'• si ..0- <>>■ \^^ ..s^ ^yiW< .v^ * o ■ o " ""^^^^ .-i^C^:. .^^-^'^ . Q. > ♦ f^ -^0^ A^^ o_ - 'bV ' '^^■^^^'' >P -T" .* .<^ ^oV" ^J> * e « o ' -^^ -■' X^ '^0 \ o '"WW^^ -^^0^ '(?;. .4 '^^ °^ "^ ^° ^ "«"•» -y °^ * '^'^ -^^^^ ^^y.^^ o««, -^o 4 ^ OVER THE PLAINS On The Mountains Kansas and Colorado Agriculturally, Mineralogically, v^STHETICALLY DESCRIBED. By J. H. TICK. FOR SALE BY THE ST. LOUIS BOOK AND NEWS COMPANY, ST. LOUIS, The Western News Company, Chicago, AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY, NEW YORK. M E invite the attention of bin-ers, and the trade generally, to our Stock of Goods, which Ave believe is as complete and varied in the several Departments of BOOKS, STA T10]>IEHY^ '^i^"'«'''' ^-ERVOZi/C'^/v.S ^M> NEWSPAPERS, as that of ''-^- * any Jobbing House in the United States. We are prepared to fill all orders with Prompt tie.ss, and at the lowest prices for Cttsh. Special cure -vill be taken in filling orders for Public or Private /libraries. .\moiii,r our Misc Ei.i, \NF.oi s and School Books are comprised the publications of all the jirincipal Eastern and Western Publishing Houses, b\- purchasing wliich. in large cptantities. we are enabled to sell at the pul)lishers' lowest rates. Always in stock the pidjjications of J.\s. R. Osgood & Co., ScRiBN'EK, Armstroxg c^ Co., Roberts Bros.. Lee & Shepari). J. B. LippixcoTT cV Co.. C. Desilver, Gon.D & Lincoln. Harper & Bros., Porter \: Coates. Little, Brown iV: Co., Geo. W. Carleton \' Co.. HlRD & HOIGHTON. (i. p. Putman & Sons, II. C. Baird. A. K. LORING. O. JlDD & Co., A. S. Barnes \' Co., E. H. Butler & Co., R. S. Davis & Co., W. J. Widdleton, Brewer \: Tileston, .Sheldon i^ Co., Wilson. Hinkle & Co.. Crocker & Brewster. GiNN Bros.. CowpKRTHWAiT & Co., D. Appleton l^ Co. Eldredge & Bro.. Nichols cV Hall, Holt iV Williams, W. W. Harding. J. P. .Morton & Co.. CLAXTON ReMSEN & HAFFELKIN(iER. IvisoN, Blakeman, Taylor & Co.. Wool WORTH, Ainsworth \' Co.. Thompson, Bigelow i\: Brown. Catalogues of our Stock, in its ■•arious drpartnioits. max be had on application. ST. LOUIS BOOK AND NEWS CO., 307 North Fourth Street. ST. LOUIS. OVEK THE PLAINS, OX T HK OR, KANSAS. COLORADO, AND THK ROCKY MOUNTAINS; Agriculturally, Mineralogically — AND — AESTHETICALLY DESCRIBED. / ' ' ' '-L — ( By JOHN H. T ICE. \^ Copyright Securei St. Louis, Mo.: FEINTED BY THE " IXDUSTRIAL AGE " PROTTING CO. 1872. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1872, by John H. Tice, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. PPwEFACE. This volume contains the result of personal observations made in Kansas and Colorado in the Summer of 1871. By a resolution adopted by the Missouri State Board of Agri- culture, it was dcterminied in a body and in their official capacity, to take an excursion through Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and if found practicable, to Utah. The object was to gain information by pei-sonal observation, of the natural resources and agricultural capabilities of the great Plains and of the mountain territories, to ascertain the state of the branches of industry to which they were adapt- ed, the character of the soil and climate, the mode of cul- ture, and the j)robable extent to which they would be de- pendent upon other sections for supplies especially agri- cultural products. An invitation was extended to the Kansas State Agricultural Society, to join us in the excur- sion, Avhich was cordially accepted. To the liberality of the Xorth Missouri, the Kansas Pacific, the Colorado Cen- tral, the'Dcnvcr Pacific and the Boulder Yallej^ railroads we are indebted for free passes in going and returning over their roads; and for which they will please accept the most grateful and cordial thanks of the whole party. During the excursion, I took full notes of everything that fell under my observation, and also of facts elicited from conversations with those familiar with the Mountains; not with the remotest intention however, of perpetrating the infliction of a book upon the patient public, but for my own gratification and satisfaction. After my return home, I wrote out a few pages of the notes tor the Sunday number of one of our leading dailies. 4 PREFACE. These were so favorably received, and excited so mucii interest, as to draw upon me scores of letters from all i)artH of the country where these sketches found their way. Some of these were from persons familiar with the scenes described, thanking me for the gratification the reading of my notes afforded them in reviving the recollections of the sublime and grand scenery of these matchless Mountains, and of enabling them mentally to renew the wild enjoy- ments, excitements and pleasures of a rude mining life. Other letters were from jiarties having various objects in \aew; some from those desirous of seeking new homes; some from those seeking investments, or solicitous of en- gaging in new enterprizes, and others from invalids borne doAvn by disease, anxious to know if a cure, or an amelioration of their infirmities would not be effected by a sojourn in the delightful and salubrious climate of the Mountains. All these wanted full and definite information on the points in which they felt interested. The number of these letters, and the intense anxiety the writers exj^ressed for accurate information, first suggested the idea of writing out the notes in full and publishing them in book form. I liave endeavored to meet the expectations and gratify the desires of all these questioners, as fi\ras my observations extended. Moreover, I have endeavored to supply a Avant much needed by pleasure seekers, by making known the variety, extent, grandeur and sublimity of the matchless scenery of these gigantic Mountains. There is a large and increasing class who have the means and leisure to spend the hot summer months in fleeing to cooler localities for relaxation, recreation and recuperation. Many, but they are not the lovers and admirers of Nature, go to the sea- shore, or some fashionable watering place, where they pass through the same routine of inane amusements and fHvo- lous excitements day after day and year after year; and return home without their minds enlarged by acquired knowledge, their sentiments refined, their taste for the PREFACE. 5 grand and the beautiful quickened, or even their bodies invigorated. Yea, worse than that, positive!}^ damaged physically, socially and morally, by being irremediably inoculated with the virus of the frivolities, follies and vices of fashionable life ; not only mind, heart and taste infected and perverted, but wasteful and expensive habits con- tracted. These " like Ephraim, are joined to their idols," and must be let alone. Bat there are those who are not yet drawn into the vortex of the maelstrom of iashion. To these it will be doing a good office and a grateful ser- vice, to direct their attention to the untrodden and as yet unfashionable routes of pleasure seekers in these Avild, picturesque and indescribably grand and lofty Mountains, whei'e in silence and solitude they can hold communion with Nature in her most awful, sublime, majestic and im- posing forms; and whence they will return home with their thoughts enlarged, their affections ennobled, their sentiments elevated, their taste refined and their bodies in- vigorated , moreover, with lighter and kinder heai-ts and heavier purses. Aye, go upon the mountains as 3Ioses did and God will appear unto you and converse with you face to face. His laws and commandments there written on stones, Avill be transcribed and engraven on your hearts; and 3'ou, like the Hebrew Lawgiver, will also return to your friends with an overflowing heart and a shining face. OVER THE PLAINS AM) ON THE MOUNTAINS. CHAPTER I. On the evening of the fifth of June we set out on our journey on board of the evening Express train of the ]S^orth Missouri Eailroad, The da}' had been intensely sultry, and a lowering sky in the AVest indicated the ap- proach of a storm. The air seemed stagnant; for not a breeze Avas stirring ; and the heat was sweltering and op- pressive. Glad were we, when the train commenced mov- ing IIS through the air, relieving us from the smothering ef- fects of heat, it having the same cooling effect as a wind would have of a velocity of twenty-five miles per hour. We were therefore soon quite comfortable, which together with the novelty of our situation, starting out to experi- ence a new sensation, contributed to raise oui- animal spirits, and Ave became as cheerful and vivacious a crowd as ever had cast dull care aside; and had set out to test how much relish and enjoyment, new and strange scenes Avould add to pleasure. Clear of the mephitic city air, and through the bluffs, Ave Avere soon flying through the beautiful Florissant (pronounced Florissaw) Yalley, the Arcadia of Missouri, At dusk Ave came to a halt at the end of the bridge opposite St. Charles, Avhieh spans the muddy and turbulent ]\rissoui-i here. A moment and Ave are in motion again, but slowly and cautiously Ave moA'e OA'er the im- mense iron structure; already a ncAV sensation for the com- pletion of the structure had only been celebrated a feAV days previously. Then there Avas still lingering a A'ague feeling OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. i of insecurity induced by the croakings of ill-omened birds, who like Dickens' "Thompson with a P Think the world is going to the Devil If they are not hallooing Gee. " This feeling of want of safety was intensified by some brainless would-be wag, having the morning of our leaving perpetrated the miserable pun, 'Hhat a whole train of the North Missouri Eailroad had gone through the bridge;" which for a while had found credence in its literal sense. The ebon shade of night soon fell upon the landscape and closed out all save our fiery steed and his luminous train. The sky was overcast, and from the Avest the dark storm cloud was rolling up with flash on flash of vivid lio-htning. Soon at intervals the hoarse rumbling of the thunder coming nearer and nearer notified us that we were xxpproaching the storm. I had gone to a forward car to chat with an acquaintance, and when I returned, my attention was arrested while on the platform by a most singular display made by myriads of fireflies, ( Photynus pyralis ). My first thought was that they were sparks from our engine, and with it came the thought of danger to the train from being set on fire and burned up, for no structure of wood could live in such a shower of sparks as that. But I soon saw that they were fireflies. Sometimes they emitted a continuous flash, and then after a little intermission, it broke out again like platoon firing. I also soon observed that thej^ were almost exclusively confined to within a rod or so to the railroad on both sides. I therefore concluded that they had gath- ered from the woods on the young herbage along the sides of the railroad ; and being alarmed by the train, had taken wing. Back into one of Pnlman's sleeping cars, I was soon .stowed away in one of its ample berths. But before I fell asleep the storm had set in. The rain was pouring down in torrents, and the wind was driving it splash, splash .against windows and sides of the car, and then the light- 5 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. ning's glare, and the peals of thunder were terrific. I fell asleep and woke and fell asleep again, and still the storm, raged on and beat against our frail shelter. Day had dawned ere we ran from under the rain cloud, yet the sky was still black and overcast. It was nine o'clock before the blue sky appeared. Bay overtook us at Lexington Junc- tion, where the branch railroad from Lexington to St. Joseph crosses. The coxmtry hero generally is level prairie, and consequently water was standing e\ erywhere, and the cornfields looked as if they were drowned out. The creeks were booming full to ovei'flowing, and were floating down immense quantities of driftwood, which, lodging in the nar- row passages between the abutments of the bridges, was threatening danger to the structures. Fi'om the same cause the culverts were choked up and the water was collecting in lakes on the north side of the road. Everywhere the indications were of an immense rainfall; the broken limbs of trees indicated a severe wind storm also. The soil here is regarded as one of the most fertile and jiroductive in the AVest, being intensely black, but extremel}^ finable and mel- low. The road passes up along the north bank of the river, having the muddy Missouri surging in its sandy bed on one side, and a most beautiful country of fine farms alter- nated with dense forests, on the other. In the forests I could not but admire the varied aesthetic forms of Xature, and ob- serve how much of the science of the beautiful man has yet to learn from her teachings. Here Avas the Tecoma radicans smothering a half grown tree, or reclothing with verdure the trunk of a dead one, and adorning both with its cluster of largo trumpet shape orange flowers. There the frost grape, Vitis cordifolia, had obtained the masteiy over a well grown elm or hickory, and its long pendant vines were swaj-ing to and fro, and often trailing on the ground. Yonder the American Ivy, the Ampelopsis quingxie folia has decked the trunk of some large elm, sycamore or oak, with unsuiiiassing licauty, making it a green column supporting an immense ''coronal of green leaves." OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 9^ "We Boou iirrivecl opposite Kansas City and recrossed the^ Missouri to the south side on the railroad bridge. Here we were joined by two portions of our party, one who had preceded us, and the other who came up on the Missouri Pacific Eailroad on the south side of the river. Kansas. City claims 40,000 inhabitants and has them too, but ap- pears only a small village, being mostly hid by the high and immense bluffs, on which and amongst which, it is. built. It is a natural question to ask ones self: why a lo- cation should be selected for a city that "will cost millions, to prepare the site, when a mile or so above and a few miles below, a better site was already prepared by nature. I heard here an anecdote related, which perhaps contains, the philosophy of the selection made here: A stranger •either in quest of a new field for speculation, or of a new home for location, desired to know the price of a corner lot perched fifty feet above the grade. Two thou.sand dol- lars was the price asked. '' Why that's enormous " said the stranger: "do you not see it will have to bo graded down fifty feet before it can be used." " That's true " re- plied the owner, "but don't you see the fix the owner of the corner lot behind on the next street is in ? He is just as much below the grade, and he will pay mc twenty-five hun- dred dollars for my surplus dirt, and cart it off himself to fill up his." Not quite satisfied with this prospect for a speculation, ho went in quest of the owner of the other corner to ascertain his price. Two thousand dollars Avas the reply. " What," said the stranger " two thousand dol- lars for that gully ; don't you see that it is fifty feet below . the grade, and will have to be filled up ? " " That's so," replied the owner, " but don't you see the fix the owner of the other corner is in ? He Avill not have any where to ])ut his surplus earth, and he will pay mc twenty-five hun- dred dollars for the privilege of filling up my lot." The knights of Wall Street are credited with having in- vented many clever schemes in getting up corners of vari- ous kinds, but no genius has ever appeared there equal to- 10 OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THK MOUNTAINS. the task of getting up such a brilliant scheme as the loca- tion of Kansas City, -where the owner not only sells his •corners for enormous prices, but the purchasers gets them for nothing and a large bonus besides. After breakfast at the State Line, we got abroad of the train of the Missouri Pacific for Atchison in Kansas, forty .seven miles distant. Crossing the Kaw or Kansas river, we passed through the western cdgeof AYyandotto, a flour- ishing and thrifty town, lying to our rightonthe west bank ■of the Missouri, which here has a general course nearly «outh though after receiving the Kaw it turns cast. The bluffs soon make their appearance to our left, intermitting tsometimes however to afford a passage for a creek, and leav- ing a level plain of extent enough for a number of fine farms. These bluffs are -covered with the timber generally abounding in Illinois and Missouri, including the Coffee Nut, {Gymnodadiis Canadensis,) and a dense thicket of hazle sumach, and other undergrowth. The soil consists of broken chert and limestone, covered by a black loam and vegetable humus. We soon passed the city of Leavenworth, which the railroad and expressmen spell '' 11 worth" for ^short, and the Fort of same name, situated on a high bluff just north of the city, around whoso base the i-ailroad winds. Opposite the Fort, a railroad bridge is constructing over ■the Missouri Eiver for the South-West Railroad. The ■piers, consisting of immense tubular colums of iron filled -with grout, were up and ready to receive the superstruc- ture. The railroad will land on the top ofthe bluff in ■the militai-y grounds. Several small pleasant villages lie on our route before we reach Atchison one of the tastiest, handsomest and Tnost thriving towns in the "West. It claims a population of 10,000, and is as busy, wide awake aiid enter])rising a city as can l)e found anywhere ; and which is making it- self the railroad centre of northeast Kansas. It has rail- road connections with the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail- 4'oad which connects it with Chicaijo and the East bv the OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 11 roads running through Central Illinois ; with the North Missouri and Missouri Pacific Eoads which connect it with St Louis and the South and East with the Central Bi-anch ■of the Union Pacific, which will ultimately connect it with the AYest and the coast of the Pacific ; with the Atchison and Nebraska Pailroad now constructing and graded to the State line, connecting it with Omaha and the North; and with the South and Southwest by the following roads partly constructed or xmder contract and work commenced, name- ly: Atchison, Topeka and SanteFeEai]road; Atchison Os- kaloosa and Lawrence Eailroad. It is not a mushroom town, but its growth has been gradual, steady and permanent. It has three large flourmills, four sawmills, two wagon manufiictories, one large furniture manufactory, etc. On our arrival we were received by Mayor Smith in be- half of the large concourse of citizens assembled to wel- come us. But as I stepped on the platform I instantly recoo-nized in the crowd. Dr. Wm. H. Gi'imes, an old acquain- tance whom I had not seen for thirty-seven years, with whom I revived reminiscences of " lang syne " until the ceremony of reception %vas over. I also met another ac- quaintance here, Gen. B. F. Stringfellow, conspicuous in the Missouri raids some sixteen'and more years ago, of Avhich he had the reputation of being the life and soul. Yet here he was in a Yankee town of the most intense Yankee proclivities, thoroughly reconstructed, and as enterprising, energetic and progressive as any of them. I was not more surprised to find him here, than I was at the completeness with which be has yielded to the current that sweeps everything on- ward here with irresistible force. The peculiarity of Kan- sas society everywhere, is that the whole community is in- tensely in earnest, and seems to work as though it had but one mind and one purpose. This is a main reason, for that unexemplified progress and prosperity that marks al! sections of the State. True, it requires intelligence to be- come master of the situation ; and to see what is to be done ; but when this is seen, then it requires, will, purpose, 12 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. persistent and united effort to achieve it. Consequently Kansas Avill undertake and successfully accomplish, the most weighty enterjirizes iii less time than it takes the more sluggish and discordant elements of the older States to arrive at a conclusion of Avhat Avere best to do. Majoi* W. F. Downs, the General Superintendent of the Central Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad, had provided for us an extra train to take us to Waterville, the present ter- minus of the road, just one hundred miles west from here. We Avcro accompanied by many of the jirinciple citizens of Atchison, with whom we spent a most agreeable time going and returning. For several miles the country is diversified by hill and dale; the hills rising but to a moderate height, and where- not occupied by tarms, have a dense growth of young oak, hickory, Avalnut, and other trees indigenous to the West.. How the seeds from Avhich they si^rung got there, puzzles, the citizens ; for when the settlers first came these hills were covered with prairie grass with no sign of any other groAvth. I confess I cannot account for it, but it is an oc- currence that happens CA^eryAvhere ; not only in Kansas, but in the West, Avherever the fire is kept out of prairies, contiguous to timber, a young forest groAVth immediately springs up. Many of the citzens of St. GeneAueA^e, Missouri,., recollect the time Avhen the Illinois bottom opposite to^ their toAvn, Avas a treeless prairie. Noav it is a dense forest,,. with SA'camore, cottonAvood, Avalnut, linden, j^ecan and oak trees from thirty to forty inches in diameter. The first village, Farmington, is twelve and a lialf miles. Avest of Atchison. It is situated in a rich, inululating coun- try, which is thickly settled, and Avell timbered. Three miles further is Monrovia on the south bank of Stranger Creek, surrounded by a rich countjy. It has a beautiful Kite, and is the oldest tOAvn on the road. Some three miles farther is Eifingham, a ncAv and thriving A'illage. I Avill here state that all the tOAvns and villages along the road have good public school houses, and one or more churches„ OV£K i'HE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUPfTAINS. 13 The next town, one of the largest, is Museoutah, handsome- ly located on the banks of the Grasshopper, which affords fine water-power. It is just on the edge of the Kickapoo Reserve, in one of the richest sections ofthe State. Senator Pomeroy lives here, lie has a highly improved farm in the vicinity. Maj. Do\vns, the Supei'intendent ofthe rail- road, also has a splendid farm near town. Both he and Mr. Pomero}-, have on their farms some ofthe best blooded -stock in the State. Here Ave savr the Kickapoo chief Parthe, who was in town with his squaw and papoose. Ho brought the latter up to see the engine, but it became so frightened, as to scream and struggle, and he had hard work to hold it ; but when the band struck up it became perfectly frantic. He .and his squaw were dressed in the costume ofthe whites. Poor fellow, ho has since been murdered by a half breed. He was represented as a good man, had himself been natu- ralized, and was influencing his j^copleto become both civi- lized and naturalized. At every session ofthe courts, from eight to fifteen, are invested with the rights, duties, privi- leges, franchises and responsibilities of American citizen- ship. They cultivate the soil to some extent, but are more generally engaged in stock raising. They have a system of public, schools and good school houses, where all the -<',hildrcn of the tribe are educated. They are entirely peaceable, and the whites deal honestly with them, and treat them with the greatest kindness. Six miles beyond Museoutah is Whiting; and five and a half miles beyond it is Netawaka, a prosperous town of six ■ stores, two hotels ; and a weekly paper, the Herald, is published here. Both those places are in the Kickapoo Pleservc. The next town is "Wetmore, having four stores, a grain ware-house, etc., then comes Sherman, a railroad station at the fiftieth mile post from Atchison, surrounded by a most ©eautiful and rich agricultural country. Corning is a flour- Ishina: town seven miles farther West. Then comes Cen- 14 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. Iralia at the sixty-second mile post, one of the hxrgest and most prosperous towns on the line. Vermillion comes next, and then Frankfort, a large and thriving town. The Vermillion river close by, aifords fine water-power. Next comes Barretts, a thriving village, having a saw mill and excellent water-power, with plenty of timber in the vi- cinity. Elizabeth, another village three miles beyond, has. a finequality of magnesian limestone for building purposes. The next is Irving, ninety miles from Atchison ; it is a most enterprising, prosperous town. A newspaper, the Mecorder, is j^ublished here. Besides having the most com- modious public school-house in Northern Kansas, it has the *' Wetmore Institute," an excellent institution of learning. The town is situated just beyond the Big Blue. Blue Eapids, five miles beyond, is a colonial settlement, from New York, about a year old. It has some seventy- houses, two stores, sawmill, hotel, etc. It has fine -vVater- power, and steps have been taken to make it available for manuflicturing purjjoses. Waterville is situated at the pres- ent terminus of the railroad, one hundred miles Avest of At- chison. It is about five years old, has twenty stores, four hotels, gristmill, wagon manufactory^, etc. It is beautifully situated near grassy bluffs, some two miles south of the Little Blue, which here comes in from the northwest skirted by a belt of timber. The citizens had prepared for us a sumptuous- banquet, to furnish which every zone and climate on the globe, were laid under contribution. It was surprising to 8ee= here, on the outskirtsof civilization, whither the first wave of immigration had rolled only a few years previous, the luxuries of the Old and New World, and of both the Indies brought together to furnish a banquet that the proudest princes cannot excel. After dinner was dispatched then came the speeches, which were fully equal to the best effort that such occasions call forth elsewhere. But this is not saying much however ; for postprandium speeches every^ where amongst us, show, that we as a nation arc running- more into gab than into thought. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 15' After dinner we examined some beautiful blocks of mag^ nesian limestone, and also an immense block of g;yi)sum quarried out of the hills. Upon invitation we ascended the grassy bluff behind and south of the church. The sides^ though covered with grass, Avcre stony, apparently for the most part fragmentary chert ; and amongst the grass th& beautiful rose colored flowers of the Sensitive Briar {Schrankia uncinata) and the no less beautiful and large- purple blooms of the Penstemon grandiiiorus. A splendid carmine colored Phlox also abounded everywhere. The soil on the top of the bluff is a deep rich loam, bear- ing a heavy crop of prairie grass. To the west, south and east is a boundless prairie; while north, beyond the fine valley at your feet, through which runs the Little Blue^ the view is bounded by the timber belt along that stream.. In other directions no timber was visible, though it is said to be abundant on a tributary of the Blue some ten miles, off to the southwest j and also beyond that in the valley of the Republican, and its affluents. There are a considerable number of new houses dotting the prairies surrounded by the newly broken sod. The bluffs arc mere swells rising to moderate elevations, say none exceeding a height of fifty feet. Though sometimes pretty steep, they are smooth- ly rounded off, and covered by the luxuriant green prairie. grass. In fact so artistically are they rounded and dressed^ that they look like immense sodded bastions around a for- tification. I will here state that the rural landscape along the entire route is not emotional as far as exciting the turbulent feel- ings of the Avonderful and sublime are concerned; but ort the contrary it inspires the quiet and soothing emotions of absolute peace, tranquility, contentment and repose. Look- ing at it until you imbibe its spirit, you think it almost an impossibility that men dwelling in such a quiet, peaceable- Arcadia as this, would become, or ever could become ruffled^ and show the stronger and rougher passions of the human heart. .16 OVER THE PLAIXS AND OS THE MOUNTAINS. Waterville is in the western part of Marshall county. Washington County lies we^it, and has already a oonsid- erablo ]>o])idation, though all the scttlcnients are of quite recent date. AVest of Washington is liepublie county, crossed diagonally from its north-west to its south-east corner by the Eepublican river. This is, or was the west- ern limits of settlement at the beginning of the present ;sea8on. All these counties are bounded north by the state line, that is by Nebraska. On board the cars again, we were soon on our way back, stopping at Blue IJapids, and paying a visit to the dam, constructed by the colonists across the Blue, just below the junction of the Little Blue, which has its sources to the north-west in ISTebraska, and the Big Blue which heads north, also in I^ebraska, near the Platte river. Blue Rapids is about a mile and a half from the railroad station. The citizens had come in wagons and other vehicles to ■ convey us thither; but they had not calculated on quite so large a party, consequently all could not get accommoda- tions, of which unfortunate class I happened to be one. Some however, walked; but as I thought a Avalk of three miles in such a sweltering day would not pay, I remained at the station. It was near sundown when the party re- turned. They found the citizens celebrating the com2)le- tion of their iron bridge across the Blue on the abutments of the dam, by a pic-nic. The guests were invited to walk across by the colonists; on their return they were halted, a charge made along the whole line, (one dollar,) by an artist who had gone vip on the train, and then photo- graphed; a copy of which was to have been delivered to each, a condition that he has not yet been able to comply with. These colonists have adopted the only plan of speedy success with such an enterprise, and at the same time avoiding the evils of non-emi^loyment, and consequent suf- fering and privation. They have selected as beautiful and .as rich an agricultural location as there is in the West; OVER THE PL.\INS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 17 having at the same time a site furnishing any desirable amount of water-power. They have already completed a dam which makes that water-power available. A sawmill is in operation, and a gristmill of tho largest size almost completed ; woolen and other manufactories arc to follow in rapid succession, and the colony will be more than a, self-sustaining community before the end of another year. I did not learn whether the colonists own tho capital in- vested or not. Underway again; it was dusk when we crossed the Blue at Irving, reaching Atchison near twelve o'clock, where we found a special train to take us to Leavenworth, where we arrived at half past one in the morning. The following may be taken as a general summary of the features, character, quality of soil, sanitary condition, etc., of the country between Atchison and Waterville. The soil is deejD and rich, even on the upland jDrairie. Timber abounds in considerable quantities, and is well dis- tributed. Here the jirairies arc seen generally to be bounded by timber, while along all brooks and creeks the forest is heavy. In this there is a great differencO between a landscape here and that of the great prairies in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, where the whole horizon includes but one single continuous treeless i)lain. The drainage is perfect, since the country is rolling, but only in gentle swells, while the river bottoms, several miles in Avidth, are flanked by hills of considerable eleva- tion. There is a strong current in all the streams, the wa- ter consequently is clear and pure. There are no stagnant pools nor low wet and marshy lands to poison the air with miasma. True, there are bilious diseases, but so there are everywhere, where new clearings are nuide, and virgin soil broken up and exposed to a midsummer sun. These diseases however are of a mild type, and decrease as the quantit}' of newly broken jirairie diminishes from year to year, and almost entirely disa2?pear when all the land is brought under cultivation. This conforms to ex- 2 18 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE .MOUNTAINS. perieiicc everywhere, cither east or Avest. That bilious diseases become milder and less frequent as the country settles up, is a well established fact. Time was when chills and fever were just as prevalent \n the Genessee valley as ever they were in Illinois. The bluffs that flank the valley often are stony, and some even expose ledges of rocks. They are so abundant in some j^laces, that we saAV quite a number of stone fences along the route. Springs of pure cold water are numerous along the whole route, and are said to exsist westward indefinitoly. On the highest prairies the best, pure and cold water can be obtained by sinking wells from 20 to 50 feet. Wood is still generally used for fuel, costing from three to four dollars a cord. Eut it has been ascertained that extensive coal beds underlie the country, from two to tour feet in thickness. At several j^laces, these beds have been opened, and are now worked. The Grasshopper, Vermillion and Blue rivers furnish a large amount of water-power, and sawmills arc found along all of these streams. The price of native lumber is from 815 to $25 per thousand feet. Besides, stone, board and wire fences, we saw quite a num- ber of osage oi'ange hedges planted, and some pretty well es- tablished. I should think the country from its abundant fresh Avater, large range covered with luxuriant grasses, and fine climate, well adapted to stock raising and dairying pur- poses. These no doubt now and for an indefinite time to come will be as remunerative as any other business what- ever. I could not obtain any reliable data of how much public land there remains subject to entry, homestead or pre-emp- tion. The railroad has a grant of land of every alternate section for ten miles on each side of the road. They hold them from two to eight dollars per acre, with a liberal dis- count for cash. They will sell them also on a credit of three, four, six and ten years at different rates of interest, OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 19 according to time. Full particulars can be ascertained from the General Superintendent and Land Agent of the road, Maj. W. F. Downs. The amount of corn, wheat and pota- toes raised per acre, is equal to the highest figures attained in Missouri and Iowa. In fact the quantities reported seem like marvelous stories. But from the character of the soil and nature of the climate, there can be no doubt that the yield is enormous. 20 OVEK THE PLAINS AND ON XUK MOUNTAINS. CHAPTEE 11. After breakfast we found carriages provided by the citi- zens in readiness to give iis a drive through and around the city. AVe drove uji one of the main streets to the Military Grounds just north of the cit}-. These grounds are very ex- tensive, and arc elaborately laid ofi' into plots, on which are situated, surrounded with flowers and shrubbery, expensive mansions for the accommodation of the numerous officers always located here. This is the Headquarters of the Trans- Mississippi Military Department, where men and military stores are collected for distribution to the Upper Missouri, Colorado, Upper Arkansas and Xew Mexico. The barracks are very large to accommodate the soldiers concentrated here from the malarious Gulf States for recuperation, and from the JSTorthwestern, Western and Southwestern Terri- tories for relaxation. The military reservation is a most beautiful ti-act, containing GOOO acres. The part occupied is a level plateau on a high bluif, whence there is a command- ing view of the city of Leavenworth to the south, which it entirely overlooks ; the Missouri Eiver for many miles both up and down and the rich bottom or valley east ; and west a fine undulating country of hill and dale, as far as sight extends. After driving through the military grounds, we drove south-cast to the edge of the blutf, and dismounted to look at the structure, a stone abutment, in process of erec- tion at the terminus of the bridge, on top of the bluff, for the Chicago and Southwestern Eailroad, and also of the piers of the bridge, then ready to receive the superstruct- ure. The bridge is to be wrought iron, placed upon piers of cast OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 21 iron, the columns of which are now in position. As this Avas a novelty to mo in civil engineering, I will briefly de- scribe it. The sections of the columns arc eight and a half ieet in diameter, ten feet in length and one and three quar- ter inches thick, and weigh about ten tons each. "With proper flanges at the ends, these sections are joined in the process of sinking, so as to form a continuous cylinder, reaching from the superstructure to the solid rock on the bottom of the river. The whole is then filled up with concrete masonry and grouting. Two of these columns placed side and side longitudinally with the current, form one jjicr. There are three of these piei*s, tM'o in the river, and one on the eastern shore j the bridge to land on the western shore on a stone abutment. The elevation is ten feet above the high water line. Each of the three spans thus formed, will be three hundred and forty feet in length; and the bottom of the lower chord fifty feet above extreme high water, so that steamboats can pass at an}' stage of the river. The approach to the eastern end of the bridge con- sists of trestle work, 1500 feet long, and an earth embank- ment extending 2500 feet further, both of which are com- pleted. It is contemplated to make this bridge a common union for the crossing of all railroads terminating here, both from the East and West. Remounting our carriages, we were driven back through the military grounds, and west on and along the heights that surround the city. These were at some places quite stony, covered Avith a young and low growth of forest trees, interspei'sed with the many wild flowers indigenous to this section. We now for the first time realized the charming location of the city. We could look down the Missouri river south-eastwardly fully twenty miles, and both shores appeared one unbroken forest of gigantic trees. But right below us, on the banks of the river, in an am- phitheatre of some three or four miles in length, two miles in depth, and gradually rising to our position, is nestled the city of Leavenworth, containing fully 25,000 inhabitants. 22 OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. To the west, and at the dietancc uf about half a mile, liea the valley of Salt Creek, a stream that debouches into the 3Iissouri above the Fort. Our position must have been at least two hundred feet above this valley, a2)parently two miles in width, and surrounded on all sides b}^ heavily timbered and high hills. It was one of the finest rural pictures I ever beheld. In the centre at the widest part arises a rounded hill, about sixty feet high, of perhaps eighty acres in area and heavily timbered ; while all around it lay the most neat, tidy and thrifty farms in the highest tilth. It reminded me of the landscape and scenery of my boyhood's home in the Tuscaroras. We now drove to the residence of Professor Pcrcival G. Lowe, whei'C we j^artook of some of his cherries and straw- berries and some native wine. After walking through his garden and grounds of shrubbery, we drove to the south- ern limits of the city, and then returned towards its cen- tral ])arts, but were Iji'ought to a halt before the spacious mansion of Gen. J. 0. Stone where wo dismounted, and were received by the General and his estimable lady in the most cordial and hospitable manner. Ushered into his drawing room, we spent some time in admiring the fine specimens of art, both in painting and sculpture. Of the former but very few were fancy pieces, representing mostly noted wild landscape scenery in Europe and America. The doors Avere now thrown oj^cn, and we found our host had with a muniticence that would do honor to a prince, prepared a most sumptuous dinner for us. There were spring chickens, ham, butTalo tongue, pies, cakes and pastry of every imaginable kind, an exhaustive assort- ment of comfits and eandies, together with ice cream Then there were the largest, finest and most luscious strawberries and cherries, all raised on his flirm near the city, besides the choicest native wines. Before leaving the mansion of our hospitiible host, we were invited to inspect an upper room, completely decorated OVER THE PLAINS AND ON" THE MOUNTAINS. 23 with military caps, and other German military paraphernalia brought home by the General's son, who has just returned after graduating in a German university. I never saw a native so completely Germanized as he; and so charmed was ho Avith university life in Germany, that he spoke en- thusiastically of it. We could not, however, admire or commend all the features of such a life, that for instance of the barbarous custom of resorting on every occasion to single combat, to avenge any real or fancied insult. Our young friend bears on his otherwise handsome face and manl}' brow, many ugly scars from sword wounds received in such encounters. After taking a most cordial leave of our munificent host and his estimublo lady, we returned to the hotel to await the departure of the evening train for Lawrence; mean- while I took mentally a business review of the city and its surroundings. Leavenworth has naturally one of the most favorable sites for a commercial city. Situated on the west bank df the Missouri river, it has water communication with all the states of the Mississippi A^alley and the Gulf, and with the gold and silver producing territories of the upper Mis- souri. But in these days, no city has any hold on, nor sec- nrit}' for permanent commercial prosperity, by having only water communication with the outside world. The arte- ries of commerce now are of iron, instead of water, as formerly. In foreign commerce, water communication will alwaj's hold an incontestible superiority, but it can no longer control the commercial movements within the interior of a continent. To concentrate and distribute the j^roducts of a continent and of the world, railroads have an unquestioned pre-eminence over all other modes of transportation. In casting the horoscope of any city's 2>ermanent growth and prosperity, her railroad access- ability and facilities must be considered. Applying this principle to Leavenworth, it will be seen that the auguries for the future are most auspicious. She is now connected 24 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. by way of St. Louis, with the East, the Centre and the South by the Missouri Paciiic, and the Missouri Yalloy and North Missouri railroads ; with Chicago and with the East and North, by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Hannibal and St. Joseph, and the Missouri Yallc}-, the Rock Island and Pacific, and tho Chicago and Southwestern railroads; with the North, the North-west and the Pacific coast, first, by way of Council Bluffs, by the Missouri Yal- ley and St. Joseph and Council Bluff railroads; second, by way of Denver by tho Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston and the Kansas Pacific railroads. The Leaven- worth, Atchison and Northwestern railroad, now in process of construction, M'ill connect it with Omaha, opposite Coun- cil Bluffs. The Union Central branch of the Union Pacific railroad, now completed to "Waterville, will when com- pleted, give it direct communication with San Francisco. With the South-west, with the Leavenworth, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad, now completed to Newton, within 20 miles of the Arkansas river; and with the Gulf and the South direct, by the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galves- ton railroad. Besides these there are several railroads under contract and the work progressing, and several more projected. Amongst those under contract and in a state of progress,* the most important is a narrow gauge to Denver, thence to Santa Fe, with branches through Middle Park to Salt Lake Yallc}', and to Helena in Montana, by Avay of Cheyenne. It will be thus seen that lA^iven worth now is well HU})plied with railroad facilities which are an- nually extending. There arc five daily newspapers, four in English and one German, pu])lishcd here, besides several weeklies and mojithlies. Tliere are about one hundred and twenty manuiacturing establishments, tho aggregate products of which are estimated annually to ex- ceed 82,500,000. At thirty minutes after four we lefl for Lawrence on the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Riilroad. Tho country between Leavenworth and Fairmont is gen- OVER TIIF. PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 25- erally heavily timbered with the varieties of trees that are in- ditrenouB to the country ; such as Sycamore, Cottonwood, wil- low, elm, hickory, oak, hackberry, and walnut. The Ken- tucky cofFccnut((T2/m7ioda(iM5 Canadejis is) and two species of the honey locust {Gleditchia triacanthos, and G.monosperma} and the Eed bud oceuiTod occasionally. A young growth has also sprung up on what was formerly prairie, which has attained considerable height. The undergrowth is principally hazel and sumach. The different species of wild "-rape are also conspicuous everywhere. There are many fine farms along the line, but Avhere man has not ta- ken possession of the prairie, the forest trees have, so that east of Fairmont and for some distance west the prairies have practically disappeared. The country around Fairmont is rich and beautiful with a black friable soil. The surface undulates into gentle swells affording good drainage. Westward the character of the country changes somewhat. The varieties oftimbcr peculiar to the river bottoms appear no lono-er, being replaced by more valuable varieties, such as oaks and hickories. The undergrowth of hazel, sumach and wild grapevines continues in the forest, but there now occur small glades of grassy plain called "openings."" These are enameled with the beautiful carmine Phlox al- ready mcnsioned, the prairie, and dog rose, the Tradescan- thia Virginlca, Sehraiikia . uncinata, white perennial lark- spur, the purple Polanisia, blue Penstcmons. etc. Amongst weeds I noticed an ash colored Artemisia, the daisy flea- bane (Erlgeron a7inuum) the Rosin-weed, or Compass-plant {Silphiam ladnlatum) and several species of Helianthus. Tonganoxie, a small village, is situated on a fine rolling prairie, surrounded by beautiful farms. Westward the prairies become larger and the swells culminate in hills of moderate height. Reno is the next village surrounded by a rich farming country. The wheat crop generally along the route was heavy, and fully ripe on the 7th of June when we passed there. A rather singular incident occurred here. While the 26 OVKR THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. train stopped, some of tho passengers got out and commenced ■caressing u colt belonging to a team standing at the sta- tion, and linally got it on the jihitform. When the train started, the colt got on the track and followed the train fully a mile, putting forth its best efforts to keep up, but of course was distanced. When Ave arrived at the railroad station at Lawrence, we found eonvcA^ances in charge of the Hon. I. 8. Kalloch, President of the Kansas State Agricul- tural .Society. Ho addressed us a few pertinent words, to this effect, that here were conveyances to take us to the El- dridge House, that we must consider ourselves as the guests of the State Society, who would pay all hotel and other ex- penses, andevonformedicine while Ave remained in the city. .•and therefore, as he had captured and made prisoners of us, ;all we could do was to get aboard the 'busses, carriages, etc., as resistance was useless. Comprehending the situation, our party yielded with the greatest grace possible, and were rapidly driven over the bridge and tip Massachusetts street, :and set down at the Eldridge House. The Kansas Pacific railroad depot at which we landed, is on the north side of tho river, while the city proper of Lawrence is on the south side. The Kaw is a rapid stream some two hundred yards wide, and is spanned by a substantial bridge, which connects the northern suburb and the Kansas Pacific railroad depot with the city. The L. L. and Galveston railroad crosses the Kaw below, and has its depot near the eastern limits of the •city on tho south side of the river. As the Eldridge House is the largest and one of the best kept hotels west of St. Louis, it cost us no effort to recon- •cile ourselves to our situation as prisoners. The kind treat- ment of the keeper and the attentive and obliging disposi- tion of the servants, but above all the sjilendid supper, spa- cious rooms and elegant beds, rather made us like the oper- ation of being "put through " in that way. B}' the way this Eldridge House has a history. The .abrogation of the Missouri Compromise, which excluded OVER THE PLAIN'S AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. Zi slavery fi*om all territory north of thirty-six and a half de- grees of north latitude, and the passage of the Kansas-Ne- braska bill by Congress, actually initiated the conflict which culminated in the rebellion and the abolition of slavery. This of course could have been foreseen would the result, of that illstarrcd measure. It actually was foreseen, and moreover predicted by such farseeing men as Benton and others who resisted the passage of the act, by all the pow- er that reason, persuasion and parliamentary law and tac- tics afforded ; but their efforts were powerless. The syren, " Squatter Sovereignty " sang too charmingly io be resisted by a great man}- well-meaning and patriotic men ; and the bill was passed under the delusion that set- tlement would be suftered to go on quietly and peaceably until State governments were to bo organized in these ter- ritories. But the march of events from the beginning dis- pelled that delusion, if any one ever seriously entertained it. Emigrant societies were organized in most of the north- ern States, especially in Massachusetts, to settle these terri- tories, particularly Kansas. These, though ai-tizans and iagriculturists, and coining with the intention of becoming bona fide settlers, came also prepared to meet any emer- gencies that might arise, hence the " Sharp's rifles " of which we heard so much, at that time. The extremists of the South in the Gulf States, and even in Georgia and other southern States, organized military companies and sent them to Kansas, not for settlement, but to prevent settlement from the northern States. A conflict at once ensued, which ended in a repulse of the southern military organizations, who re- treated over the border, and there in conjunction with bad men in Missouri, organized marauding and murdering expe- diitions into the territory. One ofthese expeditions sacked ,a,nd burnt Lawrence. The eai'liest colony from Massachu- setts had selected Lawrence as a point d'appul for the settlers and had built the Eldridge House, then the most expensive and commodious building in Kansas, for the accommoda- tion ofstraneccrsand settlers while looking out suitable Io- 28 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. calities for settlement. The marauders came and first bat- tered it down with cannon and then burnt it. It was imme- diately rebuilt, larger and more costly than before. It was. a second time burnt in the murderous expedition of the infamous Quantrell. Phenix like, it again arose from its- ashes enlarged and beautified; and is this day one of the best appointed hotels in the West. Lawrence has many large and elegant buildings for bus- iness purposes, especially on Massachusetts street. Many of the pi'ivato residences are expensive and elegant ^ especially on the knolls that surround the city to the west and south, which are covered with most costly and tasty mansions surrounded by lawns, shrubbery and flower plots. The churches and public schools are also large, Tasteful and expensive. The State University on Mount Oi*ead overlooking the city from the southwest, is one of the* inost elegant buildings in the West. It will cost when com- pleted nearly half a million, of which amount Lawrence eon- tributed §300,000. It is built of a yellow arcnacious niagne- sian limestone half dressed ; is four stories high, surmounted by two quadrangular domes and two turrets. Its style of artichitecture is the " Rennaissance. " Lawrence has a population of 10,000, and is rapidly in- <"reasing in all the elements of wealth and j)rospei'it\r There are no idle heads nor hands here. OVSIB THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 29 CHAPTEE III. At eight o'clock on the following morning, June 8th, vre found carriages ready to convey us to the depot of the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad, to take .an excursion to the end of the road, at Thayer, one hun- dred and eight miles south of this point.* We were in- debted for this pleasure to Maj. Charles E. Peck, the Gen- eral Freight Agent of the road, who had a special train provided for the occasion. Nearly all the members of the Kansas State Agricultural Society had joined us now, to aecomijany us to Colorado. For the day's excursion, some one hundred of the leading citizens of Lavvrence joined us, headed by Mayor Thatcher. Everything being in readi- ness we started towards the sunny South. A heavy storm cloud seemed to lay across our way some fifty or sixty miles distant. Otherwise the sky was perfectly clear, but the weather was sweltering, and the sun shone bright and intensely hot. The day previous a heavy rain had passed over this section, and there was, therefore, no dust to annoy us, but !N^aturo seemed to have put on her gayest attire and brightest smile to greet and welcome us. To our right, and beyond Lawrence, lay Mount Oread, crowned by the superb edifice of the State University. The elevation slopes gently southward to the Wakarusa, some five miles distant. For several miles the sides and summit of this beautiful swell are covered with stately mansions, the sumptuous suburban residences of the wealthy business men of the city, surrounded by lawns, shrubbery, fruit trees, flower-plots, etc. Soon these arc replaced by *Since then it has been completed to Coffevvillc, on the Virdigria river, where it enters the Indian Territory'. 30 OVER THE PL,\INS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. the neat and tidy farm house, surrounded by fields and meadows in the highest tilth, and threaded by osagc- orange hedges. The Wakarusa hero runs about duo east^ and its immediate valley or bottom is heavily timbered^ To the southeast, beyond the AYakarusa, is an elevation called Blue Mountain, a heavily timbered hill, rising per- haps six hundred feet above the plain. It is a beautiful feature in the landscape. Passing beyond the timber skirting the last named stream, the road enters a beautiful rolling prairie, studded over with fine farms, but there are still immense stretches of unbroken prairie, covered with a luxuriant growth of wild grass, and at this season, enameled with wild flow- era of every hue. The only new species I noticed, except an ^•Esdepias with immense dull greenish yellow blooms, was- the (Enothera Speciosa, generally called by flourists. Godetia. Of these there were two varieties; one, the most abundant, was a pure white with a purple center; the other was a delicate pink. Sometimes both varieties were intermixed in large beds. Then, with their large blooms expanding fully two and a half inches, they were a most charming sight. For some eighteen miles, the roll- ing prairie was destitute of trees, except the orchards of the farmers and the young groves they have planted. As we approach the Marias des C3'gncs, a tributary of the Osage, we enter a forest sometimes consisting of rich bot- tom land, and then again of rocky hills. The stream runs southeastward)}-, and was much swollen by the heavy rain on the previous evening. After emerging from the forest, a few miles brought us. to the city of Ottawa, the county seat of Franklin county. I should estimate its population between three and four thousand. It has a bank, several good hotels, churches and fine jiublic schools. Its principal street is substantially built up with brick and stone houses. It has various kinds of manufactories, and is a prosperous town. Ottawa University is located hei'e, and for several years was OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 81 opened and conducted with encouraging prospects of suc- cess. But its endowment failed on account of some defect in a treaty with the Osage Indians, by which it was to receive a donation of lands. It is now closed. The site of the town is rather level, but the surrounding country is one of the richest in the State. I should have stated that mid- way between Lawrence and Ottawa is Baldwin, the site of Baker University', but of whose history and endowment I could learn nothing. Proceeding southward we passed several small streama swollen by the late rains, and skirted by belts of timber. Otherwise the countrv'- is rolling prairie until you reach the Pottawattamie river, flowing northeastwardly into the Marias des Cygnes. Here we again encountered heavy timber; that on the bluffs generally hardwood, and amongst that in the bottoms many large trees of black walnut. Five or six miles further brought us to Garnett, the county seat of Anderson county, on a considerable swell. The soil is pretty much the same as around Ottawa, but the country is more rolling, and on the side- hills and ravines I saw, in many places, ledges of mag- nesian limestone cropping out. This is characteristic of the country from this onward as far south as we went. I should judge that such portions as have only a few feet^ of soil overlieing this bed of magnesian limestone, are not well calculated to withstand droughts. Beyond Garnett, at a distance of some six miles, we crossed Cedar Creek, a tributary of the Pottawattamie, flowing about northeast.. On the bluffs I saw a few cedars, and again the black wal- nut in the bottom. Beyond this the horizon encloses often but one expanse of 2)rairie, which is, however, occa- sionally interrupted by a distant line of timber to the southeast, fringing Deer Creek. The countrj'- now slopes gently southwest to the Kansas Neosho river, and a belt of timber lining that stream^ occasionally looms up in the western horizon. As we approach Deer Creek, the belt of forest we had occasional glimpses of in the southeast. 32 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. crosses the path of the railroad, and ^ve soon crossed the creek, a rocky turbulent stream, swollen and overflowing its bottom by a heavy rain in the morning, which fell from the cloud we saw as we left Lawrence. Deer Creek runs west and falls into the Neosho rivei", a short distance west. We were soon at lola, the county seat of Allen county. 'The road now heads down the valley of the Neosho, the meandering of which stream brings it sometimes in sight. The prairie hence from Garnett was often yellow Avith the Coreopsis Drummondii, and occasionally a stra}' i:)lant of the beautiful Coreopsis Tindoria. A run of some ten miles further brought us to Humboldt, where an excellent din- ner, especially prepared for us, was ready. It was soon 'despatched, and then came the inevitable jiostprandium speeches, which I escaped by taking to the prairies. I Avent to the southwest of the town, which stands uj>on a -considerable swell. To the west, about a mile off, flowed the Neosho, having a general course nearly southeast. Its -banks are heavily lined with timber, and its course can be ^traced by it for many miles from the northwest to the i-southeast. All the country east of it as far as could be seen, was a ti'celess expanse of prairie, but diversified by many newly opened farms, or by an immigrant's new cabin. The flora on the prairie I found the same as those already named, excepting a single plant of the Callirrhoe Verticellata, which wo found abundant on the plains farther west the following day, expanding its jnirijlc-red blooms, often two inches in diameter. As the dejDot is east of the town, I made a detour around the latter to the south. The prairie was full of lupines, larkspurs, pen- stemous, Godetias and flowers alread}- mentioned, but with the exception of the Collirrhos I found nothing except a species of Sedum that was new to me. It was j^ast bloom- ing, and as I lost the specimen I in\t up for my herbarium, I have been unable to determine its species. Returning to the depot I found quite a number of the vfiorapany there already, waiting the arrival of those OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 3o detained by the orators. When they finally arrived, it was announced that the day was too far spent to go to Thayer, twenty -two miles farther south, the then terminus of the road. This I regretted, not that I probably lost seeing any thing new, but I failed seeing a historical char- acter, the veritable Eli Thayer, who, as a member of Con- gress from Massachusetts, in times anterior to the Kebel- lion, used to read with such gusto, the " Book of Martyrs, " as ho called the census of 1850, to the " fire-eaters." He also was the organizing spirit of the emigrant associations form.ed in the Northern States to settle Kansas in the days of "Border Ruffianism." A retrospect of the coun- try passed over during the day, has satisfied me that a sight otitis sufficient to convince any reasonable mind, that it is one of the most beautiful and the richest agricul- tural disiricts in the world. The only drawback that I. could discover, and which I have already mentioned, is the fact that the whole countrj' is underlaid at no great deptli with a bed of magnesian limestone, which often crops out on the banks of ravines, or the sides of gentle slopes. In case of droughts, which, however, have not occurred for several years, and it is contended that the climate has undergone an amelioration in this respect, land so situa- ted cannot withstand them well. To this may be added the scarcity of fuel. For, although the bottoms along the streams are generally well timbered, j-et there are long reaches of prairie, twenty and even thirty miles across, entirely destitute of trees. Dense settlement of the coun- try cannot take place until a substitute for wood as fuel will be found; and this substitute must be found in an abundant and cheap supply of coal. From indications it is fair to infer that it will not be long before an ample supply of excellent coal will be found throughout all this part of Kansas. At Carbondale, a min- ing town some 25 miles northwest of Ottowa, on the To- peka and Santa Fe railroad, there are immense fields of excellent coal. Again, at Osage City on the same railroad, 3 34 OVER THK PLAINS AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. about 30 miles duo west from Ottowu, a bod of coal is worked, which is said to equal in qualitj^ the two best in the Mississippi Valley. Coal of a good quality is also mined at Ottowa and at Thayer, in Neosho county. At lola there is boring going on with a view of striking the vein which is supposed to underlie the whole country. In all its aspects the country passed over to-day indicates recent settlement. Neither farms, residences nor barns, have as yet assumed that solidity and permanence which mark those in the northern part of the State. There the original cabin and cottage have given jilaco to the neat substantial and commodious farmhouse. But here evident- ly time enough has not yet elapsed to effect such great and permanent changes, i called the attention of some Ijawrence friends accompanying us, to this difference, and asked for an explanation, since there evidently was no difference in the productive capacity of the soil. I then learned that the whole country south of Ottowa had been an Indian Jleservation, and that only some six years have elapsed since the extinguishment of the Indian title. I also learned there was no government land to bo entered in southeastern Kansas, excepting in tho extreme south- ern tier of counties on tho Indian Territory. This railroad however has lands located in Anderson, Allen, Neosho and Labette counties, which they are offer- ing for sale at from four to ten dollars i)er acre on a cred- it of sev(Mi years at 7 per cent interest. Luuds contiguous to the road held by individuals, can be bought IVom eight to fifty dollars per acre, according to locality, or tho amount and charaeter of tho improvements thereon. As in the northern part of tho State so hero tho church and the schoolhouso are conspicuous objects in all the towns, vil- lao-es and settlements, a sure index of the character of tho people and of its dominant ideas. As already intimated the surface of the country is less diversified by hill and dale than that in northern Kansas. Tho swells are so gen- tle, and the elevation so moderate, that they cannot as- OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 35 pire to the dignity of being called hills; while in northern Kansas the elevations are considerable, and the slopes gen- erally abrupt. The conformation of the surface therefore gives wide alluvial bottoms to all the southern rivers, which are admirably adapted for corn, while the uplands are particulai'ly well adapted for sm;ill grain. The wheat- fields passed on the route to-day, were not only riper on the swells, but far less affected by rust on the blade than those on the bottoms. The return trip was not marked by any ihcident^ of note, except that wo encountei*ed a small thunder-shower south of Otto wa. On reaching Lawrence we found a largo num- ber of carriages waiting to give us a drive through and around the city. I took a seat in that belonging to Mayor Thatcher, driven by his son, a lad of some sixteen summers. Passing around the southern suburbs and west- ward until we reached the hill designated as Mount Oread, we were driven northward on the street that lines its side at some elevation above the plain below. This street is lined by tasty suburban residences, surrounded by shrub- bery, lawns, winding ways, ornamented with the choicest flowers. To the north Mount Oread terminates before it reaches the Kaw in a well and jirettily rounded hi!], Avith a tolerable steei? slope. We now drove westwardly until attaining the summit, and then southward till we reached the front of the State University where we were addressed by Mayor Thatcher in a very neat and pertinent speech. From this point the view is very fine. To the north and northeast is the Ivaw, a beautiful limpid river, whose course the eye caA follow for many miles down its valley. Between you and it lies the city of Lawrence, containing a population of some 12000, with its twenty churches, mag- nificent public schoolhouses, hotels, banks and other public and private buildings. There also is the bridge spanning the Kaw which connects the northern suburb where the depot of the Kansas Pacific railroad is. A few points south of east is Blue Mountain, a high knoll of but limited 36 OVKR THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. breuJtli, -which deflects the Wakarusa to the north into the Kaw some six miles below the city. To the south and southeast is a campaign country, covered with fine farms and orchards, as far as the eye can reach. Through the centre of this campaign runs the Wakanisa. Westward is a succession of rolling hills, and northwest is the wide alluvial bottom of the Kaw through Avhich its sei'pentine course can be traced for miles. Remounting our carriages we were driven through some of the principal streets of the city, and finally through Massachusetts street, its Broadway, to the Eldridge House. We have now been three days in Kansas, during which time wc have traveled about live hundred miles, and seen the country from north to south, and from east to west; to be sure in the brightest season of thcyeai*, the flowery month of June; and we have met and become acquainted with its people and enjoyed their hospitalities. Eetracing, men- tally, the incidents and scenes of these three days, they appear more like a lovely dream than a reality. A richer and a more beautiful country the sun does not look down upon in its course around the globe; and in time it must become the seat of wealth and social and intellectual power and influence, that will make themselves felt even beyond the limits of our own nation. But a few years since and it was the pasture field of the buffalo, and the hunting ground of wild, roaming, hunting savage tribes of the plains. Then came the white man, and with liim the fierce passions engendered in sectional strife, Avho made this their first battlefield. Xo crime that blackens the criminal code, but was enacted here, and that by people of the same lineage, speaking the same language, and hailing from the same nation. Fraud, violence, robber}^, arson and murder were rife here, and roamed over and deso- lated the land unchecked by the civil authority, because of the imbecility, or rather servility of both territorial and national tcovernments. But the men who came here to set- OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 37 lie, 8tot) i their j^round manfully, :ind maintained their ponition against unequal numbers backed, as ilir as they dared, by both civil authorities. Then to beeohie an emi- ^ant to, and settle in Kansas, was an adventure that required courage, firmness and resolution. None but men of positive and strong convictions dared do it ; because it required taking their lives in their hands, with the resolu- tion to die for principles if it bcca:nc necessary-. It was a winnowing process by which the dross was separated in the States from the pure metal, and b}' w^hich cowards, neutrals, compromisers and temporizei's were completely eliminated. Those that then came, learned the important lesson which has been, and is, the secret of their success, prosperity and unexampled progress, mainly that of unity • of purpose and concentration of efforts. Whatever may have been, or is their object, whether to repel the aggres- sor, to organize industry, to establish schools and other institutions of learning, to build churches, and push for- ward enterprises of internal improvement, there has been no holding back, no division of council, no lukewarmness, but the united energy of the whole community has been, and is, always concentrated in the effort, acting as though it had but a single thought, and controlled by but one mind. In Austria or Russia, such unity of action would be effected by the use of despotic power, but here it is by in- telligence and enlightened public opinion. The result is that in no State has there been such rapid material pro- gress, and in so short a time such immense strides in all the elements of prosperity and greatness. In one decade they have done more towards the development of the natural resources of the State, to organize its industrial, social, moral, religious and intellectual interests, than is effected by the more apathetic and sluggish communities of the older States in a half centur}^. During the border troubles it was customary to speak of" Bleeding Kansas. " It is true she bled some, but with the light of to-day, we cannot but regard it to have been good for her health, and 38 OVER THE PLAINS AXD ON THE MOUNTAINS. promotive ofliei conHtitutional vigor, it kept away from her the timid, the unenlightened, the thriftles.s and shift- less; in' fact all those without enterprise and determina- tion of purpose. Heneo, in her social movements, and in- dustrial enterprises, Kansas had nothing to clog the march of events, nor any dead weight to carry. Such material as that composing this infant State cannot be collected anywhere without developing its inheivnt tendency of pushing things that promote the inlei-esls and pros- perity of communities. Hence originated that spirit of progress, and the adoption of those far-seeing and wise measures that have ])laced her in the front ranlc of States in the organization of her material, social and intellectual interests. Our experience amongst them has convinced us that they are as kind, geuei'oiis and hospitable, as they are brave, daring and resolute. In everything they do there is the ring of the pure noble metal. Be it doing acts of generosity and kindness, of extending hospitality to strau- jrers, be it meeting the common eneniv in a death struoj- gle, or in attacking and overcoming the obstacles of Nature, the innate character of the people is never obscured or hidden. It is the embodiment of heart, will and pui-- pose. Such is a true picture of Kansas and her people to- day, which must forever leave its impression on her destinv. OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 39 CHAPTER lY. It was one hour past midnis^ht on the morning of June 9th when wo loft, not without regret, the beautiful and enterprising city of Lawrence, the liospitalities of whose generous and liberal minded citizens avo had shared for the last two days. Once on board of the western bound train of the Kansas Pacific railroad, our faces as well as our thoughts* were turned to the great objective point ot our excursion, the Rocky Mountains. Day overtook us at Wamega, 104 miles west of the State line, the initial point of the raih'oad, whence distance is measured west to Den- ver. The character of the country, both extrinsic and intrinsic, appeared about the same as at Lawrence. There were l>old hills and gentle slopes, boundless jiruiries and hill encircled valleys, through the latter generally a lino of straggling trees mark the windings of a small brook. The soil is a dark mould, and where cultivated, gives promise of an abundant harvest. On all sides were evi- dences that the country is fast settling up with immi- grants. New and unpaintod cottages or the board shanty meet the eye in all directions, as far as sight can pierce over the plain. Some of these are yet surrounded with the primitive prairies, yet many stand within or beside the newly broken sod, but all are unenclosed. Often corn has been dropped in the furrow while breaking up the prairie, and where so, it is up with a tolerable fair stand five to eight inches above the sod. This often yields a third or a fourth of a crop, with no other labor than drop- ping it in the furrow while breaking up the prairie sod. The older settlements exhibit immistakable evidence of 40 OVKR THE PLAINS AM> ON TUE MOUNTAINS. that intclligenco, industry and enterprise, and consequent- ly thrill ho characteristic of the people of Kansas. Xeat- er homes, bettor cultivated farms, and more promising and finer crojis, arc hard to find, even in the best cultivated and richest parts of the older States. The aspect of the whole seems as though tho people thought there wore no enjoyments nor pleasures equal to the endearments of tidy, comfortable and jileasant homes. The preceding day wo had seen the -wheat fields from Lawrence to Humboldt, along the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston i-ailroad. At Garnett and lola there was often much disparity in the gr(nving crop. Fields almost adjacent, with apparently no diftbrcnce in soil, nor choice of location, differed so much in appearance that the own- ers of the poor fields must have made some great mistake or committed a grievous fault either in the time or man- ner in which they put tho croj) in, or in the quality of the seed sown. Be the cause what it may, one field promising 28 to 30 bushels of wheat per acre was fully ripe for har- vest, untouched by blight, while an adjacent one, thin, green and rust eaten, would not yield one-half that quan- tity of a very inferior quality. Along the line of the Kan- sas Pacific railroad so far, although there were considera- ble differences in fields, there was nowhere such a contrast as we had observed in Southern Kansas. Corn from Wamega as far west as we found it planted, was very promising, of a dark rich green, since there had been through this section abundant rains, and most of the fields, were in the highest state of tilth with not a Aveod to be seen. Manhattan lies above and immediately west of the junc- tion of the Blue whose upper valley, some seventy miles north from its mouth, we had traversed three days before as far as Watorville. Here is located the Kansas State Af'ricultui'al College and the experimental farm. Accord- ing to pre-arrangement we wei-e to have stopped here and hpend a day in looking over the farm and studying its sys- OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TlfE MOUNTAINS. 41 tern and that of the organization of the college. The col- lege and farm arc located some two and a half miles northwest of the town. But finding that if we did so, our train an-angements would be interfered with, Ave kept on without stopping, with the intention to defer our visit un- til our return. The railroad runs up the valley of the Kaw, or Kansas as it is sometimes called, a beautiful transparent stream with a rapid current. It is sometimes flanked by low hills, which now approach and then recede until lost from view beneath the distant liorizen. The banks of the riv- er are sparsely lined with trees, but Avith little under- growth. Otherwise there is no timber except along the banks of some affluent whose devious windings can be traced over the plains until lost in the distance, by the iine of trees that deck its banks. The same species of mimosa ol)served yesterday' in Southern and the day before in I^orthern Kansas, the Schrankia uncitiata otWio botanists, was still plenty, and occasionally the white and purple (Enothera, Avas still plen- ty. A ncAV comer, however, made its appearance this morning, the white Mexican prickly poppy, (Argemone grandlflora) groAving luxuriantly on the sides of the ex- cavations and embankments of the railroad. Its enor- mous Avhite floAvers, often fi\"e inches in diameter, Avere the admiration of the whole party. Some fifteen miles above Manhattan is to be seen on the south side of the KaAv the old capitol building now occupied if at all by hogs and other unclean beasts. PaAv- nee was to ha\^e been the capital of the nascent State ; hei-e the appropriation made by Congress for erecting Territori- al buildings Avas expended, and here GoA'ernor Eeeder con- vened the first Territorial Legislature, in midAvinter on a bleak prairie one hundred and tAventy-fivc miles Avest of any civilized habitation. This Avas too much for the j^i'ac- tical good sense of the unsophisticated early settlers, and they rebelled against it. After many failures Avith re- 42 OVER Trra plains and on the moi.-ntains. newed and energetic efforts, the ambulatory Legislature meanwhile meeting at other points, the capitiil question was settled by selecting Topeka, and the glory of Pawnee departed and Avith it visions of valuable corner lots, etc. •On the surrounding prairies there is now nothing to be seen but droves of Texas cattle, remarkable only for their enormous uncouth horns. Such was the case on the morning we passed there. Fort Kiley is situated near the junction of the Eepubli- •can Fork; and some three miles beyond is Junction City. A good idea of the topographical sloping of Central and Northern Kansas may be formed by studying its river sys- tem proper, which converges here. Southwestern Kan- sas, nearly one-fourth part of the State, belongs to another system, and is drained and traversed by the Arkansas, and the Cimmaron. But the system which forms the Kawhas its sources west in Colorado and north in Nebraska. The Blue rises in Nebraska near the channel of the Platte, an'i flows generally south, entering the Kaw at Manhattan. It is said to afford the best water power in the State through its entire length. It certainly does so in the northern tier of counties, as we saw three days before at Irving, Blue Rapids and Waterville. The Republican forms a junction with the Smoky Hill Fork just below Junction ('ity. The Republican has its sourye in south- western Nebraska and northeastern Colorado, flowing at flrst cast, then southeast until it joins its waters with those of the Smoky Hill, forming the Kansas or Kaw. Thirty miles or so west, Solomon's Foi'k, rising in eastern Color- ado, running at first northeast into Nebraska and then southeast, joins the Smoky Hill. Thirteen miles highei- «p, the Smoky Hill is joined by the Salina, which also rises in eastern C/olorado. The Smoky Hill itself rises in eastern Colorado, and flows a little north of east in th*? general course. The line of railroad is up the valley of the Smoky Hill, but so level and expanded is its basin that the river Is s^'ldom in si.A.INS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. tempt Avas made to depreciate the territory in question^ Hence, while all territory lying north of latitude 36 dcg. 80 min. and west of Missouri was dedicated forever to freedom, the Southern people must bo deluded with the idea that it was worthless. Hence there eminatcd from the War Department, then presided over by 3Ir. Calhoun, an aspirant for the Presidency, documents j^ur- porting to give a topographical description of the coun- try, and of the nature of the soil and climate. These documents described the country as worthless ; merely a vast, arid, treeless, rainless sandy desert ; no S2)rings nor running brooks, because there wasnorain to supply them; and so sandy that the streams that flowed from the moun- tains were soon absorbed on the plains. Hence there appeared in our school atlases, for the first time, that myth the " Great American Desert, " shaded like the Sahara and other deserts to indicate sand, from the Missouri to the mountains and south beyond the Arkansas. The settlement of Kansas, up to Ellsworth, two hundred and twenty-fivo miles west of Missouri, has dispelled this illusion as far as the eastern half of the ter- ritory is concerned ; but our geographers still represent the western half as the Great Desert, or the Desert omit- ting the sandy shading. The Kansas Pacific railroad company having a large land grant, (the alternate, or more specificall}^ all the odd numbered sections for ten miles on each side of the road,) from Congress given to aid in constructing the road, find it necessary to disabuse the public mind and root out the geo- graphical errors that have been inculcated for two genera- tions. They have adopted the truly logical way, Avhich is to combat error by facts. Without facts and without inves- tigation, and merely upon the dictum of some book com- piler, the public yet take it for granted that practically, if not actually, there is a region some three or four hundred miles wide in Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado that is doomed to remain a desert and wilderness forever; and OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 47 that the cause of this doom is natural sterility, imposed by- a sandy soil and a rainless climate. To eradicate the be- lief in this sterility, the contrary must be shown, and not shown by arguments, but by facts which are incontcstible. If crops actually grown there show that the soil is produc- tive, then it cannot be a sandy, sterile plain ; and if these crops are grown without irrigation, then the climate can- not be rainless. These are the problems proposed by the: company to be solved and demonstrated by its industrial agent. Mr. Elliot selected three stations — Wilson's ('reek, Ellis and Pond ('reek — for his experiments. The distances from the State line, respectively, arc 239, 302 and 425- miles, and their elevations 1586, 2019, 3200 feet above the sea. East of Wilson's Creek the demonstration of the in- habitability and fertility of the plains is une fait accompli. Up as far as and ai'ound Ellsworth, onl}- sixteen milea cast of Wilson's, the luxuriant fields of corn and the heavy fields of wheat, yellow and ready for the harvest, without any taint of disease, sufficiently attest the adaptation of tJic country for yielding the heaviest crops of cereals and of the best quality. But Wilson's is on a high bench, with a different soil, and with less black loam than the plains, eastward. In fact, it is a different, a cretaceous forma- tion, reaching clear to the mountains. Here, then, the test was to be made whether this formation was deficient in the elements of fertility, and if not, then under proper conditions the whole plain would be productive. Late in November wheat, rye and barley Avere sown, and the sea- son being unusually dry, the prospect of success was not considered to be very fiattering. The area sown was about one acre and a half of each kind. When we were there (on the 9th of June) the whole crop w'ould be ripe within ten days. The stand, the hight, and the general appearance of the crop w^ere equal to the best crops under similar circumstances in Missouri or Illinois, and in the rich yellow coloring of the straw and freedom from disease, iar superior. Of the crop at Ellis we could not judge^ 48 OVKH TIIK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. since .some iiiiic days before our arrival a hailstorm had passed over, literally mowing it down and sweeping it from the field. At Pond Creek more than a thousand feet highei-, the crop was very promising — not so forward, but of the healthiest kind of deep green. On our return, ten days later, the barley was here turning yellow and the cars very heavy. As far as the experiments of the present and past season are concerned, they have been eminently- successful. The winter gi-ains have not onl}' succeeded, but succeeded most admirably, and the corn is promising. The onh' question, then, is, was the present an ordinary ■or an exceptional season ? This it is impossible for me to decide; and further experiment and observation maybe necessary to determine and settle this jioint. It will be remembered that in Missouri the spring had been unusually dry. When we left St. Louis in early June, the spring crops were suffering for want of rain, and we found them still so when we returned on the twentieth, thougli there had been a few refreshing showers in the intervening time. West on the northern frontier of Kan- ;sas, as far as we went, some 100 miles northwest of Atchi- son, there had been abundant rains. The same remark may be made as disclosed by our trip to near the southern border. On the outward trip, west as far as daylight per- mitted lis to observe, namely, to Fort Wallace, 420 miles Avest of the State line, and on our return from Aroya, 511 miles, there were evidences of not only abundant but quite recent rains; the excavations along the line and the buffalo wallows on the prairie were pools of water. At Denver, 128 miles further west, there had been no rain when we left. Xow, these rains reaching away into east- ern Colorado, an ON THE MOUNTAINS. 55 CHAPTEE V. Our last chapter closed with the retirement of our party to rest, and left us asleep on the vast plains, in charge of the fiery steed, who, sure footed and fleet, and undaunted by storm and darkness, was, with unflagging speed, carrying us forward to our destination. Day over- took us at Agate, 572 miles beyond the State line of Mis- souri, and 57 miles east of Denver. Kefreshed by a good Test, i was up at dawn to catch a glimpse of the great mountains, with whose description by Lewis and Clark I waf^charmed and captivated in early boyhood.^ But the same impenetrable haze of the preceding evening still rested on the plains and closed in the view oji all sides. The moraing was cold, and frost was observable on tho plains, which looked more sere and desolate than before, since the dry ''mesquite grass" was more abundant, and entirely hid the coat of buffalo grass underneath. But wo were either running out of the haze, or else tho rising sun was dispersing it, for it was growing thinner and more penetrable to the sight. Ah, there ! the outline of some- thingcdark as a storm cloud appeared for an instant and then vanished. Was it fancy, or was it reality? Anon, and the same reappeared, this time like a series ot black .clouds, but hazy, and of no definite outline. Again they vanisli and leave me in doubt. I hesitated making tho ras&ertion that I had caught a glimpse of the object that I had a life-long desire to see. I looked doubtfully at Mrs. •T. who had been looking out for the same object on the opposite side of the cars. She beckoned me and whis- pered, '' I believe I caught several glimpses of the moun- tains through the fog. " I replied I thought I had too, Ob OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. hut wuH not quite certain. Looking out airain, in a mo- ment they reappeared, this time quite disiincl ; and in- Htantly a shout arose: "The mountains!" "liie moun- tains ! " that awoke every sleeper in the party. In fifteen minutes more we had run clean out of the haze into an atmosphere of most crystalline transparency. There lay exposed to full view along the western hox-izon two hundred and fifty miles, at least, of the greatest, long- est, and most remarkable mountain chain in the world, stretching from Terra del Fuego to Behring's Straits, u distance of some 11,000 miles, and containing more of the precious metals than the whole world besides. There they lay, sombre as cast iron, peak behind jicak, duplicate and conduplicate, culminating in tlie far distance into snowy heads, peering over and dominating the whole. My observations on the plains had already satisfied me that in no ])articular whatever, either of general outline, for- snation, soil, climate, productions or meteorology, was the West a counterpart of the East ; and that from an eastern standpoint, neither the appearance, character nor condi- tions of the West could be conceived or understood. From even this distant point, no one can look at the mountain system, spread out like a panorama before him, without having the conviction forced upon him, that though Xature operates everywhere by the same law, yet she never follows ov ])assively copies the same pattern. In the east- ern mountains the chains are parallel and separated by wide valleys. Moreover they are single and continuous, unbroken it may be, for fifty or a hundred miles. But here, even, the mountain wall that rises almost perpendic- ular to the height of two to four thousand feet, in a straight line along the edge of the plain, like the houses on one side of a street in our large cities, is severed from top to bottom, not unlike those houses, at intervals never exceeding two thousand feet. These immense rifts are the gulches and canyons through which the mountain streams, having their sources in the snow\- i-ange, fifty OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 57 miles distant, pour their limpid, iey-cold water on the- plains. These rifts do not strike in a single gorge directly into the heart of the mountiiins, but hy more or less laterals, honey-comb the whole sj-stem. Hence, the mountain, instead of a monotonous range, as in the East,., is a system of cones, oftentimes as sharp as the teeth of a. saw. Most appropriately have the Spaniards called them the "Sierras;" that is, the serrated, or the mountains jag- enver did that morning. My subsequent observations diU not-imjirove or modify ^my first impressions. I believe such i.s a universal feeling -experienced by travelers; and the firstthought that finds ^expression is, the wonder why ever ti city was located in • such a i^oint as this. ^The truth is, the selection of the locality was not determined either from the beauty or loveliness of the spot, from it« primitive adapta- tion for a city, or from its prospective development for such, but by accident; ami like most accidents, it was '.and is unfortunate, both forth-e commercial interest of the ■ Territoiy anld for public, convcnionce. The earliest gold hunters that went into the Territory Tound a few grains of gold in Ihe -sandy bed of Cherry "Creek, an insignificant stream that flows, when it has any water, from the Divide in a northwesterly direction into the South Platte. This induced them to pitch their tents here and calling the ])lace by the poetical name of Aumria. The news of the finding of gold here spread like wildfire over the States as well as over the mountains ; rand it became the objective point of gold-hunters from the ■^States as avcU as from the mountains of New Mexico. "This fact made it a good point to concentrate and distrib- ute supplies. Here the miner of the mountains could go -and replenish his stores of provisions, supply himself with tools and other necessaries ; and the adventurers from ' the States, after their long wanderings over the plains. f^an>e;here to ovei^haiil and refit, aiid to complete their fOtttfitSfw their anountain expedition. Numerous stores wer-e- opened, with full and complete assortments of min- -inff iflipldashing, ic}^ cold stream, that comes booming from the mountains; the hum of whose noisy waters, of an evening, is a j)erpetual lullabj' to the denizens of this unpreten- tious cozy town, nestled so snugly on its bosom. It is more than a mile to the mouth of the canyon, where the stream issues from the mountains ; yet fi'om the rarity of the atmosphere (for Golden is 5,700 feetabove tide water ) 62 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. the ajjpai-ent distance seems not to be more than a quar- ter of a mile. All visitors will learn, if not otherwise, by- painful experience, that distance in this region cannot be- measured, or even approximately guessed at by sight. This peculiarity, however, is not, as is generally supposed^, due to the purity, but to the rarity of thcatmosjjhere. Be-- sides this, a change takes place in the form of the eye by. being relieved by the altitude of so. much atmospheric pressure. Several instances, illustrating tliis fact, occui*red; in our party. For years they could, neither read box* write without glasses, yet here they did both unaware of the fact until from habit, when they got through, they reached for their glasses. The deceptiveness in r.egard to distance led me and others into several awkward scrai)os». (jne of these occurred on the evening of our -arrival at Golden. To understaiul it, howevei',. a- toi:)OgraphieaL description of the surrounding country is necessary. West lies the rifted barrier of the liockj' Mountains^ flanking the plains in a straight line north. and south with, a nearly perpendicular wall, from tifteen. hundred to two • thousand feet high. The light green, of the plain con- trasts beautifully with sombre browji. of the feldspathio- rocks of the mountain sides, or the dark.green of the ever- greens with which the mountain slope,-^^ Avhere not too- steep, are covered. Ilowevei* on this plain, sporatic iso- lated mounts, or buttes, as they are here called, have been thrown up, mostly single cones,, that stand, on the plain. looking like haystacks. They are often iten .miles di.stant from the mountains, and twenty from each other, and at- tain altitudes from 500 to 1,500 feet. They invariably are ■■ crowned with massive columnar basalt, rising perpendicu- larly from the summit of the cone to a height of from IGO to 200 feet, while the slope of.thcbutte below the crown is regular but very stelain lying against the mountains and overlooking the town and j^laiii below, and Clear' Creek, from where it breaks from its canyon until lost on the distant i)lains. This bench was covered with most ex- quisite flowers. Here were Lupines of every hue between snowy white to tyrean purple; red Pe7istemous ; indigo- blue and crimson Oxytropies, (the reader must pardon the scientific names, as these plants, as yet, have no others ) yellow Mcntzelias ; white and purple Anemones; the gaudy Gaillardia aristata, two or three inches in diame- ter; the whit« ToionscncUa ; the purple Cleome integrifola ; the fragrant Abronia; the cream-colored, lily-shaped flower, large as a hollyhock, of the Yucca angustifolia ; and the fragrant Gaura coccinnea. Hear Ave whiled away the time plucking the flowers, picking up pebbles, and occasionally casting glances at our friends on the other side of the valley to see how they were succeeding in their laudable efforts at rising in the world. But the sxm .went down before the foremost of them reached the pre- OVER THE Pli-VINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 65 cipitoiis luisjilt elift crowning the summit. This couhi only be surmounted by a detour to the northeast of nearly half a mile. Twilight had set in before any of them stood on the summit, and most of them had to give it up in despair, after havmg achieved two-thirds of the task. Eeturning to our liotel it was not long before strag- <>-lers of the unsuccessful aseensionists began to arrive. Seeing that failure was inovitiiblc, they found compensa- tion for their trouble in plucking the beautiful, and to them new and unlcnown flowers which covered the precipitous mountain sides. It fell to my task to classify and name them. Besides most of those found on the bench, there were three species oi' Astragalus, two of (Enothera, a T'i?s/- €aria, a species of Castelegia, and the beautiful Galochortiis venustus, as large as a tulip, being, in fact, a three-leaved lilv. It was nine o'clock before the last of the party returned. • At night there Avas a brilliant aurora, wliich, through the rare and pure atmosphere of the mountains, showed a rich display of colors and heavy waves of light. The view, however, Avas obstructed by one of the high buttes north of Clear Creek, which shut out everything in that direction that was not more than 35 degrees above_tho horizon. OVER niK PLAINS AND ON TliE MOUNTAINS. CHAPTER YI. As it was Iho ambition of liomc of our party on tho pre- vious evening to sec the sun set from the top of Castle Butte, so it was mine to see Iiina rise thence. Early dawn found me on the way up to the summit. Passing over the int-ervening phiin between the town and the foot of the butte or mountain, in tho gra}' lUnvn T t'sjiied coming towards me some animal, whicli I at firsi feared might be a wolf, but collecting courage 1 faced it boldly. It proved to be a large shepherd dog who liad watched his master's eowH during the night while they climlted uj) the steep sides of the mountain to crop the luscious herbage.. Throughout the Kocky ^Lountains, T found it general, that it did not matter how ranlc and ]dentiful the grasses were '\n iho, vaUeys and canyons, nor how stee]>, nigged and dangei'ous the declivities, all animals, even at the imminent, risk of their li^■'os, would ascend the steepest acclivities to crop the scanty h.crbage of tlu^ cliUs and the mountain to|)s. The cows in ([uestion at (lolden, like sen- sible animals, selected the coolest part of the day to get their tid-bit, ;nid took with tliem a c(.)Ui'ageous and faith- ful guard. He seemed to lie glad to see me and accom- panied me until 1 returned from my mountain ramble. When I got back to the foot of the mountain he sat down, and on the ]>lain I saw his owner coming with milk pails. Stopping to have a chat, he pointed his linger up the mountain and calleti to his dog to "fetch 'em, Jack." I told him the dog had been most friendly aiul had piloted mo over the mountain. He said, " that he will do for any Htranger, as long as he does not meddle with the cows." Well, instead of following tho advice I heard the citizens OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 67 give to the evening party, lo follow the winding patii made b}' the city for the benefit of visitors to the top of the mountain, I, like many an im})atient politician, thought I would take a shoi-t cut for the attainment of my ambition. I saw a ridge, or " hog back," as it is here called, right before me which seemed entirely practicable for my purpose. As far as the ridge Avas concerned T found it so, but suddeiily my '"hog back" gave out, end- ing "in a perpendicular precipice fifty feet deep, facing the mountiiin. I saw the trap, and also how I could get out of it. This was to go down the edge of the precipice, but before me there rose the almost impassible barrier of a slope up the mountain of an angle of about sixty degrees with the horizon, with but little foothold, and what w-as m.ore important handhold either. Having determined t<» try it, after a most desperate scramble of about one hun- dred and fifty yards, I reached the -winding path dug by the citizens. Thoroughly disgusted with short cuts, I gladly followed it. Looking down, I now first became aware of the risk I had run. It made my head swim to look down and see that one misste]) Avould have sent me rolling and tumbling down the precipitous declivity five or six hundred feet. Though almost balked by the mis- take made, 1 yet reached the sumVnit fidly twenty minutes before the sun show^ed himself above the horizon. (Aastle Butte ur Table Ilock, as it is scnnetimes called, from the plain below, appeared as though its truncated summit might be a scpuire rod in area. I was surprised to find it about one acre. Approaching the edge of the precipice, one hundred and sixty feet perpendicular, there, apparent- ly within a stone's throw, lay Golden. There, too, was Clear Creek, breaking from its mountain defile, nearly two miles west, I'ushing and foaming and roaring over the plain and through the village ; clear as crystal, and like a stream of molten silver from its native mountains. It was a beautiful, quiet Sabbath morning scene. Sleep had not yet left weary eyelids, and all was silent save the ever 68 OVER THE PLAINS AND ()\ THE MUrNTAIXS. murmuring n(^isc of the limpid water. My eye ran up and down the yucaiit streets and across tlie bridge span- ning this beautiful stream, but no living thing could be descried^ except the ever-moving waters. Like a vast j)anoraiua the plain spreads out along the foot of the mountains until it dips below the horizon, though the view is somewhat intei-rupted by the buttes to the north. West lay the rifted yet unbroken chain of the mountains, terminating southward with Pike's Peak, wliich, like a mighty bastion, stands out from the mountain rani])art in that direction. To the northward the mountains at length dip below the horizon, but far to the northwest the snowy summit of Long's Peak lies against the intensely translu- cent sky. To the west the scene is exceedingly grand and impressive. On the edge of the plain rises to the height of two thousand feet a mountain wall of rusty feldspathic rock, sometimes ])are and sometimes covered with ever- green shrubs and ti-ees, the whole crowned by fir, pine and cedar. Behind this wall, peak rises behind peak, until in the far West the whole are overtopped now and then, a.s seen from here, by a snowy pinnacle. As for the rising sun view, it was a failure and disappointment. Over all the plain to the east there hung a gray haze, and when the sun appeared he seemed to shine through a dull fog bank. This was singular, since overhead and through the whole mountain region the sky was of an intensely deep blue, and the air along the plain skirting the mountains ex- tremely transparent. South on the plain, some three miles distant, is the large brick edifice of the Episcopal College, and some distance beyond stands the Territorial School of Mines. East could bo seen several ranches whose irrigated fields of dark green contraste(i beautifully with the dull gray of the buffalo grass on the plain. Be- yond, just discernible through the haze, at a distance of sixteen miles, lay Denver, bordered on the west by the glistening waters of the South Platte; and from the north base of the butte through the intervening plain, like a sil- cjVer the tlatns and on thk mountains. 69 vor lt;uu!, ('lour ('i-oek oduid he trueed initii its janction jusl l)(-Iow ncnver Avitii the Platte. I'lii'-kidj:; a low rare flowers, amongst which wan tho /^.'•^/■y.'<7u//yi a.s/)<^7"U//i ol' delicate orange pur])Ie ; aiul taking lip a Miiocadus an memorials of the place, I reluctantly turned my back on the enchanting scenery and i-eturned to jClolden. After an excellent lireakfast. the major ])art ol' our com- pany elected to go to the mountains and in the depths of their gulches and canyons, and from theii- high pinnacles to contemplate and admire the sublimity, grandeur and vastness of Nature's works. Clear creek canyon and Chimney gulch seemed both to be eligible points for our purpose. For two and a half miles np the canyon the track for a tiarrow-gauge railroad is graded. The scenery in the canyon is sublime, but we Averc assured there was no practicable route for ascending any of the peaks Avithin a reasonable distance. A half a mile south of the canyon lies Chimney gulch, through Avhich flows a mountain brook ef clear and cold water. The gulch opens a vista into the mountains, and exposes to full view, in their third tier of cones, the cidminating })eak in this sec- - tion. This was deemed most eligible for our purpose, and, therefore, Avas selected as the objectiA-e point of our iriountain ramble for the day. To the summit in a direct line is only about three and a half niiles, but the doub- lings and Avindings of the way leading to it, make it betAveen six and scA'cn. The sky Avas of the deepest blue, and from it l>eamed a midsummer sun, Avith an ardor and brilliancy unknown to other climes. But the craving de- sire to see and ex])love the most stupendous of Nature's works, Avas too strong to be repressed by the fiery beams of a A-ertical sun. Ascending the bench, or ten-ace, that here stretches out upon the plain and overlooks Orolden and the valley of Clear creek, a Avalk of a mile and a half brought us to the mouth of the gulch, up Avhich leads a path. Here it at once became evident that Ave had 70 OVy.R TlIK 1M,.VINS ANT) ON TJIK MOrNT.VIX>. turueil ovt'i- :i new leal" of the voliiinc of Xuturr. Xor tive, nor slu-uh, nor tlowcr jirosentod familiar species, or ^•ret.'tcHl UK lif* old :u'(ju:iintunccs. All M-cro lu'W in form, iu kind and iu asi:)eet. In ].ines, tln're -were the Phivs pon- deroaa^ conforta, fie.rili.s and KdvJi^^, \\w laltei-, El jdnon, of Xew Mexico. Of firs or s])ruce thei-e were the Abies Doiigla.^- fiii, Engehnaniiii and JJoKiesii. A inaph-, the Am- (jlah- rum, so diygnised in the IVn-ni of its leaf as to he unrecogniz- able except hy its s:iinara ; a half a dozen new s])ecies of tSpirea ; the Xoolka rasphei-rv, with a Itlootn two inches in diameter; a shruh, the Jamctia, so called after J)r. James, a .companion of Tol. Long, an early explorer, whose name is ])eri)etuated in Long's I'eak' ; two species of shrubby Votentilhi-'^, and two specie's of evergi-een barber- ries, generally known as Mahnriias. The covnns ami the rose familii's are also represented by ni'w s])ecies; so also are the ]ilum, cherry, serviceberry, huckleberry and rasp- berry. In tad, everything Avas new exce])ting t!ie fom- mon juni])er, the bearberry ( Arrfosfaj>/n/Ios vrd-iirsi) and one or two others. Tn addition to the tlowers below on the ]»lain, mostly repeated here, there wei'i^ a yellow Cas- tillejia, a large, snowy and sjdendid blue Cohiinbine, two species of GiJla, the beautiful (^iFinatis li(/i(st)rifoIia , and her not less beautiful, tmd mor<' than half sister, th(^ Atrageve (dpiva, the former expanding hei- snowy white sepals fully three inches and the lattei- two. Amid such a profusion and great varifty of plants, gaudy as well as new, and sur- rounded by i-ugged cliffs, mountain ])i'eci])ices and over- hantiinii; rocks, that every moment threatened to tiill and crush us oi- obstruct out- way, tlie flight of ti?ne was un- heeded, ami Ave wt-rt- ascending fhe steep acclivity up Avhich our path led, without being conscious of wearine-s.s or exhaustion. The mountain air, though the sun Avas hot, Avas invigorating; and then at short intervals we turned aside to slak(^ our thirst l>y dipping "the gliding crystal" from the little mountain streatn that flows through the gorge, hid for the most part by ferns; OVKR THE ri,AI.\S AND OS THK MOUNTAINS. 71 amongst which I notic-oJ a 8])o('ioH rcHombling th-^ Pterij^ fl(7«e7ma with an enormous leaf, ( frond ), from five to six feet high and three wide. Our patli, made for bringing down ties for the railroad, Avan extremely rough and tor- tuous. The ridges or '* hog hacks" from oppf)site sides of the guk-h continually forced the latter from a straight line; now forcing it almost at right angles to the left, and then back again to the right, so that its course is zigzag. The gulch tinally terminates, and a huge "hog back" sweeps in iVom the south, terminating, only at the canyon wall of Clear creek. The road now slopes up to the north until the j-iilge of this "hog back" is reached, when it fol- lows up tlie ridge southeastward, to a slight dejjression on the top of the mountain. West of this ridge is an im- .mense chasm so steep as to be impracticable lor any liv- ing thing except the mountain goat. At the l»ottom of this chasm runs Clear creek, the roar of whose waters are .distinctly heard, though hid from view by the spruce and pine trees, on whose tops you look down from this point. Ascending the ridge, to the right rises our objective point, .the peak, at some ]»laces almost perpendicular, to the height of between six and seven hundred feet more. Here we met some of our party returning, who had taken .advantage of a steep cut-otf up the great "hogback," and in about^onc hundred yards climbing had saved a mile of Avalkino-. Atiaining the summit and taking a position on a projecting rock, they endeavoretiou whether, under these circumstances, a retreat was prefer- able to an advance, so I chose the latter, and after the most desperate scrambling of all my mountain experience, attained the summit ahead of all my companions. The summit is level, and covered by a pine and spruce grove. Walking in a northwestward direction beyond the skirts of the grove, brings you to a bare rock, the edge of the ])recipice. The view from Ibis ])oint is most enchanting, grand and magnificent. You stand on the top ol the south wall of Clear creek canyon, a precipice that slopes down 2,500 feet at an angle but few degrees removed from the perpendicular. The roaring of the creek " like the sound of a rushing mighty wind " rises to your ear. To your left at the distance of about two hun- dred yards, for a part of tlie way down is a rugged pei-pen- dicular wall of naked rocks; but immediately in front the declivity is covered with young firs and pine. Since you overlook the whole, the side of the declivity appears not only covered with a mantle of everlasting green, but seems almost as even as if clipped by shears. But as you look down the chasm your eyes strain in vain for a sight of the bottom, or to eaten a glimpse of the roaring waters that flow there. Down, far down as the eyo reaches, the tops of gigantic fir or pine trees are the only objects visi- ble; tops of troes whose heads are bathed in the light of noonday sun, but whose roots are fixed in the bottom of a gloomy, dismal chasm. Lift now your eyes to the scenery beyond the chasm. You see you are looking down on the les.s t^levated north wall ol the can^'on, bej'ond which rises gradually like a vast amphitheatre, mountain upon mountain ])iled against the northwestern sky, and the whole crowned by a rampart of everlasting snow. To the north this snowy rampart terminates in J^ong's Peak, some fifty miles dis- OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 73 tant, which rises fully two thousand feet above the aver- :ige height of Snowy Eange. Fai* in the southwest it cul- minates in 3Iount Lincoln. As intermediate bastions, rise James' and Gray's Peaks, each to the aftitude of over 14^000 feet above the sea. The first is about twenty-five- miles south of Longs' Peak ; the last is about twenty railes south of James' Peak, and about thirty miles due west from here. Mount Lincoln is the Titan of the American Cordilleras, being estimated, according to de- terminations made by Prof. A. DuBois, at seventeen thousand five hundred feet above the level of the ocean. It is nearly ninety miles distant from here, standing at the northwest corner of South Park. West of it is the Upper Canyon of the Arkansas; north, Middle Park ; and southeast, South Park. From its sides issue springs that on the southeast feed the South Platte; on the west, the Arkansas; and on the north, Blue i-iver, which falls into Grand river, a tributary of the great Colorado of the West. Notwithstanding its great distance, there it stands majestically, towering high above all other peaks, unique and inimitable, a Titan among pygmies, like its proto- tj'pe, whose name it perpetuates, did amongst men. Its ba-se garlanded by evergreens, emblems of immortality, and its summit crowned with the symbol of spotless pur- ity, the white, persistent snows of untold ages, it is a fitting monument to symbolize the towering intellect, and to perpetuate the memory of the devout patriotism and immaculate purity of the great and wise statesman and model President whoso name it bears, and whose " Ono of the fnv, th'' ininiortal names That wonj not bor:i to die. " Long's Peak and Mount Lincoln, terminating the ex- treme visible points of the Snowy Range, as seen hence, from their great altitude appear like immense bastions at the angles of an icy rampart, behind which stern winter lies intrenched forever. To the south the view is ob- 74 OVER TUK PL.\I.\S AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. stnu'ted by u ]»inc uiid Hpruoc foivst, but on the *.*a^t thero i.s a line view of tho plains for one hundred inile^j and more. At a point or two south of east and twenty niilen distant, but ap])arently near the foot of the mountains, lies Denver. You look down into its streets, and from far south of it to down north of Greeley, where it meets the Cache a la Poudre, the sparklins:^ waters of the South Platte are seen. The Plains are an xinvaried gray, witJi nothing to give them variety excepting the irrigated fields along the vSouth Platte and (Hear creek, and the line of straggling Cottonwood trees that skirt their brinks. To the northeast, far beyond the Platte, appeared what .«hantoni luk*\s, the optical deceptions of mirage; giving the Avord thoFreiich, l)ut also the only authori/.ed English jironounciation. ^' And ])ray, " said she, ''what is ?//(>acA.'" To explain, I hegan by telling her it is one of those things '•Fdi- wli'u'h ilii' six'i'cli of EnL^limd had no luuno. " In Italy they call it Fata Morgavo. It was observed there in ancient times as is abundantly evident from both Greek and Poman records. Along the Straits of Me.«.sina then, as now, the coast and objects below the horizon sometimes loomed up above it; at other times seemed to approach the opposite shore, and what was more astonish- ing, oftentimes seemed to bang inverted from the sky. "Why," she replied, ''that is mi-rage." I llu'n saw what was the matter and felt relieved, for I l)egan to fear that if I attempted the explanation of special atmospheric con- ditions, diflteront densities of adjacent superincumbent layers of air, and the consequent refraction of light, that I would succeed in making it plain that neither 1 nor the learned knew a particle more about the true nature of tho phenomenon tlian the common people do. Indeed, 1 OVER THE PLAIN'S AXD OX THE MOt'XTAIXS. 75 Tnade a narrow esoajie of exposing the fact that I was talking phylosophy, if judged ])y the Scotchman's rule, who always kncM- when a man talked metaphyHics ; namely "when you ean'na tell what, lie means, and lu> din'na ken hinisel." As already stateil I had reaclu^d llie mountain tup iUliy half an hour in advance of my companions. On the edge of the grove and near the brink of the ])recipice, there stands a perpendicular rock, some twenty feet high and about the same width. At the base, near its north end, there is about as beautiful a bench rock, some twenty inches wide, as if inade b}' Jiand. ]t is a part of a huo-o rock which foces north-west, and for live feet this bench protrudes from the side. Where it terminates, there stands, with its trunk against the rock, a low headed spi-uce, com- pletely shading for ten feet and more the ground around its roots, breaking off some dry limbs that interfered with the use of the bench, I sat down to rest until the fompany w<.>uld arrive, and to enjoy the nuigniticenl scen- ery of evergreen mountains, bounded In' everlasting snows in the distance that lay stretched out like a vast panorama before uie. Answering a call, soon brought the greater part of the company to the spot, whei'e they gave vent to their enthu- siasm at beholding the grand sight by a yell that would have done credit to the Utcs themselves. Approposj why is this impulse for whooping so univer- sal in all, even in the almost inexcitable, on reaching these elevated regions ? Some think it is owing to the excite- ment produced by so great variety of novelty, or an out- burst of enthusiasm at beholding so much grandeur and sublimity. Judging by my own experience 1 cannot con- ceive these to be the true caxises. I felt an irre])ressible desire to whoop long before I saw anything at all as extraor- dinarily impressive. Moreover, when I stood face to face before the shrine of Nature, and contemplated her inimita- ble beauty, bewildering grandeur and imposing majesty, I 76 OVKR THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. tclt as tlioui^'h a whisper would bo sa('rili;j;i()us jirolanity- 1 think the causes are physiological and iiol. acstheticv. Dwellers in the Mississippi Valley or on the sea shore,, breathe an atmosphere so dense that their average respir- ations are but sixteen jier juinute. J>ut here on the laouii- tains, the respirations are increased to twenty-four per niiiuite; and the pulsations of the heart and the flow of blood in the veins are accelerated in like proportion. The effect on the system is an exhilaration almost amounting to intoxication, and hence that outburst of feeling which affects all, and which it is found so difficult to repress. liesigning my scat on the rock to a lad}', who made u sketch of the mountain scenery and the Snowy Kauge for her children, I sought shelter imder the shade of a most magniticent Douglass spx'uce, whose jtendant l>rancbes~ swept the ground for some distance around. Here I laid down on the dry tir and pine leaves that made a bed as soft as a mattress. Professor Kelsey, of Kansas, soon joined me, and we talked until we fell asleep. Awaking,, we found our company all gone, and the mountain silent^ Breaking a branch of the tree as a grateful memorial of" the pleasant h(Uirs spent under it« shade, Ave wended our way down the mountain towards Golden, where we arrived in time for supper. OVEK TUK PLAINS AND UN THE MOUNTAINS. I i CHArTEPv VIL Early on Monday, June 12th, we left Golden on the xnorning train for Denyer, where ^ye arriyed in ample time to take the train of the Denyer Pacific railroad for Cheyenne, in Wyoming Territory, one hundred and Bix miles north. By an amended act of Congress the Kansas Pacific railroad was released from its obligation to connect with the Union Pacific railroad at the 100th meridian, and the law so changed as to require it to connect with t h. XTnion Pacific railroad at a point not more than 50 miles west of the meridian of Denyer. The Kansas Pacific con- sequently followed up the general route of the Smoky Hill to Denyer, with the intention of ultimately connecting with the Union Pacific hence. As the land grant of Con- .id ami i-apid mountain streams, the plain af- eends ra[»idly 1,1)75 ie yellow,, antf often alone occupies large ])atches. The ])i-ai]'ie-dog vil- lages also ari> more numerous, and ther«; is a. lively time in them when the train approaches. Hundreds of tho dogs, big anui unlike it in this re- spect, that the gravel restH upon a soliil foundation and not ujjon quicksand Cheyenne, unlike its sister city, Denvei-, will, thevelbiv, never l>e alTiicteeared in the quicksand like a dissolving view, leaving nor wreck norti-ace beliind. Forbidding as is the appearance of the landscape around Cheyenne, and oppressively monotonous as is its scenery, yet there is the demonstration being made of the value of these apparently aiid plains, for grazing and stock-ntising. Here are mt'i\ who own cattle by thous- ands, aiul who are realizing from ten to twenty thousand net prolit annually from their flocks. More than 6,000 feet above the sea level, and forty-one degrees and more of north latitude, yet cattle here need no shelter or feed- ing the year round, subsisting upon the natural hay of the country, the dry buffalo grass, and going through the win- ter in better condition than cattle do in the States u])on both food and shelter. And then if you desire to know what a tendi'r, Jui(y' ami savory beefsteak is, let me com- mend you te> try that raised and liittened u])on the buffalo grass of the western plains. 1 have afmndant statistics on hand to show the lunnber of the flocks of different own- ers and their annual profits, on tlie plains along the foot of the mountains hence to south of Denver, which I miLst here omit. Sheep do splendidly, and a7-e entirely exempt OVER THE PLAINS AVU dN' THE MOUNTAINS. 85 from (liseaseH. Large flocks arc hoing introduced an- nually j a Boston company alone has a herd of 25,000 head. After an excellent dinner at Cheyenne, we took the re- turn ti'aiii for Denver, where we arrived at hali-past six o'clock. Finding carriages in waiting, we hastily drove through Denver, crossing the tine bridge over the Platte,* and ascended the plateau beyond from which there is a fine view of Denver and the surrounding country. The plateau is in high tilth, being irrigated by canals brought from the Platte on the south, and Clear creek on the north. The crops looked fine, but we had no time to make a ci'itical examination of their mode of cultivation and irrigation, as the sun was setting. Finally turning in at the gate, we found ourselves in Mr. Perrin's strawberry patch, and were abundantly supplied with fruit. But without halting Ave drove down the plateau and across Clear creek, hero one hundred and fifty feet wide, three feet deep, and running with such fearful velocity as threat- ened to sweep carriage and horses down with the tor- rent. On the plain north of the creek, and within fifty yards of the brink, stands Mr. Perrin's residence. Alighting, wo had just time to inspect, before dark, his highly culti- vated and artistically irrigated vegetable garden of about three acres. We were both delighted and surjjrised at tlie large size and vigorous growth of every kind of culin- ary vegetables. As we are jirpmised samples of beets, tui-nips and cabbages for exhibition at our next St. Louis Fair, our citizens will have an opportunity of seeing for themselves what Colorado can do in the way of vegeta- bles. Supper being announced, but as the distance was about five miles from Denver, the major part of tlie party who were going away with the eastward bound train, left, which was to be regretted, as the vexed strawberry (pies- tion would have been settled by the best proof in the world — the eating. I^arger, finer-flavored and more lus- 86 OVKR TIIK ri.AINH AM) ON Till'; MOUNTAINS. cious strawljorrit'si I never tasted than were furnished for desert that evenin<^. I soon deserted the eom])any and went out on the verandali. It was now fpiite dark, and I t^iit down to he soothed In- the evei"-niurnnn'ini<; waters of ('k'ar creek, which sweeps around on two sides — west and .south — of Mr. J*errin's phice. Oh, it in a phice for night- dreaming, and day-dreaming, li»o! Ijeaving, wt^ drove leisurely back to J)enver, in the sjilendid et|ui[)age of Mr. J^j-ers, of the Denver jVetrs, whei'c we arrived l>efore the dejiarture ot our fi-iend.^. At lialf-])Mst nine we took leave; of the major part of our party, who mitc )-('(iirning liome; but there wert; twelve of us, who thouglit. that it would not be entirely satisfac- t07"y to come 1.000 miles to see the great temj)le ofXatui"^, and then turn back after having only entered its vesti- liule. Besides the lioulder ( 'Ount\' Agricultui'al Associa- tion, the only one in the Territory that had acknowledged our presence, had extended to us, by a committee on the day of our arrival in Denver, a cordial invitation to visit Boulder City. This invitation a few of us had at once ac- cepted, and consefpiently the committee liad gone back to make the necessary arrangements. This engagenu'iit we now determined to fulhll, and this incident determined the point of our mountain excursion and movements while we remained in the Territory. Boulder (.Mty, in a direct line from Denver, is but twenty-eight miles, but the railroad traversing two sides of a triangle, makes it forty- seven. The Boulder Valley railroad meets the Denver Pacific at Hughes, seventeen miles northeast of J)enver; tJience to Erie is seventeen miles more — as far as tlie road is now completed — and thence twelve miles ]>y stage to Iktulder City. At Krie is a vein ol excellent coal, twelve tVel tiiick. The Kansas Pacitic railroad tapped this coal by a road from Hughes', but the grading is now done, and the ties arc being rapidly laid up to Boulder City, the road to be completed by the time of the ]]oulder Fair, in September OVF.It THE PLAINS AND ON' TUK MOUNTAINS. 87 This veil! of coal ooii.tinues up to Boulder twelve mile.\INS AND ON THE MOrNTAlNS. with the neceHKary buihlings, tho whole ivu'h)se(l by a tight, fence. Juat northeast of Bouhler is one of those remarka- ble benches or terraces already spoken of, Burrounded oil all sides by a plain rising about thirty feet high. It is an. oblong ellipse, having its transverse diameter at right angles to the mountain chain. It contains about fifteen acres, and has been selected for tho site of tho State- University when Colorado beconaes a State. Arriving at Boulder we were received at the ('olorado- House by Xha citizens en masse, and addressed in their- behalf by Judge Berkley, tendering to xis the hospitaliites- of the city during our stay, and offering to place at our- dis])osal conveyances to visit any points of interest, either around the (-ity oi* in the mountain canyon, that we might desire. I, by arrangement, responded to the reception erpoech, as the I)enver Tribune reporter, flatteringly no doubt, said, " in very appropriate terms, " thanking the citizens for tho distinguished honor conferred upon us, but declining in behalf of the Missouri and Kansas delegation tho generous offer of froo rides ad libitum. In a country where, to us, there was so much novelty, so much to inter- est, and such sublime and magnificent scenery, tho offer- was entirely too generous and tho inducement too great "to ride a willing horse to death;" wo therefore most gratefully declined it, and i)laced ourselves at their own disposal, to visit only such ]dnces as they might deem most interesting. After a dinner, sumptuous enough foi* ])riuces, we were driven around tho suburbs, visiting some of the adjacent farms, examining the condition of tho growing crops, tho canals and ditches foi", and tho method of irrigating, pick- ing the most luscious strawberries wo ever saw, and end- ing by a drive up to the mouth of Boulder canyon, to see thehead of tlic iiTigating canals which begin in the canyon OVKR TUK ri.AlN.S AM) ON' THE MOl/NTAINK. Si) and branch off both right and left, from the crc-ek as soon as it entern the plain. The weary Sun had mndo a pjoldon eet, And, by th(3 briijjht track of his fiery car, Gave token of a goodly day to-morrow. The citizens now had settled that on the next day they would give us a picnic up in Boulder canyon; and so we retii-ed to rest with bright anticipations of tomorrow. 'DO 0\K& THK I'LAi-NS A.ND ON THK MOUN'TAIJfS. Gir AFTER vin. From peculiar ineteorologiciU cau.soH, which it is not necessary here to state or explain, dew never falls on the Plains adjacent to the mountains. A morninp;'ri walk theretbre, can be enjoyed without incurring the drawbacks ofwet feet and soiled garments, and without having the apectcr of chills aiul fever flitting constantly before your eyes. Then, too, the sky is always so bright, the air ho pure and exhilai-ating, the songs of strange birds so charm- ing, the murmuring of the mountain torrents, dashing head- long down the plain, so soothing, and the scenery so bold and captivating, that ears and eyes are never satiated. Stolid and phlegmatic must bo the nature of that man, or woman either, who here can act the sluggard, whei-e Na- ture puta on her gayest attire and most majestic mien, aa ■Avell as displays her wildest and most phantastic forms. Under such influences and Impulses, even at the risk of .disturbing tiie tranquility of our host, the ilev. Nathan Thompson, and his estimable lady, whose hospitality we were enjoying, Mrs. T. and I were up early, and out for a morning's ramble up to the mountains and along their base, to drink in liealth from the pure, invigorating moun- tain air, and inspiration from the scenery surrounding us. Mr. Thompson's house stands about one-thii-d of the way up the sk)pe of a terraced ])lateau that lies against the mountains, extending from Boulder canyon to the fii-st gulch nortli, distant from the mountain at this, the farthest point, about 400 yards. Like all these elevated plateaux, it is ])erfectly level on the top; but the elopes are as neiitlyand as smoothly rounded off as if done by hand. 'These benches, as they are here called, are unquestionably OVKR THK PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. 91 the remains of" abrasions, reeonls of events lonj'" anterior to the existence of man, when the pent up "waters of moun- tain lakes broke throuijfh the roeky barriers, and issuing" iVom tlie ^uk'hes and canyons with irrisistil)le ibree dep;rH- ded tlie phiin to its jjresent kn'e!. The sU)pe rises with an an- •rle of about ihii-t y (h'ti'i-ees with the horizon, and tlie summit of the bencrh is about forty feet above the level of the plain. Ml'. Thompson's house stands near tlie north end, and his f'hurch (Congrt^gational) on the south end ol' a live acre lot, lying against this bench on the east side. Above and higher than the top of his house and along ihe edge of the level summit of the bench is an irrigating canal carrying from Eoulder canyon a rapid stream of water five feet wide and thirty inches deep. Up to this canal and along its margin northwest wardl}' lay our morning walk. From the plain on the top of this bench the view is "Charming, and in any other country than this would be en- titled to the terms grand and magnificent. West and north- west the precipitous walls of brownish porpliyritic rock ris- ing from the edge of the plain to the height of from 1500 to 4000 feet;* mostly nude, but incidentally at many places there are narrow terraces, bearing evergreen shrubs and dwarf pine, cedar and spruce trees. Southwest is Boulder canyon, an immensely deep, narrow rift in the mountain ; and beyond it rises a most singular protuberance, oblong, rugged and imposing, to an altitude of 4000 feet and more. lis roof-shaped top starts from terraces on both the east and west sides, and runs up as steep as the steepest roof of a gothic church for some 600 feet, the ridge running north and south. But what is most singular, along the eastern terrace rise no less than six abutments, looking for all the * "Tho sconeryAlo^igtlie flunks of tlicinouiitiins is wonderfully unique, and T have not seen a similnr oxanijili' in the Kooky Mountain region. The uplift is on an unparalleled scali-. The mountain wall, u tremen- dous uplift of met'unorphosed sand-stcme rises 4000 feet above Boulder Valley on the ])lains below, and their rugged summits project far over ■on thegrauitif roelcs westward. " Prof. /fav'le/i'.< Gt to the main Boulder creek, u dashing mountain torrent, Jiusteiiing down the plain to embrace her sister stream. At your feet, between the elevation on which you .stand and the creek, is Boulder City, which you entirely overlook, extending iiortlnvard on the j)laiu between you and the University plateau, which lies im- mediately cast, Down on the i:^lain eastward in the dis- tance, is seen Mr. Day's and other ranches, on the South Boulder. Then there is the fine lake between the two Boulders, formed since the plain has become irrigated, now well stocked with fine fish — mosilj' perch and redhorse. ]?C oarer still, the house in that dense coppice is the resi- dence of Judge George Berkley, the oldest and most en- thusiastic tree-planter in the Territory ; and nearer etil! come the fiiir grounds, Avith its inclosed buildings. Bui over all, and beyond, is seen that singular butte or basal- tic dyke, Yahnont, raising its isolated cone on the plain; and to the left of it, that white object like an immense snow bank, is White Hock. In the northeast, at a distance of about ten miles, is seen Haj'stack Mountain, another of those isolated basaltic cones, that at long intervals are found protruding fromtho level plain. Tho^o buildings near its base are the vil- lages of Burlington and Longmont — the latter a new colony from Chicago — organized somewhat on the principles of that at Greeley. Around these, and extending up to the mountains, are seen ranches and green fields, and the un- cultivated plain covered with cattle. This gives a some- what fiiint idea of the scenery i'roui this point, to which must be added, to complete the picture, the light green color of the plain as compared with the sombre evei*- greens which deck the porphyritic sides of the mountains. As we were strolling leisurely towards the mountain, plucking flowers and examining the pebbles for moss agates, our attention was suddenly drawn to the thrilling notes of the skylark (Ercmophila cornuta); notes which for compass and silvery sweetness of tone ai-o inimitable 94 oVKi: rriK plains anh <>s thk moitntaixs. jind uiia|)))n);i''li;il)lo hy any other s()ii<;stcr. ^'hcre }io Hat (in the il-nci' hall'wuv down tho sh)])0, and ai;"ain and again he Avould poiw out his .silveiy, ringing nc^tcs on tlio morn- ing air, lliat almost awoke the sU^eping o<'hoes of fh*^ mountains. As we Avalked on, he wouhl fly alicad and take Ids ]>ositio!i on llu' leiice,aiid pour out his matin song as if in triumph. When ^\ e i-eturned he lollowed uh, and MOUTH OF JlOUI-DKi; ( SNVos rcjieated n\oi-o and more i-ajiidly ids charndng song, scciuingly striving to excel his jirsi ettorts. At last his notes seemed ndngled with tlie sadness ot'despair, heeoni- ing lomler, sweeter and tenderer, but touched, as it wore, with the anguish of a lieurtrending isorraw. At this mo- ment I f OVF.a THE rUVINS .VXD ON THK MOUNTAINS. ing and descending teams pans each othor. When not bo used, these headlands form a nestling plaeo for numerous mountain flowers. Amongst entirely new flora, I here found a splendid red lily, as large as a cup, (Ijillium Phila- delphicum.,) and the most showy of all tho mountain flow- ers, the EpUohixiM angxistifoluim, forming plots of brilliant rosy purple flowx^rs. As tho course of the canyon is zig-zag, it often narro'ws so as scarcely to afford i-oom for the waters to yxm; the roadway is then hlastcd out of the perpendicular side rock of the canyon wall. If this side rock (as is generally the case) is a projecting jtromontory of a inountain peak rent in twain, then there is left a fissured rock from one to two thou.sand feet high hanging overhead, that any moment may tumble down, or from its sides send down an aval- anche of rock into the abyss below. You instinctively hold your breath until it is past. Xow you como to a bridge, ( for there are thirty-one of them in twelve miles), leading to the narrow beach, eight or ten feet wide, on the opposite side, while the river dashes its foaming waters against the perpendicular clilf three thousand feet high, o)\ the side you are leaving. All you see of sky is now reduced to a narrow band overhead. You look up the sides of the canyon, and in crevices in the flank of tho walls, or on protruding rocks, grow shrubs of pine and spruce, while their summits are crowned with sturdy ever- greens, who for centuries have battled M'ilh the stornid and defied the artillery of heaven, not with impunity, however, as many a lightning scarred or dead one attests. High over all is seen, wheeling in his airy flight, tho gol- den eagle, who finds his congenial homo here "On tlu' mountains tliiit pi-oolniin Tho evorla-sting creed of liberty. " Miles are thus passed, the scenery becoming grander and more imposing at every step, and tho flowing of the OVER TIIK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 97 Avatcr, Jiow all foiim, also more impetiious. Suddenly the ca«yon walls lor an instant recede, for man has invaded and profaned the sanctity of the place. There stands his puny, busy mill turning into plank, shingle and lath^ the hrave old giants of the mountain forest. On the right, too, there are indications of his presence ; for from the rocky chasm of a cleft mountain issue the turbid waters of Fom-Mile creek ; turbid because miners are washing the auriferous sands of the gulch in its limpid waves. But this interruption is only temporary. Coy Nature, that fled the contaminating presence of man, returns with more commanding presence and majestic mien than ever, to avenge the interruption by displaying sublimer forms and more imposing and awe-inspiring grandeur and wild- ness. The river roars and pitches more furiously than ever J there hangs the beetling cliif, higher and more -threatening than before ; and there, too, the graceful fir lifts high its head into the light of the sun, 250 feet above the roaring, foaming w^aters that rave at its roots. It seemed now as though Nature must have exhausted her stores of wonders to astonish, amaze bewilder and overwhelm, and drawn upon her last resources for exciting enthusiasm and exalted emotions ; but not so. The magic panorama moves on, and we enter a mountain defile, sun- dered by some great natural convulsion, of perpendicular walls, scraggy and naked, three thousand feet high, over- hung by pines and cedars. . It can easily be taken for a huge stair-case walled in, such as might have been built by Titans and Cyclops for ascending Olympus, the resi- dence of the gods; and that the jets and fountains in which nymphs and goddesses disported themselves, fiillen into decay, were pouring down their waters over the dilapi- dated steps; for the river here descends a steep, rocky declivity. The waters are no longer foam, but spray, and their roar is deafening. You look ahead M-hence they come, but the canyon is closed up by a transversal per- pendicular wall, with no sign of an outlet, forming appar- 98 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TUE MOUNTAINS. ently a complete cul de sac. Again and again is this re- peated. Tlio walls, when perpendicular and solid, arb always naked ; but when full of fissures and crevices, they are completely hid by evergreen shrubs, and decorated as evenly and as neatly as the ivy decks the dilapidated cas- tles of Europe. Turning the angle, the scene now changes. The accliv- ities of the walls, instead of perpendicular, arc but 75 or 80 degrees, then the sides become a thicket of spruce sap- plings thirty or forty feet high, and completely hide the side rocks, forming a green wall as you look up the canyon. Immense spruce trees also stand in the bottom of the canyon, sometimes alone and then in groujjs. Thus at every turn, and in every instant of time the scenery changes and new and startling forms present themselves. You are now opposite the embouchure of the North Boul- der. You look up a dark deej5 rifl in the mountain side, overshadowed by trees and partly hid ; you see at the distance of ten rods a white sheet of water ])itched west- ward across the chasm. This is the rebound of the falls of the North Boulder from a shelving rock. We will visit them on our return. Up, up we go (for the acclivity up which our road leads, or rather the declivity down which the river flows, ascends for twenty miles at the average rate of 210 feet per mile, but hero it is 469 feet per mile). The chasm now for a short distance becomes heavily timbered with fir and pine, and its sides very rugged, then intermits and becomes narrower and bolder. Huge rocks obstruct the^ passage of the water. It pitches over some and forms a series of cascades, others deflect it and dash it against the perpendicular wall of the ciinj^on, whence it rebounds. Closer and closer the canyon contracts, and higher and steeper arise its walls. A dense grove of spruce trees, narrow and .tapering as church steeples, and two hundred and fifty feet high, crowded each other so closely as to fill ■up the entire chasm between the walls-, completely shut- OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 99 ting out the light, and shrouding everything with twilight gloom at noonday. The imposing grandeur of the appear- ance now may bo fairly conceived, but not realized, when to this solemn, almost dismal scenery, is added the milk- white waters of the river rushing down the rocky decliv- ity, dashed hither and thither by the obstructions, i*oaring and casting their spray in your face. KAULE CLIFF, BOULDEll CANYON. Anon, the scene changes. Light breaks in ;ind dis- perses the gloom; and the canyon is clear again of trees, excepting the long, tapering spruce sapplings that run up and seem to lay against its walls. But look ! twenty rods ahead a perpendicular mountain, three thousand feet high, is thrown across the canyon at right angles, and there Beems no possible outlet from it. Rut soon a break is 100 OVER THE PL^VINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. Roon to unfold itscii' lowurtl.s the left; and on turning the angle, the canyon walls, instead of continuous rock, are composed of dissevered mountains, crowded against each other, varying from 1,500 to 3,000 feet, sometimes expos- ing largo, craggy, naked rocks, and at other times clothed with evergreens to their summits. To the left is what ap- pears as the half of a huge red granite mountain, verti- cally cleft from top to bottom, whose perpendicular wall rises full}" 2,000 feet high. About six hundred feet from its top is seen a small speck which we are assured is an eagle's nest in a cavity. Mr. Fitch, from Boston, who ac- companied us from Denver, had with him a field glass, which was bi'ought into requisition, and lo ! sure enough, there is the eagle upon the nest. But on we go silent, abstract and thoughtful, now en- tranced l)y an overhanging crag, then startled by a beet- ling clift", and sj^ell-bound by the stupendous vastness, in- imitable grandeur and awful sublimity of Nature's works around us. Suddenly our revery is broken by a commo- tion in the advance. The men rise to their feet and swing their hats, and the ladies are weaving their handkerchiefs j there is shoiiting, but it is drowned b}^ the roar of the waters. To make us understand what was the matter, fingei's are pointed to a culminating cliff to the right. Turning our eyes in the direction indicated, upon a prom- inent rock, and under a pine leaning over the precipice, stood a bighorn, or Ilocky Mountain sheep ( Ovis Mon- tana ) against the blue sky, and fully 1,500 feet above our heads. It was a large buck, and he gave us side views, both by turning his head to look at our advance, and rear. We found the attemjit vain to make noise enough to fright- en him from his commanding position. Final)}- we reached the objective point, as far as the party was concerned, this was Castle Piock. Here our picnic was to take place in an alcove in the rock. This recess is some forty feet wide and sixteen to eighteen feet deep. Cloths were spread on the sandy floor, bas- OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 101 kets and trays were unpacked. There was boiled ham and buffalo tongues, roasted chickens and turkeys, togeth- er with any amount of cakes, pies, custards and tarts, and all washed down wuth lemonade made from the icy waters (for the snows are but three miles distant) of the Boulder, which sAveeps by within twenty feet of our re- treat. CASTLE ROCK. But what of Castle Rock? Why^ of this it is enough when it is said that it is an object worthy a trip across the continent to see it. It stands right across the direc- tion of the Boulder coming down from the snowy moun- tains. "When within fifteen feet of its base, the stream de- flects southeastwardly, until it strikes the soutli wall, 102 OVKIl Tin: PLAINS AND ON THK MOf-NTArVS. wliicli it follows until it mecMs a pcrpeiulicuiiir rock 1,800 feet higli, standing; at right angles to the south wall. li is then deflected back to the northwest striking the north- eastern base of Castle Rock. Kere tlio bridge crosses from the op])08ite side, and the road winds around the base of this wonderful rock. On the northwest side is a gap, through which, at a former period perhaps, the Boul- der flowed. It is, part of it, comniencing say HUO A-et above the liasc But we must here terminate our vain and futile attempt to describ(^ Boulder Canyon — an object that is absolutely indescribable. No language can do justice to its awful, sublime and grand scerterv. Here is immense variety and stu])endous vastness combined with all the elements of the grand, the beautiful and the sublime, which no mortal pen can describe or pencil delineate; yet the whole presented OVER TFIE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUxNTAINS. 103 with such rugged and austere, yet lovely simplicity, that it strikes every beholder with awe, delight and amazement. Wo have read of Alpine scenery, and of the Yosemite Val- ley, and we have both read of and seen Niagara Falls, Delaware Gap and the passage of the Potomac through Blue Ilidge ; and we pronounce Niagara Falls, Delaware Gap and the passage of the Potomac as tamo and common place, when compared with the scenery of this fearful and wonderful canyon ; and unless writers on Alpine scenery and of the Yosemite Valley lack command of the resources of our language, they, too, will suffer by the comparison. We, therefore, assert confidently, that for majestic presence to excite powerful emotions of veneration and awe ; for wild, stern, and f-itartling ruggedness to im])rcss fear, and for sublimity and grandeur to fill the soul with inspiration and enthusiasm, Boulder Canyon stands without a peer or even a rival in the world. I will only relate one of the many incidents that show its magic etTect upon visitors, thougli many might bo related that occurred to our own party. Soon after entering the ciinyon, my attention became completely absorbed and spellbound by the immensit}', sublimity and wildness of tho scene that was unfolding to view. Tho ladies occupying the opo:i barouche with mo thought I was listless, and was missing it all. Ilcnco there was a continual call on n\3 of, Olillook hero! O, there, etc., which I must confess annoyed mo not a little. But tho grandeur soon became S) sublime and overwhelmingly powerful that they were filled with unutterable emotions and awed into silence. Abstract and staring wildly at tho magic scenery, grander and vaster, that was constantly xmfolding itself, they w^ero incapable of any effort except to wave the hand slowly in tho dii'ection of the object oa which their eyes were fixed spellbound. Here w'e took leave of all our Kansas friends, who j-eturned home, while the Missourians pushed on to th4 104 (iVKIl THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. mines uikI snow ticl Js, higher up iind deeper in tlio rceossos of tlie mountains. * * Sinoe this was written I have received the levelling^ of the railroad survey made up the canyon during the summer which is as follows : IstmilefromBoulder City, 184 feet; 2ndmile, 126.1; Srdmile, 98.8; 4th mile, 175.8; 5th mile, 128.3; 6th mile, 180.9; 7th mile, 205.1; 8th mile/to Falls ofN. Boulder. 331.8; 9th mile, 469.4: 10th mile. 183; 11th mile, 95.5 ; 12th mile, 129.G; 13th mile to Castle Rock, 150.21. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS, 105> CHAPTEE IX. As already stated, we took leave of our kind Boulder for the jireseut, and of our Kansas friends, perhaps forever^ at ^astle Kock. The latter expressed themselves satisfied,, yea, more than satisfied at having seen what it falls to the lot of but few, the most varied, picturesque, grandest, most imposing and sublimest work of N'ature, and of having experienced such sensations and emotions as only such a work can excite and inspire. If the Italians can say, " See J^'aples and then die," they felt that with emotions of a. higher oi'der, they could say, "See Boulder canyon and Castle Eock and then die, for the world holds nothing be- sides that combines so much of every eleinent of beauty, grandeur and sublimity as they." Wo Missoui'ians hired conveyances to take us up to the top of Caribou mountain, to inspect the silver mines there. Our party was now reduced to Judge Moore, of Franklin county; B. Smith and wife, of Crawford county, and myself and wife, from St. Louis. , It was about four o'clock when we started, and the dis- tance about seven miles to Cai'ibou. The canyon sooa widens, and instead of bare perpendicular rocky walls, the stream is flanked on both sides b}' mountain ranges, some- times running parallel with the banks of the stream, but generally the ridges or " hog backs " abut on the streaia at right angles to its course, and have the general trend north and south, of the Cordilleras at this point. They are heavily timbered Avith pine and fir, and rise but to a modei-ate height, say from 700 to 1000 feet above the valley. Occasionally a high cone is seen in the distance protruding from one to two thousand feet above the sur- 100 OVKU TIIK I'L-VINS AND ON TRK MOUNTAINS. rounding peaks. Were it not for these sporadic cones, the scenery otherwise would remind one of the wildest portion of the Alleghanies, except that the "hogbacks" (a very expressive and descriptive term) never have a length of more than five or six times their width. The canyon now has become a valley, with from five to forty rods of arable land on one or the other side of the stream, and the moun- tains measureably give way to high hills covered with evergreens and buffalo grass. Signs of beaver now appear. Hero on bot.li sides of the road stand the stumps of trees, six to ten inches thick, gnawed off last fall to build their winter dam, which is here close by, as you see, cut through recently by the ac- cumulated waters of the melted snows of the i)resent sea- son. Yonder they had "Reared their littlo Venice; " lodges from 10 to 18 feet in diameter and from G to 8 feet high, resembling huge mud ovens. Their interior is said to be about seven foct \i\ diameter and from two to threo feet high. Their beds, separated from each other, are made of grass or fibers of bark, and are placed around the walls of lodges, leaving the space in the center unoc- cupied. That deep ditch around the lodges is the moat made so deep that water never freezes, giving egress and ingress to the lodges. In it also they lay up a store of wood, the bark of which serves them for food in winter, while the wood after the b^rk is gnawed off is used for repairing their dams when needed. The lodges are cov- ered with boughs of evergreens woven and matted together, lined and wt>ll stuffed with moss and grass, and the whole covered with mud. It is said that even amongst the beav- ers there are lazy fellows who will not work, refusing to assist in building lodges or dams or to cut wood and peel bark for winter provender. The industrious ones beat these idle fellows and drive them away ; sometimes even OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 107 disgracing them by lopping off a part of thoii- tails. Those ^' Paresseux" as the French trappers call them, that is, " lazy fellows," are more easily caught in traps than the others, because, I suppose, being more in want, they aro more reckless. New floi"a also appears. The Thermopsis montana with its large raceme of papilionaeious yellow flowers, dwarf Dodecatheon, with intense purple blooms ; the delicate Iris tenax, and the Polygonum bistorta, with its white; oblong head, aro abundant on the grassy glade, or along tlie banka of spring branches flowing from the mountain sides. Birds were quite numerous. Amongst old acquaintances I no- ticed the silent lark, the chipping and tree sparrow, the robin, rod-headed woodpecker, common dove, some war- blers and fly catchers. The following are the principal ones amongst the new species: the mountain song-spar- row, green-tailed and Lincoln's finch, two kinds of grouse (the gray-mountain and dusky) , the long-crested and Woodhouse's jay, both much larger and handsoincr than our blue jay, the Ilocky Mountain magpie, etc. The tirst dwelling is that of Abel Goss, a young couplo from Xew Hampshire, who have here a pleasant mountain ranche ; and a few miles beyond is Brown's, now called Middle Boulder, where a lai'ge nev/ tavern is nearly fin- ished. Here we met Col. B. O. Cuttei-, superintendent of tho Caribou ^fining Company, who is here engaged in erecting smelting works to cost about $150,000 for the com- pany. Ilei-e there is a cross road leading from Central City to the Ward mining district, north, jiear the base of Long's Peak. The Colonel gave us a letter of introduc- tion to Mr, Mai'tin, who supei-intends the mining opera- tions at the lode,irequesting him to give us every facility for inspecting the mines, and that he himself would bo up in fhe morning if lie could leave. The valley now spreads out to a considerable disUmco and the bottom land would be as level as an Illinois prai- rie, were it not for the ridgos of the old beaver dams that 108 OVER THE PLAINS AND OS THE MOC.VTATNS. every lifteen or twenty feet lie across it from one moun- tain flank to the other and the ohl bcavc-r lodges. These ridges arc made of trees and sap])lings cut down and. dragged into place by these animals, the upper limbs all cut otf and woven in below, and then the whole filled in with small stones, bark and moss, and covered with earth. It is only where the Avater has broken tnrough them that you Oiin sec their structure. They are even yet from two to five feet high, and four to eight feet wide. Tiieir length varies with the widtli of the valley, but some of them are fully two hundred yards long. As we were leaving the valley to ascend the Caribou Mountains to our left at the head of the glade and south of the Boulder, we saw a high rugged mountain, some half a mile distant, whose side was covered with a field of snow of considerable size. The mountains on the north also crowd in on the creek above, and as the sun had descend- ed behind their ])eaks, the dark green of the pine and firs that cover their sides gave the scenery a sad and gloom}' appearance. Above and over head, coming in from Long's Peak, on the north now also appears a narrow storm cloud, from which at intervals dart foi'ked lightning, and the roar of the thunder with its reverberating echoes from peak to peak is as grand as it is terrific. I gazed up at the low cloud with wonder and amazement. Instead of a hazy, ill-definer grade, because the supply is abundant. 112 OVER TUE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. For this reason tlio lower grades are neglected and many mines fail of being developed because the miners cannot dispose of the ores. I have heard it stated no ores ■will pay that do not yield eight^^ ounces of silver ])eT ton, because the mill men will charge some thirty-five dollars for reducing them, to which is to be added at least ten dollars for hauling, making altogether fort^'-live dollars, which leaves thirtj'-five dollars to the miner. Two men working together in sinking on a pay-streak, will raise on an average two tons of ore per week, making their wages thirty -live dollars per week, from which, however, must be deducted the wear of tools and powder for blasting. The average cost of mining jier ton, with proper facilities, where the lodes are fully developed, including wages, etc., is about S5 15, and when ojjerations are carried on on a large scale, 30 per cent. less. Colonel Cutter thinks the actual cost of reducing a ton of ore, ought not to exceed $7 60 ])er ton. At present the mines can be made to j3ro- dnco five times the quantity that can be reduced at the re- duction works when completed. The reduction works already spoken of as in process of erection at Middle Boulder, two and a half miles below, will not afford any relief to the Caribou mines, since tlic Caribou and other lodes owned by the company that ie erecting the woi-ks, wull alone supply all the ore it can work. There are more than ninety lodes open in Boul- der county, but there is not a single mill nor reduction work in it, while in Gilpin county there are twenty-six, and in Clear Creek county some twenty mills and reduc- tion works in operation. The result is tliat mines are well develoised there, and ores reduced of such low grade as only yield from §20 to 824 per ton. The reason tliere are no facilities at Caribou for reducing the ore, is because all the lodes have been discovered within the past year, except the Caribou, w^hich was discovered in Se])tcmber, 1869. The ('aribou mines alone can furnish ore enou£rh to nm OVKii THK PLAINS AND 0\ THK MOUiSTAINM. 11-3 a dozen stamp mills; and hero is a fine opening for an im- mense fortune, by erecting a first-class smelting furnace at Boulder, where the best quality of coal in the Territory exists in unlimited quantities. Prof Hill, of Brown University, K. I., went to Black Hawk a comparatively poor man, some three or four years ago, and invested some S8,000 in a smelting furnace. He is now a millionaire. He reduces the ores to what in called "matte, "which is packed up and sent to Swansea, in Wales, where the precious metals are separated from the base. Prof. Hill receiving all the gold and silver, and the English company retaining the copper and lead ob- tained from the "matte " for their pay. Our evening ramble took us around the Caribou moun- tain westward, and then over its top back to town. In this ramble I performed the feat of gathering snow with one hand and plucking flowers with the other, which 1 had often heard could be done, but about which I was somewhat incredulousi. The flower, which I preserve in my herbarium as a momento of the fact, is that of the Vaccinnium myrtilhis, a species of blueberry. We found the northwest side of the mountain to be the wall of North Boulder canyon. We could hear the roaring of the waters about a thousand feet below us, but could not see it, the view being obstructed by the dense grove of spruce that line the declivity. The north wall of the canyon is the southeastern side of a peak of the Snowy Eange. The trend of the peak is a little west of north, and on its eastern side lays an im- mense snow field, reaching to the summit. This is caused by the west winds drifting the snows, as they fall, to the leeside of the mountain. Up to the bight of the Caribou mountain, this wall was densely covered by dwarf spruce and pine, some even standing within the margin of the snow field. Above the " timber line " and on the west side, the peak was bare; and being covered with the vel- vety buffalo gi'ass, it looked like an ordinary, smoothly 114 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. rounded, j^irassy but ntecp liill. No rocks can be seen protrudin<< irom it8 sides above the timl>er line. its apparent distance from us seemed not to e.vceed a stone's throw, but we were assured in a direct line it was more than a mile; and to get to the point oppositr some three miles had to be traversed. J3ein<;- now tolerably posted as to the deceptive appearances of distance in thi« region, yet while we were looking at it, and lollowing with the eye the margin of the snow line t-oward the sum- mit, some one jestingly ])roposed to ascend it. J replied,^ "Xo, we will leave it for to-morrow, and do it up before breakfast." At this a miner, hid in the s})ruce thicket, and whom we had not noticed before, voluntoei'cd the kind advice : " Yo\i had better take your 1)reakfast HrsT, and your dinner along, ibr you'll have a late supjiei-. " This incident riH-alls another. While stancaking, or making yourself heard. There the air was compressed and consequently the effect was the reverse of the effect here, where the air is expanded by the altitucct- ing pits. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 117 Aft<3r passini^ through the miniui;' ground, we wont around the peak westward, to take a k)ok at the snowy peak opposite, seen the evening before, now that it had its Knowy side bathed in sunlight. It was really a charming sight to see the white snow apparently ]«iled against an intensely blue sky. PuHhing on still t\irther, but southwestwardly, Me en- tered a dense j>ine and spruce forest, full of long-el'ested jaye. ( Cyamira jnaerolupha,} larger, and Inning jk> resem- blance in color to our blue Jay. From here Ave ascended to the top of the mountain to take a morning's view of the scenery. West at from a mile t« two miles distance lay the Snowy Eange, running a little west of south and east of north. The range separated us from Middle Park, only eight miles distant. But the only practical route thither is by Boulder Pass, some fifteen miles southwest. To the south and east \ixy what appeared a hilly tal)le land covered with a dense evergreen forest. At various distances a few isolated cones protruded above the suiTounding hills fi'om one to two thousand and per- haps more feet. A little north of east the peak of Sugar- loaf Mountain, simie nine miles distant, Avas a prominent object. T did nut leai-n the name of a very large, high cone some fifteen miles southeast. It had i-eally a raajeHtic appearance. In the northeast Avas another f*one, but at some distance, and apparently not as high as Sugarloaf, some seven or eight miles south of it. The iowTi of ('aribou laj' at our feet on the east side of our look-out in a scooped-out A-alley between tAvo mountains. We noAv Avent to Caribou Lode, entirely closed in and under cover, Avhich lay to our left on the northeastern point of the mountain. NorthAvest of the mine are the large stables of the mining company Avell stocked Avith provender, including corn. As Ave approached a large number of little A-ermin AA'ere seen running from the sta- ble Avhich I supposed to be rats. But seeing one dodge behind a large rock, I kept a lookout for him as T turned lis OVKR THK Pl.AIXS AND OX TlIK MOl'NTAINS. the cornor, mid tlirrc lie sat erect on a small rook, and handlint>; a n'l-aiii of corn ifi the most graceful style whilo eating it. Jle proved to be a chipmunk. ( Tamiaii rjuad- rivitatus), or the four-Htri[>ed ground squirrel, fully a.s beautiful but not so large as the chipmunk or ground squirrel (Tamias li/steri) of the Eastern States. The four- striped ground squirrel Avas discovered by Prof. Say, at- tached to Colonel Long's expedition to the Jiocky Moun- tains. Audobon gives its comparative size at five-sixthii that of the Eastern chipping sipiirrel, from which it dither,-* by having four strij)es instead of throe. Finding that I had am|)le time before biH'ukiiist would bo ready, I made a detour to the left, and coming in front of what T had taken to be a pile of spruce boughs, I found it to b<' a miner's lodge, made of a few poles laid over the gaj) belwccn two large rocks and covercil with the fan- shapee was a " \vhole-s(Md«!d fellow%" and therefore Htopj)ed to lia\e a talk. IFe soon had a hot fare to get liis breakfasi. He put on his cofHee pot, and from a ])0ucli drew soni'- ^-round cof^'e<'. Slicing bis bai-on, he ]>ut a sharit stick thi'ougli it, held it in llu' flame, and when ri"ht hot woidd ])Our cold water on it to 'Mresheu it," as he said. He gave nn' a history of his wanans laid up for old age. whenever it might undertake hini. I asked him why he did not take tiie woi-ld easy and enjoy life )iowi' "I do." he replied; "T think there is no enjoyment likt; the wiUI, free, dare-devil life of the miner on these moun- tains. •• Here." lie<<.ritinued,"AS'e have no (-lasses nor ranks in society, 'jut rvery true and honest man we meet is at once and forever a friend and !)rother." F asked him how long he had been here. '• About three wt^eks," ho repliod. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. 11'') ^' I had just foi," he contimiod, '< into Oenvcr from u very successful ])rospectin2: tour through New Mexico, when ^Iy^ niet me and offered me ' grub ' and five doUax-s a day, and half interest in what T might find, to come here and prospect Caribou mountain over for him." I re- marked that I had made his employer's acquaintance in Denver, and that he bore the reputaion of being '' very sharp." " That's so," said he " and 1 got things so fixed before 1 left that convinced him I was sharp too, and knew my man." " Well, my friend," said T, "ever since daylight 1 have been tram]»ing over this mountain and trying to tind out what signs governed the prospec- tors here in their search for mineral, and have tailed. Can you tell me?" "'Well," said he, "in my twenty years' experience I have not seen a phxce where prospec- tors haw to work so much ir» the dark. We l»ave almost to go it blind here, for the surface indications are so indis- tinct. Our experience tells us in what rocks we need not look for minerals, and also what rocks may have them, but here there arc often 7io suri^xce indications whether they carry mineral or not; yet this is the richest silver region in these mountains." I here rose and left, with the cordial invitation extended to me to come and see his prospect after breakfast, which I accepted, but had no time to keep my promise. After breakfast the whole party, accompanied by the landlady and several other ladies, Avalked up to the Caribou lode. Here we met Mr. Martin, one of the original discoverers of the lode, Avho had sold the west half to Mr. Breed, of Cincinnati, for S50,000, still retaining his interest in the eastern half, and superintending the mining operations. He received us cordially and showed us all over the works, their arrangement and operation, the separation and class- ification of the ores, and liberally furnished us with rich specimens. The ladies then left for a ramble to the snow banks on the north side of the mountain, while the men .descended the shaft, then 180 feet deep. The shaft, follow- 120 OVER THK I'l^INS AND ON THK MOUNTArNS. ing the lode vein, is Hometimt'S perpendicular, then slopa'* ut an angle of about 80 degs. ea.st, which is the general dip the strata liere of all the lodes, and the vein runs north- west and southeast. In Clear Creek, (lilpin and other (bounties south, the veins run northeast and southwest^ The descent is by ladders, and the place Avas damp ironi the dripping water of the side rock above, and gloomy, notwithstsvnding the star candles we held. It jtossesscd no particular interest nor attraction, and Avt* were glad when we returned to daylight. The Caribou is the great silver mine of the luuuntains^ The Colorado Gazetteer says : "It is not only one of the most valuable silver mines in Colorado, but amongst the richest ever discovered in America." Prof. Hill bought a ton of choice ore for which he paid glojOOO. It assayed. $16,498,95. About one liundred tons of ore were taken out per month wlien we Avere there, but it was networked t-o its lull capa(;ity. Besides the company are now mainly engaged in extending levels east and west so that when their smelting works go in operation they can keep them running from this mine alone, if ner-essary. The assays show the following results: Vv.K Ton. Prst class oiv $1,054 iSeoond class ore 634 Tbird cla.s; ore 145 The ladies soon returned :iccom])unied by quite a num- ber of miners, and loaded with specimens given them.. We now left, following the lead of the miners to a small black swell on the mountain consisting entirely of black, magnetic iron, which the miners said " the clouds kissed every time they passed." We found the ore strongly magnetic, often suspending a string of watch keys. The miners proposed to find me a real good one, and at last suc- ceeded in finding one weighing about three pounds that- Huppended a chain of no less than six watch koyA. In- OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUKTAINK. 121 staxilly I 6aw a hammer descending on it, shivering it into half a dozen iragments. "Oh!" I exchximcd, "you have spoilt it now." " O, no," said he that ntruclc it, ta- king up the largest fragment and ap})lying it to his key, but the key fell to the ground. "O," said another, " you did not get the uiagnctic part," while trying another fragment, but with the same result; and so on till every fragment Avas tried, but not one showed a trace of mag- netism left. This astonished them. One of them a-skecl. "What did you mean when you said you have spoiled it now ? and how did you know it was spoiled J"' " Why," said I, " it is a well known fact that no magnet can be struck without loosing its magnetism." They looked at each other as though tliey thought, "he is trying to poke fun at us; " but instantly the thought struck them of ver- ifying the assertion by experiment. Strong magnets were selected and struck with hammers, and then tried, but every trace of magnetism had disappeared. *• Well," ex- daimed a half dozen of voices at once, "that's a new wrinkle," As they saw 1 knew some things they went to the usual extreme of believing I kn«w all things; and as their curi- osity had been excited they demanded to know "what magnetism was, how it got there, and whether the struck tftones would again acquire their lost power ? " " Well," 1 rejoined, " to answer your first question were to tell a long story of what it is imagined to be, because I don't know, nor does anybody truly know, what magnetism is; but you can find out the answers to your second and third questions for yourselves. Lay all the stones that you have 8tru, but which, to OUT regret, we liad to leave at Boulder, for want of faoili- OVKR THK PL.\I.\S ANT) OX THE MOUNTAINS. 125 ties to bring it away. It was a most magnificent bird of brilliant bottle green pliiinage. After a most excellent dinner, to. which our mountain appetites did ample justice, and for "which we were charged a very moderate price, we started and were soon at Castle Eock, where wo stopped to survey it once more, fir^tfrom the west, then from the east side. A mile or two below we descried a pair f)f bighorns, ( Ovis montana,) or Rocky Mountain sheep, with a Iamb under an overhanging clift' on a terrace of the canyon wall some 1200 feet above as. There they stood immovable as statues, looking down upon us. We shouted, whooped and yelled, making all the noise we could, but it had no effect upon them. The lamb, however, became alarmed and kept dodging from one side to the other of the pair. Still further down wo stopped to see the son of our Caribou host, Willie Logue, a 8t. Louis boy, tourt-een years old, who was working on a very promising prospect of his own discovery. He was in a very great glee, and assured us that the assayer had just sent him word that a specimen sent had analyzed at the rate of 140 ounce*? to the ton. He sent a specimen of the ore to the Missouri State Cabinet, where it can now be seen at the Washing- ton University. We have since heard with regret thai the same discovery had been made before and recorded in 1862. It seems, however^ by the latest news from there, that Willie has been in luck, and made a very promising discovery on the north side of (.'aribou Mountain, in the canyon of the iS^orth Boulder. Wo were next halted by one of our Boulder female friends, the excellent wife of Major Buttles, who is one of the principle stockholders and managing directoi-s of the Boulder canyon road, which I ought to have stated before, was only completed three weeks before our arrival there. The Major having some btisiness in connection with the completion of the road in the upper part of the canyon, Mrs. B. had accompanied him to stay a day or two; and 126 OVER THK PLAINS AND ON TUK MOUNTAINS. here "vvc Ibund lic-r in the wihl, t>;looiny, mouniairi eauyon, beside the noisy Htresiin, occupy inj:; a cabin inude oi" poles, with u ground floor, covered with the wing-sh:ij»ed boughs of the spruce. She said slie liad just finished catching a tine mess of mountain trout, and pressed us to wait and she would fry some for us. UKl Iloman etiquette wouhl have required us to take an emetic to get rid <>f our din- ner, that we might accept the invitation. But nio retreat nor advance for either party. After mutual 128 OVKR THK Piai>'>5 AX5D OX THE MOCXTAINS. consultation, it was discovered if we unhitched and took the horses uero«iS the bridge, and then piled up the veh.i- oles, room could be made for the wagons to pan-s, which being done, all of us went on our way rejoicing. It was about eun»ct when we issued from the mouth of the can- yon, upon the plain where stands the citj- of Boulder. OVSa THE PLAINS AiTD ON THE MOUNTAINa 129 CHAPTER XI. The next morning, Friday, June 16, I waa up with tttQ •dawn and out on the streets. They were* yet dcsertod and silent. Not a living thing waa to be seen nor hoard, except the ever purling murmur of the waters hastening down over the plain. Instinctively I was drawn to their fiideand up their brink and on to the bridge that spans the Boulder opposite the centre of the town. It was yet twi- light and I stood on the bridge for some moments musing- ly looking at the flow and listening to the murmur of the waters ; and then raising my eyes to look at the aperturo in the mountains whence they issued. Oh, those moun- tains how dear to me now that I have made their acquain- tance ! When I recalled the gloom and solitude of tho rifted canyon in the Cordilleras through which these waters have flowed, and the ovcrj^owcring and magic grandeur of the scene^'y of which they had formed a part, I felt sad. I thought that they, like I, had loft forever scenes of in- spiration that give birth to thoughts and emotions too high and holy for utterance, to mix hereafter with tho low, groveling, commonplace humdrum of every-day life. Pui'ling and dancing and singing so joyously as they glided along over their rocky bed, I could not help sigh- ing : Ah, little do they know of what is before them ! I felt like apostrophizing them thus: Ah ! well may ye of so little experience be light of heart and dance and sing and prattle with glee as you hasten from your mountain home. Soon the merciless iron of experience will pono- trate your bosom and j-our joy will flee forever. You will enter into the groat throng, and ftilling under its bo- numbing influenoes will lose your identity forever. With 9 130 fATER THE l'L\lNfS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. them, you will pursue a sluggish career amid fens, bogs- and sandbars to obstruct your "way, till you finally fall into and are lost in the great ocean of which you are an emanation. Were ye sentient, and had ye the faculty of prevision to see the low career before j-ou and its final end^ like the dying Swiss boy, ye would entreat and cr}': " <)h, 'carry me back to jny mountain home. "' But fate has set its seal upon nie as well as you, and from you I can learn the lesson to be eheertui, and not repine- while obeying his behests. Breaking from my reverie, I crossed the bridge and followed the pebbly margin of the stream up to the mouth of the canyon, examining the endlos3 variety of size, color and material of the boulders and pebbles of which its bottom and margin aro composed. Then turn- ing south and following the base of the mountain, I soon ascended one of those terraced plateaux that invariably lie against the mountains between the mouths of canyons^ and gulches. The plateau I followed till it terminates at Bear srulch, and thence down till I reached the road lead- ing to town . The view from the plateau is most charming, even finer than from that on the north side of the stream already described, since it brings the valleys of both the North and South Boulder under neaivr view, and for a greater distance the valley below their junction at Val- mont. The lower plain and that of the plateau were densely covered with flowers, all of which have been men- tioned before except the Mertensia panmdafa ai^d the Campamda rotundifolia, which' I found in the mouth of Bear gulch, and the beautiful Lippia cuneifoh'a of the lower plain. Afler breakfast at the Colorado House, where we put up, the proprietor axUed my attention to some stones used for flagging the pavement, which he said were " photo- graph Btonefl. " I found several largo slabs fringed around OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 131 with images of miniature trees and forests. "While I was examining them, Mr. J. A. Carr, a grocer, but formally a miner, and a true lover of Kature, passed by; and seeing what had attracted my attention, saiout 190 acres, with his hoe, attending to irrigation. Wc stopped and had a long conversation with him. From him we lcarnoer acre of wheat, oats and barley. ""Wheat," said he, "taking all that receives respectable cultivation, will yield on an average of thirty-fivo bushels. per acre. r>ut, by tho best cultivation, this can bo in- creased fi-oni twenty to thirty bushels more ])er acre. A premium field of five acres averaged sevcTity-one bushcLs per acre. Oats and barley," ho said, " would yield from 90 to 120 bushels ]>cr acre; corn, ordinarily, abov.t thirty-five bushels, but as high as eighty bushels lias been attained. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS, 137 Meadows will yield two and a half to throo tons per aero, Imt the hay is not of the first quality." But this is the case everywhere. No hay of prime quality is made any- where, where the growth is rank. I examined some timo- thy (Phleum pratense) that had spikes from six to oi;^ht inches long, and was coarse in haum in proportion; and. this is the cause of its inferior quality. There is a wild timothy in the mountain parks which I did not soc, which is eaid to yield heavily and to make a better hay than the tamo on the plains below. It may prove indentical with tho Phlemn alpinum, found on the White Mountains in New Hampshire, and on the mountains of Europe. It will thus bo seen that though the natural climate of Colorado is such that agricultural pursuits, for lack of moisture, could not be conducted successfully, yet whero- evcr tho soil can be irrigated the agriculturist is practi- cally independent of the weather. In its season the sun pours down a flood of light and heat from an intensely blue sky, and through a perfectly transparent atmosphere. Though the clouds withhold their i-ain, yet their remiss- ness is retrieved hy the abundant water that flows from tho melted snows which the mountains collect during the "winter. No wonn or other insect devours the succulent grain, while growing, nor is it ever smitten by blight, an abundant haiwest therefore never fails to reward tho arrri- culturist, nor is there little variation in quantity and none in quality. All this is indisputably true ; but still tho picture is too highly colored. There are some drawbacks, which are patent to every close observer. In the first place, when tho water is withdrawn the soil becomes as hard as a brick, and there is no stirring it until the rains and winter frosts have mellowed it again. For this reason, but little winter wheat is or can bo sown unless there are heavy rains in the latter part of summer, which is sometimes the case. Then, the watera coming fi'om the melted snows in tho mountains, only 20 miles distant, and from tho short 138 OVKR TUB PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. time it tukois them, because of the i*apidity of their de- scent, are j-et intensely cold Avhen they reach the plains. Hence there is an unevenness in the ripening of the grain, the coldness of the M'ater keeping back a strip just below every ditch, while that portion of the field which receives water that has flowed over a considerable surface iihd become warmed, comes earlier to maturity. But the coldness of the water is the most serious drawback in irri- gating corn, which is a lover of heat. This is partially overcome by letting tho water flow over a considerable extent of plain or pasture land until it has become warmed, and then gather it into ditches again and apply it to the corn. But the fact is, corn can be raised about us well without as with irrigation, and sometimes, in favor- able seasons, produces crops fully as heavy as the average crop in Missouri. It must also be stated that occasionally there occurs a season when tho rains are sufficient to mature all crops without irrigation. Thus in 1868 the irrigating canals were not opened at all. A season of thunder-storms com- mencing in the mountains in Jime and contitiuing to Sep- tember, often extends to the plains along the foot of the mountains. Then corn yields an abundant crop. Spring wheat is almost universally raised; but the flour and bread made of it have no resemblance to those of spring wheat in the vStates. The flour contains less gluten, and consequently is not sticky like flour made of spring wheat in the States. The bread made of it is as white as that of the choicest St. Louis brands j and then it is so light and spongy. I actually believe it also has medicinal prop- erties. "Why should it not ? The soil on which it grows, ■when the water is withdrawn, becomes encrusted with the ■carbonate of soda, white as if a flurry of snow had passed over it. Cattle lick this crystalized soda, and never need to be salted; in fact, they will turn up their noses, if you off'er them salt, and walk away. Soda springs and lake^ abound throughout tho mountain region ; and since the OVER THE PLAINS AM) ON THE MOUNTAINS. 139 soil on tho Plains is almost exclusively formed of debris from the disentegrated rocks of the mountains, it is pecu- liarly rich in phosphates of lime, soda and ]K)tash. The grain that grows upon such a soil must partake richly in these phosphates, especiall}' that of soda. Hence the chemical action taking place betAveen the soda and the gastric juice must give rise to electric currents in the system. Since then the Colorado Fair has been held at Denver, and the Boulder county, at Boulder j the following amongst other awards w^ere made : At Denver to Jolin G. Lilly, of Arapahoe county, in which Denver is situated, first pre- mium for largest yield per acre of wheat, on entire farm. Amount of acreage being 90 acres, yield 4,988 1-2 bushels, or a fraction over 55 bushels per acre. At Boulder, for best field of corn raised in Boulder county ; first premium to M. CI. Smith, being 70 bushels, less 19 pounds, to the acre. Second premium, Mr. Walker, 64 bushels to the acre. First premium for largest yield of potatoes per acre to David Hersham, being a fraction over 805 bushels to the acre. Seventeen of these j)otatoe8 made a bushel by weight. First premium for best half-dozen beets, to G. F. Chase, the average circumference being 31 inches each. The best half-dozen heads of cabbage; first premium to Mr. Smith ; average weight of each head being 54 1-4 pounds. The rival competitor's average was 53 1-2 pounds per head. The extent of arable lands is the limit to which irrigation can bo carried. How far east of the South Platte this may be done I am unable to say definitely, but so far as the supply of water holds out. Between the Platte and the mountains there extends a triangular plain from the debouchure on the plains of the Cache a la Poudre to that of the South Platte, whose longest side along the foot of the mountains is about 90 miles. From the mouth of the Platte canvon until it receives the Cache a la Poudre the 140 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. distance is about 80 milos. The course of the latter stream from the time it leaven the mountainn until it meets the Platte i.s about 40 miles. The following arc the moun- tain HtreauiH ])roceeding south from the Cache a la Poudro in the order in which they occur: Big Thom])8on, a trib- utary of the IMatte ; I-iittle Thompson, a tributary of Big Thompson; St. Vi-ain's Fork, a tributarv* of the Platte; Left Hand Crook ; and then Boulder, both tributaries of the St. Vi-ain; South Boulder, a tributary of Boulderj Coal Creek, a tributary of South Boulder; Clear Creek, a tributary of the Platte; and tinally Bear Creek, which ialls into the Platte above Denver. Besides these there are numerous branches which issue from mountain gulches, but whose sources measurably fail before the summer is over. This triangle included between the mountains and the Plattocovei-s an area of about 1,800,000 acres of land, four- fifths, at least, of which can be irrigated ; and the whole is. one of the most desirable grazing regions in the world. To substantiate this 1 quote from Professor llayden's United States Geological Peport of 1869, page 144: *♦ Snow sometimes, though rarely, reaches a depth of twelve inches; yet it passes off as rapidly as it cornea^ seldom remaining longer than twenty-four hours. Even in the vallc}-^ which peneti-ate the first range of mountains in the northern section this is the case. Some winters but little snow falls during the entire season. As conclusivo evidence of this statement, cattle are herded out during the entire winter in all parts of the Territory, such a thing as preparation for winter feeding being almost wholly un- known. And 3'et in the spring they will come out in as. /rood order as those of the States which have been housed and fed day by day. The Mexicai\ horses, or bronchos, ■will also winter out during the winter like the cattle." This, however, is only true of the plain immediately along the base of the mountains, say a strip from 15 to 20 miles wide. Ix>wer down on the Plains, it does not O'ER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS, 141 always hold good. There are exceptionally cold winters, when the depth of the snow and the intense cold are fatal to stock unless fed and sheltered. The herds in Boulder county are not verj' large, ranging from 400 to 1500 head. Wm. A. Corson, the President of the Boulder County Agricultural Association,' is one of the principal stock raisers in the county. It will be seen, from what is said elsewhere, that tho«e vast parks, formed of the table-land on the summit of tho mountains, possess an agricultural value that cannot as yet be estimated. That they are admirably adapted for dai- rying purposes there is no question. Butter made there, in quantity, quality and delica,cy of flavor, surpasses that of the famous land of Goshen. They are also well adapted for stock-raising. Hay, oats, barley, rye and even wheat can be raised in all of them notwithstanding their great altitude above the level of the sea. Of hay, oats, turnips and cabbage, no country yields more abundantly^ area for area, than the three most elevated of these parks. Their value for agricultural purposes was early acknowl- edged, not because their soil was richer and more produc- tive than that of the mountain lands east of the Snowy Range, but because their lands lay in compact bodies; while those of the elevated mountain plains east of the Snowy Eange are broken up and dissevered by spoi-adio peaks, and cleft asunder by gulches, deep chasms and im- passable Ciinyons. The difference in the quality of tho soil, if any, is in favor of tho mountain lands. It is no unusual thing to find a black soil of humus or vegetable mould from four to six inches thick underlaid by a rich subsoil of ochreous clay. Notwithstanding the broken character of the mountain table-land, fully one-fourth of it is arable, and three-fourths of the remainder is well adapted for grazing purposes both for sheep and cows. This is contrary to the generally received public opinion, but it is nevertheless true. Potatoes of tho largest size, w^eighing as much as four poundi apiece, and of tho best 142 OVER Tin: plains and on thk moi.ntainss. quality can be raised on these hills and mountain plains without irrigation. The yield often appi'oximates 300 bushels to the acre, %vhich is larger than is generally ob- tained in the rich prairie lands of the Valley of the Mis- sissippi. These lands indeed are often rough, but I have seen thousands of acres cultivated in the Eastern States not only rougher and steeper, but poorer and far stonier thaa these. OVKR THK PLAINS AND ON XHK MOUNTAINS. 143 CHAPTER XII. Colorado seems to be regarded as a favorable ground for trying colonial experiments. I heard, while there, of no lens than three locating committees that were exploi*- ing the Territory for the most favorable location for a colony. One of these represented a Boston colony^ another a Western, and still another a Tennessee colony. r have not heard whether they have linally fixed upon their sites, or at what conclusion they have arrived. To those affected by this colonizing mania, and who tbink of acting a personal part in carrying out such a scheme, I would address the admonition, " 'Tis distance lends cncliantment to llio view. " The most rugged landscape viewed from afar looks charming and roseate, but it is otherwise w^hen we meet face to face the stern realities of Nature, Then the path that promised to lead easily and gently over a smooth and level plain, shaded by trees, enameled by flowers and enlivened by the songs of birds, is found to be rugged, ob- structed by rocks and floods, full of yawning chasms and insurmountable precipices, a real "howling wilderness," the roaming ground of the wolf, the tiger, the panther and the bear, exacting resolution, energy, courage and daring to make way through it successfully. So it is with these colony schemes. It would bo a nice thing if a hundred or a thousand persons of small means, but large hearts and noble aspii'ations, could locate upon a territory now of no intrinsic value, and to all of which their very presence would give a marketable value often, fifty; or even a hun- 144 OVER THE PL.\IN8 ASD ON THK MOUNTAINS. drod dollai's an aero, JIow easily and i-apidly pooplo would then ])nsa from slrailcnod tiix-uin.stances to compo- tence,*and even afilueiicc. There is no doubt that after years of patient endurance, and h()])ing as^ainst hope in many instancos, this Avill bo the caeo, but the sanguine colonists sec all this i-ealizoil at once, without any trial of waiting and tiring of patience; with no hardships to be borne, nor any privations to bo endured. He supjx)se8 that in a new country labor is scarce, and therefore must be in demand, and that the products of his industry and skill will find a ready mar- ket. All this is a delusion M-hich sad experieiue -will dis- pel. If a vacancy for a colony, with all these advantages^ could be found in the heart of a civilized community, all these dreams and expectations would be speedily realized; but out on the vast Plains, surrounded by a domain only inhabited by the wolf, the caj'ote, roaming beasts of prey and wild animals, and where the only towns and villages are those of the prairie dog, the conditions forbid such in- stant realization. There a man with the inventive gcniua of a Walt or Fulton, with strong arms, Avilling mind, and skillful hands, is practically reduced to inaction, bocauso there is no use for their skill or talents and no demand for any article they can produce. Such a community neces- sarily is Avithout money because it ])roduce8 nothing that brings nioney ; and all cash that accidentally finds its way tiicro is sent abroad to obtain necessaries. Trade within the comnuiiiity is thus reduced to bartering and its Indus-- try diverted to doing ''chores." Such ever has been and iilways must bo the case of isolated communities beyond tho ])ale of civilization. Greeley now is an example that may be quoted both for proof and illustration. It started with seventeen stores and no customers except the colo- nists. Those for a while may have had money brought with them, but when that was exhausted none came in to supply its place, because nothing was produced that com- OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. 145 manded money, and there is :is yet no iiuirket or anything that can ho produced. Even in the new inining communities of the jnountain.s the same evils are felt, hut uot in such an aggravated form. 'They produce something that has a commercial value in tlie markets of the world; ])ut it is only the prime article they can make availahle; and from that they hardly real- ize more than one-half of its intrinsic value. The other half is absorbed by expenses in taking it to market, and bv middle men. Take Caribou for illustration ; it has the richest silver lode in the Territory — in fact, one of the richest ever discovered in America; and the whole moun- tain seems to be argentiferous. There are now more than one Imndred lodes opened that would, at localitii>s pro- vided with proper facilities, be.sources of immense wealth to their owners. These lodes could furnish three hundre^i tons of ore a week, that will on an average, assay $80 to the ton. But as the locality is isolated and too new for reduction works, they have to carry their ore, the richest only bearing the expense, twenty-two miles to a smelting furnace, where they receive just what the ])roi)rietor of th«4 -works chooses to give them. Thus that community is -working along and kept from stagnation, ho])ing and praviiig for better times. Yet if they had reduction works, the mines now open would furnisVi ore that would jield at least $35,000 in silver per week, besides the gold, copper and lead. Now, perha])S, a thousand dollars is the limit received per week by the miners in that locality, ■which is only about 40 per cent, of the actual value of the ores sold. Then this community, while its labor is aetu- .ully adding §2,500 ])er week to the wealth of the world, . ill simihir or<;-anizuti()n.s. Eucli one i,s then left ffoo to 7iiake.liiH own selection of vocation, and to pre-empt landn, cluini as homestead or otherwise, as lie may elect. There is a railroad talked of to I'lin iroiu BouhU-r, by way of Longmont, (Ireeley and Gi-ecnslxjro, down the valley ot" the South Platte, 1o connect with the Union Paciiic rail- I'oad at or near the mouth of the stream. Jn that case, the colony may become a thrifty settlement. In the sjiriug of 1870 there was organized a German coloiiv at Chicago, under the leadership of Col. Carl AVuesten. This colony made almost as much noise in the Avorld as did the (ri eeley, or more properly, the Union colony. It found its way into the high valley of the Sierra Mojada ( wet mountains), in Pueblo and Fremont •counties, in the southern part of the territory. The valley is south of Canyon City, located at the mouth of the cau- vofi of the Arkansas, which there breaks through Uh mountain ban'ier and passes iipon the plain. The valley is shut in bv spiirs of the mountain ranges. It is well watei't'd, alnindantly supplied Avith timber and has excel- lent and extensive beds of bituminous coal. There is a good deal of disatfection in this colony, and charges of corruption and dishonesty have been made iigainst some of the prominent men of the organization. Some members have left in disgust ; and in conversation with them lioth at Denver and P>oidder, they represents the elevation so great and the valleys hemmed in by bleak mountains, that most of the crops fail to mature before the frost nips them. 1 have no doubt that much of tliis is exaggeration, pro- ceeding from disappointed expectations. ]\Iy own obser- vations rather winild discredit the statement of the failure of the crop in consequence of elevation. I saw as thrifty jiotatoesas I ever saw, in the upper part of the canyon of the Boulder, at least 9000 feet above the sea, and was told that the average yield was upwards (jf 200 bushels to the acre. Hill's ranche, on the North Bouldei', OVER THK PL.UNS AND OX THK MOUNTAINS. 140 .about three miles east of Caribou, yields him 155,000 net profit from hay and vegetables, and he says Avinter "wheat can be suw-essfiilly cultivated there. Tliere are three ranches, Orvis', .loiies' and l)e Laiid's, all within tiveiniles of Caribou, aM2 acres, chiefly in potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and other vegetables. Then the success of (^ueen, Cochran, llickox, Conner, etc., are well known fiicts. Thei-efore, I think the statement of frost destroying the crops in a more southern latitude, and most probably at a lower elevation, must be taken with many grains of allowance. There is another of these cee air never putrify, but dry up Kweet. Hence, also, there is so little decay of animal and. vegetable substance that no noxious effluvia arises from the one, nor mia.sma from the othei". To the aridity of its* '-limate Colorado owes its remarkable exemption from all kinds of bilious diseases. The thermometer often in Den- ver indicates a greater heat b}^ five degrees than we expe- rience in the trough of the Mississippi Valley. Yet sun- strokes are unknown; because it is impossible for a dry atJnosphere to become sultry, sweltering, smothering and oppressive. It matters not how warm it is, the air is al- wa3-s elastic and exhilarating, because evaporation is con- stant from our bodies. Climate unquestionably exerts an immeasurable influence on every living organism in both, the animal and vegetable k'ingdom. To a nation of inva- lids, (for such we must be taken to hv, if our sanitary con- dition is measured by the amount of medicine we consume),. it will be welcome news to be told that within our own borders there is a climate that produces almost as marvel- ous effects as the Spanish cavaliers expecterl to realize from the fabled Fountain of Y(juth which they sought in vain in the malarious fens and bogs of Florida. The influ- ence ot this atmosphere is remarkable, as is testified by general experience, it is entirely free from humidityj, OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 15$ wonderfully clear, exhilarating and health inspiring. Mists and fogs, except when rain and snow are falling, are unknown. The absence of clouds, the clear intensely blue sky, and a brilliant sunshine are remarkai)le, the year round. Colorado has a wide spread celebrity already for releaving and curing tubercular and pulmonary alTec-- tions, general debility, scrofula, dispepsia, asthma, bron- chitis, enlargenu'nt of the liver, splenetic diseases, etc., and not without cause, for at least one-third of her present population are reconstructed individuals. Dyspeptics soon recover their lost power of assimilation and become vigorous and more robust than ever. There are many there who had been afflicted witli hronchitisand other throat affections, who had tried 3Iinnesota, the West Indies, California and sea voj^ages without effoct^ who, as a tinal resort, took xij) their sojourn in Colorado, and are now sx)und and well. Consumptives who come here before the ravages of the disease have wasted the re- cuperative vital energy, almost eertiiinly recover ; others become comparatively comfortable, even regaining a con- feiderable degree of vigor. Many, however, ct)me too late, that is in the last stages of the disease. In such c-ases a crisis ensues at once, followed in a few days or weeks by a fatal termination. The cause of this is self-evident. They are brought here from a dense atmosphere in which ail the demands of vitality areeatislied by using fi-om one-half to- two-thirds of the capacity of their lungs, while hei-e in this rarified air the full capacity of every lung cell is taxed, and then cannot satisfy the demand ; for to make up the de- ficiency the respiration is accelerated fifty per cent, that is,. from sixteen to twenty-four times per minute. The full inflation of lungs and the accelerated motion must pro- duce ruptures in diseased cells, hence the tatal crisis that speedily ensues. Before raili'oads penetrated here, when it took thirty to forty days to make the journey, more desperate cases were cured than now; because the strain on the lungs, caused by the inci-easing rarity of the air^ 154 OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAIN.S. was so gradual that the slight lesions had time to heal. I would therefore give this advice to all consumptives: Make the journey by easy stages; say first stop over ten days or more at Abilene, Salina or Brookvillc on the Kan- sas Pacific, all of which points are from 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the sea. Then, if no unfavorable symptoms have made their appearance, go to Hays, nearly 1,000 feet higher; thence to Wallace, some 1,200 feet higher still; thence to Kit Carson, about 1,000 feet higher than Wal- lace; thence to some of the towns at the foot of the mountains; and not to ascend the mountains until a decided improvement has intervened. By following these suggestions, many will be permanently cured, others relieved, who would rush in the very jaws of death if they go there at once, as many now do, as fest as steam can carry them, which is in about two days from the Mississippi. It is now generall}' conceded by physicians and physi- ologists that the j)hosphates possess great medicinal value in the treatment of tubercular and other diseases involv- ins: enfeebled vital functions. The soil on the Plains, ad- jacent to the mountains, is the (/efr^Yf/.s of feldspar disinteg- rating slowh', through myriads of years on the moun- tains, and carried down and deposited by floods. The constituent elements of feldspai", which is a silcate, are silex, soda, lime, potassium, magnesia, etc. Hence, the soil is rich in these alkalies. In fact the first crop of wheat, raised in some localities, was so much embued with alka- line matter that the flour made of it would eftervesce with an acid and would almost make ''suds" by adding lard and water; and the bread could not be eaten at all. Dr. Chambers, an eminent English phj-sician, in his lec- tures on the " Renewal of Life," gives this sensible rule on this subject : " In choosing a home for your consumptive, dr> not mind the average hight of the thermometer, or its variations; do not trouble yourself about tlie meai\ rain-fall; do not OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 155 bo scientific at all; but find out froni somebody',s journal how raany da3'S were fine enough to go out forenoon and afternoon. That is the test you require, and b}' that you may be confidently guided." Judged by this standard Colorado is one of the most favored sjDots on the earth for a home of the consumptive. There is not a score of daj'S in any year that invalids ma}^ not sit out of doors, ride or w^alk forenoon or after- noon without any discomfort. Then the nights are always cool so as to ensure refreshing sleej), an essential condition for the restoration of shattered nervous systems ;and broken down constitutions. Another favorable condition is the dryness of the atmos- phere. There is no such thing as " damp night air." There is no "taking cold" if you sleep with doors and windows wide open summer and winter. Invalids can sleep on the open plains or mountain recesses, wi-apped in a pair of blanlcets without incurring any risk. The new, varied and sublime scenery inspires to activity, and the pure exhilerating air and mild climate invite to outdoor life. In obeying these impulses lies the great secret of tlie cmany wonderful cures a residence here has etfected. 156 OVER THK PLAINS AM) ON TJIK .MorXTAINS. CHAPTER Xin. The founding of new coinmunitie.s on the frontier of civil- ization, whether done individually or collectively, is ac- complished at the sacritice of temporary ease and comfort. The hai'clships and privations it imposes are longer or ghorter in duration as the location has heen judiciously made with i-egard to tiivorable surroundings. A main point is to secure a location in the direction that the cur- rent ot migration is strongly tending; and the next point is not to make it too iar in advance, unless ovi'iTuling con- siderations determine it otherwise. Immigration can very a])tly be compared to the movements of those large flodvs: of wild pigeons in their migrations from higher to lower latitudes and vice versa. Invading a grain field, the rear is constiintly flying over to the front. Therefore the front soon becomes tlie rear, and the field in a short time is cleanly })icked over and crossed. Settlers on the frontier of Kansas and Nebraska, that this year are locat- ing just in front where the last year's wave of migration ex- pended itself, l)y next year find that the new wave has swept over and beyond them, and now rolls on thirty or forty miles ahead. In a year or so more, they Avill find themselves so far in the rear that they are no longer able to tell how far and to what ])oint the front line has ad- vanced. In tliat time they will, howevei-, find that the condition of their community is imj)roving; and that surrounding- circumstances are more favorable. In fact they find that prosperit}- is dawning upon them. Five or six years more and they find themselves surrounded, by all the cora- OVEil THE PLAIN'S A\D 0\ THE MOUNTAINS. 157 ■fort.s jiml umeiiities of long- established and con>^olidatod <'oinmuiiitie8. Imnii[azatlan, in ]\[exico, south of the Tropic of Cancer. The elevation of the Park above the sea, is from 7,00Q to 8,000 feet. The wall of porph3'ritie rocks constituting the Snowy flange, rises from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above the Park; aniV!w?i), two epecies of blue- grass, ( Poa serotina and P. Andina), red top, wild oats and the lucious buifalo grass are so abundant and luxuriant that neither horses nor cattle require any other food sum- mer or winter. Elk, black-tail deer and mountain sheep resort to this Park during the winter, seeking its rich pastures and on account of its comjmratively mild climate and greater exemption from snows than the surrounding ;mountiiins. Though the snow foils to the enormous depth .of from 12 to 15 feet in a season; yet it is a well observed 174 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. fact that the Pacific Slope, however remote from tlic ocean,,, has a milder climate than on the Atlantic or Eastern Slope. In summer the climate is cool, pleasant and ex- tremely oxhilerating. Though scared}' a week passes without some frost; yet, strange as it may seem, flowers bloom throughout the season, and straw-berries ripen even to the hight of 11,000 feet above the sea, and in close prox- imity to the eternal snows. Crold and silver have not yet been found in paying quan- tities, except on the Blue as already stated; consequently J but little has becii done towards the settlement of the northern portion of the Park. The latest prospecting, however, indicates the ])rescnce of the precious metals in rich and paying qiuiiitities on the sources of Grand River. Quite a nimiber of cattle ranches however already exist on the Grand and its tributaries, and are extending down, the valley of the Blue towards the junction. Wheat has not been tried, but oats, potatoes, turnips and cabbage find here a congenial climate and yield enormous crops. When the narrow guage railroads now projected from both Denver and Boulder to Salt Lake ai*e completed, * this Park will become one of the most desirable portions, of the territory, not only for gi-azing purposes, but for the manufacturing of lumber from its large and heavy forests of pine and spruce. Near the head of frrand Pivcr, amongst the side moun- tains of the Snowy Range lies Grand Lake, about two miles long, and of unknown depth, since a sotmding line 500 feet in length has failed to reach bottom. The moun- tains forming its sides rise abruptly from the waters' edge;. Grand River forming both its outlet and inlet. Up through the canyon through wich the river comes tumbling down, are several smaller lakes; and still higher up is *The one from Denver, to run by way of South Park throui^h HoOsicr Pass and down the valley of the Blue ; and the one from Boul- der, through the Snowy llansre and down the valley of the Grand, thence by the Grand lliver Canyon through the middle basin of the- Colorado" of the West into Salt Lake Valley. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 175 Estes' Park, a miniature glade on the verge of the " tim- ber line" where Mountain Jim has a cattle ranche. The streams and lakes are filled with fish, mostly trout. Deer, elk, mountain sheep, hares and grouse are plenty in the Park, and the coyote and grizzly bear in the forests and mountains. When Fremont was here in 1844 the Park was filled with buffalo, but they have all left these parts now. Beaver are also plenty on all the streams and mountain brooks. On one stream there are at least fifty dams within a mile, and a regular Venice-like beaver city. There are many coal beds in Middle Park ; in fact the only true carboniferous coal in Colorado is found here;, which Avill be of immense value should the mineral de- posites prove as rich as it is now anticipated they will. Fossil wood is found in all the tertiary deposites which cover four-fifths of the Park, The petrifactions of fossil palm trees are recognized by their endogenous structure but the most of the fossil trees were exogens. A species of magnolia has been found and identified as belonging to- a sub-tropical species. South Africa has the largest and richest diamond fields in the world. Middle Park has no diamonds, but it has the richest known deposites of the inferior precious stones. There are thousands of acres of agate patches, and fields of jasper, amethj-st, opals, emeralds, chalcedony and silici- fied wood; in fact there are enough of these to supply the Avorld for ages. Many of the agates are what are popu- larly known as moss agates, from having those dendritic forms resembling petrified moss. These forms however originate, as has already been stated, from crystallization of manganese under the reaction of oxide of iron. The epoch in which the groat changes of climate Avere effected, and of the upheaval of this mesa to its present altitude, was one when terrible energy manifested itself on a tremendous scale. It has forever left the impress of its character on the turreted battlements of peaks above 176 OVER TlIK I'LAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. peaks, mountains on mountains and hills on liills, and on the deeply rifted canyon walls of its flowing streams. The whole topography of the Park is an almost unvaried scries of igneous rocks forming immense cones and dikes of basalt and Java. On the banks of Grand River near the centre of the Park, arc yet numerous hot sulphur springs. Mr. Charles Dabncy, of Boulder, gave me a piece of suljjhur foam, which he gathered from the basin of one of these springs. It weighs about twelve ounces. lie described the spring as a stream of hot water of the capacity of twenty-five •'miner's inches," issuing from a fissure in an over-hanging rock. The orifice is about fifteen feet above the basin into which the water pours. The whole surface of the basin is covered with this incrusted sulphur foanx to the depth of four and five inches. Immediately below the liot spring there is Grand Canyon, three miles long, where the river cuts its way through an upheaved ridge of massive felds- pathic granite between walls from 1,200 to 1,500 feet high. On Troublesome Creek there are monumental stones similar to those on the Divide, east of Pike's Peak. They are the remains of sandstone that have otherwise suc- cumbed to the erosions of the elements operating upon them for unknown thousands of years. They are said to be extremely picturesque, fantastic and weird, surpassing even those on Monumental Creek flowing from the Di- vide south of Denver into the Arkansas. Xear Troublesome Creek is a rectangular mural liill, or rather mass of light colored rock two hundred feet high. The sides are nearly perpendicular, and have been so fashioned by the erosions of the elements as to resemble a liuge castle. There are towers, battlements, abutments and gateways, so that when seen by moonlight or in the gray dawn of morning the effect is most charming and impressive, and the illusion is complete of an old massive castle, such as are seen upon the Rhine. OVER THE PL.\IN8 AND ON THE MOUNTAINS 177 There are several parses over the Snowy Range into the Park, Hoosier Pass at the source ^of the Blue, near the base of Mount Lincoln, leading into South Park, was -estimated by Fremont, who passed over it in July, 1844, on his return from California, to be 11,200 above the sea. His estimate was deduced from the boiling point of water, lijiving broken his barometer late in the previous year on the Columbia. Berthoud's Pass, about five miles north of Gray's Peak, at the head springs of Clear Creek, as deter- mined by Prof. Ilayden, in 1869, is 11,810 feet above the ocean level. Boulder Pass, some ten miles further nortK, at the head of the South Boulder, also affords easy access to the Park. I cannot ascertain that its altitude has ever been determined. Its altitude probably does not vary much from that of Berthoud's. It is rather singular that on the summit of all these passes, the springs which send their waters in opposite directions and to different oceans, are in close proximit}', only a few feet, or at most, a few j-ards, apart. From Georgetown, there is a good wagon road over the Eange at the south base of Gray's Peak to the silver mines on the head waters of the Blue, and from the same place, through Berthoud's Pasn, the head waters of the Grand are reached. There are four of these ])arks in Colorado; namely, l^orth. Middle, South and San Luis. To which might, with pi-opriety, be added a fifth; namely, the upper basin of the Arkansas, which has all the requisites of a park as the word is here understood. Of North Park, in which the North Fork of the Platte rises, it is not necessary to speak. It is yet beyond the pale of civilization and not visited by tourists. The easy accessibility from the Plains has secui'cd to South Park an early settlement, and makes it a favorite resort of tourists, though its scenery is said not to be of the first order. As it has been often describ- ed by tourists who visited it, it would bo presumption in jnc to attempt a description who have not seen it. 12 178 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. The following are the estimated areas of tlic three- northernmost Parks : ACRES. North Tark l,G00,00O Middle Park 1,900,000 South Park 1,400,000 "West of South Park, and separated from it by the Buffalo Peaks, lies the Upper Basin, or Park of the Ar- kansas, which heads at the western base of Mount Lincoln. Tn it are Oro City, Dayton and Granite, all of which were at one time flourishing mining towns, but now are some- Avhat dilapidated; not because gold is uot there, but becaiise it takes labor, skill, and perseverence to obtain it. Prosperity, however, must sooner or later return to them,, because not onl}- are \ho placers rich, but the lodes in thi> mountaiTis give bright promise of the future when caj)ital,, pkill and science "will be directed to their development. Dayton, situated on Twin Lakes, is the most charming^ villa<:;e in the mountains. The Twin Lakes are the lar^;- est lakes in ( 'olorado, and arc unsurpassed for beauty in the M'orld. They were the scene of a sad accident "while Ave were in the mountains. Young Copp, of St. Louis, whom a few days before we had seen at Denver, full of life, spirits and expectation, was drowned here by the uj)- setting of a hoat. ( 'hapters could be wi'itten in describing this lovely ,- charming, picturesque and delightful valley, and its match- less scenery, without exhausting the subject. Ever^' tour- ist should make it a point to visit it, for. no one .ever re- grets having gone there. South of the Upper Basin of the Arkansas, and beyond a range of snowy peaks, lies San Luis Park, the most southern, the largest and the least elevated of the series. It contains about 12,000,000 acr6s of arable land, and its altitude above the level of the sea is about 6,500 feet. It is generally said that San Luis Park lies in the basia of OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 179 the Eio Gi'ande del Xorto, though a i^ortioii of it really m a continental basin. It is separated from the Taos Yal- ley by the Sierra Blanoa (White Mountains) running on its southern border nearly due east and west. They are the grandest, most imposing and picturesque range in Southern Colorado. Southeast of the Park, in the sec- ond range of mountains, the Spanish Peaks raise their toAv- ering heads above the clouds. The mountains that "vvall in San Luis Park on the cast, from the Sierra Blanca north to Poncho Pass, are of eruptive rocks, and grand in aspect and vast in proportions. The north Avail is of metamorphic rocks and rises above the line of perpetual snow. To the west are the Sierra San Juan (pronounced San Whawn). The Eio Grande rises in Los Animas (the Spirits' ) Park, floAvs at first east to centre of San Luis Park, and then turns soutli. The northern portion, a con- tinental basin, is San Luis Park pro^x-r. This northern portion is about 60 miles long and I'l to 20 miles A\'ide. In the centi-e of it is Saguache Lake tAvenly-four miles long and ten Avide, at its Avidest part. It looks like a A-ast thicket of " grease Avood, " (Sareobatus vermicular Is). It has no outlet. It seems to be a A-ast s\A-amp or bog, and has some 15 or 16 large streams flowing into it. It is said that in the interior of this bog, small lakes exist, the largest of Avhich is three miles in length. The A\^aters of these lakes, and of the bog itself, are said to haA-e an ebb and floAv Avith the regularity of the tide. I Avill not A'ouch for the truth of this, l)ut it comes to me from so many credible sources as to entitle it to mention here. If it is true, it is a remarkaltle ])lienomenon, Avorthy of scientific inA'estigation. As its elevation is so great aboA'c the level of the sea, it cannot be a tidal AvaA-e, yet there must be a uniform physical cause in operation to produce it. As- suming it to be true, I Avould suggest atmospheric pres- sure as the ])robablo cause of it. From the nature of the facts existing here, we can A^ery readily infer the hiAvs op- crating to produce the jihenomenon in question. The 180 OVKtt THE PLAINS ANQ ON THE MOUNTAINS facts live, titlecii or sixteen lavi^e, Kesiclos many Bmall streams, dischareinu" down at bis residence in the Parle, whither I did not u'o, I did not see him Avhile in Colorado. Jiunior said, (and it is so ])iiblished in the Colorado Gazetteer, of 1)^71 j that he had disposed of a ])art of liis interest to some Eni;-lish cajjitalists, for S2,.)00,000. He was then engaged in settling colonists on his estate, but 1 learned nothing of the princi])h's einlxxlied in his colonial scheme. AVhilc these ]>ages were going through the ])i-ess, 1 met him on his way to the Eastern cities. I learned from him that the narrow gauge railroad l)uilding from i)enver to Santa Fe, and already completed beyond the mouth of the canvon of the Arktinsas, Avill be completol to San Luis Park bv Xovember, 1!"m2; and that there are yet millions of acres of vacant ])ul)lic land in the Park sul)ject to settle- ment either by homestead pre-emption, or entry, and that there is an abinidance of water for ii-rigation. As I am under a ]n"omise to pay him a visit when next I go to Col- orado, I nuiv hereailer more specifically describe this Park. In the meanwhile let no one who visits Colorado with a view of settlement in agricultural ])ursuits, espcci- allv stock-raising, fail to examine the adaptation and capability of this Park for his pur])Oses. There is wo lack of precious metals in the surrounding mountains, but they have as yet received no development. These parks are indentations or bowls formed by the upheaval of ignous mattei- which has formed rims around the enclosed, elevated talde-lands or mesai^, as the Span- iards say. These plateaux arc not only the culminating point of the Kocky ^Mountain chain, but the apex of the Continent. Each is an independent watershed, having its OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 183 ■own s^'stcm of springs and fonntains They do not com- mingle their collected tribute with those of any other, but they send their waters in ojiposite directions to the lour cardinal points of the compass and to different oceans. The Indian name for these parks signified "cow-lodges" or "bull-pens" on account of the immense herds of buffa- loes with which they abounded. The Canadian French trappers, the first intruders into these mountain recesses, for the same reason called them "pares," which in French signifies an enclosed jiasturc. The buffiilo which then constituted the greater part of the animals in these enclosed pastures, have now disappeared; and the elk, deer, moun- tain sheep and antelopes, are rapidly diminishing in num- bers. Not many years therefore will elapse before the name of parlc will be a misnomer. The name is also aj)- plied, all through the mountains, to little openings »or glades on the borders of mountain strcains, which is a to- tal perversion of the term. In our language the term park, is exclusively applied to an enclosure for holding Avild animals of the chase. When the buffalo roamed here and filled these mountain glades enclosed and shut in by moun- tain walls, the term was both appropriate and descriptive, and we might add poetical. But the onward march of civilization, in this as in man}' other cases, is SAveeping into oblivion the facts that made names pertinent, thus leaving coming generations to Avonder that there ever ■ could have been such misapplications of names. These park regions in numy respects resemble Switzer- land and the Alps; and the resemblance would be com- 2)lete if glaciers existed in them. Those Avho have been to Italy as well as to these mountains, say that the most ini- pressive view of the Alps from the Italian side, is from the banks of the Po, above Milan, across the plains of Lom- bard}' ; and that the view of the Rocky Mountains from the Plains, say twenty miles east of Denver, has much similarity to it but is the more imposing of the two IleiM you have in one view, the towering masses of Long's and 184 OVKa THE PLAIN.S AND ON TUB MOUNTAINS. Pike'.s Peak an termini of a cocks-combed in*egular snowy curtain, 1-15 miles lon<^ connecting thoni, which in length and massivcncsB har^ no analogue any where in the Alps, Tho great Plains wtretching up and lying against the moun- tain wall, has alno vaster proportions than the plains of Lombardy : while the immense mountain wall in sight, 250 miles in length, stretching North and South in the west- ern horizon, is a view without a parallel along tho base of tho Alps. Tho mountains of tho western rim of Middle Park, Bomotimes called the Blue Kiver Mountains, have ho im- pressed travelers w'ith their similarity to the Al])s as seen from Southern (rermany, tliat they never fail to recognize their resembranco to tho Helvetian Mount;iins, and have prpposed that name for tho range. These bowl, or saucer shaped table-lands, collect the waters from all points of tho compass that issue from un- derneath the pt^rpetual stiows and i(^ of their mountain rim. Tlie causes that farmed these larger basins, formed alao many smaller ones between lower hills or mountai-ns. Those minor basins in many instances are rosci'voirs where- tho water collects, forming numerous lakes of greater or loss extent. Though in size they will not compare with the lakes of Switzerland ; yet the torrents of ice water by which they are f m1, dashing through chasms and over rocky precipices form r>i:iny c.xsciidos, which for beauty and tho wild S!;enery surrounding them, are unsurpassed by the cascades of the Alp-i. TIis; cocks-combed serraturo of the encircling Snowy ll'ing(> is not surpassed by any view of tho Snowy Alps. Before closing let us take a brief review of the attrac- tions and inducements held out not by these parks alone,, but by tho whole mountain systf scientillc tastes, and to men of science, no ])art of the globe offers richer stores, holds out stronger inducements and affords greater oppor- tunities for collecting specimens for their particular bx-anch- <2s: nor more agreeable ])astime and diversion than to turn •over the pages of this immense and new volume, and stud\-- inir the histories it embodies. OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE iMOUNTAINS. lf)7 CIIAPTEPc XVI. All tlie pleasures and oiijoynienls of traveling flow from the gratification of the eye. When beautiful, wonderful and sublime objects are presented to the eye the attributes of those objects powerfully affect the sensi- bility, giving rise 8])ontaneously to exalted and pleasur- able emotions, that may carry the mind to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. But Avhilc a view of many objects afford ])leasui'e to the highest degree, but few of them in- spire enthusiasm. Tlieji again we arc differently affected by the same object according to the standi)oint from which we regard it. For instance, our point of obscrvationmay be the top of n high building, the ])oint of a pinnacle, the top of a tower, or the summit of a mountain. The pleas- urable emotions that arise in this case, spring from the ex- tended view and the number and variety of the objects seen. All of these objects when taken singly, maybe in- capable of ins])iring any emotion whatever, yet when taken in by a single glance, afford the highest kind of jjleasure. It is the view that affects us rather than the form and character of the multiplicity of objects that • compose it. A vleio however is incapable of awakening enthusiasm in its highest sense. We generally call views beautiful, grand, and even magnificent, but never sublime. Again, our standpoint may be at the head of a lane, in the opening of a row of trees, or we may look down length- Aviso between tho two sides of a mountain gorge, and we anay call the vista beautiful or charming, but never mag- nificent, much less sublime. Tho emotions excited by fine vistas, though highly pleasurable, are not even of so ex- 188 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. altcd a chanictor as tho.so arising from a <^rand and nitjg- nifiociit view. ' Filially, our htandpoint may bo, in fi-ont of a splendid building, at tho bottom of Niagara, in the abyss of a monntaiu chasni, or at the foot of a preci])itous, (Taggy, cliff overhung bv topi)ling rocks, and crowned b}^ moun- tain pines; then in looking up, we are smitten with wonder, awe and astoniKhment. We had seen the same objects at a distance; they then were component pai'ts of our views and vitstas, and as such merely objects that filled up points in the more or less extended space in siglit. AVe hardly regarded even their f)rms, much less their attributes. But now we are regarding them singly. AVe then only saw enough of thorn to perctMve they were trees, houses, cliffs, (•"ascades, pi'eci])iccs or mountains, but we now see that they are extraordinary trees, houses, elite's, ])reeipices, etc. Then we saw no attributes except such onh- as enabled us to cla'^sify them ; now we see nothing but atti'ibutes. AVe now see they have beaut}", symmetry, harmony, vastness, grandeur in all grades uj) to the highest degree of sublim- ity. These fix the gaze and rivet the attention; a glow darts through our veins, the imagination is set on fire and enthusiasm is awakened; and then if uudci- the influence of their iiis])iration we attempt to give uttei-ance to our feelings we call the S((jht beautiful, gi-and, magnificent, sublime. To meet fully the demands of the traveler the country visited must possess objects and scenery tbat will afford all of these three sources of pleasui-able emotions; namely, l^eautiful and charming t'i-stas, grand and magnificent rzVjr.', and grand, stupendous, magnificent and sublime flights. Of late years traveling has degenerated almost ex- clusively into sight-seeing of the lowest order. Our citi- zens visit the large towns and cities of our own and of foreign lands, which have more fame for being dens of iniquity and infamy, than for affording sublime and iiLspir- ing sights. The rich, large, munificent and splendid OVER THE 1'L.irNS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. 199 i'hk.s of continental Europe especially, seem to have ])arti(;ular attraction to those having the desire and the means to see the World; hj which they understand the manners, customs, habits and vices even of man. As for Hublime sights, they believe they have seen everything worth seeing, when they have looked at, although they may not have taste enough to admire, the most famous specimens of architecture in the world. The ancienta had seven wonders: 1st. The statue of the Sun, at Rhodes; 2d. The Mausoleum of the King of Caria; 3d. The statue of Jupiter, by Phidias; 4th. The Temple of Diana, at Ejjhesus; 5th. The Avails and han''- ing gardens of Bab3'lon ; 6th. The Py i-amids of Egypt; and, 7th. The Palace of Cyrus, the younger; these were what they called the seven wonders of the "World, and, as is seen, every one of them was the work of human hands. It is, therefore, an ancient idea, that the great, the grand, ihQ beautiful and sublime, must be sought in the works of Man. Which are the greater ancl more sublime, the works of Nature or the^ works of Man, is not even admis.sil)le as a question; for it has been truly said, "Man made the city, but God made the country." In the cities, Man has built St. Pauls and St. Peters, the Louvre, the Tuillicrioii Sans Souci, arches, columns and domes; but Nature built Niagara, the Al]>s and the Andes, the cliff, the gorge and the abyssimal chasm. Of Man's Avorks we have loss in this country than there is elsewhere, but of Nature's more. Not only more, but of a higher order, and of a unique type. They have only to be kuown to be appreciated; not only by us, but by the World. Were I called u})on to designate the country having the most beautiful and the greatest variety of scenery, and in its greatest perfection all the elements of grandeur, mag- nificence and suljlimity, I would unhesitatingly name Colorado. Lately it has become fashionable for tourists to visit tho White Mountains, and asc«nd to the top of Mount Wash- 190 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. ingto'.i ; and when they return, they tell us they have beem above the clouds. Why, any of the towns of Colorado, on the Plains along the flank of the Rocky Mountains, are as high above the sea as the top of Mount Washington ; while those on the mountains are from three to four thou- sand feet higher. As for sights, go to the bottom of one of those awful chasms that seam the great Cordilleras in all directions, and look up the side of the cleft mountain that lifts its rocky escarpment to the clouds. How utterly insignificant is anything man has done, or can do, Avhen compared with this cj'clopean Avork of Nature ! Everywhere, in threading the labyrinthine mazes of the mountain canyons, these overhanging, cloudcapped and oftentimes beetling cliffs are met wiih But foremost amongst these stands Boulder Canyon, unequaled either in these remarkable mountains or in the world, for the va- riety, grandeur and sublimity of its scenery. Its only pos- sible rival is the Yosemiie Yalley of California. But the Yoscmite is a spectacle of a diff'erent order It is a valley quiet in all its aspects ; the very embodiment of tranquility,, if we except the Bridal Yell and the cascade of the main source of the Merced, pouring themselves into the head of the valley from under the everlasting snows anrl ice of the Sierra Nevada. But the Merced itself flows through the valley so gently that it scarcely shows a ripple upon its tran- quil bosom. It even forms a calm lake in the centre, which is scarcely ever ruffled by a passing breeze. This lake is hedged in on all sides by lofty spruce, and the whole en- closed by a loftier wall of smooth weather-worn rocks. On this wall, said to be from 3,000 to 4,000 feet in height,, rise high, huge and bald battlements of giganitc rocks,. named respectively, the Half Dome, the Dome, the Three Brothers, etc. All these have been eroded by the elements until they appear as though the waves of the sea had. rolled over them for myriads of years and efiiiced every angular vestige. The Half Dome, however, appears as if, . at u more recent period, one half of it had dropped in the •■ OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 191 abyss below, and consequently ou that side has a sharp angle. The Three Brothers are a beetling eliff fVom Avhieh jut three immense rocks, looking as though three huge hexagonal crystals were superimposed one above the other, with their points directed horizontally towards the valley. Though the Yosemito has an exhuberant growth of spruce within it, yet the mountain wall and the countr)^ surrounding it are entirely bare. No sign of vegetation is to be seen on it; and therefore its smoothness, combined with the utter sterility surrounding it, give it an exceed- ing tame and commonplace appearance. In fact the whole environment of the valley looks as though desolation had swept over the region and had blasted and annihilated all vegetal life, except what is enclosed in this secluded little dell, two miles long, and half a mile wide. The surround- ings therefore have a dreariness and monotonj' that are absolutely painful, and the valley, or more properly dell, taken as a whole, fliils to affect and impress the senses vividly. Not so, however, with Boulder Canyon. Its walls arc as steep and high as those of the Yosemite, yet they are not bleak, bare, smooth and sterile, but for fifteen miles are fearfully wild, rough, bold, angular and grand, with their sides clothed, and their summits crowned with ever- green shrubs and trees. Its Avaters arc not a calm lake nor an unruffled stream, but a milk-white, dashing, roaring mountain river, rushmg through a rocky gorge often hav- ing a descent exceeding five hundred feet to the mile. In density of thicket and number of trees at any one point, it cannot be compared with the Yosemite, but in size it can, for it has trees four feet in diameter and upwards of two hundred feet high. The Falls of the North Boulder can- not be compared with the Bridal Veil, but the whole river is a continuous cascade which immensely enhances the Tvildness of the scenery and stamps its impress on the mind. The Yosemite and the Canyon are therefore spec- tacles of entirely different orders. As already stated, one 10*2 OVER TJIE PLAINS AND ON THE MOLNTAINS. is the iinpei*sonaiion of repose and tranquility, tho other, that of restlessness and intense uftivity. These two orders must impress the mind witli different feelings and emotions. Inspiration always conies from witliout. We drink in the very s])irit of tl-.o objects we bcliold and eon- template. If it be a quiet scene, howevtu" beautiful and grand it may be, the spirit that pervades it will instiintly evoke is counterpart in our own bosoms. If it be wild, violent and turbulent as well as grand, beautiful and sublime, our emotions will be of tho same order. For exciting intensity of feeling, wild and turbulent passions and overwhelming emotions, Boulder canyon must have an incontestiblo superiority over the Yosoraito Valley. To give relaxation to the mind and variety to the eye, beautiful and charming vistas are essential. It lias been asserted that the Rocky Mountains, unlike the Alps, do not afford them. I must contest this assertion. If tliere is a more beautiful vista than that to bo seen in Boulder canyon, near the narrows, Avhere you look out from under ii canopy of immense spruce trees, and up the gorge, down ■which rolls a foaming torrent, enclosed by perpendicular walls, and see at about a hundred rods distant a transverse mountain many thousand feet high, forming an apparent cul de sac, then I have not heard of it, nor seen it describ- ed. Then again there are the many mountain lakoa, eometimes nearly cncii'ck^d by perjiendicular or over- hanging precipices, at others surrounded by a forest of picturesque, tall and tapering fir trees. If a look through dense groves of tall evergreens anL.\1NS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. Bouthward as flir as the eyo can reach, and Avestward also, until they culminate in the bald Snowy Itange. J'lastward, almost at your feet, lies the Plain, drained by the South Platte and its affluents. Beyond the Platto is the Denver Pacific railroad to Cheyenne, upon which are seen trains going in opposite directions; and beyond that to the boun- dary of the horizon, a hundred or more miles of tho mythical "Great American Desert" are in sight. Tho eye follows with pleasure the Platte and its affluents, by the silvciy sheen of their waters, marked out also by a straggling row of cottonwood. Tho basin of tho Platto is diversified by towns, villages, hamlets, farms and ranches. On the uncultivated Plain, thousands of cattle are seen grazing. The irrigating canals are even visible, stretch- ing out through the characteristic bluish gray of tho Plains, to the wheat and cornfields that fleck and diver- Hify it with ])at(:he.s of deep green. Such a view there is near Golden City, which I have already described, and such viewH there are in tho vicinity of Boulder, aiid I pre- sume anywhere on the high peaks along the Plains. Between tho Middle and North Boulder, some two miles below Castlo Eock, there is a high peak, which Mr. Bar- nabas Smith, one of my compagnons de voyage ascended, which he thinks must have been tho iFount of Tempta- tion, so beautiful, grand, rich and extensive is the view from it. At least, he thinks that if the Devil owned and could show a good title to all that Ciin be seen from it, it wo\dd be a tem])ling l)ait to mammon-loving souls, if offered as a bounty for enlistment in his service. It is too far interior to see the settlements immediately along tho foot of the mountain, but Denver, Valmonl, Erie, Burlington, Longmont, Evans and Greeley, are all in sight, while the course of the Platte, from above Denver to far below Greeley is seen glittering in tho sun, and marked out by the lino of cottonwood trees. J>e- yond it aro tho great Plains, unbroken, except by tho railroad near tho river margin, on which aro seen tho OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 195 passing trains. Between the foot of the nicjuntaiii.s and the Platto, the plain is seamed as if by silver threads, by the two Boulders, Left Hand Creek, St. Yrain Fork, Big and Little Thompson and the Cache-a-la-Poudre, all moun- tain torrents, draining the Cordilleras east of the Snowy Range; and their margins lined by villages, farms and ranches to their junction with the Platte. Immediately north, and at a distance of about two miles, rises Sugar Loaf Mountain to nearly a thousand feet higher than this point. Farther north and west, at a distance of some 25 miles, is the Babbit Ears, a double peaked cone; and to the northwest, at the distance of thirf-ty miles, is Long's Peak, rising to an altitude of 14,300 feet, and covered with j)erpetual snow. West lie the un- broken but serrated Snowy Range. The view from Sugar Loaf is still more extended, and that from Long's Peak is said to be inconceivably grand. The vicinity of the Boulder and Sugar Loaf Mountain ■would bo very attractive to tourists, if there were a hotel there. The waters of the two Boulders, Four Mills and J.eft hand creeks are tilled with inountain trout, and in the heavily timbered district around about are mountain grouse, blacktailed deer, elk, mountain sheep, and occa- sionally a cinnamon bear. Old grizzh-, it is said, has left these parts in disgust. James' Peak in the Snowy Range at the Boulder Pass into Middle Park, and Gray's Peak further south in the same range and west of Georgetown, are well known points and much atfected by tourists for the fine views from their summits. Farther to the southwest and on the northern line of the South Park, stands the Titan of the Cordilleras, Mount Lincoln, said to be over 17000 feet above the sea. Being more remote and in a less frequented part of the mountains it is not so well known and appi'cciated as it deserves to be. However, from the difficulty of ascending it without a guide, and the Alarch-like cold and wind al- 196 OVER THE PKAIXS AND 0\ THE .MOUXTAINS. "\v:iys on its sunmiit, prevailing; uvea in mid Suiiiiuer, it will never become so popular as other peaks. The whole of Mount Lincoln is auriferous and argentif- erous, and many rich lodes both of gold and silver are •worked on its sides. From the base a road has been con- structed a mile and a half long up to the edge of the tim- ber line for hauling quartz, which is obtained Irom a lode nearly 12000 feet above the sea. Several thousand feet above this is a rich silver lode, the ore of which is packed on jackasses and carried down to the entl of the roas in four eftervescent soda springs Avhose constant bubbling give the water the appearance of boil- ing violently), there arc what are called the Gardens of the Gods. The larger, called the First Garden of the Gods, is an enclosed area of six or seven miles long and from a few rods to a quarter of a mile wide. The en- closing rock is composed of various strata, but its predom- inant one is red sedimentary sandstone of a brick color. The onteranco has a gate-like appearance of perpendicular rocks two hundred feet high, and the wall generally is from 200 to 275 feet high, having an inclination of a few degrees from the perpendicular, but at places actually leaning over from five to ten degrees. As at the proper ficason this little dell is a continuous, glaring and gaudy floral plot, all the richly colored wild flowers indigenous to this region being foxmd in it, it has been very a])pro- priately named the Garden of the Gods. About for miles northwest of Colorado City is the second Garden of the Gods, through which flows Camp Creek. Its gateway is through a passage cut by the creek at right angles to the ridge. In this enclosure there is «aid to bo a fine echo. This must suffice for the present, not because the subject 200 OVKR TIIK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. is exhausted but because if we entered into a eoni})letG detail of all the sublime and wonderful scenery of this mountain region this narrative would be drawn out to an almost interminable length. I have shown enough to make it ineontestible that Colorado possesses in the liighest degree, every requisite to meet the demands of the touristy and is deserving of their attention, before thinking of iXoinjjc abroad OVER TIIK I'L-^i^a ANi> ON TnE MOUNTAINS. 201 CHAPTER XVII. Colorado in its early history was the theatre of stirring scenes, such as marked the early settlement of but few in- cipient States; and which are not excelled, if equaled, in thrilling interest by those of any Terrritorj' in the Union. Originally included within the geographical limits of Kansas, yet so wild and remote that it was visited only by a few daring trappers and traders. Its nominal inclusion within the jurisdiction of Kansas Avas regarded as a mere empty form ; for it was not supposed that tlie Tei-ritorial government of Kansas could exercise any sl\ow of au- thority in this remote region; or that even the General Government would find it possible, if necessary, to do more than to keep the roving tribes of savages some- what in check, and to restrict them to desirable limits. But when tlie "Pike's Peak fever" l)roke out, gold luiriters, and, consequently gamblers, desi^eradoes and almost every kind of desperate adventurers flocked to this supposed Eldorado: the former to seek gold; and the latter to look for chances to plunder with impunity; in many instances they being fugitives fi'om justice ia the States. The miners spread themselves in lone camps i'nv hundreds of miles along the eastern flank of these mountains ; tempo- raril}' to i)rospcct and seai'ch for the precious metals, and to make permanent homes hei'e if their labors should ])rove successful. In the latter case mining villages soon sprung up, which became nuclei for concentrating and distribut- ing supplies; and consequently also the points for= ex- changing '' dust " by the fearless prospectors, who pushed tlieir exploration.s and search for gold into the most re- 202 OVKK THK IT.AINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINH. mote liiitrodden -vvilds, and gloomy rcoewses of the moun- tains, Thcso villages noon were found to be infested with gamblers, out-throats and other desjieradocs, 80 that neither life nor property was safe. Lawlessness became so rife that even murder did not seek the obscurity of the night to perform and hide his deeds. Crime in all its hid- eous forms stalked aln-oad at noonday, bold and defiant. There was no government to restrain it, much less to pun- ish it. The law-abiding, industrious miner had either to flee the region, or to take the means of protection into his own hands. By men who had single-handed encoun- tered and van([uished the grizzly bear, and defied and kept at bay the wily, blood-thirsty savage, the idea of yielding ground to sneaking, cowardly thieves and assas- sins, could not be entertained, and therefore they deter- mined to expel them from the country. Amongst tho miners were many, good, true, bravo and resolute men, equal to any emergency that could arise. These soon de- vised and perfected an organization for mutual protection. They constituted theiTiselves the guar "home sneaks," men too cowardly to fight, but malicKMis iiiid brutiil enoug!), in tlio ihirk or under cover, to act the nei<';hborlu)od assassin, these latter "went to Xew Mexico and Texas to organize military and maraud- ing expeditions against the de&nseless colony thinly scattered over these mountains or along their flanks on the Plains. But worse than all, some of these malignants vv^ent into the country of the wild Indians and excited them to hostilities, and thus brought upon this infant colon}' the merciless butcheries of a savage warfare. To thwart the machinations of these malevolent dis- contents. Governor (xilpin organized three regiments of volunteers, which did efficient service both at home against the Indians and in Xew Mexico in repelling and defeating the Texas military expedition. However the savages encouraged by bapers, a race now almost extinct in the mountains; a few havmg died, while the man}' have fallen victims to the untameable ferocity of the savages A few of them still linger here, not as OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 213 trappers but as sedate ranchmen surrounded by their herds of sheei? and cattle and droves of horses. To succeed in their hazardous adventures, some of these had ingratiated themselves with the chief of some powerful tribe; had been admitted as a member into it; leai'ned its language, adopted its habits and customs, and been initiated into its religious mysteries. Yet all this was no avail, for it de- pended only on what mood the Indian Avas in whether life was safe. Man}- of these after a residence of thirty years amongst the Indians have been butchered in cold blood without a cause. Fre^iont found a Sioux chief and two or three braves, down on the Eei)ublican Fork, nearly perished and surrounded by Pawnees, by whom they had been defeated. lie supplied their wants, protected them and took them in safety to their home in the mountains. In less than two days after they left his camp, they mur- dered in cold blood an old trapper who had lived amongst them thirt^'-five years and had been adopted into their tribe. Such is the nature of the noble Eed man of our morbid sentimentalists ! I have learned from these men, that the Indians have their nursery tales as well as we, and that the}^ have tra- ditions and legends of giants in older times who performed feats of strength and deeds of valor equal to that of the Greek Hercules. Legends of Indian exploits long anterior to the advent of the white man are also numerous. There is scarcely a brook, canyon or peak, of which some Indian tale is not related, derived from the Indians themselves by the daring trappei^s who w^ere domiciled amongst them. One of these only I Avill relate. While at Boulder, I expressed my admiration of the picturesque and singularly turretted mountain peak, just south of the canyon, but which I regret is so poorly represented in our engraving as not to show the turrets at all ; the most pictui'esque and striking fea- ture of the mountain, and I expressed a regret that some stirring: Indian tale of heroic deeds or tragic occurrence 214 OVKR THE PLAINS ANP ON THE MOfTs-TAINS. was not associated wiili it, to spreail its name and fame abroad over evory land. There is, wa.s the reply. The Indians say that a Ihonsjind moons before they ever saw a Avhite man's f.iec, and wlien millions of buffalo grazed upon tlio Plains watereah(jes on the Plains. They immediately went down and atta(;ked them ; but the Arapahoes Aven^ sti'onger than they suspected and not only repulsed their assailants but ])ursued them so closely to the mountains that the Utes souglit safety upon that ])eak. Here they defied their pursuei-s and kept them at bay. The latter tried to take the heights by Ktorm ; but theii- enemies rolled down huge stones upon them and drove liiem back every time they attempted it. They therefore beleagured them and starved the whole party to deatli. Tt is said that ever since, the [Ttes have a superstitious dread of that jiinnaclcd mountain. If the talcs of a wild luinter's life should be more de- sirable staple for a romance, there is no hick of them also, Avhether of those who long since '* have gone over the Divide," or of those who are "still on the Range." The recital of these will melt the heart into ])ity, or freeze the blood with horr<»r. While wc were in the territory a min- er eanie o\-er the Snowy liange, from Middle Park, with the news tliat "'Mountain Jim" — a character whom they all knew, had a terrible tight witli a griz/.Iy bear in the Park, and was almost " cliawed up" before he succeeded in killing the be;u' with a knife, lie said that Jim had hia right i'\-ebro\v liitten off, his left arm litterailv chawed up, his ribs, and, one of his thigh bones laid bare by his ferocious assailant ; and though victorious in the fight, he would have j»erisluMi had not some ])rosi)ectors and tourists discovered him and kindly taken care of him. Since then I liave received a ])rivate letter iVoni Cenlral, from which the following is an extract: "I saw Mountaiit .Jim, ii\ town last Thursiiu}', who waa OYER THK I'LAINS AND ON TUK MOt'NTAINS. 215 SO terribly mangled by a boar in Middle Park about the time you were here. ITis left arm is yet in a sling, and is entirely powerleiss. His i-ight eye is Rtill bandaged, the scars on his fa?e show hou- terribl}' it Avas l;icerat(!d; nnd he Avalks with difficulty. He is on his way to Este.s' Park where he has a ranche and considerable stosdi. He eays he has heard that tourists arc riiliiig and driving through his ranche and leaving the gates oj)en, and that his cattle are scattering. Jle has a man with him to collect his cattle and take care of them. With a nioi.st eye he speaks with gratitude of those who befriended Jiim in his late misfortune, both gentlemen and ladies. "Why," says he, ^'Idid not know I had so many friends before. They took care of me as though I were a jirincc" Colorado previous to theadventof the wldle man was the battle-tield where all the neighboring tribes were con- stantly contending for supremacy ; and where the victors of the fight to-day, wei'e beaten and driven out by the victors of to-morrow. The mountain streams whose issues swell the Platte and the Arkansas, Avuter a plain covered with luscious grasses, and hence the natural pasture land of the buffalo, who in millions roamed over it and occupied it the whole year. The possession of the Plains of Colorado, was therefore the possession of the immense herds of buffalo that cover it. Xarrowed down, it was a question of food and raiment, for the primitive savages of this region clothed themselves in buffalo robes. In these con- flicts the hostile parties taxed their utmost resources, botli physically and mentally, to overcome, expel and if neces- sary to extirpate their adversaries. Art, stratagem and cunning were the weapons employed, Avlelded by bold- ness, braver}-, resolution, recklessness and desperation. Tragic events of blootl and cruelty were enacted, that fiends might imitate but could not excel. Ko tribe, how- ever, attained at any time more than a temporary posses- sion of the coveted land. Such was the position of thincra 216 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. when the white man, a new claimant, a|ipeared upon the- stage. The old tragedies with aggravated horrors were now re- vived; because here was the common enemy of the red man. Coalitions and confederations of the formerly hos- tile tribes were made not only to check his advance, but to expel him from the country; but the contest was un- equal this time. Neither physically nor mentally is the savage able to cope with the civilized man. As the rising day drives back the shades of night, so the wild Indian flees towards the setting sun from the irresistible advance of the civilized and enlightened man. The untutored sav- age may return to the attack, and make renewed efforts to avoid his fate, but he is doomed. lie may even be inspir- ed to desperation by despair, but brute force cannot con- tend successfully against intellectual power. The ordi- nance of Nature has so ordained it. Ilistory does not re- cord an instance where barbar(nis and civilized and en- lightened nations have dwelt side by side in amity and friendship. The contrasts are too great and the antagon- ism too irreconcilable between civilization and barbarism, so that collisions are inevitable. Civilization may not seek, yea, may do all that is possible to avoid such collis- ions, but they M^ill be forced upon it by barbarism. AYhen it comes to blows, victory in the end must perch on the banner that is the representative of the highest intellectual culture. Not only is thic true between civilized and bar- barous nations, but it is likewise necessarily true between nations of relatively different degrees of civilization. All the recent great wars bear evidence to the truth of this assertion; conspicuously amongst w'hieh may be named the late war between France and Germany. The French- man who wrote from the prison camp in the German lines, these memorable words, *' their common soldiers know more than our officers" stated both the cause and the i)hilosophy of the result. Our Indian troubles are to be deplored^ bat in the very OVER THE PI^AINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 217 nature of things they are unavoidable. Philanthropists" Avith laudable efforts, are endeavoring to avoid them, but they have mistaken the means. Moral suasion used with the Indian, and homilies read to the whites will never do it. The first step to save the Indian race from extinction is to teach it fear and the art of behaving itself. But how is this to be effected? By moral suasion? The Indian knows nothing and cares less about moral influences. All the moral suasion to do him any good is that which is in- spired by feai'. Since he does not know that it is his duty to behave himself, let him know that he viust doit; and that if he does not do it, that sure and swift punishment Avill overtake him for his crimes. Bring him under the wholesome resti'aint of fear, and hold him there while 3'ou cultivate his moral nature. That accomplished, you may extend his lesson to civilization in genei"al, and teach him the duty, yea, the absolute necessity of supplying his own wants by physical labor. Then intellectual training and social elevation will naturally follow. 'No doubt in many of our border troubles, the baser class of whites are the first aggressors, and deserve not only censure but severe punishment. But it is a squeam- ish sentamentalism in every instance, and u2)on all occa- sions, to lay the fault at the door of the whites. The hon- orable, high minded, noble red man has no existence in Xature. He is not a real, but an ideal character. And worse than that, the ideal is the worst possible caricature of the reality, as all ought to know who have ever come in contact with the original. In judging of the conduct of remote settlements towards the Indian, we ought to think of him as he is, not as we imagine him to be; and not jus- tify him while me mete out indiscriminate censure against our own race. Especially ought we to be chary in our judgment when we find whole communities affected by his mis-conduct, rising as one man and expelling him from the land. I have had ample ojiportunities upon the Indian fron- 218 CiVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS tier for observation and forming an unbiased opinion on the oa.u8eH of the disturbed rehitions between the whiteti and Indians. I lived eleven years, ( eight in Alabama and three in Iowa) in the immediate vicinity of largo bodies of Indians in daily contact and intercourse with tho whites, free to come into the settlements and to go whitlier they ])leased and Avhen they pleased. It is true the Chicka- saws and ChocktawH of the South were in a rudimentary civilization of a xmy low grade; but so were not tho Sauks and Foxes of Iowa, and these moreover had only some six years before been severely punished in tho Elack Hawk War; yet in all that time, in neither lociility was there any collision between the two races, nor even a cause for any. There was a most cordial feeling of good will, trust and confidence between the parties; tho whites regarded them as a weak and helpless people, and there- fore entitled to kindness, generosity and protection. Any one who would have injured a simple minded Indian, would have incurred as much odium as if lie had struck a woman, or maltreated a child. Thus even upon tho rude frontier, the innate im])ulse of the strong to ptrotect the weak and defenseles.s, manifests itself as strongly and sig- nally as it ever does anywhere. When I therefore hear tho frontier settlers {(/-cused as lawless aggressors, exercis- ing wanton cruelty and perpetrating merciless and fiend- ish butcheries on peaceable and unoffending Indians, T f-annot believe it ; because it is contrary to all experience and ol)servaii(»!i. It is an impossibility in the very nature of things. Frontier men are daring; men of decision, en- ergy, vim and pluck; but they are neither outlaws nor sav- acres. Thev arc, in iact, the verv kind of men in which the manly and heroic virtues, of which })rotection to tho weak and defi-nceless is one, shine tho brightest, (tow- ards could be guilty of such wanton <'ruelties, but brave men never. It is, however, undeniable that violence and blocKished mark the extension and nhun the progress of settle- OVKU THE IMAIN'S A.VD 0\ THK MOUNTAINS. 219 inents now as they did in the days of the Pilgrims, liow ■can they be jiccounted for/' Veiy easily. Sharpers trad- ing with them shamefully swindle them. Outlaws who no longer find it safe to ])ly their robberies and thefls amongst whites, plunder and oftentimes murder them. These are about the only otVenees that are chargeable to the whites; and for which there is a remedy, if the Indian ■could only understjind that the guilty alone must be held responsible for their crimes. The intrusion of the whites upon the Public Domain to which the Indian title has not been extinguished, is a source of irritation, but no crime. It is against the ordinance of Nature that myriads of «quare miles of rich and arable lands should be doomed to baiTenness, and lie vacant merely to furnish a hunting ground to a few vagabond savages. The white man so regards it, and conceives he is obeying the commands and •executing the decrees of the Creator when he enters upon and occupies it. As these intrusions cannot be prevented, and should not if they could, the Cfovernment should take early steps to prevent occasions for these conflicts by -extinguishing the Indian title. On the other hand the causes of Indian wars originate with the Indians themselves. Their native ferocity, which springs from regarding all men not belonging to their tribe as deadly enemies; their moral obtuseness which prevents theru from discriminating between mei/m. and tuum until taught by fear; their inveterate Bourbonism which nevci- forgets anything, nor learns anything, and which im})els t!u!m, howev^erfi'equently vanquishcil, tore- new perpetually the conflict with the Inevitable; these are the true sources from Avhich nearly, if not quite, all our Indian troubles spring, as the history of American settlement everywhere shows. They are the causes in operation now in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, ('olorado, Montana and all the States and Territories on the Plains, the Mountains and on the Pacific Coast ; and to lay the entire blame upon the whites, is both griituitoits anddLsin- 220 OA'-ER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. genuous, when the conflict, aggravated by a long series of wrongs, outrages and barbarities, does come, we must make some allowances for the exasperation of feeling manifested, and the almost inappeasable resentments these outrages have provoked. We may regret the extent and severity of the chastisement inflicted; but until human nature, as it always has been and ever will be, is changed, it never can be otherwise. There is no remedy, except that the savage man must learn the severe lesson which the civilized man has even 3^ot so imperfectly learned by sad but wholesome experience, that " they that sow the Avind must reap the whirlwind. ■" OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 221 CHAPTER XYIII. Any sketch of Colorado and her natural resources is imperfect that does not include her mines and mining industry. Disastrous as may have been enterprizes un- dertaken to develop her mines of gold and silver, and sad as may have been the experience of those that have risked their money in that enterprise; yet the fact remains un- deniable that her mountains ai-e rich in the precious met- als; and that immense and inexhaustible stores of gold and silver only abide the time when capital will furnish the means, labor the skill, and Science the knowledge to treat the ores successfully and make them surrender their rich treasures. However rich we deem her mineral resources, it is undeniable that at present the character of her mines is under a cloud, and stocks in them at a heavy discount. B}' some the mines are regarded as humbugs, by others as deficient in richness; and b}^ others, who admit their richness, as worthless because of the refractoriness of their ores. There are causes for all this diversity of opinion ; but they are so numerous that an attempt at their enumeration were futile. The great and controlling cause was and is, not the low grade of the ores, but tbeir character. The ores are richer than the ores of California and Nevada, as their analyses show ; but their character is such that under the stamp-mill (the processes that in California and Nevada save from 85 to 95 per cent, of the gold or silver in the ore), they will not yield on an average more than 30 per cent, of the precious metals, contained in them. In many •cases, ores that by smelting will yield from S200 to $300 222 OVKR THE PT-.\TNH AND ON THE MOUNTAINS*. per ton, yield nolhinp; under the stamp-mill. In Califor- nia the orea contain the metals free, or else are wirbonatos; in Colorado they are sulphuret.s. Where the metal in free, or wliere its composition is that of a carbonate, it is sub- missive to the influence of mercury and forms an amal- gam with it; but when it is a sulphuret, it is indift'erentto the influence of mercury, and lumce cannot be saved by what is called the amalgamation process. Now the stamp- mill process is the simplest and least expensive process of treatinji; ores known. AVith it the treatment does not cost on an avei-age inoi-e than five dollars per ton. Hence it is par excellence the process for treating ores of low grade. This is the secret why the Coinstock mine, in Xevada, has been so profitable and enriched all concerned in mining it, and treating its ores. Though, as alread}- staled, its ores have not averaged more than twenty-five dollars per ton, (a quality of ore that would be worthless in Colo- rado), yet as it was all " )nill ore," three-fifths of its yield was profit. I have lieon assured, b}' a gentleman who had an interest in a claim on it and formerly was engaged in working it, that the cost of mining and mill treatment of that ore in no case exceeded ten dollars per ton. There are 22 claims on the Comstoek lode ; the bullion product of all these claims is over $200,000,000. Up to the year 1869, from otlicial tables, I learn that it was §137,382,000. Tt was very natural that the earlier miners in Colorado, who were fitmiliar with the successful modes of treating the California and Kevada ores, should form high expecta- tions of the products of the richer lodes of Colorado; and that they should be sadly disappointed at the I'esults obtained in working them. Nay, that they should be struck with consternation and dismay at the results. What was the more inexplicable to them, and added to their astonishment, was that while the disintegrated quartz on the surface last^^d, the re-sults Avere satisfactory, and as good as could bo expected from ores of so low OVKR TflK pr,\INP AND OX THK MOUNTAIN;*. 223 grade. But wlion the pyrites and sulphurets* were reached at greater depths, the metal hirgists, who knew nothing except what experience had taught tliem in the arastras and ntamp-mills of California, became nonplussed. Hei-e was something they had not dreamed of in their philosophy. The more they thought about it, the darker and more incomprehensible it became; and finally they had to confess that they were at their wits' end. The, to them, unknown character of the ores, was thefii'standthe most serious cause of failure in lode mining in Colorado. To be sure tiiey were not a new kind of ore; for the;y" constituted almost exclusively the kind known from time immenioi-ial ; and successful methods of reducing them were equally well known to metallurgists; but both were new to the stamp-mill men of California and Colorado. The eai'lier investments were generally made in good, faith, both by the miners and by capitalist^s. That they were so, it is sufficient to state, that men -who had acquired a competency by saving their hard earnings amid dangers and privations, in the earlier days of California mining, invested their all in lodes and stamp-mills in the moun- tains of Colorado. Many capitalists who had been suc- cessful in mining enterprises in California, also eagerly invested in lodes that were richer than those of California as shown by analyses made by competent metalluro-ists. These men knew nothing, either by experience, or by theory, of the character of ores, and of their method of treatment. The natural assumption was that they Avere of the same chai*acter as those of California, and hence of couree would yield up their treasures by the same process. Consequently, the inference was that tine same kind of machinery had to be provided for, and the same methods to be pursued here as there. When, therefore, both failed to produce the desired result, the presidents or agents of * The distinction between pyrites and sulphurets is mcrt'Iy nominal. Pyrites are gulphurets of iron, whereas combinations of sulphur and other metals are called sulphureis and not vyriiea. Pyrites, however,, may have beeides iron, the eulphuret'? of otner metals. '224 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS, mining companies thought the fault lay in the incom- petency of the foreman of the stamp-miH. He was dis- charged and another employed, but with no better suc- cess. • Still the opinion was that if an expert could be obtained, the results would be satisfactory, so he was also discharged; but matters groAV from bad to worse, until a consternation and panic ensued amongst the stockholders. There were no dividends declaring; yea worse, things had come to that j)oint that the concern did not begin to pay running expenses. This prepared the way for the supervention of the most disastrous fate that ever fell upon any undertaking. In the great extremity of the stockholders, light broke forth in a dark place. This, however, was a false light; being no more or less than a new process, a pretended genius claimed to have discovered; and claimed that the "refractor}^ ores" yielded ready obedience to it. Claimed, did I say ? Xo, that was not the word. Claimed would have left the matter in doubt until it were proven b} experiment. Xo, it was not claimed that the new process would do certain things, but it was boldly asserted that it did do them; and to prove it, the testimony of easy good natured and complaisant newspaper reporters and a few credulous and ignorant spectators, was adduced, certifjnng to the statement that they wei-e present at an experiment conducted by the interested part}', and saw everything performed satisfactorily as claimed by the patent, Hope revived in the desponding hearts of the stockholders, and they believed, because " the wish was father to the thought," that the intricate problem of making refractory ores tradable had received a final solution. Prudence Avould have suggested, that before the costly machinery be procured, that the jnattcr be examined by a competent committee of disinterested experts, and that a trial experi- ment to verify both the theory and process be made by themselves, or under their supervision. But incredulity was laughed to scorn under the jo}^ and excitement of the OVER THE PLAINS AXD OX THE MOUNTAINS. 225 moment; and the manipulations and statements of inter- ested parties were received and accepted as true without question or any apparent misgiving as to their correctness. Then commenced that disastrous new process mania, lasting for throe years, from 1864 to 1867, by which millions of capital wore sunk, the character of the mines damaged, and the fair fame of the territory aspersed and almost ruined. Wlien the stamp-mill.s failed in working pyrites and sulphurets known to be rich, then the conclusion became general that the ores must be roasted; that is, the sulphur burnt out of them and the baser metals calcined, before the gold and silver could be amalgamated. Immediately there appeared any number of processes for desul2)huri- zation of the ores with expensive machinery. Of these desulphurizing pi-ocesses many were disastrous, some sheer humbugs, and even the best partial failures. While other new processes too numerous to mention were all miserable failures without any redeeming qualities. They Avere not based upon either scientific or metallurgicprin- cij^les; and even if they had been, Avere so exj)ensive that they could not be economic-all}'" applied. The only valuable legacy these j^rocesses left, was a large amount of wholesome experience, and some more or less useful second-band machinery which now is utilized for more rational purposes. Upon whose shoulders the blame of these failures should fall, it is hard to determine. One thing is cei'tain, the fault was not and is not in the mines. Perhaj^s the blame is about equally divided between operators and jobbei-s, between so-called scientific men, Avithout practical exj^e- rience and often blest Avith only a modicum of common sense, and blundering practical men Avithout science ; hon- est men Avithout capacity, and smart men Avithout honesty. That the disaster Avas Avide spread and ruinous, there is painful CA'idence everyAvhere. Crumbling Avails and tot- tering chinincA'S of "played out," reduction Avorks. Pon- 15 226 OVEK TIIK PLAINS AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. derous, broken, and rusted machinery and eurious shaped furnaces, whose fires have been extinguished for years, meet the eye everywhere and chill the liearts of capi- talists anxious to invest in the rich mines of these moun- tains. The fact that mining has ,surviveosition that they saved only 00 ])er cent, this ore would have produced 87,200,000. The additional gain of the owners, therefore would bo fi.^OOjOOO, and to the public §3,^00,000. Such an increase of bullion alone would not only enrich Colorado but would atfect the business and prosperit}' of the whole country. Besides this the copper and lead saved would be worth a million of dollars more. That mining operations in Colorado can be made highly remunerative there can be no question. The success of the reduction works of Stewart, and of Ilucpeden & Co., at Georgetown, and especially of Prof. Hill's smelting works,- at Black Hawk, places this beyond controversy. The Caribou Company have now completed, at Middle Boulder, the most extensive and comj^lete works in the Mountains. They cost about $150,000, and I liave been informed that since they have been in operation they have shipped from 8,000 to 8,500 ounces of bullion per week. However, to nmke mining successful and the investment safe, men must go into it as they do into an}- other legit- imate business. There is a great deal of capital in the coimtry seeking profitable investment, but those who have the control of it, have spent all their lives in other })ur8uits, and have never had their attention drawn to min- ing ; especially mining of the precious metals. Thej- have besides had their fears excited b}- the losses their friends have sustained who had ventured into such enterprises. Capital generally is timid when controlled by those who have accumulated it. AYithin the field of enterjmse wherein they have gathered it, they can make a calcula- 230 OVKH THK PLAINS AND OX TIIK MOirXTAINS. tion of rosiilliH with almost unfailing aoeuraey ; but in new fields of oiitiM-prise tliey can neither mak(^ a cahniUition, nor feel or see their way tiirough it, Jn fact every kind of business has so little margin for ]irotits, that it requires the closest sailing- to the wind to keep within the margin, and make a sueeessful voyage. Moreover the margin being small the opei-ation must lie on a large scale to make the profits an object. Hence the many shipwrecks that befall even the most waiy. Besides the uncertainty of prosperous circumstances, is the fluctuation in ])rices of the commodity on which the transaction is based. The price depends ujion the supply and demand. The latter may be two-fold the ordinary and extraordinary demand. The pros2')ect of an extraordinary deniaml may put up the price, yet aften all the' demand may be only an ordinary one. In such cases more or less losses must be sustained, and these may be often niinons. Of late yeai-s also the commercial centres have become theatres of operations whi(;h are no better than gambling. Thousands by these means become shipwrecked both in capital and character. It is generally the most unscrupulous that win. But there is one consolation, the victor of to-day becomes the victim of to-morrow. It is therefore a serious question for capi- talists to consider whether they cannot invest ther cajiital in other enterprises thanthose which are constantly drawn into, ami engulfed in the vortex of sjieculation and whether such investments Avould not be safer and the profit>s surer. In the kind of m-w cnter|)i-ises, mining deserves the most serious consideration, l)ut let it be done with a view of bnstiness and not of specnlation. (iold and silver arc tlie measures of value the world over, by wliich the pi'iccs of all other commodities are measured ; therefore there can l»c no fluctuation in their value. The only ques- tions to be determined are, how mu(di can be produced? and what will i)e the cost of production ? Both of these questions can l)e acnirately detei-mined by dis])assionate OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 231 investigation and calculation. In fact this is the course now pursued by all Avho mean business. While in the Mountains, 1 met English capitalists, ac- companied b}' a professional geologist and metallurgist, and by an expert miner. They would not look at a pros- pect.'; but when a developed lode was offered, the geologist examined carefully the country rock, the size of the c-revice and its material, and made a series of qualitative •and quantitative analyses; while the miner determined accurately the cost of mining. The supply of ore and the cost of reduction were then calculated from known data; and if the result showed a fair margin for profits, nego- tiations were opened for purchasing the mine. With such precautions as these no one need make a misadventure. This is the only way that investments should be made, whether the object in view be mining and reduction com- bined, or only reduction. Mr. Wn\. (^ope, an English capitalist whom 1 saw in the Mountains, after his return to England sent a written proposition to the "Central Keg- ister" saying that his company, the British and Colorado 31ining Bureau of London, " stood ready at once to erect smelting works on a large and com])rehensive scale, for the treatment of all descriptions of ores, Avhether gold or silver, to invest $1,000,000 in the works and for the buying of ores, provided that mine owners will give sufficient guarantee that said works shall always be fully supplied with all the ore they can possibly use," and promised to revisit Colorado the present year (1872) to see what inducements mine owners would hold out for such investment. Mr. H. B. (rrose, an English metallurgist who has spent nearly four years in the mines of the Mountains, in a communication, dated London, Oct. 4, 1871, and published in the London Mining .rouriuil, says : " The country (Colo- rado) is a good one for mining, and parties interested in .ionafide mines under practical management have no need io fear loosing their money; for I am fully convinced that 232 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. there is not :i riclier coniitiy in the world for minerals than Colorado is, and especially for gold and silver. I have been thi'ough all the mines that arc yet opened up, and have taken every means to ascertain their value, cost of workinii", &c. ; and after allowint;; for all extra expenses, I find the averaiji;e yield of the lodes to be greater in value than in any other country, and with proper management would leave greater profits. There is no doubt the mines of ( 'olorado have been badly managed; in fact there is not a mine that I have seen, worked in a ]U'oper manner; neither is there a mine with the sole management in the hands of a practical man. It Avas quite a surprise to me to see how some of them are worked, and the waste of money incuri-ed." Mr. (rrose since then has returned to the Mountains, and did good sei-vice in exposing the tin swindle at (Jgden, Vtah. Ifaving sufficiently established the fact that the mines of Colorado are rich, and under proper management must be ])i'oductive. It may perhaps be j)ertinent briefly to show the causes why so much capital has l)een irretrievably swamped in operations looking to their develoinncnt. Ill many cases failure was a foregone conclusion, which without a miracle could not have resulted otherwise. The management of the enterprizew^as entrusted to utterly incompetent, or if competent, to reckless men, whose ex- travagance made success an impossibility. Not even ordinary ])rudence, foresight and judgment were exercised in selecting the sight for reduction works. Inexpensive woi-lcs were erected, where the company owned the only lode in the vicinity, and that a mere prosjtect. At other places the ]irospects in the vicinity for mines Avere plenty but not a single mine developed; so that neither the na- ture and character of the ore, nor the capacity of the dis- trict to furnish a supply of it Avere known. Besides, Avorsc still, the OAvners of prospects had not the means of opening them up, or if they had, they had not the inclina- OVER THE PliAlNS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 233 lion to do SO. Tliis is yet n serious obstacle i a tlie way of making reduction works successful. The defect is in the law, which allows a man to find and hold any number of prospects with a mere nominal amount of work on each. To homestead a piece of land it requii'es improvement of it aiul residence on it for tivo years; but for obtaining a ])atent for a lode it requires only the sinking of a shaft ten feet deep; whereas it should require its development by an expenditure of not less than S500. This, or something like it, I believe is a provision in the new law relating to mining now j^ending before Congress. As the case noAV stands no guarantee of a sujiply of or© can be given ; and consequently no assurance that the works will not have to stand idle. Summer, the best season for operating reduction works, is also the bewitching season for prospecting which the miner cannot resist. lie there- fore leaves and for months explores the mountain sides,, the deep gorges, the canyon walls or the towering peaks for ncAv lodes. In early days this evil necessarily was much greater than now; and consequently the first adventurers in mining and reducing enterprises suifered more from it than they would now. But it is as 3'et a serious drawback, and retards a rapid development of the mines. It was a fruitful source of failure then, and it has entailed many evils on the mining interests which are still felt and will be felt for sometime to come. Besides creating a preju- dice against tlie mines, it has reacted against the miners;, for shrewd capitalists that have since gone there and erected works, taking into consideration the uncertainty of a supply of ore, make it pay while they do I'un, both for the time they run, and may be idle; and hence pay verj'' low rates for ores. Assure them of a constant sup- pl}" the year round; and they will advance their prices for ores thirty per cent. So fiir I have only spoken of legitimaie transactions in '234 OVKR THE PLAINH AND OM TIIK MOUNTAINS. the Payt and Present; but there have boon many trans- actions, (and unless people are careful, there will be many more hereafter,) that were neither le<:;itiniate nor honeat. It is necessary to speak of these also, to make the causes apparent of that widespread disaster and consequently deep mistrust in the mines and mining in the mountain territories. Upon the discovery of gokl and silver here, those who had made profitable investments in California were not backward in venturing capital herej because their knowl- edge and experience in mines justified theia in doing bo. Insensibly others, who had no such experience, were drawn into like investments; and the })uying and selling of mines and mining stock became a S})eculation. This soon ran wild, because the purchaser did not know, or if he did, did not care to make the distinction between a prospect and a mine. The mountain men were not slow to perceive that a good prospect was etpially as saleable and brought as much money as a good mine; and they were not backward in profiting by it. As it answered ail their purposes, if they could show a well defined metal vein in a crevice, so they devoted tlieinselves to the task of finding these. But the fact that undeveloped mining property found a ready sale, and often commanded exor- bitant ])rices, in the end ])rove(l to be the most serious blow that it was possible to strike at the character of the mines and at the prosperity of the mining interest of the moun- tain territories. Such sales begat inteinjjerate speculation, and speculation begat a rage for finding prospects. Tlie quickening influence of speculation converted nearly the whole mountain population into ])rospectors; and their efforts M'ould have su])])lied prospects for i-easonable specu- lation prolonged indefinitely. Ihit speculation was soon intensified into a mania, which like all such transactions, by the operation of an inexorable law, collapsed and left widespread disaster in its train. It is necessary here to OVKR THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. 235 ])roc-o!ning millionaires with a single i:o6 OVER THK I'I.AI.\S AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. reason's operations, arc very liable to become flats if sharps are about. It needs no labored arg-uineut with the facts set forth, that this is M'hat was the matter with these transactions for which the existence of gold and silver in tlie 3Iountains gave the occasion. They were mere "tricks Ujjon sti-aiigers." Before closing we jnust address one word of caution and advice to those who will undertake a mining enter- prize. You must do it u})on strict business jirinciples. Buy no pro])erty whatever until either b}^ personal in- spection, or by examination of a competent and honest expert, you have satisfied 3'ourself of its character and ascertaned its true nature and value. Never in- vest your capital in any company whose main object is to pay fat salaries to one or moi-e favorites; and who, in order that they may not be [>ut to any inconveniences, will have the ore brought clear across the continent to be treated at home. The failure of such a conipany is a fore- irone conclusion. The ores nuist be smelted in the moun- tains, and as near to the mines as facilities can be had. Labor is about as cheap there as anywhere and fuel much cheaper. At Boulder city, for instance, coal is delivered at S2. 85 per ton. The '^ matte" maybe transported clse- Avhere for separation and refinement, but that only so long as Express Companies and Railroads charge the enormous rates they now do for transporting bullion. The refining can be done there now as cheaply as any- where, so there is even no economy in having smelting Avorks in the Mountains and refining works at Omaha, St. Louis, Chicago, Newark or New York, When the works are completed, jKit the technical opera- tions in charge of a scientific expert, and the business management in the hands of a man of tact and capacity'-, who will supervise the whole by constant attention, and the grcuitcst possible vigilance. The success of Prof. Hill is mainl}' due to the fact that he gives his entire time and attention to the business management of the works while? OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 237 the technical 0])erations are entrusted to a skillful Clerman metallur^'ist. The present is a fiivorable time fur investment. The country has not yet recovered from the recoil and revul- sion caused by the earlier failures. Peoj^le are cautious as they should be 3 and Avlien you mention Colorado mines they are as suspicious as the mice in the fable, that a cat may be concealed in the bottom of the meal tub. A year or so longer, and people will have recovered confidence, when everything of value will be bought up for the pur- j»ose of legitimate business. Reduction works also will have been erected at all favorable points, so that rich mines now almost without value, being in the vicinity of such works, will be so much enhanced in value that the same favorable opportunities for investment will not exist. 238 OVKR TIIK PI.AINS AND UN XHK MOUNTAINS. CHAPTEIi XIX. The time had now arrivetl lor uk to turn our fi\ce3 homeward, and it Avas with deep regret that we yielded to the incxorahle necessity. A fter a sound and refreshing sleep, such as can only be enjoyed in its full fruition in Colorado, on tlie ITtli of JunCj I was up as usual with the dawn and out for a walk to enjoy for the last time the life inspiring breath of tlie nioniiug- air; to view once again the sublime and gorgeous scenery of Nature's great- est and best effort, and to feel once more the emotions of enthusiastic admiration and iiis])ii'ation which alone such grandeur, sublimity, yet uuudurned simplicity ciin en- kindle. , Both here and at Golden, whenever awake during the night, it was a most pleasurable sensation to be soothed and lulled to sleep again b}' the ever-nmrmuring waters as they flowed down the plain. Consequently, I seemed to be in fellowship with them, and felt a strong desire to hold communion with them whenever opportunity offered. I was therefore irresistibly drawn to their side, and on to the bridge over them, ready to muse and lose mj-solf in day dreams. Oh, how sweet it were to spend life here, ■where everything speaks with such irresistible eloquence, yet soothingly and feelingly, to tlie eye, the heart, the mind and tlie imagination 1 There the everlasting moun- tains spring up at a single bound four thousand feet, to kiss the blushing, pure and smiling skies. Grand, awful and sublime are they, with a history that human pen will never record, a mystery that the human mind will never un- ravel, and involving laws that human reason will never unfold and explain. Yet they are as beneficent as their OVER THE rL.\INS ANft ON THE MOUNTAINS. 239 presence is great, majestic and imperious. From the icy fountains under their stern and snow-covered crests issue these pure, limpid watere, to gladden the valleys, refresh the parched plain, clothing the land with verdure, and filling hill and dale with joyous life. From them, ye supercilious, proud, Learn the ji^eat lesson which ye so much need, That to be trulj'' great is to be good. Benevolent, beneficent and kind. And scatter blessings all around the land. Ah! surely this is a place for the poet to cateh new in- spiration and pour forth songs on themes nev'er attempted in verse, and where the moralist can draw ennobling les- sons of instruction, and enforce them by the great sanction of Nature. Listlessly and with a heavy heart I left the bridge and sauntered down the margin of the stream, then down the lane bordered by meadows and wheat-fields, through which runs the Denver road. I felt oppressed with an in- definable sadness Avhich I could not shake off, for in my ears seemed to bo ever ringing the words, *' Onco more, but never again. " I was at last an*ested by the thrilling notes of a skylark on the fence before me. Whilst listen- ing with ■wi*ai5t attention to his song, I could not refrain from repeating the following stanzas from Shelley's ad- dress to a skylark : "^Vhat objects are the fountains Of thy happy strain? "What fields, or waves, or mountains ? What shapes of sky, or plain ? What love of thine own kind? What ignorance of pain? " "Teach me half the gladness That thy brain must know, Such harmonious madness From my lips would flow The world would listen then, asl am listening now. " 240 OVER THE PLAINS AN!) OX THE MOUNTAIXS. Ent even liis cheerful, joj'ous and ringing notes could not brenk the gloomy spell that had settled on my feelings. 1 therefore returned to the hotel to prepare for the home- ward journey. After breakfast, everything heing ready, our kind Boul- der friends came in troops to bid us a tinal farewell. The drive of twelve miles down the plain, through which flows the Boulder, by Valmont, and through the village of the same name nestled at its feet, to the then terminus of the railroad at Erie, was delightful and pleasant. The sky was perfectly transj^arent and of that deep azure blue of which tourists in Italy speak so enthusiastically. But in the East, as usual, over the ])lain hung a grayish, purplish haze. I do not know how common this haze is, hut eveiy day I was out on the Plains fifteen or twenty miles from the mountains, while in Colorado and AYyoming, I encoun- tered it. It is a meteorologic fact which should be inves- tigated, as it is a precursor of, and synchronous with, elec- tric disturbances to the eastward of it. Its density also in- dicates the intensity of the electric disturbance. Fi'om the mountains I had noticed for several days that the haze was more than usually dense and lurid. I then predicted great electric disturbances to the eastward, and got laugh- ed at for being sO weatherwise. Yet on those very days tor- nadoes were raging from Galveston to Nebraska and east- ward to Louisiana and Ohio. It was on one of those days, namely, the 16th of June, that the town of Eldorado, in Kansas, was totally destroyed by a tor))atl(). That night, as we left Denver, there was a brilliant aurora, which even the dense haze could not hide, seen as far east as Ohio; and the foHowing Jiight, tlu> ISth, a most brilliant aurora w^as seen over the whole of the northern part of the con- tinent, I therefore renewed my predictions, not oidy of storms but of earthquakes. The storms extended from Central Kansas to New York, and the earthquake occurred in New Jersey and Brooklyn on the 19th, and one at Lima on same date. It is well known that in California OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. 241 they dread an earthquake whenever a lurid haze 8])rcads» over the sky; and the recent terrible hurricane in the West Indies and the coast of Florida, accompanied by an earthquake, was synchronous with a hirid haze that spread from Western Nebraska to Central Ohio and south into Mississippi, and with a most brilliant fiery red aurora. The record of plwsical phenomena occurrinji; all over the fflobe, which I am keeping;, shows the unvarvini>; contem- poraneousncss of earthquakes, cyclones and other elec- trical disturbances, with auroras, lurid haziness and sun- spots as ftxr as I am able to obtain the latter. In Europe, as my record also shows, these electric disturbances are often preceded by the ])henomenon of mirat:;e. Returning now to our drive to Erie : When we had as- cended the terraced plateau some four miles east of Yalmont looking eastward, I saw distinctly an image, though faint, of the mountains behind us reflected in the haze. It soon vanished, and I saw it no more. I called Mr. Ephraim Pound's attention to it, (who was kindly taking us in his carriage to Erie.) I remai-ked, " I suppose we must call that mirage, though to do so knocks all the philosophy of the wiseacres into a ' cocked hat. ' " They have ordy one explanation to give of this phenomenon, and that is, that it is caused by the refraction of light through superim- posed strata of atmosphere of different densities; but thi.s is not the refraction but reflection of light. " This mirage, " said he, " is a wonderful thing. I have seen it, not faint as it is now, but as clear and distinct as if it came from a looking-glass. One day I was driving along listlessly, almost in a half dreamy state, when sud- denly I raised my eyes, and my first impression was that somehow my horse had turned around and was going home again. But looking bcliind I saw that he was all right. I then knew it was mirage, but more distinct than I had ever seen it before. I then saw that it came as though from a looking-glass more elevated than my posi- tion; for I could see objects reflected that I could not see 16 242 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MODNTAINS. from the point where I was. There was White Rock and Valraont just as 3'ou see them now, and there was the Boulder flowing down through the pLiin as distinct as though I stood over it, and Boukler City and the mouth of the canyon, too, wliich you see are hidden behind Val- mont. It was the most Avonderful sight I ever saw. '^ Fremont, in his journal, mentions the same phenomenon.. iSeeing, what he supposed, some horsemen op2:)Osite in a. fog-bank, he sent one of his men to meet them, to ascer- tain who they Avere, why they Avere apparently trying to- head him off, and what object they had in view. As hi& messenger departed, lie saw one of the strange party do- the same; and discovered it was his own party mirrored back by the haze. We had now arrived at Erie, and had but ten minutes to spare. We therefore took cordial leave of our friends,, Messrs. Pound, ( 'orson and Captain Austin, who liad taken us to the depot, and Avho wished us a pk-asant and safe journey, which we reci])rocated by wishing them long life- and continual prosjierity. Once on ])oard the cars, attached to a fi-eight train talc- ing coal to Denver, we were soon on our Avay. We Avil! Btate here that Ave Avere indebted to the liberality and generosity of ("ol. S. W. Fisher, the General Superinten- dent of this railroad, the Boulder Valley, as Avell as of the Kansas Pacilic, Denver Pacific and Colorado Central rail- roads, not only for free i)asses but for other favors Avhile in the Territory, for which Ave tender him the most cor- dial thanks of our Avhole part}-. As soon as the cars got under Avay, I took my seat at the window to take a long and fiirewcU look at the glori- ous old naoun tains now fast recediousl\- sweet. And mien all eloquent, me have ye taught To understand the weighty import of The lessi)n great, ye were designed to teach To my benighted race, of grandeur, power, "Wisdom, puiity, and Omnipotence. Will not ye, whose resounding echoes make So many-tongued the thunder's awful peal. Make me your contidaat a:id wliisper now Though in the lowest, gentlest brcatli, the word That gives the clew by which to tread the maze Whose intricacy has, till now. perplexed Confounded and embarrassed, and defied The purest, noblest, highest efforts of the mind ; And solves the laws and causes of your birth? Ye prattling tell-tale Waters whose glib tonguo The palsying lrostd^)th strive in vain to hush, To me will ye not now divulge the strange And thrilling secrets of these mountains old. By telling how they rose above the sea And plain ? Will ye impart the wonderful Mysterious argument to till the blank, — The abysmal blank, up on the scroll That men call history; how living things Arose and flourished ; then in Ocean waves O'erwhelrned, how long thej- lay in darkness and In ruin ; how amid the earthquake's shock When reeled the world and stars were blotted out. And darkness prime had filled again the deep Abyss, their forms arose above the sea. For aye preserved in stones as fossils strange ? How long they've lain as now they lie upon The mountain side, or deep beneath the plain ? Ah, yes, enumerate the cycles long Of loveliness, of ruin, which have swept The earth by turns; how oft the Earth so lovely, green, 246 OVER THE PLAINS A.VO ON THK MOINTAINS. And filled with life exuberant, bewuue The bottom of the sea, by deluge whelmed And drowned for myriad years, then rose again To lii^ht, put on her wonted vesture green. And populous bt'came ag:iin; how in The ri^alnis of Space, new suns came forth ami bhixeJ Awhile, and then extinguished quite became In darkness, deep, impenetrable, stark. Ah, tell how oft Destruction fierce and fell. Revival lovely, mild and calm, in turn, Have stepped upon the stiige, and there havfe played Their magic parts, ere Man, the glory and The shame of Earth, first trode the scene to act His tragic, comic, or imposing part. Ye heaven-pointing Peaks, and pearly Flood.-* That teach to Man so much ; will ye not now Unfold the thrilling and transporting story Of all ye saw, and part of which ye were In all the great illimitjible Past ? What! Silent still I Not one small voic« comes forth. The echo of the myriad years, to tell The wond'ring world the mystery of your birth .' Ye will not for a moment lift the veil Implacable that hides the unrecorded Past ; Nor deign to tell the strange events tliat since Your birth have come and gone ! Ye are to ail Entreaty deaf and resolute and dumb. And sacred keep the secrets of your charge. The poet's vision, reason's grasp, and proud Philosophy, in vain, have tried to wring Fiom you the trust, and to the vulgar ga:^e ^ Unfold 3'our wondrous lore; and failing have gone mad. Ah, while I ga/.e, a vision bright flits by A glimpse it gives so fearful, grand, sublime Of that dread night whicli g:ive ye birth, that while The spell is still upon me I'll portray, If fitting words fail not, your natal hour. ' Twas a tempestuous niglit; the lamps of Heaven Were blotted out : commotion red had seized This trembling sphere: wild whirlwinds racked the Earth, The air, the sky. The flashing lightning cleft Th'abyss of darkness shrouding Heaven and Earth ; 'Twas then in r>irthjuake'3 couch, while Ocean seethed. The sidienod Exrth yawned wide, and gave ye birth. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTArNS. 247 "Te -wonderful, sublime, majestic, grand And beauteous Mountains. The tempest then grew calm ; The storm's dark clouds flew swift as leaves before Th' autumnal blast; the gentle Moon looked forth ; And silvery stars beamed bright and calm In the elherial space. Anon the pure And go!den dawn broke forth ; and Orient Sun Before his throne drove back the ebon spirit of That fearful night; and when green Earth awoke, She found a cloudless sky. Mild zephyrs blew To fan and cool your glowing, infant brows ; And there ye stood as now ye stand, glorious. Resplendent, great, magnificent and calm, ;Sublime, immutable, majestic. And proud, a mastery unfathomably deep. 'The ever-during wonder of my puny race. "When I in contemplation wrapped behold The instability of Man, his works;— all that He is, and what he's wrought ; how rapidly New nations, tribes and peoples have, in turn. Arisen like the bubbles on a stieani .And danced, and glittered for awhi'.e. t'nen burst. Dissolved and disappeared from Eart'.i ;— effaced Por aye, and vanished into airy nought ; Ah, well may I a frail ephem'ral child Of clay then weep, to see the pride and power And evanescent glorj' of my race, Padolike a morning mist, and lost to sight. Yea, from all memory lost. Relentless Time Has ever fed upon his off-spring; spared Nor young, nor old, nor beautiful, nor brave. We call him cruel, but alike he treats Proud ^lan, the crawling worm, the mountams high, And continents im 1 seas ; e'en the bright orbs That roll in glory through ce'estial space : — All are engulfed and swallowed up by bin). I weep, but sweet it is to shed such tetas. Por thus the heart o'erburdened linds relief. And throws its sorrows off. But yo ne'er weep Nor know of sorrow, feel no grief nor care; For ye seem ever-during as the Sun ; Nor Time writes on your brows the boding Une-i Indelible of coming chjmge and growing age. ;Stomi3 beat upon your naked breast and then 248 OVKR THK I'L VINS AND OX THE MOUNTAIN!:. The li^htnint^f^lares upon your brows: the hoarse And bellowiiiy thunder sliakes j'our sides ; But azure calm returns, and find.-^ no wound Upon your breast, nor sear upon your brow. Day follows night, and Night the dying da}- ; The seasons coino and go ; and fleeting- years Pass and return, yet on your adamantine front Though stern and old, Decay nor Death will set Their Mithering seal, nor leave a trace or niark ■ Upon your brow ; but warmth, a radiance niild Unfading beauty, and the vigorous glow Of an immortal youth, sit high enthroned As erst : — the pledge secure of endless j-ears. Ye Mountains, rugged, strong, unchanging, grand. With beauty wild and terrible, your dark And deep, rnysterii>us chasms, o'erhung By toppling rocks, and your cold icy peaks That glitter like a distant star; ye seem Eternal ; think ye the poignant words "No mork " Do not apply to you ; reesr\-ed for such As me and mine? Yet in the future age To you will come, as comes to all beneath The stars, destructive change. Kent, hurled and whelmed In ocean waters deep, the rolling wave Will be the mound that marks your grave. Alas, Who then will come to weep and shed the bitter Tear above your tomb, save I from far, From bright aboeca,use he sounds his alarm note, " chip-ip-ip," so rapidly and shrilly as to have some resemblance to the yelping of 252 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. a pup. But then, everybody talks of the Imrking of a- squirrel, yet nobody thinks it a ^utticietit reason for calling it a do/4. Why then should the one be libelled^ by being citlled a dog. for yelping, and not the other for barking? Each yelp he gives, when he sounds the alarm of danger, 18 accompanied by a ^witching of the ti;il, similar to a scpiirrel Avhen barking. Well, if we are not to call him the Pi'airie Dog, Avhat are we to cjill liim? .Sure enough, Avhat? A question well and pointedly put. Unfortunately he has been many times christened, but the names have not stuck well, ex- cept the vulgar one given him by his discoverers. The Indians called him Wishtonuu.sh ; and he isBO calleil in the description given of liim in tlie Journal of Pike's Expedition to tlie J^Touutains in 1806. Guthrie, in 1815, y.roposed to call him Arctoinys Ludorlcianus. Literally, Arctomj's means Bearmous<:, or Bear-rat. It is the gen- eric name given to the Marmot famil\' ; one specie-s of which, the Arctomi/s Monax is familiarly known as the wood-chuck or ground-hog. Ludovicianus comes from Liulorieus, the Latin lor Lewis. Tlie name pr()j)osed by (iruthrie, there tore, when translated would be, Lewis' Alarmcjt. The name is not only inappropriate, for the Pniirie Dog is not a marmot, but the name, Lewis' Marmot, was already apjiropriated to another animal and a true marmot, the Arctoiny.^ Lctci^li. Prof. Say, who accom- y^anied Col. Long's Expedition to the ilocky Mountains, in 1820, describes him under the name oi'oposed by Prof Guthrie. Audubon proposed to (.-all him Sprr/nop/uhifi Ludocicia- nus, because it seemed to him that he was nearer allied to tije sixn-mophiles than to the marmot. He is, however* less lithe and less active than the spermo))liiles, and not so short and clumsy as the marmot. In lint, in form and habits, he is intermediate between thi; two. ^V'arden pro- posed to call him Arctoini/.'i 3[i>:.' that a beehive is governed by a queen. Xow irora what you have seen, to which would you assign the greater in- telligence, to the bee or to the Prairie Dog? As you must to the latter; which then is the greater strain on human s that a furrow had been made by the plow; and as the young grass in tlieni is of a more vigorous growth than that on the Plains, tli((y appear like a narrow band of deep green .stretched over the prairie. Wo saw a numlxtr of jackass rabbits and a few antelopes, which fled at our approucii. A short distance cast of Ogallah there was an immense patch of the beautiful Gaillardia picta, the first wo had seen on our return. It was a real treat to look at their large puri)lo blooms,^ fringed Avith yellow, and it was a relief to tlio eye to seo something else than the greenish gray buffalo grass and dull gray Patagonian ])hiintaiii. A mile we^st of Ellis there was a largo area of jn-airie freshly broken. A 8trean\ of some size from the north hero empties into the Smoky Hill Ftn-k. Ellis is 303^ miles west of the Stiite line, that is 581 miles west of 8t. Louis. Wo here entered into a sirocco that blew a i)erfect gale from the south. It was so hot that on your hands and cheeks it produceil a sensation like that of a sunbeam, and the brass, iron and wood of the seats felt hot to the touchy Our conductor told us that they blew on an average oneo^ and sometimes twice a week, from the middle of Juno to- the first of September; that they were from ten to fifty miles wide ; and were invariably the precursor of a storm either there or further down on the Plains. In January^ February and during the early part of March, similar cold blasts, called by the railroad men, "Nebraska zephyrs,"' OVER THK Pr^rNS AND OX THE MOUXXAINS. 259 sweep south. As 1113' informant said, '• tliey are keen enough to shave olT the hair of a buffalo." A few miles east of Haj^es wo came upon ten buffalo. They first started off in a trot, but as we neared thoni, up went their tails and down their heads and they gallojied away as far as wo saw them Avith a speed truly sur- prising. The conductor remarked, we will probably soon see a large drove. Before we lost sight of the first we came upon twelve more, who also fled atourap])i'oach But a large drove of hundreds soon came in sight; in fact, the Plains as far as wo could sec wore covered with thcTn. The nearest being about two-thirds of a mile off, they kept grazing and paid no attention to ns. At Fossil, and some distance both east and Avest, there is a valuable white limestone for building purposes. It is so soft when '-green " as to bo more easily cut into blocks than wood ; 3-et when thoroughly dry it becomes so hard and firm that it is said it will bear the weight of the largest structures. At Wilson's creek, 1586 feet above tide and 522 miles west of St. Louis, the winter wheat sown late in ^N'ovem- ber at the experimental station was nearly ripe. The stand was excellent, hight fine and heads large and well filled, with no signs of rust on the blade. Its yield per acre must fully equal the average of wheat in Missouri and Illinois. The rj-e was unusually good and fully ripe. Corn and soi-ghuni were dark green and very thrifty; vegetables, such as peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, melons, etc., very promising. The nursery seedlings of deciduous trees looked so vigorous and thrifty that there can be no doubt that timber can be grown on the Plains. It was yet too soon to judge whether evergi'cens, such as pines and spruce, would succeed, though so far they appear to do well. The European larch had also been planted for trial, but like the evergreens, it takes a whole season to determine whether it Avill succeed. In the vicinitv of Wilson's some immitrrants, who had 260 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. pushed west, thus far in advance of the Betllenients, had broken u]) some considerable prairie. At Ellswortli the advaneinjr wave of settlement rolling westward meets you. Iloi-o is a snui:^ little village of perhaps seventy houses, and (-(^nsidorable land in cultivation. In all di- rections, on the Plains, the cabins of those making home- steads or pre-emption claims could be seen, generally sur- rounded by a new breaking of the pi^airie sod. The soil is black and very friable, and judging from the gi'owing crops, fertile and productive. I cannot conceive how there can be a lovelier rustic landscape than this must become, wlien entirely subdued and under cultivation. At Brookville, twenty -three miles east of Ellsworth, we met and exchanged civilities with Messrs. Adolphus Meier, (\ S. Greeley, and Wm. M. ]\IcPherson, otficers of the road, on a tour of inspection. Erookville, just 200 miles west of the State line, (488 miles from St. Louis,) is a flourishing town for its age. Its elevation is 1250 feet above tide-water, and is situated on a rolling grassy and rich prairie, which is fast settling up. The machine shops of the Kansas Pacific railroad are located here, which have given an impulse to its growth and settlement. It was quite dark when we left Salina, where we stop- ped for supper. Before retiring, and while our berths were preparing, I went on the rear platform of the sleep- ing car. I observed that there was a dark bank of clouds lying along the whole western horizon, in which there ■was an incessant play of vivid lightning. I recalled the prediction of our conductor as forecast from the sirocco. This phenomenon ought to be observed and investigated by the signal ofUce, as it may involve and unfold an im- portant law of meteorology. It will l)e observed from the distances made that the rate of the trains on this roatl is only twenty miles an hour. Yet, on the return trip, I found we had to stop once an hour, and oftencr, to cool the car boxes by pour- ing water on them to prevent them from taking fire. la OVER TUB PLAINS AND ON TIIK MOUUTAINS. 261 a convci'sation with those having charge of the train, they tokl me the difficulty to a great extent was owing to the mcteoi-ologie condition of the weather; and that they were much more trouhled Avith heated boxes before, du- rintr and after thfso siroccos than at anv otlier time: and that they couhl almost unerringly foretel a sirocco, by ob- serving the temperature of their boxes. If this is so, it will fiiiggesL tlie existence, of a new jihysical law, in the transformation of the C().-.mi(al litres, a law more than 8us])eeted from other ])hysical tacts. The storm overtook us at jManhattan and it poured down till near daylight. Wo found water standing everywhere, when day met us at Lenape, 22 miles beyond the State line. The creeks were booming, and the culverts at many points of the road were overtaxed and the water threat- ening to break over the road. On the Missouri Pacific, beyond Pleasant Ilill, we found a break, which however had nearly been repaired when we got there, and the Blue near by wa,s up to within a few inches of the bridge; and many cornfields were under water. The rain had extended to some ten miles below Jeffer- Bon City, when all traces of it vanished, though a violent wind-storm swept over all Eastern Missouri and Illinois. Around Sedalia, and especially west of it, is a landscape whose conformation and natural features at once remind you of the lovely jdains of Ilansas. But there is this dif- ference; i^\a.stures filled Avith herds and flocks, a jvistoral scene that would tax the ])ow- crs of a Homer or Yirgil to describe. Before another 8core of years are mimhercd with the past, this picture will Icive lieen reproduced on a more western landscape, on tlu- more ample plains of JCansas, improved and embellished by intelligent industry, judi- cious care and refined taste, in in-oportion to the vastness of the theati'i- on which it is done. After luiving repent days and Aveeks u])<)n the treeless and even shrabless plains of Kansas and Colorado, it was quite an agreeable change and a Avclcome relief on enter- ing Missouri to see again the hills and valleys covered with forests, fields bordered by growing timber, and Iho expansive cultivated plain int(>rspersed with j)leasant groves. At 8 o'clock 1'. M., .lune lOth, we arrived at home, just forty-six liours from J)eiiver, distaiice 928 nules. EEPvATA. Page 8t, sf>oontl liae, for ''fhe fwo b''.it," ro.id "to the best." Page ?>7, fourteenth iinf>, f >r '•malnLy" rend ''namely." YiigQ 12 1, seventh hnefroin holtom. for '•hiiiorii' read "bisiorta." Pago 20/', first line, for "Indian blood-tklmtyne-'is" TtiAd Indiim in hloud-ihirsfi.ne..sx." Page ^O'^, fifteenth lino froni the bottom, for ''grounded" read ''groi.ip"!^." Peveral minor typographii/al errors in mis-spfllirig e-:oapt-d notice until too liitiA f ir correction. A* the intelligent reader caa correct them, it i3 not ne<'eaS:irY to note theiii. IK"DEX. CHAPTEPw I. Leaving St. Louis G. — Arrival at Kansas City 9. — Anecdote 0. — Reception !it Atchison 11. — Trip to Watcrville 14. — Surrounding:* of same 15. — General character of landscape 15. — Summary of general features of landscape, character and quality of ?oil and S!U)itary condi- tion of country passed over 17 CUAPTEIl II. Leavenworth a.s seen from Military Reservuiion 20. — ilailroad bridge ■across the Missouri 21. — Leavenworth as a commercial City 23. — Trip to Lawrence 24.— .\rrival at Lawnnice 26. — History of Eldridge House 26. ct seq. CHAPTER HI. Trip southward 2:^.— Ottawa 30.— Flora on route ;52.— Eli Thayer 33. (;oal 33. — Lands 34. — Return to Lawrence 3'.. — Early setth'rs and cliaracter of the people of Kansas 3G. ct soq. CHAPTER IV. Leaving for the Mountains 37. — Observations on wheat crop 40. — Isew Flora 41.— River system of Kansi« 42.— First Prairie dog villagt? 44.— Experimental stations of Kansas Pacific R. R. 45.— Water supply 40. Horned frog and buffalo calf at Fossil 50. — Insensate slaughter of buffaloes 50. — Building stone 51.— Buffalo grass 51. — Antelopes and buffftloe8 52. — Coyete 53.— Night closes on the Plains 54. CHAPTER V. Return of dav 55- — First glimpse of the mountains 5ij. — Arrival at Denver 57. — Early settlement of why 58. — Off for (Jolden 01.— Descrip- tion of Gl. — Pulpit Rock or Castle Butte 63. — Flora found at Golden 64. CHAPTER VI. Morning view from Cattle Butte 67. — Chimney gu.cn G9.— Flora in same 70. — Ascension. )f dominating peak 71. — View from same 72. — Exhilarating effect of an attenuated atmosphere 75. — Causes of same 76. cnAPTp:R VII. R<>tiirii to DfiiviT 7 'i. — Ilonte down thrt \'allt!y of tho riatte 78. — Litndscapo around Evans and Grct-ley 70,--Union colony at Greeley 80. — Plains between Greeley and Gheyenno 82. — Fantastic forms of erodid rocks 83. — Cheyenne HO. — Grazini; in "Wyoming 84. — Return to Denver and excursion nroar.d vicinity 85. — Colf)rado strawberries 8). — Exour- Bion to Houlder 8f). — Coal mines at P>ie 8i). — Road from Erie t-i Roul- der87. — Reception at B(julder 88 cn.vPTKR viir. Scenery around liouldcr 00. — Excursion uj) the Canyon 9o. — Flora in 6amc 9G. — Grandscenery of '.>.;.— Eajjlc (Hiff '.)».— R(jcky Mountain .she(^p- 100.— Castlo Rock 101.— Water yrade of Canyun 104. CnAPTER I.X. Trip to C-aribou 10."). — L'pper valley of the Roulder lOo. — Beaver 106. — New Flora 107. — First snow tiilil 108. — Mountain storm cloud J08. — Road up the mountain 108. — Cardinal 109. — Finst view of Snowy Kanp;e 109. — Caribou 110. — The first snow bank 111. — Prospect holes and minint; shafts 111. — Evening ramble over the mountain 113. — Peak of the Snowv Range 1 1 o. — Accoustic effect of attenuated atmosphere 114. — Effect i>n breathing of animals IL"'. cii.vpti:r X. Mornmg nuiibie over llie mountains lltJ. — Longe-rctited Jay 117. Four striped ground squinvl 118. — Talk with a miner 118. — Caribou Lode 119. — Magnetic iron ore liO. --Orderly conduct of the miners TJlJ. — Grand Island 122.— Metals in the district 122.— Woods on fire 123.— Another view of ^[ountain .sheep 12-'). — Falls of North Boulder 126. — Singular conduct of a Rocky Mountain bhio binl 127. — Return to Boul- dcr'l28. CHAPTER XI. Morning ramble 12^. — .Vpostropbe to the Waters ];!0. — Photograph stones 1. '10. — Explanation of them i:'.'). — \'i-il to Marshall's coal mine.'^ on South Boulder RM.— Extent of coal 1;!4.— Irrigation R-o. — Advan- tages of l;!7. — Agricultural effects of l-'J J. — (Jra.Nshoppers 13o.— Excel- lence of flour l:J8. — Crystalized soda incrusting soil lo8. — Premium awards for field productions 1. '59.— Extent of Arable land in Plaito Valley and afiluents 1 10. — Desirable grazing region 140. — Arable and grazing land on the Mountains 141. IKDKX. ni CHAPTER XIL Colonial schemes in Colorado 143. — Difficulties suggested 144. — Drawbacks even in niininf^ towns 145. — Grecnsborough colony 147. — Col. Wuesten's German Colony 148. — Mountain ranches product of 149. — Chicago Colorado Colony 149. — Climato of Colorado not deter- minablo by empiric laws IW. — Sanitary condition of Colorado 152. — Par excellence the climato for invalids 150. — Directions and warnings to consumptives 154. CHAPTER XHL Inevitable hardships and privations in forming new settlements 15G. — Where immigration in Colorado goes 157. — The mountains not a barren WJist« 157. — Climate on lower Plains severer than at base of the moun- tains 159. — Proposition of irrigating canal from Platte canyon eastward over the Plains 160. — Advice to emigrants 161. CHAPTER XIV. Different orders of plants demand different kinds of food 163. — Diffi- culty of keepinj^ a supply of plant food in the soil 164. — How fertility is spread 165. — Irrigation in the Orient, etc., 166. — System carried to America 167. — ^Products of vegetation 167. — Estimated amount of plant food carried on and deposited in the soil by irrigation 168. — The prob- lem of perfect manure solved 169. CHAPTER XV. * Middle Park 170. — Mecca for invalids 170. — Precious metals in 171. — Flexure of Snowy Range enclosing it 171. — Pertains to Pacific slope 172. — Elevation above tide 172. — Surface and vegetation of 173. — Con- templated railroads through 174. — Agricultural adaptations of 174.^ Grand Lake 174. — Coal beds in 175. — Precious stones 175. — Sulphur springs 176. — F]roded stone monuments 176. — Passes over the Rang© leading into it 177. — Area of throe northern paries 178. — Upper basin of the Arkansas 178. — San Luis Park 179. Lake Saguache, singular phenomenon in 179. — Singular facts about harvost 181. — Public land in San Luis Park 182. — Review of attractions and inducements to all classes of tourists 184. CHAPTER XVL Difference between views, visfa'i and sU/hts stated 187. — Difference between works of Nature and of Man 189. — Contract between the Yosemite and Boulder Canyon 190. — Vistas and views in thomountaina 192.— Top of Mount Lincoln 195.— Lakes 197.— The Divide 197.— Men- wnent Creek 198.— Gardens of the Gods 199. CHAPTER XTIL nisiory of Coloni-lo 201.— Peoples Courts 202.— Piirty divisions when the PvebcUiou broke out 203.— The Colorado side of the Saud Creek affair 20o. — Indian insolence punished 207.— The heroes of the Moun- tains 208.— Col. Pfeifer 203. — Ruins and their traditions 211. — Mountain Jim 214. — Indian history of 215. — Advent of the white man 21G. — Con- trast between civilization and barbarism 216. — Cause of Indian troubles 217. — Where tlio responsibility lies 210. ClI-U^TER XVUl. Mining in Colorado 221.— Cause of c:irly failures 222.— Disastrous experiments 224. — Who responsible for them 22o.— Products of mines 226. — Rusty gold 227. — Waste of stiunp-mills 228.— Success of 8meltiure.S8 lertvinjcat 10:00 p. m. : arrive at BrookviUe at »:45 a. m. and Denver next morning at 7:00. Time, -W l-'i hours. Dis- tance, 92:i mileii. PULLMAN'S I^^LA^CE SLEEI^INa CAJEiS Are Attached to Each Train. I'lw-seBKers leaving St. Louis in the evening e.\pre< p. m. next day, ami havea good night's i-e<*t. Rob't E. Carr, President. Adolphus Meier, V. President. C. S. Greeley, Treasurer. Edmund S. Bowen, Gen'l Sup't- Our specialties AKK EPICURE BROILERS, Kithcr of WhirJj are rcTtVctlv liuli.-j.cn8til)l« in cviiy Well HrgU-hitid Hou-w-- hol.l. [,'nequalffi in the Conibiucd Mcrit.s iiC Economy, Wurabilily, |CoiiveiiieiieulerK. H \??. S-l °^ "^^ '■^m^ ^.^ v: ,. ■^ «^V ^Mif^ ^'^ "^./ --'Mi?. %.^' v-^ ^''^ IWIW/ .'^^•^. 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