products of live-stock 10,415,339.32 Produce of gardens marketed 247,510.29 Apiarian products 55,141.15 Horticultural products 2,642,770.87 Total valuation of farm products for 1878 $69,677,067.31 Total valuation of all other property 231,164,684.95 Grand State Total $300,841,752.26 Number of Acres, Amount and Value of each Product of Principal Crops of the Farm, for 1879. Crops. Winter Wheat bu. Rye bu. Spring Wheat bu. Com bu. Barley bu. Oats bu. Buckwheat bu. Irish Potatoes bu. Sweet Potatoes ,.. .bu. Sorghum gall. Castor Beans bu. Cotton lbs. Flax bu. Hemp lbs. Tobacco lbs. Broom Corn lbs. Millet and Hungarian. . . .tons. Timothy Meadow tons. Clover Meadow tons. Prairie Meadow tons. Timothy Pasture acres. Clover Pasture acres. Blue-grass Pasture acres. Prairie Pasture acres. Total Average Value of Product. Average Price per Average Acres. Product. Yield Bu.. Lb., Value per Acre. or Ton. per Acre. 1,520,659.00 17,560,259.00 $16,087,403,69 11.55- $ 92- gio.63- 43,675.00 660,409.00 264,163.60 15-12 + 40 6.05- 412,139.00 2,990,677.00 2,361,307.45 7-25 + 79- 5-73- 2,995,070.00 108,704,927.00 26,562,674.46 36.29 + 24+ 8.71- 45,851.00 720,092.00 360,046.00 15.70+ 50 7-8s 573,982.00 13,326,637.00 3.397,416.33 23.22- 25 + .S.81- 2,817.00 4'i,3o6.40 37.175-84 15.00 90 13.50 62,6->i.oo 3,324,129.00 2,177.564-55 53-10+ 66- 35.05- 2,728.21 • 197,407.29 197,407.29 72-36- I 00 72.36- 23,664.86 2,721,458.90 1,224.656.57 115.00 45 51-75 68,179.07 766,143.37 766,1-43.37 11.24- I 00 11.24- 197.58 33,588.60 3,023.06 170.00 09 15-30 69,383.17 622,256.02 622,256.02 8-97- I 00 8-97- 606.39 557.878-80 ■ 33.472.72 920.00 06 55-20 752.37 556,753-80 55.675.38 740.00 10 74-00 14.273-IS 8,095,145.28 • •283,330.15 567.16- 03^4 19-85 +' 174,890.00 494,962.00 2.042,275.75 2.83 + 4 13- 11.69- 57,481.13 86,884.98 483,812.15 1-51- 5 57- 8.41- 14,769.83 25,822.90 152,503.92 1-75- 5 91- 10.34- 672.994.00 943,653.60 3,017,472-43 1.40- 3 ,9 + 4-47- 14,212.38 7,007-30 36,166.82 955,826.00 7.760.026.26 *6o. 120.780.7^ g-^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The following statistics show the number and increase of live- stock in the State from the close of 1875 to the close of 1879 : LIVE-STOCK. Horses. Mules and Asses. Milch Cows. S 3 _3 > E 3 I? _3 "n > u E 3 7^ u 3 > Total in 1875 207,376 274,450 ^,875,245-12 16,467,000.00 24,964 40,564 $1,622,660.00 3.042,300.00 225,028 286,241 $5,747,215.12 7,442,266.00 67,074 ;?6,59i,754-88 1 5 ,6co 54-7- 40.564 51.981 $1 419,640.00 61,213 $1,695,050.88 Per cent, of increase in 5 years 32 -34 274,450 324,766 27.20 + 286,241 322,020 ^16,467,000 17,537,364 $3,042,300 4,158,480 $7,442,266 8,964,540 Total in 1879 50,316 $1,070,364 11.417 $1,116,180 35,779 $1,522,274 Othe r Cattle. Sheep. Swine. S 3 6 _3 > 1 6 3 2; u 3 > u u B 3 u > Total in 1875 478,295 586,002 $9,039,775-50 12,423,242.40 106,224 243,760 $247,501-92 731,280.00 292,658 $2,077,871.80 1 1,195,044! 6,094,724.40 1 107,707 53,383,466.90 137,536 $483,778-08 902,386 $4,016,852.60 22.52- 586,002 654,443 129.48- 243,760 311,862 308.34+ 1,195,044 1,264,494 $12,423,242 15,706,632 $731,280 1,091,517 $6,094,724 7,586,964 68,441 $3,283,390 68,102 $360,237 69,450 $1,492,240 The following- statistics show the amount not only of agricul- tural products but of other products of the State, valuations of real and personal estate, etc., as well as school statistics for 1879 : SUMMARY FOR THE STATE. 1878. Field products ;$49, 914,434 38 Increase in total value of farm animals . . 6,401,871 30 Products of live-stock 10,415,339 32 Products of market gardens 247,510 29 Apiarian products 55>i4i ^5 Horticultural products 2,642,770 87 1879. ;6o, 129,780 73 8,504,684 20 11,507.715 46 307,292 48 94,789 30 488,594 88 Total ^69,677,067 31 $81,032,857 05 Increase during the year ;?ii,355,789 74 Total valuation of products of 1879, $81,032,857.05; assessed valuation of property, March i, 1879, $144,930,279.69; real valu- STATISTICS OF KANSAS. gy^ ation of assessed property, ^241,550,466.51 ; total valuation of all property, ^322,611,187.86. Value per capita of products of 1879, $97.80 — ; real valuation per capita of assessed property of 1879, $286.21+; valuation per capita of products of 1879, together with the real valuation of assessed property, $384.01 +. Increase in cultivated area for year ending March i, 1879, 1,270,492.82 ; number of farm dwellings erected during the year ending March i, 1879, 15,952; value of farm dwellings erected during year ending March i, 1879, $2,802,053. Tax on each $100 of assessed valuation, $3.56 + . Number of school districts, 5,575 ; number of school-houses, 4,934; value of school buildings and grounds, $3,916,931 ; number of teachers employed during the year, 6,707; average wages paid, $27.09; total school ex- penses, $1,590,794.30. The tables given above are instructive in many particulars. They show the rapidity with which the arable lands of the State are brought under cultivation, an increase of acreage of about 1,350,000 yearly, and a total of 7,757,130 acres sown with these prominent crops in 1879. At this rate of increase, and it is likely to be exceeded, the year a. d. 1900 will see all or nearly all the arable land of the State under culture. They show also that while, as a new State, Kansas must of necessity devote her- self to the cultivation of the cereals, corn and potatoes, as her principal crops, and those which would bring the readiest and surest return, she has also been very active in diversifying her producdons by the cultivation of other crops.' In 1879, more than one-seventh of her cultivated acreage was devoted to the culture of such crops as millet, pearl millet, Hungarian grass, rice corn, flax, broom corn, castor beans, sorghum, sweet pota- toes, and small ventures in cotton, hemp, tobacco, etc. Kansas has generally done better on winter wheat than spring wheat, and hence of her large wheat area about four-fifths is win- ter wheat, and the remainder spring wheat. The States farther north have found that spring wheat was a much surer crop, owing to their long and severe winters and their short but quick-grow- ing and intense summers. The warm season is so much longer, and the general cold of winter so much less severe in Kansas, 374 ^^-^ WESTERN EMPIRE. that winter wheat is a tolerably sure crop, and its average yield is more satisfactory than the spring wheat. The culture of the castor bean, of flax, of the rice corn, and of the broom corn is larger in proportion to the whole farming crop than in any other State. That of sorghum and of the pearl millet is increasing. All of these crops under proper conditions have proved profitable, and some of them in future will be much more so. This is especially true of the castor bean, rice corn, flax, and sorofhum. The new discoveries which enable the manufacturer at very moderate cost to produce a perfectly crystallized sugar from sorghum, when cut at the time the seeds are hardening, will cause a ereat increase in the cultivation of some of its numerous varieties. The demand for the flax fibre for paper stock when the seed has ripened will increase the production of flax as yield- ing a double crop of seed and lint, and the recently demonstrated fact that it is the most profitable crop to be used on land of new breaking will also increase its production. We should not lose sight in this connection of the important interest which Kansas has in the rearing of live-stock. In 1879, she had 324,766 horses and 51,981 mules reported by the asses- sors, a very fair amount for a new State ; the number of milch cows was 332,020, and of other cattle 654,443, making together 986,463 neat cattle, and allowing for omissions in the assessors' reports the actual number must have exceeded 1,000,000. The dairy products of the State for the year ending March i, 1879, were 1,059,640 pounds of cheese, and 14,506,494 pounds of butter, of the total value of $3,759,078.50. To this should be added a large sum for milk sold. The number of sheep was 31 1,862, not very large, but a ten-fold increase from 1870. In the production of swine, Kansas stands eleventh in the United States, and fourth in "Our Western Empire," only Iowa, Missouri, and Texas having a larger number. In the quality of the pork only Iowa surpasses her. In addition to her 1,264,494 swine at the end of 1879, which were valued at $7,586,964, there were in 1879 animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter (of which the swine formed much the largest portion) to the value of $8,665,- 543. Western Kansas furnishes such abundant pasturage for ORCHARD AND VINEYARD PRODUCTS. 87? cattle and sheep, and such vast crops of corn, rice corn, etc., that the raising, and especially the fattening of cattle and sheep for market, ought to be and will be one of its largest industries. The orchard and vineyard products of Kansas are remarkable for a State so recently settled. In March, 1879, there were reported, 1,867,192 apple trees in bearing, and 3,979,062 which had not yet borne their first crop ; 58,482 pear trees in bearing, and 154,265 not yet in bearing; 4,784,076 peach trees in bearing, and 4,049,801 not yet in bearing; 169,940 plum trees in bearing, and 264,968 not yet in bearing; 432,726 cherry trees in bearing, and 678,426 not yet in bearing. The climate is favorable to fruit-growing, and great care is taken to obtain choice varieties. Not so much attention has been paid to viniculture, but there were 3,419 acres of vineyards in the State in 1878, and 84,079 gallons of wine were made that year. Apiaculture, or the raising of bees, has been from the first a favorite pursuit in Kansas. In 1879 there were 31,190 stands of bees reported in the State, which had produced 370,398 pounds of honey, and 10,949 pounds of wax. Prices of Necessary Merchandise. — The question is often asked by intending emigrants : Are not the prices of everything we have to buy in these new States and Territories enormously high ? We can buy land cheaply enough, and the prices of ' horses, catde and sheep are reasonable, but is not this cheapness more than made up by the exorbitant price put upon everything we have to eat, drink, or wear, upon our furniture, agricultural or mining tools, lumber, etc., and is not the price of board and lodging very high? We answer. No. The average prices of most articles are not higher and some of them not quite so high as those at the East. The following list of prices prepared by the late Hon. Alfred Gray, late Secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, with great care, shows the average prices in Kansas, in the autumn of 1879. They have not materially changed since. The prices of board are given as at Topeka, Lawrence and other cities of the State. In the country villages and on farms, they are materially lower. 876 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. PRICES OF MERCHANDISE, ETC Prints. Merrimac, per yard 6c. to 8c Cocheco 7c. to 9c, Ordinary 5*^ DRY GOODS. \ Atlantic, P ^C. Dwiyht Star 9^c. Booth Mills 8>^c. Muslin — Bleached. Lonsdale, per yard loc. Fruit of the Loom loc. Great Falls, Q loc. Wamsutta I2}^c Brown. Indian Head, per yard 9^c Atlantic, A 9}^.^ yeans, etc. Salem, all wool filled, per yard. 45c. Tricot 25c. Farmers' 30c. Farmers' and mechanics' cassia mere 25c. Cheviot shirtings loc. to I2^c. Ticking, best feather 20c. to 25c. Ticking, best straw loc. to I2^c. Sugar. [For one dollar.) 10^ pounds A. loy^ pounds Granulated. 11^2 pounds Coffee, "C." 15 pounds Brown. Coffee. [For one dollar.) 4 pounds Java. 5 pounds best Rio. 8 pounds good Rio. Tea. [Per pound.) Japan ^o 25 Gunpowder 60 Imperial 5*^ Oolong, choice Miscellaneous. Rice, per pound Codfish Mackerel, per kitt Bacon — Shoulders, per pound GROCERIES. Bacon — Hams, canvassed.. . . Hams, plain Sides. Apples, per bushel Potatoes Sweet potatoes Butter crackers, per pound. . . Coal oil, per gallon Flour and Feed, to %o 80 to I 00 to 80 60 $0 08 8 70 6 I 00 to I 20 70 to 80 70 6X 25 XXX, per 100 pounds $2 75 XXXX 3 25 Patent 3 75 80 60 70 25 30 3 00 Hay, per ton, baled 8 00 FURNITURE. Corn meal Bran Shorts Corn, per bushel.. . , Oats Hay, per ton, loose. Chairs. Windsor, set of 6 ^3 50 Cane seal 6 00 Splint bottom Easy, each 7 50 Tables. Kitchen Breakfast 3 00 Extension, oak, ash and wal-» nut, per foot Bedsteads, etc. Cottage Walnut 5 00 and Bureaus 12 00 and to ^6 [ 50 to 18 00 4 5° to 20 00 «2 50 to 4 50 I IS ;?3 00 upwards t upwards Rocking Chairs, etc. Common wood Cane seat Washstands Commode and drawer stands. Kitchen safes 5i 00 to $\ 50 2 50 to 6 00 2 00 to 4 50 to 4 00 to 2 50 6 50 7 50 Lounges, etc. Carpet $8 00 to $30 00 Wood, extension 2 25 to 4 50 Sofas 1500 Bedroom suits 35 00 to 150 00 Parlor suits 40 00 to 1 00 00 PRICES OF MERCHANDISE IN KANSAS. ^77 CARPETS. Hemp, per yard ;^o 20 Rag 40 Ingrain, cotton chain 25 to 50 Two-ply, all wool 55 'o 90 Three-ply, all wool 90 to l 10 1 Oil-cloth, per square yard. MISCELLANEOUS, Tapestry $0 90 to Body Brussels China straw matting Rattan matting 50 to 18 to 35 to 35 to SI 25 2 00 35 75 75 Stoves. Cooking, complete ;? 1 7 OO to ^50 00 Heating 5 00 and upwards Harness, etc. Farm, double ;$22 00 to ^26 00 Carriage, double 25 00 to 75 00 Buggy, single 12 00 to 50 00 Saddles, men's 2 50 to 25 00 Saddles, women's $5 00 to J Collars 60 to Halters 50 to Horse blankets i 10 to Shoeing Horses. Putting on set of all-new shoes. Resetting old shoes 25 00 4 00 2 00 10 00 $1 50 80 BUILDING MATERIAL. Common boards, per M. . Studding and joist Fencing , Flooring Siding D stock Shingles Lath Finishing lumber , Doors Sash, glazed, per window. ;J22 50 22 00 22 50 25 00 to 35 00 18 00 to 25 00 25 00 3 00 to 4 00 4 00 30 00 to 60 00 I 25 to 3 00 90 to 2 50 Blinds, per lineal foot. ^o 35 Cedar posts 17 to Lime, per bushel Plastering hair, per bushel. . Brick, per M 7 OO to Plaster Paris, per barrel. . . . Nails, per pound, by the keg. Stone, per cord, delivered. .. 3 5010 Stone,laidin the wall, perfoot. 8 Building hardware is sold at Eastern prices with freight added. 20 25 20 8 00 3 50 4 00 AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. Plows, etc. Wood beam, stirring, from 10 to 16 inches $10 00 to %\() 00 Steel beam, stirring 12 00 to 20 00 Iron beam, stirring II 00 to 18 00 Prairie breakers 18 00 to 25 00 Sulky, 12 to 16 inches 38 00 to 45 cx3 Riding sulkies, for plow at- tachments 20 00 to 35 00 Corn planters 45 00 Cultivators, walking or riding ^19 OO to ;^27 00 Harrows, Scotch 6 00 to 8 50 Harrows, vibrating 9 5010 10 50 Hay rakes, sulky 22 00 to 24 00 Wagons, Farm two-horse ;^6o 00 to 70 00 Spring 90 00 to 1 25 00 Buggies. Covered $<)0 00 to ^275 00 Open 60 00 to 1 50 00 WOODEN AND WILLOW WARE. Two-hoop buckets 1 7c. Three-hoop buckets 20c. No. I washtubs 50c. No. 2 washtubs 65c. No. 3 washtubs 75c. Small willow clothes basket 65c. Medium willow clothes basket. . . Large willow clothes basket Washboards 15c. Half-bushel market baskets Half-bushel feed baskets Bushel baskets, stave 75';- 90c. to 25c. 10c. 30c. 40c. g-g OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. FRESH MEATS. Beef. \ Mutton, etc. Boiling pieces, per pound 5c. to 6c. | Chops per pound loc. to I2>^c. Ru.istincr nieces loc. to I2>^c. | Roast loc. to \Z%,c. P Steak, round loc. Loin I2>^c. Porterhouse I2>^c. Leg I2)^c. Pork 8c. to IOC. Corned beef Sc. Pickled pork loc. WAGES. Carpenters, per day ^i 50 to $2 50 Stone masons 2 00 to 225 Bricklayers 3 O" Blacksmiths I 5° to 2 25 Machinists I 50 to ' 2 25 Moulders, iron 2 00 Tinners ^I 50 to ^3 00 Saddle and harness makers, per week 9 00 to 14 00 Printers, per M 2510 30 Printers, per week i2 00tol5oo Laborers, per day I 00 to I 50 Boarding. — Board may be obtained at private houses for from ^4 to $5 per week; at boarding houses, for $4.50 to $6 ; and at first-class hotels, at from $1.50 to $3 per day. Railroads and River Navigation. — The amount of river navi- gation in the State is not large. The Missouri is navigable for the entire distance (some seventy miles), in which it forms the northeastern boundary of the State, but none of its tributaries in Kansas possess any considerable value in that respect. The Kaw or Kansas, the largest of these, has been ascended in flood time by steamboats as far as the junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers, but ordinarily no boats would be able to navigate it. The Arkansas is not navigable in Kansas, except in flood time. But this lack of navigable rivers is more than made good by the abundance of its railway facilities. Sixty-five of the 103 counties of the State (organized and unorganized) are traversed by railroads, and many of the others are accessible to them, by their passage near their borders. Directly or indirectly, all the railroads which spread out over the State like a spider's web start from Kansas City, Missouri, so that the emigrant is sure of not going wrong if he buys his ticket at the East for that great railroad centre. We might go farther, and say that with the exception of a sin- Ji AIL WAYS OF KANSAS. g^g gle great trunk road (and how long that may be an exception it is hard to say), all the railroads which traverse Kansas in any direction are under the control of the Wabash Railway, and most of them form parts of the great Union Pacific system. This is especially the case with all the railways running west or north- west from Kansas City, Atchison, and St. Joseph, Missouri, but it is true, so far as the Wabash is concerned, of those in the eastern part of the State which extend southward and southwest- ward to the Indian Territory and Texas. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, though having its eastern termini at Kansas City and Atchison, has thus far maintained its indepen- dence of these grand combinations and pursued its own plans to their consummation. So far as Kansas is concerned it will probably continue to do so ; but what may be the outcome of its recent arrangements for reaching the Pacific and Gulf coasts does not concern us in this connection. Kansas had at the be- ginning of 1880, about 3,121 miles of railroad in operation in 65 of its 103 counties, and has materially increased the amount during the present year. It ranks third among the States and Territories of our western empire, only Iowa and Missouri sur- passing it, though Minnesota is not far behind in the race. Only eight of the States of the Union have exceeded this State in the extent of their railroad development. The following list we believe comprises all the Kansas rail- ways ; their length cannot be given, as it is so constantly changing. KANSAS RAILROADS. St. yoseph & Denver Railroad (formerly St. Joseph & Den- ver City Railroad). — Eastern terminus, St. Joseph, Mo.; west- ern terminus, Hastings, Neb. Atchison & Nebraska Railroad. — Southern terminus, Atchi- son, Kas. ; present northern terminus, Seward, Neb. Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad. — Eastern terminus, Atchison, Kas.; western terminus, Kirwin, Kas.; with branches from Greenleaf northwest to Washington ; from Concordia north to Scandia; and from Downs southwest to Osborne. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. — Eastern termini, ggQ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Atchison, Kas., Kansas City, Mo., and Pleasant Hill, Mo.; west- ern termini, Pueblo, Col, and Santa Fe, N. M.; with branches from Emporia south to Eureka; from Florence south to Eldo- rado; from Florence northwest to McPherson ; and from Newton south to Winfield and Wellington. Missouri Pacific Railway. — Eastern terminus, St. Louis, Mo.; northern terminus, Atchison, Kas., via Kansas City. Kaiisas Central Railroad. — Eastern terminus, Leavenworth, Kas.; western terminus, Onaga, Kas. Kansas Pacific Raikvay. — Eastern termini, Leavenworth,. Kas., and Kansas City, Mo.; western terminus, Denver, Col.; with branches from Junction City northwest to Concordia; from Sol- omon City northwest to Minneapolis; and from SaHna south to Lindsburg. Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway. — Eastern terminus, Hannibal, Mo. ; southern terminus, Denison, Texas; with branch from Parsons, Kas., northwest to Junction City, Kas. Osage Division ofi JMissouri, Kansas & Texas Railzuay. — East- ern terminus, Holden, Mo.; western terminus, Paola, Kas.; con- necting at Holden with Missouri Pacific Railway, and at Paola with Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad. St. Louis & San Francisco Raili'oad. — Eastern terminus, St. Louis, Mo.; present western terminus, Cherryvale, Kas.; with branch from Carl Junction, Mo., northwest, to Girard, Kas. Memphis, Kansas & Colorado Railway. — Eastern terminus, Messer, Kas.; western terminus. Parsons, Kas.; connecting at Messer with St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad, and at Parsons with Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway. Kansas City, La^'vence & Southern Railroad. — Northern ter- mini, Lawrence, Kas., and Kansas City, Mo.; southern terminus, Coffeyville, Kas.; with branch from Cherryvale southwest to Independence. Kajtsas City, Burlington & Santa Fe Railroad. — Northeastern terminus, Ottawa, Kas.; southwestern terminus, Burlington, Kas.; connecting at Ottawa with K. C. L. & S. R. R., and at Burlington with M. K. & T. Rly. Kansas City, Fort Scott <2f Gulf Railroad. — Northern termi- nus, Kansas City, Mo.; southern terminus, Joplin, Mo. LANDS FOR IMMIGRANTS. 38 j Manufactu7^es. — There are no statistics of manufactures in the State since 1870 which even approximate accuracy. In 1870, with a population of 373,299, the census report, always imper- fect on manufactures, gave the following statistics: 1,477 manu- facturing establishments; ^29,456,939 capital employed; ^54,- 800,087 of annual product. In the ten years since that time, the population has increased three-fold, the assessed valuation certainly three and a half times, and the true valuation from $188,892,014 to $447,611,187.54. The annual product of man- ufactures in the State cannot fall short of $200,000,000, and may exceed that. Though there are no cities of the first or second class in the State, there are many active and growing towns and cities which are actively engaged in manufactures of all kinds. Lands for Immigrants. — With the immense influx of immigra- tion in the past four years the greater part of the government lands east of the 98th meridian have been taken up, the excep- tions being for the most part, those lands which were at too great a distance from railroads or markets, or those which were less fertile, or swampy in their character. West of this meridian, the government lands are yet to be bought of good quality, and at the usual rates, $1.25 per acre outside of railroad limits, or $2.50 inside. These lands can also be secured under the Homestead or Timber-Culture Acts or pre-empted; and some of those west of the looth meridian under the Desert Land Act. If the lands are to be immediately cultivated we would suo-o'est to the immigrant that he should not go beyond the frontier of set- tlement; because the rainfall, which, though increasing, is yet scanty, will rHDt have as beneficial an efifect upon the newly bro- ken lands which are isolated, as on those where the new breaking is continuous; and if, as may be the case, irrigation is required, it is better and less expensive that it should be undertaken by many farmers than by one. If the lands are intended for grazing, it makes very little difference where the selection is made, so that there are streams for wateriiig the stock, and the setder plants his trees so as to afford them shelter from the winds and cold. Bunch grass will afford good pasturage, and as the land is broken, blue joint and other tame grasses will spring up. 56 882 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. There are school, university and so called swamp lands be- longing to the State, to be had on favorable terms, in almost all of the counties. The railway companies all have lands to sell, along their lines, throughout the State, at prices varying from «^3 or $4 to *^i2 per acre, according to location, and on very favorable terms of credit. We have spoken of these at length elsewhere. If the immigrant has some capital he can often buy partially improved farms on better terms than to break up new land. The soil is good enough to insure good crops every year; but he should be sure of his tide. Very many resdess spirits, bur- dened with debt, are anxious to dispose of their farms at even less than the cost of the improvements in order to begin again un- der more favorable circumstances, and there are many cases in which a shrewd settler with a litde capital can come into posses- sion of an excellent farm with the hard labor of the early work on it done to his hand by the man of whom he buys it. Populatio7i. — The following table shows the population of the State at different dates since i860, and other particulars: Year. | Population. i860 1865 1870 1874 1875 1878 i87y 1 880 107,206 135,8^7 373,299 530,367 575.156 7^8,497 849,978 995,966 I Valuation for 1 of School Age. Males. i Females. i P"'-P°^"°f ^ ^^^- , Between 5 and , "°"- , 1 21 years. I 1 60 per cent. 1 ' - 59,178 536,725 48,028 202,224 I 162,175 246,939 228,875 $3', 327,895 36,126,000 92,125.861 128,906,520 121,544,000 138,698,811 144,930,280 Enrolled in School. 37,423 45,441 109,742 199,010 199,986 266,575 283,326 2,310 26,409 63,218 135,598 142,636 177,806 The population, which has so rapidly increased within the last decade, counts 109,705 of foreign birth and twice that number of foreign parentage. In the beginning, there were two distinct im- migrations, one from New England, New York and the Northern States, and the other from the South, struggling fiercely and bit- terly for the supremacy. The settlers from the North triumphed, and made it a free State, Of the influx since 1870 probably a fifth has been of foreign birth; Mennonites and their co-religionists from Russia, Germans, Scandinavians, French, Italians, English, Scotch, Welsh and Irish; and with these have come also large POPULATION OF THE STATE BY COUNTIES. 883 numbers from all the Atlantic States, Canadians, Mexicans, and of late negroes, making their exodus from the Southern States to Kansas, as pre-eminently the land of freedom. The Indian population, which in 1870 amounted to over 10,- 000, occupying several large reservations, has, by the action of the United States government in obtaining their lands by treaties and annuities and removing them to the Indian Territory, been greatly reduced. There are now only 690 tribal Indians in Kan- sas, all of the Pottawatomie and Kickapoo tribes. The Indian reservations still include 102,026 acres, but the title to a part of this will soon be extinguished. Counties. — There are 104 counties in the State, 78 of which were orofanized and 26 unorganized, in March, 1880. Their names, area and population in 1879 were as follows: Counties. 1. Leavenworth . 2. Shawnee 3. Atchison 4. Douglas 5. Cherokee 6. Bourbon 7. Labette 8. Cowley 9. Sedgwick 10. Mar'ihall 11. Butler 12. Johnson 13. Montgomery.. 14. Doniphan . . . . 15. Osage 16. Miami 17. Sumner 18. Lyon 19. Wyandotte ■ . . JO. Crawford 81. Linn 22. Jewell 23. Franklin 24. Mitchell 25. Jufltrson 26. Pottawatomie, 27. Neosho 28. McPherson .. 29. Dickinson . .. 30. Cloud 31. Saline 32. B.irton 33. Republic 34. Reno 35. Wilson 36. Washington.. 37. Smith 38. Brown 39- Clay 455 558 j 409 I 469 I 589 637 649 1,122 1,008 900 1,428 480 636 379 720 588 1,188 858 153 592 637 900 576 720 665 848 576 900 851 720 720 900 720 1,260 576 900 900 576 660 30.283 22,632 21,700 20,53° 18,535 18,310 18,171 18,157 17.613 17,129 17,006 16,012 15,979 15,459 15,369 15,161 15,090 15,073 15,046 14,622 14,586 14,161 14.073 14,034 13.872 13,791 13,594 13,196 13,005 12,656 12,424 12.333 12.193 12,042 1 1 ,901 11,900 1 1 ,498 10,790 10,658 Counties. rt 3 Chautauqua . . j 651 Harvey 1 540 Nemaha 720 Marion 954 Allen Coffey Osborne Elk Ottawa Jackson Greenwood . Phillips Rice Lincoln Riley. Morris Pawnee Ellsworth. ... Anderson. ... Russell Waubaunsee. Davis Woodson .... Rush Ellis Rooks Norton Chase Ford Edwards .... Kingman Stafford Trego Harper Pratt Barbour Hodgeman . . Decatur Graham 504 648 900 6si 1,155 900 720 720 617 700 756 720 576 900 &04 407 504 720 900 900 goo 768 1,080 972 648 720 900 1,026 792 1,134 £64 goo 900 10,537 10,440 10,267 10,154 10,116 10,077 9,445 8,787 8,757 8,732 8,202 7.956 7,501 7,448 7,419 7.197 7023 6,741 6,616 6,521 6,245 6,087 6,058 5,282 5,240 5.104 4,797 4.743 2,832 2,801 2,599 2.364 2,310 2.158 2,084 2,016 1,738 750 1,500 Counties. t o* Arapahoe. . . Buffalo Cheyenne Clark Comanche . . Foote Grant Greeley Gove Hamilton. .. Kansas Kearney Lane Meade Ness Rawlins .. .. Scott Sequoyah. . . Seward . . . . Sheridan.. . . Sherman.. . . Stanton Stevens Thomas . . . . Wallace Wichita Population of State in 1879. 576 576 1,020 1,170 1. 155 720 576 8c6 1,080 986 810 864 576 924 1,080 1,080 720 900 1,080 684 648 1,080 2,010 744 884 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Cities and Towns. — As already stated, none of the cities of Kansas have yet attained to the second rank, but many of them are growing rapidly; not so fast indeed as the mushroom cities of the mining regions, which to-day may have a population of 5,000 and next week not 200. In the West every settle- ment is a city, whether it has 100 or 100,000 inhabitants, and most of them go through the farce of having a municipal organization. The following are all the cities which, in 1879, had over 1,000 inhabitants: Leavenworth, Leavenworth county.. .. 16,550 Topeka, Shawnee county '5>45* Atchison, Atchison county 15,106 Lawrence, Douglas county 8,478 Wichita, Sedgwick county 5>235 Fort Scott, Bourbon county 5,010 Wyandotte, Wyandotte county 4,612 Emporia, Lyon county 4,061 Ottawa, Franklin county 3>507 Salina, Saline county 3.383 Parsons, Labette county 3>I30 Independence, Montgomery county.. . 2,829 Newton, Harvey county 2,539 Junction City, Davis county 2,345 Olathe, Johnson county 2,260 Beloit, Mitchell county 2,194 Winfield, Cowley county 2,103 Osage City, Osage county 2,003 Paola, Miami county 1,973 Burlington, Coffee county Ii740 Hutchinson, Reno county l»709 Clay Center, Clay county 1,600 Manhattan, Riley county ',593 Empire City, Cherokee county I>59l Mound City, Linn county 1,497 Humboldt, Allen county 1,456 Concordia, Cloud county I.44I Great Bend, Barton county I>430 Marysville, Marshall county 1,420 Garnett, Anderson county 1,252 Osage Mission, Neosho county 1,216 Girard, Crawford county 1,184 Hiawatha, Brown county 1,078 Wamego, Pottawatomie county 1,071 Baxter Springs, Cherokee county 1,069 Minneapolis, Ottawa county I,045 Holton, Jackson county 1,044 Seneca, Nemaha county 1 ,036 Lamed, Pawnee county 1,031 Education. — Kansas occupies among the newer States the very first rank in her facilides for education. Her school fund has been wisely husbanded, and she has yet 2,200,000 acres of school lands unsold, which, by judicious management, may be made to realize ^5 per acre. If this is accomplished the fund will eventually reach more than ^13,000,000, the interest of which will be annually distributed to the schools. But this income, amounting in 1878 to ^314,380, is only a small item in the amount annually raised for the support of public schools. In 1878 the amount raised and expended for common schools in the State was $1,261,459.14, of which $980,435.07 was paid as wages to the teachers, the male teachers receiving $32.99 per month, EDUCATION IN KANSAS. 885 and the female teachers ^26.04. There were 6,359 of these teachers in 1878, and the number had increased to 6,707 in 1879. The whole number of scholars enrolled was 188,884, and the average attendance about 113,000. In the latter year there were 5,575 school districts, and 4,934 school-houses, and the value of school-buildings and grounds was $3,916,931. Besides these schools and the graded and high schools of the cities and larger towns, there are four normal schools, with about 800 teacher pupils; a State Agricultural College, near Manhattan, well managed and largely attended ; the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, one of the most efficient of the Western State uni- versities, and eight other colleges, sustained by different religious denominations (two of them Roman Catholic), with about 50 professors and nearly 1,000 students. There are also many collegiate schools and seminaries, generally denominational, which are for the most part well sustained. The immigrant to Kansas may feel fully assured that his children, if he has any, will not suffer for the want of advantaofes of education. Churches arid Religious Denominations. — In 1878, with a pop- ulation of 708,497, the aggregate membership of the nine leading denominations was 135,713, nearly one-fifth of the entire population. Their church edifices and other church property was valued at $2,037,508. Of these the Catholics had the largest membership (as they include as members all their adherent population), reporting 63,510 adherents to 223 organ- izations. The Methodist Episcopal Church came next, though with many more church organizations, having 1,018 churches and 2,},^']^'] members. The Baptists were next, with 334 churches and 16,083 members. These were followed by the Presbyterians, with 229 churches, 8,961 members; the Congregationalists, with 157 churches, and 5,620 members; the Lutherans, with 58 churches and 4,560 members; the United Presbyterians, with 43 churches and 1,469 members; the Protestant Episcopal Church, with t^6 parishes and 1,389 members; and the Universalists, with 16 congregations and 354 members. There are also Mennonite churches, churches of the Disciples or Campbellites, and a con- siderable number of other minor denominations. In the order 385 067? WESTERN EMPIRE. of the valuation of their church property, the different denomina- tions stand as follows : the Methodists first, then consecutively the Presbyterians, the Catholics, the Congregationallsts, the Baptists, the Episcopalians, Lutherans, United Presbyterians, and Universalists. Such, so far as we have been able to present them, are the advantages which Kansas offers to the immigrant; — a fertile soil, an agreeable though rather warm climate in its summer half, with a very wide range of temperature between winter and summer; land easily tilled, and a ready and sure market for all that is produced; a wider range of production than most of the States; an intelligent, enterprising and liberty-loving population; good schools and churches, and an abundance of both. The people who have migrated to this State are not given to long- ings to go back either to the Eastern States or Europe. We cannot close this sketch of Kansas without paying a tribute of respect and honor to one man who has passed away while this work was in progress, but who had done more to make Kansas what it is to-day than any hundred men in it. The Hon. Alfred Gray, for fourteen years either Director or Secretary of the State Agricultural Society or the State Board of Agriculture, was born at Evans, Erie county. New York, December 5, 1830, of English parentage. His early education was obtained in his native village. Filial duty led him to en- deavor at the early age of fourteen to support his widowed mother by his own labor. At the age of nineteen, after the death of his mother, he commenced a course of study which culminated six years later in his graduation from the Albany law school and his successful practice of law for two years. In 1857 he removed to Ouindaro, Kansas, and soon abandoned the law for farming, a pursuit for which he had a passion. His farm, gardens and herd were the finest in the State. He was called to fill many offices of honor and trust in the State, and was a member of its Legislature. From 1862 to 1864 he served as Regimental, Brigade and Division Quartermaster in the Union army, and gave proofs of extraordinary ability in the dis- chargre of his duties. In 1866 he was made a director in the SKETCH OF HON. ALFRED GRAY. 88? State Agricultural Society, and continued in that position pro- moting its interests till it was merged in the State Board of Agriculture, when he became its Secretary, and selling his farm moved to Topeka. Here, though in failing health, he was inces- sant and unremitting in his labors. He was the organizer and soul of that unsurpassed exhibit of Kansas at the Centennial. He had a genius for statistics, and everything bearing upon agri- culture was the object of his careful solicitude; no State Agricul- tural reports in the country bear any comparison to his in fulness or in perfection of detail. While wasting away with pulmonary consumption, he remained in the harness to the last, A letter to the writer, dated but three days before his death, makes no allusion to his personal condition, but is filled with important in- formation relative to the condition of his beloved Kansas. He died January 23, 1880. Happy may Kansas well be if she can replace him with a man of like ability and industry. CHAPTER X. LOUISIANA. Louisiana not wholly within "Our Western Empire" — Its Location — Its Extent and Area — Its Surface and Topography — Rivers. Lakes and Bayous — Geology and Mineralogy — Iron, Salt, Sulphur — Other Min- erals — Soil and Vegetation — Forest Trees — Zoology — The Jaguar or American Leopard or Tiger, Alligators and Crocodiles — Climate — Malarial Fevers in the Delta — The Uplands Healthy but Hot — Me- teorology of New Orleans and Shreveport — Agricultural Productions — Cotton, Sugar, Rice, and Corn — The Soil Fertile, but the Farming Poor — Live-Stock — Manufacturing and Mining Industries — Commerce — The great Facilities enjoyed by the State for Foreign and Coast-wise Commerce — Railroads — Finances — Population — History as bearing on Population — Mixed Races largely prevalent — The State not largely increased by recent Immigration — Parishes or Counties — Principal Towns — Education — Churches — Not specially attractive to Immi- grants AT Present. Only about two-thirds of Louisiana lie within the bounds of "Our Western Empire." Its commercial and political capital, 888 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. New Orleans, the chief city of the Southwest, is on the east bank of the Mississippi river, as are several other considerable towns. Its boundaries are: On the north, Arkansas and Mississippi; on the east, Mississippi, and for the greater part of the distance the Mississippi river and Sound; south and southeast, the Gulf of Mexico; and on the west, Texas, the Sabine river being the boundary for about three-fourths of the distance. It is situated between the meridians of 89° and 94° W. from Greenwich, and between the parallels of 28° 56' and 2y'h^ N. latitude. Its extreme length from east to west is 298 miles, and its extreme breadth from north to south 280 miles. Its area is 41,346 square miles, or 26,461,440 acres. Surface and Topography, Rivers, Lakes, Bayoiis, Sounds and Gulfs. — The highest land in the State, the hills in its northern and northwest portions, does not exceed 240 feet in height. From these uplands there is a gentle slope both towards the Mississippi river and the Gulf The delta of the Mississippi, espe- cially below New Orleans, is below the level of the Mississippi at the spring floods ; and at least 8,450 miles, or one-fifth of the area of the State, is only protected from annual submergence by the levees. With the exception of a tract in Southeast Cali- fornia, once a part of the bed of the ocean, the greater part of the State of Louisiana is the lowest land in "Our Western Em- pire." The rivers are the Mississippi, which has a course of about 590 miles within the State, and is now, through the labors of Captain Eads, navigable not only for the largest steamers but for all ocean steamships of the first-class, from its mouth to and beyond the northern boundary of the State; the Red river, one of its largest tributaries, which enters the State near its north- west corner and crosses it diagonally to the 31st parallel, where it joins the Mississippi; the Washita, the largest affluent of the Red river, which comes into the State from Arkansas, and with its two large branches, the Tensas and Boeuf, drains the northern parishes of the State; the Dugdemona, the Saline Bayou, and the Bistineau river and lake, all tributaries of the Red river. The Sabine river, as we have already noticed, forms a part of the western boundary of the State, but receives no considerable af- JilVERS AXD BAYOUS OF LOUISIANA. 889 fluents on the east bank. The Calcasieu and Mermenteau are considerable rivers, both having several tributary bayous or slug- gish streams. East of the Mississippi are the Pearl river, with its tributary, Bogue Chitto, the Tangipahoa, Tickfaw and Amite. There are, besides these, several large estuaries or bayous, which are really secondary mouths or outlets of the Mississippi, which in flood-time convey a large portion of its waters to the Gulf, and at other times drain the greater part of Southern Louisiana. Among these are: Atchafalaya Bayou with its series of lakes and inlets; Vermillion Bayou, Bayou Teche which connects with it, Bayou de Large, Bayou la Fourche, and the lakes, bays and es- tuaries which discharge their waters into Barataria bay. In the ordinary sense of the term there are no lakes in Louisiana, all that are so called being either estuaries, bayous or expansions of rivers. Thus Lake Pontchartrain is a land-locked estuary whose waters are salt and rise and fall with the tide; Lake Maurepas is closely connected with Lake Pontchartrain, and partakes of its character; Lake Borgne is only a sound or bay; Sabine lake, Calcasieu lake. Lake Mermenteau, Grand lake, Marsh lake. Lake Charles, Grand Cheniere, Caillon, Lake Washa, and the rest are all estuaries connected with rivers or bayous. In the northern part of the State there are ten or fifteen so called lakes which are mere expansions of the Red river, or some of its tributaries. There are numerous bays and sounds along the coast, indenting the alluvial delta of the Mississippi in all its borders. Geology and Mineralogy. — Three-fifths of the State, including the Mississippi basin and delta, the Red river region and basin, and the Bluff or Loess region, which comprises nearly all of Cal- casieu, St. Landry and Lafayette parishes, and a long but narrow strip east of the Mississippi river, belong to the alluvial and diluvial formations. The Mississippi delta proper covers over 1 2,000 square miles, and its deposits are from thirty to forty feet in depth and of wonderful fertility. The remaining two-fifths of the State is, for the most part, tertiary, the formations in the northwest and west-northwest parts of the State being subdivi- sions of the eocene. There are occasional small outcrops of 8qo our western empire. cretaceous strata in the northwest, west and central parts of the State, and in these are found Hmestone, gypsum, and sah-bearing strata. Below the alluvium and tertiary in the southern part of the State, there are deposits of sulphur, and at one point between the Sabine and Calcasieu rivers, the boring of an ar- tesian well demonstrates that, beginning 428 feet below the surface, there is a deposit of sulphur 112 feet thick, which will yield from sixty to ninety-six per cent, of pure sulphur. Of other minerals and metals Louisiana has not a great variety. Brown coal (lignite) is found in the tertiary in considerable quantities and of moderately good quality. Iron (bog ore, probably) and salt are plentiful in this region, and on Petit Anse island salt has been mined to a depth of sixty feet below the level of the Gulf, fifty-eight feet of it through solid rock-salt of the purest quality. This was in great demand during the late civil war. In the cretaceous rocks, ochre, marl, gypsum, lead, sulphate of soda, sulphate of iron, and a very pure carbonate of lime are found. Petroleum has also been discovered, but not in sufficient quantity to pay for working. Copper and quartz crystals, agates, jasper, cornelian, sardonyx, onyx, feldspar, of fine quality, meteoric stones and numerous fossils have been found in the tertiary. Soil and Vegetation. — The alluvial and diluvial soils are of extraordinary and unsurpassed fertility. The delta lands are admirably adapted for the culture of sugar-cane, cotton, rice, wheat, barley, sweet potatoes, figs and oranges. The orange is quite as successful, and of flavor fully equal, to those grown in Florida. The Sea island or long staple cotton is grown on the islands of the delta, but on the main land the upland or short- stapled cotton is most generally cultivated. The tertiary region has not so rich a soil, but with proper culture yields good crops. Indian corn yields better there than on the alluvial soils, and cotton is successfully cultivated. A portion of the tertiary region is covered with pine forests, which are heavy but not dense, and these lands, though healthful, are not productive. About one- fifth of the area of the State is too swampy and marshy for cul- tivation, and much of it is covered with lofty cypress trees, from which the Spanish moss hangs in graceful festoons. The other TREES AND VEGETATION. 891 forest trees of the alluvial region are the sweet-gum, ash, black walnut, hickory, magnolia, live-oak, Spanish, water, black, chest- nut, white and post oaks, tulip-tree {liriodc7idj'oii),\\x\^^'i\, Florida anise, lance-leaved buck-thorn, four or five species of acacia, wild cherry, pomegranate, holly, arbor-vitse, tillandsia, lime, pecan, sycamore, white and red cedar, and yellow pine; in the tertiary lands, sassafras, mulberry, poplar, hackberry, red elm, maple, honey-locust, black locust, dogwood, tupelo, box elder, prickly ash, persimmon, etc. Along the river banks, the inevitable Cot- tonwood, willow-basket elm, palmetto, wild cane, pawpaw, wild orange, etc., are found. Of fruit-trees, the peach, quince, plum, fig, orange, pawpaw, olive and pomegranate are cultivated with great success; the apple and pear do not thrive so well. Local to- pographers classify the lands of the State as "good uplands;" "pine hill lands," usually not very fertile; "alluvial tracts;'' "Bluff or Loess regions;" "marsh lands;" "the prairie regions;" and "the pine flats." The grazing in the uplands generally is excellent; in the Attakapas country, along the Atchafalaya and Bayou Teche, the pasturage is unsurpassed in quality. Louisiana is a land of fragrant flowers, and the sweet perfume of its orange blossoms, magnolias, jessamines, oleanders, virgin's bower, its innumerable varieties of roses and its thousands of other sv/eet-scented semitropical and tropical flowers, which grow wild upon its rich alluvial lands, feast the senses with perpetual delight. Zoology. — The wild animals of Louisiana are for the most part the same as those of Texas, though there is a greater preponder- ance of reptiles. The jaguar or American tiger, the most for- midable of the North American Felidcs, is found in the cypress swamps in this State, and in Texas and Arizona. The cougar, puma, panther or American lion, is also an inhabitant of the swamps, and this wild-cat and perhaps some of the other Felidcs are also found. The black and brown bear are more common in the uplands; while the raccoon, skunk, opossum, otter and most of the rodents are abundant. Alligators of great size and ferocity abound in all the bayous, and are destructive of cattle and sometimes of human beines. o 8^2 OU^ WESTERN EMPIRE. It is believed that the crocodile exists in the cypress swamps here as well as in Florida. There are several species of marine turtles and land-tortoises and terrapins. The lizard tribe is largely represented; the gecko, chameleon, lizards of all kinds and sizes, as well as a great variety of batrachians, the horned and common frog, many species of toads; and of ophidians, rat- tlesnakes, vipers, moccasins, horned snakes, and a great variety of harmless serpents are common. There are many birds of prey: among them are the bald and gray eagle, the king-vulture, the turkey-buzzard and other vultures, kites, owls, hawks, gulls, and, very numerous in the bayous and in the gulfs, bays and sounds west of the Mississippi, the pelican, which has been recognized as the patron bird of the State, which very gen- erally bears the name of "the Pelican State." Cranes, herons, ibises, flamingoes and other waders are found only in this State and Texas of "Our Western Empire; " and wild geese, many species of wild ducks, brant, teal, and some swans are inhabitants of its lakes, bayous and bays in their .season. The game birds, wild turkeys, pigeons, partridges and several species of grouse are plentiful in the uplands. Birds of gay plumage, including the macaw and paroquet, and many others, and a great variety of song-birds, among which are the mocking-bird, the cedar bird, several of the finches and tanagers, a great variety of humming- birds, and orioles are abundant in the forests. Climate. — The climate of New Orleans and of the lower por- tion of the delta is somewhat malarious, and bilious and conges- tive fevers, remittent and intermittent, are prevalent. The yellow fever is seldom entirely absent from this region in sum- mer, but becomes epidemic only about once in four or five years. Strict sanitary supervision is maintained, but the drainage is difficult. By careful attention to cleanliness the city is healthier than formerly. The yellow fever made fearful ravages in 1878, and reappeared in a milder form, in 1879: 1880 has been generally healthy. The cholera has at times made fearful ravages here. The water is so near the surface in New Orleans and most of the adjacent region, that all burials are made in cells of vaults, built above the surface. The climate of the upland region is AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS. 303 healthy though warm, and that of the delta is so in winter. The table on next page, giving the meteorology of New Orleans, which represents fairly the region of the delta and of Shreveport, in the northwest of the State, which shows that of the upland country, will exhibit more satisfactorily the climate of the two sections than any general description. Not only from its climate, but from the habits and customs of its people, its productions, niar- kets, etc., Louisiana will be a more agreeable region for immi- grants from Southern and Southwestern Europe and from the Southern Atlandc and Gulf States, than for those from more north- ern climates. The French, Spanish, and Italians, and the Swiss and South Germans will do better here than the North Germans, Scandinavians or inhabitants of Great Britain. Ag^dcultural Productions. — The staple productions of Louis- iana are cotton, sugar, corn, together with a moderate quantity of rice and the cereals. The cotton production of 1878 was 214,483,050 pounds, from 1,348,950 acres, a yield of only an average of 159 pounds to the acre, or about one-third of a bale, a very small return for land so rich as that of Louisiana. The yield of 1S79 was not quite so large, though a trifle more per acre, being 175 pounds. At the price per pound in 1878 this yielded but $13.97 P^^ acre, including all the cost of cultivation, picking and ginning, and of course was unprofitable; the price in 1879, ten cents, gave ;^20.20 per acre, but even this is not profitable. There is no land in Louisiana devoted to cotton which ought not to yield at least a bale (480 pounds) to the acre, and of the delta lands there are none which should yield less than two bales to the acre. The farming of Louisiana is, however, for the most part very slovenly and careless. The sugar crop in favorable years, of which 1878 was a good example, does bet- ter, yielding 250,000,000 pounds, an average of 1,700 pounds to the acre (a fair crop is stated to be from 2,500 to 5,000 pounds), which at the current price of that year was worth $93.50. The drawbacks on the cultivation of sugar-cane are that, it is an ex- otic and never comes to perfection here; that the only way of propagation is by layers, which after a few years run out and require new stock; that it is only about one crop in three that 894 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. O a; o jEDuiaiuojBg UE3J^ « r r"! rc/5 OnW O CO On 0^ On J On On ON 3 O •[lEJUlEH . O ro NO in IN On f. r*. t-- 6 On d» (^ ro On t^ O •* •* » •Xjipiiunjj \0 in t^ t>. I vO vO O « On C rn w in -<»■ On L rs. r*. in\o >o 1 N m « ^00 00 CO N NO -^1- t^ ( NO O ■* On r^ On ■•r lt.no no r*. r^ 0« On OnCO t^ C^ \0 t^oO 00 On 0\ >> S[. S. £ > " rt 3 y — ^.fcn <5 < <5 1— , .S >i; ,ww ? -x j^ z 2 •^^ -W ^ W 2 WW "W r - W rZ-^t/J ■ ■-'.^' C/) W Z (J ^.WW'^'t/)'J" ^^^Ww'Wt^ {E3U]3UJ0aBa d8 *" d On On d 6 0^ tn « o> ON in * ■XiipimnH ^ ON^O inco ON r^ in -^ rn t^ On NO NO t^- rwO NO ^0^0 NONO ^ t^ •3Jn5B-I3dUI3X JO 3SllE>| m >n ^ Jp o\ - t^ VIVO -*■ 0\ M ■3JnjEJsduj3J_ jf. 00 CO r^ t^ r, ,n q in ">■ in "1 q •3jmi;j .dai..j_ uinuiiuij^ ajniEjadiuax uiniiiixEj^ \^S&!^t C. On OnOD <:/30ZQ c-° « a.rt S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS. gg^ is successful; that the great fluctuation in price makes the profit uncertain; and that the first plant or outlay for a sugar planta- tion with sugar-house complete is enormous, and only possible where there is large capital at command. The crop of corn, though considerable in amount and covering a large acreage, gives equally conclusive evidence of indifferent and slovenly farming; the yield ranges from fifteen to twenty bushels per acre, where thirty-five to forty bushels ought to be the minimum. The total yield of 1878 was 16,875,200 bushels, which at sixty cents, the current price of that year, brought 5^10,125,120. The crop of 1879 was of smaller amount, and yielded only fifteen bushels to the acre, but the higher price, seventy-six cents, made the money value somewhat greater. Oats, which might be a profitable crop, give an average yield, one year with another, of but fourteen bushels to the acre. Rice is cultivated more than formerly, and the Louisiana rice crop forms a very considerable portion of the whole rice product of the United States, ranging from twelve to fifteen million pounds. There is some wheat and barley grown ; a small amount of very excellent tobacco, and hay and forage grasses in increasing quantities. Fruits and market-garden vegetables are cultivated to a considerable extent, mainly by Creoles; but the cultivation of fruits might be almost indefinitely enlarged. The amount of live-stock in Louisiana in 1879 was: 79,300 horses, worth about $4,000,000; 80,600 mules, worth about «^5,- 080,000; the number of horses and mules is slowly increasing. There were 110,900 milch cows, a moderate increase from 1875, previous to which time there had been a decided decrease. These were worth $1,864,800. Of oxen and other catde, there had been a marked decrease, 118,700 against 168,650 in 1875, and their value did not exceed one million dollars. The num- ber of sheep was only 127,500, and their value about $250,000. There were 360,500 swine, worth about $1,250,000. Both sheep and swine had largely increased in numbers since 1875. The total value of live-stock was about $13,363,000, and of agricul- tural products somewhat more than $50,000,000. ManufactuHn.g a?id Mining Industries. — Louisiana is not a 396 0^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. manufacturing State. She produces raw sugar on her sugar plantations, gins her cotton, produces a small amount of refined sugar, about three-fourths of a million dollars worth of flour and meal, a million and a half dollars worth of lumber and timber, cotton-seed oil, machinery, clothing, tobacco and cigars, and malt liquors. Her entire manufactured products do not much exceed thirty million dollars. The mining industry of the State consists of some coal mines (lignite), not very efficiently worked, a small quantity of iron mined, the salt mine at Petit Anse island, and a sulphur mine at Calcasieu springs. Commerce. — Louisiana has a very large commerce, both for- eign and domestic. In the amount of her exports she is second only to New York; in imports she falls behind New York, Mas- sachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania and California. In the year ending June 30, 1880, her domestic exports were $90,238,503; her foreign exports $203,516; and her imports, $10,611,353. Considerable amounts are imported and trans-shipped without appraisement to interior ports on the Mississippi river and in the Mississippi valley, the aggregate being several millions — while the cotton, rice and sugar exported from Louisiana are not all produced in the State, the cotton especially being largely the product of Arkansas and Mississippi, while some comes also from Tennessee, Alabama and Texas. The amount of exports has been fluctuating for several years past, having reached its highest point in 1870, when it was $107,658,042; and its next highest in 1873, when itwas $104,329,965. The export of 1879 was the small- est since 1868. Its imports have fallen off in still greater propor- tion since 1873, when they were $19,933,344, the largest amount since i860. The exports of foreign merchandise show a still greater proportion of diminution, falling from $1,301,700 in 1872 to $187,187 in 1879. It is difficult to say whether the coast-wise and interior trade of Louisiana has fallen off in any similar proportion. In 1874 it was estimated at $250,000,000. It has hardly amounted to that sum in the more recent years. Railroads. — Besides its immense traffic on the Mississippi and Red rivers by steamer. New Orleans, the commercial capital of LOUISIANA FINANCES. 897 Louisiana, is connected to the northwestern and northern States by one line of railroad, with numerous connections, and with the Adantic and northeastern States by another. These are both east of the Mississippi. West of that river there are three com- paratively short routes: one from New Orleans to Brashear, which connects there with Morgan's steamship line to Galveston, a line from Vicksburg. Mississippi, to Monroe, which may at some time possibly be extended to Shreveport, and one from Shreveport west, forming a part of the Texas Pacific line. The entire railroad lines operated in the State have a length of only 495 miles. Finances. — The State is heavily in debt, but has repudiated a considerable part of her debt and scaled the remainder, reducing the interest. The financial management has been deplorable for some years. The amount of debt acknowledged and not repudiated was, January i, 1879, ^12,136,166.24. ^3,971,000 were repudiated ; and the bonds which were acknowledged were reduced forty per cent, in order to bring them to $12,136,166. A part at least of the interest on these is in default. Population. — The following table gives the population at dif- ferent dates: Total Years. Popula- tion. 1810 j 76,556 1820 152,923 1830 215,529 i 1840 352,411 i 1850 517,762 1 i860 708,002 1870 726,915 iSSo 940,263 Whites. Free Col- I ORED. I Slaves. 34,3" 89,231 i 158,457 I 255.491 ' 357,456 I 362,065 ! 455.063 I 7.585 10,476 16,710 25.502 17,462 18,647 364,210 483,898 34,660 69,064 109,588 168,452 244,809 331.726 None. Natives. Op Foreign Birth. Of School Age. Of Voting Age. Males. *3i.903 *5i,904 448,848 68,233 ^84,283 *86.5qo 627,021 80,975 *I22,I4I *98,i43 665,088 61,827 226,114 174,187 886,119 1 54,144 The great increase from 1870 to 1880 has given rise to the suspicion of error in the enumeration, and it will be investigated before its final acceptance. Of this population a very large proportion are natives, not only of the United States, but of the State. This is due to the 57 • Whites only. 8q8 our western empire. circumstances under which the State was settled. Discovered by the French in 1541, the first permanent settlement in the Colony or Province of Louisiana was made in 1699 t>y the same nation. It remained a French province and largely peopled by the French till 1762, when it was secretly ceded by France to Spain, and remained till 1800 under the control of that power, a considerable influx of Spanish settlers migrating to its rich lands. In 1800 it was retroceded to France, and in 1803 was purchased from France by the United States for $15,000,000, of which $3,750,000 was allowed to be set off by the assumption of the claims of citizens of the United States against France growing out of French spoliations upon American commerce. This, though assumed by the government, has never been paid to the sufferers or their heirs. The Province of Louisiana as thus purchased, comprised nearly the whole of the present States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Dakota Ter- ritory, Nebraska, most of Kansas, and the Indian Territory, part of Colorado, most of Wyoming, and the whole of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington Territory. Most of that part of Louisiana lying east of the Mississippi was purchased from Spain in 18 10, and annexed the same year to the Territory of Orleans, as Louisiana itself was called. It became a State in April, 181 2, with its present name and boundaries. The popu- lation of Louisiana is very largely composed of descendants of French emigrants, with a considerable percentage of mixed blood ; these people are usually termed Creoles, whether of pure or mixed blood. There are also a moderate number of old French and Spanish families of pure blood, and somewhat exclusive manners. The remainder of the population are of American stock, with some admixture of Irish, English, Germans, and Italians, The Negroes and mixed races form a large con- stituent (about one-half) of the population. There have never been any great accessions from immigration, and except in the large towns there are not likely to be. The Creole population are intensely wedded to old ideas, and while friendly and good humored, do not encourage immigration. The prevalence of malarial fevers and occasional epidemics of yellow fever deter EDOCATION AND CHURCHES. 899 many from settling in the State, and neither its financial nor its political condition since the war has had a tendency to attract immigrants. With a good and honest State govern- ment, a prompt and efficient collection and disbursement of its revenues, the protection of the lowlands from overflow, by good and sufficient levees, a stringent, vigilant, and effective Health-Board, and the banishment of its corrupt and self-seeking polidcians, of all parties, to some point so remote that they could not return in a hundred years, Louisiana might become a health- ful, prosperous, and wealthy State, with a noble record for hon- esty and integrity. The State has 57 parishes, answering to the counties in other States. Its principal towns and cities are New Orleans, with a population, in 18S0, of 216,140 and many attractive buildings and streets, the principal commercial port of the Southwest ; Baton Rouge, with 7,000 or 8,000 inhabitants ; Shreveport, with a little more than 11,000; Thibodeaux, Monroe, Donaldson, and Opelousas, about 2,500 each ; New Iberia, Natchitoches, and Pla- quemines, nearly 2,000 each. Education. — There is a moderately efficient public school sys- tem in the State oriorinatinof since the war; but the amount of illiteracy is frightful. The schools of New Orleans have gener- ally maintained a fair standing. Considerable efforts are now making to educate the Freedmen. There are thirty-five or forty collegiate schools for both sexes, and besides, a State University at Baton Rouge, which is not very efficient ; there are six other so-called colleges or universities, three of them for the education of Freedmen for preachers and teachers, and two others Roman Catholic, one a Female College. Out of 900 students in these institutions, 558 are in the preparatory schools. There Is one Theological, one Law, one Medical, one Dental, and one Scientific school in the State. Churches. — There were, in 1875, ^^1 churches or congrega- tions, with 744 church edifices. Of these 124 were Roman Catholic, with an adherent population loosely estimated at 200,000. After these the Baptists had 371 churches with 309 church edifices and 20,734 members ; the Methodists 255 churches, 900 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 22 1 edifices, and 23,271 members, including probationers. The other leading denominations were Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Jews. Congregationalists, and Lutherans. All the Protestant de- nominations reported a membership of about 58,000, and an ad- herent population of about 263,000. Under existing circumstances Louisiana is not likely to attract a very large number of immigrants either from Europe or the > Atlantic States. CHAPTER XL MINNESOTA. Minnesota the Centre of North America — Its Situation, Boundaries, Di- mensions, AND Area — Surface of the Country — The Three Slopes — Rivers, Lakes, etc. — The Lake State — Seven Thousand Lakes — Geol- ogy AND Mineralogy — Some Gold and Silver, more Iron and Copper — Minnesota an Agricultural State — Soil and Vegetation. — Rich Soil — Forests — The Big Woods — The Prairie Lands — Tree-planting in Min- nesota — Fruits — Zoology — Climate — Its Salubrity — Advance of the; Annual Temperature as the Country is Settled — Peculiarities of the Climate — Meteorology — Navigable Rivers and Railways — More than 3000 Miles of Railroad in the State — Projected Railways — Land Grants — Agricultural Products — The Crops of 1878, 1879, and 1880 — Special Crops — Gen. Le Due's Efforts to Introduce the Amber Cane — Statistics of Crops — Grazing Lands — Live-Stock — Statistics of Live- stock — Dairy Farming — Statistics of Butter and Cheese — Manufactures — Lumber and Flour, the Leading Articles — Immense Quantities of BOTH Produced — Other Manufactures — Valuation and Wealth — Popu- lation — Statistics of Increase in Thirty Years — Nationalities — The Indian Population — Education — School Fund — Public Schools — Uni- versities, Normal Schools, etc. — Counties and Cities — Valuation — Population of Cities and Towns at different Periods — Religious De- nominations — History — Conclusion. If, as is often said, Kansas is the central State of the United States, and Colorado the central region of " Our Western Em- pire," Minnesota may fairly claim the higher honor of being the central State of the North American Continent. Its boundary at the north is British America, Manitoba abutting upon it at the northwest ; at the northeast, for about 1 20 miles, Lake Su- SURFACE OF THE COUNTRY. qqj perior forms its boundary ; on the east it joins Wisconsin, being separated only by the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers ; on the south it is bounded by Iowa, and on the west by Dakota Ter- ritory, with which it shares the rich and fertile valley of the Red river of the North. It is just about equidistant from the capes of the peninsulas which send off their annual icebergs into the Arctic Ocean, and the narrowing neck of land which, by its vol- canoes, lights alike the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, from Newfoundland on the east and Vancouver Island on the west. It lies between the parallels of 43° 30' and 49° N. latitude, and between the meridians of 89° 29' and 97° 5' W. lono-itude from Greenwich. The extreme length of the State from north to south is 380 miles, while its breadth varies from -XtZl rriiles about the 48th parallel, to 262 miles on the south line, and 183 at about 45° 30.' Its area is estimated at the United States Land Office at 83,531 square miles, or 53,459,840 acres. From this area must be deducted 2,900,000 acres of water surface, lakes, etc. (not including that part of Lake Superior which lies within its limits), leaving 50,759,840 acres of land, including the Indian reservations. This is nearly equal to the combined areas of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and a little more than that of Kentucky and Tennessee. Surface of the Cotmtry. — From its location it was inevitable that Minnesota should be the water-shed or divide for all the great streams which traverse the continent east of the Rocky Mountains. It has not, it is true, anywhere within its area, any range of mountains or very high hills, but its general elevation in the northern part of the State, except in the river valleys, is from 1,500 to 1,550 feet above the sea. Across this table-land, in or near the parallel of 47° 40', is a low, curved line of drift hills, not much, if at all, above 100 feet in height, and extending westward to the bluffs of the Red River valley, when it turns southward, and separates the waters of the affluents of the Mis- sissippi from those of the Red river of the North. In these low hills three great river and lake systems have their sources, viz. : the Mississippi river proper and its northern tributaries ; the St. Louis river and its numerous branches^ which too;^ether form the QQ2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. head and fountain of those waters which, through the threat lakes, find their way to the St. Lawrence, and through its broad expanse to the northern Atlantic Ocean ; and the affluents of the Red river as well as those of Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods, all of which finally discharge their waters into Hudson's Bay and into the ArcUc Ocean. There is but one other point in the whole of our Western Empire, or for that matter, in the United States, where rivers flowing to such distant and diverse points have their sources so near together, and that is the point near the Yellowstone Park, where the sources of the Missouri, the Columbia, and the Colorado of the West are found within a mile or two of each other. There are then three distinct slopes, differing in soil, vegetadon, and o-eoloeical character, in the State. The northern slope, includ- ing not only the Red river valley, but the valleys and streams drain- in'j- into the Rainy Lake chain, and into the Lake of the Woods ; the eastern slope, occupying the valley of the St. Louis river, and declining gently toward Lake Superior; and the southern slope, drained by the Mississippi and its affluents, comprising about two-thirds of the State, and extending into, and f9rming part of, the great Mississippi valley. The descent from the sum- mit of the divide, which has an elevation in lat. 47° 45' to 48° of about 1,680 feet, to the southern line of the State, lat. 43° 30', is not far from 930 feet ; but except in the successive terraces at and near the Falls of St. Anthony, the declination is very gradual, not exceeding two and a half or three feet to the mile. Three- fourths of the State maybe described as generally rolling prairie, interspersed with frequent groves, oak openings, and belts of hard-wood timber, dotted with numberless small lakes, and drained by numerous clear and limpid streams. The remain- incr fourth includes the hills which form the divide, the extensive mineral tract reaching to Lake Superior, and the heavy timbered reo-ion (" The Big Woods ") lying around the sources of the Mississippi and the Red river of the North. Rivers, Lakes, etc. — The greater part of the State, all of it, in- deed, except two or three of the northern, and as yet unorganized counties, which are watered by streams falling into the Rainy RIVERS AND LAKES. 003 Lake chain — is drained by the affluents of the St. Louis, the Mississippi, and the Red river of the North. The St. Louis has fourteen or fifteen tributaries, several of them streams of con- siderable size ; the Mississippi has about fifty — two of them, the St. Croix and the Minnesota, being themselves large rivers ; only the affluents of the Red river on the eastern bank belong to Minnesota, but there are fourteen or more of these, of which the Red Grass, Red Lake, Sand Hill, Wild Rice, and Buffalo rivers are considerable streams. The Rainy Lake river forms a part of the northern boundary, and its affluents, the Big and Little Fork, and the Vermilion river, which flows into the same chain of lakes, are streams of moderate size. There are fifty or more creeks flowing into Lake Superior, which aid in watering and fertilizing this northeastern slope. Minnesota is emphatically the Lake State. In the surveyed area of the State there are upwards of 7,000 lakes ; their average extent is about 300 acres, but a number of them exceed 10,000 acres, and others are still larger; Lake Minnetonka covers 16,000 acres ; Lake Winnebagoshish, 56,000 acres ; Leech Lake, 1 14,000 acres; Mille Lacs, 130,000; Red Lake, at least 350,000, and Lake of the Woods and the Rainy Lake Chain, which form part of the northern boundary, are still larger. Not content with these, Minnesota claims a considerable slice of Lake Superior as her property. Many of the smaller lakes are very deep, and all are well stocked with fish. Ordinarily their shores are dry and firm down to the water's edge, except at their outlets, and the waters are clear, cool and pure. The bottoms are generally sandy or pebbly. The water of Minnesota, whether obtained from lake, spring or well, is of excellent quality. The beautiful scenery around many of these lakes, and the cascades, rapids and falls at the outlet of others, have made them very pleasant re- sorts. Among these Minnetonka and White Bear Lakes, and the Falls of Minneopa and Minnehaha have perhaps the widest reputation. Geology and Mineralogy. — The greater part of the State is covered with a rich and fertile alluvium, or, as in the highlands, gQ^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. by an older and less fertile drift, which, however, sustains a noble forest growth. Beneath this drift there is, along the northern shore of Lake Superior, and extending southward on both sides of the St. Croix to its junction with the Mississippi, and below that point along the eastern and western banks of that river below the southern line of the State, a broad belt of metamorphic slates and sandstones intermingled with volcanic rocks, traps and porphyries ; these are of the Silurian epoch, and many dikes of greenstone and basalt are interjected in the strata. Occasionally deposits of marl-drift and red clay are found above these rocks. This is the principal mineral region of the State. Near the southern boundary of the State, or, rather, in the southeast quarter, between the 92d and 94th meridians, is a small tract of Devonian rocks ; west and northwest of the Silurian slates and sandstones, the underlying rocks are eozoic, hornblende and argil- laceous slates, and granite, gneiss and metamorphic rocks. In the western and northwestern part of the State, between the 94th and 96th meridians, but not extending below the 46th parallel, and underlying the low hills which form the divide between the affluents of the Mississippi and those of the Red river of the North, is another belt of Silurian rocks, upper Silurian, in the northern portion, and lower Silurian, nearer the Mississippi, These are mostly limestone, and like those of the same epoch farther east are almost entirely devoid of fossils. West of these, and forming the underlying strata of the Red River valley, we find a broad belt of cretaceous rocks, mostly of the Niagara, Ga- lena and Trenton limestones, with smaller outcrops of St. Peter and perhaps Potsdam sandstones. Lasdy, in the southwest corner of the State, in and near the valley of the Big Sioux, the eozoic rocks again approach the surface, and some of them are mineral-bearing rocks. The Lake Superior region yields, in large quantity, iron of the same character and purity as that found in the upper peninsula of Michigan, and copper ores identical with those of Ontonagon ; but neither have been as yet extensively worked. Gold and silver exist in moderately paying quantities near Vermilion lake, in the northern part of St. Louis county; but the region is yet so wild and inaccessible that the mines are SOIL AND VEGETATION. qq^ not now worked. Salt springs occur at various points in the State, and salt of excellent quality is manufactured in the Red River valley, and at Belle Plaine, on the Minnesota river. Among the other minerals of the State are : slates (both building and writing), lime, white sand for glass-making, building stone, peat, marl, tripoli, etc. The red pipe stone, of which the Indian^ made their pipes, is found in large quantities in the southwest, and is quarried and used for many purposes. Soil and Vegetation. — The three slopes named under the heading of Stwface of the CoiC7itry have each a different soil and vegetable growths. The northern, along the Red River valley, and the basins of the lakes and rivers which form the northern boundary of the State, is a rich alluvial deposit admirably adapted to the/growth of cereals and to grazing. The Red River valley, from sixty to seventy miles in width, though but half of it is in Minnesota, is unsurpassed in fertility, and may well become the granary of the world in the production of wheat. While it is cultivated more carelessly than it should be, and averages only about twenty-two or twenty-three bushels of wheat to the acre, it is capable of doing much better than that, and instances are not wanting on land, within twenty months from its first breaking, in which fifty, sixty, eighty, and even one hundred and two bushels of wheat to the acre have been raised, and that not on a single acre only, by any trickery, but on broad fields of sixty or eighty acres. This region has forests of oak, beech, elm and maple, though the greater part is a gendy undulating prairie. The eastern slope has much broken land, and is a better mineral than agricultural region ; though the soil yields fair crops, especially of roots, much of this slope, as well as the highlands or divides, is covered with a heavy growth of pine, spruce, and other conif- erous trees, of great value as lumber, though the soil beneath them, when cleared, is comparatively barren. This region occu- pies about twenty-one thousand square miles. The southern slope, which comprises all of the State below the highlands, is composed of alternate rolling prairie and woodland, and has a very rich and ferdle soil. About one-third of the surface of Minnesota is woodland, and her citizens have wisely taken meas- -Q06 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ures to renew the forest growth, and not suffer the land to become dry and sterile for the want of forests. They have planted already nearly thirty millions of trees, to replace those which have been cut off. By this wise precaution they have secured to their State its forest supplies, without material diminution. In the southern slope there are detached groves and copses of great beauty sprinkled everywhere among the prairies and around the numerous lakes, while growths of dwarfed oaks skirt the prairies and are known as oak openings. There is also a tract on both sides of the Minnesota river, over one hundred miles in length, and of an average width exceeding forty miles, comprising an area of five thousand square miles, known as the "Big Woods," which is covered with a dense and magnificent orowth of hard- wood timber. This is said to be the largest forest of defiduous timber between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. In this, as well as in the smaller groves, are found almost every species of deciduous trees native to the States and Territories north and east of the Rocky Mountains. The indigenous flora of the State is a combination of the Can- adian, or sub-alpine, which is found along our northern frontier, with the Appalachian or Mississippian of the upper portion of the Great Valley. Owing to the great number of small lakes, streams and marshes in the northeast, the aquatic plants of the sub-alpine flora predominate — wild rice, reeds, callas, and water- loving plants generally. In the northeast part of the State it is estimated that there are 256,000 acres of cranberry marsh, which yield abundantly. Wild fruits come to great perfection, and, in cultivated fruits, all except the peach and the later grapes are produced of remarkable excellence and in great quantities. The apples, pears, plums, cherries, early grapes, strawberries, rasp- berries, currants, blackberries, whortleberries and gooseberries of Minnesota are not surpassed anywhere. Zoology. — The forests abound with wild animals and beasts of prey, but these are not as numerous in the prairie regions. The bear, panther or cougar, wild cat and lynx, and the gray wolf, as well as the marten, fisher, otter, mink, beaver, and muskrat, skunk, raccoon, fox, woodchuck, gopher, hare and squirrel, and other ZOOLOGY AND CLIMATE OF MINNESOTA. qq/ rodents are sufficiently numerous, and the coyote or prairie wolf hunts in packs in the open lands. Of the larger game there are the elk, two species of deer, and possibly the moose. The buf- falo is rarely seen, and the antelope, if ever an inhabitant of this recrion, north and east of the Missouri, is so no longer. Of game birds, land and aquatic, there is no end. Wild turkeys, pigeons, grouse of several species, and partridges, frequent the woods, and wild geese, several species of ducks, brant, teal, etc., are found in their season in great numbers, around the hundreds of larger lakes. Birds of gay plumage, and those of melodious soncr, make the woods, lakes and rivers vocal with their sweet notes or brilliant with their varied and beautiful hues. The rep- tile tribes are not so numerous as elsewhere. There are three or four poisonous, and a considerable number of innocuous ser- pents, large and small. The batrachians pour forth their music in the northern marshes, but the lizard family are missing-. Fish abound in all the waters of the State, and the State Fish Com- mission, in co-operation with the United States Fish Commis- sion, have been stocking the larger lakes and streams with choice species of edible fish. This work is still progressing. Climate. — A orgeat deal has been written about the climate of Minnesota, both in its praise and dispraise. From its central situation and the curving northward of the isothermal lines, as well as from its very moderate elevation, the climate is undoubt- edly milder than that of States or countries farther east in the same latitude. The mean average temperature of the State has been given as 44.6° Fahrenheit. This is not yet true, though it may become so in a few years. Its present average annual mean, from observations made at many different points for from eight to twelve years past, does not exceed 42.9° Fah- renheit, and this is a very decided advance from the mean of eight or ten years since. As the country is settled, the annual temperature rises, and though there may be occasional severe winters like those of 1877-78, and of 1879-80, when the temper- ature sinks to — 53°, or — 60°, yet it is gradually advancing to a. milder temperature. The air is very dry and bracing; the rain- fall is not as great as it is farther east, and probably averages^ ()08 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. one year with another for the whole State, about 27.5 inches; but it is one of the pecuHarities of Minnesota and Dakota, that three-fourths of it falls between April and October, and more than one-half between the ist of May and the 15th of August — the season when the growing crops most require it. The sum- mer is hot, and everything (including weeds) grows with the greatest rapidity. When the harvest is gathered, winter comes, sometimes with abundant snows, but oftener without them ; and the frost-king reigns from November to April, but the dryness of the air renders the intense cold more endurable, and the winter is a season of activity. The climate is healthful, the death-rate low, and malarious diseases unknown. The climate is regarded as a desirable one for consumptives from its dry and bracing air. It is certain that many of those who come to the State with weak lunors, when the disease is not too far ad- vanced, do recover and enjoy good health. The table on page 909 prepared with great care and labor, gives all the necessary particulars for determining the climate of all parts of the State. The temperature, rainfall, humidity, etc., are averages from ob- servations continued for from five to ten years, and are more satisfactory than any statement of the temperature, rainfall, etc., of a single year, which may be exceptional in its character. Railroads and Steam Navigation. — There are none of the Western States which have made more rapid progress in railroad construction than Minnesota, and none which possess greater facilities for travel and transportation. Let us begin with the navigable waters. The Mississippi, interrupted only by the Falls of St. Anthony, Sauk rapids, and Little Falls, is navigable to the foot of Pokegama Falls, distant but 236 miles from its source. As far as to the Falls of St. Anthony, about 175 miles from the point where it enters the State, it is navigable for large steamers, at all seasons of the year, since the recent improve- ments made by the United States government; and above Min- neapolis, there is navigation for smaller steamers for 400 miles, except the obstructions mentioned above. On the Minnesota river, in eood stages of water, boats run to Granite Falls, a dis- tance of 238 miles from its mouth. That fertile Nile, called the METEOROLOGY OF MINNESOTA. 909 o 55 p > S ? •»- ■^ 00 00 s " ^ ij> *. ■^ •^ VO Maximum Temperature. 1 1 ■;1 K 'o> M *^1 00 2 00 1 CO ! 1 00 Minimum Temperature. 1 ^ ^ s ^ bo o% "f> M >b M P ^ Mean Temperature. «? ^ •t * CO ^ p <» o\ ^ o\ q Mean Humidity. p bo 01 1 bo 00 *. i 4^ ■^ i 2 b 1; 5' Monthly and Annual Rainfall. ^O VO O VO 000 Mean Barometrical Pressure. > r r ^ ^ : !^ 0\ OJ OJ Ox I I I ^ •^ ^ o\ ■3 ^ 0\ •^ vb 'o 5 Mean Humidity. k bo " bo b. bo 4- 8^ h 00 •0 3' Monthly and Annual Rainfall. VO vo O vO Maximum Temperature. Mean Barometrical Pressure. ^ OJ *.j Maximum Temperature. i I 00 * ■^ "V) p •? w 1 1 00 i J. Minimum Temperature. A ?> » Ov '0 r r rl ft u •" ^ ?3 M O w :^ 2 o o w ^ 5; S s to o t-i o i Co o ? Ci 4^ ? vo bv ^ P r bv 1 Maximum Temperature. 1 00 1 vo *■ 4>. v4 bv 1 Minimum Temperature. vo •3 •74 00 •S pv 00 8 i' r; b Mean Temperature. 3 vb vb ^ Ov s vb vg^ W -s^ bv Ov bo vj b Ov vb •^ \ Mean Humidity. •3 vb 1 bv *■ •^ 4fc p p \ 5" Monthly and Annual Rainfall. vO >b "0 b vo vb Ov vb ■3 vo bo OS VO vo Ov vo ■1 vo p vo p vo "o b vo vb •2 5" Mean Barometrical Pressure. n M % H !> r r pro OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Red river of the North, gives 380 miles of navigable water on the v^estern boundary of the State. The St. Croix furnishes fifty-two miles of navigable water on the eastern border. Lake Superior gives 167 miles of shore line to the northeastern section of the State, and the St. Louis river, the principal stream of that sec- tion, adds twenty-one miles of navigable waters to the extreme west end of Lake Superior. To sum up, Minnesota has 2,796 miles of shore line of navigable waters — one mile of coast line to every thirty square miles of surface. Of railroads there were over 3,140 miles completed and in operation on the ist of September, 1880. The Northern Pacific Railroad crosses the State from Duluth to Farg^oand the North- west, and its principal feeders, the St. Paul and Pacific and the St. Paul and Duluth, connect it with the two chief cities of Min- nesota, Minneapolis and St. Paul, and with the more distant cities of Milwaukie and Chicasfo, also ; these three lines, with their various branches and extensions, include about 975 miles in the State, and have three lines crossino: the State from east to west, and two, the Duluth road and the St. Vincent extension, from north to south. The other four roads which cross the State from east to west at lower points are, the Hastings and Dakota Division of the Chicago, Milwaukie and St. Paul, which also operates two roads running southward to the State line (the River Division and the Iowa and Minnesota Division) ; the Wi- nona and St. Peter's ; the Sioux City and St. Paul, with its ex- tensions ; and the Southern Minnesota. These are crossed in every direction by local railways as well as by two important lines, the Minneapolis and St. Louis, the Rochester and Northern Minnesota, and the St. Paul and Sioux City, and the Milwaukie, Minneapolis and St. Paul, now the Iowa and Minnesota Division of the Chicago, Milwaukie and St. Paul Railway. All these roads, or all except a single narrow gauge road, are run in connection with, and controlled, more or less, by one of three great railways, viz. : The Northern Pacific, the Chicago and Northwestern, and the Chicago, Milwaukie and St. Paul. In January, 1S80, there was no town or village in the State, except in the great unorganized counties in the north, which was more RAILROADS OF MINNESOTA. qU than twenty-five miles from a railway station. When it is re- membered that the first railroad in the State was built in 1862, and that at the end of that year there were but ten miles of rail- road in operation, while by the close of 1880, eighteen years later, there will be at least 3,500 miles, in thirty different lines, and that the earnings have risen from about ^15,000 in 1862 to ^8,156,846 in 1879, some idea may be formed of the rapid in- crease of the commercial wealth of Minnesota. This rapid de- velopment is destined still to go on. Among the projected roads, already in progress, is one to connect St. Paul and Minneapolis with the Grand Trunk road at Manitowoc, on Lake Michigan ; another to connect Duluth with the Sault Ste. Marie, and at that point with the Canadian Central ; while a third is already con- tracted for to tap the Canadian Pacific from Duluth. The two latter will open up the vast mineral country of the north and northeast, and may make the gold and silver region of Vermilion lake, and the copper and iron of the Lake Superior region as famous as any of the mining districts of the States and Territo- ries farther west. Most of the roads in the State hold land grants from the United States Government, and the commend- able enterprise which they have displayed in making known to emigrants from other lands and States the advantages which Minnesota had to offer to settlers, was undoubtedly prompted in part by the desire to sell their own lands, and to develop the region through which their route passed, so as to build up a large way traffic. It can be said, however, with truth, of most of them, that they have readily furnished information to settlers in regard to securing Government lands by purchase, by pre- emption, and by the Homestead and Timber-Culture Acts. . Agricultural Products. — The rapid increase of agricultural production has kept pace with the development of railways and other means of transportation for the crops which were raised. This progress has been greatly accelerated within the past three years. This is due in part to the penetration of railways into new districts, where the land is amazingly fertile, and in still greater measure to the discovery that the lands of the Red River valley were better adapted to the cultivation of spring wheat than any QI2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Other lands yet sown with that grain on this continent. This discovery, widely heralded, was immediately followed by the con- struction of railways through that valley and across it, which secured to every wheat-grower an immediate cash market for all the wheat he could raise. The great immigration to that region since 1877, ^-nd the immense quantity of land which has been broken there for wheat, has had a wonderful effect in bringing this new State into the front rank of grain-producing States. Yet only a very small portion of the vast territory of Minnesota has, up to this time, come into cultivation. Of its 53,459,840 acres, or somewhat more than 50,000,000 after deducting the water surface, not quite one-ninth is yet tilled ; and this not because the land is worthless or difficult of tillage, but because it is so exten- sive that men enough cannot be brought there to till it as rapidly as the demand for the grain requires. In 1850, thirty years ago, there were but 1,900 acres in the whole territory cultivated; in i860 there were 433,267; in 1S70 there were 1,863,316; in 1877 there were 2,914,654; in 1879, 4,090,039; in 1880, a little more than 6,000,000. There is every reason to believe that 30,000,000 acres yet remain of lands as fertile as any that have been pur- chased and broken by the plow, besides an area of about 1 5,000,000 of acres of grazing and timber lands. In all, proba- bly nearly 30,000,000 acres have been disposed of, including the lands certified to railroads — something like 8,500,000 acres — and the lands sold and granted to actual settlers — over 15,000,- 000 acres more — and the swamp lands, school, university, inter- nal improvement and other lands held by the State — but as we have said only a little more than 6,000,000 acres of the whole have yet been brought into cultivation. And what are the crops produced on these 6,000,000 acres ? The reports of the crops of 1880 are, of course, not yet at hand. We only know that the ' wheat crop of the summer of 1880 was not less than 44,000,000 bushels, and probably reached 48,000,000 bushels. Of the crops of 1879 we have more definite information. There were, it will be remembered, only 4,090,039 acres under cultivation that year, and of this 2,769,369 acres were in wheat. But 1879 was not, in Minnesota, a particularly good wheat year; AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS. m\ the average yield throughout the State was only 12.3 bushels to the acre. Of course the Red River valley did much better than this, the yield there being over twenty-two bushels to the acre; but other parts of the State fell below the twelve bushels ; yet with this really half-crop, the State reported 34,063,239 bushels of wheat; 19,518,450 bushels of oats, which yielded thirty-five bushels to the acre; and 12,764,955 bushels of corn, which also yielded thirty-five bushels to the acre. The other principal crops were barley, sorghum (of which the Minnesota amber cane was most largely cultivated), potatoes, hay, of which a large propor- tion is what is known as "wild hay," and is derived either from the native grasses, some of which are of excellent quality, or from the nutritious wild rice which abounds in the vicinity of the lakes, and furnishes a valuable substitute for hay, much relished by cattle and sheep. There is, in the older counties, a disposi- tion to cultivate to some extent the forage grasses ; but the State has not yet made such progress in the rearing of live-stock as to make the cultivation of forage plants and grains on a large scale indispensable. The cultivation of sorghum, especially of the early amber variety, which ripens usually before frost comes, is becoming very general in the State, and mills or factories for grinding the cane and making sugar on a large scale are already numbered by the score. For the promotion of this new agricul- tural industry not only in this but in other States, the public is indebted to Hon. William G. LeDuc, the present Commissioner of Agriculture, who is himself a citizen of Minnesota. Mr. LeDuc has labored earnestly, zealously and persistently to bring about this great change from the Importing of cane sugar to the raising and producing our own sugar from the sorghum. The success which seems now to be within reach within the next five or ten years, means an increase of our agricultural production to the annual amount of eighty to one hundred millions of dollars, the diminishing of our importations to the same amount or even more, since the cheapening of the price of sugar will cause an In- creased consumption and the diminution of the duties to the extent of about forty millions of dollars. We have not the complete statistics of the crops of 1879 and 58 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 9^4 1880, but the following table gives the amount and value of the principal crops, with the yield per acre and the price : Crop. Wheat bu. Oats ^ bu. I Corn bu. ! Barley bu. I Rye bu I Buckwheat .bu. j Beans bu. i Flaxseed bu. I Potatoes bu. I Sorghum Syrup. ...gal. Tame Hay tons. wad Hay — tons Wool pounds Totals. o -- 880 879 880 879 880 879 B80 879 880 879 880 879 879 880 879 880 879 Amount of crop n bushels, tons, pounds or gallons. Number of acres m i_io.j 37.153.842 45.93'. 538 21,114,966 27,536,600 12,892,563 16,398,504 2,413.199 3,565,680 172,887 404,540 33.163 33.359 24.434 25,260 99.378 407,124 3,915,890 4,203,963 446,946 775,602 194.994 205,700 1,200,506 1,270,000 948,184 925,278 13-5 15-5 3725 40.00 34.00 36.04 24.88 30.00 15.0° 175 9.81 10.5 11.35 12.00 7-7 9.00 103.3 103.7 893 106. 1 1.35 1.4a 2,762,521 2.963.325 567,371 688,415 379,766 455,5«4 96.951 118,856 ".534 11,688 3.380 3.177 2,156 2,105 12,966 45,236 37.910 40,618 5,033 7,317 145,150 146,928 8,507,917 Total value of crop. $34,924,612 45,012,907 4.854.442 7.985,614 3.48._,,992 5.739.476 1,037,676 7.495.976 84.715 153.405 20,561 21,016 34,208 41.679 124,223 529,261 978,973 2,101,982 134.083 248,193 924,272 1,090,210 4,201,771 4,908,000 246,528 277.583 121,652,358 Live-Stock. — Minnesota is too new a State, and has too much arable land and timber, and too many other interests calling for her special attention to allow her, as yet, to become largely engaged in rearing stock. By and by, when her great northern counties become accessible as grazing lands, and when her ample* pro- duction of hay, corn, oats, and the forage grasses and nutritious seeds, such as millet, pearl millet, rice corn, etc., gives her ample facilities for it, she will receive immense herds of catde and flocks of sheep to fatten for the foreign markets. We do not mean to be understood that the young State has not a respectable show- ing in the way of live-stock, or that it is not increasing ; but only that, as compared with States where the rearing of cattle, sheep and swine has been made a specialty, and where much of the land is better adapted to grazing than to cultivation, its numbers may appear relatively small. It is, at most, only another indica- tion of the variety of agricultural and pastoral pursuits of which " Our Western Empire " is capable. The following table shows LIVE-STOCK AND DAIRY FARMING. 015 the number and value of the Uve-stock of Minnesota in January, 1879, and January, 1880, according to the reports of the Agricul- tural Department: Animals. i Number in !jan., 1879. i Value. Hcnses Mules and Asses Milch Cows Oxen and other cattle. Sheep Swine Totals 247,300 7,000 278,9001 316,100 307>50O| 196,200^ 563.01 79.02 19.10 17.28 2. II 370 I-353.000; )gi5>5«2,373 553.140 5.326,990 5.462.208 648,825 725.940 ^28,299,476 Number ii Jan., 1880. Value. 274,1701^88.34 ^24,220,178 7,350 100.00 I 735,000 304,1101 20.16 1 6,132,885 322,422 30.00 I 9,672,660 369,0001 2.50 i 922,500 196,000: 6. II I 1,197,560 1.473.052; ^42,880,783 Dairy farming has been constantly increasing in Minnesota during the last decade. In 1871 there were produced 7,356,768 pounds of butter, and 469,147 pounds of cheese ; in 1872, 8,828,- 030 pounds butter, and 772,630 pounds cheese ; in 1873 there were 10,140,316 pounds of butter, 1,031,510 pounds of cheese; in 1874, 10,916,942 pounds of butter, 1,090,238 pounds of cheese; in 1875, 12,000,000 pounds of butter, 1,250,000 pounds of cheese ; in 1876, 12,348,971 pounds of butter, 1,052,348 pounds of cheese; in 1877, 13,443,195 pounds of butter, and 829,075 pounds of cheese ; in 1879, 15,639,069 pounds of butter, and 586,448 pounds of cheese; in 1880, 16,000,000 pounds of butter, and 600,000 pounds of cheese. Great attention is paid to secur- ing the best cows for dairy purposes, and all the improved appa- ratus for butter and cheese-making is promptly obtained. The great extension of the cultivation of forage plants has been stim- ulated largely by the growing zeal of the farmers of Minnesota to become large producers of the best butter and cheese. The increase of 26,000 milch cows in a single year is a strong indica- tion of the energy and enterprise of the dairy farmers. Manufactw^es. — Few States of the Union, certainly none in the valley of the Mississippi, equal Minnesota in manufacturing capacities. In none is there a more advantageous distribution of water-power with reference to supplies of raw material and accessibility to markets. Here the great rivers take their rise which gather contributions from half the continent and afford ni6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the marvellous interior navigation of the North American con- tinent. Yet the abrupt descents which give manufacturing power are in close proximity to the levels which afford navigation to the heart of the continent. The Mississippi itself lends the State a shore line of one thousand miles, half of which it con- tributes to purposes of manufactures and the other to those of commerce. The Mississippi originates at an elevation of 836 feet above the mouth of the Minnesota, In its descent from the summit level to this, its water line is broken at long intervals by falls and rapids, which form extensive and valuable water-powers. Pokegama Falls, Little Falls, Sauk Rapids, and St. Anthony Falls are among those on the main river, besides numerous others on all the tributary streams, especially those on the eastern slope of the Mississippi, which have a much more rapid descent than this, and form numerous cascades and rapids. St. Anthony Falls, on which Minneapolis is situated, forms one of the most mag- nificent natural seats of manufactures in the country. The St. Croix affords navigation to the falls and rocky abut- ments which are capable of vast power. The Minnesota river is navigable to the granite obstructions, where busy industry is al- ready in full career. The St. Louis river descends to the level of Lake Superior through a series of jagged falls of incalculable power. Fergus Falls, on Red river, the several falls on the Zum- bro, on Cannon, Root, Cottonwood, Redwood, and other streams exhibit the distribution of water-power throughout the State. A small fraction only of this manufacturing force is yet made avail- able. Considering its vastness and diffusion, the capacity of the surrounding country for feeding it with raw material and the illimitable field for the consumption of the products, it is difficult to limit the industrial progress which may be reasonably expected of the future. The leading staples of manufacturing industry in Minnesota are flour and lumber — one the manufactured product of its vast areas of fertile soil, the other of the pine forests which cover a large part of Northeastern Minnesota above latitude 46° 30'. The pine belt is intersected by the St. Croix and its affluents and by the upper Mississippi and its numerous tributaries, which furnish MINNESOTA'S LUMBER TRADE. niy convenient channels for floating the logs cut upon their banks in winter, upon the high spring waters to Minneapolis and Still- water, which are the principal depots of lumber manufacture, though lumber is manufactured extensively at Marine Mills and other points on the St. Croix, and also at Hastings, Red Wing, Winona, which receives extensive supplies of logs from the Chip- pewa river, and indeed almost all the river towns. A first-class boom was constructed in 1879 at St. Paul, and two or three large saw-mills were erected in 1880. The pine forests which clothe the head waters of the three great river systems which have their sources in Minnesota are a part of the vast belt of pine which stretches across Northern Wisconsin. The immense areas of prairie country which stretch west, southwest and south of this pine zone, comprising about three-fourths of Minnesota, and all of Iowa, Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, afford an illimit- able m.arket for this lumber, which is constantly increasing with the rapid growth of population, and its extension over the naked plains of the West. The railroad system which centres at St. Paul and Minneapolis, and which extends throughout all this vast region, the vast supplies of lumber manufactured at Minneapolis, Stillwater, Menomonie, Eau Clare, Chippewa Falls, and at other points in Minnesota and Wisconsin, are distributed throughout this great prairie region, and the transportation of lumber forms a very important item in the business of these railroads. Im- mense supplies of logs are annually floated down the Mississippi from the St. Croix river and its Wisconsin tributaries, to be sawed into lumber at different river points, especially at St. Louis. A great proportion of the lumber supply of Western Iowa and Ne- braska has heretofore been derived from Chicago and St. Louis ; but arrangements have recently been entered into by the rail- roads connecting the Wisconsin pineries with those penetrating these prairie States whereby the cost of transportation has been' considerably reduced. They have formed an organization known as the lumber line, with its head-quarters at St. Paul, by which lumber is transported without change of cars from the seats of its manufacture in Wisconsin to the most distant western markets upon such terms as will give them the control of the lumber pi 8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. traffic over an immense region of country in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. But the chief manufacturing industry of Minnesota, measured by the amount of capital invested and the value of its product, is flour. Flour mills are distributed all over the State, but the principal seat of this industry is at Minneapolis, which has in a few years past witnessed an enormous development of this in- terest. Minneapolis has now more than twenty saw-mills, which in 1880 produced over 165,000,000 feet of lumber, besides the pro- portionate amount of lath and shingles. Its lumber product alone exceeded ^4,500,000^ Its flouring mills, including three erected during the year, were twenty-seven, several among them being the largest flouring mills in the world. They all make the so-called " New Process " flour, which can only be made in perfec- tion from spring wheat, the only wheat grown to any extent in Minnesota. These mills have the capacity for producing 17,500 barrels of flour per day, or 5,250,000 barrels in the year of 300 days — the equivalent of 25,000,000 bushels of wheat annually. There are also a great number of flour mills — many of them of the highest rank — along the numerous water-powers of the Can- non, the Zumbro, the Root and other streams of Southeastern Minnesota. Red Wing, Faribault, Cannon Falls, Stillwater, Ro- chester, Winona, and nearly every village in Houston and Fill- more are thriving seats of flour manufacture. There are almost as many run of stone employed in the mills along the Cannon river or along the Root as at Minneapolis. The number of saw-mills in the State is about 200, and of flouring mills not less than 450, though, of course, of varying capacity. The amount of lumber produced in the State cannot be accurately stated, but is not less than 1,000,000,000 feet, and is increasing. Most of it is pine, though the mills in the southwest of the State run on the loQfs from the " Bio- Woods," which are mostly hard woods. The flour production is , more than 10,000,000 barrels, equal to 50,000,000 bushels of wheat, and the Millers' Association, which has its head-quarters in Min- neapolis, by its admirable organization and management, has been able to command not only the greater part of the wheat INCREASE IN WEALTH AND TAXABLES. gig grown in Minnesota, but also most of that produced in Eastern Dakota and Northern Iowa. The flour manufacture in Minne- sota has an annual product of from thirty-five to forty millions of dollars. But though these are the leading manufactures of Minnesota, they are by no means the only productions of manufacturino- in- dustry in the State. -There are a number of iron works and several boiler, stove, harvester, plow and other agricultural ma- chine factories, woollen mills, cotton mills, paper mills, linseed oil mills, wood ware, furniture, fence, sash, door and blind factories, foundries, car wheel works, boot and shoe factories, clothing- fac- tones, creameries, cheese factories, wagon factories, soap and glue works, broom factories, brick yards, breweries, coopers' shops, confectionery, large printing and book manufacturing establishments, etc., etc. The entire annual products of manu- facturing industry in the State are estimated to exceed seventy- five millions of dollars. Increase in Wealth and Taxable Valuations of the State. — The only available measure of the increase of wealth in Minnesota is that afforded by the valuations of real estate and personal prop- erty for taxation — a very unreliable one, since real estate is generally valued at much less than its market value, while per- sonal property, even that small portion of it which is visible or listed, is generally valued in the assessment list at less than one- third, frequendy at one-fourth or fifth, its actual value. Besides this, under the laws of Minnesota, all public school-houses, acad- emies, colleges, their furniture and libraries and grounds, all churches and the lots on which they stand, all public buildings of State, county or cit}^ all public hospitals or institutions of charity, all public libraries, etc., and in addition to these the per- sonal property of each person liable to taxation, to the amount of one hundred dollars, are exempt from taxation or assessment. But, though these valuations are not even approximations to the true value, they will answer very well for purposes of compari- son. The following table will show the growth of taxable prop- erty and population in Minnesota since June, 1849: 020 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Valuation. 1849 $514,936 1850 806,437 i860 36,738,410 1870 87,179,257 1879 248,283,215 Population. — The increase of populatioq in Minnesota has been exceedingly rapid from the first. In 1850, the first time when there were a sufifiicient number of white settlers to be enumerated, and when all the region west of the Mississippi was still occupied and held by the Indians, the number reported by the census was, by a singular coincidence, precisely that of the Indians now resi- dent in the Territory — 6,077, I" ^'^^ years it had increased more than ten-fold ; in ten years, almost thirty-fold ; in twenty years, seventy-five-fold ; in twenty-five years a hundred-fold ; and in thirty years, a hundred and thirty-one times. The following table gives some additional particulars of interest in regard to this population. The enumerations of 1870, 1875 ^"^ 1880 in- clude the tribal Indians resident in Minnesota: Total Popula- tion. 1850 6,077 IBSS 68,812 i860 172,023 1865 250,099 1870 446,056 187s 6r^,777 1878 700,000* 1880 787,005+ Males. 3.716 93,084 235,299 316,076 2,361 78,939 204,407 281,331 Natives. "3,295 279,009 379,978 444,748 Colored I and Indians. 1,977^ 5'8.728 39 2,628 160,697 7,799 217,429 14,901 I5,i75t' * Estimated from State census of 1875 and Assessors' returns. f Of which number 5,047 were tribal Indians. ■04 .85 ,883 2.10 250 3-04 45-3 5.26' 78 7.24 . 36.8 8.38 , 14.9 9.40 ^12.3? t Of which number 6,19! i For the decade, 77 per D U] « < S 1,751 52,731 87,244 157,913 228,362 262,328 294,780 o 1,378 41,226 94,238 '-■8,374 147,370 "4,739 150,916 J75.817 196,639 i were tribal Indians, cent. ui p. c ^-a o " ,449 From whence are the people who constitute the present popu- lation of this rapidly growing and thrifty State ? An investigation made in 1878 showed that about five-eighths were born in the United States, a trifle more than one-third being born in Minne- sota, and about twenty-nine per cent, in other States ; one-ninth, or eleven per cent, were natives of some of the German States ; fourteen per cent., or about one-seventh, were from Norway and Sweden ; three and a half per cent, were from Ireland ; about THE INDIAN POPULATION. m\ three per cent, from the British provinces, and one and one-half per cent, from England and Wales, while three per cent, were from other countries. The Scandinavian emigrants have very generally preferred Minnesota to other States and Territories from a real or fancied similarity between its climate and their own, and, In some of the counties, Norse is the lanoruao-e of a majority of the inhabitants. There are a number of newspapers printed in the Swedish and Norwegian languages, and at one time the laws of the State were published in these languages. The Indiaji Population. — In Its earlier history, even after It became a State, the Indians were very troublesome neighbors. They originally claimed the whole Territory, and their tide to lands east of the Mississippi was not extinguished till 1838 ; in 1 85 1 the Indian title to lands between the Mississippi and the Red river of the North was extinguished, except the reservations. The southwest and part of the western portion of the State was still occupied by the Sioux, and in 1862, taking advantage of the absence of most of the able-bodied men in the civil war, these treacherous savages made an Irruption upon the new settle- ments and murdered about 1,000 persons, slaughtering whole families, burning and plundering villages, etc. Vengeance came swifdy upon the savages; they were pursued, defeated, con- quered and expelled from the State, and the most guilty publicly executed. The only Indians now In the State are the Chlppewas, 6,198 In number, who have reservations at Leech lake, Red lake and White Earth. Their reservations comprise 4,761,112 acres, which include, however, a large amount of lake surface, probably more than 3,200,000 acres, as only 1,553,960 acres are reported as tillable. This tribe has always maintained peaceful and pleasant relations with the whites. Minnesota Is fully alive to her educadonal Interests. Her school lands consist of two sections, the sixteenth and thirty- sixth, in every surveyed township, and amount to 2,969,990 acres, which, by a provision of the constitution introduced at the sugges- tion of Governor Ramsey, the present Secretary of War in the United States War Department, cannot be sold for less than ^5 per acre. Of these lands there have been already sold 602,873 22 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE, acres, at an average price of $6.io per acre, or a little more than one-fifth ; ^3,678,472 have been derived from this source for the school fund ; and the addition of other items, stumpage, the sale of timber from the unsold school lands, etc., there had been re- alized up to August 31, 1879, the sum of $4,067,517, which con- stitutes the principal of the school fund. The remainder of the school lands are not inferior in quality to those already sold, and will probably yield in all from $18,000,000 to $20,000,000; but the interest from the school fund, which is now nearly $250,000 and constantly increasing, forms only a small part of the total annual expenditure for public schools. In 1878 this expenditure was $1,322,949.07, or $8.40 to each scholar reported for appor- tionment. It is now probably at least $200,000 more. The excess over the current school fund is raised by county and local taxation. The following statement gives some particulars in regard to the condition of the public schools of the State for the year ending the 31st of August, 1879, the latest report yet pub- lished, which does honor to the enterprise and educational zeal of this youthful State: Permanent school fund, $4,067,517 ; cur- rent school fund, $246,942 ; enrolment of pupils, 171,945 ; school houses, 3,416; school districts, 4,001 ; average months of school, 46; male teachers, 1,797 I female teachers, 3,210; total teachers, 4,907; total of teachers in 1878, 4,872; average wages, males, $35,78 ;* average wages, females, $27.23 ;* amount paid for teach- ers' wages, including board, $920,121.38 ; value of school-houses and sites, $3,382,351.85. Besides these public schools, there were seventy-nine graded schools and sixteen high schools in the State, in all of which advanced studies were pursued. This was in 1878. The number is now increased largely. These graded schools were erected at a cost of over $1,500,000. But the public schools are only a part of the educational facilities afforded by the State. There are three normal schools in the State, at Wi- nona, Mankato and St. Cloud, all established since 1859, and having buildings erected at a cost of $239,932, and receiving an annual appropriation of $30,000 from the State. These schools *This is a slight falling off from the wages of the previous year, which were for males #37.52; for females, J28.12. EDUCATION— COUNTIES AND CITIES. 023 had respectively eleven, seven and nine professors and teachers, and an enrolment of 407, 215 and 209 students in each. The graduates are in demand for the public schools of the State. There is also a State University at- Minneapolis, which includes also the Agricultural College, and has a faculty of about twenty professors and teachers, and had in 1879 about 250 students. It has an endowment fund from the sales of lands granted to it by Congress and the Agricultural College grant. This fund now amounts to about ^450,000, and nearly one-half the lands remain unsold, and have appreciated so much in value that the fund will probably amount to over a million dollars. Its buildings are very fine and commodious, and are unencumbered, and it has the proceeds of a State tax of one-tenth of a mill, which amounts to upwards of ^20,000 a year. It admits both sexes, and its teaching is of a high order. There is also an institution for the deaf, dumb and blind at Faribault, which has fine buildings and grounds, costing ^i 50,000, and capable of accommodating 200 pupils. There are also two or three colleges and seven or eight col- legiate schools of high order in the State under denominational control. Some of these are equal to any schools of their class in the country. Counties and Cities. — There are seventy-six counties in the State, of which seven were not organized in 1878. Several of the northern counties, as Polk, Beltrami, Cass, Itasca and St. Louis are of immense extent, and some of them have yet extensive Indian reservations within their limits. The assessed valuation of the taxable real estate of these counties (a laree amount escapes taxation for a variety of causes) in 1878 was ^183,615,- 738. This was nominally on a valuation of sixty cents on the dollar, but really not more than fifty per cent. The assessed value of personal property (probably less than one-sixth of the real value) was ^46,175,304, and adding the two we have an as- sessed valuation of personal and real estate of ^229,791,042 ; in 1879 this valuation had reached ^248,283,215, and the real value undoubtedly exceeded ^500,000,000. The principal cities and towns are : 924 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Cities and Towns. Counties in which they are located. Population in i86o. Population in 1870. St. Paul Ramsey Minneapolis ... Hennepin . . . Winona Winona .... Stillwater Washington. Red Wing '\ Goodhue Faribault Rice Mankato 1 Blue Earth. Rochester lOlmsted Hastings Dakota Duluth St. Louis. . . . Owatonna Steele St. Peter Nicollet Aust'n Mower Lake City Wabasha . . . New Ulm Brown Northfield Rice St. Cloud Stearns Wabasha Wabasha Shakopee Scott Waseca Waseca. Rushford Fillmore St. Charles [Winona Spring Valley Fillmore . . . Hokah I Houston Anoka Anoka Albert Lea Freeborn Beaver Falls ' Renville Hutchinson McLeod Chaska Carver Watertown Carver Sauk Centre Stearns Redwood Falls Redwood . . . Le Sueur Le Sueur Glcncoe \ McLeod St. Vincent ' Kittson . . . , Moorhead 'Clay 10,401 5,821 2,464 2,380 1.156 1,508 1,559 1,444 1,653 71 6^9 980 200 866 635 867 191 477 659 723 309 6j2 262 94 759 218 237 20,030 18,079 7,'92 4,124 4,260 3,045 3,482 3,953 3,458 3,131 2,070 2,124 2,039 2,6.8 1,310 2,278 2,161 1.737 1,349 551 1,245 1,151 1,279 525 1,498 1,167 440 847 Population in 1875. 33,170 32,721 10,737 5,750 5,630 5,525 5,4>6 4,344 3,644 2,953 2,799 2,680 2,599 2,452 2,180 2,140 2,080 1,866 1,820 1,325 1,240 1,202 1,870 1,021 2,420 1,897 634 1,581 767 1,009 487 1,178 1,177 1,120 1, 001 Population . 41,498 46,887 10,208 8,500 7,150 6,950 7,075 5, '25 4,500 3,170 4,250 3.500 1,308 1,276 1,175 1,059 1,500 Religious Denominations. — The Lutherans (of whom there are at least six different and not entirely harmonious organizations) are the most numerous of the religious denominations in Min- nesota, having an actual membership in 1877-78 of 112,705, to which large additions have since been made by immigration and otherwise. The Catholics claimed a Catholic population estimated at 1 14,000 in 1877 ; but though they have some strong colonies in the State, there is a large minority of the estimated Catholic population in these new States, which drifts away from that church, and cannot fairly be reckoned as under its control. The Methodist churches come next, with about 24,000 members, and are succeeded in the following order by Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Mennonites, Free Will Baptists, Universalists and several minor denominations. The following table, which does not o-ive the number of churches or church edifices, except the Catholics, gives some other particulars of interest concerning them in 1877-78. Two years have undoubtedly wrought many REL IGIO US DENOMIN-A TIONS. 925 changes, but have hardly greatly disturbed their relative propor- tions : Membership of the Various Religions Bodies, Value of Church Property, and Benevolent Con- tributiotts in the State. Denomination. Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Methodist Episcopal Baptist Congregational Presbyterian German Evangelical Lutheran ■r-, ■ ,. f ^Reformed Episcopalian | p,^,,^^,^^ Evangelical Association Unitarian Friends Universalist Swedenborgian Hebrew Freewill Baptists Mennonite Norwegian and Danish Conferents. Other Lutheran Societies , *Swedish Evangelical Lutheran . , *Norwegian Lutheran Augustain. Y. M. C. A. of Minnesota. Member- ship. Value of Church property. 47,469, $120,000 20,160 757,925 6,430 224,150 6,223 6,158 255,000 420,000 22,000 J9 2,000 4,298 3,801 278,245 96,575 150 160 5,000 966 80 190,225 8,000 54 1,280 4,000 1,408 13,966 5,000 22,268 175,000 2,000 10,000 2,358 6,000 Membership of Sunday- Schools. 5,000 20,265 5,415 10,430 9.279 4,766 3,690 80 75 560 No.ofsch'ols 70 No.ofscho'ls 100 Number of Associations 15 Contributions to benevolent objects. #671.94 10,046,26 10,595-87 7,265.00 *5,o69.oo 6,566,71 400.00 730.00 10,904.91 18,000.00 * CATHOLICS. Colleges Religious Orders Academies (Female) . . Charitable Institutions. Priests 18 7 5 118 Churches 1 88 Hospitals I Asylums 3 Catholic population 1 14,000 History. — Father Hennepin, a Franciscan priest, was the firsv. European who is known to have visited Minnesota. In 1680 he ascended the Mississippi with a party of fur traders to the Falls of St. Anthony, to which he gave the name which they still bear. Some French traders and their descendants settled around the falls, but they soon lapsed into Indian customs and modes of life. In 1763 the country subsequently known as the Northwest Ter- * Report of 1877, g25 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ritory was ceded to Great Britain. In 1766 Jonathan Carver, a native of Connecticut, explored that part of Minnesota extending from the present southern border to the sources of the Missis- sippi. In 1783 it was transferred to the United States as a part of the Northwest Territory. In 1805 a tract of land was pur- chased from the Indians at the mouth of the St. Croix river, in- cluding the present site of Hastings, and another at the mouth of the Minnesota river, which includes the Falls of St. Anthony. In 1820 Fort Snelling was built, and in 1822a small grist mill was erected on the present site of Minneapolis for the use of the oarrison at Fort Snelling. In 1823 the first steamboat visited Minnesota. Between 1823 and 1830 a small colony of Swiss setded near St. Paul. The Indian ude to lands east of the Mis- sissippi was extinguished in 1838. In 1843 a settlement was commenced at Stillwater, on the St. Croix. The Act of Congress establishing the Territory of Minnesota was passed March 3, 1849, and the Territory was organized in the following June. It extended to the Missouri river, and thus included nearly all of Eastern Dakota. Its population was then between 4,000 and 5,000. In 1 85 1 the Indian title to the lands lying between the Mississippi river and the Red river of the North, except the res- ervations, was extinguished. Immigration at once commenced, though considerably hindered by the very general impression that the region was too cold to produce any crops. Gov- ernor Ramsey, the first Territorial Governor, now United States Secretary of War, says that when he came to Wash- ington, and brought with him some ears of corn and wheat raised in the vicinity of St. Paul, he was accused of trying to deceive, for it was said that it was impossible that anything should grow in such an Arctic climate. But the Territory grew, and in 1857 had about 150,000 inhabitants; and on the 26th of February in that year, Congress passed an enabling act, providing for its admission as a State. It was admitted into the Union May 11, 1858. In i860 it had a population of 172,023. General H. H. Sibley, one of its pioneer setders, was its first State Governor, and was succeeded in i860 by Governor Ram- sey. In 1862 occurred the Sioux massacre, to which we have HISTORICAL NOTES. 037 already alluded. Nearly a thousand of the inhabitants of the State were subjected to the most cruel outrages and butchered in cold blood. It seemed at first that this would paralyze the young State, and prevent its growth for a long time. But it had just the contrary effect. The summary and terrible punishment inflicted on the Sioux for their atrocious crimes and their prompt ejectment from the State, encouraged immigration, and in the eighteen years which have since elapsed, the State has grown with wonderful rapidity. The railroad controversy, involving the power of the State to limit and reduce the charges for freight, to which all the States of the Northwest were in a greater or less degree participants, was less severe or protracted in Minnesota than in some of the other States, and was amicably settled. In the extent and fertility of her soil ; in the cheapness of choice lands, whether purchased from the United States, the State or the railways ; in the accessibility of every settled county of the State to the best markets, thereby securing high prices for her products ; in her abundant water and all the facilities for suc- cessful manufacturing ; in the excellence of her educational system and its expansion over the whole State, and in the moral and religious character of its inhabitants, the immigrant will find Minnesota, as a home for himself and his children, unsurpassed by any State or Territory in "Our Western Empire." CHAPTER XII. MISSOURI. Missouri's Situation, Boundaries and Extent of Latitude and Longi- tude — Face of the Country— Mountains and Hills — Valleys — Rivers and Lakes— Geology and Mineralogy — Economic Minerals — Lead — Zinc — Copper — Iron — Coal — Baryta — Cap,inet Minerals — Building Materials — Mineral Springs — Zoology — Climate — Meteorology — Soil and Vegetation — Agricultural Products — Tables of Crops, 1878 and 1879 — Notes on the Crops — Live-Stock — Tables, 1879, 1880 — Adapta- tion of Missouri for Grazing and Dairy-Farming — Manufactures — 928 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Mining Products — Railroads — Population — Notes on Population — Counties AND Cities — Table of Cities — St. Louis — Kansas City — Lands for Immigrants — Immigration in the Past — Why it has largely passed BY Missouri — The State now a Desirable One for Immigrants — Educa- tional Advantages — Public Schools — Normal Schools — Universities — Colleges and Professional Schools — Special Institutions — Religious Denominations and Churches — Historical Dates. Missouri is one of the central belt of the States of " Our Western Empire," having the Mississippi for its eastern bound- ary, and tlie Missouri in part for its western. It extends (includ- ing a small tract lying between the Mississippi and the St. Francis rivers) from the parallel of 36° to that of 40° 30' north latitude, and from the meridian of 89° 2' to that of 95° 44' west longitude from Greenwich. Its greatest length from north to south is about 309 miles; its greatest breadth from east to west 318 miles, and its average breadth about 244 miles. It is bounded on the north by Iowa, the parallel of 40° 30' forming the dividing line from the Missouri river to the Des Moines, and thence down the channel of that river to the Mississippi ; on the east it is bounded by the Mississippi river, which separates it from Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee ; south by Arkansas, on the line of 36° from the Mis- sissippi to the St. Francis river and from the St. Francis to the meridian of 94° 38', the parallel of 36° 30'; on the west by the Indian Territory, Kansas and Nebraska, following the meridian of 94° 38', from the Arkansas line to the mouth of the Kansas rivet, and from that point to the parallel of 40° 30', the channel of the Missouri river. Its area is 65,370 square miles, or 41,- 836,931 acres, the whole of which has been surveyed. Face of the Country. — The State is divided into two unequal portions by the Missouri river, which crosses it from west to east, and also forms its northwestern boundary. The portion south of the Missouri, which forms about two-thirds of the terri- tory of the State, has a very varied surface. In the southeast, the region lying between the Mississippi and the St. Francis rivers, as far north as near the parallel of Cape Girardeau, is very low and swampy and subject to frequent overflow by the Mississippi and its tributaries. This comprises all the land lying opposite to Tennessee, Kentucky, and most of Alexander county, FACE OF THE COUNTRY. q2q Illinois. Above this, a little below Cape Girardeau, the highland bluffs commence, and extend up to the mouth of the Missouri. Between St. Genevieve and the mouth of the Meramec these bluffs, which are solid masses of limestone, rise from 250 to 36Q feet above the river, and extend westward across the State, but are less precipitous and rugged as they approach the Osage river. In the south and southwestern portion of the State, the Ozark mountains, or, rather, hills, occupy a considerable portion of the country ; they form no continuous or systematic rano-es, but render the whole region exceedingly broken and hilly, the isolated peaks and rounded summits {buttes they would be called farther west) sometimes rising from 500 to 1,000 feet above their bases, and then sinking into very beautiful and often very fertile valleys. Though not distinctly defined, the general course of this hilly region is slighdy north of east from the southeastern border of Kansas, where it enters the State to the Mississippi river. Beginning as a broad arable plateau, it slopes gently to the water courses on either side, and with fine farming lands even on its highest levels. For one-third of the distance across the State it possesses no characteristic of a mountain range, and from thence as it extends eastwardly its ridges become gradually more irregular and precipitous, until near the centre of the range they begin to break up into a series of knobs and hills, which finally attain their highest elevation at Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob, in the eastern portion of the State. The numerous river bottoms formed by the tributaries of the Qsage ,and Missouri rivers are generally fertile, but most of them are subject to over- flow. Farther north, in the basin of the Osage and above it, the land is mostly rolling prairie with occasional forests ; the imme- diate valley of the Missouri is a rich alluvial valley of great fertility, and abounding in forest trees of magnificent size and circumference. North of the Missouri the country is generally either rolling or level prairie, though with considerable tracts of dmber; it forms a part of that great bed of the prehistoric lake more than 500 miles from shore to shore, through which the Missouri formerly flowed, and which included the greater part of Iowa and Eastern 59 Q^Q OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Nebraska, and its surface soils, for many feet in depth, are com- posed of loess or silty deposits ; the tributaries of both the Mis- sissippi and Missouri have worn deep channels through the rocks, and the valleys of erosion thus made, as well as the surface and soil of this entire region north of the Missouri, are very similar to those of Iowa. The river bottoms are exceedingly rich and productive. Rivers and Lakes. — The Mississippi river forms the entire east- ern boundary of the State, for a distance of 540 miles. The Missouri river flows along its western boundary, separating it from the States of Nebraska and Kansas, for a distance of 250 miles, and then flows eastwardly entirely across the State, until it joins the Mississippi upon the eastern boundary, twenty miles above St. Louis, a distance of 450 miles ; thus giving the State a shore line upon these two great inland arteries of commerce of upwards of 1,550 miles. The tributaries of the Mississippi on its west bank in this State are, with the exception of the Mis- souri, mostly small and of no great importance. The St. Francis and its largest tributary, the Little river, as well as the White with its numerous branches, forks, and its tributaries, the Black, Current, Paint and Spring rivers, all belong to Arkansas, and enter the Mis- sissippi in that State. The Meramec and its principal tributary, the Big river, is the only considerable affluent of the Mississippi in the State south of the Missouri. North of that river, Salt river is the largest affluent, but the Cuivre or Copper river, North river, South, Middle and North Fabius, Wyaconda and Fox rivers, are streams of considerable size. The Missouri receives numerous large affluents in the State, On the south side are the Lamine river, the Osage (a large and beautiful stream), with its tributa- ries, the Little Osage, Marmiton, Sac river, Grand river, Pomme de Terre, Big and Litde Niangua, Auglaize, and Marie's creek ; and Gasconade river, with its Osage, Lick and Piney Forks, On the north side there are the Nishnabatona, the Big and Litde Tarkio, Nodaway, Platte, Grand (with fourteen considerable trib- utaries), Chariton (with seven or eight), Rocher Perche, Cedar, Muddy and L'Outre creeks. In the southwest the Neosho, an affluent of the Arkansas, with its tributaries, drains six or eight GEOLOGY A ND MINER A LOGY. p 3 1 counties. Wherever the Great American Desert may be, it is certain that no part of it is in a State whose every county is so abundantly watered by large and small streams as Missouri. There are comparatively few lakes in the State. In the southeast there are extensive swamps, overflowed at seasons of high water like those on the Atlantic coast. In St. Charles county, between the Missouri and the Mississippi, there are a number of small lakes. In the northwestern part of the State, in Platte, Buchanan and Holt counties, there are several lakes of considerable size. The Missouri, as well as the Mississippi, at times widens into a wide expanse of water dotted with islands. Geology ajid Mmeralogy — The geology of Missouri maybe briefly summed up as follows : i. Quaternary (alluvium, bluff, and drift or loess) deposits, found in greater or less degree all over the State, but especially deep and thick in the southeastern counties, Ripley, Butler, Dunklin, Pemiscot, New Madrid, Mississippi, Scott, Stoddard, and portions of Carter, Wayne and Bollinger, as well as through the immediate valley or bottom lands of the Missouri, to the point in the northwest at which it enters the State. There are no tertiary, cretaceous, triassic or Jurassic groups in the State, but we come below the quaternary immedi- ately upon — 2. The upper carboniferous, which with — 3. The lower carboniferous, covers 23,000 square miles of the State. There are in these two formations, the upper, middle and lower coal, and the Clear creek sandstone of the upper carboniferous, and six successive deposits of the lower carboniferous, com- prising an unclassified sandstone, and the St. Louis, Keokuk and Chouteau groups of limestones and sandstones, most of them rich in fossils. This great coal field occupies in general the western, northwestern and northern portions of the State. Next in order, and for the most part immediately adjacent to the coal measures, are — 4. Three considerable tracts of Devonian rocks, one in the southwest, another in the northeastern part of the State, and the third a narrow belt which follows the eastern edge of the carboniferous deposits in all their devious lines, and extends southeast to the immediate vicinity of St, Louis. The only strictly Devonian rocks in the State are the Hamilton and Onondaga groups, both mainly limestones. g^2 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. 5, The upper and lower Silurian formations come next in order ; they occupy a tract almost 200 miles in width, and ex- tending from the Missouri river to the southern line of the State, and also crop out in the immediate bottom lands of the Missis- sippi above the mouth of the Missouri, The groups of the upper Silurian found here are Oriskany sandstone, lower Helderberg or Delthyris shale, Niagara group, and Cape Girardeau limestone. ' Of the lower Silurian formation there are three groups belonging to the Trenton period, viz. : The Cincinnati, Galena and Trenton groups, composed mainly of shales and limestones ; and three groups of the magnesian limestone series, consisting of mag nesian limestones, saccharoldal and other sandstones, and Pots- dam limestones, sandstones and conglomerates. 6. Below these, around the head waters of the affluents of the St. Francis and White rivers, there are frequent outcrops of eozoic or archaic rocks — greenstone, porphyry and granite. Much of the limestone of the coal measures, as well as some of the other formations, is cavernous, and there are numerous caves of great extent and beauty in the central and western portions of the State. Missouri has a great variety of minerals, and in those of greatest economic value is hardly surpassed by any State or Territory of " Our Western Empire," Gold has thus far been discovered only in the drift in Northern Missouri in placers over- lying the coal measures, and therefore without hope of veins or lodes ; these placers are, as they are situated, too lean for profit- able working, yielding only from thirteen cents to $2.51 per ton. Silver has been diligently sought in the lead ores which abound in the State, but they are not, to any profitable extent, silver- bearing. In August, 1S79, argentiferous galena was discovered in the eozoic rocks in Madison county, one of the eastern coun- ties of the State, about twelve miles east of Ironton, and perhaps fifteen miles southeast of Pilot Knob. What is the value of these lodes is not stated, but they are sufficiently rich to have drawn about twenty companies there, who are now at work, and are very sanguine that these lodes also contain gold and platinum. The first attempts to reduce the ores were made by the wet amalgamation process, and not by smelting. METALS AND METALLIC ORES. g^^ But if the precious metals (so called) have not hitherto yielded much wealth to Missouri, her mines of lead, copper, zinc, and, above all, of coal and iron, have made ample amends for any lack of the others. Iron is found in some form in every county in the State — bog ores in Southeastern Missouri; limonite, or brown haematite, in most of the southern counties: goethite, a va- riety of the brown haematite in Adair county; red haematite throughout the coal measures; red and yellow ochres in many counties; spathic ores in the coal measures and in Phelps county ; the specular oxide, in vast masses, such as the Iron mountain, Shepherd mountain, Pilot Knob, Simmon mountain, Iron ridge, the Meramec mines, in Phelps county, and numerous other de- posits in eight or ten other counties ; sulphurets (iron pyrites) throughout the coal measures, and sulphate of iron (copperas) in the coal measures and abandoned coal mines. Some States and Territories have perhaps an equal abundance of iron ores, but lack smelting coals to reduce them ; but Missouri has an abun- dance of excellent smelting coals and fluxes in close proximity to her beds of iron ores. After iron, lead is the metal most largely produced in Mis- souri, her product of that metal being greater than that of all the rest of the United States. Our latest complete statistics of the lead produced in the State are for 1879, when the St. Louis Mer- chants' Exchange reported a production of 56,868,960 pounds. This was a very decided falling off from the product of 1878, v;hich was 60,348,560 pounds, and still more from that of 1877, ivhich was 63,202,240 pounds. About one-third of the whole \ias exported. The consumption as well as the production of lead has largely increased within the past five years, and while Colorado, Montana, Utah, Nevada and California are sendino- into market large amounts of lead parted from silver, and New Mexico and Arizona are preparing to do the same, the produc- tion in Missouri, Iowa and Kansas has also increased and kept pace with them. There are two great lead fields — one in South- eastern and the other in Southwestern Missouri. It is also found in smaller quantities in many counties outside of these lead fields ; galena, or sulphuret of lead, and cerussite, or the carbon- g-,^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ate, are the principal ores, though some deposits of the phosphate (pyromorphite) are found. Zinc in the form of blende is abun- dant in the same regions as the lead — in Southeastern and South- western Missouri, and the silicates and carbonates, also, while zinc bloom sometimes occurs. The production of zinc in Missouri is about one-third of that in the entire United States, and is ex- ceeded only by that of Illinois. Copper in the form of blue and green carbonates (malachite) and sulphurets, is found in large quandties in Shannon, Crawford, Jefferson, Franklin and Madison counties, and in smaller quantides in a dozen other counties. For many years copper mining was successfully carried on in the State, and even now small quantities are produced ; but the yield of copper in the ores ranges only from twenty-two to twenty-six per cent., and the Lake Superior ores are so much richer, and their mines contain so much native copper as to render the busi- ness generally unprofitable. The sulphate of cadmium (greenock- ite) is associated with the zinc blende in many of the mines. Nickel and cobalt are found in paying quantities at Mine La Motte, in Madison county, and in the St. Joseph mines, and the beautiful hair-like crystals of sulphuret of nickel (Millerite) in the vicinity of St. Louis. Wolfram occurs in Madison county, and manganese and manganiferous iron in Iron and other counties. Of minerals, not ores, there is a great variety ; carbonate of lime (calcite), arragonite, pearl spar, fluor spar, quartz in all forms; heavy spar (sulphate of baryta), mainly used in the adul- teration of white lead ; gypsum, mainly in the form of selenite ; pickeringite, feldspar, mica, hornblende, asbestos, bitumen or min- eral tar (throughout the coal measures), fire-clay, potter's clay and kaolin ; an excellent glass sand from the saccharoldal lime- stone ; lime of several qualities ; hydraulic lime and cement; pol- ishing stone, saltpetre, building stones of granite, sandstones, limestones and marbles, grindstones, millstones, slates, and numer- ous fine varieties of colored marbles are the principal of these. But of all the minerals not metallic, coal is the most important in Missouri. The coal fields underlie an area of about 26,000 square miles in the State. The coal includes deposits belonging to the upper, middle and lower coal measures, and is of various quail- ZOOLOGY AND CLIMATE. 935 ties, some being common bituminous, some very rich in carbon, and developing excellent results under the coking process, while some will not coke; some is equal in quality to the Liverpool cannel coal. The percentage of fixed carbon varies from thirty to sixty per cent., the average being not far from fifty per cent. Among the coal beds already worked are many which produce excellent smelting coals, though perhaps a larger number yield a coal better adapted to the use of locomotives and stationary engines. The coal mines are usually easily worked, and do not require deep shafts or expensive machinery, and coal is very cheap. There are many mineral springs in the State, sulphurous, saline and chalybeate, but none of national reputation. There are also brine springs in Howard county, which yield from two to three ounces of very pure salt to the gallon. Zoology. — Having extensive forests, Missouri has an abun- dance of wild animals. They are mostly those of the Mississippi valley and of the plains. Bears (the black and cinnamon), cou- gars or panthers, wild cats, lynxes, wolves, both the gray wolf and the coyote, foxes, raccoons, opossums, skunks, beavers, martens, minks, muskrats, gophers, woodchucks, and nearly all the ro- dents and burrowing animals. The buffalo and the elk have disappeared from Missouri, though they were formerly abundant there ; but there are two species of deer, antelopes (rare), rabbits and hares. Wild turkeys, quails, pigeons, partridges, prairie hens (though these are not as numerous as formerly), and other grouse exist in great abundance. The birds of prey, eagles, vul- tures, hawks, owls, etc., destroy great numbers of game birds and rodents ; wild geese, ducks, brant, teal and snipe are found in their season on the rivers and in the marshes, and with them herons, swans, divers, and more rarely ibises. Snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, turtles, etc., are numerous. Climate. — The climate of Missouri is generally healthy, except in the river bottoms and the marshy districts of the southeast; but it is a climate of frequent changes and of great extremes. The months of July and August are marked by extreme heat, and there are periods of equally intense cold in January and Feb- ruary. The autumn and spring are very mild and pleasant, though with occasional days of intense cold or heat. 93^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. n C v-i o m m rJ %i tii 5^ '3 bf) ^ < o> T) CX, rt S ^ ^ 1) Ci, 1— t •" U) C tJ (^ 5r; o -d o X ri rt g O CO a; Oh C/J c t^ rrt (U Ci C •Si o W) Sc >-^ ISi x) 0:5 -■ 4J X) > C c3 ^ ^ s ►J hJ «< ^ °- tU -■ c -s ^ S ^ ^ M *J C •- ^ >3 ^ < ^- ^' I ) CO rx.00 00 M ) o\ o\ mco C^ tN 0\»0 ^ lOCO 1 o. n o>*0 0^ w^OO 00 t^ 0\t ■ moo M\o en t<* o « It -^ VO 00 -^ N \0 00 1 -O t^ 0\ m ■^ u)co « O r^jVO rioO lA t^m ^ O « o^vO 00 = = i2i5?§ Hr^ t>(Fo'_ ijiXjT;. S^-H't:^^ 0-1>T^,. 2>.siis^ : S c c METEOROLOGY OF MISSOURI. 957 We give below the following additional items in regard to the meteorology of St. Louis, taken from the Signal Service Reports. Months 1878. January.... February . . March April May June July August September October.... November. December. Year "" 2.S. H •a 3 a u X c4 0) ^ (^ ?: Sj £■ "- h c ^ 3 o u Inches. 29.462 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 29 361 353 201 362 366 398 372 503 475 467 562 476 PrevaLnt winds and their direction each month. Inches. 2.36 1.69 2.79 6.74 463 2.40 3-92 4-75 3-42 3-27 1.38 3-48 40.83 N. W., S., W., N., E. N.,S.,N. W., N. E.,S. E. S.,N. W.. S. E., W., N. S. E.,N.,N. W.,S.,S. W. S.,N. W.,N.,S. E.,N. E. S.,N.,S.E.,N.W.,W.,N.E. S., N., N. E., E., S. W. S.,N.,S. W.,N.W.,N.E. S., N., S. E., E.,.N. W. S., N., N. W., W. S.,N.W.,W.,N.,S.E.,N.E. W.,N.W.,S.E.,N.,S.,E. S.,N.W.,N.,S.E.,W.,N.E.,E. According to a well-known authority, Dr. Engleman, of St. Louis, the mean annual temperature on a line passing across the State from east to west, not far from its northern border, is 50° Fahrenheit ; a little south of the middle, including St. Louis, 53° Fahrenheit; at about middle, including St. Louis, summer mean 75° Fahrenheit; somewhat north of southern border, 0.1so including St. Louis, winter mean 32° Fahrenheit. The Doctor states that the climate on the whole is dry and rarely overloaded with moisture, and that it yields an unusual amount of fair weather. Such meteorological conditions are highly conducive to health, since they admit of and encourage active out-door life at all seasons. Missouri presents such a diversity of surface that all can find localities within its boundaries suitable to their peculiari- ties of constitution. The Signal Service Reports do not vary greatly from Dr. Engleman's meteorological estimates, but they exhibit one feature which he does not particularly notice, viz. : the great range of the thermometer in the winter, spring and autumn months. The annual range is about 93° ; the range of ^38 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the spring months averages 80° ; of the summer, about 45° ; of the autumn, about 65° ; and of the winter, a Httle more than 70*^. The average rainfall all over the State is 40.5 inches, and con- trary to the popular belief is greater in the western than in the eastern part of the State, being 46.16 at St. Joseph, and only 37.83 in the same years at Jefferson Barracks, on the Mississippi. Soil and Vegetation. — The Hon. Andrew McKinley, President of the Missouri State Board of Immigration, a man thoroughly familiar with the soils and productive capacity of the Missouri lands, thus classifies and describes them : " When the territory now embraced within the boundaries of Missouri emerged from the waters that covered it, the marls of the bluff formation were the upper stratum beneath the soil, of all that section of the State lying north of the Osage and Mis- souri rivers, and also of the county of St. Louis and other coun- ties lying on the Mississippi river, to the southern boundary of the State. This formation furnishes a deep, porous, flexible and imperishable sub-soil, that absorbs moisture like a sponge and enables the soil to endure greater excesses of rain or drouth than any other. It rests upon the ridges and river bluffs and descends along their slopes to the lowest valleys. Reposing on this surface is a great variety of soils, each in its kind of unsur- passed fertility and productiveness. From time to time animal remains and decayed vegetable matter, in vast profusion, but in just proportions, were added, until the soil formation became complete, and now exhibits all of the essentials for the fullest nourishment of the vegetable kingdom. In the process of the formation of the upper soil, a rank vegetation of grasses, plants and trees sprang up, which was suppressed in the dryer portions by fires that overrun the country. Along the streams, and where there was a scarcity of vegetation, the fires failed to destroy the young trees, which grew apace until strong enough to resist, and then they began to encroach upon the prairies ; this they con- tinued to do until more than one-half of the State was appropri- ated by our magnificent forests. " The margins of the rivers first received the most extensive deposits of soil matter from floods, which carried down the wealth SOIL AND VEGETATION. g^g of the vast regions they drained, and, upon the subsidence of the waters, deposited it on the lower levels. Each flood furnished its new supply, adding to the height of the bottom lands until, after the lapse of time, they became, for the most part, sufficiently elevated to be above danger of overflow. No rivers of the world can boast of more extensive bottom lands than can the Missouri and Mississippi, and none have soils with ingredients richer, better combined, or more productive. " For practical purposes, the best classification of the soils of Missouri is that adopted by Professor Swallow, which, after de- fining them in general as forest, prairie and alluvial lands, indi- cates their great variety by the kind of timber which is most abundant on them, or, where timber is wanting, by the grasses and plants of the prairie. Following this classification those known as Hackbcny Lands are first in fertility and productive- ness. Upon these lands also grow elm, wild cherry, honey locust, hickory, white, black, burr and chestnut oaks, black and white walnut, mulberry, linden, ash, poplar, catalpa, sassafras and maple. The prairie soils of about the same quality, if not iden- tical, are known as Crow Foot Lands, so called from a species of weed found upon them, and these two soils generally join each other where the timber and prairie land meet. Both rest upon a bed of fine silicious marls, and even under most exhaustive tillage will prove perpetually fertile. They cover more than 7,000,000 acres of land. On this soil white oaks have been found twenty-nine feet in circumference and one hundred feet high ; linden twenty-three feet in circumference and quite as lofty; the burr oak and sycamore grow still larger. Prairie grasses, on the Crow Foot Lands, grow very rank and tall, and by the old settlers were said to entirely conceal herds of cattle from the view. These lands alone are capable of sustaining a population greater than that now occupying the State of Mis- souri. "The Ebn Lands, whose name is derived from the American elm, which here grows magnificently, are scarcely inferior to the hackberry lands, and possess very nearly the same growth of other timber. The soil has about the same properties, except g.Q OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. that the sand Is finer and the clay more abundant. The same quality of soil appears in the prairie known as the Resin Weed Lands. " Next in order are Hickory Lands, with a growth of white and shellbark hickory, black, scarlet and laurel oaks, sugar maple, persimmon and the haw, red-bud and crab apple, trees of smaller growth. In some portions of the State the tulip tree, beech and black gum grow on lands of the same quality. Large areas of prairie in the northeast and southwest have soils of nearly the same quality called Midatto Soils. There is also a soil lying upon the red clays of Southern Missouri similar to the above. These hickory lands and those described as assimilating to them, are highly esteemed by the farmers for the culture of corn, wheat and other cereals. They are admirably adapted to the culti- vation of fruits, and their blue grass pastures are equal to any in the State. Their area may be fairly estimated at 6,000,000 acres. "The Magnesian Li77iestone Soils extend from Callaw^ay county south to the Arkansas line, and from Jefferson west to Polk county, an area of about 10,000,000 acres. These soils are dark, v/arm, light and very productive. They produce black and white walnut, black gum, white and wahoo elms, sugar maple, honey locust, mulberry, chestnut, post laurel, black, scarlet and Spanish oaks, persimmon, blue ash and many trees of smaller growth. They cover all the country underlaid by the magnesian lime- stone series, but are inconvenient for ordinary tillage when they occupy the hillsides or narrow valleys. Among the most fertile «;oils in the State, they produce fine crops of almost all the staples, and thrifty and productive fruit trees and grape vines evince their extraordinary adaptation and fitness to the culture of the grape and other fruits. Large, bold springs of limpid, pure and cool \vaters gush from every hillside and flow away in bright streams, giving beauty and attraction to the magnificent forests of the elm, the oak, the mulberry and the buckeye, which often adorn their borders. The mining regions embraced in this division of the soils are thus supplied with vast agricultural wealth and a large mining, pastoral and agricultural population may here be OAK, BLACK JACK AND PINE LANDS. 04I brought together in relations scarcely to be found in any other country in the world. Blue grass and other succulent and nutri- tious grasses grow luxuriantly, even on the ridges and hillsides of the upland forests, in almost every portion of Southern Mis- souri. The alfalfa grass [medicago sativa), so highly prized in California, has been introduced into this part of Missouri, and proves a valuable addition to the forage grasses, yielding eight tons of the best of hay at four cuttings, withstanding summer droughts, and furnishing excellent pasture in October and No- vember. "On the ridges, where the lighter materials of the soil have been washed away, or were originally wanting. White Oak Lands are to be found, the oaks accompanied by shellbark and black hickory, and trees and shrubs of smaller growth. While the sur- face soil is not so rich as the hickory lands, the sub-soil is quite as good, and the land may be greatly improved by turning the sub-soil to the surface. These produce superior wheat, good corn and a very fine quality of tobacco. On these lands fruits are abundant and a sure crop. They embrace about 1,500,000 acres. ''Post Oak Lands have about the same grrowth as the white oak lands, and produce good crops of the staples of the country, and yield the best tobacco in the West. Fruits of all kinds excel on this soil. These lands require deep culture. "The Black Jack Z,^;?^j occupy the high flint ridges underlaid with hornstone and sandstone, and under these conditions are considered the poorest in the State, except for pastures and vineyards. The presence, however, of black jack on other lands does not indicate thin or poor lands. "■Pliie Lands are extensive, embracing about 2,000,000 acres. The pine is the long leaf variety, grows to great size, and is mar- ketable. It is accompanied by heavy growths of oak, which takes Che country as successor to the pine. This soil is sandy, is adapted to small grains and grasses, and carries fertilizers well. "The bottom lands of the southeast are now being rapidly re- duced to cultivation by the common effort of the lumberman and settler. A more extensive system of scientific drainage is now g^2 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. authorized by the State, and effective measures are determined upon. They are of the Hackberry variety of soils, and bear the heaviest of timber. The strength of soils is such as to produce great crops with regularity, proved in many fields by more than fifty years of cultivation without rotation of crops." Agricultural Products. — In 1870 somewhat more than one- half the area of the State — 21,707,220 acres — was included in farms, of which, however, only 9,130,615 acres were under culti- vation ; within the last decade, the amount of improved lands has greatly increased. The culture of the grape and the production of wine has been largely developed, and the vineyards of Mis- souri are favorably known. The State possesses some advan- tages for the production of excellent wines, which are not sur- passed by those of any other State in the Union, and not equalled by any except California. Two classes of grapes — those which produce the best wines — the yEstivalis or summer grapes, and the Ripara or river grapes, attain their greatest perfection on her soil ; and many of the best varieties of these are either native Missouri grapes or seedlings from them. Of the yEstivalis class the " Norton's Virginia " and its seedlings, the Hermann and the White Hermann, the Cynthiana, a grape of wonderful ex- cellence, and the Neosho, a native grape, produce the finest red wines. Burgundies, sherries, clarets and white wines, in the world. Of the river grapes, the Taylor, and especially its seedlings, the famous Elvira, the Amber, the Pearl and others, are of the great- est value for the production of the choicest hocks, still wines and champagnes. Most of these, also, are very fine table-grapes. A wide field is open to the State and to immigrants from wine- growing countries for the production of pure wines of the highest qualities. There are six native varieties of grapes, and they are all, so far as known, proof against the phylloxera, that deadly enemy of the grape-vine. Among other special crops are sorghum, now largely cultivated, both for sugar and syrup ; tlax and hemp, both for fibre and seed ; cotton and sweet potatoes in the southern counties, hops and the larger fruits. Apiaculture is also very popular in some portions of the State, and large quantities of honey and beeswax are exported. The following CROPS AND STOCK-RAISING IN MISSOURI. 943 tables show the production of agrlcuhural staples in the years 1878 and 1879, and also the amount of live-stock, which is a large and rapidly increasing interest in Missouri : The Principal Crops of Missouri. Crops, 1878. Indian corn, bu. Wheat, bu Rye, bu Oats, bu Buckwheat, bu. Potatoes, bu. . . . Tobacco, pound. Hay, ton Totals Quantity pro- duced in 1878. 93,062,400 20,196,000 732,000 19,584,000 46,400 5,415,000 23,023,000 1,620,000 Average yield per acre. 26.2 II. IS- 30.6 16. 75- 770. 1.62 No. of acres in each crop. 3,552,000 1,836,000 48,800 640,000 2,900 72,200 29,900 1 ,000,000 Price per | bushel, pound: or ton. I Value of each crop. 1^24 I 1^. 196,224 531.320 300,120 525,120 24,128 ,057,700 ,151,150 416,600 7,181,800 $55,202,362 Crops, 1879. Indian corn, bu. . Wheat, bu Rye, bu Oats, bu Buckwheat, bu. . Potatoes, bu Tobacco, pounds . Hay, tons Quantity pro-j duced in 1879. | Average \ yield per' ^'"' "' ""-"""' bushel, pound ■' ' in each cmn ' ' acre. No. of acres rop. Totals 153-446,400 18,984,240' 688,080 15,077,680 46,864 6,570,200 21,411,390 1,012,500 40 14 17 25 20 91 663 1.06 3,836,160 1,356,016 40,475 603,107 2,871 72,200 32.595 955,200 or ton. $ -25 1. 01 .61 .26 •63 .48 .06 9-43 Value of each crop. $38,361,600 19,174,082 419,729 3,807,114 29,524 3.153.696 1,284,684 9.547,^^75 6,898,624 [^75,778,304 Missouri is remarkably adapted for grazing and stock-raising generally, and has within her own borders markets so accessible and of such boundless capacity that she can increase her live- stock to any extent without fear of glutting the market. In swine husbandry she is very close to her northern neighbor, Iowa, and no other State, except Illinois, equals these two in the number and quality of its swine. In the number of its sheep it ranks below Texas, California, Oregon, New Mexico and Colo- rado, but with more enterprise it might easily pass the last three, as it has ranges for sheep equal to any in the world. Her beeves, whether shipped to Europe or to the New York markets, have an excellent reputation, and she is a formidable competitor with Iowa for the excellence as well as the abundance of her dairy products. Barley, though not named among the crops in above tables, is 944 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. raised to the amount of a million bushels or more annually. The average yield is about twenty-eight bushels to the acre, and the price in 1879 was sixty-seven cents per bushel. The production of cotton is confined to the southern counties of the State, and seldom exceeds 1,500 bales. The sorghum crop is becoming a very im- portant one for the State. The following statistics show the number, price and value of the Uve-stock in the State in January, 1879, and January, 1880: Live-stock in Missouri, Jan., 1879. ! Animals. Number. I Price. Total value. Horses Mules and asses . . Milch cows Oxen and other cattle! 1,632,000 Sheep 1,296,400 Swine 2,817,600 6::7,300 191,900 516,200 539-89 43-38 17.80 14.94 1-59 22.1 $25,022,997 8,324,622 9,188,360 24,382,080 2,061,276 6,226,896 Totals I I ^^75,206,231 Live-stock in Missouri , Jan., 1880. Number. Price. 545.52 57-05 19.21 23-33 2.00 4.02 Total value. 639,846 192,000 i 526,524 ! 1,648,300 1,322,328 2,620,368 $29,115,790 10,953,600 10,114,52(1 38,45 5. 30<> 2,644,65(1 io,533,97i» $ioi,8i7,75V 1 Manufactures. — Missouri possesses greater advantages for extensive and successful manufacturing than any other State of "Our Western Empire" and she has improved them in part. In 1870 Missouri ranked as the fifth State in the Union in the annual product of her manufactures, and St. Louis in 1876 was the third manufacturing city in the Union. Within the last de- cade the State, outside of St. Louis, has nearly tripled, and the city of St. Louis has more than doubled the amount of its manu- factures. Great manufacturing centres have sprung up in differ- ent sections of the State ; St. Joseph, Kansas City, Hannibal, St. Charles, Springfield, Palmyra, Union, Jackson, Columbia, Lex- ington, Moberly, Sedalia, Boonville and Rolla, are all manufac- turing centres of considerable importance. About three-fourths of the manufactures of Missouri are produced in St. Louis, which reported In 1879 manufactured articles of the value of $2 75,000,- 000. For the whole State the products of manufactures the same year were estimated in round numbers at ^335,000,000. The principal lines of manufacture were approximately as follows: Flouring mills, ^40,000,000 ; carpenters and builders. ^20,000,000; MANUFACTURES AND MINING PRODUCTS. 945 meat packing, ^20,000,000; tobacco, including cigars, $14,000,000; iron and castings, $15,000,000; liquors, $10,000,000; clothing, $1 1,000,000 ; lumber, $10,000,000 ; bags and bagging, $7,000,000; saddlery, $7,000,000; oil, $6,000,000; machinery, $6,000,000; printing and publishing, $5,500,000 ; molasses and sugar, $10,- 000,000; boots and shoes, $5,000,000; furniture, $5,000,000; paints and painting, $4,500,000 ; carriages and wagons, $4,500,- 000 ; marble, stone- work and masonry, $4,000,000 ; bakery pro- ducts, $4,000,000 ; bricks, $4,500,000 ; tin, copper and sheet iron, $4,000,000; sash, doors and blinds, $3,250,000; cooperage, $3,- 000,000 ; blacksmithing, $3,000,000 ; bridge building, $2,500,000 ; agricultural implements, $2,000,000 ; patent medicines, $2,500,- 000 ; soap and candles, $2,500,000 ; plumbing and gas-fitting, $2,000,000. Mining Products. — The principal of these now profitably worked are — i. Lead, of which the receipts at St. Louis from 1863 to July, 1879, are given in pigs in the following table. (N. B. — A pig of lead is eighty pounds.) YEARS. 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 60 RECEIPTS. Pigs. 79.823 93.035 116,636 149.584 M4.5S5 185,823 228,303 237.939 229,796 285,769 356,037 479.448 579,202 665,557 790,028 754,357 817.594 INCREASE. Pigs. Per cent. 13,212 23,601 32,948 41,268 42,480 9.636 55.973 70,268 123,411 99.754 86,355 124,471 DECREASE. 35.671 INCREASE. 63.237 16.56 2536 28.25 28.55 22.86 4-23 24.36 24.60 34.66 21.00 14.91 18.70 DECREASE. 4.50 INCREASE. 8.30 946 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The lead industry of St. Louis amounts annually to over 5^5,000,000. This includes pig lead, white lead, shot, pipe and sheet lead. 2. Ii'on. With ample facilities for making, at the lowest pos- sible prices, iron enough to supply the whole continent, Missouri has fallen far below her proper position in the production of iron. In 1872 the iron ore mined amounted to 509,200 tons, of which 291,200 tons were exported, and the remainder smelted in Mis- souri. The same year 87,1763 tons of pig iron were produced and shipped to St. Louis. In 1879 the iron product of St. Louis was over ^12,000,000. 3. In 1872 11,582,440 pounds of zinc ore were raised and shipped to St. Louis. Of this 10,000,000 pounds were smelted for zinc, yielding 1,727,450 pounds, and the remainder was used for the manufacture of white oxide of zinc. The same year 10,- 437,420 pounds of barytes were shipped to St. Louis. In 1879 Kansas City alone shipped 15,931,793 pounds of zinc; 32,371,059 pounds of lead, and 55,709,497 pounds of ore. 4. Copper is not now produced except incidentally in connec- tion with other metals. Nickel is shipped to St. Louis from several mines to a large and annually increasing amount. 5. The output of coal in the State was, in round numbers, 900,000 tons in 1877, and 1,000,000 tons in 1878. In 1879 the amount was 36,978,150 bushels, or about 1,100,000 tons. The products of the quarries consist of building-stone of many kinds, granite, sandstones, limestones, marbles, white, black and colored, slate of all kinds, millstones, grindstones, polishing stone, hydraulic lime, glass sand from the saccharoidal sandstone, etc. The amount of quarry products is known to be very large, but we have no statistics of it. Railroads. — The State is traversed by 3,627 miles of railway. The greater part of the railroad lines are great trunk routes, connected with the Union Pacific, the Northern Pacific, the At- chison, Topeka and Santa Fe, or some of the routes to Texas and the Gulf. Of thosp traversing Northern and Western Missouri, the Chicago railway kings have obtained and hold possession, greatly to the grief of St. Louis, which is, nevertheless, a great POPULATION OF MISSOURI. 947 railroad centre, having nineteen trunk lines radiating from it. The Chicago roads Include the Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago and Rock Island, Chicago and Alton, the Wabash, the Chicago, Burlington and Ouincy, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas. The principal roads going westward or southward from St. Louis are the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern, the Mis- souri Pacific, made up of several lines, the St. Louis and San Francisco, the St. Louis, Keokuk and Northwestern, and the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern. Hannibal, Louisiana, Quincy, Illinois, St. Joseph and Kansas City are also points at which several important railways originate. There are also a few merely local railways. Of the 115 counties in the State, it is stated that only seventeen are without railroads. The actual cost of road and equipment for the roads within the State has been about ^160,000,000. Of course, their stock and debts rep- resent a still larger sum. Recently combinations have been formed with great railway companies holding possession of trunk lines, by which much of the railroad property of the State will become more profitable. Population. — With the exception of Louisiana, Missouri Is the oldest State of " Our Western Empire," having organized as a State in 1820, and having been admitted Into the Union in 1821. The following table exhibits its population at various dates of Its history, their condition of race, color, birth, etc. : POPULATION OF MISSOURI. 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 i860 1870 20,845 66,586 140,455 383,702 682 ,044 1.182,012 1,721,295 2,168,804 .390 9.4S5 17,227 36,544 3°.o42 55,988 74,128 66,327 114,795 203,095 180,607 323, 357,8321324.212 592,004 622,201' 559, 8ii| 1,063,489 607 376 569 1,574 2.618 3,o" 10,222 25,091] 58,240' 87,422 o rt c o 604,522 76,592110 3,572 114,931 1,021,471 160,541 1 18 022,201! 559,011 j 1,003,489 3,572 114,931 1,021,471 100,541 IB, 896,347: 824,948' 1,603,146 118,0711 none j 1,499,028, 222,267 26. ,127,4241,041,380! 2,023, 568!i45,236i none ; 1,937,564 ; 211,2401 36 32 02 210. 15 I 10. 87 173- 44 77- 09 73- 34 45- •34 38. -go bn 3 "-a bjoc c n . '^ S " 43 94 18 751273,157 138,2481262,157 301446,397 249,2491290,778 62 577,803 352,9981408,206 There are several things worthy of notice in this table. One 948 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. is, the marked disproportion at each census between males and females. This is very singular in a State as old as Missouri. Another is that Missouri, having been a slave State until 1863, there should have been so small a proportion of the African race there, never much exceeding ten per cent, of the entire popula- tion, and that after their emancipation their number actually de- creased. A third is that while the State is so orreat a thoroughfare for immigrants and offers such inducements to them, so small a proportion of its inhabitants should be of foreign birth, nevermore than thirteen per cent., and that the actual number is decreasing. Counties mid Cities. — There are 115 counties in the State, which had in 1870 a true valuation of ^1,284,922,897. Their present true valuation would probably exceed ^2,000,000,000. The following table gives the principal towns and cities of the State, with their population in 1870 and as far as reported in 1880. St. Louis is considerably the largest city in " Our Western Empire," although somewhat less populous than its enterprising inhabitants hoped. Kansas City has grown very rapidly, and is now the second city in the State. CITIES. 9 cj 00 g-.s c . 2 cj 00 CITIES. d ri CO c . "Zl CO g-.s St Louis 310,864 32,260 19.565 10,125 5.570 5.555 4.560 4.373 3.978 3,585 3.639 3.678 350,522 55,813 32,484 11,074 Booneville 3.506 3,184 4,420 2,945 2,363 2,236 2,615 2,554 1,354 2,602 2,018 1,514 6,000 Kansas City St. Joseph Hannibal Independence Jefferson City Warrensburg Canton St. Charles Springfield Columbia Sedalia Palmyra Lexington Chillicothe Pleasant Hill Rolla Mexico Cape Girardeau. ... Louisiana Iron Mount Macon Moberly St. Louis is a city of great enterprise, largely engaged in manufactures and in the sale of mining products, dairy products, meats and provisions, mining, agricultural and railroad machinery, LANDS FOR IMMIGRANTS. q^q locomotives, cars, wagons, Concord coaches, hollow-ware, and generally articles of steel and iron. Its schools and some of its institutions of higher learning are models in their way, and it has a deservedly high reputation for morality and business probity and honor. Its growth during the past decade has been some- what retarded by various causes, but it is now increasing with great rapidity. It is the point of departure for the great volume of travel and immigration to the Western and Southwestern States and Terri- tories, and with its rapidly growing daughter, Kansas City, on the western border, and St. Joseph on the northwestern, manages to secure for Missouri by far the largest part of the passenger and freight traffic of the Great West. Kansas City, as we have elsewhere said, has concentrated within its own bounds all the principal lines traversing the West, Northwest and Southwest. Its growth has been very rapid, rising from 32,361 in 1870 to 56,946 in 1880, and its schools, churches, public buildings and general improvement have kept pace with its growth in population. Much the same can be said of St. Joseph, Hannibal and Sedalia. They are all railroad centres of considerable importance, and are having a rapid growth. Lands for Immigrants. — Immigrants coming to the State of Missouri, who desire to buy and improve lands, will have their choice of the following, namely : I. There are 1,000,000 acres yet belonging to the United States, subject to sale and homestead entry. These lands lie principally south of the Missouri river, in counties heavily tim- bered, well watered, and are among the best fruit and pasture lands in the United States. It is desirable that these lands should be taken as homesteads by the poorer classes, who will improve them, and add to the taxable wealth of the State. These lands can be purchased at $1.25 per acre where they are not within ten miles of a land-grant railway, and at $2.50 or upwards where they are inside of that limit. They are also subject to entry under the homestead law, which will make the cost of a good farm of 160 acres from 5^25 to ^28, the title being perfect- ible after five years of residence and improvement. The Timber- Q50 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Culture and Desert Land Acts do not apply to public lands in Missouri. 2. There are yet large bodies of swamp lands in different parts of the State. These lands are the richest alluvial lands in the world, which are subject to occasional overflow, which make the best meadow and pasture lands. 3. Much of the land grant made by the general government to the Agricultural College remains unsold, and these lands are now in market. 4. Of the lands belonging to the various railroads, which were granted them by the general government, a considerable quan- tity are yet for sale. These grants embrace some of the best agricultural lands in the State ; well located, accessible to market, with all the conveniences of an old settled country, of churches, schools and markets. 5. There is a large amount of land in the State owned by non- residents, speculators, widows and orphans, who are anxious to part with it. 6. There are many large farmers in the State who are anxious to divide their farms to enable them to reduce these farms to cultivation, and still others who through age, infirmity and other causes, desire to change their business, and will put their land into market at a low rate. 7. There are a great many persons whose property is mort- gaged, and who are compelled to make sale of it, to save their equities that remain after the payment of the liens. The entire aggregate of these lands amounts to several million acres, and they are scattered through every part of the State. The products of these lands embrace everything which may be grown in the temperate zone, from the apple to the orange and fig, from flax to cotton, from the Irish potato to the yam. The advantaofes of these lands over those more remote from the great markets, from schools, churches and the social sur- roundings which make homes desirable, must be obvious ; yet these lands have been taken up slowly, while those of Kansas, certainly no more intrinsically desirable, and many of them less so, have found ready purchasers. The reasons for this difference lV//y IMAIIGRATION HAS NOT BEEN LARGER. g^ I in the past have been : The Missouri lands have been much less thoroughly advertised ; the State has not kept itself before the public to so great an extent, and has, indeed, seemed wholly in- different to accessions by immigration ; the State debt was some- what large, and with the county and city debts made taxation heavier ; the lands, though fairly fertile, were badly cultivated, and gave to the new-comers an impression of their barrenness and worthlessness, which facts did not justify ; the farming in many parts of the State was very slovenly and inefficient. On as good lands as those of Missouri, the average yield of wheat should never be as low as eleven bushels to the acre ; of corn, twenty-six bushels to the acre, or of potatoes seventy-five bushels to the acre ; yet these were the reported averages of 1878. The efforts of the State Agricultural Society have produced some improvements in these crops, but they are, even now, much below what they ought to be. The educational advantages in the country were much inferior to those of the neighboring States of Iowa and Kansas, whereas they ought to have been much better than in those States. There was, moreover, hancrino- about the State the old taint of slavery. The slaves had been emancipated ten, fifteen, sixteen years before ; but the thriftless, indolent, reck- less, and sometimes ruffianly spirit engendered by it, still re- mained in some degree, and this spirit repelled immigration. Il; is now more than half a generation since slavery was abolished, and most of these untoward obstacles have now disappeared. To-day Missouri is as good a State for the immigra'nt as any in the Great West, and better than some. Its climate, soil, markets and advantages are unsurpassed, and cordiality toward the stranger is no longer wanting, though perhaps not yet so warmly manifested as in some of the newer States ; but this will come in time. Educational Advantages. — The public schools of Missouri are in an anomalous condition. In the cities the schools are of a high order, and will compare favorably with those in any State or city in the Union. In St. Louis within the last decade, owing to an enormous estimate of more than 100,000 more inhabitants than the city contained, the school population was supposed to be P52 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. much larger than it really was, and the city superintendent and other officers were distressed because the scholars enrolled were but two-sevenths, and the actual attendance less than one-fifth of the supposed school population. They understand this better now. The country schools were, to a large degree, without system or order, and were as much below those of the neighboring States in all good qualities as those of the cities were beyond the same class of schools elsewhere. There are not quite 300 schools of very high character in the State, most of them in the cities; the remainder, numbering nearly 8,200, are of very indif- ferent quality. In 1875, out of 7,224 school-houses in the State, 2,164 were built of logs; 4,636 were frame buildings, and only 424 brick or stone. The school fund is partly available, and partly at present unavailable. About ^3,000,000 are available, and ^7,300,000 unavailable now, but will eventually become so. The low condition, of the country schools is due in part to the indifference of a considerable portion of the people to education ; in part to the apathy of the legislature, and in part to the vague- ness and incompleteness of the school law. The superintendent is deserving of great credit for his perseverance and efficiency under circumstances of great difficulty, but his efforts have not been so thoroughly sustained by the legislature as they should have been. The following are the school statistics of the State for 1878, the last year whose report is published : School population, 688,248 ; school enrolment, 448,033 ; number of ungraded school districts, 8,142 ; number of graded school districts, 279 ; number of school-houses, 8,092 ; estimated value of school-houses, $8,32 1 ,- 399 ; average school year in months in graded school districts, 9 ; in all the districts, 5 months ; total number of teachers employed, 11,268 ; total wages of teachers, ^2,320,430.20; average wages of teachers per month, males, %'-)^.'}i^\ females, ^28.09; average wages of teachers per month in graded schools, males, ;^87.8i ; females, ^40.73. Revenue. — From interest on State permanent fund, $174,- 030.15; from one-fourth the State revenue collections, $363,- EDUCATION IN MISSOURI. gr j 276.32 ; from county and township permanent funds, $440,- 191.37; from district taxes, ^2,446,910.71 ; total, ^3,424,408.55. Permanent Funds. — State fund, "^2,909,457.1 1 ; county fund, ^2,388,368.29 ; township, or sixteenth section fund, ^1,980,678.51 ; total, ^7,278,046.80. There are five normal schools in the State, besides normal de- partments in several of the colleges. There is one of these (Lincoln Institute) in Jefferson City for the instruction of colored teachers, which receives ^5,000 a year from the State. The ap- propriations to the other normal schools are ^7,500 each per annum. The State University at Columbia, v/ith a School of Mines and Metallurgy at Rolla, has ten different departments or courses, in two groups, academic and professional. The Univer- r;ity receives ^19,500 annually from the State, and the School of Mines, ^7,500. Washington University, at St. Louis, has de- partments of science, medicine and law, besides its academic course. There are also fifteen other colleges, four of them Ro- man Catholic, three Methodist, and the rest under the control of other denominations, four of medicine, one of dentistry, and one of pharmacy, beside those which are connected with the State Uni- versity and Washington University. There are special institu- tions for deaf mutes, for the blind, for orphans, the aged, etc., etc. Most of these receive liberal appropriations from the State. The educational condition of the State, as a whole, is improving, and will in a few years attain to as high a standard as that of the adjacent States. Religious Denominations and Churches. — About 315,000, or one-seventh of the population of Missouri, are members of churches, and two-thirds of the population, say 1,575,000, are adherents, more or less pronounced, of these churches. The Baptists have the largest number of churches and church edifices, but are followed very closely by the Methodists, who are, how- ever, divided into Northern and Southern. The Methodist membership is a few hundred more than the Baptist, and their adherent population is about the same — not far from 375,000. The Roman Catholics count all their adherent population as members, and report about 275,000, but their church property, QK . OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. including their costly cathedral and churche3 at St. Louis, is esti- mated at about ^4,300,000, or double that of the Methodists or Baptists. The other denominations in their order of churches, membership and church property, are regular Presbyterians, Christians and Disciples, Cumberland Presbyterians, Lutherans, the Protestant Episcopal Church, Congregationalists, United Brethren in Christ and Evangelical Association (both minor Methodist churches). Free V/ill Baptists, Reformed German, Unitarians, Friends, Universalists, Jews, New Jerusalem Church, and Union. The total amount of church property in the State exceeds ^15,000,000; the whole number of churches is about 5,000, and of church edifices nearly 4,000 ; of clergymen and preachers about 2,900. Historical Dates. — First settlements in Missouri at or near St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, by the French, probably in 1720; at St. Genevieve about 1755. In 1775 St. Louis was a fur depot and trading station, with 800 inhabitants. In 1803 France ceded all this territory to the United States. In 1805 St. Louis was made the capital of the new Territory of Louisiana. In 18 10 there were 1,500 inhabitants within the present limits of Missouri. In 181 2 the name of the Territory was changed to Missouri Ter- ritory. In 1820 the people prepajred and adopted a State Con- stitution. It was admitted into the Union as a State August 10, 1 82 1, after a bitter and violent controversy in Congress as to its admission as a slave State, by an act known as the Missouri Compromise, which permitted slavery there, but prohibited it in all territory north of 36° 30' north latitude. This act was virtu- ally repealed in 1854. The people took part in the Kansas difficulties of 1854-59, and were very much divided in the civil war. Several severe battles were fought in the State. A new Constitution was adopted in 1865, and still another in 1875. TOPOGRAPHY OF MONTANA. 935 CHAPTER XIII. Situation — Boundaries — Extent — Mountains — Timber — Lakes — Rivers — ' Geology and Mineralogy — Gold in Extensive Placers and Lodes — Silver — Copper — Lead — Iron — Other Minerals — Soil and Vegetation — Arable Lands — Grazing Lands — Timber Lands — Mining Lands — Desert Lands — Zoology — Climate — Blizzards — The "Chinook" Wind — Meteorology of Fort Keogh — Fort Benton — Helena — Virginia City — Mining — Enormous Yield of the Placers — Gold Lodes — Silver Lodes — The Stemple District — Last Chance Gulch, now Helena — Phillips- burg — WicKES — Butte — Peculiarities of the Butte Mines — Other Mines — Trapper District — Mining thus far almost Exclusively in Western Montana — Probabilities of Mines in Southern and Southeastern Mon- tana — Agricultural Productions — Testimony of Z. L. White — of Rob- ert E. Strahorn — OF Thomson P. McElrath — Enormous Crops, of Excel- lent Quality — Stock- Raising — Sheep-Farming — Breeding Horses and Mules — Gov. Potts' Experience — Manufactures— Objects of Interest — The Madison River — The Upper Yellowstone Valley — The Struggle of the Waters to Force a Passage Through — Other Wonders — Rail- roads — Best Routes for Immigrants at Present — Indian Reservations and their Population — Population of Montana Counties and Assess- ment — Principal Towns of Montana — Prices of Articles of General Use — Average Wages — Education — Religious Denominations — Con- clusion. Montana Territory is a central Territory of the northern belt of States of "Our Western Empire." About four-fifths of its area lies east of the Main Divide of the Rocky Mountains. Be- tween this Main Divide and the Bitter Root Mountains, which are a second range of the Rocky Mountains, and form the boundary between Montana and Idaho, is a broad, elevated valley, through which flows Clarke's fork of the Cokimbia river. East of the Mainy Divide there are several isolated mesas or pla- teaus, such as the Snake's Head, Beque d'Otard, Bear's Paw, Little Rocky Mountains, the Snow Mountains and Bull Moun- tains farther south. In the southeast there are several short ranges extending northvi^ard from Wyoming, and part of them apparently connected with the Black Hills. These are, begin- QC6 ^UR WESTERN EMPIRE. ning with the west, a short spur from the Big Horn range, the Wolf Mountains, Tongue River Mountains, and the Powder River rang-e, which consists of four or five chains of hills of no g^reat elevation, on both sides of the Powder river and its tributaries, and Cabin creek, all affluents of the Yellowstone. The valleys of the Missouri and its three constituent streams, the Madison, Jefferson and Gallatin, of the Yellowstone and its numerous tributaries, of Clarke's fork, the Milk river, Maria's river, Flathead, Musselshell and other rivers, affluents of the Missouri or the Yellowstone, are fertile and level or rolling lands, somewhat ele- vated, but not cold or bleak. The timber of Montana is peculiar, there being very little hard wood; if deciduous, the trees are almost wholly willow, poplar, linden and cottonwood ; the only exception being on Tongue river, near the southern boundary, where there are large bodies of oak ; if evergreens, pine, spruce, fir, cedar and balsam. The native grass is mainly the bunch grass, which grows to the height of four or five feet, and is the most nutritious of all the native grasses of this region for cattle, fatten- ing them more thoroughly than corn or barley. Flowers are abundant in their season in all the valleys. Montana is bounded on the north by British Columbia ; on the east by Dakota ; on the south by Wyoming and Idaho ; on the west by Idaho, from which it is separated by the Bitter Root Mountains. It lies between the parallels of 44° 6' (its southwest- ern corner only extending below 45°) and 49° north latitude ; and between 104° and 116° west longitude from Greenwich. Its greatest length from east to west along the 48th parallel is over 700 miles; and its greatest breadth near the 113th meridian is about 340 miles. Its area is 143,776 square miles, or 92,016,640 acres. Mountains, Lakes, Rivers, etc, — Montana is appropriately named, for mountain ranges, spurs, isolated peaks and hills con- stitute a large portion of its surface. Yet between, around and among these mountains are a great number of as lovely valleys as the sun ever shone upon. The mountains, unlike those of Idaho, are not, with a few exceptions, bare, with steep and inac- cessible sides, but rounded summits, covered either with grass MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS OF MONTANA. gcy or timber to the very top. They are admirably adapted to grazing, and of all the lands of "Our Western Empire," Montana is likely to be most completely the grazier's paradise. The sum- mits are none of them so lofty as some of those in Idaho or Colorado, none of them reaching ii,ooo feet. There are three peaks in the Yellowstone Park which are credited, not all of them correctly, to Montana. Of these Electric Peak is 10,992 feet; Mount Washburn, 10,388 feet, and Mount Doane, 10,118 feet. Aside from these there are but six peaks above 9,000 feet in height. These are: Emigrant Peak, 10,629; Ward's Peak, 10,- 371 ; Mount Delano, 10,200; Mount Blackmore, 10,134; Old Baldy, 9,711, and Badger's Peak, 9,000 feet. There are four passes over the Rocky Mountains within the limits of the Terri- tory : Cadott's pass, between the 47th and 48th parallels, 6,044 feet high ; Deer Lodge pass, between the same parallels, 6,200 feet; Lewis and Clarke's pass, 6,323 feet, and Flathead pass, in the north of the Territory, 5,459 feet. The general elevation of the Territory is from 2,500 to 3,000 feet. Montana is not, like Minnesota, a land abounding in lakes. There are not more than ten or twelve in the Territory ; of these Flathead lake is the largest, and Grizzly Bear lake, a triangular lake in the western part, nearly north of Helena, the most pecu- liar in form. Montana is certainly well supplied with rivers, though portions of it may need irrigation. The Missouri, including its head waters, has a course of more than 1,200 miles in this Territory; the Yellowstone, its largest affluent, about 850 ; Maria's river, Milk river, Breast or Teton river. Rolling Branch and Park river are the principal tributaries of the Missouri on its north bank ; on its south bank it receives Red Water, Elk Prairie and Big Dry creeks, and the large and important Musselshell river, the Judith river and many smaller streams, besides the three forks, Jeffer- son, Madison and Gallatin, which unite to form the Missouri. The Yellowstone, rising in Yellowstone lake in the National Park, has numerous affluents, especially on its south bank; among these are Clarke's fork, Pryor river, the Big Horn or Wind river, Rosebud creek, Tongue river, the Powder river with its numerous QCg OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. branches, and Cabin creek. In the valley, between the Rocky and Bitter Root Mountains, the Clarke's fork of the Columbia river has a course of about 300 miles, and the Lewis fork or Snake river, another affluent of the Columbia, has its source in Yellowstone National Park, and perhaps within the bounds of Montana. The Kootenai, probably still another tributary of the Columbia, has its head waters in Northwestern Montana. Clarke's fork has two or three affluents of considerable size, the most important of which are the Missoula and the Flathead river; the latter passes through Flathead lake. Nearly all these rivers furnish abundant water-power. Geology and Mineralogy. — The volcanic action in the past, and the repeated epochs of upheaval, have made the geology of Mon- tana somewhat involved, but some simple explanations will give the reader a tolerable understanding of it. In the early geologic aofes, the eastern half of Montana seems to have been a shallow sea, and its deposits w^ere of chalk and the chalky limestones of the cretaceous period. These cretaceous deposits were suc- ceeded farther west by the rocks of the Wealden and Jurassic periods — limestones, sandstones and shales, and during their deposition, as well as that of the cretaceous rocks farther east, there was a great abundance of the lower forms of animal life of gigantic size, mollusks and radiate animals, and some fish. The ammonites, conchifers, gasteropods, terebratulse and other radiates and mollusks found in these rocks are among the largest of these fossils ever discovered. Fossil plants are also plentiful, and, in the Wealden, fossil insects, reptiles and fish abound; at the western limit of these beds there are narrow belts of Silurian rocks. Over all the Rocky Mountain region, in the Bitter Root range and the valley between, as well as in occa- sional patches east of the mountains, especially in the isolated mountains and buttes of Central Montana, we have evidence of repeated and violent convulsions of nature, and the ejection of vast quantities of lava and of molten azoic and metamorphic rocks through the superimposed strata. There were at one time numerous active volcanoes in this region. The repeated up- heavals and their time of activity was probably mainly during the GEOLOGY AND MINERALOG Y. qCq tertiary period, though a later upheaval occurred in the post- tertiary or quaternary period, perhaps almost within historic times. As a result of this action, the whole of the Rocky Moun- tain summits and those of the Bitter Root Mountains, Bear Paw, Great and Little Belt, Crazy, Judith, Snowy and Highwood Mountains, are composed of eozoic rocks, granite, porphyry, trap, etc., and contain many veins and lodes of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc, and possibly platinum and quicksilver. The course of these veins, as well as the regular position of the stratified rocks, is greatly disturbed and deranged by the frequent dikes of porphyry, trap and obsidian which have intruded upon the others when in a state of fusion. Bordering these igneous rocks we find belts of Silurian rocks, and beyond these the Jurassic and Wealden beds, often overlaid by either tertiary or post-tertiary deposits, and these by allu- vium. Farther south, in the Yellowstone Park, we find abundant evidence that volcanic action, though feebler now than formerly, has not yet ceased. After the volcanic action of which we have spoken, Montana must have presented the appearance of a series of large fresh water lakes whose shores were the summits of the present mountain ranges. From these mountain slopes came extensive glaciers, as the elevation was greater than now after many ages of denuding action and the intense cold of that time favored the formation of these glaciers, which carried down in the glacial deposits large quantities of gold and silver, and thus formed those immensely rich placers which have yielded such vast quantities of gold. While the glaciers, by their denudatory action, reduced the mountains and cut them into the most fan- tastic shapes, there must have been also a gradual subsidence of these elevated plains, and this subsidence rendered the climate milder, and thus the ice of the glaciers, melting the moraines or debris, were deposited along their course. The boulders scat- tered by these glaciers are found all over the western half of Montana, and to a considerable extent in the southeast also. Eastern and Northeastern Montana, having been originally the bed of a lake, have not undergone so many changes, and the super- ficial geology is later ; the tertiary and post-tertiary deposits are q5o our western empire. the surface rocks of this region, though there are occasional out- crops of the cretaceous rocks. It is a disputed point whether the Hgnite or brown coal of the region lying west of the Little Missouri river and extending almost to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Black Hills nearly to the British line, belongs to the tertiary or to the cretaceous epoch, but the opinion of the most eminent geologists is in favor of its being a tertiary deposit. It is a very good coal, and is coming into demand largely not only for the Northern Pacific Railway, which traverses it for hun- dreds of miles, but for domestic purposes, for which purpose it is far better than the cottonwood and linden firewood, and is less than half the price of wood. The mineral wealth of Montana is very great. The whole re- gion lying west of the Big Horn, Musselshell and Milk rivers, comprising fully three-fifths of the Territory, is full of gold and silver. The placers and gold lodes of this region lying west of the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, comprising not more than one-fourth of the Territory, have yielded in gold since 1863 about $140,000,000 in gold and $10,000,000 or more in silver. Eastern Montana, except perhaps in the southeast, is better adapted to agriculture and grazing, though this, as we have said, includes extensive beds of coal. Of other minerals, copper, lead and zinc are found extensively, the last two generally in connec- tion with silver. There are immense beds of iron ores. Petro- leum has been discovered at several points. The silver ores of Montana belong to the refractory class, and the principal obstacle in the way of a much greater annual yield from the rich silver mines of Montana has been due to this very refractoriness. The ores averaged perhaps sixty-five to seventy-five ounces of silvc/, and from twenty to forty-five per cent, of lead to the ton, but in the various processes necessary for their reduction — processes which could only be conducted at Omaha, Newark, N. J., or Freiberg, Germany, and the enormous expense of their trans- portation to a railroad, the nearest being about 300 miles distant, and the freight very heavy, while the reducing processes were also expensive — there was a necessary expenditure of from $108 to $114 per ton, and the returns did not come in under from four SOIL AND VEGETATION. q6i to six months from the time of shipment of the ore. Under these circumstances the mining companies lost money on all ores which did not yield at least 140 ounces of silver to the ton, and even on 150 ounces they only made a mere pittance. Several attempts were made to establish reduction works at some point in the Territory, but owing to the immense cost of their transportation and bad management afterwards, they all proved failures. The last effort was made in 1879 at Wickes, and has proved success- ful, and as the Utah and Northern Railroad now traverses this part of the Territory, and the Northern Pacific will soon be there, the days of costly transportation and high cost reduction have come to an end. Soil and Vegetation. — In the western, central and southern portions of the Territory, the land along the valleys adjacent to the streams is rich and well adapted to agriculture, large crops of grain, vegetables, etc., being produced with little or no irriga- tion. The soil of the table lands is generally good, only re- quiring irrigation, for which abundant water can be had, to pro- duce largely; while the foot hills are covered with an abundant growth of nutritious grasses extending to the timber line. In the northern and eastern portions of the Territory are vast tracts of so-called Bad Lands; but these have a much worse name than they deserve, many portions of them being covered with grasses more or less abundant, and affording grazing to large herds of buffalo, antelope, etc., and where there are stock farms near, to cattle also. The Territory is well timbered throughout, though, as we have already said, the soft woods, whether evergreen or deciduous, predominate largely. There are some small groves of ash, and large bodies of oak have lately been discovered on the head waters of Tongue river, near the southern boundary. The forests In the immediate vicinity of the settlements have suf- fered somewhat from the wanton depredations of settlers, who often destroy half a dozen small trees in obtaining one of requi- site size for their purposes ; but even In those sections, where the hillsides have been stripped entirely bare, there Is a sturdy and flourishing second growth. The loss from forest fires is far greater than from any other source, but as the country becomes 61 q52 our western empire. more settled, and the Indians, who are most careless with fire, are kept upon their reservations, these will become less frequent. Until the present year (1880), there being no railroad for the transportation of grain out of the Territory, and the steam- boat navigation interrupted by falls and rapids, there was no ex- port demand for Montana grain. This is all changed now ; the Northern Pacific enters the Territory from the east, and is already near Powder river, while the Utah and Northern is already at Helena, and will probably go further, and the Pend d'Oreille Division of the North Pacific, which communicates directly with the Pacific through the Columbia river, will soon be stretching down the valley of Clarke's Fork. With these three outlets the agricultural lands of Montana will be rapidly taken up, and there is no better land for agricultural crops in the world. The yield per acre of grain, vegetables, etc., with irrigation where it is needed, and without it where it is not, is very large, and the quality is of the best. Montana wheat especially is unexcelled; careful analysis has demonstrated that it contains a larger amount of both the flesh and fat producing constituents than any other, and the weight is from sixty-four to sixty-nine pounds to the bushel (the standard being sixty), and the average yield from thirty to forty bushels. The Territory will not only be self-sustaining in respect to its cereals, but will have for many years to come a large supply for exportation. Zoology. — The larger game animals are abundant in Montana. This is one of the few remaining haunts of the buffalo, which is now found in considerable numbers both north of the Missouri and south of the Yellowstone. The moose is seen, though not in laro-e numbers, in the mountain o-orees. The elk roam in large herds on the mountain slopes and in the valleys, as do the two species of deer. The Big Horn or Rocky Mountain sheep and the antelope are at home all over the Territory. Bears, badgers, gray wolves, panthers, beaver, otter, marten and mink, are found in the forests and streams in great numbers, and are largely captured for their pelts. In the mountain streams are an abundance of salmon trout, brook trout and grayling ; and in their season the rivers and lakes are alive with wild geese, ZOOLOGY AND CLIMATE OF MONTANA. q6j brant, ducks of numerous species, and teal. The birds of prey are less numerous than farther south, though there are two species of eagle and many hawks and owls. Song birds are abundant. Climate. — " In a general way," says Mr. Thomson P. McElrath, in his excellent little volume on the Yellowstone valley, just pub- lished, " the climate of Montana may be compared to that of the western sections of the Middle States. The summers are very warm, but, as a rule, the winters are far from being rigorous. The mean annual temperature of the valleys of Montana is 48°, which is higher than that of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michi- gan, Wisconsin or Iowa, and only a little lower than that of Ne- braska, Illinois and Ohio. Owing to the purity and dryness of the atmosphere, the heat, which is in the ascendency during five months of the year, is seldom oppressive. There is a reduced tendency to perspire, and out-door exercise with the mercury at 100° is not nearly so uncomfortable as it is in the East under considerably lower conditions of caloric. A brief rainy season sets in annually, in April or May, lasting with considerably more persistency than in corresponding latitudes on the Missouri river, until the middle of July, under the refreshing influence of which vegetation receives a wonderful impulse. The same amount of rain distributed through the whole year would be of little value to the agriculturist. During the rest of the year rain seldom falls in large quantities." * The average mean temperature of Helena, Montana, which is 1,000 feet higher than many of the valleys, is 44.5 degrees; that of six stations in Minnesota for the same time 41.6 degrees; the amount of rain and melted snow at Helena, 22.36 inches; in Minnesota, 27.89 inches. The average temperature of the winter months at Helena is 23.7 degrees; of Minnesota, 21.3 degrees. * In the first part of this volume we animadverted with some severity upon some papers pub- lished in the North American Review and the New York Tribune, by Colonel (now Brigadier- General) Hazen, U. S. A., in relation to the climate, rainfall and fertility of Montana. These papers have brought upon General (Colonel) Hazen a large but just measure of opprobrium, because he wrote without any thorough acquaintance with the actual climate and character of the region he was denouncing, and because many of his statements in regard to it have been effec- tually disproved. His recent appointment as Chief Signal Service Officer may convince him of his errors. q54 0^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. The mean annual temperature of Maine and New Hampshire for six years (from 1866 to 1872) was 43.7 degrees ; of Vermont. 43.2 degrees; that of the valleys of Montana, 48 degrees; yet half of Maine and nearly the whole of Vermont and New Hamp- shire are below the 45th parallel, which forms Montana's south- ern boundary. The mean annual temperature of Wisconsin for five years (1866 to 1871) was 44.8 degrees; of Michigan, 45.8 degrees ; of Iowa, 46.4 degrees ; Massachusetts and New York, 47.3 degrees ; Connecticut, 47.6 degrees ; Nebraska, 48.6 de- grees ; Illinois, 49.9 degrees; Ohio, 51.2 degrees. The Missouri river at Helena is thoroughly open a month earlier each spring than at Omaha, 500 miles further south. The rainy season is in June, while the amount of rainfall is three- fourths that of Minnesota. The winters are generally open, the long nights at that season being quite cold, but the days brilliant and far milder than would be expected in so high a latitude. The dryness of the atmosphere likewise prevents the cold from being as severely felt as it is in damp climates. The snow fall in the valleys is in most winters quite light, and after falling it is quickly melted or carried off by evaporation. The army officers stationed at Fort Keogh declare that until the past winter they have never enjoyed sleighing on the prairies for a week at a time, except occasionally in March, when the clear weather which had prevailed almost unbrokenly since the previous rainy season gave way to a short period of cold squalls accompanied by snow. These wind storms are liable to occur at any time during the year, resembling in the sudden lowering of temperature which accompanies them the chilling " northers " of the Gulf of Mexico, and occasionally equalling in their vehemence and abrupt subsidence the hurricanes which pre- vail on our South Atlantic coast yearly, from the middle of Au- gust to the middle of September. Another phenomenon of a more agreeable character witnessed frequently in the winter season is the occurrence of the so-called " Chinook wind," a balmy zephyr, which, wafted from the Pacific Ocean and penetrating the gaps and passes of the Rocky Moun- tains, converts winter cold into summer warmth so suddenly that BLIZZARDS AND '< CHINOOK" WINDS. ggc sometimes a foot depth of snow will evaporate and disappear under its influence in the course of a single day. This is the realization of the "Japan current" theory, and while it prevails, it fully justifies that idea. One writer says: "I have known a foot of snow on the level to fall during- the night and every patch of it to be melted before noon of the next day; and there are open spells in mid-winter, often lasting m.any days, when the trapper is comfortable without a coat over his woollen shirt," General Miles and others at Fort Keogh testify to similar facts. The winter of 1879-80 was exceptionally cold and protracted. From the end of November to the middle of March there was almost continuous sleighing in the lower Tongue river region, though the snow was not deep and the mercury, ranging in the vicinity of zero for several weeks, reached on one occasion, and probably only momentarily, on the night of December 24, 1879, as low a point as — 57°. The Indians about Fort Keogh declared emphatically that they had never known the cold weather before to be so intense and so long continued. Notwithstanding the remarkably low temperature which prevailed for so long a period, no extraordinary discomfort was experienced beyond a few frozen fingers and toes on the part of travellers and soldiers unavoidably exposed on the bleak prairie roads, and not a single instance has been announced of cattle perishing from cold on their snow-cov- ered pastures. The " Chinook wind " did not seem to manifest itself as efficiently as usual during that winter season. There was not much snow, however, in the valley twenty miles above Miles City; and eighty miles up the Tongue river the cold was not nearly so severe as that above recorded. Subjoined is a condensed summary never before published of the meteorological observations made at the United States signal station at Fort Keogh since the occupation of the valley by white residents. The observations were begun irt the middle of January, 1879. The table shows the highest and lowest temperature recorded during each month, the average daily temperature, the range of temper- ature in each month, and the total rainfall. 966 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Themwmetric Observations at Fort Keogh, 1 875-80. TEMPERATURE. MONTH. Highest. Lowest. 1879. ■ January (from 13th) 36 i February j 52 March ] 76 April 76 May I 85 i June 94 I July 100 {August I 97 1 September i 96 October. November. December,. 1880. January.. February March 90 94 42 50 54 72 II -15 -25 23 30 40 50 40 33 12 - 5 -46 -18 -19 -24 Mean temper- ature. 32 23 40 60 66 74 83 83 71 5S 42 2 Range. Total rain- 1 fall, Inches. Annual range, 146 degrees. Total rainfall and melted snow in 1879, 22.75 inches. 25 67 lOI 53 55 54 50 57 63 78 99 68 73 96 .26 .69 .28 20 ■75 •23 ,90 .84 ■44 •47 , 1 1 .58 ■32 ■17 ■51 Thefigures in the fifth column form a more effective refutation of the "barren land" theory than any argument that could be framed in words alone. But the collateral facts speak yet more emphatically than the figures ! In further illustration of the climate, we add the weather report from Fort Benton, Montana, which lies on or near the forty- eighth parallel : Weather Report at Fort Benton fro77i Jajiuai'y i, \%']2, to July I, 1879. ] No. of fair clays i No. of cloudy days I Mean temperature of year. ^'spi'ing I Summer Autumn Winter Average annual fall of rain or melted snow 1872. 1873- 1874. 1875- 1876. 1877. 305 291 277 289 286 300 60 74 88 76 79 65 37-25 42" 42°.5 43°-5 30°.75 4i°.oo 11° 2S" 13" 17" 14° 24° 48° S2" 56" SS° ■54° ,So° 6i° 6^" 68° 66° 61° 58° 29° 28° 3,3° 36° 30° 32° In. In. In. In. In. In. 17.00 12.72 23.76 21.84 20.64 12.72 1878. 195 169 S°.oo 37° 55° 64° 36° In. First six months 1879. no 70 21° 58° Inches. 21.60 METEOROLOGICAL TABLES. 967 This shows an average of 275 fair days for each year. We also give from the Surveyor-General's office in Helena the following record of temperature and weather in 1878-9 : Record of Temperature at Helena, Montana, from July, 1878, to Jime, \%'](), inclusive, taken at the office of the Surveyor- General for Montana. Month. July, 1878 August, 1878 September, 1 878 October, 1878 November, 1878 December, 1878 January, 1879 I 5^ February, 1879 ^^ March, 1879 [ 71 April, 1879 ] 70 May, 1S79 I 77 June, 1879 80 For the year. 98° 50 51 30 12 22 o -12 -II 8 27 30 43 74 70% 54^^ 46% 41% 27 >^ 26 38>^ 49 53K 59>< 44.6 24 28 16 14 23 9 23 19 24 16 14 12 I 2 10 12 5 15 5 4 4 13 12 88 I 5 13 33 We add also the — Meteorology of Virginia City, Montana, 1878. Year and Months. Tempekature. Moisture. Barome- ter. Winds. • 3 5 H ii c2 2 0. i H c n 2 " Prevailing Winds in the Order of their Frequency. i Year ■ January February 92 43 64 65 70 85 92 90 88 64 46 —•5 —4 10 II 19 25 35 42 50 26 9 II —'5 42.2 23.1 27.9 39-8 45-5 53.0 67.2 69.2 489 38.9 35-1 17.7 107 47 39 53 46 45 50 50 40 62 55 48 6x inches. 20.g6 0.45 0.62 o.gi 1.83 5I3 3.78 0.88 2. 16 1.36 0.98 0.31 0.65 perc 54 62 63 58 57 54 48 36 45 54 59 54 72 ent. 5 2 2 8 9 4 5 7 inches. 29,705 29,661 29.536 29,657 29.565 29,668 29,766 29,745 29,808 29.771 29,734 29,777 29,785 Direction. Calm, S. E.,W.,S.W.,N.E. Calni.S. E..S. W., N. E. Calm, S. W., S. E., W. S. E., calm, S. \V., W. W., S. E., S. W.. E.,calm. Calm, S. E.,N. E., W.,S.W. Calm, S.E., W., N.W., N.E. \ Calm.S. E., W.. S.,N. E. | Calm. S. E., N. E., H., W. 1 Calm.S. E..W..N. E. j Calm, W., N. W., S. W. 1 Calm, S. E.. W. W., calm, S. W., N. W. June Tulv 1 August September October November December Minmor, — It is matter of history that in 1852, a Scotch half- breed from the Red River country, returning from California, q58 our western empire. found gold on Gold creek, in Deer Lodge county. This was, of course, a placer, diough apparendy not a very rich one. Others who had heard of this find, in 1856 prospected Benetsee creek, in the same vicinity, and found some gold, as did another party who came thither in 1858 ; but being without provisions or tools, and the Indians being hostile, they soon abandoned the country. In i860, Henry Thomas, better known as "Gold Tom," sunk a shaft down to the bed rock on Benetsee creek, a depth of thirty feet ; but owing to his poverty and disadvantages for work, having but little food and but few tools, he only made about $1.50 • a day. From i860 to 1863, the Stuart brothers, James, Granville and Thomas, a Mr. Anderson, M. Bozeman, S. T. Hauser, F. Louthan and others, were the principal pioneers in gold discov- eries in what is now known as Southwestern Montana. The earlier discoveries were all of placers, some of them exceedingly rich. Alder gulch, on which Virginia City is situated, was prob- ably the richest placer ever discovered in any part of the world. At first the product was from ^100 to ^200 a day for each man, and in the first five years after its discovery Alder gulch and its tributaries yielded on an average ^8,000,000 a year. The total product from this single placer up to the end of 1876 was $70,- 000,000. Latterly it has fallen off to ^600,000 or ^800,000 a year. Silver Creek gulch, about twelve miles from Helena, and Last Chance gulch, upon which the town of Helena itself is situ- ated, have also proved very rich placers, the two yielding about <^i 6,000,000 since their discovery. Mining is still continued in these and other placers, and the advent of railroads into the re- gion has caused machinery and timber to be brought there at so much less expense, and the gold product sent to market at so much cheaper rates, that hydraulic mining on a most extensive scale is to be resorted to in all the best placers. The total product of gold from placer mining in the Territory has been variously estimated at from $120,000,000 to $140,000,000. It is difficult to determine the exact amount, as the returns of the placers and the quartz veins or lodes have not in all cases been kept separate. It is probably not less than $125,000,000. Quartz mining for gold began in Montana almost simultane- QUARTZ MINING IN MONTANA. g^ ously with that of the placers. The first lode located was discov- ered near Bannock, in Beaverhead county, in 1862, and the mine was called the Dakota. Mr. Warner, in his " History and Di- rectory of Montana," says that the decomposed quartz found near the surface of this vein was taken down the hill on which it was situated, to the creek, on pack animals, and the gold was there washed out. In the spring- of 1863 a small water-mill for crushing this quartz was completed. The stamps were made of old wagon-wheel tires welded together and had wooden stems. Other mills were subsequently erected, and gold in small quan- tities has been taken from this and other mines in the vicinity almost ever since. Gold quartz ledges were discovered in the vi- cinity of many other placer mines, and the ores have been worked on a small scale in different parts of the Territory. A few of the lodes have produced large quantities of bullion. The chief ob- stacles to the development of the gold quartz mines of Montana have been lack of capital, bad management due to want of expe- rienced superintendents, and the enormous cost of machinery. When freights from Chicago or St. Louis were never lower than five cents, and frequendy as high as ten, twelve or fifteen cents a pound, it cost two or three times as much to bring machinery into Montana as was paid for it at the place where it was manufac- tured, and a man not only had to have a good mine but consid- erable ready capital in order to be able to develop it and brino- it into a paying condition. Some of the most promising gold mining enterprises in this Territory have also failed on account of ignorance or extravagance in their management, and these failures have deterred capitalists, who at best were timid about investing their money in a country so difficult of access, from becoming interested even in the good properties. The principal mines of gold in quartz lodes are almost as numerous as the placers. After the Dakota, which still yields a fair amount, are the Union lode and others in Lewis and Clarke county, which have yielded about ^3,000,000; the Atlantic Cable lode, in Deer Lodge county, a very rich mine ; while there are mines which have paid well for a number of years at Unionville and the Park, four miles from Helena, at Silver Star, Summit, Q^o ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Alder, Meadow Creek, Iron Rod, Bannock, Radersburg, Pony, Boulder and Highland. But die richest quartz gold mines in Montana are those of the Stemple District, fifteen to twenty miles northwest of Helena. The famous Penobscot and other extensions of the Snow Drift lode are probably the most valuable gold quartz mines in the world. Mr. Nathan S. Vestel first de- veloped the Penobscot mine, which is on the summit of the main range of the Rocky Mountains. His first efforts in 1877 ^^^^ "ot meet with much encouragement, and late in the year he found himself ^7,000 in debt and in doubt where he could obtain the means of payment. But the three shafts he had sunk on the Penobscot claim began to show good results, and the first clean- ups from a little five stamp mill, which had been brought there, gave him ^20,000, with which he paid his debts and had ^13,000 over. The yield now increased rapidly, some of the ore yielding $1,000 in gold to the ton, and the average being more than $100 to the ton aside from the waste, which was considerable, as it was in very fine particles. In the summer of 1878 he sold the mine to Mr. William B. Frue, of Detroit, on terms from which he re- alized $350,000. It has proved a very profitable investment, yielding about $23,000 a month. Mr. Vestel immediately com- menced developing another mine, 900 feet below the Penobscot, which is yielding about $1 2,000 a month. It is called the Bel- mont. Other mines of this district and vicinity are the Blue Bird, Whip-poor-will, Black Hawk, Viola, Grey Eagle, Emma Miller, Mount Pleasant, Green Northern Light, Piegan, Humbug and Long Tom. These are all paying largely. The gold quartz mines have yielded since 1864 over $20,000,000; of the $162,- 000,000 of the precious metals sent to market to the end of 1879, about $145,000,000 are gold and the remainder silver. The silver ores of Montana are mostly refractory, and have proved difficult of reduction, and in the past would only pay when they were very rich. Now the machinery, and concen- trating, stamping, smelting, wasting, chlorodizing, amalgamating and leaching works are all in the Territory and easily accessible by railway, and the silver ores, which are, many of them, very rich, will yield great profits to the mine-owners and ore reducers. SILVER MINING IN MONTANA. gprj The most important of these works are those of the Alta Mon- tana Company, which owns several mines also, at Wickes, about twenty-five or thirty miles southwest of Helena, and about mid- way between the Utah and Northern Railroad and the Rocky Mountain Division of the Northern Pacific. When these works were first established they proved a failure, but they have now been taken up by an enterprising company from the East, with large capital, and are achieving a grand success. The Colorado and Boulder Districts have a large number of silver mines, with very rich lodes, many of which will contribute to the supply of ores to be reduced at Wickes. Another extensive silver lode, the earliest one discovered in Montana, is in the district of Phil- lipsburg, in Deer Lodge county, nearly loo miles west-southwest of Helena, in the elevated valley between the main Rocky Moun- tain chain — the "Great Divide" — and the Bitter Root Moun- tains. This is on the surveyed route of the Rocky Mountain Division of the Northern Pacific. The Speckled Trout, the Algonquin and the Hope mine are the largest and most promising mines in this district. These have yielded somewhat largely of argentiferous galena, with considerable sulphur and other com- binations. The yield is from seventy-five to ninety ounces of silver to the ton. Owing to heavy expenses, these mines have not proved very profitable till recendy. But the most remark- able of all the mining districts is Butte and its vicinity, also in Deer Lodge county, but east of the Great Divide. The silver ores were first discovered in 1864 (or perhaps earlier), but the working of them could not be made profitable on account of their refractory nature and the great cost of transportation. They again attracted attention in 1874-5, and Butte City has a popu- lation of about 3,500, and in its immediate vicinity are twenty or more mines, all yielding well. The ores are of different kinds, and require different processes for their reduction. There is a silver-gold belt, with no copper, but some galena and oxide and carbonate of manganese. Above the water-line this is free mill- inof, and can be reduced with a moderate amount of labor. Below the water-line it is baser, and requires chlorodization and roasting for its reduction. The silver predominates, but there is a small 0^2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. amount of gold mixed with it. The yield ranges from twenty-five to one hundred and eighty ounces of silver to the ton. One mile east of this is a belt of copper ore of great richness, but containing some arsenic. The yield is about 400 pounds to the ton. In a contrary direction, a mile and a half west of the silver-gold belt, just beyond the Butte, is an extensive lode of chloride of silver, on which several mines have been opened, but though apparently very rich, it has not yet been largely developed. There are now extensive reverberatory furnaces for smelting these ores, and when reduced to a matte carrying from 600 to 900 ounces of silver to the ton, they are sent to Denver to be parted. Most of the mines are what are known as surface mines ; that is, they do not penetrate below the water-line. Indeed, it was found that the ores rapidly depreciated in quality as they approached this line. The owners of the Alice mine, one of the best of the sur- face mines, had the courage, against the opinion of all the other miners, to go below the water-line, and, following the vein, to ascertain whether it would not improve as they reached deeper levels. They have expended ^600,000 on this experiment, all of which, however, had been made out of the mine, and at 300 feet depth found the ore much better, and at 400 and 500 feet they were richer than at the surface. Encouraged by this they have proceeded to strike the vein at a depth of 800 feet. The silver deposits at Butte are believed to be more extensive than any yet discovered in Montana. The production of silver and gold at this camp to September, 1880, had been somewhat more than ^4,000,000, and is likely to be largely increased. Glendale and the Trapper district, situated in and around the Trapper Creek Canon, in Beaverhead county, but on the eastern side of the "Great Divide," has come into notice within the last four years, and is regarded by Mr. Z. L. White as one of the two successful silver camps of the Territory, Butte being the other. The mines which have proved most profitable are on White Lion Mountain, about 9,000 feet above the sea. The ore is found in a wide belt of dolomite or soft white limestone, lying between two limestone strata of a much harder texture. The bulk of the ore in these mines is decomposed, earthy, and easily PROBABLE EXTENSION OF MINING DISTRICTS. ^73 mined with pick and spade. It consists of silver, copper, sulphur, lead, arsenic, antimony, aluminum and silica, with occasionally a little undecomposed galena. It yields on an average from eighty to one hundred and twenty ounces of silver to a ton. There are several copper mines in the Territory, one large deposit of copper ores being at Copperopolis, on the head waters of the Musselshell river. There is also a beginning of iron mining in the Territory. Coal mining is becoming a profitable pursuit along the Missouri and Yellowstone Divisions of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The mining products of Montana in 1879 were about ^10,000,000 — an amount which will soon be doubled. It is worthy of notice that all the vein and lode mining, whether of gold or silver, has been confined to the southwestern section of Montana, a region lying west of a line drawn southward from the junction of the Dearborn river and the Missouri, and striking the Yellow^stone at or near Fort Ellis, thence along the Yellow- stone to the Yellowstone National Park. It comprises both slopes of the "Great Divide," extends across the valleys beyond, and includes the eastern slope of the Bitter Root Mountains. That this is not the only part of the Territory which contains gold deposits appears from the fact that rich placers have been found in Missoula county, northwest 175 miles or more from Helena, and east and northeast of the Missouri river as far as the slopes of the Bear's Paw Mountains, northeast of Fort Ben- ton ; and where there are placers the gold and silver lodes are not far off. We may look confidently for further discoveries of both gold and silver in the detached and isolated mountains of the Territory, and very possibly extensive gold lodes in the Powder river range, in the southeast of the Territory, that range having strong geological affinities with the Black Hills. There have been some gold and silver lodes of rich promise recently discovered on Clarke's fork of the Yellowstone, about the middle of the Crow Indian reservation, and negotiations are now in progress with the Crows to cede this part of their reservation. Agricultural Productions. — Writers on Montana have gener- ally estimated its arable lands at 15,000,000, or at the utmost gy^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 16,000,000 acres ; but the recent reports of the Surveyor-General of the Territory, and of the missionaries and travellers who have been up the valley of the Yellowstone and through Eastern Mon- tana indicate that there are millions of acres which, with moder- ate irrigation, for which the facilities are abundant, will yield immense crops, and in fact a part are already yielding crops which astonish all beholders. Of the agricultural productions of the valleys and benches of Western Montana, the affluents of Clarke's fork of Columbia river, of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin, and of the Yellowstone and the upper Missouri, we will let Mr. Zimri L. White, the cautious and able correspondent of the New York Tribune, tell us : "The agricultural lands of Montana are the valleys. The main range of the Rocky Mountains extends through the Terri- tory generally in a northerly and southerly direction, and from this there are spurs and auxiliary ranges extending in all direc- tions and covering nearly the whole face of the country except in the north and east, where there are extensive elevated plains. Between these ranees flow hundreds of beautiful clear-water streams, some large and some small, and bordering these rivers and creeks are fine rich valleys from one to ten or twenty miles in width. The soil in the valleys is an alluvial deposit, and the land generally has a gentle and regular slope from the bed of the stream to the foot of the bench which separates the valley from the foot-hills. So true is this slope that in almost every in- stance water taken out in a ditch parallel with the stream can be made to flow over every foot of land below it. The benches, of which there are sometimes several and somedmes only one, are simply condnuations of the valley at a higher elevation. They frequently look like great terraces rising one above the other, and where the quantity of water in the stream and the fall are sufficient to make irrigation possible, the bench lands are found to I^e equally productive with the valleys proper. Behind the benches rise the foothills, with their rounded, grass-clad tops, now extended for miles and forming the divide between two streams, and again seeming to support a rocky, precipitous ridge that rises beyond them. THE FERTILE VALLEYS OF MONTANA. gye " Very few of these valleys are as yet settled. The Bitter Root Valley, in the west, where the farmers have become rich by the sale of their products to the government for use at the military post at Missoula, the Gallatin in the east, Prickly Pear, in which Helena is situated, Deer Lodge and Jefferson Valleys, have the oldest ranches, and until lately the largest breadth of land under cultivation. "Within the last year or two the immigration to the Yellowstone Valley and its tributaries has been very great. This is about 650 miles long, and the average width of the valley which can be irrigated is about ten miles. It has only recently been safe for white people to go there, but the vigor with which the Northern Pacific Railroad has pushed westward during the past summer (this line will extend through the Yellowstone Valley for almost its entire length) has attracted many settlers, and I am told that there are already about 400 families there. I saw it reported early in the summer that General Sheridan told a Chicago re- porter that he saw on one boat in his late trip up the Yellow- stone twenty-seven threshing-machines bound for the very country in which General Custer lost his life in 1876, and which three years ago was one of the most remote and inaccessible sections of the country. So rapid has been the agricultural development of the Territory that Mr. R. H. Mason, the Sur- veyor-General of Montana, estimates that the acreage under cultivation this year is twice as great as it was in 1878, a part of the increase being due to the enlargement of the older farms, and a part to the opening of new farms. " In all the older settled portions of the Territory the ranchmen are, alniost without exception, remarkably prosperous. I have not visited the best agricultural sections of the country, nor shall I be able to do so. The area of the Territory of Montana is three times as great as that of the State of New York, and there is not as yet (in 1879) a single mile of railroad within its limits. Travel here is therefore very slow, and it would require more than one whole summer to see even the most important points. I did, however, ride through the Jefferson, Boulder and Deer Lodge Valleys, and spent an entire day in visiting a few repre- Q^5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. sentative farms In the Prickly Pear Valley, so that I can speak from personal knowledge of what I saw in those. " The average yield of wheat in Montana is at least twenty-five bushels to an acre. Other writers have placed it at from thirty to forty bushels, and fifty bushels is by no means an uncommon crop; but taking the whole country together, I doubt if the farmer can depend upon much more than twenty-five. This is ten bushels or sixty-six per cent, more than what is considered a good crop in the great grain States of the Mississippi Valley. The wheat of Montana is also of a very excellent quality. An analysis of samples of Montana wheat made at the Agricultural Department in Washington shows eighteen per cent, more nitro- genous or flesh-producing matter than Minnesota wheat, and that bulk for bulk it weighed about six per cent. more. I have before me a sample of spring wheat of the crop of 1878, raised by Mr. Reeves in the Prickly Pear Valley, that averages to weigh sixty- four pounds to a measured bushel. Some of the crops of wheat that have been raised in Montana have been almost fabulous. Forty, fifty, and even sixty bushels to an acre, are not uncommon crops. Several years ago the State Fair Association offered a premium for the best acre of wheat raised that season, and the award was made to Mr. Raymond, of the Prickly Pear Valley, who had 102 measured bushels on a single acre. The committee who made the award were prominent citizens of Montana, and one of them has told me that the same year a farmer in the Gal- latin Valley raised an equally large average crop on a forty-acre lot, but as he could not show that he had more than 102 bushels on any single acre, the committee decided that he was not entided to the premium. " I have seen, in August this year, many fields of wheat, both standing and in the shock, in the country around Helena, and I have not seen one that appeared to have less than thirty bushels to an acre. In many fields the shocks of grain stood almost as thick as the sheaves in the fields of the Mississippi Valley." Mr. Robert E. Strahorn, in his " To the Rockies and Beyond," gives the following statement in regard to crops in different val- leys of Montana in 1878 : FARMIiVG IN MONTANA. 977 "As considerable has been said concerning large average yields of grain fields in Montana, the reader may be interested in noting a few names of farmers whose experiences for the past year or two have come under the observation of the writer. Fol- lowing are the names of several prominent farmers of different valleys, with size of fields, amount of grain threshed, the average yield per acre for one season, and the selling price of the crop : Name. Location. Field in acres. Crop and Yield — bushels. Av. per acre — bushels. Value of I crop. 1 A. G. England Robert Vaughn M. Stone Missoula V.Uley Sun River Valley. . . Ruby Valley. . .' Yellowstone Valley.. Gallatin Valley Prickly PearValley. . Missouri Valley Deer Lodge Valley . . Gallatin Valley Reese CreekValley. . Ruby Valley 1 60 40 4 100 8 6 23 50 23% II 85 48 400 Wheat, 7,000.. Oats, 2,000. . Oats, 410. . Wheal 6,000. . Oats, 600. . Oats, 620. . Wheat, 1,150. . Oats, 3,500. . Wheat, ■) , ^^„ Oats, 1 '-°° • Oats, 1,200. . Oats, 4,982.. Wheat, 2,200. . Wheat, 10,000. . 50 I02>^ 60 75 103 h' 50 70 45 100 57 45 f 50 5^8,400 1,200 246 7,200 360 362 1,380 2,100 1,250 720 ; 2,989 1 2,640 11,000 Brockway's Ranch. . Brigham Reed Marion Leverich.. . . William Reed Charles Rowe Con. Kohrs John Howe Robert Barnett S. Hall Mr. White continues : "Oats and barley grow as well as wheat. The average yield of oats to the acre is considerably greater than that of wheat, and the weight per bushel is much above the standard. Mr. Reeves gave me a sample of oats from his farm which he said would average to weight forty-six pounds to a bushel. General Brisbin says that Mr. Burton raised a field of oats which averaged loi bushels to an acre, and a field of barley on which there were 113 bushels to an acre. "This is the bright side of the picture. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that a considerable portion of the grain crop in certain portions of Montana is frequently destroyed by grasshoppers, and that there is reason to fear that for some years to come, and until the agricultural population of the Territory becomes much greater than now, these insect pests will make the business of grain-raising here somewhat hazardous. That the scourge of locusts has not been as serious as it might have been, nor as destructive as it would naturally have been expected to 62 9/3 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. be, is shown by the prosperous condition of all the farmers who have been established for a few years. Those in the neighbor- hood of the military posts, especially, have grown rich with wonderful rapidity. General Brisbin told me that the govern- ment has paid as much as ^4,000 to one farmer in a single year for grain and hay raised by himself, and that the income of a farmer in the neighborhood of Fort Ellis from the portion of his crops sold to the United States is frequently as much as ^3,000. Corn has not been very successfully cultivated in Montana, ex- cept in the warmer regions west of the main range of the Rocky Mountains. The hay cut in the Territory is wild, and costs the farmer who cuts it from $1.50 to ^2.00 a ton. "The soil of Montana seems to be especially fitted for the production of large crops of garden vegetables. The best market garden I ever saw, if abundant yield is a criterion, is that of Mr. Dorrington, in the Prickly Pear Valley. He sold ^2,000 worth of strawberries, and his root crops, such as turnips, onions, beets, parsnips, etc., seemed literally to fill the ground. He expected to take ten tons of onions from a small patch of ground, and would receive five cents a pound for them in Helena. The fol- lowing table, compiled by General Brisbin, shows what the pro- duct of the gardens cultivated by troops at Fort Ellis was in 1877: Com.pany and Regiment. Number of acres. Bushels Potatoes. Bushels Onions. Bushels Turnips. Bushels Carrots. Bushels Beets. Bushels Parsnips. Bushels Salsify. Heads of Cabbage. F 2d Cav. G " H " L " Gyth Inf. 1 7 I/i ! T Ton CiCi 60 60 35 150 40 60 35 40 25 12 50 1 10 15 1 20 40 1 25 3,600 2,500 3.300 2,300 Soo //2 5 6 5 3 C CO (^(^ j'-' 1,200 700 3-^3 130 50 6 20 3 1 j Totals, 26>^ 3.865 336 345 172 105 75 3 12,500 "The value of the several articles, if bought at the fort, would have been : Potatoes, $3,865 ; onions, $2,352 ; turnips, $85 ; car- rots, $206.40; beets, $315 ; parsnips, $225 ; salsify, $9.40; cab- FR UIT. GR O WING. g^n bag-e, $125. Total, ^7,182.80. The garden crops at Fort Ellis in other years have been fully one-third greater for the same amount of ground." The best farmers are turning their attention largely to fruit culture. This for many years to come will be the most profitable of crops, especially when it is not too far from a local market. Writing in 1879, ^I^- White said: "Very little fruit has yet been raised (/. e., has come to the bearing stage) in Montana. "It has always been supposed that the part of the Territory east of the Divide was too cold in winter for even the hardier kinds of fruit, and very few varieties have been planted. In the west, in the Bitter Root Valley, orchards planted a few years ago are just beginning to bear, and the rapidity with which the trees have grown and the manner in which they have wintered have led to the belief that fruit-raising may yet become one of the im- portant industries of that section. The fruit crop this year is not sufficiently large to affect the price, but the rapid extension of the Utah and Northern Railroad has had a very marked effect upon it. I bought nice grapes, peaches and pears in Helena for fifty cents a pound, which two years ago would have cost ^i. "As a rule the farms of Montana have to be irrigated, and in most of the valleys there is an abundance of water for this pur- pose. The cost of constructing good canals for the irrigation of 160 acres of land is, of course, considerable, but when once com- pleted the expense of keeping them in order is very small, while the ability of the farmer to regulate absolutely the amount of moisture which his crop shall have, more than compensates for all the extra labor and expense which irrigation makes necessary. " While some of the valleys near the mining centres of the Ter- ritory have been pretty well settled up, none of them can be said to be full, while in other parts of the Territory the land is almost untouched. Finely improved farms near markets are now worth $20 or ^25 an acre; others a little more remote and not as well improved, sell for from ^5 to ^i 5 an acre, and there are hundreds of thousands of acres which can be obtained simply by settling upon q3o our western empire. them under the Homestead law, or pre-empted and purchased for ^1.25 an acre." Mr. R, E. Strahorn gives the following statement of the pro- ductions of Montana in 1878. The crops of 1879 were of nearly double this amount, and those of 1880 larger yet. In 1878 he says: "The different valleys of Montana, with their mere sprinkling of farmers, produced about 400,000 bushels of wheat, 600,000 of oats, 50,000 of barley, i 2,000 of corn,* 500,000 bushels of vege- tables, and 65,000 tons of hay, the total value of agricultural pro- ducts being not less than §3,000,000, A ready market has always been afforded by the non-producing population in the mines and cities, and by the numerous military posts. The con- stant increase in the magnitude of mining and other operations in all parts of the Territory justifies the belief that any consider- able surplus of produce cannot be raised in Montana for years to come, and until that time prices must remain from fifty to one hundred per cent, higher than in the ' States.' The following were ruling prices paid farmers for produce in different Montana cities in January, 1879: flour, $4.75 per 100 pounds; oats, two cents per pound; wheat, two cents; hay, ^12 to ^14 per ton; potatoes, one and a half cents per pound ; onions, six cents ; butter, forty-five cents ; eggs, sixty to seventy-five cents per dozen ; squash, four cents per pound ; cheese, sixteen to twenty cents ; beets, four cents ; cabbage, five cents ; carrots, three and a half cents ; parsnips, four cents ; turkeys, %i to ^5 each ; spring chickens, ^6 to $7.50 per dozen." Mr. Strahorn has contrasted in the following table the prices of farm and dairy products in Montana and in Ohio, and the yield in the East with the yield in Montana. The contrast is very instructive : PRODUCTIONS OF MONTANA. 981 Kind of Produce. Bacon, per pound Barley, '' Butter, ** Beets, '* Beans, ** Cabbage, ** Carrots, " Cauliflower," Corn, " Cheese, '* Chickens, per dozen Eggs. " Flour, per cwt Green corn, per dozen... Hay, per ton Hogs, per cwt Oats, per pound Onions, " Parsnips, *' Potatoes, ** Peas, " Rye, " Squash, " Turkeys, live, per pound Turnips, per pound Wheat, " 75 rt -t-) t/5 rt w 1" "+3 G c C u, ""■ •-I oj ■" (U t/3 -a ^ -o '^ u \-t l-H Ph Ph >^ >^ 5c 15c i>4c 2C 19 bu 35 bu 1 6c 40c >^c 4C 2C 5c 24 bu 37 bu J4^c 3c 6,565 lbs IC 4C IC 4C ^■4C 5c 34 bu 37 bu 8c 17c $2 00 ^6 CO i8c 50c 3 00 4 CO 5C 25c 8 CO 12 00 iJ4;ton 1J4; ton 2 75 10 CO 1 y,c 2C 23 bu 45 bu ic 6c 208 bu 385 bu >^one died that season from dis- ease, and very few were killed by Indians. During their first winter in the valley they had no hay fed to them. A litde was fed to them during the heavy snows of 1877, and in the winter of 1878 they received almost none at all. During the first year there was little increase in the flock, and the second was not much better, the range being a poor one, and the lambs coming too late. Since then they have increased satisfactoril)', the lambs being healthy and strong. The increase in number has proven sufficient to pay the whole cost of care, leaving the crop of wool as net profit. During the first year the clipping averaged from seven to eight pounds per head. The crop was sent to Phila- delphia, where it realized good prices. In the second year the clip averaged seven pounds. The clipping of 1879 was shipped in July. It amounted to about one and a half tons in weight, and netted thirty-two cents per pound at the Eastern market. The herd's increase during the year was about eighty per cent. The wool is now consigned regularly to the Boston market, where it ranks with the best Territorial wool, and brings the highest SUCCESS IN SHEEP-FARMING. Og^ prices. The cost of shipment from the range above Miles City to Boston is ^1.75 per one hundred pounds. It should be added that sheep can be readily purchased in California for from $1.50 to $2.50 per head. It costs little to drive them into the valley in two seasons, as the crop of wool almost defrays the expenses. The range on which they are placed in the Yellowstone Valley at present costs literally nothing, and the sheep are in steady demand in the local market at from ^3 to '^,5 per head. "The profits of sheep-raising are generally estimated at a higher figure than those of cattle-raising. The lowest calculation is based upon a net profit of from twenty-five to thirty-five per cent, on the whole investment. Occasionally larger returns re- ward the fortunate stockman, which are sometimes worthy of noting, although they must be regarded in the light of exceptional occurrences, the same as the wonderful yields of gold once in a while recorded respecting bonanza mines. Every miner, how- ever, hopes constantly to stumble upon a bonanza, and in similar manner every stock-raiser is entitled to hope to achieve as brilliant success as others in his line, even though he will be contented with much less. In illustration of the- possibilities connected with sheep-raising in Montana, Mr. White cites the experience of Judge Davenport, of the Sun River Valley. In July, 1875, he purchased 1,000 ewes, which cost him in the neighborhood of ^3,000. 'These he put in charge of a young man, who was to take them on a range, care for them, pay all the expenses of the band, and to receive as his share one-half of the wool produced, and one-half of the increased flock. At the end of four years a settlement was to be made, and Judge Davenport was then to receive back 1,000 of the best ewes which the band contained. The settlement was made last July. In the meantime Judge Davenport had received for his share of the proceeds of the wool ^6,500, and for his share of the increase ^8,000. The profits of his investment of $3,000 for four years were, therefore, $14,500, or $3,625 or 121 1 per cent, a year. During the same year other men made only fifty or sixty per cent, on their sheep, and some who, from inexperi- ence or bad fortune, met with heavy losses, perhaps not more than twenty-five percent. ; but I have never heard of a single instance 63 QQ. OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. in which there has been an absolute loss in a period of, say, three or four years. One man, driving a large band of sheep from the south a year or two ago, was caught by the winter in an unfavor- able place, and lost one-half or two-thirds of his flock, but at the end of three years, when he came to balance his books, he found that the remnant of his flock had done so well that his profits had been about twenty-five per cent, a year on his original invest- ment.' " * On this subject of sheep-farming, Mr. Strahorn gives the follow- ing items of the eight months' experience of his Excellency, Hon. B. F. Potts, Governor of Montana : " Some time ago he purchased a ranch on the Dearborn river, fifty miles north of Helena. Last October he bought and placed upon it 4,000 sheep, at a cost averaging ^3 per head. He subsequently sold 400. Of the re- mainder 2,700 were ewes. During the months of April and May these gave birth to 2,900 lambs. Two hundred were lost by ex- posure in the severe snow-storm that visited the Territory that spring, to compensate, it would seem, for a very mild winter, but the number of twins equalled the loss, and the net product, as appears from the above statement, was 100 per cent, of the ewes. It is estimated that when a lamb is dropped it is worth ^2, and when three months old it is worth ^3. The profit on the increase may, therefore, be put in round numbers at ^5,000. The Governor has just completed his shearing. He sheared 3,600 sheep, and the average clip was six pounds per head. The wool is worth twenty-six cents in the Eastern market, and the cost of transpor- tation will scarcely exceed four cents. The proceeds of this clip * The increasing significance of the sheep-raising industry is attested to by the following par- agraph in the Philadelphia Northwest of February, 1880. The concluding sentence of the extract must be regarded as prophetic rather than siiictly accurate : " From as far west of the end of the ironed track of the Northern Pacific, in the Yellowstone Valley, as Bozeman, which is in the Rocky Mountains, and from the Musselshell Valley and the Judith Basin to the north, inquiries are already addressed to the General Manager of the road for through rates to New York on live sheep, dressed mutton, canned mutton and salted pelts. These rates are asked for on refrigerator cars, single and double deck cars, and for all rail to New York and part rail and part lake from Duluth. There is an element of romance in this sudden civilization of a region where, three years ago, Sitting Bull's young men would have ate up all the sheep and scalped all the shepherds that ventured on their hunting-grounds. But .the change is made. The Yellowstone Valley is possessed by shepherds and herdsmen." HORSE-FARMING IN MONTANA. ggr •-vIU therefore be about ^4,750. A return of nearly ^10,000 In less than one year, on an investment of ^12,000, is certainly a most seductive showinof." The production of a better class of horses, and also of hogs, is beginning to receive some attention. Horses are even more hardy than cattle or sheep ; they have the advantage of being able to paw away the deepest snows that may cover their pas- turage, and they never fail to take good care of themselves in the worst storms. The correspondent just quoted offers these prac- tical suggestions on this business : " What are wanted here are good draught horses, and the market for such would be limitless, at paying prices. Suppose a man, probably in connection with some other business, such as sheep-raising or raising grain, to buy fifty brood-mares (half-breed), which he can procure at ^30 each, and one draught stallion, costing ^1,000. He will thus have invested <^2,500. He need be at no expense for feeding or stabling, except in the case of the stallion, and at very little ex- pense for herding, if he gives the business his personal attention. The average of colts is eighty per cent, of the mares, so that at the end of the first year he would have forty colts, worth ^20 each, making ^800, a return of over thirty per cent, on his invest- ment. Carry this computation forward, supposing him to sell off his geldings when they were four years old to pay expenses and to buy additional stallions, retaining the mare colts for breeders, and it will be seen that in five years he will have a band worth at least ^10,000. Mr. Storey placed 200 mares on his ranch in the valley of the Yellowstone only a few years ago, and now has a herd of 1,200, worth an average of ^75 each, besides having sold more than enough to pay all expenses." There are about 50,000 horses in Montana, a large proportion of which are the regular " broncho " or mustang stock. However, there are several large bands of thoroughbreds, and fine breeding animals are by no means rare. In the absence of an abundance of corn, or a climate suitable for producing it extensively, a few farmers have been experiment- ing with peas as a substitute upon which to fatten hogs. Pork, by the way, is a rare commodity in all the northern country, and gQ6 0^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. commands very high prices. Mr. A. F. Nichols, of Gallatin county, sells from 12,000 to 20,000 pounds of pork annually, which has been produced on peas, and Bass Brothers, of Bitter Root Valley, market of bacon alone as high as 21,000 pounds per year. These gentlemen are of the opinion that peas make the best food for hogs, and they can produce more pork from an acre of peas than can be made from the same area in corn in Illinois. Pork in different forms sells at from twelve to twenty cents per pound in Montana towns, and hundreds of tons are still imported from distant States to supply the demand. Hogs for breeding purposes are very scarce at from ^12 to ^20 each. Manufactures. — Montana is too new a Territory and has too small a population to have any very extensive manufacturing es- tablishments. There are stamping, smelting and other reduction mills at Helena, Bozeman, Wickes, Butte City, Virginia City and other points in the Territory ; saw-mills and flouring-mills at sev- eral of the larger towns, and the usual run of small manufactories in most of these places. Probably twelve or fifteen million dollars would cover the products of all the manufacturing establishments yet in existence. Objects of Interest. — About one-tenth of the Yellowstone Na- tional Park is within the bounds of Montana; but as nearly seven-eighths of this great wonder of the world belongs to Wy- oming, we reserve our description of it for that Territory. But it is not the Yellowstone Park alone which attracts the attention of the tourist. The whole valley of the Madison river, as well as that of the Upper Yellowstone, is full of wonders, and the valley of the Upper Missouri and the northern portion of the valley of Clarke's fork of the Columbia river. In the Madison and the Yellowstone, canon succeeds canon, and wild, rocky waterfalls are too lofty to be run by any boat, and within such narrow bounds that there is no passage there for any human being, and they can only be viewed from above. One of these canons in the Madison is fifteen miles in length, and its walls are from 600 to 900 feet in height, while the water leaps over a succession of rapids and falls. No human being has ever passed through it. Not far off are beautiful crystal lakes, which attract great numbers in the RAILROADS IN MONTANA. ggy season. The geyser formation extends over all this region, and among the most remarkable examples of it are the Deer Lodge Mineral Springs, eighteen miles north of Deer Lodge, some of which are really geysers, while others have formed cones of their deposits thirty feet in height and fifty feet in diameter at the base, from the apex of which flows a large warm spring. This is sur- rounded by forty other springs, ranging in temperature from 1 1 5° to 150°. The canons and falls on the Upper Missouri are very beautiful and grand. We can only name " The Gate of the Mountains" and the *' Great Falls," eighteen miles north of Helena, "Atlantic Canon," " The Bear's Tooth," " The Mysterious Thunder," supposed to be caused by hidden geysers in the moun- tains, " The Devil's Slide" and "The Devil's Watch-Tower ; " and in the northwest, the Flathead Lake Region with its Twin Cascades. Raili'oads. — Up to January, 1880, there were no railroads in op- eration in Montana, but since that time the Utah and Northern Rail- road has been opened to Helena, with the intention of an extension westward or northwestward ; and the Northern Pacific Railway has entered the Territory from the east, and will reach the junction of Powder river with the Yellowstone by January, 1881, and Miles City and Fort Keogh by the early spring. The western or Pend d'Oreille Division of the same road will probably also enter the Territory by next ,spring, and make some progress southward in the valley of Clarke's fork of the Columbia river. The surveyed route of the Northern Pacific will traverse Western, Southwestern and Southern Central Montana, throwing out a branch to the National Yellowstone Park, following the Clarke's fork of Co- lumbia and the Yellowstone river from its source nearly to its junction with the Missouri river, leaving it at Glendive, opposite the mouth of Cabin creek. Both these roads are likely to do a large and profitable business from the beginning, and one which will be increased almost indefinitely. At present immigrants wishing to reach Virginia City, Helena, Butte City, or any of the places in the Clarke's Fork Valley, will find it for their advantage to take the Utah and Northern Railroad; and those who would pro- cure or who have procured homes in the valley of the Yellowstone, qq8 our western empire. the Northern Pacific, which will soon be running to Miles City. The only other available route is that up the Missouri river by steam- ers, and for several hundred miles up the Yellowstone. This journey should be made after April and before August. Very soon there will be access to the Territory from the west by way of the Pend d'Oreille and Clarke's Fork Divisions of the Northern Pacific. Indian Reservations and Population. -^\\^ Territory was re- garded as the best place to which to banish the Blackfeet, Crows, Assiniboines, Gros Ventres and Yanktonnais, after the terror in- spired among" the settlers by the terrible massacres in Minnesota in 1862-3, had made their longer stay in a new and rapidly grow- ing State intolerable and impossible, and so they were removed to immense reservations north of the Missouri river and south of the Yellowstone, in 1867 and 1868, in the expectation that there they would be able to remain without molestation. Little did the Indian Offtce then dream that within ten or twelve years this very region would be found to be the garden spot of American ao-riculture, and that mines of fabulous wealth would be discovered among the mountains which then seemed to be so forbidding. But so it was ; and when, a year or two later, the Flatheads, Pend d'Oreilles and Kootenais were in need of a home, one was as- signed to them also within the limits of Montana. The United States government was lavish in its gifts of land to these tribes — 34,156,800 acres, or ^^s of the whole area of the Territory, was made over to them, including nearly all the land north of, and more than one-half of the region south of the Yellowstone, ex- tending to the Wyoming border. The land north of the Mis- souri, though some of it unfit for cultivation, is for the most part o-ood grazing land, and the mountain slopes and river bottoms contain gold lodes and extensive placers ; but the region south of the Yellowstone is the garden of the Territory for productive- ness, and contains also extensive lodes of silver and gold, espe- cially on Clarke's fork of the Yellowstone, Rosebud creek, and the Upper Yellowstone Itself At and around the five agen- cies on these reservations, viz. : the Blackfeet Agency, Crow Agency, Flathead Agency, F^ort Peck Agency, and Fort Belknap INDIAN RESERVATIONS. 9^9 Agency, there are congregated 21,670 Indians, of whom 3,470 are Crow Indians, occupying the reservation south of the Yellow- stone ; 16,842 Blackfeet, Assinaboines and other Sioux bands, and 1,338 Flatheads and other Pacific tribes. Of the whole number only 1,531, about seven per cent., can be called civilized, so far as the assumption of citizen's dress is concerned, and but 475 male Indians were engaged in civilized pursuits. The absurdity of giving such a vast tract to these vagrant and barbarous tribes will be appreciated if we notice that they are allowed over 1,700 acres to every Indian, man, woman or child. Now that the buffalo is so rapidly disappearing that it has already ceased in nearly all parts of the continent to be the dependence of the Indian tribes for game and for its peltries, it is well worth while to inquire whether some occupation cannot be devised for the Indian which shall enable him to do something towards earning his own liveli- hood without occupying, or, rather, withholding from occupation by others, a Territory as large as the State of Illinois. We would not have the Indian wronged, but the lands of the earth are too precious to be held by those who cannot and will not cultivate or use them for human subsistence, and will not allow others to do so. Popiilatioji of Montana. — In 1870 the population of the Terri- tory was 39,895, of whom 18,306 were whites, 183 colored, 1,949 Chinese, and 19,457 Indians, of whom all but 157 were members of the different tribes. Estimates were made at various times between 1870 and 1880, and with a tolerably near approximation to truth; thus, in 1876, the white population was estimated at 23,000; in 1877, at 28,000; and in 1878, at 35,000, including the Chinese and the colored people. In 1880 the supervisor of the census reports the population (except Indians) as 39,157, and adding the number of Indians, according to the report of die In- dian Office for 1880 — 21,670— we have a total of 60,827, the white population having more than doubled, and the Indians having increased 2,213. The corrected census returns for 1880 show that of the population not tribal Indians 28,180 were males, 10,977 females, 27,642 natives, 11,515 foreigners, 35,648 whites, 202 colored, 1,750 Indians and half-breeds, and 1,737 Chinese. The following^ table shows the assessment of Montana Terrl- lOOO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. tory by counties for the years 1878- increase of taxable property: -79, with their respective Population Counties. 1880. 1879. 1878. Increase. Beaverhead . . 2,712 $1,029,596 00 $977,990 00 $51,606 00 Choteau . . 3.058 1,179,875 00 596,722 00 583.153 00 Custer 2,510 350,000 CO 329,231 02 20,768 98 Dawson 180 Deer Lodge . 8,876 3,700,000 00 2,341,268 00 1.358,732 00 Jefferson . 2,464 843.683 95 795.663 15 48,020 80 Gallatin . . 3.643 1,586,340 00 1,386,340 00 200,000 00 Lewis and Clarke 6,521 3,028,320 00 2,899,810 00 128,510 00 Madison • 3.916 1.874,543 00 1,790,462 00 84,081 00 Meagher . 2,744 1,187,408 00 867,999 00 319,409 00 Missoula . . ■ 2,533 735.507 00 647,189 00 88,318 00 Totals . 39.157 $15,515,272 95 $12,632,674 17 $2,882,598 78 The county of Dawson, organized we beHeve in 1880, is re- ported in the above table with Choteau county, of which it has been hitherto the eastern part; but the coming of the Northern Pacific into the Territory has called a considerable population into this region, and it will probably next year report an increased population and assessment. The principal toivns of Montana are : Helena, the capital of the Territory, and of Lewis and Clarke county also ; a town which originated in a placer mine, and was at first known by the not very euphonious name of " Last Chance Gulch." The town is not beautiful. Its location forbids that, but it has some good buildings, several churches and a population of more than 5,000. Virginia City is in the southern part of the Territory, on the Yel- lowstone, a little north of the Yellowstone National Park. It is also near the famous Alder Gulch. It has a population of nearly 2,000. Butte City, forty or fifty miles south of Helena, is a pretty town, with some smelting works and a population of about 3,000. Bozeman is a flourishing town at the head of the Gallatin Valley, and is on the projected route of the Northern Pacific. It has about 1,500 inhabitants. Other towns, which are rapidly grow- ing, are : Bannock, Phillipsburg, Deer Lodge, Radersburg, Vestel, Missoula, Benton, and on the Yellowstone, Miles City and Glen- dive. By way of enlightening our readers as to the cost of living in Montana, we give the following price current of articles of PRICES CURRENT— AVERAGE WAGES. lOOI general use, furnished by a merchant of Miles City in April, 1880. The Yellowstone Division of the Northern Pacific will probably reach Miles City in March or April, 1881, and a few articles may then be lower. The Yellowstone is, however, navigable for steamboats for several months of the year. Flour, per cwt ^4 25 to $5 50 Oats, per cwt 5 00 Corn, per cwt 5 00 Potatoes, per cwt 3 00 Butter, choice, per lb. . , 50 Eggs, per doz. 75 Corn meal, per cwt 4 00 Bacon, per cwt. .1000 Breakfast Bacon, per cwt. . , 25 00 Ham, per cwt. . 25 00 Lard, per lb 20 Beef, per lb 8 Mutton, per lb 10 Onions, per lb 8 ' Sugar, per lb. .......... . 13 to 16 Coffee, per lb 25 to 35 Beans, per lb 8 Salt, per lb , 8 Coal Oil, per gal 60 Whiskey, per gal. 3 00 to 8 00 Beer, per case 7 00 Tobacco, per lb 90 to i 25 Lumber, per M 45 00 to 100 00 Shingles, per M 11 00 White Lead, per cwt 5 50 Nails, per cwt 12 50 Iron, per lb 7 to 10 AVERAGE WAGES IN THE EAST AND IN MONTANA IN JANUARY^ 1 879. Employment. In the East. In Montana. Bakers, per month and board . $25 00 %(>% 00 Blacksmiths, per day 2 50 4 50 Bookkeepers, per month 7000 125 00 Bricklayers, per day 350 6 50 Butchers, per month and board 24 00 50 00 Brickraakers, " " 20 00 50 00 Carpenters, per day 250 450 I002 '^^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. First Cook, per month and board ^60 oo ^iio 00 Second Cook, " " 30 00 55 00 Cooks in families, " " 11 00 35 00 Chambermaids, ** " 10 00 30 00 Clerks, per month 5° 00 90 00 Dressmakers, per month 25 00 70 00 Dairymen, per month and board 25 00 45 00 Engineers in mills, per day 2 00 3 50 Farm hands, per month and board .... 15 00 42 50 Harness-makers, per day ........ 2 00 4 50 Hostlers, per month and board ....... 15 00 45 00 Laundresses, " ''•...... 12 00 35 °o Laborers, " " ....... 15 00 35 00 Lumbermen, " " 2800 55 00 Machinists, per day 2 75 450 Miners, " ......;... 2 25 3 50 Millers, per month and board . i .... 25 00 65 00 Millwrights, per day ...■.;....• 2 50 450 Painters, per day .....;..•.. 2 25 4 00 Printers, per week i .... 15 00 25 00 Plasterers, per day . . . , . i i . . . 2 50 5 50 School teachers, per month ....... 30 00 8000 Servants, per month and board .;.... 11 00 35 00 Shepherds, " " ...... 40 00 Stone masons, per day .......... 3 00 6 00 Teamsters, per month and board ;....■ 18 00 45 00 Waiters " " . .... 16 00 55 00 Education. — Our latest statistics of education are from Gover- nor Potts' report to the Secretary of the Interior in October, 1878. There has been considerable progress since that time. Graded schools had been established at Helena, Virginia City, Bozeman, Butte and Deer Lodge, and large, well-ventilated brick school- houses had been erected for them. The other educational sta- tistics were as follows : Number of school-houses 80 Value of school-houses $67,700 Whole school census (between ages 4 and 21 years) . . 4) 705 Number of scholars enrolled in schools 2,927 Number of teachers employed 104 Salaries of teachers employed ;$36,2oo Salaries of superintendents ?4,5oo REL IGIO US DE NOMINA TIONS. 1003 Number of graded and high schools 6 Number of private schools 10 One collegiate institute in process of erection at Deer Lodge, estimated cost ;^i5,ooo Amount of county tax collected ^47>323 Religious Denoynijiations. editic Number of Ciiur Probable value Other church property Membership Sunday-schools Officers and teachers Scholars of all ages Benevolent collections For ministerial support (annually). Number of ministers 7 ^40,000 5400 384 12 78 ^17,000 J8oo 17s 5 40 325 300 fo,30o 5 W 3 ^11,000 S2,i47 183 3 23 180 ^,400 3 a o E o •A 5 Jio.ooo 6 fas, 200 125 1^25,000 5 5 120 O 50 5 30 150 25 Ji 1-^,500 15-8,347 917 35 171 1,373 597 ;$i5,8oo 31 The above table also dates from 1878, and probably most of the items would be doubled in the autumn of 1880 by the influx of population and the efforts of home missionaries. We know that the Congregationalists, the Lutherans and the Baptists have now organizations, and we think church edifices, and probably some other denominations also. The state of morals is probably not worse than in other new territories, and perhaps better than some ; but there is less regard for the Sabbath than there should be, and infidel clubs abound, while the usual concomitants of new setdements, gambling and drinking saloons and brothels, are very numerous. This is particularly the case in most of the new set- tlements, the mining camp at Wickes being, however, an honor- able and conspicuous exception. After a time these mining towns acquire a better and more creditable population, and the rougher class go on to newer settle- ments, where the same scenes are re-enacted. The only remedy for this state of things is that moral, and especially Chrisdan people, who settle in these new towns and camps, should maintain their religious character, and put down, by vigorous and decided action. Sabbath-breaking, gambling and drinking, and though the struggle may be severe at first, they will find it not only pleasant but greatly advantageous to the permanent prosperity -QQ. OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of their settlements. Mr. Wickes has been successful in doing this at his large camp, and is now reaping the reward of his firm- ness for the right. CHAPTER XIV. NEBRASKA. Area and Extent — Boundaries — Comparative Area — Its Riverine Bound- aries — Surface of the Country — Sense in which it is a Prairie — Its Gradual Elevation to the Base of the Rocky Mountains — The Ne- braska "Bad Lands" — The Rivers of Nebraska — The Missouri and Niobrara — The North and South Platte and their Affluents — The Loup and its Forks — The Republican River — General Direction of these Rivers — Geology and Mineralogy — The Loess or Drift — Allu- vial Deposits — The Great Pre-historic Lake — Tertiary Formation — Carboniferous Strata — The Coal Measures — Lignite in the Tertiary — Not much Economic Value to the Coals of Nebraska — The Peat Beds OF the State — Soil and Vegetation — Fertility of the Loess — Trees of the State — Zoology — Climate and Meteorology — Table — Agricul- tural Productions — Crops OF 1877, 1878 and 1879 — Wild and Cultivated Fruits — Mr. E. A. Curley on the Wild Fruits — Grazing — The Live- stock OF THE State — Manufacturing Industry — Railroads — Population — Rapid Growth of the State — Indians — Financial Condition — Educa- tion — Lands for Immigrants — Government, School, University and Railroad Lands — Advice to Immigrants — Prices — Counties, Cities and Towns — Religious Denominations — Historical Data — Nebraska as a Home for Immigrants. Nebraska, one of the States of the central belt of "Our West- ern Empire," lying between the parallels of 40° and 43° north latitude, and between 95° 20' and 104° of west longitude from Greenwich. It is bounded on the north by Dakota ; on the east by the Missouri river, which separates it from Iowa and Mis- souri ; on the south by Kansas and Colorado, and on the west by Colorado and Wyoming. Its area, according to the United States Land Office, is 75,995 square miles, or 48,636,800 acres. Its greatest length from east to west is 412 miles, and its breadth SURFACE OF THE COUNTRY. IO05 from north to south 208 miles. It is larger than all New Eng- land and New Jersey, and as large as Ohio and Indiana together. The Missouri river not only forms its entire eastern boundary, but in conjunction with the Niobrara, one of its larger tributaries, and the Keya Paha, an affluent of that stream, gives a riverine boundary to nearly one-half of its northern border. Su7^face of the Country — Gi'adual Descent from West to East — Rivers, Bluffs, Hills, Valleys. — The State is called prairie. So it is, in the sense of the word which means meadow ; but not in that secondary sense which implies a land of uniform flatness. In real truth, Nebraska is a part of the lowest eastern grass- clothed slope of the Rocky Mountains. The eye alone will make no observer aware of this fact. Nevertheless, from the eastern to the western boundary of Nebraska, there is a gradual and un- interrupted rise of the land of about seven feet to the mile in Eastern Nebraska, and from that to ten feet in the west; and thus it is that while the land on the eastern boundary is 910 feet above sea-level, on the western boundary it is about 5,000. The surface form of the State is, of course, made by the rivers. The eastern front of the country shows bold, wooded bluffs to the Missouri, their outlines being cut and scarped into fantastic and picturesque forms by the washing water. West of the Missouri bluffs, except on the table lands, there is no flat, but a land of many changing forms — now broad bottoms, bounded by low hills ; now picturesque bluffs, and, especially in the grazing re- o-Ion, ravines sometimes as ruor^fed as the orulches in the eold fields. In the northwestern part of the State, in the region lying between the sources of the Middle Loup fork and the Niobrara river, there are extensive sand hills, and those clay deposits, cut into the most fantastic forms by the erosion of the mountain streams. These are the " Nebraska Bad Lands," and are con- nected, both geologically and geographically, with the Dakota " Bad Lands," on and near the White Earth river, and between that river and the Big Cheyenne. These "Bad Lands" are uninhabitable, but they are very in- teresting for their fossils, of which we shall have more" to say under the Geology of Nebraska. IOo6 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Now and again a river flows full to the bank, from which the bottom — from a mile to four or more miles wide — spreads out on either hand ; but generally the streams run in deep beds, the high, steep banks and the narrow first bench being thickly clothed with timber. The general ascending lay of the land is broken from west to east by three main drainage channels. On the northern boundary of the State are the Niobrara and the Missouri rivers, of which latter the Niobrara is an affluent. The Niobrara has many tributaries, some of them of consider- able size ; and several of them, as their names imply, have many rapids and waterfalls.* The Platte, a winding, shallow, spreading stream, has the sources of both of its main streams, the North and South forks of the Platte, far up the main range or Great Divide of the Rocky Mountains in Central Colorado; the North fork also traversing a great extent of territory in Wyoming ; both forks cross Nebraska from west to east to their point of junction at North Platte. Before the division, the Platte river receives two large tributaries, the Loup Fork river, which, with its three branches, North, Middle and South, traverses a large territory, and the Elkhorn, which drains Northeastern Nebraska. On the south bank, neither the Platte nor the North Platte re- ceive any considerable streams. The South Platte receives on its north bank Lodge Pole creek, in the valley of which the Union Pacific road is constructed for 1 50 miles. From fifty to eighty miles south of the Platte, the Republican river, the largest tributary of the Kaw or Kansas river, havino- its sources in Eastern Colorado, traverses the southern and southwestern counties of the State, receiving three large affluents. Medicine Lake creek. White Man's fork and Rock creek, on its northern bank, and an infini- tude of small streams on both banks. Other smaller but consid- erable tributaries of the Kansas drain the southeast of the .State. The general direction and flow of all these rivers is to the south- east. In their gradual descent from the lofty plateau at the west of the State, the rivers and streams, in seeking the lowest level, * Eau qui Court — " the water that leaps " — Mini Chadusa, or Rapid creek, Antelope creek, the Rapid river, are a few of the names of these affluents. TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 1007 have cut their way through the soft and easily eroded deposits, and have worn away their banks to such a degree as to give the appearance of high bluffs along their banks, when in reality no such bluffs exist ; but the stream has eroded for itself a channel at a lower level than that of the surrounding country. Such is the topography of Nebraska in barest outline ; and, with the map before him, the reader can fill in the details. He can imagine the great plain ascending to higher altitudes as the mountains are approached ; the rivers, west to east, making three great valleys, and two elevated divides separating the valleys ; and, finally, the smaller streams exhibiting the land as broken into an almost infinite number of gently undulating hills and valleys — with great table lands on the summits — the trend of which is southeast. Geology and Mineralogy. — The geological structure of the State is very simple. In the southeast a triangular tract, extend- inofwestas far as where the Little Blue river crosses the southern boundary of the State, and having the apex of the triangle at the point where the forty-second parallel of latitude intersects the Missouri river, is distinctly identified with the upper carboniferous formation. It ts covered to a depth of from thirty to ninety feet by a yellowish marl (the loess or surface deposit described by Professor Hayden), but the rocks below belong to the coal measures. There are thin strata of coal of good quality, but ranging in thickness from five to twenty-two inches — not suffi- ciently thick to pay for expensive mining, while clays, limestones and sandstones belonging to the carboniferous era make up the remaining thickness of the coal measures, which aggregate 120 feet or more. The geologists believe this deposit to be the west- ern rim or margin of the sfreat coal basin of Missouri and Iowa, and think that on this border or rim the coal has been subjected to such pressure that it will be found too thin for profitable mining. West of these coal measures is a narrow belt of Permian rocks, and to this succeed the cretaceous deposits, having a breadth of seventy or eighty miles. West of this the whole sur- face rocks and soil of the State belong to the tertiary period. In the southwest the tertiary formation has large deposits of lignite of excellent quality, which will probably supply a large 'portion lOoS OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of the demand of the State for coal. Of the loess or yellowish marl which forms the superficial deposit over the greater part of the State, we may remark, that this deposit, which is quaternary rather than tertiary, is supposed to be the sediment deposited by the great lakes, one of them in Nebraska and Iowa being esti- mated as 500 miles long, and from fifty to two hundred miles wide, which covered this whole region after the close of the last glacial period. Into and through the greatest of these lakes the Mis- souri, then, as now, the muddiest of rivers, poured its vast flood of yellow waters. As the land gradually rose, this immense lake drained off its surplus water through the Missouri river, became a vast marsh, and eventually, as the rivers cut deeper and deeper through this loess deposit, the land became dry and solid. Of this loess, Professor Aughey, the State Geologist, says: " The loess deposit is in some respects one of the most remark- able in the world. Its value for agricultural purposes is not ex- ceeded anywhere. It prevails over at least three-fourths of the surface of Nebraska. It ranges in thickness from five to one hundred and fifty feet. Some sections of it in Dakota county measure over 200 feet. At North Platte, 300 miles west of Omaha, and on the south side of the river, some of the sections that I measured ranged in thickness from 125 to 150 feet. From Crete, on the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, west to Kearney, on the Union Pacific Railroad, its thickness for ninety miles ranges from forty to ninety feet. South of Kearney, and for a great distance west, along the Union Pacific Railroad, as far as to the Republican, there is a great expanse of territory, covered by a great thickness of this deposit. I measured many sections in wells over this region, and seldom found it less than forty, and often more than sixty feet in thickness. Along the Republican, I traced the formation almost to the western line of the State, its thickness ranging from thirty to seventy feet. One section north of Kearney, on Wood river, showed a thickness of fifty feet. The same variation in thickness is found in the counties bordering on the Missouri. One peculiarity of this deposit is that it is almost perfectly homogeneous throughout, and of almost uniform color, THE LOESS DEPOSIT. lOOO however thick the deposit or far apart the specimens have been taken. I have compared many specimens taken 300 miles apart, and from the top and bottom of the deposits, and no difference could be detected by the eye or by chemical analysis. " The physical properties of the loess deposits are also remark- able. In the interior, away from Missouri, hundreds of miles of these loess deposits are almost level or gently rolling. Not un- frequendy a region will be reached where, fgr a few miles, the country is bluffy or hilly, and then as much almost endrely level, with intermediate forms. The bluffs that border the flood-plains of the Missouri, the Low^er Platte and some other streams, are sometimes gendy rounded off They often assume fantastic forms, as if carved by some curious generations of the past. But now they retain their forms so unchanged from year to year, affected neither by rain nor frost, that they must have been molded into their present oudines under circumstances of climate and level very different from that which now prevails. For all purposes of architecture this soil, even for the most massive structures, is perfecdy secure. On no other deposits, except the solid rocks, are there such excellent roads. From twelve to twenty-four hours after the heaviest rains, the roads are perfectly dry, and often appear, after being travelled a few days, like a vast floor formed from cement, and by the highest art of man. Yet the soil is very easily worked, yielding readily to the spade or the plow. Excavation is remarkably easy, and no pick or mat- tock is thought of for such purposes. It might be expected that such a soil would readily yield to atmospheric influences, but such is not the case. Wells in this deposit are frequently walled up only to a point above the water-line ; and on the remainder the spade-marks will be visible for years. These peculiarides of the loess deposits are chiefly owing to the fact that the carbonate of lime has entered into slight chemical combination with the finely comminuted silica. There is always more or less carbonic acid in the atmosphere which is brought down by the rains, and this dissolves the carbonate of lime, which then readily unites with the silica, but only to a slight extent, and not enough to destroy its porosity. Though much of the silica is microscopically minute, 64 lOIO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. it has largely preserved its angular structure, and this of course aids the slight chemical union that takes place between it and the carbonate of lime. Had there been more lime and iron in this deposit, and had it been subjected to a greater and longer pressure from superincumbent waters, instead of a slightly chem- ically compacted soil, it would have resulted in a sandstone ■formation incapable of cultivation. There is not enough clayey matter present to prevent the water from percolating through it as perfectly as through sand, though a great deal more slowly. This same peculiarity causes ponds and stagnant water to be rare within the limits of this deposit." In the northwestern part of the State, the region of the " Bad Lands," to which we have already referred, the loess is not a sur- face deposit. The hills, "Great Hills," as they are called on some of the maps, are either composed of loose-moving sand which is blown by the winds into round, conical hills with consid- erable regularity — hills sometimes covered scantily with tufts of grass, but oftener with the yuccas or Spanish needles or some of the custi ; or the fantastic forms of the clay and soft tertiary lime- stones, cut by the water-courses into the semblance of ruined cities, towers, temples and columns, and often covered with spark- ling alkaline crystals. This region of " Bad Lands " occupies, according to Professor Hayden, an area of about 20,000 square miles on both sides of the Niobrara river. There are many little lakes or ponds in this region, some salt, some alkaline, and some very pure and fresh. This whole tract abounds in fossils of the most remarkable character. While th^se lands are geologically connected with the " Bad Lands " on the White Earth river in Dakota, it is a very interesting fact that the fossils of the Dakota lands belong to an earlier period than those of the Nebraska lands, and that the two seem to have had hardly any animals common to both. These regions have been the favorite hunting- ground for fossils of Professors Leidy and O. C. Marsh. Of the Nebraska fossils Professor F. V. Hayden says : " If we pass for a moment southward into the valleys of the Niobrara and Loup fork, we shall find a fauna closely allied, yet entirely distinct from the one on White river, and plainly inter- FOSSILS OF NEBRASKA. 10 1 1 mediate between that of the latter and of the present period ; one appears to have Hved during the middle or miocene tertiary pe- riod, and the other at a later time in what is called the pliocene In the later fauna were the remains of a number of species of extinct camels, one of which was of the size of the Arabian camel, a second about two-thirds as large, also a smaller one. The only- animals akin to the camels, at the present time in the western hemisphere, are the llama and its allies in South America. Not less interesting are the remains of a great variety of forms of the horse family, one of which was about as large as the ordinary domestic animal, and the smallest not more than two or two and a' half feet in height, with every intermediate grade in size. There was still another animal allied to the horse, about the size of a New- foundland dog, which was provided with three hoofs to each foot, thouofh the lateral hoofs were rudimental. Althouofh no horses were known to exist on this continent prior to its discovery by .Europeans, yet Dr. Leidy has shown that before the age of man this was emphatically the country of horses. Dr. Leidy has re- ported twenty-seven species of the horse family which are known to have lived on this continent prior to the advent of man — about three times as many as are now found living throughout the world. "Amonor the carnivorse were several foxes and wolves, one of which was larger than any now living ; three species of hyae- nodon — animals whose teeth indicate that they were of remark- ably rapacious habits ; also five animals of the cat tribe were found, one about the size of a small panther, and another as large as the largest wolf. Several of the skulls of the tiger-like animals exhibited the marks of terrible conflicts with the cotem- porary hyaenodons. "Among the rodents were a porcupine, small beaver, rabbit, mouse, etc. " The pachyderms, or thick-skinned animals, were quite numer- ous and of great interest, from the fact that none of them are living on this continent at the present time, and yet here we find the remains of several animals allied to the domestic hog, one about the size of this animal, another as large as the African IOI2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. hippopotamus, and a third not much larger than the domestic cat. " Five species of the rhinoceros roamed through these marshes, ranging from a small, hornless species, about the size of our black bear, to the largest, which was about the size of the existing unicorn of India. No animals of the kind now inhabit the western hemisphere. "Among the thick-skinned animals were the remains of a mas- todon and a large elephant, distinct from any others heretofore discovered in any part of the world. Dr. Leidy says that ' it is remarkable that among the remains of mammals and turtles there are none of crocodiles. Where were these creatures when the shores of the ancient Dakotan and Nebraskan waters teemed with such an abundant provision of savory ruminating hogs?' During the tertiary period Nebraska and Dakota were the homes of a race of animals more closely allied to those inhabiting Asia and Africa now, and from their character we may suppose that during that period the climate was considerably warmer than it is at present. The inference is also drawn that our world, which is usually called the new, is in reality the old world, older than the eastern hemisphere. " Ever since the commencement of creation, constant changes of form have been going on in our earth. Oceans and moun- tains have disappeared, and others have taken their place. Entire groups of animal and vegetable life have passed away, and new forms have come into existence through a series of years which no finite mind can number. To enable the mind to realize the physical condition of our planet during all these past ages is the highest end to be attained by the study of geological facts. It has been well said by an eloquent historian that he who calls the past back again into being enjoys a bliss like that of creating. " We may attempt to form some idea of the physical geography of this region at the time when these animals wandered over the country, and to speculate as to the manner in which their remains have been so beautifully preserved for our examination. We may suppose that here was a large fresh-water lake during the middle tertiary period ; that it began near the southeastern side THE FOSSIL MAMMALS OF NEBRASKA. \0\X of the Black Hills, not large at first nor deep, but as a marsh or mud-wallow for the gigantic pachyderms that lived at the time; that as time passed on it became deeper and expanded its limits until it covered the vast area which its sediments indicate. We cannot attempt to point out in detail all the changes through which we may suppose, from the facts given us, this lake has passed, during the thousands of years that elapsed from its be- ginning to its extinction, time long enough for two distinct faunae to have commenced their existence and passed away in succes- sion, not a single species passing from one into the other. Even that small fraction of geological time seems infinite to a finite mind. We believe that the great range of mountains that now lies to the west of this basin was not as lofty as now ; that doubt- less the treeless plains were covered with forests or grassy meadows, upon which the vast herds of gregarious ruminants cropped their food. Into this great lake on every side poured many little streams from broad valleys, fine ranging ground for the numerous varieties of creatures that existed at that time. Large numbers of fierce carnivorous beasts mingled with the multitudes of gregarious ruminants, constantly devouring them as food. As many of the bones, either through death by vio- lence or natural causes, were left in the valleys, they would be swept down by the first high waters into the lake, and enveloped in the sediments at the bottom. As the o-reorarious ruminants came down to the little streams, or by the shores of the lake to quench their thirst, they would be pounced upon by the flesh- loving hyaenodon, drepanodon or dinichthys. It was probably near this place also that these animals would meet in fierce conflicts, the evidences of which remain to the present time in the cavities which the skulls reveal ; one of these, of a huge cat, shows on either side the holes through the bony covering which had parti- ally healed before the animal perished ; and the cavities seem to correspond in form and position with the teeth of the largest hysenodon. "The remains of those animals which, from their very nature, could not have existed in great numbers, are not abundant in the fossil state, while those of the ruminants occur in the IOI4 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. I greatest abundance, and are widely diffused in the sediments, not ' only geographically, but vertically. The chances for the remains of a species seem to depend upon the number of individuals that existed. The remains of ruminants already obtained com- prise at least nine-tenths of the entire collection, while of one species portions of at least seven hundred individuals have been discovered. There is another interestinor feature in regfard to these remarkable fossils, and that is the beauty and perfection of their preservation ; the bones are so clean and white and the teeth so perfect, that when exposed upon the surface they pre- sent the appearance of having bleached only for a season. They could not have been transported from a great distance, neither could the waters have been swift and turbulent, for the bones seldom show any signs of having been water-worn, and the nice, sharp points and angles are as perfect as in life." Minerals. — ^The mineral wealth of the State consists largely of the two coal beds which we have described — the true coal in the southeast, which possesses but little economic value, and the lig- nite, which will probably be found profitable. Peat exists in im- mense beds in Central and Western Nebraska, and in the opinion of Mr. E. A. Curley, a competent judge in these matters,* in the best form and condition to be made available for fuel. At some time in the not distant future, these peat beds may prove more valuable than the thin seams of coal in the coal measures. Lime, sandstone, limestone, and marble for ornamental purposes, gyp- sum, and especially salt, are the other principal minerals. There are many salt basins in the central and western parts of the State. The most extensive is in Lancaster county, in a district of twelve by twenty-five miles, surrounding Lincoln, the capital of the State. The spring waters contain twenty-nine per cent, of salt, and the salt is manufactured by the solar evaporation process. The salt is said to be the purest in the world, having gSr^g per cent, of pure chloride of sodium. The sandstones, limestones, and marble or magnesian limestone, are all of excellent quality for building and ornamental purposes. * "Nebraska and its Resources." London, 1875. SOIL AND PRAIRIE VEGETATION. IO15 Soil mid Vegetatio7i. — The soil of the uplands is largely com- posed of loess, and that of the river valleys of alluvium. The two deposits are similar in chemical elements, and they form a very rich and durable soil, exceedingly valuable for agricultural purposes, ranging in thickness from five to one hundred and fifty and even two hundred feet. Careful analyses of the soil show that in the loess over eighty per cent, of the formation is finely comminuted silica : so fine that its true character can only be de- tected under a microscope. About ten per cent, of its substance is made up of carbonates and phosphates of lime. There are some small amounts of alkaline matter, iron and alumina ; the result being a soil that can never be exhausted until every hill and valley which composes it is entirely worn away. Its finely comminuted silica grives it natural drainage in the hiohest deoree. When torrents of rain come, the water soon percolates the soil, which, in its lowest depths, retains it like a huge sponge. When droughty periods intervene, the moisture rises from below by capillary attraction, supplying nearly all the needs of vegetation in the dryest seasons. The richer surface soil overlies the sub-soil, and is from eighteen inches to three and four, and even six feet thick. It is organically the same as the sub-soil, but enriched with organic matter, the growth and decay of innumerable cen- turies — a garden soil, easily cultivated, and making the arable farm as a garden. The prairie, clothed only by natural processes, presents its own testimony to the riches of the State. Its whole expanse is cov- ered with grasses, there being not fewer than 1 50 species, and the most abundant, making the best pasture, showing green at the end of April, and affording feed until November. The blue joint grows everywhere except on low bottoms. Under ordinary conditions its growth is two and a half to four feet ; and on culti- vated grounds it is found from seven to ten feet high. Wild oats grow on the uplands, mixed with blue-joint. This grass is relished by cattle and is abundant. The buffalo grass, low in habit, is now found in the western half of the State. It disappears before cultivation, but it is nature's provision of food for grain-eating animals during winter, on the prairie, inasmuch as it retains its jQ,5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. nutriment all the year round. Among other feed grasses are several varieties of bunch-grass ; and in the low lands a native blue-grass and the spangle-top, which latter makes excellent hay. The Nebraska prairie is not bare of trees — in fact, the native trees furnish a large list. The river bluffs are clothed with them, and the banks of the streams. There are two kinds of buckeye, two of maple, the box-elder, two of locust, four of ash, four of elm, four of hickory, eleven of oak, twelve of willow (eight species being shrubs), three of birch, three of poplar, hack- berry, iron wood, one sycamore, black walnut, two spruce firs, yellow pine, white cedar and red cedar. The shrubs include common juniper, linden, pawpaw, prickly ash, five sumacs, shrub trefoil, two species of red root, spindle-tree, buckthorn, six spe- cies of plum, six currants and gooseberries, five dogwoods, butter bush, buffalo berry, red and white mulberry, hazelnut and beaked hazelnut. Cedars are found on the islands of the Platte, and along the Loups and the Niobrara there is a goodly quantity of pine. But the point is here : this list of trees is proof that trees flourish on the prairie; and that as much timber as is needed for all uses can be raised on the farm. During the Indian period, when prairie fires annually swept over the country, the timber was confined to the banks of the streams; but since the era of civilization and cultivation has com- menced, the prairie fires are checked, and groves and forests have become possible on the prairie. Zoology. — Buffaloes are still found, though not plentiful, in the southwestern and northwestern parts of the State. The elk {Ccji'us Canadensis) is the noblest game animal of the plains; it sometimes weighs from 700 to 800 pounds, and its anders are mao-nificent. Its range is in the west from the south to the north, feeding on the high prairies, and frequenting also the ravines. The antelope [Anfilocapra Amencana),\n plentiful herds and fleet as the winds, is found everywhere west of Plum creek : and the white or long-tailed deer {Cervus Leucurns),2in6. the black-tailed (Cervus Macrotis) are denizens of the same region — the white- tailed being found over the whole State. In the far west and among the ravines, the big-horn sheep {^Ovis Montana) will now ZOOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 10 17 and agfain fall to the rifle. The time for huntino- is from the first of October to the end of December, the law protecting the ani- mals during the remainder of the year. The jack rabbit or prairie hare [Leporidce CampestiHs) is common. He is a strong and fleet animal, and is good game for coursing, and only to be run down by the strongest and fleetest greyhounds. The little gray rabbit is also common, and affords excellent shooting ; and away in the west, the sage rabbit. In the timber, the black bear and two species of lynx are found — rarely in the settled parts of the State, and more commonly on the frontier; and also in the same localities, the large white and gray wolf The coyote, or prairie wolf, is also worth hunting, the animal having all the cun- ning of the fox and more than the wit of the prairie foxes, of which there are three species, the red fox, the prairie fox and the kit fox. Some of the streams are still populous with beavers, minks and muskrats. The game birds of Nebraska are plentiful; and in the season aflbrd sport in abundance. The wild turkey is the noblest of them all. Civilization drives it away ; but in the wilder parts of the State, the bird is common enough, and where the woods are thickening in the river counties, its reappearance is beginning to be noted. The prairie chickens — the grouse of the prairie — are everywliere ; and away out on the frontier, the large sage hen. Quail are plentiful and readily shot ; and there are several plovers which are worth the powder and shot of the sportsman. In early spring and late fall, large flocks of wild geese cross the State, resting during the journey on the rivers, creeks and ponds. Mallards, teal, and many other species of wild duck, are plentiful during the same seasons. Of cranes there are four or five species — the sand-hill crane, the largest, being ac- counted an excellent table-bird. There are numerous hawks, and the bald-headed eagle is frequently seen in the sparsely set- tled districts. The streams are well stocked with the common kinds of fish, and in the northwest there is an abundance of trout in the streams. Climate and Meteorology. — Nebraska has a very temperate and healthful climate. The gradually increasing elevation from east to west secures good drainage everywhere, and though the winds jqj3 our western empire. which sweep across its prairies are strong, they are healthful. The climate is essentially a dry one, though the rainfall is suffi- cient and well distributed to secure the best results for the crops. The winters are not so rigorous as in the States and Territories farther north, though the temperature is occasionally low. The summers are long and warm, but the prairie breezes greatly modify and temper the extreme heat. The mean temperature during the winter months ranges from 22° to 30°; that of the spring from 48° to 50° ; that of the summer from 71° to 74"", and that of the autumn from 48° to 51°. A record of thirteen years at Plattsmouth gives the mean annual rainfall as 38,35 inches, of which 28.82 inches fell between April ist and October ist, and only 9.53 inches between October ist and April ist. Farther west the rainfall is somewhat less, but with very rare exceptions it is sufficient. The table on page 1019 gives the meteorology of six different points for periods of from two to five years, though none of them indicate either the temperature or rainfall of the extreme west or northwest, which is as yet not inhabited, and some portions of it hardly habitable. In the " Bad Lands," the summer's sun beats down with terrible intensity, the heat reach- ing 1 12° Fahrenheit in the shade ; and the winter's cold is, in its way, equally intense. Agricultural Productions. — Although Nebraska is essentially an agricultural State, and has a large amount of good and fertile land, a larger proportion, perhaps, than most of the States adja- cent to her, we have to complain that she has not made the most of her advantages, and in her accounts of her soil and produc- tions has dealt altogether too much in glittering generalities, to the exclusion of those statistics of actual crops which alone can determine the actual capabilities of her soil and lands for new comers who desire to cultivate them. We fear that there has been much slovenly farming on her rich and fertile lands ; for, so far as the scanty statistics enable us to determine, the average yield of the cereals has been much lower than it should have been on lands as admirably adapted to cereal culture as those of the loess beds, and that that yield per acre is diminishing instead of increasing. The numbers and METEOROLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 1019 3 ^ !2:^ ■ o i_, 3 2 M !" o 5 J o a -On "^1 so O ' V3 Ln _. w:^d 03.- ?^^ ■ o 3 «■• 3 f 3- Highest Temp, of Year. Lowest. Mean. Range. Highest Temp, of Spring. Lowest. Mean. Range. Highest Temp, of Summer. Lowest. Mean. Range. Highest Temp, of Autumn Lowest. Mean. Range. Highest Temp, of Winter. 1 vS i 1 1 J. 1 Lowest. CO M Mean. -? s vj 2^ Range. •^ ^ 00 5" Average Annual Rainfall. -^■ •«4 CO "^ VO bo 5' Rainfall of Spring. 00 M w •b 00 M VI 5' Rainfall of Summer. "S V On 5' Rainfall of Autumn M .2 10 M VI 5' Rainfall of Winter. M * Mean Annual Humidity. =• Mean Annual Pressure of Barometer. to o o i to to >^ I020 O^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. quality of the live-stock are increasing, and give evidence that the grazing lands which are now rapidly filling up, will prove profitable to the stock-raiser. With greater care in her cultiva- tion, the average crop of wheat on her excellent wheat lands should be not less than twenty-five bushels to the acre instead of 13. 1 bushels, as it was in 1878, or fifteen bushels, as it was in 1877. She has done better in corn, and as this crop is likely to be in demand for the fattening of her own live-stock, she will have strong inducements to do better yet. The quantity of land taxed or reported for taxation was, in 1879, a little more than 14,000,000 acres, or more than one-fourth of the entire area of the State, and it was valued for the purposes of assessment at only ^3 per acre. This included, of course, a large amount of erazine land, and the assessment was hiQ^h enouijh for this class of land. The land under cultivation in 1879 probably exceeds slightly 4,000,000 acres, or about one-twelfth of the area of the State. The large amount taken up for farms in the last two or three years has not yet become subject to taxation. The tables on page 1021 show the amount of the principal crops and their value in 1877, 1878 and 1879, so far as these can be ascertained, and also the numbers and value of the live-stock in the State for the same years. There are, of course, other crops which are of considerable im- portance besides these, of which we regret that we have not full statistics ; among these we may name sorghum, which is a crop of constantly increasing magnitude, and for which the soil and climate is peculiarly adapted ; broom corn, which is largely culti- vated in some sections; flax, cultivated mainly for the seed, though the lint, even without bleaching, makes an excellent paper stock. The cultivation of the flax is increasing in the newer sections, as it has been found the best crop to put in after the new breaking. Alfalfa, the millets and the rice corn, or dhourra, are coming into favor, while the castor bean and other oil-producing plants pay well. Nebraska is probably destined to occupy a prominent place among the fruit-producing States. Its wild fruits are of excep- tional excellence, especially its plums, strawberries, blackberries, CROPS OF NEBRASKA. I02I U TJ W ? 9 " » o s: 1 H^ ^ < g 3 7T- , " (T " - 3 < i 3 ? 3 3 a* 1 " o- c a- ? o* -" c ? s If J NO 3 ^ ■4 » "„ CO ON ; J. s'g-o ■J <4 Kl * M ^1 'O ON cn 3 W *^ I J, „ i- "on ^ i. i°r U I ^ ^ J ♦• w Ln On ^ ON • r. 3- o n 3 uT •a 3 10 H ^ „ u OJ „ ?■< >4 (■ /I VI ■>■ NO '• O "" »= S' >■ *■ PS Z K ^ „ „ - 3 o. "o "■ _ O o> ; ■4 -J 3 >N o s. 5 J\ ^ On O V o On o On ■o o o 0\ 4*. ^ vO vO CO 4^ ■ 8 "91. O . Q -^ ^ OJ OJ H, 00 Price per bushel, pound, etc. -n 00 *■ oo OJ %ft H ■Si o CO •^ *" ^^ On ^ P '^ ■-J 8 ^ "o 3 •£ ^ OJ M NO < "jg V) ^ -^ bv M Zn ^M oo O E. y1 JN *• ■■ *. c* ^0 N -f^ O NO 00 " (t o? 4^ H, c P >o Jl vj 9 o 30 ^ "■fj vb oS-2, On ->>. M 3 VO ^ ^ '^ J »- ^ 0\ sj T On -J i l°l 8 v5 ui j O 8 » O rt 3 IT •d ■J „ M OJ H M t ^ „ £S< M j\ Jl On I >J UN \o -^ -f-. o "' J£J ^ "„ OJ CO rs: OO w M „ > o ^ 3 3 n 3 V) o. >J Ov fn Q O ON On O VO n "*^ j\ *■ 00 ON On 00 ° ^ ■eo M ^b O W -n v4 a s On 8^ Price per bushel, pound, etc. ^* >» H o h" M K ^ M -^ o ? •va b o Jl ^ 'b r- *^ th »J On M (0 *. JJ sq S' "^ 'hi b bo M b "bo Jl *. E- j\ On ^ E* •t>- On M 00 Ul ^ ■" S " ~~ °? .^ M c P b ^ 00 4>. 4^ ov "b 3o? 0\ M Oi ■J v» VO 8^ "a oo 8 3n 2 5 \b "si 5 ^ "o jy 00 XI 1 Cfl ° ^ 8 8 ^ ^ ^ ^ S f-» 3^ o n 3 ~ V^ r r > b a (>. CT\ On M ^ VC ^ 00 *o § r ^ Nb M O 00 o b ^ NO 8 8 f ^ <«f% w 4^ >J M '-' " J^ 3 .». <; O M NO On V t>. o On 8 ^ 3 B" CO > ^ ^ ^ c A « >. SI 00 NO 41. ^o M ■«>■ Vt 8> M Oi O ON M ^ 1 3 I ba 5 1022 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. raspberries, buffalo berries, etc., and its wild grapes.* For a new State it has also made great progress in the cultivation of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, plums, quinces and the other fruits of a temperate climate. In cultivated grapes it has not yet made great progress. At the Centennial Exhibition the State had a collection of 163 varieties of apples, many of them of great ex- cellence, and a considerable number of pears. Both fruits received the first premium. But a large portion of Nebraska is and must continue to be, for many years to come, better adapted to grazing than to farming, and while it can hardly at the same cost maintain as large flocks and herds as Texas, Colorado, Wyoming or Montana, there is no question that stock-raising does and will prove very profitable, if rightly managed, in Nebraska. The amount of live-stock in these grazing States and Territories increases so rapidly every year that it is very difficult to keep pace with them, but although we cannot procure the statistics of the year 1880 as yet, a comparison of the live-stock of the State for 1877, 1878 and 1879 may give some idea of the rapidity of increase; for our statistics for 1877 and 1878 are compiled from the State Auditor's reports, and those of 1879 from the United States Agricultural report, the State report for that year not being yet published. Animals. 1877. 1878. 1879. ^ ^ c 1^ 3 I H ^ 11 H u Ml ,; « u < 3 > 1 Horses 112,715 10,602 93,700 238,200 82,858 318,764 67.63 92 -73 26.96 21.30 2.77 5.80 $7,628,551' 983,123 2,526,122 5,073,660^ 229,517 1,848,831 157,619 16,482 127,600 376,058 ■35,777 617,600 67-34 8745 24.27 '9-45 2.30 3-03 ;Jio,6i4,o63 1.441,361 3,096,852 7,314,328 272,287 1,841,828 iSo,537 17,150 145,280 458,147 162,520 701,750 68. xo 91.00 26.00 25.10 2.95 3.88 )^I2, 296,570 1,560,650 3,777,280 11,499,490 479,434 2,722,790 Mules and asses Oxen and other cattle. . . . 18,289,804; 24,580,719 32,336,214 * Mr. E. A. Curley, the accomplished correspondent of the London "/)>/ c > < S b ^ U Is [i< P 956 Number of qualified teachers employed, males . . i)6o7 Number of qualified teachers employed, females . 2,221 Aggregate number of days taught by males . . 125,332 Aggregate number of days taught by females . 173,669 Total 299,001 Average wages per month, males $33 25 Average wages per month, females 29 55 STATISTICS OF SCHOOL PROPERTY. Value of school-houses ^1,622,355 18 Value of school sites 175,48360 Value of books and apparatus 54,82649 Total value of all school property 1,852,665 27 Average number of mills levied for school purposes 13 Amount apportioned by county superintendents . 224,60565 Money in hands of county treasurers April 7, 1879 160,201 24 Aside from these public schools, there are high schools of ex- cellent character at Omaha and other larofe towns in the State; a normal school at Peru with nearly 300 pupils; a prosperous State university at Lincoln, the capital of the State, endowed with 1 30,000 acres of land, and to which the State makes an appro priation of about ^25,000 annually ; an institute for the deaf and dumb at Omaha, and for the blind at Nebraska City. There are also colleges under denominational control ; Doane College at Crete, Saline county; The Bishop Talbott or Nebraska College, at Nebraska City ; Creighton College, at Omaha, and a Methodist Episcopal College recently opened at York, in York county. Lands for Immigrants. — There are millions of acres of govern- ment lands yet unsold in Nebraska, which may be obtained either by purchase, pre-emption or under the Homestead, Timber-Cul- ture or Desert Land Acts ; but these are mostly in the more western portion of the State, and largely beyond the junction of the North and South forks of the Platte river. As we have shown, the rainfall is not so abundant as farther east, and the land must be thoroughly broken before it will yield good crops, but eventu- ally, either with or without irrigation, these lands will be some of the most valuable in the State. It is best for the immigrant LANDS FOR IMMIGRANTS. IO29 who purposes to cultivate his lands, and not to devote them to grazing, not to go beyond the frontier line of progress in the purchase of these lands, as the expense of irrigation and of tree- planting for a single farm is very heavy ; but where a town or colony engage in it together, the expense is much lighter. This frontier line is moving west at the rate of about ten or fifteen miles a year. There are very desirable lands, to the amount of about 2,500,000 acres, held by the State for school and university purposes. . They are situated in every county of the State, and information in regard to them may be obtained by writing to F. M. Davis, State Commissioner of Public Lands and Buildings, at Lincoln, Nebraska. The minimum price at which these lands are sold is ^7 per acre, on twenty years' time, at six per cent, interest ; and leases are on appraised values. During the years 1877 and 1878 the lands soldwere 26,819 acres, and leased 100,- 918; and the sales and leases during 1879 and 1880 doubled upon these figures. For detailed information about the Union Pacific Railroad Com- pany's lands, written or personal application should be made to the Land Commissioner, U. P. R. R., Omaha, Nebraska. This company owns 3,000,000 acres of fertile lands in Central and Western Nebraska, which are sold for cash, or on a credit often years, at six per cent, interest, with gradual payments of principal and interest. The prices range from ^2 to ^10 per acre, on ten years' credit, "according to quality, location, timber and nearness to market ; " and a deduction of ten per cent, from credit prices is made to cash purchasers. For detailed information about the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad lands, address or apply to the Land Commis- sioner, B. & M. R. R., Lincoln, Nebraska. This company has remaining of its land grant of more than 2,000,000 acres, about 1,000,000 acres south of the Platte river, in the rich southeastern section, and in the northeastern section north of the Platte. The northeastern lands, of which there are about 650,000 acres, range from ^i to $6 per acre, on ten years' time, with discount from these prices on six years' and two years' credit, and for cash. The balance of the Burlingrton and Missouri lands in Southeastern J 030 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Nebraska are sold at from ^^3 to ^10, on ten years' credit, with dis- counts off for cash or shorter time of credit. The following instructions and advice to emigrants to Nebraska are of great importance, and should be carefully read and fol- lowed : Persons with families should not come West entirely destitute of means to brave the hardships of pioneer life. Many have done ' so and have succeeded, and in a few years have been numbered among the most influential and well-to-do citizens of the State ; but it more frequently leads to disappointment, homesickness and discontent. A capital of $200 or $300, after the land is secured, with which to commence operations, would be of very great ad- vantage. An expenditure of $50 will complete a cabin in which a family can be comfortably sheltered. A neat one-story frame house, with from two to four rooms, can be built at a cost of from $200 to ^600. Good stabling for stock can be constructed with but little expense, by the use of a few posts and poles covered with straw or hay. Settlers coming West, and having a long distance to travel, should dispose of their farming implements and heavy or bulky furniture. Bedsteads, tables, chairs, mattresses, crockery, stoves, etc., etc., stock, teams, wagons, tools of all kinds, and farming miplements, better adapted to this country than those left behind, can be purchased here at reasonable rates, frequently at less than would be the cost of transportation. Clothing, bedding, table linen, books, pictures, and other small articles, may be brought with advantage. It is also well to bring choice, graded stock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, etc. Prices at the West, as in the older States, are regulated by the supply and demand. As a general rule, groceries, dry goods and articles of domestic use that can be dispensed with, are dearer, and the common necessaries — meats, flour, grain, pota- toes, etc. — are cheaper than in the Eastern States. The following may be taken as average prices, April i, 1879, and there has been very little variation since : PRICES OF NEEDFUL ARTICLES. 103 1 Work cattle, per yoke $75 00 to $125 00 Horses and mules, per pair 100 00 to 220 60 Driving horses, each 75 00 to 200 00 Farm wagons 70 00 to 90 CX) Spring wagons 70 00 to 125 00 Harnos, double set 30 00 to 40 00 LIVE STOCK. Yearlings ^lO 00 to $\'^ 00 Two-year-olds 20 00 to 30 00 Three-year-olds 25 00 to 40 00 Cows 20 CX) to 50 00 Calves 5 00 to 10 00 Sheep 25010 400 Hogs, per pound 03 to 03)^ Beef cattle, per pound .... 03 to 04 AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. Threshing machines i^soo 00 to ;{57oo 00 Harvesters 150 00 to 200 00 Mowers 75 00 to 90 00 Drills and seeders 40 00 to 80 00 Corn planters 35 00 to 55 00 Hand planters i 00 to 2 50 Corn shellers 8 00 to 85 00 Corn stock cutters 40 00 to 60 00 Cultivators 20 00 to 25 00 Cane mills 55 00 Feed cutters 6 00 to 25 00 Sulky rakes 25 00 to 30 00 Revolving rakes 5 00 to 8 00 Harrows 8 00 to 10 00 Breaking plows 20 00 to 25 00 Stirring plows 10 00 to 20 00 Gang plows 75 00 Sulky plows 45 00 to 5500 Headers 175 00 to 28000 Wind Mills 90 00 to 150 00 Pump and brass cylinder. . 15 00 One-inch pipe, per foot.. . 20 to 30 LUMBER AND BUILDING MATERIAL. Flooring.dres^ed .md matched, per M. IS20 00 to $30 00 Siding, per M 14 00 to 18 CO Ceiling, ^-in., beaded, per M 18 00 to 25 CO Common boards, per M 16 00 to 18 00 Joists, scantling, etc., 18 feet and under, per M Fencing, per M 16 00 to Shingles, A., sawed, per M. . 1 25 to Shingles, No. i , per M Laths, per M 4-panel doors I 25 to Brick, per M 8 00 to Lime, per barrel 17 00 18 00 275 2 00 2 75 2 00 10 00 I 25 HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE. Bedsteads ;jS2 00 to $4 00 Mattresses 2 00 to 4 00 Tables I 75 to 7 co Chairs, per dozen 4 75 to 10 c^o Rocking chairs 75 to 4 co •Looking glasses 25 to 4 cxj Kitchen safes 3 50 to 10 00 Bureaus, with glass 9 50 to 16 co Carpenters, per day $2 00 to $3 00 Masons, per day 3 00 to 4 00 Painters, per day 2 50 to 3 CO Blacksmiths, per day 2 50 to 3 00 Carriage-makers, per day.. . . 2 50 to 3 00 Day-laborers, per day I 50 to 2 00 Shoemakers, per week 15 00 to 20 00 Farmhands, per month, in- cluding board 15 00 to 20 00 Clerks, per annum 500 00 to 1,500 00 Teachers, per annum 300 00 to 2,000 00 Counties mid Towns. — There were in 1879 sixty-eight organ- ized and four unorganized counties in the State. The extraor- dinary influx of population in 1879 ^^^ 1880 will undoubtedly lead to the organization of other counties by the legislature at its biennial session in 1881. Of the cities and towns, Omaha has 30,518 inhabitants, and is an important railroad cen- tre. Lincoln, the capital, has 13,004 inhabitants. The other 1032 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. important towns are: Nebraska City, with nearly 10,000 inhab- itants, Plattsmoiith, Brownville, Fremont and Peru, which range between 2,500 and 5,000 inhabitants. Kearney, Crete, Rulo, Be- atrice, Tecumseh, Tekama, North Platte, West Point, Falls City and Grand Island are growing towns. Religious Denominations. — In 1874 Nebraska had 514 organ- izations of the different religious denominations, 279 church edifices, 365 clergymen or preachers, 22,749 communicants, and an adherent population of about 125,000, or, possibly, 140,000. Its church property was estimated at ^665,000. In the six years which have since passed, it has more than doubled its population, and its religious growth has kept pace with the advance in popu- lation. The Methodist Episcopal Church takes the lead in the number of churches, ministers and communicants, but is closely followed by the Baptists, the United Brethren in Christ, the Pres- byterians, the Lutherans and the Congregationalists. After these, though in smaller numbers, come the Protestant Episcopal Church, the Roman Catholics, the Disciples, the Evangelical Association, and several smaller denominations. Historical Data. — Nebraska was originally a part of the great Louisiana Territory, and subsequently of Missouri Territory. As early as 1844, Senator Douglas introduced a bill for the estab- lishment of a Nebraska Territory, which was to include Kansas, Dakota, Wyoming, and so much of Colorado and Montana as then belonged to us, but the bill failed. Ten years later (in 1854), Nebraska was organized as a Territory, including Dakota, Montana, most of Wyoming and Northeastern Colorado. In 1861 it was stripped of most of these, and in 1867 was admitted as a State with a population considerably under 100,000. On the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad, which had its eastern terminus at Omaha, its population began to increase, but its most rapid growth has been during the last five years. From its location and its abundance of good and fertile lands. It seems destined to become a favorite resort for farming immigrants, and will undoubtedly attract a large body of intelligent agriculturists from both Europe and America. Some very successful experi- ments in the way of colonies of Immigrants have been made here, and more are likely to follow In the near future. BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY. 103? CHAPTER XV. Its Boundaries, Extent and Area — Its Topography and Surface — Moun- tains, Lakes and Rivers — Its Climate and Meteorology — Geology and Mineralogy — Minerals — Gold and Silver — Other Metals and Miner- als — Permanency of its Mines — Their Great Depth — Mining Industry — The Counties containing Mines considered in Detail — The Product of the Precious Metals in Nevada since their First Discovery there — The Sutro Tunnel — Its Purpose and Object — Its First Success less THAN was expected — ItS PROBABLE FuTURE TrIUMPH ZOOLOGV— AGRICUL- TURAL Productions — Adaptation of considerable Sections to Grazing — Extent of Arable, Grazing, Timbered and Mineral Lands — Tables of Agricultural Products and Live-stock — Manufacturing Industry — Railroads — Valuation — Population — Indian Reservations — Counties AND Cities — Religious Denominations — Historical Data — Conclusion. Nevada, sometimes called the Silver State, is the central State of the seven lying- west of the Rocky Mountains, and may be said in a general way to be bounded by Oregon and Idaho, Utah and Arizona, and California. Its shape is irregular, and can per- haps be best defined by the official statement of its boundary, made in the act of Congress setding its present boundary. This statement is as follows: "Commencing at the northwest corner of Utah Territory, and the southern line of Idaho, at the 37th degree of longitude west from Washington (and 114 deorees west from Greenwich), and in latitude forty-two degrees north, and running west along the southern line of Idaho and Oregon to longitude forty-three degrees west from Washington (and 1 20 degrees west from Greenwich) ; thence south, along the eastern line of California, to latitude thirty-nine degrees north, which falls in the southeastern part of Lake Tahoe; thence southeasterly to the intersection of the Colorado river, in latitude thirty-five degrees north, and opposite Fort Mojave ; thence north and east- erly up the centre of the Colorado river to the intersection of the thirtv-seventh degree of longitude west from Washington (and I034 <^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. the 1 14th degree west from Greenwich), and the prolongation of the western line of Utah Territory ; thence north, along the west- ern line of Arizona and Utah, to the place of beginning ; contain- ing 71,737,741 acres, or 112,090 square miles." The boundaries of the State have been changed once or twice, but the actual area above given is that of the United States Land Office, and that laid down in the act of Congress enlarging its boundaries. The area as given in the almanacs varies from 81,539 square miles (30,551 square miles below the fact) to 104,- 125 (7,965 square miles too small) ; but the actual area is that given above. The greatest length of the State from north to south is about 490 miles; its greatest breadth about 300 miles. Topography and Surface. — Nevada is almost wholly within the limits of the great interior American Basin, which includes also nearly three-fifths of Utah. This basin is bounded on the east by the Wahsatch range, a continuation of the Bitter Root and Wind River Mountains of Idaho and Wyoming, extending to and along the northwestern bank of the Colorado river, and on the west by the Sierra Nevada. The two chains meet in Southeastern California, and are connected at the north by spurs running from east to west. Within the basin all streams are either lost in " sinks " or discharge their waters into fresh or salt water lakes within the basin. A small tract in Northern Nevada is outside of the basin, and is drained by the Owyhee river, an affluent of the Lewis fork or Snake river, one of the constituent streams of the Columbia river. In the extreme south two or three small tributaries of the Colorado, as the Virgin river. Muddy river and Las Vegas creek, have cut their way through the mountain bar- riers of the basin, and discharge their waters into the Colorado. The Humboldt, the Little Humboldt, th^- Reese, the Carson, the Amargosa and many smaller streams, either sink through the alkaline sands and disappear from sight, or fall into deep de- pressions apparendy made by the giving way of the roof of some cavern, or fall into some one of the marshes or the numerous lakes, salt and fresh, which are found all over the State. The area of the Great Basin is traversed from north to south by numerous parallel ranges of mountains, having an altitude of LAKES AND RIVERS OF NEVADA. 10^ c about 9,000 feet. These are separated by fertile valleys, which are watered by streams flowing from the mountains and having their supply from the melting snows. These streams afford facilities for irrigation, without which, in most cases, the cultiva- tion of the soil is impossible. But a very large part of the State consists of a lofty table-land, with mountain summits rising to an altitude of about 9,000 or 9,500 feet, and broken mainly by the deep ravines or canons, caused by the erosion of mountain torrents. The long valleys between have an elevation of from 4,000 to 6,000 feet. Lakes and Rivei^s. — The principal lakes are Tahoe, Pyramid, Walker, Carson, Washoe and Humboldt. Tahoe has an eleva- tion above the sea-level of about 6,000 feet. It is about 1,500 feet in depth. It is situated in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, fourteen miles from Carson City. The western line of the State divides it about the centre. The water is very clear and cool, and remarkable for its specific lightness. The bodies of persons drowned in Lake Tahoe never rise to the surface. It is twenty- two miles in length by fourteen in width. Pyramid lake is thirty-five miles long, and from ten to fifteen in width. Its elevation above sea-level is about 4,000 feet. It is situated in the southwestern portion of Humboldt county. It is .surrounded by mountains, which rise to the height of about 3,000 feet. It has been sounded, and found in places 3,600 feet deep. It gets its name from a rock which rises 600 feet above the sur- face of the water in the shape of a pyramid. There is an island near the eastern side which contains about 600 acres of land, upon which rattlesnakes and wild goats abound. It has no outlet, and is fed by the Truckee river and other mountain streams. Washoe lake is situated in Washoe county. Its waters are shallow and alkaline. It covers about six square miles. It is surrounded by mountains; on the west are the Sierras, from which it is chiefly fed by numerous small streams which flow out into the valley sink, and then rise again in the lake. Walker lake is about twenty-five miles long and ten miles in width. Its area has been considerably increased of late years, so that the old stage road, formerly about five miles from its shores, 1036 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. is now under water. It Is situated in Mason valley, Esmeralda county. Its elevation above sea-level is about 4,000 feet, and its waters are fresh and clear. Humboldt lake, more commonly called the Sink of Humboldt, is twenty miles in length and ten miles in width. Its waters are brackish and strongly impregnated with salt and soda. It is sit- uated near the line between Humboldt and Churchill counties, and has an aldtude above sea-level of 4,100 feet. It is about the lowest point in the Great Basin. The waters from the east and west meet here. The Carson lakes are situated near the centre of Churchill county. They are about twenty miles apart, and spread out over a vast area of low ground, so that their dimensions vary greatly in proportion to the dryness of the season, and the amount of the snow-fall on the Sierras. In wet seasons they are connected by a slough with Humboldt lake ; and the waters, like that of the latter lake, are impure, and contain a large per cent, of alkali and salt. With the exception of the Colorado, none of the rivers of Nevada are navigable. The Colorado forms part of the southern boundary of the State. Its average width is one-half mile. The averag-e c urrent at ordinary low stages, where no contraction or special cbstruction exists, is about three and one-half miles per hour, IVhen it passes over rapids and through narrow canons, the cur- rent is more than twice as rapid, so that it is difficult for steam- boats to stem it. The Truckee river forms an outlet for Lake Tahoe to empty its waters Into Pyramid lake. Two-thirds of its entire course is in Washoe county. It affords many excellent sites for mills, but its waters are chiefly used in irrigating the fertile lands of Washoe county. During the past few years many ditches have been con- structed for irrigating purposes, and still there is a large supply of water left. The Carson river heads in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and flows through Douglas, Ormsby and Lyon counties. Although not so large as the Walker, its waters have been made much more useful. Numerous large quartz mills have been erected LAKES AND RIVERS OF NEVADA. IO37 on its banks, which are run by water-power. It irrigates thou- sands of acres of fertile lands, and also furnishes the means for the transportation of thousands of cords of wood from the moun- tains to the markets. The Walker river also has its source in the Sierras; it flows through Esmeralda county, and empties its waters into Walker lake. It is only used for irrigation, being situated too far away from the mines to be made available for milling purposes. The Humboldt river flows from the east. It has its source in Utah, and, after winding through a succession of mountains for a distance of about 300 miles, it empties its waters into Hum- boldt lake. The Owyhee river has its source in the mountains which sur- round Independence valley. It flows north into the Snake and Columbia rivers, and finally empties its waters into the Pacific. It is the only river which rises within the borders of the State that has an outlet to the ocean. Reese river heads in the moun- tains to the southeast of lone. It flows north, and sinks before reaching the Humboldt. In all of these lakes and streams are found several varieties of food fish, chiefly different species of trout. In all of the mountain streams and in the head waters of the rivers already described, brook trout abound, while in the lakes and those streams which empty into them are found silver trout. In Lake Tahoe a very large variety of trout is found, some of which have been caught which weighed thirty pounds each. In the Owyhee river are found salmon and salmon trout. Through the eflbrts of the Fish Commissioner appointed at the last session of the Legislature, Carson, Walker and Humboldt lakes and the Truckee river have been stocked with Schuylkill catfish and Sacramento perch. A fish hatchery has been established in Carson, and 200,000 Mc- Cloud river salmon are ready for distribution in the different lakes and streams in the State. In the eastern counties considerable game is found, as prairie chickens, grouse and quail. In the mountains and upland valleys are often seen mountain sheep and antelope. The otter and beaver are sometimes found. The grizzly bear, cougar, wild cat, 10^8 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. lynx, wolf, cinnamon and black bears, coyotes, and generally the beasts of prey found in California, are also inhabitants of Ne- vada, though not as abundant as in some other States. Climate. — The climate of Nevada, owing to the diversities of surface, variations of altitude and other causes, irrespective of the differences of latitude, varies greatly in different localities. The changes of the season are very irregular, and pass into each other without notice. Generally the extremes of temperature are not great. Within the Great Basin, during the summer months, the thermometer seldom rises above 95° Fahrenheit; nor does it often fall below zero in winter, except upon the moun- tains and in the most elevated and exposed valleys. At Carson City, where the elevation above sea-level is 4,630 feet, the annual mean temperature is about 52°, the annual maximum 68°, and the annual minimum 34°. At this point heavy winds from the southwest prevail. During the year 1876 there were 316 windy days, 217 cloudy, and 49 rainy. The fall of rain and snow for the same year was 17.73 inches. The nights are always cool in summer in all parts of the State. This marked peculiarity of climate is due to the cooling effects of the many ranges of snow- covered mountains. The atmosphere is exceedingly dry. There are never any fogs. The moisture of the clouds is condensed on the mountain-tops, so that the fall of rain in the valleys is very limited. The carcasses of dead animals dry up with but little offensive putrefaction, leaving the bones and hides mummified. In tlie eastern portion of the State cloud-bursts are of frequent occurrence from about the first of July to the middfe of Septem- ber. The climate is healthful. No country in the world is more free from infectious diseases. Epidemics are never known. Earthquake shocks are sometimes felt, but rarely severe enough to do any damage. The Signal Service Bureau has but two stations in Nevada,, and those have been maintained less than three years. They are Pioche, in Lincoln county, in Southeastern Nevada, and Winne- mucca, on the Central Pacific Railroad, in Humboldt county, Northwestern Nevada. We give the report of these for the year 1878, which, as supplementary to the above notes of the MINERALS AND METALS OF NEVADA. jq^q climate of Carson City, give a tolerable idea of the climate of the State. (See page 1040.) Geology and Mineralogy. — It has been demonstrated by the geological explorations on the fortieth parallel, that the Nevada ranges of mountains belong to the same system of upheavals which took place during the Jurassic period. These immense mountain masses are composed of sedimentary strata, granite and kindred formations and volcanic rocks. The stratified beds com- prise the largest portion, and extend from the Azoic age up to the time of upheaval. The rock formations embrace nearly every species of sedimentary or eruptive products existing, from the earliest to the most recent period. In the mountains which skirt upon the Sierras, the eruptive rocks prevail; while farther east are found the metamorphic and sedimentary formations. Metal- liferous deposits and veins exist in all the mountain ranges, the most productive of which still continues to be the Comstock lode. The valleys, in general, correspond with the mountain ranges. They are sometimes short, being intersected by the low moun- tains, which in many places link together the parallel ranges, running north and south, but usually they are long and narrow. With but slight elevations, several openings are found, extending from the Humboldt river to the Colorado, the southern limit of the State. Many of the valleys are dry and unfit for cultivation; some are covered with alkali and sand, while others are scarcely less productive than the most fertile valleys of California. All have been mainly filled by the products of erosion. Minej'als. — Of the productions of Nevada, silver and gold are beyond comparison the most important. Scarcely twenty years have elapsed since this State was inhabited only by the red man, and a few Mormon settlers in Carson Valley; and yet during this time the enormous sum of ^400,000,000 in silver and gold have been produced from the Nevada mines. More than two-thirds of this yield has been since the year 1871. The most productive year was 1877, ^'^^ bullion shipments amounting to ^51,368,917. The yield for 1878 was ^35,181,949, a falling off from the year previous of ^16,398,341. From these figures it maybe seen that these two years have been a period of unexampled prosperity I040 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. •Xouanbajj JO Jspjo aqj u| spu|A\ jo uopoajifj ■X|JE3^ •XjipiUIIlH UB3J^ IIEJUIE^ ^1 z w ^; 2; CO w iz; ^ ;z; ^ ^' w w w w ^' w ;<5 ^; :?; iz; W3 ^ ^ i ^ i W ^' ^ ^' ^' ^' u i w If) m CO •^ CO CAl to tAl CO 1^' CO 1 cg> ^g- s o\ as o o> ^ 0\ N* S" o o\ ON %, o g^ N^ o- Ov t; - q\ "? <» CO o ". ro ^ ^ t^ t^ ^ -" o ^ •sanj^jaduiaj^ u^aj^ s- •saniEjaduia j^ jo aSuE'jj o •sjiuvjaduiaj^ uinuiiutj^ •3jruEJ3c!ui3j_ uinuiTXEj^ nH" <6 8 *■;;> E 3 .;: °f > < S O Z Q >« •Xou3nb3jj JO japio ai[i ui spuiM JO uoijoajiQ •J3}3UI0JEa UESJ^ •Xjipiuinjj iiE3j^ •IIEJUIE^ CO ^ ^ ^ ^ izi z ^ z en iz; 2; z CO CO COt/}COCOC/lt/2t/5(/2 ^ ^ ^ . . ^' ^' ^- ^^ ^r z' ^ ;?■ ^^ ^' CO t/j CO Z !2; 00 00 in vo ON 0\ ON On •3jnjEJ3dui3X UBSJ^ -^ m NO •SJnjEaadiuax JO aSuE^ •sanjEJadtuajL uinuiiuij^ r^ vo NO M •3JmE43dm3X UinUIIXEJ^ ON On ON On dj 3 r^O c^ Pi 3 2 ci'^ •-; rt oi; t'. •" o fa ^ < o ;z; « >< MINERALS AND METALS OF NEVADA. IO41 in the history of the State, and that the labor of the miner has met with merited reward. From the experience of the past, coupled with the condition and indications of the various mining districts at present, it may readily be inferred that Nevada's re- sources in silver and gold are practically without limit; and that the supply is still so great that a long time must elapse before it can be exhausted. So fruitful, indeed, has been the yield that the last decade forms a new era in the history of the precious metals in America ; and the new discoveries being made in every direction promise excellent results in the near future. Although silver and gold are the chief products of the State, there are other mineral resources which are of no mean impor- tance. The lead product of Eastern Nevada has increased so rapidly during the past two years, that Eureka now stands at the head of the lead-producing districts in the United States. Tybo, too, is making rapid strides in the way of advancement. The product of these two districts falls but little short of that of Mis- souri, Iowa and Illinois combined. The deposits of borax in Churchill and Esmeralda counties ane sufficient to supply the demands of the world, but being situated so far away from the markets, the expense of transportation and the reduced price of the article have placed a limit upon its pro- duction. Fish lake, Columbus and Teal's Marsh have an almost inexhaustible supply, and their thousands of acres must some day be profitable to the owners. The salt deposits are beyond computation. In Humboldt, Churchill, Esmeralda, Lander, White Pine and Lincoln counties there are beds of salt covering thousands of acres and of un- known depths. The waters of North Soda lake, in Churchill county, 270 feet in depth, and covering an area of 400 acres, con- tain about thirty-three per cent, of soda. Sulphur is found in immense deposits in Humboldt county, and in a comparatively pure state. Antimony in paying quantities is found in a dozen districts, and mines rich in copper are being worked in Lander and White Pine counties. Cinnabar, occurring in brilliant red crystals, and also in amorphous masses, is found in Washoe and Nye counties. Gypsum, plumbago, manganese, cobalt, arsenic, 66 IQ^2 ^^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. magnesia, alum, nickel, nitre, iron of good quality, coal In small quantities, isinglass — such are some of the mineral products of Nevada, which will, in the future, produce some revenue to the people and State. As was to be expected, the great falling off in the yield of the mines in the years 1879 and 1880 has raised the question whether they are approaching exhaustion, or whether there is to be a still more prosperous future for them. All past analogies in silver mining, both In Europe and America, forbid the idea of their ex- haustion ; the only real question is whether means can be devised to make the mining of low grade ores profitable when they are brought. from a depth of 3,000 or 3,200 feet below the surface, where constant pumping of the very hot water from these great depths is required, and the temperature of the lower levels is 156° Fahrenheit, and the men can only work twenty minutes and rest twenty in four-hour shifts. If these lower levels yield silver ores assaying seventy-five to one hundred ounces to the ton, the working, even under these disadvantageous conditions, may be fairly profitable ; but where the yield is only from fourteen to twenty-two ounces, as is too often the case, the margin is clearly too narrow to permit any considerable profit, and must in most cases result in an eventual loss. On this question of the permanency of the mineral production from the mines now opened, the able and accomplished State Mineralogist, after a historical review of all the great silver mines of Europe and America, exhibiting their periods of decadence and revival, concludes his essay as follows: "The history of all these European and American mines has been the same. They were discovered early ; they have had their times of depression and times of extraordinary production ; they have had their bonanzas and their barren levels ; they have been abandoned at one time and energetically worked at another, but throughout all the ages they have continued to be productive to the present time, and without doubt will still continue to play an important part in the mining industries of the world In the future. One thousand years ago the Austrian miner descended the same shaft which the living descend to-day; for centuries to MIX/XG PRODUCTIOX OF COUNTIES. IO43' come, the huge piles of waste rock will grow higher and more rugged on the Saxon plains. Empires have risen and fallen ; rulers have passed from history since the mines of Mexico and South America began to be worked ; twenty centuries have not exhausted the mineral wealth of Spain. Reasoning from these facts, it is safe to conclude that the mines of Nevada are far from being worked out. When the character of our mines is com- pared with those of other countries, the product is found to be small, and considering the extent of territory as yet undeveloped, the amount of prospecting done has not been great. But when a larger population shall have permanently settled here ; when men shall be satisfied with smaller gains, and capital shall be more interested in the work, then grander and more remunera- tive results may be expected than any which have yet been ob- tained. The new level opened by the Sutro Tunnel insures the working of the Comstock lode for an indefinite period in the future, and although the results have not thus far equalled expec- tations, yet there is sufificient encouragement to continued perse- verance in this greatest enterprise of modern mining, and that perseverance cannot long fail to reap an ample reward." Mining Industry. — Twelve of the fourteen counties of Nevada have or have had mines of considerable importance. We will review them briefly in alphabetical order, showing the number of the mines and the product from them in 1877 and 1878, the latest detailed report we have been able to obtain : Elko county had, in 1877, seven mines, and in addition an estab- lishment where the tailings of the Leopard mine were worked over, yielding in that year ^24,799. The entire yield of these mines in 1877 was ^1,075.968.86. In 1878 but two mines of the seven were worked, but three new ones had been opened, and the yield for three-quarters of the year was ^941,918.94, indicating for the entire year a considerably larger yield from the five mines than from the whole seven the previous year, although four of the five had only been worked for six months. The total yield of Elko county from 1871 to 1878, inclusive, was about ^5,- (X)0,000. Esmeralda county had, in 1877, twenty-four mines and mining' jQ. . OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. establishments, a part of which were merely from the sale or transfer of mines. These yielded that year $1,508,491.69, more than four-fifths being the production of a single mine — the North- ern Belle. In 1878 the number of mines in operation had been reduced to sixteen. The Northern Belle was still the leading mine, but its production had fallen off largely, being only $236,- 'i^^'\, for three quarters of the year against $1,250,757 the previous year. The total production of all the mines for three quarters of 1878 was $469,775. The total production of Esmeralda county from 1 87 1 to October ist, 1878, was about $5,400,000. Eureka county is one of the most prominent mining counties of the State. It had in 1877 between seventy-five and eighty mines, some of them of great extent and productiveness, among them the Eureka Consolidated, the K. K. Consolidated, the Richmond and the Richmond Consolidated. These four mines yielded, in 1877, somewhat more than $3,500,000 out of a total of $3,898,878.65 for the whole county. Of this large amount the Eureka Consolidated produced about one-half. In 1878 the number of mines had been reduced to fifty-two, though including eleven or twelve new mines. The Richmond was merged in the Richmond Consolidated, and this and the Eureka Consolidated produced eight-ninths of the whole amount raised in the county. This amount for the three quarters to October i, 1878, was $4,503,268, of which Eureka Consolidated produced $2, 295, 344 and Richmond Consolidated $1,722,689. The only other mine which reported a moderately large yield was the K. K. Consolidated, which produced $165,532. No mines reported from Eureka county till 1873, but between that year and October, 1878, the total product was, in round numbers, $18,700,000. Humboldt county has never been extensively engaged in mining. In 1877 it reported but three mines, and in 1878 but two. The Rye Patch is the largest. The production of 1877 was $307,224, and for the three quarters of 1878, $176403. The total pro- duction of this county from 187 1 till October, 1878, was about $2,600,000. Lander county had, in 1877, eighteen or twenty mines, only one of which — the Manhattan mine — produced largely. The total MINING PRODUCTION OF COUNTIES. IO4S production of the county was $595,829, of which the Manhattan mine yielded ^411,066. In 1878 there were nineteen mines, of which nine or ten were new. The production for three quarters of the year was $500,782, of which $372,085 was from the Manhattan. The entire production of Lander county from 1871 to October, 1878, was $9,380,000, the product of the earlier years being much greater than of the later ones. Lmcohi county had, in 1877, twenty-six mines, yielding $556,- 095 ; the largest being the Raymond and Ely, which with its tail- ings produced $329,816, or nearly three-fifths of the whole; the Meadow Valley and the Alps, which together yielded $159,162. In 1878 there were but hineteen mines in operation, of which eight were new ; these yielded in the three quarters of 1878 reported, $460,5 24, of which $120,605 were produced by the Raymond and Ely, and $79,000 by the Meadow Valley, while the Day, Techatticup and Alps showed much promise for the future. The total amount of bullion produced by Lincoln county from 1 87 1 to October, 1878, was about $18,250,000, the earlier, years having been much more productive than the later ones. Lyon county had, in 1877, ten or a dozen mines and mills, none of them yielding a very large amount. The total for the year was $406,017. In 1878 there were nine mills and mines, most of them mills, much of the ore from the Comstock lodes being re- duced in this county. The Sutro Tunnel has its entrance in this county. The production for the three quarters of 1878 was $471,643, of which $269,394 was reported by the Lyon Mill and Mining Company and the Woodworth Mill. The total produc- tion of Lyon county from 1871 to October, 1878, was about $4,- 255,000. Nye county had, in 1877, twenty-two or twenty-three mines, yielding in all $842,584, of which two mines, the Q. G. and,^ Bunker Hill and the Tybo Consolidated, yielded $642,504, or more than three-fourths. In 1878 there were but seven mines in operadon, producing for the three quarters $770,088, of which the Tybo Consolidated yielded $447,780, and the Alexander Mining Company $1 14,100. The Illinois produced $80,345. The total product of the mines of Nye county from 1871 to October, 1878, was $5,527,000. jQ.g OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Ormsby county had no record as a mining county until 1878, and then rather for its mills, which reduced ores from other coun- ties, than for any mines of its own. Its product in the three quarters of 1878 reported was $53,666, all gleaned from the tailings of one mill. Storey county is the great mining county of Nevada, the mines of the Comstock lode being wholly within its bounds. Twelve of these were in operation in 1877, the largest being the Cali- fornia, Consolidated Virginia, Justice, Chollar-Potosi, Belcher and Ophir. The product of the twelve mines in 1877 was %l']r 062,252, of which the California yielded $18,913,843, a little more than one-half; the Consolidated Virginia, $13,725,751, or more than one-third, and the Jusdce, $2,339,057. The tailings from these mines yielded $770,716 in that year. In 1878 only nine of the mines were operated, and for the three quarters of that year the production had fallen off to $17,989,636, of which $7,590,658 was from the Consolidated Virginia, and $8,242,177 from the California, or $15,832,835 from the two — fifteen-seven- teenths of the whole. The tailings amounted to $576,109. The total production for the year was $21,295,030, and that of 1879 only $8,830,562, a material falling off. The total production of Storey county in seven and three-quarter years, 1871 to October, 1878, was $186,853,849, and the total product since the discovery of the Comstock lode about $310,000,000. Washoe coimty, once the seat of a large number of valuable silver mines, has reported no mining products since 1874, and only $148,464 in the three years, 1872, 1873 and 1874. There is, however, a prospect that its mines may again be put in opera- tion, and that with new processes and prudent and successful management, it will again yield liberal returns. White Pine county. — This was one of the counties which was regarded as containing some remarkable bonanzas, and in 1869 and 1870 was spoken of as likely to rival Storey county. Its yield of the precious metals at first was very fair, but for some years past has been steadily declining. From the first discovery of silver there, early in 1868, to 1880, the entire production has been, in round numbers, $9,700,000, but it was nearly double in MINING PRODUCTION OF COUNTIES. 1047 1868, 1869, 1870 and 1871 what it has been in any year since. In 1877, with seventeen mines in operation, it produced only $408,492. In 1878, in the first three quarters of the year, eleven mines produced $446,454, of which $375,699 came from two mines, the Star and the Paymaster. There were in Nevada at the close of 1878, 153 mines in operation, and probably more than twice that number on which work was suspended tempo- rarily and possibly permanently. The production of gold and silver in the State for that year was $35,181,949. For the year 1879 it had fallen off to $21,997,714, and the indications are that in 1880 there has not been any material recovery. The produc- tion of gold and silver in the State since 1852 considerably ex- ceeds $430,000,000 — a vast result to be accomplished by so small a population. The Sutro Tunnel, though its entrance is in Lyon county, was constructed to drain the mines on the Comstock lode. It is over four miles in length, and follows the ramifications of the principal mines, which it will drain to the depth of about 2,000 feet, and the deepest mines will only have to pump their surplus water from 1,000 to 1,200 feet to have it drawn off by this channel. The tunnel also contains railroad tracks to facilitate the removal of ores from the mines. Its cost was about $6,000,000. The Tunnel Company own some mines on this lode. While its suc- cess has not thus far been so great as was hoped, it must event- ually greatly enhance the value of the mining property connected with the Comstock lode. Zoology. — The wild animals of Nevada are those of California, except those which find their homes in the sea or along the shores of the Pacific. The grizzly bear is the monarch of the forest, and the black and the Mexican bear are sufficiently numerous; the cougar or panther, the wild cat, the gray wolf and the whole marten tribe, the lynx, skunk and raccoon are abundant. Of game animals, the elk, two species of deer, and possibly the moose, though that animal is very rare. Rocky Mountain sheep or big horn ; rabbits, squirrels, the sewellel, the gopher and other rodents are so numerous as to give annoyance. Birds of prey, song birds and game birds are plentiful. Reptiles are of the 1048 O^'"^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. same genera and species as in California. Trout and salmon trout are found in the larger lakes, but the smaller lakes are too alkaline for fish. Southern Nevada has few animals. Agricultural Productions. — While Nevada is essentially a mining State, and contains but a comparatively small proportion of arable land, she can, by the aid of irrigation, raise a sufficient quantity of cereals, root crops, etc., to supply her small popula- tion, and by turning attention to stock-raising soon export many thousand head of cattle. The soil of the State is generally a loam, most fertile where the underlying rock is limestone, but nearly everywhere suffi- ciently so to reward the labors of the husbandman, where water can be obtained for the purposes of irrigation. The immense stretches of barren wastes so often seen are only so because of the want of moistening showers of rain, and streams sufficiently numerous to supply the demands for agriculture. As a large proportion of the land is much better adapted to grazing than to tillage, much attention has been given to the raising of live-stock, and the horses, cattle, sheep and goats bred here are of excellent quality. The winter feed, consisting of bunch-grass and white sage, furnishes the best of sustenance for stock, so that, with rare exceptions, is any provision made or stores of fodder laid up for winter use. During the summer months the pasturage in the vicinity of springs, brooks and creeks on mountain sides and in the canons supplies the feed, but when winter comes, the herds and flocks feed miles away from water in the valleys. The north- ern and eastern sections of the State are the best adapted for grazing. Many of the loftiest mountains are covered with a spe- cies of bunch-grass peculiar to those localities. The table-lands and dry valleys in many places are covered with the white sage, which makes the best of winter feed for stock. When growing in the spring and summer, this sage is bitter and not eaten, but when the frosts of fall and winter come it is tender, sweet and nutritious, and better liked by stock than other kinds of feed. So extensive has the business of stock-raising become that now the supply far exceeds the wants of the population, and thousands of steers and beef cattle are yearly shipped by railroad to the markets VARIED PRODUCTS OF SOUTHERN VALLEYS. 1049 of California. The aoricultural lands of the State are small in proportion to the area, though in all of the valleys where are found streams of water large tracts of land are brought under cultivation, and the crops produced are very superior in character. The best of these arable lands are found in Carson, Eagle, Mason, Washoe, Truckee, Humboldt, Reese River, Owyhee, Lamoille, Ruby, Steptoe, Spring, White River, Snake, Panaca, Pahranagat, Paradise, Muddy and Los Vegas Valleys. There are hundreds of other smaller valleys, and in many of them the soil is quite as productive, though less water is found; and there is no land in the State but what is benefited, for agriculture, by irrigation. In the northern and central valleys all the grains, vegetables, and fruits of a temperate climate are cultivated with success. In the southern valleys the proportion of fertile land is much less than in other sections of the State, except about springs and streams of water. The country is chiefly a desert. The scarcity of water is a noticeable feature, but where there is sufficient for irrigation, as in the Muddy and Las Vegas Valleys, the farmer is abundantly rewarded for his labor. Fruit trees, embracing nearly every va- riety known in both temperate and tropical climates, are culti- vated. Growing here side by side are seen the olive and the plum, orange and apple, lemon and peach, fig and apricot, pome- granate and pear, and the walnut and pepper. Grapes also grow to perfection. The vineyards produce as perfectly ripened and delicious grapes as the most favored localities in California and France. Cotton and sorghum have been cultivated quite ex- tensively ; one acre of land yielding as much as a thousand pounds of the former. Melons, squashes and beans also grow abundantly, as well as corn and all the smaller grains. Some of the hardier vegetables, as potatoes, do not thrive so well. Two crops are raised yearly on the same land. It is first sown in small grains, as wheat, barley, rye and oats, which are harvested about the first of June. It is then planted in corn, beans, pota- toes, beets, cabbage, onions, squashes, melons and all other vari- eties of garden vegetables. The mezquit bushes, which grow in some of these southern valleys, furnish a very nutritious bean, which all animals feed upon as soon as the grasses die in the fall. J050 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Stock keep as fat upon this feed during the winter months as though fed upon hay and grain. The tables on page 105 1 give the latest reports yet published of the crops and live-stock of Nevada — the returns of 1877 "^"^^ 1878. The Legislature has only biennial sessions, and the reports of the assessors and auditor are only made biennially. The amount of arable land enclosed or reported as in farms, was, in 1877, 152,- 810 acres, and in 1878, 158,097 acres; only one four-hundred-and- fifty-fourth part of the area of the State ; and of this small terri- tory — less than seven townships — only 75,743 acres in 1877, and 76,358, or not quite one-half, was under cultivation. It should be said, however, that there is no official record of the lands used for grazing purposes, and that a moderate portion of these is also under cultivation.* Manufacturing Industry. — The fluctuations in the population and the mining industry of Nevada make it exceedingly difficult to determine the amount of manufacturing in the State at any given period. The annual product of Its manufacturing establish- ments in 1873 was reported at ^15,870,839. We doubt whether it is as much as that now, though at some periods during the decade the amount may have been twice as much. There were in 1878 fifteen grist or flouring mills reported in the State, which were said to have produced 5,000 barrels of flour (all from Washoe county, though only one mill was reported from that county, the other fourteen being situated in other counties, and the same mill ground 1,500 bushels of corn, all * The State Surveyor-General in 1879 makes the following approximate estimate of the area of available lands in Nevada. It is, of course, only an approximation, and may eventually prove to be some millions of acres out of the way : Approximate area of agricultural land 1,067,653 acres. " " " grazing land 9,708,060 acres. " " «< timbered land 1,901,410 acres. Mineral lands 1,261,600 acres. Total of available lands now known 13.938,723 acres. This is a little less than one-fifth of the entire area of the State ; but it must not tie hnstily concluded that four-fifths of Nevada is a desert. There is undoubtedly a larger amount of una- vailable land in the State than in any other State of " Our Western Empire ; " but there will eventually be found to be thirty or forty million acres which can be made valuable. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS AND LIVESTOCK. Agricultural Productions. 105 1 Kind of crop. Wheat, bushels Barley, " Oats, " Rye, " Corn, " Buckwheat," Peas, " Beans, " Potatoes, " Cabbage, tons Hav, " Hops, " Beets, " Turnips, " Butter, pounds Cheese, " Wool, " Grape vines, number. Wine, gallons Honey, pounds 1877. 1878. Acres. Acres. 8,444 23>42I 7.233 109 449 II 24 46 4,602 114 90.915 8,268 24,267 6,739 166 4,235 13 18 43 3,575 117 91,344 2>2 1877. Bushels, tons or pounds. 104,603 546,774 181,288 3,035 10,696 157 505 1,052 345,900 459 105,727 150 206 212 326,015 33,900 577,216 82,959 2,010 15,875 1878. Bushels, tons or pounds. 130,999 544,059 98,300* 3,060* 11,945 165 445 1,035 382,397 421.5 107,698 150 196 206 337,925 36,900 626,807 102,450 2,115 16,680 Live-Stock. Animals. Horses Mules Asses Milch cows Oxen and other cattle Bulls Sheep and lambs Angora and Cashmere goats Hogs Chickens Turkeys Geese Ducks Hives of bees Total values. 1877. 1878. Number. Number. 29,562 3'782 173 46,879 98,849 1,068 198,911 4,246 5,537 54,170 5'i27 1,522 3'997 1,053 31,496 7,646 175 50,951 173,840 1,032 211,173 6,698 6,080 56,820 5,040 1,510 4,483 1,190 1877. Value. 51,478,000.00 247,154.00 12,110.00 1,078,217.00 1,878, 131.00 64,080.00 397,822.00 42,460.00 16,61 1. 00 21,668.00 7,690.00 1,369.80 2,998.00 10,530.00 1878. Value. i, 307, 970.80 $1,572,480.00 499,666.00 12,250.00 1,171,873.00 3,476,800.00 61,920.00 443,463.00 73,678.00 19,760.00 28,410.00 7,560.00 i,359-oo 3,362.25 11,900.00 ^394,49I•25 * Assessor's report, evidently incomplete. IOC2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. that was reported, and 50,000 bushels of barley) ; 55,000 bushels of barley were ground in other counties. This was a falling off from the production of the previous year, but this may be due to the fact that the assessors in most of the counties neglected to report. There were twenty-seven saw mills reported ; a part of these sawed 27,490,000 feet of lumber, and made 100,000 shingles. There were eight planing and framing mills. There were 119 quartz stamp mills in operation, six less than the previous year, and they crushed 659,534 tons of quartz, almost 300,000 tons less than the year before ; there were thirty-four smelting furnaces, which smelted 154,651 tons of ore, about 70,000 tons more than the previous year. Seven pan mills worked over 83,563 tons of tailings. Six borax mills were operated, but how much they produced is not told. The other manufactures are not reported, and we have no key to the value of the production of these. There were seventeen mining ditches in operation, having a total length of fifty-seven miles, and eight of them used 4S4 miner's inches of water daily. There were 407 irrigating ditches, having a total length of 1,491 miles, and irrigating 128,004 acres of land. There were also six wood flumes, fifty-three miles in length, and 75,000 cords of wood were flumed through them. Railroads. — The entire number of railroads in the State was fifteen in 1878. The total length at the close of 1879 was about 685 miles. Valuation. — The assessed valuation of real and personal estate in 1878 In the State, with one county (Elko) missing, were ^26,018,392, about ^1,400,000 less than that of the previous year. These amounts were absurdly below the real valuation. Either one of the four or five bonanza kings of the State could probably show an inventory exceeding this amount, and the property of the Central Pacific Railroad in the State alone is probably worth considerably more than the entire assessed valuation of all real property In the State. Population. — Nevada is not a State of large population, and since 1870, the number of its inhabitants has fluctuated remark- ably. When admitted into the Union as a State, its population POPULATION OF NEVADA. 1053 was far below the usual requirement, and indeed has never yet attained to it. The almost exclusive devotion of the inhabitants to mining enterprises, and the fact that many of these were managed by foreign companies, and the employes were very few of them citizens, has aidibd in keeping the population at a low figure. The following table gives the particulars of the population so far as they are attainable : i860 1870 1875 1877 1878 1880 1^ 6.857 58,734* 60,540* 64,164* 64.334* 69,065* 6,137 32,359t 37.54it 720 IO,II2f i4.999t 6,812 45 38,959 3,509! 43,127 4,413^ 53.574 5,9 i c I 1 c 1 5 16,243 8,000 7,000 6,750 6,800 4,793 23,690 2,064 i8,8oi 0.06 0.41 0.66 0.51 0.52 0.44 36,623 25,642 519-67 17.11 10.03 00.06 7-35 500 6,950 8,785 9,465 9,521 8,274 ho u N <1S 4;' ?l bJ < ui t* ■o 'Z, ^ > S* •a c 5,149 5,699 24,762 I 26,920 I 29,780 30.8135 3',494fl Indian Reservations. — The Indian reservations amount tG* 897,815 acres, but only a very small part of this consists of arable lands. Coimties and Cities. — There are fourteen organized counties \\\ Nevada, viz.: Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Lyon, Nye, Ormsby, Storey, Washoe and White Pine ; of these Storey county, in which is situated the Comstock lode, is much the largest; of the others only Eureka and Ormsby exceed 5,000 inhabitants. The principal cities and towns are Virginia City, which has 13,705 inhabitants; Gold Hill and Hamilton, mining towns, with 4,000 or 5,000 each; Carson City, the capital, with about 4,000; Treasure City, Elko, Reno and Pioche, with from 1,500 to 2,000 each. Education. — The State has a moderate school fund from the sale of school lands, and the provision for public school education is very good. Her fund will increase with the growth of the ♦Including tribal Indians, f Excluding tribal Indians, f Includes 3,152 Chinese. § Includes 3,919 Chinese. \ The number of registered voters in 1877 was 17,761, and in 1878 17,166, showing that a large number of those of voting age were aliens. 1054 ^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. State. In the cities and towns, the schools are well maintained. Among the' scattered population of the newer mining districts and the grazing lands there is more difficulty. The only institution for higher education is the State University, which has not yet organized anything beyond its preparatory department. ' Religious Denominations. — In 1874 there were in Nevada, as reported, forty-four church organizations of all denominations, thirty-two church edifices, thirty-seven clergymen, priests or ministers, 1,132 communicants, 10,300 adherent population, and ^301,450 of church property. Of these the Roman Catholics claimed thirteen church organizations, though but seven church edifices and six priests. They numbered all the adherents of their church as Catholic population, and reported them as 5,000. Their church edifices were the best buildincrs of the kind in the State, and were valued at ^134,000, probably considerably less than their actual worth. The Methodists came next with eleven church organizations, ten church edifices, twelve ministers, 496 communicants, 2,500 adherent population, and church property reported at ^76,250. There were nine Protestant Episcopal Churches, six church edifices, nine clergymen, and 269 communicants, with ^48,000 of church property. Next in order came Presbyterians, with five churches, three church edifices, three ministers, 169 members, and ^21,200 of church property. The only other denominations reported were the Baptists, with three churches, three church edifices, three ministers, and ^16,000 of church property ; and the Congregationalists, with one church, one church edifice, and one minister, with twelve members, and ^6,000 of church property. Nevada could hardly be called a very religious commonwealth, when less than one- fifth of its population were even adherents to any form of religion, and only one-fiftieth were actual communicants. The condition of things is not much better now. At that date the Mormons had begun to plant their communities, and teach their doctrines in the mining districts, and now, six years later, they claim to have the control there, and we fear their claim is just. This faith, which is also an authority or empire, is the sum of all abominations, and we cannot look at its spread without HISTORICAL DATA AND CONCLUSION, Iqci; horror and disgust. The prevalence of polygamy, blasphemy, lust and murder in a State like Nevada, would portend its ruin were its mines a thousand-fold richer than they are. Historical Data. — Nevada is a part of the region acquired from Mexico by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in February, 1848. It was at first a part of California Territory, and on the admission of that State into the Union, was made a part of Utah Territory. It was set off as the Territory of Nevada, in March, 1 861, but had not then so large an area as it has now. A part of its present boundaries on the east were fixed in 1862 ; it was admitted into the Union as a State in 1864, and received some further accessions of territory in 1866. It furnished its quota of soldiers to the civil war, and sent material aid to the Sanitary Commission to the extent of ^51,000. Conclusion. — Nevada does not offer a very promising field for immigration. Its great mining operations are in the hands of wealthy capitalists, and are not at the present time very promis- ing ; there are probably new lodes and new placers which may prove very rich ; but only capitalists will be able to hold or work them. Grazing, especially with herds of cattle, might prove better, but it requires a large capital, and Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Washington Territory, and perhaps California, are so much better adapted to grazing as to leave but small induce- ments to the stock-grower to start here. Farming in some of the fertile valleys, or market gardening, would be more feasible, for, with irrigation, crops can be raised, which will find a good and ready market at home. But the lack of any patriotic State feeling, and the prevalence of Mormonism throughout the State, make it a State to which immigration is not desirable. IQ^5 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER XVI. l^EW MEXICO. Topography — Boundaries Tenlarged by the Gadsden Treaty) — Extent AND Area — Mountains — Rivers and Lakes — Climate — Variety in Tem- perature — Mr. Z. L. White on the. Summer Climate of the Territory — New Mexico as a Health Resort ^Meteorology and Rainfall of vari- ous Points in the Territory — Geology and Mineralogy — Mineral Wealth of the Territory — Gold and Silver — Other Metals and Min- erals — Turquoise — Hot Springs — Coal — Bituminous, Lignite and True Anthracite — Coal found in New Mexico of the best Quality and in Inexhaustible Quantities — Arable Lands — Their Quantity and Qualit's — Native Agriculture — Grazing Lands — New Mexico best Adapted t(» Sheep-farming — Number of Sheep — Crops of 1879 — Mining Industry — Governor Wallace on the Mining Districts — The Gold and Silveu Production — Objects of Interest — The Canons and Terrible Darj; Valleys and Caves of the Territory — The Seven Cities of Cibola- Evidences of Volcanic Action — Buried Cities — Abo and its Ruins- The Indian Skeleton overwhelmed by Volcanic Ashes — The Vas'I Crater — Rock Cities — The Pueblo Pottery — How it was and is Mad" — The Zuni Blankets — Manufactures — Railroads — Great Developmeni OF Railways — Population — T-Af le — Chief-Justice Prince on the Three Civilizations Found There — The Indian Tribes — The Pueblos — The Apaches — The Navajoes — Counties and Principal Towns — Education — Religion and Morals — Historical Data — Conclusion. New Mexico is a central Territory of the southern tier of States and Territories of "Our Western Empire." It is a portion of the territory ceded by Mexico by the treaty of Guadalupe- Hidalgo, in February, 1848, and, previous to the cession, had been a State of that republic. It was created a Territory by Act of Congress, September 9th, 1850, but the Territorial government was not organized till March i, 1851. The Territory extends from 103° to 109° of west longitude from Greenwich, and from 31° 20' to 2,^° north latitude. It is bounded by Colorado on the north, by Texas and the Indian Territory on the east, Texas and Old Mexico on the south, and Arizona on the west. It is almost a perfect square, a small tract projecting into Mexico, which was acquired by the Gadsden TOPOGRAPHY OF NEW MEXICO. jO^^ treaty, in the southwest, being the only departure from complete- ness in its proportions. This tract contains some noted mineral springs, but otherwise is not at present known to be of much value. The greatest length of the Territory from north to south is 390 miles, and its greatest breadth from east to west 341 miles. Its area is 121,201 square miles, or 77,568,640 acres. Mountain Chains. — The 'mountains enter the Territory from Colorado in two ranges, the eastern, lying wholly east of the Rio Grande, being a continuation of the Sangre de Cristo, or Park range, of Colorado, and continuing below the 37th parallel under the name of the Raton Mountains. The whole range is high, and numerous elevated summits and lofty peaks, as well as continuous ridges of great height, are found in its course; but these termi- nate abrupdy a short distance below Santa Fe, and only an ele- vated and somewhat broken plateau remains of this range from that point to the Texan boundary'. The other range, which seems to be a condniiation of tlte San Juan and Uncompahgre Mountains of Colorado, consists of many detached mountains of lower altitude, with passes between t'lem of only 5,000 or 6,000 feet in height. They are known in New Mexico as the Sierra Madre, and form the connecting link between the lofty and rugged mountains of Western Colorado and tlte equally lofty Sierra Madre of the Republic > T Mexico. The various groups of these detached mountains with ihe valleys between them fill up almost the endre region west of the Rio Grcinde. Though the eastern mountains are much the highest, yet here, as in Southern Colo- rado, the western and lower mountains form the water-shed be- tween the waters flowing to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. There are a chain of hills of moderate elevation alone the eastern bank of the Rio Pecos, which form the boundary on the west side of the vast Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain. Topogf^aphy. — The face of the country is diversified by moun- tains, valleys, plains, and high kvel plateaux or mesas ; similarity of climate, character and resources, pertaining to a large portion of the country, excepting in the highest ranges and lowest valleys. In portions of the Territory the surface is much broken and dis- rupted by chains of mountains, preserving a general direction of 67 jQfg ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. north and south. Intervening, there are large areas of table lands, bisected by many large and small valleys of unsurpassed fertility, and susceptible of the highest state of cultivation. The valleys have a mean altitude above the sea of 4,500 feet, and the mountains on either side of the Rio Grande del Norte and Rio Pecos of 6,000 to 8,000 feet. In the more northerly portions of the Territory they rise to 10,000 and 12,000 feet. Rivers and Lakes. — The rivers of New Mexico contribute to both the Atlantic and Pacific slopes. The eastern is watered and drained by the Canadian and its tributaries into the Mississippi, and the Rio Grande del Norte and its tributaries into the Gulf of Mexico. The western slope is watered and drained by the Colorado of the West and Rio Gila, and their tributaries, into the Gulf of California. The Rio Grande del Norte takes its rise in the high mountains, north of the boundary line of New Mexico, where it is fed by numerous springs and the meltings of the an- nual snows, and augmented by tributaries, watering and draining a vast area of some of the finest farming and grazing lands on the continent. It flows south through the western division of the Territor)', a broad, beautiful river enriching with its turbid water a valley more than 400 miles long and many miles in breadth — one of the most wonderful for fertility and beauty in the world. The Rio Pecos, on the eastern slope of the principal mountains, has its source in the mountains near Santa Fe, watering and draining, through its numerous tributaries, an Immense district of country, and flowing through its eastern division into Texas, through a valley only second in importance to that of the Rio Grande del Norte, with which it forms a junction below the southern boundary. The Canadian river flows to the east, and through its affluents waters and drains the entire northeastern part of the country. The Rio San Juan, formed by the Rio Pie- dra, Rio Los Pinos, Rio Florida, Rio de Los Animas, Rio Navajo, Rio de La Plata and other smaller streams, constitutes one of the piost beautiful rivers in the West, watering and draining all the southwestern slope of the San Juan Mountains. In the south- west the Rio Mimbres, Agate creek, Bear creek, and the San Francisco river, together with the head waters of the Rio Gila, water and drain the region. ' THE NEW MEXICAN CLIMATE. IO50 East of these, and flowing, from either side of a system of detached mountains, occupying nearly the longitudinal centre of the Territory, and extending through its entire length from north to south, terminating in the Guadalupe Mountains on the borders of Texas, are a large number of small rivers and creeks, supplying a large area of table lands and valleys, as well as a portion of the Terraces of the Rio Grande and Rio Pecos with pure living water. Besides these, almost every mountain and hill is supplied with numerous springs of sparkling cold water ; also, there are many good springs found in the low de- pressions and valleys many miles distant from the mountains. Thus, it will be seen that the water supply is far more ample than the casual observer or stranger would infer from an exami- nation of maps drafted years ago, or a supposition derived from vague reports of the arid climate and light rainfalls. Climate. — There is great diversity of climate, owing to differ- ences in latitude and altitude between different portions of the country. Almost any degree of temperature may be attained by change of locality, there being a wide range of extremes in tem- perature. In the lower plateaux, the summer days are w^arm, but not debilitating, because the atmosphere is so dry that perspira- tion is rapidly absorbed. The nights are always cool and bracing. The climate throughout the Territory is so mild and equable, combining dryness and purity, particularly so on the plateaux of mean elevation, that many persons afflicted with pul- monary and other diseases of a like character, have tested its salubrity with marked benefit, and in many cases permanent cure. Those who have lived in this delightful climate for a few years believe it to be the healthiest location in the United States. Mr. Zimri L. White, the able correspondent of the New York Tribune, writing from the Territory in September, 1880, says : " The summer climate of the northern part of the Territory is delightful. At Santa Fe, which has an altitude of about 7,000 feet, the nights are always so cool that heavy blankets upon the beds are comfortable, and the heat at midday, although sometimes great, is never oppressive. Americans here dress in heavy woollen fabrics, both for outside and underwear, at all seasons Io6o ^^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. of the year. I am told that the wifiters are mild and sunny, with comparatively little snow. The low altitudes in the central and southern portions of the Territory are very hot and dry, but on account of the absence of moisture in the atmosphere and the ex- ceedingly rapid evaporation, the apparent intensity of the heat is much reduced. The temperature in the mountains is always and everywhere delightful. New Mexico as a Health Resort. — New Mexico has a deservedly high reputation as a sanitary resort in pulmonary diseases, and that its real character and the diseases which are benefited by a residence there may be better understood, we present the fol- lowing testimony from eminent physicians and others long resi- dent in the Territory. Lewis Kennan, M. D., an eminent physician of Silver City, New Mexico, twenty-seven years resident in the Territory, says: "It is certain that even when the lungs were irreparably diseased, very much benefit has resulted. Invalids have come here with the system falling into tubercular ruin, and their lives have been as- tonishingly prolonged by the dry, bracing atmosphere. The most amazing results, however, are produced in warding off the ap- proaches of phthisis, and I am sure there are but few cases which, if sent here before the malady is well advanced, would fail to be arrested. Where hardening has occurred or even considerable cavities have been detected in the lungs, relief altogether sur- prising has taken place. The lowest death rate from tubercular disease in America is found in New Mexico, notwithstanding the large number of cases of that disease who resort thither for heal- ing. The census of 1870 gives twenty-five per cent, as the death rate from this disease in New England, fourteen in Minnesota, from five to six in the different Southern States, and three per cent, in New Mexico. I have never known a case of bronchitis or asthma in the Territory that was not greatly improved or altoeether cured. For rheumatism and diseases of the heart with or without a rheumatic origin, I would not recommend this climate. Valvular difficulty in that organ is invariably made worse." " The most wonderful effect of this climate," says an eminent NEIV MEXICO AS A HEALTH RESORT. IO61 physician, " is seen in those cases of general debility of all the functions of body and mind, the used-up condition. People come here in a state of languor, having little hope of life and often little desire to live, and the relief is so speedy as to seem miraculous. For weak and broken-down children there is nothing like it on the face of the earth ; with them the law of the survival of the strongest seems not to prevail here. I have no doubt that when the means of access to this country are more easy, and it is in consequence better known, it will rival or supersede Florida, Madeira, Nice, or the much vaunted paradise of Mentone as a sanitarium. The country is far distant from either ocean ; it is absolutely free from all causes of disease," Distinguished trav- ellers who have visited the health resorts of all other countries say : "The climate of New Mexico is very salubrious and bracing ; in fact it is unsurpassed by that of any other Territory or State." The following tables prepared from the Signal Service Reports, give the particulars of the rainfall and temperature at different towns in the Territory, and also at El Paso, Texas, which is on the Rio Grande, just at the southeastern point of the Gadsden Purchase, Rainfall in New Mexico i?i 1878 and 1879. Year and Months. ALBUQUERQUE. Latitude 35° 2'. Longitude-- 106° 40'. Altitude 5,026 feet. FORT CRAIG. Latitude 33° 42'. Longitude 107° 8'. Altitude about 5,000 feet. LA MESILLA. Latitude 32^^' 17'. Longitude 106^^ 48'. Altitude about 3,800 feet. SANTA Yt. Latitude 35° 41'. Longitude 106° 10'. Altitude 6,851 feet. SILVER CITY. Latitude 32° 48'. Longitude 108° 15'. Altitude 6,896 feet. EL PASO, TEXAS. Latitude 31° 46'. Longitude 106° 32'. Altitude about 3,500 feet. The Year inches. 0.47 0.26 0.02 0.02 0.03 inches. 2.96 0.65 0.30 0.00 0.12 0.00 0.08 0.01 1. 41 0.08 0.00 0.18 0.13 inches. 6.52 1.20 0.62 0.31 0.03 0.00 0.03 2.06 0.61 0.21 0.09 1.29 0.07 inches. 15-79 0.77 0.23 0.15 0.48 0-37 0.51 3.20 5-!2 1.03 0.00 3->5 0.78 1 inches. 20.77 2.7S 1. 12 0.32 0.01 0.00 0.08 3-92 7.70 0.27 0.00 3.80 0.77 inches. 8.99 1-57 0.83 0.18 0.07 0.00 O.oS 1-25 2-55 0.66 1.02 0.67 0.1 1 1879. January February 1 March , April May June 1878. July August . . . September Ocioiier 0.00 1.83 0.07 November December . . io62 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 1879. January February Marrh 3 1 ^ year 1878. July August September Year AND Months. Latitude 35° 41'. SANTA f6. Longitude 106° 10'. Altitude 6,851 feet. o. o> *. *. t OS oa oo 4^ ^ vb ui (. n Chi ^b 00 «b 4^ en 0, .^ V 00 00 i -^ i. Mean Temperature. Wa.ximum Temperature. ^0 M •(• " J Ul OS «. a< 5? 00 so so SO 00 .-J us V) % \ u ' ^ 1 i » » 00 M s i Minimum Temperature. Ot Ji O Ln vj ^ O «-• ^ 00 CO t o> OS OS "" 6^ 8 Range of Temperature. p 1 !«i o J ^q ON .*. 4k OS M vj 00 so •a Mean Humidity. to M t3 to M tg K) "O vO "O vO NO o *o OO 00 -^ GO -^J -vj -^ ^ ^ O W M s§ sg SO SO so CO so vb a> so Is! - I>J OS 00 -. OS 5' Mean Barometer. ^} nH" ^ 00 ^ OJ >J 4W JS OS OS OS r ^ s Mean Temperature. 50 H > P > f r i ° " '■ 8 D 2= CD On OS S ^ SO Maximum Temperature. '^ s -4 - 1 OS * (0 ji 8^ 1 Mi"imum Temperature. 12 S 3n 0\. L o\ g -s On oo 4^ ■si Range of Temperature. o\ o> -** ;fe ?; 8^ OS bo 00 (0 u. Mean Temperature. Maximum Temperature. r < > r f E § S s- s 1- _Os n OJ ^ "o 2; J to VO 00 S' ■S' ■3 OS - OS ^ Range of Temperature. 5" *. ? o> 0. ij> 61 •5 ■^ •9 a g" 00 8^ Mean Temperature. H W M r > > p > r r — OS) r i. " 0- " "^ J. ° i J*? i O 00 OO 00 ^ Os *<1 4" •o so NO SO 00 Maximum Temperature. % ^ <:i 55 " 5o y t '0 ^ s? •3 S Minimum Temperature. tk *■ o> ^ "5 bi OS 4- !S so 00 00 ^ Range of Temperature. MINERAL WEALTH OF NEW MEXICO. 1063 Geology and Mineralogy. — The surface rocks of the great pla- . teau, which comprises so large a portion of the Territory, belong to the cretaceous period, except those in the southwest and west, which are a part of the plateau of the Sierra Madre, and are en- tirely of the eozoic period. The summits of the Rocky Moun- tain system, as well as those of the Sierra Madre, are also eozoic, but the peaks are capped with metamorphic rocks, chiefly porphy- ry, trap and basalt. Besides these exceptions, there are three con- siderable tracts which are volcanic, and covered with lava, which is, apparendy, only a few centuries old ; the first of these tracts is in the Zuni Mountains, between the Rio Puerco and the Rio San Jose, including Mount Taylor ; the second is east of and parallel to the Rio Grande ; it is nearly 140 miles in length ; the third is near the northern boundary of the Territory, along the west bank of the Rio Grande and extending to the Rio Chama. The tract east of the Rio Grande is called Mai Pais (" bad coun- try "), and besides the lava, has a broad expanse of volcanic sand, alternating with salt marshes. The valleys of the Rio Pecos and of the Canadian river and its branches are triassic or Jurassic, and at some points are under- laid with coal at such depths as to be accessible. The valley of the Rio Grande above the thirty-fifth parallel is tertiary: below that parallel it partakes of the general character of the plateau, and is cretaceous. The foot-hills of the eastern slope of the Gua- dalupe Mountains are triassic. There are two considerable tracts of tertiary in the northeastern pordon of the Territory, the larger of the two lying between the head-waters of the Cimmaron and the north fork of the Canadian rivers, and the smaller between two of the afiluents of the Canadian. Mineral Wealth. — The geological formations of New Mexico form an extremely interesting study, as well on account of their peculiarities as of the vast quantities of minerals, especially the precious metals, which are contained in some of them. The syenitic rocks of the mountains which traverse the central plat- eau between the Pecos and the Rio Grande, and the carbonifer- ous limestones found on the flanks and sometimes on the rido-es of these mountains, are both traversed by mineral-bearing lodes. J 0^4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. In the sandstone formation beds of lignite and bituminous coal from three to five feet in thickness are foand, alternating with layers of iron ore of good quality and fire-clay. In the Old Pla- cer Mountains and elsewhere, mines of anthracite of a superior quality have been opened. Marls, gypsum, and other valuable earths are abundant and easy of access, but little has been done to develop the deposits. Zinc, manganese, quicksilver and some minor minerals occur. In the Placer mountains, and at several other points, especially near Pinos Altos and Embudo, iron is worked. Lead is found in the Pinos Altos mines, in the Organ mountains, and at other points. Copper is even more abundant, and some of the mines yield large results. The chief deposits worked are those of the Manzano, Magollon, and Magdalena mountains. Turquoise of rare beauty has been found in the Cerillos Moun- tains, about twenty miles southwest of Santa Fe, and mines of it were worked with great profit before the Indian revolt in 1680. The finest turquoise in Europe, one of the jewels of the Spanish crown, was obtained in these mountains more than two centuries ago. Hot springs and other mineral springs of great medicinal virtue, abound in New Mexico. Governor Wallace says that excellent hot springs have been discovered at Fernandez, in Taos county ; at Las Vegas, San Miguel county; at Ojo Caliente, in Rio Arriba county; near Jemez, in Bernalillo county; near Fort McRae, So- corro county ; Fort Selden, Dona Ana county ; and at Mimbres, in Grant county. Those at Jemez are probably unexcelled in the world. At Las Vegas elaborate preparations are in progress for the care and entertainment of guests and invalids. Any and all these springs are equal in curative qualities, if not superior, to those in Arkansas. They have certainly the attraction of an unsurpassed climate. In this connection mention may be made of the soda springs, of which there are several. One, east of Isleta eighteen or twenty miles, is particularly worthy of notice as yielding seltzer quite equal to the best imported article. But the chief mineral wealth of this rich Territory is contained THE ANTHRACITE COAL OF NEW MEXICO. 1065 in its gold and silver mines, some of which have been worked since remote times. The earliest Spanish discoverers found such convincing- proofs of the richness of the gold and silver deposits that they gave to the country its present name from the resem- blance to the mineral regions of old Mexico. Throughout the periods of the Spanish and Mexican occupancy the precious metals were worked, and even with the rude appliances and de- sultory methods of those peoples, wonderful results were obtained. Capital, abundant water power and railroad communication, are the three desiderata for the successful development of the rich mines of this country, which are believed to rival the most pro- ductive deposits known. The chief gold fields now operated are those of Colfax, Grant, Santa Fe and Bernalillo counties, and of the Carrizo, Sierra Blanca, Patos, Jicarilla and Magdalena Moun- tains, but these are only a few of the many regions in which gold is known to exist. So far little more than the placers have been I'.ouched, while the great resources of the quartz lodes still await the advent of machinery, capital, and, above all, well-directed labor. The silver mines of Pinos Altos, the Cerillos, Sandia and Magdalena Mountains, formerly so productive, have been worked in a perfunctory way, but without any organized system of pro- cedure, and the production is now small. A few words should be said in regard to the coal deposits of New Mexico. The greater part of the coal deposits throughout "Our Western Em- pire" are bituminous, and even where they are called anthracites, they are generally only a little harder or denser veins of the bitu- minous coal, and at most can be regarded as only semi-anthracites. Some geologists have boldly declared that there was no anthracite west of the Mississippi river, and have predicted that nothing of the kind would ever be discovered there ; but they are certainly in error. Whether the so-called anthracites of Southwestern Colorado, of Texas, of Arizona and of Utah, will prove to be true anthracites, maybe a question until we have more and more careful and thorough analyses of them ; but that there is anthracite coal in Northwest Washington Territory, and that it is abundant in New Mexico, seems to be proved beyond the possibility of a doubt. The only locality where it has thus far been found is jq56 our western empire. among the foot-hills of the Placer Mountains, about thirty miles south-southwest of Santa Fe. The formation is tertiary, but it has been subjected at various times to volcanic action, as the lava and metamorphic rocks plainly indicate. Mr. Z. L. White examined these coal deposits very carefully in August, 1880, and though previously faithless in regard to the existence of anthra- cite anywhere in this region, became fully satisfied that it was anthracite, and of the very best quality. The mines already opened are on the "Ortiz Grant," and the coals in this, of which there are twenty-seven veins, ranging from a few inches to more than six feet in thickness, are easily accessible. The coal was probably originally a lignite of excellent quality of the tertiary, but by volcanic action was changed into anthracite. Mr. White fortifies his opinion by the definition of true anthracite given in the best treadses on coal, and by three analyses made by the geol- ogists of Lieutenant Wheeler's expedition in 1875, by R. D. Owen and E. T. Cox in 1865, and by Professor J. L. Leconte in 1868, and in a fourth column gives the analysis of the Pennsylvania anthracites from " Dana's Mineralogy." The economic impor- tance of this anthracite coal to the whole West, it being very near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, must be our apology for devoting so much space to it. ANALYSES. Constituents, ^V. O. & C. Lee. Penna. Coal. Water 2.10 3.50 2.90 Gas 6.63 4.50 3.18 3.84 Fixed Carbon .... 86,22 87.00 88.91 87.45 Ash 5.05 5.00 5.21 7.37 Totals . . . 100.00 100.00 100.00 98.66 "True anthracite has a specific gravity of 1.4 to 1.7 ; its hard- ness is 2 to 2.5 ; and it contains 85 to 93 per cent, of fixed carbon ; and voladle matter, after drying, 3 to 6 per cent. It is amorphous, of conchoidal fracture, brittle, has a sub-metallic lustre, iron black to grayish and brownish black color, and when pulverized forms a black powder. It ignites with difficulty and at a high tempera- ture, but when ignited produces an intense heat. This is an exact description of the coal in the Ordz mines." AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS. I067 Agricultural Productions. — There are in New Mexico from 18,000,000 to 20,000,000 acres of arable lands, or at least that much can be brought under successful cultivation, when a judi- cious system of Irrigating canals and reservoirs shall have been constructed. More than three-fourths of all the waters of the Territory run to waste at present. The country is admirably supplied with hundreds of natural basins on the elevated plateaux, where the water of all or nearly all the streams could be stored by means of canals and ditches. The water supplies would com- mence accumulating during the early fall, and continue through the winter, spring and early summer rises or freshets, from the melting snow in the high mountains. In this way immense reser- voirs could be accumulated, ample for all purposes. The soil of the valleys throughout the Territory is a rich sandy loam, composed of the disintegrated matter of the older rocks and volcanic ashes. It is light and porous and of surprising fer- tility. Corn, wheat, oats and barley grow well in all parts of the Territory ; corn is a staple product. The cereals do best in the northern districts and elevated plateaux ; corn, vegetables and all kinds of fruit do best in the valleys ; corn, in the rich bottoms, along the principal streams, if well cultivated, may be made to yield over eighty bushels per acre ; wheat on the uplands often yields over fifty bushels per acre, and in portions of the Rio Grande Valley averages twenty-hve bushels under the rudest and most imperfect culture.* Farm lands in the Taos Valley and * Mr. White says of the native agriculture : " The Mexican and Indian methods of harvesting their grain are very primitive, similar, in- deed, to those of Eastern countries in Bible times. The wheat is cut by hand with a sickle, and taken, unbound, in carts to the threshing-floor. This consists of a round plat of level ground in an elevated place, fifty, one hundred, or two hundred feet in diameter, as the farm is a large or small one, the surface of which is pounded or trodden as hard as a cement floor. Around the edges of this, tall poles are set in the ground five or six feet apart, forming a circle. The un- threshed grain is piled up loosely in the centre, and, when everything is ready, a thin layer is raked down between the central pile of grain and the circle of poles, and then a flock of goats or sheep, or sometimes of burros, or ponies, is driven around over the grain until it has all been beaten out of the heads by their feet. The straw is then thrown outside of the circle of poles, and the wheat pushed up toward the centre. Another lot of the unthreshed grain is then raked down, and the operation repeated until the whole is threshed. I was forcibly reminded of the Scriptural injunction which forbade the Hebrews to muzzle the ox that trod out the grain. The winnowing is also done in the Biblical way. After the wheat has been separated from the straw, it is gathered up into a heap, and when a biisk breeze arises it is thrown into the air ia iq53 our western empire. in the vicinity of Santa Fe have been under cultivation over 2CK) years, and in all that time not one ounce of fertilizing material has been used to enrich them; yet there is no perceptible dimi- nution in crops. The valley of the Rio Grande del Norte, for 400 miles in length, averaging five miles in breadth, can all be irrio-ated with the turbid water of the stream from which its name is derived. This stream, like the Nile, is the sole reliance of the farmer; the water Is turbid with sediment, one-fifth of its weight at high water. At such times, each irrigation is equal, if not superior, to a coat of the richest fertilizer. El-Paso Valley has been cultivated in this way over 265 years. The valley of the Rio Grande del Norte is admirably adapted to grape culture : there is probably no part of the wojdd where all the conditions of soil, humidity and temperature are united to produce this delicious fruit In greater perfection. The frosts of winter are just severe enough to destroy insects without injuring die vines, and the rains seldom fall at the season when the plant is flowering, or when the fruit Is coming into maturity, and liable to rot from exposure to moisture; as a result, the fruit, when ripe, has a thin skin, scarcely any pulp, and is devoid of the musky taste usual with American grapes. Grapes do well also on the lower valley of the Pecos, and in many other parts of the Territory. Mr. White says of the grape culture: "Grapes constitute one of the principal crops of the Rio Grande Valley. The commonest variety is the Muscat, from which a very good wine is made. The vineyards look like plantations of currant bushes, the vines the teeth of the wind, which blows away the chaff while the wheat falls by itself on the clean floor. At a distance the flying chaff looks like steam escaping by successive puffs from the ex- haust pipe of an engine. " The Mexicans and some of the Indians are beginning to adopt modem farming implements, and in a few years iron ploughs will probably have replaced the wooden ones that have been in use here for centuries, and which are exactly like those with which the Egyptians cultivated the valley of the Nile in the time of Moses. I saw one of these ploughs, but as this is not the season when the ground is broken up, I have had no opportunity to observe its use. It consisted simply of a crooked stick, upon the point of which an iron point was fastened by means of raw- hide thongs. The Pueblo Indian carts are also curiosities. Not a scrap of iron is used in their manufacture. The wheels are discs made of boards, with a clumsy wooden hub on the outside. The tire is of raw-hide, and the body of the cart is constructed of poles rudely framed logether " VEGETABLES IN NEW MEXICO. IO69 being planted in rectangular order, and trained in the form of shrubs. The fruit is delicious, like that of California, and I have no doubt that the wine crop of the valley will, before many years, become one of the largest and most profitable in the Territory. Archbishop Lamy, who is a native of France, and who, during the almost third of a century of his residence here, has travelled thousands of miles every year among the Mexican and Indian population of New Mexico, told me that no part of California is better adapted for the culture of grapes and the manufacture of wine than the Rio Grande Valley. The natives tread out the juice of the grapes with their feet, as did the slaves in the great vineyards of classic times. "The orchards of the valley are remarkably thrifty and prolific, and the fruit is large and fair. I never saw apple trees that were apparently so free from disease. The bark was as bright as though the trunks of the trees had been washed in lye. The peach and plum trees are large and full of fruit. The orchards do not appear to have been planted with much regularity, but the trees seem to have been stuck down by the side of the acequias, wherever they were certain to have plenty of water." Cabbages grow finely, often weighing from thirty to sixty pounds each. Onions also grow very large, weighing from one to two pounds each ; those raised in the Raton Mountains are said to possess the finest flavor. Irish potatoes are grown in the northern districts, where they yield enormously. Sweet potatoes are raised in the Mesilla Valley, and at Fort Stanton, on the Rio Bonito and Ruidoso, in Lincoln county. Beets, radishes, turnips, parsnips and carrots grow well every- where. Beans, peas and tobacco are also grown successfully ; beans to the native population are what the potato is to the Irish. Apples do well in almost all parts of the country. Peaches, pears and apricots do well from Bernalillo down ; also on the Pecos from Anton Chico down ; melons of all kinds grow to large proportions, and of the most delicious flavor. Not more than one-tenth of the valleys of the Rio Grande or Pecos are occupied or cultivated. The same may be said of an hundred other valleys and terraces along the large streams, and I07O OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. especially so of the higher plateaux. The most extensive settle- ments are confined to the valleys of the principal streams. Those of the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Mora contain the majority, the balance being located in the small valleys and isolated districts, in and near the mountains, where their pursuits are divided between agriculture and stock-raising. The only forage crop of the grasses that has been attempted here is "Alfalfa," the Chilian or California clover; when cultivated it yields an enormous crop. It grows well throughout the Territory, and in the southern districts often yields three crops per annum. In a country where there is such a profusion of nutritious grasses, as are indigenous to the mesas and mountain slopes, it is not necessary to cultivate forage crops, except for the sustenance of farm animals, and those in use in the towns. Thousands of tons of grama grass are cut annually to supply the demands of military posts and stage stations. As a sample of what can be done in the valley of the Rio Grande, it is only necessary to refer to the beautiful Mesilla Valley ; it is seventy miles long, and embraces 280 square miles, or 179,200 acres, or 560 farms of 320 acres each. It is one of the richest and most delightful valleys in the world. There are farmers who settled in this valley only fifteen years ago, without one dollar to start with, who to-day are worth from ^50,000 to ^60,000, and every dollar of it made from the products of the soil. It is the rival of any portion of California in the raising of all kinds of fruit, and as to grapes it is not sur- passed by any district in the world. In the coldest season the thermometer never falls lower than 15° above zero. Snow is scarcely ever seen. It is a district that needs only to be seen to be appreciated. The most valuable timber in New Mexico is the pine, — its growth principally confined to the mountain districts and high rolling lands. Pitch, yellow and spruce varieties grow to a large size, and make excellent lumber. Cottonwood, walnut, locust, box-alder and sugfar tree fringe the streams and canons of the mountains. Also live oak of small size, and a peculiar species SHEEP-FARMING IN NEW MEXICO. IO71 of cedar, called here "juniper." It grows on the upland, and to large size, throughout the southern half of the Territory. The nut-pine, or pinon, is abundant, and makes good charcoal and fire-wood. The timber supply is ample for all purposes. Stock-Raising. — Though not as arid as Arizona, good water, even in the mountains, is very scarce. On the plains and mesas and in the valleys, running water is seldom seen, and when it is found, it is so strongly charged with alkali as not to be drinkable. It is not an uncommon thing to travel thirty or forty miles with- out seeing a spring or a drop of water in the river courses Cattle, horses and sheep on the ranges often habitually go twc or three days without water. About twice a week they get around to some spot where the bed-rock of a stream rises to the surface bringing the water with it, remain in the vicinity over night, and then wander off perhaps twenty-five miles, returning again about the third day. Cattle and sheep-raising is carried on very successfully over large areas in New Mexico, and although the grama grass is so thin that it will not support as many animals to a thousand acres as the bunch grass of the more northern Territories, it furnishes a wonderfully nutritious food, and the country is by no means fully stocked. There is great room for improvement in the grade of all kinds of stock, but even now the business of grazing is a remarkably profitable one. The markets of Kansas and Colorado are easily accessible to New Mexican stock-men, and this has given a great impetus to the business. While there are considerable tracts in which catde will do well, and the raising of beeves for the market may yet become a very profitable industry in New Mexico, yet for the present and probably for many years to come it will be pre-eminently the country for sheep-farming. The number of sheep in the Territory is probably not less than two millions, of which half a million or more are owned by the Navajoes, an Indian tribe occupying its western and northwestern portions. The Hon. J. Francisco Chaves, late a delegate in Congress from New Mexico, in a letter to General Brisbin, the author of "The Beef Bonanza," written the past summer, says of sheep- farming in New Mexico: J 07 2 O^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. " Without having the data before me, and only judging from what I know of the Territory and of the large sheep-owners in it, I am satisfied that I do not overestimate the number in stating them at 1,500,000 head of ewes. The climate is exceedingly temperate and salubrious ; no diseases, much less those affecting the skin or hoofs, being known. Sheep in our Territory are herded and grazed from one portion of the Territory to another during the same year, thus adopting what may be termed the mio-ratory plan. The climate is dry and the soil is gravelly, producing the most nutritious grasses and shrubs. Of the former the grama and bunch grass, of which there are two or three different varieties, and the latter the various kinds of sage, which make the best and most nutritious of browsing, and a laro-e amount of underbrush and seed grass in the mountains. Were it net for the insecurity of life and property caused by the wild, marauding tribes of Indians, especially the Navajoes, but a few years would elapse before New Mexico's hills and plains would be literally covered with fleecy flocks. It is but a fewyears back, andactually within my own personal recollecdon, when nearly 1,000,000 sheep were actually driven to market to southern Mexico from our Territory. At that time sheep were worth but twenty-five cents per head, and all those engaged in the business made money. That prosperity in the history of New Mexico was superinduced by twelve years of unintermitted peace with the Navajoes. A sheep-raiser in New Mexico can safely calculate on an increase of eighty per cent, at least. A sheep-raiser in New Mexico, notwithstanding the coarse quality of wool of the present flock, can herd his sheep and make a profit from the product of his wool, and have all the increase of his stock in addidon thereto. I have no hesitation in saying that New Mexico can fairly compete with Australia, South Africa and South America, in the production of cheap wool. These statements may appear to you somewhat exaggerated, but I assure you, on the contrary, that they are within the limits of reasonable bounds. I was born and raised in New Mexico, my friends and relations hav2 always owned sheep, and I myself have to a large extent been an owner of that kind of property, and therefore speak from personal experience." SHEEP-FARMING IN NEW MEXICO. IO73 Sheep, and especially ewes, are largely sold from New Mexico to other States and Territories to form the basis of flocks there. They are sold at a low price, from $1.50 to ^2 each. They are small, and yield only from one and a half to three pounds of a coarse wool, which will bring usually only from eighteen to twenty-two cents a pound. By breeding them with pure Merino, Cotswold, Leicester or Lincoln bucks, the size is soon increased, and the quality of the wool is gready improved. As yet but little attention is paid in New Mexico to improving the breeds, and hence the wool crop there is not nearly as valuable as it might easily be made. The immigrants who are (ioming into the coun- try in such numbers are giving more attention to improving their stock. There is reason to believe that sheep-farming will soon become a profitable and extensive industry in the Territory; but, like everything else which is to be made profitable, the sheep- farmer must give it his close personal attention. Beginning with a capital of about $5,000, and giving strict attention to his busi- ness, improving his flocks as rapidly as possible, the wool-grower may in ten years find himself v»^orth from $60,000 to $75,000, and with constantly increasing profits from that time forward. Hon. Henry M. Atkinson, Surveyor-General of New Mexico, in his re- port dated August 27, 1879, gives the following summary of the agricultural and pastoral condition of the Territory. We think his estimate of the number of sheep must be exaggerated, or it is possibly a misprint ; but we give it as stated. The number is undoubtedly larger than has been supposed, but this estimate makes New Mexico exceed both California and Texas In the number of its flocks: " The crops of last year were good throughout the Territory, and a largely Increased acreage was sown over that of any previ- ous year In Its history ; and with the rapid Influx of population, new and previously unexplored and uninhabited sections are being settled and subjected to cultivation. •* The native wine product in the valley of the Rio Grande, in this Territory alone, is reliably esdmated at 240,000 gallons the past year, and In a few years that stream will be properly desig- nated as the Rhine of America. Large crops of corn, wheat; 68 I074 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. apples, peaches, apricots, pears and other fruits were raised during the year. " The business of stock-raising is most successfully and profit- ably engaged in, as no feeding is required during the winter season, the stock subsisting entirely upon the rich and nutritious grasses so abundant in the Territory. It is estimated that there are 500,000 head of cattle and 10,000,000 sheep in New. Mexico." Mining Industry. — We have given under the head q{ mineral wealth full particulars, so far as known, concerning the presence of the precious and^ther metals in the Territory; but we add, on the authority of Governor Wallace and Z. L. White, Esq., a few particulars in regard to the mining districts and mines in actual operation. Governor Wallace says of the silver mining districts: "The best known districts at this time are the Bremen mines, near Silver City; the Shakspeare mines, in Grant county; the Sandia district, in Bernalillo county ; the Socorro district, in Socorro county; the Cerillos, twenty-two miles southwest of Santa Fe. The San Juan country, in the north part of the Ter- ritory, and the Nogal, Capitan, Sierras Blancas, and Iccarilla Mountains, in Lincoln county, are all attracting a great deal of attention." The gold districts are : The Moreno mines, on Ute creek, Colfax county. One mine proprietor carries water to his claims near Elizabethtown, by ditch and flumes forty-two miles. At PitiQs Altos extensive work (quartz mining) is going on with good returns. In this district, gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead and plumbago are all obtainable. The old placers (Spanish placeres) are situated twenty-six miles southwest, or, rather, south-southwest, from Santa Fe, In these placers there are also quartz lodes which are believed to be very valuable. The Ortiz mine grant, described by Mr. Z. L. White, occupies a portion of this district, and is now preparing to work some of these placers, and bringing water from the Galisteo river by extensive hydraulic structures, to work them successfully. The new placers are ten miles south of the old placers. The San Pedro mine and the Canon del Agua property, with which GOLD AND SILVER MINES IN NEW MEXICO. 1075 General Grant's name has been connected, and in which we be- lieve one of his sons is a director, is in this region, and covers 40,000 acres, including 2,600 acres of the new placers, and nu- merous veins of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc in sufficient quantities to warrant extensive mining operations. For these mines and placers there are now building extensive dams and reservoirs, guaranteed to deliver at least 6,336,000 gallons of water daily. Both these districts are easily accessible by way of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and their products can be sent to market at small cost. Silver City, in the Mesilla Valley, in Grant county, is one of the best mining districts in New Mexico. The Sierra Diablo range at the northeast, and the Burro Mountains, southwest of the town, have many leads of gold, silver and copper. These mines produce largely every year. The Animas Peak district, in Dona Ana county, is one recently discovered and of great pro- mise. Hillsborough, on the line of Dona Ana and Grant coun- ties, is another new discovery. The Jicarilla gulches, between the mountains of the same name, in Lincoln county, are very rich, and need only an abundance of water to take rank with the best producing placers of California and Montana. The same may be said of the gold gulches in the Nogal Mountains, and of the placers near Fort Stanton, in the same county. The new placers, already mentioned, are in Bernalillo county; but aside from these rich veins of gold and silver have been discovered in the Sandia and Manzana Mountains (the latter partly in Valencia county), and in or near Albuquerque, all in Bernalillo county ; in the Zuni Mountains, in the western part of Valencia county ; in the Mada- lena Mountains, in Socorro county, where some rich silver lodes have been traced ; in the western part of Rio Arriba county, in the valleys and gulches of the Chusca Mountains; in Taos county, both around the head waters of the affluents of the San Juan in the west, and in the vicinity of Taos, on the main Rocky Moun- tain range; and in Colfax county, in the Moreno district, and else- where. There can be lltde doubt that gold or silver, or both, will be found in Mora and San Miguel counties, on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, if not elsewhere. If these dis- J 0^6 O^'R WESTERN EMPIRE. coveries are made, every county of New Mexico will have its mining districts of the precious metals. The gold and silver pro- duction of the Territory is much less than it should be, and far below what it will be, now that capital, railroads and water con- tribute to its rapid development. From ^3,000,000 to ^5,000,000 has been the maximum yield for the past twenty or twenty-five ^ears. Objects of Interest in the Territory. — These are of various kinds, archaeological, ethnological, fossil, volcanic, and the re- sults of glacial and erosive action of water. All that portion of New Mexico lying west of the Rocky Mountains belongs to the great valley between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Ne- vada, which extends from Idaho and the eastern part of Oregon and Washington Territory through Utah and Nevada, Western Colorado, Western New Mexico and Arizona into Mexico, and terminates alongf the eastern shore of the Gulf of California. It is a land of lofty mesas, deep and rugged canons, precipitous mountains, and hot, dry plateaux ; a land of frequent drought, and of terrible volcanic action in the past, and perhaps the not distant past. There are deep valleys, where no water capable of sustaining life is to be had, but where alkaline and sulphurous vapors rise continually, and lofty, perpendicular walls of por- phyry and trachyte forbid escape, yet to remain there for any considerable time Is certain death. Of such as these are the Death Valley, in Southeastern California, the yornada del Muerto of New Mexico, and the Mai Pais of the same Territory ; while evi- dences of the destruction of former inhabitants by sudden volcanic eruptions, more fatal and extensive than that of Herculaneum and Pompeii, is not wanting. One of the most remarkable of these overwhelmed cities is that of Abo, in the Manzana Moun- tains, about a hundred miles south of Santa Fe, in Valencia county, eighteen miles east of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and perhaps twenty miles from the Rio Grande. It was discovered by Messrs. H. J. Patterson and J. H. Mackley during the summer of 1880. Messrs. Patterson and Mackley are citizens of St, Louis, who have been exploring New Mexico for mining properties for some months past. The following are the principal points in their narrative: ABO, THE LAVA-BURNED CITY. JO77 Manzana Mountains mean Apple Mountains. There is a noble spring of water called the Abo spring, which is shaded by two immense cottonwood trees on each side. There are no in- habitants in the vicinity, but everywhere there are evidences of the former existence of a dense population. There are seen the ruins of a large church or temple, covering one acre of ground. Mr. Patterson paced it off, and found it to be seventy paces square. The walls that remain are sixty feet high. The roof has long since caved in, and the interior of the enclosure is filled with debris. The thickness of the wall at the base is about ten feet. Mr. Patterson brought away a piece of one of the timbers that protruded from the walls. It is of what is called in that country the pinon tree, a species of pine, and is as sound as when taken from the tree. There are on one side of the piece of timber some rude figures, one of the All-Seeing eye, representing probably the sun. Other figures are deeply indented in the wood, as if made by anything but a sharp-edged tool, Mr. Patterson says that he found stone hammers, but nothing in the shape of sharp- edged or steel tools. There are small furrows seen in the wood, as if plowed out with a stone gouge. The building evidently belonged to a style of architecture anterior to the adobe and dried brick period. Mr. Patterson inclines to the opinion that the locality was the site of one of the seven cities of Cibola, men- tioned by the Spanish chroniclers, the author of which traversed the country after the conquest of Mexico, among which were the cities of Camelone, Grand Cavra, Santa Cruz, Puerto de Abo, the Abo and the old Pecos, and another situated a few miles west of Abo in the lava beds. Mr. Patterson asserts that the old city in question was never until quite recently explored by white men. Another specimen brought by these gentlemen is a human skull, evidently that of a young female, as shown by the teeth, which was exhumed about half a mile from the church. Skulls are quite plentiful among the old ruins in the vicinity. About five miles from the Abo Springs they have discovered some ancient silver diggings. They were brought to light in this wise : some three months ago a gentleman named Livingston, who was engaged in mining operations at the White Oaks, lost jQ-g OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. some stock and went in search of it in the neighborhood of the Manzana Mountains. While here a Mexican handed him a piece of ore for examination, which he stated he had found in the hills of the vicinity, but the exact locality he declined to indicate. Mr. Livingston, on his return to White Oaks, showed the specimen to some friends in camp, among whom were Messrs. Patterson and Davidson. They left White Oaks with a complete outfit to explore the Manzana range, and were amply rewarded in the discoveries made. Right below the old mines they found twenty-two old smelters, and there were acres covered with the slag, some specimens of which Mr. Patterson brings with him. The smelters were built of adobe, or sun-dried bricks, and were elevated some twenty or thirty feet above the surface of the ground. In digging down they found the remains of charcoal, which was used for fuel by the old smelters. There were also seen the remains of an aqueduct, in which water was conveyed from a spring three- fourths of a mile distant to a dam which diverted the water into the smelting works. About five acres were found covered with slag, which Mr. Patterson has taken up for a mill site. From the old furnaces a trail was found, after considerable exploration, leading directly from the smelting works to the mine in the mountains, which here rise in peaks to a height of 10,000 feet. The ancient trail pursues a zigzag course, having a length of some five miles, while, in an air line, the distance Is not much exceeding one mile. Everything was transported in those old mining days on men's shoulders to and from the mountains. There are now trees of the " pinon " growing on the trail larger than a man's body, showing the antiquity of the path. Mr. Patterson said he was two weeks in discovering the mines after finding the smelt- ing works. The trail was five feet wide and protected by rocks on one side near precipitous places. Limbs were seen some thirty feet high on trees that had been cut when the trees were small and the limbs near the ground. The cutting was haggled, and evidently not made with sharp tools. The mines were found filled with old timber. The explorers CONCEALED MINES AND THE SKELETON CHAMBER. 1079 could not imagine for what purpose the timber was used, because the walls of the mine are quartzite, and, therefore, it was unneces- sary to protect the sides from tumbling in by timber supports. They, therefore, made up their minds that the mine was covered up with timber to conceal it. The timber had rotted and fallen in from the top, choking up the passage. Thirteen of the party worked nearly two weeks in clearing out the mine, removing the timber, stagnant water and old leaves. They found the mine seventy feet deep, with several horizontal drifts from the main shaft. The rock is found to be very rich, as appears from the specimens brought here. An old miner named Baxter found. In digging down, a chamber about ten feet square, having on one side a fireplace, across which hung a crane having a clay hook, and at the end of the hook was a bone. On the opposite side of the fireplace was found the skeleton of a man in a sitting position, who was evidently watching the bone roasting for his meal, when he and his habitation were overwhelmed in ruin by a sudden discharge of lava from the mountain. There are lava beds near there extending about fifty miles, and Mr. Patterson is of the belief that the entire population In some former period must have been suddenly extirpated by a great volcanic eruption. He thinks at one time the crater of these mountains was sixty miles long and from fifteen to twenty miles across, an eruption from which would destroy every living thing within a hundred miles. The only idea we can form of its destructive influence is by the ruins seen on every hand. In that dry atmosphere, where it rains only between the months of June and July, wood and animal remains are long preserved, and that so little is pre- served of this ancient people gives us a good idea of the ruin that ensued. All over Western New Mexico are ruins of former cities, inhabited once perhaps by the same races who reared similar cities in Arizona and Southwest Colorado, and closely resembling them in structure and plan. Some of these are massive stone fortresses of great extent, and would now be impregnable against everything except modern artillery. Among these, two are jQgQ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. especially worthy of notice as beingr well known to travellers. One is the extensive stone fortifications at the eastern base of the Sierra Pajarito, on the southern border of Lincoln county; the other the large and massive ruins in Socorro county, east of the Mesa Jumanes, known as ''La Gran Quiviray These ruins are large enough for a large city, and Mr. S. W. Cozzens, who visited them in 1859, says that the city must have had not less than 60,000 inhabitants. The ruins extended for miles, and showed that while it had undoubtedly been a large city before the advent of the Spaniards in 1540, it had been captured by them, as the ruins of two large stone churches, over which the arms of Spain were carved, fully denronstrated. There were also extensive ruins of an ancient temple like the Casas Grandes on the Gila, which we have noticed under Arizona. The Acequia or aqueduct, which had brought water for this city, was traced fourteen miles into the mountains to a very large spring. It was built of stone and laid in cement, and was an admirable piece of eno-ineerine work. There were traces also of silver mines which had been worked for a long time, but with very imperfect tools. The city was undoubtedly one of the " seven great cities of Cibola." About eighty or ninety miles south of La Gran Qttivira, on the plain east of the Organ Mountains, in Dona Ana county, is one of those rock cities, carved by the winds and waters into the semblance of a city with its massive wall, its churches, cathedrals, castles and towers, ..its broad streets and its numerous dwellings, all carved out of a soft white sandstone, and so perfect an imita- tion as to deceive any one at a little distance. Near this are salt lakes, the salt of which is very pure, and extensive fields of gypsum, some of it in the crystallized form of selenite, which was used instead of glass for lighting the best dwellings of these ancient cities. In the ''Mai Pais'' or Bad country, in Socorro county, east of the Rio Grande, are vast deposits of fossils as remarkable as those of Colorado, Nebraska or Montana. In 1879 the Smithsonian Institution sent a small party of ethnologists into New Mexico for the purpose of exploring the ancient Pueblo ruins of the valleys of the Rio San Juan and the Rio Grande del Norte, and of making extensive collections of THE POTTERY OF THE PUEBLOS. IO81 antiquities and objects of aboriginal interest for the National Museum at Washington. The party, while in the vicinity, visited the ancient town of Zuni, where they have succeeded in gather- ing together upward of two thousand specimens of modern pottery, stone implements, images, costumes, etc. Scattered through the valley of the Rio Grande del Norte are nineteen Pueblo villages, which were in existence long before the dis- covery of America ; and the inhabitants to this day preserve their old traditions and arts comparatively uninfluenced by the innovations of civilization. The pottery manufactured in the town of Zufii is exceedingly interesting, and is almost identical with the very ancient ware which is found amonof the stone ruins which abound throughout that section. Attention has been called to this ware by Lieu- tenant A. W. Whipple, in the third volume of the Pacific Railroad Reports, and more recently by Professor F. V. Hayden, in his last annual report of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories (1876). In the latter are figured several fine water vessels in the forms of owls, hawks, ducks and domesticated fowls. The collection made by the Smithsonian party includes many animal forms and hundreds of specimens of almost every conceivable shape, scarcely any two of them being similar. It is, without exception, the finest and most complete collection of modern Pueblo ware in existence. The methods of manufactur- ing this pottery are exceedingly interesting, and a study of them throws much light on the ancient Pueblo art, which produced the most superior aboriginal ware yet discovered within the limits of the United States. The clay is procured from the neighbor- ing mesas, and the vessels are moulded entirely by hand. When an unusually fine piece is being made, the clay is wet and smoothed by the lips of the potter, who then sets the vessel aside to dry. The paint is put on by a brush, and then burned in an oven surrounded with dry manure. In the Pueblo of Laguna pottery is made in a similar manner. A private collection, just received in Philadelphia from there, contains a number of vessels In imitation of ducks, settinof hens, etc. Such objects, while ornamental, are designed for use also, jqS2 our WES7ERN EMPIRE. and are employed in carrying water on journeys. A common ornament on tliis ware is a painted representation of the elk or deer, in which a passage invariably extends from the mouth to the heart, which latter is of triangular form. The tenahas, or earthen basins, are used as receptacles for meal, corn, water, or other substances which constitute the food of the natives. One very old vessel is covered with representations of snakes, a rare fio-ure in the ornamentation of Pueblo ware, since the priests or medicine men no longer permit the people to employ the sun or serpent symbols, but monopolize them in their incantations and stately ceremonies. Tenahas are made of all sizes, from an inch in diameter to those that will hold from twenty to thirty gallons. Each large vessel has a concave bottom, like a cham- pagne-botde, for steadying it on the head in carrying water from the well. The clay used in the manufacture of the Laguna pottery is of a dark slate color and exceedingly compact, oftentimes approach- ing soft rock in texture. This is taken from seams or veins in the mesa walls. The Indians soak this clay in water for two or three days, when it becomes perfecdy plasdc. It is then kneaded with the feet of the workmen on a large flat stone, and all the hard lumps are taken out carefully. After the vessels are moulded into form they are left to dry, and then covered with a ground work of white paint. Over this are painted fanciful devices in red, orange and black. The lustre of the ware is im- parted by polishing the paint, before baking, with an exceedingly smooth stone like an ordinary seashore pebble. The brown or black pigment is made from a black stone somewhat resembling hematite. This is ground fine, mixed with water, and violently agitated for some time. It is then poured from one vessel to another to remove all grit, and is applied to the surface of the vessel to be ornamented, as common paint, with a stick. This paint alone would rub off, but to prevent this it is mixed with the residue of two plants or weeds boiled together for a long time until it becomes of the required consistency, after which it is al- lowed to cool ; it then becomes perfectly hard. The clay employed for the red color is of a yellowish tint, but on being MANUFACTURES OF NEW MEXICO. I083 baked changes to a brilliant red. The process of burning or baking consists in first placing the vessels on stones, around which is packed a quantity of dry barnyard manure, which is considered the best fuel. The vessel is covered completely with this sub- stance, so as to exclude the air, and a very hot fire of two or three hours' duration is produced. During the process of burn- ing the vessels are closely watched, and no portion of them is permitted to become exposed to the atmosphere. The pottery of Laguna, and in fact of most of the other Pueblo villages, is almost entirely made by the women, who expend much of their leisure time in mouldinor and decorating- the ware. The particular interest which attaches to the Pueblo pottery is in the fact that these people of New Mexico and the Moquis of Arizona are the only aboriginal tribes in the United States that still practise their old arts, unchanged by the influences of civili- zation, Ma7iufactures. — Very little is done in the way of manufactures, thousfh the Pueblo Indians and the Mexicans are both ingenious : and with very imperfect and rude tools will produce remarkable results. The jewelry produced from native gold and silver is of remarkably artistic designs, as is the native pottery. The serapes and blankets made from the coarse wool of the Mexican sheep or the hair of the goat are of excellent quality, and so dense that water cannot percolate through them. The saddles, stirrups and horse fixtures generally are of excellent quality, and the better sorts have a good deal of bullion, and a rude, barbaric splendor about them. Beyond these articles there is very little which can be called manufactures. The rude bateas, or wooden bowls, which were their substitute for the pan and the rocker of the placer miner, and the arastras, great boulders, bound to the arms of the central capstan, with which they ground their quartz rock to powder, constituted their sole mining apparatus ;. they had even forgotten how to construct the rude adobe smelters, which the Indians used three centuries ago. But with railroads and railroad towns all over the Territory, there will come in manu- factures, and builders, architects, machinists and engineers will be found in great numbers through the Territory. iq8^ our western- empire. Railroads. — The Territory, so long completely Isolated, and which one year ago had not a mile of railroad within its borders, is now in a fair way to have its full share of railroad communica- tion, not through the enterprise of its citizens, but because it is on the highway to Mexico and Southern California. The Atchi- son, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which entered the Territory from Colorado by way of the Raton Pass about the beginning of 1880, ran its lines southwest to Las Vegas, and thence nearly due west to the Rio Grande, throwing out a branch to Santa Fe, and extending its line down the Rio Grande, expected to reach Me- sllla by January, 18S1, and El Paso, Texas, by the spring of that year. The Southern Pacific, controlled by the Central Pacific Railway, which had crossed Southern California and bridged the Rio Colorado of the West at Yuma in 1879, traversed Arizona, reaching Tucson in the spring of 1880, and crossing Western New Mexico in the summer, will unite with the Atchison road at Fort Thorne, on the Rio Grande, by January, 1881, and thence proceeding down the Rio Grande to El Paso will probably make its terminus at Galveston a year later. Meanwhile the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, having purchased the charter of the At- lantic and Pacific, and controlling the St. Louis and San Fran- cisco Railway, have commenced and are actively pushing a rail- way west from Albuquerque through the Zuni country, across Arizona, on or near the thirt^^-fifth parallel, and crossing the Rio Colorado at " the Needles" by a bridge 400 feet above the river, will reach the Pacific at San Diego and Santa Barbara by the end of 1 88 1. Another branch, following substantially the line of the Southern Pacific to Tucson, Arizona, will turn southward at that point, and reach Guaymas, Mexico, on the California gulf, probably before 1882. Still another line is projected, and from its connection with the Mexican lines recently authorized, may very soon be built, viz. : the line of the Denver and Rio Grande, which, starting either from Alamosa or Animas City, Colorado, will proceed nearly due south to the Mexican line, to connect there with a road from the City of Mexico. There may eventually be a railway down the valley of the Pecos, connecting with some of the Texas railroads; POPULATION OF NEW MEXICO. IO85 but at present there are no railways projected through Eastern or Southeastern New Mexico. Those already completed or in course of construction give ready access to the great mining and stock-raising districts, and ensure the rapid development of the Territory. Population. — The Territory has a larger native population than any other of the Territories of " Our Western Empire." This native population at the time the United States government ac- quired the country consisted of about three-fourths Mexicans, or Hispano-Americans, and one-fourth Pueblo and other Indians, with a very few Germans, French and Americans. Its population has doubled in thirty years, and to this original element have been added a considerable number of Irish, Germans, Belgians, French, Spanish and Americans. The following table shows the population, so far as it has been ascertained, and such other par- ticulars as are attainable by the census enumerators : Census Year. 1850.. i860.. 1870.. i879l[ 1880*. H cu 85,547 107,516 111,303 148,750 141,882 31,742! 49,09 If 47,i38t 53,155 29,805! 44,425} 44,739t 48,595 o u W 61,525 82,924 90,393 124,920 118,430 22 85 172 330 417 24,000 24.507 20,738 23,500 23.452t 59,261 86.793^ 86,254 94,370 Census Year. 1850.. i860.. 1870.. i879l[ 1880*. 2,286 6,723? 5,620 30,550 0.30 0.36 0.76 1.23 1-35 5 1 -94 19.02 3363 27.47 25,089 32,785? 52,220 67,233 69,487 ~ r M m o ^ g" o\ a o 0^ m m m o -o 0^ <> ^. >o ■>t- ^ ^ - "? -r fr ", puEXimuoj^ c q d 6 * d 1^ d d d 00 CT> NO d d •ajiijEjaduiajL JO 32 UE^ o ^ K S >o '^ 00 ■i j I 00 ? ^ t^ C u M313UI0JE3 UE3p\J c 8 d B d 3" d R d 6 m 8 6 d ° d o d d •Xjipiuinjj UE3J\[ c t^ V3 00 d <^ ^q r^ t^ ,^ M3 -uiEy lEHuuy puEXmuioj^ 1^ CO d Ov ^ 1^ r^ t^ •^ S t^ 4 KO d d ■3anjB43dui3x JO sSllEy^ •ainiEJsduiax ^ \d * ?) t^ CO f 1 4 g. I? CO ? % [>. ^ ■a- r^ ^d rv - 00 M S) "? m 5. r^ •3jrHE.I3dui3 J I uiniuixEi^ ainjujadiuaL uE3jyi ' o >d 00 s i m t^ NO vd VO t^ r>. d oo d> t^ vd ■^ ■^ 2 o> d 1 •i313lU0JEg UE3I\I •jCjjpiuinjj UB3I\I puB A[muoi,\[ VO 00 VD sjuiEJaduiax JO 3§L1E^ sjnjBjpduiajL ■3JtHEJ3dui3Y UI111U!XEJ\[ ■3jnaEJ3dm3_L UE3J^ CO 00 P* VO << cfl O Z P "2 = ■< 2 >— I •— > GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF OREGON. j 103 with chalcedony or calcareous spar ; next above, the lower ter- tiary strata, with leaf impressions of great trees — of palms, yews and giant ferns, as well as of the oak leaf and acorn ; with these are associated fossils of two species of rhinoceros, four of the oredoTi, a connecting link between the cam.el and tapir, and sev- eral genera of the tapir and peccary families ; and with them the orohippiis. Upon these lower tertiary strata supervenes the period of volcanic action, w^ith a vast overflow of lava, mud and ashes. The region thus rent is heaved elsewhere into isolated cone-like hills, or ridged with secondary rocks, thrown up dike- fashion, their strata contorted into sharp angles or broken into chasms filled with earth or lava. Here are mountains of amyg- daloid, heaps of volcanic conglomerate, and cliffs of columnar basalt walling in the water-courses. In the region of the upper Des Chutes and John Day rivers, the volcanic action is less marked, and here the cretaceous formation approaches the sur- face. The whole of the Cascade Range in the State gives evi- dence of volcanic action, and this extends westward into the Wil- lamette valley. The bed of the Willamette river near its mouth is partially basaltic, with perpendicular walls ; south of Oregon City it traverses a district of volcanic debris, and black trap is frequently exposed on its banks. Southward of this occur thin strata of limestone, with fossil bivalvular shells, granite in situ, and again basalt. The prevalent rock of the Willamette valley is trap, while at the head of the valley a light-colored clayey sand- stone, possibly tertiary, is found. The fossil teeth and tusks of elephants have been found at great depths in the same valley. At the Dalles, on the hillsides, are boulders of gray and of a red granite. Minerals. — The mineral wealth of Oregon is very great, but as yet very imperfectly developed, mainly owing to the want of capital. Gold was first discovered in 185 1, in the counties of Jackson and Josephine, in the extreme south of the State; and mines have been worked in them ever since. Their total product up to the present time is estimated at 5^27,000,000; but of late years the yield has declined in consequence of the want of water. Baker and Grant counties, in Eastern Oregon, have also yielded OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 1 104 many millions of the precious metal. In Baker county, espe- cially in the vicinity of Baker City, gold mining is carried on very actively at this time, and with good results. On the ocean beach, near Coos bay, placer mines are worked to a considerable extent. Rich gold quartz lodes have been discovered and partially worked in the southern part of the Cascade Mountains ; but their dis- tance from railroads, and the want of machinery for working them, has, until now, prevented their development on a scale commensurate with their richness. Were the same amount of capital, enterprise and trained skill brought to bear upon the gold mines of Oregon, that is now again increasing the gold product of California at a rapid rate, after years of decline, the former State would not be far behind the latter in the production of precious metals. The yearly gold product of Oregon repre- sents now a value of nearly ^1,500,000. Lead and copper have been found in large quantities in Jack- son, Josephine and Douglas counties, on Cow creek, a tributary of the Umpqua, and also on the Santiam river. The mines on the latter river are successfully worked. Large deposits of rich iron ore exist in nearly every part of the State. The most i;nportantof these is situated near Oswego, on the Willamette, about six miles south of Portland. The ore from it yields about fifty-four per cent, of pure iron. Other ex- tensive deposits exist in the counties of Columbia, Tillamook, Marion, Clackamas, Jackson and Coos. A large bed of ore has been found at St. Helen's, on the Columbia. That essential element in the development of mineral resources, coal, abounds in Oregon no less than iron. Beds of great thick- ness exist on Coos bay, in Coos county, on the northern Umpqua, and in Douglas county. Beds, as yet but partially explored, have been found on Yaquina bay, at Port Orford, near St. Helen's, on Pass creek, and on the line of the Oregon and California Rail- road, and at different other points in Clackamas, Clatsop and Tillamook counties. But only a few of these coal mines are regularly worked. The Coos bay mines keep a fleet of schooners busy carrying coal to San Francisco, where it is highly esteemed, and brings about ^i i a ton. With the exception of that obtained MINERAL WEALTH OF OREGON. IIO5 from the Queen Charlotte Islands, it is the best coal produced on the Pacific coast. What, with the abundance of coal and the immense beds of iron ore, the day cannot be far distant when Oregon will have a well-developed iron industry. There are also quarries of limestone, brown stone and marble in the State. Of the present outlook for gold and silver mining in the State, the Surveyor-General, Hon. James C. Tolman, says in his report of August, 1879: " The mining interests of Oregon are assuming an importance and permanent assurance of profit not heretofore exhibited. Gravel mining is being extensively prosecuted in some district? with the aid of the most approved and extensive machinery, although the past year only has been witness to their general in- troduction. A new era has undoubtedly dawned upon that in- dustry in this State. The existence in Southern and Middle Eastern Oregon of immense deposits of auriferous gravel has long been known; but prospectors and men seeking only shallow surface diggings in connection with water do not generally have the capital and enterprise necessary to prosecute hydraulic mining of the modern kinds. Within the past two or three years capital has been attracted to these deposits, wherein in two counties of Southern Oregon alone I am credibly informed that many hun- dreds of thousands of dollars have been expended in opening up claims — in the construcdng of ditches and arrangement of ma- chinery principally. Much labor and time, as well as money, is required to develop and put in paying order any of these claims, and although numbers of them are now in working order, few or none of them have yet been sufficiently tested to develop their real worth. A full ' clean up ' is the only fair test of value, even after months of labor and many thousands of dollars of expen- diture. "This must be ranked mainly as an agricultural State, though mining is, and will indefinitely continue to be, a large factor in the sum of our productions, both in gravel and quartz mining. Our people have never been subjected to the emotional risks 70 I Io6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. occasioned by stock boards and wild cat speculations which have swept other mining regions, and are thus more disposed to weigh the chances of profit in any enterprise offering inducements. Hence our mining interests have lagged, only to be placed upon a profitable basis when undertaken at all. " The quartz mining of this district has also attracted a re- newed share of attention. Heretofore, with but few exceptions, this class of mining has been lightly employed, and has yielded but small returns, for precisely the reasons which have been offered in regard to the small effort expended in placers. Some wonderfully rich deposits were discovered many years ago, and were worked with immense profit. Notable among them were the Gold Hill and Steamboat or Fowler lands, in Jackson and Josephine counties respectively. From these, by the ordinary processes then in use, several hundred thousands of dollars were taken from the surface rock alone in the space of a few months. In one instance, from the Gold Hill ledge, one gentleman secured a trifle over i,6oo pounds of surface rock, from which he took ^30,000. When these surface deposits were exhausted (nearly twenty years ago) by crushing in ' arastras ' and other almost equally primitive methods, and the serious and expensive work of sinking shafts, driving tunnels, etc., began, those mines were abandoned and have lain idle till this day, with the exception of an effort now being made to resume work on the Steamboat, "In Eastern Oregon quartz mining has been steadily followed, in a small way, by gentlemen of limited means, for a number of years, yielding fair returns where effort merited reward. Several small mills are now in operation there, and prospecting is pushed with considerable vigor. I have no data as to average yield, but am assured that it has been uniformly satisfactory. The general outlook, however, is better now in regard to mining than it has been before for many years. In the course of time I believe this State, to the extent of its mining area, will rank with the most favored mining localities of the coast. Given the mines, and we certainly possess facilities unsurpassed by any region — cheap fuel and labor, abundance of water and plenty of all kinds of pro- visions, all easily obtained." ZOOLOGY Ai\D LIVE-STOCK. 1 107 Zoology. — The beasts of prey are identical with those of Cali- fornia ; the grizzly bear, black and cinnamon bears, the cougar, or panther, and several of the smaller y^/?^^, the catamount, lynx and ocelot, the fisher, otter, marten, mink and beaver, several species of fox, the gray wolf, possibly the raccoon ; and of game animals, elk, deer of two species, antelope, bighorn, or Rocky Mountain sheep, rabbits and hares, including the jackass rabbit, and two or three hares found only on the Pacific coast ; all the rodents of the coast ; and of game birds, wild swans, wild geese and ducks of many species, pheasants, sage hens and other grouse, quail and snipe of extraordinary size, and a great variety of song birds and birds of prey. The waters of Oregon abound in fish of great delicacy and economic value. There are six or seven species of salmon native to the coast ; and the Eastern salmon and lake salmon have been introduced. The salmon forms an important item in the products of the State. Trout of great size and excellence are found in the streams ; sturgeon, tom cod, flounders and other edible fish are abundant. The shad and black and sea bass have been introduced. Most of the edible shell fish are found in great abundance on the coast. The followmg table shows the estimated number and value of live-stock in January, 1879, c-^d January, 1880/ 1879. Animals. Horses Mules and asses Milch cows Oxen and other cattle Sheep Swine Totals . 109,700 3,50o| 112,400 188,300 ,t6o,6:>o 22 1 ,goo Av. Price. 50-05 5091 18.56 •215: 1-57 3- 19 Value. ?5 .490,485 •78.185 2,086,144 2,287,84s 1,822.142 707,861 AmMALS. Number. Av. Price. Value. Horses 117,400 Mules and asses 3.600 Milch cows 121,392 O.vcn and other cattle. 201,500* ^hecp 1,265,054 Swine 220,557 43 t>l. 2II,»S2 184,680 2,318,587 I 2,941,900 2,087,339 788,521 $12,572,662 Totals I !.. $15,531,342 The real increase in the grain crops and in catde and sheep is considerably greater than our tables would indicate. Fishei'ics. — The canning and pickling of salmon mainly at the mouth of the Columbia river is becoming an immense industry. It had not attained any great proportions until 1872, in which year •Probably much below the actual number. iio8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. to s ■^ fei3 "5 «:; o ^^ CO F> CO to >» '^ ^ « „ ON F^ S oo ?^ ^ l--^ ^ b^ ^ ^ •v, s 0^ « ts^ i^ ^ •^ ">2 v^ ^ 5 v^ •"S- ^ ii Ji •i: !^ ^s ^ a rt o u uoj io 'punod 'pqsnq jad aou^j "doJO qDE3 UI S3J3B JO OfiJ •3JDC asd piai/t aSeiSAy >>T3 C 3 3 O lO en * fO o "«• *o vg^ •UOJ JO 'punod 'pqsnq jad 3DU j •doJD H3B3 UI S9J3B JO "0|(J •3i3B jsd ppi^ sSeaaAv •a o 3 O uoi JO 'punod *pqsnq Jad aoiJd •dOiD 1{DB3 UI S3JDB JO 'O^ •SJDK J3d ppi^ aSeaaAV o\ o\ t^ O V3 vO « « fO \0 O "-< o ^ «§ j > s C £ ^ « O 03 a- TIMBER AND OTHER PRODUCTIOXS. IIO9 170,000 salmon, weighing 2,700,000 pounds, and when canned vakied at ^432,000, werecanned and exported, and 1 62,500 pickled fish valued at |;i 17,000. In 1873 the export value of the canned salmon was ^949,000; in 1874, 5^1,500,000; in 1875 it was nearly ^2,000,000; in 1876, $2,215,000 ; in 1877, $2,300,000 ; in 1878,^2,920,000; in 1879 over $3,200,000; and it is believed that it will reach $4,000,000 in 1880. But for the large salmon trade in Puget sound, and in Alaska, it would have attained even larger proportions. The Timber and Liunber Trade. — The magnificent forests of Oregon supply an immense amount of timber and lumber for San Francisco and other California ports, and also for the Mexi- can and South American markets. For ship-building, mine- timberine and house-buildinof, as well as for the choicest furni- ture, the Oregon woods are the best in the world. Over 100,- 000,000 feet of lumber and timber were exported in 1875, and the amount has greatly increased since that time. In 1877 the value of the exported lumber was set down as $510,000. It has greatly increased since, and the home demand, with the rapid increase of immigration, is larger than of the foreigfn. Wheat and Flour. — The exports of wheat in 1880 will probably exceed $9,000,000, the larger part being from the Upper Columbia and the rich valleys of Eastern Oregon. In 1877-78, seventy-tix large vessels were loaded with wheat from Portland, of which seventy-four sailed direct for Great Britain. Oregon flour has a very high reputation, and was exported in 1877 to the amount of $2,500,000. Wool is also largely exported, and about 1,500,000 pounds manufactured in the State. The wool clip of 1878 was over 6,000,000 pounds, and that of 1879 nearly 7,500,000 pounds. The total exports of the State in 1877 were $16,086,897, and were increasinof at the rate of four or five million dollars a year. Manufactures. — The leading manufactures of the State are lumber, flour, of which we have already spoken; woollen goods, especially fancy cassimeres and blankets, which bear the highest reputation, and bring the best prices of any in the market; dressed J J jQ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. flax linen goods, and linseed oil, leadier, and especially harness leadier of excellent quality, iron furnaces and foundries, and manufactories of iron and tinned goods, wooden ware, agricul- tural implements, butter, dried and canned fruit, and fruit juices of remarkable excellence, furniture and paper. In 1870 the manufactured products of the year were valued at $6,877,387. In 1880 they will exceed $20,000,000. Labor, Wages. — Common laborers earn $2 ; mechanics, $3 to $5 ; farm-hands, from $25 to $30 a month, and found. Farm- laborers, and especially female servants, are in good demand. The latter earn as high wages as in California. Persons with some means and a knowledge of farming or a mechanical trade can easily establish themselves, and, with frugality and industry, acquire a competency in a few years. Rulmg Prices. — For the past three years wheat in bulk in Portland has ranged from 80 cents to $1.25 per bushel ; oats, 50 cents; potatoes, 50 cents to 75 cents; apples, 50 cents; corn, $1 ; flax, $2; onions, $1.50; good average farm-horses, $100 each ; oxen, $125 per yoke ; good average milch-cows, $25 ; sheep, $3 per head ; wool, common-graded, 35 cents per pound ; beef on foot, 5 to 6 cents ; fresh pork, 7 cents. Price of Land. — In the valley of the Willamette good brush and timber lands can be purchased for $2.50 per acre and up- wards, according to soil and locality. All the prairie lands are, however, taken up, but can be bought at from $8 to $50 an acre. Along the foot-hills, and near them, small tracts or farms can be purchased, with ample outside pasturage for extensive stock- farms. The Oregon and California Railroad Company, and the Northern Pacific Railway, have large grants of land from the United States Government, which they sell on very liberal condi- tions at the low prices of $1.25 to $7 per acre. The purchaser can pay cash, in which case he will be allowed a discount of ten per cent, on the purchase price, or can have ten years' time in which to make up the same by small annual payments, with interest at seven per cent, per annum. In this case the pur- chaser pays down one-tenth of the price. One year from the sale he pays seven per cent, interest on the remaining nine- RAILROADS AND RIVER NAVIGATION. HU tenths of the principal. At the end of the second year he pays one-tenth of the principal and one year's interest on the re- mainder ; and the same at the end of each successive year until all has been paid at the end of ten years. There is an abundance of government land surveyed aifd in the market, subject to the Homestead and Pre-emption lavi^s. In Eastern and Middle Oregon the government lands are the best, though partially improved farms may sometimes be had. Government lands may be bought there under the Pre-emption, Homestead, or Timber-Culture laws, and in Middle Oregon under the Desert Land Act, for grazing purposes. The immigrant re- quires a little more capital to land him in Oregon, than would be necessary for some of the States and Territories farther east ; but once there, and a small capital will go as far and can be as readily supplemented by labor for others, as anywhere else in the country. Railroads and River Navigation. — The Columbia river, which forms the northern boundary of Oregon as far as nearly to the mouth of the Snake river, is navigable from its mouth to this point, and above, except at two points: the Cascades, where there is a portage railroad of five or six miles, and the Dalles, near the mouth of the Des Chutes, where there is another portage railway fourteen miles long. These obstructions, requiring two railway and three steamer transshipments, have greatly enhanced the cost of transportation by it, but are now in a fair way to be removed. The Northern Pacific Railway, whose Pend d'Oreille division starts from Ainsworth, at the mouth of the Snake river, has built a branch to Wallula, on the south bank of the Columbia, connect- ing there with the Oregon Railway and Navigation line to Walla- Walla, thirty miles east ; and the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company have undertaken the construction of a railway along the south side of the Columbia river to Pordand, where the steamships of this company to San Francisco can receive the freight. This road is now completed to the Dalles, and will reach Portland next season. The United States government are con- structing canals and locks around the Cascades and Dalles, but so leisurely that it will require twelve or fifteen years to complete I I 12 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. them ; so that the railway is the only hope for cheap transporta.- tion from the Upper Columbia. The Northern Pacific will eventually construct a railway down the north bank of the Columbia, and extend it to Portland, which is not on the Columbia, but on the Willamette, one of its largest tributaries. The Willamette is navigable partly by slackwater navigation for I -^^ miles from its mouth. But the Willamette valley is already traversed by two railroads, and is likely ere long to be gridironed by one and possibly two more. The Oregon and California Railroad, starting from East Portland, extends southward throucjh the Willamette and Umpqua valleys to Roseburg, a distance of 200 miles. Its eventual terminus is to be Redding, in California, where it will connect with the Northern California Railway, The Oregon Central, starting from Portland, extends in a horseshoe curve to Hillsboro, and thence south to Junction City, whence one branch goes to Ellendale, across the Coast Range, and another to Luckiamute, with a probable future terminus at Harrisburg, on the Oregon and California road. The Oregonian Railway Com- pany (limited), a Scottish company, has undertaken to construct two narrow gauge railways, close to the mountains on either side of the Willamette valley, one to cross the Coast Range and reach Yaquima Bay, and the other crossing the Cascade Range to con- nect with a road from the Central Pacific in Nevada. They also propose to build from Portland to Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia. The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company have also commenced several narrow-ofauee railroads from Wallula and Milton southward and southeastward in Eastern Oregon, to points where the great live-stock and wheat crop can be most easily conducted to their main line on the Columbia river. Some of these will eventually extend into Idaho. The Northern Pacific, though having an extensive land grant in Northern Oregon, from Walla- Walla to the Willamette, has not, and does not intend to have, any portion of its line in Oregon, except, perhaps, a branch of some twelve miles, ex- tending across the Columbia to Portland. Its present terminus on the Columbia is at Kalama, in Washington Territory, forty-five miles north of Portland. We have already spoken of the short EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES. UI^ railway portages (six and fourteen miles) at the Cascades and the Dalles. With the completion of the railways now under con- tract or in course of construction, Oregon will have nearly i,ooo miles of railroad in operation. Finances. — The government of the State has been economi- cally administered and taxes are light. The entire indebtedness of the State, January i, 1881, will not probably exceed ^308,000, and there is sufficient money accruing from the sale of swamp lands, etc., to meet it when it becomes due. Educational Facilities. — The school fund of the State (derived from the sale of school lands) amounted in 1878 to $609,000 ; it has since materially increased. In 1878 the number of youth of school age (four to twenty) was 53,462, of whom 26,992 were enrolled in the public schools, and the average daily attendance was 21,464. There were 904 organized districts, of which 865 reported ; there were 768 public schools of ordinary grade, and iwenty-two of advanced grade. The average time school was maintained was four and a half months. The value of public school property was $483,058. The total number of teachers was 1,068, of whom 569 were males, and 499 females. The average monthly pay of the men was $45.25 ; of the women, $34.33. The total receipts for public schools were $258,786; the total expen- ditures, $275,107. There were 105 private and collegiate schools. The schools of Portland and Salem are of very high character. There is a normal school at Monmouth, and a normal depart- ment of the State University at Eugene City. There are Teachers' Institutes held annually in each judicial district. In the way of higher instruction there are four (so-called) universi- ties, which are really only colleges, viz.: the University of Oregon, at Eugene City, with a normal department attached; this had a land grant of 66,080 acres, and has received $100,000 from it, 20,000 acres being yet unsold ; the Blue Mountain Uni- versity, at La Grande, Eastern Oregon, with a very thorough course ; the Willamette University, at Salem, a Methodist col- lege with a medical school attached; and Pacific University and Tualatin Academy, at Forest Grove, a non-sectarian institu- tion. There are also four colleges, viz. : Corvallis College, at 1 1 14 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Corvallis, under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of which the State Agricultural College, endowed with the Congressional land-grant of 90,000 acres, is a department ; Mc- Minnville College, a Baptist institution at McMinnville; Philomath College, at Philomath, under the control of the United Brethren in Christ (German Methodists) ; and Christian College, at Mon- mouth, under the control of the Christian connection. These institutions had 1,025 students in 1878, 675 of them in the pre- paratory departments. All of them admit women to their classes, and there is also at Portland a college for women, St. Helen's Hall, under the care of the Protestant Episcopal Church. There are also institutions at Salem for the education of deaf mutes and of the blind. Population. — In 1843 there were not more than 400 white in- habitants in Oregon Territory, which then included Washington Territory also. The following table shows the growth since that time : Population of Oregon. c « « 0. >. Oi c U H i8^o 13,294 i«6o 52,465 1870 101,883* 187s 122 ,960* 1880 180,022* 8,2661 5,036 13,087 31,527' 20,847 52,170 49.777; 37,49«>i 86,929 I 108,324 103,3881 71,379 1 163.087 207 128 346 u ^3 u ■°^ "u > s S rt OJ* u a . e c ■0 c 2 c 3 '•Xi a > c ^0 C3 Milita een to Votin one a m ji U IS li, cs -^ lo- 1,213 5,123 162 4.522 16,988 4,923 '5,707 5,617 18,806 "■U, 47^342 294.6 1. 511 11,278! 3,330 79,323 1 1 ,600 73-3 4,427 29,400 23,959 28,616 10,960+ 6,934T 3,410 20.6 44,661 9,508 144,327 30,440 78.0J 61, 12-2 Oreofon has been called the " New England of the Pacific Coast," and has probably a larger proportion of New England people in its population than any other of the Western States. Its people are thrifty, intelligent and moral. They have reared the church and the school-house in their villages, even while their own dwellings were of logs or sods, and have shown their New England origin by their early attention to higher institutions of learning. No one of the States of the far West has, in propor- tion to its population, so many colleges and collegiate schools •Tribal Indians added, f A part of these Indians are in Washington Territory-. | For decade. INDIAN RESERVATIONS AND TRIBAL INDIANS. III5 of high character, or imparts to the students so thorough training. Eastern Oregon, which is now receiving avast number of emi- grants in its rich and fertile valleys, will have a larger proportion of people of foreign birth, as well as a greater number from the Mississippi valley and the Middle States ; but the State is a de- sirable one for the better class of emigrants, not only from its advantages of soil and climate, and its mining and pastoral facili- ties, but for its educational and religious advantages, and the high character of its inhabitants. Indian Resei^vations and Tribal Indians. — The 5,818 tribal Indians credited by the Indian Commissioner to Oregon, though some of them more properly belong to Washington Territory, are of twenty different bands. Those belonging to the Grande Ronde, Klamath, Malheur and Siletz Agencies, and most of those connected with the Warm Springs Agency, about three-fourths of the whole, have adopted citizens' dress, and are becoming quite civilized. They till about 8,000 acres of land of their reserva- tions, and a few have had lands allotted to them in severalty. Their reservations include 3,853,800 acres, but less than 200,000 acres of this is tillable. Counties and Principal Cities and Towns. — There are twenty- three counties in the State, whose population in 1880, and assessed valuation in 1879, was as follows: Counties. Baker Benton Clackamas Clatsop Columbia Coos Curry Douglas Grant Jackson Josephine Lake Lane Population, 1880. 4,615 6,403 9,260 7,222 2,042 4,834 1,208 9,596 4,303 8,154 2,485 2,804 9,411 Ass'd Valuation, 1879. $874,516 00 1,722,115 00 1,908,580 00 1,159,361 00 287,837 00 894,113 00 243,733 00 2,133,118 00 1,102,327 00 1,466,992 00 278,290 00 830,591 00 3,301,368 00 iii6 OUK WESTERN E Mr I RE. Counties. Population, 1880. .\.ss'd Valuation, 1879. Linn ..... 12,675 $ ;, 490, 854 00 Marion 14.516 3,922,258 00 Multnomah 25,204 10,633,190 00 Polk 6,601 io99'423 00 Tillamook 970 83,902 00 Umatilla . 9,607 1,523,988 00 Union 6,650 1,117,099 00 Wasco 11,120 2,262,570 00 Washington 7,082 2,069,190 00 Yam Hill . 7>945 2,465,258 00 Total . 174.767 $46,370,673 00 For 1878 . 46,240,324 00 This valuation was about fifty cents on the dollar of the true valuation. In 1880 the true valuation, including property not taxed, is not less than |, 1 00,000,000. The largest city in the State is Pordand, on the Willamette, 1 1 2 miles by river from the Pacific Ocean. It is a place of con- siderable and increasing business and of great wealth. Its popu- lation in 1880 was 20,549. Salem, the capital, is also on the Willamette, and on the Orecjon and California Railroad. It is a pretty town of about 5,000 inhabitants. Oregon City, Albany, Harrisburg and Eugene City, all on the Willamette, have over 3,000 inhabitants each, Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia; Roseburg, the present terminus of the Oregon and California Railroad ; Jacksonville, in the southwestern part of the State ; Corvallis, Junction City, both in the Willamette valley; Dallas, at the second rapids of the Columbia ; East Pordand, Port Orford and Empire City, on the coast ; and St. Helen's, in the northwest, on the Columbia river, are towns of 2,000 or more inhabitants. These are all in Western Oregon. In Eastern Oregon, La Grande, Baker City, Umatilla, Sparta, Pendleton and Milton are the principal towns. Religious Denominations. — In 1875 there were in Oregon 351 church organizations and 242 church edifices of all denominations ; 320 clergymen, priests or ministers; 14,324 members or com- municants; 71,630 adherent population, and church property valued at ;^65 2,950. This with a population estimated at 1 1 2,000, RELIGIOUS DENOMIiYATIONS. Hj-r exclusive of Indians, is certainly a very creditable showing-. The Methodists were considerably the most numerous denomination, the Methodist Episcopal Church having i 21 church organizations, 63 church edifices, 140 ministers, 5,871 members, 20,1 70 adherent population, and ^139,500 of church property, while the minor Methodist denominations (Evangelical Association and United Brethren in Christ) had 42 churches, 23 church edifices, 19 minis- ters, 1,028 members, 4,200 adherent population, and ^22,000 of church property. The Baptists came next, the regular Baptists having 59 churches, 54 church edifices, 47 ministers, 2,052 mem- bers, 8,000 adherent population, and ^51,300 of church property, and the Christian Connection, Baptists in their practice, had 43 churches, 29 church edifices, 36 ministers, 1,867 members. 7,900 adherent population, and ;^42,5oo of church property; the Pres- byterians had 28 churches, 26 church edifices, 25 ministers, 1 ,599 members, 7,000 adherent population, and ^64, 1 50 of church property. Next in order came the Catholics with i 7 churches, 15 church edifices, 18 priests, 15,000 adherent population, and $124,500 of church property. Then followed the Protestant Episcopal Church with 16 parishes, 14 church edifices, 15 priests, 607 communicants, 2,800 adherents, and ^74,300 of church prop- erty, while the Congregationalists were nearly equal to them in numbers. There were five minor sects represented, of whom only the Lutherans have increased very much within the past five years. Of the leading denominations there has been a very decided increase, most marked among the Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Congregationalists. Historical Data. — Spain seems to have had the first title — that of maritime discovery — to Oregon and Washington Territory, having visited and mapped the coast nearly to the fifty-fifth degree of north latitude, in 1592 by the Greek pilot, De Fuca, in 1640 by Admiral Fonte, and subsequendy by other explorers. This title, with whatever validity it possessed, was expressly con- veyed to the United States by Spain by the treaty of Florida, concluded in 1819. The tide of the United States to Oregon and Washington Territory by no means, however, rested on this alone. Other valid claims were the following : the discovery and explo- IIl8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ration of Columbia river by Captain Robert Gray, commanding the ship "Columbia," in 1792, who gave the name of his ship to the river; his previous exploration of the coast in connection with Captain Kendrick, in the "Washington " and the "Columbia," and his discovery and naming of Gray's Harbor, and exploration of the Straits of San Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, more fully detailed in the chapter on Washington Territory ; the purchase of Louisiana and all that belonged to it from the French in 1803, this including the Spanish title so far as they had received it from the French in i 762 ;* the exploration of Columbia river from its sources to its mouth by Captains Lewis and Clarke, by order of our government in 1804, 1805, and its continued occupation by American citizens from 18 10, as a result of the knowledge of its resources gained from the report of Lewis and Clarke. In 1 8 10 the first house was built in Oregon by Captain Winship, a New Englander, but the house was carried away by a flood the following year. In 181 1, John Jacob Astor, of New York, estab- lished a trading-post at the mouth of the Columbia river, which was named "Astoria" in his honor. The venture proved disastrous, mainly in consequence of the war between the United States and Great Britain in 181 2. The British took possession of the post in 18 1 3 and called it Fort George. Subsequently it became the property of the Hudson Bay Company, and remained in its pos- session until 1848. The Northwest Fur Company disputed for a time the rule of the latter company on the Pacific coast, but had to succumb in a few years, and was absorbed by its rival in 1824, from which time, till 1848, the latter ruled supreme in the valleys of the Columbia and Willamette. In 1824 the first fruit trees were planted in Oregon, and in * This claim to Oregon in consequence of the Louisiana purchase was a very weak one, and has been abandoned by Greenhovv and some other American authorities. The great name of Thomas Jefferson, who was President when the Louisiana treaty was negotiated, has also been cited against it; but the other claims were sufficient, and their justness and completeness cannot be denied. See on this subject two very able and conclusive papers by John J. Anderson, Ph. D., author of several works on the history of the United States, entitled '♦ Did the Louisiana Purchase extend to the Pacific Ocean ? " and " Our Title to Oregon " — San Francisco and New York, 1880. HISTORICAL DATA. 1 1 In 1 83 1 the first regular attempts at farming were made by some of the retired servants of the Hudson Bay Company. In 1832 the first school was opened. Between 1834 and 1837 missionaries of various denominations arrived, bringing the first cattle with them. In 1838 the first printing press arrived in Oregon. In 1 841 Commodore Wilkes visited the Columbia on an exploring expedition at the instance of the United States government. From 181 6 till 1846 the American and British governments had held Oregon "by joint occupancy" under a formal treaty, but neither nation had organized any form of civil government there. In 1843 the inhabitants organized a provisional govern- ment, which continued in force till 1848. In 1846, after a long discussion, a treaty was made with Great Britain by which the whole territory south of 49° was ceded to the United States, In 1848 Oregon Territory was organized, and in 1849 received its first territorial grovernor. In 1859 it was received into the Union as a State. Since that time it has had some Indian troubles, but these are now all quieted, by the banishment of the Indian offenders, and the location of the Indians on reservations where they are cared iior and educated. II20 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER XVIII. TEXAS. Situation and Boundaries of Texas — Its Area and Extent — Vastness of ITS Area — Comparisons with other States and Countries — Face of the Country — Mountains in the Northwest— Isolated Summits and Ridges Elsewhere — Elevations of Various Points — Rivers, Bays and Estuaries IN their Order from East to West — Texas Rivers not Navigable — Ge- ographical Divisions of the State and their Characteristics — Geology AND Mineralogy — Minerals — Forests and Vegetation — Zoology — Cli- mate — Meteorological Table giving the Temperajure, Rainfall, etc., AT Eight Points in the State — Mining and Manufacturing Industries — Agricultural Productions — Tables of Agricultural Products and Live-stock — Not all the Arable Lands of Texas of the First Quality — The Live-stock of the State Commands Lower Prices than that of States and Territories farther North — Why ? — Railroads and Navi- gable Waters — Population — Table of Population — Statistics — Nativi- ties OF the Population — From Whence the Emigration — Counties and THEIR Finances AND Valuation — Principal Ciiiesand Towns — Education -Public Schools — Contradictory Statistics — Lack of Interest in them — Universities, Colleges and Professional Schools — Institutions for Blind and Deaf Mutes — Lands for Immigrants — Religious Denomina- tions — Historical Data — Early Settlements in Texas — Its Revolt and Independence OF Mexico — The Republic — Annexation to United States — Progress — Secession — Reconstruction — Present Constitution — Con- clusion. Texas is the southernmost State of "Our Western Empire," and joins on its western border the RepubHc of Mexico, of which it was once an integral part. It is a vast domain, extending from the parallel of 25° 51' to that of 36° 30' north latitude, and from the meridian of 93° 27' to that of 106° 43' west longitude from Greenwich. It is of very irregular shape, a part of its boundaries being of mathematico-geographical lines of latitude and longitude, and a much greater portion following the natural lines of gulf coast, bay and river. Its northern boundaries are New Mexico from the Rio Grande eastward, to the 103d meridian, the Indian Territory (the narrow strip in the northwest of that Territory) from the 103d to the looth meridian, and the Red river from the TOPOGRAPHY OF TEXAS. II2I looth meridian to the 94th, where it crosses the Arkansas bound- ary. This river separates it from the Indian Territory. Its eastern limits are the meridian of 94° 10', as far south as the thirty-second parallel, Arkansas and Louisiana being its actual bounds, and from the thirty-second parallel the Sabine river and lake or estuary to the Gulf of Mexico, and the gulf itself thence to the mouth of the Rio Grande del Norte. The Rio Grande del Norte forms its southwestern border, separating it from the Republic of Mexico, as far as to El Paso, where it passes into New Mexico. The 103d meridian, passing through the Llano Estacado, forms its western boundary. Its extreme length from southeast to northwest is somewhat more than 800 miles, and its extreme breadth about 750 miles. Its area is 274,365 square miles, or 1 75,587,840 acres. This area is equal to that of the German Empire, with Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and Denmark added to it. It is one-third larger than the Republic of France. It is four times larger than all New England, and nearly equal to the combined area of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Face of the Cotmtry. — It is avast inclined plane, with a gradual descent from the northern and northwestern boundary to the Gulf of Mexico. The coast counties are nearly level for sixty or eighty miles inland; the surface then becomes undulating, with alternate gradual elevations and depressions, and this feature in- creases as we proceed toward the northwest, until it becomes hilly and finally mountainous in some of the far western counties; the Sierra Charrotte are the most eastern of these mountain ranges, and between these and the Rio Grande, in Pecos, El Paso and Pre^sidio counties, are the Guadalupe, the Pah-cut, the Apache, the Sierra Hueco, the Sierra del Diablo, the Sierra del Muerio, the Chanatte Mountains, the Sierra Merino, the Sierra Cariso, Eagle Mountain, the Sierra Blanca, and stretching along the Rio Grande for many miles the Sierra Blancha. Most of these moun- tains carry leads of silver, lead and copper. The highest of them do not attain an elevation of more than 5,000 feet. In other por- tions of Texas there are hills, and occasionally a summit towering above the plain, but no mountains in the strict sense of the word. The gradual character of the ascending slope of the country is 71 1122 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Indicated by the following elevations ascertained by the coast survey and railway surveys: Goliad, 50 feet; Houston, 65 ; Gon- zales, 150; Jefferson, 226; Silver Lake, 350; Marshall, 377; Webberville, 394; Brenham, 435 ; Dallas, 481 ; San Antonio, 575 ; Fort Worth, 629; Austin, 650; Sherman, 734; Fort Inge, Uralde county, 845 ; Weatherford, 1,000; Sisterdale, in Kendall county, 1,000; Fort Clark, Kenney county, 1,000; Fredericksburg, 1,614; Mason, 1,800; Fort Concho, 1,750; Fort McKavitt, 2,050; Fort Bliss, El Paso county, 3,830; Fort Davis, Presidio county, 4,700 feet. Rivers, Bays, Estuaries and Lakes, — The State, except in the region of the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain, in the northwest, is well watered. The Canadian river, the largest tributary of the Arkansas, and the Red river, which forms a part of its northern boundary, both have their head-waters in Northwestern Texas and New Mexico, but neither of them receive any very large affluents in Texas, though the North, Salt, Middle and South forks of the Red river are considerable streams. Beginning now at the east, the Sabine river, which for nearly 200 miles forms the eastern boundary of the State, is a large and for much of its route a sluggish stream, with several considerable affluents ; and the Neches, or Naches, a river of about the same size, runs nearly parallel with it, both discharging their waters into the Sabine lake. The affluents of these streams and of those to be men- tioned Interlock with each other, and though not of large size water the country well. All the rivers of Texas except the Can- adian and Red river have a general direction toward the south- east; at first perhaps rather to the south-southeast, but each successive river makes a laro^er ang-le with the meridian. After the Naches come successively the Trinity, the Brazos, with sev- eral large affluents, the Colorado, the largest river of Central Texas, having its sources on the borders of the Staked Plain, and fed by a hundred or more tributaries, the Guadalupe and its large affluent the San Antonio, Mission river, Aransas river, the Nueces, with its tributary, the Rio Frio, the Aqua Dulce, and a dozen smaller streams ; and on its southwest border the Rio Grande del Norte and its great tributary, the Rio Pecos. rOPULAR DIVISIONS OF TEXAS. 1 1 23 None of the Texas rivers are navigable for any considerable distance except at high water, but by dredging and the construc- tion of a short canal, Galveston bay and Buffalo bayou have been rendered navigable as far as Houston, fifty miles from Galveston. Most of the so-called lakes in Texas are really estuaries and bays, and when somewhat narrower and without much current, they are called bayous. Of these bays and estuaries the prin- cipal are Sabine lake, at the mouth of the Sabine river, Galveston bay and its two arms, East and West bay, Matagorda bay and Lavaca bay, connected with it, Espiritu Santo and San Antonio bays, one opening into the other, with several small bays con- nected with them, Aransas and Copano bays, Corpus Christi and Nueces bays, and the Long Lagoon, or sound, Laguna de la Madre. The only considerable lakes not estuaries are Caddo lake, in the east. Forked lake, in Zavala county, Espantosa, in Dimmitt county, and three large salt lakes in Presidio county, in the northwest. Divisions of the Siate. — The State is divided for civil and de- scriptive purposes into — i. The coast counties; 2. Eastern Texas; 3. Central Texas; 4. Northern Texas; 5. Western and Southwestern Texas ; 6. Northwestern Texas. In the coast counties the soil and climate are especially adapted to the culture of the sugar-cane, sea island cotton, rice and many semi-tropical fruits and vegetables. The eastern portion of the State, including some eighteen counties, is heavily timbered, and from here are drawn nearly all the immense supplies of pine lumber required in the prairie por- tions of the State. The natural resources of this section are varied. In it are vast deposits of iron ore of excellent quality and extensive beds of lignite. Large crops of cotton, corn and other grains are grown in its valleys, and its uplands are noted for the production of fruits and vegetables. It is generally well watered by streams and springs. Central and Northern Texas, though generally a rich prairie country, is by no means devoid of a sufficiency of timber for ordi- nary purposes, its numerous streams being fringed with a large I 1 24 ^^^ WESTERN- EMPIRE. orrovvth of forest trees. It is also traversed by what is known as the upper and lower Cross Timbers — a belt of oak, elm and other timber, from one to six miles wide. Western and Southwestern Texas are the great pastoral re- gions of the State. The surface is generally a high, rolling table- land, watered by creeks and ponds, but with little timber, except alone the streams and on some of the hills and mountain reofion-s of the western part, where forests of cedar, mountain juniper, oak, etc., exist. The luxuriant growth of rich, native grasses found in this sec- tion renders it pre-eminently a stock-raising country, and as such it is unexcelled by any other portion of the continent. The pre- cious metals and other mineral deposits are known to exist in this section of the State, and it is believed their development will be rapid when railroads shall have been built across it. Northwestern Texas includes not only the mountainous region comprised in Pecos, Presidio and El Paso counties, but the un organized region known as the Territory of Bexar, and Tom Green county, and sixty-three counties north of and east of these, extending up to the parallel of 36° 30', and eastward to the me- ridian of 99° 30'. This region, a part of which is known as the " Pan-handle of Texas," has an area of more than 90,000 square miles, and perhaps one-third of it belongs to the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain. It is not well watered, and portions of it are not watered at all except by wells. Its rainfall is very small, and the pasturage, though scanty, is nutritious where any water can be obtained. The mountainous portion is rich in minerals. Sil- ver, lead, copper and iron are found there, and gold probably will be. If, as is proposed, the great Staked Plain is rendered habitable by water supplied from artesian wells, this will be an I excellent country for pasturage. Flocks and herds sufficient to supply the world could be raised there. Geology and Mineralogy. — Texas has never had a State geo- logical survey; it has been once or twice attempted, but has soon failed for the want of means for its prosecution. It is said that the new constitution of the State prohibits anything of the kind — a most unwise provision, if true, as no State in the Union would GEO LOU Y AND MINERALOG V. 112? be as much benefited by such a survey as Texas. From some rapid and superficial geological reconnoissances of the State, we glean the following general view of the geology and mineraloo-y of the State. Mr. N. A. Taylor, a Texan geologist, has gathered together the sum of what is known in regard to it, though acknowledging that extensive districts, like that from Bandera west to the Rio Grande, and that from San Antonio southwest to the Rio Grande, have not been explored even superficially, and that even the formations which approach the surface are entirely unknown, though they are conjectured to be Tertiary: "The coast-belt, like that of the other gulf and southern Adantic States, is alluvial, though somewhat less fertile than the deposits of the Mississippi delta ; it Is, however, well adapted to corn, cotton, sugar-cane and the tropical fruits. " From the best data and my own observations, the Tertiary formations occupy all Eastern Texas as high as Red river, and all the lower portion of the State from the gulf lOO to 150 miles, and farther, into the interior. If there is any exception to this, it is in the remote southwest, which I have not visited. Of this great Territory, the Pliocene, or newer Tertiary, occupies the tide-water region, and a considerable portion of Eastern Texas above tide-water. All this region Is low and level, and wonder- fully productive when well drained and well treated. The Miocene, or middle Tertiary, appears here and there in scattered patches above the Pliocene, and Is quite largely developed about Huntsvllle. These lands are largely sandy, and usually hilly or broken. From the melting nature of the soil they are also cut up by considerable gullies and ravines. Usually productive, but cannot resist drought. Above these comes the Eocene, or oldest Tertiary, which occupies a larger space. These lands are rolling, and contain much very graceful and beautiful scenery. The waves and swells rise higher and higher as you go north and west. This formation has a very small percentage of poor land. " There are, no doubt, here and there, many Intrusions on a small scale of older strata through these formations, but I know of I 1 26 ^UR WESTERN EMPIRE. only one of any Importance. That is at the place called Damon's Mound, in Brazoria, where several acres of valuable limestone rise many feet above the Pliocene which surrounds it. This limestone cannot be later than Eocene, and may be older. It is the only stone I have seen in the Pliocene territory of Texas, and some day it will be very valuable for quicklime. "Above the Eocene, the Cretaceous formation rises like a rampart and extends north and west a great distance — how far It Is not certainly known. Many say that it goes on northward, with occasional Interruptions, until it reaches the plateau of the Rocky Mountains, Including the Staked Plains, This is the idea of Professor Buckley. With all deference, I believe it is not so. I believe there is very little Cretaceous after reaching the great outburst of Plutonic and Metamorphic rocks which extend through Burnet, Llano, Mason and Menard counties, and farther west to an unknown distance. After passing this primitive region, the country assumes outlines totally unlike the Cretaceous as elsewhere seen, I have no doubt. Indeed I know, that it appears here and there even to El Paso, on the Rio Grande, but the general formation I believe to be Jurassic, including the Staked Plains, and have little doubt that investigation will prove it to be so, " Just north of the primitive region of Llano, etc., there Is a large development of Carboniferous, extending northeast toward the Indian Territory, and embracing, as is calculated, 30,000 square miles of coal-bearing strata. It is no doubt a continua- tion of the Arkansas or Ozark system. The Permian formation here and there crosses this coal territory, and probably flanks it all round. The Permian is also undoubtedly developed largely farther north and west. Not far from Fort Concho It terminates, and here, closely connected with it, there is a narrow streak of coal strata, in which an excellent coal has been found. As in England, so in Texas, this formation, wherever found, seems to Indicate unerringly the near presence of coal. I believe the Permian may be found almost anywhere near the foot of the Staked Plains. " Beyond the Pecos, in that almost unknown region below the THE MINERALS OF TEXAS. 112/ El Paso stage route, it is difficult to say what is the ruling- geological formation. All the formations, except the Tertiary, seem to have been thrown together in one vast pile of ruin, penetrated by valleys of exquisite beauty and fertility. Here we find all manner of Plutonic eruptions, frequently capped and flanked by Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks. Perhaps basaltic rocks predominate. They certainly assume some very immense forms, sometimes rising into perpendicular cliffs many miles long and a thousand or more feet high. The Permian also appears here, filled with selenite and other forms of gypsum. This is the most interestinor reoion in the world to the creoloeist. '■'Minerals. — If we are filled with doubt in regard to the geo- looical formations of Texas, we are much more so in reoard to the minerals that lie hidden in her strata. As reofards the Ter- tiaries, they contain many valuable deposits of iron ore in East- ern Texas, some of which have been a little worked and found to yield from forty to sixty per cent, of metallic iron. These ores are the brown oxides or limonite. The forests are dense in this region, and charcoal is obtainable at a nominal price. Lime- stones are usually within easy distance, sufficient to supply fluxes. These ores are also abundant in Robertson, Limestone and other counties of Central Texas, but have received no attention. The Eocene also contains very large deposits of lignite, some of which, particularly that found in Limestone county, is a superior variety of that sort of coal. It would prove excellent for gas- making, but will not coke. It burns furiously in a grate, but emits an unpleasant odor in combustion, which goes through the whole house and may even be smelled at a distance outside. Some of these layers of lignite are said to be at least twelve feet thick. They are associated with brown and blue shales, and rather soft brow^n sand-stone. There is some gypsum in the Eocene — notably about the falls of the Brazos, in Falls county, where it is in considerable quantity. It is pure enough for manufacturing Into plaster of Paris, and there is none better for fertilizing. West of Corpus Christi large deposits of salt are formed annually in the lagoons near the gulf. In the winter these basins are filled with water from the gulf, which evaporates in 1 1 28 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. summer, leaving the clean white salt. Enough of it is thus formed here every year to salt all Texas. During the war these deposits supplied a large portion of Texas with salt. "The Cretaceous contains a good deal of gypsum, and lime- stone for building or quicklime, widiout end. About two miles from Round Rock, on the International railroad, there is a great quantity of gypsum, quite pure. There is also a good deal of it about Mount Bonnel, near Austin. Both of these points are so convenient to transportation that it is singular that some one has not engaged in making plaster of Paris. Nearly all that article used in Texas comes from Newfoundland, and this when we have it just as good and in great abundance right at our own doors. No chalk has ever been found in the Cretaceous system of Texas, so far as I know. " The granitic and metamorphic region, running through Burnet, Llano, Mason, Menard, etc., abounds in mineral wealth. There are probably no larger and certainly no better deposits of iron ore in the world than those of Llano county ; none easier to get at. These ores are magnetic and specular, and often appear in immense masses resembling solid iron. They have been wrought to a very small extent and found to yield from seventy to eighty per cent, of iron, equal to the best in the world. With such immense masses of iron as this, Texas ought to furnish not only her own railroad iron, but also ship it to other lands. This will be done in time. At present Austin is the nearest point to a railroad, about a hundred miles off. The region is generally timbered, furnishing plenty of material for charcoal ; some coal has also been discovered in this region, and it is known to exist abundantly in Coleman and other counties not far off. There is also abundance of limestone. Soapstone, valuable for furnaces, also abounds. Some copper, silver, and even gold, have been found in this region, but not yet, I believe, in paying quantities. Its great mineral wealth is doubtless its iron. Marble of excellent quality is found in places throughout this region. Perhaps the largest deposit of it is at the Marble Falls of the Colorado, where the river for ? ^ — ;' ble distance cuts its way through walls and mountain marble. It is not uncommon in this THE MINERALS OF TEXAS. II2g region to find the people living In huts or cabins surrounded with fences built of the finest marble. The marble is of various shades — some pure white, some variegated with red and blue markings, and some black. This place is about sixty miles above Austin, and the marble might be brought down the river in flat- boats, but it Is not. "In the same region there are numerous salines, issuing, it is said, from Silurian rocks, and some salt of a very fine quality is manufactured — enough to supply the wants of the people around there. This whole region is very picturesque, and has some of the loveliest scenery on the American continent. " Below this primitive region, lying out in the post-oaks to the southeast, are nuinerous strange boulders, which have been borne many miles from their native beds by some remarkable occur- rence which took place about the close of the Cretaceous era. Some of these lost rocks are many tons in weight. The Jurassic and Permian beds are known to contain great deposits of copper, gypsum and salt. Indeed, the largest deposit of gypsum known in the world is found in Northwest Texas along Red river, and extending a great distance into the State. The gypsum belt Is a hundred or more miles In width, and of unknown thickness. The gypsum is of all sorts, from the purest alabaster and selenite to the common massive forms. There is enough of it to supply the demands of the universe for centuries. All the streams that wander through this great bed are impregnated with this mineral and salt — some to such a degree that even the animals will not drink them. The Pecos is a strange compound, and one of the arms of the Brazos Is far more briny than the ocean. Yet in all this region there are springs and deep circular pits of pure water. The Permian, in Archer and several other counties, is heavily stored with copper. "In regard to the region west of the Pecos, I have this prophecy to place on record — that the day will come when it will develop great mineral wealth. We have every reason to think so. No Intelligent man has ever penetrated that region without being filled with this conviction, and the more intelligent and observingr he is the stronger Is this conviction upon him. There is hardly 1 1 20 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. a doubt that the geological formation there is but a continuation of the rich mineral-bearing system of Colorado, Nevada and Chihuahua. The rocks appear the same ; they contain silver, cop- per and lead. These rich metalliferous rocks run in great systems, and not in isolated protrusions. Thus we find gold in the great Appalachian system of mountains, reaching out thousands of miles; and thus we find gold and silver in the great Rocky and Andes Ranee, traversine the length of two continents. For this reason I have ever entertained a lively hope that much silver and gold will be found in the far isolated group of Llano, etc. The moun- tains beyond the Pecos fill every condition for the expectation of great mineral wealth. Here the systems of Colorado and the Sierra Rica, of Mexico, meet and blend. Being so rich elsewhere, why should they not be even richer where they meet and blend? I have no question that they will eventually prove so, and that those now utterly lonely mountains will be filled with great works and the busy camps of the miners. Silver will be the principal metal, though copper and lead will abound." Forests and Vegetation. — Eastern Texas, east of the Trinity river, is a region of abundant timber, and although the most densely populated portion of the State, full one-half of its surface is still covered with forests. There are two species of pine, here known as the "long straw" and "short straw" pine, both of large size and producing excellent lumber, while the long straw yields a superior quality of turpentine. There are also in Eastern Texas several species of oak, including the live-oak, so called, an evero-reen oak which differs somewhat from the live-oak of Florida, and which is found all over the State ; the post-oak and blackjack ; the ash, elm, black walnut, butternut, pecan, box-elder and pride of China ; and toward the coast, the magnolia (here a stately tree), the cypress, palmetto, etc. In Northern Texas there are two immense belts of woodland, extending from the Red river southward, called the " Lower " and " Upper Cross Timbers." They are each about forty or forty-five miles wide, and extend southward from 1 50 to 200 miles ; the first com- mences in Cooke and Grayson counties, along the Red river, and extends to McLennan county ; the second, which is smaller, FOREST GROWTHS IN TEXAS. II3I occupies parts of Wise, Jack, Palo Piuto, Hood and Erath coun- ties. Most of the trees in these forests are post-oak and black- jack oak, and they stand so wide apart that a wagon can be driven between them in any direction. Central Texas is mainly rolling prairie ; but with plenty of timber, generally of good quality, though sometimes cottonwood, buckeye, black gum or sweet gum, in the river and creek bottoms. There are also islands of forest trees, live-oak, cypress (which grows on the hills here), post-oak and mesquite scattered through the prairies. The coast belt has no forest trees, but frequent chapparals, composed mainly of the different species of cactus. This region has also in spring and early summer rich and nutri- tious grasses, and a profusion of brilliant flowering plants. Western and Northwestern Texas are scantily wooded, though even there the cypress, the live-oak (more rarely), and that won- derful tree, the mesquite, are found. The Osage orange (bois d'arc) and the pecan tree are among the other valuable forest trees of Texas. The bois d'arc grows in almost all soils; its wood is very hard and durable, and its thorns and rapid growth make it excellent for hedges. The other shrubs and plants most common in Northwestern Texas and in the Llano Estacado are the yucca and four or five genera of the cactus, among which are the prickly pear, the melo- cactus, the mammelaria and several species of cereus. The sage brush is not so abundant, even on the Llano, as in New Mexico and Colorado. The mesquite grass, a very great favorite with cattle, is the best of the pasturage grasses of this region. Zoology. — There are still some herds of buffalo and antelope in the northwestern part of the State, though the number is di- minishing every year. In Western Texas the mustang or wild horse of Mexico sdll feeds in large troops on the prairies ; the gray wolf, more ferocious and stronger than his northern con- gener, the black bear, the puma or cougar, the jaguar or Amer- ican tiger, the wild cat and the lynx, are found in the wooded and thinly inhabited districts ; while deer, peccaries, raccoons, opos- sums, foxes, hares and squirrels abound in the woods. Amonor the feathered tribes are found : of game birds, the wild I 1^2 ^^^^ WESTER x\' EMPIRE. turkey, pheasant, quail, snipe, curlew, many species of wild ducks, brant and teal, wild geese, swans, and a great variety of birds remarkable for sweetness of song or beauty of plumage; and among the birds of prey, the king vulture, or king of the buz- zards, the common turkey buzzard, and other vultures, eagles, hawks, kites, pelicans, herons, king-fishers, flamingoes, cranes, etc. The streams abound in fish, of which the black bass and the war-mouth perch are the best edible fresh-water varieties, while the waters of the bays and gulf yield immense numbers of the salt-water fish common to all the Atlantic and gulf coasts. The oysters of Galveston bay and its vicinity are considered good by epicures. Alligators, turtles, etc., are abundant in the lower portion of the rivers and bayous, and on the coast are seen, though less frequently, the great sea-turtles, the manatee, octopus and the porpoise. In the mountains and wooded districts, rattlesnakes, moccasin snakes, copperheads, the red-mouthed adder and the milk adder are sufficiently numerous, and several species of the black snake (our American boa) and great numbers of harmless snakes are found almost everywhere. The gecko and other lizards, among them the chameleon, horned toads, horned frogs, salamanders, etc., abound, and the insect tribes are both numerous and formidable. The centipede, and on the lower coast a small sand scorpion, the large jumping spider, horse flies, buffalo gnats, chigoes and mosquitoes are all more or less troublesome ; but they are not found in the same localities nor at the same season of the year. The insects injurious to vegetation are less numerous and destructive than in any other States. Climate. — The climate of Texas is varied from semi-tropical to moderately temperate. Snow and ice are seldom seen in the central portion, and rarely, if ever, in the extreme south. In the northern part one or two snow-falls during the winter, of from one to three inches in depth, are usually expected. Occasionally a much heavier fall is had, and ice from one to two inches in thickness is sometimes made. In the northeastern and eastern sections of the State the mer- cury in summer rarely rises above loo, and as rarely descends to zero. The summers are long and the heat continuous, but CLIMATE OF TEXAS. WXT, not as intense as in many localities farther north. The winters are generally mild and for the most part pleasant. On the coast, even at Brownsville, near the mouth of the Rio Grande, the mer- cury rarely or never reaches ioo°, and as rarely falls below 32° in winter. The entire range of the year is not over 66°. Along the whole course of the Rio Grande, and, indeed, gener- ally in Western and Northwestern Texas, the climate is entirely different, bearing a greater resemblance to that of Arizona and New Mexico. The summer temperature rises to 110°, 112° or 1 16°, and what is remarkable attains its greatest intensity in May when it remains above 100° for fifteen or twenty days too-ether. In winter it falls to about 20° or 25°, the annual range being from 91° to 96°. The rainfall varies as much as the temperature. In Galveston it averages more than 50 inches; in Austin, 34.55 ; in Denlson, about 31 inches; while west of the looth meridian it gradually diminishes from 21.21 at Brackettsville to 8.99 at El Paso. From the reports of twenty-five stations of the Signal Service Office in Texas, and reports from two or three others from private sources, we have selected eight points, of which we give temperature, rainfall, and, in two of them, the barometer. These eight points represent as fairly as possible the meteorology of all parts of the State. ( See pages 1 1 34, 1 135. ) Mining and Maiinfacturing Industries. — There can be no question that Texas possesses a vast amount of mineral wealth, and that at some not distant day the mountain districts of Western and Northwestern Texas will be thoroughly prospected, and hundreds of mines of gold, silver and copper opened and profitably worked. The mines of coal, of rock salt and of lead, which are now just developing, will be wrought on an extensive scale, and the soapstone, marble, slate and gypsum will be largely exported. The whole State west of the meridian of San Antonio is full of mineral wealth. But at present there is a lack of the enterprise which is necessary for the development of these trea- sures. The coal mines are worked to a considerable extent, be- cause the railroads need and will have the coal, and the salt mines are worked, and the water of the saline springs evaporated, because there is an importunate and constant demand for salt for 1 1 34 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. •S -jr c . Ci % o ;; NO * o m t^ o" K •- t VO t^ ■" " " " " " " ■3jnjEjodm3j_ JO sSue^ o p. •* vo ;^ ^ <£> % s. 5^ ■*• •BjnjBJaduiax uesj^ ° fi q q hN q ^0 q q q t^ =2 sjnjBiadmax tunuiiuij^ « t^ c^ >o K JJ> t^ 1^ •^ VO VO ajin^jadiuaj^ lunuiixsj^ o •§ r-^ CO vo Ox On ON 0\ 0\ 00 CO On On Ox On CO h o o o F*5 •j3i3iuojBg • JO 3JnSS3Jc£ UE3J^ '3jrnBJ3dui3X uinuitxBj^ O -«- VO n ON On 00 o\ On o\ o\ Ov o> ON ■I1BJU!B>T j^nuuv puE Xjmuoj^ ■-'! r^ q r^ S q ! 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" O i X < J5 o Z Q = -g rt a. « ^ fa S < S J I ^6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. daily consumption. The manufacture of flour, of lumber, of ma- chinery, furniture, carriages and wagons, of cotton goods, of packed meats, leather and leather goods, might easily be ten-fold what it now is but for a lack of enterprise and push in these mat- ters. The annual product of mines and manufactories in the State in 1870, according to the ninth census, was ^11,517,302. It is safe to say that at the present time, including the large de- velopment of coal mining, copper miining, salt works, cotton gins and mills, saw mills, etc., etc., it is not less than ^50,000,000. Yet there is much truth in the words of the editor of the Galveston Daily News, in December, 1879: " The great want of Texas is manufacturing industry. With the exception of her flouring mills, cotton-seed mills, the New Braunfels woollen mills, and three or four foundries and work- shops — all successful testimonials, however, as to what can be accomplished in this way — the State is altogether deficient in manufactures. Yet there is plenty of opportunity and facility in the State for the establishment and successful operation of such in a variety of lines. State demand is ample, and the means are native here, awaiting the touch of enterprise and capital. Texas, as yet, is dependent upon the outer world for everything, from ax-helves to farm-wagons, from the hoe to the steam-engine; yel the State abounds in mineral wealth, and the timber of the country is profuse in the best of varieties and boundless in extent. With the full achievement of the manufacturing era will come the in- dustrial glory of Texas." Ag7-'ic2cllural Prodiutioiis. — In other parts of this work we have devoted much attention to the agricultural productions of Texas, as well as to its flocks and herds, and have endeavored to show that its present products, large as they may be, are very much less than they might be, even with the land at present under cul- ture, and the present population, if there were greater enterprise and more skilful farming. We have shown, also, that she has the land and the capacity to grow all the cotton necessary for the world's consumption, and a sufficiency of grain to feed the whole human family, as well as flocks and herds in sufficient number to furnish meat for every person on the globe; yet she is strangely AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS OF TEXAS. ^^17 apathetic to her grand opportunities, and prefers to boast of her wealth and productions, and discourse of them in ghttering gen- eraHties, rather than to work out her destiny by energetic and skilfully directed labor. Meanwhile other States, with not one- fourth of her area or natural advantages, are rapidly surpassing her in population, wealth, and manufacturing and mining devel- opment. The climate, pleasant as it is, may have something to do with this indisposition to vigorous and continued exertion ; and the former prevalence of slavery there may have had its in- fluence ; but until this apathetic indolence is overcome, the State will make far less rapid progress than she dreams of making. The latest complete statistics of agricultural products of tb,e State are for 1878 and 1879, those of 1880 being simply conjec- tural. There has been undoubtedly a considerable increase in many of the crops in the last year, but nothing except the special investigation made by the census office will account for it. The following table gives the statistics of products for 1878 and 1879: Agricultural Productions of Texas in 1878 a7id 1879. Products, 1878. Indian corn, bu. Wheat, bu Rye, bu Gals, bu Potatoes, bu. . . . Hay, tons Cotton, pounds. Totals . 53i.5oo 604,800 127,200 497,310,000 26 16 I 18 ! 84 '• 275 59 4, 2,246,000 450,000 3,000 149,500 7,200 80,000 1,808,400 44 86 72 42 99 9-75 8.2 Products, 1879. Indian corn, bu Wheat, bu Rye, bu Oats, bu Potatoes, bu Hay, tons Cetton, pounds 29,198,000 3,454,200 32,400 3,962,500 310,200 1 3 1 ,000 338,625,000 Totals I 4,924,596 13 7.6 12 25 47 1.08 175 4,744,100 2,246,000 454.500 2,700 158,500 6,600 121.296 1,935,000 1.03 1. 15 1. 00 .62 1.29 11.64 .10 jS!25,694,240 6,192,000 38,880 2,323.230 59^.752 1,240,200 40,779,420 376,866,722 JJ30.073.940 3.972,330 32,400 2^56,750 400,158 1,524,840 33,862,500 ;g72,322,9i8 72 1 138 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Of the following articles the entire production is unknown, but as there are no large tanneries and but few woollen mills, the exports of both raw-hides and wool must cover nearly the pro- duction. This is partly true also of cotton seed-cake and oil : Wool exported, 14,568,920 pounds, valued at . . 1^2,913,784 Hides exported, 28,104,065 " " . . 2,810,406 Cotton-seed cake and oil, 506,063 Of the next three, probably the export is less than one-half the production ; lumber and shingles . 1,349,691 Sugar and molasses, 433,960 Miscellaneous products, 672,364 $8,686,268 Adding to these the live-stock of the State, Januar}^ 1879, and January, 1880, we have the following as an approximate estimate of the entire agricultural and grazing product of the State : January, 1879. Animals. Horses Mules, etc Milch cows Oxen and other cattle. Sheep Swine Agricultural products . Special exports Number. ; Price. Value. 918,000 : 180,200 544.500 4,800,000 4,56j,ooo 1,957,000 40.23 14-53 Total agricultural and grazing products. ^20,563,200 7.249.446 7.911.585; 43,920,000 8,208,000 5,604,870 76,866,722 8,686,258 J.1 79, 100,081 January, 18 Horses Mules and asses Milch cows Oxen and other cattle. Sheep Swine Agricultural products. Special exports Number, i Price. $963,900 191,012 566,280 4,464,000 5,198.400 1,917,860 JS24.6D 45.90 13-85 10.51 Z.13 3.00 Value. 1^23,811,940 8,767,451 7,832,973 46,916,640 1-1,072,592 5,753,580 72,322,918 8,686,258 Total agricultural and grazing products $185,164,357 There is, in the vast area of Texas, much arable land, and some of it, especially in Eastern and Central Texas, is of the first qual- ity ; that of the coast counties is inclined to be sandy, but pro- duces excellent crops of tropical and semi-tropical fruits, and sugar and rice. But a very large portion of the arable lands are of the second or third quality, and are not thoroughly culti- vated. The average yield of cotton, Indian corn and wheat per acre is conclusive evidence either that the land is poor or the farming very slovenly. There are farms in the State, and those not on the land which is considered of the highest quality, where the cotton crop in average years is two bales (960 pounds) to the acre, in fields of many hundred acres; and others where the corn THE GRAZING INTEREST IN TEXAS. "3^ crop is forty to forty-five bushels, and the wheat crop twenty-five to thirty bushels. These are not extravagant or fancy crops ; but they prove the truth of the old Georgia adage, that "it is as much in the man as in the land." The State is well adapted to grazing, and even the northwest- ern region, with its small rainfall and its few streams, often dry, is a fair grazing country, if water enough can be found for the cattle and sheep. Texas has the largest amount of live-stock to be found in any one State or Territory in the Union ; but even in this pursuit the carelessness and shiftlessness of her stock- growers prevent her from making as good a showing as her situation warrants. The cattle of Texas are very largely of a comparatively poor breed ; long-horned, not very large, and somewhat unshapely, not inclined to take on flesh rapidly, and yet wanting in the qualities for good milkers. They bring in the market from ;^5 to ^lo per head less than steers of the same age in Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming or Montana, and the larger stock-raisers, with few exceptions, take no pains to improve the breed. The horses, which now number more than a million, are to a very large extent mustangs and most of them wild. The mustang is, for its size, the most vicious horse in the world. There are some bronchos, a cross between some of the better breeds and the Indian pony ; these are better than the mustangs, but are not very valuable. There are, of course, better horses than either in the State, and a few of the more wealthy stock- raisers are making efforts to introduce horses of better quality, but with indifferent success. The sheep are also of poor quality — Mexican sheep which will yield only from one and a half to two and a half pounds of wool at a shearing. The average weight of the fleeces on " King " Carlin's sheep ranche is three and a half pounds, but these are nearly all of improved breeds, and the wool clip is regarded as something astonishing in Texas ; while in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon and Washington, the average weight is from five and a half to seven pounds, and the wool is of much better quality and higher price. The same indifference appears in the rearing of swine. The average Texas hog has long legs, a Il^o OUK WESTERN EMPIRE. humped back, a sharp snout, can run Hke a hound, and clear any fence without difficulty; but he is not given to taking on fat, and though his hams may have a gamy flavor, he excels most in all those points which neither breeder, butcher nor pork-packer regard as desirable in a hog. Of course such swine as these are not very profitable, especially when the adjacent, but much newer, State of Kansas has attained so nearly to perfection in raisine swine. Of course there are farmers, and laroe farmers, who are not liable to these criticisms ; men who endeavor to raise only the best animals ; but these are the somewhat rare excep- tions to the general rule; and with a most admirable country and climate for rearing stock, it has come to pass, that the average Texas horse, the average Texas steer, the average Texas sheep, and the average Texas hog, are about the poorest specimens of those animals respectively, to be found in all "Our Western Empire," and command the lowest prices. There is no good reason for this either in the soil, the climate or the location. The large ranche-owner may say, indeed, that it is not worth his while to take any more pains, or put himself to any more trouble to raise better animals, for he is becoming rich as fast as he cares to, and he wouldn't know what to do with more money if he had it ; but this is a very poor argument for shiftlessness and indolence. No man lives, or should live, for himself alone. It is every man's duty to do the best he can with the property which comes into his hands, and he who gives the best culture possible to his lands, who rears the best animals, or develops most fully the resources of his estates, is not only enriching himself thereby, but is benefiting his neighbor by his enterprise and example, and brings prosperity and wealth to his State, by thus showing its capacity for future growth and expan- sion. He is the State's best citizen who does the most for its material and intellectual advancement. Railroads and Navigable IVa^ers.—TexsLS has over 400 miles of coast line on the gulf, though its harbors are not of the first class. Still Galveston, Indianola, Corpus Christi and Brazos de Santiago are somewhat important ports, and have a foreign com- merce of about $23,000,000 annually, and a much larger coasting RAILROADS AND NAVIGABLE WATERS. H^I trade. With the exception of the canal and bayou, by means of which Houston has water communication with Galveston and has become a port of entry, none of the rivers of Texas are navigable for any considerable distance. The editor of the Galveston Daily Ncivs, in the issue of December 29th, 1879, described the progress of the State in railroad construction since 1865 as follows: "At the close of the war in 1865 there were but six railroads in Texas that had track laid in running order, viz. : the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railroad, from Harrisburg to AUeyton, eighty miles ; the Houston and Texas Central Rail- road, from Houston to Millican, eighty miles; the Washington County Railroad (now the Austin division of the Central), from Hempstead to Brenham, thirty miles ; the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad, from Galveston to Houston, fifty miles; the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, from Houston to Liberty, forty miles ; and the Columbia and Brazos River Railroad, from Houston to Columbia, fifty miles — making a total of 330 miles of railroad in actual operation fifteen years ago. The Southern Pacific Railroad (now the Texas and Pacific) was under operation from Shreveport, La., to the Texas line, but at that period had not penetrated the State. Now there are twenty-six different lines of railroad in actual operation within the State, with a total mileage in running order of 2,556 miles, showing that since the year 1865 no less than 2,226 miles of railroad have been con- structed and placed in running order. Twenty of these roads are standard orauQ^e and six are narrow ofauofe railroads. There are few States in the Union with a better record than this. It speaks volumes for the future of the commonwealth in every direction toward progress and prosperity, and to all appearances the next few years will witness still further advances in the impor- tant work of railroad construction." During the year 1880 considerable progress has been made in railroad construction, and still more in railroad consolidation in the State. None of the Texas railroads are completed west of the ninety-ninth meridian, though the Texas Pacific is, we believe, under contract to El Paso; while the Southern Pacific 1 142 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of California is already at or near El Paso, and is heading direcdy for Galveston by as nearly as possible an air-line as far as Austin, where it will probably join the Houston and Texas Central. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe is also at or near El Paso, and is supposed to have a terminus on the Gulf of Mexico in view, but whether over the Southern Pacific line or not is as yet uncer- tain. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway and the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern are now virtually under one control, and will probably form some connection with Western Texas. Several short roads and connections have been con- structed in Eastern Texas, and the first of January, 1881, will probably find about 3,000 miles of railroad in operation in the State, with another thousand in prospect by January, 1882. Population of Texas. Year of Enumeration. 1806. 7,000 1834 1 21,000 H Q. 52,670 1 50,000 212,592 604,215 818,579 1880 1,510,000 1836. 1845. 1850. i860. 1870. 33.500 91,000 113,780 320,167 423,557 19,170 59,000 98,812 284,048 395,022 30,000 154,034 420,891 564,700 O 5,000 397 355 253,47s 58,161 162,566 SJ 17,670 403 724 Year of Enu- meration. 1806, 1834. 1836. 1845- 1850. ,1860. 1870. 4880. 194,433 560.793 756,168 fe 17,681 43,422 62,411 0.02 0.07 0.19 0.54 0.77 2.20 3,02 5SO 300 150 »85 41.70 184.22 36.46 82.21 10,583 18,476 221,703 < -7; 83,206 233,417 319-233 43,909 119,362 158,765 ■^ -I cj O cu 3 52,666 143,151 184,094 POPULATION OF TEXAS. I I^j Population. — The growth of Texas has been more rapid than that of most of the Southern States, though less so than that of some of the Northern States. The preceding table gives the popu- lation of the State at different periods, and other particulars. Of this population, the number of foreign birth has never been very large. The Germans have some colonies in New Braunfels and its vicinity, and there are a considerable number of Irish, English, French and Spanish, a few Italians and many Mexicans and half-breeds of the lower classes, and some Indians. The last two classes find employment as cow-boys, shepherds, teamsters, etc. But there has been for the past thirty years and more a steady stream of emigration into Texas from the Southern, Gulf and Atlantic States, and, since the war, from the States of the Mississippi valley — Illinois furnishing, perhaps, the largest num- ber. The people are brave, free-hearted and hospitable, and immigrants are made welcome there; but there is need of a larger infusion of Northern thrift, enterprise and thoroughness. The habits, and perhaps some of the vices engendered by slavery, have not been entirely eradicated, but progress is made every year, and eventually this vast domain will be developed on a grand scale by the efforts of the generation now coming upon the stage. Comities and Principal Cities and Towns. — There are 220 counties in Texas, of which, however, only 154 are as yet fully organized, while some of the unorganized counties are vast tracts as yet unpeopled, and some of them are designated as territo- ries rather than counties. The assessment valuation of the year 1877— 1878, the last published, seems to be made on a basis of fifty per cent, of the true valuation, and perhaps on sixty per cent, of the numbers of live-stock. It is as follows : Acres of land -,. 76,450,450 Miles of railroad i>78i Number of steamboats and other vessels .... 575 Numberof carriages and buggies .,.,,,, 131,920 Number of horses and mules 985,561 Number of cattle 3,312,356 Number of asses 5j37i Number of sheep 2,883,372 Number of goats 229,618 Number of hogs 1,292,909 1 144 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The total value of all property assessed was ^318,985,765. A true valuation would be not less than ^450,000,000. Of the towns and cities, Galveston, the commercial capital and chief port of entry, is the largest. It has a very poor harbor, the entrance to the bay being obstructed by a bar nearly four miles across. Its population according to the census of 1880 is 22,253. It is said not to be growing, though it has a good back country, all of Central and Eastern Texas, to furnish it with trade. Houston, which has already become a great railroad centre, had in June, 1880, 18,646; and San Antonio, which is called the capital of Western Texas, has a large trade from Northwestern Texas, as well as from other sections of the State, and is rich in historic interest, had at the same date 20,561. Austin, the capital of the State, had in June, 1880, 10,960. Waco and Dallas are of about the same size as Austin, the latter having 10,358 and the former a little less than 10,000. Fort Worth has not quite 10,000 ; Sher- man, about 8,000 or 9,000; Denison, Marshall, Paris, Jefferson, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, Laredo, Brenham, Indianola, and perhaps one or two other towns, have 5,000 or more inhabitants, and there may be a dozen. New Braunfels, the chief town of the German colonists, among them, which range between 3,000 and 5,000. Education. — Public school education in Texas has not been well managed. There is, indeed, nominally, provision for a school fund, which may eventually become large, but the school lands are held at a price considerably higher than other lands of equal value, and the State and railroads have so much land to sell that the school lands are neglected. During the late civil war, the school fund and its income were diverted to other purposes, and though an effort has been made to increase the amount of the fund since the war, it has not proved very successful, and the schools have been much hampered by bad legislation. The permanent school fund on September i, 1879, was stated at ^3,300,581, but the income from it, which con- stituted the available school fund, was only ^132,883. Three and a half months later, viz.: December 15, 1879, the State Treasurer reports the permanent school fund of the State as only COTTON TRAIN. CoTTON FRlibS. CATTLE STAMl'EDK. \IE\V UK GAL\"ESTON UARBOR. EDUCATION IM TEXAS. 1 145 ^1,154,400, and the available school fund as ^102,409. We can- not explain the discrepancy. Some money is raised for schools by taxation, but the taxes are not promptly paid. The whole actual expenditure for public schools does not probably exceed ^550,000 per annum. The number of children of school age re- ported in 1879 (eight organized and all the unorganized counties not reporting) was 224,720. The various reports in regard to public school education are so conflicting as to impair confidence in their accuracy. That of the United States Commissioner of Education for the year 1878, from Secretary Hollingsworth, of the State Board* of Education, gives the following figures, which do not agree with any others : Counties reporting, 137 (there are 154 organized counties in the State) ; youth of school age (eight to fourteen), 194,353 (other reports for the same year give 168,294 and 164,294) ; whole enrolment in public schools, 146,- 946; non-attendants, 23,963 (these figures again do not agree) ; whole number of illiterates of school age, 61,123. Whole number of organized schools, 4,633, of which 905 are for colored pupils; average time of schools in days, 88 days; 243 school-houses built within the year, at a cost of ^54,267. Whole number of teachers reported, 4,330 — 303 less than the number of schools. Of these 2,895 were white males; 760 white females; 562 colored males, and 113 colored females. The average pay of all male teachers was ^42 per month, and of all females, %2)Z P^^ month. The whole income of public schools was stated to be ^859,484, and the whole expenditure, $747,534. Pe?^ contra, it is stated recently that the wages of the teachers are sadly in arrears. The amount of the permanent school fund in 1878 is stated to have been $3,385,571, while a year later it was only one-third of that sum. There is certainly room for improvement. Some of the cities, as Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, have good schools. The only normal schools are those sustained by private enterprise or by religious associations. There are five so-called universities, viz.: Baylor, Southwestern, Trinity, Waco and St. Mary's ; and four colleges : Austin, Mans- field, Marvin and Salado. Five of them admit young women on equal terms with young men as students. None of these insti- 1 146 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. tutions have more than a local reputation. These and the Texas Military Institute and the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, at College Station, in Brazos county, had together 1,984 students in the preparatory and collegiate departments. There were also one theological, one law and one medical school, and institutions for the deaf and dumb, and for the blind, in the State. Lands for Immigrants. — Texas is the only State or Territory of "Our Western Empire" in which the United States govern- ment holds no land, the State beino- annexed to the Union as an independent republic, and retaining its unoccupied lands in its own possession. We have given in Part II. of this work a full account of the modes of procuring lands from the State, and it is not necessary that we should repeat them here. (See page 257-) Religious Denominations. — The census returns of these for 1880 are not yet available, and would not give any information in regard to the three important items of number of clergymen, ministers or priests, the number of communicants, and the adhe- rent population, if they were. Our latest information on these points is that of 1875, as exhibited in the following table: Denominations. All Denominations Baptists Christian Connection and Disciples Congrcgationalists Protestant Episcopal Church Jews Lutherans Methodist Church South M'jthodist Episcopal Church Methodist, African, Zion, etc Methodist, Protestant Presbyterian, Regular Presbyterian, Cumberland Roman Catholics Union, and minor sects ,050 ,047 36 421 163 io6 1,764 853 29 7 38 5 39 386 124 83 25 126 67 86 6 o e IS 590 i.^ >> ^ CO s "^^ r-« a. E 5 Ti *^ a X. 1 \r, C >^ c ^ c X. " 3 ° ^ Z ° < ;z; > 167,850 ■ 839,250 220,510 ,$1,979,600 59.6:-7 298,000 89,300 447,500 2,816 1 4 ,c>8o 5,100 27,400 359 1,600 750 20,000 2,612 12,000 11,400 168,400 1,800 3, 3°° 1,500 21, 000 ; 4,127 18,000 7.650 75,250 4 3, OCX) 215,000 89,200 305,100 16,206 81,000 12,400 87,600 17,000 68,000 8,300 4>.5oo 2,000 8,000 610 12,500 6,051 30,250 27,000 . 239,000 8,450 42,250 9,150, 93,000 103,000 26,200 401 ,000 1,200 6,000 650 4,800 Historical Data. — The following memoranda of dates and events in Texan history are from a "Chronological Compend HISTORICAL NOTES ON TEXAS. i;j^7 of Texas History," prepared for " Burke's Texas Almanac for 1880," by D. W. C. Baker. They have been carefully verified by us : " Texas is supposed to have its name from an Indian village called Texas on the Neches river. Its meanina- in the Indian language is fHend. "In 1685 a French cavalier named Robert de La Salle, with a small colony, landed at Matagorda bay and built a fortress, which he called in honor of the King of France, St, Louis. This colony was soon exterminated by disease and the hostility of the In- dians ; and La Salle was killed by one of his own mutinous fol- lowers. " Spain next attempted the occupation of Texas, and in 1 689 a colony was landed and a mission was built near the spot where four years previously La Salle had landed. This colony was soon broken up by the same causes as the former one. "Between the years 1690 and 1720 the Spanish Roman Catho- lics established many missions and fortresses within the borders of Texas. Three missions were built and occupied by monks and friars, and by soldiers who were sent to defend them. "After many vicissitudes the Spanish missions were within a century from their establishment one after another abandoned, leaving throughout the State crumbling ruins of massive build- ings, which to this day sufficiently attest the self-sacrificing de- votion and labors of those Christian ambassadors from the Old World. "The fate of the inmates of the mission of San Saba was one of the most deplorable recorded in history. This mission was established in 1734, and for a while the Indians proved friendly. In 1752 a silver mine was discovered there, which drew to the place a number of adventurers. Trouble soon arose between these and the savages, who in their rage made an onslaught on the fortress, and slew all who were there, not one escaping. " Thus the efforts of France and Spain to effect a permanent occupation of Texas failed. " France formally abandoned her claims in 1763, and in 1821 Mexico threw off the Spanish yoke, and Spain thereafter ceased J 1^8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. to press her claims for it. Texas thus became a province of Mexico in 1821. At that time, despite the blood and treasure which had been expended by the governments of the old world to hold Texas, nothing- had been accomplished. It was practically as much a wilderness in 1821 as when La Salle set foot upon its shores in 1685, the white population being only 3,000 in the whole Territory. " But the time had now come when the Ano-lo-American turned his steps hither, and history has yet to record where he has ever failed of his undertaking. The permanent colonization of Texas by citizens of the United States began in 1821. "In 1821-22 Stephen F. Austin, to whom justly belongs the title, Father of Texas, introduced a large number of colonists, and furnished them homes. After devoting the best years of his life to the accomplishment of his darling enterprise of establishing permanent and prosperous colonies in Texas ; after undergoing hardships and braving dangers such as few men have ever ex- perienced, he was stricken down with disease at Columbia, Brazoria county, and there died, December 25th, 1836, in the forty-fifth year of his age. From the advent of Austin until 1830 the American population of Texas continued rapidly to increase, and at that time numbered about 20,000. "Then the government of Mexico became alarmed at the rapidly increasing strength and influence of the young colony, and took steps to prevent its further growth. The Dictator of Mexico, Bustamente, issued a decree suspending all existing colony con- tracts, and forbidding under severe penalty any citizen of the United States from settling in Texas. This measure did not have the desired effect, and the tide of immigration continued to pour into the country. "In 1833 the citizens of Texas, in the proper exercise of their rights as freemen, called a council at San Felipe. Of this council W. H. Wharton was president. A memorial and petition was prepared, setting forth in calm and forcible language the wants and grievances of the colonists, and praying the central power at Mexico for a separate State organization. This memorial was sent to Mexico by the hands of Stephen F. Austin. No definite THE TEXAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. u^n response was given to this petition, and Austin was thrown into prison, where he remained many months. Thus matters re- mained until 1835, when the colonists becoming fully satisfied that prompt action could alone protect their interests, held primary meetings and took steps to secure a separate govern- ment. Santa Anna, the Dictator, at once sent large bodies of soldiers to quell the revolutionary spirit which now showed itself " On the 2d of October the opening battle of the Texas revolu- tion was fought at Gonzales. "On the 8th day of October, 1835, ^ force of Texans under Cap- tain Collingsworth, attacked and captured the fort at Goliad. On the morning of the 28th of October a detachment of Texans under Captains Fannin and Bowie, who were encamped on the bank of the San Antonio river near the Mission of Conception, was surrounded and attacked by a large body of Mexicans. A short but decisive action followed, in which the Mexicans were completely routed, and fled, leaving one hundred dead upon the field. " On the 3d day of November, 1835, a general consultation, con- sisting of delegates of the colonists, assembled at San Felipe for the purpose of establishing a provisional government. This con- sultation elected Henry Smith Provisional Governor of Texas, and adopted a declaration setting forth that Texas no longer owed allegiance to the nominal Mexican Republic. "On the 26th day of November, 1835, a skirmish took place near San Antonio, called ^& grass fight, in which the Mexicans were driven to their entrenchments with a loss of fifty men. "On the 5th day of December, 1835, ^^ forces of the colonists in two divisions, under command of Col. J. W. Johnson and Col. Benj. R. Milam, made a series of determined assaults upon the city of San Antonio, which was occupied by a large force of the enemy. After a number of sanguinary battles, in which great valor was displayed on both sides, the Texan forces obtained complete possession of the city on the loth of December, and General Cos, with eleven hundred soldiers surrendered. In this affair the heroic Milam was slain. This decisive conquest had the effect of exciting much enthusiasm among the colonists. 1 1 CO OUR WESTERN- EMPIRE. "Santa Anna now determined to crush out the rebellion in Texas by one decisive campaign, and in January, 1836, he equipped an army of 7,500 picked men, and placing himself at their head he marched into Texas. " The fortress of the Alamo was then garrisoned by a force of 170 men, commanded by Col. W. B. Travis. They were soon surrounded by the whole Mexican army and summoned to sur- render. This being refused, a furious bombardment was com- menced, which was continued from the 25th of February until the 6th day of March, 1836. On the morning of the last named day the besiegers made a desperate assault upon the garrison. The particulars of that struggle can never be known. Enough to say the heroic band, exhausted by incessant toil, watchfulness and privation, were at length destroyed. Of the whole number within the walls of the fort only two escaped, a woman and a child. This victory cost Santa Anna 1,500 of his best soldiers. Close upon the heels of the dreadful massacre at the Alamo came another equally appalling. " Col. J. W. Fannin, who was stationed at Goliad with a garrison of 500 men, was, on the 19th day of March, 1836, surrounded by a vastly superior force of the enemy. Notwithstanding the Texans were almost entirely destitute of supplies and ammuni- tion, a desperate battle was fought, in which after inflicting a loss of 300 men upon the enemy. Col. Fannin was compelled to sur- render, on promise of honorable treatment. The forces thus capitulated were, in violation of the terms of surrender, marched out and inhumanly shot on the 27th day of March, 1836; " General Sam Houston, who had been appointed Commander- in-Chief of the Texan army, now fell back before the invader, in order to draw him as far as possible from his base of supplies, as well as to recruit his little army. He continued his retreat until, on the 20th day of April, he formed his troops in line of battle on the banks of the San Jacinto river. "The Mexican commander eagerly followed, and on the 21st day of April, 1836, was fought the memorable battle of San Jacinto. This decisive encounter resulted in the total rout of the Mexican army and the capture of Santa Anna, and secured the independence of Texas. THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS. H^I " On the 2d day of March, 1836, a convention of the people of Texas at Washington, on the Brazos, adopted a declaration of independence and established a government ad inteHm, by elect- incf David G. Burnet President. "The population of Texas now increased rapidly. " The first newspaper in Texas was established in San Felipe in October, 1835, t)y Joseph Baker and Gail and Thomas H. Borden. "September, 1836. General Sam Houston and M. B. Lamar elected first constitutional President and Vice-President of the Republic. "October, 1836. First Congress met at Columbia. By this body wise laws were enacted, an able judiciary established, the army organized, and the people put in possession of their civil and political rights. "March, 1839. The Congress of the United States acknowl- edged the independence of Texas. "October, 1839. Seat of government established at the new city of Austin. It had previously been first at San Felipe, next at Washington, next at Harrisburg, next at Galveston, next at Velasco, next at Columbia, next at Houston. In 1842 a Mexican invasion into Western Texas induced General Houston to order the removal of the government offices to Houston, where they remained until November of that year, when the seat of govern^ ment was removed to Washington. In 1850, and again in 1870, elections were held by which the capital of Texas was perma- nently fixed at Austin, where it now is. "In September, 1838, M. B. Lamar and David G. Burnet were elected President aad Vice-President. In 1837, the independence of Texas was acknowledged by France, and in 1840 by England, Holland and Belgium. September, 1841, General Houston and Edward Burleson were elected President and Vice-President. September, 1844, Anson Jones was elected President, and K. L. Anderson, Vice-President. "In February, 1845, Texas was annexed to the United States. "July, 1845, fii'st State Convention met at Austin. "November, 1845, Constitution adopted. IIC2 OUR WES7ERN EMPIRE. "From 1853 to 1856, public buildings were erected at Austin, the debt of the Republic cancelled, the Asylum founded, criminal code adopted, permanent school fund set apart, and aid given to railroads, "In 1859, General Sam Houston and Edward Clark were elected Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. "February, 1861, the ordinance of secession was passed by Texas Convention. "March i8th, 1861, General Houston retired from office to his home in Huntsville, where he died, July, 1863. "August. 1S61, F. R. Lubbock and John M. Crockett were elected Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. "October, 1862, Galveston captured by Federal troops. "January, 1863, Galveston retaken by Confederate forces. "August. 1863, Pendleton Murrah and F. S. Stockdale were elected Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. "In 1865, A. J. Hamilton was appointed by the President, pro- visional Governor of Texas. "June 19th, 1865, General Granger issued a general order proclaiming freedom of slaves in Texas. "February loth, 1866, first reconstruction convention assem- bled at Austin, and framed constitution. "July, 1866, J. W. Throckmorton and G. W. Jones were elected Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. "March, 1867, Texas again under military rule. "August, 1867, E. M. Pease appointed provisional Governor. "June, 1868, second reconstruction convention met at Austin and framed constitution. "November, 1869, E. J. Davis and J. W. Flannagan were elected Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. "In 1870, Senators and Representatives from Texas again admitted into Congress, "December, 1873, Richard Coke and R. B. Hubbard were elected Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of Texas, and they were re-elected to these positions in February, 1876. " The present State Constitution was framed by a Convention which assembled at Austin, September 6th, 1875. Governor Coke, ADVANTAGES OF SETTLEMENT IN TEXAS. 11^3 having been elected United States Senator, resigned the office of Governor, and R. B. Hubbard became Governor of Texas, December ist, 1876. "November, 1878, O. M. Roberts and J. D. Sayers were elected Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, which positions they now hold. "At the first election for President of Texas in 1836 the whole vote cast was only 5,704; in 1838 the vote was 7,247 ; in 1840 it was 11,531 ; in 1844 it was 12,752; in 1845 ^'^^ \oX.^ for Gov- ernor was only 9,578, because many neglected to attend the polls: in 1847 it was ^4A7^'^ ^^ 1849 it was 21,715; in 1851 it was 28,309; in 1853 it was 36,152; in 1855 it was 45o39 : in 1857 it was 56,180; in 1859 it was 64,627; in 1861 it dropped to 57,443 on account of the neglect of people to vote, while in 1863, when most of the voters were in the Confederate army, it was only 31,037. In 1866 it rose to 60,682 ; in 1869 it was 79.373 ; in 1873 it was 128,361 ; in 1876 it was 198,137 ; in 1878 it was 236,917 ; in 1880 the vote for President was 22,7,^37." Conclusion. — Land is so cheap in Texas, and some of it so good, the facilities for stock-raising, as well as for farming, are so desirable, the climate so mild and healthful, and the greater part of the State is now, or soon will be, so accessible by steamers and railroads, that it presents great advantages to immigrants. There should be better farming, more care in improving live- stock of all kinds; more enterprise in engaging in manufacturing and mining, and generally less brag and bluster and more industry, thrift and hard work. The public schools should be elevated and improved, and the laws somewhat more rigidly enforced. We think immigrants from our Southern States, and from Central and Southern Europe, will be more welcome and be better pleased with the country than those from more north- ern climates ; but in many respects Texas is a very good State for immigrants. 73 lie A OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER XIX. VTAE TERRITORY. Utah a Peculiar Territory — Its Location, Boundaries, Area and Extent — Forests and Vegetation — Altitude of its Mountains and Valleys — Zoology — Geology — Mineralogy — Topography and General Features — The Great Salt Lake Basin — Cache, San Pete and Sevier Valleys — The Colorado Basin, East of the Wahsatch Mountains — Climate — Meteorology of Salt Lake City and Camp Douglas — Notes on the Tem- perature, Rainfall, etc., of other parts of the Territory — Advan- tages OF Utah as a Sanitary Resort — Diseases for which its Climate is beneficial — Opinion of Eminent Army Surgeons on the Subject — Soil AND Agriculture — Irrigation very generally Required — Immense Crops where it is practised — Non-irrigable Lands sometimes productive with Deep Plowing — Timber — Yield of Cereal and other Products — Fruit- Culture — Stock-Farming — Sheep-Farming — Evils of Migratory Herds — Gov. Emery's Complaints of California Flocks — Mines and Mining Products — Wide Distribution of Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Iron, Coal, Sulphur, Soda, Salt, and Borax — The Mines of the Precious Metals in the Salt Lake Basin very rich and easily accessible — Rail- roads — Objects of Interest — The " Temple of Music " on the Colo- rado — Temples on the Rio Virgen — The American Fork Canon — Ir is called the " Yosemite " OF Utah — The Great Salt Lake Mineral and Hot Springs — Finances — Population-Table — The Population of Utah peculiar — Its early Settlement by the Mormons — Motives which led TO THEIR Migration — Mormonism a Religious Oligarchy — Its Despotic Rule — Its Crimes — Polygamy its Corner-Stone — Its Defiance of the Government — Its Propagandism — Religious L ^nominations — Education — Moral and Social Condition — Counties and Principal Towns — His- torical Data. Utah is a peculiar Territory ; peculiar in its situation, half in the Great Salt Lake basin, and half in the equally wild and deeply grooved basin of the Colorado river; singular in its geol- ogy, its minerals, its salt and fresh water lakes and rivers, with no oudet beyond its walls of rock; peculiar in its deposits of the precious metals and coal; peculiar in its deserts, and sdll more peculiar in the character, religious, polidcal, and social, of the .majority of its inhabitants. It is one of the central Territories of the middle belt of States FORESTS AND VEGETATION. urtj and Territories of "Our Western Empire." It is bounded wholly by mathematico-geographical lines, lying between the parallels of ^y° and 42° north latitude, and 109° and 114° west longitude from Greenwich. Its northern boundaries are Idaho and Wyom- ing; its eastern, Wyoming and Colorado; its southern, Arizona, and its western, Nevada. It is not quite a square, a tract which extends from the 41st to the 42d parallel and from the iiith to the 114th meridian being added to it on the north to include Great Salt lake. Bear lake, etc., and to make a part of its northern boundary coterminous with that of Idaho and Nevada. It has a maximum length of 325 miles by a breadth of 300 ; area 84,476 square miles, or 54,064,640 acres. Forests and Vegetation. — On the mountains and along the water-courses are found the following trees, shrubs and vines, to wit: Cottonwood, dwarf birch, willow, quaking aspen, mountain maple, box-elder, scrub cedar, scrub oak, mountain oak, white, red, yellow and pinon pine, white spruce, balsam-fir, mountain mahogany, common elder, dwarf hawthorn, sumac, wild hop, wild rose, dwarf sunflower, and of edible berries, service berry, bull- berry, wild cherry, wild currant, etc. Most of the plants belong to the compositecB, cruciferce, leguminosce, boraginacecE, or rosa- cece. AltitiLcle of Mountains and Valleys. — It is intersected from north to south by the Wahsatch mountains, dividing it nearly equally between the Great Basin and the basin of the Rio Colorado. The altitude of the surface on both sides of this mountain range is about the same, the valleys 4,000 to 6,000 feet above sea- level; the mountains, 6,000 to 13,000. West of the Wahsatch, the drainage is into lakes and sinks which have no outlet, the largest of which is Great Salt lake, with an elevation of 4,260 feet, a shore line of 350 miles, and an area of 3,000 to 4,000 square miles. It receives the Bear and Weber, and many smaller streams, and, also, the discharge from Utah lake through the River Jordan. The latter is fresh water, about ten by thirty miles in extent, the receptacle of American, Provo, and Spanish rivers. There are numerous valleys, the lowest of them higher than the average summit of the Alleghanies. Following OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. I I 56 are the ascertained altitudes of representative lakes, rivers, springs, valleys, and towns, namely- Great Salt Lake. Utah Lake Sevier Lake Little Salt Lake, Bear Lake, Bear River, Bear River, Weber River, Weber River, Provo River, Provo River, San Pitch River, San Pitch River, Sevier River, Sevier River, Cache Valley, Salt Lake City, Fort Douglas, Bush Valley, Paragoonah Laketown Randolph Hampton's Bridge... Kamas Ogden Heber Provo Mt. Pleasant Gunnison Pangnitch Bridge Logan Signal Ofifice Near Salt Lake City. Tooele County 4,200 4,500 4,600 6,220 6,000 6,440 4r540 6,300 4,300 5.574 4,520 6,090 5.144 6,270 4.765 4,550 4,350 4,Soo 5,200 Skull Valley, Deep Creek, Nephi, Fillmore, Antelope Springs, Beaver, Fort Cameron, Wah Wah Springs, Buckhorn Springs, Desert Springs, Iron City, Cedar City, St. George, Diamond, Strawberry Valley, Rabbit Valley, Kanab, Paria, Kanarra, Tooele County Tooele County Juab County Millard County. . . . Millard County. . . . Beaver County Beaver County Beaver County Iron County Iron County Iron County Iron County Washington County, Tintic Mines Wahsatch County. . Sevier County Kane County Kane County Rim of Basin 4,850 5,230 4,927 6,024 5,850 6,050 6,100 5.450 5,690 5,880 6,100 5,726 2,900 6,370 7,716 6,820 4,900 4.562 5.420 Zoology. — Among the animals are the coyote, gray wolf, wol- verine, mountain sheep, buffalo (now extinct in Utah), antelope, elk, moose; black-tailed, white-tailed, and mule deer; grizzly, black, and cinnamon bear ; civet cat, striped squirrel, gopher, prairie-dog, beaver, porcupine, badger, skunk, wild cat, lynx, sage and jack-rabbit and cottontail. Birds : golden and bald eagle and osprey; horned, screech and burrowing owl; duck; pig- eon ; sparrow, sharp shinned and gos-hawk : woodpecker, raven, yellow-billed magpie, jay, blackbird, ground robin, song sparrow; purple, grass and Gambell's finch ; fly-catcher, wren, water ouzel, sky lark, English snipe, winter yellow-legs, spotted sand piper, great blue heron, bittern, stork, swan, pelican, Peale's egret, ground dove, red shafted flicker, mallard and green-winged teal, goose, ptarmigan, humming bird, mountain quail, sage cock and pine hen. Reptiles: Rattle-snake, water-snake, harlequin-snake, and lizards. The tarantula and scorpion are found, but are not common. Geology. — The greater part of the rock of the interior moun- tain area is a series of conformable stratified beds,* reaching * Clarence King's Explanations 40th parallel. GEOLOGY OF UTAH. II57 from the early Azoic to the late Jurassic. In the latter these beds were raised, and the Sierras, the Wahsatch, and the par- allel ranges of the Great Basin were the consequence. In this upheaval important masses of granite broke through, accompanied by quartz, porphyries, felsite rocks, and notably sienitic granite, with some granulite andgretsen occasionally. Then, the Pacific Ocean on the west, and the ocean that filled the Mississippi Basin on the east, laid down a system of Cretaceous and Tertiary strata. These outlying shore beds, subsequently to the Miocene, were themselves raised and folded, forming the Pacific Coast Range and the chains east of the Wahsatch ; volcanic rocks ac- companying this upheaval as granite did the former one. Still later a final series of disturbances occurred, but these last had but small connection with the region under consideration. There is a general parallelism of the mountain chains, and all the structural features of local geology, the ranges, strike of great areas of upturned strata, larger outbursts of gigantic rocks, etc., are nearly parallel with the meridian. So the precious metals arrange themselves in parallel longitudinal zones. There is a zone of quicksilver, tin, and chromic iron on the coast ranges ; one of copper along the foot-hills of the Sierras ; one of gold farther up the Sierras, the gold veins and resultant placers ex- tending far into Alaska ; one of silver, with comparatively little base metal, along the east base of the Sierras, stretching into Mexico ; silver mines with complicated associations through Middle Mexico, Arizona, Middle Nevada, and Central Idaho; ar- gentiferous galena through New Mexico, Utah, and Western Montana; and, still farther east, a continuous chain of gold de- posits in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. The Jurassic disturbances in all probability are the dating point of a large class of lodes : a, those wholly enclosed in the granites, 'and by those in metamorphic beds of the series extending from the Azoic to the Jurassic. To this period may be referred the gold veins of California, those of the Humboldt mines, and those of White Pine, all of class b; and the Reese river veins, partly a, and partly b. The Colorado lodes are somewhat unique, and in general belong to the ancient type. To the Tertiary period 11^8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. may be definitely assigned the mineral veins traversing the early volcanic rock ; as the Comstock Lode and veins of the Owyhee District, Idaho. By far the greater number of metalliferous lodes occur in the stratified metamorphic rocks or the ancient eruptive rocks of the Jurassic upheaval ; yet very important, and, perhaps, more wonderfully productive, have been those silver lodes which lie wholly in the recent volcanic formations. Minei'-alogy. — Utah is probably the richest Territory in "Our Western Empire " in its deposits of gold and silver, though Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada and California might be inclined to dispute the justice of her claim. The region south of Great Salt Lake, between the Jordan river and the Oquirrh Mountains, and the whole of the Oquirrh range on both sides, is full of g-old and silver veins. Next south of these comes the Tintic Silver district, and as we proceed south, still in the Great Salt Lake Basin, the whole region from Sevier lake to the Arizona line abounds in lodes of silver, gold and copper, with occasional beds of coal, iron and alum. On the western slope of the Wahsatch Mountains, which forms the eastern wall of the basin, there are numerous silver mines, and they extend also east of the Wahsatch, especially along the line of the Uintah Mountains. But those counties in the Colorado Basin are especially rich in coal, much of it adapted to smelting purposes. There are twelve counties in which extensive coal lands have been found. The iron deposits of all varieties are of enormous extent in every part of the Terri- tory. Utah could produce all the iron and steel needed in the United States more cheaply than any other section. Sulphur exists in immense beds. Salt abounds everywhere. Other minerals are copper, lead, manganese, antimony, chrome, red and white ochre, jet, asphalt, mineral wax and mineral waters. The mines of antimony in Southern Utah are said by Professor . Newberry to be richer and more easily worked than any other in America. Topography, General Featitres. — The settled part of Utah lies along the western base of the Wahsatch Mountains, which run through the heart of the Territory from north to south, reaching their greatest altitude near Salt Lake City (where they abut on TOPOGRAPHY— GENERAL FEATURES. HCq the Uintah Range coming from the east, forming the cross-bar of a T), and almost losing themselves in the sandstone plateau of the Rio Colorado in the south. Abreast of Salt Lake City the Wahsatch Range is 10,000 to 12,000 feet in altitude. Here, within a small area, rise the Bear and Weber rivers, which empty into Salt lake ; the Provo, which empties into Utah lake ; and some of the main affluents of the Green river, which, with the Grand, become the Rio Colorado, lower down. It is in the vicinity of the heads of these rivers that the Emma, the Flagstaff, the Vallejo, the Ontario, McHenry and various other well-known mines are situated. Nearly one-half of the Territory lies south of the Uintah Range, and east of the Wahsatch Range proper, and is drained by the Green and Colorado rivers and their tributaries. Its general altitude along these streams is between 4,000 and 5,000 feet ; it is much broken by mountains, and is but partially explored and not setded at all. It contains many thou- sand square miles of fine grazing country, above the Grand canon, with more or less arable land, and no one yet knows what min- eral treasures. It is believed that the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, after being drawn to the head of the Arkansas river by the mineral attractions of Leadville, will find an easy way through this region, entering the Great Basin via some of the feasible railroad passes of the Wahsatch. A wide strip of the western part of the Territory is lake, sink, mountain or desert. The inhabited part is chiefly a narrow belt, watered by the streams of the western slope of the Wahsatch Range, which lose themselves In inland lakes or basins. The largest and best known of these is the Great Salt Lake Basin. Great Salt Lake Basin. — Including the valley of Bear river up to the Gates on the north, the Utah Basin, on the south, whose waters are discharged into Great Salt lake, through Jordan river. It Is 200 miles in length by forty or fifty in width. The principal streams which are lost in Great Salt lake are the Malad and Bear, the latter 300 miles long, on the north ; Box Elder and Willow creeks, Ogden and Weber rivers on the east ; and Cit3^ Mill and the Cottonwood creeks and the river Jordan on the south. Into Utah lake flow the American, Provo and Spanish ll6o OUH WESTERN EMPIRE. forks, though they are not forks but independent mountain streams, and Salt creek. All of them but the Malad have their sources in the Wahsatch Range, which collects the snows in winter that give them life and being. Where they emerge from their canons, settlements have been made on them, and their waters appropriated, so far as it can be cheaply done, for the purposes of irrigation, and in some cases, of furnishing power for mills. Of these settlements, the largest is Salt Lake City, located about centrally as regards the length of the entire basin, at the base of the Wahsatch Range, ten or twelve miles from the southeast shore of Salt lake, containing a population, Juue, 1880, of 20,768. The city is supplied with water by City creek. It is laid out with broad streets and sidewalks, and is built up more or less for two miles square, shade and fruit trees largely hiding the buildings in the summer season. It has ample hotel accom- modations, gas, water and streetcars; is peaceful and orderly; is connected with the outside world and adjacent points of inter- est or business by rail. Enjoying the most healthy and agree- able climate of perhaps any large town in the United States, with street cars running to the famous Warm Springs, and the bath- ine shores of Salt lake but a half-hour's ride on the rail distant; with the peaks of the Wahsatch, the Oquirrh, and other ranges ruffling the clouds at every point of the horizon ; with picturesque mountain canons threaded by trout streams accessible by rail, it is one of the most attracdve places of summer resort for tourists seeking health or pleasure in all the world. The eastern edge of Salt Lake Basin is dotted with settlements, and is highly culti- vated wherever water can be pfot on the ground. There are the North String, Bear River City, Corinne, Brigham City, Willard, North Ogden, Ogden, Kaysville, Farmington, Centerville, Bounti- ful, Salt Lake City, the Cottonwoods, Sandy, West Jordan, Dewey- ville, Lehi, American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Provo, Springville, Spanish Fork, Salem, Payson, Santaquin, Mona, Nephi and Levan. Ogden, at the intersection of the east and west and north and south railroads, is the town next in importance to Salt Lake City, the capital. It is in the forks of Ogden and Weber rivers, is within a short drive of fine fishing and mountain scenery, and Is CACHE, SAN PETE AND SEVIER VALLEYS. n^i rapidly improving. The Salt Lake Basin at large has an altitude of about 4,500 feet above the sea, and is the paradise of the farmer, the horticulturist, and the grower of fruit. Cut off from it by a low range, now surmounted by the Utah and Northern Railway, toward the northeast, is Cache Valley. Cache, San Pete and Sevier Valleys. — Cache Valley is oval in shape, and perhaps ten by fifty miles in extent, watered by Logan and Blacksmith forks of Bear river, and by the latter itself, and sustaining a settlement wherever a stream breaks out of the en- closing mountains. Logan is the principal town of Cache Valley, and thence one drives eastward through Logan Canon forty or fifty miles to Bear Lake Valley, Bear river here flowing toward the north. Farther on it bends to the west and southward, and down through Cache Valley, finds its way to Salt Lake. Cache and Bear Lake Valleys have a score of towns and 15,000 inhab- itants. To the southeast of Salt Lake Basin, and to be connected with it by rail through Salt Creek or Nephi Canon, this season, lies San Pete Valley, called the granary of Utah, surrounded by mountains, except on the south, where the San Pitch river breaks through into the Sevier, and sustaining eight thriving towns, all still in their infancy, though founded several years ago. San Pete and Cache Valleys are fine grain-growing sections, but having colder winters are not so well adapted to fruit-raising as the Salt Lake Basin. Next southward is the Sevier river, which has its source in Fish (Indian, Panguitch) lake, near the southern bound- ary of the Territory, and runs, like Bear river, a long way north before it finds a way out of the mountains, and turning to the^ southwest is finally lost in Sevier lake. Most of the streams in the southwest lose themselves in small lakes or sinks, that is, such as rise to the northward of the divide between the Great Basin and the Rio Colorado country. The Sevier River Valley is occupied, like all the other Utah valleys (and there are many in the recesses of the Wahsatch, and some outlying and disconnected with that range, although of minor importance, which have not been particularly noticed), where a stream breaks out of the adjoining mountains, by a settlement; but, like the other streams, the full capacity of the Sevier river for irrigation has not been called into requisition. J 1 52 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The western third of the Territory from end to end is an alter- nation of mountain, desert, sink and lake, with a few oases of arable or grazing lands. Great Salt lake covers an area ot 3,000 to 4,000 square miles, and the desert west of it a still larger area. The Sevier, Preuss and Litde Salt lakes, all together, are small, in comparison. Formerly a mighty river flowed northward from the vicinity of Sevier lake to the westward of Great Salt lake, the dry bed of which, nearly a mile in width, must be crossed in going west from Salt Lake City to Deep Creek. Since it dried up, hills and spurs of mountains have been upheaved in its course, but the old channel continues on its way up hill and down, and over them all. Divided off from Great Salt lake by a sort of causeway 800 feet high is Rush Valley, containing a lake cover- ing twenty to thirty square miles, where twenty years ago there was hay land and a military reservation. This, as well as the accompanying filling up of Great Salt lake, shows a decided aqueous increase in Salt Lake Basin within that time. Rush Valley has mining and agricultural settlements, but much more pastoral than arable land ; and so has Skull Valley, to the west- ward. But from these south to the rim of the Basin, there are only occasional habitable spots, and they are due to springs. The mountains are the source of the wealth of Utah, present and prospective, which consists in water and metals. They gather the snows in winter which feed the streams in summer. In the northern part of the Territory the Wahsatch Range attains generally a high altitude, with a mass in proportion. There is a large accumulation of snow in winter, and the streams are corre- spondingly large and numerous. In the southern part of the Ter- ritory the main range is lower and less massive ; the average temperature is higher, of course ; there is less snow, smaller and fewer streams, and more desert in proportion. This part of the Territory is not rich in agricultural resources. The isolated ranofes in the Great Basin seldom crive rise to streams of much magnitude, and the intervening valleys partake more of the desert character. But all the mountains, so far as known, are full of minerals, and there is generally water enough for the pur- poses of mining and reducing them. CLIMATE OF UTAH. Hg.^ The region east of the Wahsatch Mountains and south of the Uintah Range, is wholly in the Colorado Basin. It is not as yet settled to any considerable extent, but the deep canons of the Grand, Green, San juan and Rio Colorado, which traverse it, are full of wonders and terrors. There is every reason to believe that the mineral wealth of this region is fully equal to that of the Great Salt Lake Basin, and unless the lack of water shall prevent their successful working, the whole region will, a few years hence, be honeycombed with mines of gold and silver, lead, copper, iron and coal. Cluiiate. — The climate of a mountainous country like Utah will vary considerably with its varying altitudes and exposures. The inhabited parts of the Territory range, in general, between 4,300 and 6,300 feet above the sea ; but seventy per cent, of the population is settled in valleys not exceeding 4,500 feet in eleva- tion, and probably fifty per cent, in the basin of Great Salt lake. In these lower valleys the climate is mild and agreeable. Its perpetual charm cannot be conveyed by meteorological statistics. The atmosphere is dry, elastic, transparent and bracing ; and the temperature, while ranging high in summer, and not altogether exempt from the fickleness characteristic of the climate of North America in general, compares favorably in respect of equability with that of the United States at large, and especially with that of Colorado and the Territories north and south of Utah. Its range upwards is less than that of St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York, to say nothing of that of Arizona ; while in the other direction there is no comparison, either with the Eastern States, intersected by the same isothermal, or with Colorado, Idaho and Montana. This description applies mainly to Northern and Cen- tral Utah within the Great Salt Lake Basin. Outside that Basin, across the Wahsatch Mountains, and at an elevation not much greater, at Coalville, for example, not more than seven or eight miles farther north, and perhaps thirty-five miles east, the differ- ence of climate is very marked. The annual mean temperature at Salt Lake City is 51° 9'; at Coalville, 48° 65'; the spring means at the two places are 51° 7' and 45° 9'; the summer means 75° 9' and 69° 2'; the autumn, 54° 8' and 48° 9'; and the winter means, 32° i' and 21° 9'. 1 164 OUR WESTER'N EMPIRE. In Southern Utah, both within and without the Basin, the cli- mate is much more tropical, approaching to that of Arizona. Meteorology of Salt Lake City and Camp Douglas. MONTHS. 1877. TEMPERATURE. Mean. January . . . February . . March . . . . April May June July August. . . . September. October.. . November. December. 27.9 337 48.0 48.6 65-9 78.2 76.3 65.0 51.0 40.1 317 Ma 50 55 73 70 83 90 98 96 90 80 60 51 For the Year 5 ' -9 Mni. Rncr. 3 15 28 io 34 43 50 53 42 25 15 47 40 45 40 49 47 48 43 48 55 45 43 95 HUMIDITY. Per Ct. Rainfall Inches. 74-9 .87 75-3 •38 52.9 2.93 48.6 2.14 42.1 3-49 29.7 .80 24.1 .02 25.1 .28 31-5 .90 41.0 2.41 55-4 1.02 68.1 I. II 47-4 16.35 MEAN PRESSURE. Barometer Inches. 071 076 S94 834 791 927 919 971 937 971 078 039 29.950 MONTHS. January .... February . . . March April May June J"iy August . . . . September.. October. . . . November . . December . . For the Year 1878. TEMPERATURE. Mean. Max. Min. 30.0 52 5 ^2.8 60 20 46.6 73 27 49.8 73 30 56-2 83 34 69.4 93 45 777 96 52 78.S 97 60 60.5 92 38 48.5 78 22 42.7 68 22 29.7 56 8 51-9 97 5 Rns. 47 40 46 43 49 48 44 37 54 56 46 48 46 HUMIDITY. Per Ct. 64.8 66.2 52.6 43-4 39-0 307 26.2 337 37-0 44-5 54-6 59-1 45-9 Rainfall Inches. 1.07 3-49 2.54 2.63 2.50 •35 1.08 .81 3-15 1-39 .63 .11 MEAN PRESSURE. saronieter Inches. 30-035 29.882 29.926 29.817 29.882 29-939 29.900 29.956 29.975 30.055 30.081 30.091 1975 29.979 We have no meteorological statistics of any points in the Ter- ritory, except Salt Lake City and Camp Douglas, which is near it, but 500 feet higher. The above tables give the tempera- CLIMATE OF UTAH. jl5c ture, rainfall, humidity and mean barometrical pressure at Salt Lake, and such particulars as are at hand concerning Camp Douglas. The latitude of Salt Lake City is 41° 10'; the longi- tude, 112°; the elevation, 4,362.25 feet. The mean air pressure at Salt Lake City is 25.63 inches; water boils at 204.3°. The prevailing winds are from the north- northwest, and the most windy months are March, Jul)^ August and September. The mean velocity of the winds during the entire year is 5^ miles an hour. On the ocean it is 18 miles; at Liverpool it is 13; at Toronto, 9 ; at Philadelphia, 11. The climate of Utah, on the whole, is not unlike that of Northwestern Texas and New Mexico, and is agreeable except for a month or so in winter, and then the temperature seldom falls to zero, or snow to a greater depth than a foot, and it soon melts away, al- though it sometimes affords a few days' sleighing. The spring opens about the middle of March, the atmosphere becomes as clear as a diamond, deciduous trees burst at once into bloom, and then into leaf, while the bright green of the valleys follows the retiring snow-line steadily up the mountain slopes. The summer is not unpleasant in its onset, accompanied as it is by refreshing breezes and full streams from the higher meltinof snow banks. Springs of sweet water, fed largely from the surface, bubble forth everywhere. But as the season advances the drought increases, every stirring air, near or far, raises a cloud of alkaline dust until the atmosphere is full of it. Sometimes a shower precipitates it, but there are more dry than wet storms. The springs fail or become impregnated with mineral salts, and the streams run low or dry up. Vegetation dies in the fierce and prolonged heat and drought, if not artificially watered. Still, from the rapid radia- tion of the earth's heat, the nights are always agreeably cool, and the heat itself seems to have but slight debilitating quality. The presence or absence of the sun has a marked effect on the temperature from the great transparency of the air. Let his rays be cut off, even in July, and a fire is pleasant ; while, if they have free passage, the fires are allowed to go out even in January. October ushers in a different state of things. The atmosphere clears up again as in spring, and the landscape softens with the H56 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. rich browns, russets and scarlets of the dying vegetation, which reaches up the mountain sides to their summits in places ; but on them the gorgeous picture is soon overlaid by the first snows of approaching winter. The fall is a delightful season, and is generally drawn out nearly to the end of the year. We have been more particular in stating the peculiarities of the climate of Utah because it is just now, and as we think justly, recommended for its sanitary qualities in certain diseases. The following summary of the classes and forms of disease in which it has been found most beneficial has the authority of four very eminent army surgeons — Surgeons P. Moffatt, Charles Smart, E, P. Vollum and J. F. Hamilton ; and will, we believe, be found to be sustained by the experience of most of those who have gone thither for health. It is important, however, that health-seekers should spend as much of every day as possible in the open air. High altitudes and areas of low barometric pressure quicken the respiration and circulation, and are therefore unfavorable in cases of pulmonary disease that are far advanced, and also in heart disease, and that form of chronic bronchitis associated with it. The other forms of chronic bronchitis, chronic pneumo- nia, and phthisis, are the diseases, par excellence, upon which such localities exercise a favorable influence. Consumption does not originate here, and where the monthly fluctuation of the ther- mometer does not exceed 50°, and the mean monthly tempera- ture is at, or, within limits, above 50°, and the humidity is under 50 per cent., a residence is beneficial to consumptives, if com- menced early enough. The best treatment known for consump- tion is a year of steady daily horseback riding in a mountainous country, diet of corn bread and bacon, with a moderate quantity of whiskey.* The beneficial influence of the climate on asthma is decided. It cannot exist here, except in a relieved and modi- fied condition. Bronchitis appears in a mild form during the wet and thawing periods of spring and fall, but it always yields to treatment. Rheumatic fevers are scattered over the months without reference to season ; but very few cases become chronic. * The more moderate the better. — L. P. B. UTAH AS A SANITARY RESORT. 1 167 The intermittents are imported, and the tendency in them is to longer intervals and ultimate recovery. A remittent, called *' Mountain Fever," is indigenous. It yields readily to simple treatment if attended to in time, but if not develops into a modi- fied typhoid, which is liable to prove fatal. Experience in the miners' hospitals at Salt Lake City shows that the climatic con- ditions are very favorable to recovery from severe injuries. The summer heat is great, but not debilitating, and the dry pure air and cool, invigorating nights, enable patients to sustain the shock of surgical operations that could not often be safely attempted in more humid climates. Pyemia, or blood poisoning, the frequent accompaniment of severe injuries and of surgery, is of extremely rare occurrence. One has a choice of altitude, ranging from 4,300 to 7,000 feet above the sea, with access to mineral springs, hot and cold, of decidedly efficacious qualities in the cure of many ills, as experience has amply shown ; and for the whole of Salt Lake Basin, the softening and other healthful influences of at least 3,000 square miles of salt water, giving off a saline air, and affordincr the benefits of ocean bathinor without its discomforts and dangfers. The waters of the lake are so dense with the salt in solution that it is impossible to sink in it, and at the same time so pleasant that the bather can remain in the water all day with- out serious inconvenience or injury. Temperature, etc., at Camp Datiglas. MONTHS. 7 A. M. January 28 February 23 March j 2)'h April ' T,^ May : 45 June 61 July 68 August 65 September 56 October 41 November 38 December 22 2 p. M. 9 p. M. 35 29 34 24 47 39 50 41 55 47 77 65 «5 73 80 69 74 62 56 45 53 41 51 24 Diurnal Variation. 7 II 14 12 10 16 17 15 18 15 15 9 Percentage of Sick 2>Z 31 32 36 28 29 23 25 20 21 38 40 60 30 33 42 74 28 86 38 00 97 68 50 The preceding table relates to Camp Douglas, which is on an Ii68 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. elevation two miles east of Salt Lake City and 500 feet above it, being 4,862 feet above the sea. This table gives the diurnal variation of temperature at 7 a. m., 2 p. m, and 9 p. m. for each month of the year, and the effect of this variation in reducing or increasing the percentage of the sick in the hospital connected with the camp. The mean temperature of June to September inclusive at 2 ?. m. was 79° ; at 9 p, M, 57'' ; difference 22° ; mean percentage of sick for these months, 24,63. For the other eight months the mean at 2 p. M. was 47° ; at 9 p. m. 36° ; difference 1 1°. Mean percentage of sick for these months, 32.93. The months of greatest mean diurnal variation seem to be the healthiest months. Attention is called to the mean temperature of the four warmest months, at 9 o'clock in the evening, viz., 57° ; a night temperature which ensures quiet sleep. The second of these tables shows the annual mean, maximum, minimum and range of temperature, and annual rainfall at Camp Douglas for sixteen years, 1 863-1 878. YEARS. 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 I87I 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 Mean for 16 years Mean. 52.93 52.22 50.11 51-87 52-71 50.66 53-61 51.66 53-09 50.42 49.26 50.18 51.26 50.64 51.00 51-29 51-43 TEMPERATURE. Max. 103 97 100 94 95 96 97 96 104 91 98 97 95 99 98 93 97 Min. Range. 96 lOI 94 85 95 91 90 92 96 91 lOI 89 86 91 93 85 92 RAINFALL. Inches. 7-47 14^2 15-51 22.29 26. 14 17-25 22.32 20.96 23. 12 18.12 17-37 19-55 21.07 18.31 1452 17.86 18.58 AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION. Il6(^ Soil atid Agriculture. — There were surveyed of public lands in Utah, down to June 30th, 1879, according to the Land Office Report, 9,341,375 acres, including arable, timbered, coal and mineral lands. It is impossible to tell from any accessible data what proportion is arable land. Perhaps an estimate that one- fourth or about 2,350,000 could be cultivated by the aid of irriga- tion, would not be far out of the way. We have in other parts of this book discussed fully the advan- tages and disadvantages of irrigation, and need not repeat here what has been already said elsewhere. Irrigation is almost universally required in Utah, but in different quantities in different localities, and it is usually done by colonies or communities uniting to divert part or the whole of a stream from its natural channel to the adjoining land, each member of the association there having his proportional right to the use of the water. But few of the standard crops of Utah ever require more than two or three waterings to perfect them, some of them, especially fall wheat, seldom needing more than one. Most of the smaller streams in Utah, that could easily be diverted from their natural channels, have been already utilized ; but their full capacities as irrigating supplies, which can only be exhausted by means of dams, reservoirs and canals of considerable importance, have not as yet been called into requisition. Irrigation by means of artesian wells has not yet been seriously attempted in the Terri- tory, probably because the necessity for it has not been seriously felt, but the few experiments in that line made by the Union Pacific Railroad have been so successful as to encouraofe a resort to it hereafter. Flowing water was obtained at a depth of less than a hundred feet. From a report made to the Legislature in 1875 it appears that one-third of the land under cultivation at that time in the Territory required no irrigation (this propor- tion since that time has been largely increased, it having been discovered that, by deep plowing, lands apparently entirely barren would yield twenty-five to thirty bushels of wheat to the acre without irrigation for many successive years). Of the lands re- quiring irrigation, one-fifth only needed one or two waterings ; 74 jj^Q OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. five-sevenths required from three to four, and about one-eighth from four to ten. The soil of Utah is partly volcanic, and contains elements of fertility which, when moisture can be had, cause it to produce enormous crops. Timbe)'. — Utah holds an intermediate position, with respect to its supply of timber, between the Atlantic and prairie States. Its arable lands are not interspersed with forests, nor yet is it without an adequate supply of timber within its own limits for building, fencing, mining and fuel. The valleys or plains are destitute of forest growth, and in early times willow brush was resorted to for fencing, adobe bricks for building, and sage brush for fuel. But the mountains are generally more or less wooded, almost wholly with evergreens, however. The best trees furnish lumber not technically clear, but the knots are held so fast that they are no real detriment, and the lumber is practically clear. The red pine and black balsam indigenous to the mountains make a fence post or railroad tie that will last ten years. The white pine is not so good. More than half of the forest growth of the Wahsatch is of the white or inferior variety. On the Oquirrh the trees are chiefly red pine. Scrub cedar and pinon pine are quite common in the south and west. They are of little value for anything but posts, ties and fuel. In 1875 there were perhaps 100 saw-mills in existence, if not in operation, in the Territory. Ordinary rough building and fencing lumber ranges in price from ^20 to $25 a thousand. Flooring and finishing lumber is im- ported, and costs about ^45 a thousand. Wood is obtained from the canons for fuel, and soft coal of good quality can be had for ^8 to ^12 a ton In all Northern Utah. When the coal deposits of the Territory shall have been developed and made accessible by railroads, the price should be less by one-half, for there is an abundant supply and it Is widely distributed. Products, Yield. — All of the products of the same latitude, east or west, on or about the level of tide water, with the exception of Indian corn (for which the nights are too cool), are grown in Utah with great success, and the soil and climate seem peculiarly adapted to the growth of wheat and fruit. Following are statistics AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS OF UTAH. I 171 of the area and yield of various crops for the year 1875, on the authority of a legislative commission : Articles. Acres. Total Yield. Yield per Acre. Wheat 72,020 1,418,783 bushels. 20 bushels. Barley 13^847 359^52? " 25 " Oats 19,706 581,849 ** 30 " Rye 447 8,987 " 20 " Corn 16,452 317.253 " 20 " Buckwheat 11 243 " 22 " Peas 1,701 30,801 '* 18 '* Beans 127 3.176 ** 25 " Potatoes ...... 10,306 1,306,957 " 130 " Other Roots i,433 278,712 " 125 " Seeds 125 49,501 lbs. 396 lbs. Broom Corn 200 713 tons. 3^ tons. Sugar Cane 1,432 103,164 gals. 72 gals. Meadow 81,788 112,529 tons. i^ tons. Lucerne 3,5^7 13.189 tons. 3^ tons. Cotton 113 31,075 lbs. 275 lbs. Flax 5 1,250 lbs. 250 lbs. Total acres, 223,300. Total value of products, about 1^7,500,000. Of the wheat crop of 1873, 100,000 bushels were exported. There was no surplus for export in 1874-75. ^^ the crops of 1876-77, 50,000 to 60,000 bushels were exported. There was a surplus of about 270,000 bushels raised in 1878, one-half of which was shipped to England via San Francisco ; the rest remains in stock. Probably the acreage in wheat has not increased much since 1875, nor the hay crop, but dry farming has, and the growth of lucerne has doubled. Improved lands are held at from ^25 to ^100 an acre, according to location. They are almost all adjacent to either towns or mines, or both. There are, in different localities, comparatively large bodies of government lands unoccupied, which can be entered at the Salt Lake Land Office under the United States land laws, the same as in other States and Territories, or bought of the Pacific Railroad companies at low rates, and on easy time ; although, as a general thing, agricultural settlement and improvement in Utah will be undertaken to better advantage by colonies than by individuals. The construction of the main irrigating canals may 11^2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. usually be accomplished by plow and scraper, each adjoining land-owner contributing his quota of the expense, and having a perpetual right to the water at the additional cost for repairs. Under the Desert Land Law, each person joining in such an enterprise is entitled to pre-empt 640 acres of land, paying one- fifth down and the rest in three years, on condition that the enterprise be consummated within that time. Fruit. — The Salt Lake Basin throughout is unsurpassed in the adaptation of its soil and climate to the growth of all kinds of fruit common to the latitude ; in the south, on the waters of the Rio Colorado, grape culture is followed with great success, and wine-making is there a growing industry ; but in the higher mountain valleys, as well as in Cache and San Pete, the seasons are too short, and not so much attention has been devoted to it. The following table shows the area, the product, and the yield per acre, of fruits, for the year 1875, as returned and published by order of the Legislature : Fruit. Apples 3,935 Pears Peaches Plums Apricots Cherries Grapes 544 3,409,200 lbs. 6,260 lbs. Total acres, 7,920. Value, $1,028,616. No finer, thriftier trees, no fairer, better flavored fruit is pro- duced anywhere. The trees are extremely bounteous bearers, having to be propped up to enable them to sustain the weight of their enormous burdens. The fruit market in Salt Lake City is almost perpetually deriving its supply from California, when native fruits and berries are not in season. This applies, too, to many kinds of vegetables, cauliflower, lettuce and asparagus. The season for most fruits, berries and vegetables begins in California a month or six weeks in advance of the same in Utah, and pro- portionally lengthens it. The extreme southern part of the Territory is adapted to the production of many semi-tropical and Acres. Total \ ^ield. Yield per Acre. 3.935 358,277 L)ushels. 90 bushels. 12S 10,560 <( 75 " 2,687 330.535 <( 120 ** 259 43,585 (( 165 " 305 44,160 11 145 " 62 4,661 i( 75 " FRUIT AND STOCK-FARMING. I 1 73 some tropical fruits, but not much has been done in that line as yet. Cotton is grown in a small way, for use in the making of cloth. Figs and almonds have also been tried a little. The climate is not greatly different from that of Southern California, where oranges and many tropical fruits do as well as anywhere in the world. Stock- Farming. — One great resource of Utah, and one easily discounted, so to speak, is the very extensive stock range. There is in such a country necessarily a great deal of land on the foot-hill slopes and river terraces which cannot be artificially watered, and yet is not cut off from water. The native grasses generally are possibly not as good as the buffalo and gramma grasses of the plains east of the Rocky Mountains, but the bunch grass, which seems to be indigenous to the broken and elevated regions between the Sierra Madre and the Sierra Nevada, is un- surpassed in excellence. Throughout this interior basin millions of acres are not absolute desert, only because of the existence of this grass. It grows in bunches in apparently the most barren places. Early in the season it cures, standing, retaining all its nutriment, and being hard to cover with snow beyond the reach of stock. Its seed is pyriform, and has remarkable fattening properties. In the high, dry, bracing altitudes of the interior, cattle grow and fatten on much less than on the sea-level, and the same degree of either heat or cold, as marked by the thermometer, appears to affect them less. The grazing lands of Utah are almost unlimited ; including the second tables of the river courses, the slopes of the foot-hills and lesser ranges not too far from water ; the shores of the sinks and lakes, and the coves and valleys of the mountains. In the Salt Lake Basin, generally, stock winter without fodder; farther south, they not only subsist, but thrive on the range the year round. In Cache, Bear lake, and other valleys more elevated, they require more food and shelter; and the stock-grower will do well to prepare for occasional cold and snowy spells in all the northern parts of the Territory. There is ample hay ground for this. Under ordinary circumstances, a five-year-old steer, worth ^25, can be turned U^^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. out at a cost of %^. The statistics returned of stock in Utah in 1875: Stallions 108 Mares i>349 Mules 4,727 All others, not horned 45, 206 Thoroughbred horned stock 510 Graded ♦' " 3»5ii All other *' " 107,468 Thoroughbred sheep r5,620 All other sheep 287,608 Goats 304,806 Graded swine i,397 Common swine 26,540 Total value, including poultry and bees, placed at about $6,500,000. The number of blooded and graded animals has probably in- creased 200 per cent, since 1875, and that of sheep 150 per cent.^ while the strain of blood in all sheep has been so improved that double the wool is sheared from the same number. Consider- able stock is kept in adjoining Territories by residents of Utah. It is estimated by stock-growers and drivers that the Territory turns out yearly 40,000 head of stock from one to five years old, averaging in value $15 a head ; a total of ^600,000. Sheep- Farming. — The wool clip of 1875 ^'^^ returned at 885,- 000 pounds, but it has quite doubled since. Mr, James Dunn, of the Provo Woollen Mills, estimates the clip of 1877 at 1,200,- 000 to 1,300,000 pounds; for 1878, at 1,600,000 to 1,700,000 pounds. Other large growers and dealers concur in this esti- mate. The clip of 1879 was nearly 2,000,000 pounds, and that of 1880 over 2,500,000 pounds. Of the clip of 1878 about 1,250,- 000 pounds was exported, and the remainder, say 400,000 pounds, was used by the Utah mills. Fleeces average about four pounds for ewes, six for wethers; part of the wool ranges with the best California wools as to quality, while part of it is in- ferior. Utah and Montana wools are considered better than the wools of the other Territories. Most of the Utah sheep came from New Mexico down to 1870. Since then ewes have been brought in from California, generally fine-wooled Spanish Mer- STOCK-RAISING AND SHEEP-FARMING. 1175 Inos, but little mixed ; fine-wooled bucks from Ohio, and long- vvooled from Canada. The same strain of blood in sheep does not produce quite so long a wool as in the East. It is so dry and dusty, the grease seems to absorb the alkali and mineral dust, which makes it harsher and more britde. But since the large infusion of Merino blood, which has taken place in late years, there has been a marked improvement in the quality of Utah wool, in respect of length, softness and fineness of fibre. It re- alizes to the grower, here, crude, about twenty cents a pound. Mr. Daniel Davidson, who has imported ^30,000 worth of bucks within a few years, has a flock of 16,000 sheep, from which he sheared 90,000 pounds of wool in 1878. Among other large owners are the Provo Manufacturing Company, with 13,000; a Mr. Mclntyre, with 9,000. Mr. Davidson thinks there are 550,000 sheep in the Territory. Castle Valley, near the corner post of Wahsatch, San Pete and Utah coundes, is a great sheep range, several large flocks being kept there. They are worth about $2.25 a head as they run, do not require feeding in winter, and if properly attended to, under ordinary circumstances, will yield a profit of forty per cent, a year on the investment. They are beginning to be bought up to be driven away. A flock of 5,000, cosdng from %2 to $2.50 each, including lambs, was picked up and taken to Montana in the spring of 1878. By the time they got there the lambs were worth as much as the sheep, re- ducing the price in reality to about $1.50. Governor Emery says on this subject: Another serious drawback to the stock-growers of this country are immense herds of sheep, which have been driven into the Territories from California. Large flocks of fifteen, twenty and thirty thousand sheep not unfrequently make their appearance here from the West. It is not so much the grass they eat that the setders complain of, but they poison and kill out what is known here as the buffalo or bunch-grass, which is the only grass of any value indigenous to this soil. Where sheep range for one season there is left a barren waste upon which grass will not grow for several years after. If Congress would pass some law whereby parties can acquire rights to this pasturage, it would J J -5 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. undoubtedly be a source of revenue to the government as well as to parties engaged in stock and wool-growing. Mines and Mining Products. — With her increasing population, it is hardly probable that Utah will produce more grains, etc., than sufficient to supply the home demand for agricultural pro- ducts. She may export some wheat, but she will import more corn ; she may have more than a supply of some fruits and root crops, but she will import as much or more of others. She may have cattle, sheep, and possibly horses and mules to export, and as her grazing lands become developed, there may be a large traffic in live-stock, for which she has good facilities. But the chief attraction which Utah possesses for immigrants is its mineral wealth. Looking southward from one of the sum- mits of the Wahsatch Mountains, just above their junction with the Uintah Range, and the smoke of the smelters and stamp mills is seen in the clear pure air for a hundred miles, and on both sides of the Wahsatch ; while to the east and southeast the mines of copper, coal, sulphur, alum, borax, graphite and other minerals, with some gold and silver, are found in great abun- dance. There is not a county in the Territory where mines have not been located, and mining districts in greater or lesser number organized. These mining districts now cover over 1,200,000 acres. They are, perhaps, most numerous in Salt Lake, Utah, Juab, Beaver, Box Elder, Tooele, Millard, Pi-ute and Iron coun- ties, but Washington county, Weber, Davis and Summit are coming into prominence either for their silver mines, gold placers, or deposits of coal, sulphur, borax, alum, etc. We cannot under- take to name all these mines or mining districts ; but a few notes in regard to some of the most prominent of them will be interest- ing. Bingham Canon and its chief town, Bingham City, is about thirty miles southwest of Salt Lake City, and is a rift or canon of the Oquirrh Mountains, through which a small muddy creek flows on its way to the Jordan river, about twelve miles south of Salt Lake City. It has had strange vicissitudes. In 1859 rich gold placers were found there by General Conner's soldiers, and were extensively worked and still yield fair pay for working. In MINES AND MINING IN UTAH. nyy 1869 extensive beds of silver lead ore were discovered and mined with decided profit, and some of the mines are still profitably worked; in 1876 it was discovered that the disintegrated rock which had been thrown aside from the silver mines as waste really contained from ^19 to ^25 of gold to the ton, and was very easily reduced, and as this paid better than the silver, the mining for these quartz-gold ores was immediately resumed. Mean- while, however, some of the silver mines in the canon had been written up and their productiveness eulogized, and one of these, the Old Telegraph, which was really worth perhaps from ^700,000 to ^1,000,000, was sold after examination to a French company for ^3,000,000. The mine has not only never paid a dividend, but is run either at a loss or without profit, although all its re- duction works and the appointments of the mine are of the first class. It was another instance in which silver mines in Utah have been sold to European capitalists at prices far beyond their actual value. The sales of the Little Emma, Flagstaff and McHenry, all Utah mines, are still fresh in the public memory, and have entailed an unwarranted disgrace upon mining proper- ties, especially in Utah. The Little Cottonwood Mines, which included the Emma and Flagstaff, are now developing other mining properties there ; but the frauds connected with those mines have destroyed confidence in them, and the present and prospective yield is not sufficient to restore it. The Parley's Park Mines, in the vicinity of Park City, of which the Ontario Mine is the principal, have an excellent property, though in their case the failure of the McHenry Mine to make good the repre- sentations under which it was sold, has proved a serious draw- back. The mill connected with this mine shipped East, monthl)'', in 1879, from ^135,000 to ^145,000, and new mines in the vicinity are promising well. On the Oquirrh Mountains there is also the Ophir District, which has the Hidden Treasure and many other silver mines of note ; the Stockton Mines, which have already yielded largely ; and the Tintic Silver District, the mines in which carry gold, silver and copper. In Southern and Southwestern Utah, within the Great Basin and south of Sevier lake, there are many silver mines of great value, and which are 1 1^8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. conducted on sound business principles. In this region the mines are richer as we proceed toward the southern boundary. In the Beaver Lake District there are valuable copper mines, and a little to the east and southeast are silver mines in the same district, and some valuable mines in the Ohio District. A little farther south are the Frisco Silver Mines, to which point a branch of the Southern Utah Railway is running. Among these mines, the Horn Silver Mine, about one mile from the villao-e of Frisco, is said to be the richest silver mine in the world. Professor J. S. Newberry, who visited It in the autumn of 1879, and examined it very carefully, estimated that there was not less than ^15,000,000 worth of ore in sight, and a fair pros- pect of at least as much more when the mine was fully developed. This ore is chlorides and horn silver. The Carbonate and Rattler Mines, and the Cave Mine in the same vicinity, are car- bonates easily reduced and very rich ; the last named carries considerable gold ; as do the Picacho Mines. Around and just below Little Salt lake are the Silver Belt and the Sumner Mining Districts, and in the same vicinity immense coal beds and exten- sive deposits of iron and alum. Other coal measures are still farther south, and in the extreme southwest is the Leeds Silver Mining District, which has many rich mines ; most of these are chlorides and easily reduced. East of the Leeds District, and on and near the Rio Virgen, is the Harrisburg District, in which are a larofe number of excellent mines. Amono- these are those of Silver Reef, where sandstone beds of cretaceous or tertiary age are found impregnated with silver, either native or in chlorides. The Stormont Silver Mining Company owns several mines on Silver Reef, and is steadily producing from ^40,000 to ^50,000 of bullion per month, with a fair prospect of increase with larger facilities for reduction. No smelting is needed, but the reduction is effected through stamp-mills and wet amalgamation. Just at the boundary of Utah, Arizona and Nevada is the Silver Park Dis- trict, where the argentiferous deposit is an enormous but irreg- ular vein lying in the contact between porphyry and limestone. Some of the ore is very rich, and Professor Newberry says that " it seems to present very much the same problems as the great MINING EAST OF THE WAHSATCH MOUNTAINS. 1179 veins of the Shakspeare District, New Mexico, or the Ruby Hill District, Nevada; that is, they are very good or good for nothing, and considerable time and money will be required to decide which is true." The eastern slope of the Wahsatch Mountains undoubtedly contains both silver and gold, though, whether it is likely to be of ores which will prove profitable for present working, is a question. The Great Colorado Basin, which has shown itself so rich in the precious metals in Colorado and Arizona, is probably equally rich here. But we know that copper, and iron, and coal are not only abundant but that they are of excellent quality and easily worked. The coal beds of Utah contain coal of good quality, sufficient to supply the entire region west of the Rocky Moun- tains. It is bituminous or semi-bituminous in character, and many of the beds. Professor Newberry says, are excellent cok- ing coals. Whether it is a lignite of the Tertiary formations, or a true coal of the Carboniferous era, does not seem to be fully settled. Possibly the deposits of the north are of a later geo- logic aofe than those of the south. Volcanic action, here as in New Mexico, may have wrought some changes in it. The iron is of all varieties, and is pronounced by skilful iron masters equal in quality to any in the world, and the quantity is vast beyond conception. Its close proximity to good coking coals and the excellent fluxes close at hand insure very cheap production of the best qualities of iron, and already several large furnaces are at work. Recently andmony has been discovered. The antimony mines are situated 200 miles south of Salt Lake, and on the headwaters of the --Sevier river. The mineral occurs as a bedded or sedi- mentary deposit, in interrupted layers from a quarter of an inch to two feet in thickness. Its line of outcrop forms an irregular contour, which follows the windings of the cliffs. The quantity exposed varies greatly ; in some places perhaps a thousand tons could be obtained immediately. There are large deposits of sul- phur of great thickness, which are worked. Salt is produced from the waters of Great Salt Lake and other lakes in con- siderable quantities and of excellent quality. There are large Il8o OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. deposits of rock-salt in the Territory. Ozocerite, asphalt, jet and other minerals are known to exist in large quantities. Alum, bo- rax, bicarbonate of soda and caustic soda can also be produced pure for market, with very little trouble. Railroads. — There are now in operation in Utah somewhat more than 700 miles of railway, all of it except the small portion of the Union Pacific, between Evanston, Wyoming, and Devil's Gate, Utah, being within the Great Salt Lake Basin. All the railroads of the Territory belong to the Union and Central Paci- fic system, with which they connect at Ogden. Aside from the main line (the Union and Central Pacific) they consist of: The Utah and Northern Railroad, now extending from Ogden to Helena, Montana ; the Utah Central, from Ogden to Salt Lake City; and the Utah Southern, a continuation of the last, already constructed to the Beaver river, vv^ith branches of narrow gauge to Stockton, to Bingham Canon, to Alta, to Deer Creek, to Con- nelsville and the coal mines, and from Beaver river to Frisco. It may throw out another branch to Pioche, Nevada, where a short line running eastward has already been constructed, but its eventual destination is probably to a union with the Atlantic and Pacific at some point in Arizona, or in California west of the Rio Colorado. The extensive coal lands and erazincr lands in the Colorado Basin must eventually lead to the crossing of the Wah- satch by some of the branches of the Utah Central or Southern, unless the Denver and Rio Grande, or the Denver South Park and Pacific, both of which are building rapidly toward Grand and Green rivers in Western Colorado, should enter Utah from tlie east, and thus form another route to the Pacific. The local business on these Utah roads is sufficient to make them profita- ble stock. Objects of Interest. — In wild, grand, and terrible displays of the power of the forces of nature, Utah is perhaps unsurpassed by no State or Territory of " Our Western Empire." The canons of the Green and Grand rivers and of the Rio Colorado, which they unite to form, as well as those of the San Juan, have been most graphically described by Colonel J. W. Powell and other writers who have descended these rivers for a part or OBJECTS OF INTEREST. Il8l the whole of their course. The greater part of the main stream of the Green river, more than a hundred miles of the Grand river, and about 250 miles of the course of the Colorado, including some of the most remarkable canons of each, are within the bounds of Utah, and east of the Wahsatch Mountains. Near the southern boundary of the Territory the Monument Caiion of the Colorado commences, and at the mouth of the San Juan is the famous Temple of Music, one of the most wonderful of the results of erosion on these rocks. But it is not the Colorado Basin alone which abounds in remarkable natural scenery. The Great Inte- rior or Salt Lake Basin is full of wonders. Amongf these are the Temples on the Rio Virgen, the only affluent of the Colorado which has its sources in the Great Salt Lake Basin; while the Little Zion Valley, nordi of that river, is remarkable for its quiet beau ty. Farther north, in the Great Basin, are some very extraordinary combinations of canon, cataract, valley and mountain spires. Of one of these — the American Fork Canon of the Wahsatch Moun- tains, which opens upon the minor Basin of Utah lake, and has^ been called the Yosemite of Utah — a recent writer thus speaks : " This canon is noted not only for the towering altitude of its enclosing walls, but for the picturesqueness of the infinite shapes, resembling artificial objects, towers, pinnacles and minarets chiefly, into which the elements have worn them. At first the formation is granite and the cliffs rise to a lofty height almost vertically. Then come quartzite or rocks of looser texture, conglomerates and sandstones ; the canon opens to the sky and you enter a long gallery, the sides of which recede at an angle of forty-five degrees to a dizzy height, profusely set with these elemental sculptures in endless variety of size and pattern, often stained with rich colors. ' Towers, battlements, shattered castles, and the images of mighty sentinels,' says one, 'exhibit their out- lines against the sky. Rocks twisted, gnarled and distorted ; here a mass like the skeleton of some colossal tree which lightning had wrenched and burnt to fixed cinder; there another, vast and overhanging, apparently crumbling and threatening to fall in ruin. At Deer creek the canon proper ceases, the road has 1 1 8 2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. climbed out of it 2,500 feet in eight miles. This is the main resort of pleasure parties. Since the railroad was taken up, its bed has become a wagon road, which continues to Forest City, eight miles above. The surroundings are still mountainous, but there are breaks where the brooks come in, grassy hills, aspens and pines. " To the sublimity of the caiion scenery in summer an inde- scribable beauty is added in the autumn, when the deciduous trees and shrubbery on a thousand slopes, touched by the frost, present the colors of a rich painting and meet the eye wherever it rests. To get the full benefit of this, one must go up and up till there is nothing higher to climb. In winter another and very different phase succeeds. The snows, descending for days and days in blinding clouds, bury the forests and fill the canon. Accumulating to a great depth on high and steep acclivities, they start without warning and bury in ruin whatever may be in their track. Hardly a year passes that miners and teamsters, wagons and cabins are not swept away and buried out of sight for months. The avalanche of the Wahsatch is quite as formidable as that of the Alps. Probably forty feet of snow falls on the main range every winter. Seven miles of tramway in Little Cottonwood Canon are closely and strongly shedded for defence against the awful avalanche. Even this is not always effectual." The Great Salt lake itself is an object of great interest. The remarkable density of its waters, which at some seasons and particularly in times of great drought, is so strong a brine as to contain two pounds of salt to the gallon of water, its islands which contain rich deposits of silver and copper and abound in game, its shores covered with salt, and the buoyancy of its waters, in which one cannot sink, all excite the wonder of the visitor. The mineral and hot springs, which abound throughout the Territory, are worthy of notice. The hot springs near Ogden are a favorite resort for tourists. Finances. — " The finances of the Territory," says Governor Emery, in his report to the Secretary of the Interior, October 29th, 1879, "are in a most satisfactory condition. There is no indebtedness that is not covered by uncollected taxes. The POPULATION OF UTAH. 1 1 83 territorial scrip, which three or four years since was worth only forty cents on the dollar, to-day is worth ninety-eight cents on the dollar. There is assessed annually an ad valorem tax on the taxable property in the Territory of Utah, as follows : three mills on the dollar for territorial purposes; three mills on the dollar for the benefit of district schools ; and such sum as the county courts of the several counties may designate for county purposes, not to exceed three mills on the dollar." Population. — The growth of Utah has been moderately rapid, as much so perhaps as could be expected under the circum- stances. The following table gives the particulars of it so far as they are attainable : B t E 3 C I c "3 0. Oi I V i bs c rt c rt =5 c > 1 c bd c rt "3 a a, >, 53 P rt C "o s 'A 2 f -0 c bs < ^• Uj-d .5S S c U 1 1850 i860 1870 1875 1880 11,380* 40,273* 99.58it i4o.ooof i44,659t 6,046 20,255 44.121: 66,125 74,471: 5,334 20,018 42,665 63,875 69,436 ",330 40,125 86,044 130,000 142,381 50 9,326 149 27,519 •3,538 56,084 10,000 I 81,000 1526? 99,974 2,054, o-°5 12,754! 0.18 30,702 1.63 49,000 1.75 43,933i 178 2550 14725 40-59 10.62 154 323 7363 4,076 13,788 33,367 30. 792 II 2,560 6,744 14,603 2,765 8,134 18,042 »,535 4,520 10,147 The population of Utah is very peculiar. It is the only one of the States or Territories of "Our Western Empire" which was settled on a professedly religious basis. The Mormons came here when the country was a howling wilderness, and established themselves as a religious hierarchy, and their plan of settlement from the first contemplated an empire as well as a faith. They have been from the first intolerant of any government except their own, of any immigrants who were not converts to their faith ; of any business which did not contribute to the support of Mormonism ; of any worship which did not recognize the supreme authority of their leaders ; of any social order which did not recog- nize polygamy as a revealed ordinance of God, and did not give * Tribal Indians not included. t Including tribal and other Indians. JSex of Indians not ascertained. I Territorial report — only children from six to sixteen, g Including 204 negroes and mulattoes, 501 Chinese, 804 Indians and half-breeds and seventeen East Indians and half-breeds. IlS^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. free rein to lust. Their power was for many years so absolute that the settlers, who professed another faith, were liable to assassination and to every indignity and oppression. Since the mineral wealth of the Territory was discovered, settlers have been pouring in, and in some of the mining camps, especially in Tooele county, the "Gentiles," as the Mormons contemptuously call them, are in the majority. The present census shows that about 107,000 of the 143,807 white inhabitants are Mormons and the remainder " Gentiles ; " a decided gain since 1870, when there were not more than 15,000 Gentiles in the Territory. But the Mormons are artful and shrewd. Knowing that their polygamy and other offences against society and good order are violations of the laws of the United States, they are yet determined to hold on to them, and to diffuse them in other States and Territories, and with an aggressiveness worthy of a better cause they are plant- ing their mission towns in Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona, and have even obtained some footing in California. In Idaho and Nevada they claim to have a majority of the inhabitants under their control. They send their missionaries to England, Wales, Scotland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and by a specious and plausible presentation of some of their doctrines (those that are objectionable being kept in the back- ground), and of their country, they persuade many of the ignorant, excitable and superstitious class to emigrate to Utah. Once here they are completely under the control of the leaders ; all that they have, and all that they can earn, belongs to the hierarchy, and if it is decided that they must go to the most unpromising desert region in Nevada, Arizona or Idaho, and aid in establishing a new town, however inconvenient or distressing it may be for them to break up their homes, there is no alternative ; they must go, or death and eternal destruction will be their portion. If it is deemed desirable to put some troublesome or inquisitive Gen- tile out of the way, the means and the men for the work are speedily found. The large influx of " Gentiles " to the mining canms and to business connected with the railroads and mines has modified their open and outspoken opposition to non-Mormon immigration ; but at heart they are as much opposed to this RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. I 1 85 immigration as ever, and more to the United States government than at any time in the past. At the same time they are very desirous of being admitted into the Union as a State, that they may legitimize polygamy : and when in their judgment the fitting time has come, they propose to secede, taking with them the other States and Territories they have won over to their views, and start a polygamous empire. They have offered their vote and support to whichever of the two great parties will secure their admission into the Union ; but their practices are so palpably in violation of the constitution, that their admission is not probable. Religions Deiiominaiioiis. — The non -Mormon inhabitants of Utah are of all religious denominations, or of none ; but they have a great abhorrence both of polygamy and of religious des- potism. In 1878 there were 167 Mormon church edifices, and four temples built and in course of construction at St. George, Logan, Manti and Salt Lake City, by the Mormons. They claimed at that time 108,907 souls as belonging to their church. Since that time they have sent out about 10,000 to other States and Territories, and have received about 8,000 immigrants from abroad. Mormonism does not increase by conversions at home, but by the immigration of converts from abroad. At the same time there were thirty-five Protestant congregations, having twenty-two church edifices and twenty-eight regular pastors, sus- taining as a part of their work twenty-five mission schools, in twenty towns, with an enrolment of nearly 2,000 scholars. The number of communicants was about 1,400, and of adherent pop- ulation about 8,000. Their church property amounted to about ^250,000, while that of the Mormons exceeded ^3,200,000. There has been some improvement in these particulars within the past two years. The number of Protestant churches now exceeds forty, the number of communicants is more than 2,500, and of adherent population about 13,000. There is also a much larger amount of church property, and an increase in the number of church edifices and schools. All the principal Protestant de- nominations have churches in the larger towns of the Territory, and there are Roman Catholic churches in Salt Lake City and Ogden, and perhaps at some other points. 75 I I 36 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Education. — Among the Mormons education Is at a low ebb. The school population is reckoned only between the ages of six and sixteen, and of this scanty enrolment less than thirty-nine percent., or only about 13,000 to 15,000, attended school. The whole number of schools in 1878 was 346; the time the schools were taught in days, 137; estimated value of school property, ^382,1 12 ; the whole number of public school teachers was 489 ; pay of men, ^35 per month; of women, ^22 per month. The total income for school purposes was ^113,413 ; the total expen- diture, ^113,193. There is no school fund. There are, as already stated, twenty-five or thirty mission schools under "Gen- tile " control, which, though opposed by the Mormon leaders, are prosperous, and afford better instruction than the Mormon schools. There are two or three secondary schools, especially the Salt Lake Academy ("Gentile"), in Salt Lake City; the Brigham Young Academy, at Provo, and two smaller institutions, one at Logan, and the other at Salt Lake City — endowed by Younor with lands. These are all Mormon. The so-called Uni- versity of Deseret, which is as yet only a preparatory school with a normal class, is also Mormon. Morals and Social Condition. — The moral condition of Utah is very low. So far as the distinctive Mormon institution — polyg- amy — is concerned, it could not well be worse. Licentiousness in all its worst forms, Is openly sustained under the forms of po- lygamous marriage, and incest of the grossest character is not uncommon. There is, among the Mormon population, nothing of the family relation, and the Mormon youth, the boys, especially, are early taught the most atrocious depravity. This condition of things has exerted in many Instances an untoward influence upon the "Gentile" population. No man should emigrate to Utah who has not his moral principles firmly fixed. But to men of principle and character there Is an opportunity of accomplishing much good by engaging in such enterprises as will aid in rescuing this rich and valuable Territory from the control of the most depraved and vlllanous despotism which ever prevailed in any country, in ancient or modern times. Counties and Principal Towns. — There are twenty- three coun- COUNTIES AND PRINCIPAL TOWNS. 1 1 87 ties in Utah. The assessed valuation of these in 1877, exclusive of mines and mining improvements, neither of which were then taxed, was as follows : Counties. Salt Lake Weber Utah Box Elder Cache Tooele Summit Davis San Pete Washington Juab Iron Morgan Kane Beaver Millard Sevier Wahsatch Rich Pi-ute Emery San Juan Uintah Totals Population, Ass'd Value of Property 1880. 1877. 3i»978 18,171,820 12,597 2,105,428 17,918 2,083,904 6,761 1,827,580 12,561 1,205,367 4,497 1,060,190 4,240 868,536 5,026 812,132 11,557 664,072 4,235 605,572 3,473 459,296 4,013 446,056 1,783 428,928 3,085 343,944 3.918 410,320 3,727 300,816 5,138 287,528 2,927 183,760 1,263 168,940 1,651 119,512 556 204 799 I43>907* $22,553,600 The very large mining interests would much more than double these assessed values. Of the towns, Salt Lake City had in 1870 a population of 12,854. Its population in June, 1880, was 20,768. It is the chief seat of Mormonism, has the Tabernacle and the yet uncom- pleted Temple, and many other attractive public and private buildings. Ogden, on the Union Pacific, is a thriving town of 5,000 or 6,000 inhabitants. Provo, Logan, Ephraim City, St. * Exclusive of tribal Indians. Ti88 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. George, Manti, Iron City, Frisco, Tooele, Mount Pleasant, Silver Reef, etc., are towns of considerable importance. Historical Data. — Utah derives its name from the Utes, a tribe of Indians who were its original inhabitants. The Mormons, driven from Illinois and Missouri, emigrated hither in 1847 ^'^^ 1848, and established themselves in a region then remote from other inhabitants. The title of this region passed from Mexico to the United States with that of New Mexico and California, in 1848, by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. It was organized as a Territory In 1850 by the name of Utah; but the Mormons called it "Deseret," and in 1862 formed a Constitution, and demanded admission into the Union under that name. This was refused, and there has been much controversy, and sometimes threatened violence by the Mormons, since that time. In 1857 a most atro- cious massacre of a large party of emigrants was perpetrated under Mormon direction at Mountain Meadow, in the southern part of the Territory. Some of the actors in that massacre were hung for it in 1877. Most of the mining enterprises which have brought in so considerable a non-Mormon population have been undertaken since 1869. TOPOGRAPHY OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 1189 CHAPTER XX. WASHINGTON TERRITORY. Situation of Washington Territory — Boundaries — The Boundary Line AT the Northwest, and North — Its Area — Length and Breadth — Com- parative Size — Topography and Divisions — Western Washington — The PuGET Sound Basin — What Puget Sound includes — The Beauty, Value, and Importance of this Great Inland Sea — The Lowlands and the Mountain Slopes of Western Washington — Rivers and Harbors of Western Washington — Eastern Washington — Its Rivers — Its Lakes — The Great Plains of the Columbia — River Valleys — Geology — Miner- alogy — Zoology — Climate — Meteorology of Western Washington — Governor Ferry's Remarks on the Mildness of the Climate, and the Reasons for it — The Climate of Eastern Washington — The Chinook Wind — Soil, Vegetation, and Agricultural Productions — The Alluvial Farming Lands — Table Lands — Forest Grov^ths — Agricultural Pro- ducts — Timber and Lumber — Soil and Productions of Eastern Wash- ington — The Yakinla County — Remarkably Fat Cattle — From whence THEY come — The wonderful Fertility of the Soil — The Mountain Slopes and Mountain Tops as rich as the Valleys — The Immense Yield OF Wheat — Thirty-five to Fifty Bushels to the Acre — Exports — Pop- ulation-Table — Indian Tribes and their Reservations— Partial Civil- ization OF THE Indians — Their Industry — Education — Counties and Principal Towns — Table of Population and Valuation of Counties — Chief Towns — Religious Denominations and Public Morals — Historical Data — The American Title to Washington and Oregon — The Arbitra- tion IN REGARD TO THE ISLANDS IN THE GULF OF GEORGIA ThE EaRLY Settlers — Indian War in 1855 — Conclusion— Washington Territory Desirable for Immigrants — The best Routes thither — The early Com- pletion OF the Northern Pacific probable. Washington Territory is, with the exception of Alaska, which is not yet organized, the extreme northwestern member of "Our Western Empire," lying between the parallels of 45° 32' and 49° north latitude ; and between the meridians of 117° and 124° 28' west longitude from Greenwich. It is bounded on the north and northwest by British Columbia, the boundary line being a zig-zag one to give Great Britain the settlements and lands she claimed. Our tide ran legitimately along the 49th parallel 1 1 go OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. to the Pacific; but to have insisted on this would have given us the greater part of Vancouver Island, on which were already im- portant British settlements. The line was finally run, not with- out a lone and tedious arbitration, through the centre of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Canal de Haro, and the Gulf of Georgia as far as to the 49th parallel. From the centre of the Gulf of Georgia to the west line of Idaho, the northern boundary is along the 49th parallel. The eastern boundary is the Territory of Idaho, along the 1 1 7th meridian to Lewiston, where the Snake river makes a sudden bend southward, when that river becomes the eastern boundary to the Oregon line; southward, Oregon forms its limit, the line running along the 46th parallel till it reaches the Columbia river at about the 119th meridian, when the Columbia becomes the southern boundary to the Pacific; on the west, it is washed by the waves of the Pacific as far as the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Its length from north to south ranges from 200 to 250 miles, its greatest breadth from east to west about 360 miles. It is smaller than most of the Territories, and sev- eral of the States of " Our Western Empire," having but 69,994 square miles, or 44,796,160 acres ; yet this area is one and a half times that of New York or Pennsylvania. Topography and Divisions. — The Territory is popularly divided into Eastern and Western Washington by the Cascade Range of mountains, which trend north-northeast from Oregon in a very disorderly fashion from the Dalles of the Columbia river to the line of British Columbia, following for most of the distance the west bank of the Columbia river, and extending in parallel ridges west-southwest to Puget sound, and eastward in several spurs north, east-northeast, and east-southeast. Almost the entire region between the 47th and the 49th parallels lying between the Columbia river and Puget sound is broken, rolling and mountainous, though the mountains are not high. Western Washington, the part of the Territory first settled, consists of a valley or basin, known as the Puget sound basin, and which lies between two ranges of mountains, the Cascade Mountains on the east and the Olympian or Coast Range on the west. The Puget sound or archipelago, the Mediterranean of SAFETY AND BEAUTY OF PUGET SOUND. hqi the Western Continent, as it is often called, extends from the British line on the north (the Gulf of Georgia penetrating sev- eral hundred miles into British Columbia) to Olympia on the south. It includes the Straits of Juan de Fuca, which furnish a broad channel into the Pacific, the Canal de Haro, Washington Sound, the Gulf of Georgia, Bellingham Bay, Rosario Strait, Admiralty Inlet, Hood's Canal, Lake Washington, several smaller passes and inlets, and Anderson's Bay, the latter items and some others going to make up the smaller Puget sound. It has a coast line in the Territory of 1,594 miles, and its area within the limits of the Territory is over 2,000 square miles. More than thirty-five years ago Captain (afterwards Rear Admiral) Wilkes, who had been engaged on a protracted voyage of ex- ploration of the Pacific coast, said of this sound : "Nothing can exceed the beauty of these waters and their safety. Not a shoal exists within the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Admiralty Inlet, or Hood's Canal that can in any way interrupt their navigation by a 74-gun ship. I venture nothing in saying there is no country in the world that possesses waters equal to these. They cover an area of about 2,000 square miles. The shores of all these inlets and bays are remarkably bold ; so much so that in many places a ship's side would strike the shore before the keel would touch the ground. The country by which these waters are surrounded is remarkably salubrious, and offers every advantage for the accommodationof a vast commercial and military marine, with convenience for docks, and a^ great many sites for towns and cities, at all times well supplied with water and capable of being well provided with everything by the sur- rounding country, which is well adapted for agriculture. "The Straits of Juan de Fuca are ninety-five miles in length, and have an averaofe width of eleven miles. At the entrance (eight miles in width) no danger exists, and it may be safely navi- gated throughout. No part of the world affords finer inland sounds, or a greater number of harbors, than are found within the Straits of Juan de Fuca, capable of receiving the largest class of vessels and without a danger in them which is not visi- ble. From the rise and fall of the tides (eighteen feet) every JIQ2 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. facility is offered for the erection of works for a great maritime nation. The country also affords as many sites for water-power as any other." The foothills and slopes of the mountains on both sides are almost wholly covered with immense forests of fir and cedar, reaching to the very summits of the mountains. Flowing down from the western slope of the Cascade Range, ten rivers empty into Puget sound, viz.: the Nisqually, Puyallup, White, Cedar, Snoqualmie, Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Duwamish, Skagit, and Nooksakh, affording many hundred miles of inland shore line for logging purposes, and having in their valleys an estimated area of two thousand square miles of alluvial agricultural lands. Most of these rivers are navigable for steamers of light draft, generally as far up as the alluvial deposits extend. The streams descending eastward from the Olympian or Coast Range, except the Skokomish and the Dungeness, are shorter and of less importance. The mountains approach close to the western shores of the sound, limiting the area of available territory ; but their sides are covered with vast forests of valuable timber already known to the markets of the world. Between the Olympian or Coast Range and the Pacific are some arable lands, but the soil is not so rich, though well adapted to the growth of timber. There are two moderately good harbors here — Gray's Harbor, and Shoal-water bay, extensive and partially land-locked bodies of water, but in respect to depth and facility of loading and un- loading bearing no comparison to the magnificent harbors of Puget sound. The Chehalis is the principal stream flowing into Gray's Harbor ; it has numerous affluents. The Willopah and some smaller streams fall into Shoal-water bay. There are numerous small rivers flowing into the Pacific and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The other streams of Western Washington are afl^uents of the Columbia. The Cowlitz and Klikitat are the most important. All of Western Washington is well watered. Eastern Washington includes all that part of the Territory lying east of the Cascade Mountains, and consists of the Great Plains of the Columbia river, the Great Plateau of the Spokane, and numerous valleys or river bottoms, as of the Columbia, Snake CEOLOG Y AND MINERALOG Y. ^ I g^ river, Walla-Walla, Clarke's fork, the Oklnakane, Wenatchee or Pisquouse, Lake Chelann, the Grand Coulee, or Old Bed of the Columbia, the Spokane, Colville and Palouse rivers. This whole region is an elevated plateau, with a rich soil, well adapted to the culture of the cereals, and one of the finest grazing countries in the world. There are many lakes in Washington, some of them of con- siderable size ; Lake Chelann is the largest, but Lakes Kahchess, Washington and Whatcom are also important lakes. Geology. — The shores of the Pacific, the lower valley of the Columbia, and the great valley drained by Puget sound, are Tertiary and Quaternary ; the islands west of the Canal de Haro in the Gulf of Georgia are Cretaceous ; the vicinity of Bellingham bay is Carboniferous ; the Coast Range is Eozoic ; the Cascade Mountains to about 47° 40', and the Great Plains of the Columbia river in Central and Eastern Washington, south of the Spokane river, are volcanic ; Northern Washington is Eozoic, except two narrow and small outcrops of Silurian age in the extreme northeast, one east, the other west of Clarke's fork. Mineralogy . — Washington has probably some deposits of the precious metals in the extensive volcanic regions already noticed, but they have not yet been developed to any great extent. Gold has been found in the northeast near the Columbia river. There were discoveries of placer gold made In 1879, on the Skagit river in Whatcom county. Western Washington. The quartz lodes near the Columbia river, In Stevens county, yielded In 1879 about $300,000. All the different ores of iron are plentiful ; but the greatest mineral wealth of the Territory consists In Its exten- sive beds of excellent coal. The coal near Bellingham bay and Lake Whatcom, in Whatcom county, is of excellent quality and is extensively mined. Much of it Is sent to San Francisco, where It is in great demand. This is a true coal from the coal measures, and is bituminous in its character. There is also a very good coal (probably lignite) back of Seattle, in King county, near Lake Washington, and also in the Coast Range. This coal is mostly bituminous, but it is claimed that deposits of anthracite coal have been found in Puyallup valley and on the Green river. This is IIQ4 OUR WMSr^RN EMPIRE. possible, as this is within the hmits of the volcanic region, but it is probable that this is at most only semi-anthracite. Zoology. — The wild animals are the same as in Oregon. In the northern part of the Territory moose are found in consider- able numbers. Elk are also plenty. The cougar or panther is laro-e and fierce. Game is abundant. Salmon are found in cjreat numbers, not only in the Columbia but in Puget sound, and some of the rivers flowing into it. Climate. — The climate of Western Washington is remarkably mild and temperate, notwithstanding its high latitude, resembling, in this respect, that of the British Isles, and demonstrating the truth of the law laid down by physical geographers that the western coast of a continent always has a much milder and more equable temperature than the eastern. Governor Ferry, in pre- senting, in his report of October, 1879, to the Secretary of the Interior, the meteorological table of Fort Blakeley, which we give on page 1 195, makes some very judicious notes and explan- ations in regard to it, and the climate of Western Washington, which we here insert in full, and which are fully corroborated by the corresponding table of Olympia, which we have placed by its side. One point, which the governor has omitted, is worthy of notice, viz.: that where the extreme annual range of the thermometer does not exceed from 64° to 74°, its maximum not being over 95° nor its minimum less than 19° to 25°, the result- ing climate is as agreeable, healthful and productive as can be desired. The rainfall is by no means excessive, but exerts a decided Influence in promoting the gigantic growth of the timber, which crowns the mountain slopes and extends even to the summits of the Cascade and Coast Ranges. Governor Ferry says : "It will be seen that the lowest temperature during this period of twenty-six months was 25° above zero, in January, 1879, and the next lowest 26 + °, In January, 1878. The highest temperature in 1877 ^vas 88°; in 1878, 94°; and in 1879, 86°. The highest monthly average was 67^°, in July, 1877, and the lowest 40^^°, in January, 1878. It will also be seen that the annual average rainfall is very little greater than In the Eastern and Western CLIMATE OF WESTERN WASHINGTON. II95- re o oiS c £.S '—'*"' s* I> 2 "^TT V> fs 5- S-3 00 00 oovi a\o Ln VO 01 0\ ON OO 00 OOVO VO ^J ^J ONU 10 *■ Ov O 00 ON-f^ to -t»- O 0^ O 4^ t VI M O 0\ (0 00'^ 0\ OUl-^M-^OU) O^V^ CO to Ot ^j^ifc;^ On'O 4^ 0\ Cn 00 O O O * O O ui vo J \0 v4 O ^ O 0» OvVi Ut ^<4 M 00 M vo -^- O t^UI VO ( . VO 00 0^ MHMWtOtOMWM M VO Ca VOmmO*OOv« Ov-^ v» \0 U> Uv O O Ol O O U>^ Highest. Lowest. Average. Rainfall. Cloudy Days. Clear Days. = I 6 s- ^o 2 5 p: CO ° S ?=! 3 p n n < ^S'^ g. 3 3 S^3 • -•" era-" 3 ^ 3 ■gS; § 3 3S"3S b CO-ti» b\ 00 N » ui b\ to 4^ -U Ln b 4>' U M (In in m 00^1 -^ Ov O^Ui 4^ ^ Ui 0\ 0\V0 Ui 4w 00 Kr\ 0\sj 00 OOVO OOsq Q\\3\ K }4k> OOM NUl'sl ■HUi4^ I COi-n 10 -O 4^ VO 00 00 M -sj o\ o ^o ) 4^ M O ON^O ON 4»- O *K) b vb b bovb b ON<-n VD Uj -J ov4k CO O 03 >H C^Ln > •^ 0\ M ^ -^ -^ w ) -^ to 00-^ OvM o o 03 00 OOsj Ov O Ov-sl sq 03 00 00 vj COU) -vj \0 VO -^ 4»- Ov-J VO I ■vj vb VO -vj sq (^ COU) sj (jj M« O O OvOvO'O O OvOvovOvo » b bvbvbvb b 'o'<:) vi 0\ VO 00 00 o 4k. 4>^ 4>- <^ O Ov M Mean. Highest. Lowest. ^ vomits o Range 00 CO OO-sl ".a o» f Rainfall. ^ > VO VO ^ VO o n vb vb b vb vb w ^ VO Ui 4>. o^■v^ ^J JJ M -si o 00 o y s? ^ iiq6 our western empire: States. From June, 1877, to January, 1879, a period of nineteen months, embracing all of one winter and half of another, there was no snowfall, and in January, February and March, 1879, only 7^ inches, which disappeared almost as rapidly as it fell. The greatest rainfall is between the months of October and April, although, during this period, it will be seen that the cloudy days are very little In excess of the clear, " The climatic phenomena indicated by these observations are readily accounted for. "A thermal current, known as the Japan Current, having its origin at the equator, near the one hundred and thirtieth degree of east longitude, Greenwich, flows northwardly to the Aleutian islands, where It separates, one branch flowing eastwardly along the peninsula of Alaska, and then southwardly along the coast of British Columbia, Washington Territory and Oregon. This thermal stream, with Its concomitant heated atmospheric current, striking the northwest coast of America, operates powerfully In mltlofatlnor a climate which otherwise would be cold and ritrorous in the extreme. The effect of these currents upon the western portion of this Territory is the same as the effect of the Gulf stream upon the northwest coast of Euiope. In fact the climate and natural productions of England are essentially the same as those of Western Washington. In addition to this, the prevall- inof winds In the winter are from the southwest. These warm atmospheric currents, coming from the tropical regions of the Pacific, laden with moisture, meeting the cooler currents from the Coast Range and Cascade Mountains, produce the winter rainfall. These southwest winds also moderate the temperature during the winter. "The prevailing winds during the summer are from the north- west, which Is the cause of the dry, cool weather during that period. There is a marked difference between the climate of Western and Eastern Washington. In the latter, being that portion of the Territory lying east of the Cascade Mountains, the four seasons are plainly distinguishable. I am unable to present meteorological statistics of this portion of the Territory, and can only say that the temperature is lower In winter and higher In SOIL AND VEGETATION OF WESTERN WASHINGTON. ngy summer, and that the rainfall is about one-half less, than on Puget sound. The average annual temperature is reported as follows : spring, 52°, summer, y^°, autumn, 53°, and winter, 34°." The summers are at times very hot, though with cool nights generally. A part of the winter is cold, and there are usually a few days in which the mercury falls to zero, or below ; but with few exceptions the fall of snow is not heavy. The rainfall aver- ages from twenty to twenty-two inches for the year. The " Chinook winds," already spoken of under Montana, periodical warm breezes from the southwest, blow up the channel of the Columbia river, through the fall and winter, and along the foot-hills of the Blue Mountains, and in a few hours remove every vestige of snow in their path. Their influence is felt all over Eastern Washington and Idaho and into Montana. Soi7, Vegetatio7i and Agrictdtural Productions. — The soil of Western Washington is of various qualities, and may be divided into river bottoms, lands along the sound, table-lands and moun- tain slopes. The alluvial farming lands are subject to overflow, near the sound, but not usually to an injurious extent. The freshets gen- erally occur during the months of January and June, and rarely last more than three or four days. The soil is composed of clay, sand and gravel — detritus washed from the mountains — ^^mingled with decayed vegetation, the rank growth of centuries. Under cultivation it is quick, light and friable, and yields astonishing crops of hay, grain, hops, fruits and vegetables. These lands are mostly covered with vine-maple, alder, crab-apple and salal, with an occasional fir, spruce or cedar, and as a rule are confined to narrow valleys and limited, detached areas. Being covered with this deciduous forest growth, they are not like prairie lands, where the plow can be started as soon as a claim is staked out — but as compared with the more heavily timbered uplands, they are easily cleared — at an approximate cost of ^10 to $1 5 per acre. The wood and lumber will usually pay for the work ; and, for farming purposes, the setder will find no more desirable location west of the Cascades. Between these bottoms and the mountains are large areas of jjQg OUR WESTERN EMPlkE. table-lands, quite level or gently undulating near the rivers; broken and rugged toward the foot-hills. The soil of these up- lands is inferior to that of the river lands, varying from sandy- loam to clay-loam and unproductive gravel. The growths here are principally fir and cedar, with some hemlock, maple, willow, cherry, etc. South and east of the sound is a district where coarse gravel is found, with occasional granite boulders, extend- ing back from the shore from ten to thirty miles in streaks and patches, and covering perhaps half the land. In the intervals the soil is a strong, brown clay-loam of excellent quality for farming. Owing to the durability of the fir and cedar, and the difficulty artd expense of removing their stumps from the ground, it will be a considerable time before the lands now covered with these fir forests will be cleared and devoted to agriculture — but fortu- nately the timber is worth far more to its owners and to the country than the best open prairie would be. Considering the great diversity of the soil and the wooded, broken character of the country. West Washington is likely to be a region of small farms, devoted to a variety of crops, rather than to growing grain or stock on a large scale. With the above explanation it is safe to say that in connection with the mild climate, the productive capacity of the soil of the Puget sound region is great, both as to quantity and quality. The small grains are at home in Washington Territory. The quality and yield of wheat on the Pacific slope are well known to be good, and in this regard Puget sound basin is no exception to the rule. Much of the finest portion of the grain that reaches the Eastern market as "California wheat" is grown in Washing- ton Territory and Northern Oregon. All other cereals arfe grown to perfection; oats are particularly plump and heavy. In- dian corn (maize) has been ripened thirteen years in succession in one locality, and as many as forty bushels to the acre have been raised, but this is exceptional, and as a rule the nights are too cool for the ripening of this crop. Pork is usually fattened upon peas, wheat and barley, and it is claimed can be made as cheaply as upon corn in the Western States. Fruits of all kinds, except the peach and the grape, are raised BEAVER DAM LANDS AND TIMBER. Cj'^^0 in great profusion, and are remarkable for size and flavor. Al- though California fruit is jusdy in good reputation, Oregon and Washington apples are exported to San Francisco, where they bring an advanced price on account of their excellence. The potatoes and other vegetables grown on the north coast are also in hicfh favor in the San Francisco market. A resident of Washington Territory, who has had extraordi- nary facilities for acquiring personal knowledge of the lands there, says : ** The agricultural lands of the Territory, while generally con- fined to the river bottoms, are not entirely so. It is frequently found that even on the sides, and sometimes near the summit of a hill or mountain, considerable tracts of rich beaver dam lands exist. A noticeable Instance is near the summit of the Immense hill immediately In the rear of Kalama. The river bottoms of the Columbia and its confluent streams, as well as the valley of the Cowlitz, contain large tracts of lands of unexcelled fertility. About midway between Kalama and Tacoma is the Chehalis Valley, embracing, with its confluents, over 2,000 square miles of the best agricultural lands in the Territory. This valley is to Washington what the Willamette is to Oregon. It varies in width from five to fifteen miles, and extends from the base of the Cascade Range to Gray's Harbor. Large quantities of rich lands lie in the bottoms of its lower tributaries. Flowing into Puget sound there are the Cedar, NIsqually and Puyallup rivers, on which are some fine arable lands. These river bottoms are usually sparsely timbered with alder, vine maple, crab apple, etc., which are quickly and easily cleared, at an expense ranging from five to thirty dollars per acre, and will then yield, on an average, from forty to sixty bushels of wheat per acre. The small grains are produced most abundantly, with a larger average yield than obtains In almost any other locality or section of the country, and command the highest market price at home. And so long as we have the large non-producing lumbering population, the farmers' market will be at home." Thnber. — At present the leading industry of the Puget sound region is the manufacture and shipment of timber. This timber J200 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. has carried its own fame to all parts of the world. In the East Indies, in Egypt, in the maritime States of Europe, in South Amer- ica, the Pacific Islands, China and Japan, the fir timber of Washington Territory is an article of commerce. Washington Territory, west of the Cascade Mountains, covers an area of about 20,000 square miles (exclusive of interior waters), three-fourths of which are timbered lands. The timber consists of yellow fir, cedar, pine, spruce, hemlock, oak, maple, cotton- wood, ash, dogwood, alder and some of the smaller varieties. The amount of the fir exceeds all the other varieties combined, and the cedar stands second in quantity. As the fir exceeds all other varieties in quantity, so also it does in utility, being valu- able for ship-building, house-building, fencing, spars, and indeed almost every purpose for which wood is used. The quantity of all kinds of lumber produced in the Territory, in 1875, was estimated at 250,000,000 feet, valued at ^3,000,000, and though the market for it was temporarily depressed, the demand is now rapidly increasing. The size of the fir trees and the number growing on given areas in good timber districts are almost incredible to those who have not visited the north Pacific coast. Trees are not uncom- mon which measure 300 feet in length, two-thirds of the distance being free from limbs. Fifty, sixty, and sometimes eighty good timber trees grow upon an acre of ground. It is not seldom that 200,000 feet of merchantable fir lumber is taken from a single acre. The rule with Washington lumbermen has been to work no tract of (fir) timber producing less than 30,000 feet per acre. Although lumbering has been carried on along the shores of the sound for twenty years, up to the present time logs have sel- dom been hauled more than a mile — to the estuaries of the sound, or some convenient stream where rafts are prepared for towing to the mills. The main timber region of the sound and lower Columbia has not yet been invaded by the ax. Many rivers and arms of the sound extend into the very heart of this vast Forest Preserve, and by clearing the river channels of drift the spring freshets can be availed of to run out the logs to the mills and the lumber to market. ARABLE LANDS OF EASTERN WASHINGTON. 12OI The regular correspondent of the San Francisco Chronicle, writing under date of December i8, 1879, gives the following in- teresting account of the soil, situation and productions of Eastei'n Washington: Eastern Washington Territory is probably destined to become the richest and most renowned wheat-growing region in the world. The great body of its arable land is the southern portion, known locally as the Walla- Walla, Palouse and Yakima countries, which have an unbroken area more than 1 50 miles square, extending from the foot-hills of the Cascade Mountains 'eastward to the Idaho boundary line, and from the Oregon line northward beyond the Great Bend of the Columbia river. But Eastern Washington in its entirety is distinctively an agricultural region of great fertility ; for, in addition to its vast scope of rolling prairies and plains in the southern and middle sections, there are in its more northerly portion, and extending as far as to the British possessions, numerous rich and well-watered valleys, such as the Chemakane and Colville Valleys, the latter of long-standing fame. Eastern Washineton has been described as the " valley of the Columbia river in Washington Territory, lying east of the Cas- cade Mountains." The appropriateness of this description will readily appear by an examination of the map, showing the courses of this river and its numerous tributaries. Here the climate is most" favorable to health, the soil yields the largest average re- turn of wheat, drought is unknown, the crops never fail, and the ultimate capacity for production of cereals of the highest grade has been estimated by good judges as high as 1 50,000,000 bushels per annum. The Yakima country is in the southern central portion of the Territory, between the Cascade Mountains on the west and the Columbia river on the east, and embraces the northern half of Klickitat and all of Yakima counties. It is traversed by a river of the same name, which, rising in the northern central portion of the Territory, flows southeastward, and empties into the Columbia a short distance from Ainsworth, at the mouth of the Snake river, the present western terminus of the Pend d'Oreille division of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The fertility of the Yakima country is declared to be not inferior to that of any other 76 1202 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. part of this great wheat-field, not even excepting the Walla- Walla valley, farther east. The projected line of the Northern Pacific Railroad from the Columbia river at Ainsvvorth, across the mountains to Puget sound at Tacoma, passes through the heart of this region ; and the construction of a road over it is all that is needed to fill up the country speedily with a teeming popula- tion. It is yet sparsely settled, but new-comers in their prairie- schooners are fast encroaching upon its unoccupied lands. Its climate and soil are admirably adapted for stock-raising, which is the chief occupation of its inhabitants. The food for cattle is a very rich, nutritious bunch-grass, almost as strong as grain, with which the prairies and hills are covered throughout all seasons of the year ; and as the winters, with rare exceptions, are mild and dry, there is no need of housing and feeding the cattle, but they are without fear suffered to roam at will in the winter months, and grow fat on this remarkable grass. This bunch-grass is common all over that country, covering the foot- hills and plains alike, and sometimes even reaching to the moun- tain-tops. J. Ross Browne, in an official report, says, " For grazing, these table-lands and side-hills of Eastern Washington cannot be ex- celled. They are covered with a luxuriant growth of native bunch- grass, of nutritious quality. During the rains of spring it seems to attain its growth ; and through the dry season which follows, it stands to be cured into the best of hay, preserving its strength and esculent properties all winter. Stock abandon the green grass of the bottom-lands to feed upon it, and on it they keep fat the year round." The Yakima country produces the cattle for supplying the market on Puget sound and elsewhere in Western Washington, as well as in British Columbia, whither they are driven through the several passes in the mountains ; and large droves of exceptionally fat cattle go annually out to the Union Pacific Railroad, and are transported to Chicago. Such is the great value of this region for stock-raising ; but, as the soil is of a character and productiveness that invite the change, the cattle-range on the lowlands must give way before the more profitable Vi^heat-field, and confine itself higher up on the foot- THE WALL A- WALLA VALLEY. 1 203 hills and mountain-sides. To the limited extent to which the Yakima country has gone in wheat-raising, it may safely chal- leno-e the best record of Illinois, Ohio, or any of the other East- ern or Middle States ; for it has performed some wonderful feats, as well as to quality and size of grain, as to the amount of yield per acre. The railroad only is needed. Even thus early in the agricultural history of Eastern Washington, it is to be recorded that the last crop was of such dimensions as to defy the present facilities for moving it to market ; the approach of cold weather and low water in the river, finding still on hand, in the store- houses at Wallula, a large residue of 20,000 tons — the year's production, there to remain until the opening of spring. This fact is a very persuasive appeal for the building of a railroad to Puget sound. Passing eastward from the Yakima across the Columbia, we enter the already famous Walla-Walla Valley, which is bounded on the south and east by the Blue Mountains, and on the west and north by the Columbia and Snake rivers. Its area runs into millions of acres, as does that of the Palouse country to the north of Snake river, watered by the Palouse river, and extending far northward to the Spokane. The Walla-Walla and Palouse coun- tries are being rapidly settled by people from all parts of the United States. These two regions of Southeastern Washington do not materially differ in their general character ; so little, in- deed, that a description of the soil, products, and climate of one, may answer for all three. The soil is of an appearance likely to surprise the average wheat-grower, being, except in the bottom- lands, a very light-colored loam, containing an unusually large percentage of the alkalies and fixed acids, and covering prac- tically the whole of Eastern W^ashington to a depth of from one to twenty feet. Near the base of the mountains it is mixed with a larger proportion of clay, which renders it somewhat darker in appearance; but in no respect does it resemble the black soils 'of the Mississippi valley. One of the most remarkable features of this country is, that the soil on the tops of high hills yields as many bushels of wheat to the acre, as does that of the lowlands or prairies. This fact is sought to be explained by the theory, 1204 ^^^^ WESTER A EMPIRE. that this soil on both hill and plain was once the bed of a system of lakes, and was greatly enriched by volcanic ashes blown from the Cascade Range, or thence carried by the streams into the lakes, and thus widely distributed over the entire basin, including- the hills in question, which are supposed to have been under water. In the Walla-Walla and Palouse countries, towns are springing up in all directions — mere trading-camps at the outset for the farmers who are crowding in round about ; and the hurry and flurry of settlement, and bustle and haste of preparation for wheat-raising, lends to some of the settlements an appearance resembling that of a mining-camp hastily pitched together, with many of the incidents common to the latter. The Palouse coun- try is traversed about through its centre by the Northern Pacific Railroad, Pend d'Oreille division, and extends from the Columbia at the mouth of the Snake, northeast to Spokane falls, about a hundred and fifty miles. To Dr. Bingham is credited the dis- covery that this was valuable agricultural land. Although it was subject to entry at a dollar and a quarter per acre, no one thought it worth taking, until the doctor got an idea to experiment. He planted twelve acres in alfalfa ; and, to the amazement of himself and neighbors, it grew more profusely and to a greater height than they had ever before known it to grow. Elated at this splendid success of his experiment, he at once set about procur- ing all the land he was able to buy, and is now said to be one of the most prosperous planters in the northwest. He tried wheat with a like brilliant result, securing an average yield per acre that paid for the land over and over again ; and thus suddenly the good people of that region were awakened to the astounding revelation that their vast expanse of country known as the Plains of the Columbia, and, indeed, the whole of Southeastern Wash- ington, instead of being, as it had always been regarded, an almost useless waste, had a wealth-producing capacity far exceeding that of all the gold and silver mines of California and Nevada. Im- mediately scores and hundreds of people jumped into the business of wheat-raising ; and the fame thereof went abroad, starting westward and northward large numbers of farming people, some going through California and by sea, but a larger proportion YIELD OF WHEAT IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 1205 arriving- from surrounding Territories in their prairie-schooners drawn by oxen. The experience of Dr. Blalock near Walla- Walla illustrates what may be done in the way of farming in Washington Territory. He began comparatively poor a few years back, and has now the largest farm in the Territory. He has one large field of nearly two thousand acres, which was partly in wheat and partly in barley during the season just closed, and the average yield per acre is reported to have been forty bushels. At the last harvest, it was not regarded as extraordinary for particular fields to yield an average as high as forty-five and fifty and even sixty bushels to the acre. Of the enormous average yield of wheat on these " Great Columbia Plains," Mr. Philip Ritz, for fifteen years a farmer in the Walla-Walla valley, wrote in 1869: "I have seen large fields of wheat average fifty-six bushels to the acre, and weigh sixty- two pounds per bushel ; and have seen fields which yielded forty to fifty bushels per acre from a volunteer crop; that is, produced the second year from grains scattered out during harvest, sprout- ing during the fall and growing even without harrowing." Ten years later, in the autumn of 1879, the same gentleman wrote: " We are just about finishing our harvest, and such a harvest I am sure the world never saw before. Our * Great Columbia Plains,' famous for her magnificent wheat crops, has this year outdone herself She never had such a crop before. Our small, sparsely setded country has this year about two million bushels of surplus wheat. The average is reckoned by the best judges at from thirty to forty bushels per acre. My own judgment is that the whole country will go over thirty-six bushels to the ^acre. A great many large fields will average over fifty, and a held that would not average over twenty-six is hardly considered worth cutting. There is probably no country in the world, climate and other advantages considered, equal to this for grow- ing wheat." In October, 1879, rnoJ'e than 20.000 tons of wheat were stored at Walla- Walla and vicinity awaiting shipment, the facilities for transportation on the Columbia river being inadequate for the carriage to that extent. A large part of this production was not on new lands, but on I206 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. lands which had been cultivated with the same crop for ten or twelve years. The crop of 1880 was still larger, and its net cash value to the farmers of Washington Territory is reckoned at over $9,000,000. Exports. — In addition to the exports of wheat already referred to, writes Governor Ferry in October, 1879, there have also been large exports of other cereals, wool, Hour, and live-stock from Eastern Washington. Large shipments of flour have been made direct from Walla- Walla to Liverpool. From the lower counties on the Columbia river there have also been exporta- tions of grain and canned salmon; of the latter, 160,000 cases, of forty-eight cans each. From Puget sound the exports have been lumber, coal, fish, grain, potatoes, wool, hops, hides, barrels, lime, etc. The export of coal for the past year has been 190,000 tons. The lumbering interests are somewhat depressed at present, owing to a falling off in the foreign demand. This depression is regarded as temporary only. Mamtfactures 7XXQ., of course, but of moderate extent in so new a Territory, and with as yet but a scanty population. The prin- cipal is lumber, of which 250,000,000 feet or more are produceci annually. There are many flouring mills, establishments for canning and barreling salmon and other fish, barrel factories, some of them of great extent, etc., etc. The production of man- ufactured goods in 1880 was about $8,000,000. Population. — The following table gives the population of Wash- ington Territory at different periods : >• c c .0 3 0. H Females. ll "■a .5 c ■a " _o c "o-S > 1 c 'I >> C Q li «i c "0 >■ iT "■^ . s 5 Of MilitaryAge .eigh- teen to forty-five, males. Of Voting Age, twen- ly-one and upwards, males. S c i860 1870 1878 1879 1880 n,594 37.432* 64,411* 72,052* 89,388* 8,446 1 3,148 ' 11,138 M,99ot| 8,965!, 22,195 456 15.237 8,450 ! 3.144 18,931 j 5.024 0.06 0-34 0.92 1.03 1. 28 106.61 72.10 11.86 24.1,6 438 1.307 2,279' 5.880 7.060; 7,835 12,997: 6,i66 9,24' 4,231 7.9-^2 16,028 22,039 45,977 29.143 67.349 59,259 j 15,861 * Including 13,477 tribal Indians on reservations in the Territory. " 13,960 " " " " " 14,268 " " " " " " 14,268 " " " " " t Sex of Indians not gi vea. INDIAN TRIBES. 1 207 The population of the Territory is, to a very large extent, com- posed of citizens of the Eastern States, with a moderate propor- tion of sturdy and industrious Scandinavians and Germans, and some English, Irish, Scotch and British-Americans. Indian Tribes and their Reservations. — There were, in the autumn of 1879, 14,268 tribal Indians in Washington Territory. They were collected on seven reservations, under as many dis- tinct agents, and belonged to forty-three or forty-four bands or sub-tribes, many of them of most unpronounceable names. All of the tribes of this region belong to the Athabascan family, and their languages have, for the most part, a sharp click, which dis- tinouishes them from most of the other tribes of the West. There was a severe war with the Indians in 1855, when they had nearly double their present numbers ; but since their defeat at that time, they have been generally very quiet and friendly to the whites. In May, 1879, the non-treaty Indians in Eastern Washington were removed to a reservation on the west side of the Okinakane river, in Stevens county. These Indians have made e^eater advances in civilization than most of those farther east. Of the 14,268, 11,763 wear citizens' dress; 1,548 families are engaged in agriculture ; 3,444 male Indians are engaged in other civilized pursuits ; 980 houses are occupied by Indians, and of these houses 82 were built during the year; 510 of their chil- dren, 255 of each sex, were in school in 1879. The government spends ^28,783 annually for their education. Of the adult In- dians, 802 can read. They have 18 church edifices and 11 mis- sionaries among them. The land of all their reservations amounts to 3,933,504 acres, of which 145,662 is reported tillable, and nearly all the rest good grazing land. A fair proportion of them are good farmers. Over 10,000 acres are cultivated, and they raised, in 1879, 46,950 bushels of wheat; 3,080 bushels of corn ; 16,265 bushels of oats and barley ; 36,810 bushels of vegetables ; 3,1 79 tons of hay ; and they own 23,213 horses and mules (very few of the latter) ; 8,1 78 cattle ; 1,182 swine, and 408 sheep. A fair per- centage of them earn from one-half to the whole of their living by civilized pursuits. Education. — The Territory is awake to the advantages oi public I2o8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. school education. The school lands have not as yet been sold in sufficient amounts to afford anything more than a nucleus for a school fund, but a beginning- has been made. We have no offi- cial reports of a date later than 1877, since which time education as well as population has made a great advance there. At that time there were 12,997 children of school age, of whom 5,385 were enrolled in the public schools. There were 262 school- houses and school-rooms, and the average duration of the schools in days was 130 days. There were 279 teachers employed, of whom 134 were men and 145 women. The average monthly pay of the men was ^^40, and of the women ^30. The amount received and expended for school purposes was about ^50,000. There were graded schools in the principal towns, a normal de- partment in Washington University, covering two years' instruc- tion ; and schools of higher instruction at Walla- Walla, Seattle and some other points. The University of Washington Terri- tory, at Seattle, is a part of the public school system, and is aided by the Territorial Legislature. It had, in 1879, eleven instructors and professors, 120 students, and four courses of study. It has the nucleus of a library and museum, and an appropriation has been made for necessary apparatus. The Holy Angels' College, at Vancouver, in this Territory, is a Roman Catholic institution, having, in 1878, four professors and eighty-five students, and a library of nearly 1,000 volumes. Counties and Principal Towns. — Olympia, the capital, has about 3,000 inhabitants; Walla-Walla, between 4,000 and 5,000; Se- attle and Steilacoom nearly as many; while Port Townsend, Vancouver, Kalama, Tacoma, and in Eastern Washington, Ains- worth, Wallula, Palouse, Spokane Falls and Colville are thriving and growing towns. Religions Denominations a?id Public Morals. — No one of the States and Territories of "Our Western Empire" has a better moral and religious record than Washington Territory. Settled very largely by the best people from New England and the Middle States, its churches and religious institutions have more nearly kept pace with the growth and progress of the population than those of any other part of the West. In 1875, ^"^ith a pop- RELIGIOUS DE NOMINA TIONS. 1209 ulatlon estimated at not more than 36,000, there were 94 church organizations, 72 church edifices, 58 clergymen, priests or minis- ters, 2,398 communicants, and 21,465 adherent population, and church property valued at ^105,700. Since 1875 ^^^ population of the Territory has more than doubled, and from the character of that increase, and the sacrifices it calories in making to establish religious institutions at the earliest possible moment, we are warranted in believino- that the churches and religious denomi- o o nations have kept pace with the population in their growth. Of these denominations the Methodists, under two or three distinct organizations, are here, as in most of the States and Territories of the West, the most numerous. The census of 1870 recognized only two, viz.: "Methodists" and "United Brethren in Christ." Tt may be, there were no Southern Methodist churches then, but there were certainly Protestant and probably Primitive Metho- dists there, as well as some Albrights or Evangelical Association Methodists there then and now. Of all these, the present num- ber cannot be less than 68 churches, with about 50 church edifices, about 38 ministers, 3,000 members, and at least 1 5,000 adherents. Their church property might safely be reckoned at ^60,000. The Catholics were next in 1875, ^^^ ""^S-Y be now, but at a long in- terval, with possibly 32 congregations, 30 church edifices, and the same number of priests, an adherent population of about 13,000, and church property worth ^35,000. The Baptists and the Chris- tian Connection come next, with at least 35 congregations, per- haps 28 church edifices, and about the same number of ministers, a combined membership of about 1,100, and an adherent popu- lation of over 6,000, and church property worth about ^18,000. After these come in their order Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and five or six smaller denominations, the whole having an adherent population in all of perhaps 10,000 or I 2,000. It is safe to say that five-eighths of the population are nominally, at least, the adherents of some religious denomina- tion. J2IO ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Population and Valuation of Washington Territory in 1878, 1879 and 1880. POPULATION. Counties. Columbia. Chehalis . Clallam . . Clarke .. Cowlitz.. Island.... Jefferson. Klickitat King Kitsap .. Lewis. ... Mason Pacific Pierce San Juan. . . . Skamania. . . . Snohomish .. Spokane Stevens Thurston. . . . Wakiakum . . Walla Walla . Wliiitcom . . . Whitman. . . . Yakima .... 5,820 720 370 1,288 '.783 600 '.577 '.999 5,543 1,548 1,806 520 1,411 2,801 700 221 1,042 Total. 2,971 569 5,701 2,115 3-709 1,711 1879. o,t>94 808 469 4,294 1,810 633 1.427 2,898 5.183 1,799 2,093 560 1,351 3,051 838 495 1,080 2,601 3,246 504 6,215 2.331 5,290 1,912 7.103 921 638 5,490 2,063 1,087 1. 712 4,037 6,910 1.738 2,600 639 1.645 3,319 948 8=9 1,387 4,262 1,245 3,278 1,600 8,716 3,137 7.014 2,811 57.784 75,120* VALUATION. ;if292,9i8 00 132,362 00 869,173 00 1,521,434 00 750,200 00 391,570 00 512,025 00 2,242,804 00 989,780 46 570,313 00 668,897 00 364,138 00 362,380 00 1,736,797 00 154,268 00 117,519 00 382,219 00 341,652 00 1,652,848 00 144,428 50 2,711,010 00 612,202 00 819,142 00 589,585 00 1879. 154,351 00 924,100 00 1,948,050 00 968,170 00 372,821 00 468,191 00 1,997,670 00 1,044,673 00 732,737 00 743,571 00 570,331 00 379,258 00 1,669,444 00 182,147 00 143,703 00 390,754 00 484,306 00 1,627,184 00 158, 6c6 00 2,971,560 00 735,003 00 1,237,189 00 811,932 00 18,930,964 96 I 21,019,832 00 Historical Data. — The region about Puget sound was a favorite resort of the Indian tribes for centuries. Both the hunting and fishing were such as to render the regular supply of food easy and certain. In 1840 there were 25,000 Indians who claimed Puget sound as their home. The number in the whole Territory is now but a little more than half as many, and the greater part of these are now domiciled along the upper Columbia river. As we have already said under Oregon, the Straits of San Juan de Fuca were first entered by a Greek navigator of that name in the Spanish service, in 1592 ; the coast was revisited in 1775 by Heceta, a Spanish navigator, and in 1787 and 1788 two English captains, Berkeley and Meares, successively entered the straits, and the latter revived the name of the old Greek discoverer. The priority of discovery of the coast and the straits certainly lay with the Spanish. In 1789 an American, Captain Robert Gray, in the sloop " Washington," discovered and entered several of the smaller bays and harbors along the coast, both in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca and below; and in 1790 Captain Kendrick, in ♦Tribal Indians not included. HISTORICAL DATA. 12 n the same vessel, passed through the entire length of the Straits of San Juan de Fuca. In 1791 Captain Gray returned to the coast, and discovered and explored and gave his name to Gray's Harbor. It was in this same year also that he discovered and ascended the Columbia river about thirty miles. In 1805 Lewis and Clarke reached and explored the coast from the land side, having crossed the continent for that purpose. Meanwhile the tide of the United States to the whole region watered by the Co- lumbia river was further fortified by the settlement of Astoria, at the mouth of that river, by Mr. J. J. Astor, in 181 1, and the dtle was perfected as against any European power by the treaty of Florida with Spain In 18 19, which expressly ceded to the United States all the rights, claims and pretensions of the King of Spain to any Territory north of the forty-second parallel of north lad- tude. The Hudson's Bay Company attempted to take possession of it between 1825 and 1830, and from 1828 to 1841 it was held in joint occupancy by Great Britain and the United States, with- out prejudice to the tide of either. The Ashburton Treaty of 1845 finally setded the right of the United States to the Territory up to the line of 49° north ladtude, except at the Straits of San Juan de Fuca and the Gulf of Georgia. It was understood by that treaty that the American tide took to the middle of the chan- nel of those waters ; but as there were several channels and some valuable islands in controversy, the matter was definitely and finally setded by arbitration In 1873, the Emperor of Germany being arbiter. American setders began to come Into the Terri- tory in 1845. It was originally a part of Oregon Territory, but was organized as a separate Territory In 1853, and had a severe Indian war In 1855. From 1859 to 1863 it included most of Idaho Territory, but since that time it has had its present bound- aries. Conclusion. — It may be inferred from our sketch of Washing- ton Territory that we regard it as a very desirable region for immigrants who desire to engage in farming, stock-raising, the preparation of dmber or lumber for the market, or the packing and exportadon of fish. Its mining districts are not yet developed to such an extent as to justify any immigration to diem, but for I2I2 ^*^'^' WESTERN EMPIRE. the Other pursuits, and for many of the trades, there is certainly no section of "Our Western Empire" which offers greater opportunities for success to an enterprising and energetic man. As to the best route thither there is some room for an honest difference of opinion now, and will be more in a few months. Probably the best plan now is to take passage for San Francisco either by rail or by the Isthmus of Panama. From San Francisco a steamer may be taken for Portland, Oregon, and if by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company's line, and it is desired to go to Eastern Washington Territory the immigrant can pur- chase a through ticket to Walla-Walla, or to any point on the Pend d'Oreille division of the Northern Pacific, or to the termini of the narrow gauge railroads from Ainsworth, Walla-Walla or Wallula, If, on the other hand, his destination is to any point in Western Washington, he should not go on to Portland, Oregon, but land at Kalama some forty miles nearer the mouth ot the Columbia river, and take the Northern Pacific thence to Olympia, Tacoma or Wilkeson. If his destination is to Western Wash- ington he may, if he chooses, take the Puget sound steamer from San Francisco and land at Bellingham bay, Port Townsend, Seattle, Tacoma or Olympia. These routes are long and some- what wearisome, but safe and without other difficulties. There will soon be two other routes available. The best and most direct will be by way of the Northern Pacific, either from Duluth or Chicago, through Minnesota, Dakota, Montana and Idaho, which will traverse Eastern Washington diagonally from north- east to southwest, cross by one branch (the Cascade Mountain division) from Eastern to Western Washington, and make its terminus at Tacoma on Puget sound, while the Columbia River division will follow the north bank of the Columbia, and sending a branch to Portland. Oregon, traverse by the Pacific division the greater part of Western Washington. More than one-half of this long route is already completed, and with the ample funds they have at command this company will probably have the whole in operation by the spring of 1883. The other route by the Union Pacific and Utah and Northern, in connection with the Oregonian railway (limited), is not yet fully SITUATION OF WYOMING TERRITORY. I213 laid out, but will probably penetrate Southeastern Washington, and its principal connections will be with Portland, Oregon. With the completion of these lines Washington Territory will be as easily and readily accessible as Utah, Nevada, New Mexico or Arizona, and for a quiet and pleasant home much more desirable. CHAPTER XXI. WYOmm TERRITORY. Situation — Boundaries — Length and Breadth — Form — Area — Topography — Mountains — Elevation of various Points — Rivers, Lakes, etc. — Re- markable Character of its Drainage— Its Waters Discharged into the Pacific by the Columbia River, into the Gulf of California by the Colorado, into the Salt Lake Basin by the Bear River, into the Upper Missouri by the Madison and Gallatin, into the Middle of Missouri by the Yellowstone and Big Cheyenne, into the Lower Missouri by the Niobrara and Platte, and into the Gulf of Mexico by all these — Geology and IMineralogy — Coal — Petroleum — Gold and Silver — Other Metals — Mining of Precious Metals not much Developed— ^Marble and OTHER Mineral Products — Forests, Soil and Vegetation — Zoology — Climate — Meteorology of Cheyenne — Agricultural Productions and Stock-raising — Manufactures and Mining — Mining Products — Rail- ways, Existing and Projected — Population and its Distribution — Education — Religious Denominations — Counties — Area — Population in 1880, AND Valuation in 1877 — Principal Towns — Objects of Interest — The Yellowstone National Park made a Separate Chapter — Historical Notes — Early Spanish Occupation of Wyoming — Discovery of Arastras AND Spanish Buildings — Father de Smet — Captain Bridger— His Occu- pation running back to a time " When Laramie Peak hadn't begun to Grow" — Organization of the Territory — Indian Conflicts — The Cus- ter Massacre — Advantages of Wyoming for certain Classes of Immi- grants — Prospects in the near Future. Wyoming Is one of the central Territories of '* Our Western Empire," both in its position on an east and west line, and in its relations to the States and Territories north and south of it. It lies between the 41st and the 45th parallels of north latitude, and between the 104th and iiith meridians of west longitude from Greenwich. It is bounded on the north by Montana, on 1 2 14 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the east by Dakota and Nebraska, including in the northeast a considerable portion of the Black Hills region ; on the south by Colorado and Utah ; and on the west by Utah, Idaho and Montana. Its length from east to west is 335 miles, its width from north to south is 276 miles. It is a perfect parallelogram, all its boundaries being astronomico-geographical lines. Its area is 97,883 squares miles, or 62,645,1 20 acres, of which, up to June, 1879, only about one-seventh had been surveyed. Topography. — The main divide of the Rocky Mountains, which, after traversing Northwestern Montana, turned suddenlv south- westward and formed the southeast boundary of Idaho, separates again into two chains at the Yellowstone park, and enters Wyom- ing from the northwest in two distinct and nearly parallel ranges, the easternmost being known as the Shoshone range, and the westernmost as the Wind River range. Near the forty-third parallel, the Big Horn Mountains, a somewhat lower range from the north-northeast, meets them almost at a right angle, and from this point to the Colorado line both ranges break into a number of mountain groups extending in all directions, and rendering it difficult to define which has the best right to the name of the main range of the Rocky Mountains. Among the groups of this confused mountain mass may be named, beside the Big Horn range already mentioned, the Owl Creek Mountains, a spur of the Shoshone range, the Rattlesnake Mountains, and the Laramie Mountains, still farther east; the Sweet- Water and the Seminole Mountains, which seem to be continuations of the Wind River range. Near the forty-second parallel these mountain ranges subside into an elevated plateau from 8,000 to 9,000 feet above the sea, with occasional elevated summits, risino- a^ain to hi. S " •^^ u,-^ ■SH c u = j: 5* 1- 29-933 049 094 023 976 s. s. w. w. w. w. N.W. N.W. N.W N.W. N.W. N.W. N.W. S. N.W. N.W. N.W. N.W. N.W. 896 I N.W. 876 W. 957 i N.W. 925 N.,N.W.,&W 947 S. q6i W. N.W. 6,621 6,398 6,654 7,005 8,970 7,15s 8,707 4,857 5,288 Humidity. o u E-S < 1^ ™ u •O o inches. 43 .83 02 99 17 33 0.19 4.46 1.71 '•43 2.50 0.7s 0.04 0.00 0.19 0.32 0.20 0.44 1.66 1.30 0.07 8.90 perct 31 36 52.1 48.4 58.9 48.9 58.3 57-9 50.8 52.1 59-2 5J.4 46.6 55-3 65.9 61.3 52-5 44.2 52.1 41.6 33-4 51-3 Agricultural Productions and Stock- Raising. — It is impossible ro give any very definite estimates of the amount of agricultural productions of Wyoming Territory, until the census report on that subject is made public. There is very litde land in the Ter- ritory which at the present time will produce good crops without irrigation, and the poorest arable lands of the Territory lie along STOCK-RAISING IN WYOMING. 1 22 I the route of the Union Pacific. The valleys in the Big Horn and Wind River Mountains, especially the former, are very fertile and easily irrigated. Probably not more than 300,000 acres of the 6,000,000 acres of fertile lands are as yet under cultivation, per- haps even less than that. Good crops of the cereals, except In- dian corn ; potatoes and other root crops, and some of the varieties of sorghum, can be grown here; and when once the tide of devel- opment begins, Wyoming will be able to provide breadstuffs and vegetables for her own markets, and very possibly a surplus for the general market. Her live-stock production is more encouraging. More than one-half of the area of the Territory is well adapted to grazing, and the buffalo-ofrass and bunch-orrass are the best and most nutritious food for cattle to be found anywhere on the continent. The stock-growers have not given so much attention as they should to improving the breeds of their cattle and sheep, pur- chasing^ Texas cows and steers and fatteninor them for market, though some of them are now introducing Durham. Devon and Holstein bulls, and improving their poor and scrawny Mexican sheep by an infusion of the best Merino, Southdown, Cotswold or Lincoln blood ; but a large majority content themselves with raising Texan steers, which, at four years old, sell for ^28, when, at an expense of not more than fifty cents per head more, they might raise a grade Devon or Durham steer, which at the same age would bring ^45 ; or, if they are sheep-farmers, will rear the Mexican sheep, which will yield from two and a half to three and a half pounds of long, coarse wool, when they might, for fifteen cents a head more, raise a grade Cotswold or Merino, which would yield from five to seven pounds of better wool. In 1877 a careful examination indicated that there were 150,000 cattle and 100,000 sheep in the Territory. General Brisbin thinks that in 1880 there were about 250,000 cattle and over 200,000 sheep there. The cattle sent to Chicago and St. Louis from Wyoming in 1880 brought a little more than ^2,000,000, and the wool about $250,- 000. The number of horses is rapidly increasing, and several wealthy stock -growers have gone into this business very largely. There are probably 100,000 horses and mules in the Territory. 1222 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The Territory is less favorable for swine-breeding, and there has not been much done in that line. Manufactures and Mining. — Manufactures are yet in their in- fancy in the Territory. In 1870 the products of manufactures were stated in the census as $874,824. In 1877 Mr. Robert E. Strahorn, after careful inquiry, estimated the amount of products at $3,9 1 8, 1 20. The largest items were machinery, railroad repairing, etc., which amounted to $1,429,420; railroad ties, poles, posts, etc., $455,360; sawed lumber, $345,000; sales of tanned robes, hides and furs, $295,000; charcoal, $240,000; and milled quartz, $215,000; and blacksmithing, $235,500; in all, about $3,200,000 of the $3,900,000 in manufactures, requiring very little skilled labor. Some branches of manufacture have been largely devel- oped since 1877, and the amount of products is not now probably less than $4,500,000. Mr. Strahorn estimated the mining pro- duct in 1877 at $2,911,000, of which the greater part was coal. There are now some iron mines and petroleum wells, which had not then been discovered or worked, and the mining product, though there has been some falling off in gold, has probably in- creased in all to about $3,500,000. Railways. — The Union Pacific Railway traverses the southern part of this Territory from east to west, having a length of 470 miles in it. There is no other railway in operation in the Terri- tory except five or six miles of the Colorado Central, extending from Cheyenne to Denver. Two or three other railways have been projected, but none of them are yet built. One was pro- posed to the Black Hills from the Union Pacific; but if it is ever built, it will probably start from Sidney, Nebraska, and may not enter Wyoming at all. Another was proposed from Point of Rocks or Green River City to the Yellowstone Park, but this has been forestalled by the construction of the Utah and Northern Railroad, which now proposes to build a branch from Market lake or some other point in that vicinity to Shoshone lake, in the Park, and in that case will not enter Wyoming. Lastly, the Northern Pacific has projected a branch from the point where its Yellowstone Division crosses the Yellowstone river, to follow that river up to Yellowstone lake, in the Park. This road may be built before the close of the present year (1881). POPULATION AND EDUCATION. 1223 Population. — The following' table gives the particulars of the population of Wyoming in 1870 and 1880, the only years in which anything like an enumeration has been had: Population, Census Year. Total. a > 1 Foreign, 4) Colored. 1870 1880 11,518* 22,938t 7,219 14,157 1,899 6,637 5,605 14,943 3,513 5.845 8,726 19,436 183 299 2,466 2,289 i (/I CO C ■u 'Tn 00 ^3 $1,850,000 1,900,000 3,500,000 1,918,449 800,000 Principal Towns. — Cheyenne, the capital, has a good location and good trade. The population probably exceeds 4,000. Lar- amie, fifty-six miles farther west, is a thriving town of over 3,000 inhabitants. Rawlins and Evanston have each over 1,000, and Green River City, Rock Springs, Hilliard, South Pass and At- lantic City are growing towns. * Without tribal Indians. HISTORICAL NOTES ON WYOMING. 1225 Objects of Interest. — There are many of these In the Territory, some the results of erosion, others of volcanic action, and others still of subterraneous convulsions and chemical action in the great laboratory of nature. But the greatest wonder of all — rather the o^reatest collection of wonders — the Yellowstone National Park — deserves and shall have a consideration more full than can be given to it In a single paragraph, for it is unrivalled in the variety and grandeur of Its attractions by any other known tract of the earth's surface. But before proceeding to portray as vividly as we may this wonderland In the heart of the continent, we must give a little space to the early history of this Territory and its natural wonders. Historical Notes. — Wyoming Territory, and especially the Big Horn region and the country about Yellowstone lake and the sources of the Yellowstone, was probably known to the Spanish adventurers of the early part of the seventeenth century. That they were cut off by the Indians some time between 1650 and 1680 Is a matter of tradition among the Mexican priests. More than a century later (In 1781), an expedition, accompanied by Jesuit missionaries, set out for this region from Santa Fe, but did not return. In 1866 the remains of an old Spanish arastra — a contrivance for crushing quartz, which we have elsewhere de- scribed — was found near Lake de Smet, in the Big Horn Moun- tains, and subsequently other Spanish ruins of houses and fortifications were found in the same vicinity. The m.ore recent discoveries in Wyoming are due mainly to two men. Father Peter John de Smet, a Jesuit priest and missionary, who visited and explored much of the Territory in 1838 and 1839, and Captain James Bridger, who, with his partner, Vasquez, built a trading fort near the present site of Fort Laramie. There had been, however, a fur-trading post established in that vicinity as early as 1834, and rebuilt by the American Fur Company in 1836. Captain Bridger says, with the Western habit of humorous exag- geration, that he was there when Laramie Peak hadn't begun to grow, and was a hole in the ground (Laramie Peak being now 10,000 feet above the sea), but he probably does not much ante- date 1839. Fort Bridger was held by Messrs. Bridger and Vas- 1226 ^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. quez till 1854, when they sold it to the Mormons, who burned it in 1857, but it was rebuilt by the United States in 1858. Several forts and camps, six in all, have since been built for the protection of the Union Pacific Railway and the mining settlements. The Territory was organized by Act of Congress, approved July 25, 1868. Its growth has been slow, partly because the Indians were troublesome, and partly because the land was not as easily or successfully cultivated as in some of the other Territories. There had been no serious fighting with the Indians until 1876, when the Sioux, in the extreme northeast of the Territory, in the Black Hills, attacked General Custer's command and completely de- stroyed it. The Sioux have since been expelled from the Terri- tory, and there are now only a band of the Eastern Shoshones, numbering 1,250 and partially civilized, and a smaller band of the Northern Arapahoes, numbering 900, in the Territory. These are both on the Shoshone Reservation, which contains 1,520,000 acres, with a fair proportion of tillable land, and are peaceable and quiet. The Territory is deserving of a better reputation than it has had in the past, and will be found desirable for those who are disposed to engage in stock-raising or the breeding of horses ; while parties who have some means can invest them very profit- ably in some of the rich valleys of the Big Horn or Wind River Mountains, and with a moderate irrigation can produce abundant crops, for which they will find a ready home market. The con- struction of railways, to render the Yellowstone National Park readily accessible, will not only call many thousands to Wy- oming, but will greatly increase the demand for agricultural products, which ought to be supplied by Wyoming farmers. BOUNDARIES OF YELLOWSTONE PARK 1227 CHAPTER XXII. rm YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. Situation — Boundaries and Area — Its Recent Discovery and Exploration — The Act of Congress setting it apart as a National Park — The Park drained into the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico — Its Volcanic Char- acter — Not of much Value as an Agricultural Region — Inaccessible EXCEPT FROM THE NORTH AND WeST EASTERN PaRF NOT FULLY EXPLORED — No Mineral Wealth yet Discovered exceptinthe Northeast Corner — The Approach to the Park at the North — The Canon of the Yellow- stone, outside the Park — Cinnabar Mountain — " The Devil's Slide " — Entrance to the Park — Rapid Review of the Objects to be Visited — • Sepulchre Mountain — Canon of Gardiner's River — Mammoth Hot Springs — Tower Creek and Falls — The Columns and Towers of Tower Creek Canon — Mount Washburn — The Grand Canon of the Yellow- stone — Yellowstone Lake — The Lakes of the Southern Tour, Heart, Lewis and Shoshone — The Cross Cut which avoids these — The Upper and Lower Geyser Basins of the Fire Hole or Upper Madison River — The Geyser Basins of Gibbon's Fork — The Wonders of Beaver Lake and the Obsidian Cliffs — Return to Mammoth Hot Springs — Time in WHICH THE Trip can be made — The Wonders in Detail — Mammoth Hot Springs — Mr. Strahorn's Description — The Route to Tower Creek Falls and Canon — Hon. N. P. Langford and Lieut. Doane's Eulogy of them — The Ascent to Mount Washburn — Rev. Dr. Hoyt's Eloquent PiCl'URE OF THE ViEW FROM ITS SUMMIT — ThE DESCENT FROM MoUNT WaSH- BURN — The Old and the New Trail — The Grand Canon of the Yellow- stone — Its Bed Inaccessible at most Points — The Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone — The Latter at the Head of the Grand Canon — Dr. Hoyt's Eloquent Description of the Falls and the Canon — The Trail to Yellowstone Lake — The Lake Itself — Its Shape Com- pared to the Human Hand — Professor Raymond's Criticism of the Comparison — The Elevation of the Lake — Professor Hayden's State- ment ONLY Correct if applied to Large Lakes — Height of Colorado Lakes — The Yellowstone River Flows through the Lake — The Lake not its Source — Affluents of the Lake — Mineral and Hot Springs on its Banks — Its Waters generally very Pure and Sweet — The Trout infested with Worms — Beauty of the Lake — Marshall's Description — Strahorn's Poetical Picture — Professor Raymond's Eulogy — Rev. Dr. Hoyt's Pen Portraiture of it — Moving Forward — The Upper and Loweji Geyser Basins — Explanations in regard to Geysers — Those of Iceland J228 ^^'^^' WESTERN EMPIRE. THE ONLY OTHERS OF NOTE IN THE WORLD CHARACTER OF THE GeYSER Eruption — Old and Recent Geysers — The Upper Geyser Basin — Rev. Edwin Stanley's "Parade of the Geysers " — The Geysers not all in Action at once — Lieutenant Barlow on the Fan and Well Geysers — The Grotto — Mr. Norton's Description — Lieutenant Doane on the Grand Geyser — Professor Raymond on the Lower Geyser Basin — The Langs or Extinct Geysers — Geyserdom not Paradise— Dr. Hoyt's De- scription OF THE Desolation — The Geysers and Hot Springs of Gib- bon's Fork — Beaver Lake — The Obsidian Cliffs — Mountains of Glass — Review of the whole — Accessibility of the Park — Its Future Attrac- tions — Its Quiet and Beautiful Valleys and Glades — Distances within the Park. The Yellowstone National Park is a region about sixty-five miles long by fifty-five miles wide, situated mostly in the northwest corner of Wyoming Territory, but on its north and west sides stretching a few miles into the adjacent Territories of Montana and Idaho. It covers an area of about 3,578 square miles, or :>, 298,920 acres, having an extent a little greater than that of the combined States of Rhode Island and Delaware. In this region there are assembled so many grand, sublime and picturesque natural objects, and such a variety of unique and marvellous phenomena, that when an account of some of the most remarkable of these wonders was brought before Congress in the report ol the United States Geological Survey, under Professor Hayden, an act was passed by the unanimous vote of both Houses, and approved by the President, March i, 1872, withdrawing from sale and occupancy, and setting apart as a National Park, or perpetual public pleasure ground, for the use and enjoyment of the people, the area above described, with boundaries designed to include the chief wonders of the region, and described as fol- lows : "Commencing at the junction of Gardiner's river with the Yellowstone river, and running east to the meridian passing ten miles to the eastward of the most eastern point of Yellowstone lake ; thence south along said meridian to the parallel of latitude passing ten miles south of the most southerly point of Yellowstone lake ; thence west along said parallel to the meridian passing fifteen miles west of the most western point of Madison lake ; thence north along said meridian to the latitude of the junction of the BOUNDARIES FIXED BY CONGRESS. j22q Yellowstone and Gardiner's rivers ; thence east to the place of beorinninsf." The region, thus bounded, stretches a few miles east of the me- ridian of I io°, and about as far west of the meridian of 1 1 1° west longitude from Greenwich, and a few miles north of the parallel of 45°, and not quite so far south as 44° north ladtude. These boundaries show at once that this National Park is not like the parks of Colorado, which are strictly natural divisions of land, being great areas, level or slightly undulating, enclosed by a rim of lofty mountains, whereas the boundaries of the National Park are purely ardficial, merely referring to certain natural objects for their location. " Situated," says Professor William I. Marshall, who has made this great wonderland a special subject of study, " along the highest part of that great culminating area of North America which has been apdy termed 'The Crown of the Condnent,' and from which pour down to the Gulf of Mexico on the southeast, to the Gulf of California on the southwest, and to the open Pa- cific on the northwest, the mighdest rivers of both coasts of the condnent, the Park embraces within its boundaries, on the west side of the main range of the Rocky Mountains, the country about some of the headwaters of the Lewis or Snake river, the great southerly fork of the Oregon or Columbia, the greatest river of the Pacific slope, which no longer " ' Hears no sound Save its own dashings,' since the steamer's wheels now vex its waters, the hum of varied industry rises from its fertile valleys, and the roar of the railroad stardes the echoes along its dales. Most of the Park, however, is on the east side of the main range, and embraces the country about the headwaters of the Madison and Gallatin rivers, which are the middle and eastern of the three streams which unite to form the Missouri river, and much of the upper valley, though not the extreme headwaters of the Yellowstone river, which is a stream as long as the Rhine or the Ohio, far surpasses them in the sublimity of its scenery, and is the greatest tributary of the upper part of the Missouri river. 1230 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. " Being a volcanic region, the Park (except a little of the north- east corner of it, where silver mines exist) is valueless for mining purposes, except for sulphur, and as that exists in unlimited quan- tities at points nearer the main line of the Union Pacific, notably at a point forty miles -southeast of Evanston, the extra freiL^ht on it will make the Park deposit economically valueless. As the lowest valleys of the Park are more than 6,000 and most of them from 7,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea, its altitude and latitude make it worthless for farming purposes, there being few nights without frosts. Though not adapted for a permanent residence of any considerable population, the Park, with its opportunities for sailing, and rowing, and fishing, and hunting, with the grandest of mountains within it and upon its borders, and the purest of air ever sweeping over it, and with the inducements to open air life and exercise offered by its unique and enchanting scenery, is pre- eminently fitted for a public pleasure ground, from June to Oc- tober, and especially from about the first of August to the middle of October. Though a volcanic region, there is nowhere in the Park any opening from which flame, smoke, ashes or lava issues now, or, as far as known, has issued for ages past, the only mani- festations of the volcanic forces now being limited to eruptions of steam and hot water ; though almost everywhere in the Park, and outside its boundaries in many directions, are vast beds and streams of ancient lava, showing how terrific was the former in- tensity of the volcanic forces, whose declining activity now only suffices to produce steam and spout boiling water, instead, as anciently, of melting down into indistinguishable ruin the ada- mantine framework of the continent, and spreading it, as a foam- ing torrent of fiery devastation, over the surface of mountains and plains for an area of scores of thousands of square miles." The Park is not readily accessible from Wyoming ; on its east- ern side the Wind River Range presents an impassable barrier of lofty walls of rock, through which none of the exploring parties have ever been able to find a practicable pass even for pack animals; on the southern side a stage road extends from Green River City to Camp Brown, a distance of 155 miles; thence a tolerable wagon road exists to the head of Wind river, a distance APPROACHES TO THE PARK. 1 231 of 1 10 miles more ; but from thence to Yellowstone lake, a dis- tance of fifty miles, is a difficult trail, which can be traversed only on foot with pack animals and with considerable danger. On the west side, by way of the Utah and Northern Railway, from Ogden, Utah, stopping at Pleasant Valley, there is a wagon road by way of Red Rock and Henry lakes, which reaches the Upper Geyser basin by about sixty-five miles travel. A still better route is that by the Utah and Northern Railway to the vicinity of Bozeman, Montana, from thence a wagon road by way of Boteler's Ranche, only about thirteen miles distant from the Park, with a good wagon road to Gardiner's river and the mammoth Hot Springs. Before the close of the present year (1881), the Northern Pacific Railway will undoubtedly be completed to Fort Ellis or beyond, and probably its branch to the Park, so that this great wonderland will then be for the first time easily accessible by the shortest and swiftest route. It should be said that that portion of the Park lying east of the Yellowstone river and lake is so rough and mountainous and possesses so few attractions, that it is not often visited. The lofty mountain chain which extends from the southeastern arm of Yellowstone lake to Slough creek and the Tower creek falls of the Yellowstone, has but a single and very difficult pass over it. The elevated plateau enclosed between this mountain range and the Yellowstone lake and river affords a fine pasture-ground for the elk, black buffalo, deer, bighorns and moose, which, on the other side of the Park, are so ruthlessly slaughtered by wanton tourists, and after being deprived of their skins, antlers, or horns, and tongues, are left to be the prey of wolves, panthers and coyotes. Amid these lofty pasture-grounds specimens at least of our great game animals might be kept. In the extreme north- east corner of the Park, on Clark's fork of the Yellowstone, are some mines of gold and perhaps silver, which might better be ceded to the miners than suffered to encroach on the Park. The attractive features of the Park are all on the west side of the Yellowstone river, and west of the east or southeast shores of the Yellowstone lake. Approaching the Park from the north, from 1232 ^'^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Bozeman and Boteler's Ranche, the road passes first along what is called outside the Park the Upper Canon of the Yellowstone, a narrow passage of that river between perpendicular, rocky walls, from 2,000 to 3,000 feet in height. This extends for about three miles. Ten miles farther on. Cinnabar Mountain, so called from its surface of brilliant red clay (the color being due, how- ever, to red ochre and not to cinnabar), is passed, with its im- mense " Devil's Slide," a huge stone trough, which extends to its summit, with smooth, dark, nearly vertical parallel walls, thirty feet apart and 200 feet in height. A short distance beyond this we enter the Park, passing between Sepulchre Mountain, the northern terminal mountain of the Upper Madison Range, on the right hand, looking south, and the canon of Gardiner's river, an affluent of the Yellowstone, which here has a course nearly west by south, through deeply worn banks. Shortly after leaving Sepulchre Mountain we come to a terraced hill, quite steep and of various colors, in which are situated the Mammoth Hot Springs, whose wonderful forms and character we will allow an eye-witness to describe presently. Crossing at the foot of these terraces the Gardiner river at the point where its canon com- mences, we ride along by the side of a succession of cascades of one of its eastern affluents, and striking due east, at a distance of twenty miles, reach Barronette's bridge over the Yellowstone, and a little above, just where the Yellowstone emerges from its Grand Canon, Tower creek comes in from the west, plunging down 156 feet, and within the next two hundred yards by a suc- cession of rapids leaping into a dark and dismal gorge, 260 feet in depth. Basaltic tufa cones and columns, in the form of towers, turrets, pinnacles and cathedrals, in the vicinity of the falls, have suggested its name. At these falls the Grand Caiion of the Yellow- stone, twenty miles in length, and one of the great wonders of the Park, terminates. Southward from the Tower falls commences the long, rolling, and somewhat difficult ascent to Mount Washburn, the Pisgah of the Park, from the summit of which can be seen, in near or distant view, all its glories. Descending from the moun- tain, the trail takes us again to the Yellowstone and to the great falls which precede its plunge into the Great Canon. Reserving I' 1 , 1 ' , # mm FALLS OF THE YKLL< >\vsTnNH — [(Tn'scrs of the Yellpwstone). PRINCIPAL OBJECTS OF INTEREST IN THE PARK. 1233 a description of these for the poetic language of an eye-witness, we follow the course of the river to Sulphur Mountain, with its boiling springs of sulphuretted water, then four miles farther to the Mud Volcano, or Mud Geysers, spouting springs, which throw up mal-odorous mud instead of water, and one of which, from its preternatural activity, is named "The Devil's Work- shop." Eight miles farther on, we reach the northern extremity of the beautiful Yellowstone lake, at the point where the Yellow- stone river leaves it. This lake, the surface of which is 7,788 feet above the sea, is twenty-two miles in its greatest length, and about fifteen miles in width, and has a shore line of more than 300 miles, from its very irregular form. There are a number of islands in it, and its beauty is too great for description. To com- prehend its loveliness several days should be spent in camping on its borders. From this lake we may take either of two trails, the one going nearly south, past the Geysers of the Yellowstone lake, on the east side of the great divide of the Rocky Mountains, and across a spur of that divide to Heart lake, at the foot of Mount Sheridan, where there are other geysers, and thence by a new trail westward past Lewis lake and Shoshone lake, where there are more geysers and a lake four feet higher than the Yel- lowstone, and thence northward by a difficult pass over the Rocky Mountains to the Upper Geyser basin, on the Upper Madison river, from which point there is a good road (the Norris road) to the Midway Springs and the Lower Geyser basin, on the Fire Hole river. Or, we may go from the geysers on the Yellowstone lake by a shorter though difficult trail directly west to the Upper Geyser basin, without visiting Heart, Lewis and Shoshone lakes. From this Upper Geyser basin we pass by the Norris road, as we have said, to the Midway Springs, the Lower Geyser basin, in the Fire Hole river, the Gibbon's Fire Hole basin and geysers on the Howard road, the falls and canon of Gibbon's fork, the Mon- ument Geyser basin, the Norris and Fire Hole basins, of geysers and craters of spent volcanoes, the remarkable formation of Pine and Beaver lakes, the Obsidian or volcanic glass cliffs, and the road of glass over them, and so back to the Mammoth Hot Springs at the entrance to the Park. 78 1234 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. We have purposely avoided in this mere itinerary any descrip- tion of these wonders, that we might do them better justice in the vivid portrayal of eye-witnesses. The tour of the Park thus described covers 164 miles, and cannot well be gone over in less than twelve days. Turning now to these various points of interest, let us go over them in detail, using the descriptions of those who have studied them most thoroughly, and been most deeply impressed with their grandeur and beauty. Let us begin with a description of the Mammoth Hot Springs of Gardiner river, from the facile and skilful pen of Robert E. Strahorn, Esq. : " The first impression of these Springs which the beholder receives is that of a snowy mountain beauti- fully terraced, with projections extending out in various direc- tions, resembling frozen cascades, as though the high, foam-crested waves, in their rapid descent over the steep and rugged declivit}', were suddenly arrested and congealed on the spot in all their native beauty. There are fifty or sixt}^ of these springs of greater and smaller dimensions, extending over an area of about a mile square ; though there are remains of springs of the same kind for miles around, and mountains of the same deposit, overgrown with pine trees, perhaps hundreds of years old. Most of the water is at boiling heat, and contains in solution a great amount of lime, sulphur and magnesia, with some soda, alumina and other sub- stances, which are slowly deposited in every conceivable form and shape as the water flows along in its course down the moun- tain side. "On each level, or terrace, there is a large central spring, which is usually surrounded by a basin of several feet in diameter, and the water, after leaving the main basin at different portions of the delicately-wrought rim, flows down the declivity, step by step, forming hundreds of basins and reservoirs of every size and depth, from a few inches to six or eight feet in diameter, and from one inch to several feet in depth, their margins beautifully scalloped with a finish resembling bead-work of exquisite beauty. Underneath the sides of many of the basins are beautifully ar- ranged stalactites, formed by the dripping of the water ; and, by MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS— R. E. STRAHORN'S DESCRIPTION. 123c; digging beneath the surface at places where the springs are in- active, the most deHcate and charming specimens of every char- acter and form can be obtained — stalactites, stalaemites, o-rottos, etc., all delicately arranged as the water filtrates through the crevices and perforations of the deposit. It is a scene sublime in itself, to see the entire area, with its numerous and terraced reservoirs, and millions of delicate little urns, sparkling with water transparent as glass, and tinged with many varieties of coloring, all glistening under the glare of a noonday sun. " The largest spring now active, situated about half way up the mountain on the outer edge of the main terrace, has a basin about twenty-five by forty feet in diameter, in the centre of which the water boils up several inches above the surface, and is so trans- parent that you can, by approaching the margin, look down into the heated depths many feet below the surface. The sides of the cavern are ornamented with a coral-like formation of almost every variety of shade, with a fine, silky substance, much like moss, of a bright vegetable green spread over it thinly, which, with the slight ebullition of the water keeping it in constant motion, and the blue sky reflected in the transparent depths, gives it an en- chanting beauty far beyond the skill of the finest artist. Here all the hues of the rainbow are seen and arranged so gorgeously that, with other strange views by which one is surrounded, you almost imagine yourself in some fairy region, the wonders of which baffle all attempts of pen or pencil to portray them. "Besides the elegant sculpturing of this deposit, imagine, if you can, the wonderful variety of delicate and artistically arranged colors with which it is adorned. The mineral-charged fluid lays down pavements here and there of all the shades of red, from bright scarlet to rose tint, beautiful layers of bright sulphur-yellow, interspersed with tints of green, all elaborately arranged in Na- ture's own order. "At the foot of the mountain are several springs whose waters have effected remarkable cures in cases of chronic rheumatism, eruptive diseases, etc. The medicinal properties of each fountain seem to be different, and the invalid can find which are best adapted to his or her own case." 1236 <^<^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. On leaving the Hot Springs to make the circuit of the Park, the favorite course is that leading eastward to the Yellowstone Canon. The route passes up Gardiner's river, with its three falls, through a pleasant country, twenty-two miles, to Tower creek, a rapid, snow-fed brook, twelve or fifteen feet wide, and one or two feet deep, which here joins the Yellowstone. Tower creek rises in the high divide between the valleys of the Missouri and Yellowstone, and flows for about ten miles through a canon so deep and gloomy that it has earned the appellation of the " Devil's Den." About two hundred yards above its entrance into the Yellowstone, the stream pours over an abrupt descent of 156 feet, forming one of the most beautiful falls to be found in any country. These falls are about 260 feet above the level of the Yellowstone at the junction, and are surrounded with columns of volcanic breccia, rising fifty feet above the falls, and extending down to the foot, standing like gloomy sentinels, or like gigantic pillars, at the entrance of some grand temple. Of these column.s the late Hon. N. P. Longford, the first superintendent and his- torian of the Park, said: " Some resemble towers, others the spires of churches, and others still shoot up as little and slender as the minarets of a mosque. Some of the loftiest of these forma- tions, standing upon the very brink of the fall, are accessible to an expert and adventurous climber. The position attained on one of these narrow summits, amid the uproar of waters, and at a height of 260 feet above the boiling chasm, as the writer can affirm, requires a steady head and strong nerves ; yet the view which rewards the temerity of the exploit is full of compensa- tions." Below the fall the stream descends in numerous rapids with frightful velocity, through a gloomy gorge, to Its union with the Yellowstone. Its bed is filled with enormous boulders, against which the rushing waters break with great fury. Many of the capricious formations wrought from the shale excite mer- riment as well as wonder. Of this kind, especially. Is a huge mass, sixty feet in height, which, from Its supposed resemblance to the proverbial foot of his Satanic Majesty, Is called the "Devil's Hoof" The scenery of mountain, rock and forest surrounding the falls Is very beautiful. The name of "Tower Falls" was, of TO WEE CREEK FALLS— LANG FORD AND DOANE. 1327 course, suggested by some of the most conspicuous features of the scenery. The sides of the chasm are worn into caverns, lined with variously tinted mosses, nourished by clouds of spray which rise from the cataract ; while above and to the left, a spur from the great plateau rises over all with a perpendicular front of 400 feet. "Nothing," says Lieutenant Doane, "can be more chastely beautiful than this lovely cascade, hidden away in the dim light of overshadowing rocks and woods, its very voice hushed to a low murmur, unheard at the distance of a few hundred yards. Thousands might pass by within a half mile and not dream of its existence ; but once seen, it passes to the list of most pleasant memories." A fine view of Tower falls can be had from an easily ascended cliff above them, but a better one, a prospect that is simply en- chanting, can be obtained by walking down to the mouth of Tower creek, 200 yards, and following up stream, through the beautiful gateway, to their foot. Two hundred yards above the falls is a finely sheltered, picturesque camp, with grass, wood and water abundant. From Tower creek and falls we have a choice between two routes, one leading along the western bank of the Yellowstone river, and overlooking the Grand Canon for twenty miles, the other ascending by a long and wearisome climb the northern slope of Mount Washburn, 10,388 feet above the sea, from whose summit all the points of interest in the Park can be discerned with a good field-glass in the clear and transparent summer air. Most visitors prefer this ascent first, as giving them a more com- prehensive idea of the magnificence of the Park. We will follow their example, in imagination at least, and will allow Rev. Way- land Hoyt, D. D., of Brooklyn, who visited the Park in 1878 in General Miles' party, to describe to us the glorious vision : * "Let us take our stand for a little now upon Mount Wash- burn. Its rounded crest is more than 10,000 feet above the level * This glowing picture of the view from Mount Washburn, as well as some other eloquent passages farther on, are copied, by the kind permission of the author, from an address on the Yellowstone Park, which Dr. Heyt prepared after his return, but which is as yet unpublished. 1238 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. of the sea, and perhaps 5,000 feet above the level of the valley out of which it springs. Its smooth slopes are easy of ascent. You need not dismount from your horse to gain its summit. Standing there you look down upon the whole grand panorama, as does that eagle yonder, holding himself aloft upon almost mo- tionless wincrs. I doubt if there is another view at once so ma- jestic and so beautiful in the whole world. Your vision darts through the spaces for 1 50 miles on some sides. You are stand- ing upon a mountain lifting itself out of a vast saucer-shaped depression. Away yonder, where the sky seems to meet the earth, on every side, around the whole circumference of your sight, are lines and ranges of snow-capped peaks shutting your glances in. Yonder shoots upward the serrated peak of Pilot Mountain, in, the Clark's Fork Range. Joined to that, sweep on around you, in the dim distance, the snowy lines of the Madison Range. Yonder join hands with these the Stinking Water Moun- tains, and so on and on and around. Do you see that sharp, pinnacle-pointed mountain, away off at the southwest, shining, in its garments of white, against the blue of the summer sky ? — that is Mount Everts, named after the poor lost wanderer, who for thirty-seven days of deadly peril and starvation sought a way of escape from these frowning mountain barriers, which shut him in so remorselessly, and it marks the divide of the continent. " Take now a closer view for a moment. Mark the lower hills, folded in their thick draperies of pine and spruce like dark green velvet, of the softest and the deepest ; notice, too, those beautiful park-like spaces, where the trees refuse to grow, and where the prairie spreads its smooth sward freely toward the sun- light. And — those spots of steam, breaking into the vision every now and then, and floating off like the whitest clouds that ever graced the summer sky — those are the signals of the geysers at their strange duty, yonder in the geyser basins, thirty miles away. And — those bits of silver, flashing hither and thither on the hill- sides amid the dense green of the forests — these are waterfalls and fragments of ice-glaciers, which for ages have been at theij' duty of sculpturing these mountains, and have not yet completed it. And — that lovely deep blue sheet of water, of such a dainty APPROACH TO rilE GREAT FALLS AND GRAND CA/^ON. i2rn shape, running its arms out toward the hills, and bearing on its serene bosom emeralds of islands — that is the sweetest sheet of water in the world — that is the Yellowstone lake. And — that exquisite broad sheen of silver, winding through the green of the trees and the brown of the prairie — that is the Yellowstone river, starting on its wonderful journey to the Missouri, and thence downward to the gulf, between six and seven thousand miles away. But, nearer to us, almost at our feet, as we trace this broad line of silver, the eye encounters a frightful chasm, as if the earth had suddenly sunk away, and into its gloomy depths the brightness and beauty of the shining river leaps, and is thenceforward lost altogether to the view — ^/lai is the tremendous canon or pforgfe of the Yellowstone." Contrary to the Latin adage, "■Facilis descenstcs Averniy' the descent from Mount Washburn to the Grand Canon of the Yellowstone is one of considerable difficulty by the old trail ; but by a new one traced by Mr. P. W. Norris, the present superin- tendent of the Park, it is much easier. The old trail, more than twenty miles in length, followed the Washburn Range at a considerable distance from the river, throuofh tangled forest and along rocky and precipitous passes, to the upper and lower falls of the Yellowstone, just where Cascade creek discharges its waters into the river. This is above the Grand Canon, or, rather, at the point where it commences; for these two falls, the upper of about 150 feet, and the lower of 350 feet, with the rapids which follow, constitute a part of the tremendous depth to which the Grand Canon sinks, and which it maintains to the point of emer- gence at Tower creek falls, twenty miles below. At one or two points near its lower terminus daring and adventurous spirits have reached the floor of the canon, but have found it extremely perilous and difficult to clamber out of it ; they describe it as having its full share of disagreeable sounds, sights and smells, from the great number of hot springs of sulphur, sulphate of cop- per, alum, etc. The water is warm and impregnated with a vil- lanous taste of alum and sulphur, and along the dark margin of the river are numerous chemical and corrosive springs, some depositing craters of calcareous rock, and some casting up vol- 1 240 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. umes of mud or muddy waters. The greater part of the Grand Canon, however, and especially its upper two-thirds, had always been regarded as entirely inaccessible, till the summer of 1878, when Messrs. Hoyt and Rouse, of Cleveland, Ohio, succeeded at the imminent peril of their lives, in descending to it, a little below the Great falls. They describe it as fearfully gloomy and uncanny. Rev. Dr. Hoyt and his party took the old trail and approached the river at the mouth of Cascade creek, between the upper and lower or Great falls, at the point where they could look down into the Grand Canon at the place of its greatest magnificence, and of the many descriptions of this great wonder of the world, that which he has given may justly be esteemed the most graphic and beautiful. It is as follows : "Well, we have reached Cascade creek at last ; and a beautiful grove of trees, beneath whose shade sparkles a clear stream, whose waters are free from the nauseous taste of alkali, furnishes a delightful place in which to camp. Now — dismounting and seeing that your horse is well cared for, while the men are un- loading the pack-mules and pitching the tents — walk up that trail, winding up that hillside ; follow it for a litde among the solemn pines, and then pass out from the tree-shadows, and take your stand upon that jutting rock — clinging to it well meanwhile, and being very sure of your foodng, for your head will surely grow dizzy— and there opens before you one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature — the lower falls and the awful canon of THE Yellowstone. "And now, where shall I begin, and how shall I, in any wise, describe this tremendous sight — its overpowering grandeur, and at the same time its inexpressible beauty? "Look yonder — those are the lower falls of the Yellowstone. They are not the grandest in the world, but there are none more beaudful. There is not the breadth and dash of Niagara, nor is there the enormous depth of leap of some of the waterfalls of the Yosemite. But here is majesty of its own kind, and beauty, too. On either side are vast pinnacles of sculptured rock. There, where the rock opens for the river, its waters are compressed from a width of 200 feet, between the upper and REV. DR. HOYT'S DESCRIPTION OF THE GRAND CANON. 1241 lower falls, to 150 where it takes the plunge. The shelf of rock over which it leaps is absolutely level. The water seems to wait a moment on its verge; then it passes with a single bound of 350 feet into the gorge below. It is a sheer, unbroken, compact, shining^ mass of silver foam. •' But your eyes are all the time distracted from the fall itself, great and beautiful as it is, to its marvellous setting — to the sur- prising, overmastering canon into which the river leaps, and through which it flows, dwindling to but a foamy ribbon there in its appalling depths. "As you cling here to this jutting rock, the falls are already many hundred feet below you. The falls unroll their whiteness down amid the canon glooms. Hold firmly on, and peer over the rock to which you cling and gaze down ; that apparently narrow stream is the large river flowing nearly 2,000 feet below you ; it is sheer that distance ; these rocky sides are almost per- pendicular — indeed in many places the boiling springs have gouged them out so as to leave overhanging cliffs and tables at the top. Take a stone and throw it over — you must wait long before you hear it strike. Nothing more awful have I ever seen than the yawning of that chasm. And the stillness, solemn as midnight, profound as death ! The water dashing there as in a kind of agony against those rocks, you cannot hear. The mighty distance lays the finger of its silence on its white lips. You are oppressed with a sense of danger. It is as though the vastness would soon force you from the rock to which you cling. The silence, the sheer depth, the gloom burden you. It is a relief to feel the firm earth beneath your feet again, as you carefully crawl back from your perching place. "But this is not all, nor is the half yet told. As soon as you can stand it, go out on that jutting rock again, and mark the sculpturings of God upon those vast and solemn walls. By dash of wind and wave, by forces of the frost, by file of snow plunge and glacier and mountain torrent, by the hot breath of boiling springs, those walls have been cut into the most various and surprising shapes. I have seen the middle age castles along the Rhine ; there, those, castles are reproduced exactly. I have seen 1242 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. the soaring summits of the great cathedral spires, in the country beyond the sea ; there they stand in prototype, only loftier and sublimer. "And then, of course and almost beyond all else, you are fasci- nated by the magnificence and utter opulence of color. Those are not simply gray and hoary depths and reaches, and domes and pinnacles of sullen rock. The whole gorge flames. It is as though rainbows had fallen out of the sky and hung themselves there like glorious banners. The underlying color is the clearest yellow ; this flushes onward into orange. Down at the base the deepest mosses unroll their draperies of the most vivid green ; browns, sweet and soft, do their blending ; white rocks stand spectral ; turrets of rock shoot up as crimson as though they were drenched through with blood. It is a wilderness of color. It is impossible that even the pencil of an artist tell it. What you would call, accustomed to the softer tints of nature, a great exaggeration, would be the utmost tameness compared with the reality. It is as though the most glorious sunset you ever saw had been caught and held upon that resplendent, awful gorge ! "Through nearly all the hours of that afternoon, until the sun- set shadows came, and afterwards amid the moonbeams, I waited there, clinging to that rock, jutting out into that overpowering, gorgeous chasm. I was appalled and fascinated, afraid and yet compelled to cling there. It was an epoch in my life." But we must hasten forward. The trail above the upper falls follows closely the right or west bank of the Yellowstone to the Yellowstone lake, a distance of eighteen or nineteen miles. On the way Sulphur Mountain is passed on the right, and the Sulphur Hills on the left, east of the river, though neither of them are more sulphurous than many other hills and mounds in the Park. Eleven miles from the Great Falls is the Mud Volcano, an interesting though somewhat dirty object. Eight miles more bring the traveller to the Yellowstone lake, one of the most beautiful sheets of water in "Our Western Empire," and hardly surpassed in beauty by any lake on our globe. It is twenty-two miles in length, and from twelve to fifteen in breadth. Its shape is pecu- liar, several long peninsulas extending into ij; from the southern THE- YELLOWSTONE LAKE. 1 243 shore, so that it has been compared to the human hand, though as Professor R. W. Raymond humorously suggests, " the imagi- native orentleman who first discovered this resemblance must have thought the size and form of fingers quite insignificant, pro- vided the number was complete. The hand in question is afflicted with elephantiasis in the thumb, dropsy in the little finger, hornet bites on the third finger, and the last stages of starvation in the other two." The shore line of the lake is over 300 miles in length ; its superficial area is nearly 300 square miles ; its greatest depth, by a series of careful soundings, is found to be 300 feet. Its elevation above the sea, by repeated observations, has been ascertained to be 7,788 feet. Professor Hayden very enthusiasdcally declares that "only four lakes are known to have so great an elevation in any part of the world, up to this time, namely. Lakes Titicaca, in Peru, and Uros, in Bolivia, which are respectively 12,874 and 12,359 feet above the sea-level; and Lakes Manasasarowak and Rakastal, in Thibet, Asia, both of which lie at the great height of 1 5,000 feet." With all due respect to the Professor, we think that this statement should be taken with some reservation as to the size of the lakes ; for in the very article from his pen which describes the Yellowstone Park and contains this sentence, we find that Shoshone lake has an eleva- tion of 7,870 feet (Mr. Norris' report of 1879 makes this 7,792 feet, four feet higher than Yellowstone lake), and Madison lake, 8,301 feet. Both these are in the Park, and though smaller than Yellowstone lake, they are entitled to be called lakes. Moreover, we find in " Whitney's Survey of Colorado " the following eleva- tions assiorned to some of the lakes of that mountainous State : Chicago lakes, 11,500 feet; Green, 10,000 feet; Grand, 8,153 feet; Mary or Santa Maria, 9,324 feet; San Miguel, 9,720 feet; Twin lakes, 9,357 feet; San Cristoval, 9,000 feet; and Osborn's, 8,821 feet. Lake Carpenter, in the Bighorn Mountains, is about 1 1 ,000 feet. We might enumerate some others, but these will suffice. They are none of them as large as Yellowstone lake, though all of sufficient size to be properly denominated lakes. One other popular nodon, which is often repeated in the descriptions of J 244 ^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Yellowstone National Park, may as well be corrected in this place: the Yellowstone lake is in no sense the source of the Yel- lowstone river. That river rises by two forks at least forty-five or fifty miles southeast of the Yellowstone lake, one affluent having its source in a small lake in the Shoshone Mountains, presumably higher than Yellowstone lake, and the other in the elevated plateau between the Shoshone and Wind River Moun- tains. One of these sources is in about latitude 43° 45', and the other in about 43° 50'. The Yellowstone river Hows through the Yellowstone lake, just as the Rhine Hows through Lake Geneva. But let us return to our lake itself. Situated upon the very crown of the continent, the lake receives but few tributa- ries of any considerable size, the upper Yellowstone being much the largest, and Beaver Dam creek and Pelican creek, both on the eastern side, the next in importance. There are, in all, six- teen or eighteen small streams from the mountain ranges, on the north, east, south and southwest sides, which bring to the lake their tribute from the snow-line ; several of these afl^uents are strongly charged with sulphur, alum or alkalies, and these and the springs on the banks of the lake render its waters near the shore, at some points, turbid and unpleasant; but at a little dis- tance from the shore, at all points, and at the very brink of the lake at many, the water is clear, pure and sweet. It abounds with fish, mainly trout, as does the Yellowstone above the Great falls ; but it is a most remarkable fact, that very many of the trout, both in the lake and river, above the falls, are infested by an intestinal worm, of a species not hitherto known as a parasite of any of the salmonidce. In some cases the worms eat their way out, and the fish, if not too severely injured, recovers, but with deep scars. It is said that the larger fish sometimes have from five to fifty of these parasites, and that their presence makes the fish very voracious, snapping viciously at the hook, " which is strange," as Professor Raymond remarks, "when one considers that they have already more bait in them than is wholesome." Of course, not all the trout are thus infested, and usually the visiting parties, after rejecting the diseased fish, find enough that MESSRS. MARSHALL AND STRAHORN'S DESCRIPTION: 1245 are sound to supply their demand. Below the Great falls the fish are not diseased, and there are grayling and white fish in almost as great numbers as the trout. The remarkable beauty of the lake cannot be too highly ex- tolled. All the visitors to it have been charmed by its loveliness. Mr. Marshall, who is not given to sentimental writing, says: "It contains several beautiful islands, is surrounded by some of the grandest mountains in North America, and is of so irregular a form as to give an uncommon beauty alike to its bold bluff shores and its stretches of sandy, pebbly beaches. Its waters, pure and cold, in places 300 feet deep, shine with the rich blue of the open sea, swarm with trout, and are the summer home of countless swans, white pelicans, geese, brant, snipe, ducks, cranes and other water fowl, while its shores, sometimes grassy, but generally clothed with dense forests of pine, spruce and fir, furnish coverts and feeding grounds for elk, antelope, black and white-tailed deer, bears and mountain sheep. Scattered along the shores of the lake, and on the mountain slopes which overlook it, are many clusters of hot springs, solfataras, fumaroles and small geysers. At one point a hot spring, boiling up in the edge of the lake, has deposited the mineral carried in solution by its waters, and built up a rocky rim about itself, so that wading out into the lake you can climb on the rim of the spring, and standing there can catch trout out of the cold water of the lake, and without detaching them from the hook, plunge them into the boiling spring and cook them." The more poetic Strahorn thus eulogizes it : " In the early part of the day, when the air is still and the bright sunshine falls on its unruffled surface, its bright green color, shading to a delicate ultramarine, commands the admiration of every beholder. Later in the day, when the mountain winds come down from their icy heights, it puts on an aspect more in accordance with the fierce wilderness around it. Its shores are paved with volcanic rocks, sometimes in masses, sometimes broken and worn into pebbles of trachyte, obsidian, chalcedony, cornelians, agates and bits of agatized wood; and again ground to obsidian sand sprinkled with crystals of California diamonds." 1246 ^^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. The enthusiastic Langford * says : " Secluded amid the loftiest peaks of the Rocky Mountains, possessing strange peculiarities of form and beauty, this watery solitude is one of the most attractive objects in the world. Its southern shore, indented with long, narrow inlets, not unlike the frequent fiords of Iceland, bears testimony to the awful upheaval and tremendous force of the elements which resulted in its erec- tion. The long pine-crowned promontories, stretching into it from the base of the hills, lend new and charming features to an aquatic scene full of novelty and splendor. Islands of emerald hue dot its surface, and a margin of sparkling sand forms its set- ting. The winds, compressed in their passage through the moun- tain eorofes, lash it into a sea as terrible as the fretted ocean, covering it with foam. But now it lay before us calm and un- ruffled, save as the gentle wavelets broke in murmurs along the shore. Water, one of the grandest elements of scenery, never seemed so beautiful before." Besides its entrancing shore line, the lake is dotted with nu- merous islands, which lend rare beauty by their luxuriant vege- tation. Fish abound in the lake, game of all kinds inhabit the surrounding forests, and the placid surface of the water and grassy margins render this mountain-locked sheet the earthly paradise for myriads of water-fowl. Professor Rossiter W. Raymond, the man of facts and figures, "with no nonsense about him," felt himself constrained to say: " The scene presented to our eyes by this lake, as we emerged from the thick forests on the western side and trod with exulta- tion its sandy shore, was, indeed, lovely. The broad expanse of shining water, the wooded banks and bosky islands, the summits of lofty mountains beyond it faintly flushed with sunset, the deep sky, and the perfect solitude and silence, combine to produce a memorable impression." We add a paragraph or two from Rev. Dr. Hoyt's eloquent address, from which we have already quoted so largely : *' From a gentle headland, at last we overlooked the lake. It was like the fairest dream which ever came to bless the un- * Late Superintendent of the Park. DR. HOYT ON THE YELLOWSTONE LAKE. 1247 troubled slumbers of a child. How still it was ! What silence reigned ! How lovingly it laid its hush upon you ! I cannot tell you of it better than in those words of Scripture — ' for they rest from their labors.' To me that vision must henceforward be the best illustration of the unvexed, transparent sea of glass, and the rest of the Beyond. "And yet it was not a stillness and a rest devoid of music and of motion. You could hear the murmur of the breezes through the tree-tops ; you could see where they roughened the lake's surface, and strewed new brightness on its waters. Fleets of pelicans, white-breasted and white-winged, with swans, large and inexpressibly graceful, sailed majestically out upon the waves. Birds sang in the edges of the groves; eagles and wild fowl filled the upper air. The whole scene was redolent of a glad and happy life." But we must move forward, or our exploration will occupy too much time and space. As it is, we must forego any tour into the al- most wholly unexplored region east and north of the Yellowstone lake, and must also postpone to another season our hoped-for visit to Heart, Lewis, Shoshone and Madison lakes, all of which have small geysers, or, rather, spouting springs, on their banks. Very fair and beautiful are these lakes, set as gems in the rocky and frowning heights of the " Great Divide," and in the not distant future they will be among the most interesting of the many attractions of the Park ; but until they are rendered more accessible by good, or at least passable, roads, we must neglect them. There are two routes, both as yet only trails, from the Yellow- stone lake and river westward to the basins of the Upper Madison and its largest branch, the Fire Hole river — the home of the gey- sers. The southernmost takes us from the geysers or boiling springs, on the banks of the lake, over two arms of the Great Rocky Mountain Divide (which here takes a horseshoe form, enclosing Shoshone lake), directly to the Upper Geyser basin, on the Upper Madison river. This trail is more difficult, and crosses the mountains at a greater elevation than the other, but it is shorter, not exceeding fourteen miles, and it does not require 1248 '^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. any retracing of our course. The northernmost requires a return over the route along the Yellowstone river, already travelled for about fifteen miles, to the mouth of a small creek, and then a journey along the valley of that creek to Mary's lake, the source of the East Fork of Fire Hole river, and along the valley of that stream to the Lower Geyser basin, which is situated at the Forks of the Fire Hole river. This trail is about twenty-three miles in length, and involves a retracing of our course several times — first, as we have seen, in the descent of the Yellowstone river from the lake to the base of Sulphur Mountain ; next, a journey to the Upper Geyser basin, and from it back to the Lower basin. We will, therefore, take the southern trail in our imaginary journey. Before attempting a description of the wonders of these and the other geyser basins, a few words of explanation in regard to geysers may be desirable. From our childhood we have all been familiar by name at least with the geysers of Iceland, and have read of their performances with wonder. There have been reports of geysers in other countries, and in other portions of our own country ; but on examination all the reputed geysers of California and elsewhere have proved to be ov\y fumaroles, solfaiaras or boiling springs, and the only true geysers known are those of Iceland and of our own Yellowstone National Park ; and as between Iceland and our Park, our geysers are in number as fifty to one of theirs; and as to power and beauty altogether beyond them. " Here," says Mr. William I, Marshall, " are more geysers than in all the world beside, and they spout columns of boiling-hot water, of sizes varying with the dimensions of their orifices, from a few inches to twenty feet in diameter, and to heights ranging all the way from ten or fifteen up to 250 or 275 feet, the eruptions being accompanied by a constant succession of miniature earthquakes, by a terrible noise like almost continuous underground thunder, and by the evolution of immense masses of steam, which tower hundreds of feet above the water. The subterranean explosions, from twenty to seventy a minute, sounding and jarring the ground like a heavy artillery duel, manifest themselves in mighty pulsations along the column, shooting it upwards and outwards YELLOWSTONE GEYSERS THE FINEST IN THE WORLD. 1249 in jets, rising to ever-varying heights, and constantly dividing and subdividing, and shivering into milk-white spray. "A geyser eruption is not at all like the play of an artificial fountain, in which the water is pushed up by pressure to a uniform height, or if made to vary must do so with a regularity which soon becomes wearisome, but is like a cataract of crystal-clear, boiling-hot water — not falling in despair of resistance to gravity, but, as if instinct with life, leaping towards heaven, shivering up- wards (precisely as a cataract does downwards) into rockets of milk-white spray, each as it ceases to rise emitting a litde puff of steam, which proclaims what was the force which lifted it, and which now, like the soul deserting the body, leaves it, no longer able to triumph over gravity, but, unsupported, to fall to the steaming mound below in showers of shining pearls and flashing diamonds, while the central portions of the column drop down in immense volumes that strike the mound with a roar like a cata- ract, or like the thunder of distant surf. Every instant the column is changing its height and shape, as the mighty and mys- terious forces of the under world, shaking the mountains in their struggles for freedom, pulsate along it; and it is always enveloped and surmounted by vast banks and lofty pillars of steam, ever swaying with the wind, constantly assuming fantastic forms, and crowned and fringed with rainbows. These indescribably mag- nificent displays occur with some geysers at fixed periods, as in the case of Old Faithful, which spouts from an orifice seven feet long by two feet wide, every sixty-seven minutes, its eruptions last- ing from four to six minutes. It is the only large geyser known in the world, which spouts so frequently and with such unfailing regularity; whence its name. In more than one hundred erup- tions of it, which I witnessed during my two visits to the Park in 1873 and 1875, ^ never knew it to be more than three minutes behind its appointed time. Most of the great geysers, however, spout at very irregular intervals, varying from three or four hours to several days, or even two or three weeks, their eruptions last- ing from fifteen or twenty minutes to two or three hours, and sometimes even as longr as nine hours. " No geyser spouts constantly, though some of the small ones ?9 1 2 CO ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. spout most of the time. Between eruptions, some pour out from their beautifully ornamented craters great puffs of steam, like im- mense high pressure engines, little jets of scalding spray being constantly thrown to the top of the crater, or a little above it, while there is all the time a sound of fierce boiling below, and in others the hot water stands, a wonderfully transparent pool, in vast saucer-shaped basins, from ten to seventy-five feet across, within each of which is the well or tube from which the eruption occurs, at which the water slowly boils. No language can ade- quately describe the gracefully curved and scalloped forms in which the silicious rock deposits on the bottoms and margins of these basins, nor the beauty of the countless vivid and delicate colors with which they are dyed. " Standing or lying all about the geyser craters and hot springs are trees, killed by the hot silicious waters or by their mineral deposits. Nothing in nature can be more spectral than these naked trunks of trees, stripped of bark and bare of branches, and bleached white as snow, seeming like the ghosts of the groves and forests buried beneath these mounds. When the wood falls in the immediate line of overflow of spring or geyser, the hot water soon soaks it soft and petrifies it. . Immense quantities of wood may be seen here in all stages of petrifaction. "It is plain that while the amount of hot spring and geyser action in the Park has been about the same for ages past, its cen- tres of activity have always been, and are now, constantly changing. Several of the largest geysers, whose age we do not know, are plainly of very recent origin — notably 'Old Faithful' and the 'Castle' — since high up on the mounds of each are lying, partially imbedded in the rock, and not yet wholly petrified, the trunks of large pine trees, which, had they been there very many years, must have been completely buried by the rapid de- posit of the rock, while alike in the woods and in the open ground are numerous extinct craters, and many others which are plainly dying out. Two of the greatest among the geysers of the Upper Geyser basin of the Fire Hole are certainly of very recent origin, having broken out between the autumn of 1873 and the spring of 1874; and many pulsating and boiling springs, which do not spout, are plainly but a few years old. NUMBER OF THE GEYSERS. 1 251 "No one knows how many geysers and hot springs there are in the Park, Dr. Hayden estimates that in the two Fire Hole River Geyser basins, within an area about equal to that of an ordinary township, say thirty-five or forty square miles, there are at least 2,000, and in the whole Park there are supposed to be at least 10,000 hot springs, steam jets, geysers and mud springs. The solfataras, fumaroles and salses, of which some are found scattered through the geyser basins, but most of which are in groups here and there outside the Geyser basins, especially at Brimstone Mountain, on the summit of the divide between the Yellowstone and Fire Hole Valleys ; at numerous points about Yellowstone lake, on Pelican creek, at Crater Hills, and at Mud Volcanoes, on the west bank of the Yellowstone river ; on Alum creek, along the Grand Canon, and on the slopes of the Sierra Shoshone and the Elephant's Back Mountains, follow naturally in our catalogue of attractions. These from thousands of vents, pour out sulphurous hot water, or steam charged with sulphu- retted hydrogen and other gases commonly emitted from volcanic craters, or boil and spout mud, slate-blue, or white, or pink, or lavender, or blackish green, or brown, some thin as mush, some thick as hasty pudding, with much puffing and rumbling and hissing of steam escape-pipes, and often with much trembling of the ground. "About many of them are deposited beautiful incrustations of sulphur and silica, of a light buff-color, or solid sheets or delicate feathery, frost-like crystals of bright yellow sulphur, together with alum and other volcanic products. Some of the larger of these sulphurous steam jets, pouring out of openings several feet in diameter, keep up a continual roar, like a hoarse fog- whistle; others, night and day, maintain a steady series of explosions, like distant thunder, from twenty to fifty peals a minute, audible for miles around, and each jarring the ground, so that you may, ia .some cases, plainly feel it, sitting on your horse, a half a mile away from them. " Some of these, also, are plainly of quite recent origin ; for, walking about among them at Brimstone Mountain, where, over many acres, the vegetation is utterly destroyed, and the surface 1252 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of the earth blasted and burned, and streaked red, and yellow, and white, seems a mere heap of ashes mixed with sulphur, near the centre of the great area of desolation, we saw the pros- trate trunks of several pine trees not yet entirely destroyed by the corrosive, stifling vapors, but so far decayed that we could kick them to pieces easily. The waters of this cluster flow towards the Yellowstone, and in a hollow have formed a minia- ture Dead sea, whose steaming, sulphurous, heavy, green waves support no form of life, and beat sullenly on a shore whose -deso- lation is in marked contrast to the luxurious, grassy slopes which stretch for miles to the east towards and across the Yellowstone," We shall not attempt in this place any explanation of the phi- losophy of the geyser, for two reasons : one, that scientists are not agreed in their views of it; the only thing fully ascertained in regard to it is that the hot water (from whatever source it may be derived) passes up through long tubes or pipes of different diameters ; and the other, that their explanations are too ab- struse to be understood by the masses, even if (which is doubtful) they understand them fully themselves. Let us, then, turn to a contemplation of these geysers, and espe- cially of those of the Upper Geyser Basin, where, though some- what fewer in number than in the Lower basin, they are of much greater power and magnificence. And, first, let us follow Rev. Edwin Stanley, a visitor to the Park, whose *' Rambles in Won- derland " gives a very interesting account of this Upper basin, as he marshals the geysers in a grand parade : "Let us imagine ourselves for once standing in a central posi- tion, where we can see every geyser in the basin. It is an extra occasion, and they are all out on parade, and all playing at once. There is good Old Faithful, always ready for her part, doing her best — the two by five feet column playing to a height of 150 feet — perfect in all the elements of geyser action. Yonder the Bee- hive is sending up its graceful column 200 feet heavenward, while the Giantess is just in the humor, and is making a gorgeous dis- play of its, say, ten feet volume to an altitude of 250 feet. In the meantime the old Castle answers the summons, and putting "THE PARADE OF THE GEYSERSr 1 25 3 on Its strength with alarming detonations is belching forth a gi- gantic volume seventy feet above its crater ; while over there, just above the Saw-mill, which is rallying all its force to the exhibition, rustling about and spurting upward its six-inch jet with as much self-importance as if it were the only geyser in the basin, we see the Grand, by a more than ordinary effort, overtopping all the rest, with its heaven-ascending, graceful volume, 300 feet in the air. Just below here the Riverside, the Comet, the complicated and fascinating Fantail, and the curiously-wrought Grotto, are all chiming in, and the grand old Giant, the chief of the basin, not to be left behind, or by any one outdone, is towering up with its six feet fountain, swavingr in the brio-ht sunlio-ht at an elevation of 250 feet. In the meantime a hundred others of lesser note, we will say, are answering the call at this grand exposition, and coming out In all their native glory and surpassing beauty. Just listen to the terrible, awful rumblings and deafening thunders, as if the very earth would be moved from its foundation — the thou- sand reports of rushing waters and hissing steam, while Pluto is mustering all his forces, and Hades would feign disgorge Itself and submerge our world. But then look upward at the Immense masses of rising steam ascending higher and still higher, until lost in the heavens above ; while every column is tinseled over with a robe of silver decked with all the prismatic colors, and every majestic fountain is encircled with a halo of gorgeous hues." As a matter of fact, however, the geysers are never all In action at the same time. Their periods of activity are different at different times, and with some of them are at increasingly long intervals, and probably they will eventually cease to act, as so many others have done. New geysers are constantly forming, and may take the places of the silent ones. Some of the most remarkable of the number are so uncertain that parties have re- mained at the basins for two or three weeks without witnessing their action, and again perhaps soon after they have sent up a magnificent column twice or thrice in twenty-four hours. One explorer. Lieutenant Barlow, tells us that near the edge of the basin, where the river makes a sharp bend to the southeast, is 1254 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. found the initial geyser — a small steam vent — on the right. Soon on either side of the river are seen the two lively geysers, called the " Sentinels," because of their nearness to the gate of the great geyser basins. The one on the left is in constant agi- tation, the waters revolving horizontally with great violence, and occasionally spouting upward to the height of twenty feet, the lat- eral direction being fifty feet. Enormous masses of steam are ejected. The crater of this is three feet by ten. The opposite Sentinel is not so constantly active, and is smaller. About 250 yards from the gate are three geysers acting in concert. When in full action the display from these is very fine. The waters spread out in the shape of a fan, in consequence of which they have been named the Fan Geysers. One hundred yards farther up the side of the stream is found a double geyser, a stream from one of its orifices playing to the height of eighty or ninety feet, emitting large volumes of steam. From the formation of its crater it was named the Well Geyser. Still above are found some of the most interesting and beau- tiful geysers of the whole basin. First are two smaller geysers near a large spring of blue water, while a few yards beyond are seen the walls and arches of the Grotto. This is an exceedingly intricate formation, eight feet in height and ninety in circumfer- ence. It is by many called the gem of all the geysers. It is absolutely magnificent — a sight of resplendent beauty, that greets the eyes nowhere outside of the region of the National Park. It is simply a miniature temple of alabaster whiteness, with arches leading to some interior Holy of Holies, whose sacred places may never be profaned by eye or foot. The hard calcareous formation about it is smooth, and bright as a clean swept pave- ment. Several columns of purest white rise to a height of eight to ten feet, supporting a roof that covers the entire vent, forming fantastic arches and entrances, out of which the water is ejected during an eruption fifty or sixty feet. The entire surface is composed of the most delicate bead-work imaginable, white as the driven snow, massive but elaborately elegant, and so peerlessly beautiful that the hand of desecration has not been laid upon it, and it stands without fiaw or break in all its primal beauty — a grotto of pearls, "the beautiful princess of all the realm." THE GIANT AND OLD FAITHFUL GEYSERS. J255 Proceeding 150 yards farther, and passing two hot springs, a remarkable group of geysers is discovered. One of these has a huge crater, five feet in diameter, shaped something like the base of a horn — one side broken down — the highest point being fifteen feet above the mound on which it stands. This proved to be a tremendous geyser, which has been called the Giant. It throws a column of water the size of the opening to the measured altitude of 130 feet, and continues the display for an hour and a half The amount of water discharged is immense, almost equal in quantity to that in the river, the volume of which during the eruption is doubled. But one eruption of this geyser was ob- served. Another large crater close by has several orifices, and with ten small jets surrounding it, formed probably one connect- ing system. The hill built up by this group covers an acre of ground, and is thirty feet in height. Harry J. Norton, Esq., formerly of Virginia City, made the rounds of all the geysers, and describes the leading ones as fol- lows : "In our opinion, there is no geyser in the entire region that is so richly deserving of mejition as our ancient-looking, steadfast friend, Old Faithful ; for its operations are as regular as clock-work, of most frequent occurrence, and of great power. Standing sentinel-like on the upper outskirts of the valley, at regular intervals of sixty-seven moments, the grim old vidette sounds forth his 'all's well ' in a column of water five or six feet in diameter, throwing it skyward to a distance of 150 feet, and holding it up to that height for eight or ten minutes' duration. The stream is nearly vertical, and in descending the water forms a glittering shower of pearl-drops, plashing into a succession of porcelain-lined reservoirs of every conceivable shape and many- colored tints. The mound is not far from twenty feet in height, and gradually slopes down to the south in regular terraces to a neighboring hot spring. One of the artistic reservoirs nearest the crater is half-filled with irregularly shaped, perfectly polished white pebbles, which must have been thrown out at the different eruptions. When the eruption ceases the water recedes, and nothing is heard but the occasional escape of steam until another exhibition occurs. Old Faithful will ever be the favorite of J 256 O^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. tourists, as it never fails in regularly giving a display of its powers, "Crossing the river, and proceeding down its east bank an eighth of a mile, we come to the Beehive. Early in the afternoon an eruption took place without a moment's warning. The column of water ejected filled the full size of the crater, and shot up at least 200 feet. So nearly vertically does the stream ascend that on a calm day nine-tenths of the volume would fall directly back ■ into the aperture. From this cause, probably, there is no mound of any consequence built around it. At the time we witnessed its action, the ascending torrent was interposed between us and a bright, shining sun, and through its cloud of spray there was formed a rainbow of magnificent proportions, lending the fountain a crowning splendor and glory that it could not other- wise possess. "To the right, and down stream a few hundred yards from the Beehive, is the Giantess, with a crater eighteen by twenty-five feet. We came upon it during one of its lucid intervals, and looking down into the gaping chasm could just discern the water a. great distance below, as in a state of apparent tranquillity. Presently, however, there came up from its gloomy depths a dismal groan, quickly followed by a dense volume of steam and a rumbling sound beneath our feet, as of terrific underj^round thunder. In a moment more the seething elements below were in wildest commotion. The rolling and clashing of waves, the terrible steam-clouds rushing to and fro under the frail crust, the thunder of the raging waters, as, lashed into fury by the pur- suing steam, they sought to burst apart their prison wall and escape — all were but too distinctly heard and felt. Spell-bound we stood, and, with enraptured awe, silently awaited the result of this terrible confusion. Spasm succeeded spasm ; the agitated flood boiled up to the surface of the crater, and with a deafening report the immense body of water was hurled into the air over a hundred feet. Like some gigantic fountain impelled by an engine power that could have revolved a world, the boiling jet continued to play for several minutes. Surrounding this majestic liquid dome is a circle of smaller jets issuing from the same THE FAN AND THE GRAND GEYSERS. 1257 crater, but from lesser apertures below, giving the main column the appearance of a fountain within a fountain. Playing hither and thither in the mellow sunlit mist, miniature rainbows were seen, and the air glistened with the falling water-beads as if a shower of diamonds were being poured from the golden o-ates of the Eternal City. " Suddenly, just below us on the opposite bank of the river, a vast column of steam burst forth and ascended several hundred feet. On the qui vive for new wonders, we hurried over a slight knoll in that direction, and arrived just in time to witness the Fan Geyser getting up steam for an eruption. It requires more in- side machinery to operate this geyser than any of the others. In fact, it is a massive natural engine, 25 by 100 feet, with two small valves, two escape pipes, and at the extreme upper end a large smoke-stack — five separate and distinct craters. When we ar- rived, we could hear a sound as of cord-wood beine thrown into a mammoth furnace. This continued several seconds, ceased, -and was followed by great quantities of steam from the smoke- stack ; then the two valves opened, shooting out swift, hissing jets of steam. The next moment there would be an unearthly roar from the double craters ; both would fill, and from each aper- ture a column of water two feet in diameter shot upward over eighty feet, one ascending nearly vertical, and the other at an angle of about forty-five degrees, thus forming the ' fan.' The eruption would continue from two to four minutes, then the flow cease for eight or ten seconds, and then the entire movement would be repeated. These repetitions continued for about twenty-five minutes, then ceased altogether. It requires no great flight of fancy to see in this marvellous natural mechanism a vast engine running under the guidance of a ghosdy engineer, and being 'stoked' from Pluto's wood-pile by a thousand goblin firemen." Near the middle of the Upper Geyser basin is the "Grand Geyser," the most remarkable in many respects in the world. Lieutenant Doane, U. S. A., who spent several days in Its imme- diate vicinity in 1877, thus describes it: "Opposite camp, on the other side of Fire Hole river, is a high ledge of stalagmite, 1258 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. sloping from the base of the mountain down to the river. Nu- merous small knolls are scattered over its surface, the craters of boiling springs, from fifteen to twenty-five feet in diameter; some of these throw water to the height of three and four feet. On the summit of this bank of rock is the grand geyser of the world, a well in the strata, twenty by twenty-five feet in diametric meas- urements (the perceptible elevation of the rim being but a few inches), and when quiet having a visible depth of lOO feet. The edge of the basin is bounded by a heavy fringe of rock, and sta- lagmite in solid layers is deposited by the overflowing waters. When an eruption is about to occur, the basin gradually fills with boiling water to within a few feet of the surface, then suddenly, with heavy concussions, immense clouds of steam rise to the height of 500 feet, and the whole great body of water, twenty by twenty-five feet, ascends in one gigantic column to the height of ninety feet; from the apex of this column five great jets shoot up, radiating slightly from each other, to the unparalleled altitude of 250 feet from the ground. The earth trembles under the de-' scending deluge from this vast fountain ; a thousand hissing sounds are heard in the air; rainbows encircle the summits of the jets with a halo of celestial glory. The falling water plows up and bears away the shelly strata, and a seething flood pours down the slope and into the river. It is the grandest, the most majesdc, and most terrible fountain in the world. After playing thus for twenty minutes, it gradually subsides, the water lowers into the crater out of sight, the steam ceases to escape, and all is quiet. This grand geyser played three times in the afternoon, but appears to be irregular in its periods, as we did not see it in eruption again while in the valley. Its waters are of a deep ultramarine color, clear and beautiful. The waving to and fro of the gigantic fountain, in a bright sunlight, when its jets are at their highest, affords a spectacle of wonder of which any descrip- tion can give but a feeble idea. Our whole party were wild with enthusiasm ; many declared it was 300 feet in height ; but I have kept, in the figures as set down above, within the limits of abso- lute certainty." " In some of the elements of beauty and interest," says Pro- THE LOWER GEYSER BASIN AND ITS LAUGS. 1250 fessor R, W. Raymond, " the Lower Geyser basin is superior to its more startling rival. It is broader and more easily surveyed as a whole; and its springs are more numerous, though not so pow- erful. Nothing can be lovelier than the sight, at sunrise, of the white steam-columns, tinged with rosy morning, ascending against the background of the dark pine woods and the clear sky above. The variety in form and character of these springs is quite remarkable. A few of them make faint deposits of sulphur, though the greater number appear to be purely silicious. One very large basin (forty by sixty feet) is filled with the most beau- tiful slime, varying in tint from white to pink, which blobs and spits away, trying to boil, like a heavy theologian forcing a laugh to please a friend in spite of his natural specific gravity The laugs or extinct geysers are the most beautiful objects of all. Around their borders the white incrustations form quaint ara- besques and ornamental bosses, resembling petrified vegetable growths. The sides of the reservoir are corrugated and indented fancifully, like the recesses and branching passages of a fairy cavern. The water is brightly but not deeply blue. Over its surface curls a light vapor; through its crystal clearness one may gaze, apparently, to unfathomable depths ; and, seen through this wondrous medium, the white walls seem like silver, ribbed and crusted with pearl. When the sun strikes across the scene, the last touch of unexpected beauty is added. The projected shadow of the decorated edge reveals by contrast new glories in the depths ; every ripple on the surface makes marvellous play of tint and shade on the pearly bottom. One half-expects to see a lovely naiad emerge with floating grace from her fantasti- cally carven covert, and gayly kiss her snowy hand through the blue wave. "In one of these laugs\!(i^ whitened skeleton of a mountain buf- falo was discovered. By whatever accident he met his fate there, no king or saint was ever more magnificently entombed. Not the shrine of St. Antony of Padua with its white liiarbles and its silver lamps, is so resplendent as this sepulchre in the wilder- ness." Did space permit we might give a score of other testimonies. I26o ^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. to the beauty of these vast and exquisitely sculptured and jew- eled cups filled to the brim with scalding water, yet so entran- cingly beautiful that you cannot resist the temptation to thrust in your hand and pluck the silver flowers and gather the gleaming jewels — but we are compelled to desist. Yet Geyserdom is not a paradise. "The Geyser basins in themselves," says Rev. Dr. Hoyt, "are very ghastly places. Save the jeweled cups, and the upward plunge of the white water, there is little beauty in them that we should desire them. Where the geysers spurt up their hot and hissing waves, and scatter them about, and then deposit as the scattered waters cool, the lime, and magnesia, and sulphur, with which they are charged, nothing green can grow. The aspect is that of a desert, except only that the sand instead of being brown is white. It seems more like a place of death than life — your horse's feet are scalded in the hot streams — you must be very careful where you Iread, lest the thin crust break beneath you, and let you down into the boiling pools, and sudden death below. The air is stenchful with the breath of noxious gases. Flowers do not bloom ; grass cannot spread its greenness ; trees, if they come within the circle of the geyser action, stand bleached, leafless, lifeless. It is the terrible side of nature which you see." Turning our faces northward we follow the Firehole or Upper Madison river for four or five miles from the Lower Geyser basin, till at a point opposite a forty foot fall of the river we enter upon the New Norris road, constructed by Superintendent Norris in 1878, which leads to new wonders of various kinds. The Gibbon's fork of the Firehole or Madison river, which has its source in or near Beaver lake, in the upper Madison Range, from its source to its mouth abounds in geysers, hot-springs, and fumaroles. These are not only found on its banks, in its canons, and in the vicinity of its numerous water-falls, but along the slopes of the mountains adjacent there are four or five of these Geyser basins. The southernmost of these, near the mouth of the fork known as Gibbon's Firehole Basin, is on the Howard road. Norris's road is some miles east of this, and passes through a valley till it strikes Gibbon's fork just at the foot of the GIBBON'S FORK—FIREHOLE BASIN. 1261 loner and deep canon of that river. In that canon and on a branch or creek which unites with it there are numerous water- falls from eighty to one hundred feet in height. The canon itself, though not so deep and carrying less water than that of the Yel- lowstone, is full of romantic beauty and wildness. Along its bed and near it are pulsating geyser cones of both yellow and crim- son, paint springs, and. rivulets of nearly every color, geysers, throwing their jets, some at least loo feet at angles of from 40° to 60°, instead of vertically, as in the old basins, and in the open basin along the road, beside many small but beautiful geysers, is a large crater formed so recently that many pine trees in and around it still retain their seared and mud-laden leaves. Ascending the Grand Canon of the Gibbon, we find at its head, upon the crest of the western mountain spur, which rises nearly vertically full 1,000 feet above the highest point of the Canon Walls, a geyser basin of not more than five acres in ex- tent, which is one of the most beautiful and interesting in the park. To this basin, as its first discoverer, Mr. Norris has given the name of Monument basin. In this there is at least one pow- erful and active geyser — a hissing fumarole plainly audible for miles ; two other fumaroles, one tall and pulsating like the exhaust pipe of a huge Corliss engine, and the other with the orifice and ter- minal of its cone horizontal instead of vertical. There are also twelve pulsating geyser cones, from two to thirty feet in height, and similar in appearance to the famous Liberty Cap. A part of these are now extinct and slowly wearing away. Mingled with these are numerous hot springs and spouting geysers. A short distance above this Monument basin we come to another, at the upper canon of the Gibbon, and here after ascending the inevit- able water-fall come to the Norris and Firehole basins of the Norris fork of the Gibbon. Here is a beautiful grassy park, and sunny glades five or six miles in extent, and the whole dotted and begirt with huge boiling springs, sputtering paint-pots, spout- ing geysers, and several extensive craters, with some active gey- sers which throw up their waters with great frequency and reg- ularity. One of these has been named " the Minute Man." Three miles more brine: the traveller to Beaver and Pine lakes, 1262 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the former, though of considerable extent, being artificial in the sense of having been formed by a succession of beavers' dams. These lakes abound with feathered game, and on their banks are fumaroles and hot springs heavily charged with alum. On the bank of Beaver lake there is a wall of vertical columns of obsidian or volcanic glass, many hundred feet In height and for two miles in length. There are gliffs of Impure obsidian elsewhere in the Park and in this and other countries, but no- where has there been found any of this volcanic glass so pure and perfect as this, or in such vast quantity. The columns are of black, yellow, mottled, and banded obsidian, but as regular in form as the basaltic columns of the Giant's Causeway. Great masses of this volcanic glass had fallen from the columns and formed a barricade some 250 or 300 feet In height, at an angle of 45° to the margin of Beaver lake. Mr. Norris had large fires kindled on this sloping barricade, and then, suddenly cooling It by throwing cold water on it, broke it In pieces and then with great labor crushed it and made a good wagon road over this barricade of glass. From the obsidian cliffs there is a good wagon road to the Mammoth Hot Springs, and thence to the northern entrance to the Park. We have thus completed our tour of the most im- portant objects of interest in the Park at the present time. What new wonders will be brought to light when the whole region east of the Yellowstone river and lake shall be thoroughly explored, when the southern portion, now almost wholly unknown, shall have been carefully investigated, and when even the northwest portion, drained by the Gallatin river, shall become better known, remains for other and future travellers and tourists to describe. What is already known, stamps it as the most remark- able region on the globe. "This whole region," says Dr. Hayden, "was, in comparatively modern geological times, the scene of the most wonderful vol- canic activity of any portion of our country. The hot springs and geysers represent the last stages — the vents or escape pipes — of these remarkable volcanic manifestations of the Internal forces. All these springs are adorned with decorations more beautiful than ACCESS TO THE PARK. 1 263 human art ever conceived, and which have required thousands of years for the cunning hand of Nature to form." "It is prob- able," he remarks elsewhere, " that during the Pliocene period, the entire country, drained by the sources of the Yellowstone and the Colorado, was the scene of volcanic activity as great as that of any portion of the globe. It might be called one vast crater, made up of a thousand smaller volcanic vents and fissures, out of which the fluid interior of the earth, fragments of rock and volcanic dust, were poured in unlimited quantities. Hundreds of the nuclei or cones of these vents are now remaining, some of them rising to a height of 10,000 to 11,000 feet above the sea. Up to the present time the access to the Park has been only by long and difficult journeys, involving too great fatigue for any but the most robust, and almost entirely excluding, by its very wearisomeness, the visits of the gentler sex. Moreover, the necessary absence of any considerable hotel accommodations, or other provisions for a stay of at least ten or twelve days in the Park, and the frequent presence of hostile bands of Indians within it, have prevented any very large influx of visitors to it. These difiicultles are now almost wholly obviated. The Utah and Northern Railway is within fifty miles of Yellowstone lake, and swift coaches over good wagon roads traverse the remainder of the way. Before the opening of the next season (the season is from the middle of August to the middle of October), the Northern Pacific Railway will be running through trains from Chicago and St. Paul to Fort Ellis, and not impossibly to the Park itself The hardships of the journey will all be gone, and the time of reaching there will be reduced to about eight days, and the expense to one-half what it is at present. The Indians have gone for good, and the era of fast coaches, good hotels, restaurants and bathingf-houses is coming on. The impression that there is little of interest in the Park except the phenomena we have described should be carefully and for- ever dispelled from the minds of the public. "Few, I suppose," says Mr. William I. Marshall, "would care to live long among spouting geysers and boiling springs, or even upon the banks of 1264 '^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. the brilliantly colored Grand Canon of the Yellowstone ; but these cover only a small part, probably not more than two or three per cent., of the surface of the Park, which embraces 3,578 square miles, or 2,298,920 acres, an area almost one-half as large as the State of Massachusetts, and, of course, extensive enough to contain an immense variety of scenery. There are scores of miles of beautiful valleys traversed by rivers of the purest water, swarming with trout, grayling and whitehsh, and furnishing the finest hunting-grounds for ducks, geese, swans, and other water- fowl. These valleys are generally covered with fine grass, on which numerous antelopes pasture, while the greater part of the mountains which bound them is covered with the forests (inter- spersed with those great grassy slopes which are so marked a feature of the timbered areas of the Rocky Mountains) in which those fond of rifle-shooting can find elk and black-tailed deer and white-tailed deer and mountain sheep, and occasionally a band of mountain buffalo and other large game. There are countless quiet nooks where one can camp under the fragrant pines, besides green meadows gemmed with lovely wild flowers and watered by bubbling brooks, across which the beaver still builds his cun- ning dam, and beneath whose banks and in whose deep pools the dainty little speckled brook-trout watches for his prey. Not only are there scores of grand mountains lifting their craggy sides and rugged summits (few of which have ever felt the tread of civilized man) far up among the clouds, but innumerable sunny glades and shady dells, charming bits of quiet, picturesque scenery, where one will see nothing of the striking, but only the gently beau- tiful. " I presume the head-quarters for tourists, when the Park shall be made a little more accessible, will be established on the shores of the lovely Yellowstone lake, which, lying at an altitude of 7,778 feet above the sea, or 1,500 higher than the summit of Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, covers 300 square miles with cool, clear water, which in places is 300 feet deep, and rolls its waves, of as deep a blue as the open sea, on 300 miles of shore line, now of loveliest beauty, and now of wildest grandeur. With its opportunities for rowing and sailing and fishing and hunting, YELLOWSTONE PARK FOR A SUMMER HOME. £265 with the grandest of mountains bordering it and the purest of air ever sweeping over it, and with the inducements to open-air Hfe offered by its surroundings, it is surely destined to become a most delightful summer resort for those who love nature, and who, when they wish to see her strangest and most wonderful phases, can sail or ride in a few hours to the spouting geysers, the boil- ing springs, the stifling solfataras, the roaring mud volcanoes, the lofty cataracts, and the gorgeous Canon of the Yellowstone ; and when they would enjoy her quieter and more subdued aspects can find them on every hand in endless profusion. Those who travel to see the triumphs of industry and the treasures of art, to behold the ruins of an ancient era or splendor of modern cities ; those who wish to revive historical associations, or to survey the beauty of the earth as affected by human effort, and connected with human life, will, of course, go to the old world ; but there are many, and the number seems to be constantly increasing, who, for a longer or shorter time, love yearly to leave behind them the bustle of towns and the roar of cities, the vexations of business and the conventionalities of society, and live face to face with na- ture, resting in her solitudes or communing with her ceaseless health-giving activities, and to these the endless features of the Park will offer varied attractions and constant charms." 80 1266 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER XXIII. ALASKA. Relation of Alaska to Our Western Empire — Another Kamschatka — Absurdity of the Stories told of its Present or Prospective Produc- tiveness — Its Furs, Fisheries, and Timber, somewhat valuable — Pecu- liar Form of the Territory — The Bull's Head with two long Horns — Its three Divisions, Sitka, Yukon, and the Islands — Area — Population — Topography — Mountains — Rivers — The Limits and Area of each Di- vision — Geology — Volcanoes and Glaciers — Mineralogy — Coal — Me- tals — Minerals — Gold and Silver — Recent Discoveries — Zoology — The Divisions in detail — The Sitkan Division — Its Fur Trade, Fisheries, AND Timber — Its Agricultural Productions confined to a few Vegeta- bles — 2. The Yukon District of little Value, except for its Fur Trade, Whale and other Fisheries on the Coast — 3. The Island District — Some Arable Land on the larger Islands, and a possibility of fu- ture Dairy-farms there, though at too great Cost for muck Profit—^ The Capture of the Fur Seal on the Pribyloff Islands the principal Industry, though Fisheries may Increase — Detailed Account of the Fisheries — The Population, Nationalities, and Character — The Na- tives — KoLOSHiAN Tribes — Kenaian Tribes — The Aleuts — The Eskimo — Principal Towns and Villages — Meteorology of Fort St. Michael's and Unalashka — Objects of Interest to the Tourist — Historical Notes — Can it be Commended to Immigrants? Alaska, the unorganized Northwestern Territory of the United States, bears about the same relation to "Our Western Empire" that Eastern Siberia and Kamschatka do to the Russian Em- pire ; it is remote from the rest of the Empire, of vast territorial extent, but desolate and cold to the last degree, and can never become very populous, or of any remarkable economic value, until the plane of the ecliptic changes, and what is now an Arctic climate becomes torrid, or at least temperate. We know very well what is said about the ameliorating effect of the Kuro-Siwo or Japan current upon the climate of tho^e high latitudes ; but the Gulf stream, a similar but more powerful current, has not rendered Iceland a paradise, or Novaya Zemla a fit habitation for men, though both are in quite as low latitudes \ I7A ITn \6t> T n..o iRi) \Vov:t I3a ^t -fk... iTiU rii-i^o.. ItA ^t^^ti ]-iti I3i lAj ""^>,J: ^m '^ ^ ■] I- 1 I MAP or A'f A '^s^'^A cV 1 I «r\.v) s! ironi 73 VVasliington ejft f5 I.oii^ihide West ;*<* Jt^iii. GrpeiuNTch 9|7^ ^1 ATs IT OBJ^. DOMINION OF CANADA. 21 LoiisiUideWest ciu fTiniiWi>slihigtmi SO CnfjyngM hyBrailliyS-Ol. IS'l. ALASKA NOT A PARADISE. 1 267 as most of Alaska. We hope for some return of the national outlay from the fisheries, the fur trade, and the timber of Alaska. The precious metals may be found there — probably they will ; and it may be possible on some favored spots to raise oats and barley, though not, to any extent, wheat or corn ; but in a climate which is " nine months winter and the other three months late in the fall" how can either mining or agriculture be expected to pros- per? As to the absurd prediction, that within a few years it will become the principal region of our country for dairy products, it is sufficient to say that Mr. Walker Blaine, son of the Senator, after a careful exploration of Alaska in the spring and summer of 1880, wrote to the New York Tribune on the 20th of June, 1880, that there was not a single cow in the whole of Alaska. Even the ice, which is always abundant, does not prove profitable as an article of export, the manufacture of ice by machinery hav- ing been so far perfected that it can be produced in San Fran- cisco as cheaply as it can be imported from Alaska. No ice is now exported from the Territory. That we may do no injustice to this great northwestern land, let us proceed to say what can justly be said in its favor. Alaska is not, as is supposed by those who have given but little attention to the subject, a vast compact tract of territory. It has been not inaptly compared to the head and horns of a Texas bull — Yukon district forming the massive head, the Sitkan shore and archipelago forming one horn, and the Aliaskan penin- sula and the Aleutian Islands the other. The tips of the two horns are 60° of longitude or 3,000 miles apart ; and from the southernmost of the islands of the Aleutian group to Point Bar- row in the Arctic ocean, the northernmost point of Yukon is a little more than 20° of latitude, or about 1,400 miles. The area, according to the last report of the Land Office, is 577,- 390 square miles, or 369,529,600 acres. The shore lines around the islands and peninsulas are roughly estimated at 25,000 miles, lor the entire circumference of the globe. The entire population of this Territory at the time of its acquisition from Russia was said to be about 29,000, of which 26,800 were said to be Indians and the remainder Caucasians and Creoles. It has not materially increased since. 1268 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Topography — Mountains. — The Alaskan range, which seems to be a combination of the Coast, Cascade and Rocky Mountain Chains, passes northwestward through British Columbia a little east of the Sitkan Division of Alaska, enters the Yukon Division between the sixtieth and sixty-second parallels, and keeping a course parallel with and at a little distance from the left bank of the Yukon river, extends north nearly as far as Fort Yukon in latitude 66°, turns sharply south and forming the backbone of the Aliaskan peninsula and the Aleutian islands, each of which is a peak and generally a volcanic peak of the range, till finally its summits are all sunk in the deepest part of the northern Pacific ocean. This range has the loftiest peaks in North America outside of Mexico. Among these are Mount St. Elias, 19,500 feet in height; Mount Cook, 16,000 feet; Mount Crillon, 15,900; Mount Fairweather, 15,500; while of the partially submerged volcanic peaks, Sheshaldin is 9,000 feet above the water ; Una- lashka, 5,691 feet; Atka, 4,852 feet; Kyska, 3,700 feet; while poor Attn, the westernmost of the group, can only lift its head 3,084 feet above the deep valley of the Pacific. In addition to the Alaskan range, there are several other mountain ranges of less elevation : among them are the Shakto- lik and Ulukuk Hills, near Norton's sound ; the Yukon and Ro- manzoff Hills, north of the Yukon river ; the Kayiuh and Nowika- kat mountains east and south of the river, and a low range of hills bordering on the Arctic coast. Rivers. — The great river of the Territory is the Yukon, whose sources are in the Chippewayan and Alaskan range, in British America. It is more than 2,000 miles in length, and is navigable, when not frozen over, for 1,500 miles. The delta across its five mouths is seventy miles wide, and the river itself is from one to ,five miles wide for the first 1,000 miles of its course. One of its largest tributaries, the Porcupine river, has most of its course above the Arctic circle. The Tananah, 250 miles in length, and the Nowikakat, 1 1 2 miles, are also tributaries of the Yukon. The Inland river, which flows into Kotzebue sound, and the Col- ville, which discharges its waters into the Arctic ocean, are the only other rivers north of the Yukon. South of it are the Kons- TOPOGRAPHY OF ALASKA. 1 269 koquim, about 600 miles in length, the Nushagak, the Sushitna, the Atna or Copper river, and in the Sitkan division the Chilcat, the Takou and the Stickine. The last is about 250 miles in length. It is divided by natural lines into three grand divisions, varying each from the other in natural characteristics and value : 1. The Sitkan Division, triangular in shape with the latitudinal line of 54° 40' north for the southern boundary, and the longitu- dinal line of 141° west for the western, and on the north and east i olio wing the summits of the Coast Range of mountains between these points, with a proviso that this strip of shore shall never exceed ten marine leagues in width. 2. The Yukon Division, consisting of all the continent west of 141° as far north as the Frozen Ocean. 3. The islands not included in the Sitkan Division, comprising all the important islands of the Pacific Ocean north of 54° 40', from Alaska to Kamschatka, known generally as the Aleutian islands, and also the Aliaskan peninsula and the Kodiak or Ka- diak Islands, east of that peninsula, and the Pribyloff group, which are remarkable for the vast numbers of the fur-seal caught there. In the first or Sitkan Division, there were in 1867 about 800 natives and some 800 whites and Creoles ; in the Yukon, 8,000 natives, and 100 whites and Creoles; and in the remainder of Alaska, the Island Districts, 17,300 natives and 1,300 whites and Creoles, This meagre population is grouped entirely around the sea- board and large rivers. A glance at the best map will show that of the interior of the Yukon District geographers know very little. What rivers and lakes are traced upon the maps are usu- ally located upon slight and inaccurate information, derived from the natives. The interior of the islands and coasts longest peo- pled by a civilized race is almost altogether ignota teri^a. The coast line of BaranofT Island, on which Sitka is located, is well known and accurately defined upon the charts, but the interior is entirely unexplored. The only road at Sitka runs into the woods to the distance of a mile, and then stops before a wall of dense 1270 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. forest and undergrowth. The growth of stunted trees all along the shores of the islands and main land of the Sitkan Division is so thick as to be almost impenetrable. There is one instance, at least, of a man's having given an entire day to the work of pene- trating inland, and at the end of his labor finding himself less than a mile from the shore. Geology. — The greater part of this vast Territory has under- gone changes from volcanic eruptions which have completely altered the character of its rocks. This is particularly the case in the Sitkan and Aleutian Divisions, in which there are sixty-one volcanoes which have been active within 1 50 years. The violence of the volcanic action seems to be decreasing, and of these sixty- one only ten are now in a condition of active and constant erup- tion. There are also very many extinct volcanoes in the Sitkan Division, and several are known in Yukon. The immense shore line and the mountain slopes are crowded ■with glaciers ; some of these are the most stupendous in the world. One of these is described as fifty miles in length, and terminating on the sea-coast in a perpendicular ice-wall 300 feet high and eight miles broad ; another, thirty-five miles above Wrangell, on the Sti'ckine river, is said to be forty miles long at the base, four or five miles across, and variously estimated at from 500 to i,cxDO feet in thickness. Mmeral Wealth. — Alaska is known to possess coal beds of good quality and of great extent. Most of the coal beds are in the tertiary, and are properly lignite, though of the best quality. That in the Sitkan District has been so far changed by volcanic action that it is in some places a semi-anthracite. Petroleum is said to have been found of excellent quality and nearly odorless near the Bay of Katmai and on Copper river. Copper, native, or very rich copper ores, have been found on Copper river, at Kasa-an bay, at Whale bay, below Sitka, and in Kadiak Island. Iron exists all over the Territory, and graphite in several places. There is bismuth of fine quality on Vostovia Mountain, and gypsum, kaolin, marble, and the more common of the pre- cious stones, agate, carnelian, amethyst, etc., are sufficiently plentiful. G OLD-MINING. \ 27 1 Gold undoubtedly exists in the Territor>', and probably at sev- eral points. In the Sitkan District there are several mines which .have been worked to some extent on Baranoff (or Sitka) Island; two or three formerly worked on the streams falling into Ste- phen's passage, about seventy-five miles north of Fort Wrangell, at the mouth of the Stickine river. Mr. Walker Blaine says : " The gold mines of the Stickine river are all located in British Columbia, and as the stores from which the most of the miners' supplies are furnished are upon the river, the business is diverted to the British possessions. Very many miners, however, winter at Wrangell, and freight bound to points on the Stickine river is at this place transferred to the small river steamers. Some gold claims have been located near Sitka, and specimens of ore sent to the assay office at Victoria have been found to contain a fair quantity of the precious metal. A quartz mill was erected during 1878, and it was intended to develop one of the mines, but the unpleasant weather and short days of winter will render it ex- tremely difficult to carry on operations during more than six months of the year. No sufficient amount of capital has as yet been invested, nor have the mines been sufficiently worked to determine the mineral wealth of the Territory. Many who have given the subject great attention are fully convinced that valuable deposits of the precious metals exist. Mr. Francis, now and for many years past our Consul at Victoria, is sanguine in the belief that considerable quantities of gold will yet be mined, and his son, who was until recently the Deputy Collector at Sitka, speaks in still more confident terms of the value of the ore beds." As we write a report comes from Sitka, dated December 22, 1880, saying that about two months previous a report was cir- culated that gold had been discovered at Tahon, an Indian set- tlement on the river of the same name, about 150 miles north of Sitka, and near the border of British Columbia. Further reports only increased the excitement, and when specimens of the ore were brought to Sitka, which yielded ^200 of pure gold to 300 pounds of ore, the excitement became so intense that the people began to migrate thither in such numbers that the town was almost depopulated. It remains to be seen whether these mines 1272 ^'^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. prove as rich as they seem to promise. If they do, they will be profitable, although they cannot be worked more than four or five months in the year. The Alaskan Mountains curve southwestward in the District of Yukon, and extend along the Aliaskan peninsula and through the Aleutian Islands. They seem to be the consoli- dation of the Rocky, Cascade and Coast Ranges. These moun- tains, according to all analogies, should contain both gold and silver, and in all probability they do. If the lodes are very rich, it may pay to work them, though the expense will be mucl ofreater than that of workingf mines farther south. Zoology. — The animals of Alaska belong rather to the fauna of the Arctic than the Temperate Zone. The musk ox is found in Yukon District, and the reindeer, though of a different species from the European. The polar bear frequents the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and sometimes ventures as far south as Kotzebue sound. The elk and moose are seen, though rarely ; the Rocky Mountain goat and sheep (the bighorn), several species of fox, the mink, beaver, marten, lynx, otter, sea-otter, black bear, wol- verine, whistler, ermine, marmot, skunk, muskrat and wolf. Of amphibia^ the seal, sea-otter, whale, porpoise, narwhal, etc., are abundant. Its birds are largely game birds, the ptarmigan, grouse, wild geese, teal, ducks, brant, etc., at certain seasons, and eagles, fishhawks, gulls, the great owl, etc., etc. Of the fish we speak elsewhere. Let us now take up the divisions in detail, and endeavor to ascertain what each can produce with profit. And, first, of the Sitkan Division. — " Here," says Mr. Blaine, " no grass has been grown, and the small gardens at Sitka and Wrangell pro- duce only a few of the hardiest vegetables. So great is the moisture that hay cannot readily be cured, wheat ripened, nor potatoes raised. Even cabbages will not head. While our troops were in the Territory, a few cattle were with great difficulty kept in the District, but there is not at present a cow in the whole military Division of Alaska. Beef is a luxury most highly prized, the only meat being an occasional haunch of venison, and, in the proper season, small game. The mountains as a rule descend abruptly to the sea, and the small patches of level land are few THE SITKAN DIVISION OF ALASKA. 1273 and far between. In a word, agriculturally this whole district is absolutely worthless. There is no fodder for cattle, and the ground under the most careful cultivation yields nothing but the poorest varieties of the most insignificant vegetables. The hand of man can do little to add to the value of the Sitkan Division. "The Sitkan Division does, however, possess a great abun- dance of most valuable ship-timber. The wood, known as yellow cedar, and sometimes called camphor-wood, which is the most durable of all woods for purposes of ship-building, is found in large quantities, and the Sitka spruce, inferior to this, but of very great value, is most plentiful. Logs of either of these woods can be easily procured at very small expense. Lumber has been sawed at a total cost of three dollars per thousand, which would easily command from twelve to fifteen dollars in San Francisco. There has been for some time a small saw-mill in Sitka, and another has recently been built in Klahwoch, but only trifling quantities of lumber have as yet been sawed at either place. The vast tracts of timber land in Oregon, Washington Territory and Northern California will, for many years, supply the market of the Pacific coast. " The fur trade of the Sitkan Division is at present the most important interest. The small amount of business now trans- acted at Sitka is entirely dependent upon the exchange of com- modities for furs and peltries. For the past few years there has not been a sufficient demand for furs to make high prices or large gains. Fashion has frowned, at the dictation, perhaps, of the hard times, and competition among traders has assisted in reducing the profits. All the merchants profess to have lost money, and it is the general opinion that none have made any. The fur-seal is not found in the waters adjacent to Sitka, but large quantities of other valuable furs are brought to this place and to Wrangell by the Indians and accumulated by traders. Fur-trading is in its very nature little suited to the permanent prosperity of a country. It demands the frontier and the wilder- ness as the seat of operations, and is perforce killed, as a country is settled and its resources developed. It is the enemy of civili- zation, and the more profitable it is, the sooner does it come to 1274 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. an end. Year by year, as the circle of population widens, the trappers are driven farther to the north. Astoria, for years the centre of the trade, long ago yielded its supremacy, and today no furs are sold in that market at first hand. A large part of the world's supply must henceforth come from Alaska. She has no rival on this continent, and in the most important branches no formidable competitor on the globe. " The fisheries of the Sitkan waters will perhaps ultimately prove the most valuable resource. They have, however, until very recently been of but little practical value. A few barrels of salted fish have been annually exported, and the inhabitants have to a large extent sustained life on the products of the sea. Within the past two years two salmon canneries have been built, and quite a large amount of money invested in this enterprise, but lack of information does not permit me to say whether the venture has proved successful. "It was said in support of the Alaskan purchase that all the ice of the Pacific coast was imported from that Territory ; but the value of the export was never in a single year more than ^30,ock), and the successful introduction of machinery for the production of ice artificially has caused the business to rapidly decline and disappear. No ice is now exported from any portion of the Territory." 2. The Yukon District. — Of this region the massive head of the bull, whose left horn, the Sitkan Division, we have just been considering, it has been the fashion with some writers to speak in the most glowing terms. It was " the garden of Alaska." Here wheat and all the other cereals except corn, and all the tubers and vegetables required in the market gardens or the markets of the Pacific coast, could be raised in the greatest profusion. In the hot, short summer, everything, it was said, grew so rapidly that a vast population could be sustained here. The later commis- sioners and explorers do not corroborate these glowing accounts. "The second division, called the Yukon," says Mr. Walker Blaine, "has been less explored than either of the others. There were formerly a few Russian posts in the Territory, but these have now been abandoned. At Cook's Inlet, at the mouth of the Sutchino THE YUKON DISTRICT OF ALASKA. ^21 < river, and at many points on the Yukon river, sufficient grass is found to afford the best of fodder for cattle, and wild berries and smaller fruits flourish in abundance. The range of the thermom- eter at a distance from the sea-coast is far greater than in Sitka, or near the sea-line, and the summers are so warm as to produce the most luxuriant vegetation. On the Yukon river the sun has been known in the month of July to burst a spirit thermometer, graduated up to 1 20°, and the winters are Arctic in severity. There is no trouble in curing hay at these points, and there is said to be good grazing land for cattle. It will of course be ne- cessary to shelter the herds during more than half of the year, and fattening for market will not therefore be profitable. Fruit- trees will not flourish, and while some experiments have been made with barley and oats, which are said to have been satisfac- tory, not a grain of wheat has ever been brought to maturity. South of the Alaskan Range, save at Cook's Inlet and on the peninsulas, there is no good land, and north of the mountains only persistent and careful cultivation will enable the farmers to reap satisfactory results. The only evidence which we have as to the land is from experiments made by the Russians and the scientific officers of the Western Union Telegraph Company. They are both very unsatisfactory, especially those of the former, as they were intrusted to Indians, who, being utterly ignorant of agriculture and cattle-breeding, conducted them most unskilfully. There are also said to be valuable coal-beds, but as no examina- tion was ever made by competent geologists, this cannot be safely affirmed. Undoubtedly there is considerable free copper in the district, as the natives formerly employed this metal in the manufacture of wagons and domestic articles, but its location is at present unknown. Fur animals abound, especially those liv ing upon the land. Fort St. Michael was formerly one of the chief trading posts of the Russians, and many of the fox and beaver skins now sent from the north Pacific are trapped upon the Yukon, Good timber is also found in many portions of the division, but it is not so accessible nor so valuable for ship- building as that about Sitka. Fish of all kinds, especially cod and halibut, are very abundant at Cook's Inlet and along the entire coast. ,276 ^^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. 3. The Island Distiict, which includes the Aliaskan peninsula, the large island of Kadiak and the group of islands which surround it, the Aleutian Archipelago, comprising the three groups of the Fox, the Andreanowsky, and the Blijnie or Rat Islands, the whole constituting the right horn of the bull ; and with these the Priby- loff group (the home of the fur seal), Nounivak, Lawrence, and the St. Matthew group, come next in review. " These islands," says Mr. Blaine, "are the most valuable portion of our Russian purchase. The island of Kadiak and others of the Aleutian group contain very good arable land. The cattle distributed by the Russian Commercial Company succeeded here far better than in any other part of the Territory. There is good pasture land, and hay can be made with greater ease than at the mouth of the Columbia river. There is also an encouraging report that a good variety of potatoes can be grown, although ' the tubers are said to be small.' There is not much timber of good quality upon these islands, but the fisheries are of very great value. The Aleuts, who are the chief native race, are by nature the most honest people in the world. On the islands where there are no forests, driftwood furnishes the principal supply of fuel, and it is said that the unwritten law with reference to the rights of property is so strong that, should an Indian discover a log of wood which it is not then convenient for him to carry away, he may, by carrying it above high-water mark and placing it at rio-ht angles to the line of the beach, leave it with full assurance that it will not be disturbed until his convenience warrants the removal. "The chief sources of our revenue from Alaska are in what is known as the Pribyloff Islands. St. Paul and St. George, two of the group, now furnish almost all of the seal-skins used in the world. These islands abound with seal, and being the property of the United States, are leased by the government to the Alaska Fur Company. The number of seals killed each year is limited by law to 100,000, and for these a royalty of two dollars each is paid. If the law restricting the number of seals annually killed is strictly enforced, this industry will for many years furnish the chief part of the revenue from Alaska, and constitute the most valuable product of the Territory." FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 1 277 A correspondent of the Portland Oixgonian, writing from Sitka in the summer of 1880, gives the following account of the fish- eries: "Alaska is destined to supply the world with fish. Its waters abound in halibut, herring, cod, and salmon; indeed there is hardly a species of which representatives cannot be found. While those above named exist here in endless profusion, flounders, black bass, rock-cod, trout, and the dehcious eulocous, with other varieties, appear in vast schools, supplying the natives with abundant food at all seasons of the year. "At Klowak, sixty miles from Fort Wrangell, the North Pacific trading and packing company have a large fishery in operation, where during the present year especial attention has been paid to herring. The catch this spring was very successful, the fish being in prime condition, and not only larger in size but of better flavor than ever before sent to market. 1 70 barrels were sent to Pordand for the purpose of introducing the fish to dealers, and if desired ten times that amount could have been secured. " Five miles from the town of Sitka the firm of Cutting & Co. have a large cannery erected where thousands of salmon are put up every year to meet the demand made for Alaska salmon from the Eastern markets. While the salmon from these waters have not the gustable richness, and lack the savory flavor of Columbia river salmon, there are many that prefer the Alaskan species, particularly in the Eastern States and foreign countries. This may be, perhaps, accounted for, in part, for the reason that Columbia river salmon labels find their way on thousands of cans of what is purported to be the genuine article, while in fact their contents are dog-fish. The establishment of Messrs. Cutting & Co. is complete in every detail, and is under the superintendency of Mr. A. Hunter. A large number of white men and Indians find steady employment at the cannery during the summer, and it is remarkable to witness the proficiency attained by some of the Indian boys in making cans. Some idea of the extensive business of this establishment may be had by the shipments made, and this year the superintendent will send 40,000 cases of fish to San Francisco and the Eastern markets. J 278 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. "The catching of cod-fish in Alaskan waters is becominor yearly a more prosperous pursuit, and this season Mr. James Haley, of Fort Wrangell, secured a schooner-load of cod at the Knout-Znu bank, in Chatham straits. He found the bank swarming with fish, but the Indians of that locality, the Knout-znous, are ' hiyu sullux,' over the coming of white men in their waters, refusing to allow the men to fish, performing that work themselves and charging one cent for each and every fish caught. In this way a full load was secured, which is now in process of curation at Wrangell. A ready market for the fish is found at home for supplying the mining camps, the entire cargo being readily dis- posed of at ^100 a ton, delivered at Wrangell. The Alaska cod, when once fairly introduced to Oregon and California mar- kets, will rapidly become a favorite with all lovers of that fish, and in time supplant the eastern-caught fish." Population^ its Nationalities and Character. — We have already stated the probable number of the population, though as no cen- sus has been taken, it is impossible to fix it accurately. Of the 2,200 whites and Creoles reported in 1867 nearly one-half were half-breeds with Indian mothers. The number of whites and Creoles has increased, perhaps, 500 since that time ; but the in- crease has been almost wholly in the half-breeds. The native tribes were divided by General Halleck's report of 1869 into four groups — I. The Koloshian tribes, which occupy the Sitkan Divi- sion, and extend as far as the Atna or Copper river. These tribes, which have been variously estimated at from 800 to 1 5,000 (the latter estimate, however, including the coast Indians of Northwestern British Columbia), are those with which our people have been brought most in contact. They are, like the other Indian tribes of this coast, of the Athabascan family, and origi- nally probably of Mongolian or Northern Tartar stock. They are as a rule more intelligent and possess more mechanical skill than the Dakota or Sioux family, but are more superstitious and idolatrous, and quite as low morally as any of the Indian tribes. Some of these tribes have been hostile to the whites, and have murdered the crews of vessels, but they are now generally peaceful, except when they are intoxicated. They distil a fiery PRINCIPAL TOIVA'S AND VILLAGES. 1270 and wretched rum, which they call " Hoochinoo," from refuse molasses brought there by some of the ships, and become very fiendish and violent under its influence. Missionaries are now laboring among them, and a considerable number have been converted. 2. The Kenaian Tribes, who occupy the whole of the Yukon Division south of the Yukon river. They are more numerous than the preceding, ranging from 1 5,cxx) to 20,000. They are said to be peaceful, quiet and well disposed, though there is not much known of them. 3. The Aleuts. These are the Indians of the islands and the Aliaskaii peninsula. They strongly resemble the Eskimo, and are industrious, honest, peaceable and ready for instruction. 4. The Eskimo, who inhabit the region north of the Yukon river. These, like their fellows of Greenland and the eastern coast, are very industrious, patient and hospitable. General Halleck estimated their number at about 20,000. Later writers think there are not more than 5,000. » Want of Laws and a Legal Government. — There is to-day no legal government in Alaska, and only two laws in force in the Territory, one the revenue law for the collection of customs and the prevention of smuggling, and the other a law prohibiting the importation of liquor into the Territory. There are no efficient means of enforcing even these laws. There is no provision for arresting or punishing a murderer, highway robber or pirate. A few simple laws would be sufficient, but though the attention of Congress has been repeatedly called to the matter by the Secre- tary of the Treasury, nothing has been done. Principal Towns and Villages. — In the Sitkan Division, Sitka, the present capital of the Territory, and Fort Wrangell, are the only important settlements. They have about 1,300 and 800 inhabitants respectively. In the Island Division, St. Paul's, on Kadlak Island, the former capital under the Russians, and Una- lashka, the refitting station and trading post of the Alaska Com- mercial Company, are small villages. In the Yukon District, Fort St. Michael's and Cook's Inlet are the only places of any importance. i28o OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. We have given some notes of the climate of Sitka. Perhaps a few items from the Signal Service reports in relation to a sta- tion at Fort St. Michael's, in Yukon, and Unalashka Island, in the Aleutian Archipelago, may be worth noting : FORT ST. MICHAEL'S, Yukon District, Alaska. Latitude 63° 48'. Longitude 161° o'. Elevation 30 feet. Year AND Months. 1S78. Year July August . . September October . . November December 1879. January. . February. March April May June Temperature. — 21 —30 21.9 St. I 524 46.0 29.1 15.6 16.6 14 9 3-5 13-6 19.0 31-5 46.3 Humidity. 15-6^ 3-48 2.16 per ct. 87 77 —r^^ Barometer. .2 29. •3 29. •4 29. •4 29. •9 29. .0 29, •3 29. .1 30- •7 29. .0 29. 4 29. inches. 734 778 695 707 659 278 763 642 179 751 677 945 UNALASHKA ISLAND, Alaska. Latitude 53° 25'. Longitude 166° 49'. Elevation ab. 20 feet. Temperature. 48.0 40.8 33-5 35-' 34 29,2 32.2 331 Humidity. 8mon. 30-74 The Attractions of Alaska to the summer tourist are very great. At Sitka and its vicinity the midsummer night is almost as attrac- tive as at Tromsoe or the North Cape. At Kotzebue sound it is quite as beautiful. Later in the season the brilliant aurora borealis, or Northern lights, are of unsurpassed beauty and magnificence. Mr. Blaine thus describes the voyage from Nanaimo, the last port of British Columbia, to Sitka: "The picturesque parts of the voyage are found between Na- naimo and Sitka. The steamer sweeps through a narrow strait guarded on either hand by snow-capped mountains, and so nar- row that despite all your knowledge of perspective it seems as if the shores meet as you look up the channel from the bow of CAN ALASKA BE COMMENDED TO IMMIGRANTS? 128 1 the ship. On either side mountains, green at the base and white at the summit, overhang the water. A patch of marble cropping through the trees forms an occasional and welcome spot of color In the monotonous green, and the ripple of a cascade agreeably breaks the stillness which everywhere reigns supreme. For days not a living thing is seen ; no animal upon the land, no Indian on the water, no bird In the air. The waves, washed by the wheel I against the shore, tremble Into silence; the hills which echoed the whistle sullenly grow calm once more, and you seem shut in by the forces of nature, and in th^ power of the genii of sea and strand. There is apathy everywhere, activity nowhere. High up In the sky the sun rolls lazily along, completing the task in twenty hours which elsewhere he accomplishes In fourteen. The nights glitter with weird light. The sunset Is reflected by the sunrise. The west yet glimmers with the streaks of day, while in the east jocund morn stands tiptoe on the misty mountain-top. At 10 at night the finest print Is read with ease, and at 3 in the morning the sun streaming Into the state room wakens you from sleep." We can hardly commend Alaska as a favorable point for emi- grants, unless it be those hardy Norsemen whose constant encounters with the Arctic climate have rendered them proof against its hardships ; but development, though slow in coming, will yet surely reach this far-off land of ice. There will probably be no great change in the climate. Neither wheat nor dairy products will be exported In any large quantity, but the seal and sea-otter furs, and the furs and pelts of land animals, will Increase In value and perhaps In numbers ; the magnificent forests will supplement the fast diminishing timber product of the Pacific coast, and the fisheries will furnish abundant and healthful food to millions who to-day hardly know that Alaska exists. Then there will be a place there for the hardy and adventurous emi- grant, and his toil will be rewarded. 81 PART IV. THE LANDS OUTSIDE OF "OUR "WESTERN EMPIRE." CHAPTER I. THE NORTHWESTERN PROVINCES OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 1. British Columbia — Boundaries — Area — Islands — Soil of Islands and Coast — Soil and Surface of the Interior — Mountains — Rivers — Geol- ogy and Mineralogy — Coal — Gold, Silver, etc. — Fisheries — Timber — Fur-Trade — Population — Indians — Chief Towns — II. The Northwest Territories — Extent — Recent Division — Lakes — Rivers — Mountains — Soil — Climate Warmer than Manitoba — Wild Animals and Game Plenty — Rivers and Lakes Stocked with Fish — Population — Indians — Reli- gion — III. Keewatin — The New Territory — Not much known of it — IV. Manitoba — Its Territory too Small — No Good Reason for this — Its Boundaries — Its Rivers — The Province nearly a Dead Level — Climate — Rainfall — Meteorology of Fort Garry — Agriculture — Conflicting Accounts — Report of an " English Farmer " — Reply of "a Canadian" ■ — Climate very Severe in Winter — Mr. Vernon Smith's Description of THE Rivers and Lakes and their Future Usefulness — Earl Dufferin's Description — Mr. Vernon Smith on the Crops — Later Statistics not available — Transportation — The Canadian Pacific — Its Present Con- dition AND Prospects — Religion — Education, etc. — Principal Towns — Historical Notes — The Red River Settlement — Pembina — Assiniboia — Riel's Revolution — The rapid growth of the Province since it became A Part of the Dominion. I. British Columbia. — This is the most western province of the Dominion of Canada, lying- between the 48th and the 60th parallels of north latitude, and the 114th and the 139th meridians of longitude west from Greenwich. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic portion of the Northwest Territory ; on the east by the same ; on the south by the United States (the Territories of (1282) TOPOGRAPHY OP BRllISIl COLUMBLA. 1283 Washington, Idaho and a small part of Montana) ; on the west by the Pacific Ocean and the Territory of Alaska. Its area is variously stated at from 220,000 to 293,000 square miles. It in- cludes several important islands, as well as many smaller ones. The largest of these, Vancouver Island, was itself at one time a separate province. Among the other important islands are those of the Queen Charlotte group, which contain mines of excellent anthracite coal. The whole coast forms an archipelago, which is continued along the Sitkan Division of Alaska. There is a com- plete sheltered waterway, navigable for the largest steamers, between these islands and the coast, and many of the rivers of the province have extensive estuaries or Jioi'ds, called by the inhabitants " canals," which penetrate far into the interior, walled in by lofty and often perpendicular cliffs. The soil of the islands and of the lands near the sea is very good, and the climate mild, though rainy. In the interior, the surface is extremely rugged and barren, and the climate severe. The main chain of the Rocky Mountains forms the eastern boundary between this and the Northwestern Territory, while the Cascade and Coast Ranges, which unite farther north, here form separate chains of mountains. There are several elevated sum- . mits, ranging from 10,000 to 13,000 or 14,000 feet, but none approaching very near to the Alaskan peaks. The rivers are numerous, and some of them of o-reat size. The Columbia river and its affluents, the Okinakane and the Kootanie, drain the southeastern part of the province, the former flowing through several small lakes in its course ; the Frazer river, rising from two sources, one in the Rocky Mountains, and the other in the Cascade Range, drains the central portion of the province, and discharo-es its waters into the Gulf of GeorLria. On the west side ot the province, a half-dozen considerable streams, among which are the Salmon, the Simpson and the Stickine, find their way from the Cascade Range into the Archipelago. In the north, two important tributaries of the Mackenzie river traverse the valleys between the mountains, and one of them crosses the Rocky Mountains by a low-lying pass from west to east. In the northeast the Finley branch of the Peace river, which falls into 1 2 84 OCR I VES TERN EMPIRE. the Athabasca lake, has its source in the Cascade Mountains, and crosses the Rocky Mountains by another pass near the 56th par- allel. There are numerous lakes in the province. The best harbor is at Esquimault. Vancouver Island and the coast along the Gulf of Georgia would be a good wheat country if the rains were not so profuse. Oats and barley do better, and the root crops are very good. North of this island there is much fine grazing land. The fisheries on the coast are very important. Cod, haddock, herring, halibut, salmon trout, sturgeon, anchovies, and, above all, salmon, are very abundant. There are many- gold mines on the Frazer, Salmon, Simpson and Stickine rivers, and the yield is large. Silver, copper, zinc, and quicksilver are also mined to some extent. There is coal on the mainland, but not of as good quality as that on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Marble of great excellence is found in the southern part of the province. There is an abundance of good timber. This province and Alaska are now, and are likely to be for many years to come, the chief seats of the fur trade. The population of British Columbia in 1871 was: whites, 14,- 043 ; Indians and Creoles, about 36,000. The Indians have not increased materially in the last decade, but the white population now probably exceeds 25,000. The capital is Victoria, in the- southeastern point of Vancouver Island. New Westminster is the next town in size, and is the see of an English bishop. There are a number of torts, but few other towns of considerable size. The province has a lieutenant-governor, and is repre- sented in the Dominion Parliament by three senators and six representatives. II. The Northzvestern Ter^'itories. — This has been until re- cently the titular designation of all that part of the Dominion of Canada which lay north of the United States and west of the province of Ontario and Hudson's bay, except the provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba. The Parliament of 1880, how- ever, made some changes which restrict the extent of this vast and almost unknown domain. It still retains more than 2,000,000 ot square miles; but while it extends from the 49th parallel to the Arctic Ocean, its eastern limit is found in the chain of lakes THE NORTHWESTERN TERRITORIES. 1285 which mark the rim of the Hudson Bay basin — Lake Winnipeg-, Lake Nelson, Deer lake, Lake Wollaston, etc. All the land east of Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg, to the boundaries of On- tario (which have been considerably extended westward and northwestward), are comprised in the new and as yet not fully organized province of Keewatin, or Kewaydin. This vast Territory of the Northwest is but little known except by the hunter and trapper. It is a land of great lakes and mighty rivers. Between the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and the Great Arctic Plain and the rim of the Great Hudson Bay basin stretches the Low Central Plain, which extends from the Arctic Ocean, at the broad delta of the Mackenzie river, south- ward through all the long valley of that river, the Slave river and lake, the Athabasca, the Peace, the Saskatchewan and the Red river, with all the lakes in their course, to the head waters of the Mississippi, in Minnesota (which are not two miles distant from those of the Red river), and thence down the Mississippi Valley to the gulf. Nowhere else in the world is there such a continu- ous valley through the whole length of a continent. The soil of these river valleys is very good, even up to the limit where the cold season is too protracted for most agricultural products. There are great tracts, called barrens, and which deserve the name, where hardy lichens and mosses form the only vegetation ; but the valleys of the Saskatchewan, the Peace river, the Atha- basca and the Nelson, have a good soil, and a climate said to be better than that of Manitoba* or Northern Minnesota. In this valley, as far north as Peace river and Athabasca lake, it is asserted that one-half the prairie land is arable, and most of this is suitable for wheat-growing, or at least for the cultivation of some of the cereals. Along the foothills of the Rocky or Chip- pewayan Mountains the soil is not so good, and the water has a tendency to be alkaline. The northern portion, and, indeed, nearly the whole of this vast Territory, has been the favorite hunting-ground of the Indians, the French voyageurs, and the * Battleford, in latitude 53°, 700 miles northwest of Winnipeg, has a climate averaging seven degrees warmer than that city, and the whole north Saskatchewan Valley is materially warmer than Manitoba. J 286 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Scotch traders and trappers. It is, with the provinces and Terri- tories west of it, the main dependence of the civilized world for furs. Buffalo, beavers, sables, martens, wolves, foxes, bears, otter, fishers, etc., are very numerous, and the uttermost diligence of the hunters and trappers does not materially diminish their num- bers. The musk ox, the polar bear, and the blue and Arctic foxes are found toward the mouth of the Mackenzie river and alone the coasts and islands of the Arctic Archipelago. Deer are abundant in the south and west, and the elk and moose are often seen. Geese, ducks, swans, ptarmigans and various kinds of grouse are found in great quantities on and near the numerous lakes. The lakes and streams are well stocked with fish. The population until 1871 was mainly Indian, with a small number of Canadian-French voyageurs, Scotch, Irish and Ameri- can trappers and hunters, and some half-breeds. Within the last decade, however, the immigration to Manitoba has very largely migrated from that province to the better and dryer lands along the Qui Appelle, or Assiniboine, and the Saskatchewan rivers, and the land has been found well adapted to wheat culture, and the climate more favorable than that of Manitoba. The white popu^ lation of the southern part of the Territory has thus largely in- creased. It was computed in 1871 that there were about 67,000 Indians in the Territory, and not over 1,000 whites. There may be now 10,000 whites in the Territory. The completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway through the southern portion of the Territory within a few years will probably greatly accelerate its growth. Battleford is the capital, though until very recently the lieutenant-governor and the bishop of the diocese resided at Winnipeg, in Manitoba. It is not represented in the Dominion Parliament. III. Keewatin, or Kewavdin. — Of this new and unorganized Territory there is little to be said. It is almost wholly in the basin of Hudson's bay, and its numerous lakes and rivers all drain, directly or indirectly, into that bay. Its southern boundary under the report of the commissioners is not lower than 52° of latitude, and this in that loncritude insures for it a rioorous climate. The Canadian almanacs state its area as about 500,000 RESTRICTED AREA OF MANITOBA. 1287 square miles, of which not more than 30,000 are fit for culture. It is probably a good country for hunters and trappers. VVe have no means of ascertaining its population, though we know it to be mostly Indians and trappers;-'' but the census of the whole Do- minion will be taken during the present year (1881). If there is mineral wealth in this Territory, it is as yet undiscovered. IV. Manitoba. — This province of the Dominion of Canada was organized, with its present boundaries, in 1871. The circum- stances attending its organization probably had much to do with its somewhat restricted area. That in a regfion where it was as easy to carve out a territory or province of 75,000 or 100,000 square miles as of any less extent, and still leave immense tracts of unorganized territory, it does seem surprising that the founders of the province should have contented themselves with an area of only 14,340 square miles, less than one-third of that of Penn- sylvania, and only one-sixth of that of Minnesota, its nearest neighbor on the south. And this wonder is heightened when we find that its present limits exclude almost the whole of the two great lakes, Winnipeg and Manitoba, as well as the large rivers, whose valleys are so fertile, and whose lands are so much more desirable than those Included within its boundaries. The first requisites for a new Territory are : that it shall have an abun- dance of good, arable land, wich large, navigable rivers. If possible; a climate not too moist, even if It is somewhat cold ; and good grazing lands and timber, as well as a large farming area. All of these Manitoba might easily have had by extending Its boun- daries northward and westward. Manitoba Is bounded on the north and west by the Northwest Territory; on the east by Kee- watln, or Kewaydin, which interposes a narrow tract between it and Ontario ; and on the south by the State of Minnesota and the Territory of Dakota, or, as it will speedily be called, the Terri- tory of Pembina. It lies between the parallels of 49° and 50° 30' north latitude, and between the meridians of 96° and 99° west longitude from Greenwich. Its area, as already stated. Is 14,340 square miles, or 9,177,600 acres.f *Whitakei's Almanac for i88l estimates the population at about io,000. f An official statement in Whitaker's Almanac for 1881 gives the area as 13,923 square miles. J 288 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Surface, Soil, and Geology. — The province lies almost entirely in the valley of the Red river, and is nearly a dead level, though rising very gendy toward the south. Lake Winnipeg, on its northern boundary, is a little more than loo feet lower than the Red river where it enters the province on the southern boun- dary ; the surface of the lake being 628 feet above the sea ; Fort Garry, which is at some height above the river banks, 724 feet, while the Red river at Emerson is about 760 feet. So level is the area around Winnipeg that it is often overflowed by the Red river when it is swollen by the melting of the winter snows. West of the river, the streams have cut their way through the yielding soil and flow in deep troughs, or, as they are called in the provincial Canadian voyageur's French, coulees, a corruption of coulisses. The roads, in the spring and autumn especially, are miry and wretched, and animals, carriages, and wagons are fre- quently stuck in the mire. Most of the country where not culdvated is covered with tall, coarse grass. There is a sufficiency of timber in the province for all immediate wants, and the banks of the lakes and rivers outside of the province are heavily wooded. The soil is alluvial, this whole region having once been the bed of a great lake. The floods in the lower Red river may make the soil richer, but they interfere at times very seriously with the crops and with the comfort of the setders. East of the Red river, there is more forest than west of it, and the land is not quite so uniformly level. There are, however, extensive marshes. The climate is remarkably healthful, but the winters are very severe. The rainfall is slightly greater than at Pembina, Dakota, on the southern border, and with the humid atmosphere from the adjacent lakes, is amply sufficient. We give on page 1289 the reports of the Canadian Signal Service of the temperature at Fort Garry, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and as the Canadian authorities do not report the rainfall, we have added that at Pembina, which is only a litde less than that of Fort Garry. Agriculture and Agricidtural Productions. — There is hardly any inhabited region of the globe about which so many conflict- ing- statements have been made, as Manitoba. These contradic- TEMPERATURE AT FORT GARRY. 1289 •— ' S» > f "Tg 1-^ I I" '5 ^ &• 3 O s; c ^ > V' n o 9. XI B. ~ 3 3 n 3 S 2" 5- ■" VO O M vj 0\ CO 00 vo OJ M to W tn On I 1 I I » O O -p. o CO M vo CO o a> ON OO ■«•■ y * 9 P 00 o c^ w MOO Maximum Temperature. INIinimum Temperature. Range of Temperature. Mean Temperature. Rainfall, monthly and annual. •^ o\ cy^ CT\ *sj 0\ 0\ o\ ( Mean Humidity. aS'^n. i^^c ^ < Q ^ '^ "<■ M " 3 3 m g ii vo 00 ^ V4 Ov CO CO -O I I 00 ^a ^3 ov o* 4i. ov CO Maximum Temperature. Minimum Temperature. Range of Temperature. Mean Temperature. Rainfall. Mean Humidity. So o p ;:^ ^ p" § Q- ^1 i>i 4^ to tu M C-n ^ to t»1 ^ >^ M M ^ cr3_ c M Cu (D q^ ^0 ii^ •'J ;:o ■^ to < ^^ ^ ^ tt^ "* ^ C) >~>1 ^ to ^ ^ s- ^ M ;:a < •-^ ^ 0' !r^ ^1 -f^ tu !Z^ to m ^ 1200 ^UR WESTERN EMPIRE. tions concern Its climate, its soil, its farm products and its graz- ing lands, and live-stock. Here are some brief specimens from two Manitoban farmers, one signing himself "an English farmer," the other "a Canadian." "The English farmer" says: " In my opinion a good farming country should possess the following essentials — viz., good soil, a regular succession of sea- sons and a climate that will admit of outdoor work being per- formed during at least eight or nine months in each year." He admits that the land in Manitoba is much of it good, but com- plains that most of that which is worth anything is either " half- breed reserve," or bought up by speculators; and says that if settlers want free-grant land worth working, they will have to go beyond Manitoba into the Northwest Territory to get it. Hav- ing obtained this, he says, the list of advantages becomes ex- hausted, for good land is absolutely all that the Canadian North- west can give the settler. " In the next essential, the regular succession of the seasons, those who come here are woefully disappointed — there being only one season that you can reckon upon with any degree of certainty, and that is a winter extending over more than half the year, and surpassing in its frequency of storms and intensity of cold any region yet discovered outside of the Arctic Circle. It is a winter that Europeans can form no adequate conception of, exceeding in its severity even the cold of Iceland. This is no random assertion, as the following will show : — At the latter end of last winter I was transacting some business with an Icelander, who has been living in Manitoba for the last five years, and in the course of conversation I asked him if it was much colder in Iceland than it was in Manitoba? With a look of mingled aston- ishment and amusement he said : — ' What ! colder in Iceland ? Oh, dear, no ! We not haf so mooch steady cold in Iceland as we haf here in Manitoba.' So if any who happen to read this letter are desirous of coming to a country colder than Iceland let them by all means pack up and start off at once, so as to be in time for the beginning of the ' beautiful winter,' which will soon be upon us.* But if any such be heads of families, I virould urge upon them *This complaint of the severity of the winter climate seems to be well founded. Rev. H *. AN ^^ENGLISH FARMER'S" COMPLAINTS OF MANITOBA. 1291 to spend one winter here themselves before bringing the wife and Htde ones, or, Uke some of us who are here now, they may have to reo-ret with a Hfelong sorrow the folly of bringing delicate or- o-anizations to suffer the rigors of a winter such as only hardy men could hope to endure. It is not only humanity that suffers durino- the winter, but the horses and cattle get into a miserable condidon through the intense cold and poor food. The hand- books for emigrants describe in glowing terms 'the beautiful meadow^s, the vast fields of rich prairie hay.' I have been here since June, 1879, and have travelled during that dme over a con- siderable portion of Manitoba and for some distance into the Northwest Territory, and have not yet met with anything that I could call good hay. There is an abundance of hay here, but it is very inferior ; it is a long, coarse grass, dry and tasteless, hav- ing none of the sweet aroma that good hay always gives out. It is also sadly wanting in nutritive properdes, but what it is deficient here may be made up in bulk, as there is an abundance of it, such as it is. Any one who has had an opportunity of test- ing his teeth upon Manitoba beef can easily understand that the food must be coarse indeed tg produce such hard, dry, almost tasteless meat. "Sheep-farming, sheep-breeding, and wool-growing, are also urged upon the settler as being the most profitable branches of industry the settler with capital can engage in. Estimates are made and long calculations are worked out proving beyond a doubt that there is a fortune in it. What is the truth in reladon to this matter? Just this. Several attempts have been made in this direcdon, but the result has been pretty much the same in every instance that I have heard of — either complete failure or a success that was very little better. I have seen three flocks of sheep since I came here, and of all the ragged, scabby, attenu- ated embodiments of sheep-life they were the worst. I have seen sheep trying to bite a living off a hillside in Spain where there Vandyke, Jr., who visited Manitoba in the autumn of 1879, found very conchisive evidence of it. The table of the Signal Service, page 1289, indicates a very severe winter climate and a brief but hot summer. Think of a climate where the thermometer sinks below zero (and more than 43° below) for five successive months, where the mean temperature is 34°5, and the annual range 138°. J2Q2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. was scarce grass enough for a half-grown rabbit. I have watched the Httle Welsh mountain sheep browsing upon the nourishing refuse of a slate quarry. Yet any of these would have stood forth as veritable Southdowns compared with the sheep I have seen in Manitoba. And then the quality of the mutton! Imagine the flavor of 'seven-day veal' combined with the firmness of fif- teen-year-old male mutton and you have it exactly. Some will wonder why this should be the case. The reasons are simple, but yet they are such as cannot be easily overcome. In the first place the prairie grass is too coarse for sheep. In the next place there is a fatal enemy to sheep here in the form of a weed called 'wild barley.' It seems to be growing all over the prairie. The seed of this weed is scarcely a fourth the size of a barleycorn, and it is armed with a hard, sharp spear. This goes into the sheep and the point breaking remains in the skin, causing contin- uous irritation and pain quite sufficient to prevent sheep trom ever thriving where such a pest prevails. "Another difficulty that the settlers in Manitoba and the North- west will have to contend with is alkali. It is present in such large quantities throughout the soil that the water everywhere is impregnated with it. To such an extent does this prevail in some places that I have frequendy known settlers have to dig five or six wells before they could get one sufficiently free from alkali to admit of its being used. This bad water is, I feel cer- tain, the principal cause of the death of such a large propordon (eight out of every ten) of the horses that are brought into Man- itoba from Ontario and elsewhere, within eighteen months of their arrival. In fact I know of one famil3^ father and sons, who brought fourteen horses with them from Ontario, and in two years there was only one alive out of the fourteen. These are matters that should certainly be made known among intending emicf rants. "When the three seasons — /. c, the spring, summ.er, and au- tumn — are squeezed into some four or five months at the miost, the thoughtful mind will easily realize diat this alone is sufficien; to prevent Manitoba from ever being a good farming country;, for you must bear in rriind that within this four or five months th& LENGTH OF THE COLD SEASON. 1203 whole of the farm work for the year has to be completed. Breaking the sod, backsetting, sowing, planting, fencing, haying, harvesdng, well-digging, house-building, besides a long list of other jobs that cannot possibly be done while land and water lie in the icy grip of winter. All these have to be done in the brief interval occurring between the beginning of June and the middle or end of October. Take the last spring as an instance of the wonderful adaptation of this country for farming. May was nearly gone before spring was really come, and for a fortnight or three weeks after the surface of the ground had thawed the whole country was so saturated that, except in a few instances where the land lay high, it was quite impossible either to plough or sow, and the result was that by the end of seed-time the ma- jority of the farmers of Manitoba had put in only one-half the number of acres of wheat and oats they had intended doing. The consequence of this will be that our farmers, who are heavily indebted to the machine agents for implements of various kinds bought on time, will be unable to meet their notes, and will either have a visit from the sheriff or will be forced to get cash from the money-lenders at from fifteen to twenty per cent., oiv by giving a mortgage on their property they may get the money at twelve percent, and this I am assured is already the condition of more than half the farmers of Manitoba. This state of thines is not at all surprising when we consider that the resources of the country are limited to the producdon of wheat, oats, pota-, toes and beets." As a means of health and enjoyment for the family, as well as a source of profit to the farmer, fruit culture, where practicable, is really a necessity. The Clerk of the Legisladve Assembly, Mr. Thomas Spence, in a book for emigrants endded " Prairie Lands of Canada," asserts " that there is no reason why every farm may not have its orchard in this as in other parts of the Dominion." The "English farmer" replies, "If Manitoba is so well adapted to the growth of fruit, how is it that at the Provincial Agri- cultural Exhibition, held at Portage la Prairie in October, 1879, the whole display of Manitoba-grown fruit amounted to two I2Q4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. plates of crab apples almost as large as walnuts — having a smell and taste that would give any one the idea that they were grown in a bed of iron filings and watered with vinegar? "The general testimony of those I have met, who have been here five, six, and seven years, is that ' scarcely any of the fruit-trees planted here outlive the second winter.' This is no hearsay, but the testimony of men thoroughly conversant with fruit culture, who have tried over and over again to grow apples, pears, peaches, etc., but always with the same results — failure and dis- appointment. I met with a nursery agent here last spring, who told me that he had sold several thousand fruit trees of various kinds during his trip through Manitoba, but he rather thought he should not come again, for from what he saw and heard of the winter he should not expect to find any of the trees alive next year. So the settler in Manitoba will save time and money by leaving the fruit trees alone, as an orchard here is totally out of the question." Per contra, a "Canadian" says, of the climate: "As to Manitoba it possesses a climate exactly the same as Minnesota, at Moorehead, or Dakota, at Fargo. The winters are known to be severe, that is, as the thermometer shows; but they are probably less trying than the more humid winters on the seaboard. The snowfall is very light, not more than a foot and a half. The horses of the country gra^ out all winter ; and sometimes, after havino- been turned out in the fall, return in the spring with increased numbers, from the mares having foaled. They paw the light, mealy snow off the grass and find plenty of nutritious food." Of the lands, he says, "They are contiguous to those of Minne- sota and Dakota, and the same, being only separated by an as- tronomical line. If there is any difference in as far as the lands themselves are concerned, it is that the farther you proceed down the Red river of the North, say from the point of Moorehead or Fargo, the nearer you get to what was undoubtedly in previous eeoloeic aijes the centre of the ofreat lake which at one time covered the whole of this territory, and the deeper you find the alluvium resting on a lacustrine clay formation. This fact gives THE MANITOBAN MARSHY LANDS VERY VALUABLE. i2ge the advantage to Manitoba, although it is undoubted that the banks of the river above the boundary Hne are of the same for- mation. This deep alluvium, held by a closely retentive clay sub-soil, has been enriched by ashes from fires, decaying vegeta- tion and the droppings by animals and birds, for ages, until it has naturally become the richest on the face of the globe, and especially adapted to the growth of wheat. It would be folly for anybody to attempt to deny this fact, so well known to thou- sands and susceptible of such easy proof. "The country is, however, quite new, and English farmers may find many things which are both new and strange to them; for instance, the roads are of the most primitive kind, and in the early spring, when the snow and frost go away, before the sur- face dries, it is not so easy to drive over them as it is over the roads of the Central Park, New York. But as the season ad- vances they do dry, and then the roads become as smooth and hard as any in the world. All this is fully stated in the gov- ernment pamphlets referred to, and the very clearest and fullest warnings are given to emigrants as to the kind of difficulties they may have to encounter. A section of the Canadian Pacific Railway, loo miles west of Winnipeg, will be completed this fall; and this will open up very great facilities for setders along its line. " There are undoubtedly many marshes in the province of Man- itoba, and these are very fully set forth in the government pam- phlets and maps. But they are all susceptible of very easy drainage ; and large drainage operations are now being carried on by the provincial government, under an arrangement with the Dominion government. Your correspondent says that these can- not be drained because the rivers are too near the level of the prairies. A difference of four feet is given. It is folly to make such an assertion as this in the face of the fact that the Red river and the Assiniboine have cut their winding ways very deep below the level of the prairies, twenty-five or thirty feet at the very least, and there are everywhere natural coulies entering these rivers, making the task of drainage very easy and inexpen- sive, while the land so drained will become the most valuable in the province and naturally the richest in the world. i2q6 our western empire. "As to the government land regulations, It is perhaps not of very much interest to discuss these at length in your cokimns; but in view of the reference your correspondent has made to them, perhaps you will permit me to say that they are the same as those of the United States government, with the exception that the fees are a little less. Any man can get a homestead of 1 60 acres free on any unoccupied surveyed government lands on condition of three years settlement, and he can pre-empt 160 acres more. The lands granted for railway purposes are sold in the same way as in the United States. The government lands open for free settlement are divided in alternate sections with the railway lands. The ' eighty acre ' restriction, to which your correspondent refers, was done away with about a year ago." It seems, however, that there is some ground of complaint even now, in regard to land grants in Manitoba, and the migra- tion of some large bands of Mennonites across the line to Minne- sota and Dakota on this account the last year would indicate that there had been some favoritism, at least. The descriptions of the region north and west of Manitoba by Mr. Vernon Smith in the "Nineteenth Century," and by Lord Dufferin, at Winnipeg, are very eloquent, and though perhaps a little overstated are worthy of quotation here : "In the very centre of this great Dominion of Canada, equi- distant from the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean, and mid- way in the other direction between the Atlantic and Pacific, lies the low depression of Lake Winnipeg, 300 miles long, fifty to sixty miles wide — the future Black Sea of Canada. Its shape is roughly a parallelogram lying north and south ; at three of its four corners it receives the waters of a large river; the main trunk of a hundred smaller ones. At the remaining northeast angle a fourth and larger river — the Dardanelles of the system — conveys the accumulated waters of nearly a million square miles into Hudson's bay. This Lake Winnipeg receives the drainage of the future wheat-field of the world. The Red River of the North, with its affluents, the Assiniboine, the Ouiappelle, the Red Lake river, the Souris and a score of others, discharge their waters into it throuofh the sfrass-covered deltas at the southwest ano;le. At EARL DUFFERIN ON WINNIPEG LAKE AND ITS RIVERS. 1297 rilfe southeast, and only twenty-five miles distant along the shores of the lake, the large, impetuous river, which gives its name to the fresh-water sea into which it rushes, pours its wild majestic flood from the Lawrentian highlands, which separate the waters of Lake Superior and the affluents of the St. Lawrence from those that seek Lake Winnipeg. In Lord Dufferin's speech at the capital of Manitoba, he describes so felicitously this noble river that any * more meagre description than his appears almost presumptuous. After describing the route of the traveller from Lake Superior up the Kamanistaguia, over the height of land, down the beautiful Rainy river into the loVely Lake of the Woods — " * For the last eighty miles of his voyage (he says) he will be consoled by sailing through a succession of land-locked channels, the beauty of whose scenery, while it resembles, certainly excels the far-famed Thousand Islands of the St^ Lawrence. From this lacustrine Paradise of sylvan beauty we are able at once to trans- fer our friend to the Winnipeg, a river whose existence in the very heart of the continent is in itself one of nature's most de- lightful miracles, so beautiful and varied are its rocky banks, its tufted islands ; so broad, so deep, so fervid is the volume of its waters, the extent of their lake-like expansions and the tremen- dous power of their rapids.' "The Winnipeg, in its short but picturesque course of 1 25 miles from the Lake of the Woods, falls 500 feet, and though not navi- gable, in consequence, for steamers, was for over two centuries the route by which all the trade of the interior continent was con- ducted by the great fur companies from and to their depots at Mackinaw and Montreal. The Lake of the Woods itself is a noble expanse of water, and with its 2,000 islands offers some lovely places for setdement. At th^ outlet to the river an Ice- landic colony has been lately formed, and its Indian name of Keewatin has been attached now to the whole province, which covers the area between the old province of Ontario and Mani- toba, the pioneer of the new western provinces. "This (the Winnipeg) is the body of water that falls into the southeastern angle of Lake Winnipeg. Passing now to the northwest corner of the same inland reservoir, the mouths of the 82 J2g8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. two rivers being diagonally across the lake, about 275 miles apart, we find another great river — the Danube of North Amer- ica — stretching its long twofold channel, each 1,000 miles in kngth, to the foot of the Rocky Mountains of the West. This is the Saskatchewan, whose two arms or branches, rising not very far asunder in the great backbone of the continent, gradually di- verge until the distance between them is over 300 miles, and then converging up, finally join at a point ']']2i miles from the source* of the north branch, and 810 by the south branch, from whence the united stream runs 282 miles to its debouchure in Lake Win- nipeg, making the total length from the lake 1,054 miles by one branch, and 1,092 by the other, to their sources in the Rocky Mountains. Both these rivers run their whole length through the prairie land of the Northwest, and it is from isolated settlements on these rivers, such as Prince Albert and Carlton, that the largest returns of agricultural yields have been received. Both rivers are navigable throughout, excepting the three and a half miles near the mouth, where the river passes over rapids and falls of a total height of forty-four feet into the lake. Last year the Hudson's Bay Company constructed a tramway four miles long to overcome these obstructions, and they also placed a steamer, the ' North- cote,' at the head of this tramway, which during the season made five double trips from the Grand Rapids to Carlton, 550 miles, and one trip up to Edmonton, over 1,000 miles from the lake, along the north branch. " Last season a second steamer was placed on the river, and during the year the navigation of both branches was thoroughly tested. The two Saskatchewans drain what is especially known as the ' fertile belt,' containing not less than 90,000,000 acres of as fine wheat land as can be found in any country. '• Such are the three main rivers that pour their accumulated waters into Lake Winnipeg, all of them of a size and capacity which in Europe would class them as first-class rivers. Their united length, with their most important affluents, is not less than ■10,000 miles, of which, certainly, 4,000 are available for steam navigation. The outlet of this magnificent and comprehensive water system is the large but little known Nelson, which, issuing CAN OCEAN STEAMERS ASCEND THE NELSON? 1299 from the northeast angle of the lake, discharges its surplus waters into Hudson's bay. This river — broad, deep, first-class in every respect — may have probably an important bearing on the future prospects of this northern section of America. Lake Winnipeg is 700 feet above the ocean level; as far as known the Nelson has neither rock, nor shoal, nor excessive rapid to interfere with its navigation by properly constructed steamers. Its even gradual slope of twenty inches to the mile is not more than is constantly and safely worked on other American rivers. The Upper Mis- souri and Yellowstone, with far worse water to contend with, were constandy navigated in 1877 by twenty-seven steamers; whilst the old Danube at its Iron Gate has water quite as strong to contend with, and not half the breadth and depth of water for a vessel to pick her way in. The question remains to be solved whether this river is really available or not for ocean steamers to work through to the lake above, and, if not, whether the lake .steamers can be trusted to bring their cargoes down with a cer- tainty of being able to reascend again. The outlet of Nelson river is a harbor, a mile wide, and with any depth of water. It is called Port Nelson, and not very far from it is the old York Fac- tory, for a long time the head-quarters of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, and from which, for the last 200 years, from two to five vessels have annually sailed for England, and not unfrequently under the convoy of a man-of-war. Port Nelson, although situ- ated in ninety-three degrees of west longitude, in the very heart of the continent, is eighty miles nearer to Liverpool than New York is. For four certainly, probably five months in the year, it is as clear of ice as any other of the North Atlantic ports. There is no question about its accessibility for ordinary ocean steamers from June to October, and it only remains to be proved whether these same vessels cannot force their way up the great Nelson river and load their cargoes directly at the mouth of the Saskatchewan, the Red river or the Winnipeg, in the very centre and heart of this great wheat-field of the Northwest, where 200,- 000,000 acres now await the advent of the farmer to be rapidly brought into cultivation. " Mr. Vernon Smith says of the yield of cereal and root I^OO O^R WESTERN EMPIRE. crops in this Northwestern region, not confining his statements, it will be observed, to Manitoba : The fact established by clima- tologists, that the cultivated plants yield the greatest products near the northernmost limit at which they grow, is fully illustrated in the productions of the Canadian Territories ; and the returns from Prince Albert and other new settlements on the Saskatche- wan show a yield of 40 bushels of spring wheat to the acre, averaging 63 pounds to the bushel, whilst one exceptional field showed 68 pounds to the bushel, and another lot of 2,000 bushels weighed 66 pounds, producing respectively 46 and 42^ pounds of dressed flour to the bushel of wheat. In southern latitude? the warm spring develops the juices of the plants too rapidly. They run into stalk and leaf, to the detriment of the seed. Corn maize, for example, in the West Indies runs often thirty feet high, but it produces only a few grains at the bottom of a spongy cob too coarse for human food. " Whatever be the cause, the ascertained results in this new- Northwest seem to prove that its soil possesses unusually pro- lific powers. In 1877 carefully prepared reports were made by thirty-four different settlements, and although lessened in many cases by circumstances local and exceptional — as, for instance, a series of very heavy rain-storms which caught the wheat just as it was ripening — the yields per acre were : Of wheat, from 25 to 35 bushels, with an average of 32^ ; barley, from 40 to 50, aver- age 42^ ; oats, 40 to 60, average 51 ; peas average 32^, pota- toes 229, and turnips 662 bushels to the acre. Individual cases were enumerated of 100 bushels of oats per acre, barley as high as 60 bushels, and weighing from 50 to 55 pounds to the bushel. Potatoes have yielded as high as 600 bushels to the acre, and of a quality unsurpassed, as are all the root crops. Turnips have yielded 1,000 bushels to the acre, 700 being com- mon, whilst cabbage, cauliflower and celery grow to an enormous size, and of excellent quality and flavor." We regret that we are unable to procure later statistics of the crops of the Northwestern wheat region. The earlier crops on these northern alluvial prairies are generally much larger than later ones. But for spring wheat and some of the other cereals THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. j^or there Is probably no more prolific region than the Red River Valley and the Saskatchewan country. Transportation. — As yet the larger part of the grain product of Manitoba finds a market by way of the railway which connects Winnipeg with the Northern Pacific, and then carries it either to Duluth or Chicago. What may be its route when the Canadian Pacific is completed to the Saskatchewan country, or when the ocean steamers shall ascend the Nelson from Hudson's bay to Lake Winnipeg,, cannot now be predicted. The Canadian Pacific Railway demands a notice as one of the five great trunk lines now constructed or in process of construc- tion to the Pacific coast. It has been for some years in progress, but has been embarrassed by the lack of means and efficient gov- ernment aid. It is now taken up by an association of English and American capitalists, the Dominion government rendering liberal assistance by land grants, subsidies, and the gift to the company of the portions of the road already completed. The chief points of the compact are alleged to be : The total length of the projected system is to be 2,200 miles, of which it may be said that 600 miles are either completed or under construction. The government, it is announced, are pre- pared to grant a subsidy of ^20,000,000 in cash, payment to be spread over the period of ten years, assumed to be necessary for the construction of the line, an amount equal to $10,000 per mile, or about one-third of the estimated cost. A further grant will be made of 35,000,000 acres of land, to be located in alter- nate sections along the route, as was done in the case of the Union and Central Pacific companies. The 600 miles under con- struction will be handed over to the company without cost. Two hundred and twenty-two miles more were placed under contract before the new company took charge of it. The total cost is estimated at <^64,750,ooo. A submarine telegraph from Vancouver's Island to Yeddo, Japan, is also projected as a part of this system of communication. Religion, Education, etc, — Manitoba has a large Roman Cath^' olic population, that religious system having been long ago estab- ' lished here by the missionaries among the Indians. A Roman 1302 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Catholic archbishop has his see at St. Boniface. There is also an Anglican bishop, whose see is at Fort Garry. The board of edu- cation is composed of equal numbers of Catholic and Protestant members. Separate schools are established, and are maintained partly by fees and assessments and partly by a provincial grant, St. John's College (Anglican) and St. Boniface's (Roman Cath- olic) were incorporated in 1872. There is a very considerable Scotch- Presbyterian element in the population, and Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists and Mennonites are also represented in the province. Principal Tow7is. — Winnipeg, the capital, has grown up around Fort Garry within the past decade. It is reported as having about 1 2,000 inhabitants, and has considerable business and enterprise. St. Boniface, Selkirk, Shelley, Emerson, Arnaud and Dufrost an* growing towns. Historical Notes. — Manitoba is the northern part of the regioi\ purchased by Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, in 18 10, from the Hudson's Bay Company. He planted here the famous " Red River Settlement," called also "Pembina," and later "Assiniboia." The first settlers here were Scotch Highlanders. In 181 5 a con- siderable number of Canadians, of English, Scotch and French descent, and some half-breed Indians, joined the colony. When, some years later, the United States boundary line was run through, it was found that the greater part of the colony was south of that line, and especially that what are now Pembina, Dakota, and St. Vincent, Minnesota, were peopled by these colonists. Meanwhile the population did not increase rapidly, owing to tlie attacks of the Northwest Company, then hostile to the Hud- son's Bay Company, the severity of the winters, and repeated destructive visitations of grasshoppers, which destroyed their crops. The Hudson Bay Company at length took possession of so much of the colony as remained north of the boundary, and established a local government, with the title of "The Council of Assiniboia," which continued to administer the eovernment till March, 1871. In 1869 and 1870 there was a movement to transfer the authority to the Dominion of Canada, then just THE CLASSES WHO PREFER NOT TO GO WEST. 1 303 organized. This was opposed by the French Canadians and half-breeds, and under a Canadian-French leader, Louis Riel, they organized an armed resistance, took possession of the treas- ury, and imprisoned many of their opponents. In July, 1870, an armed force from Canada appeared in the province, captured the insurgent leaders, and gave opportunity for an elective govern- ment, which soon united with the Dominion, and is represented in the Dominion Parliament. The growth of the province since that time has been rapid. CHAPTER II. EOUES FOR IMMIGRANTS ON THE ATLANTIC SLOPE. Why many Immigrants do not like to go to the West— Views of many of OUR own People on the Subject— Are there not Homes for these on .THE Atlantic Slope?— Advantages of the East— Wisconsin and Michi- gan—Ohio, Indiana and Illinois — Tennessee— Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont — Massachusetts and Connecticut— Northern Nkw Yo^k — Long Island — Advantages of New System of Ensilage here and in New Jersey— New Jersey— The Southern Counties— West Virginia —North Carolina— East Tennessee— Northern Georgia— Florida- Conclusion. While we have given a full and fair description of the advan. tages which the West offers to the intending immigrant, and have demonstrated its superiority to any other portion of the globe which is now inviting immigration, we are not unmindful of the fact that there are very many of the nearly 600,000 immigrants who have landed on our shores during the past year to whom the continuation of their journey to the far West is either a very great hardship or an impossibility. They have friends in the Eastern States, who are comfortably situated, and who desire to have them near them ; or they are somewhat advanced in life and have but scanty means, which would be entirely exhausted on reaching the West ; or they have children or grandchildren whose homes are on the Atlantic slope, and to whom they would be again united ; or they are not in robust health, and the Western lands I304 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. seem SO far, the climate so unlike that to which they have been accustomed, and all the little comforts of an old civilization have become so indispensable to them, that they dread, as those ad- vanced in life always do, the privations to which they will be ex- posed. These things did not seem so real and formidable when they were on the other side of the Atlantic as they do now; and if they persist in going West, these matters will grow more and more distasteful to them, till they develop into a genuine home- sickness and serious discontent. There are also very large numbers of our Eastern people who, after all, make up the larger part of the emigration to the West, who, for one reason or another, while they do not care particu- larly about going to the West, prefer some change, and for many reasons, would be better satisfied with an Eastern than a Western location. Their friends and acquaintance are here. They can find here good schools and churches, the land is all broken, ready for their crops, and there is a home market, readily accessible, where they can sell at fair prices all they have to sell, and buy at a reasonable rate all they need to buy. It is from these classes that we oftenest hear the inquiry: " Is there not some region east of the Mississippi where, all things being taken into the account, a man or a family can live as well and make as much money as in the West, and at the same time avoid the hardships, inconveniences and discomforts of a life on the frontier ? " We answer: That depends upon several considerations; money is not made quite as rapidly in agricultural and pastoral pursuits in the East as in the West, because a larger capital is required for extensive operations, and it is more difficult to pro- cure the necessary quantity of land ; but with the same resolute will, there is nothing impossible (as Kossuth says) to him who wills ; and the achievement of a great fortune is not a task which is more impossible to a resolute spirit at the East than at the West. It is also to be considered that many men are not ambi- tious to accumulate large fortunes, if to do this they must forego all the comforts and pleasures of society for a considerable time. To them a competence is the extent of their ambition, and with DESIRABLE LOCATIONS ON THE ATLANTIC SLOPE. ^-ijQt it, if they can have friends, society and abundant advantages of intellectual and moral culture, they are as happy as men well can be in this life. To these classes we have to say: You will find a larger meas- ure of enjoyment east of the Mississippi than you would west of it. There is the same choice of occupations here as at the West. Land is not quite so low, generally, but on the other hand you avoid the long and expensive journey to the West. The agri- cultural production, under favorable circumstances, does not differ materially; but there prices are low and the cost of trans- portation to a better and higher market is very heavy, while here you have a market almost at your doors, and that one which pays the highest price for produce. If there is a difference, as there certainly is in some sections, the Eastern climate is healthier, neither the heat nor the cold so oppressive, the rainfall sufficient to prevent any apprehension of a drought, the insect pests much less formidable, and the danger from malarial fevers less serious. The intensity of the cold of winter is greater in the northern tier of States and Territories of the West than in the middle Atlantic States, and the heat of the Southwestern States and Territories in summer has no parallel in the East. " But where," it may be asked, " are these lands which are so desirable?" It is, we answer, hardly possible to go amiss of them. Wisconsin and Michigan are as truly States for immi- grants as Iowa and Minnesota; more so than Missouri. North- ern Wisconsin and the Northern Peninsula of Michigan have, it is true, a severe winter climate, though not more so than North- ern Minnesota or Dakota, and in general the winter mean temperature is not lower than that of Iowa. In both States there are good lands, yielding with proper culture as large crops of wheat, barley, oats, and, in ordinary seasons, Indian corn, and as many bushels of the root crops as the trans-Mississippi States. In both these States there are extensive grazing lands, and both stock-raising and dairy-farming are already conducted on an ex- tensive scale. Both States are rich in minerals ; gold and silver are found in moderate quantities ; but copper, zinc, iron and lead abound, and so nearly pure as to be easily reduced; while the 1306 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. rarer metals are found in ample quantities. Coal is less abun- dant as yet, but the immense forests furnish not only vast amounts of timber and lumber, but all the fuel which will be required for many years. Those who prefer the isolation of a new country can find homes here reasonably free from neighbors, while their crops can be speedily conveyed to market at a very moderate cost. Ohio, Indiaiia and lUuiois have now no desirable government lands for sale, but there are valuable State lands (school and swamp lands), and Illinois especially has yet some excellent rail- road lands which can be purchased at moderate prices. A skilful farmer, buying his land low, can always be sure of making his farm pay in either of these States. There are also extensive coal and iron mines in all three. Portions of Kentucky are desirable for immigrants, but both Middle and Eastern Temiessee are more so. The soil is not as rich as in some of the Western States, but there is a close clay sub-soil, and the land retains and is permanently benefited by manures, and under their influence yields liberal crops. There is much heavy timber, and most of the land has to be cleared before cultivation. Hitherto much of this region, especially the Cum- berland Plateau of Middle Tennessee, has been inaccessible to markets; but now railroads have been built, and several colonies have established themselves there. One of these, sent out under the direction of an association of which Thomas Hughes, M. P., (" Tom Brown at Rugby ") is President, have founded a colony called Rugby, and are making very fair progress in developing the region, for the time which has elapsed since their colonial enterprise was commenced. The English members of the colony are satisfied that they can accumulate property much faster than they could have done in England. East Tennessee has not a rich soil, but its mineral wealth is very great, especially in coal and iron of the best quality. There are also some gold and silver ores, though the mining for them is only moderately profitable. These mineral deposits exist throughout the region occupied by the Appalachian chain of mountains, and render West Virginia, Western North and Sozith LONG ISLAND AS A HOME FOR IMMIGRANTS. 1307 Cai'olina, and Northei'n Georgia arid Alabama desirable localities for those who desire to engage in mining, or who prefer to prose- cute the timber or lumber trade. But while the principal deposits of gold and silver are found in North Carolina, South Carolina and Northern Georgia, West Virginia and East Tennessee have the most inexhaustible resources in coal, iron and lime in close proximity to each other and to the railways ; and the best salt springs and petroleum springs and wells in the country, with large tracts of black walnut and other hard-wood timber. When cleared, the lands with proper tillage yield good crops, and will continue to do so permanently. East of the Alleghany or Appalachian range there are many desirable localiues. In Mame the Scandinavians, Finns and Northern Russians will find a climate much like their own, an abundance of timber, and land which, with good farming, will yield fair crops. The other New England States have many old farms which are capable of becoming profitable under intelligent cultiva- tion. There are here also opportunides for employment for me- chanics and operatives in manufactories. In Northern New York the vast area known as the " North Woods," " John Brown's Tract," "The Adirondacks," etc., offers some desirable lands to an industrious farmer. The country is well watered, and its numerous lakes abound in fish and its forests in deer and other game. With the completion of some projected roads, it will be easily accessible. But the best region for immigrants in the State of New York is on Lofig Island, and mainly in Suffolk county. It seems almost incredible that 600,000 acres of land, lying between thirty- five and ninety miles from New York city, the best and most inexhaustible market in the world, with a good soil, a very , healthful climate, well watered, and having a sufficient but not excessive annual rainfall, should, from the apathy of its owners lie unimproved, and be at the present time for sale at from five to fifteen dollars per acre. And the wonder is all the greater, when we find that a railroad passes through the whole length of this tract, with several branches, and that no part of it is more than twelve miles from the railroad, and much of it within from one to I30S <^^'>^ IVESTFIN EMPIRE. five miles of it, and that this railroad is now offering ever}' facility to farmers to transport their produce to market, and to brini^f from the city the needed fertilizers. The shores of the island abound in the best qualities of edible fish, oysters, clams, mussels, scollops, lobsters, crabs, etc., and the game-birds and four-footed game of the whole region are abundant. On the island are forty factories for the production of oil from the menhaden, and the fi; h-scrap, or guano, one of the best fertilizers known, is now sent away from the island, because there is little or no demand for it there. This apathetic condition is now passing away and the Long Island farms are in demand. The land can be cleared at from five to ten dollars per acre, some of the timber being large enough for building purposes or for railroad ties. It will yield from twenty-five to thirty-five bushels of wheat, or from twenty to twenty-eight bushels of rye, to the acre, from 250 to 350 bushels of potatoes of the best quality, and with good cultivation and fair manuring, the whole region can be transformed into market gardens, fruit orchards, and strawberry, blackberry and raspberry lands of the greatest productiveness, and for all these products there is an unfailing demand, at the highest prices, in New York and Brooklyn and the cities adjacent. This is a very paradise for the market-gardener. The great cities of New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City and Newark, and the smaller cities and towns of Hoboken, Bergen, Bayonne, Long I.sland City, Yonkers, Garden City, Breslau, Hempstead, Flush- ing, Jamaica and Huntington — having together a population of two and a half millions — are all largely dependent upon this re- gion for market-garden produce. The great summer resorts of Coney Island, Rockaway Beach, Long Beach, Fire Island, Mon- tauk, etc., all on Long Island, which are visited by more than two millions of people every season, furnish additional markets for all the fruits, vegetables and root crops which can be raised. The new system of Ensilage is destined to work wonders on these Long Island and New Jersey lands.* By its use and the * Ensilage is the name given to a preparation of green forage plants for winter feeding. Thie plants may be corn (the taller and larger growing varieties preferred), cut when it is " in the &ilk ;" A'£IF JERSEY AS A HOME FOU IMMIGKAXTS. 1309 soiling of the cattle in summer a farmer can keep a dairy nerd of from eighty to one hundred cows on a farm of fifty acres, and raise in addition at least ^2,500 or ^3,000 worth of market vegetables and small fruits, while in the West, on the old system, he would require at least 640 acres for the same purpose. At the same time, the large amount of manure produced will enable him to keep his whole farm in the highest condition for produc- tiveness. The system is very simple, and not beyond the means of even the poor emigrant; for the returns are so speedy that the cost of the necessary structures can be paid for from the milk receipts of the first year. The island affords also great opportunities for successful manu- facturing. The great city of Brooklyn, at its western extremity, has more than *^2 50,000,000 invested in manufacturing, and ther<^ is now rapid progress in the establishment of manufactories in the counties of Queens and Suffolk. The climate of Long Island is healthful and mild, the mean annual temperature being 50° and the extremes 98° or rarely 100°, and zero, or at lowest — 5°. The cool sea-breezes moderate, the summer heat and mitiofate the winter's cold. Another region which possesses exceptional advantages for fruit-culture and market-gardening and dairy-farming is Southern New Jersey. The Secretary of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor and Industry of New Jersey furnishes us the following interesting facts relative to this reg^ion. " There are more than a million acres of uncleared lands in the eight southern counties of New Jersey, which can be purchased at from five to twenty dollars per acre. They have been held by large proprietors, and most of them have their tides direct from the "Lords Proprietors," Penn, Fenwick, Byllinge and others, who received their q^rants from Charles II. These e^reat Alfalfa, Hungarian grass, Egyptian rice corn, pearl millet or sorghum. Either should be sowed very thick and cut up at the roots, chopped up, ears and all, into pieces an inch and a half in length and then placed in a close pit with cemented walls and floor, trampled down well till the pit (which is called a silo) is well filled, when it is covered with six inches of straw, and upon this are laid heavy planks, jointed or tongued and grooved, and heavy weights put upon the top either of stone or grain. It keeps perfectly and is fed through the winter, rendering any use of hay unnecessary. I3IO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. estates are now broken up, and the use of anthracite and other coals for the furnaces and glass-works, and for fuel, has rendered their former business less productive. The soil of these lands is good, a light loam, but easily culti- vated ; it can be readily fertilized by the use of marl, which is abundant in the immediate vicinity, and is worth from ^i to $1.75 per ton ; lime, which is worth from twelve to fifteen cents a bushel ; or fish guano, which is a very powerful manure, worth from ^15 to ^18 per ton. It will produce almost any crop which you may desire to cultivate, and yields fine crops of the cereals and Indian corn (thirty to sixty bushels of the latter), root crops, melons, market-garden vegetables of excellent quality, fruit of great excellence, and all the small fruits. Railroads traverse all these counties, and both New York and Philadelphia furnish ex- cellent markets. The climate is very mild, the mean annual range of the ther- mometer being only 435^°, the mean average being about 51°, and the extremes being about 90° and 15° Fahrenheit. The rainfall is about forty-eight inches. Ploughing can be done every month in the year. The culture of the grape is a favorite industry, and the grape attains great perfection from the long season without frost. The region is remarkably healthy and free from all malarious influences. It is especially commended for sufferers from pulmonary complaints. Here are glass-works, silk factories, iron mines, artificial-stone works, iron furnaces, and a great variety of other manufacturing and mining industries. There are desirable lands at moderate prices also in Central Pennsylvania, Northern Maryland, and large tracts of some of the best lands the sun shines on, though now exhausted by the slovenly farming of the period before the war, in Virginia. These lands can be easily reclaimed, and can be bought at reasonable prices. The lands in Eastern North Carolina, though fertile, are very often subject to malarial fevers. Where they can be freed from these by drainage or the extensive planting of the Eucalyptus, there are no better farming lands on the Atlantic coast. CONCLUSION. J,, I Florida has received more emigrants and settlers from the North than any other Southern State. Its fine dimate, which has had quite as much reputation as it deserves for the rehef of pulmonary diseases, its orange culture, and its fine hunting and fishing, have been its great attractions. The cultivation of the orange has been gready developed, and is profitable to those who can wait for the maturity of the orange groves. They should not be permitted to bear a full crop till they are ten years old, and from the tenth to the thirtieth year they are very profitable. At long intervals, however, a severe frost destroys the fruit, and kills or blights many of the trees. The present winter (1880- 1881) has been most destructive to the crop. Some parts of the peninsula are subject to malarial diseases. I hear the tread of pioneers Of nations yet to be ; The first low wash of waves, where soon Shall roll a human sea. I hear the far-off voyager's horn ; I see the Yankee's trail — His foot on every mouniain-pass, On every stream his sail. Behind the scared squaw's birch canoe, The steamer smokes and raves, And city lots are staked for sale Above old Indian graves. The rudiments of empire here Are plastic yet and warm ; The chaos of a mighty world Is rounding into form ! — J. G. Whittier. Our task is done, our work completed. For the first time since we became a nation has an attempt been made to portray with accuracy and completeness of detail, the region beyond the Mississippi. We have sought to show its vast extent, its mineral wealth, its varied climate, the bountiful production of its fields of golden grain, the flocks and herds on its myriad hills and moun- tain slopes, its rapid progress in civilization and material devel- opment, the manner of men who are occupying this vast empire of the future, their advance in population, organization, education, morals and reliorion. We have shown the phenomena which I3I2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. make this Western Empire the wonderland, not alone of the globe, as it is to-day, but of all the ages ; we have uncovered the graves of the geologic races of animals, and described the mon- sters of the ages before there were any measurements of time ; and we have searched the leaves of unwritten history to learn something of the races who reared, ages ago, the temples and shrines, the fortresses and towers, which are now without record or inhabitant. And not content with this, but looking forward to that not dis- tant future, when this continent, from the Arctic sea to the Mexi- can gulf, and from Atlantic's surf-beat to the pulsating waves of the Pacific, shall all be part and parcel of the mightiest and grandest of empires ; we have briefly sketched the provinces of the Frozen Zone, and the western portion of that Dominion to the north of us, to whom we stretch forth the hand of welcome ; and yet more briefly, have noticed the advantages which still attract immigrants to our Atlantic States. The efforts of the railroad companies. State boards and emi- gration societies to picture each State and Territory with which they were connected as an earthly paradise, and the unwarranta- ble depreciation of the lands of other organizations, in which they and others have indulged, have been ahke foreign to our purpose ; and having nothing but the truth to utter, we have sought to " nothino- extenuate, nor set down auQ^ht in malice." That this fair land may develop far more rapidly than it has done in the past, in wealth, intelligence and virtue, is our most earnest wish and prayer ; and then shall we rejoice to realize the truth of the just uttered prediction of the genial and witty Holmes : " I see the living tide roll on ; It crowns with flaming towers The icy cape of Labrador, The Spaniard's land of flowers. It streams beyond the splintered ridge That parts the Northern showers; From Eastern rock to sunset wave, The continent is ours ! " THE END. LB D 14