''PS ./ •' by ^dWQirds(?oborl5 ESTABLISHED A.D.I 859 ALKER#lKOTPiERS, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. We do a General BANKING Business and solicit accounts of merchants, mining companies and country dealers. Our facilities for collecting are the best, having correspondents in nearly every town in this and adjoining Territories. DRAW EXCHANGE ON ALL THE LEADING CITIES OF GREAT BRITAIN, GERMAN EMPIRE, SPAIN, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND IRELAND, ITALY, AUSTRIA, HOLLAND, SWEDEN, DENMARK, RUSSIA, BELGIUM, NORWAY. AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTS: NEW YORK, CHICAGO, St. LOUIS, OMAHA, SAN FRANCISCO, DENVER, Importers' and Traders' National Bank. - - - First National Bank, State Savings Association. Omaha National Bank. Bank of California. German National Bank. WALKER BROTHERS, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. WHOLESALE AND RET.\IL DEALERS IN f RY lOODS, IDTIONS, CLOTHING, CENTS' FURNISHING GOODS, CLOTHING HDLISE FURNISHINGB, BDDTB AND SHDEB, Etc. (ESTADLLSHED A. D. 1859) ♦^WHOLESSLE GROCERS^ SALT LAKE CITY. UTAH alt ta\{e City aiQd UtB\i )i«|5y-Way5 19 y ^.slwaPsli^ Rol^ep^ ©HE IXAI^BSIDE gl^ESS: F{. F{. DOWnELIjEY AND SONS, 142-146 CDONI^OB Si"., SHIGAGO. PREFACE In compiling the manuscript for the following pages, I have made liberal ex- tracts from an article published in The Continent and entitled " By-ways of Utah," which I wrote some months ago. The illustrations also are taken from the same magazine, and for the original photographs from which the drawings were made I am indebted to Mr. C. R. Savage, the successful photographer of Utah. I am also under obligations to Mr. H. L. A. Culmer, of Salt Lake City, for much information published in his guide-book, which is now out of print. It is impossible, with limited space, to describe as they deserve, the varied attractions of Utah. It is a country from which much is now expected, and present indications lead to the prediction, that in the near future the Territory will take high rank in the financial world. It is rich beyond question, and the climate insures a rapid growth of whatever may be planted. The people are industrious and energetic, and the advent of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway has stimulated to a still greater extent their ambition to make Utah a source of pride and wealth to all Americans. The Editor. (S) OLD MILL, AMERICAN FORK CANON. 7- f ^-^s SHLT LAKE CITY AND UTHH BY-WHYS. By Edwards Roberts. ®TAH, with its eighty-five thousand square miles of territory, has been less explored and less understood than almost any other section of our great West. Hampered in its growth by reason of its great isolation, the question was asked for a long time : " What good can come of the country ?" and no one seemed able to furnish a satisfactory answer. The fact that there were fertile valleys, fresh streams of water, large tracts of grazing land, rich deposits of gold, silver, copper and coal, was lost sight of. Utah was regarded merely as a territory situated in the midst of vast deserts, and filled with high mountains, alkali deserts, salt seas and arid plains. But during the past dozen years rapid progress has been made in every direc- tion, and the country is gradually becoming better known and appre- ciated. The Mormons and the Gentiles are revolutionizing the state of affairs, and Utah is on the verge of a new life. Railways are being built, new mines are being opened, the output of ore is increas- ing, new towns are founded, and the outside world has ceased to ask what good, but rather to say how much good, may come out of Utah. Nor is it strange that this change in the condition of things has occurred. The Territory is immensely rich, has a most beautiful and varied topography, and a climate which is delightful. The Wasatch mountains divide it into two nearly equal parts, and, with ranges of lesser height, form sheltered valleys, which are as productive as any in the world. If one were elevated above the country in a balloon, he would look down upon a varied scene. Extending north and south, with wooded slopes, high, snow - capped summits, and in- closing miniature lakes, valleys and forest-girded parks, would be seen the Wasatch range ; east of it, vast, treeless, arid and neglect- lo SALT LAKE CITY AXD UTAH BY- IV A VS. ed, would api^ear the desert lands ; and westward — a bright spot in the view — Salt Lake and Utah valleys would meet the gaze, lying like jewels between vast mountains, watered by lakes and threads of silvery streams, and cultivated until hardly a foot of ground remains without its waving grain and patches of garden pr(jduce. In the north of the Territory, too, one would see Ogden and Salt Lake City, the great mysterious Salt Lake, and isolated peaks "striking up the azure" with their pointed cones of ice and snow. Far to the south the valleys would be seen to merge into deep caiions, with huge rocks of vari-colored hues, down which hissing, troubled streams roar and run swift races. The eye would see changes in every direction — now a vale, now a forest ; here a lake, and again rounded hills and well-stocked fields. There would be Arctic regions, and others like Italy ; great banks of snow, and bright green pastures. In fact, from an elevation commanding all Utah, it would be seen at once that the country is singularly varied ; grand, and yet beautiful ; rugged, yet subdued ; arid, and yet fertile ; a network of mountains, valleys, plains and parks, from over and among which run or nestle clear streams, wide rivers and picturesque lakes. The air would vibrate, too, with the hum of industry ; the puff of the locomotive would be heard as it penetrated the wild gorges of the mountains or toiled in the valleys ; the factories and smelting works would break the stillness with their busy activ- ity, and in the higher fastnesses men would be seen at work digging precious treasures from their long seclusion. It is a pleasure to go to Utah now, for the great railways across the continent are supplied with every lu.xury imaginable. From San Francisco the Central Pacific road lands the traveler at Ogden, and from the Missouri river one may take either the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, or the Atchison, Topeka «S: Santa Fe to Denver, the metropolis of Colorado. Both roads afford glimpses of scenery which is unlike that of other parts of our country, and which fascinates with its immensity. But at Denver, the most interesting part of the journey to Utah begins, and the route via the Denver (S: Rio Grande Railway is one which will be long remembered by all who have taken it. This railway has now become a trans-continental line and connecting link between Denver and the most important cities of Utah. While its branches still form a net-work over all Colorado, r 11' I Sd 11 ,s'i \MV\;K , \ " % I / / SALT LAKE CITY AND UTAH BY-WAYS. 13 the main line has been extended westward over snowy heights, through deep gorges, across plains and up fertile valleys to Ogden and the eastern terminus of the Central Pacific road. Between Ogden and Denver, and at all times within reach of the traveler, there exists a profusion of grand and beautiful scenery. There are mountains of every conceivable shape and size, broad valleys, foaming streams, and picturesque caiions. The topography changes with every mile ; now it is grandly beautiful, now soft and subdued ; here wild and chaotic in its confusion, and again Scotland-like, with low hills and verdant fields. The railway opens to civilization some of the richest districts of both the State and Territory. It has brought the Gunnison coun- try, with its mines, coal fields and farm lands along the Grand and Uncompahgre rivers, into direct communication with eastern markets, and made possible the development of eastern Utah, while the Wasatch mountains, and central valleys of that country are placed within easy reach of the prospector, the miner and the farmer. Seventy-five miles south of Denver, Colorado Springs is reached, a town which is already famous as a health resort of varied attrac- tions. It occupies the top of a gently sloping mesa, and rests nearly under the shadow of Pike's Peak. The streets, wide and shaded; the public squares, and the extended plains which roll away to the east, insure for the town a constant supply of fresh and invigorating air, while the high mountains in the west serve to protect the place from the harsh winds so trying to invalids. During the past year (1883) the new and elegantly appointed hotel known as The Antlers has been opened. It cost, with the furniture, ^150,000, and is one of the finest hotels in the West. The sanitary arrangements are the result of care- ful and particular attention, the purpose having been to build a hotel which should be entirely free from all malarial drawbacks. The furniture, selected by the present manager, A. A. Warren, is rich and appropriate. The view from the west balcony embraces the mount- ains, and snow-capped Pike's Peak, and eastward the prairies may be seen stretching far toward the east. Much has been done toward ornamenting the grounds, and there are decorated terraces and shaded walks. The hostelry is an ornament to the town, and the architecture is at once pleasing and imposing. Colorado Springs was designed at the first as a health resort, and is in the immediate vicinity of most beautiful scenic attractions. It has several banks, two daily papers, 14 SALT LAKE CITY AND UTAH BY-IVAYS. a large club house, and a college which offers courses of study under the ablest professors. The climate is exceptionally fine, and particu- larly efficacious in all pulmonary and miasmatic diseases. Five miles west of Colorado Springs is Manitou. This Saratoga of the West, as it is so often called, lies among the foot-hills of the Rocky mountains, and with its large hotels is already noted as a summer resort of varied attractions. There are several medicinal springs, rivaling those of its eastern namesake, and the scenic attrac- tions within the town, and in close pro.ximity to it, are among the most beautiful in the State. Williams' canon, Ute pass, the Garden of the Gods, Cheyenne cailon, Pike's Peak trail. Seven Lakes, Iron Springs, Monument Park, and Seven Falls are only a few of the many places to which tourists are attracted by the quaint grandeur which they severally possess. Returning to the main line again, one journeys southward to Pueblo, and leaving it, makes straight for the blue-tinted mountains which appear in the distance, and soon reaches the Royal gorge or Grand caiion of the Arkansas. W' hen the train first enters the gorge, the steep sides which shut out all rays of the sun are only moderately high, but before many minutes elapse they become grander, darker and taller, and press closer and closer together. Some of the pinna- cles tower three thousand feet above the track which is laid at their base, and rise from the darkness into light without a break in their steep sides. There are no trees or bushes clinging to them, and hardly a place in which a bird might rest. When half way through the caiion the cliffs press so hard upon one another that it seems as if the train must pay the penalty of its daring, aiTd be crushed beneath the frowning battlements. Everything is weird, wild, strange and terrible. Rolling with dull light down the perpendicular walls, which choke the narrow way, are tiny rivulets of water, which fall unheeded into the stream below ; there are dark crevices, massive boulders, and loud echoes from the river. Dante would have reveled here ; Rem- brandt would have gloried in the mystic shades. The traveler and the train are dwarfed into insignificance. Standing on the iron bridge which hangs suspended from the sides of the cahon, and over the river, the bravest man is silenced by the terrible beauty around him. Continuing westward from the gorge, passing Salida and Poncha Springs, the railway climbs up a narrow, brush-grown valley, and be- SALT LAKE CITY AND UTAH BY-WAYS. 15 gins to ascend Marshall pass. The track doubles time and again on itself ; at one time the dull line of displaced earth marks the heights that are to be climbed, and anon the course already pursued is dis- played far below. Now one may gaze down the valley he was so lately treading ; and again may look far beyond, where Poncha rests, to the high ranges which stand in massive grandeur against the deep blue sky. Soon, however, one forgets to notice anything beyond his immediate reach, and is fully occupied in watching the busy engines mounting the steep grades by which they slowly but surely gain the summit. Snowy peaks tower above ; the air is cold and sharp ; there are barren ledges, and desolate wastes. Soon the summit is reached. Emerging from the long snow shed, which protects the track from the fierce snows of this region, the view which is offered is replete with grandeur and beauty. To the eastward, and separated by count- less summits which press their heads up at one from below, are the snow-covered, irregular shaped peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range. The sharp pinnacles extend in a long unbroken line, and are mar- shaled before one like trained soldiers of a giant army. Nearer at hand confusion reigns ; deep gulleys, forests, sparkling streams, and isolated mountain tops appear in every direction, while, overshadow- ing all, rises Mount Ouray, with its wooded .slopes, and gaunt, bare head. In the west, mellow and haze obscured, lies Gunnison county, with its valleys, mountains, and level plateaus exposed in all their grandeur and beauty. From Marshall pass to Gunnison, the road extends through fresh forests, and over cultivated meadows, until the mountain sur- rounded plateau in which the city stands is reached. At the Pacific slope metropolis of Colorado, an arm of the railway follows up Slate river to Crested Butte, the Pittsburgh of the State, and the main line continues down the Ciunnison river to the gorge which is known from its sombre coloring as the Black canon. This rock- bound chasm is wilder, more picturesque and grander even than the canon already encountered. The cliffs are fully as high, but their sides are broken into narrow shelves, where shrubs, trees, and clinging vines have found a foothold. In many places miniature cat- aracts leap from dizzy heights into the sea-green waters of the river, or, broken by projecting ledges, reach the bottom of the caiion in sil- i6 SALT LAKE CITY AND UTAH BY-WAYS. very spray. There is constant variety : now the cliffs are red col- ored, now of a grayish white. Here a solitary pinnacle soars upward like a delicately formed cathedral tower ; and again the enclosing walls hug the road for miles in unbroken masses. The contour of the palisades is closely followed, the river is constantly in sight, and its rumble is ever audible. Half way through the caiion, the (iunnison turns into a still deeper gorge to the right, and the road continues by the side of Cimarron creek, which leads to where the cliffs are more rugged still, and whose sides are filled with clinging vines and stunted pines and cedars. The regign becomes darker and gloomier, while the creek flows over its rocky bed, and among granite boulders, with a rumble that fills the gorge with deafening echoes. Escaping from the canon, the road pursues its westward course under an open sky, until the Wasatch mountains of Utah are reached. First comes Cedar divide, climbed by steep grades, and from whose summit an extended view is had of the Uncompahgre valley, the river which flows down its centre, and the San Juan mountains in the distance. The snow-tipped peaks of this range form the southern limits of the Uncompahgre valley, the rich agricultural section of the Ute reservation, and, from whatever point seen, are grand, beau- tiful and full of picturesque sublimity. Montrose is reached after descending from the divide. Following the Uncompahgre, west of Montrose, the road traverses a valley filled with rich farm land to Delta, and to Grand Junction, after which a veritable desert is entered. Low, treeless, dry and neglected wastes extend before one for nearly a hundred and fifty miles. The traveler is on an inland sea, where the winds have formed billows of sand, and the earth is caked by the heat of summer. And yet the ride is not devoid of interest. There is a constant fascination in studying the unfamiliar scenes, "and later the Sierra La Sal mountains rise before one in all their beauty of outline. Turning northwest, the road approaches the Wasatch mountains. Soon Price river is crossed, a tributary to the Green, and later Castle valley is entered, where there is more vegetation, and considerable cultivation. At the extreme end of this valley, and reached after long twistings and turnings among the foot-hills of the range, stands Castle Gate, lead- ing into the very heart of the Wasatch mountains, and formed by two immense towers of red sandstone which have a sheer descent of nearly -