mm il-; mMm iM O - \. i. ^m' J'" 'y iJ-jl 1.^1^ 7^ ADVERTISEMENTS. Dcsls'natcfl Depository and Financial Ag:ent of the United Sltates, and Appro ve _^'«a,i We are now manufacturing the above celebrated Drill, with eight and ten hoes, double rank, with grass seed sower and surveyor, all warranted to sow wheat, rye, oats, barley, timothy and clover seed, and to be quickly regu- hited to sow any quantity per acre that may be desired. This Drill has taken many premiums at State and County Fairs, and what is even better, has stood the test of experience for the last eight years. It has been several times improved since the first Patent was issued, and now claims to be as near perfection as any other article of Agricultural Ma- chinery. The Drill is ALL THAT FARMERS CAN WISH. Try one and you will have no reason to regret it. Drills are delivered on board ihe cars at South Bend, free of charge. Those desiring Drills should apply to our Agents, or write to the Mauu- faoturers in time. Delaying until seeding time may result in being too late for the season. For prices see our Agents, or write to the Manufacturers. JACOB STRAYER Sc CO. ADVERTISEMENTS. For Fort Benton and the Cold Mines ! JTIL " ■ North-West Transportation LINE OF FIRST (JiASS STEAMERS From Sioux City to Fort Benton In coiiuectiou with the Cliicago and Noi'tli-AVesteru Railway, and iormiug a direct, expeditious and cheap line of travel and transportation from the East to the Gold Mines of Montana. The boats of the Company for 1868 consist of the Dkkr Lodce, 1>krtha, North Alauama, Lacon and Fanny Barker, all of which are first class in every respect. For the business of 18G9 five other boats will be added to the line, and all possible facilities will be afforded for the dispatch of the rapidly increasing trade between tlie East and the Mountains. It is the intention of this Company to make four trips for each boat dur- ing each season. Passengers and Shippers will save lUOO miles' river navigation and fif- teen days' time by taking this line. Take the Chicago and North-Western Railway from Chicago to Missouri Valley Junction ; thence the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad to Sioux City, where a boat is always in readiness to receive Freight and Passengers. The boats of this line insure A 1, and at least two per cent, insurance is saved over St. Louis boats. For information and rates apply at the Oftice of the Company, Sioux City, Iowa. C. I>. Woolwortli, Joab Lawrence, Secretary. I'r«'s't N.-W. T. Co. Sum. De Bow, Geu. Ageut. turner's guide to the rocky mountains. JOHN (;. RTRDSP]LL & SONS, Patentees and Manufacturers of BIEDSELL'S COMBINED CLOVER SEPARATOR. Tho above ongraving illustrates om* of tlie oroalest lal>oi -saving uiaciiines of our (lay. Unlike many machines for rubbing out the clover seed after the heads are gathered, this niacliine takes the clover as it is ordinarily cut witli a machine, threshes the liead from tlio straw, and rubs out the seed at one operation, and witli little breaking of straw. Send for circulars. Orders solicited and letters promptly answered. MURRAY, BAKER & WALKER, FOUNDRY & MACHINE SHOP, Nen.!* the Railway Station, FORT WAYNE, INDIANA. All kinds of Machinery made to order and put up. Steam Kngines manufactured with all the most modern improvements and appliances. Special attention jtaid to tlie erection, extension and repairs of Gas Works. Ksti- mates, plans and specifications made for Gas and Hydraulic Works, and con- tracts made for the erection of the same at the very lowest rates. As to Gas Works, reference is made to South Bend, Indiana, Aurora. Illinois, and several other places. Our Mr. Walker, who is thoroughly acquainted with the business, makes Gas engineering and construction a specialty. KZRA XII.LARD, Pres't. ADVERTISEMENTS. i. H. niLLARD, Cafih. A. D. WYHA!!, Att't Caib - iiiii iiriiiiL iiii, Cor. Douglas and Thirteenth Sts., Omaha, Nebraska. CAPITAL, 8100,000 : AUTHOKIZED CAPITAL. $.'>00,000. FINANCIAL AGENT FOR THE UNITED STATES, This liank deala in Government Bonds, Vouchers, Exchange, (Jold Coin, and makes the pur- thase of Bullion and Gold Dust a leading branch of its business. Letters of Credit and Drafts issued on all parts of Europe. The Oldost Established Banking House in Nebraska. ;(i&l@w fe »?) UKALKRS IN &olfl Dust, Coin, Bullion, Foreip anfl Doinestic Exchanp, AND EUROPEAN PASSAGE TICKETS, OlMAHA. ivebi*a.sk:a. jiiif*iif«w I)Kal>:ks; i>r BOOTS & SHOES AT WHOLESALE ONLY, LEATHER AND FINDINGS, BELTING, HOPS, ic, Pioneer Block, 1S2 Farnham, St., OMAHA, NEB. jm-H/ff/tetf pr/ce pa/d for 7/t(les, ^eUn, Wool, Furs, •f-r.'^t* OMAHA: ^: &. f^r'^f «^°" CHICAGO: J; S. Sharp. R. H. WlI.LIS, L. M. ANDRESON. KSTABLISHED WILLIS & ANDRESON, Importers of WINES, BRANDIES AND GINS IN BOND AND FREE; Wliole»«ale dealers iu Ture Bourbon Co., K'y, Copper JDistilled Whisky, SMOKING & CHEWING TOBACCOS, CIGARS & PIPES, soo &: 511 1^^ o xj R mc 1^: N 1" ti S^riiKlCX, Bet. Farnham and Douglas, Omaha, Neb. 10 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. Stationers, Booksellers and News Dealers, 515 Thirteenth St., Omaha, Neb. STEFHENS & WILCOX, Wiiulesale aii«i Ketsiil Dealers in if irLE i Fiiif ill Pi Carpets, Oil Cloths and Matting, NOTIONS, INDIAN GOODS, ROBES AND PURS. We invite the attention, of the Trade. 239 Farnham St., Omaha, Nebraska. I^^IS^KIJS G HOUSE OE A. K. IKTELLZiS, Commercial Block, Cor. of Eighth and Story Streets, MONTANA, BOONE COUNTY, IOWA. J^usinoss Notes Discounted, Notes, Bills and Drafts Collected. Gold and Silver Bought. Jte^ Dealer in Exchange and Government Securities, ^%^ Real Estate and Collection Office, MAGNOLIA, HARRISON CO., IOWA. Lands Bought aii ^fi^eiel, »jsm^4 i ■«> ^z^-rA/^/^r^ TURNERS' GUIDE FROM THE LAKES TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, VIA THE CLEVELAND AND TOLEDO, MICHIGAN SOUTHERN AND NOKTHEKN INDIANA, CHICAGO AND NOllTH-WESTERN, AND UNION PACIFIC KAILROADS; ALSO, FROM MISSOURI VALLEY, VIA THE PACIFIC AND SIOUX CITY RAILROAD, AND THE STEAMBOATS OF THE NORTH-WEST TRANSPORTATION COMPANY ; IISrCIjXJlDIINa^ A. Historical aM Statistical Account of ttic Railroads of the COUNTRY, TOWNS AND CITIES ^L03SrC3- THE I^OXJTE, AND NOTICES OF THE CONNEGTINa ROADS AND ROUTES. /ytrr , v/zti^V^-T^-^ r»UJBLISlIEI> BY T, G. cfe C. E. TURNER, South Bend, Ind. Chicago : SPALDING & LaMONTES, PRINTERS, 138 LAKE 8TREKT. 1868. ^T Entrrcd according to Act of Congress, Bv T. G. c^- C. E. TURNER, II the Clcik's Office of" tl\e District Court of the United Statc^, for the Northern District of Illinois. ' 1 r-q^ PREFACE. in writing a book like the one herewith presented I am aware of the impossibility of pleasing all, or of doing full justice to every section or place which comes under review. At most I can only claim an imperfect accomplishment <»f the work now submitted to just and candid criticism. The labor and annoyance attending a performance like this can only be fiilly appreciated by those who undertake a similar ettbrt, and none but tliose can undei'stand the sincerity of that gratitude which I feel towards the many gentlemen wh<> have voliinteered aid and sympatli3\ The most that I can claim is that I liave faithfully and honestly endeavored to U'ive such facts as shall be of advantage to the general public, and to those individual places to which inv line of travel and remark has bronght me. I take this opportunity to express my thanks to all those generously disposed persons who have given me much needed assistance. T. G. TU^tNEP..^ Simth Bend, Imliiiua, October, 186S. TABLE OF CONTENTS, 1. — Historical Sketch, etc. - - - - - U.—Kailioads : Their History, etc. - - - ■ in.— Mauufactures at the West, - - - - IV.— Capabilities of the West— General View, v.— The Guide— Cleveland to Chicago, VI. '« " Chicago to the Missouri, VII. " " The Missouri to the Mountains, Vlll.— " " The Missouri Valley— Conclusion, PAGE. 17 - 33 50 - 59 65 - 122 197 - 234 NDEX TO ADVERTISEMENTS. Ames, Iowa, Boonesboro", Iowa, - Blairstown, " Belle riaiuc, " Chicago, 111., Clinton, lown, Carroll City, Iowa, Council Blufls, " Cedar Rapids, " rheyenne, Wyoming Tcr., Denison, Iowa, Dunlap, " - Fort Wayne, Ind., Fremont, Neb , Jefferson, Iowa, Lyons, " Logan, " 207 268-9 262 11, 263 258 259 270 279-81 - 260-1 1 1 , 288 - 3, 271 271 8 285-7 3, 269-70 260 - 272-3 Montana, Iowa, - Missouri Valley, Iowa, Marshalltown, " Moiugona, " Magnolia, " Nevada, " Notre Dame, ind., N. W. Transportation Co., Omaha, Neb., Onawa, Iowa, Railroads, - Sioux (Jity, Iowa, State Center, " - South Bend. Ind., Tama City, Iowa, Toledo, " Woodbine, " Pag«. 10, 267-8 274 11, 263-4 269 10, 273-4 11, 266 o 9, 10, 281-5 274-5 249-254 7, 11,275-9 265 5, 6, 8, 255-7 - 252-3 - 262 - 271-2 I. SKETCH OF THE DISCOVERIES AND EARLY EXPLORATIONS OF THE WEST. Only three hundred and seventy-six years liave eLapsed since the discovery of the American continent. Those liave been busy years in the history of men, of progress, and of nations. In those latter days of the fifteenth centnry, the Castihan conrt and their Catholic Majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella, little thonght that by a casual though earnest patronage of the Genoese adventurer, Columbus, they were transferring the empire of the world to an unknown hemisphere. Even Co- lumbus himself did not expect to discover a new continent, and, to the day of his death, never knew, noi* even imagined, that he had given a mundane twin to the then teri'a cognita. His utmost thought and care was to find a westward passage to the Indies, teeming with fabled wealth and splendor. From what a small beginning has tin's great continent of ours sprung ! An inspired beggar, hanging upon the vero-e of courts and praying for help in the ante-rooms of imbecile, proud, liaughty, but rich aristocracy, after years of vexation 18 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. and luimiliation, is at length so far successful that he has at his command three vessels, the largest of which, ninety feet in length, is less than the ordinary fishing smack of to-day, and the other two undecked and unfit to venture beyond European bays and inlets. With these little vessels and an insufficient outfit of men and munitions, the man of destiny boldly pushed his prows into the unknown waters and hastened to duplicate the then know^n world ! So, not by human forecast or design, but by that providence of events sometimes called accident, America w^as discovered ! But in those far-off days, little was gained for humanity by the discovery of a continent. Aside from the pious and pat- riotic zeal of Columbus, the explorers of that period were moved by tlie hope of personal aggrandizement, by greed for gold, and the lust of power. The career of Hernando Cortes is familiar to all. With the characteristic effrontery of a Spanish grandee in reduced cir- cumstances, he tried the ineffectual experiment of reducing the aborigines to slavery, and sacrificed innumerable human lives for gold, failing in the event to get the fortune which he sought. In 1536 he was in California, but soon after died in solitude, in his own country. The history of the Spanish conquests and oppressions has engaged the attention of men of genius and learning. Vol- umes have been written uj^on the theme, and the summation of the whole matter is, unpardonable cruelty, unparalleled perfidy, and unconscionable avarice on the part of the Euro- pean. Magnificence and gilded splendor ruled in European courts ; gold was the key which unlocked the avenues to prominence and power; human life and human happiness were matters to be freely sacrificed by those who sought the turner's guide to the rocky mountains. 19 higlier position of fame, — especially tlie lives and interests of the heathen were considered of little or no account. Thus, though providence seemingly opened the way in America for the higher achievements of enterprise and intel- lect, the low and groveling instincts of what was called Euro- pean civilization were not restrained. Cruelty, perfidy and meanness, refined and intensified, mark the immediate super- aboriginal period of the American continent. Slavery, wasted life and wasted energies, avarice with its innumerable attend- ant vices, sensualities and untold crimes, form the substance of the annals of those days. Columbus, the zealous, the enterprising and the just, and Cortes, the cruel, the malignant, the avaricious and the tyrant, died equally neglected and obscure. They had, however, opened a new world to Anglo-Saxon genius and enterprise. The first European explorer of the valley of the Mississippi was Fernando De Soto, a Spanish officer, born the first year of the sixteenth century. He first saw the mighty river in June, 1541, near the present site of Helena in the state of Arkansas. His explorations, however, were of little account, and, as the coveted gold which lured the Spaniard was not found, the rich bottoms were left in disgust. One hundred and thirty-two years later the Frenchmen, Marquette and Joliet, descended the river nearly to its mouth. In 1682 the great explorer. La Salle, followed the course of the Mississippi to the Gulf, and, in the annexative spirit of the day, took possession of the country in the name of the king of France. In 1703 the settlement of St. Peters was made upon the Yazoo ; in 1718 Is^'ew Orleans was laid out, and ten years afterwards the levees were completed in front of the latter city. It may be remarked that at that time, that is to say one hundred and 20 tukner''s (uiide to the kocky mountains. fifty years ago, the levee system was fully established in the lower part of the state ot' Louisiana. Father Marcjuette was a missionary and a Jesuit. As a man he was honest, consci- entious and reliable ; as a 2)riest, pious and ever zealous ; and as an explorer, enterprising and fearless. Louis" Joliet was also a Jesuit by education, born in Quebec, Canada. He had an excellent reputation for prudence and tact, and his experi- ence among and knowledge of the Indian tribes made him a great favorite in the wilds of the West. He was highly esteemed by his government and well deserved the confidence placed in him. Those whom w^e have mentioned were the most eminent of the early explorers of the country now included in the United States. Theirs, however, w^as but a very general and 2:>artial work. It is true they determined the locality, course and magnitude of many of the larger water courses, and gave to the world a description of the country which had fallen under their vision, not at all distinguished for its minuteness or reli- ability. They seem to have been more intent upon converting the Indian tribes to their peculiar faith, rearing the emblem of their especial religious belief, and seeking those sudden and magnificent fortunes which had been pictured in their imagin- ations, than actuated by an earnest endeavor to confer practi- cal benefits upon the human race. The peculiar adaptation of the country which they traversed for agricultural purposes is nowhere described in their writings ; the prospective location of legitimate marts of trade, traffic and exchange were ai)par- ently overlooked. Nor can this be wondered at. Hundreds of miles inland from the most advanced posts of civilization ; amid savage tribes of nomadic men ; with the commerce of a continent almost entirely undeveloped ; solitary and alone in turner's guide to the rocky mountains. 21 the wilds ; with the rushing waters of those magnificent rivers coming from and going to — they knew not where nor whither ; with the rich valleys and boundless prairies before and all around them, it is not astonishing that they were bewildered at the prospect. They were, at most, only the advanced guard of progress and civilization. They came, they saw, but did not conquer. Possibly in their minds was the dim prophecy of the outcoming future ; but so far removed w^as the full fruition c>f their hopes that confidence was abashed. To-day it would be interesting to know the musings and the dreams of those ad- venturous spirits. We shall never see the record of them. The Pacific Ocean was discovered by Balboa, the Spanish adventurer, from the. summit of the Sierra de Quarecpia, on the Isthmus of Darien, September 29, 1513. It was an occa- sion of much rejoicing and very extensive Spanish glorification. The significance of the discovery w^as not, however, then at all appreciated. It was not even suspected that those placid waters formed the western boundary of two continents. At the beginning of the present century little w^as known of that country now forming the central and western portions of the United States. The larger rivers, as we have seen, had been discovered and j)artially explored, and vague state- ments of impenetrable mountains, flanked to their very base by arid plains and impassable gulfs, were made and believed. The Indian was lord of the soil, and immense herds of buffalo fattened upon the rich grasses. Europeans disturbed neither the wild men nor the wdld beasts. Mountain ranges, spurs and peaks frowned upon the maj)S, and imaginary deserts covered geographical ignorance as with a mantle. In the summer of 1S03, Capt. Merri wether Lewis, accom- panied by his associate, Capt. William Clark, under the 22 TrRNKK's (lUIDE TO THE KoCKY MOUNTAINS. auspiccvs ul' g(.»\'eriimeiit, set out upon an exploring expedition across the continent to tlie Pacific. So slow and tedions was their jonriiey that tlie end of the hrst season fonnd them and their ])arty on the l)ank of the Mississippi, opposite the month of tlie Missonri, where they encamped for the winter. In the s])ring of ISO-l the party was again in motion, and passing, by September, into the conntry of the Sionx Indians, w^ere able to spend their second winter among the Mandans, in latitnde 47° 21' N. Their w^eary and dangerons march began again in A})ril, 1805. Still ascending the Missonri they reached the great falls in Jnne. Dnring the snnimer they explored, to some extent, the head waters of the Missonri, and for twenty- three days of the early antnnni traveled amid the defiles and passes of the monntains. Their progress was freqnently interrnpted by snow, which began to fall on the 16th of September. Eeacliing, at length, the broad plains of the great western slope they embarked in canoes on the left branch of the Colnnibia, and, on the 15th of November, landed at the month of that great river, having traveled more than fonr thousand miles from the confluence of the Mississippi and Missonri rivers. Here they spent the winter and commenced their homeward voyage in March, 1806, by ascending the Columbia, re-crossing the Rocky Mountains, amid great hard- ships and perils, and after making several fatiguing diversions from the main route, they descended the Missouri river, and, after an absence of two years and three months, reached the city of St. Louis. This was the first systennitic and autlior- ized exploration of that interesting region. It required forti- tude, daring and sagacity of the highest order, and involved great labor and untold snfiering. Althongli at the present day the undertaking would be considered of so trifling a char- turner's guide to the rocky mouj^h-ains. 23 acter as to scarcely elicit notice or remark, it was at that early period a matter of national solicitude and of great i3ul)lic ben- efit. The rocky chain had never before, in those latitudes, been penetrated, much less passed by the tread of the white man. The natural barrier between the two great oceans, so long supposed to be entirely insurmountable, had been overcome! The sources of the great Missouri had been sought and found, dashing through the mountain fastnesses and draining while they watered immense plains and prairies. Trans-Atlantic geography had taken a new degree in its development. Vis- ionary topographical theories were dissipated. Important additions were made to the meager geological knowledge of the country. JSTatural history received an accession of important facts, and a spirit of inquiry and enterprise had been aroused which was destined never to slumber again until the two oceans became bound together by the appliances of civiliza- tion, of arts, of sciences and religion. It is not, therefore, astonishing that the news of the safe return of Lewis and Clark with their party was received throughout the country with great delight and much rejoicing, and that they were hailed everywhere as the great explorers of the day. Notwithstanding the brilliant achievements of Lewis and Clark, the interior regions of the continent were of course but little and imperfectly known. The problem of possible transit, it is true, had been solved, but the maps and atlases of the' times were covered all over with "unexplored regions" and impassable deserts. The United States had only an unimpor- tant frontage upon the Pacific ; the JSTorth -Western Territory, comprising the present states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana,' Illinois and Wisconsin, was unsettled and but partially ex- plored ; the Louisiana purchase added new and more access- 24 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. ible fields for enterprise and fortunes, and the boundless wastes bej^ond the great rivers were, by common consent, given over to savage and nomadic life. The missionary, the hunter and the tra})per were almost the only whites who, for years, in- vaded the wildness of those almost unknown regions. In the few years that followed some unimportant explorations were made, when, at length, in 1816, Major Long, of the United States To2>ographical Engineers, commenced his examination of the country from the northern boundary of Texas to Lake Superior and the sources of the Mississippi. During eight years he was employed in this work, and, in that time, trav- ersed more than twenty-six thousand miles of wilderness, prairie and plain, and gave to the world much new and valu- able information in regard to those portions of the national domain. lie made an expedition from Pittsburg to the base of the Eocky Mountains, penetrated the solitary ravines and explored the peaks and canons. One of the highest elevations which he noticed was christened Long's Peak, and by that name it is still known as a landmark of the mountains. The expedition of Colonel Bonneville in the prairies, reach- ing, however, no farther than the base of the mountains, is now of little interest except as the data from which our late countryman, Washington Irving, wrote his interesting work on western life, entitled, " Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U. S. A., in the Kocky Mountains and the Far West." Whether truth or fiction predominates in this work is a ques- tion which the reader of it must determine for himself. Nicollet, the French astronomer and geological explorer, wdio was also the pupil and friend of Laplace, came to the United States in 1833 and immediately commenced an extensive examination of the southern states, and soon after TURNEK S GUIDE TO THE KOCKY MOUNTAINS. 25 entered upon a scientific exj)loration of the sonrces of the Eecl, Arkansas and Missonri rivers. In 1836 ha extended his observations to the head waters of the Mississippi. After- wards he was engaged by the United States Government to revisit the far West and prepare a general report and map. His map was completed bnt his report was cut short by his death which was hastened by exposure. Fremont was his assistant on his last expedition. The name of John Charles Fremont, the great explorer of America, has become evermore associated with the interior of the continent, and will be familiar to the student in geography, topography, geology, and indeed all the physical and natural sciences, so long as the Eocky Mountains stand upon their firm base. Whatever may be, or may have been the merits of General Fremont as a statesman or a military commander, may safely be left to the pen of impartial history to determine and record ; one thing is certain beyond the possibility of suc- cessful contradiction — as an explorer, as an enterprising, energetic, intelligent, fearless discoverer, he stands among his countrymen without a rival or a peer. With the utmost com- placency and safety might he rest his claims to an undying name upon his magnificent achievements in the mountains and upon the plains of the North American continent. Humboldt may have done more for science, but no one has done more for the world. Columbus, it is true, unwittingly discovered our continent and became immortal; Fremont explored what Columbus discovered, and determinately measured its capabilities and its uses ! To say so much is not to enter the realm of flattery nor of eulogy, but to speak those sober truths which the discreet and honest historian will not fail to record. The teeming thousands, who, for more than 4 26 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. twenty years, have swelled the tide of emigration to the Paciiic; the evidences of civil life, dotting the country and extending from ocean to ocean ; the outreaching hands of trade, and commerce, and enterprise, of all sorts, skimming the plains and feeling among the gulches and canons of the golden sierras, for glittering wealth ; the iron track and the speeding train, coursing Avith exceeding velocity across the arid plains, and winding its devious way among the crags and peaks of the mountains ; all these, with their accessories and concomitants, only bear testimony to the transcendent genius of the man who, regardless of labor, of peril or of good or evil report, demonstrated that the Alps of America could be made the highway of the world. The civic w^reath which crowns the brow of the explorer will be fadeless, and the fame which he has achieved will be immortal. Fremont was born in Savannah, in the state of Georgia, fifty-live years ago. At an early age he lost his father, and from his boyhood was the architect of his own fortune. The vicissitudes of his early life are not here important. After various struggles and serious failures, he at length struck upon the course of life for which nature seemed peculiarly to have designed him. In 1837 he accompanied CajDtain Williams, of the United States Army, in a military reconnoissance of the mountainous Clierokee Country, in Georgia, J^orth Carolina and Tennessee. This was accomplished in the depth of win- ter, and amid mountain winds, frosts and snows. It was his first experience of that peculiar and severe kind of cam- l)aigning. In 1842 "Fremont," says one of his biographers, " projected a geographical survey of the entire teri-itory of the United States, from the Missouri Eiver to the Pacific Ocean, the feasiljility of an overland comnmnication between turner's guide to the rocky mountains. 27 the two sides of the continent being a leading idea in his scheme of explorations. lie accordingly aj^plied to the War Department for employment on this service, and having received, at his own snggestion, instructions to explore the Eocky Mountains, and particularly to examine the South Pass, he left Washington, May 2, 1842, and on June 10th be- gan his expedition from a point near the mouth of the Kansas, a few miles beyond the Missouri border, whence he proceeded up the Platte Kiver and its tributaries, through bands of hostile Indians, to the South Pass, which was care- fully examined. He next explored the Wind Eiver Moun- tains, the loftiest peak of which, 13,750 feet above the sea, he ascended, August 15th, accompanied by four of his men. This mountain is now called Fremont's Peak. From the Wind Eiver Mountains, which he left August 18th, Fremont returned to his starting place, by nearly the same route that he had followed in going out. He reached the mouth of the Kansas, October 10, 1842, after an absence of four months. He had encountered much hardship and many perils, and had successfully accomplished all the objects of the expedi- tion. Over the whole course of his extended route, he had made barometrical observations for latitudes and longitudes. The face of the country was noted as fertile or sterile, the practical)ility of routes w^as settled, military positions indi- cated, and large contributions made to geology and botany. His report of the expedition was laid before Congress in the winter of 1842-3. It attracted great attention both at home and abroad. It was praised by Humboldt in his "Aspects of Kature," and the "London Athen^um" pronounced it one of the most perfect productions of its kind. Immediately after the publication of his report, Fremont planned a second 28 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. expedition of a iiiucli more euinpreheusive cluiracter tlian tlie first. lie deterniiiied to extend liis ex])loratious across the continent, and to survey the then unknown region lying between tlie Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. In May, 1843, he commenced his journey with thirty-nine men, and, in pursuance of liis instructions, proceeded up the Kan- sas River far enougli to ascertain its character, and then crossed over to the Phitte, W'hicli lie ascended to its source in the mountains, where the Sweet Water, one of its tributaries, springs from the neighborhood of the South Pass. He reached the Pass on August 8th, w^ent through it, and saw the head w^aters of the Colorado flowing towards the Gulf of Califor- nia. On September 6th, after traveling over seventeen hundred miles, he came in sight of the great Salt Lake, of wdiich no accurate account had ever been given, and of wdiicli very vague and erroneous notions were entertained. His investigations effected very important rectifications in our geographical knowledge of this portion of the continent, and had subsequently a j)owerful influence in promoting the settlement of Utah and of the Pacific states. From the Salt Lake he proceeded to the upper tributaries of the Columbia River, whose valley he descended till on NoveTnber 4th he reached Fort Vancouver, near the mouth of the Columbia. On November 10th he set out on his return to the States. He selected a south-east route, leading from the lower part of the Columbia to the Upper Colorado, through an almost unknown region, crossed by high and rugged mountain chains. He soon encountered deep snows, which impeded his progress and forced him to descend into the great basin, and presently found himself in the depth of winter in a desert, with the prospect before him of death to his whole party trom cold and turner's guide to the rocky mountains. 29 luiiic;er. By astronomical observation lie found that lie was in tlie latitude of tlie Bay of San Francisco, T)ut, between him and the valleys of California, was a range of mountains covered with perpetual snows, which the Indians declared no man could cross, and over which no reward could induce them to attempt to guide him. Fremont boldly undertook the pas- sage without a guide, and accomplished it in forty days, reaching Sutter's Fort on the Sacramento early in March, with his men reduced almost to skeletons, and with only thirty-three out of sixty-seven horses and mules remaining, and those that survived so weak and thin that they could barely walk while led along. He resumed his journey March 24th, and proceeding southward, struck the western base of the Sierra Nevada, crossed that range through a gap, entered the great basin, and again visited the Salt Lake, from which, through the South Pass, he returned to Kansas in July, 1844, after an absence of fourteen months, during the greater part of which he was never out of sight of snow." In the spring of 1845, Fremont set out on his third expe- dition, to explore the great basin and the maritime region of Oregon and California. Examining the head waters of the rivers which rise in the dividing rido-e between the Pacific .and the Mississippi valley, he again visited the great Salt Lake, explored the Sierra Kevada, which chain he crossed again in the dead of winter, and after many perilous adven- tures successfully made his way to the valley of the San Joaquin. For some years political aifairs engrossed his attention, and it was not until the autumn of 1848 that Fre- mont started on his fourth expedition, at his own expense. His route now lay along tlie w^aters of the Pio Grande, among Indians then at war Avith the United States. His 80 TUKNEK'S GUIDE TU THE KUC'KY :MUUNTAL\S. object was t<> find a practiciible passage in this direction to California. Losing his Avay in the great Sierra, lie and his party were subjected to almost intolerable sufferings, and some of them were reduced to the horrors of cannibalism to sus- tain life. He, how^ever, accomplished the object of his search, and found a secure route by which he reached Sacra- mento in the spring of ISttO. His fifth and hist expedition, undertaken on his own account, was. commenced in September, 1853, for the purpose of com- pleting the survey of the route taken on his fourth journey. He found passes through the mountains on the line of 38*^ and 39' north, and reached California in safety, though not without the customary amount of hardship and suffering. For fifty days the party lived on horse flesh, and for days together had no food at alL We have thus taken, a hasty glance at the discoveries and explorations of the most interesting portion of the continent, down to the time w^hen the accession of California to the United States, and the discovery of placers and mines teeming with deposits of the precious metals, set in motion that extra- ordinary emigration wdiich swarmed in the mountains and pressed onward to the Golden Gate. As pioneers Lewis and Clark stand foremost. They demonstrated the possibility of crossing the unexplored and rugged waste and furnished the initial to those who succeeded them. Fremont earned for himself the title of the great "Pathfinder," and seemed almost to have been providentially raised \\\> for the time and the occasion. The Gallic moiety of his nature gave buoyancy, hope and enthusiasm, while his Saxon blood and American education outcropped in indomitable will, d(>gged persever- ance and a determination satisfied by nothing short of success. turner's guide to the rocky mountains. 31 The ideal of Columbus was a passage westward to the spicy groves and golden sands of India. He died when fruition was, seeminglj, almost within his grasp. Fremont, when the proper time arrived, opened the path which Columbus sought in vain. At the approach of Fremont, snow-clad mountains seemed to fade away and become naught ; rocky fastnesses melted into accommodating passes ; yawning canons became practicable and safe highways, and all barriers were proved to be unsubstantial and visionary. The explorations of Fremont, by throwing light upon the physical geograjDhy and topo- graphy of a vast region, evoked that first hajDjDy thought which has culminated in an almost completed railway from ocean to ocean. A jDrouder monument need not be coveted by any one. Had Fremont lived in the fifteenth century he might have been a Columbus; had the great Genoese been of the present century he might have been a Fremont. In the month of February, 18i8, gold was accidentally dis- covered on the property of Col. Sutter, in Caloma County, California. The news spread with great rapidity. Immedi- ately the restless spirit of the East was aroused to extraordinary activity. Men left their farms, their work-shops and their merchandise to go in search of sudden wealth. Ease, comfort, home, friends, all which spring from, and are included in a fair condition of civilization or development were sacrificed without hesitation or re^et. Men cono-reo-ated in masses along the frontier, eager to rush over the plains and plunge into the mountains. All known modes of transit were brought into requisition, and when they were exhausted others were invented. And so, the thousands upon thousands rushed on, taking the roads hitherto marked out by the "Pathfinder," and swelling the grand caravan which was soon 32 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. to set new stars blazing npon tlie American flag — wliicli was to raise a new Anglo-Saxon empire on the Paciflc, and to give civilization and hnmanitj new hopes, and extraordinary facilities for development and expansion. The Great Salt Lake Yalley, but now recently known, l)ecame a point of attraction and of importance. There a singular people, moved by religious zeal and driven by religious persecution, estab- lished, as it were, their New Jerusalem, and began their important part in the wonderful living panorama. The explorer, with his suffering and his science immediately gave way to poj)ular knowledge. The gates were opened and the irrepressible Saxon with lirm tread and defiant look walked through to possess the land. II. RAILROADS: TIIEIE HISTOEY, USES AND VALUE. The history of Eailroads with their appliances, from their first incipiency to the present day, minutely followed, would he hoth curious and instructive. That history, notwithstanding the vast amount of material at hand, has, as yet, never heen fully written. It involves much more than a chronological and statistical account of the progress of construction, and a detail of the various contrivances and inventions now known to locomotion hy rail. It must necessarily enter into the phi- losophy of economics ; discuss the commercial relations of states and nations ; consider the moral and social questions involved, and, generally, elucidate the suhject in its various connections and multifarious bearings. Such a liistury, it is hoped, will, at no far distant day, be written. It is our j)res- ent purpose to give only a brief synopsis of Railroad annals. The collieries of JSTewcastle-upon-Tyne, in England, had the honor of inaugurating the use of rails, nearly two hundred years ago. It was a rude contrivance made " by laying rails of timber exactly straight and parallel ; and bulky carts were made with four rollers fitting those rails, whereby the carriage was made so easy that one horse would draw four or five 34 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. clialdroiis of coal." Many cliaiiges were subsequently made in the construction of tliese tracks, but it was not until 1765 that the principal features of the present Railroad had been established. The bearings w^ere first made of strips of wood, easily removed and replaced, for which straps of iron were subsequently substituted ; and in 1767 cast iron bars were used. These bars were made Rxe feet long, four inches wide, and one and three-quarter inches thick, and were firmly spiked to the lower rail. Tliese were called " tram " roads from a Mr. Outrani, who had much to do with their construc- tion. At an early day the top of the rail was oval and the tire of the wheel was hollowed out so as to fit the convex sur- face of the rail. It Avas not until 1820 that machinery was invented for rolling iron into suitable shape for rails. Up to that time horse power was exclusively used, except that, on inclined planes, gravity was made use of for descending wagons, and ascending trains were sometimes thus drawn up by means of a rope j)assed around a wheel at the summit. Watt first suggested the idea of constructing steam carriages, and directed inventive thought to the locomotive. In 1782, Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, patented a steam wagon, and two years after. Watt secured a patent for a locomotive. In 1812, engines were made with eight driving wheels, for the purpose of securing the required traction, while others were tried with posterior levers w^orking alternately, like the hind legs of a horse. In 1825, the first Railroad in the world was opened for conveying jjassengers. It ran from Stockton to Dai'lington, and was worked with horse }30wer. The year folhjwing, locomotives were successfully introduced in France, in which many of the peculiarities of the Stephenson engine were successfully adopted. In 1829, George Stephenson gave turner's guide to the rocky mountains. 35 to the world a locomotive wliicb ran at an average speed of fourteen miles an hour, with a gross load of seventeen tons, and under favorable circumstances a speed of twenty-eight miles was attained. This was the model on which all steam locomotives have since been built. Thus, it is said, was established a new system of locomotion, vastly exceeding in capacity all others before known, destined to be rapidly ex- tended, and to exert an extraordinary and most beneficial influence upon human affairs. At this time the maximum weight of the iron rail was thirty-three pounds to the yard, and the gauge, which has since become the national gauge of Great Britain, was four feet eight and a half inches. Inclined planes were in frequent use to draw trains up ascents, by means of stationary engines. The more important roads were built with double tracks as a measure of safety. Tlie first Eailroad built in the United States was com- menced in 1826 and completed in the following year. It ran from the granite quarries of Quincy, Massachusetts, a distance of three miles, to the JSTeponset river. It was built on granite sleepers, seven and one-half feet long, laid eight feet apart. The iron was composed of flat bars. The second road was conq^leted in May, 1827, from the coal mines of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, to the Lehigh river, a distance of nine miles. With the turn-outs and branches, this road exceeded thirteen miles in length, and was thought at the time to be a wonderful achievement. The rails were of timber laid on wooden sleepers and " straj^ped " with iron. The Delaware and Hudson Canal Comj^any constructed their road from the coal mines to Honesdale in 1828, and in 1829 imported an engine built by George Stephenson, at his works at JS'ewcas- tle-upon-Tyne, which was the first locomotive seen in Amer- 36 tuknp:r's guide to the kucky mountains. ica. This engine luid four wheels, was furnished with the nmltituhuhir boiler and the exhaust blast. In 1831, four- wheeled trucks for locomotives and long passenger cars were first introduced on the Charleston and Hamburg road in South Carolina. These were designed by Horatio Allen, and with trifling change, his system of double truck running gear, including the application of pedestals to the springs, has con- tinued in use to the present time in this country. The Baltimore and Ohio road was commenced July 1, 1828, and was the first of that great system of roads which now form a net-work over a large portion of the country. In the first eight months of 1831, this road transported over eighty thousand passengers, and about six thousand tons of freight. In October, 1831, the number of passengers daily transported over the Hudson and Mohawk Kailroad between Albany and Schenectady, in the state of New York, was three hundred and eighty-seven, and in 1832, a locomotive with a load of eight tons traveled on the same road at the rate of thirty miles an hour. Good authority states that in 1832, sixty- seven Kailroads were in full or partial operation in Pennsyl- vania alone. From this time forward the roads hi this have exceeded those in any other country. In 1838, the number of miles of Kailroad completed in the United States amounted to 1,843; in 1850 it had reached 8,827 miles, and at the close of 1860 it amounted to over thirty-one thousand. We have no data from which to ascer- tain the aggregate length of the hundreds of roads now in daily use, but it cannot fall much short of fifty thousand. In Illinois, where in 1850 there were but twenty-two miles of Eailroad, there were in 1858 over two thousand two hundred and fifty miles. At this time, twelve trunk and turner's guide to the rocky mountains. 37 twent j-nine branch and extension lines, in all forty-one roads, witli seven thousand and nineteen miles of main track cen- ter at Chicago alone, a large proportion of which is built on Illinois soil. The number of regular passenger trains arriv- ing at and departing from Chicago daily is ninety, and the number of freight trains ninety-six. Tile gross earnings of the main lines leading from Chicago, for nineteen years, coin- mencino; with 1849, show a strand total of over three hundred and forty-five millions of dollars ! The comparative statement of the extent and various con- ditions as to cost and profits of the Eailroads of the principal countries of Europe and the United States, for the years named, is given in the following table from English author- ities : COUNTRIES. Austria Belgium France Germany, exclusive of Austria and Prussia. Great Britain — Eng- land and Wales... Scotland.. Ireland... Holland Prussia Sardinia Spain Switzerland Tuscany United States 1850 1856 1854 1855 1857 1857 1856 1855 1855 -1856 1856 1 1855 > 1) c -o a • o 4> go «ii •e"s O «; x: " !:; ^S a ca c — *J (D :able for more than a thousand miles, while the Cumbei-land and the Tennessee aifoi'd water com- munication between the Gulf and the extreme eastern portion of Kentucky and Tennessee. By the Illinois river steamboats penetrate far towards Lake Michigan, and the topography (►f this region indicates that at some past period the waters of the great lakes flowed down the valley of the Mississippi. Below the mouth of Red i-iver the Mississippi is di^nded among numerous arms or passes which pursue independent courses to the Gulf. The highest of these is on the west side, called the Atchafalaya. Below its point of separation the region is known as the delta ; above this the alhnial plain of the river extends thirty miles above the moutli of the Ohio, where precipitous, rocky baidvs occur. The total length of the plain, from the mouth of the Ohio to the Gulf, is esti- mated at not less than five hundred miles, varying in breadth from thirty to eighty miles. Tlie total area of the alluvial plain is estimated at nearly thirty-two thousand s(juare miles, of which the delta constitutes about fourteen thousand square miles. The northern extremity of the delta is elevated tw<> hundred and seventy-five feet aboNc the surface of the sea. and is there and everywdiere nearly level with h)w watei- in the Mississippi river. This plain has l)een raised up from the sea level by the sedimentary de])osit (►f the i-iver itself. Tlie actual length of the river trom tlie mouth (»f the Ohio to the Gulf is eleven hundred and seventy-eight miles, wliicli (V\>- tance e:kceeds a straight line by about s(»\-en hundred miles. The delta extends tar out into tlie (iulf of Mexico, I'isiug from a few inches to ten feet above the level of the sea, and FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 131 is slowly, but almost imperceptibly, advancing into the gulf, by the shoaling caused by tlie deposition of the sediment brought down the river. This is mostly dispersed by the waves and currents, and carried far out into the gull It can- not be doubted that the Gulf of Mexico is undergoing a pro- cess of sedimentary accretion, which, in the course of time, will appear at the surface, and drive the waters back to the ocean. The great compensating and equalizing laws of nature are at work, and tlie disintegrated masses of the Rocky mountaiTis are beino: transferred, with a rei>:ularit\^ and cer- tainty uuknown except in the mechanism of nature, to the gulf. Every drop of the Missouri ri\'er comes freighted with its wealth of mountain soil t(> aid the innumerable armies of coral insects ever constant at their submarine work of manu- facturing,- a new continent. It is the work of ag-es, to be sure, but it is a work sure to be finished. What has already been accomplished at the Mississippi delta has required, at a fair computation, no less than one hundred thousand years of time ; what is to be done may run thi-ough a million more. In the future all is conjecture, as in the past much is fable. Six days is a remarkably short time to create a universe, when a world is so long in perfecting ; and six thousand years — but science and theology may settle their own dilierences. The average flow of water in the Mississipj^i is variously estimated, l)ut the best authorities make it fully equal to that of the Ganges, which is five hundred and eighty tliousand cubic feet in a second. This immense volume may perhaps be best appreciated from the consideration of the fact that the confluence of the Missouri occasions no perceptible accretion of the water in the main channel. Even where the Missouri, which is half a mile wide, joins its curi-ent to that of the Mis- 132 turner's guide to the rocky MOUNTAI]SfS. sissippi, the river below is narrower than either one above the junction. Of conrse, the deptli is hirgely increased. The uniformity in tlie widtli of the great river is remarkable. At ISTew Orleans it is somewhat less than half a mile wide, and this width is subject to very little vai'iation for a distance of nearly two thousand miles, except that in some of the heiids it swells out to near two miles. The depth is variable, reach- ijiii,- in some places nearly two hundred feet, and maintaining a general maximum of neai'ly one hundred and thirty feet. The velocity of the flow of the water of the river is variously estimated, the best authorities making the mean about two and a quarter miles an hour. The velocity at the surface is said to be about two per cent, less than the velocity bel(>w the sui-face to near the bottom, tliis being occasioned by contact with the atmosphere. The mean rate of descent per mile for the tii-st four hundred miles above the mouth is about two and one-fifth inches. The ordinary current of the Amazon \'aries from one to three and three-quarter miles jjer hour, and it is said that ships and steamers of from one thousand to two thousand tons burthen can safely navigate the waters of that mighty river and its tributaries for a combined distance of ovei" ten thousand miles ! The Mississippi stands second in no respect to but one river in the world, and when viewed in reference to its uses, leaves all others tar behind. As an artery of connnerce and civilization, it has no peei* nor parallel on the globe. The transit from Illinois to Iowa, across the Mississippi river, is made by means of an immense bridge. This work of itself is sufficient to mark the enterprise of the IS'orth-Western Kailway, and is a fair illustration of the energy and sTq)erior engineering ability (»J' the day. Thosu massive spans present FROM ("HIOAGO TO THK MISSOUKI. 133 the bold assurance that no impediments are to retard the onward strides of Anglo-Saxon ingenuity. The '' father of waters " might have depressed the spirits and dampened the ardor of tlie first adventurous immigrants, but presents only an opportunity for the triumph of skill and science. Witli tliu utmost safety and facility the railroad train moves aci'oss, and the traA^eler finds himself on trans-Mississippi ground. Hail Iowa ! It is a curious fact that the Spanish navigated the (xulf of Mexico for two centuries without being aware that tlie secoiul largest river in the world debouched its w^aters into it. The French, after establishing their dominion in Canada, obtained some information about the Mississippi as early as 1660, but did not discover its mouth for several years afterwards. The French had and remained in possession of Louisiana until 1762^, when they ceded it to Spain. In 1800 I^Tapoleon the F'irst induced and consummated a retrocession to France. In 1803 the United States Government bought the vast territory for fifteen millions of dollars. It was a happy purchase, and entirely illustrative of the magnificent aspirations of LTnch^ Sam when he takes it into his head to buy a farm. The country comprehended in this purchase included nor only the [)resent state of Louisiana, but also all the country to the jiortli and west between the Mississippi and the Pacific, except such portions as were then occupied by Spain, and reaching away north to the British possessions. Tlie Ameri- can flag was first raised over this territory at 'New Orleans on the twentieth day of December, 1803. The ])resent state of Iowa is a j)art of the Louisiana pnrcliasi'. 134 TURNER S GUTDK TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. IOWA is one of the interior states of the American Uni6n, and tlio sixteenth one admitted under the Federal Constitution. Its extent is two hundred and eight miles north and south, jiud an average of about three hundred miles east and west. Its area is fifty-live thousand and forty-five square miles. It has tour liundred and sixty square miles less territory than Illi- nois. The following table shows the population of the state from 1840 up to and including 1867 : YEARS. WHITE. COLOBED. TOTAL. 184U 42,924 191,881 188 333 "361 480 271 1,669 •••••• 43,112 192,214 204 775 1850 1851 1852 227,773 325,202 519,148 228,134 325,682 519,414 633,549 674,913 902,040 1854 1856 1859 1860 673,844 1867 Since last year the increase has been very rapid, but is not ascertainable. The state is bounded on two sides by tliose two great navigable rivers, the Mississippi on the east and the Missouri on the west, and has within her borders a large number of inferior water-courses, none of Avhich are practi- cably navigable, but most of them affording abundant aiul Qxcellent hydraulic power. All of the interior streams flo^\' into one or the other of the great boundary rivers, through valleys distinguished for the elements of agricultural richness. The chief of these rivers are the Des Moines, the Cedar, the Iowa, the Wapsipinicon, the Turkey, and the Upper Iowa, all of w^hich run generally parallel witli (^ach other, and fall into the Mississippi. Those flowing into the Missouri are generally short and of small Nolume. Many, as the Chariton, FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 135 Grand, Platte, Kodawav and ]S"islinabotany, pass into Mis- souri, ajid join the Missouri riv^er in that state. Iowa is emphatically a prairie state, devoid of mountains or great inequalities. The surface is generally undulating, rising fre- (piently in gradual and grand swells to summit levels of con- siderable altitude, and forming a country of unrivaled beauty. The southern portion of the state is the most picturesque, al)()unding with grassy lawns and verdant plains, interspersed with groves, and watered by meandering rivulets. Portions of the north part present more bold and striking scenery, the surface is more elevated, and many hill-tops are covered with towering oaks and other forest trees. The mining sections of the north-east part abound in excellent farming land. The prairies of Iowa, however, form the most unique, picturesque and wonderful features of the state. Stretching in every direction, as far as the eye can reach, they are covered, even in their native wildness, with the richest grasses, interspersed with innumerable flowers of rarest hues and wonderful fra- grance. Groves, thickets, and sometimes large tracts of wood- lands variegate and beautify the landscape. Thousands of springs and small streams afford abundance of water, and add to the general loveliness of the scene. Even where the hand of art has not disturbed the repose and beauty of nature a i"ural aspect is discoverable which is quite delightful. The coal measures are regarded as the most permanent sources of mineral wealth in Iowa, although the lead mines in the Galena limestone have attracted considerable attention, and liave, so far, yielded the most important and valuable l)roductions. In the south part of tlie state beds of bitumin- ous coal, of fair rfi(>ns of tlie state, and the indications ])oint to nnlimited stoi'es elsewliere, distributed at convcMiient int('i'\als. Iron niH' is abundant and of good (jnality, and (»tlier minerals are fonnd to some extent. The soil of Iowa is excellent, and ])erha|)s no other state in the Union has so small a projxtrtion of waste gi-oniid. The \allevs of the Ked Cedar. Des Moines, Iowa, east and west Nishnabotany, Boyer, and of many lesser streams, are rinex- ceeded in fertility by any lands in the world. The soil is rich in organic elements, and is noted for the large amount of saline matter which it contains, properly mixed with silicates, the whole atibrding a combination which only belongs to the most productive upland plains. The climate of lowd is nKnU'rate, and in regard to salubrity and general healthiness, the state is classed among the most favored countries of the world. There is little or no stagnant water, the rolling nature of the surface furnishing a natural system of drainage superior to any thing ever accomj)lislied by art. The winters, it is true, are severe, but the springs are early and pleasant, the sunnners equable and hmg. and the autumns lovely beyond comparison. Taken altogether, Iowa is pei-liaj^s capalde of supporting in plenty a larger p(|pulation than any other equal extent of territory in the country. Timber is comparatively scarc^e. Along the river bottoms, howev^er, there is a tine growth of ash, elm, maple and cotton- wood, while in otlicM- localities are found poplar, oah, hickory, walnut, linn and other varieties. In the north some pine is found. '■' Sometimes the woodland extends continuouslv aloiii"' the Mississippi foi- miles ; again it stretches in a wide l>elt far off into the country, marking the course of some tributary FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 137 stream ; and often in vast groves, several miles in extent, stand- ing alone, like islands in the wilderness of a^rass and flowers." Among fruit trees the apple and pear flourish best. Peach trees grow luxuriantly but seldom bear well. Plums, grapes and gooseberries are indigenous. The cereals attain an uncom- mon perfection and potatoes are a favorite staple. The soil is easily cultivated and the products resulting from labor are always satisfactory and sometimes incredible. In 1860 the assessed value of property was as follows : Real Estate, - - - - $149,433,423 Personal Property, - - - 55,733,560 Total, ----- $205,166,983 The true value of real and personal property in 1850 and 1860 was respectively as follows : In 1850, -----$ 23,714,638 In 1860, ----- 247,338,265 showing an increase in ten years of $223,623,627, or the enor- mous increase of about nine hundred and forty-three per cent. The number of acres of improved lands in 1850 was 824,682 and in 1860 it was 3,780,253. The cash value of farms in 1850 was $16,657,567 : in 1860 it was $118,741,405. In 1850 the value of farming implements was $1,172,869 and in 1860 it was $5,190,042. The return of live stock for 1850 and 1860 shows as follows : Horses Asses and Mules Milch Cows Working Oxen Other Cattle Sheep Swine Total 18 1850. 88,536 174.957 754 5,713 45,704 188,546 21,892 56,563 69,025 291,145 149,960 258,228 323,247 991,161 649,118 1S60. 1,966,313 138 TURNER S GUIDE TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. The value of live stock in 1850 was $3,689,275 ; in 1860 it was $21,776,786. The following table gives a comparative statement of the chief productions of agriculture for the years indicated : Wheat bushels, Rye " Indian Corn '* Oats " Irish Potatoes " Barley " Buckwheat " Value of Orchard Products dollars, A'alue of Market Gardens " Value of Home-made Manufactures.. " Value of Animals slaughtered " Butter pounds. Cheese " Hay tons. Wine gallons. 1850, 1860. 1,530,581 8,433,205 19,916 176,055 8,656,799 41,116,994 1,524,345 5,879,653 276,120 2,700,515 25,098 454,116 52,516 216,524 8,434 131,234 8,848 141,149 221,292 314,016 821,164 4,403,462 2,171,188 11,526,002 209,840 901,220 89,055 707,260 420 3,706 Iowa derives its name from the river, so called, and was originally, as before stated, a part of the vast territory included in the Louisiana purchase. The first settlement of white men within the present limits of the state was made by Julien Dubuque, a Canadian Frenchman, in 1788. He obtained a grant of a large tract of land including the present city of Dubuque and the adjacent rich mineral lands. Here he built a fort, mined lead and traded with the Indians until his death, in 1810. In 1834, Iowa was placed under the territorial jurisdiction of Michigan ; and in 1837, Michigan having been admitted as a state, the jurisdiction of Wisconsin was extended over Iowa. Other settlements than already mentioned were not made till 1833, when companies of Americans settled in the vicinity of Burlington and soon afterwards at other points on the Mississippi. It was not until June, 1838, that Iowa was erected into a separate territory, the seat of government being FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOTJKT. 13D at Burliiigton. The territoiy then comprised an immense breadth of country, amounting to 194,603 square miles. In December, 1846, less than twenty-two years ago, Iowa became a state of the Federal Union, and from that time forward has made marvelous strides in the march of enterprise, improve- ment and wealth. It is perhaps doubtful if any other state or country in the world presents equal inducements for settle- ment. Lands are cheap and the area open for selection is very large. The quality of the soil is unsurpassed. The climate is good and water abundant. The facilities for markets, though not yet perfected in all sections, are fast progressing and will soon be admirable. Millions of broad acres await the advent of the intelligent worker. A few hundred dollars and reasonable industry will secure a home and insure perpet- ual independence and plenty. Opportunities almost without number are within the reach of all comers. Mechanics, artisans, laborers of all kinds and classes are wanted and welcomed. Hydraulic power is wasting, lands are lying bar- ren and unproductive, all for the want of human heads and hearts and hands. The wants of Iowa are great, but they are only those which spring from an almost infinite wealth of opportunities. Clinton is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi river, and is a city of fair proportions and flourishing business. The population is estimated at some seven thousand. x\n actual count might reduce or increase this number. Activity, growth, enterprise and energy are apparent in every quarter. The location is level, somewhat monotonous, and, but for the fine water view, would be as uninteresting as any exclusively prairie town. The streets are well laid out, wide and decently improved. The business houses are beyond the average in 140 TURNER^S GUIDE TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. similar places, some blocks being really metropolitan in their appearance. The Toll Block is a splendid structure and would do credit to any city. The private residences indicate a high order of taste and present an exhibition of superior skill. The hotels are very good, especially the Iowa Central House which, in point of comfort and even luxury, is hardly surpassed anywhere. The schools are quite superior and the citizens seem to take a just pride In them. The Chicago & North-Western Railway Company have here a large round- house and extensive workshops. To the account of this rail- road Clinton may credit very much of what she is or is to be. Yet the people hei'^ know, and seem to act upon that knowl- edge, that a river, no matter how long and large, and a railroad however important, well managed and liberal, cannot make successful towns without other and further effort. Hence, prophecies of future greatness, which are not only abundant but evidently sincere, are coupled with such enterprise as, together with natural facilities, give hope of speedy fulfillment. The lumber business is large ; in fact it is doubtful if any other place west of Chicago deals so heavily in this article, so essential to a prairie country. The saw mills of C. Lamb & Son and others are superb in their kind. S. L. Toll & Sou are heavy manufacturers of lumber into doors, blinds and other articles of use, and have a first class establishment. Clinton is not a county seat; it has a tributary country only upon one side, and has no natural advantages superior to many other places upon the river, yet, by that inherent enter- prise which is already manifested, slie will soon become a town of great trade and importance. It is easy to see, how- ever, that the life of the place is in its manufactures, and that, to keep pace with the advances of the times, these have to be FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 141 constantlj increased. The facilities for building are excellent. The best of rock is quarried in the town itself and good brick are cheap. Lumber, of course, is plenty and of the choicest (juality. Real estate, though held at figures not unreasonably low, is in good demand and salable. The population of the town is increasing, and persons of capital can here find plenty of chances for investment. Altogether it may be said that Clinton is an honor to Iowa and that the traveler is here very pleasantly introduced to the trans-Mississippi country. By calling upon Frank H. Woodworth, the inquirer may easily gain truthful and important information in regard to town or country property. Two miles up the river is the beautiful little city of Lyons. An hourly stage runs from Clinton, so that the detention is un- important. Lyons narrowly escaped becoming a great place by the passage of the river by the railroad here. For a time its fate hung trembling in the balance, and finally the decision was against it. The population of the town is about four thousand. It is handsomely located, bordering upon the river and reaching back upon the pleasant hill sides to the west. Beautiful sites for private residences abound. It has a pic- turesque aspect and although away from the railroad may be considered a desirable location. Its business is quite consid- erable and flourishing. The surrounding country is well improved and highly productive ; and the trade which centers here makes Lyons a wheat market of note. There are many attractive residences and the business houses are of a superior order. It has been settled about thirteen years. There are five flouring mills, some of Avliich are of large capacity. The latest improvements in machinery and most desirable inven- tions in milling are here in use. Lyons flour stands high in 142 turner's gtttde to the rocky mountains. all markets, east and west. There are three saw mills of large capacity, with lath machines, &c. Among other manufac- tnring establishments may be mentioned one respectable carriage factory and a stave and l)ari'el concern of large pro- portions. The schools are first class. One graded and two ward schools employ ten teachers and one principal. There are also a seminary nnder the control of the Presbyterian Synod, and a Catholic school. Learning of all kinds is fos- tered and the intelligence of the people stands high. The moral and religions aspect of the city is denoted by eight churches of respectable dimensions. The Catholics are also building a large Cathedral of beautiful design, which will soon be completed. The visitor who looks for much that is desirable will not be disappointed in Lyons. The county of Clinton is very large and very productive. An air of plenty is all -pervading. Wheat, oats, barley, Indian corn and potatoes are staple crops and are raised in large quantities. Grass, of course, is spontaneous and the limit to the hay crop is the ability to make it into hay. The prairie grass is of fine quality, but tame meadows abound. Passing eighteen miles by railroad from the river we reach De Witt, the county seat. This town is very far from the geographical center of the county but is easily reached from all quarters. The population is over two thousand and the trade is consid- erable. Efforts have been made to remove the county seat from De Witt to Clinton, but without success. The object for such a change can only be apparent to interested specula- tors. One feature is observable in all prairie towns of even moderate pretensions, on the railroad. It is this: each one has its store or stores for the sale of agricultural implements and farm machinerv. To be without these accommodations FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 143 would be to abandon all hope of growth or of trade. The wants of the country demand such depots ; the work of open- ing up the splendid farming lands of the West would be very inconvenient, if not quite impossible, without them. As- sortments are generally full from the minutest instrument to wagons, mowers, reapers and threshers of the most approved styles and patterns. De Witt is no exception to the rule in this respect. There are several churches here and good schools ; indeed, a foundation seems to have been laid for a pleasant, healthy and important town. From De Witt to Cedar Eapids is a distance of sixty-two miles, through a prairie country of excellent quality. There are manv fine farms on either side of the railroad, respectably if not highly cultivated. Orchards are frequent, and groves of Cottonwood locust and other trees abound. The usual products of the section, are raised in profusion and an air of ab.mdance is observable in every direction. The farm-houses have a cheer- ful aspect and many barns suggest the probability of garnered plenty. Large herds of fat and sleek cattle tairly revel in the rich herbage. The towns are not important, but each one evidently forms the nucleus of growing wealth and intelli- . fi^ence. ^ WHEATLA2.D has about five hundred people, with stores churches and schools. ' LouDOK rejoices in a population of over three hundred, and, very properly, claims to be a rising town. Olaeencb numbers her seven hundred or more, and eWnces a thrift and enterprise which will soon double the number Ot course the inevitable school-house is prominent, and church edifices are not wanting. Mecha^-icsvii.le rests quietly upon the fertile plain, and. 144 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. with her seven or eight liundred inhabitants, gives promise of reasonable increase and considerable prominence. It is in Cedar County, and iifteen miles from Tipton, the county seat. Mount Yernon has some three hundred souls, and is sur- rounded with a country which will warrant the prophecy of speedy increase. The Chicago & North-Western Railway has called these several places into existence, and made their support possible, and their growth certain. But for this great thoroughfare, these beautiful prairies would, to a great extent, to-day be lying in their primeval solitude, richly laden, it is true, with their native herbage, and with their wealth of flowers wastine: their " sweetness on the desert air." Railroads are great civilizers, and, in truth, are no mean missionaries. Wherever they go, churches and school-houses soon fortify them on either hand, towns and cities spring from naught into prosperous existence, and plenty abounds. IS^o where have these remarks been more amply and successfully verified than along the line of the great North-Western in Iowa. Its con- struction has ultimated in important triumphs of civilization. Cedar Rapids is a fine town of about five thousand inhab- itants, pleasantly located on the Cedar river, two hundred and nineteen miles west of Chicago, in Linn county. The situation is healthy, picturesque, and every way attractive. The level ground bordering upon the river recedes with a grad- ual slope, until it is lost in the high and rolling sections in the rear. The opportunities for drainage are excellent, and build- ing sites are plenty, and susceptible of being wrought, by tlie hand of art, into very beautiful and attractive homes. The soil is dry, rich, and productive. Shade trees and shrubbery gi'ow with remarkable rapidity, and gardens of vegetables and flowers present an aspect of plenty and beauty. The dwel- FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 145 lings are generally of a respectable order, and some are highly attractive, giving evidence of a high order of artistic taste. The business houses are mostly built of brick, and are roomy and substantial. There are four hotels in the place, all comfortable, but none pretentious, seven churches, a graded school, and two fine ward schools. Cedar river is a fine, clear, rapid stream, of large volume, and affords excel- lent facilities for manufacturing. A toll bridge connects the city with the opposite bank, where there is quite a settlement. It would seem that the interests of trade and ag:riculture, of city and country alike, should demand the abolition of this catchpenny bridge concern, and give perfect freedom to travel. The day for such restrictions upon transit has passed. The annoyance to the public should be considered by far to outweigh the miserable pittance, in the shape of tolls, which such corporations are enabled, by some hasty legislative en- actments, to pocket. The bridge itself, from present appear- ances, will soon tumble down, and the corporation had better go with it. Such impediments cannot last. A dam, not of the most substantial character, has been thrown across the river here, and furnishes an abundance of water power. The fall is seven feet, and the amount of water presently furnished gives an average power sufficient to keep in motion seventy-five runs of stones. This power is capable of being greatly increased. The present race is less than four hundred feet in length. There are three water flouring mills, with theii- ten runs of stones, and, near the depot, a new steam mill is nearly ready for operation, with three runs more. Transit to the Chicago market requires only thirty-six hours. The flour made here stands very high in the market. The wheat is almost exclusively of tlie spring varieties, but 146 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. the quality is very superior. The extensive fields in the sur- rounding country, groaning beneath a wonderful burthen of ripening cereals, give good assurance that these mills need never stand still for want of material. There is a paper mill of considerable capacity on the w^est side of the river. Three saw mills, a stave mill, and a plan- ing mill, afford evidence, at least, that timber and lumber are not among the unanswered wants of Cedar Rapids. There are two foundries and three furniture manufactories here. Two w^oolen mills, one driven by water, and the other by steam, are using very successful efforts to relieve the New England manufacturers from heavy losses in furnishing the city and surrounding country with woolen fabrics. The wagon factory of Upton, Chambers & Co. is located here. These gentlemen, with commendable enterprise, have determined to test the question whether the West is obliged to depend for an indispensable article of husbandry on manu- facturers further east, or supply its own wants in this regard. The result, so far, is satisfactory. The " Star Wagon," made at Cedar Rapids, is taking a high position in the market. The factory is perfect in all its appointments, and supplied throughout with the latest improvements and inventions. It is pleasant to know that, although these works have grown already to quite large proportions, the demand tor wagons has far outstripped the capacity to make them, and that large ad- ditions are found to be not only desirable, but indispensable. The general business of the place is considerable, and steadily increasing. One of the most important establish- ments is the agricultural implement and farm machinery depot of Messrs. F. J. Upton & Co. This establishment is widely knowui, and stands second to no similar one west of FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 147 Chicago. During the season now closing they have disposed of over four hundred reapers and mowers, as one item of their sales. Cedar Rapids is an important railroad point. Here is the southern terminus of the Dubuque v^ South-Western road, which runs north-easterly through Marion, the seat of Linn county, Springville, Viola, Anamosa, Langworthy, Monti- cello, Sand Springs and Worthington, to Farley, a distance of fifty-six miles, where it forms a junction with the Iowa Di- N'ision of the Illinois Central Railroad for Dubuque, twenty- tliree miles farther on ; thus affording easy access to the north-eastern portion of the state, and a ready connection with the npper Mississippi and Wisconsin. A road is con- templated, and will undoubtedly be soon built, from Burling- ton, on the Mississippi, through Cedar Rapids, to intersect the Dubuque and Sioux City road at Cedar Falls. It will pass np the valley of the Cedar river, and through a very interest- ing portion of the state, where railroad facilities are now much needed. The country surrounding Cedar Rapids is first class. Well cultivated farms abound, and a general appearance of thrift is observable everywhere. Wheat, corn and grass are the leading staples. Orchards are not infrequent, and seem to give j)romise of good results. There are some unoccupied lands, which can be bought at reasonable prices, and which offer unexceptional inducements for settlement. Crossing Cedar river by a substantial wooden bridge, the train pursues its rapid course over the undulating praii-ie and through Fairfax, JSTorway and Florence, twenty-five miles, to Blairstown, a village of one thousand inhabitants, situ- ated on Prairie creek, a small stream which meanders through 148 turner's guide to the kocky mountains. the town on its way to join the Cedar. The place derives its name from John I. Blair, Esq., a gentleman whose efforts in behalf of railroad interests at the West, especially in Iowa, have given him a wide and well deserved repntation for sagac- ity and successful enterprise. It is in the southern tier of townships in Benton county, and about midway of the county east and west. The county seat is Yinton, about twenty miles north, and near the center of the county. Blairstown is a thriving town, young, it is true, but destined to become an important center of trade, enterprise and refinement. Much good taste is already exhibited in the distribution and construction of both private and public buildings. The roomy and well filled stores, in the business street, indicate a healthy condition of affairs, and point to a substantial population in town and country as the probable consumers. There are three grain elevators here of fair ca- pacity, and a steam flouring mill, "svith two runs of stones. The churches are Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregational and German Evangelical, the first and the last of which have each a church edifice. A fine seminary is in course of erec- tion, at a cost of several thousand dollars, which will be a cherished addition to the town, and give a desirable tone to society. The public schools are of a high order, and are Well attended. Tangeman, Book & Young are heavy dealers in general goods, and purchase all kinds of produce, to accommo- date which latter branch of their business they have a large warehouse and elevator. The "Pennsylvania House" is a very comfortable hotel, well kept by the brothers H. & L. Gund, who also keep a general stage oftice. Blairstown is the nearest point of approach of the Chicago & J^orth-Western and the Chicago, Pock Island & Pacific Pailroads, the distance FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 149 to Marengo, on the latter road, being less than ten miles. A daily stage connects the two towns, and runs north to Yinton and Cedar Falls. The country around Blairstown for many miles is such as the agriculturist or the economist delights to look upon. It^ a portion of that rich body of land, partly prairie and partly bottom, which intervenes between the Cedar and the Iowa rivers. Everything of the vegetable kind which is adapted to the latitude and climate grows with a luxuriance and attains a maturity absolutely surprising. The results of slight and imperfect culture are quite remunerative, but a generous sys- tem of tillage is followed by a prodigous yield of cereal, grass and root crops. The counties of Benton and Iowa are studded all over with splendid farms, and thrift and independ- ence are exhibited at every turn. The ripening harvest fields of July present, as they wave in golden undulations to the breeze, a premonition of plent}^, as well as an aspect of rural beauty, rarely to be met with in the world. The farm-houses and out-buildings are, for so new a country, very superior. Timber and woodlands, though by no means covering a large breadth, are sufficient for the wants of the people. Many fine groves of forest trees have been planted and are growing rapidly. Orchards are thrifty and will soon be in such a condition of maturity as to furnish fruit in profusion. An abundance of unimproved lands is in the market and improved farms can be purchased at prices ranging from twenty to fifty dollars per acre, according to location and the value of build- ins^s. TVater is plenty and good, and no country can boast ol a climate of greater salubrity and health fulness. Such, in brief, is this delightful section, which invites the immigrant to home and plenty. 150 titrnek's guide to tht: rocky mountains. Passing Buckeye station we come speedily to Belle Plaine, on the western border of Benton connty and near the banks of tlie Iowa river. The phice is properly named, for all around the " beautiful plain,- ' covered with its wealth of natural ver- dure, flowers and cultivated crops meets the eye. The town is laid out with taste and good judgment ; the streets are wide, the building lots large, and the slightly rolling surface of the ground aftbi'ds e:5^ellent natural drainage. Water of fine quality is abundant and easily obtained. It is proverbial for its healthfulness as well as desirable for its beauty, thriftiness and promise. The population has already I'eached over fifteen hundred and is gradually increasing witli the wants of trade and tlie demand for mechanical and other industry. As is quite general in these new and growing prairie towns, the people are orderly, intelligent, earnest workers who have come together to better their fortunes, and rear a town distinguished for morality, enterprise and solid wealth. They are not waiting for some special and mysterious act of providence to make them rich, but ai*e intent on helping themselves in such way as to deserve success and thus secure it. The railroad company have made Belle Plaine the end of a Division, and have erected here capacious repair shops and other necessary buildings for their accommodation. The' business of the town is considerable, well conducted and is increasing in a healthy ratio, corresponding to the growth and wants of the surround- ing country. It is already seen and felt that the interests of town and country demand a large increase in manufacturing industry ; hence, mechanics and skilled workers of all kinds are not only desired but most heartily welcomed and liberally encouraged. Without manufactures, it is sensibly and prop- erly argued, no inland town can rise above the level of the FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 151 surrounding country ; and, however remarkable the agricul- tural capabilities of the country, they are necessarily limited, and if they are the only resource, themselves limit in turn the growth of the central town. "With manufactures the town reaches out beyond the natural borders of trade and draws sustenance, wealth and all the elements of increase and im- portance from abroad. The argument is good, and not only applicable to this but many other localities. There are four churches here, all, it is believed, heartily and successfully engaged in e\'angelizing works. The schools answer all edu- cational requirements, being well managed and well taught. Twenty-five miles away in a north-easterly direction, situated on Cedar river, is Yinton, the county seat. The location of Belle Plaine is near the corners of four counties, Wz. : Benton, Tama, Powesheik and Iowa. These counties contain two thousand five hundred and ninety-two square miles, or considerably over a million and a half of acres of land, nearly every acre of which is capable of easy and high cultivation, and from which may be gathered, year after yeai", an immense quantity of agricultural productions. Wheat and Indian corn are the leading staples, though all the cei'eals and root crops grow luxuriantly, and grasses, both native and foreign, have no limit. Markets are accessible from almost every jDoint and good roads run in every di- rection. The country is well watered by rivers, springs and brooklets, while wells may be easily and successfully sunk almost anywhere. The valleys of the Cedar, Iowa and their ti'ibutaries aftbrd abundant timber and Avoodland, in addition to which groves of forest trees are easily raised at little ex- pense. Orchards grow vigorously, and the country will soon be supplied with an excess of domestic fruit. Of course, only 152 turner's auiDE to the rocky mountains. a portion of the trade of these four counties centers at Belle Plaine. Among the important business concerns may be mentioned E. G. Brown, who deals at wholesale and retail in general merchandise, and the large Belle Plaine elevator of Twogood & Co., who also conduct a heavy forwarding and commission trade and deal largely in grain and agricultural implements. Those lopking for cheap and excellent lands for settlement, either improved or unimproved will gather much valuable information by calling on Clark & Tewksbury or Ploward & Johnson at Belle Plaine, two of the best law firms of central Iowa, and heavy dealers as agents in real estate. These lands, of which there is an abundance, sell at prices ranging from twenty to fifty dollars j^er acre. The leading hotel at this place is the Sherman House, where the wayfarer can find a pleasant stopping place with many of the home comforts which he has left behind. It is kept by Wm. D. Oyler, a gentleman who seems to know his business. Chelsea is the next station going westward, passing which we reach Tama City, formerly Toledo station, 270 miles from Chicago and 132 from the Mississippi river. This town is in Tama county, from which it derives its name. It is delight- fully situated on the Iowa river, and has over 1,200 people. The business is quite similar in amount and kind to that of Blairstown and Belle Plaine, as are also the facilities, soil and surroundings. There is a first class graded school, and a school-house is now in course of construction at an expense of $12,000. The church organizations are four in number, viz. : Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal and Christian. The Methodists alone have a church edifice. Wm. P. Browne conducts a large storage, forwarding and commission business, sells agricultural implements, and buys grain and other pro- FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOIJRI. 153 duce. The JSTational Hotel is in every respect "first class." The worthy host, E. J. Brown, understands his business, and is attentive to it. The traveling public will here find accom- modation not excelled in any town west of Chicago. There is also attached a livery stable, perfect in all its appointments. Toledo, two and a half miles north of Tama City, is the county seat of Tama county, and has a population of between ten and twelve hundred. The court house, a brick structure, is a prominent building here. It cost over $20,000. A daily stage runs between here and the depot at Tama City, carrying the mail. The misfortune of Toledo is that it is either too far from or undesirably near the railroad. It still retains its prominence as the county town, but trade gravitates towards the railroad. It is a pleasant, healthy spot, with good schools, several churches, and is still prized as a place of residence and of considerable business. The leading dealers in and agents for the sale of real estate at Toledo are Graham & l^elson and Struble Brothers. Either of these firms possess reliable information, and are worthy of full confidence. Tama county comprises a fine body of land, witli an area of 720 square miles, or over 460,000 acres. Iowa river passes across the southern end, and the whole county is well watered by that river and its tributaries and streams, falling into the Cedar, and running north-easterly. The face of the country is considerably diversified, the prairies frequently swelling into sightly eminences, and stretching away in gentle decli^n- ties to meet the thickly-wooded valleys and meandering streams. Fine springs are not infrequent. The nativ^e flora, interspersed with the verdure of spring-time or early summer, is beautiful beyond description, and forms an important fea- ture in a wide-extending landscape of peculiar picturesqueness. 20 154 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. The farm products are tlie same as those before noticed in other and adjoining counties. Many choice locations are offered to those seeking homes in the West. Orford in Tama county, and Legrand in Marshall cf)unty, are railroad stations of moderate pretensions, passing which, and crossing Timber creek, we come to Marshalltown, the seat of justice for Marshall county. For the purpose of illus- trating this important town and county, we can do no better than make liberal extracts from an able and comprehensive sketch recently given to the public by Mr. Charles Aldrich. The writer goes on to say that "in the year 1862, a pamphlet was published here, with the following imprint : ' Taylor & Barnhart, Publishers ; Chapin & Co., Printers.' It was devoted to a description and history of this county, and its first few paragraphs, containing a concise statement of facts, are as pertinent now as when they were written. We there- fore extract the following, taking j)lecisure in thus giving our worthy predecessors the credit they deserve : "Marshall county is situated in about the center of the state. It is twenty-four miles square, containing 368,640 acres. The Iowa river enters the county near the center of its north boundary, and taking a general southerly course, leaves the county at the center of its eastern boundary. About one-quarter of the county lies on the east and north side of the river, and the balance on the south and west. The Iowa is a fine, rapid stream, of pure, clear water, preserving- its volume well at all seasons of the year, and is at an oi-dinary stage about forty yards wide. ■X- * -)f -X- * -Jf "The south-eastern portion of the county is well watered by the branches of the Skunk river, three or four of which FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 155 rise in the county and flow south ; Clear creek is the most important, and runs through the west j)art of Eden township for about eight miles. "The face of the country is of that peculiarly undulating character incident to prairie countries ; no high hills, no rocky glens or deep valleys. Along the river are some extensive bottom prairies from a mile to two miles broad, which are very level, and some of the lowest in high water are subject to overflow. These bottoms make the best of meadows for the cultivated grasses, and are the natural early pasture o-rounds in their wild state. Grass starts on these bottoms from two to three weeks before it does on the high prairies. The rolling prairie is the prairie proper, and is by far the greatest part of the county. It rises gradually in easy swells ' from fifty to a hundred feet above the bed of the river, and forms fine table-lands intersected by small streams winding through its li\T[ng verdure to the Iowa. The table-land or upland prairie is di*y and rolling, having a deep, rich, alluvial soil, free from stone, and lacking no properties to grow in perfection any product suited to the climate. In its natural state it is covered with fine short grass, and an infinite variety of the floral tribes, from the stately rosin weed down to the bright-eyed, lowly violet. "This county contains 33,000 acres of timber or wood land, mostly on the Iowa river, but small groves are scattered on the smaller streams in almost every part of the county. Tim- ber creek grove is the largest of these detached groves, and contains about five thousand acres of the best timber in the county. The timber is composed of oak, (white, red, burr and jack,) black walnut, butternut, hickory, hackberry, ash, elm, etc. The supply of timber is better than in most counties 156 TURNEK^S GUIDE TO THE KOOKY MOUNTAINS. in the state, and an abundance for the wants of the country for many years to come ; and the settlement of prairie coun- tries always increases the growth of timber by keeping down fires in the groves, and by tlie planting of groves on the prairies. There are doubtless more acres of timber growing to-day than there were ten years ago. Trees grow very rapidly, and the prairie is becoming dotted with locust and Cottonwood groves. * -X- -;<- * -sf * "The principal varieties of timber cultivated thus far are the Cottonwood, white willow, silver (soft) maple and Lombardy poplar. All things considered, it is our opinion that the culti- vation of the maple, from the seed, will give the most satis- factory results. This seed ripens in May or the first of June, and if planted at once and cultivated like corn, the young trees attain an altitude of three or four feet tlie first season. The second season will see many of them eight feet high — which is certainly rapid enough to satisfy any reasonable cul- tivator. A very few years will see such timber fit for rails or raih'oad ties. * -)t vf -K- ^ -Jf "During the past three or four years considerable attention has been paid to grape culture in this and surrounding towns. Already several vineyards have been started, while the farmers are waking up to the ease with which they can supply themselves with this choice fruit, and are planting vines as fast as their means and circumstances will permit. Our dry rolling prairies are well adapted to tlie vine, while the shel- tered nooks along the timbered margins of the streams seem to be its natural habitat. The fact that timber screens can be so easily and so rapidly grown, will obviate all objection to FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 157 the prairies for grape culture. It is a well ascertained fact, that a belt of white ^\dllow, cotton wood or silver maple, planted at the same time the young vines are set out, will afford ample protection to a vineyard as soon as it really needs it. From the impetus which grape culture has received up to this date, and the preparations which many culturists are making for engaging in it extensively, there can be but little doubt that in a few years grapes and wine will be very largely produced in Marshall county. * -Jf * -Sf -x- * " Apples are succeeding with us very finely, many varieties maturing here in greater perfection than we have ever seen them elsewhere. Early cultivators, who brought their trees from far eastern nurseries, failed as a matter of course ; but now, after many have sustained heavy losses, and hammered out an experience which has stood the test of years, there is no doubt that with a proper selection of varieties, success is certain. * * -jf ^^ -x- * "Peaches can only be raised here by burying the trees in winter, or giving them some equally effective protection ; but our county is a very j^aradise for all kinds of small fruits. The strawberry, currant, raspberry, gooseberry, succeed here as well as in any climate in the world, rewarding the cultivator amply for all his care and toil. Fortunes may be made right here, by cultivating almost any of these, for if our mar- ket is ever overstocked, they may be canned or made into wine, for distant markets. "Little or nothing has yet been done in the direction of hop raising in our county, but the facts that the hop is an indigenous production, and that it hardly ever fails to mature, 158 TURNER'S GUIDE TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. fiilly sliow that its culture on a large scale would be very prof- itable. In the absence of poles, a system of trellising has been adopted, which is said to be admirably adapted to the wants of a prairie region. It would richly reward industrious men to look into this subject. * * -:f -}f * 4f " Our soil, while apparently drying rapidly after the melting of deep snows, or heavy falls of rain, yet possesses the quality of retaining moisture in a very remarkable degree. The gently rolling surface also carries off all surplus water. In no other section have we ever observed those two qualities so equally balanced. The consequence of this is, that whether the season be wet or dry, the Marshall county farmer is always sure of a crop. And it is a fact, that during the fifteen to seventeen years since our county first began to be settled, there has been no failure in our crops — a fact that can be stated of but few localities in the country. * * -)f -jf -jf * " The immense population which the opening of our great highway will cause to spring up all along the Rocky moun- tains, will for years to come absorb the surplus products of central Iowa — the garden of the west — and render the labors of the agriculturist successful and remunerative beyond contingency. These facts, coupled with the low price both of farms and unimproved lands, must cause this region to receive constant additions to its population. We are witnessing the results of these adv^antages in the unexampled rapidity with which our county is now growing. * * -X- -X- -x- * "The citizens of Marshalltown have ever been noted for their enterprise in road and bridge building, not always con- FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 159 fining their aid to the highways that lead to their town. Different portions of the county have been the recipients of their bounty, and even the dreaded Skunk, with her quagmire bottoms, has been rendered passable through the contributions of her citizens. * -H- -X- -:v -x- -sf " The educational interests of Marshall county are at least keeping pace with, if not in advance of, her material interests. The youth of the county are amply provided for, and the privileges of a good school are within the reach of all classes in the community. The people of Marshall county believe in schools. Parents throughout the county take an honorable pride in these public institutions, to which, under all circum- stances, they can look as the safe and profitable resort of their children, and where they are trained to those physical, intel- lectual and moral habits, which bless every station, and pre vent poverty, vice and crime. "In the higher departments of learning there are two insti- tutions at present, in successful operation. ^ ^ -jf ^ -jf * " In addition to these seminaries there is, in eacli town, a system of graded schools. * -jf -^ -jf * -K- " As few towns of its size in the West can boast of as large an amount of business — converging, as it does, from a district of country radiating from here in almost every direction for 50 or 60 miles — so, few present more attractive inducements to purchasers. Our dry goods, grocery, agricultural imple- ment, drug, leather, book and stationery, hardware, clothing, and furniture stores are always supplied with heavy stocks in their respective lines, and their annual sales foot up surj)ris- 160 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. inglj heavy amounts. Trade is upon a very healthful basis — there having been but one small failure here during the past three years." This interesting and truthful account of Marshalltown, and the county which it adorns, has been given here with especial satisfaction, because it is generally not only descriptive of the locality to w^hich it immediately refers, but is equally appli- cable to other counties and towns in tlie vicinity, and to the business and interests of a very important section of the state. A more minute and particular account of Marshall county, with graphic descrijDtions and personal reminiscences, may be found in a little volume recently published by Mrs. Nettie Sanford. To give a particular description of the business of Marshalltown, or even a list of the active business men, would occupy too much space. A few must suffice. Boardman & Brown, as a law firm, stand at the very front of their profes- sion in Iowa. They do a large business, and are legal advisers for the Chicago and IN'orth-Western Railway Com- pany. They have also a real estate agency, for the sale and purchase of lands, payment of taxes, &c. Johnson & Hara- don are also lawyers and real estate agents of good repute, and are doing a thri\H[ng business. D. W. Cunningham deals largely in lumber. E. G. Sleight is a storage, forward- ing and commission merchant, and buys grain. E. G. Sleight iSz Co. keep a large agricultural warehouse and seed store. The First National Bank of Marshalltown is located here. The " Williams House," near the depot, is large, and well conducted by Williams & Brother. Bailroad passengers dine at this house. Fourteen miles west of Marshallt(>wn, and in the same FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 1^1 county, is the fine village of State Center. This thriving town is situated on the head waters of Timber creek, and has an exceedingly pleasant location. The view from the west- ward is especially fine. It was founded less than five years ago, and in that time has made a remarkable advance in wealth and imjDortance. Its population is about three hun- dred, and its stores, shops and manufactories give evidence ot present prosperity, and assurance of future progress. A large public school has already been erected, and is furnished with the most modern conveniences. It is in the midst of a very fertile section of country, which brings its wheat, corn and other marketable commodities here for sale, and purchases its supplies from merchant and mechanic. The stores are well filled with stocks of such goods as the country needs, includ- ing, of course, a full assortment of agricultural implements, and a variety of farm machinery. Town and country are healthy as well as pleasant, and in either there is plenty of room for new-comers of enterprise and industry. The re- marks heretofore made in reference to Marshall county apply with great force to the surroundings of this vigorous and hopeful town. It is true that State Center has a powerful competitor in the county seat, but there is room enough, on these fat prairies, for both to grow. 'No addition can be made to either town without benefiting the other nor without being of very positive advantage to the country from which both di'aw life. Leaving State Center we immediately enter the county of Story and passing the small depot town of Colo, reach JS'evada the seat of justice of Story county, a pleasant prairie town of from ten to twelve hundred people. The county was organized in 185-1, and the first house was built in Kevada 21 162 turntsr's guide to the rocky mountains. the same year. Tlie town was doomed to many years of languish ment and to those untoward vicissitudes incident to an inland point without the means of egress to the outside world, when, happily, the railroad now a part and parcel of the great Chicago & USTorth-Western corporation, came, like a special providence, to its relief. The location was excellent, the sur- rounding country beautiful and rich in organic functions almost beyond comparison, hypothetical wealth and import- ance stood out in large proportions and colored with hues deeply tinted a la rose^ yet ingress and egress were slow, ex- pensive and altogether too occasional. Anon the railroad came with its ponderous engines and sweeping trains, almost entirely annihilating distance and overcoming obstructions which had theretofore startled the traveler and retarded immi- gration. The golden moment was known to be at hand. Hope deferred became crystallized in pleasurable fruition. Story county, by this new order of things, experienced a sort of miraculous reconstruction, and l^evada, the county seat, was put in connection with the world of civilization. The town is peculiarly and particularly of the prairie order. The fecund soil will certainly cause grass to grow under the feet of the pedestrian unless his steps are made to the measure of quick music. In this there is no respect paid to persons. The town has fair developments and fair pros2:)ects. Already there are four general stores, three drug stores, all of them very fine and affording the only token that the place and county are not blessed with perennial liealth ; two grocery stores, one variety store, one clothing store, two hardware stores and one leather and harness store. Honorable mention deserves to be made of the fact that this place, like Cedar Rapids, has no sak)on nor any pUice whatevei* where alcoholic FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 163 liquors are publicly sold. There is a union graded school with buildings costing ten thousand dollars, free to all, which is in a very flourishing condition. The churches are Metho- dist, JS'ew School Presbyterian and Cumberland Presbyterian, which latter we confess to be an outshooting of evangelism l)eyond our knowledge or comprehension. Spiritualism has here no specific organization, but has some adherents. The county of Story has not a large population, although it is gradually and surely adding to its numbers. Ten thousand is now the ultimate figure. It contains five hundred and seventy-six square miles or three hundred and sixty-eight thousand six hundred and forty acres of land. The inevitable prairie abounds, rich, black and productive, interspersed at intervals with fine groves of oak, hickory and walnut, with maple and elm along the streams. At least one-fifteenth of the surface is covered with timber. Nearly one-third of the county is waste and wild, ready to be appropriated at mod- erate cost by new-comers. The soil, of sandy loam and vegetable mould, is everywhere deep with a subsoil of clay and gravel. Water is abundantly distributed by the Skunk river, east and west Indian and Squaw creeks and their numerous tributaries. Springs of pure, cold water are often met with. The surface is generally sufi&ciently rolling to afford perfect natural, and in all places to make easy artificial drainage. Some coal deposits have been found in the county, but none have yet been practically developed. There are several quarries of fine building stone. The climate is healthy and pleasant. Unimproved lands sell at from four to ten dol- lars per acre, and improved farms from fifteen to thirty dollars. Timber lands^ range from fifteen to sixty dollars per acre. Ames is in the western portion of Story county on the 164 tfrner's guide to the rooky mountains. Skunk river. The first settlement was made in July, 1865, about which time the railroad was opened to the place. The population is now not far from five hundred. The business of the town is considerable. There are four general stores, one hardware store, two drug stores, three grocery stores and two lumber dealers. Messrs. Evans & Co. deal largely in grain and other produce and sell agricultural implements arid farm machinery. Marshall, Drake & Rainbolt have a real estate and collecting agency, and Mr. Rainbolt is an attorney at law. The town being within two miles of the agricultural college of the state, a special act of the legislature prohibits the sale of wine, beer or any spiritous hquors. As the general law does nearly the same thing the special one may be considered, perhaps, as a work of supererogation. If both laws are not violated, Ames may well claim the " crown of virtue " in Iowa. The liveliest interest is taken in schools and a fine union school-house is nearly comj)leted. Tlie churclies are Methodist Episcopal and the Congregation alist, each having a good house of worship. There are two hotels. Ames is directly north of Des Moines the capital, and very near the geographical center of the state. The Iowa Agricultijral College, an imposing structure, is located on the state farm, about one mile and a half from Ames. The college is in plain view from the railroad. The officers of the institution are as follows : Hon. E. F. Gue, President. Hon. H. M. Thomson, Seci'etarv and Superintendent of Farm. Maj. S. E. Rankin, Treasurer. C. A. Dunham, Architect. The farm contains several hundred acres of excellent land. FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 165 selected witli due reference to geographical position, timber, water and qnalitj of soil. All these conditions are happily blended. The college building is of brick, of ample dimen- sions and constructed with due regard to its prospective uses. It is nearly completed, and will be apj)ropriately opened on the 21st of October, of this year. This is an institution of great importance to the state of Iowa, and cannot be too highly prized by the intelligent yeomanry of that state. It has taxed the time and energies of the best talent to bring it into existence and will, it is hoped, long stand as a monument to the names of its projectors. The college is munificently endowed by an act of Congress appropriating lands for such purposes, as will appear from the following extracts from the second annual report of the trustees : "In July, 1862, Congress appropriated the several loyal states in the Union, for Agricultural Colleges, 30,000 acres of land for each Senator and Representative in Congress. The amount under this grant, to the state of Iowa, was 240,000 acres. Any state accepting this grant is required, by the terms of the grant, to erect the necessary college buildings, without using any of the proceeds of the lands for that pur- pose, within five years from the time of the acce23taiice of the grant. The state of Iowa, at the special session in September, 1862, accepted this grant, with this and other conditions im- posed therein. "Peter Melendy was appointed by the Governor to select the lands embraced in the grant, and in October of the same year entered upon the work. "The following extracts from his report will show how and where the lands were located : " ' It was ascertained that there were about 6,000,000 acres 166 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. of vacant lands remaining in tlie state, two-thirds of which were in the Siuux Citj district, comprising all the counties north of township 85 and west of range 33. It required some days to prepare the necessary maps and plats for reference, and I was ready to commence the examination of lands about the first of IS^ovember. It soon became apparent that the land speculations of a few years since had reached, in various directions, from the settlements along the rivers, and that a large part of the timber had been entered, together with con- siderable portions of the adjacent prairie. Under these cir- cumstances I adopted the policy of selecting good lands only, even if they were so far from timber as to be slightly depre- ciated at present below the minimum of the government price. I considered it expedient also (confirmed by the opinion of several of the college trustees) to select about 50,000 acres within the six mile limits of the land grant rail- roads — the Dubuque and Sioux City and the Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroads. For convenience, these will be designated as railroad lands, and as they are taken at the maximum price it reduces the aggregate to about 200,000 acres. It is believed, however, that by the extension of these roads this class of lands will become quite as remunerative to the college fund as any of the lands selected at the minimum price. In the selections I have kept in view the adaptation of the lands to agricultural purposes, especially for grain- growing and stock-raising ; also, the probable points of mar- ket, when the country becomes settled, and generally their location near the line of roads as well as probable towns ; and in the railroad lands, in most instances, their position in reference to probable stations, or on roads leading through or near them to railroad depots. FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 167 * * -Sf * -Jf * a c 30,000 acres. 85,000 20,000 50,000 6,000 4,000 The quantity in the several land districts, and the quan- tity of raifroad lands, are indicated, nearly, in round numbers, by the following figures : Fort Dodge district railroad lands " " " other lands - Sioux City district railroad lands - " " " other lands - Des Moines " railroad lands " " " other lands - Total, about ------- 195,000 '\ '' ' These figures, like those referring to the lands in some of the counties, will be slightly changed in perfecting the list, by the omission of some tracts selected by the counties, and perhaps by some pre-emptions. The apparent deficit in the total number is made up, nearly, by considering the maxi-. mum-priced railroad lands at twice their actual quantity.' "By a subsequent adjustment of the selections with the gen- eral government, the number of acres embraced in the grant was brought up to 204,309 acres, which amount was certified to the state." None of these lands are as yet sold, but a large proportion has been leased. The land agent says, in his report of December last, that no absolute sales have been made, " the contracts being wholly in form of leases, with a right of pur- chase to the lessee, or his assignee, and consequently no part of the principal has been received, nor is it probable that the purchase-money on many of the leases will be paid until at or near the expiration of the term of lease. " All leases have been so drawn as to terminate on or 168 turner's guide to tme rocky mountains. before the 31st day of December, 18Y5, at which time it is expected that all of the lands will have been disjDOsed of, the principal collected and remitted to the college, and all busi- ness pertaining to the land agency closed up." A few miles further travel brings us to the city of Montana and end of the railroad division. The following description of this important place, and a glance at the county has been furnished by D. L. Smith, Esq. : " Montana is located on the line of the Chicago and North- Western Railway, two miles north and two and one-half miles east of the center of Boone county, Iowa, and two miles north and fifteen miles west of the geographical center of the state. It is 342 miles west of Chicago, 203 west of Clinton, 121 west of Cedar Rapids, 121 east of the Missoui-i river, 40 north of Des Moines, and 40 south of Fort Dodge. "The city was surveyed and platted in March, 1865, by the railroad king of Iowa, John I. Blair, of Blairstown, N. J., President of the Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroad Company, and under the supervision of the efficient Secretary and chief engineer of that company, W. W. Walker, of Cedar Rapids, who advertised that on the 29th of the same month there would be a sale of lots at auction. At that time the nearest railroad point was Nevada, twenty-five miles east, and the land which is now the site of Montana was mostly an unbroken prairie. Many were present at the sale as specta- tors, having little or no faith, while many that came with the intention of purchasing were discouraged, and returned be- lieving the scheme a failure. But through certain promises of Messrs. Blair and Walker, numbers, knowing that what they purposed they performed, were induced to buy, and the sales of that day amounted to twelve thousand dollars. FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 169 " And well have these gentlemen kept their promise, for through their instrumentality Montana is now the terminus of the East and West Iowa Divisions of the Chicago and JSTorth-Western Eailway, which necessitates an immense out- lay of capital at this point for the erection of car and locomo- tive works, round-house, etc. " The Railway Company has erected a round-house contain- ing twenty-nine stalls, furnished with all the modern conven- iences for heating, supplying water, etc. It is built of brick, with iron-girded slate roof, and fire-proof, making it the largest and most complete in the Korth-west. Also, a brick blacksmith shop 40 x 100 feet, a repair shop, supply store, etc. " Among the improvements made by the company last sea- son is a depot building 40 x 200 feet, and two and one-half stories high, with a dining hall sufficiently capacious to accom- modate two hundred and fifty persons, and of which any town might justly be proud. The Railway Company is now pre- paring to erect a machine shop 70 x 200 feet, together with a large car shop, which when completed ^vill form the most extensive railroad works west of the Mississippi. " The first building in Montana was put up in July, 1865, and at present the city contains a population of over three thousand souls. The completion of the works above referred to will require the presence of three hundred additional em- ployees, with their families, making it fair to suppose that the addition to the population from this source alone will reach fifteen hundred in three months. The augmented demand for labor and capital which must be occasioned by this in- crease, together with the rapid development of the agricultural district, lead to the belief that the influx of population from 22 170 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. other sources will fully equal tlie above figures during the next year, making an increase of one hundred per cent. " Sixty thousand messages are received and dispatched from the telegraph office per annum. "Four Express lines diverge from the Montana division office. Two daily lines east over the Chicago & Xorth-Weing but about ten thousand acres in the county. Groves of forest trees are being planted which thrive exceedingly well. Each settler very properly conceives it to be his first duty to protect his prairie residence from the driving storms of winter by a wind-break of timber, and this process is fast diversify- ing the face of the country with beautiful and valuable groves. Lands can now be bought very cheap in Carroll county, but it is easy to foretell that this golden opportunity will not last long. Muscle and money, both of which are setting in this direction, will soon place this among the most desirable and wealthiest portions of Iowa. J. E. Griiflth, Esq., real estate agent and attorney at law ; Elwood & Deal, real estate agents, or Gilley & Wilkinson, bankers and land agents, whose cards appear elsew^here, will at any time give full and satisfactory information in relation to all matters of interest connected with the county. Charles Bofink has for sale, at wholesale or retail, all kinds of bnildinii: or fencinfi^ lumber. FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 183 All the necessaries, conveniences, and most of the luxuries of life are procurable at Carroll city. From Carroll up — up, the rolling prairie, covered with luxuriant and waving verdure, six miles to East Side station, thence onward to Tip Top, the summit level between the two great rivers. The view is grand — magnificent ; rolling, swell- ing in gentle undulations, the face of the country looks as though it had just been crystallized from the surges of " old ocean." N^ow down the Missouri slope ! The change is magical. The streams have changed their direction, and each rip2)le seems to be an echo of "Westward, ho !" Descending, we pass West Side, get a glimpse of the East Boyer, leave Yail behind, and reach Denisox, the beautiful seat of justice of Crawford county, sitting queenlike on an eminence between the East and Main Boyer, near their junction, four hundred and twenty-three miles from Chicago. Denison overlooks a delight- ful valley, through whose leafy groves the Boyer meanders for miles and miles away. The long trains of cars go "march- ing on," under a receding cloud of smoke by day and radiant with fiery coruscations by night, animating the scene, and making prophecy of the "good time coming," when the hills, and dales, and valleys shall be covered by an industrious and happy yeomanry, and plenty will fill the garner, while peace possesses the soul of the recipient of ten thousand bounties ! The town is chiefly settled by immigrants from glorious Kew England, which has sent out her millions of social and in- dustrious missionaries, flanked on the one side by the pulpit, and (in the other by the school-house. That temple of the cliivalry, the saloon with its poisoned shrine, is not here. The population of Denison is not large. It is a new town, and numbers not much over three hundred people. Towns 1.S4 turn>]r's guide to the rocky mountains. must have a beginning. New York once liad less inliabitants than Denison connts to-day. Early Dutch governors, with their quaintly clad but well deported families, in olden times, picked blackberries in Wall street, or gathered hazel-nuts in Broadway ! Many a dreamy urchin of Manhattan has sought his truant cows wdiere now winds the busy mart of Pearl street, and has played l^all in the vacant spaces ai'ound the church- yard of Triiuty. Ihixom damsels, from the household r. It was erected in 1855. There is a neat one story frame school-house, thirty-six by foi'ty-six feet, nicely finished and conveniently seated with FROM CHICAGO TO THE MTSSOTTRT. 189 the most improved seats and desks, for one hundred scholars. The citizens employ the best of teachers. A Miss Hillis, a graduate of Grinnell College, has recently opened a select school for both sexes. Raymond's Hotel is a good place for the stranger to refresh himself, and the hack line of Geo. R. Brainard makes daily and close connection with the cars at Logan. Harrison county is in the fourth tier of counties north from the south line of Iowa, is bounded on the west by the Missouri river, on the north by Monona county, on the east by Craw- ford, and on tlie south by Pottawattamie county, and w^as organized in 1853. The soil on the uplands is of a black porous nature, and is the same for tlie depth of sixty feet, or to water below the surface. It is said that dirt taken out of wells sixty feet deep seems, to produce as well as that on the surface. The total number of acres is estimated at 487,120, of which betw^een 80,000 and 100,000 is timber ; 115,373 acres bottom lands, of which 36,343 acres overflow. The uplands are broken or rolling, but all, or nearly all susceptible of the highest state of cultivation. Improved lands are w^orth from $15 to $30 ])er acre ; unimproved bottom lands, from $10 to $20 ; up- lands, prairie, first class, from $5 to $10 ; second class, from $4 to $7 ; third class, broken, from $2 to $5 ; timber, hard wood in the hills, $20 ; cottonw^ood, from $30 to $50 per acre. There are numerous fine springs of pure water in various portions of the county, and the most beautiful pebbly l)rooks flow from them of the clearest and best of water. There are five flouring mills, four of which i-un by water. They manutacture about 150,000 bushels of grain annually, into flour and meal. There are also thirteen steam and two 190 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. water saw mills, whicli cut about twenty-five million feet of lumber yearly. There is more timber in Harrison county than in any other county on the slope. There is a good deal of hard wood timber in the bluffs. There must be near 100,000 acres 'of timber in the county. There are thi'ee ledges of limestone in the county. One quarry is near the village of Logan. The mill-dam across the Boyer is built out of this stone. Orchards are being set out iu abundance. Apples, pears, (piinces and grapes grow large and nice. Some peaches have been raised. In the bottom lands the finest quality of wild grajjes are found in great abundance. Ten miles from Logan is the new town of Missouri Val- ley, a place of some trade, but at present chiefly important from the fact that here is the junction of the Sioux City & Pacific road with the Chicago ife North-WesteriL The town 'is situated at a point where the Boyer valley is merged with the Missouri bottom, and hence has a c«umtry contiguous of extraordinary worth. It is not too mucli to pi*edict a prosper- ous future for this place. Western enterprise is at work, and will soon be followed by its usual happy results. The firm of McBride & Birchard, wholesale and retail druggists, is among the most reliable. These gentlemen have a branch store at -New Jefferson. P. D. Mickel, Esq., is a lawyer, and is entirely conversant with the landed interest of the town and county. Missouri Valley is frequenth^ confounded with St. Johns. The latter town is on the Boyer, two miles east of the junction. An account of the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad, with its peculiarities, towns and the country through which it runs, is ii-iven at souie leiiii:th, elsewhere in this work. FKr>M CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 191 Winding down the vallej of the Missouri and along in the sliadow of higli bhiffs, in a direction nearly south, for twenty niiles, the widely and favorably known city of Council Bluffs is reached. It is some three or four miles from the river and nestles quietly and romantically at the base of, and among the hills which give name to the place. The Council Bluffs are so called from the tact that, according to Indian tradition, for many ages these hills formed a neutral ground M'here w^arlike tribes met for council and to form treaties (►tfensive and defensive. The exact spot where these meetings were held is not now deiinitely kiiuwn, though Mr. Sarpil, an Indian trader, well acquainted with the language and convers- ant with aboriginal traditions, is of the opinion that the hills in the neighborhood of the city of Council Bluffs mark the localitv. «/ The history of the city of Council Bluffs is chequered by extraordinary vicissitudes. It was first settled by the tugitive Mormons who had then recently been driven from Nauvoo, Illinois, and was known as Kanesville. A post ofiice by this name was instituted, and Ivanes^dlle became a noted fron- tier town. Here 2:atliered the whole Mormon tribe, includini!: dupes, scoundrels and incarnate devils. Joseph Smith, the head impostor, had been assassinated, l^auvoo evacuated, and the peregrinating saints here gathered for the purpose of niakino; a final fiis^ht to the fastnesses of the Rockv mountains. They came not by hundreds but by thousands. Ignorant, de- based, filthy, disgusting, they gathered in herds, like cattle, or sought refuge, warmth and animal comfort in holes and caves, excavated in the earth. Covered with vermin, rotten with disease, and loathsome in every respect, here they rather hybernated than lived until the seething mass of living putrid- 102 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. ity in May, 1848, struck out for tlieir final home in the Salt Lake Valley. The Mormons made some improvements, though none which have not already been wiped out. In 1853, the new town of Council Bluffs was surveyed and laid (►ut. and Kanesville and the Mormons were remitted to obliv- ion and Salt Lake City. When the gold discoveries of Cali- fornia burst upoii the world, and extraordinary innnigration commenced to flow westward, across the plains, Council Bluffs was in the direct road, and soon became the favorite outfitting and starting point. Tims trade, thi-ift and specula- tion were very snddenly inaugurated, and prominence was easily attained. It was the outpost of civilized life. All be- yond to the Golden Gate was a dreary waste of plain or an almost insurmountable barrier of mountains. The inunigrant and the adventiu-ei- rested a day or two at Council Bluffs and then, excited and fevered, crossed the Missouri and plunged into the nnknown beyond, to encounter hardships, dangers or death in the pursuit of sudden wealth. To-day thousands threaded the busy streets of the frontier town ; to-morrow soli- tude awaited the sound of incoming footsteps. Council Bluffs is favorably located, not only in a business view, but as a converging point for numerous railroads seek- ing connection ^dth the great pioneer line to the Pacific. The Union Pacific Railroad starts from the eastern bank of the Missouri, which is the westerii boundary of the city as it is laid out. Hither have already been completed the Chicago & North-Western and the Council Blufis & St. eloseph roads, the former connecting with Chicago, and the latter with St. Louis. The Sioux City & Pacific road, by its connection with the North-Western, at Missouri Yalley, also tends to the same point and gives a close connection with the great packet line FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 193 OH the Upper Missonri, from Sioux City. The Burlington & Missouri River road will soon be completed, and will by its connections form another grand trunk line to Chicago. The Chicaao, Eock Island & Pacific road is nearly constructed to Council Bluffs, and will, before many months, constitute still another i^reat thorouo:hfare from Lake Michio-aii to the Mis- souri. The American Central, to be composed chiefly of eastern roads already built and some contemplated new ones, will, ere long, form a direct through connection with the sea- board. In addition to those alread}' mentioned, other roads and routes are spoken of as likely to be opened before the lapse of many years. In view of this concentration of rail- road interests at this point, preparations have already been commenced for transfer grounds and depots which, when com- pleted, will be far superior to any now known in the country, or in the world. It is expected that here much of the western bound commerce and travel across the continent will concen- trate, and that here, also, the trade of the Indies and of the Pacific coast will be largely distributed. If these anticij)ations are realized, the future of the city is destined to be extremely l)ri]liant. Council Bluffs is very pleasantly located, is handsomely laid out and has '' ample room and verge enough " for the settlement of many thousands of people. The present popu- lation is the subject of various estimates, but is not definitely known ; it is probably, however, over seven thousand. The settled portion of the city is built near and under shelter (^f llic blufi's. It has inan}^ very imposing business blocks and private residences. There are several fine churches and a court-house of large dimensions, and which is substantially built and artistically arranged and decorated. Tlie legitimate 25 194 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. business interests are in a tlonrisliing condition. Quite a large M'liolesale trade centers liere. The want of nianufac- turinff establisliments is already felt and has been to some extent supplied, though a fine field is still open for capital and enterprise, in this branch of industry. There is one national bank and two private banking houses. The schools afford abundant facilities for the education of children and youths and are well conducted. The country on the north, east and west is noted for its excellence, and immigration is fiowiug in with great rapidity. As a whole. Council Bluffs presents many attractions which cannot fail to arrest the attentifMi of those seeking permanent and pleasant homes in the west. Pottawattamie county, of which Council Bluffs is the capi- tal, contains nine jmndred and sixty srpiare miles, or over six liiindred and fourteen thousand acres of land. In point of territorial limits it exceeds any other county in the state. Its superior business advantages are fully equaled by its agricul- tural capabilities. For the most part, the soil is unsurpassed in fertility. In addition to the numerous fine springs and rivulets the county is watered by the Boyer, Willow, Big Pigeon, and the East and West Nishnabotany rivers, and Mosquito, Keg, Silver and otlier creeks. Some of these streams afford valuable water power, and their rich and pic- turesque valleys invite settlers to cheap, healthy and fruitful homes. Perhaps no portion of the state is more desirable. .The following census returns for the years indicated show the variety of fortunes through which this county has passed : 1849 pop. 6,552 1854 pop. e^,060 1863 pop. 4,737 1850 " 7,828 1856 '' 3,498 1865 '' 5,388 1851 " 5,758 1859 '' 5,012 1S67 " 8,733 1852 '' 5,057 I860 '' 4,968 FROM CHICAGO TO THE MISSOURI. 195 In point of population, Pottawattamie county has stood in reference to tlie other counties in the state, at the periods mentioned, as follows : In 1849 it was Sth 1854 it was 33d 1860 it was 4Tth 1850 " 8th 1856 '^ 44th 1863 " 4Tth 1851 " 16th 1859 " 43d 1865 " 50th 1852 " 21st and in 1867 it was the 43d. The foregoing figures, and the facts which they disclose, are not, by any means, to be taken to the detriment of the county to which they refei'. The Mormon ingress and departure account for much of the inequalities of population ; besides, it must be remembered that Council BlutFs has for manv years been the resting place of that ebbing and flowing tide which has kept the plains so lull of outgoing and incoming adventurers. The ti'utli is — and it may as well be stated — that the advantages of Pottawattamie county, Iowa, have not, heretofore, been appreciated. The sparse population indi- cates that the ad\antages of the situation have not been fully understood by those seeking homes and fortunes in the west. Any one may see that lands hei'e, in proportion to their true value, are unaccountably neglected. A few years will disclose the fact that the county is a very desirable locality, and its fifty thousand inhabitants will prove this prophesy coi-rect. Ill relation to other portions of Iowa, bargains are here to l)e met with of extraordinary value to incomers. Pott- awattamie county, unshorn of its present dimensions, must soon be the most important of Iowa's fruitful sections. Cass county is immediately east, and when the railroads, now in course of construction, are completed, will find a sure and never-failiim- market at (council Blufis. All that has or 196 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. can be said commendatory of Pottawattamie is true of Cass. The remarks in relation to tlie celebrated Nishnabotany val- leys apply with fnll force to those productive lands which stretch across, in a diagonal direction, the county of Cass. In fact, for an hundred miles in all directions, except to the west, a splendid but partially developed country, is ready tu become tributary to Council Blufl's, which is really the start- ing point to the gold bearing mountains and the great Pacific slope. It may here be profitably remarked that j^osition does not make cities, and that those who quietly await a special interposition of providence to make them rich are usually disappointed. At Council Bluffs the inquirer may gain much useful information of J. M. Palmer, Bloomer & Edmonson, and N. P. Dodge. Dr. 8. M. Ballard, an old resident of Iowa, is capable of giving good counsel, he having surveyed the greater portion of Western Iowa, and of consequence, being acquainted with almost every section of land there. These o^entlemen can all be found at Council Bluffs. VII. FROM THE MISSOUEI RIYER TO THE MOUNTAINS. Tlie Missouri is one of the luugest, in some respects the most valuiible, and in other regards the most worthless, ul' American rivers. It is navigable from its continence with the Mississippi, near St. Louis, northward, over three thou- sand miles, to Fort Benton. It is distinguished for its tortu- ous windino-s, its shiftins: channels and its treacherous sands. Its current is generally rapid and deep, with frequent and dauii-erous shoals. The water at all stashes is freio-hted with mountain soils and dissoh'ed alluvion to such an extent as to give it a constantly turbid appearance. Hence, the popular nanie of '' Old Muddy," generally applied to it by frontier 2)eople and river men ; and the Indian name which signifies " Mud River." Navigation usually commences on the Mis- souri in April and continues until December. The mountain rise or freshet, occasioned by the melting of snow near tlie head waters, occurs in June or July. At this time the banks are full, the current rapid, and large areas of low bottoms are overflowed. Navigation at such times is almost entirely ex- perimental and attended with great risk. The channel of to-day may be a sand-bar to-niorrow, and the skill of the most 198 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. experienced pilot is merged in nncertainty and conjecture. As the season advances the water subsides, until only boats of very light draft can pick their way through the shoals and follow the thread-like channels. With the fiill rains conies a larger river, when navigation is easy, safe and profitable. At its mc^uth the Missouri is over half a mile wide, and in many places it is much wider. The area which this river drains is estimated at 519,400 square miles. About four hundred miles from its S()Uj*ce it passes through a narrow gorge denominated the "Gates oK tlio Rocky Mountains/' These " gates '' are nearly six miles in length, and the per- pendicular walls of rock, which rise directly from the water to the extraordinary liight of tweh'e hundred feet, are only ioiii- hundred and fifty feet apai-t. For tliree miles oidy one spot is presented where a fuothokl can be obtained between the rocks and the water. The o-i-eat falls are about one hundred and forty-five miles below the "gates." They are the grandest on the North American continent, except Niagara, and consist of four cataracts, respectively of nineteen, twenty -six, Ibrty- seven, and eighty-seven feet pei"[»endicular descent, sepai-ated by rapids. The whole fall, in a little o\er sixteen miles, is three hundred and fifty-seven feet. The Missouri loses its name at its confluence with the Mississippi. This, howevei', is an arbitrary and unjnst appli- cation of geographical nomenclature. Where the two rivers meet the Missouri is much the lai'gest, and, by right of })re- eininence, is entitled to the nanie. The vantage-ground caiTied by usurpation is seldom reclaimed, and henceforward the Missouri, for all time, must flow tn the Gulf as a tributary of her nn'nor sister, the Mississippi. From lt>wa, the river is now crossed by feri'y boats. The FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 199 accommodation is ample and little delay is occasioned. A great bridge is to be l)uilt. The contract lor this is already let by the Union Pacific Kailroad. When completed, the structure will be, by all means, the most perfect, the most substantial, and probably the most expensive of any bride^e in America. The shifting sands of the river render it vain to predicate to-day where the channel will be to-morrow. Hence, it is useless to build a draw for the accommodation of ship- ping. A high bridge is, therefore, to be constructed, with a sutHcient elevation to permit the largest steamers to pass, even at the highest stages of the water. The utmost attention has l)een paid to this gigantic work, and engineering skill of the highest order has been evoked. The (piestions of importance to be solved w^ere railroad utility, safety, permanency, and non-ol^struction to the navigation of the river. Tlie conclu- sions arrived at have been crystallized into the following plan : The approach from the east side is seventeen hundred feet, by means of trestle work, from one foot to fifty feet in bight. From the west side the approach is about eight hundred feet. The main bridge is to be composed of ten spans of two hundred and fifty feet each, or twenty-five hundred feet in all. The elevation above high water is sixty feet. Each span is to l)e supported at either end by pneumatic spiles of iron, eight feet six inches in diameter, in sections half an inch thick. The spiles are to go down to and rest on the bed rock, and vary in U'ngth from sixteen to seventy feet. The eastern end is to i-eacli lar up the bottom of the Missouri towards Council Hlnfis, where the transfer grounds are to be situated, and where trains will be made up for the Pacific coast, and where distri- Initions will be made of the great occidental trade for the Atlantic cities and Europe. The western terminus of the 200 turner's guide to the rockv mountains. hridge will be on a beautiful plateau of* land, in Onialia, called '' Train's Table/' On this table a niagniiicent depot is to be erected, surpassing in extent and convenience anything of the kind hitherto undertaken. Here, upon the banks of the Missouri, which but a few years ago were supposed to be tlie eastern boundary of an almost impassable desert country, the wealth of the Indies will meet the flowing riches of the Orient, and the commerce of the uttermost parts of the earth will tind exchange. Welded into one, the cities of Omaha and Coun- cil Bbitt's will become a mart of traffic such as the world has seldom seen. What a change from the time when the Indian warwhoop awakened the slumbering echoes of these valleys and plains ! The Missouri ri\ er is likely to l)ecome the base of o})era- tions of the several railroads which w^ill e\'entually cross the continent, and somewhere in or near its valley, the njitional capital will undoubtedly l)e finally established. The political center of the land is fast tending in this direction, and sooner or later, the West will demand that recognition to which her political and material potency will justly entitle her. That little malarious patch of ground on the Potomac, to which patriots and politicians are annually banished, will be allowed to revert to its original solitude, and a live city in the great West will be built which, while it dues honor to the name of Columbus or Washington, shall, like Rome, be the seat of Empire for the World! Out from this throbbing heart shall run a thousand arteries of ti-ade, and hither shall converge those sensitive political nerves which ramify every part and parcel of the most free and highly developed country in the world. Transfer of passengers from the east to the west side of FROM THE MISSOUET KIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 201 tl»e Missouri is now made by means of omnibuses. The delay is not great, but the annoyance is sometimes consider- able. Once across, with his feet planted upon the soil of Ne- braska, the traveler begins to realize that, if not in, he at least approaches the great West. The two great rivers of l^orth America are between him and the lakes. New York is more than thirteen and Chicago five hundred miles behind ; in front stretch the forestless plains to where, ^ve hundred miles away, rise the Kocky mountains in massive grandem-. Westward, e\'idences of civilized life are imj)erfect and inter- mittent to where the golden sands of California are washed by the placid waters of the Pacific. Nebraska is a new state, her advent into the Union dating no further back than 1866 ; yet the virgin soil within her wide borders, the mineral wealth which underlies a good por- tion of her surface, her central position and natural advan- tages for trade and manufactures, most persuasively invite immigrants to prosperous settlement and independent homes. The state has a frontage on the Missouri of more than three hundred miles, and is thus connected with the great system of navigable rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. Her inland and non-navigable streams are numerous, including the Platte, the Elkhorn, the Loupe, and many others, which drain and water the state, and add to her other agricultural resources their extensive and fertile bottoms. The settled portions of the state have already demonstrated that, in point of gen- eral productiveness, Nebraska is entitled to a high rank among her sisters, and that, ere long, a large population will draw support frum her broad acres. It is true that much of the western half of the state may require artificial irrigation to some extent, but the water can be easily obtained, and the 26 202 turner's guide to tjie rocky mountains. expense will be light. Ko part is deficient in those rich grasses, which retain much of their verdure and all their juices through the inclement seasons of the year, and give to the prairie and plain the appearance of immense law^ns or parks. These grasses are highly prized by the experienced graziers, and must ever be a source of wealth to the state. Excellent Indian corn is raised with little cultivation, and wheat of a very superior quality grows luxuriantly. Indeed, this latter cereal has already taken a position in the market, unsurpassed if not unequaled by the wheat of any other state in the west. Timber is scarce, away from the river and creek bottoms ; it is, however, easily cultivated, and the increasing facilities for transportation will soon aiford abund- ant supplies from abroad at reasonable expense. The under- lying beds of coal, when developed, will furnish cheap fuel at accessible points for all domestic and manufacturing pur- poses, and for an indefinite period. The climate of the state is healthy, and in many parts of the year quite delighttul. Malarious diseases are little known, and ailments of the lungs, so fatal in many other places, are infrequent here. Millions of acres of good lands, in desirable locations, can still be entered at government prices, and comfortable homesteads be secured for almost nothing. The political institutions of JS^ebraska are fully equal, and in many respects superior, to those of any of the older states. Much interest is taken in the cause of popular instruction, and an excellent system of common schools will \erj soon secure to all the benefits of a good education. In 18f)(> the total population was 28,841, since which time no enumeration has been taken. For the last four or five years the infiux of immigration has been very great. It is safe to say that, within the past year, half a mil- FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 203 lion acres of virgin soil have been broken by the plows of the settlers. These incoming sons of toil — these creators of wealth — even now, and soon to a much greater extent, will require all the necessaries and even luxuries known to civil- ized man. That thrift which ever follows labor, directed by intelligence, will insure that independence which forms the basis of cultivated communities. Hence, towns and cities will spring up recpiiring all kinds of mechanical skill and industry, and creating marts for trade and traffic which will concentrate capital and facilitate exchanges. Thus, oppor- tunities will be offered to all manner of enterprise, and a thousand avenues to usefulness and fortune will be opened. This neophyte state will be resonant with the hum of human industry, in all its modifications and departments, while peace, prosperity and plenty shall reign supreme. The United States Land offices are at Brownsville, Ne- braska City, Omaha and Dakota. The following are the state officers of N'ebraska : Governor, - - - David Butler. Secretary of State, - Thomas P. Kennard. Auditor of State, - - John Grillespie. Treasurer, - - - Augustus Kountze. Attorney for the State, - Champion S. Chase. That this new state has just entered upon a bright and glorious future there can be no doubt. N'ow the geographi- cal, she will soon be the political center of the republic ; rich in resources, and almost ecpii-distant from the two great oceans, she must, by force of inevitable laws, become the cen- ter of important commercial interests, with a naturally rich and entirely unexhausted soil, the gentle urgings of free labor will gather from her fecund bosom nourishment for the in- 204: turner's guide to the rocky mountains. coming millions, while skilled labor will fashion wonderful productions in a thousand ways, for innumerable uses. Omaha is the chief citv of Nebraska. It is the capital of Douglas county, the very name of which is suggestive of the great statesman, whose genius brought the territory, and finally the state into political being. ISTo locality can present a more beautiful site for a town or large city. The front upon the Missouri is extensive, and back, the land is high, rolling, and very beautiful. The old state-house, situated c»n the lieight of ground, is a notable landmark, and can be seen for miles away. The streets are wide, airy, and with a gentle declivity towards the river, aiford excellent means of drain- age. The soil is not of the best, in its natural state, but it aifords a fine foundation for the usual and indispensable im- provements of a city. The main portion of the town is on a commanding hight, fully forty feet above the Missouri. The water obtained from wells is of excellent quality, it not only being pleasant to the taste, but quite healthy. The population of Omaha is variously estimated. By some it is put as low as twelve thousand, wdiile others, quite as well informed but more sanguine, declare eighteen thousand to be the inside limit. The happy mean might perhaps present the true figures. The city is truly metropolitan in appearance and, with an impudence peculiar to the West, the people al- ready claim for their town the position and the name of the " young Chicago." Business is not concentrated upon one nor a few central streets, but occupies many, reaching in some directions to the suburbs and following the thoroughfares to the utmost limits. In the more central portions large blocks have been erected for the accommodation of trade which, in FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 205 internal arrangement and architectural apjDearance, would grace any city in the land. The trade is by no means confined to the limited wants of the city and immediate country, hut roaches out across the plains and into the treasure-hearing mountains. The main portion of its traffic is done at whole- sale. Stores and warehouses are crowded with immense stocks of all varieties of merchandise, where inland dealers can l)e supplied at a great saving of time, expense and risk over eastern markets. But enterprise has not exhausted itself in mercantile pursuits. The manufacturing interests have a growth and development truly astonishing for so young a place. In fact, nearly all bi'anches of industry commonly prosecuted in American cities have here their representatives, and, although limited and insufficient, they are prosperous and productive. The legal and prospective terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad, it is true, is on the east bank of the Missouri, but practically, so far, it has been and for some time to come must be at Omaha. This, together with the work shops of the great corporation established there, has given a very extraordinary stimulus to the city. In some re- spects business may have been overdone, and excessive prices may have been asked and paid for unproductive property, but the general effect has been salutary and trade, industry and prices have recently settled down to legitimate channels and determinate standards. The demands of industry and enter- prise have been answered by a remarkable influx of capital, so that it is doubtful if any place of its size in the West, sur- 2)asses Omaha in that material aid so essential to prosperous development. There are thr^^ National and several private banks here. Tlie amount of deposits in two of the National 206 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. banks, as shown by recent reports, is extraordinary. In April last these deposits were as follows : First N"ational Bank, - - - $1,719,974 45 Omaha National Bank, - - - 897,144 46 The third National institntion has recently been established. Messrs. Caldwell, Hamilton & Co., one of the oldest banking- houses in the state, do a heavy business and stand high in linancial circles. The figures which we have given from otH- cial sources seem to indicate that the progress of Omaha is not of an ephemeral sort, but that it rests on a substantial basis, which nothing at present seen can shake or imd ermine. Omaha has recently become the headquarters and base of supplies for the department of the Platte. Large and expen- sive barracks and buildings are now in course of coustruction for the accommodation of the service. This fact of itself gives the city a desirable prominence and adds greatly to its prospects of growth. While Nebraska was a territory, the capital was at Omaha, and a State-House of imposing appearance Avas erected on Capitol Hill. Recently, the capital of the state has been re- moved to Lincoln, an inland town some fifty miles to the south-west. A railroad will soon connect the two places. The state offices still remain at Omaha, where also the Fed- eral courts are held. The public buildings are unimportant. There is a good court-house and several creditable churches are already built and in course of construction. An effort has been made during the past summer to supply the city with gas, but the works are not completed. The hotels are numer- ous, generally well kept, and ^ome of them are imposing without and luxurious within. Many of the private residences are monuments of good taste, and indicate the ample means FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE :\IOLTNTAINS. 207 and high culture of their possessors, while a few rise to the dignity of palatial mansions of the first class. Of these the most noticeable is the estate of Augustus Kountze, Esq., called Linden Hill. This suburban villa, with its surroundings, tliough lacking the maturity wdiich age and culture will im- part, is certainly a very delightful S230t. The house stands upon an eminence far above the valley and the adjacent city. From this lofty position, the view is lovely beyond description. A panorama is presented, including Omaha, the city of Coun- cil Bluffs, the broad bottoms, covered with verdure and stretching far away, until they are lost in the hazy distance, and the Missouri river, whose silver-threaded channel is in view for more than fifteen miles, as it winds its way towards the Gulf. The distant hum of the busy city, the gliding steamers upon the river and the incoming and outgoing trains upon the railroads, lend unusual animation to the scene. Nature and art are blended into a harmonious whole which captivates the senses and delights the enlightened taste. The architect and the gardener seem to have caught ins2-)iration from the scene, and to have modeled their creations with a N'iew rather to illustrate than to beautify nature. Hence the chaste and subdued style of the mansion and its out-buildings ; and hence the care which has been taken to preserve those towering forest trees, those shrubs and native flowers wliicli crown the situation. Picturesque as one of those noble old for- tresses, reared by feudal hands upon the banks of the Rhine ; lo\ely and romantic as are those seats of elegance and ease, wliich nestle in tlie nooks and peep out from the verdure-cov- ered hill-sides along the Hudson, Linden Hill is crystallized into a place of such exquisite beauty that it must be a joy forever. 208 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. The early liistoiy of Omaha presents but a reproduction of the inflations, speculations, disasters and discouragements which most of the cities of the West have experienced. Brought before its time into this breathing Avorld, its growth was forced by unnatural stimulants until its constitution gave way and a general collapse ensued. The commencement of the Pacific Kailroad, the opening of new avenues of approach from the eastward, and the gradual settlement of the adjacent country, imparted new life and vigor, gave present importance and glimpses of prospective greatness to the young city. Her present only is assured ; her future is to be wrought out by a proper use of those advantages which surround her, and which enlightened enterprise may readily control. The county of Douglas fronts on the Missouri, and is bounded on the west by the Platte. The county is not large and, until within a few years, has had a bad reputation tor pro- ductiveness. It is now ascertained that its lands, though per- haps not as fertile as some of the richest portions of the West, yield abundant crops, and that few sections are more desirable for agricultural purposes. The surface is generally rolling, without being broken, and its many beautiful and healthy locations for building renders it a favorite place for a desirable class of settlers. "V^heat, corn and j^otatoes are successfully raised, and the size and quality of garden vegetables supplied to Omaha, indicate a soil well adapted to horticultural hus- bandry. Fruit-raising is as yet an experiment about which little can be predicated with certainty ; it is dilHcult, however, to discover any reason why apples, pears, grapes, and the smaller fruits may not be profitably cultivated. The popula- tion of the county was in 1860 only 4,328 ; at present it must considerably exceed twenty thousand. There is now a good FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 209 opportunity for selecting desirable farms here, at a low price, which, in a few years, will be very valuable. Quite recently the traveler, after immense labor and prepa- ration, regretfully cast a last, lingering look upon the Missouri and the bluffs beyond, and turned his footsteps toward the plains and the mountains to the westward. Plunging into the \'ast unknown, with all communication with the civilized world completely closed, he pursued his weary journey for weeks, sometimes for months, as little knowing the events of the busy world as though ejected from his native planet. It is so no longer. Luxuriously reclining in a palace car, he is now car- ried, at great speed, over one of the best railroads in the world, across river, plain and mountain. A thousand miles from Chicago, he takes his " ease in his inn,'- and, while he daintily sips his mocha or his wine, reads the news of the world, not an hour old ! A week takes the hasty tourist to the moun- tains and Returns him, refreshed and recuperated by vitaKzing breezes, to the busy moil of the lake borders. Soon, less time will give him a view of the Golden Gate and the placid waters of the Pacific. The depot and adjacent grounds at Omaha present a busy scene. The workshops of the Union Pacific Railroad send forth their smoke, and noise, and bustle, while a thousand artisans and other workers assert the dignity of their man- liood and the nobility of free labor by the concurrent exercise of muscle and brains. There are no drones here. How can there be when locomotives, cars and all kinds of machinery are to be built, and ten thousand men are waiting, a thousand miles away for material and supplies with which to construct the great railroad of the age ? The scene is a novelty, indeed, it is wonderful. Immigrants, tourists and adventurers, 27 210 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. mingle in the hixurioiis cars and are alike eager for the new fortunes and scenes which await them. The train moves out and on, not to large cities and towns, and the favorite haunts of men, but away from them. It glides along the valley, winds through ravines and mounts the hills until, in four miles, the Omaha summit is gained two hundred and twenty-three feet above the Missouri. Through a line country the train speeds on, passing Pappillion (pronounced Papeo), twenty-nine miles, to Elkhorn. Shortly, Elkhorn river is crossed. To the left a belt of timber marks the course of the Platte, and on the other hand the channel of the Elkhorn presents a similar indication. Near Yalley station the clear, rapid waters of the Platte appear. Thus far the country is rolling, but natm-ally fertile. The road now strikes into the valley of the Platte, denominated by some the garden spot of America. This famous bottom, hundreds of miles in length, ranges from eight to fifteen miles in width, while the soil, com- posed of a dark, vegetable mould, is from three to ten feet in depth, and virtually inexhaustible. Forty-six and a half miles from Omaha is the town of Fremont, in Dodge county. Of the original inland " paper towns " of Nebraska, this is the only one which was not called a city, and it is larger now than all the others put together. Fremont was laid out in August, 1856, by a company of actual settlers, Avho immediately and in earnest commenced substantial improvements. The bright hojDes of the pioneers were however, not speedily realized, for the financial crash of the following year drove many back to the East, and effectu- ally crippled the enterprise of those who remained. The discovery of gold mines in Colorado, at or near Pike's Peak, induced a flood of immigration in 1858 and the following FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 211 year, and re-instated the prosperity of the infant town. From that time onward, Fremont has had a steady and healthy growth, until the population nmnbers over fifteen hundred. During the past year, more than two hundred buildings have been erected, some of which are quite ornamental as well as useful to the town. The new hotel, built by Mr. W. H. lluftalen, and now just ready for occupancy, is probably the best public house between Omaha and California, and would be a credit to almost any place. Business of all kinds is very prosperous and is gradually increasing. Something of its extent mav be slathered from the fact that there are now there, seven hotels and boarding houses, one banking house, six dry goods and grocery stores, three exclusively hardware stores, two boot and shoe stores, one tobacco store, two drug stores, three fruit and notion stores, three grocery stores, two millin- ery stores, one furniture store and a fair representiation of mechanical industries. There are also two lumber yards, two grain warehouses, a fine flouring mill and a well furnished livery stable. The Fremont Tribune^ a weekly journal, is published by J. N. Hays. The religious organizations are Congregationalist, Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal and United Presbyterian. The Congregationalists and Episcopals have each a neat but not large church edifice. There is a free public school of two departments, and St. James' Hall, an Episcopal Seminary under the direction of Rev. O. C. Drake, is about to be opened. Fremont enjoys a fine location in the valley of the Platte, flanked l)y the valley of the Elkhorn. Thus, a tributary country, of unusual fertility, stretches in every direction. The Union Pacific road crosses the southern border of the town. A well conducted eatinghouse furnishes supper to 212 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. passengers on the outgoing trains. Tlie Sioux City & Pacific road is now nearly graded from De Soto, and will soon form a connection with the Union Pacific road here. The Sioux City & Pacific road may be practically regarded as an exten- sion of the Chicago vt IN^orth-Western from Missouri valley. There are two or three other companies organized for the pur- pose of building railroads north and south from Fremont. The result will probably be a road from Sioux City, by the way of Fremont, to Lincoln, the capital of the state. A com- pany is also organized to bridge the Platte river at this point. The population consists, chiefly, of immigrants from ]N^ew England, 'New York and Pennsylvania, and of a superior class of Germans, Danes and Irish. The fine business opportu- nities are here by no means exhausted. Good mechanics, in most branches, are especially needed. The boundaries of Dodge county, of which Fremont is tlie seat of justice, were defined and fixed at the first session of the territorial legislature of Nebraska, in the winter of 1854-5, and the county was soon after organized. Its population is now^ between four and iixe thousand and is rapidly increasing. The quality of the land is most excellent. Wood is scarce, but can be obtained, for domestic purposes, at moderate cost. Crops grow luxuriantly, mature early and sell readily. The market is generally at the West. The price of land ranges from $2 50 to $100 per acre, the former for government lands and the latter for select locations, well improved, next to the county seat. There are from twenty-five to thirty thousand acres of government land in the county, subject to entry un- der pre-emption and homestead laws. Under the former, actual settlement for at least forty days, with improvements sufiicient to show actual intent to occupy and cultivate, entitle FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 213 the pre-emptor to entry, by paying $2 50 per acre. Under the homestead law, actual and continued settlement for five years, and payment of about fifteen dollars in fees, entitle the applicant to eighty acres without further cost. The pre-emp- tor or the applicant for a homestead may be of any tongue, sex, color, clime or nation under heaven. Before these laws all men are equal arid all women equal to men. JS^o other nation in the world can show a plan of equal munificence, or offers such inducements to the honest, poor man, no matter whence he comes. There are many inducements for settlement in Fremont and Dodge county. The county is healthy and easy of access ; land is cheap and very productive ; a ready market for all pro- ductions is at hand ; and, in addition to all these advantages, society is already organized and the cherished concomitants of civilized life in older communities, are established. Columbus is situated on the railroad, and near the southern verge of Platte county, forty-six miles west of Fremont. It has between three and four hundred people, is in the midst of the Platte valley and is, unquestionably, destined to become a town of note. The business is already considerable and is rapidly increasing. A railroad from Sioux City to this point is in anticipation and will probably be built before many years. There are several stores and good hotels. A large flouring mill has just been completed by an enterprising citi- zen, Mr. Hofiinan. Two hundred and ninety-one miles from Omaha the J^orth Platte is crossed, by means of a bridge twenty-six hundred feet in length. This structure is not permanent, but is suffi- cient for present use. Ere long, it will be replaced by a substantial and expensive woik. A few rods from the river 214: turner's GiriDE TO 'IFFE ROCKY MOUNTATNP. the traveler finds himself at the town of Xorth Platte, an important railroad station, containing several hnndred inhab- itants. The railroad company has here erected large work- shops, a roundhouse and an eatinghouse and hotel. The other buildings are not pretentious, but some of them are quite neat in appearance. Xorth Platte was, for some months, in 1867, the practical terminus of the road and enjoyed a nmshroom growth peculiar to places thus situated at the West. Trade was brisk, vice, in multifarious forms abounded, and anticipations were of the highest kind. Anon, the railroad reached Julesburg, eighty-six miles further on, and a general hegira commenced. One line June day, the larger portion of IN'orth Platte was packed upon cars and, in a night, trans- ported to Julesburg. Another day saw Julesburg completed. Hotels were ready for guests, wholesale stores for customers and haunts of vice for victims. Gamblers, thieves, prostitutes and assassins were engaged in a grand carnival of vice. Self respect and common decency were lost in the giddy whirl, and the very name of Julesburg became a " hissing and a by- word " in the land. But here the itenerant city was doomed to unrest, and in less than six months it was transported, almost bodily, to Cheyenne, the magic city of the plains. At the present time the station house and a few straggling huts mark the spot where indesci'ibable orgies were once enacted, and a few hundred dollars w<»uld buy the whole town where single lots, but a twelve-month ago, sold for thousands. At the 104th parallel the boundar}^ between Nebraska and Wyoming is passed. Wyoming has only recently, by act of Congress, been erected into a territory. The greater portion of it was once a part of Dakota territory. It covers that immense exj)anBe FROM THE MISSOURI RIVEK TO THE MOUNTAINS. 215 of country lying between parallels 41*^ and 45^ north latitude, and 104° and 111° longitude west from Greenwich, and has an area of one hundred and ten thousand square miles. It is therefore larger than Illinois and Iowa united. The situation of Wyoming is extraordinary. It is the true water shed of the continent. From its lofty svnnmits spring the waters of the Missouri, the Platte, the Columbia and the Colorado. The surface of the territory is extremely diversi- fied, containing, as it does, all modifications of prairie, plain, valley and mountain. From this circumstance arises the fact that a variety of natural scenery is presented, imequaled, perhaps, in the world. The apjj roach to the mountains, from the east, is so gradual that an altitude of more than five thous- and feet above the surface of the Missouri river is almost imperceptibly gained. The scenery, thus far, is quiet, subdued and eminently rural. The immediate ascent of the mountain range called the Black Hills is abrupt and exceedingly grand. Rocks and peaks are piled in most fantastic shapes, bounding mountain plains and parks of wonderful beauty. In the distance, the eye rests upon what appears to be a city, with its temples and its towers, its palaces and its castellated defenses. Anon, a huge cathedral, with nave, and transept, and buttresses, and columns, bursts, like magic, upon the view, as if to assert the sublimity of nature and make ridiculous the highest achievements of art. Crumbling peaks and de- caying buttes illustrate the silent, irrepressible and infinite processes by which the creative hand reduces and modifies all matter to the law of uses. In the distance, towers the snowy range whose white tops are alternately wrapped in mantles of misty blackness or glistening in the full blaze of sunlight. At Sherman, thirt}^ miles west of Cheyenne, about five hundred 216 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. and fifty from the Missouri river and a thousand from Chi- cago, the practical summit between the two oceans is reached, at an altitude, above tide water, of 8,248 feet and this, strange to say, without meeting a single rod of maximum grade on the Union Pacific Eailroad. Indeed, the wagon road, as it winds among the hills and reaches towards the top, encomiters less obstructions and has an easier ascent than many of the turnpikes of the East. The climate, so far as it has reference to health and com- fort, is faultless. N'either the heat of summer, nor the cold of winter, is excessive. The rarified atmosphere causes the turbid blood of the invalid to flow in accelerated and health- ful pulsations, while freedom from excessive moisture and sudden changes of temperature, renders consumption and all diseases of the lungs and throat almost impossible. Thou- sands have already attested the healing qualities of these mountain breezes, and there can be no doubt that, ere long, Wyoming will not only be the resort of the pleasure-seeker, but that invalids, in untold numbers, will seek the health- giving breezes which constantly play around lier grand old mountain tops, and sweep down, through ravines and canons, to the grassy and salubrious plains. But crags, and peaks and hills, with mountain parks and sloping plains, covered with Italian skies, are not the only material required for the upbuilding of a great state, or the sustenance of a large population. Italy and the Alps, long proverbial for beauty and health, with all their wealth of art and natural endowments, are jjeopled, to a great extent, by peasants, brigands and lazzaroni. The tourist and the invalid look for a few days upon the j^icture, inhale the pure air, drink the sweet waters, and are gone forever. Profitable in- FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 217 dustry, the substantial basis of private or public wealth and national importance, are wanting. So with Wyoming : if she has nothing within her limits to attract the settler, with his labor, his capital and his enterprise — nothing with which to build up great industries, and to found, foster and perfect a high toned civilization, it were better, perhaps, that she be allowed to revert to her original owners, the Indians, and be given over to barbarism and savage uses forever. Happily, however, it has already been demonstrated that the territory contains the elements of immense wealth, and presents in- dustrial opportunities scarcely equalled on the continent. Let us see. The foundation of all industries is agriculture. JSTo people can be prosperous and independent without the capacity to produce their own food, to supply from their own soil and from their own workshops at least a large proportion of their necessaries. The inadequacy of the sterile hills of ^ew England, aided by the few narrow valleys there, in this regard has been long apparent. From this circumstance have arisen the many oft-repeated, prolonged and earnest prayers which the manufacturers of that section have sent up to our national counsels for help in the way of so-called protec- tion. The petition is one for bread only. So long as this request — augmented and intensified, year by year, as the barrenness of the soil increases — is answered, so long New England may, perhaps, hold her supremacy as a manufac- turing district. The manifest reluctance of the ISTorth-west, however, has, within a few years, operated as a disturbing and destroying element, and already manufactories as well as men are emigrating westward. The material, the oppor- tunities and the market are found to be in those fertile states, 28 218 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. where food is abundant and cheap. There producer and con- sumer, in harmony of interests, can make their exchanges with facility and economy, and receive all the benefits which flow from an untramelled reciprocity. In view of these facts, it is proper to inquire as to the agricultural resources of Wyoming. Up to the present moment, few attempts at til- lage have been made in the territory, so that we can gain little light from experience. In every instance, however, where crops adapted to the latitude and temj)erature have been cultivated, the residt has been successful. The bottoms bordering on the streams are fertile, and, as a general thing, are sufficiently moist without artificial irrigation. In these soils, no doubt, not only grasses, but all the cereals and roots usually raised at the temj)erate zone, can be produced with unusual facility and in great perfecttion. Much of the country, however, is composed of plains, imperfectly watered and without timber. A large proportion of these plains are arable, and under a proper system of irrigation, will un- doubtedly produce in abundance. Where water cannot be procured from the surface, wells have only to be sunk a few feet in depth. Irrigation is, for the most part, not only easy, but comparativ^ely inexpensive. This mode of procuring water for the purpose has been successful in Utah, California and elsewhere. In short, there is no serious impediment to the production of food sufficient for a very large population, and at a cost little, if any, exceeding that of similar products in Illinois or Iowa. Be this as it may, there is one thing absolutely certain : Wyoming as a stock country has no su- perior anywhere. Abundant and wonderfully nutritious grasses abound on plain and valley, covering the earth as with a carpet, far away towards the tops of the mountain FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 219 ranges. The dry atmosphere, freedom from fall and early winter storms, the even and moderate temperature and abun- dant food combine to make the territory the paradise of domestic animals. Beef is fat, juicy and of exquisite flavor, and the mutton of the mountains is superior to any to be found in the low lands. Sheep thrive the year round, without artificial shelter, and with no food but grass, and the wool produced is said to be much better than is yielded by the same animals lower down the slope. The following letter from Mr. A. Street, who has been long acquainted with stock- feeding hereabouts, has been furnished by Dr. H. Latham, to whom it was addressed : " From an experience of over twelve years in wintering stock on the plains, I am satisfied there is no country better adapted to the purpose than Wyoming and Colorado terri- tories. I have wintered herds of my own and others in Wyoming repeatedly, and the per centage of loss is less than in wintering in the states on corn and hay. Here we feed nothing, but herd our stock on the dry grass. During the last winter I had charge of two thousand head of cattle belonging to Wells, Fargo ife Co. These cattle were worked very hard during the summer and fall in transporting govern- ment supplies to the Powder river country, and many of them were not turned out until the first of January, and were so poor that they could scarcely travel to the herd grounds, some forty miles. They had nothing all winter but grass, not a mouthful of hay nor grain, and yet we lost only about thirty head out of the two thousand. Many of them were fat enough for beef in March and April, and by the first of May nearly all were in good working condition. From long expe- rience, I am fully satisfied that the ' gramma,' or bunch grass 220 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. which abounds in this country, is far superior to any of the tame grasses of the states. Drying up in the fall without any rain upon it, it retains all its nutritious properties, and re- mains green at the root all winter." The facts and opinions expressed in the foregoing note could be abundantly fortified by the experience of hundreds of other herdsmen and ranchmen. There can be no doubt of the general proposition that Wyoming is unsurpassed as a grazing country. But the excellent agricultural character of the territory being conceded, it may be properly urged that no country exclusively rural in its pursuits can, from the nature of things, ever become densely populated. This is undoubtedly true, and it becomes proper to inquire what other facilities are offered for the absorption of labor, the employment of capital, and for useful production. Of timber, in some portions of Wyoming, there is so little that it may be almost truthfully said there is none. Along some of the water-courses, and occasionally upon the bluffs and hills a tolerably fair growth is found, while on many of the mountains, as the Medicine Bow, Mud river. Big Horn and Snowy ranges, large forests of an excellent quality of white and yellow pine and ISTorway spruce abound. But it is evident that those industries which mainly require for their prosecution the products of the forests cannot be successful here. Even fuel is now, or must soon be, sought for else- where. Nature, however, sometimes prodigal but seldom parsimonious, operating by the great law of compensation, has underlaid plain and mountain with incredible quantities of most excellent coal. The value of this mineral alone, which is already discovered, is great beyond estimate. Those able FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 221 and experienced geologists, Professors Silliman and Hill, report that fields of bituminous coal underlie many thousands of square miles in "Wyoming. Professor Silliman says he has, from personal inspection, determined the location of over five thousand square miles of coal-fields, and has satisfactory evi- dence of the existence of more than twenty-five thousand miles more. He descended into a shaft and saw several dis- tinct veins of superior quality, varying in thickness from five to eleven feet. This shaft is near Carbon, on the Union Pacific Railroad, six hundred and fifty miles west of the Mis- souri river, and is now worked on a large scale by the railroad company. In many places coal crops out, and gives indica- tion of fine drifts of unusual thickness. The quality of the mineral, thus far examined, varies considerably, but all of it is good. An inspection of the specimens in the cabinet of the geologist of the railroad corporation at Omaha, will serve to verify representations seemingly extravagant in relation to the quality and extent of these valuable deposits. Thus is a great want of the country supplied with abund- ance from an unexpected source. But these discoveries, scarcely second to no one of the age, when the scarcity of fuel west of the Missouri valley is considered, could form the foundation of but a very limited industry but for the concur- rent one of immense deposits of iron ore in close proximity to the coal. Here now is presented the basis of manufactur- ing interests which promise an immediate and very great influx of population and a prospective wealth beyond esti- mate. ( Told and silver and other valuable minerals undoubtedly exist in these mountains, indeed, in many places they have already been discovered. Some adventurers will seek and find fortunes in unearthing these precious deposits ; but all of 222 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. them together, added to all the other gold and silver mines in the world, do not approach, in intrinsic vahie, the coal and iron mines of Wyoming. Tn relation to this subject the accomplished government geologist, F. T. Hayden, writes as follows to Dr. Latham, of Cheyenne, under date of August 24th, 1868 : • " I take great pleasure in communicating to you some of the results of my examination of the iron districts of Wyo- ming. I regard the iron ore leads of the territory as of great value, and almost indefinite in extent ; and if the coal of which there is the greatest quantity, can be made useful for smelting this iron, it will prove as great a source of wealth to the people of this country as the iron ore leads of Pennsylva- nia are to the people of that state. "The first iron mines I examined wei*e those connected with the coal formations along the eastern base of the Lara- mie range, commencing about ten miles south of Cheyenne City. This ore is an amonite, commonly known by the name of brown hematite, or brown iron ore. The specimens obtained were very compact, showing that it must have been derived from the carbonate of iron, and it will certainly prove to be of excellent quality. I have estimated the coal forma- tions south of Cheyenne City and north of the Arkansas, to occupy an area of over fi\'e thousand square miles, and all this country is covered with this brown iron ore to a greater or less extent. It is said to yield seventy per cent, of metallic iron, and about three tons of the ore is required to make one ton of pig iron. This ore has been pronounced, by such authorities as Profs. Hill and Sillinuxn, equal to the best brown ores of the East. "At the sources of the Chug Water are massive beds of FROM TUB MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 223 iriagnetic iron ore of the best qnality. It is very mucli like the Champlain ores of the East, and cannot fail to produce the best of iron. The quantity is unlimited, and if the pow- erful corporation of the Union Pacific Eailroad can succeed in combining the two great elements of wealth in this territory — coal and iron — so as to utilize them, Wyoming must event- ually hold a relation to the contiguous territories similar to that w^hich Pennsylvania now sustains towards the neighbor- ing states. Polling mills and iron furnaces will spring up everywhere, and it will not be many years before the last ton of iron will cross the Missouri river on its way westward. You have enough iron ore in the territory of Wyoming alone to supply the demand of the entire West for a generation or more, and new discoveries will be made almost daily. The time has come when the vast mineral wealth of this region must be rendered useful, and successful methods of reducing the ores will be sought and found." Cheyenne, the chief city of Wyoming, and probably to be the territorial capital, is situated on Crow creek, a small trib- utary of the Platte, and near the base of the Black Hills, which form a notable spur of the Eocky mountains. Its his- tory, so far, presents many remarkable points. On the 9th of July, 1867, Hon. J. R. Whitehead pitched his tent here and became the first settler. The same day Thos. E. McLeland, the present postmaster, and P. M. Beers, arrived with their families. The survey of the town was commenced, by the rail- road company, on the 19th and completed on the 21st. The first city election was held on the 10th of August, when 350 votes were polled. On the same day the post-office was estab- lished, through which were daily sent and received in October, Kovember and December following, over twenty-six hundred 224 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. letters. A daily paper called the Leader was first published by N. A. Baker, September 19th. The first banking house was opened on the 25th of the same month. A second daily paper, the Argus^ was established towards the close of Octo- ber. The railroad was completed to Cheyenne, November 13th, and the first passenger train from Omaha arrived the following day. A city charter was graiited by the territorial legislature, about the first of January, 1868, and the first election under it was held on the 28th. On the 10th of Jan- uary, society had become so far civilized that a vigilance committee was organized, the functions of which were exer- cised on the 20th in the hanging of three desperadoes, and a gentle admonition to some hundreds of others to keep the peace or prepare for the consequences. The growth of the new city was almost magical. Blocks of business houses were erected in a few weeks. Immense stocks of all kinds of merchandise poured in, and soon a dozen streets became busy marts of trade. The population swelled to at least six thousand in as many months. Yice, as well as business, flourished exceedingly, until Cheyenne enjoyed the unenviable notoriety of being the wickedest place in the world. As the time for opening the raih-oad line to Laramie drew near, the scum and filth of Cheyenne began to disappear. Swarms of brutalized and loathsome beings migrated across the Black Hills to new scenes of wretchedness and vice. Thus happily purified \\\(i real prosperity of the magic city commenced. There are now few indications of immorality here, not seen in towns of similar size elsewhere. The population is somew^hat diminished in numbers but greatly improved in quality. Decent people can now live here with- out blushing, and may properly be proud of the civil, moral FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE MOUNTAINS. 225 and business-like aspect of their healthy and very pretty city. Trade has become permanent and substantial, and honest, useful industry is meeting with satisfactory rewards. Cheyenne is five hundred and sixteen miles west from Omaha. Its proximity to the mountains must ever make it an important railroad depot. A large number of powerful engines must at all times be kept in readiness here, and, as a consequence, extensive workshops must be maintained. The railroad company has already built splendid accommodations, and has also erected a large hotel and eating-house. A rail- road will soon connect the place with Denver, a trifle ovei- one hundred miles distant, and, very likely, before long a con- nection with the Eastern Division of the Union Pacific Rail- road will open up a continuous route to St. Louis. The wholesale business of the city is now large, and as the point is one from whence supplies must inevitably flow in all direc- tions, the trade will increase with the settlement of the sur- rounding country and the accumulation of avenues of distri- bution. Fort Eussel, one of the largest military posts on the plains, is located three miles north of the city. The distribu- ting Quartermaster has also large warehouses and corrals near by, whence supplies go out in all directions to the various posts. HAZ.^:RD station is six miles west of Cheyenne, and at the immediate base of the Black Hills. Here the mountain as- cent begins in earnest. The ascending grades and devious windings of the road bring us, in a few miles, to a view of the eternal snows which crown the distant mountain peaks. All around, as far as the eye can reach, mture asserts the sublimity of her fashioning, in ten thousand aspects of pictu- resqueness and beauty. The laboring engine, stern in the 226 TURNER'S GUIDE TO THE ROCKl MOUNTAINS. apparent consciousness of inherent power, crawls up tlie grade, and winds, with its clattering train, among hills of granite, through parks of exquisite beauty, and over yawning chasms, towards the summit, (tranite Canon is gained. The vision is absolutely astounded. The grand, the sublime and the beautiful are mingled in a landscape bounded on the one side by everlasting snows, and on the other, by soft Italian skies. Eastward stretch the plains, gently melting into the azure of the distant horizon ; westward the snowy range, in chalky undulations, bounds the ^dew. All around are evi- dences of those creations whicli mark the Ancient of Bays, of growth, perfection and decay. Up, up the grand old mountains to the very summit. Sherman is gained, and the traveler stands amazed, 8,248 feet above tide water, and as near heaven as the Union PaciHc Railroad approaches. The rarefied atmosphere allows the blood to course freely through the veins ; the spirits rise, by natural exhilaration, to a point of almost moral intoxication ; the eye is ravished with the prospect ; the senses are astounded at the profound and inde- structible records of creative power. The crumbling peaks, the decaying buttes, and the general disintegraticm of j'ocky masses, mark the ongoing transformations of the material world. A spring of pure, soft, sweet water gushes from its granite fountain, and dances in fantastic riffles dowTi the mountain side. light and shade alternate over the broad ex- panse. Now the shimmering sunlight is reflected troiii a neighboring peak, and anon a gathering cloud gives portent of the approaching tempest. Here the waters of the conti- nent divide. In one direction, the pui-ling rills start on theii- long joui'ney to the Atlantic; in the other, they tumble down the Pacilic slope. FROM TTTE MTSSOT"^RT RTVER TO TFTE MOFXTAINS. 227 Xow commences the descent. Soon the first maximum grade of ninety feet to the mile is encountered. The brakes groan and creak \diile the reversed engine cautiously steadies its precious freight down the apparent precipice. Shortly the high bridge over Dale creek is crossed, at snail's pace. It is a dizzy liiglit, but engineering and money have made the passage entirely secure. Decayed granite forms the road bed. Weather-beaten and crumbling buttes appear on either hand. The character of the country changes. There is nioi'e vege- tation and timbei* and better soil than on the eastern slope. In a few miles red sandstone appears, and, directly, emerging from mountain fastnesses, the train sweeps into the plains of Laramie. It is no light thing to cross this summit; indeed, its passage forms an experience to be cherished for a lifetime. Ere long the tourist will linger here, and, l>y degrees and in detail^ digest the scene, and revel in the inspiration which it imparts. Compared with what is here seen, the mountains of the East are dwarfed into Lilliputian hills ; even Mount Washington sinks into a gentle undulation, and the Adiron- dacs become elevated plains. The Laramie plains have the appearance of great fertility. Doubtless some artificial irrigation would be necessary to suc- cessful cultivation. The soil, from the base of the hills to the river, is of a reddish cast, and, as a peculiarity, it may be noted that the easterly bank of the Laramie, for many miles, is red, while the other side is of a whitish and entirely difier- ent formation. This distinction is constant, no matter how frequent nor how abrupt the windings oi' the stream. Fort Saunders is five hundred and seventy-one miles from Omaha, and one and a half miles further on is the city of Laramie. The position of this new city, now scarcely six 228 turnek's guide to the rocky mountains. months old, must always make it a place of importance. Like Cheyenne, it has run its course of what may be called ter- minal wickedness, and its scum has floated on to the railroad front. The permanent population is not large, but is healthily increasing. The railroad company has erected a large round- house, extensive workshops, and a hotel and eating-house, which would grace almost any Atlantic city. There is an air of business and thrift here Avhich presages prosperity and growth. The ti-aveler cannot fail to be impressed with the change wrought by the advent of the railroad in the short space of a few months. Crossing, directly, the Laramie river, we strike out upon those j)lains so long and so justly the terror of the immigrant. Yery soon white crusts and exudations appear in spots, un- mistakably indicating that the earth is poisoned by an excess of alkali. Vegetation is stinted, and finally ceases altogether. The eyes, the mouth, the whole j)erson is tortured with the penetrating salt. The water is useless, and so are the barren plains which stretch in every direction. Every acre is a token of worthlessness, and an earnest of poverty to its pos- sessor. A landed aristocracy here would be the lazzaroni of the world. The fee simple of a universe of such land would entitle its possessor to such cliarity as the pauper has a right to claim, but not to a vote, if a real estate qualification were required. So much for the soil of these plains. Here, how- ever, comes in again the law of compensation. Underlying the whole worthless surface are coal mines of great value, which no conceivable consumption can exhaust in centuries to come. The bluffs to the eastward rise high and precipitous, resem- bling those which bound the Missouri valley. Ten miles from FROM THE Ml!?SULKr KIVEK To THE MOlNTAIN^i. 229 Laramie another line of bluffs appears, nearly at right angles with the former, but lower, and resembling tlie banks of the upper Ohio. These are occasionally shaded down as though wagon roads had been graded through them. On the left, the snowy range is at all times in sight. Soon after leaving Wyoming station Little Laramie is crossed, near its mouth, where the Great Laramie again appears, creeping along the bluff's. Henceforward, to the west crossing of ]N"orth Platte, the sameness is alnu>st paintul. Benton, six hundred and ninety-five miles from Omaha, is reached, and here, to quote the words of a recent traveler, '• on the ashy plain, with not a blade of grass, much less a tree, with the delicate poisonous dust filling the air, and irritating every sense, is a most exaggerated and offensive specimen of the mushroom town, that follows the temporary terminus of the road. A thousand or two people are gathered in tents and cheap board shanties ; the railroad employs a hundred or two ; a few of the rest are cheap store-keepers, but the great bulk are running ' restaur- ants ' and ' saloons,' or are downright loafers and speculators in the vices of themselves and their fellows. It is enough to turn a healthy stomach to wade through the deep and volatile dust of its streets and study the prevailing life along them. Purgatory would be a paradise compared to it for a week's residence. Thirty days hence it will move on and evaporate : else it would soon perish from its own poisons of earth and air and humanity. Such an aggregation of disagreeableness and oftensiveness can only long exist by frequent changes. It would rot with permanence." The railroad is completed about one hundred and fifty miles beyond Benton, but at the present writing is not open for travel. Wonderful eff'orts are being used t(.> perfect the 280 TURNER S GFinK TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. work, and it may be safely predicted tliat by the tourtli day n1' 'Tidy. 1869, trains will pass troni the Missouri to Saci'a- uiento, Califoi'iiia. Tlic towns on the Ihiion l^icilic road are, at present, few and far between. The most important ones have already been mentioned. The stations are frequent, and for the bene- lit of travelers, as well as a matter of record, the names of these are given, together with their respective distances from Omaha : NAMBS OF STATIONS. Pappillion , Elkhorn Valley Fremont North Bend.... Shell Creek.... Columbus Jackson Silver Creek.., Clark's Lone Tree .... Chapman's Grand Island.. Pawnee Wood River.... Gibbon Kearney Stevenson Elm Creek Plum Creek.... Willow Island. Bradj"^ Island.. McPherson .... North Platte .. O'Fallons , Alkali Ogalalla Big Spring Distance from Omaha. 12..3 28..9 35..2 46..5 61. .5 75..9 91..7 99..3 109..4 120..7 131. .9 142..3 153..8 161. .5 172..1 182..9 19 1. .3 201 ..2 211..5 230..3 250..7 268..4 277..5 291. .4 307..9 322..4 341. .6 36(»..9 NAMES OK STATIONS. Julesburg Lodge Pole Sidney Potter Autelope Bushnell Pine Bluff Egbert Hillsdale Archer Cheyenne Hazard Granite Canon. Buford Sherman Red Butte P'ort Sanders.. Laramie Wyoming Cooper's Lake. Lookout Rock Creek Como Medicine Bow.. Carbon Percy St. Mary's Benton Distance froni Omaha. ~S77.A 396..0 414..2 433..1 451. .8 463..2 473..2 484..4 496..4 508..O 516..4 522..4 535.-4 542..2 548..'.^ 564..0 571..2 572..5 586..4 598..1 603. .6 622..1 637..6 644..7 653..4 665..6 679..0 694..5 The following table, showing the altitude and distances on the IT. P. R. R. from Omaha to f]\e California line, is taken from a report of Gen. G. M. Dodge, chief engineer of tlie i"t»aw ToBK, October 2, 186S. 252 TtJRNER's GUIDE TO THE ROCKY MOTJNTAmS. Chicago & ITorth- Western H'y, Coniprlsmg all the principal railroads from Chicago directlj' North, North-West and West. ^^r\ PASSENGER TRAINS LEAVE CHICAGO DAILY (Sundays ex- 2mJ\J cepletl), on the diflFerent Divisions of the Chicago and North-Wesi- ern Railway, for Dixori, Fulton, Clinton, Cedar Kapids, Boone, Sioux City, COUNCIL BLUrrS AND OMAHA, where connections are made with the Union Pacific Railroad (Main Line) for Cheyenne, Laramie, Denver, and all parts of Nebi'aska, Colorado, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, California and Oregon. The Chicago and North-Western Railway is the Only Direct Route to Freeport, Galena, Dunleith, Dubuque and Cedar Falls ; Janesville, Madison, PRAIRI£ BIT €A1IEN, I^A CRO|S}S£, ST. PAUL, Watertown, Berlin, Green Bay, Marquette, Hancock and Houghton; Kenosha, Racine, and all points in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Lake Superior Country. Connections are made at Dunleith, Prairie du Chien and La Crosse (dur- ing the season of navigation), with a daily line of first class Steamers for all points on the upper Mississippi river. Baggage Checked Through to Destiuatioii. Superior Arranpfl Sleepiui Coaclies on all Nirtt Trains. Passengers for any point west or noj-th-weat of Chicago, to avail them- selves of the many advantages offered by this Conipany, should be particular to ask for Tickets via Chicago and North- Western Railway, which can be purchased at all principal Railroad Offices in the .South-West, and in Chicago at the Depots as above. B. F. PATRICK, J. P. HORTON, G. L. DUNLAP, Gen. Pass. Agent. N.-W. Pass. Ag't, Chicago. Qen. Sup't. TAMA CITY, |6WA~" ™"°^ Storage and Commission Merchant, And jUcater in all Ainds oj AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, GRASS SEEDS, &c. ALSU DEALER IN YAMA GITT, YAMA ©©TITISilfT, I©WA. ADVERTISEMENTS. 263 Chicago & Uorth-Westsm U'y. SHORTEST AND MOST EXPEDITIOUS KOUTE TO ALL POINTS E^ST &c sotjth:. Express Passeuger Trains, composed of Coaches with all modern improve- ments, are run daily on the different Divisions of the Chicago & North- western Railway, in connection with All Trains from the West and North-West to Chicago, uiaking close connections with the Michigan Central, Michigan Southern, Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago, Chicago & Great Eastern, Chicago & Alton, Illinois Central, and all other Eastern and Southern railroads, for DB.TROIT, DXJIQ-KIRK. BXIFJEPiSLLO, STJS. BJRIDGM:, QUEBEC, SPKI3SrC3-FIEI^r>, ^WORCESTER, BOSTOlSr. NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, Pittsburgh, Harrisburgh, Baltimore, Washington, Cincinnati, Cairo, Wheeling, Louisville, Memphis, Columbus, St. Louis, Vicbsburg, SAVING TIME AND SECURING COMFORT AND SAFETY. Baggage checked through to all principal points, and no extra charge for transfer through Chicago. Passengers have choice of routes via Chicago, enjoying nil the modern improvements in use on first class railways. SUPERIOR ARRANGED SLEEPING COACHES ON ALL NIGHT TRAINS. Passengers for any point East or South should be particular to ask for and see that their tickets read " Via Chicago & North-Western Railway.' GEO. L. DUNLAP, General Sup't. B. F. Patrick, J. P. Horton, General Pansenger Agent. N'.-W. Pass. Agent, Chicago. TAMA CITY, IOWA. State Street y nort?f of HJfnpire !Slock, E. J. BROWN, Proprietor. The Traveling Public will here find good fare at moderate charges. Good Stabling and Livery Stable attached. Charges moderate. 264 XmBNER's GUIDE TO THE KOCKY MOUNTAINS. SIOUX CITY AND PACIFIC Now completed from Missom-i Yalley to Sioux City, Iowa, and Fremont, Neb., on the U. P. K. R. Shortest and Q,uickest Route to Fort Benton, Western Iowa, Nebraska and Dakota, and 3 5 miles tlie Shortest Route to the Far West, saving Two Hours time over any other route. This Road forms a junction with the Chicago & North-Western Railway AT MISSOUBl VALLEY, Twenty Miles above Council Bluffs, and runs North through a Magnificent Valley of Land Seventy-five Miles TO sioTJx: oiTir, where it connects with the Splenilii Steam PacSets of tlie Nortb-f est Transportation Conmany For the Upper Missouri and Fort Benton. DAILY PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TRAINS Are run in close connection with Trains on the Chicago & North-Western, thus making a Continuous liine from Sioux City eastward; and to the Mountains by the Union Pacific Road. THE SIOUX CITY & PACIFIC RAILROAD Is thoroughly built, and, all its equipments are of the very best order. J. I. BLAIR, Pres't. W. W. WALKER, Sup't. S. BURNETT, Ass't Sup't. S. C. ANNABLE. Gen'l Fr't & Ticket Agent. ADVERTISEMENTS. 256 SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME. M% ir@^©®^ ^Q)mmtWt> t^item^* THIS Institution, incorporated in 1844, enlarged in 1866, and fitted up with all the modern improvements, affords accommodation to five hundred students. Situated near the M, S. & N. I. R. R., it is of easy access from all parts of the United States. TERMLS : Matriculation Fee $ 5 00 Board, Bed and Bedding, and Tuition, (Latin and Greek included,) Washing and Mending of Linens; Doctor's Fees and Medicine, and attendance in sickness, per session of five months 150 00 French, German, Italian, Spanish and Hebrew, each 10 00 Instrumental Music 12 50 Use of Piano 10 00 Use of Violin... 2 00 Vocal Music 10 00 Drawing 10 00 Use of Philosophical and Chemical Apparatus 5 00 Graduation Fee 10 00 Students who spend their summer vacation at the College are charged extra 35 00 Payments to be made invariably in Advance. Class Books, Stationery, &c., furnished at Current Prices. No expenditure for Clothing nor advances for pocket money will be made by the Institution, unless an equivalent sum of money be deposited with the Treasurer of the College. Each Student, on entering, must be provided with 6 Shirts. 2 Suits of Clothes for the Winter. 6 Pocket Handkerchiefs. 2 *' *' ** Summer. 6 Pairs of Stockings. 1 Overcoat or shawl. 6 Towels. 1 Table-knife, 1 fork. 1 tea-spoon. 6 Napkins. 1 Hat, 1 Cap. 1 Table-spoon. o Pairs Boots or Shoes. Combs, brushes, &c., for toilet. The first Session begins on the first Tuesday of September, the second on the 1st of February. For further Particulars, address, REV. W. CORBY, 0. S. C, Pres't. N. B. Express charges on parcels to the Students should be pre-paid. 256 rURNER'p aUIDE TO THE ROCKY MOUNT A INK. isroTR.E iD^^iynE, izsriDi^nsr^ . Is situated on a beautiful drive, two miles from the thriving city of South Bend, and one miU* from the University of Notre Dame. It is conducted by the SISTERS OP HOLY CROSS, ladier- whose talent and energy, together with the cordial co-operation of the public, have secured to Indiana one of the most desirable Institutions for the education of young ladies in the United Stateo. THE LOCATION Is one most fortunately chosen, the rapid and health-imparting waters of the St. Joseph River encircling the eminence on which it stands, and the wooded banks Rffordlng a pleasant theater for vigorous sports and delightful rambles. THE GROUNDS 4re charmingly laid out, and ornamated with summer-houses, fountains, shrines and statuary, presenting a landscape to extort the admiration of the most indifferent. The seclusion from the town— so promotive of study — is more than compensated for, by the great attention paid to healthful amusements, which is a strong feature of the system observed at St. Mary's ; indeed no expense is spared to render the young ladies cheerful and happy wh!k pursuing their classical course. THE BUILDINGS Are large and well appointed, heated throughout by steam, furnished with hot and cold baths, and perfectly ventilated. They are also tastefully adorned with choice paintings, statues and oratories, the handsome Music Hall being supplied with harps, guitars, and thirty ulanos, at! kept in constant use. THE PLAN OF TEACHING With the Sisters of Holy Cross, is to incorporate the accomplishments upon a sound moral and scientific basis, thus to render them but the just expression of an interior culture, rather than a gilded mask to conceal a total deficiency of sound education, which we too frequently find them. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC LECTURES Are afforded the pupils through the year by accomplished professors from the University o! Notre Dame. Excellent facilities are also enjoyed for the study of Latin, while the modern languages receive due attention. French and fxermau being the native tongues of several of the teachers, they are spoken in the Academy, and fluency encouraged by stated Conversn tions held in the hours of recreation. The corps of Musical Instructors is unsurpassed, and many pupils enter for the sole object of acquiring this branch. Distincuished Professors are employed in Vocal Music, as . u 3 o a 1^ No. 122 South Clark Street, Chicago, III. Vineyard in El Dorado, El Dorado Co., California. Make and Sell White, Red, Hock, Sherry, Port, Angelica, Muscatel, Sparkling, Catawba, Muscat, Isabella and Eureka Wines and Grape Brandy. ifkfi L Successor to PIKE & CAVANiSTA, IManuLfactn-rer^ audi 13ealei-t^ in 9 Farnitare, Bedding and Upftolstery Goods, No. 85 Randolph Street, Chicago. J. H. PIKE, Agent. Agents for Folsom & Chuech's Excklsior Manupacturinq Company, South Bend, Ind, Office: Room 13 Insurance Buildings, Rurus Rose. No. 160 and 162 fVashinf/toii Street, CHICAGO, ILL. Ca88 ChATMAX. ADVERTISEMENTS. 269 CLINTON, IOWA. FRANK H. WOODWORTH, Agent and Dealer in Heal Estate, CLINTON, IOWA. Every description of Real Estate bought and sold. Have for sale thou- sands of acres of choice farming lands. Will pay Taxes anywhere within the state. CLINTON, iOWA. B. F. CHILDS, - PROPRIETOR. This is the largest and best house in the city. It is pleasantly located in full view of the river and the railroad bridge. The best arranged Sash ami Boor Factory in the Xorth-l¥est, and the largest in the state. s. Xj. toll <& CO., Manufacturers of and Dealers in Sash, Doors, Blinds, Mouldings, Brackets, Balusters, Stair Railings, &c. Office, No. 100 Second St. Factory Twelfth Avenue, between First and Second Streets, CLINTON, IOWA. Special advantages otfered to the trade. c. LA-MB & sons', llanafacturers of and Dealers in GaiiE-Sawfii LDinlier, Latli, SMiIes. Sasli M Doors. A good assortment of Flooring, Siding and Finishing Lumber always on hand. Second and third Mills south of railroad bridge, CLINTON, IOWA. Cars loaded in yard free of charge. 360 turner's oriDK to tiik Roc^i^ mohntaixs. LYONS, IOWA. Notary Public, Real Estate & Insurance Ag't. Property leased and Heats collected ; state, count y and local taxes paid ; conveyancing ; and Abstracts of Title procured. United States Claim Agent. No. 71 Main St., LYONS, IOWA. Rbfbrekobs.— Ezra Batcheller, Milwaukee, Wis. Benjamin Lake, Lyons, lown. n. S. BALCH. A. I). CI.AUK. r. K. P. ItAf.CH. B^XjGH &C OO., Boot and Shoe Jobbers, No. 51 Main St., LYONS, IOWA. Manufactory. Grovelaud, Mass. A. C. -J. KAUFMAN, Wholesale nni Retail Dealer in &ranfl, Spare anfl Upriilt Pianos, Oiiaiii; and Melodeoim. I3ra.ss, German Silver and Reed [nstrunients in great variety and of all qualities and prices. Warerooms, Nos. 4 and 5. Randall House Block, LYONS, IOWA. CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. WM. B. LEACll ct CO., 'Pr'oprieforx <,/' Flouring and Lumber Mills, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. VDVERTISEMENTS. 261 UPTON, CHAMBERS & CO., JKanufaciurers oj Lumber and Farm Wagons, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. We manufacture our goods from carefully selected material, employ none but experienced workmen, and give careful attention to every part of our work. The largely increasing demand for our Wagons has made us feel confident that we are manutacturing an article that gives satisfaction to our customers. Orders addressed to us will receive prompt attention. AOKIOTJLTXJR^A.L l^TAI^EHOXJSE. (Establlahed in 1859.) F. J. UPTON «&; CO., >VholeeiHle aud Uetail Uealei-N iu Reapers, Mowers, Threshers WaioDs, Plows, auil all itinfls of Slaiidarfl Farm Machiuery, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. Proprietors of Tobias' celebrated Patent Open Ditching Machine for the state of Iowa. Are engaged exclusively in this branch of business, and from long expe- rience in the trade, and close attention to the wants of our customers, hope to merit a share of patronage. 262 turner's guide to the rocky mountains. BLAIRSTOWN, IOWA. TANCEMAN, BOOK ^ YOUNG, Dealers in all kinds of Dry Goods. Clotliii, Hats & Caps, Boots & Slioes, firoceries, Crockery, stone and Wooden Ware, Yankee Notions, Ae, BLAIRSTOWN, BENTON CO., IOWA. All kinds of Country Produce taken in exchange for goods. Have also a Warehouse and Elevator on railroad track. Cash paid for all kinds of Grain and Live Stock. Fi)mmif iTamla H@mii) BLAIRSTOWN, IOWA. H. & L. GUND, - PROPRIETORS. General Staffe Office. Good Stables attached, TOLEDO, IOWA. Real Estate Agents, TOLEDO, TAMA COUNTY, IOWA. Z/ands Sought a7id Sold, and Taxes ^aid, G. R. Steublb. C. B. Bradshaw. Attorneys and Connselors at Law, TOLEDO, TAMA COUNTY, IOWA. J. H. STBUBLS, Cotinty Treasurer. 3. S. STSITBLE, Attorney at Law Land Apnts, Conveyancers, and notaries Public, TOLEDO, TAMA COUNTY, IOWA. Special attention given to Buying and Selling Real Estate, Paying Taxes, and making Abstracts of Title. Terms reasonable. ADVERTISEMENTS. BELLE PLAINE, IOWA. F. G. Clabk. 263 W. A. Tkwksbury. Attorneys and Counselors at Law, REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND NOTARIES PUBLIC, Belle Plaine, Benton C/Ounty, Iowa. Lands Bought and Sold, Taxes Paid, Titles Examined, Absti-acts Fuinielied, Sm.f &c. (SUCCESSOR TO s^orrj^ <& co.,) ^V'lIOL.KSiklL.K JLNT> RETAIL DEALER IN Y ^^ i\i\^^. 1^ -It ^ ^©ip'^p Ready-made Clothing, jSoots and Shoes , Groceries, Queensware, dc, dc, BELLE PLAINE, BENTON COUNTY, IOWA. V^ Cash. paid, for Grrairx and Co-aixtry Prodiaoe. "W^ T^V^OaOOD Sd CO., PROPRIETORS OF BELLE PLAINE ELEVATOR, .A-KTJD X3£3.A.Xl'R THE ^AILfiOAT) IDE-pOT, MARSHALLTOWN, - - IOWA Livery Stable in connection with this house. Stages leave Daily for Iowa Falls and Eldora. Sample Rooms in business part of town, to which we carry Passengers FREE. House lately refitted and refurnished. RAILROAD PASSENGERS DINE HERE. 264 turner's GFIDPJ to the ROrivY \rOUNTAINS. E, G. Sleight. N. S. Kbtchtjm. Agricultural Warehouse and Seed Store, Wholesale Warehouse near Depot. Retail Store cor. Main and First 8t8. E. G. SLEIOHT, Storage, Forwarding & Commission Merchant, AND DEALER IN GRAIN, WOOL AND LIVE STOCK, MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA. Office, No. 1, Station. Street. B. W. Johnson. A, F. Habadon. JOHNSON & HAKADON, Attorneys & Counselors at Law, REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND NOTARIES PUBLIC, ]tIarstaalltown. ::i[ar4iihall County, Iowa. Lands Bought and Sold, Taxe.s Paid, Titles Examined and Abstracts Fur- nished, and all matters pertaining to Real Estate promptly attended to. Practice in the State and U. S. Courts. Especial attention given to Conveyancing. Keferenoes— Gov. Samuel Merrill, of Iowa; Ex-Gov. Wm. M.Stone, of Iowa; First Na tional Bank, Marshalltown, Iowa; President and Faculty of Harvard Law School ; Hon. T. A. Jenckes, M. C. ID- -\Kr. oxjisr3sri3M*o:Ei.A.is^L^ GANG -SAWED LUMBER, SHINGLES, LATH, SASH, DOOUS, cV:c. TSltLSt Ya.rd near Marshall AVoolen IVtillai, Jf^ ^SJff:>i LZ TO V 'JV; lO WA . 0. U. W00DBU2Y, Pr3St. T. B. ABELL, V. Prest. 0. W. FBACKZB, Cash. THE First National Bank of Marslialltown, Iowa. DIRECTORS. H. E. J. BOARDMAN, THOS. B. ABELL, O. M. WOODBURT, OEO. GLICK, DAVID PARRET. Prompt attention given to Collections. Taxes paid in all Counties ia Central Iowa. ADVERTISEMENTS. 265 STATE CENTER, IOWA. By R. H. BXJLLOCK, Sla^^ Center, Marshall Comity, Iowa. Livery Stable attacl)ed. Patronage solicited and Hatisfaction miaranteed. Notary Public and Real Estate Agent, STATE CENTER, MARSHALL COUNTY, IOWA. Will examine Titles, Furnish Abstracts, Pay Taxes, Redeem Lands sold for Taxes, Buy and Sell Real Estate, individually or on Commission. WARREN WALKER, state Center, Marstiall County, lon^a. Insurance promptly effected in some of the best Fire, Life, Accident and Live Stock Companies in the Union. WHOLESALE DEALERS IN TIN, SHKiGT IRO]Sr ^ND COI'i'ER ^W^^RE, FKA WARRB QKO EVAI>.\, STORY COUNTY. IOWA. CHAUNCEY WELTON, Proprietor. Free Bus to and from Cars. Good Yards and Stabling for Forty head of Horses. Greneral Real Estate Argents, jvun4f)A, sro^r coujvty, iows±. Will attend to Buying and Selling Land, Paying Taxes, Furnishing Abstracts, &c., &c. OF-JEPICK IN COURT HOXJSK. T, C. Davis, Co. Treasurer. M. C. Allkx, Co. Surveyor, T. J. 20SS, NoUry PubUc. L. lEWIH, Att'y at Law. JROSS & IRWTlSr, Attorneys at law and Dealers m Real Estate, lSrE^^^I>.A^ STORY COUNTY, IOT\^-A.. W. a. ALLBN, late Co. Surveyor. J. A. FITCHPATSICZ, Co. Clerk. ALLEJV 4- FITCHPATRICK, m NEVADA, STORY COUNTY, IOWA, Buy and Sell Real Estate, Pay Taxes, Examine Titles, and furnish Abstracts. Mr. Allen being an experienced Surveyor, and a resident of the county for twelve years, we can guarantee accuracy in looking up and showing lands. We have the only perfect Abstract of Titles in Story County. ADVERTISKMEM.T8, 26T AMES, IOWA. MARSHAL, DRAKE & RAINBOLT, Real Estate and Collecting Agents, A X D ,7V. A. RAIJ^BOLT, ISJ^otary jPiiblic and A^ttorriey at La^v, A.1MICS, STOK.Y COXJIsTXY, IOT\^A. Milton Evans. Walter Evans GRAIN AND PRODUCE MERCHANTS, And Dealers in IPLOXJR, S^LX. LIIVtE, CEJMElSrX, PXJIVIPS, &o , A.nieSy Story County, Iowa. MONTANA, IOWA. A, J. WESTCOTT, Proprietor. Stage OflBce for Des Moines and Fort Dodge. Billiard Hall and Barber Shop attached. Baggage carried to and from the Cars free of charge. IVES & AVILMOT'S PILiOE ilLLlAi© MILL, Corner of Eighth and Allen Sts., MONTANA, BOONE COUNTY, IOWA. One Carom Table, One 15-ball Pool Table. Three 4-pocket Tables. All Phelan and Collender Tables. 3M ^ 31^ M M W ^ ^ ^ And Chicago & North-Western Railway DIning-Hall, H. B. MIJVIER, Proprietor. Stages leave I>aily for Des M^oiixes and. JP^ort Dodge. 2(}S turner's guidk to ihk rocky mountains. ii- HCXJIDSOISr^ c^4llornrr tV Cciinsr/c/- at .L(Us' fS' H.^^i^ [Est ate afl^ent^ Mioisrx^^i:^^^, BOONn: county, io^\^^. HtcKtiKKNCRS — J. B. Hurlburt, Treasurer of Boone Co. , Iowa; Kd. B. Warner, Treasurer of Whiteside Co., lUinola; S. M. McCreti & Co., Com. Merchuuts, Chicago, Illinois; Firet National Hauk, Morrison, Illinois; A. K. Welles, Banker, Montana, Iowa. BOONESBORO, IOWA. J. W. Barniiart. D. L. Wilbur. BOONE COUNTY LAND AGENCY Boonesboro, Boone County, Iowa. Lands Bought and Sold, Titles Examined, Abstracts of Titles furnished, Taxes paid for non-residents, and a general Agency business transacted. Particular attention given to correspondence. C. Logan. 0. Logan. T. N. Canfield. ^^THOLKSALE .A.I^^r) R.KTA.IJL, DEALERS IN GROCERIES OF ALL KINDS, And }f?iolesale dealers in Coal, West Side of Public Square, Boonesboro, Boone Co., Iowa. C. W. WILLIAMS, ATTORNEY AT LAW, NOTARY PUBLIC, Alnd Real Estate Agent, boonesboro, boone county, low^^. jr. F. E003L.EST0 isr, ATf ©KME¥ AT LA Kotarg fublic and I^and Ji-g^nt, BOONESBORO, BOONE COUNTY, IOWA. ADVERTISEMENTS. W. HARRIS, 269 And Dealer in Country Produce of all Kinds, Main Street, JN ox-tli-TVest corner of Fublic Square, BOONESBORO, BOONE COUNTY. IOWA. MOINGONA, IOWA. ii®iar€®if4 JACOB LEPPLA, Proprietor, MOINGONA, BOONE COUNTY, IO\\^A. House uew aDd newly furnished. Good Stabling and Livery Stable attached. JEFFERSON, IOWA. By AJVJs'IS BROTHEBS, ® JEP^ITERSOIV, GJ-RBENK COUNTY, lOT^A. Livery Stable connected with house. Free Bus to and from all Trains. This house is new and newly-furnished, and no pains will be spared to make it a first-class stopping-place for travelers. H^RVJEY JPOTTER, Connty Judge, Attorney at Law, SolJcitor m Cliancery, AND NOTARY PUBLIC, T;^ill practice in aU the Courts of the State. Taxes Paid, Titles Corrected, Abstracts furnished, and all other profes- sional business pi-omptly attended to. Particular attention given to Collecting. Office in Court-House, ATTORNEY AT LAW AND LAND AGENT, Je^'erson, Greene Cout?/j\ loH^a. Practices in District, Circuit and Supreme Court.s : Buys and St-lls Heal Estate, Pit the Chicago Z^umbe?' Tard, Ca7'roll City, Iowa. J. E, griffTth^ ^ttovttfit and ^ottusidot at Jair, AND REAL ESTATE AGENT, Will buy and Sell Lands on Commission, Pay Taxes for non-residents, furnish Abstracts of Title, and do any and all business connected with Land or Collection Agencies. Good references given if desired. 7. ELWOOD, Co. Mgo and Secorder. JOEK Z. DEAL, Sep. fiecorddr. REAL ESTATE] A(4EN1.^S, Ca?'roll City, CarroH Connty, Iowa. Real Estate Bought and Sold on ConmHssinn : Taxes I'aid and Lands redeemed from tax-sale. Will furnish Abstract of Titles, (S:c. Over Fifty Tliousand Acres of Land in Carroll County for sale. ADVERTTRElVrETsTTS. 271 DENISON, IOWA, PROVIDENCE WESTERN LAND CO. -AND- American Emigrant Company, J. W. DENISON, Agent, DENISON, IOWA. Thirty thousand acres of choice prairie and timber lands, in Crawford county, Iowa, for sale. These lands are situated along the line of the Chi- cago &' North -Western Railway. Upon the north and west side they extend b?ck in different localities from one to sixteen miles, from Denison to Charter Oak, on the west bank of the East Soldier. They are rolling, well watered and healthy. The soil is a dark loam, with a due mixture ot sand and clay, being adapted to the raising of stock or grain, and favored with a choice of markets, with flouring and saw mills near at hand, and woolen manufactories within twenty miles. . *-i e nr* Terms.— Prairie from $3.00 to $10.00 per acre, and timber from $15.00 to $20.00, and on time to suit purchasers. In some cases longer time is given, and no advance payment, but with annual interest. REFERRSCBS.-Morris, McHenry & Co., Denison, Iowa; Gov. E. Dyer Pres't Pror. West. Land Co., Providence, R. I. ; J. C Savory. Gen. Sup't Am. Em. Co., Des Moines, Iowa; Gen. G. M. Dodge, Council Bluffs, Iowa. _^__^_^___»____^_— — — . DUNLAP, IOWA. All kinds of Real Estate DUNLAP, HARRISON CO., IOWA. Has on hand fine farming lands and town property, for sale or rent. WOODBINE, IOWA. WM. aTjones, Dealer in P. Shuttler's Chicago Wagons, Brown's Corn Planters, Buckeye Reapers and Mowers, Marsh Harvesters, Plows, Cultivators and all Standard Machinery. Salt. Lime, Cement and Stucco always on hand at wholesale and retail. WOODBINE & MISSOURI VALLEY JUNG., IOWA. 27*2 turner's mnnK to tiik RorivY mountains. "B)B T Gr. W. Pugsley, Proprietor, G^OOID STA.BI^IlSrG^. B. C. ADAMS & CO., Dealers in alt kfuds of Agricultural Implements & Farm Machinery WOODBINE, IOWA. The latest improvements and inventions always on hand. Also Agent for the celebrated Star Wagon. Cash paid for Wheat, Corn and all kinds of Farm produce. LOGAN, IOWA. Agricultural Implements, Wagons, Lumber SALT, LIME, STUCCO, Sec, LOGAN, HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA. Cash paid for all kinds of Grain. Licensed Cattle Broker, LOGAN, HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA. Dealer in Blooded Stock of all descriptions. E. ].. KELLF.Y. G. T. KELLEY. Dealers in Drugs k Medicines, Dye Stuffs, Oils, Paints ( HKMM AIS. NOTIONS ANI> I ANtV (;OOI)S. LOGAN, HARRISON CO., flOWA. ADVEKTISEIMENTS. 273 DEALERS 11^ Grain and Live Stock, LOGAN, HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA. fi-^sF" Warehouse on railroad track, east of Depot. *==@|[ MAGNOLIA, IOWA. H. 0. HARSHBARGER, Real Estate Agent, County Recorder, AND NOTARY PUBLIC, MAGNOLIA, HARRISON CO., IOWA. Will pay Taxes, furnish Abstracts, and transact all business with care and dispatch. Real Estate ^geiit AX1> CJLKRK OF THK I>ISTKIEAI,EKS IN Mowers, Reapers, Plows, Caltivators, Drills, And all kinds of Agricultural Implements and Farming- Machinery. Cash paid for all kinds ol' fanners' produrr. SIOUX CITY, lOAVA.. ADVERTISEMENTS. 27T T. J". i^xisri^j^xiD, Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Pearl, between 2d and Sd Streets^ ®, Be ^ m. 9. mMm&mm^ T^^ MOLES ALH: Groceries, Boat Stores and Provisions, SIOUX cm, ' - IOWA. THOS. J. STOZS^E, Banker and Real Estate Agent, SIOUX CIXV, XOVJA. Dealer in Exchange, Gold Dust, Government Donds, Warrants, i^e. Pays taxes and locates lands. Refer to Ninth National Bank, New York, or Second National Bank, Chicago. 1. BI^M® H@M]L C. K. SMITH, Proprietor. SIOUX CITV, IOWA. This House is new and newly furnished, and is intended to be first class in all its appointments. R. J. Percy. A. M. Rowk. PERCY & HO^VV^E, General Dealers and Comffiission Merchants, SIOXJX CITY, lOTTA.. Will Store and Forward Goods to the Mountains. 2TS TrKXKK's GUIDK TO ITU: KCM KV MOUNTAINS. E. G. BuKKAM. Jk. E. H. Bucknam. BURK AM & BUCKNAM. Real [stale, Insuiance, Collectian and Genefal Agents, {SIOXJX CIT^^, IOWA. Will buy and soil land and city property on commission, pay taxcM and make entries of Govej-iimcnt Land. Collections and Genei-al Agencies solicited. REFKRENCt:S.— Robt. Reid, Manager Marine Bank, Chicago, 111. ; E. I. Tlnkham, Cashier Second National Bank, Chicago, 111. ; Lawrenceburgh National Bank, Lawrenceburgh, Ind. ; Burkam & Co., Bankers, Cincinnati, Ohio; E. G. Burkam, Banker, New York City; Frontier National Bank, Eastport, Maine. W. H. LIVINGSTON & CO., Dealers in Clothing, Boots Si Shoes, Hats, Caps, and Furnishing Goods, PEARL ST., SIOUX CITY, IOWA. ^roOTLE & CHARLES, )i''hotesale heaters in i;ia?'0 HDKJi) /iOV^^^XOX^ Dry Goods and Queensware. SIOUX CIT^vr. lOWA^. MILTON TOOTLE, St. Joseph, Mo. JGEIT H. CHARLES, Sioux City, Iowa. GOEWEY & M'KEWON, 1 Dealers in 9) 9 Pearl St., Sioux City, Iowa. Wholesale and Retail Dealer in IK ■X3) m 5SS» Cutlery, Stoves, Agricultural Implements, Britannia., Japanned and Tin-ware. PEARL ST., between 2d & 3d, SIOUX CITY, IOWA. ADVEBTISEMEN18. 279 Hardware, Iron, Hails, Glass, Tools of all kinds, Saddleiy Hardware, Leather. AjSTD >Sk.GM?,ICXJI^TTTR,yVl^ iM:piL.K:vrKjv'rs. SIOUX CITY, IOWA. j^ K. TJ 3sr -^ j^ 3sr, Wholesale and Retail Dealer in IMPORTED AND DOMESTIC Whiskies, Brandies, Gins, Wines, &c. Second St., between Pearl and Douglas, SIOUX CITY, IOWA. C. K. HOWARD. VV. M. STITES*. Wholesale and detail Dealers is Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils, Glass, Dye Stuffs Tobacco, Cigars, Pipes, Toilet and Fancy Articles, SIOUX CITY, IOWA. North-Western Hotel, Second St., between Pearl and Douglas, SIOUX CITY, IOWA. JAMES MOLONEY, Proprietor. Boarding $2.50 per day. Stage.s leave this house daily, for Vermillion. Yankton, Fort Randall, and all other points in southern Dakota. Good Stabling attached. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA. I 280 turner's guide to the rocky ^[OU.NTAIXS. RIDDLE, FULLEll &. CO., Ki'ctiliors and Jobl>er!s in IMPORTED WINES & LIQUORS, BOURBON AND RYE WHISKY, JPalnier\s Blocks 44^ Lower Broadivay, courrciL Biurrs, iowa. Thos. Officer. W. H M. Pusey. BANKERS, COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA. K, E] m K rt E jsr C K S : Metropolitan Bank, New York. Third National Bank, Chicago. Allen, Copp iV Nisbet. St. Louis. N. Holmes & Son, - Pittsburgh. Gilmore, Dunlap & Co,, Cincinnati. Johnston Bros. & Co., Baltimore. D. C. Bloomek. J. D. Edmundson. ATTORNEYS, BROKERS AND REAL ESTATE, Government Claim and Insurance Agents, OFFICE m BROADWAY, - COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA. Particular attention given to Payment of Taxes, and Purchase and Sale of Real Estate. N. L. THATCMEl!. ISAAC M I'l.lIOLLAND. WliolcKHle ]>ealorK in Flouf, Grain, Provisions, Hides, Furs, Wool, k, FORWARDING & COMMISSION MERCHANTS, ADVANCES MADE ON CUNSIGNMEMTS. KILDAY & GUITTAR'S iiif iiiLi iiLyiii iill, 25 Main and 26 Pearl Street, COUNCIL BLUFFS, - - IOWA. ADVERTISKIVreNTS. 281 ETMLF iiif HEii, Hats, Caps, Furs and Furnishing Goods, rillLLirS BLO( K, 103 BROADU AY, COUNCIL BLUFFS, - ■ IOWA. J M PAT. TVr E ¥? 423 Broadway, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Lamls and Town Property bouglit awl ^old on (Commission. Money iuvcstc"! carefully for Eastern parties in Lands or Town Property, or on Mortgage, with ample security, at 10 per cent, interest. Has been in this business for 14 years in this place, and is well posted in lands and town property. OMAHA. NEBRASKA. WHOLESALE DRUGGIST Awl Dealer in latent ^Uditiin^s and grmigi^ts' ^nndries, PIOJVEEIt BLOCK, ISO Farnham St., Omaha, Nebraska. F. D. COOPER. A. A. COOPER F. D. COOPER & CO., Maanfaetursrs and Jotters of the celebrated COOPER WAGON & AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, All kinds of Farming Machinery Sold on Commission. A grood Stock ol" Bug-§rieK and CarrSajsres always on hnnrl. 2 36 HARN EY ST., OMAHA, NEBBASKA. CHAMPION S. CHAS£\ ROOMS 8 S 9 TEMPLE PLACE, Eesideuce cor. Thirteenth and Dodge Sts., - OMAHA, NEBRASKA. Wisconsin. — The Judges of the Supreme and Circuit Courts. Chicago. — General J. H. Howe, .Vttorney for Chicago it North-Western Railway. St. Louis. — Colonel J. B. Modlton, Chief Kngineer, N. M. R. R. New York. — Colooul H. N. Twomblv, !• Park Place. Washington, D. C— Chief Justice S. P. Cbase. 83 282 TURNER'S GUIDE TO THE ROrK\ MOUNTAINS. DEWEY, TRIMBLE k CO., 'Wliolcsalp 1>or1i>i*n in 187 & 189 Farnham St., Omaha, Nebraska. ^ I. M. & A. J. FRANK, Wholefialc aiKl Rotail Clflthiiii &BEts' FiruisMiiE Goois, Blankets, Buck Gloves, Rubber and Oil Clothing, Boots and Shoes, Pocket Cutlery, ^c, Sec, WHOLESALE KOOMS \V STAIUS. CASH I'AIU FOK KAW H KS AM> KOBKS. 178 Farnham Street, Omaha, Nebraska. Dealers in Pianos, Cabinet Organs, Melodeons, Music, &c., OMAHA, NEBRASKA. All kiuUs of latest Sheet Music "always on hand. H. K. SMITH. A. r. llOI'KIN8. SMITH & HOPKINS, Agents for Mlssoiiri River Packets, aM Dealers in Coal and firaln, OFFICE 491 THIRTEEyTH ST., Between Farnham and Harney, - - OMAHA NEBRASKA. W. R. BABTLETT. ROLLIN C. SMITH. Seal ^state probers anb iSentral ^anb ^gents, OVER OMAHA NATIONAL BANK, Cor. Ihniqlas and Thirteenth /SY«., Omaha, AcOraska, will attend to the Purchase and Sale of Real Kstate, Payment of Taxe?, Oonveyaucing, S§ KELLOM & CLARK, GENERAL INSURANCE AGENTS, Fire, Marine and Life. OMAHA, NEBRASKA. ST. jaMiEs mm. First Class House. CORNER lOTH AND FARNHAM STREETS, o:m:j^h:^, - ztrsBi^^SK:^. Hestauiant connected. Day Boarders accommodated. ABBOTT A 1:0., Proprietors. 1). D. VV. Abbott. 0. T. Higgins. W. P. BeaumoDt. L. S. Currier, AMERICAN VAPOR STOYE MANUFACTORY, I'Uder the St. Jaiues Hotel, CORNEK lOTH AND FARNHAM STS., OMAHA, - - NEBRASKA. ORDEKS KILLED AT SHORT NOTICE. D. D. W. ABBOTT & CO., D. D. W. Abbott. 0. T. Higgins. W. P. Beaumont. F. W. Currier. FREiVlONT, NEBRASKA. H. M xj isr a E K, — DEALER IN — Drugs, Faints, Oils and Dye kStuiik, Toilet iSoaps, Toilet Articles and Perfuies, Glass Ware aud Oiieeiisware, E. H. KOGKR8 & CO., BANKERS, Attorney at Law and Real Estate Agent, F&EMONT, DODGE CO.. NEli. Psctlcular atteuliuii puhl tu CulivctiuOH, Dxamiuatluu of XUles uud iJBjiutr Tiu«s. 28G tukner's guide to the rocky mountains, NYE, COLSON & CO., -DEALERS IN — Flour, Grain, Agricultural Implements, Pine Lumber, Shingles, Lath, Doors, Sash, &c., &c. JVear JR. B. nepot. FREMONT, NEB. GEORGE F. BLANCHARD & CO., WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN Hardware, Cotlery, Pumps, Glass, Hails, Stoves, &c., ■ Manufacturers of Tin, Sheet Iron and Copper Ware, Corner Broad and Fifth Sts, FREMONT, NEB. MEDINA LIYERY AND SALE STABLE, T03I WILSOIV &^ OO., Proprietor?!*, Horses and Carriages to let at reasonable I'ates Parties wishing Conveyance into the Country will save money by calling at the Medina Stable. Arthur Gibson. F. W. Gidson. A. & F. W. GIBSON, Books, Stationery and News Depot, Sixth between E. & F. Sts., FREMONT, NEB. Dealers in Coufectionery, Canned Fruits, Cans, Tobacco, ('igars. l*ibes, Yankee Notions, Toys. Blank Books, Cutlery, &v. WIIOLKSALK AND RKTAII- DKALKR IN ilwmmm (iaeensware, (iiass Ware, Furoiture ami Agricultural Impieiueuts. SIXTH STREET, - - FREMONT, NEB. ADVERTISEMENTS. 28T S. W. Hayes. .1. S. McClart. ia:-A.-yE!S & CO., WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN Fruits, Stationery, Boots, Shoes, &c., &c. Cor. Sixth and E Sts., - - FREMONT, NEB. I MEM ON T NEBRASKA, This House is pleasantly located, entirely now, well furnished, and the largest between the Missouri River and Salt Lake. FREMONT MILLS. Custom and MercJiaiit Millers and Dealers m FLOUR AND GRAIN. CASH PAID FOR WHEAT. Near the Railroad Depot, - - FREMONT, NEB. cr^nv^ES EC. 3m:oe, — DEALER IN— J3oots and- ©lioes, HEA.TS J^ISIT) CA^FS. Sixth Street, near Broad, - - FREMONT, ifEB. WHOLESALE AND KETAIL DEALERS TN Corner Broad and Sixth Sts., - - FREMONT, NEB. Also, North Bend, Nebraska. •288 TfTRNER's firn)!-: to ttik RonKV motxtat^'s. CHEYENNE, W. T. \V. H. iMlLLKB. THUS. .1. smEET. Attorneys at Law, Principal Office at CHEYENNE, Wyoming Territory, Piactice in all the Courts ol" this and the adjacent Territoi-ies. Particular attention given to Criminiil matters. CHARLES McDonald, Storap, Forwarflini aofl Cfliiiiimsioii Mercliaiit, Slonc Block, rirc I'roof W:ir<'li4»ii»e, Corner 20ih and O'N'eil Streets; Also, Corner Ifitli aod Kdciy, <'JJETEN\E, W. T. Wholesale and Retail Urorery House, and Goneral Outtitting Kstablishmcnt. Rectifier and Xiauufactiirer of Whisky and Pure Spirits. iii.®!)"^!?^]^ :Bm©®® C& ©® 2> JB J^ jSJ -KZ JBj JrCr S J Corner Sirleenth and JEdrfy Sfreeig , CHEYEWK, - WYOMING TERRITORY. Prompt attention given to collections in Wyoming, Colorado and I'tah. CONNECTING BANKS: First, National Bank of Omaha, Neb. Colorado National Bank, of Denver, Col. Rocky Mountain National Bank, of Central City, Colorado. J. W. FRENCH & CO., Storage and Commission Merchants, ANP DEALERS IN fytnnher, (irttrerirs, Provisiona, Baron, Flour, Grain, &c. AIpo, Agents for M»>rchantp Union Express Co.'s Fat>t Freight Line?; Fire t'roof Warehouse, Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. Rbfbrencks— First National Bank, Denver, Col. ; Geo. T. Clark . AV. W. OOPbKTT. Attorneys, Solicitors and Counselors. CHEYENNE, WYOMING TERRITORY. ,1'!!!""°^ CONGRESS If ill?' 017 167 734 8 # ;S'\ mmm