OVER THE PLAINS — AND- On The Mountains — OR,- Kansas and Colorado Agriculturally, Mineralogically, — AND yESTHE TIC ALLY DESCRIBED. By J. H. TICE FOR SALE BY THE ST. LOUIS BOOK AND NEWS COMPANY, ST. LOUIS, The Western News Company, Chicago, AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY, NEW YORK. E invito the attontioii of buvers, and the trade generally, to our Stock ot" Gootis, wliiiii we believe is as complete and varied in tiie several Oeiiartinents of BOOKS, STATIONERY, ? PERIODICALS AM> NEWSPAPERS, as that of »nv lohhinn House in file I'nited States. We are prepared to till all orders with ProtHptiiPSS, and at the lowest prices tor Cash. S/>eciii/ carr -I'ill be tiiken in fi/lim^ ori its ^'ariotts [issouri Eailroa'l. The day had boon intensely sultry, and a hj^-eriiiii; sky in the West indicated the ap- proach of a storm. The air seeined stagnant; for not a breeze was stirring; and the heat was sweltering and op- pressive. Criad Avere we, when the train commenced mov- ing us through the air, relieving us from the smothering ef- fects of heat, it having the same cooling effect as a wind would have of a velocity of twenty-five miles per hour. We were therefijre soon quite comfortable, which together with the novelty of our situation, starting out to experi- ence a new sensation, contributed to raise onr animal spirits, and we became as cheerful and vivacious a crowd as ever had cast dull care aside; and had set out to test how much relish and enjoynient, new and strange scenes M'ould add to ])leasure. Clear of the mephitic city air, and through the bluffs, we were soon flying through the beautiful Florissant ('])ronounced Florissaw) Valley, the Arcadia of Missouri. At dusk we came to a halt at the end of the bridg*' opposite .St. Charles, wliicli spans the muddy and turbub'iit Missouri here. A moment and we are in motion again, but sb>\\ly and cautiously we move over the im- mense iron structure; already a new sensation forthecopi- pletion f)f t)»e structure had only been celebrated a few days previously. Then there was still lingering a vague feeling OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 7 of insecurity induced by the croukings of ili-omonod birdrf, who like Dickens' " Thompson with a P Think the world is going to the Devil If they are not hallooing Gee. " This feeling of want of safety was intensified by some brainless would-be wag, having the morning of our leaving perpetrated the miserable pun, "that a whole train of the jS'orth ^Missouri Eailroad had gone through the bridge;" which for a while had found credence in its literal sense. The ebon shade of night soon fell upon the landscape and closed out all save our fiery steed and his luminous train. The sky was overcast, and from the west the dark storm cloud was rolling up with flash on flash of vivid liixhtnino;. Soon at intervals the hoarse rumblins; of the thunder coming neai'er and nearer notified us that we were approaching the storm. I had gone to a forward car to chat with an acquaintance, and when I returned, my attention was arrested while on the platform by a most singular display made by myriads of fireflies, ( Photynus pyralis). JMy first thought was that they were sparks from our engine, and with it came the thought of danger to the train from being set on fire and burned xip, for no structure of wood could live in such a shower of sparks as that. But I soon saw that they were fireflies. Sometimes they emitted a continuous flash, and then after a little intermission, it broke out again like platoon firing. I also soon observed that they were almost exclusively confined to within a rod or so to the railroad on both sides. I therefore concluded that they had 'gath- ered from the woods on the young herbage along the sides of the railroad ; ajid being alarmed by the train, had taken wing. Back into one of Pulman's sleeping cars, I was soon stowed away in one of its ample berths. But before I fell asleep the storm had set in. The rain was pouring down in torrents, and the wind was driving it splash, splash against windows and sides of the car, and then the light- J< OVER THE PL.\INS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. ning's glare, and the peals of thunder were territie. I fell asleep anil woke and fell asleep again, and still the storm i-aged on and beat against our frail shelter. J^a}- had dawned ere wc ran from under the rain cloud, 3'et the sky was still hlaek and overcast. It was nine o'clock before the blue sky appeared. Day overtook us at Lexington Junc- tion, where the branch railroad from Lexington to St. Joseph crosses. The country here generally is level prairie, and consequently water was standing e\ ery wliere, and the^ corntields looked as if they were drowned out. The creeks- were booming full to overflowing, and were floating down immense quantities of driftwood, which, lodging in the nar- row passages between the abutments of the bridges, \va» threatening danger to the structures. From the same cause the culverts were choked up and the water was collecting in lakes on the north side of the road. Everj^where the indications were of an immense rainfall; the broken limbs of trees indicated a severe wnnd storm also. The soil here is regarded as one of the most fertile and productive in the West, being intensely black, but extremelj^ friable and mel- low. The road pusses tip along the north bank of the river, having the muddy Missouri surging in its sandy bed on one side, and a most beautiful country of tine farms alter- nated with dense forests, on the other. Li the forests I could not but admire the varied resthetic forms of Nature, and ob- serve how much of the science of the iicautiful man has yet to learn from her teachings. Here Avas the Tecoma radicans smothering a half grown tree, or reclothing with verdure the tinink of a dead one, and adorning both with JtH cluster of large trumpet shape orange flowei's. There the frost grape, Jltis cordifoUa, had o1)tained the mastery over a well grown elm or hickory, and its long pendant vines were swaying to and fro, and often trailing on the ground. Yonder the Americ-an Ivy, the Ampe.lopsis quinque folia has decked the trunk of some large elm, sycamore or oak, with unsurpassing beauty, making it a green column supporting an immense "coronal of green leaves." OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 9> AVe soon arrived opposite Kansas City and reerosscd the*. Missouri to the south side on the raili'oad bridge. Here we were joined by two portions of our party, one who had preceded us, and the other who came up on the Missouri Pacific Eailroad on the south side of the river. Kansas City chiims 40,000 inhabitants and has them too, but ap- I^ears only a small village, being mostly hid by the higlx and immense bluffs, on which and amongst which, it is. built. It is a natural question to ask ones self: why a lo- cation should be selected for a city that will cost millions, to prepare the site, when a mile or so above and a fcAV miles below, a better site was already prepared by nature I heard here an anecdote related, which perhaps contains, the philosophy of the selection made here : A stranger cither in quest of a new field for speculation, or of a new- iiome for location, desired to know the price of a corner lot perched fifty feet above the grade. Two thousand dol- lars was the price asked. " Why that's enormous " said the stranger : " do you not see it will have to be graded down fifty feet before it can be used." " That's true " re- plied the owner, " but don't you see the fix the owner of the corner lot behind on the next street is in ? lie is J ust as^ much below the grade, and he will pay me twenty-five hun- dred dollars for my sui'plus dirt, and cart it off himself to fill up his." Not quite satisfied with this prospect for a speculation, lie went in quest of the owner of the other corner to ascertain his price. Two thousand dollars was- the repl}-. "■ What," said the stranger " two thoxisand dol- lars for that gully ; don't you see that it is fifty feet below the grade, and will have to bo tilled up ? " "■ That's so," replied the owner, " but don't you see the fix the owner of the other corner is in ? lie will not have any where ta ]jut his surplus earth, and he will pay me twenty-five hun- dred dollars for the privilege of filling up my lot." The knights of Wall Street ai'O credited Avith having in- vented many clever schemes in getting up corners of vari- ous kinds, but no genius has ever appeared there equal to 10 OVER THE PLAIN'S AND ON' THE MOUNTAINS. the task of irettinc; up suclx a brilliant scheme as the loca- tion of Kansiis Citv, where the owner not only sells his corners for enormous prices, but the purchasers gets them for nothini^ ami a larijo bonus besides. After breakfast at the State Line, we got abroad of the ti*ain of the Missouri Pacific for Atchison in Kansas, forty seven miles distant. Crossing the Kaw or Kansas river, ■\ve ])assed through the western edge of Wyandotte, a flour- ishingand thrifty town, lyingto our rightonthc west bank of the Missouri, which hero has a general course nearly .south though after receiving the Kaw it turns cast. The bluffs soon make their appearance to our lef\, intermitting sometimes however to afford a passage for a creek, and leav- ing a level ])lain of extent enough for a number of fine farms. Tliese bluffs arc covered with the timber generally abounding in Illinois and Missouri, including the C'offee Xut, (Gymnocladus Canadensis,) and a dense thicket of hazle sumach, and other undergrowth. The soil consists of broken chert and limestone, covered by a black loam and vegetable hvmus. "We soon passed the city of Leavenworth, which the railroad and expressmen spell '' 11 worth " for short, and the Fort of same name, situated on a high bluff just north of the city, around' whose base the railroad winds. Opposite the Fort, a railroad bridge is constructing over the Missouri River for the South-AVest Railroad. The piers, consisting of immense tubular colums of iron ftlled with grout, were up and ready to receive the superstruc- ture. The railroad will land on the top ofthe bluff in the militai"}- grounds. Several small pleasant villages lie on our route before we reaf-h Atchison one of the tastiest, handsomest and most thriving towns in the West. It claims a population of 10,000. and is us biusy, wide awake and enterprising a city as can be found anywhere ; and which is making it- .self the railroad centre of iiortheast Kansas, It has rail- road connections with the Hannibal and St. Joscj)h Rail- road which connects it with Chicago and the East by the OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 11 roads runnini;^ throusrh Central Illinois ; with the North Missouri aiid .Mi.ssouri Pacitic Jloaris wliioh connect it with ^St Louis and the South and East with the C'enti'al Branch ■of the Union Pacific, which will ultimately connect itwitli the West and the coast of the Pacific; with the Atchison and Nebraska liailroad now constructinj^ and graded to the State line, connecting it with Omaha and the North; and with tlie South and Southwest by the following roads partly constructed or under contract and work commenced, name- iv: Atchison, Topeka and Saute Fe Railroad; Atchison Os- kaloosa and Lawrence Railroad. It is not a mushroom towyn, but its growth has been gradual, steady and permanent. It has three large flourmills, four sawmills, two wagon ' mannfactories, one large furniture manufactory, etc. On our arrival wo were received by Mayor Smith in be- half of the large concourse of citizens assembled to wel- come lis. But as I stepped on the platform I instantly recognized in the ci'owd, Dr. \Ym. H. Grimes, an old acquain- .tanco whom I had not seen for thirty-seven years, with whom I revived reminiscences of ^' lang syne " until the •ceremony of reception was over. I also met another ac- quaintance here. Gen. B. F. Stringfellow, conspicuous in the Missouri raids some sixteen'and more years ago, of which he had the reputation of being the life and soul. Yet here he was in a Yankee town of the most intense Yankee proclivities, thoroughly reconstructed, and as enterprising, energetic and progressive as any of them. I was not more surprised to find him here, than I was at the completeness with which he has 3-ielded to the current that sweeps eveiything on- ward here with irresistible force. The peculiarity of Kan- sas society everywhere, is that the whole community is in- tensely in earnest, and seems to work as though it had buta one mind and one purpose. This is a main reason, for that unexemplified progress and prosperity that marks all ;8ections of the State. True, it requires intelligence to be- •come master of the situation ; and. to see what is to be 'done; but when this is seen, then it requires, will, purpose. 12 OVER THE PL,\INS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. persistcni ami uuiied otiort to achieve it. Consequently Kansas will umiortnke and successfully accomplish, the most weight}' eiitorprizes in less time than it takes the more sluggish and discordant elements of the older States- to arrive at a conclusion of what Avero best to do. Major- W. F. Downs, the General Superintendent of the Central Branch of the Union Pacific Iliiilroad, had provided for us- an extra train to take us to Waterville, the present ter- minus of the road, just one hundred miles west from here. We were accompanied by many of the principle citizens of Atchison, Avith Avhom we s^ient a most agreeable time "Toiuff and rcturnini;. For several miles the country is divex'sified b}' hill andi dale; the hills rising but to a moderate height, and where not occupied by tiirms, have a dense growth ofyoung oak, hickor}', walnut, and other trees indigenous to the West^ How the seeds from Avhich they sprung got there, puzzles, tho citizens; for when the settlers first came these hills were covered with prairie grass with no sign of aliy other growth. I confess I cannot account for it, but it is an oc- currence that happens everywhere ; not only in Kansas, but in the West, wherever the fire is kept out of prairies contiguous to timber, a young forest growth immediately . springs up. Many of the citzens of St. Genevieve, Missouri, recollect the time when the Illinois bottom opposite to. their town, was a treeless prairie. Now it is a dense forest,, with sycamore, cottonwood, walnut, linden, pecan and oak trees from thirty to forty inches in diameter. The first village, Farmington, is twelve and a half miles west of Atchison. It is situated in a rich, undulating coun- try, which is thickly settled, and Avell timbered. Three •nilcs further is Monrovia on the south bank of Stranger Creek, surrounded by a rich country. It has a beautiful site, and is the oldest town on the road. Some three miles farther is Effingham, anew and thriving village. Twill here state that all the towns and villages along the road have good public school houses, and one or more churches- OVER I'HE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 13 The next town, one of tl\o lari^cst, is Muscoutah, handnome- 1y located on the hanks of the (ri-asshopper, which affords fine water-power. It is just on the cdi!;o of the Kickapoo Heserve, in one of the richest sections of the State. Senator Pomeroy lives here. lie lias a highly improved limn in the vicinity. Maj. Downs, the Superintendent of the rail- road, also has a splendid farm near town. Both he and Mr. Pomero}', have on their farms some of the best blooded -stock in tlie State. Here we saw the Kickapoo chief Parthe, who was in ■town with his squaw and papoose. He brouiijht the latter wp to see the engine, but it became so frightened, as to .scream and struggle, and he had hard work to hold it; Init when the band struck up it became i^erfectly frantic. He -and his squaw were dressed in the costume of the whites. Poor fellow, ho has since been miirdered In' a half breed. He was repi'osented as a good man, had himself been natu- ralized, and M'as influencing his people to become both civi- lized and naturalized. At over}- session of the courts, from eight to fifteen, are invested with the rights, duties, ])rivi- leges. franchises and responsibilities of American citizen- .ship. They cultivate the soil to some extent, but are more generally engaged in stock raising. They have a system ■of ])ublic schools and good school houses, where all the -children of the tribe are educated. They are entirely peaceable, and the whites deal honestly with them, and treat them with the greatest kindness. Six miles beyond Muscoutah is Whiting; and five and a lialf miles bej'ond it is Netawaka, a prosperous town ofsix stores, tM'o hotels; and a weekly paper, the Herald, is imblished here. Both those places are irt the Kickapoo Keservo. The next town is Wetmore, having four stores, a grain -'^ware-house, etc., then comes Sherman, a railroad station at the fiftieth mil© post from Atchison, surrounded by a most '-ifceautiful and rich agricultural country. Corning is a flour- ishing town seven miles ftirther West. Then comes Cen- 14 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. inilisv .'U ihe sixty-second mile post, one of the largest and most prosperous towns on tho line. Vermillion comes; next, and then Frankfort, a largo and thriving town. The Vermillion river dose by, affords fine water-power. Next comes Barretts, a thriving village, having a saw mill and excellent wtrter-power, with plenty of timber in the vi- cinity. Elizabeth, another village three miles beyond, has- a tinoquality of mugnesiaii limestone for building ptirposes. The next is Irving, ninety miles from Atchison; it is a most enterprising, prosperous town. A newspaper, the Jiecorder, isi)ublished here. Besides having the most com- modious public school-house in Northern Kansas, it has the " Wctraore Institute, " an excellent institution of learning. The town is situated just beyond the Big Blue. Blue Riipids, live miles beyond, is a colonial settlement from Xew York, about a year old. It has some seventy- houses, two stores, sawmill, hotel, etc, It has fine water- jiower, and steps have been taken to make it available for manufacturing purposes. Waterville is situated at the jjres- ent terminus of the railroad, one hundred miles west of At- chison. It is about five years old, has twenty stores, four hotels, gristmill, wagon manufactor}-, etc. It is beautifully situated near grassy bluffs, some two miles south of the Little Blue, which hero comes In from the northwest skirted by a belt of timber. The citizens had prepared for us a stimptuous banquet, to furnish which every zone and climate on the globe, were laid under contribution. It was surprising to see here, on the outskirtsof civilization, whither the first wave- '»f immigration had rolled only a few years previous, the luxuries of the Old andNew World, and of both the Indies brought together to furnish a banquet that the proudest, princes cannot excel. After dinner was dispatched then came the speeches, which were fully equal to the best effort that such occasions call forth elsewhere. But this is not saying much however; for postprandium speeches every- where amongst us, show, that we as a nation are running- more into gab than into thouyht. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 15 After dinner avc examined some beautiful blocks of mag- ncsian limestone, and also an immense block of gypsum quarried out of the hills. Upon invitation we ascended the grassy bluff behind and south of the church. The sides, though covered with grass, were stony, apparently for the most part fragmentary chert ; and amongst the grass the beautiful rose colored flowers of the Sensitive Briar {Schrankla uncinata) and the no less beautiful and large purple blooms of the Penste/non (jrandiflorus. A splendid carmine colored Phlox also abounded everywhere. The soil on the top of the bluff is a deep rich loam, bear- ing a heavy ci-op of prairie grass. To the v/est, south and east i--3 a boundless prairie j while north, beyond the tine valle}'- at your feet, through which runs the Little Blue,, the view is bounded by the timber belt along that stream. In other directions no timber was visible, though it is said to be abundant on a tributary of the Blue some ten miles off to the southwest; and also beyond that in the valley of the Republican, and its affluents. There are a considerable number of new hoiises dotting the prairies surrounded by the newly broken sod. The bluffs are n*ere swells rising to modei-ato elevations, say jione exceeding a height of fifly feet. Though sometinics pretty steep, they are smooth- ly rounded off, and covered by the luxuriant green prairie grass. In fact so artistically are they rounded and dressed^ that they look like immense sodded bastions around a for- tification. I will here state that the rural landscape along the entire route is not emotional as far as exciting the turbulent feel- ings of the wonderful and sublime are concerned; but on the contrary it inspires the quiet and soothing emotions of absolute peace, tranquility, contentment and repose. Look- ing at it until you imbibe its spirit, you think it almost an impossibility that men dwelling in such a quiet, peaceable Arcadia as this, would become, or ever could become ruffled^ and show the stronger and rougher passions of tlic human heart. 16 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. Watervillo is in the "western part of Marshall county. Wrtshini::t(>n County lies west, and has already a consid- erable population, thouojh all the settlements are of quite recent date. West of AVashinij^ton is J?e2)ublic county. (Crossed ilia^onally from its north-west to its south-east •corner by the Ivejiublican river. This is, or was the west- ern limits of settlement at the beginning of the present season. All these counties are bounded north by the state Jine, that is by Nebraska. On board the cars again, wo were soon on oui-way back, •stopping at Blue Papids, and paying a visit to the dam, •constructed 1)y the colonists across the Blue, just below the junction of tho Little Blue, which has its sources to the north-west in XelnMska, and tho Big Blue which lieads north, also in Nebraska, near the Platte river. Bhw Rapids is about a mile and a half from the railroad station. The citizens had come in wagons and other vehicles to convey us thither; but they had not calculated on quite so large a part}-, consequently all could not get accommoda- tions, of which unfortunate class I hajipencd to bo one. Some liowever,'Avalked; but as I thought a walk of three miles in such a sweltering day would not JJay, I remained at the tstation. It was near sundown when the party re- turned. They found the citizens celebrating the comple- tion of their iron bridge across the Blue on the abutments of tho dam, by a pic-nic. The guests were invited to walk across by the coh)nists; on their return the}' were lialted, a charge made along the whole line, (one dollar,) by an artist who had gone up on the train, and then photo- graphed ; a cop3^ of which was to have been delivered to •each, a condition that he has not yet been able to comply with. These colonists have adopted the only plan of speedy sncfCKs with such an enterprise, and at the same time avoiding the evils of non-em])]oyment, and consequent suf- •I'ering and j)rivation. They have selected as^)cautiful and .as rich an agricultural location as there is in the Westj OVKR THE PIoAINS AND ox THE MOUNTAINS. 17* having at the same time a site furnishing any desirablo amount of "water-power. They have already completed a dam Avhich makes that water-power available. A sawmill is in operation, and a gristmill of the largest size almost completed ; woolen and other manufiictoriea are to follow in rapid succession, and the colony will be more than u self-sustaining community before the end of another year, I did not learn whether the colonists own the capital in- vested or not. Underway again; it was dusk when we crossed the Blue at Irving, reaching Atchison near twelve o'clock, where we found a sjDecial train to take us to Leavenworth, where we arrived at half past one in the morning. The following may bo taken as a general summary of the features, character, quality of soil, sanitary condition, etc!*, of the country between Atchison and AVaterville. The" soil is deep and rich, even on the upland prairie. Timber abounds in considerable quantities, and is well dis- tributed. Hero the prairies are seen generally to he bounded by timber, while along all brooks and creeks the forest is heavy. In this there is a great difference between a landscape here and that of the great prairies in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, where the wholo horizon includes but one single continuous treeless plain. The drainage is perfect, since the country is rolling, but only in gentle swells, while the river bottoms, several miles in width, are flanked by hills of considerable eleva- tion. There is a strong current in all the streams, the wa- ter consequently is clear and pure. There are no stagnant pools nor low wet and marshy lands to j^oison the air with miasma. True, there are bilious diseases, but so there are everywhere, where new clearings are made, and virgin soil broken uj) and exposed to a midsummer sun. These diseases however are of a mild type, and decrease . as' the quantity of newly broken prairie diminishes from year to year, and almost entirely disappear wheix all the land is broucrht under cultivation. This conforms to ex- 18 OVER TUE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS, perience everywhere, cither east or Avest. That bilious diseases become mikler and less frequent as the country settles up, is a well established fact. Time was when chills and fever were just as prevalent in the Gcnessee valley as ever they were in Illinois. Tho bluffs that flank the valley often are stony, and some even expose ledges of rocks. They arc so abundant in some places, that we saw quite a number of stone fences along tho route. S})rini:;s of pure cold water are numerous along the whole route, anil are said to exslst westward indefinitely. On tlio highest i)rairie8 tho best, pure and cold water can be obtained by sinking wells from 20 to 50 feet. Wood is still generally used for fuel, costing from three to four dollars a cord. But it has been ascertained that extensive coal beds underlie tho country, from two to i'our feet in thickness. At several places, these beds have been opened, and are now worked. The Grasshoj)per, Vermillion and Blue rivers furnish a large amount of water-power, and sawmills are found along all of these streams. Tho price of native lumber is from Slo to §25 per thousand feet. Besides, stone, board and wire fences, we saw quite a num- ber of osage orange hedges planted, and some pretty well es- tablished. I should think the country from its abundant fresh water, large range covered with luxuriant grasses, and fine climate, avcU adapted to stock raising and dairying pur- poses. These no doubt now and for an indefinite time to come will be as remunerative as any other business what- ever. I could not obtain any reliable data of how much public land there remains subject to entrj', homestead ()rj)re-emp- tion. The railroad has a grant of land of every alternate 'section for ten miles on each side of the road. They hold them from two to eight dollars per acre, with a liberal dis- count for cash. They will sell them also on a credit of three, four, six and ten years at diflTerent rates of interest, OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 19 according to time. Full particulars can be a.sccrtainod from the General Superintendent and Land Agent oi'the road, Maj. W. F. Downs. The amount of corn, wheat and pota- toes raised per acre, is equal to the highest figures attained in Missouri and Iowa. In iact the quantities reported seem like marvelous stories. But from the character of the soil and nature of the climate, there can be no doubt that the yield is enormous. 20 OVER TUE PLAIN'S AND OX THE MOL'NTAIXS. CHAPTER II. After breakfast we found carriages provided by the citi- zens in readiness to give us a drive through and around the city. "We drove up one of the main streets to the Military Grounds just north of the city. These grounds arc very ex- tensive, and are elaborately laid off into ])lots, on which are situated, surrounded with flowers and shrubber}', expensive mansions for the accommodation of the numerous ofiicei*H always located here. This is the Headquarters of the Trans- Mississippi Military Department, where men and military- stores are collected for distribution to the Upper Missouri, Colorado, Upper Arkansas and IS'ew Mexico. The barracks are very large to accommodate the soldiers concentrated here from the malarious Gulf States for recuperation, and from the Northwestern, Western and Southwestern Terri- tories for relaxation. The military reservation is a most beautiful tract, contiiining 6000 acres. The part occupied is a level plateau on a high bluff, whence there is a command- ing view of the city of Leavenworth to the south, which it entirely overlooks ; the Missouri Eiver for many miles both up and down and the rich bottom or valley east ; and west a fine undulating country of hill and dale, as far as sight extends. After driving through the military grounds, we drove south-east to tlie edge of the bluff, and dismounted to look at the structure, a stone abutment, in process of erec- tion at the terminus of the bridge, on top of the bluff, for the Chicago and Southwestern llailroad, and also of the piers of the bridge, then ready to receive the superstruct- ure. The bridge is to be wrought iron, placed upon piers of cas^t OVER THE PLAirJS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 21 iron, tho columns of which arc now in position. Ah this was a novelty to mo in civil engineering, I will briefly de- scribe it. The sections of the columns are eight and a half feet in diametei-, ten feet in length and one and three quar- ter inches thick, and weigh about ten tons each. With proper flanges at tho ends, these sections arc joined in tho process of sinking, so as to form a continuous cylinder, reaching from the superstructure to tho solid rock on tho bottom of the river. Tho whole is then filled np with concrete masonry and grouting. Two of these columns placed side and side longitudinally with the current, form one pier. .There are three of these piers, two in the river, and one on the eastern shore ; the bridge to land on the western shore on a stone abutment. The elevation is ten feet above the high water line. Each of the three spans thus formed, will be three hundred and forty feet in length; and the bottom of the lower chord fift}' feet above extreme high water, so that steamboats can pass at any stage of the river. The approach to the eastern end of the bridge con- sists of trestle work, 1500 feet long, and an earth embank- ment extending 2500 feet further, both of which are com- pleted. It is contemplated to make this bridge a common union for the crossing of all railroads terminating here, both from the East and "West. Remounting our carriages, we Avere driven back thrt)ugh ilie military grounds, and west on and along tho heights that surround the city. These were at some places quite stony, covered with a young and low growth of forest trees, interspersed with the many wild flowers indigenous to this section. We now for the first time realized the charming location of the city. We could look down the ]\^issouri river south-eastwardly fully twenty miles, and both shoi-es appeared one unbroken forest of gigantic trees. But right beloAV us, on the banks of the river, in an am- phitheatre of some three or four miles in length, two miles in depth, and gradually rising to our position, is nestled the city of Leavenworth, containing fully 25,000 inhabitants. 82 OVER THK PLAINS AND ON. Tift MOUNTAINS. To the west, ami ui the distance of about half a mile, lie« the valley of Salt Creek, a stream that debouches into the Missouri above the Fort. Our position must have been at least two hundred feet above this valley, appai'ently two miles in width, and surrounded on all sides by heavily timbered and high hills. It was one of the finest rui-al pictures I ever beheld. In 'the centre at the M'idcst part arises a rounded hill, about sixty feet higli, of perhaj^s eighty acres in area and heavily timbered; while all around it lay the most neat, tidy and thrifty farms in the liighost tilth. ]t reminded me of the landscape and scenery of my boyhood's homo in the Tuscaroras. "We now tlrove to the residence of Professor "Percival G. Lowe, where wg 2)artook of some of his cherries and straw- berries and some native wine. After walking through his garden and grounds of shrubbery, we drove to the south- ern limits of the city, and then returned towards its cen- tral parts, but were l)rought to a halt before the spacious mansion of Gen. J. (.'. Stone where we dismounted, and were received by the Genei-al and his estimable lady in the most cordial and hospitable manner. Ushered into his drawing room, we spent some time in admiring the fine specimens of art, both in painting and sculpture. Of the former Ijut very few were fancy pieces, representing moslly noted wild landscape scenery in Europe and America. The doors wore now thrown open, and we found our host had with a muniticencc that would do lionor to a prince, j>repared a most 8umj)tuous dinner for us. There were spring chickens, liam, butValo tongue, pies, cakes and pastry Of every imaginable kind, an exhaustive assort- ment of comfits and candies, together with ice cream Then there were the largest, finest and most luscious strawbeiTies and cherries, all raised on liis farm near the city, besides the choicest native wines. Before leaving the mansion of our hospitable host, we were invited to inspect an upper room, completely decorated OVER THE PLAINS AND OS THE MOUNTAINS. 23 witli military caps, and other German military paraphernalia brought home by the General's .son, who has just returned after icraduatincc in a German university. I never saw a native so completely Germanized as he; and so charmed was he with university life in Germany, that he spoke on- th«siasti('ally of it. We could not, however, admire or commend all the features of such a life, that for instance of the barbarous custom of resorting on every occasion t<> single combat, to avenge any real or fancied insult. Oui* young friend bears on his otherwise handsome face and manly brow, many ugly scai's from sword wounds received in such encounters. After talcing a most cordial leave of our munificent host and his estimable lady, we returned to the hotel to await the departure of the evening train for Lawrence; mean- while I took mentally a business review of the city and its surroundings. Leavenworth has naturally one of the most favorable sites for a commercial city. Situated on the west bank of the Missouri river, it has water communication with all the states of the Mississippi Valley and the Gulf, and with the gold and silver producing territories of the upper Mis- souri. But in these days, no city has an^^ hold on, nor sec- urity for permanent commercial prosperity, by having only water communiciition with the outside world. The arte- ries of commerce now are of iron, instead of water, as formerly. In foreign commerce, water communication will always hold an incontestiblc superiority, but it can no longer c^jntrol the commercial movements within the interior of a continent. To concentrate and distribute the products of a continent and of the world, railroads have an unquestioned pre-eminence over all other modes of transportation. In casting the horoscope of any city's permanent growth and prosperity, her railroad access- ability and facilities must bo considered. Applying this principle to Leavenworth, it will be seen that the auguries for the future are most auspiciou.s. She is now connected 24 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. by Avay of St. Louis, with the East, tlie Centre and the Soutli l)y the ilissouri Pacific, and the Missouri Valley and Xorth Missouri railroads; -with Chicago and ^vith the East and Xorth, l>y the Cliicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Hannibal ami St. Joseph, and the Missouri Yallc}-, the llock Island and Pacific, and tho Chicago und Southwestern railroads; Avith the Xorth, the Xorth-west and the Pacific coast, first, by way of Council P>IufTs, hy the ilissouri Val- ley and St. Joseph and Council Bluff railroads; second, by way of Denver by tho I^eavcnworth, Lawrence und Galveston and the Kansas Pacific railroads. Tho Jjcaven- worth, Atchison and Xorth western railroad, now in process of construction, will connect it with Omaha, opposite Coun- cil Blufls. The Union Central l)ranch of the Union Pacific railroad, now completed to 'Waterville, Avill when com- ]>leted, give it direct communication with San Francisco. With the South-west, with the Leavenworth, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad, now com])lcted to Xcwton, within 20 miles of the Arkansas river; and with the Gulf and the South direct, by the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galves- ton railroaermanence which mjirk those in the northern part of the State. There the original cabin and cottage have given place to the neat substiintial and commodious farmhouse. But here evident- ly time enough has not yet elapsed to eflf'ect such great and permanent changes, i called the attention of some I>awrence friends accompanying us, to this difference, and asked lor an explanation, since there evidently was na diflference in the productive capacity of the soil. I then learned that the whole country south of Ottowa had been an Indian Reservation, and that only some six years have ••lapsed since the extinguishment of the Indian title. T also learned there was no government land to be entered in f?outhea««tern Kansas, excepting in the extreme south- ern tier of counties on the Indian Territory. This railroad however has lands located in Anderson, Allen, Xeosho and Labette counties, which they are offer- ing for sale at from four to ten dollars jicr acre on a cred- it of seven years at 7 per cent interest. L.inds contiguous to the road held by individuals, can bo bought from eight to fifty dollars per acre, according to loc^ility, or the amount and character of the improvements thereon. As in the northern part of the State so here the church and the 8choolhouso are conspicuous objects in all the towns, vil- lages and settlements, a sure index of the character of the people and of its dominant ideas. As already intimated the surface of the country is less diversified by hill and dale than that in northern Kansas. The swells are so gen- tle, and the elevation so moderate, that they cannot as- OVER TIIK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 35 pire to the dignity of bcinf^ called liills; wliile in northern Kansas the elevations are eon.siderable, and the slopes gen- erally abrupt. Tho conformation of the surface therefore gives "wido alluvial bottoms to all the southern rivers, which are admirably adapted for corn, -while tho uplands are particularly well adapted for sninll grain. Tho wheat- fields passed on the route to-da^', were not only riper on the swells, but far less aifocted bv rust on the blade than those on the bottoms. Tho return trip was not marked I»y any incident of note, except that we encountered a small thunder-shower south of Otto wa. On reaching Lawrence we found a large num- ber of cai'riages waiting to give us a drive through and around tho city. I took a seat in that belonging to Hayor Thatcher, driven by his son, a lad of some sixteen summers. Passing around the soutliorn suburbs and west- ward until wo reached tho hill designated as Mount Oread, we were di-ivcn northward on the street that lines its side at some elevation above the plaiji below. This street is lined by tasty suburban residences, surrounded by shrub- bery, lawns, winding waj^s, ornamented with the choicest flowers. To the noi'th Mount Oread terminates beforo it reaches tho Kaw in a well and prettily rounded hill, with a tolerable steep slope. We now drove westwardly until attaining tho summit, and then southward till we reached tho front of the State University Avhero we were addressed by Maycn* Thatcher in a very neat and pertinent S])eech. From this point the view is very tine. To tho north and northeast is the Kaw, a beautiful limpid river, whoso course the eye CAn follow for many miles down its valley. Between you and it lies the city of Lawrence, containing a population of some 12000, with its twenty churches, mag- nificent public schoolhouses, hotels, banks and other public and private buildings. There also is the bi'idgo spanning the Kaw which connects the northern suburb where tho depot of the Kansas Pacific railroad is. A few jioints south of east is Blue Mountain, a high knoll of but limited 36 OVKR THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOrNTAINS. breadth, which defleets tho Wtikurusa to the north into the Kaw .some six miles below the city. To tho south and aoiuhea.st is a campaign country, covered with fine farm?* and orchards, as far as the eye can roach. Through the centre of this can^paign runs the Walcarusa. Westward is a succession of rolling hills, and iiorthw(\st is the wide alluvial bottom of the Kaw through which its serj^entine coui"se can be tracbd for miles. Jlemountinir our carriai^es we were driven throu2;h some of the i)rinci])al streets of the city, and finally through ^[assachusetts street, its Broadway, to the Eldridgo House, AVo liave now been three days in Kansas, during which time we have traveled about five liundred miles, and seen the country from north to south, and from east to west ; to be sure in the brightest season of the year, the flowery month ofJunejand we have met and become acquainted with its people and enjoyed their hospitalities. Ixctracing, men- tivlly, the incidents and scenes of these throe days, they appear more like a lovely dream than a reality. A richer and a more beautiful country the sun does not look down upon in its course around the globe; and in time it must become thescatof wealth and social and intellectual power and influence, that will make themselves felt oven beyond the limits of our own nation. But a few years since and it was the pasture field of tho buffalo, and tho hunting ground of wild, i-oaming, hunting savage tribes of the plains. Then came the white man, and with him the fierce passions engendered in sectional strife, who made this their first battlefield. No crime that blackens the criminal code, but was enacted here, and that by people of the same lineage, speaking the same language, and hailing from the same nation. Fraud, violence, robbery, arson and murder were rife here, and roamed over and deso- lated the land unchecked by the civil authority, because of the imbecility, or rather servility of both territorial and national governments. But the men who came here to set- OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 37 :]o, )?loovl their ground manfully, and maintained their position against unequal numbers backed, as far as they dared, by both civil authorities. Then to become an emi- grant to, and settle in Kansas, was an adventure that required courage, firmness and rosohition. Xone but men of positive and strong convictions dared do it; because it required taking their lives in their hands, Avith the resolu- vion to die for ])rinciples if it became necessary. It was a winnowing process by which the dross was separated in the States from the ^luro metal, and by which cowards, neutrals, comj)romisors and tcmi^orizers were completely eliminated. Those that then came, learned tho important lesson which has been, and is, tho secret of their success, prosperity and unexamjiled progress, mainly that of unit}'" of purpose and concentration of efforts. Whatever may have been, or is their object, whether to repel the aggres- sor, to organize industr}', to establish schools and other institutions of learning, to build churches, and push for- ward enterprises of internal improvement, there has been no holding back, no division of council, no lukewarmness, but the united energy of tho whole community has been, and is, always concentrated in tho effort, acting as though it had but a single thought, and controlled by but one mind. In Austria or Eussia, such unity of action would be effected by the use of despotic power, but hei-e it is by in- telligence and enlightened pul)lic opinion. The result is that in no State has there been such i-apid material pro- gress, and in so short a time such immense sti-ides in all the elements of prosperity and greatness. In one decade they have done more towards the development of the natural resources of the State, to organize its industrial, social, moral, religious and intellectual interests, than is effected by the more apathetic and sluggish communities of the older States in a half century. During the border troubles it was customary to speak of Bleeding Kansas. " It is true she bled some, but with the light of to-day, we cannot but regard it to have been good for her health, and 38 OVER TllK PLAINS AND UN THE MOUNTAINS. promotive of her constitutional vigor. It kept away from her the timid, the unenlightened, the thriftless and shift- less j in laet ail tliose without enterprise and determina- tion ol'])urpose. ilenee, in her social m(n-ements, and in- dustrial enterprises, Kansas had nothing to clog the march ofevents, nor any ilead weight to carry. Such material as that composing this infant Stale cannot be collected anywhere without developing its inherent tendency of pushing things that ])romote the interests and pros- perity of communities. Hence originated that spirit of progress, ami the adoption of those far-seeing and wise measures that liavo placed her in the front rank of States in the organization of her material, social ami intellectual interests. Our experience amongst them has convinced us that they are as kind, generous and hosjMtahle, as they are brave, daring and resolute. In ever^'thing they do there is tin- ring of the pure noble metal. Be it doing acts of generosity and kindness, of extending hospitality to stran- gers, l)e it meeting the common enemy in a death strug- gle, or in attacking and overcoming the obstacles of Xature, the innate character of the people is never obscured or hidden. It is the embodiment of heart, will and pur- pose. Su with a tolerable fair stand live to eit'ht inches above the sod. This often yields a third or a fourth of a crop, with no other labor than drop- ping it in the furrow while bi'Caking up the prairie sod. TOie older settlements exhibit unmistakable evidence of 40 OYKK THE PLAINS AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. that Intel ligoiH'O, industry and enterprise, and consequent- ly thrill so ehai-aeteriHtic of the people ot'Kansas. Neat- er homen, better cultivated farms, and more promising and liner eroj)s, arc hard to find, even in the best cultivated and richest ])art.s of the older States. Tho aspect of the wliole seems as though tho people thought there wero no enjoyments nor pleasures equal to the ondoarmouts of tidy,, comfortable and pleasant homes. The preceding day "we had seen the wheat fields from Lawrence to Humboldt, along the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Ci'alveston railroad. At Garnett and lola there was often much disj)arity in tho growing crop. Fields almost adjacent, with apparently no difference in soil, nor choice of location, differed so nmch in appearance that tho own- ers of the poor fields must have made some great mistake or committed a grievous fault citlu-r in the time or man- ner in which they put the crop in, or in the quality of the seed sown. IBo tho causo what it may, one field promising 28 to 80 bushels of wheat per acre was fully ripe for har- vest, untouched l)y blight, while an adjacent one, thin? green and rust eaten, would not yield one-half that quan- tity of a very inferior quality. Along the line of tho Kan- sas Pacific railroad so far, although there were coiisidera- p]e ditTerences in fields, there was nowhere such a contrast as wc had observed in Southern Kansas. Corn from Wamega as far Avest as we found it planted, was very promising, of a dark rich green, since there had been through this section abundant rains, and most of the fields were in the highest state of tiltli with not a weed to be seen. Manhattan lies above and iiuniediately west of tho junc- tion of tho Blue wliose upper valley, some seventy miles north from its mouth, we had traversed three days before as far as Watcrville. Here is locuited the Kansas State Agrieultural College and the experimental farm. Accord- ing to prc-aiTangement we were to have stopped hero and Kjtcnd a day in looking over the fai-ni :ind studying its sys- OVER. rilU PLAIfis AXB ON THE MOUNTAINS. 41 t«m and that of the organization of the college. The col- lege and farm are located some two and a half miles north Avest of the town. But finding that if we did so, our ti-ain arrangements would be interfered -with, avo kept on without Btopping, "with tlie intention to defer our visit un- til our return. The railroad runs up the valley of the Kaw, or Kansas. as it is sometimes called, a beautiful transparent stream with a rapid current. It is sometimes flanked by low hills, Avhich now approach and then recede imtil lost from view beneath the distant horizen. The banks of the riv- • ■r are sparsely lined with trees, but Avith little under- groAvth. OtherAvise there is no timber except along the banks of some affluent Avhose devious Avindiugs can be traced over the plains until lost in the distance, ,by the^ Jine of trees that deck its banks. The same species of mimosa observed yesterday in Southern and the day before in Northern Kansas, the Schrankia unci nata ot^ the botanists, Avas still plenty, and. occasionally the white and purple Oenothera, Avas still plen- ty. A ncAV comer, however, made its appearance this morning, the Avhite Mexican prickly popi)y, (Argemone qrandiflora) groAving luxuriantly on the sides of the ex- cavations and embankments of the railroad. Its enor- mous Avhite floAvers, often five inches in diameter, Avcre the admiration of the Avhole party. Some fifteen miles above Manhattan is to be seen on the south side of the KaAV the old capitol building noAV occupied if at all by hogs and other unclean beasts. Paw- nee was to have been the capital of the nascent State ; here the appropriation made by Congress for erecting Territori- al buildings was expended, and here Governor Reeder con- vened the first Territorial Legislature, in midAvinter on a bleak prairie one hundred and tAventy-fiA^e miles Avest of any civilized habitation. This Avas too much for the ^n'ac- tical good sense of the unsophisticated early settlers, and they rebelled against it. Al\er many failures Avith re- 42 OVKR TUK PL.\INti AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. • newod and onergotit' effortH, the ambulatory Lugislatui'o mouinvhiK' mooting; at other point.^, the oapital question was .soitled by seloetinjjc Topoka, aiul the glory of Pawnee departed and with it visions of vahiablo corner lots, etc. On the surrounding prairies there is now nothing to be rsecn but droves of Texas cattle, remarka])le only for their enormous uncoutli horns. Such was the case on the morning wo passed there. Fort llilev is situated near the junction of the Republi- can Fork; and some three miles beyond is Junction City. A good idea of the topographical sloping of Central and Northern Kansas may be formed by studying it.s river sys- tem proper, which converges here. 8outhwest<'rn Kan- sas, nearly (me-fourth part of the State, belongs to another .system, and is drained and traversed by the Arkansas, and the Cimmaron. But the system which forms the Kaw has its sources west in Colorado and north in Xobraska. The Blue rises in Nebraska near the channel of the Platte, and flows generally south, entering the Ivaw at Manhattan. It is said to atford the best water powoi- in the State through its entire length. It certainly does so in the northern tier of counties, as we saw three days before at Irving, Blue li;vpids and Waterville. The Republican forms a junction with the Smoky Hill Kork just belovr Junction City. The Ropublican has its source in south- western Nebraska and northeastern Colorado, flowing at first cast, then southeast until it joins its waters with those of the Smoky llill, forming the Kansas or Kaw. Thirty miles or so west, Solom(jn's Fork, rising in eastern Color- ado, running at first northeast into Nebraska and then .southeast, joins the Smoky ilill. Thirteen miles higher up, th<' SiiKiky Hill i* joined by the Salina, which also rises in eastern Colorado, 'i'he Smoky Hill itself rises in ea.storn Colorado, and flows a little north of east in tlie general course. The lino of railroad is up the valley of the Smoky Ilill, but so level and expanded is its ba.sin that the river is s^ddom in sight, flowing fur to the south. OVER TIIK PLAI.Vti AND ON' THE MOUNTAINS. 43 Some twenty-tive miles above Junction in Abilene, 163 miles ^ve8tof the State line. Being the point forshipping- Texas cattb;, it is quite a business place, but tlie concen- trution «f tbe cattle trade here retards the growth, settle- ment and improvement of the rich tigrieultural country surrounding it. At Abilene we saw the first subterranean habitiitions, which become more common further west. An excava- tion i3 made some ten feet wide, twenty feet long and six or seven feet deep. Timbers are put up like i-afters over the excavation, and the whole is covered with prairie sod. Such were the houses of the railroad laborers when the road was built, and such still are the luibitations of thousands of employees of the road, and of the poor on the plains from Abilene to Denver. An advance on thi.s is the adobe, of which we saw several in the extreme western part of Kansas. The first village beyond Abilene is Solomon, at the junction of that stream, and next is Salina, named so for the same reason. Salina is a thriving village, and the best wheat fields seen yet were in the neighborhood. It is a '' meal station," consequently we took breakfiist here — a very good one — for which the iisual ])rice along the line, one dollar, was charged. Eeyon'hy, to con- vince you t some straggling trees along the river and creek banks. Here the diminutive (;hurch, with a high, curi- ous-shaped steeple, arrests attention. It looks more like a toy house than anything else. We concluded it to be the famous "little church around the corner," dispensing religious rites, privileges, consolation and charities on all .alike as y>oor -SinntTi', whether they claim, like the Phar- isees, conventional respectability and righteousness or not. Seventeen miles beyond Ellsworth is Wilson's ■Creek, 1,586 feet above tide water. Here Mr. Elliot, the Industrial Agent of the Kansas Pacific Kailroad Com- pany, has located his first experimental station. The existence of this agency is an historical sequence of events that took place more than half a century ago: When Missouri applied for admission into the Union, the- same questions in principle, though not in form, were raised which forty years later culminated in a war that terminated forever the existence of the institution in "whose intei'est these questions -were raised, l»y submitting them to the arbitrament of the sword. It was evident from the heat and ardor with which conflicting, extreme, and at every point antagonistic views on the conditions upon which Missouri was to l)e admitted, were i:)resented and urged, that an amicable compromise or an open rup- ture must ensue. Timidity counseled compromise; but compromise upon anything actual was out of the question ; therefore it was made upon Avhat was only i^rospcctive. The xminhabited territory hence became the matter of compi'omise; and to reconcile the extreme Southern men to a compromise, presented, urged and carried through bv temporizing and timid men of their own section, an at- 46 OVER THE PL-MNS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. tempt was mado to ilcprcciato the territory ia question. Uenco. while all territory lying r.orth of latitude 36 deg. 80 niin. and west of Missouri was dedicated forever to troodom, thi- Southern ]>eoplc must be deluded with the idea that it was worthless. Ilenec there eininatcd from thi- War J)epartmeut, then jiresided over by Mr. Calhoun, an aspirant for the Presidency, documents pur- porting to give a topographical description of the coun- try, ami of the nature of the soil and climate. These documents described the country as worthlesH ; merely a vast, arid, treeless, rainless sandy desert j no springs nor running brooks, because there was no rain to supply them; and so sandy that the streams that flowed from the moun- tain;? were soon absorbed on the plains. Hence there appeared in our school atlases, for the first time, that myth the " Tfreat American Desert," shaded like the Sahara and. other deserts to indicate sand, from the Missouri to the mountains and south beyond the Arkansas. The settlement of Kansas, up to Ellsworth, two liundred and twenty-five miles west of Missouri, has dispelled this illusion as far as the eastern half of the ter- ritory is concerned ; but our geographers still represent the -western half as the Great Desert, or the Desert omit- ting the sandy shading. The Kansas Pacific railroad company having a large land grant, Tthc alternate, or more specifically all the odd numbered sections for ten miles on each side of the road,) from Congress given to aid in constructing tlie road, find it necessaiy to disabuse the public mind afid root out the geo- graphical errors that liave been inculcated for two genera- tions. They have adopted the truly logical "vvay, which is to combat eiTor by facts. Without facts and without inves- tigation, and merely npon the dictum of some book com- y)iler, the jiublic yet take it for granted that practically, if not actually, there is a region some three or four lumdrc^d miles wide in "Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado that is doomed to remain a desert and wilderness forever; and OVKR THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 47" that the cause of this doom is natural sterility, imposed b}"" a sandy soil arid a rainless climate. To eradicate the be- lief in this sterility, the contrary must be shoMii, and not shown l>y arguments, Init l>y facts which are incontestible. If crops actually grown there show that the soil is produc- tive, then it cannot be a sandy, sterile jtlain ; and if these- crops are grown without irrigation, then the climate can- not be rainless. These ai'O the problems proposed by the company to be solved and demonstrated by its industrial agent. Mr. Elliot selected three stations — Wilson's Creek, Ellis and Pond Creek — for his experiments. The distances- from the State line, respectively, arc 239, .302 and 425' miles, and their elevations 1586, 2019, 3200 feet above tho^ sea. East of Wilson's Creek the demonstration of the in- habitability and fertility of the plains is une fait accompli. Up as far as and around Ellsworth, onl}' sixteen miles east of Wilson's, the luxuriant fields of corn and the heavy fields of Avheat, yellow and ready for the harvest, without any taint of disease, sufficiently attest the adaptation of the country for yielding the heaviest crops of cereals and of the best quality. But AVilson's is on a high bench, with a different soil, and with less black loam than the plains eastward. In fact, it is a diiferent, a cretaceous forma- tion, reaching clear to the mountains. Here, then, the test was to be made whether this formation was deficient in the elements of fertility, and if not, then under proper conditions the whole plain Avould be productive. Late in November wheat, rye and barley were sown, and the sea- son being unusuall}'* dry, the prospect of success was not considered t<> be very flattering. The area soAvn was about one acre and a half of each kind. AVhen we were there (on the 0th of June) the whole crop would be ripe within ten days. The stand, the bight, and the general appearance of the crop were equal to the best crops under similar circurjistanccs in Missouri or Illinois, and in the rich yellow coloring of the straw and freedom from disease^ iJir suj)erior. Of the crop at Ellis we could not judge^ 48 OVKR THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTADs'S. i^ince Home nine days before our arrival a hailHtorm had passed over, literally inowinir it ilown and .sweeping it from the field. At Pond Creek mijre than a thousand feet liiijher, the crop was very promisini;; — not so forward, hut of the healthiest kiiid of deep green. On our retur?i, ten tlays later, the barley was here turning yellow and tht' car.s very heavy. As far as the experiments of the present i\nd past season are concerned, they liave been eminently .successful. The winter grains have not only succeeded, hut succeeded most admirably, and the corn is promising. The only question, then, is, was the present an ordinary or an exceptional season ? This it is impossible for me to decide; and further experiment and observation maybe nece.s.sary to determine and settle this point. It will be remembered that in Missouri the spring had been unusually dry. When we left St. Louis in early June, the sjiring crops were suffering for want of rain, and Ave found them still so when we returned on the twentieth, though there had been a few rcfresliing showers in the intervening time. West on the nortliern frontier of Kan- •sas, as far as we went, some 100 miles northwest of Atchi- son, there had been abundant rains. The same remark may be made as disclosed by our trip to near the southern border. On the outward trip, west us far as daylight per- mitted us to observe, namely, to Fort AVallace, 420 miles west of the State line, and on our return from Aroya, 511 Triilcs, there were evidences of not only abundant but ahly he much less. Kossil is a station villai>;e, in and ai'ound which some thirtv lamilies from Wisconsin are settled. Thev were^ very jtoor when they came here, soon after the road was oj»ened. An emjdoyee of the road told )ne the (•omj)any had hrought them here at a mere nominal charge from St. Louis and set them down here, knowing they never couM get away, fhey have comfortable cotftiges now, arc lu'eaking up consideraide prairie, and have some cat- tle. I rivations, hardshi])S and ti-ials they had to enduiv after coming here, they are now well ]»leased and (jiiite .satisfied with their situation. Some of the vil- lage boys had a horned frog they had caught, which the^^ ]»resented to Mr. (Jeo. T. Anthony, the editor of tlic Kan- sas /a r//((r. ILere we .saw the first l»uf!alo, but it was a calf, tied with a long roj»e, and Avas quite tame. We could no longer doultt that we were within the I'angc of the buffalo, not because Ave had seen the calf, but all along the railroad and ovei- the jilains, tlicii- dead carcases were strewn. This continued i'oi- 200 mil('>- and how iiiucli fur- ther I c;iiiMot say, since, us long as there wa< siiflicjentday- lighl the .same evily of meat to OVER TIIK PLAINS AND ON THK .MOUNTAINS. 51 the pioneers. It is now served up at ail the meal stations of the road, and is more relished by the hungry passengers than the best beef. Besides, our Indian difficulties always involve the wholesale slaughter and Avanton destruction of the buffalo bv the whites. Let the fjovernment rec- tify and prevent these outrages in the future, and let these thoughtless men be made to feel that humanity and civ- ilization revolt against such wantonness and cruelty. At Fossil there is a most beautiful white limestone in great abundance, admirably adapted for building purposes. Immense quantities of it are tpuirried and 8hi])ped from here and other stations along the road. Further Avest, near Wallace, there are softer limestones, some of beautifully variegated colors, so soft as to be as easily gawed as wood into blocks; yet when dried will bear the weight of large buildings. iS'ear Junction City a similar soil magnesian limestone, called "Junction City marble," is found. Blocks from eight to twelve tons Aveight are quarried and saAved, like Avood, into any shape desired. It is of a delicate cream color. Most of the houses in Junction City are built of it; and so is the magnificent State capitol, at Topeka. Its durability has been Avell tested for years at the gOA'^emment buildings at Fort Riley. We are noAV fully on the jilains. The shoi't buffalo grass has supplanted the taller.grasses, common tothe prai- ries in all the Western States. This is a peculiar grass, not as lone: as, but standing fulh' as thick as the hair on a buffalo's back. Whether green or dried into a natural hay, it is equally Avell relished by wild and tame animals, and possesses most remarkable nutricious properties. It noAA'' Avould haA'e complete possession of the plains Avhero Ave are, Avere it not for the Patagonian plantain (Planfago Patagonica), 'which OA'ertops it and giA'es to the plain a bluish-gray tint. This plantain is common to both North and South America, growing east of the Andes and Rocky Mountains, from the Straits of Magellan, to the Arctic 52 OVER THK PLAINS AM> ON' THB MOUNTAINS. Sea. The Horn have als«) become fewer and scarcer. Tljere are none to be seen, except the white Mexican poppy aloni; the excuvatioii-s of the road, and on the prai- ries occa.sionally a Jlalrantru/n Coccmeuin, also the beauti- ful Gaillaniia Picta and hirge plots of the Callirrhoe Pedata and CiiUirrhce VerticiUata. On and on we go to the westward, passing a road sta- tion every twelve or fifteen miles, Walker, Hays, Ellis, Oixallah, Park's Fort, Cayote, Buflalo, (rrinnel, ]Monument, Gojihei-, Sheridan, Wallace, Eagle Tail, Monotony, etc. •Otherwise the scene is as monotonous as that viewed from a shij) on the ocean. Varied, however, Avith the constantly occurring prairie dog villages. It was really anxusing to see the dogs(?) scampering home, big and little, upon the approach of the train. Instantly they would disajipear in their holes, excepting perhaps a veteran Avhosc curiosity was greater than his sense of fear. JIaving arrived on his hillock, he sets himself upright, often raising on his hind legs, and stands unmoved like a statue, looking at the passing train. Some of the jiassengers in a forward cair woulil empty their revolvers at them, but without effect, unless the ball struck near tlie hillock, when in a twinkle he would disappear in his hole. On the hillocks were frequently seen the burrowing owl, the Anthene Jlypugoea of ornitholigists. We saw the first antelopes near Ogallah. As soon as they were discovered the shout of *' Antelopes " burst from every car in the train, and all eyes were strained in a soutliwest direction to catch a glimpse of the novel sight. Tliere, sure enough, at perhaps three hundred yard-s dis- tant, were two fine ones, fleeting with the swiftness of the wind over the plain. As they seemed bewildered, and taking a direction almost parallel to the line of the road, they were some time in siglit. Jlai-rlly had this excite- ment subsided before the shout of " Jiuff'alo " broke out, with fingers pointing to the north. Away off at a great OVER TFIE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 53 distance Avore three dark moving objects, Avhich we were told were fstraiTL^lers from the lujiiu herd. A jackass-rubhit, tlie Xr/>>/.5 To^vnse nd< i, y,\-ou\d now ajid then start up and scud away. He is as hirge as a four- month ohl fawn, willi tlie cohir and imiuenso ears of a jackass. Sometimes a very large old fellow, accustomed to the cars, would sit on a prairie dog's hillock surrounded b^^ the dogs, and look unfoiicernedly at the passing train within tifty yards of it. The antcloj^cs became so numer- ous as not to attract niuch attention, and twice or three times more we had views of a fow buffaloes at a distance. ;N ear dark there was a shout of ''coyote," and a prairie wolf, as he is called in t'.io AVestcru States (canis latrans) was seen tiying his " level best" to get out of the way of the " tire horse. " Towards eveiung the aspect of the plain changed. The "mesquite," a kind of vernal grahs, was supplanting the Patagonian plantain. It is about four inches high, heads up like beardless barley, which arc filled v*ith a grainlike chess, and as it was past maturity-, it Avas diy and dead, giving the plain, notwithstanding its wooly coat of bluish gray, green buffalo grass, a sere appearance. At AVallace we had fine buffalo steak for supper, and it was after sim- set that Ave resumed our journey. Conversing Avith Major Reddington, the pa^^naster on this end of the road, about the meteorology and climate of this section of the Great Plains, I received much valuable information respecting the periodic winds that SAveo^) at regular seasons over this A^ast region. I may hereafter embody these facts, combining them Avith my OAvn obser- A'ations, into regular form, and explain their Uiavs and me- teoro at tho mouutiiins. It was now getting thirlc, and a thick grayish haze had settled on tho ])lain; it was therefore evident that we could nut enjoy tho "first view, " even if at the station. The loneliness of the landscape, the somhro ajipearance of the sUy, shut out hy the thick haze, seemed to grow 0]>- j)res.sive and to excite a vague, indefinite feeling of anxi- oty, akin to fear. 1 looked out, the pall of darkness liad settled on tho i»lain. In Iront was our engine, like a mon- ster, hreathing smoke and llanio, giving a lurid lint to tho thick haze, but all else was impenetrable gloom and dark- ness. J I'eit as though we had left the coasts of light, and 3Iilton's desci-iptioii of the arch fiend'a flight through tho domains of Chaos vividlv recurred to me: " On lie fares, through a dark, IlHmitable ocean, without bound, "NVithmit dimension ; a vast vacuity, where Length, breadth, hight, time and place are lost. " Our weary company became silent, and one by one fell into tlie embrace of " Tired nature'^) sweet restorer, Balm}- sleep." And so I close for the jiresent, leaving us asleep in the 'wi.V TUK MOUNTAINS. 55 CHAPTER Y. Our last chapter closed "svith tlu^ retirenient of our party to re^it, aiul lel't u.s asleep on the va.st plains, iii. charge of the fier}' steed, who, sure footed and fleet, arid undaunted by storm and darkness, was, with unflagging speed, carrying us forward to our destination. Day over- took us at Agate, 572 miles beyond the State line of Mis- souri, and 57 miles east of Denvei-. Refreshed by a gooii rest, I was up at dawn to catch a glimpse of the great mountains, with whose description by Lewis and Clark ] "was charmed and captivated in early boyhood. But tlu> same impenetrable haze of the preceding evening still rested on the plains and closed in the view on all sides. The morning was cold, and frost Avas observable on the plains, which looked more sere and desolate than before, since the dry ''mesquite grass" was more a])undant, an«i entirely hid the coat of buflalo grass underneath. But we were either running out of the haze, or else the rising sun was dispersing it, for it was growing thinner and more j)enetrable to the sight. Ah, there! the outline of some- thing dark as a st<^)rm cloud appeared for an instant and then vanished. Was it fancy, or was it reality? Anon, and the same reappeared, this time like a series of black clouds, but hazy, and of no definite outline. Again tliey vanish and leave me in doubt. I hesitsited making the assertion that 1 had caught a glimpse of the object that I had a life-long desire to see. I looked doubtfully at Mr>*. T. who had been looking out for the same object on the opposite side of the cars. She beckoned me and whis- ])ere(l, '• T believe T caught several glimpses of the moun- tains through the fog." I replied I thought I had too, 56 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. bnt was not quite certain. Looking out airain, ii a mo- ment tlu'V roa{)jK'are(l, tliis time quite di.slinct} a:i(l in- •^tantly a shout arose: "The mountains I " "the moun- tains I " tliat awoke every sleeper in the party. In litteen minutes more we liacl run clean out of the haze into an atmosphere of most crystalline transparency. There lay exposed to full view along the western horizoa TWO liundred and fifty miles, at least, of the greatest, long- est, and most remarkaMo mountain chain in the world, strctcliing from Terra del Fuego to 13chring's Straits, a distance of some 11,000 miles, and containing more of the jirecious metals than the whole Avorld besides. There they lay, sombre as cast iron, peak behind peak, duplicate and conduplicate, culminating in the far distance into -nowy heads, ])eering over and dominating the whole. My observatioiis on the plains had already eatisfied me that in no jiarticular whatever, either of general outline, for- mation, soil, climate, jiroductions or meteorology, was the West a counterpart of the East; and that from an eastern standpoint, neither the appearance, character nor condi- tions of the "West could be conceived or understood. From <-vcn this distant point, no one can lof)k at the mountain system, sjiread out like a panorama before him, without having the convicjion forced upon him, that though Xature openites everywhere bv the same law, Act she never lollows or passively copies the same pattern. In the east- ern mountains the chains are jiarallel and separated by wide valleys. Moreover they are single and continuous unbroken it may be, for fifty or a hundred miles. But here, even, the mountain wall that rises almost ])erpendic- ular to the licight of two to four thousand feet, in a straight line along the edge of the plain, like the houses, t»n one side of a street in our large cities, is severed from top to bottom, not uidike those houses, at intervals never exceeding twurces in the snowy range, fifty r nVKR THE I'LAINS AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. 57 jniles distant, ])Our their liinnid, icy-cold •water on the ]dains. These rifts do not strike in u single i^orge, directly into the heart of the mountains, liut hy more or less laterals, honey-eomb the whole system. Hence, the mountain, instead of a monotonous range, as in t!ie East. is a system of cones, oftentimes as sharp as the teeth of a saw. }»rost appropriately have the Spaniards called them the "Sierras;" that is, the serrated, or the mountains jag- ged like a saw. The great departure I had observed in the far West, from what Eastern ex])erience would lead us 10 infer were the normal forms of Xature, had ])reparcd me not to expect seeing the familiar forms of the East re- ]>eated, but I was totally unprepared, even in imagination^ for the sublime, strange, and unique forms that greeted Triy sight that morning. East, and north and souih lay the ajiparently illimitable jdain, l»ut to the west there- loomed up from below the horizon what appeared at one lime to have been an ocean of molten iron lashed inta mountain waves; then instantly congealed and fixed mo- tionless forever. The transjiarency and rarity of the air 5,700 feet above the sea, made it impossible to judge of their distance. They were fully eighty miles away, yet every oive judging by ordinary experience, Vv'ould not have assigned them a distance beyond five miles. Look- ing at them in this light, it required very little aid from ihe imagination to fanc}' that we Avere ajiproaching; a mighty city of cycloiiean architecture, and that the moun- tain cones and peaks were domes and minarets, ])yramids and ])innacles. Such reveries at least jxassed through mj mind as I sat gazing at them from the car windows,^ which were uninterrupted till the announcement was made — ''Denver." For once I Avas disappointed. It nuiy have been from being so suddenly translated from the regions of fancy to those of reality ; or it may liave been that I expected in a region like this, where Nature operates on so grand a scale, and in so unique a style, that man would appreciate it, select Ids habitation at the choicest spot, and •'58 OVF.R TrtE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. make liis works correspond to the beauty of llio sur- roundini^s. lu' the cause what it may, yet the trutli must Ih? confesseti. I never l>erore visited I'oi' the iirst tijuo any placv that soenieil so tame, humdrum, commonplace ami unpootieal as Denver did that morninL;-. My sulf^equent observations di,ht that finds •expression is, the \vonlaco by the poetical name of Auraria. The news of the finding of gold hei'e spread like wiiably it does at considerable depth. The location of the commercial metropolis of this region is, therefore, still an ojien question, to be determined ])y future develop- ments, with the chances decidedly against Denver, situa- ted as it is on an arid plain, some eighteen miles from the foot of the mountains. It is situated on the cast Imnk of the South Platte, a. bank-full and therefore canal-like stream Avhich licads in' South Park, and when it issues from the mountains, like^ all streams in this region, strikes out on the plain and. then gradually tends towards the northeast. After spending the greater j»art of Satui-day in looking OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. Gl fovcr the city, vi.siliii<^ the United States Mint, scmtiniziii;; its assaying rooms, examining all its appointments, and Jooking through the mineralogieal cabinet, and then tak- ing a walk down to the bridge, and from it admiring the limpid waters and beauty of the South Platte, rushing with a fearful rapidity j)ast the western portion of the cit}', we concluded that we had about " done nj) " Denver, and that it would be a decidedly dull place to spend Sun- day in. Besides, a view of the snowy range looked st> ■cool, refreshing and inviting, that we could not resist the temptation of going there. Accordingly our party took the evening train of the Colorado Central Eailroad, for Golden City, sixteen miles distant, and near the foot of the mountains, where we arrived at half-past six •o'clock. The railroad runs up to the mountains on the north .-side of Clear Creek, which, like all the streams liere, is brimfull and rapid, running through the plain like a canal. Before reaching Golden, the railroad runs close under a range of basaltic buttes, jutting out on the plain at right rankles to the mountains. They are crested with an nu- mense wall of basalt, rising perpendicularly from one hun- dred to two hundred feet. This range is shown in the background of the engraving of Castle Butte, in Avhich th(> ^appearance of the rock crest is Avell represented. Their altitude is from six hundred to one thousand feet above the railroad. They ai'e very bald, extremely steep, rocky ■and destitute of vegetation, except in places sparsely cov- ered with the short buffalo grass and a few flowers. Golden City is cut in twain by Clear Creek, a large, :iiviit distance seems not to hv more tlian a (luar^- ter of ii niile. All visitors will learn, if not otherwise, by painful exiierienee, that distance in this re«:;ion cannot be measured, or even aiti)n)ximately •i;uessed at l)y sight.. This peculiarity, however, is not, as is generally supposed, due to the purity, hut to the raritij of the atmosphere. Bc- sitles this, a <-hange takes place in the form of the eye by being relii-ved hy the altitude of so much atmosphoric pressure. Several instances, illustrating this fact, occurred in «>ur i)arty. For years they could neither read itor write without glasses, yet here they did hoth unaware of the iiict until from habit, when they got through, they reached for their glasses. The dcceptivenesH in regard to distance led me and others into several awkward scrapes.. One of these occurred on th(^ evening of our arrival at GohU-n. To understaml it, however, a topographical description of the surrounding country is necessary. AVrst lies the rifted barrier of the liocky Mountains, tiaidving the i)lain8 in a straight line north and south with a nearly perpendicular wall. Irom tifteen hiuidred to two- thousand feet high. The light green of the plain con- trasts beautifully Avith sombre brown of the fehlspathio • rocks of the mountain sides, or I he dai-k gri'cn oft he ever- •Tcens with wliich the mountain sloi>es^ where not too- steep, arc covered. However oji this plain, sporatic iso- lated mounts, or buttes, as they are here called, have been tlirown \ip, mostly single cones, that stand on the plain looking like haystacks. They are often ten miles distant from the mountains, and twenty from each othrr, and at- tain altitude's from .")00 to 1,.')00 feet. They invariahly arc r'rowneears as though it had been ])laned otf, and hiMicc has been tunned (Castle Eutte. CASTLE BUTTE, AT GOLDEX. Tulpit Eock, or Castb- Rutte, is represented by the ac- companying engi-aving. The engraving is defective in this, that it does not show that the out crop 'of basalt crowning the ridge, behind the butte, is separated from it by Clear Creek, through which nuis the railroad. The 64 OVER TIIK PLAINS AN'D ON THE MOUNTArXS. view i ^ takea froiu tlio hi-ndi !> tho southwest, three- fourths ot";i inilo from the hutte; unci only takes in a few houses ii the extreme southeiist of the town. Tlio hoi>i;!it and isolated situation of the butte was so invitinLC t!iat tho larger portion of our party were tempted to ascend it to see the sun set beliin: xiouNXAms. ciiArTKrv VI. As it was the ambition of some of our party on tho pre- vious evening to see tlie sun sot from tlic top of Castle Butt to iho summit. Passim;; over the interveniuiif ])lain botwcoii tho town aiul tlie foot (^fthe butte or mountain, iu tiio <;ray dawn I «\spied ooming- towards me some animal, which I at first feared might be a wolf, but (•olloctiiig courage I faced it bol the scanty herbage ol' the cliffs and the mountain tops. The cows in ([uestion at (joklen, like sen- biblo animals, selected the coolest jxirt of the day to got tlieir tid-bit, and took with them a courageous and iiiith- ful guard. lie seemed to be glad to see me and accom- panied me until 1 rcturnetl fi-oin my niountain i-amble.. When I got back to the foot of tiie niountain In; sat down, and on the ]»lain 1 saw his o\\ nei- coining with iniik pails. Stopping to have a chat, he pointed lii.s finger up the mountain and caUcd to his dog to "fetch 'em, .lack." I told him th<» r back," as it is here called, right before me which Hcemed entirely jjracticable for my ]iurposo. As far as the ridge was concerned I found it so, but suddenly m)- "hog back" gave out, end- ing in a peri)endicular precipice ilfty feet deep, facing the mountain. 1 saw the trap, and also how 1 could get out of it. This was to go down the edge of the precipice, but before nie there rose the almost impassible barrier of a slope up the mountain of an angle of about sixty degrees witli the horizon, with but little foothold, and what waft nxore important handhold either. Having detei-mined to try it, after a most des|)erate scramble of about one hun- dred and fifty yards, I reached the winding path dug by the citizens. Thoroughly disgusted with short cuts, I gladly followed it. Looking down, I now first became aware of the risk 1 had run. It made my head swim to look dow^n and see that one misstep would have sent me rolling and tumbling down the precipitous deciivity five or six hundred feet. Though almost balked by the mis- take made, I yet reached the summit fully twenty minutes before the sun showed himself above the horizon, ('astle Butte or Table Rock, as it is sometimes called, froni the plain below, appeared as though its truncated summit might be a sipuire rod in area. I was surprised to find it about one acre. Approaching the edge of the ])recipice, one hundred and sixty feet perpendicular, there, apparent- ly within a stone's throw, lay Golden. There, too, was Clear Creek, breaking from its m. inuriimrinLC noiso of llio liiupitl waier. My eye run u]> :iii\vn tlio vacant streets ami across the bi-ids^e spaii- riirij^ this lieautifiil sti-eain, hut no iivini;- thinji; could be descried, excei)t the t-vcr-inovin-- wjiters. Like a vast piinonuiia the {ilaiu spreads out along the foot of the mountains until it di]i.s below the horizon, thoui^h the view is somewhat interrupted by the buttes to the iiortb. West lay the rifted yet unbroken chain of the mountaiu.s, terniinatini^ southward with Pike's Pcalc, wliich, like a iniixhty bastion, stands out iVom tlu^ mountain rampart in that flireotion. To tlie northward the mountains at lenj^tli dip lielow the hori/.on, but far to the northwest the snowy summit of Tionii's Peak lie.s aa);('iivcv '.villi ilu' Piatti'. I*lii'-kin<^ a I'cw rare (luwci's, aiiion^jst which was tlio Er\.i>- ](iir])l('; and lakiiig; ii|i a Mdoead.it.^ us ineiaorials oi' the [thu-i . 1 i-fluctaiitly tiinuHl my back on the eiichantiiiL;; s<-('iu'rv a:i(l ix'tiii-aed to (rolul avi^ were assured there was no ))racticabie route for ascendin<;- any of the peaks within a reasonable distance. A half a mile south of the canyon lies C'himney gulch, through which flows a mountain brook ef clear and cold water. The gulch opens a vista into the mountains, and e-xposes to full view, in their third tier of cones, the culminating ])cak in this sec- tion. This was deemed most eligilde for our purpose, and, therefore, Avas selected as the objective point of our mountain i-aml)le for the day. To the summit in a direct line is only about three ami a half miles, but the doub- lings and windings of the way leading to it, make it between six and seven. The sky was of the deepest blue, and from it l)eamed a midsummer sun, with an ardor and brilliancy unknown to other climes. But the craving de- sire to see and ex))lore the most stu])endous of Nature's works, was too strong to be repressed by the fiery beams ot'a vertical sun. Ascending the l)ench, or teri'ace, that here stretches out upon the jilain and overlo(d, nor tlowor presoiitoil tluniliar .species, or ijroeti'd us as olil acquaintances. All were nt'W in form, in kinil and in aspect. In ])ines, there Avere tlie Pinvs pon- iicro.^d, I'ontoriii, jie.rilis and Edulis, tlie latter, El pinon, of New Mexico. Ot tirs or spruce there wi're tin' Abies Dovglas- sii, Eiujelmannii and Menziesii. A nKiplc. the Acer glab- niui, so disLTuiscd in tlic i'm-ni ul'its leaf as to lie unrecoffniz- ahlo except hy its samara ; a halt a dozen new species of Spiren ; the N'ooika nis]>beri'y, with a bloom Iavo inches in diameter; a shruh, tlio Jamcs'ia, so called after Dr. .Tames, a companion of Col. Lon^, an early explorer, wlH)se name is ])erpetuated in Long's J^eak ; two species of shrubby Potentilld'^, and two specii;'S of ever<^re(Mi barber- ries, generally kuoMn as JfahonUif. The cornus and the rose familii's are also re])rosented by new species; so also are the ])Ium, cherry, scrviceberry, huckleberry a)id r.isp- berry. In tact, everything was new excepting the com- HKm juni]ter, the liearberry (Arrtosfaphylos nvanding her snowy white sepals fully three inches and tlx? latter two. Amid such a profusion and trrc^at variety ot plants, gaudy as well as new, and sur- rounded by rugged clitfs, mountain ])reci])ices and over- hanging rocks, that evei'V moment ihreatened to liiU and crush us or obstruct our way. llie flight of time was un- heeded, and we were ascending the steep acclivity up whicli oiir patli led, wilbout being conscious of weariness or <'xhaustion. '^fhe mountain aii-, though the sun wan hot. was invigoi-ating ; and then at slioi-t intervals we turned asidcf to slake our thirst by dipping *' the gliding crv'stal " from the little mountaii\ stream that flows through the gorge, hid for the most part by ferns; OVF.a TIIK PI-AI\S AND (t\ THK MO'JXVAIXS. 71 ■amonffst whit-h I noiictMl a spocies i-L-st-mMirii:; tin* T*tervi ■iiquiUna \\\{\\ an ciuiniious l(>al, ( rroinl ), tVoiu live to six feet ]ii,ti;li aixl tliiH't' widt'. Oui- jjalh, iiiailc lor l)ringing down lies for iho railroad, was extremely rou^li and tor- tuous. The i-i(l<:^(>s or " lioic Itacks" iW)m o]j]')osito sides of the oulh, terminating, onl\' at the canyon wall of Clear creek. The I'oad now slopes up to the north until the i-idge of this '• hog back " is reached, wlien it fol- lows up the rJdgo southeastward, to a slight aiiions. The summit is level, and covered liy a jiine and S2>nice fri*ove. Wallvin":; in a northwestward direction beyond the skirts of the grove, brings you to a bare rock, the «'dge of the precipice. The view from this point is most I riclianting, graml and maj^nificent. You stand on the top ot the south Avail of ( 'lear creek canyon, a precipice that slopes down 2,500 feet at an angle but few degrees removeout twenty-five loilcH south of Jjongs' Peak; the last is about twenty miles Bouth of James' Peak, and about thirty miles duo west from here. Mount Lincoln is the Titan of the- American Cordilleras, being estimated, according to de- terminations made by Prof. A. LuBois, at seventeen thousand five hundred feet above the k'vel of the ocean. It is nearly ninety miles distant from here, standing at the northwest corner of South Park. West of it is the Upper Canyon ofthe Arkanssis; north, Midtlle Park ; and southeast, South Pai-k. Fi-om its sides issue springs that on the southeast feed the South Platte ; on the west, the Arkansas; and on the north, Blue rivei-, which falls into Grand river, a tributary of the great Colomdo 'of the West. Notwithstanding its great distance, there it stands majestically, towering high above all other peaks, unique and inimitable, a Titan am'ong pygmies, like its proto- type, whose name it perjjetuates, did amongst men. Its ba«c garlanded by evergreens, emblems of immortality, and its summit crowned with the symbol of spotless ])ur- ity, the white, persistent snows of untold ages, it is a fitting monument to symbolize the towering intellect, and to perpetuate the memory of the devout patriotism and immaculate puritv of the trreat and Avise statesman and model President whose luime it bears, and whose " One of tho few, the inniiortal iianies That \vi!r<^ imi iKin to die. " Long's Peak and ^fount Lincoln, terminating the ex- treme visible points of the Snowy llange, as seen hence, from their great altitude appear like immense bastions at the angles of an icy rampart, beliind which stern winter lies intrenched forever. To the south the view is ob- 74 OVKK TUK I'L.VI\S AND ON TlIK MOUNTAINS. Ptrutiod by ;i i»ine aiul Hpruoo forest, but on the ejwt tliero i3 a fnio view of the phiins for one hundred luilea and more! At a point or two south of east and twenty miles di.stiinl, but api)arently near tlie foot of the mountains, lien l)enver. You look down into its streets, an. " In Italy they call it Fata Morgaiio. It was oUscrvod there in ancient limes as is abundantly evident from both Greek and Roman i-eeords. Along the Straits of Messina then, as now, the coast and objects below the horizon fiometiines loomed up nl)C)Vt' it; at other times seemod to approach the opposite shore, and what was more astonish- ing, otleiitimcs seemed to hang invci-ted from the wky. " Why, " she re})lied, " that is mi-rar/r. " I iluMi saw what was the matter and f(dt relicvc(l, for I began to fear that if I attem])t<'d the explanation of special atm(»sj)heric con- ditions, dillenrnt densities of adjacent HU])erincumbent layers of aii-, and the consequent refraction of light, that I vvfjuld sn<'<'eed in making it jilain that mdther 1 nor the leiirned knew a j^article more about the true nature of'tho phenomenon than the common peoj)le do. Indeed, I 0\K11 THK l»r,AINS AVI) OV TUK MOUNTArVS. 75 made a narrow esuape of n^ jirofanity^ 1 think tlio causes :iru physioloiricul and not aesthetic, hwellers in tlie .\Iississii>|)t N'alley or on tlio sea shore^ I»re4ithe an atmosphere so dense th;it tlieiraverai:;e res]»ir- atiousare hut sixteen per minute. ImiI hi-re on the moun- tains, the rospiration.s are inereitsed to twenty- four per minute; ami the ]>uisations ot' the heart and the lh)w of tilood ill the veins ai"i' a<-ceh'raled in like proportion. The effect on the system is an c.vhihiration almost aniountinjx to int<~»xiciiti<>n, and hence that outlnirst of I'eelinj^ which affect-s all. and whi( h it is found so diliicult to repress. Resigninsz; niy seal on the rock to a lady, wdiO' made a skotoh of the mountain scenery and the Snowy lu'ingo for her children, I soui^ht shelter under the shade of a most magniticent J>ouglass spruce, whose ])v'ndant hranche.s swept the ground for some distance around. J [en^ I laid down on the di-y tii- and ])ine leaves that Tna UN TUB MOUNTAINS. 77 CHAPTKTl VI I. Early on Monday, June 12ih, we left (lolden on the morning train fur Denver, where -yve arrived in ample time to take the train of the Denver Pacific railroad for Cheyenne, in Wyoming Territory, one hundred and six miles north. By an amended act of Congress the Kan8a.s Pacific railroad was released from its obligation to connect with the Vniun Pacific railroad at the 100th meridian, and the law so changed as to require it to connect with the Union Pacific railroad at a point Jiot more than "^0 miles west of the meridian of Denver. The Kansas Pacific con- sequently followed up the general route of the Smoky Hill to Denver, with theintentionof ultimately connecting with the Union Pacific hence. As the land grant of Con- gress extends the whole length of the line, the Kansas Pacific encouraged the formation ofa Jiew company, whoso initial point was Denver, to make this junction. Accord- ingly the Denver Pacific Pailroad Company was organized, and by a subsequent act of Congress the Kansas Pacific was authorized to transfer its lands and the franchises of that portion of the line from Denver to the junction, to the new company. It was late in the fiiU of 1867 when the initial steps ft)r the organization of the new company were first taken. The land grant amounts to 12,800 acres for every mile of the length of the road ; or more specifically, the lands granted by Congress were alternate, that is odd numbered sections for ten miles on each side of the road. The wot'k Avas commenced at Cheyenne; and on the 16th of December, 1869,_the road was completed and oi)ened a.s far as Evans, a distance of 53 miles j and on the 23d of June, 1870^ the first passenger train arrived at Denver 78 OVVP. TlIK I'LAINH AVn ON TIIK MOVNTArNS. The total cost of oonstruitioti nnd rcjuipuuMit !ani in the host condition. Often these were aocom- j>ariied hy hordsnieii. Tho road is straight, and its direc- tion Ia down t'.ie valley of the Platte, but the river is generally several miles to the west and can bo traced by an occasional cottonwood. It soon becomes eviflont that tho direction of tho road diverges Irom that of the moun- tain range; for the mountains ap2)arently recede farther and farther to tho west ; whereas their course is due north and south. Long's Peak is now the central figure, tower- ing far above all tho neighboi-ing peaks. Tho tirst station, seventeen miles north ot Denver, is flughes', the junction of the Boulder Yalloy railroad ; but the tirst town is P]vans, tho county scat of Weld county. Evans claims to be a 8t. Louis colony, but 1 could learn nothing of its organization, advantages nor investments. It s(?emed to me as though its inhabitants were simxularlv dclicient in enterpriso and energy, and that they have \(iry little to do other than that ot running to the station ■when a train arrives; at least such was the case each time ire passed; and we can scarcely imagine that rumor had noised it abroad that in tlie coming tram were great men worth seeing — yet such may have been the cas(s and a hoax played of on them may explain their (conduct. Four mlies north of Evans is Greele\', about which there has been more written and jjublished within a year than ot any other place on the glob(; beside. Its history, in brief, is this : The colony was organized in the city of" :^ew York, on tho 23d of December, 1869, by the enroll- OVER THK pr^lINS AND OS TIXK MOITNTAINK. 79 merit of fifty-niiic membors. An exeeulivo coinmittee wjvs appointed to invesiigato what advantages and induce- mentH were offered to HettleVs by Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Utah and (Colorado. After an investigation, the Executive Committee selected the site for the town between the Cache-a-la-Poudro and the Soutli Platte^, three mih^s above their junction, about lifty miles south ot* Cheyenne, and fifty-six north of Denver, on tho Denver Pacitic railroad. The distance front the mountains is about forty-liV(i miles. But I must draw you a pen-and- ink sketch of the topography and scenery surrounding this famous ])lace, tliat you may know how it looks: Suppose you take a position locking nf;rth, on tho rail- road bridge spanning the Platte south ' fEvans. Beneath 3-ou flows a mountain torrent one hui^'red and thirty yards wide, brimfull, yet clear as crystal, roarii.r and flashing down tho plain, it is a nc blc, majctic und beau- tiful stream. No bushes encumber its edges, ror ba:.ks it has none, because tho level plain sinks down with it; bur- then of grass and flowers to kiss the silver wave. Like tho shores of Lor-li ^fary : "Just a line of pebbly sand Marks where the water meets the land. " Tho ])lai II, level as a barn floor, is covered with the persistent, but now dry mescpiite grass, and has, therefore, tho color of a newly harvested oat-field. Some eight miles distant, and stretching to the northwest tintil lost sight of in tho distance, is a very straggling lino of low Cottonwood trees, tho only sign of living vegetation. Tho plain extends west to tho mountains, forty to forty-five miles distant, and rests against them. It has a regular ascent from hero to the mountains of fifty feet per mile, but is entirely destitute of vegetation excepting the hid- den buffalo grass and the dry mcsquite. Far towards tho east tho plain eeems to culminate in a ridge, probably ;80 OVEX TEIK PLAINS AND ON THE MOINTAINS. merely iniraic". which often on the Phiins seemingly raison up the eilge> of the horizon like tlie rim of a sauceraroimd yon. Ik'fore you is llie viJUige of Evans, and four mile** further is (Ireeley, l)eyond which Hwee]).s the CaUiin by the aforesaid line of Cottonwood. In the fir north i-ise elevations of a whit- ish greenish icray, indicating that tlic mesquito has be\- some other vegetation. Down, northeast, after the junction with the Caehe-a-la-Poudre, some three miles hehjw Greeley, the course of the Platte can be tniced b^- the cottonwoooard, Farmers' ('lub and Lyceum and Library Association. As far as the eye (-jin n-ach the jdain is dotted with new shanties of the liomesteaders and ])re-emptioncrs. Some of our party H^jpped over until tlie return of the train from Cheyenne. OVKU TUli PLAINS AM) OM THK M01]>n'AINcs. 81 "They intorv'icwcd the citizeiiH, hut the latter socmed so reticent Jind averse to coinmunicuto informution or answer qiiestioriH, thut nothintr of importaiK;e, cither concerning the progress or pros])ect8 of the colony, \v:ih elicited. It. is not })Ossihle for any one merely looking from the car window of a train to form any accurate opinion of the condition and capabilities of a soil, or to form an accurate judgment of tho art and skill with which il is handled. If it were, then, 1 must confess that the opinion so formed it* not of the most luvorahle character as to Crccloy. In thin case the opinion of those who stayed over, and had better opportunities than I had, not only coincide with my own, but are even more unfavorable. In the first ])lace the land is very gravely, forming naturally graveled streets, and certainly not of the first quality for agriculture; and then it seemed as though those who had the management of it knew next to nothing of the way things have to be done in this climate. Gardens were flooded and literally drowacd out; and of the thousand of trees planted, both •everccreen and deciduous, not hundreds were living from the same cause. It would have paid the colonists well if they had hired some New Mexican to have taught them the art of irrigation, and some expert tree-planter who would have shown them how to plant and 1o take care of a tree. It seemed as though the greater part of the colo- nists were mere theorists, and were for the first time in a situation to reduce their theories to practice. But we have hope they will j)rofit by their mistakes, and guard acrainst their recurrence. As a matter of course it could have been anticipated that dreams and expectations of enthusiastic natures, who are most likely to engage in such an enterprise as this, would not be realized in a day, nor even in a year. Moreover they may be so outre as not to be realizable. Consequently, disappointment is to be expected, and, necessarily dissatisfaction and grum- bling. Perhaps the management has not at all times been tlie wisest; and there may have been over-re^iching on 6 <^' OVKR TIIK PLAINS AM) O.V THK MOUNTAIN'S. tho part of some managers for self apj<^ratidizeinent and pKjrHonal ambition ; but still tho cnterpriHO seom.s to havo tho eK'nu'nts of ultimate success, notwithstandinfj tho Ki\nlshii)S it imposes on its pioneers and the many present dis<.'ouniv its sur- plus jiroductions, is not of the most flatterinti; nature. It is sixty-five miles tt) Boulder, by rail, the only inlet into the motintaiiis at this point ; to Cheyenne it is tifty, and to I>i'iiver tifty-six miles. To be sure there is somo tiilk of construct in.i^ a railroad direct to Boulder, forty-fivo miles distant. liut in that case the citizens on tho Plains arounth('r of those b more numerous, and tlicre is a lively timo in them when tho train approaches. Hundredis of tho dogs, big and little, can bo seen i-unning for dear life to tlicir holes. But there stands the stolid burrowing owl on the hillock, fixed us if he were a brass statuette, un- mindful of everything that passes around bin). The hills octtisionally show caps of rocks, frequently as- Hiuning tho shapes of low jfillars, pynimids and occasion- OVKR THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 83 ully of ruined ca.stleK. In a valley on tlic plain is a moHt eingiilar one of the latter. It Htands within fifty feet of tho railroad. It i.s about forty feet square with an exten- Bion ea.stAvard for half tlio length of the cast wall, 8ay twenty feet more. The wail is about thirty inches thielc, and its average height is about four feet. Facinii: the road at the southwest cornei- is a space of about four feet wide, making an opening in the eiKtlosure which is covered with grass and looks for all the world |is though it had been the doorway. Tho sides of this open space are pei-pendic- ular rock, weatherworn and rounded as with aivhitectural design. The wall also lias anguLar depressions that re- semble openings for windows. It simulates the work of man so closely that it would be mistaken for such did it« exposure not disclose that it is a single rock With the exception of these castellated rocks jirotrud- ing, for the most part, from tho hilltops, the scenery for the fifty miles between (Jreclev and Cheyenne is ex- tremely monotonous. The rolling plain is covered with a coat of buffalo grass ofunvaried greenish gray, enameled now and then by a stray plant of tho deepest blue peren- nial larkspur (iOc/y^/imfwrn acj^rf ?«?),,) a red Pensfamon, an indigo blue Oxytropls, and occasionally a sjiot covered with Cadvs. At Cheyenne j'our eye sweeps in vain around the hori- zon for an object to rest upon, nor shrul», nor tree, nor rock is visiblo atany. point or in any direction. Alone, the mountain tops are to bo seen, seventy or eighty miles away, pretruding their icy pinnacles above the southwest- ern rim of the liorizon; all else is vacuity except plain and sky. Such is tho weary monotonous scenery of the plain in and around Cheyenne. Again, as in the case of Denver, the question rises spontaneously, "why Avas this point selected for a cit}' ? and again the answer is, by ac- cident; that accident was the arbitrary choice of the man- agers of the Union Pacific railroad locating tlieir machine shops here. Like Denver, it has streets graveled b^' Na- 84 OVKR THK PLAINS ANT> 0\ THE MOUNTAINS. turo, which nover nt'cd ropairini;- ; Iml. unlike it in this r«v Hpoct, that tho gnivol rests upon :i solid foundation and not upon quicksand Choyenno, unlike its sisler city, l)v'nvi.'i-, Avill, thoreloiv^ ncvor In- aiflirUMl with a jieriodi- cal j)aroxisni of trousurc sookiui;-, looking foi* the city safe. Even our oastorn cousins arc not exempt from similar attaclcs of more or less severity and frequcnty, (iuring wluch they vi«;t)rously hunt f(,ir tln^ mythical treasures liid by ('a])tain Kidd. l>ut the ii;ravelly streets of Denvei-, or nitlu'T the ])el)hly bottom ot the South Plalte, hides a real treasure, which occasions l]ie outbreak of the mania in Denver; i^'V on an t'ver memorable moi-nini;- in ]8t34, Cherry Creek l)ein!jj ''on a bender," the glory of J)cnver, the (^ity Hall, containing the city's sate and its Ireasur-.'s, toolc^its depajMure down stream, and tinally disap]><^ared in the quicksand like a dissolving view, leaving nor wreck nor trace behin\ THK MOLNTAINS. cious stniwberrios I never tasU-.l than wcmv fiiniishod for desert that evenini;-. 1 soon deserted tlie ('oin])any and went (Mit on the veranchili. It was now quite (hirk, and I Kit down to be soothed l>y the ever-niiirniiii'lnf;^' Avaters of Clear ereek, wliicli sweeps around on two sides — west and south — of .Mr. I'errin's plaee. Oh, it is a phiee for night- dreaniiiig, and day-d reaming, too! Leavini;-, Ave drove leisurely Iniek to Denvi'v, in tlie splendid eqnii^at^e of Mr. Bver^, ot l!ie Henvei- Ai <'■.•<, wliere we arrived liefure the dei)arture ot our friends. ^ At Jialf-])ast nine wi> took leav*' of the major j^arlofoui" partv, who were i-eturnini; home ; l)nt there Averi' twelve of us, who thout^ht that it would not, he entin-Iy satisfac- torv to come l,O!)0 mill's to see the great tem])le olWature, and then turii l>a sides of a triangh', makes it Ibrtj- seveii. The Boulder Valley railroad meets the Denver Pacitic at Hughes, seventeen miles northeast a vrjn pcd this coal by a road from Hughes', Init tin? grading i> now done, and the ties are being rapidly laid uj) to Boulder City, the road to be c-omj)b'te ON THE MOTTNTArNS. with the ncccs^jiry buikhiigs, ihf ulx'h^ iiicloHedby a tight- fence. Just Tiortheast of J^oulcicr is one of those remarka- ble benclu's or terraecs already spoken of, surrounded on all sides by a plain rising about thirty feet high. It is an oblong ellipse, ha\'ing its transverse diameter at right angles to the mountain chain. Tt contains about fifteen acres, ;iiid has been selected for the site of tlu^ State University when Colorado becomes a State. Arriving at Boulder we were received at tlie ('ijlorado ]fou.«5e by tin* citizens en masse, and addressed in their bi'halfby .Judge Berkley, tendering to us the hospitaliites of the eity during our stay, and oflcring to place at our (lipposal conveyan<.'es to visit any p(jint8 of interest, either around the fity or in the mountain canyon, that wo might desire. I, by arrangement, responded to the reception ^ upeech, as the Denver Tribune reportei", flatteringly no doubt, said, "in very appropriate terms," thanking the citizens for the distinguished honor conferred upon us, but declining in behalf of the Missouri and Kansas delegation the generous offer of free rides ad libitum. In a country where, to us, there Avas so much novelty, so much to inter- est, and such sublime and magnificent scenery, the offer was entirely too generous and the inducement too groat "to rido a willing horse to death;" wo therefore most gratefully declintMl it, and placed ourselves at their own disposal, to visit only sueh ])laces as they might deem most interesting. After a dinner, sumptuous enough for ])i'inccs, we were driven around the suburbs, visiting some of the adjacent farms, examining the condition of the growing crops, the canals and ditches for, and the method of irrigating, pick- ing the most luscious strawberries we ever saw, and end- ing by a drive np to the mouth of Boulder canyon, to see the bead of th<- irrigating canals which begin in the canyon. OVKR TliK I'l-AINS ANU ON THK MOUNTAIN^;. 80 and branch offboth right :uul h-fl from ib(^ cnM^k as soon as it enters the plain. Thft wearv >^un '^'^1 made a qoklen ect. And, by the 1)ri!j;lit track of his tiery car, Gave token of a goodly day to-morrow. The citizens now liacl settled that on the next day they would give us a picnic uy) in Ikjulder canyon; and fio we retired to rest with bright anticipations ofto-niorrow. -90 OVJitt Xllii rL.UNS AMJ UN XUK MOUNTAINS. CIIAPTEK VIII. Frorii peculiar mctoorolo<;ic'iil causon, ■which it is not necossan' here to .state or exphiin, dew never falln on the Plains adjacent to the mountains. A morning's walk therelbre, can be enjoyed without iiicurriiii^ the drawbacks of wet feet anerfectly level on the top j but the slopes are as neatly and as smoothly rounded off as if done by hand. ThoMO benches, as they are here called, art- unquestionably (»VI:K THK i'LAIN.S AM) o\ THK MOUXTAI.NS. 91 the remiiins ('fubra.sion.s, records of events Ion," nnterior to the cxi.slenee of man, when the jient n]) "wuteix t)f moun- tain hikes hroke thi'OUi^h the roeky barriers, an;nh'lies ami caiiyons with irrisistibli> foree de^ra- dedthe plain to its j)resc!nt h^veh The .sh)j>e rises with an an- gk' of about thirty (h-^rees with the horizon, and the summit of the bench is about forty feet above the level of I he plain. j\ljf. Thompson's luMise stands near tin- noi-th end, and his church (( 'oniji;rei2;ational) on the smitli end of a tive acre lot, Iviiiir airainst this ben(;h oi\ tlie east sidi-. vVbove and highci" than the toj) of liis house and alouii; the edge of the level summit of the bench is an irrigating:; eanal carrying from Boulder canyon a rapid stream of w\ater live feet wide and thirty inches deep. Up to this canal and along its margin northwestwardly lay our morning walk. From the plain on the top of this bench the view is charming, and in any other country than this would be en- titled to the terms grand and magnificent. West and north- west the ])recipitous walls of brownish jiorphyritic rock ris- ing from the edge of the jjlain to the height of from 1500 to •4000 feet;* mostly nude, but incidentally at many places there are narrow terraces, bearing evergreen shrubs and dwarf pine* cedar and spruce trees. Southwest is Boulder canyon, an imraensel}" deep, narrow rift in the mountain ; .and beyond it rises a most singular protuberance, oblong, rugged and imposing, to an altitude of4000 feet and more. Its roof-shajjed top starts from terraces on both the east and west sides, and runs up as steep as the steepest roof of a gothic church for some 600 feet, the ridge running north and south. But what is most singular, along the eastern terrace rise no less than six abutments, looking for all the "■ "Tht' si't>ii(>rv iilo igthc flunks of tlir-inoiintnins h wnndprtully unique, «n(l I havo not seen n similar example in ihe Jlorkv Mouniuiri rci^iotu The uplift is on an unpiirahclcd s(;;(le. The iiiounhiin wmII, ;i treinen- (doin uplift of niet:(ra(irpho-((Hl sand-stone rises 4000 fi^et nhove Boulder VMlley on the plnin*; Wlow, and their rU2:<;ed summits projeet far over on the ^rauilic.riiHikr '«"est^k■a^d. '" I'rof. Jlor/Jeu'i O'olirru-al ri-port of JS6P- 92 OVK't THE rL.\INS SVP ('S THK MOrKTAFN' world liko pilawloi's, extending aV)ove the terrace and ter- tninutini^ in shurp qua(lran<]i;alar })yrami(i^, sotne tlireo hun- dred ariiC8 and OVER T3IK PLAINS AND ON TUB MOUNTAINS. 93 green licldi uj) to tli'i main Boiildor creek, ii dashing mountain torrent, Juysleniiig (lovva tlie jjiain to embrace her Bister stream. At yimr feet, !>et\vecn the elevation on which you Ktand and the creek, is Jkudder City, which 3^ou entirely overk^ok, extending jiorthward on tlio plain between you and the Univeraity plateau, Avhich lies im- mediately eah*t. J)own on the plain eastward in tlu; dis- tance, is Heen Mr. J)ay's and other ranchos, on the South Boulder. Then there is the fine lake between the two Boulders, formed since the plain has become irrigated, now ■well stocked with fine fish — Tuostly ])ci'ch and redhorse. Nearer still, the house in that, dense coppice is the resi- dence of Judge George Berkley, the oldest and most en- thusiastic tree-planter in the Territory; and nearer still come the fair grounds, with its inclosed buildings. But over all, and beyond, is seen that singular butte or J)asa!- tie dyke, Valmont, raising its isolated cone on the jjlain j and to thedeft of it, that white object liko an immense snow bank, is White llock. In the northeast, at a distance of about ten mile^, is seen Haj'stack Mountain, another of those isolated basaltic cones, that at long intervals are found protruding from the level plain. Those buildings near its base are the vil- lages of Burlington and Longmont — the latter a new colony from Chicago — organized somewhat on tlie principles of that at Greeley. Around these, and extending up to the mountains, are seen ranches and green fields, and the un- cultivated plain covered with cattle. This gives a some- what faint idea of the scenery from this ])oint, to which must be added, to complete the ])icture, the light green color of the plain as compared with the sombre ever- greens which deck the porphyritic sides of the mountains. As w^e were strolling leisurely towards the mountain, plucking flowers and examining the pebbles for moss agates, our attention was suddenly drawn to the thrilling notes of the slcylark (^remo;)/u7a cornuta)', notes which for compass and silvery sweetness of tone are inimitable 94 OVKH TIIK IM.AINS A\I> «'\ TlIK MOTVTAINS. and unapproachabK^ I'V any other songster. Tliero ho sat on the i'cnvc halfway ildwii tho slopu, and again and again ho would pom- out his silvei'v, ringing notos on tlio morn- ing air, that almost aAVokc tho sleeping echoes of tho mcnmtains. As wo walked on, ho would fly ahead osition ou t'le l\'nce,and jxuirout his nuitin song :»>; if ill triumph. When wo retui-nod ho lollowed \:s, and MOL'lIl OK liOULDKU (AN YON. repeated more and moro rapidly his eharnung song, hcomingiy striving to excel lus fii-st efforts. At last his notes seemed mingled with tho sadness of despair, becom- ing louder, sweeter and tenderer, hut touched, as it wore, with tho anguish of a heartrending B(;rraw. At this mo- ment I ppied hii mato dodging tlirough tho grass; and OVKK THE PLAINS AND O.V THE MOUNTAIN8. 96" now I uiidur,st(jO(I liis htrun^fd conduct, and tin; caubo of hifl alurni and distresH. Our host now ajipcared in wight ciillini^- ns to brealcfaat, so wo huiTied on, irrcatly to the relief of our feathered friend. ^lay hf live a tliousund years and raise a brood of sonc;Hter.s every month ! After breakfast, returnint^- to the hotel, we f the canyon. When all was ready th(^ train of some twimty wagons and coaches moved off toward the mountain detlle, up which lay our route, into tho heart of the Cordilleras. The mouth of the canyon, where it opens on the j)lain, is about one hundred feet wide, and tho ascent of the canyon walls on cither side exceeds but little fifty-five degrees. Tho acclivities are sparsely cov- ered with stunted pine and cedar trees, growing on huge rocky angular terraces, that jut out all over the sides of the walls. On the top of tho wall, amongst evergreens, occasionally stands a tall pine or spruce tree blasted by tho lightning. The scenery is rugged and wild in every imaginable sense. The creek, a stream discharging fully throe times the quantity of water our Meramcc river does;* flows rapidly Mroi/^/Zi not over its rocky bed, for the shall) rocks project in every direction from one to four feet above the water. The water purls and frets, and foams as if in a rage at the obstruction imposed by the rocky barriers, but otherwise it is dark, being prevented by its rapid flow and agitation from ivflecting either the canyon walls or tho narrow strip of blue sky above. The road and tho stream mostly occupy the full width of tho canyon, but occasionally a largo rock crowds the stream into narrow limits and against tho opposite wall; thon thero is a little headland used for tutmouts, where ascend- *Meramec river in Missouri. 0^ OVKK XriK Pi.\I>S A-VD 0\ THK MOI.'NTAIXS. ing timl drHConciinii team.s piii»« ouvh otluT. When not so used, tlioso licadland.s forma nestling place for numerous mountain flowers. Amoni^st entirely now flora, I here found a splendid red lily, us lary;e as u <'Ui), ( Lillium Phila- dilphiciim,) and the most showy of all the mountain flow- ers, the Epilobixnn angxixtifoUiun, forming plots of brilliant rosy j)ur]do flowers. As the course f)f the eajiyon is zig-zag, it often narrows «o as seareely to afford room for the waters to pass ; the roadway is then blasted out of the perpendieular side rock of the canyon wall. Jf this side rock (as is generally the case) is a jjrojecting ])romontory of a mountain peak rent in twain, then there is left a fissured rode from one to two thousand feet high hanging overhead, that any moment may tumble down, or iVom its sides send down an aval- anche of rock into the abyss below. Vou instinctively hold your breath until it is ])ast. Xow you come to a bridge, ( for there are thirty-one of them in twelve miles), leading to tl»e narrow beach, eight or ten feet wide, on the oj>posite side, Avhile the river dashes its foaming waters against the perpendicular cliff three thousand feet high, on the side you are leaving. All you see of sky is now reduced to a narrow band overhead. You look uj) tJie sides of the canyon, and in crevices in the flank of tlie walls, or on jjrotruding rocks, grow shrubs of ])ine and spruce, wliile their summits are crowned with sturdy ever- grocns, who for centuries have battleroflftim The cvfrlasting creed of liberty. " Miles are thu.s passed, the scenery becoming grander axvd more imposing at ever}- step, and the flowing of the OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 97 ■water, now all foam, JiLso more impctuou-s. Suddenly tho canyon wulln for aa instant recede, for man has invaded and profaned the Hanctity of the place. There stands his puny, busy mill turning into plank, shingle and lath tho brave old giants of the mountain forest. On tho right, too, there are indications of his proHence ; for from tho rocky chasm of a cleft mountain issue the turbid waters of Four-Mile creek ; turbid because miners are washing tho auriferous sands of the gulch in its limpid waves. But this interruption is only temporary. Coy Nature, that fled tho contaminating presence of man, returns with more commanding presence and majestic mien than ever, to avenge the interruption by displaying sublimcr forms and more imposing and awe-inspiring grandeur and wild- ness. The river roars and pitches moi'o furiously than ever J there hangs the beetling cliff, higher and more threatening than before ; and there, too, the graceful fir lifts high its head into the light of the sun, 250 feet above the roaring, foaming waters that rave at its roots. It seemed now as though Xature miujt have exhausted her stores of wonders to astonish, amaze bewilder and overwhelm, and drawn upon her last resources for exciting enthusiasm and exalted emotions; but not so. The magic panoi-ama moves on, and we enter a mountain defile, sun- dered by some great natural convulsion, of j^erpendicular walls, scraggy and naked, three thousand feet high, over- hung by pines and cedars. It am easily be taken for a huire stair-case walled in, such as might have been built by Titans and Cyclops for ascending Olympus, the reei- dence of tho gods; and that the jets and fountains in which nymphs and goddesses disported themselves, fiillen into decay, were pouring down their waters over the dilapi- dated steps; for the river here descends a steep, rocky declivity. The waters are no longer foam, but spray, and their roar is deafening. You look ahead whence they <'ome, but the canyon 13 closed up by a transversal per- pendicular wall, with no sign of an outlet, forming appar- 7 98 OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAIN'S. cnily a complete cut de sac. Again and again is this re- peated. The -walls, •when perpendicular and solid, are always naked ; but when full of fissures and crevices, they are conij)letely hid bj^ evergreen shrubs, and decorated as evenly and as neatly as the ivy decks the dilapidated cas- tles of Europe. Turning the angle, the scene now changes. The accliv- ities of the walls, instead of perpendicular, are but 75 or SO degrees, then the sides become a thicket of spruce sap- }»lings thirty or forty feet high, and completely ])idc the side rocks, forming a green wall as you look up the canyon. Immense spruce trees also stand in the bottom, of the canyon, sometimes alone and then in groups. Thus at every turn, and in every instant of time the scenery changes and new and startling forms present themselves. Yi)U are now opposite the embouchure of the j^orth Boul- dc)'. Vou look up a dark deej) rift in the mountain side, overshadowed by trees and partly hid ; you sec at the distance often rods a white sheet of water pitched west- Mard acr mile, but here it is 4G9 feet per mile). The chasm now ior a short distance becomes heavily timbered Avith fir and pine, and its sides very rugged, then intermits and Itecomcs narrower and bolder. Huge rocks obstruct the passage of the water. It pitches over some and forms a series of cascades, othei's deflect it and dash it against the ]>crj»endicular Avail of the canyon, whence it rebounds. ^,'loser aii.l ; 8th mile to Fall^ofN.Bouldor. 331.3; 9th mile, 4')9.4; 10th mile, 183; 11th ■ule, &5.5 ; I'ith laile, 129.G; 13th mile to Castle Kock, 150.21. OVER TUK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAIK.S. 105 CUAPTKR IX. As already stated, we took leave of our kind Boulder for the present, and of our Kansas friends, perhaps forever, at Castle llock. The latter expressed themselves satisfied, yea, more than satisfied at having seen what it falls to the lot of but few, the most varied, picturesque, carls, ruhy, opal and amethj-st ; but when they hit, made one wince by their icy touch. CAKIUOL. The mountain spur we are ascending ik)w deflects north; and west be^-ond the narrow valley lies a liog-back, heav- ily covered with spruce, whose culminating point is at the head of the valley, northwest. This hog-back is Caribou mountain. Against this culminating point, and in the head of this valley lies Cai-ibou City, of some 200 houses. The town has been built since spring set in. The houses are frame, many two stories high, made of spruce and pine OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. Ill plank sawed, hy the mounluin mills. Xoia brush of paint liad been applied to any of them when wc were there. There are two streets well built up running longtitudinally with the direction of the vallej^ Above the town from un- der a bluff issues a fine mountain spring, m which is a spout, and from which the greater pai^t of tlie citizens obtain water. In the accompanying engraving the log house in the foreground is just below the spring. The view is down the valley and taken from the road leading to the Caribou lode on top of the mountain. AVe put up at the Planters' House, kept by Capt. W. O. Logue, a former steamboat engineer, a captain in the Union army, and long in the employ of the McCord. Brothers, of St. Louis. As soon as Ave had stow^ed away our luggage, all of us belonging to the masculine gender, started north over the mountain, to the nearest snowbank. As an evidence of the rejuvenating effect of the mountain air and climate upon the human system, I will state that though we were all on the shady side of sixty, yet we in- dulged, boy-like, in a real hcai'ty snow balling. We went over the mountain ridge in a northeastern di- rection, but the culminating point on which is the Caribou lode, is northwest, and about a third of a mile distant from town. Where 'we crossed we found the whole top of the mountain perforated with shafts and prospecting pits. All the shafts sunk last fall were filled Avith the drifting snows of the winter; some were yet even full of snow, and undisturbed. At others the miners were engaged in cleaning out the snow, and in others this had been done and the work of mining Avas progressing. Within a circle one-half mile from town there are no less than seventy lodes; fifty-six pay well, and all would pay if there were means for reducing the ores. But the nearest reduction works are at Black Hawk, twenty miles distant. They are owned by Prof. Hill, who buys ores at his own price. He also buys only the better grade, because the supply is abundant. 112 OVKR TUB rUVINd AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. Fox' this roivson the lower grades are neglected and many mines f:iil of being developed because the miners cannot dispose of the ores. I liave heard it stated no ore« will pay that do not yield eighty ounces of silver per ton, because the mill men will charge some tliirty-five dollars for reducing them, to which is to bo added at least ten dollars for hauling, making altogether forty-five dollars, which leaves thirty-five dollars to the miner. Two men working together in sinking on a pay-streak, will raise on an average two tons of ore per week, making their wages thirty-five dollars per week, from which, hoAvever, must bo deducted the wear of tools and powder fur blasting. The average cost of mining per ton, with proper facilities, where the lodes are fully developed, including wages, etc., • is about 6") 15, and when operations are carried on on a large scale, 30 per cent, less^ Colonel Cutter thinks the actual cost of reducing a ton of ore, ought not to exceed 67 50 per ton. At present the mines can be made to pro- duce five times the quantity that can be reduced at the re- duction works when completed. The reduction works already sjioken of as in procosa of erection at Middle Boulder, two and a half miles below, will not afford any relief to the Caribou mines, since tlio Caribou and other lodes owned by the company that in erecting the works, will alone supply all the ore it can work. There are more than ninety lodes open in Boul- der county, but there is not a single mill nor reduction work in it, while in (lilj)in county there are twenty-six, and in Clear Creek county some twenty mills and reduc- tion works in operation. The result is that mines aro well developed there, and ores reduced of such low grade as only yield from §20 to 824 per ton. The reason tliero arc no facilities at Caribou for reducing the ore, is bocauBO all the lodes Jiavo been discovered within the past year, except the Caribou, which was discovered in September, 1860. The Caribou mines alono can furnish ore enough to nm OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAl>i». lid a dozen stamp mills ; and hero is a fine opening for an im- mense fortune, by erecting a first-elass smelting furnace at Boulder, where the best quality of coal in the Territory oxista in unlimited quantities. Prof Hill, of Brown University, ii. I,, went to Black llawk a compai-atively poor man, some three or four years ago, and invested some $8,000 in a smelting furnace. He is now a millionaire. lie reduces the ores to what is called "matte," which is packed up and sent to Swansea, in Wales, where the precious metals are separated from the base. Prof. Hill receiving all the gold and silver, and the English company retaining the chopper and \ciid ob- tained from the " matte " for their pay. Our evening ramble took us around the Caribou moun- tain westward, and then over its top back to town. lu this ramble I performed the feat of gathering snow with one hand and plucking flowers with the other, which J had often heard could be done, but about which I wa«t somewhat incredulous. The flower, which I preserve in my herbarium as a momento of the fact, is that of the Vaccinnium myrtillus, a species of blueberry. We found the northwest side of the mountain to be the wall of North Boulder canyon. We could hear the roaring of the waters about a thousand feet below iu=i, but could not see it, the view being obstructed by the dense grove of spruce that line the declivity. The north wall of the canyon is the southeastern side of a peak of the Snowy Range. The trend of the peak is a little west of north, and on its eastern side lays an im- mense snow field, reaching to the summit. Tliis is caused by the west winds drifting the snows, as they fall, to the leeside of the mountain. Up to the hight of the Caribou mountain, this wall was densely covered by dwarf spruce and pine, some even standing within the margin of the snow field. Above the " timber line " and on the we«t side, the peak was bare; and being covered with the vel- vety buffalo grass, it looked ILko aa ordinarv, smoothJy 8 J 14 OVKH TOE I'LAINS AND ON TUK MOUNTAINS. rounded, ;rrrtt>sy but steep hill. No rocks can be seen- protnulinL;; irom its sides above the timber liiie. 1(8 apparent distance from U8 seemed not to exceed a stone's throw, but we were assured in a direct line it was more than a mile; and to ejet to the point opposite, some three miles had to bo traversed. Beino; now tolerably posted a> to the deceptive appearances of distance in this region, yet while we were looking at it, and following with the eye the margin of the snow lin»i toward the sum- mit, some one jestingly ])roposcd to ascend it. I replied,, "No, we Avill leave it for to-morrow, and do it uj) before lireaktiist. "' At this a miner, hid in the s])ruce thicket, and whom we had not noticed before, volunteered the kind advice : - Vou had belter take your breakfast first, and your dinner along, On- you'll have a late sujipei-. " This incident recalls another. While standing on the summit of Caribou mountain, T said to .Tndge Moore, "Judge, have you observed with how much ease and IVec- dom y<)U can talk here, and how Konorous and ringing the voice is«? " No sooner were the words out, than Mr^ Smith, who was fully one liundred yards distant, re])lied, " I expect tliat is the reason you talk so much nonsense here." The ex[)lanation is very simple. In the caissons of the St. Tiouis bridge, those persons who went down in them remember the difficulty there was in s])caking, or making yourself heard. There the air was compressed and consequently the effe(!t was the reverse of the effect hero, whcro the air is expanded by the altitude. The bar- ometer hero stood 19:o2, showing that the atmosphere had <»nly about two-thirds of the density as on the seashore, or in other words, that the mountain was over two miles high. It.s bight, as received here, is 11,300 feet. (Jn the following morning the barometer stood 19 52 inches — th(5 boiling point of water was 191. S degrees.. Following the u>-ual fomiula for deducing altitude from these rfaM, the bight of the mountain would be 11,280 feet. It must, however, be stated that at the time the electric OVER TIIK PUUNK AM) ON THE MOUNTAINS. 115 -toDHiori ol the mountein was greai.us was evinced by the biiHhy appearance of the tails of the horses, and also by the hair ol' our heads }KVvin<>; a tendency to stand out Kti*ai^ht. This electric condition was ibllowcd by a moun- tain storm in the afternoon. Probably an allowance of one inch in barometric pi-essui-e should be inade lor this e1ectri(! condition at the time j still, it Avould leave the mountain over 10,000 feet high. Apropos, this rarity of the atmosphere makes itself felt in the breathinij^ of all animals. We had to give the liorscs, on ascending the mountain, their own time, lor if urged they soon commenced })anting for breath, and had to stop. The miners hero walk slowly, and never feel any in('onvenience; but "greenhorns, " like ourselves, in trying to rush up the mountain, soon find their "wind" tailing. I felt no inconvenience, until walking ra])idlyup a steep terrace, only some six or eight jjaces, and then found 1 had either to sit downi or fall down. A miner gave me this direction : "Whenever j^ou find your breath failing, stop and turn your back to the mountain. Two or three breathings, and you are all right again." 1 found, in following it, invariabh' an almost instant relief. When we reached the tavern, a little after dusk, I found Mrs. y. sitting by the stove and fanning, complaining she could get no breath. The landlady assured her it would be all right by morning. It is said that the few who ai'o tluis affected by the rarity of the air, find themselves en- tirely relieved of the difficulty atYer a stay of a few houi-s. ll«5 OVKR THK PLAIN'S AND OX THK M0UNTALN6. CHAPTETl X. As wo woro 1(1 roUirn to HouMfi- liy evening, wo re- solved to utilize the earliest beams of light in pursuing our investigations of the mines, their character and method of working thcni. Aceordingly ^ve were up even before twilight haaring these with specimens of rock from the well-developed mines, we were satisfied that though surface indications to "greenhorns" were undistinguishable, yet the metal bear- ing rocks had well-marked characteristics to distinguish them from the nf>n-metaIiferous. We examined some thirty or forty J>aying lodes and any number of prospect- ing pits. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. 117 After pa^hi^^«^ ihrouirh tlie iniiiiiig _i;i'Oiui(l, wo went around the peak AveHtwai-d, lo lake a ]ook at the huowv peak opposiU', .seen lln- fveiiiii;^ iietbn', luiw tliat it had its Hnowy side bathed in Miidiiihl. Jl was really a ehannin^ night to see the \vhit(^ shoav apparently jtiled against an Intentsely blue sky. I'lishing on still further, but soulhweslwanlly, we en- tered a dense pine and s]jrii(;e forest, full of loni;--erosted jays. ( Cyanura macrolopha,) ]ari;-er, and ha\in<:- iu> i-osem- blanoe in ctdo)- to oui- Idiie jav. From here we ascended to the tujiof the laountain to take a morning's view of the seenei-y. West at fioni a mile to two miles distance lay the Snowy Ilange, running a little west of souUi and east of north. The range sepai'ated ns from Middle Park, only eight miles distant. Jiut the onl}'- practical route thithei- is by Boulder Pass, some fifteen miles soutliwest. To the south and east lay what appeared a hilly table land covered with a dense evergi-een forest. At various distances a tew isolated cones protruded above the surrounding hills fi-om one to two thousand and per- haps more feet. A little north of east the peak of Sugar- loaf Mountain, some nine miles distant, was a ])i"ominent object. I did not learn the name of a very large, high cone some iifteen miles southeast. It haearance. In the northeast Mas another c-one, but at some distance, and apparently not as high as Sugarloaf, some seven or eight miles south of it. The town of ('aribou lay at our feet on the east side of our look-out in a scooped-out valley between two mountains. We now went to Caribou Lcxle, entirely closed in and Tinder cover, which lay to our left on the northeastern point of the mountain. Northwest of the mine are the large stables of the mining company well stocked with provender, including corn. As Ave approached a large number of little vermin Avere seen running from the sta- ble Avhich I supposed to be rats. But seeing one dodge iKjhind a large rock, I kept a lookout for liim as f turned lis OVER THE PLAIN'S AN'D 0\ TlIK MOl.'XTAINS. the (.-onior, aihl tlu-rc ho sat erect on a small vock, and iKUulliiii; a ijraiii oi" corn in the most graceful stylo while eatinii; it. He proved to he a »-hi)>imiiik. ( Tamia.s quad- rivitatus), <>r the fbur-stri])e(l iiToiind squirrel, fully as beautiful hut not so lar<;e as the chipmuidv or fi;i'ound squirrtd ( Tamias hj-'^teri) of the Eastern States. The four- stri})ed a miner's Iodide, made of a few polos laid over the i^ap l-ciwi'tMi two large rocks and covered with the fan- sha]>eol, and from a ])oueh drew somo ground coffee Slicing his ba(^on, he ])ut a shar[> slick thr<»iiuli i', held it in lln^ flaiin-, and when rJ"ht hoi 'Aould pour cold water t>n it lo " i'reshcn it," as he said. He gave m<- .i history of his wan, when he left l^ennsylvania for the mines in (^'alifornia. Had made a half dozen of fortunes and losi lluMii all, but had now ample means laid up for old aLT''. whenevei- il )night undertake bin). I asked him wh\' he ilid noi take the World easy and eiijo\- life now;* ''I i|o.'" he i-<-|)lie(|; "f lliink Ihert! is no enjovrnent like the wild, free, dare-devil lilenl'ilie mineron ihese moun- tains. •' Here." he continued, '' we have no (^lasses nor ranks in society, but every true and honest man we meet is at once and forever a friend an'i hrolher." 1 askeri him how Ion" lie had been Iwre. " About throe weeks," he replied. OVER THK PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 119 •" 1 luid just tijot," ho continiu'd, '' into Denver from a very .siieeesst'ul prosjieetinsz; tour through New Mexico, when Mr. met me and offered nie ' i>;rul) ' und five dollars u day, and half interest in what I uiioht find, to eonie here and proHpeet Caribou mountain over lor him." 1 re- marked that 1 liad made his employer's aequaintiince in Denver, and that lie bore the rejjutaion of bein from the drip]>in()iil(lfi-, noi-th and east of the latter, ou ; thev <|uit because the water gave out. The Trojan lode yields on an average of SIOO to $240 per ton. Iialf gold and half silver, sometimes the gold predominating and then the silver. Th<^ vein increases in riches as great depths are reached. W'e did not go to the Boulder county lode, also located liere. Prospecting is also going' on vigorouHl}' and quite a numher of paying lodes have been discovered here. Between here and the village of ]\ridill(i Boulder the fire was still raging as on the prexious day in the tail spruce forest that lined the mountain ac<'livity on the farther sid(^ of the gorge to our right, the side we were descending having been completely swept by it several days before. Its distance from us was less than a quarter of a mile, and its cra(^klijig noise and roaring was terrific, the flames leaping up in large sheets over the top of the forest. It was a sad sight to look at. Here were forests destroyed and wasted, that for several generations would have furnished ample su{)})lies of lum- ber for building |)urposes and for fuel for smtdting the ores, and all for what? Merely to clear away the fallen leaves 80 as to expose the naked rocks to the obsei-vation of tlie ])rospector. 'Vh'iH wantonness has no parallel e.xcept the folly of killing the goose that laid the golden eifti;. The penalty' for firing the woods is severe, and there were fifty-one indictments found against persons and pend- ing for the offence in Boulder county alone. It is to be hoped, if found guilty, that the full penalty of the law maybe meted out to them. On our descent we met a burly mountaineer on a spirited horse going up to Caribou. Mr. Smith recognized him as Major John Q. A. Kollius, an 124 lace, the ^Eajor insisted that we iilioiild pay a visit t<") and lake dinner at Ids inounlain raneln-, s(jme two nulos >oiitli ol Middle IJuulder, urterini;- to aeeonipauy U8 buck. This Ave gratefully declined, as we had in the morning sent down word to Goss's lu iiave. dinner for our party at two o'clock. At Jiruwn's, or Middle Boulder, as it is now called, we again met Colonel Cutter, another mountain KpH?cim(n of jihvNical development, robu.st in liealth, and manl V vigor. Jle is a New Yorker, an educated and intelli- gent man., and from his long residence in the niouiiLains, an (.Xpert in mining affairs. lie considers thi.s as one of the richcHt mining dist ricts yet discovered, and that investments judiciously made and managed here, eitlu-i- in mines or reduction works, cannot fail of being remunerativ*-. The reduction wui-k.s he is erecting i'or the Carbiou Mining Company, ave at Boulder, lor want of facili- OVKE THK PIjMNS AND ON' THE MOUNTAINS. 125 ties to bring il au'iiy. It wuh a moHt iiiagnificent bird of brillisint bottle green plumage. After a must excellent dinnei-, to whidi our niountain appetites diduniple juHtice, and for wliich \vt> were charged a very moderate price, we started and were soon at Oa.stle Hock, where we stopped to nurvey it once more, iir.stfrom the west, then from the east side. A mile or two below wo descried a pair of bighorns, ( Ovis montana,) or Rocky Mountain sheep, with a lamb under an overhanging cliff on a terrace of the canyon wall some 1200 feet above its. There they stood immovable as statues, looking down upon us. \Ve shouted, whooped and yelled, making all the noise we could, but it had no effect upon them. The lamb, however, became alarmed and kept dodging from one side to the other of the pair. Still further down we stopped to see the son of our •Caribou host, AVillie Logue, a 8t. Louis boy, fourteen years old, who was working on a very promising prospect of his own discovery. He was in a very great glee, and assured us that the assayer had just sent hini word that a specimen sent had analyzed at the rate of 140 ounce^H t') the ton. He sent a specimen of the ore to the ^[issouri State Cabinet, where it can now be seen at the AVasbing- ton University. We have since heard with regret tliat the same discovery liad been made before and recorded in 1862. It seems, however, by the latest news from there, that Willie has been in luck, and made a very y)romi8ing discovery on the north side of Caribou 3Iountaiii, in the canyon of the North Boulder. We were next halted by one of our Boulder female friends, the excellent wife of Major Buttles, who is one of the principle stockholders and managing directors of the Boulder canyon road, which I ought to have stated before, M'aa only completed three weeks before our arrival tliere. The Major having some business in connection with the completion of the road in the upper part of the canyon, Mrs. B. had a^-oompanied him to stay a day or two; and 120 oviJi THK ri.Ai.Ns and os thk mountains. here Wo lound lier in the wild, ivloomy, nioiuiuiiu canyon, heside the noisy stream, oecupyinj^ a cabin made of poles, with a ifround floor, covered with the \vini!;-sha|K-d boughH ul'tfie spriici'. She said she had just finished catching a tine mess ot' mountain trout, and pressed us to wait and she would fry some for us. Okl lloman etiquette would have required us to take an emetic to get rid of our din- ner, that we might acccjit the invitation. Hut modern politenesf*, foolish, iicartless and exacting as it is. s8 form <•!" our estimation of her cookery r* Our next luUting ])lace Avas o])posite the embouchure of the North Boulder. The road here (TOSses a l»ridgc to the south side of the main canyon, where we drove be- cause here was one of the few turnouts to pass ascending teams. After alighting, we walked back over the bridge and then (•iambere00 foot deep and 20 feet witlo. This trough Ih of the sain(! widll) throughout, and perfectly symmetri- cah Jl is tlic! only instance J s:iw in the niounUuns oi' erosion, the canyon \\»\\h invariahiy hcing cleavages made hy convulsions of ^'ature. The tails :n-e about 20 teet wide and 70 feet high. They strike a slanting rock inclining to the nortlnvest, which lies on the east side of the canyon. The rock is about 12 feet high ; it therefore pitchcH the water, the south half of the cascade that falls on it, against the northwest wall, which closes the can- yon. The other half goes without any obstruction to the bottom behind this deflected sheet and hoils up at our feet white as milk with foam. AV'e are standing within iiO feet of the falls and facing it, and occasionally a whirl of air carries the spi'ay into our faces, but the roar is ter- rific and the ground trembles beneath our feet. BehintI the falls is a large cavity extending to Avithin ten feet of the top, so that the falls pour over a projecting rock, leav- ing a deep recess. What was singular a Rocky mountain blue-bird, the Salia aretica, liad its nest in this recess, and it had evidently "not learned the fear of man," for it would come down to the beach on the opposite side and within fifteen feet of us, without seeming to notice our presence. It would hop about, and after finding an in- sect, often a grasshopper that had come over the falls, it would rise, and after a little suspension would dart in through the thinest part of the falling sheet, close by the north wall. A moment after and it would re-appear at the pame point to repeat the performance. There is a second fall a short distance above the lower, of some 45 feet, which is said to be extremely grand, but it is inacces- sible from this point. After an equally hazardous sci-am- ble, we got back to our conveyances, but now we found ourselves in trouble. Some teams liad come up from below caiTying a part of Col. Cutter's machinery, but our vehicles blocked up the way, so there was neither a way to retreat nor advance for either party. After mutual 12S OVKR THK PI^VIN.S AXD 0.\ THK .MOtrXTAIXS. consulUtion. it was discovered if we unhitched and took the horses across the bridge, und then piled up the vehi- cles, room could bo made for the wagons to pass, which beinc^ done, all of us went on our way rejoicing. It was about sunset when we issued from the mouth of the can- yon, upon the plain where stands the city of Boulder. CA'EB THE PLAiNd ANT> OX THE MOlTNTArNci 129 CHAPTER XI. The next morning, Friday, Juno 16, I "waa up with the (lawn and out on the wtrcets. They were yet deserted and silent. Not a living thing was to be seen nor heard, except the ever purling murmur of the waters hastening down over the plain. Instinctively I was drawn to their Hide and up their brink and on to the bridge that spans the Boulder opposite the centre of the town. It was yet twi- light and I stood on the bridge for some moments musing- ly looking at the flow and listening to the murmur of the waters; and then raising my eyes to look at the aperture in the mountains whence they issued. Oh, those moun- tains how dear to me now that I have made their acquain- tance ! When I recalled the gloom and solitude of the rifled canyon in the Cordilleras through which these waters have flowed, and the overpowering and magic grandeur of the scenery of which they had formed a part, I felt sad. I thought that they, like I, had left forever scenes of in- spiration that give birth to thoughts and emotions too high and holy for utterance, to mix hereafter with the low, groveling, commonplace humdrum of every-day life. Purling and dancing and singing so joyously as they glided along over their rocky bed, I could not help sigh- ing: Ah, little do they know of what is before them ! I felt like apostrophizing them thus: Ah I well may ye of so little experience be light of heart and dance and sing and prattle with glee as you hasten from your mountain home. Soon the merciless iron of experience will pene- trate 3-our bosom and your joy will flee forever. You will enter into the groat throng, and falling under its bo- numbing influencoa will lose your identity forever. "With 9 150 OVEK THK PL-VINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. thom, you will pui-suo a sluggieh career amid fens, bogs> and sandbars to obstruct your "way, till yuu finally fall into and aix> lost in the groat ocean of which you aro an emanation. Were ye sentient, and had yo the faculty of provision to soo the low cai'cer before you and its final ond^ like the dying Swiss boy, yo would entreat and ciy : " Oh, carry me back to my mountain home. " But fato has Hot itH seal upon mo as well as yon, and from you I can learn the lesson to bo cheerful, and not repine while obeying his behests. Breaking fron\ my reverie, I crossed the bridge and followed tho pijbbly margin of tho stream up to the mouth of the canyon, examining tho cndlosa variety of size, color and material of tho boulders and pebbles of which its bottom and margin aro composed. Then turn- ing south and following tho baso of the mountain, I soon a.scendod one of those terraced plateaux that invariably lie against tho mountains batwcou tho mouths of canyons and gulches. Tho plateau I followed till it terminates at Bear gulch, and thenco down till I reached tho road lead- ing to town. Tho view from tho plateau is most charming, even finer than from that on tho north side of the stream already described, sinco it brings the valleys of both the North and South Boulder under nearer view, and for a greater distance tho valley below their junction at Val- mont. Tho lower plain and that of the plateau were densely covered with flowers, all of which havobccn men- tioned before except tho Mcriensia panicuiata and tho Campanula rotundifoUa, which I found in tho mouth of Bear gulch, and tho beautiful IJppia cuneijolia of the lower plain. After breakfast at the Colorado House, where wo put up, tho proprietor called my attention to Homof;tonc3 usod for flagging tho pavement, which he naid were "plioto- graph Btonofl. " I found several largo slabs fringed around OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 131 with images of miniature trees and ibrosts. While I was examining them, Mr. J. A. Carr, a irroeer, but formally a minor, and a true lover of Nature, passed by; and seeing what had attracted my attention, said if I would go to his etoro ho would show me, and make me a present of very fine sj)Ooinicn8 of tlicso stones. Complying with his invi- tation, I accompanied him, and lie gave me a specimen of great beauty — two miniature trees, more than six inches in length, imprinted on a fine white sandstone. lie said about two miles north of town, the top of the first hog back was entirely composed of these stones. These, how- ever, were of a red sandstone, while the white specimen he gave mo was from a hog back two miles west, in the recesses of tho mountains. Ho very generously got a carriage and took me out to tho locality. In driving out I noticed on the eds-e of tho plain, near tho mountain, and running parallel to it, a dark-lpoking rocky ledge, rising sometimes to a height of 80 feet above tho plain. This is a bluish semi-crystalline limestone, from which excellent lime is made. It occa- sionally appears along the foot of the mountains, but nowhere else on tho plains. Arriving at the foot of the epur, on the summit of which the "j^hotograph stones" are deposited, avo found it consisted of red sedimentary Bandstono, upheaved to a hight of some 1,200 feet above tho plain. Against its sides lies a steep bank of earth, through which the rocks protruded^ and which is carried up to a hight of some 500 feet above the plain. Then oomcs tho rock split into lamina from less than one-half to six inches in thickness. This ujjheaval is very steep and can bo ascended only by using both hands and feet, a danger- ous performance, however, since often you get on a slab which will slido down the side of the mountain with you. After ascending about one-third of the acclivity, wo com- moncod splitting tho slabs, and wherever there was an in- dication of a soam, we always found the "piiotograph tree " and sometimes a picture representing a foroet. All 132 OVVAi THK I'h.VlNS AND U.V TIIK MOLSTAIN'S. the hunJ}0 per cent as the amount of fixed carbon contained in it; ashes under two per cent, and entirely- free of pulj)hur. It is found to answer most admirably for smelting all kinds of ores, tho only drawback being ita tendency of breaking up into parallelo[)iped8 and then fiisinginto a mass, thus choking up the draft. "VVc explored the mine as far as worked, some three hundred yards in a straight adit. Jt is under the superin- tendence of Mr. Henry Wrigley, a AVelch miner, formerly of St. Louis, and who at once recognized me. This is unquestionably not only the largest, but tho boat deposit of coal on the western plains. There are no less than eleven distinct veins with but small intervals between them. The aggregate thickness of eight of these, ascer- tained by working them, is sixty-three feet; the thick- ness of three being unknown. A vein 12 feet thick of tho same deposits is worked at Erie, twelve miles from tho mountains, and extends south tow^ards Golden (Jity, bu^ thins out before reaching there; it also depreciates in quality, as shown by Professor Ila^'den's Geological report of 18(M>. We then visited other mities farther down on tho p)lain ; and among them the shall on tlie IGth, the school section, which some malicious persons had set on fire, and which was banked up with earth to smother the fire. 8tnita of the best fireclay are interposed betw(H?n the veins of coal OVER THE PL.VIN8 AND ON THE MOUNTAINH. ISO varying from 4 to 8 feet in thicknens. Those will bo invuluablo for furnaces hereafter in Bmelting tho oroH of tho mountains. On our way back to tovni we inHpected Home of tho principal irrigating canals, and examined tho method of -applying tho water. "\Vo found 7nain canals away out on tho highest benches of the plain, conveying water to ranches from five to eight miles distant. The general regulations here respecting irrigation are, that proprietors of land join and exca%-ato an irrigating canal along such line as will supply water to the greatest scope of territory compatible with Lhoir own interest and convenience. Af- ter the canal is so constructed, any one entering land "un- der ditch, " as they call it, that is, that can be irrigated froni any completed canal, is required to pay the proprie- tors of the canal at the rate of tifty dollars for every quar- ter section of land so entered, or acquired, which had no water privileges. This secures to him forever the privilege of free use for all the water required for irrigating his land ; the number and size of tho sluices, however, are regulated by law. lie is subject, however, to such annual assessment as may be necessary to keep tho main canal in repair, which is found on an average never to exceed four dollars per year. This, added to tho interest on his origi- nal investment, makes the cost of water from four to five cents per acre annually. About Denver irrigating privi- leges have become a monopoly ; and the monopolists charge outsiders one dollar and fifty centa per acre annu- ally for water. We passed fields of oats, barley, wheat and corn, all un- der irrigation, of the darkest gi'cen, and in tho most thrif- ty condition. AVe also passed a meadow of splendid promise. Finally we came to the ranche of a farmer from Pennsylvania, the largest wheat grower in the territory, whoso name I have unfortunately forgotton. lie has been here nine years, and for the last seven years has not raised loss than 5000 bushels auniuUly. This year ho ox- 136 OVEE TUB PL.VINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINg. poets lictwccn 9000 and 10,000 bu8hel8. He was in his •vshcnt fielc!, ;il)Oiit 100 acres, with his hoe, attending to iiTiguticn. Wo wtopped and had a long conversation with him. From him wo IcarnoKl, as wo did from others, that their crops never suffer from insects, because they drown them uui; that there is never any rust on the blade, nor Bmut on tlie berry, becivuso •'•wo had them here one year. They came over the moun- tains and eat us out, and then left for eastern Kansas and Missouri, and would have eaten you out, too, had tho sea- son been longer." I asked him what lu^ supposed was the average yield per acre of wheat, oats and barley. ** Wheat," said he, "taking all that receives respectable cultivation, will yield on an avenigc of thirty-five bushels per acre. J>ut, l»y the best cultivation, this can bo in- cTcased fri^m twenty to thirty bushels more per acre. A premium fiehl er acre, but the hay is not of the first quality-" But this is the case everywhere. Xo hay of prime quality is made any- where, where the growth is rank. I examined some timo- thy ( P/i?c?/»i prateyise) that had spikes from six to eight inches long, and was coarse in haum in pi'oportion; and tills is the cause of its inferior quality. There is a wild' timothy in the mountain ])arks which I did not see, which is naid to yield heavily and to make a hetter hay than the tame on the ])lains below. It may prove indentical with the Phleuin alpiniim, found on the White Mountains in New Hampshire, and on the mountains of Europe. It will thus be seen that though the natural climate of Colorado is such that agricultural pursuits, for lack of moiwtui'c, could not be conducted successfully, yet where- ever the soil can be irrigated the agriculturist is practi- cally independent of the weather. In its season the sun pours down a flood of light and heat from an intensely blue sky, and through a perfectly transparent atmosphere. Though the clouds withhold their rain, 3-et their remiss- neas is retrieved by the abundant water that flows from the melted snows which the mountains collect during the winter. Xo worm or other insect devours the succulent grain, Avhile growing, nor is it ever smitten by blight, an abundant harvest therefore never fails to rcAvard the ajrri- culturist, nor is there little variation in quantity and none in qtiality. All this is indisputably true ; but still the picture is too highly colored. There are some di'awbacks, which are patent to every close observer. In the tirst place, when tlie water is withdraAvn the soil becomes as hard as a brick, and there is no stirring it until the rains and winter frosts have mellowed it again. For this reason, but little winter wheat is or can be sown unless there are heavy rains in the latter part of summer, which is sometimes the case. Then, the waters coming from the melted snoAvs in the mountains, only 20 miles distant, and fi*om the short 138 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. time it tukoa them, because of tho rapidity of their de- scent, are yet intenselj^ cold when they reach the plains. Hence there is an nnevenncss in tho ripening of the grain, the coldness of tho water keeping back a strip just below eveiy ditch, while that portion of the field which reoeiven water that has flowed over a consid-crable surface and become warmed, comes earlier to maturity. But the coldncfi.s of the water is the most serious di-awback in irri- gating corn, which is a lover of heat. This is partially overcome by letting tho water flow over a considerable extent of plain or pasture land until it has become warmed, and then gather it into ditches again and apply it to the corn, liut the fact is, corn can bo raised about as well without as with irrigation, and 8ometimcs, in favor- able seasons, produces crops fully as heavy as the average crop in Missouri. It must also be stated that occasionally there occurs a season when the rains are sufficient to mature all crops without irrigation. Thus in 1868 the irrigating canals were not opened at all. A season of thunder-storms com- mencing in the mountains in June and continuing to Sep- tember, often extends to the plains along the foot of thd mountains. Then corn yields an abundant crop. Spring wheat is almost universally raised; but the flour and bread made of it have no resemblance to those of spring wheat in tho States. The flour contains less gluten, and consequently is not sticky like flour made of spring wheat in tho States. The bread made of it is as white as that of the choicest St. Louis brands; and then it is so light and spongy. I actually believe it also has medicinal prop- erties. Why should it not? The soil on which it grows, when the water is withdrawn, becomes encrusted with tho carlxjnate of soda, white as if a flurry of snow had passed over it Cattle lick this crystalized soda, and never need to be salted; in fact, they will turn up their noses, if you ofFcr them salt, and walk away. Soda springs and lakes abound tliroughout tho mountain region; and since tho OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 139 Boii on tho Phiin.s is almost cxcluHivcly formed of debris from tho disentei;;rated rocks of the mountains, it is pecu- liarly rich in phosphates of lime, soda and potash. Tho grain that grows upon such a soil must partake richly in these phosphates, especially that of soda, llenco tho chemiciil action taking place between the soda and the gastric juice must give- rise to electric currents in the system. Since then the Colorado Fair has been held at Denver, and the Boulder county, at Boulder; the following amongst other awards were made : At Denver to John G. Lilly, of Arapahoe county, in which Denver is situated, first pre- mium for largest yield per acre of wheat, on entire farm. Amount of acreage being 90 acres, yield 4,988 1-2 bushels, or a fraction over 55 bushels per acre. At Boulder, for best field of corn raised in Boulder county ; first premium to M. G, Smith, being 70 bushels, less 19 pounds, to the acre. Second premium, Mr. Walker, 64 bushels to the acre. First premium for largest yield of potatoes per acre to David Ilersham, being a fraction over 805 bushels to the acre. Seventeen of these potatoes made a bushel by weight. First premium for best half-dozen beets, to G. F. Chase, tho average circumference being 31 inches each. The best half-dozen heads of cabbage ; first premium to Ml*. Smith; average weight of each head being 54 1-4 pounds. Tho rival competitor's average was 53 1-2 pounds per head. Tho extent of arable lands is the limit to which irrigation can bo cai-ried. How far east of the South Platte this may be done I am unable to say definitely, but so far as tho supply of water holds out. Between the Platte and the mountains there extends a triangular plain from the debouchure on the plains of the Cache a la Poudre to that of tho South Platte, whose longest side along tho foot of the mountains is about 90 miles. From the mouth of tho Platte canyon until it receives the Cache a la Poudre the 1 40 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TUE MOUTTT.VINS. distance is about 80 miles. The course of the lailcr stream from the lime it leaves the mountains uTitii it meets the Platte is about 40 miles. The following are the moun- tain streams |»roceedin£^ south from the Cache a la Poudre in the order in which they occur: Bicj Thomji^on, a trib- utary of the I'lattc; Little Thompson, a tributary of Big Thompson; St. Vniin's Fork, a -tributary of the Platte; Left Hand Creek ; and then Boulder, both tributaries of the St. Vi-ain; South Boulder, a tributary of Boulder; Coal Creek, a tributary of South Boulder ; Clear Creek, a iributar}' of the Platte; and tinally l^ear Creek, which ialls into the Platto above Denver. Bet^ides these there are numerous l>ranches which issue from niountain gulche-s, but whose sources measurably tail bctui-e the summer is over. This triangle included between the mountains and the Platte covers an area of about 1,800,000 acres of land, four- fifths, at least, of which can be irrigated ; and the whole is one of the most desirable grazing regions in the world. To substantiate this I quote from ProtessoT- Ifayden's United States Geologieal Peport of 1869, page 144: " Snow sometimes, though rarely, reaches a depth of twelve inches; yet it passes off as rapidly as it comes, seldom remaining longer than twenty-four hours. Even in the valleys which penetrate the first range of mountains in the northern section this is the case. Some winters but little snow falls during the entire season. As conclusive evidence of this statement, rattle are herded out durincr the entire winter in all partn of the Territory, such a thin"- as preparntion for winter feeding being almost whollv un- known. And yet in the spring they Avill come out in as good order as those of the States whieh have been housed and fed day by day. The Mexican horses, or bronchos, will also winter out during the winter like the cattle." This, however, is only true of the plain immediatelv along the baijO of the mountains, say a strip from 15 to 20 miles wide. Lower down on the Plains, it does not OVER THE PI^'VIXB AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 141 always hold good. There are e.xceptionally cold winters, when the depth of the snow and the intenHO cold are fatal to 8tock unless fed and sheltered. The lierds in Boulder county are not very- large, mnging from 400 to 1500 head. AVm. A. Cordon, the President of the Boulder (bounty Agricultunil Association, is one of the principal Htock raisera in the county. It will be seen, from what is said elsewhere, that thoso vast parks, formed of the tuble-land on the summit of the mountains, possess an agricultural value that cannot as yet be estimated. That they are admirably adapted for dai- rying purposes there is no question. Butter made there^ in quantity, quality and delicacy of flavor, surpasses that of the famous land of Goshen. They are also well adapted for stock-raising. Hay, oats, barley, rye and. even wheat can be raised in all of them notwithstanding their great altitude above the level of the sea. Of hay, oata, turnips and cabbage, no country yields more abundantly, area for area, than the three most elevated of these parka. Their value for agricultural purposes was early acknowl- edged, not because their soil was richer and mt)re produc- tive than that of the mountain lands east of the Snowy Range, but becmise their lands lay in compact bodies j while those of the elevated mountain plains east of the Snowy Range are broken up and dissevered by sporadic peaks, and cleft asunder by gulches, deep chasms and im- passable canyons. The difference in the quality of the soil, if any, is in favor of the mountain lands. It is no unusual thing to find a black soil of humus or vegetable mould from four to six inches thick underlaid by a rich subsoil of ochreous clay. Notwithstanding the broken character of the mountain table-land, fully one-fourth of it is arable, and three-fourths of the remainder is well adapted for grazing purposes both for sheep and cows. This is contrary to the generally received public opinion, but it is nevertheless true. Potatoes of the largest size, weighing as much as four pounds apiece, and of the boirt 142 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINI*. quality can be raised on thcBO hills and mountain plains without irrigation. Tho yield often . approximates 300 bushels to the acre, Avhioh is larger than is generally ob- tained in tho rich prairie lands of tho Valley of the Mis- Bissippi. Theso lands indeed are often rough, but I have seen thousands of acres cultivated in tho Eastern States not only rougher and steeper, but poorer and far stonier than these. OVEB TUB PLAINS AKD ON THK MOCNIAINH. 14S CHAPTER XIL Colorado ecems to bo regarded a-s a favorable ground for trying colonial expcrimenlH. I heard, whilo there, of no lefw than three locating committees that were explor- ing the Ten'itory for the most favorable location for a colony. One of these represented a Boston colony, another a Western, and still another a Tennessee colony. 1 have not heard whether they have finally fixci-;unthin<'- Ihiit eaii be prodiictMl. Even ill tlio new mining coniiuuniiifs of tlie juoiiiitains the sumo evils are i(>lt, Imt not in such an agi^ruvated funn. They 2)i'<^>*-'"<^'<-' .^oniethiiii^ lliat lias a cojuTnereial value in the markets of the world; l.iit it is only the prime arlieic they can make available; and from that the^- hardly real- ize more than one-half of its intrinsic value. The other lialf is absorbes pro- vided with proper facilities, be sources of immense we4ilth to their owners. These lodes could furnish three hundrtMi tons of ore a week, that will on an avera<;;e, assay 8s0 to the ton. IJut as the locality is isolated and too new for reduction works, they have to carry their ore, the richest only bearing the expense, twenty-two miles to a smelting furnace, where they receive just what the proprietor of th*) works chooses to give them. Thus that community Is working along and kept from stagnation, hojiing and praying for better times. Yet if they had reductior. Avorks, the mines now open would furnish ore that would yield at least 835,000 in silver ])er week, besides the gold, •copper and lead. Now, perha])s, a thousand dollars is the limit received per week by the miners in that locality, which is only about 40 ])er cent, of the actual value of the ores sold. Then this community, while its lal)or is actu- ally adding §2,500 per week to the wealth of the Avorld, does so at an expense to itself of 61,500. Xot onh' so, but the labor there that would add from 840,000 to 850,000 per week to the common wealth, is idle and unemjiloyo^J from necessity. New discoveries carrying only ores of a low grade, ])ut rich enough to pay the expense of opening Ihem and leave a margin to the miner besides, are left un- 10 146 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. developed, beeaiisc these low grade oresai-c wiihuiii value under present eireunistanees. The great Comstoek lode of Nevada lias yielded up- wards of one hundred million dollars of bullion, yet the average vield of its ores docs not i-xceed twenty-five dol- lars per Ion. AVhy has it been so productive and ]>rotita- ble? Simply because San Francisco capitalists provided reducinir works, Avhich have enriched lH)th the minci's and themselves. Xow, furnish the new discoveries at ('aribou^ hardly a year old yet, Avith facilities for reducing :ill classes of ores that will pay for reducing, ane avIicu civilization over- takes them, or that they should tix delinitely the main pursuit to whiili their industry is to be directed, and gO' jirovided with all the ai)plia)ices and ap})ointmt'iits to in- jure success. Tlie want of foresight to foresee the inexoi-alile condi- tions of isolated communities, and hence of j)roviding for meeting them, now jiress heavily u])on the colonists of Colorado, and is the cause of that dis.satistaction,bickei'ing and <'rimiiKitioii which iiiurc oi" less pi-cvail in all of them. I makt! these remarks because thei-i' is scarcely a State east of the >rississij)j)i but has colonization schemes, and is excited Ijy colony excitements. In fact colonizatio)i hchcmes are now the rage, and the rage intensifies as lime advances. I give results as (hsveloped in C'olorado, and volunteer unwelcome but wholesome advice to those about *Thia estinmte is not minfi but is that of an exporienced minftr, per- fectly fiirniliar witli the silver mines of Nevada, Utah and Colorado. My opinion is, the estimate is too low. OVER THE PLAINS AM) UN TIIK MOUNTAINS. 147 / entering upon .sucli enterprises. Tluii if avc niii.sl l.avo Mioh enterprises, and as they are forewarned ol wliat they have to expeel, an«l of the stern realities that will eon- front them when they get there, let them go ])repared to meet the exigencies that must arise, and overcome in the shortest time ]iossible the ol)stacles in the way of success. I have already sufficient!}^ spoken of Greele}^ to give an idea of the condition of things there. On the South Platte, some twenty-five miles below Greeley, and helow the island in the river covered with Cottonwood, knijwn as "Fremont's Orchard," is the location of the South- western Colon}'. It was initiated at Memphis, hut its members are from Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Its town has been named Greensboro, in honor of its chief projector and patron, Col. I). S, (ireen, now a citizen of Denver, a gentleman well and favorably known \n Colorado. Lost Spring debouches into the Platte just above the town site. Its valley, about two and a half miles wide, has a soil of deej) alluvial loam, as light imd pliable as an ash heap, covered with a most luxuriant growth of a peculiar kind of perennial gi-ass, resembling, it is said, the famous blue grass of Iventuck}-. At least 15,000 acres of this valley need no irrigation, and the same may be said of thousands of acres of the Platte bottom. The broad expanse of uplands away from the streams furnish excellent and unlimited range for pasturage; and the colonists are princi})ally engaged as yet in stock-rais- ing. Of their condition, i)rogress and prospects I could learn nothing. Froni the articles of association I ascer- tained that the organization of this colony is difierent from most of the others located in Colorado. There are no restrictions or obligations imposed on its mem]>ers, no communism, nor co-operative interests provided for. Each member has to pay a moderate fee of membershi]) — one liundred dollars — which entitles him to special rates of transportation to the colonial site, a share in the division of the town proi>erty, and such other privileges as inhere 148 OVER THR PLAINS AND ON THK MOl MAINS. ill similar orixanizations. Ivu-li one is tht-n left free to make his own selection of vocation, and to pre-empt lands, ro])erly, the Tniou colonv. ]t found its wav into the hi,(>u() teet, wliich ai'c cxtrt'incK pi'nIilaMc to tlic jiniin-icloiN. who make a husiiu-ss of I'aisinu;; hay and vcL;\'tablcs, and wlm have ne\'er siistaiiu'd any serious Inss tVoin frosts and storms. Jn (Jilpin county, soutli, and also at tln^ foot of the Snowy Kaiii^e, Hall it Hanta's i-aiudie has averaged them §19,000 protit jier anninn IVoni ti2 acres, chiefly in potatoes, tundps, caldiage, and other vegetables. Then the success of (^iieen. ('ocliran, lEickox, Conner, etc., are widl known facts. Therefore, 1 think the statement of frost destroying the crops in a more southern latitude, and most pi'obably at a lower elevation, must be taken with many grains of allowance. There is another of these colonies, yet in its infancy, loeatcnl in lioulder c(ninty, about 15 miles northeast of Boulder city. It is called the C'hicago ('olorado colony. Wo had an invitation to visit their location, but Ave had no time for tiiat purpose. 'Ilieir town, located about a mile north of the village of Jiurlington, is calleil Longmont. I think the location the best of any colony in the territory, since it is contiguous to the mountains, wh«'re it must eventnall}" find a market for its products, ami adjacent to the settlements that extend along the nu)untain rangi- the entire width of the teridtory. It is convenient to coal both at Erie and l-Joulder; is supplied Avith lumber from the mountains, and is well watered. It has selected and obtained control of about 60,000 acres of land lying hnigi- tudinall}' across the valleys of the Boulder, Left .Hand, Little Thompson and St. Vrain's Fork. The soil is as good as any in the tei'ritory, has all needed facilities for irrigation, good water powei*, and being so near the moun- tains has fine scenery; the snowy crest of Long's Peak rises majestically above the surrounding ]»eaks, almost due 150 OVKIl TllK I'l.AINS AND (iN TIIK MOrNTAINS. west. It will, from its location porhups, realize its expect- ations in a shorter time, and ^\■\{\\ tlic endurance of less jn-ivations and hardships than any colony in the territory. The colony only commenced its a2 OVKK TlIK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. a rft'n^e atmopphoro ; great elevation, producing rarity of" auuosphere, is, thoret'ore, the controlling oau8e, since it Tiot only rarities \hc air, luit reduces also the boiling point. I ascertained at Caribou that the boiling point of water^ tliat is total evaporation, was 191.8 degi-ees Fahrenheit, while on the seashore it is 212 degrees. Now, sinct' water evaporates at all temperatures, even when frozen, there- lore, in the elevated regions of Colorado, a given amount of water, at any degree of temperature, evaporates as much as the same quantity chx's at the seashore with a tomperaturc twenty degrees higher. Consequently vege- talile and animal substances are more speedily desiccated tiiere than in less elevated regions. Hence it is that fresh meats hung up in the free air never putrify, but dry up tiweet. Hence, also, there is so little decay of animal and vegetable substance that no noxious ofHuvia arises from the one, nor miasma from, the other. To the aridity of its climate (Colorado owes its remarkable exemption from all kinds of bilious diseases. The thermometer often in Den- ver indicates a greater heat by five degrees than wo expe- rience in the trough of the Mississippi Valley. Yet sun- strokes are unknown; because it is im])ossible for Ji dry atmosphere to become sultry, sweltering, smothering and oppressive. It mattcn? not how Avarm it is, the air is al- ways elastic and exhilarating, because evaporation is con- stant from our bodies. Climate unquestionably exerts an immeasurable influence on every living organism in both tJie animal and vt'gclablc kingdom. To a nation of inva- lids, (for such we must b(? taken to be, if our sanitaiy con- dition is measured by the amount of mcHlicine we consume), it will be welcome news to Ix^ told that within our own borders there is a climate that jiroduces almost as marvel- ous effects as the Spanish cavaliers expected to realize from the fabled Fountain of Youth which they sought in vain in the malarious fens and bogs of Florida. The influ- ence ot this atmosphere is remarkable, as is testified by general cxiicricrjfc. It, is entirely i'rt'n from humidity. OVER THE Pr.AINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 155 wonderfully clear, exhilarating smd health insjiiring. Mists and fogs, exeept when rain and snow arc falling, arc unknown. The absenee of elouds, the elear inlcnsely hlue sky, and a hrilliant sunshine are remarkalile, the 3'ear round. Colorado has a wide spread celebrity already lor releaving and curing tubercular and pulmonary affec- tions, general debility, scrofula, dispepsia, asthma, bron- chitis, enlargement of the liver, splenetic; diseases, etc., and not without cause, for at least one-third of her present population are reconstructed individuals. Dvspeptics soon recover their lost power of assimilation and become vigorous and more robust than evt'r. There are many there who had been afflicted with bronchitis and other throat affections, Avho had tried Minnesota, the West Indies, California and sea voyages without eff^^et; wlio, as a tinal resort, took U]> their sojourn in Colorado, and are now s£)und and well. Consumptives who come liere before the ravages of the disease have wasted the re- cuperative vitixl energy, almost certainly recover; others become comparatively comfortable, even regaining a con- siderable degree of vigor. Many, however, come too late, that is in the last stages of the disease. In such cases a crisis ensues at once, followed in a few days or weeks by a fatal termination. The cause of this is self-evident. They are brought here from a dense atmosphere in which all the demands of vitality are gatistiod by using from one-half to two-thirds of the capacity of their lungs, while here in this raritied air the full capacity of every lung cell is taxed, and then cannot satisfy the demand ; for to make up the de- ficiency the respiration is accelerated fifty ])er cent, that is^ from sixteen to twenty-four times per minute. The full inflation of lungs and the accelerated motion must ])ro- duce ruptures in diseased cells, hence the iatal crisis that speedily ensues. Before railroads penetrated here, when it took thirty to fortv davs to make the iournev, more desperate cases were cured than now; because the strain on the lungs, caused by the increasing rarity of the air. 154 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. ■was so o-i"nclual that the slio-ht lesions had time t<> hoal. I "wouUl thcrctoro give this advice to all consumptives: Make the journey by easy stages; say first stop over ten days or more at Abilene, Salina or Brookville on the Kan- sas Pacilic, all of which points arc from 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the sea. Then, if no unfavorable symptoms have made their appearance, go to Hays, nearly 1,000 feet higher; thence to Wallace, some 1,200 feet higher still; thence to Kit Carson, about 1,000 feet higher than Wal- lace ; thence to some of the towns at the foot of the mountains; and not to ascend the mountains until a decided improvement has intervened. By following these suggestions, many will be permanently cured, others relieved, who would rush in the very jaws of death if they go there at once, as many now do, as fast as steam can carry them, Avhich is in about two days fi'om the Mississippi. It is now gencrall}' conceded by physicians and physi- ologists that the phosphates possess great medicinal value in the treatment of tubercular and other diseases involv- ing enfeebled vital functions. The soil on the Plains, ad- jacent to the mountains, is the c?efnYM5 of feldspar disinteg- rating slowly, through myriads of years on the moun- tains, and carried down and deposited by floods. The constituent elements of fiehlspar, which is a silcate, are silcx, soda, lime, ])otassium, magnesia, etc. Hence, the soil is rich in these alkalies. In fact the first crop of wheat, Taised in some localities, was so much embued with alka- line matter that tlif Hour made of it would eff'ervesce with an acid and would almost make " suds " l)y adding lard anil watei-; and the Iji-cad could not be eaten atall. Dr. Chambers, an eminent English ph^'sician, in his lec- tures on the '•' Renewal of Life," gives this sensible rule on this subject : "In choosing a liome for your consumptive, do not mind the average liight of the thermonxeter, or its variations; •do not trouble yourself about the mean rain-fall; do not 0^'Ea THK PLAIN'S AND OX THE MOCNTAIXS. 155 Hbc scientific :it :ill; but fiml out froui somebody's journal how many duyH wvvo fine ciK)UL;-h to <^() out foi'Ciiooii and '.afternoon. TJjat is tlie test 3'ou rt'(|uii-c, and by tbat you • may be confidently guided." ■ Judged 1*3' this standard Coloratlo is one of the most 'favored spots on the earth for a home of the consumptive. There is not a score of days in any year that invalids ma}' not sit out of doors, ride oi* walk forenoon or after- noon "without any discomfort. Then the nights are always cool so as to ensure refreshing sleep, an essential condition for the restoration of shattered iiervous systems and broken down constitutions. Another favorable condition is the dryness of the atmos- phere. There is no such thing as "damp night air." There is no ''taking cold" if j^ou sleep with doors and windows wide open summer and winter. Invalids can sleep on the open plains or mountain recesses, wrapped in a pair of blankets -without incurring any risk. The new, varied and sublime scenery inspires to activity, and the pure exhilerating air and mild climate invite to outdoor life. In obeying these impulses lies the great secret of the anany wonderful cures a residence here has effected. 156 UVER TMK l'L.\l.\.S AM) (.>N THE MOUXTAINS. CHAPTEK XTII. The Ibiiiuliiigof lu'w c<)ininuiiitK'.s on ilic I'ronlier ofoivil- izjition, wlu'tlu'i" done iiulividually or collectively, is ac- complished at llic sacriticc of tem])()raiy case and comfort. The liardships ami privations it impoHCH ai'c longer or t-horter in duration as the location lias been judiciously made with regard to favorable sui-roundings. A main jioiut is to secure a location in the direction that the cur- rent of migration is strongly tending; and the next point is not to make it too far m advance, unless overruling con- hiderations det(,rniine it otherwise. Immigration can very aptlv be compared to the movements of those large flocks of wild pigeons in their migrations from higher to lower latitudes and rice versa. Invading a grain field, the rear is constantly flying over to the front. Therefore the front soon becomes the rear, and the field in a shoi't time is cleanly ])icked over and crossed. Settlers on the frontier of Ivajisas and Nebraska, that this year ai-e locat- ing ju.st in limit where the last year's wave of migration ex- pended itself, by next year find that the new wave has hwept over and beyond them, and now rolls on thirty or fortv miles ahead. In a vear ov so more, the\' will find themselves so fiir m the rear that they are no bjngcr able to tell how far aniiL ihon' it no onward wave there at present, rising liigher and Jiigher, and rolling farther West every year, much less a reflex wave coming back on the Plains. Tlie gold and silver regions, the coves and parks of the mountains, and the plains imniediately along their base, are the o})jective points lirsi attracting immigrants, for reasons that in all ages have swayed and determined the migrations of man- kind. In migrating, luan's physical wants are always the paramf)unt considerations that govern him. His first anci absolute necessities everywhere are food and raiment. Hence he is impelled to select the localit}' where these are to be found ; or where the means for procuring them can be obtained. He may safely undertake to cultivate the soil if he have a reserve to draw upon, until the soil has time to I'emunerate him for the capital and toil expended upon it. After that it will supply his bare necessities, liut luxuries, and even comforts, must remain in abeyance, not only until he has a surplus of productions, but a mai-- ket tor that sur])lus. Agricultural products are too bulky to bear the expense of transportation over long distances ; therefore in remote and isolated communities the demand for them is limited to supplying the deficiency in the com- munity itself. The outside trader or merchant shuns such communities, not because his wares are not wanted or needed there, but because he cannot make available for his purposes what he has to take in exchange for them. But if the precious metals are discovered anyAvhere, it matters not what long journej^s they have to make, what deserts to be passed, what mountain precipices to be .scaled, what dangers to be encountered, and what hard- ships to be endured, the merchant and trader are there almost as soon as tlie miner. He is not only there with 158 OVER THE PLAINS AXD ON THE MOUNTAINS. tlie bare necessities, but -with the luxuries and eomforts-- U)rNTAl\.S. 8prino;s of 1 ho Smoky Hill. This is entirely feasible, but ■whether it i-an bo done eompatible with the riglits and interests of settlers on the Philte below, is a serious ques- tion. This is ;\ remote ami almost unknown re<;ion. Thou<;'h oonsi(ieral)le has been Avritten and j)ublished about it of a _fjeneral character, yet nolhinti; specific enough to enubh' anyone to form a definite idea of its capabilities, natural resources, soil and climate. Ample reasons therefore ex- ist for giving these minute details. It is performing a good service to those, contemplating settling here, to furnish them with relial)le facts as to the inducements held out liere to immigrants, and what arc the influences liere -determining locations of settlements. In order that they may be enabled to select their location judiciously, I have endeavored to furnish them with a survey of the whole field in advance. My sole object is to benefit those going into the territoiy whether for pleasure, recreation, health or settlement. I have no object in view, and no interests to subserve except those of truth. As far as the modes of settlement are concerned, truth does not permit me to speak very flatteringly of the colonies estahlished liere. How could I, when it is notorious that great dissat- isfiiction exists in nearly all of them. (Charges of mis- management, cf)rruj)tion, selfishness, with crimination and )-e-crimination are i-ife in neai'ly all of them. I have not assumed to judge who, if any one, is in fault; ]»refering the more charitable course, to attriltute their internal oon- tlition to the inherent viciousness of tlu^ system which is not adai)tc(l to the condition of things here. However, the manager of om; of tliese colonies lias taken offence at my remarks as applied to his colony; and in one of the leading paj)ers in the territory charged that favorable re- ports could be had of all itinerant scribblers, if they would take charge of them, give them free lunch and plenty of whisky; adding, that to do the latter would bo difficult, since there was not a place in town where it wa« OVER TUE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 101 sold. I now publish thi.s as an important fact and one which I could not have discovered in a j-oar's exploration ; my investigations not tending in that direction. I think it however entirely relial)le, for other " itinerant scril)- l)lers" have been thci-e since, and state it to l)e a liict, but in compensation, for its absence, medicine for curing .snake bites is plenty, and answers just as well. I now repeat the advice to all desiring to go to Colo- rado for settlement, go alone, be your own colony, free to ^o where you please and to exercise your own judgment when you get there, so that you may select the location best adapted to your purpose or pursuit. If you go with Si, colony, you cannot do this. You have to locate where it locates, spend your money in providing shelter for yourself and family j and when that is done find 3-our ex- chequer exhausted, and without remunerative employ- ment to keep the ravenous wolf of hunger from your door Away from the mountains, your colony is at a disadvan- tage in getting a market for its products, or of transport- ino- them where there is a market. Bcsid(!s the colony affording no great diversity in pursuits its i)roductions will be small and chiefly of one kind glutting the little market there is. But, in the vicinity of the mines, or in the towns whence the miners draw their supplies, there is a demand for all kinds of fabrics and productions. Tillers of the soil are wanted as well as miners, metallurgists, ma- chinists, experts in the different operations and treatment to which the ores in process of reduction must be subjected. Here artificers in w^ood, in stone, iron, brass, clay, hides, leather,wool and lint are all in demand, to carry on the in- dustrial machiner}'. Like elsewhere, some localities are better than others for particular pursuits. All that is neces. sary is that the adventurer is free to select, from all the lo- calities offering, the one best calculated for the success of Ms particular business. This is my advice, and I believe it to be the surest and safest that can be given. It is, however, 11 162 OVER THK PLAINS AND ON TUB MOl NTAINS. optional with each immigrant to follow it, or not, as his judgment may determine when he gota there. But let hira go untrammellod. / OVEa THE PL.UNS AND O.V TUK MOUNTAINS, 163 CHAPTER XIV. • Animal life depends upon plant life; and plant life Tipon tho presence of a proper plant food in the soil. Plants, like animals of different genera, feed upon different kinds of food. Some subsist entirely upon mineral mat- ter, some require both mineral and vegetable food; and another class, the epiphytes, depend entirely upon decom- posed vegetable matter The first class will thrive any- where, under flivorable conditions, where mineral sub- Btances alone are present. Not only so, but they have the faculty of decomposing crude mineral matter containing their food, if it be not fveo. The most priraativo forms of plants belong to this class. Tho higher order of plants, in so far as they depend on mineral food, must have it free in the soil, because they have not the ability to decompose rocks. Neither have they tho faculty of decomposing vegetable and animal matter; therefore this part of their food must also bo free in tho soil, already decomposed, stored up and subject to their draft in such quantities as they may need to perform their function in Nature's economy. Of epiphytes and other parasitic plants, it is not neces- sary to speak here, since wo have no purpose of writing a general treatise upon plants, and tho variety of their food, but only of making some brief remarks upon favorable conditions, for abundantly growing those absolutely es- sential to man. These may be termed the omnivorous class, since they can flourish only where there arc abund- ant stores of decomposed matter, mineral, animal and vegetable, laid up for them. A little reflection reveals the fact that they comprise grasses, grains, fruit>?, etc.; in fact 164 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. all phmts that serve for food to animals, and which man has to produce to sustain his herds, his Hocks and himself. It is evident that every crop he produces, makes a draft upon the different kind of plant food stored up in the soil. If he removes the crop from the field on which it grew, he impoverishes the soil to the extent of the draft made by the crop upon its stores; -and lessens its ability to meet subsecpient demands upon it. This reveals a necessity imposed upon man, to make restitution in some way of the amount withdrawn, and to keep up ample deposites in bank, or his drafts Avill come back dishonored. To keep a suflficient surplus on deposite, and of the right kind of funds, are serious questions which have vexed man ever since he became a waster of stores in other re- spects than in terra-culture. Plants do not relish in- diiferentl}' all minerals, but each kind of plant affects particular minerals, and must have a full supply to meet its wants, or it will fail to accomplish the task assigned to it, or expected of it. Some plants demand salicates, oth- ers carbonates, Avhile others must have phosphates and others again sulphates. The problem therefore is a com- plicated one which demands a solution from the farmer, even when viewed only from the mineral standpoint; while it is no less complicated while viewed from the standpoint of vegetable and animal manures. "Worse than all is the fact, that whatever may be claimed for Agricul- tural Chemistry, it is entirely unable to aid him to deter- mine, whether all the elements of fertility are present in the soil, and in the exact proportions necessary to satisfy the demands of his various crops. I do not subscribe to the doctrine that soil leaches except the surplus of saturation ; for Nature is all harmony. There is the most cordial relations and amenity between her ftrdinate and co-ordinate departments, between organic and inorganic substances, and between dead and living matter, for Nature lias ordained them to be inter-depend- cnt. The soil as the harbinger of the plant, most kindly OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 165 prepares the way in laying up stores for it, and hy an in- exorable law holds them till the plant, the only proper claimant, appears. Therefore wherever there is a point where there is a surplus of plant food accumulating over and above what can be stored away, whether mineral or vegetable, it l)Ccomes the radiant point from which the elements of fertility depart to be distributed. Since water is the most efficient agent in effecting this distribution, therefore the radiant point should be the summit and sides of a Avatcrshed, the sources and fountains of brooks and rivers. Applying these general principles to Colorado, (but they apply with equal force to all the States that lie on or flank the Andean Chain ), we see at a glance what an im- mense advantage terra-culturalists there have over those in the trough of the Yallejr of the ^ifississippi, or on the Altantic Slope. The granite, gneiss, feldspar, quarts, metamorphic and igneous rocks of the mountain chain, contain silica, lime, magnesia, soda, and potash; the ores thev carry are either sulphurets or carbonates ; and many springs are living fountains of soda-water, carbonate, chlorate and sulphate. The mountains also are deposites of immense beds of vegetable and animal mold, the accu- mulated stores of myriads of j-ears elapsed since plants grew on and animals roamed over them. The soil and subsoil are sujier-saturated with these fertilizing ingredi- ents; and therefore they are ready to j'ield up at all times their surplus to living water running down the mountain slopes after rains, or from melting snows. The waters flowing from these mountains to the plains below, are therefore strongly impregnated Avith all the ingredients of plant food, ready to deposite them there if man so direct; but if not, to carry them forward to the sea. If anj^one doubts the fertilizing projierties of waters flowing from any highlands, let him tell us the secret of, the exuberant fertility of the alluvial deposites along all rivers and streams from the centre of continents y 166 OVER TIIK PLAINS AND ON TlIK MOUNTAINS. to the seas. Let liiin tell us whenco are derived the fer- tilizing qualities of muck, so much valued in the mountain districts of the Eastern States. Let us know why it is that the valley of the Nile has produced without artificial manuring, annual crops from time immemorial, and is to- day as jjroductive as it was in the days of Joseph. P^rom the fourteenth to the sixteenth centurj^, during which Spain attuined the liighest summit of lier power, glory and pros])crily; when her soil was the graiuiry of the world; when her ])huns sustained a denser po])ulation than ever before or since ; she constructed those immense dams whose remains are still found across her mountain gorges, making reservoirs to receive and retain the waters of the winter rains and snows to ho used in summer for irrigating her arid plains. The ability of Asia to sustain a population numbenng nearly to a thousand million, and for tlujusands of years, is owing to the application she has made of her waters whose sources are on the k)ftiest mountains of the Globe. Irrigation is the majricwand 1)\- wlii'-h she transformed arid wastes into fruitful fields, and nvulc " the desert blos- som like the rose."' Where the system has been kept u]>, as in ('hinaand India, there has been neither deterioration in ])roducts nor decrease in poj)idation. But in Pei-sia and in the valley of the Euphrates, where'the system lias measurably fallen into desuetude, there have been degra- dation of soil and climate, failure of agricultural products, and depopulation as a necessary consequence of destitution and starvation. Irrigation, though practiced in the East from time immcmoi-ial, was not introduced into Europe until Home reached the summit of her power and great- ness. JJy its introduction into Italy, a writer of the highest authority for accuracy ways, " Large unproductive districts wero made to yield pustenance for }iiindre- lem demonstrated, but also in the Eastern States. There are meadows in the valley of the Connecticut which are irrigated from that river, which have not had a particle of manure applied to them for twenty years, j-et which an- nually yield four tons of hay to the acre, which is more than double the quantity that can be produced on land not irrigable with all the artificial manure that can be put on it. Tho products of plant life are vegetable tissue, starch, gum, mucus, sugar, etc. All these are composed princi- pally of three elements; namely. Hydrogen oxj'gen, and carbon. Tho other elements arc silica, alumina, lime, soda, potash, etc. Hydrogen and oxygen are principally supplied by the roots, they being the constituent elements of water, llumus (that is, decayed vegetable and animal matter,) consists largely of carbon, and in combination with nitroiren forms ammonia. Therefore carbon is also taken up largely from the soil by the roots. But tho leaves have also the faculty of taking in carbon from the ;atmosphero by decomposing carbonic acid. It is only the mineral substances that are exclusively taken up from tho 168 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. soil ; and their quantity can be ascertained by burning any- vegetable matter, and weighing the ashes. It will ho found that the}'' are but a small traction of the whole weight of the body consumed; yet they form, (if the ex- pression is permissible,) the skeleton of the plant, in the mysterious operations of plant life by which are elaborated, the products of vegetation, they also perform important functions in breaking up old and forming new combina- tions. Each of the mineral salts, has a distinct function y hence the necessity of its presence in the soil when its services are demanded. It has been ascertained by observation that on an aver- age, crops require not less than seventeen inches of rain- fall during the season of growth. If less than that fall?^, they suft'er from drought and fail in proportion to the de- ficiency. But rains generally fall faster than the soil can absorb the water: consequently much water is wasted by flowing off to brooks and creeks. Not only wasted, but worse; the water takes along with it a large portion of soil containing its richest ingredients. A heavy rain therefore often has a more impoverishing effect on the soil than two crops. In irrigating we will suppose that fifteen inches of water is sufficient to meet the demand of the crop. This will give 407,271 gallons of water to the acre. The time that the water is used for irrigation, is the time of floods from the melting snow. It is therefore the time that they are the richest in mineral, vegetable and animal matter. I was unable to obtain any analyses of waters made at any time, much less at particular seasons, for the ])urposc of ascertaining the amount of plant food they hold in sus- pension; consequently cannot state with precision the amount held in solution. But as the water used in irriga- tion is utilized when richest in these ingredients, I will assume that each gallon contains twenty grains. This- gives 8.145.420 grains or more than 1,162 pounds of the lue and (Jrand. Tho valley ofthe Blue is separated from that of Grand OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 171 River by a moimtain cliiiin ninniiiL; throngh Iho Park, from Gray's Peak in a northwest directicjn, and Icrmin- -alinir near the junction ol'the two rivei-s. The Blue river valley is, therefore shaped like a ham, Avith the hock end resting on (irand River. In tlie tipper part of it, is the town of Breekenridge, the county seat of Summit county. This portion of the valley is very rich in the precious metals. All the mountain streams are auriferous, and the most extensive pZac^'rs in the Territory are here. Gold Pun, (Jah-na, American, (it-orgia, irunibug, French, Gib- son, Gorksci-ew, Negro, Illinois, Iloosier, etc., gulches, and Stilson's and Delaware Hats, are all fiimous placers, and yield now about SoOO.OOO annually, and are said to be oai)able of yielding double that annually a long and in- definite time to come. The mountains are lull of gold lodes but are iiot worked, and will not be whilst placer mining continues to yield so richly as now In fact ;)iarhy of the Park is an almost unvaried scries of i!^iKH)us rocks forming immense cones and dikes of basalt and lava. On the banks of Grand Eiver near the centre of the Park, arc yet numerous hot sulphur springs. Mr. Charles Dabney, of Boulder, gave me a piece of sulphur foam, which he gathered from the basin of one of these springs. It weighs about twelve ounces. lie described the spring as a stream of hot water of the capacity of twenty-five ■"miner's inches," issuing from a fissure in an over-hanging rock. The orifice is about fifteen feet above the basin into which the water pours. The whole surface of the basin is covered with this incrusted sulphur foam to the depth of four and five inches. Immediately below the hot spring there is Grand Canyon, three miles long, where the river cuts its way through an upheaved ridge of massive felds- pathic granite between walls from 1,200 to 1,500 feet high. On Troublesome Creek there are monumental stonea similar to those on the Divide, east of Pike's Peak. They are the remains of sandstone that have otherwise suc- cumbed to the erosions of the elements operating upon them for unknown thousands of years. They are said to be extremely picturesque, fantastic and weird, surpassing even those on Monumental Creek flowing from the Di- vide south of Denver into the Arkansas. Xear Troublesome Creek is a rectangular mural hill, or rather mass of light colored rock two hundred feet high. The sides are nearly perpendicular, and have been so fashioned by the erosions of the elements as to resemble a }mge castle. There are towers, battlements, abutments and gateways, so that when seen by moonlight or in the gray dawn of morning the effect is most charming and impressive, and the illusion is complete of an old massive castle, such as are seen upon the lihine. OVER THE PL.\IN8 AND ON THE MOUNTAINH 1T7 There are Hcveral paHwea over the Snowy Range into the Park. Hoosier Pasa at the Houreo of the Eluc, near the base of Mount Lincoln, h'ading into Routli Park, was ■eRtiniated by Fremont, who paHsod over it in July, 1844, on liis return from California, to be 11,200 above the Bca. Ilis CHtimatc waH deduced from the boiling point of water, having broken his barometer late in the previous year on the Columbia. Berthoud's PaHH, about five miles north of Gray'H Peak, at the head springs of Clear Creek, as deter- mined by Prof. Ilayden, in 18(59, is 11,816 feet above the ocean level. Boulder Pas^s, 80me t-en miles further north, at the head of the South Boulder, also affords easy acccHs to the Park. I cannot ascertain that its altitude has ever been determined. Its altitude probably does not vary much from that of Berthoud's. Jt is rather singular that *on the summit of all these passes, the springs which send their waters in'opposite directions and to different ocwvns, arc in close proximity, only a few feet, or at most, a few yards, apart. From Georgetown, there is a good wagon road over the Bangc at the south base of Gray's Peak to the silver mines on the head waters of the Blue, and from the same place, through Berthoud's l*agH, the head waten* of the Grand are reached. There are four of these parks in Colorado; namely, Noi'th, Middle, South and San Luis. To which might, with ])ropriety, be added a fifth; namely, the upj^er basin ■of the Arkansas, which has all the requisites of a park aa the word is liere understood. Of iS'orth Park, in which the North Fork of the Platte rises, ii is not necessary to >u it. 12 i78 OVKR TMK PLAINS AM) ON' THE MOUNTAINS. The fbllowiiii^ art! the istimated ureas of ihe three northernmost Parks: ACRK8- }\on\\ Park 1,600,000- Middle Park I,'.t00,000 8outh Park 1,400,000 West <)1" South Park, and separated from it ]>y the Buffalo Peaks, lies- the Upper Basin, or Park of the Ar- kansas, Avliicli heads at tlie western base of Mount Lincoln^ In it are Oro City, I^ayton and Granite, all of which were- at one time flourisliin*^- mining towns, but now are some- what dilapidated; not because gold is not there, but because it takes labor, skill, and perseverence to ol)tain it- i'rosperity, howevei', must sooner or later return to them,^ because not only are iho placers rich, but tho lodes in the mountains give bright ]»romise of the future when capital,, skill and science will be directed to their development. J>;ivton, situated on Twin Lakes, is the most charming village in the mountains. Tho Twin Lakes are the larg- est lakes in Colorado, and are unsurpassed for beauty in the world. They were the scene of a sad accident while we were in the mountains. Young Copp, of St. Louis, whom a few days before ^v^' luid seen at Denver, full of life, sjiii'iis and exj^ectation, was drowned hero ])y the up- pctting of a boat. Chapters eould be written in describing this lovely, charming, jticturestpje and delightful valley, and its match- le^fis seenery. without exhausting the subjeet. Every tour- ist should make it a point to visit it, for no one ever re- grets having gone there. South of the Upper Basin of the Arkansas, and bej^ond a T^nge of snowy peaks, lies San Luis Park, tlie most Bouthern, the largest and tlie least elevated of the series. Tt contains about 12,000,000 acres of arable land, and its altitude above tlie level of the sea is about 6,r)00 feet. It is generally said that San Luis Park lies in the basin of OVER THE PLAINS ASl) ON THK MOLNTAIXS. 179 the Eio Grande del Xorte, though a portion of it reuUy is a continental basin. It is separated from the Taos Val- ley by tho Sierra Jilanca (White Mountains) running on its /southern border nearly due east and ■west. They are the grandest, most imposing and picturesque range in Southern Colorado. Southeast of the Park, in the sec- ond range of mountains, the Spanish Peaks raise their tow- ering heads above the clouds. The mountains that -wall in San Luis I*ark on the east, from the Sierra 131anca north to Poncho Pass, are of eruptive rocks, and grand in aspect and vast in proportions. The north wall is of metamorphic rocks and rises above the line of perpetual Bnow. To the west are the Sierra San Juan (pronounceks like a vast thicket of " grease wood, " (Sarrobatus vermicularis). It has no outlet. It seems to be a vast swamp or l»og, an.d has .some 15 oi" 10 large streams flowing into it. It is siiid that in the interior of this bog, small lakes exist, the largest of which is three miles in length. The waters of these lakes, and of the bog itself, are said to have an ebb and flow with the regularity of the tide. I will not vouch for the truth of this, but it comes t(.i me from so. many credible sources as to entitle it to mention here. If it is true, it is a remarkable ]»henomenon, worthy of scientific investigation. As its elevation is so great above the level of the sea, it cannot lie a tidal Avave, vet there mxist be a uniform jdiysical cause in o])eration to produce it. As- suming it to be true, I would suggest atmospheric pres- sure as the jirobable cause of it. From the nature of the facts existing here, we can very readily infer the laws op- erating to ]iroduce the phenomenon in question. The 180 OVKR TUE PU\TNS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS . facts Jiiv, firioen or sixteen l:irgo, bcsidoH many Bmoll stroanis, disch:iri;;o thoir ■\v:itors into this boij, yet liko tiio Hoii it dot'H not become full. The water therefore musrt sink, sinen its volume is too great to disappear 1)y evapo- ration. Now supposing there is an air tight cavity, or a series of air tight cavities filled with air connected with the cavity by which the water slowly discharges, and theso air cavities lower than the surface of the lake; then what would be the effect of atmospheric pressure in such qhhq ? From well established physical laws, there would be low.^ water in the hike under a high barometer, and high Avater UJKler a low barometer. I use a fountaih inkstand, and ean always t''ll whether the barometer is rising or falling. If rising, 1 have constiintly to ])ush down the India rub- ber air-chamber to keep up a supply of ink. But when the barometer is falling, I have constantly to raise the air- ohamber to keep the ink from ovei'flowing. Precisely the same thing would happen to this Lake, if our su])potji- tion of subterranean air-chambers be ct)iTecl. Xow as we know that there are two normal maxima of atmospheric pressure, and the same number of minima in 'a 'lay, and also the hours of their uniform occurrence, therefore the obb and flow of these waters, if our explana- tion be correct, must be synchronous with these maxima and minima each to each. The major flow, or highest water would therefore be between 3 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and the minor high watt-r between 8 and 5 o'clock in the morning. The nuijor and lowest ebb would be at about 10 o'clock in the morning, and the miner low water at about 10 o'clock at night. The hours oftho.se maxima and minima would shift like those of barometric pressure with the altitude of the sun during the seasons. Observations would soon settle the questions whether there are such ebbs and flows as reported; and if bo whether the periodicity of the phenomenon corresponds in ]»olnt of time with atmospheric i>ressure, as shown by OVER THE Pl^mS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS ISl tho barornotor, uhich it must, if the explanation iioro offered bv the truf^ oik-. What makes l)oth the laets aixl i'xphmation mori; probable is, that it is not the i>nly instance in which a Bimilar ])henomenon has been observed, livery one must have noticed, or if not, must be a ])oor oI.>s(U'ver ofwhat is poin<; on around liim, that dried u]i sjjrin^-.s in \on}r droughts just preceding a change to rainy weather, often send forth large volumes of wat»rr, so as not only to hwoII tho brooks, but to send living streams through "dry ravines. "What is the explanation of this iiict ? Sini])ly that since every rainstorm is jin'ceded by a low baronie- ter, therefore the air contained in closed cavities of rocks, wlion the external pressure of the atmosphere is i-emoved, expands, dis])laees and drives out a volume of water equal to its own increase of volume by expansion. The streams falling into tliis lake, are pei-ennial, and are tilled with mountain trout; and the pasturage in their vallev« is so rifh that the Mexicans call them ''loss vegas, " tho meadows. Altitude, latitude and moreover being surrounded and hemmed in on all sides by lot\y mountains, jointly have a modifving otTect upon the climate of San Luis Park. It JH exhilarating and bracing, yet Vnild and e and in the 'J'aos Valley, though lower than Boulder, he. found, the same 1*^3 OVKK THE PLAINS AND ON TUE MOUNTAINS. vcai-. tho Imrvost fully four xs'ooks later. Hero is a prob- * Kmu l\»r j)hysicists to solvo, from as yet unknown factorH. Saji Ijuis Park contains alxmt 12,000,000 acres of arable lany |iurchasin<; Spanish and Mex- ican concession^. Uein;- down at his residence in the Park, whither I i;ed in settlini;' colonists on his estate, hut I lea'rned notliinix of tln^ ])rincij)Ics enihodied in his colonial schenu'. While tlieso paL^es wivc .^oino- ijiroii^h the j)ress, I met him on his wa\' lo ihe !"!asteru I'ilifs. I learned from him that the nai'row i;-aui;-e i-ailroad huildinL'; from Denver to Santa Fe, and aln-ady coniijli-ted hcyond the mouth of tlie canvon of the Arlcansas, will he coinjihued to San Luis Park hv Xoveinlicr. 1^72; and thai ther*^ are yet millions of acres of vacant puhli<' hmd in the I'ark subject to seltle- nient either )>y homestead ]»re-em[>lion, or entry, and that iherr is an abundance ot' water foi- irj-iii-ation. As I am under a jii-omisf to ])ay him a \ isit when next I ftbe Iiocky Mountain chain, but the apex of the Continent. Jlach is an independent watershed, having its OVKR THK PLAINS AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. IS^J own system of Mpriui^s and lountains Tliey do ikjL oom- mingle their collected tribute with those of any other, but they send their waters in opposite directions to the luur cardinal points of the compass and to different oceans. The Indian luime for these parks si<;niiied ''cow-lodges" or "bull-])ens" on account of the inunense herds of bulTu- loes with which they abounded. The Canadian French trappers, tlie first intruders into these mountain recesses, for the sann^ reason called them "yvarcs-," which in Fivnch sii^nifies an iMiclosed ]>asture. The buffalo which then constitutetl the greater part of the animals in these enclosed pastures, have now disappeared; and the elk, deer, moun- tain shecj) and antelopes, are rapidly diminishing in num- bers. Not uianv years therefore will elapse before the name of park will be a misnomer. The name is also aj)- plied, all through the mountains, to .little openings or glades on the borders of mountain streams, which is a to- tal perversion of the term. In our hmguage the term park, is exclusively applied to an enclosure for holding Avild animals oi'the (thase. When the butialo roamed here and tilled these mountain glades enclosed and shut in by moun- tain walls, the term was both a])propriate and descriptive, and we might add ))oetical. But the onward march of civilization, in this as in many other cases, is sweej)ing into oblivion the facts that made names ])ertinent, thus leaving coming generations to wonder that there ever could have been such misai)plications of names. These park regions in I'nany resj)ects resemble Switzer- land and the Alps; ami the resemblance would be com- plete if glaciers existed in them. Those who liave been to Italy as wi'll as to these mountains, say that the most im- pressive view of the Alps from the Italian side, isfi-om the banks of the Po, above ^lilan, across the ])lains of Lom- bardy; and that the view of the llocky Mountains from the Plains, say twenty miles east of Denver, has much similarity to it but is the more imposing of the two Here you have in one view, the towering masses of Long'- and 184 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TUB MOUNTAIN.i. Pike's Peak a.s termini o^ a eocks-combed irrognlar pnowy curUiin, 145 niilcH long connooting them, -whicli in lengtb and m.'issivcnof'S has no analoguo any whoro in tho Alps, Tho groat Plains stretching up and lying again>«t tho moun- tiiiri wall, has also vaster pr()]>ortions than tho plains of Lonibardy : while tho immense mountain wall insight, 250 miles in length, stretching North and Soutli in tho west- ern horizon, is a view without a parallel along tho base of tho Alps. Tho mount'vins of tho woMtorn rin\ of Middle Park^ Bomotimos called the Blue Kiver Mountains, have no im- pressed travelers with thoir similarity to tho Alps as seen from Southern Germany, that they never fail to recognizo their resomblanco to tho Jlelvetian ^[ountiiins, and have proposed that name for tho range. Those l>owl, or saucer shap«Hi table-lands, collect the •waters from all points of tho compass that issue from iin- dornoath tho perpetual snows and ico of their mountain rim. Tho caus;any smaller ones between lower lulls or mountains. These n\inor basins in niuny instances are reservoirs where tho water coll(»cts, forming numerous lakes of greater or leas extent. Though in size they will not compare with tho lakes of Switzerland : vet tho torrents of ico water by which they are f H.s, th«^ overtasked artizan, the enervated student, and tho eunoiLS pleasure Hocker, need more than mero relaxation. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 1S6 and inano rocreation. Thoy want Mf)mothin<^ to break uj> the routine of thought to which their daily pursuits nocen- saril}', in a measure restrict them ; and to open up now and wider channels for the How of the mind. With rela.xation from their treadmill drudgcr3',the3' Avant recreation to elo- vato their tastes and sentiments, and tocnlari^e their range of thought. In a word thoy want recreations as diverse as their tastes and as their mental capacities. Variety, gran- dour and sublimity of scenery, are all essential elements of rocreation and enjoyment, but they do not meet eveiy roquisito. They sufllco to those of a romantic turn of mind for subjects of revery and day-dreaming ; and to the poet for inspiring themes for verso. To all admirers of Nature's handiwork they atlord the most pleasurable emotions and the highest order of enjoyment. In other words they speak to the poetic element which is tho common patrimo- ny of the human race, and awaken that exaltation of mind which is tho effect of inspiration. But tho real is also as important and as irrepressible an element of human nature as tho ideal. Man desires not alone to feel, but to think ; not only to imagine, but he w^ants to know. Tho loun- tains of knowledge must therefore bo as free and llow as <50piousl3'' as tho fountains to induce feeling and inspii'a- tion, or ho fails in the attainment of the highest enjoyment as an intellectual being. There is no region of tho globe whore those requirements aro more completely met, than in these matchless moun- tains. In juxtaposition with tho wildest and grandest floonery in the world, is every geologic formation, and every mineral and metal known to science. Here if any- where is tho plain and Icgiblo record of tho mysterious processes by which tho inhabitable globe has been elabor- ^ ated. Hero is a lithological record, which contains the hLstory and describes the character of each epoch that su- pervened in tho Past, and engraven in stone aro tho gro- tosquo and unique forms of vegetables and animals that appeared with, lived through, and jierished, with tho epoch 1S6 OVKR THK PLAINS AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. ihiit .iC^vo llii-m hi rill, llovc is iin])ressotl in iudeliblo ohamctors upon ihe st«'rii fi'iiturcs of these mountains the omnipouMii eni'i-i:;y of lh<' Physical Forces as they mani- iested themselves in the earlier history of the ulobe. What iin immense field foi- exploration is liere o])ened. Ge- ologv, litholo<2;y, metal lur<;y, ]Kileontoloi^y, meteorolol»c olfcrs richer stores, holds out stroni^er inducements and affords ii;reatei- oppor- tunities for collectinijj specimens for their ])articular bi'a.nch- dies- OVKR THK I'LAIXS AND MN' THK MOI.XTAINS. IRT CI lA I "I'M 1 1 XVI. All the pleasures anil mjoyini'iils oT Iraveliiij;^ flow iVoin tho Lcnitificatifm of tho oyo. When boautifui, wonderful and sublinie objcn-ts arc presented to the eye tho attributes of those objects powerfully afTcet the Bensi- bility, giving rise s])ontaneously to exalted and pleasur- able emotions, that may carry the mind to the liighcwt ])itcl) of enthusiasm. But Avhile a view of numy objects afford ]>leasure to the higliest degree, but few of them in- spire enthusiasm. Then again we are differently affected by ihe same object according to the stand))oint from which we regard it. I'^oi" instance, our )»oint of observation may be the to]) ol' n high building, the point oi' a. })innacle, the top of a tower, or the summit of a mountain. The pleas- urable emotions that arise in this case, s])ringfrom the ex- tended view and the number and variety oi" the objects seen. All of these objects when taken singly.' may be in- <'apable of inspiring any emotion whatever, yet when taken in l)y a single glance, afford the highest kind ol' pleasure. It is the lue/v tliat affects us i-atlier than the fonn and character of the multijdiciiy of ol)jei't.s that compose it. A view liowever is iiicajiable of awakening enthusiasm in its higliest sense. We generally call views beautiful, grand, and even magnificent, but never sublime. Again, our standpoint may be at the head of a lane, in tho opening of a row of tree.s, or Me may look down length- wise between tho two sides of a mountain gorge, and we may call the vista beautiful or charming, but never mai::- nifi«.'ent, much less sublime. Tho cjuotions excited by fine vi.stas, though highly pleasurable, are not even of so ex- 188 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. altod :i character a.s thoso arising from a grand and mag- nificent view. Finally, our standpoint may bo, in front of a splendid building, at the bottom of Niagara, in the abyss of a- mountain chasin, or at the loot of a ])rcci])ito\is, craggy, flirt' overhung by to]>pling rocks, and crowned b\' moun- tain ])iiu'ri ; then in looking uji, ucare Bmittcn with wonder, II wo and astonishment. Wo had soon the same objects at a distance; they then Avore comJ)onent parts of our views and vifttlas, and as such merely objcc^ts that filled up points in tho more or less extended Bjiacc in sight. "\Vo hardly regarded even their forms, much less their attributes. But now AS'o aro regarding them singly. We tiicn only saw enough of them to perceive they wore trees, houHcs, clitfs, ra.s<-ades, preeipice.s or mountains, but wo now see that ihey aro extraordinary trees, houses, clilf.-t, precipices, etc. Then wo saAV no attribute;* excejit such only an enabled us to classify them ; now we see nothing but attributes. We no^y■ 8ee tliey have beauty, symmetry, harmony, vastness, grancUuir in all grades up to the liighest degree of sublim- ity. These fix tho gaze and rivet tho attention; aglow dart.s through our veins, the imagination is set on lire and enthusiasm is awakened ; and then if tinder the influence of thiMr insj)iration we attem])t to give utt-eranee to our feolings we call tho sirjht beautiful, ur:uel, magniticent, aublime. To meckt fully the demands of tho traveler the country visited must possess objects and Hccnery that will afford all of these three sources of ])leaHural)lo emotions; namely, l^mutiAd and eharming vistu.<>, grand and magniiieentt'icit\s, and grand, stnjjondous, magniticent and sublinuj sights. Of late years traveling has degenerated almost ex- elusively into sight-seeing of tlio lowest order. Our citi- zens visit the largo towns and cities of onr own and of foreign lands, which have nK)re famo for being dens of iniquity and infamy, than f »r atfording sublime and iitspir- Ing sights. The rich, large, munificent and Hi)lendid OVER THE PI^^rNS AN1> ON THE MOUNTAINS. 189 '<'llio8 of continental liuropc es))eciiilly, HCeni to have ])artW"Ular attraction to those having iho desire and the mcaits'to see the World; by which they understand the manners, customs, habit.s and vices even of man. As for sublime sights, they believe they have seen everything wortli freeing, when they have looked at, although they may not have taste enough to admire, the most farnouH specimens of architecture in the world. The ancients had seven wonders: 1st. The statue of the Sun, at lihodes; 2d. The Mausoleum of the King of Caria; 3d. The statue of Jupiter, by Phidias; 4th. The Temple of Diana, at Ephesus; 5th. The walls and hang- ing gardens of Babylon ; 6th. The Pyramids of Egypt; and, 7th. The Palace of (^'y^*^i'^» ^''^' younger; these were what they called the seven woiulers of the World, and, as is seen every one of them Avas the work of human hands. It is, therefore, an ancient idea, that the great, thegrand^ -the beautiful and sublime, must be sought in the works of Man. Which are the greater and more sublime, the works of Nature or the works of Man, is not even admissible as a question; for it has been truly said, "Man made the city, but God made the country." In the cities, Man has "built St. Pauls and St. Peters, the Louvre, the Tuillicrios Sans Souci, arches, columns and domes; but Nature built Niagara, the A1])S and the Andes, the cliff, the gorge and t.he abyssiijial chasm. Of Man's works we have less in this countr)^ than there is elsewliere, but of Nature's more. liTot only more, but of a higher order, and of a unique type. They have only to be known to be appreciated; not only by us, but by the VVorld. Were I called upon to designate the country having the most beautiful and the greatest variety of scenery, and in its greatest perfection all the elements of grandeur, mag- nificence and sublimity, I would unhesitatingly name Colorado. Lately it has become fashionable for tourists to visit the White Mountains, and ancend to the top of Mount Wash- 190 OVKR TllK PLAINS AND OS THE MOUNTAINS. inc:t<)!ij aiieriod, one half of it ha<.i dropped in the OVER THK PLAINS AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. 191 abyss bolow, and conHoqiientl^- on tliat sido lias a sharp angLo. The Three KrotherH arc a hct'tlirijj; clitT iVom which jut three immense rocks, looking- as thougli three , huge hexagonal crystals were superimposed one above tho other, with their points directed horizontally towards the valley. Though the Yosemite has an exhuberant growth of spruce within it, yet the mountain Avail and the country surrounding it arc entircdy bare. Xo sign of vegetation is to be seen on it; and therefore its smoothness, combined with the utter sterility surrounding it, give it an exceed- ing tamo and commonplace appearance. In fact the whole environment of the valley looks as though desolation bad swept over the region and had blasted and annihilated all vegetal life, except what is enclosed in this secluded little dell, two miles long, aneaks near the edge of the T'lains give the most varied and therefore most charming views. It a]>})ears to you as though the cone on which 3-0U stand were a mere high hill on a vast table-land constituting the mountain, Avhile around you rise similar jjinc-clad peaks northward and 13 194 OVER THE I'l^VlNS AND ON TUE MOUNTAINS. Bouthward as fur as the eyo can reach, and westward alsOy until they cuhninate in the bald Snowy Ilange. Eastward, almost at j-our feet, lies the Plain, drained by the South Platte and its affluents. Beyond the Platto is the Denver Pacitic railroad to C'heyenne, upon whic-h are seen trains going in opposite directions; and beyond that to the boun- dary of the horizon, a hundred or nioi*e miles of the mythical 'MJreat American Desert" are in sight. The eye follows wilh pleasure the Platte and its affluents, by the silvery sheen of their waters, marked out also by a straggling row of Cottonwood. The basin of the Platte is diversilied by towns, villages, hamlets, farms and ninches. On the uncultivated Plain, thousands of cattle are seen grazing. The irrigating canals are even visible, stretch- ing out through the characteristic bluish gray of the Plains, to the wheat .and cornfields that fleck and diver- sify it with patches of deep green. Such a view there is near (i-olden City, which I have already described, and such views there are in the vicinity of Boulder, and I prc- Bunie anywhere on the high peaks along the Plains. Between the ^liddle ami North Boulder, some two miles below Castle llock, there is a high peak, which ilr. Bar- nabas Smith, one of my compagnons de i-oijage ascended,. which he thinks must have been the ^foujit of Temj)ta- tion, 80 beautiful, graiul, rich and extensive is the view fr(5m it. At least, he thinks that if the Devil owned and could show a gooror.VTAINS. ways on its summit, ])i-cv:iiliiii;' i-viMi in iiiiil Smnmor, it will lu'vor become so popular as otluT ])eal;s. The whole of Mount Lincoln is auriferous unci argentif- erous, ami manv ricli lodes both of i^old and silver are worked on its sides. From \\\o base a road has been con- structed a mile and a half long up to the edge of the tim- ber line for hauling quai'tz, which is obtained from a lode nearly 12000 feet above the sea. Several thousand feet altove tiiis is a rieli silver lode, the ore of which is jiacked on jackasses and carried down to the end of the road. From the end of llie road sevt'i'al trails can 1)0 followed; some steeper, more rugged an<'t, as extermination. One party was ready to dare and do anything that the infant colony might be offered up a sacrifice to the 3Ioloch of Slavery, while the other was just as determined and resolute to sacrificeall their worldly possessions and life itself if neces- sary, to maintain this ricli and beautiful land sacred to hu- man freedom and liberty. Collision was only prevented by the prompt, energetic and decisive measures taken by the new Governoi', being himself one of the oldest residents of the mountains, and who, they all knew, was a daring, fearless, brave and resolute man. The crisis therefore passed without any serious distui'banoo; and the better 204 OVER THE l>t>AlNS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. antl bravest portion of tlie southern party either ac- • Hiieseed in the established order of things as determined by the majority, or instead of maiving it a neighborhood warfare, tDok uj) the braver and more manly course, of re- turning to thrir respective Statcvs and entering the regular service of the Confederates. Xot so however with that part of th<'m who lielonged to what in tlie States were stylod th" " home sneaks/' men too cowardly to fight, but malicujus and brutal enough, in the dark or under cover, to act the neighborhood assassin, these latter went to^ Xcw Mexico and Texas to organize military and maraud- ing e.xjieditions against the defenseless colony thinly scattered over these mountains or along their flanks on the Plains. Cut Avors-,^ tluui all, some of these malignants went into the countrv of the wild Indians and ex(!ited them to hostilities, and thus brought upon this infant colony the merciless butcheries of a savage warfare. To thwart the machinations of these malevolent dis- contents. Governor (Jiljiin organized three regiments of volunteers, which did efficient service both at liome against the Indians and m Xew Mexico in repelling and defeating the Texas military expclition. However the savages encouraged by bad white men^ and emboldened liy the ap[)arent tardiness or imjjotency of tlie fjcneral Government to punish their crimes, continued making their murderous forays upon the mining cani]ts of the mountains, or the agricuhui'al sctilciiiciits f)n the Plains; and committed the most Khocking and revolting atrocities,, during the entire was and for two years after, when they were summarily chastised liotli by tlie General (rovern- ment ami by citizens of thcTerrittny. Under such a state of things it is no wonder tliat the exasperation was great,, and that when tlie hour a.'nl opportunity i'or taking ven- geance had arrived^ it was executed summarily and relent- lessly My object is not here to give a narrative of these Indian atrocities, marked by the merciless butcheries of defense- OYER TIIK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 205 less M'omnn and cliildren, tlio dosolation of homes anose because the she-bear st(jod her ground ? Certainly not; nor would we in a fight with any other wild beasts,. OVER THE PI^\INH AND O.V THE MOUNTAINS. 207 for thcHO Indiaiih' blood-lliirstyncss art^ ^vorsc tlian wild beasts ! But wo only ibu^fht thcni as lorii^ as they Ibuglit ns. AVhy, what else could we do ? if wo had run away from the squaws, or shown that we M'ould not light squaws, why they would have fought us with squaws ever after." Now I do not pretend to judge who was in tho right and who in the wrong in that unhappy aflair. But this much is evident, tluTo arc two sides to that as well as to every other question. One side has told its story long ago, and if these men have been wronged and injustice dono them, it is time that their version of tho afiair be heard. If wo persist in prejudging the case against them, they can at least put their protest upon record, and bravely tell us to ^'strilye but hear." Whatever may be tho true explanation of the affair, of one thing I am certain, that malicious revenge and wanton cruelty is foreign to the nature of every one, (and there were a good many of them,) that I met in the territory; who participated in it. They are quiet, peaceable and inoffensive men, enjoying tho universal confidence and respect of their neighbors. Col. Chivington, tho leader of tho expedition, I did not meet, because I did not visit the immediate portion of the territory where ho resides; but I understood ho is a leading and influential citizen of his section, highly respected and loved by tho people who have known him best and longest. Afterwards, in 180(5, Kanihache, a Ute chief, murdered and plundered defenseless settlers and immigrants in the vicinity of Trinidad, in Las Animas county, in tho south- eastern corner of tho Territory. Emigrants to Xew Mexico and many defenseless settlers wero pounced upon, • murdered, their property plundered or burnt and their cattle and horses driven away. At first so little resistance was offered, that tho savages become bolder, and followed their own inclinations to murder and plunder with im- punity. They even threatened to depoj)ulato tho entire region. Finally, Col. Anderson with a troop of cavalry » 208 OVER TllK ri.AINS AND f)N THE MOUNTAINS. from Fort Stevens, was sent to adjust the matter. In a eonlereneo with the chiels, the Colonel at first used the (Quaker ar-^ument of moral suasion ; asking them to desist and to state their gi-iovances and he "would have them re- moved, and justice done in the matter. But they not only declined positively to state their grievances, but defied liim to punish them. "Whereupon he used the sabre and Shar]>e rille argument, gave them a terrible thrashing, killing most of their braves and driving the balance out of the countr}' over the mountains. This atfair and that at Sand Creek taught these savages that prowling over the tcn'itory, murdering its defenceless inhabitants and stealing iStock was no longer a pleasant pastime, but a dangerous exploit, and they have not much fondness for that kind of sport since. At these camp-fires you hear not only these stories of Indian wars and butcheries related, but also the exploits of the principle chai-acters that took part in tlu-m. As might be expected Kit Carson is the hero of a great niany of these camp-fire tales. The Bents, St. Train, P)iil "Williams, the Autobeas, Roubideaux, in far-t all the old mountainers, are central figures around which many tales of adventures and exploits are grounded. Carson was from Missouri ; and so I believe was the noble hearted and brave Bill Williams, long the teri-or of the wily Eed bkin thieves and assassins. lie was finally ambushed and killed by them, in 18G0, near the " Dead Camp of Fre- mont," so called because of the disaster that befel the party of this brave explorer in 1849 on the San Juan Mountains. The Bents, St. "V'rain and Koubideaux are from St. Louis. All this heroic band spent the vigor and ])iime of their lives in the dangei- and excitement of the border as trappers, traders and Indian fighters, and became the heroes of many exploits that will carry their names down to posterity. Being married to Mexican wives they finally .settled in the southern part of the Territor}'- on ranches, OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINis. 200 And are leadina; a quiet and civil lit'o. None ever went back to the StatCH to live except Jioiihideaux who founded the city of St. Joseph, where lio died a sliort time aj^o at an advanced age. Col. St. Vrain live« atToas, and of the *' Autobeas," that is, Tom and Charley Tobin, Tom, lives on the Trcnchera and Charle}' in llio Valley of the Huer- fano, on ranches, extensively engaged in stock-raising. But the most conspicuous figure in this heroic grouj) is Col. Pfeifer. "Whenever not on the war ])ath, "Old Pfeifer," as he is called, (his age however is not yet forty- five,) makes his home at Fort Garland, in San Louis Park, and Conejos. He is a grave silent man, and loves to wander alone amid the scenes of his exploits, and the graves of his comrades. He came to the Far West m 1847, when but a mere boy fresh from the military school of Stock- holm, Sweden, of which country he is a native, though of Oerman descent. He soon became conspicuous for his •coolness and daring, and early gained the distinction of a good and brave Indian fighter. In the whole series of long w^ars with the Camanches, Apaches, Utes and Nava- jos, he bore a distinguished part. He was Lieutenant Colonel under General Kit Carson during the Xavajo wars of 1863, 4, 5 and 6, which resulted in the surrender to a small volunteer force of 11,000 of the supercilious ma- rauders who called the Mexicans tneir hcrdei's; and which resulted m the forced removal of their tribe from the San Juan country to the Basque Bodondo Military Bes- ervation. Many daring exploits and wild stories are re- lated of him; all of which are more or less actual occur- rences. He without exception is the bravest, most reckless and daring man in the country. At Santa Fe, on one occasion he wrapped a serape aroinul his lirad, and went into a store on tire, and brought out two kegs of powder already chai-red and blazing. At another time, with a knife in his right hand, he killed a grizzly bear that was chewing his left arm. Single handed he fought two Capote Indians, all the parties being armed with camp knives, and 14 210 OVER THE PLAINS AND uN THE MOUNTAINS killed llioin lioili tliouii;h liadly wouiulod hiniHi'li". In a. Ii«rht with the Apaches ut his raiu-he^ at the Ojodel Muertc (that IS, the Sprinu^ of the Dead), liis wife and children wei-e l>i-utally massacred and ho besides hel])les8 from wounds in both of his lej^s, had his body so riddled with balls and so cut into gashes that there was scarcely room for a fresh cut or another bullet hole, lie however sur- vivetl, })ut ever since has been unha]>py. Since then his only pleasure has been revenowerful invadtM-, like snow before the face of their Sun God. There too are those enigmatical ruins of tlie" Seven cities of Cibola," or rather seven human hives; buildings scattered over the Plains containing from ()00 to 000 rooms each, and rising in ten-raced stories to the height of foui- stories. In front extends a semi-ciirular court yard con- taining from three to five acres, surrounded by a stone wall. The hive closes by a straight line the semi-circle, so that the building and wall represent the letter IT if closed and filled to half its height. What people built 212 OVER TIIK l>r,AlNS AND OX THE MOUNTANIS. these? "What were their modes of life, manners and cus- toms!'' ]Iistory and tradition liore stand mute, attordiiii:; no clu«» to unravel the threads of the inexplicable mystery. The architectural remains of Aztec, Tesciican and other semi-civilized Indians of Mexico^ Centi'al and ^South America, tlion<;h ilifferin<^ entirely' both in de8i<>;n and exe- cution IVoni that of the Old World, has no semblance whatever to that of these Seven Cities. They must, therefore, be the remains not only of a distinct race, but of a distinct and different order of civilization. Of what race were they, and Avhat became of them y Were they an offshoot representinij a more advanced stage of civili- zation of the Mound Builders, who, in the central part of our Continent, vanished l)efore the rude hunter tribes, leaving no memorial of their existence except those mys- terious mounds in the Valley of the Mississip])i ? I would not advise novel writing, and far less their reading; Itut if such inane literature as modern novels is to continue to be the almost exclusive staple of reading and consequently the mental pabahwi of both young and old, then I say the legends of Colorado will be found a rich ])lacer for treasures of a new sort. The change will also be for the better; for writers and readers will in de- gree leave the region of the fabidous and to that extent will enter the donuiin of actual life. The romancer will then give us a ft'w facts instead of all fiction, and at least a tithe of an idea that will be of some service in life, in- stead of nothing, or rather worse than nothing as now. What intemperance is doing to Man physically, modern novels are doing to hini intellectually, and it is a debate- able question, which is Ihr sadder sight, a man injihysical, or in mental ruin. Besides the ex))loits of the Iinliaii lighters, there are the thrilling adventures of the old tra))pers, u race nowalmost extinct in the niountains ; a i'(.'\v having died, while the many have fallen viciims lo the untameable ferocity of the savages, A few of them still linger here, not as OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 213 trappers but as sedate ranchmen surrounded by their lierds of shec']t and cattle and droves of liorses. To succeed in their liazardous atlventurcs, some of these liad ingratiated themselves Avitli the chief of some ])o\verf»l tribe; had been admitted as a member int(j it; learned its lan<^uage, afb^pted its iiabits and customs, and been initiated into its i-eligious mysteries. Yet all this was no avail, for it de- pended only on what mood the Indian was in wliether life was safe. Many of these after a residence of thirty years amongst the Indians have been butchered in cold blood without a cause. Fremont found a Sioux chief and two or three braves, down on the Republican F(jrk, nearly perished and surrounded by Pawnees, by whom they had been defeated. lie supplied their wants, protected them and took them in safety to their home in the mountains. In less than two days after they left his camji, they mur- dered in cold blood an old tra])])er who had lived amongst them thirty-tive j-ears and had been adopted into their tribe. Such is the nature of the noble Red man of our morbid sentimentalists! I have learned from these men, that the Indians have their nursery tales as well as we, and that they have tra- ditions and legends of giants in older times who performed feats of strength and deeds of valor equal to that of the Greek Hercules. Legends of Indian exploits long anterior to the advent of the white man are also numerous. There is scarcely a brook, canyon or peak, of which some Indian tale is not related, derived from the Indians themselves by the daring trappers wlio were domiciled amongst them. One of these only I will relate, While at Boulder, I expressed mv admiration of the picturesque and singularly turretted mountain peak, just south of the canyon, but which I regret is so ]>oorh' represented in our engraving as not to show the turrets at all ; the most picturesque and striking fea- ture of the mountain, and I expressed a regret that some stirring Indian tale of heroic deeds or tragic occurrence 214 OVER THE PLAINS AND OX TIIK MOUNTAINS. ■was not ;isso('iiiteeak. Here they ursuers and kept them at ba}\ The lattei" trit'(l to take the hei<>;ht.s by storm; but tlii'ir enemies rolled down hu<:;e stones upon theJii ami drove them ba for a i-mnance, there is no hick of them also, Avhethei" ot' those who long since "have ti'one over the Divide," oi- of those who are " still on tin- Jl;in<^e." The recital of these will melt the heart into ])ity, or treeze tlie blood Avith horror. \Vhile we were in the tet-ritory a min- er eanie ovei- the Snowy Haiii^e, from MiddU". Park, with the news tliat " Mountain .Tim" — a charactei* a\ horn they all knew, had a tei-riiile tii;lil \\ith a gri/./ly Iteai" in the Park, and was alnio! -. OVER TliK PLAINS AND ON TUK MOUNTAINS. 2 1' 80 terribly manp;lo(l by a, bear in Mifldlc Park aboiii ilio time you were liere. ITis left arm is yet in a sling, and is entirely powerless. His right eye is still bandaged, the scars on his fjx'C'e show how terriblj' it was lacerated; and he walks with difificulty. lie is on his way to Estes' Park -^ where he has a ranche and considerable stock. lie says he has heard that tourists are riding and tlriving through his ranche and leaving the gates open, and that, his cattle are scattering. He has a man with him lo collect his cattle and take care of them. With a moist eye he speaks with gratitude of those who befriended him in his kite misfortune, both gentlemen and ladies. "Why," says he, -**Idid not know I had so many friends before. They took care of mo as though I were a ]>i-iiice." Colorado previous to the advent of the white man was the battle-tield where all the neighboring tribes wei-e con- stantly contending for su])remacy ; and where the victors of the fight to-day, were beaten and driven out by the victors of to-morrow. The mountain streams whose issues swell the Platte and the Arkansas, water a plain covered with luscious grasses, and hence the natural pasture land of the buffalo, who in millions roamed over it and occupied it the whole year. The possession of the Plains of Colorado, Avas therefore the possession of the immense herds of i)uffjilo that cover it. Narrowed down, it was a (piestion of food and raiment, for the primitive savages of this recfion clothed themselves in liutlalo robes. In these con- flicts the hostile parties taxed their utmost resources, both physically and mentally, to overcome, ex])el and it neces- sary to extirpate their adversaries. Art, stratagem and <;unning wei'c the weapons employed, wielded by bold- ness, bravery, resolution, recklessness and desperation. Tragic events of blood ane(:iuse hero was the coninion enemy of the red man. Coalitions and confederations of the formerly hos- tile trihes wei-e made not only to cheek his advance, but to expel him from the country; but the contest was un- equal this time. Xeither physically nor mentally is the savage able to cope Avith the civilized man. As the rising* day drives back the shades of night, so the wild Indian flees toM'ards the setting sun from the irresistible advance- of the civilized and enlightened man. The untutored sav- age ma}'- return to the attack, and make renewed efforts to- avoid his late, but he is doomed. He may even be inspir- ed to desperation hy despaii*, but brute force cannot con- tend Riiccessfully against intellectual power. The ordi- nance of Xatiiro has so ordained it. History does not re- cord an instance where barbarous and civilized and en- lightened nations have dwelt side by side in amity and friendship. The contrasts are too great and the antagon- ism too irreconcilable between civilization and barbarism,, so that collisions are inevitable. Civilization may not seek, 3'ea, may do all that is possible to avoid such f-ollis- ions, but they will bo forced upon it by barbarism. When it comes to blows, victory in the end nnist pei-ch on the banner that is the representative of the highest intellectual culture. !?sot only is thic true between civilized and bar- barous nations, but it is likewise necessarily true between nations of relatively different degrees of civilization. All the recent great wars bear evidence to the truth of this assertion; conspicuously amongst wliidi may be named the late war between France and Gei-many. The French- num who wrote from the prison camj) in the German lines, these memorable words, 'Mhcir common soldiers know more tl»an our offir;ers" stated both the cause and the philosoph}' of the result. Our Indian troubles are to be deplored. l»ii( in the very OVER THE I'LAKWS AND ON THE MOUNTAIN'S. 217 nature of tliineaceabK! and unollemiing Indians, I cannot believe it ; because it is contrary I0 all experience and observatiijii. It is an impossil)ility in the very nature ofthinirs. Frontier men in-e daring; nuMi of decision, en- <":rgv, vim and ])lu('k ; bill tliey are neither outlaws nor sav- ii<»-es. TIh'V are, in iiict, the vei'v kind of men in whir-h the manly and heroic virtues, of which ])rotection to the weak aii\y their i-ohhi'ries and thefts amongst M'hites, phinder aiir where its composition is that of a carbonate, it is sub- missive to tbo influence of mercury and forms an amal- gam with it ; but when it is a sulphuret, it is indifferent to the intlucnce of mercury, and hence cannot be saved by what is called theamalLcamation process. Xow the stamp- mill process is the simplest and least expensive process of treatincj ores known. With it the treatment does not cost on an avera<^e more than live dollars per ton. Hence it is par excellence the ])rocess for treating ores of low grade. This is the secret why the Comstock mine, in Xevada, has been so protital)lc and eni-iched all concerned in mining it, and trcatin^i; its ores. Thou<:;h, as already stated, its ores have not averagetj, more than twent3'-tive dollars per- ton, (a quality of ore that would be worthless in Colo- i-ado), yet as it was all " mill ore," three-fifths of its yield was profit. I have been assured, by a gentleman who had an interest in a claim on it and formerly was engaged in working it, that the cost of mining and mill treatment of that ore in no case exceeded ten dollars per ton. There are 22 claims on the Comstock lode; the bullion product of all these claims is over 8200,000,000. Up to the ycar- 1«69, from official tables, 1 learn that it was S137,;382,000.. Tt was very natural that the earlier miners in Colorado,, who were familiar with the successful modes of ti-eating the Califorin'a and Xevada ores, should form high expecta- tions of the products of the richer lodes of Colorado;. and that lhey should be sadly disappointed at the results obtained in working them, Xay, that they should be struck with consternation and dismay at the results. What was the more inexplicable to them, and added to their astonishment, was that while the disintegrated quartz on the surface lasted, the results were satisfactory, and as good as could be expected fi-om ores of so low/ OVKR THK ]*r,MNS AND ON Til K .M< ti;N TAINS. 223^ p^ailo. Hut mIumi the jtyritcs uml siil])liurcts * wero readied iit «;ivjiler depths, the iiu-tallui-^ists, who knew nothint; except wliat cxperieneo had tau<;lit them in the arastras and .stanij)-niill.s of Cah'fornia, became noii])lu88od. Here "vvas Homcthing they had not dreamed of in their philoHophy. The more they thoui^lit about it, tiie darker and more incom])rehenHible it became; and finally they had to confess tliat the}- wero at their wiis' end. The, to them, unknown character of the ores, was the first and the most sci'ious cause of iiiilurc in dodo minini^ in Colorado, To be Hiii-e they were not a new kind of ore; for they constituted almost exclusively the kind known from time immemorial ; and successful methods of reducin<>^ them were e(|ually well known to nietallur<;ists; but both were new to the stamp-mill men of California and (Colorado. The eailier investments were o;enerally made in good faith, both by the miners and by capitalists. That they were so, it is sutHcient to state, that men who had acquired! a competency by saving their hard earnings amid dangers and privations, in tho earlier days of California mining,, invested their all in lodes and stamp-mills in the moun- tains of Colorado. Many capitalists mIio had been suc- cessful in mining enterprises in California, also eagerl}- invested in lodes that were richer than thoso of California,, as shown ])V analyses made by competent metallurronuiu of tho stjimp-inill. lie was dis- charged and anothei- oniphiyod, but with no better suc- cess. Still tho o])inion Avas that if an expert coidd be obtained, the results would be satisliictory, so he was also discharged; but matters gi-i'W from bad to worse, until a consternation and ]>aiiic ensued amongst tho stockholders. There were 7»o dividends declaring; yea worse, things had come to that point that the concern did not begin to }»ay running expenses. Tins prepared the way for the supervention of the most di.sastrous fate that ever fell upon any undertaking. In the great extremity of the stockholders, light broke fortli in a dark place. This, however, was a false light; being no more or less than a new pi-ocess, a pretended genius claimed to have discovered; and claimed that the "refractory ores" yielded ready obedience to it. Claimed, did I say y No, tliat was }iot the woivl. Claimed would have left the matter in doubt until it were proven by experiment. Xo, it was not clahiied that tho new process would do certain things, but it was boldl}- asserted that it did do them; and to prove it, the testimony of easy good iiatured and complaisant newspaper reporters and a few credulous and ignorant spectators, was adduce^, certifying to the statement that they were present at an experiment cono ])rocnrcd, that tlx' matter be examined by a competent committee of disintertisted experts, and that a trial experi- ment to verify both tho theory and process be made by themselves, or under their suj)crvision. But incrcdulit}' was laughed to scorn under the joy and excitement of the OVKR THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 225 moment; and the manipnlntioiis and statoments <>f inter- ested parties "wcro received and acc'e})ted as true without qxicstiun or any apparent misgiving as to their correctness. Then commenced that disastrous new process mania, lasting for three years, from 1804 to 1SG7, by -which milli(jnsof capital were sunlc, the character of the mines damaged, and the fair fiimo of the territory aspersed and almost ruined. AVhen the stamp-mills failed in working ])yrites and sul])hurets known to be rich, then the conclusion becaine general that the ores must be roasted; that is, the8ulj)hui- burnt out of them and the baser metals calcined, before the gold and silver could be amalgamated. Immediately there appeared any number of processes for desulphuri- zation of the ores with expensive machinery. Of these desulphurizing processes many were disastrous, some sheer humbugs, and even the best partial failures. While other new processes too numerous to mention were all miserable failures without any redeeming qualities. They were not based upon cither scientific or melallurgic prin- ciples; and even if they had been, were soexj)ensive that the}'- could not bo economically applied. The only valuable legacy these processes left, was a largo amount of wholesome experience, and some more or less useful second-hand machinery which now is utilized for more rational purposes. Upon Avhose shoulders the blame of these failures should full, it is hard to determine. One thing is certain, the fault was not and is not in the mines. Perhaps the l)lamo is about equally divided between opei-ators and jobbei's, between so-called scientific men, without practical expe- rience and often blest Avith only a modicum of common sense, and blundering practical men without science; hon- est men without cajmcity, and smart men without Imnesly. That the disaster was wide spread and ruinous, there is painful evidence everywhere. Crumbling walls and tot- tering chimneys of <' played out," reductioii works. Pon- 15 226 OVER THK PLAINS AND ON TlIK MOUNTAINS. doroxis, broken, and rusti-d nuuhiiiorv and cin-ious nliaped lurnaoes, whoso fires have been extini^uislied for yoars, meet the cyo everywhere and chill the liearts of capi- talists anxious to invest in the rich niines of these moun- tains. The fact that niiiung has .survived these terrible trials and disasters is proof of its inherent vitality in Colorado, and a pledge of its future ])r()s])erity. For the four years, coniinencing with l^^BO, the statistics bhow that over §80,000,000 of ii;old Avas shipped from ('dorado, while it is well known that immense sumswerc' carried away by individuals. In other words, the yield of gold by the mines of Colorado was upwards of S7,500,- 000 anntuilly. But as soon as the experiments Avith the rtew ])roces:^es commeiu-ed. the quantity began to diminish,, i-eaching its minintum in iStiT Avhen it was less than §1,800,- (•OU. The new jjrocesses had now run their career and wcro generally abandoned us worthless, or if not worthless, too expensive for economical application. Men now returned to the stamjt-niilis ami altiioiigh these generally Avasted. from one-half to two-thirds of the ])recious metals and all of the cop]jer and lead, yet they aiforded a living ])rofit. The old ai)d tried i>roccsses of German}' of dressing and sn^clting the ores, improved by American ingenuity, Avere gradually introduced. Since then the production of the mines has gradually increased from year to year. In 1870 it reached about S;'),000,000 as the shipments show,, and the ])re.sent year (1871; it Avill nearly, if not (piite, reach 80,000,000. Though (^hhjrination and smelling are jtei-fect as metal- lurgical processes, yet they are too ex])ensive to be economically applied to u lai-go class of ores. The uninitiated have no means of telling Avhat the average cost is of treating a ton of ore by these combined pro- cesses. ]iut as the owners of reduction Avorks chai-ged mi- ners from SoO to 835 ])er ton, the cost can certainly not be more than 82o, and may be less tha>i SI"). However, the btamp-mill and the amalgamation jtrocese. OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 227 are the only moans yet known cheap enougli U) treat ores of a low grade, Kincc the actual cost in no cusc exceeds $5 per ton. AVith ores containing the precious metals free, that is, uncombined with sulphurets of other metiils, they will save from 80 to 90 per cent, of the metal. ]iut with pyrites, and suliihurets, and especially Avhen the particles are indelinitely small, the mill will not save more than from 30 to 50 per cent. Unless the expenses for reducing ores by chlorination and smelting are much less than inter- ested ])arties would induce us to believe, the great problem of the futui-e is to Hnd a cheap process that will leave the precious metals in a condition to form an amalgam with (juicksilver after the pyrites have been calcined. Jt is 3'et a mooted question whether the gold contained in pyrites is so in a mere mechanical mixture, or in chem- iciil combination. The weight of authority and experi- ment is in liivor of the hypothesis of mechanical admix- ture. However the gold of Colorado is generally alloyed with small quantities of silver and coi)i)er. The gold ob- tained by pulverization of ])yritcs mixed with copper, zinc-blend and lead, is not of a bright yellow color and metalic lusti-e, but has a grayish brown tint. It is what is called "rusty gold," and is indiflerent to tlie action of quicksilver, it therefore will not amalgamate. From this fact the stamp-mill process fails to save it. It has not yet been determined Avhatis the cause or nature of this coatr ing. In the reiining c;'ucible this "rusty gold" gives a regulus of 99 per ciMit. However mechanical rubbing in pans, roasting, or chemical treatment, removes this rusty film and leaves the gold in an amalgamable condition. Also w^hen copper sulphurets combined with other metals are desvilphurized the gold cannot be extracted by amal- gamation, because it has this same film rendering it indif- ferent to the action of quick-silver. When the great problem is solved of treating, upon a large and economical scale, ]»yrites and sulphurets so that the contained gold and silver is left in an amalgamable 22S OVKR 'I'llK IM.MXS AXI> UN THJE .MULNTAIXS. condition, then the stuni])-niill, as it is tlio cheapest ixud sinipk^st of all known applianecs, will supersede all other methods of reilueing such ores as are found in the liither- side of the Rocky ^[ountains, from Xcw Mexico to Montana. The fortunate individual w iio will succeed in aec'ouiplishino; this feat, Avill reap the richest liarvest yet gathered in the field of discovery, while at the same time he Avill confer untold hlessiuu;s and incalculahle wealth not only u])on the great mountain i-e^-ion of the West, hut upon the Woi-ld. But it is evident that as the case now stands, ])rivate economy comes in conflict with political economy. The object of the individual is accomplished when he succeeds in extracting the precious metals in pajMng quantities at the least possible expense, regardless of how much he wastes. It has been already stated that on an average, stam}»- mills working jiyrites, and sulphurets^ do not save more than one-half, some say one-third, of the precious nietals containi'er ton or 8105 for seven tons; and that only 90 per cent, of the metal is extracted, which is 8225. Subtracting the cost of ri'duction from this sum we have a net yield of 8120. The diffei-ence of ju-ofit therefore would he 20 i)cr cent, to the owner of the ore- besides which th«.' ])roductioii has been largely increased and many more j)crsonshavc been furnishei-esoiit ywir (1^71; is 80,000,000. Dcdnoting Iroiu tliis lor iln' proceeds of i^ulch iiuniiii!; and siixdling wi.rks 82,000,000. uiid llie pi-oduct oV iho slainp-juills for tlif curiviit year is §4,000,000. A'-cordino; tu tlio foro/j^o- iiij,' c-siimatt' tlii> iscjnly oiie-liall' ol' the bullion coiUMiiied in tlio ores treated hy llu'in. Tlie actual value of the ore Avorked by them would, therefore, lie 8^^000,000. By the combined chloj-inatioii and snieltini;- ])roces,s ii]>on the sup- j)o.sition that they saved onl}- 90 ]>er cent, this ore Avould' have ])rodiiced S7, 200.000. Tlie additional gain of the owners, therefore would be SSOO.OOO, and to the juiblic $3,200,000. Such an increase ot bullion alone wnnild not only enrich Colorado but would affect the business and prosperity of the Avhole country. Jiesides this the copper and lead saved Avoitld be worth a million of dollars more. That mining o])erations in Colorado can be made liighly remunerative there can be no question. The success of the reduction works of Stewart, and of Jlucpeden & Co., at Georgetown, and especially of Prof. Hill's smelting works, at Black Hawk', ])lacos this beyond controversy. The Caribou Company have now completed, at Middle Boulder, the most extensive and complete works in the Mountains. They cost about 81-')0,000, and I have been informed that since they have been in operation they have shipped from 8,000 to 8,500 ounces of bullion per week. However, to make mining successful and the investment safe, men must go into it as tliey do into any other legit- imate business. There is a great deal of capital in the country seeking profita,ble investment, but those who have the control sulis with almost uiifailinfif accuracy; l)ut in now fields ofonterpri.se tliev can neither jnako a calcukition, nor feel or see their way through it. In fa(!t every kind of business lias so little margin for jtrotits, that it requires the closest sailing to the wind to keep within the margin, and make a successful voyage. ]\[oreover the margin being small the 0]>ei"atioii must he on a large scale to make the ])rotits an oljject. Hence the many shipwrecks that befall even the most wary. Presides the uncertainty of prosperous circumstances, is the flucttuition in ])rices of the commodity on whicli the transaction is based. The price dejiends upon the supjily and demand. The latter may be two-fold the ordimiry and extraordinary demand. The prospect of an extraordinaiy demand nuiy put up the price, yet aften all the demand may be only an ordinary one. In such cases more oi- less losses must be sustained, and these may be often ruinous. Of late years also the commercial centiH^s have become theatres of operations which ai-e no better than gambling. Thousands by these means become shipwrecked both in capital and character. It is generally the nnjst unscru])ulous that M'in. But there is one consolation, the victor of to-day becomes the victim of to-morrow. It is therefore a serious question for capi- talists to consider whether they cannot invest ther capital in other entei-prises than those which are constantly drawn into, and engulfed in the vortex of s])eculation and whether such investments would not be safer and the profits surer. In the k-iiid i)f' new enterprises, miuinLC deserves the most serir)us considei-ation, but U't it be doii(> with a view of husi.ness and nol of speculation. r mineralft than Colorado is, and esjiceially for i;-old and silver. I have hccii tlirouirh all the mines that are yet 0])Gned up, and have taken every means to ascertain their value, cost of workini;, I'a-. ; ani-iso to me to see how some ot thcni are worked, and the waste of money incurred." ^fr. (J rose since then has returned to the Mountains, and did good service in exp(^sing the tin swindle at Ogden, Utah. Ilavingsufficiently established tlu' fiict that the mincsof ('ojoi'ado are rich, and under ]iro))cr management must bo ]»roductive. It may perhaj)s be pertinent briefly to show the cau.Hcs why so much capital has been irretrievably 8wampeatent for a lode it reqiJlres oidy the sinking of a shaft ten feet deep; whereas it should require its development by an expenditure of not less than $500. This, or something like i(, I believe is a })royisioii in the new law i-elating to mining now ])ending before Congress. As the case now stands no guarantee of a su])ply of oi-e can bcgiyen ; andconse(juently no assurance that tiie works will not have to stand idle. Summer, the best season for' operating reduction works, is also the bewitching season for jirospeeliiig which the miner canncjt resist, lie there- fore leaves and for months explores the mountain sides, the deep gorges, the canyon walls or tlie towering peaks for new lodes. In early days this evil necessarily was much greater than now; and consequently the first adventurers in mining and reducing enterprises suflTered more from it tlian they would now. But it is as yet a serious drawback, and retards a rapid development of the mines. It was a fruitful source of failure then, and it has entailed many evils on the mining interests which are still felt and will be felt for sometime to come. Besides creating a ])reju- dice against tlie mines, it has i-eacted against the miners ; for shrewd capitalists that have since gone there and erected works, taking into consideration the uncertainty of a supply of ore, make it }>ay while they do run, both for the time they I'uii, and may be idle; anect of beconii:ig milliojuures with a single -36 OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. reason's operations, arc very liable to hecome flats {{sharps are about. It necils no laboreil ari:;unient ^vith the facts- net forth, that this is ^vhat was the matter ^vith these transactions lor Avliich the existence of a;old and silver in the ;^[ountains gave the occasion. They were mere 'Mfieks U])on strajii^ers." liefore closing we must address one word of caution and advice to those who will undertake a mining entei'- prize. You must do it upon sti-ict business principles.. Buy no projierty whatever until either by jiersonal in- spection, or by examination of a competent and honest expert, you have satisfied yourself of its character and ascertaned its true nature and value. Xever in- vest your capital in any company whose main object is to pay fat salaries to one or more favorites; and who, in (trder that they may not be put to any inconveniences, will liave the ore brought clear across the continent to be treated at home. The liiilure of such a company is a fore- gone conclusion. The ores nuist be smelted in the moun- tains, and as near to the mines as facilities can be had. Labor is about as cheap there as anywhere and fuel much cheaper. At Boulder city, for instance, coal is delivered, at §2,85 per ton. The '' matte " maybe transported else- where for separation and refinement, but that only so long as Express Corajianies and Railroads charge the enormous rates they now do for transporting Indlion. The refining can be done there now as cheaply as any- where, so there is even no economy in liaving smelting works in the Mountains and refining Avorks at Omaha, St. Louis, (.'hicago, Newark or New York. When the works are completed, put the technical opera- tions in charge of a scientific expert, and the business* management in the hands of a man of tact and capacity, who will sujtervise the whole by constant attention, and the gruxitest possible vigilance. The success of Prof. Hill is mainly due to tbe fact tiiat he gives his entire time and attention to the business m.anagement of the works while OVER THy IT.AINS AND ON TIIF MOUNTAINS. 237 the t.oohiiic-iil operntions iirc entrusted to a sicillfitl (icniiaii mct:illur^-ist. The present is a favorable time for invx-stnient. The country has nt)t yet recovered from the recoil and revul- sion caused l)y the earlier failures. People are cautious as the}^ should be; and when you mention Colorado mines they arc as suspicious as the mice in the fable, that a cat may be concealed in the bottom of the meal tul), A year or so longer, and people will have recovered confidence, when everything of value will be boiiglit up for the pur- pose of legitimate business. Reduction works also will have been erected at all favorable points, so that ricii mines now almost without value, being in the vicinity of such works, will be so much enhanced in value that the same favorable opportunities for investment will not exist. 238 CVIkK XUE PLAINS AND ON I H I-, MolJNXAlNS. CHAPTEK XIX. The tinu' liiid now arrived for us to turn our f{i,ce& homeward, und it was with deej) rcijjret that we yielded to the inexorable necessity. Atu-i- a sound and refreshing sleep, such as can only be enjoyed in its full fruition in Colorado, on the 17th of June, I was uj) as usual with the dawn and out for a walk to enjoy for the last time the lite ins])irin}j; breath of the morning air; to view once again the sublime and gorgeous sceneiy of ^Nature's great- est and best effort, and to feel once more the emotions of enthusiastic admiration and insjiiration which alone such grandeur, subliniity, _\'ct unadonicd simplicity can en- kindle. Jioth here and at Golden, wiienever awake during the night, it was a most i)leasurable sensation to be soothed and lulled to sleep again by the ever-murmuring waters as they flowed down the plain. Consequently, I seemed to be in fellowship with them, and felt a strong desire to hold communion with them whenever opportunity offered. I was therefore irresistibly drawn to thcii- side, and on to the bridge over them, ready to muse and lose m3-self in day dreams. Oh, how sweet it were to spend life here, where eveiything speaks with such irresistible eloquence, yet soothingly and feelingh-, to the 03^0, the heart, the mind and the imagination ! There the everlasting moun- tains spring up at a single bound four thousand feet, to kiss the blushing, ])ure and smiling skies. Grand, awful and sublime are they, Avith a histoiy that human pen will never record, a mystciy that the human mind will never un- ravel, and invrjlving laws that human reason will never unfold and explain. Yet they are as beneficent as their \ OVKR THK J'r.ArNS ANr> (t.N THK MOINTALNS. 239' presence is ^reat, majestic ami imperious. From tlic icy fountains under their stern and Know-covered crests issue these pure, limjtid waters, to gladden the valleys, refresh the parched ])lain, clothin<:r the land with verdure, and filling hill and dale with joyous life. Fruin them, ye supercilious, proud, Ijcarh the groat lesson which ye so much need, That to be truly c^eat is to be good, lienevolent, bouetieent and kind, And scatter blessings all around the land. Ah ! surely this is a place for the poet to catch new in- spiratioii and pour forth songs on themes never attempted' in verse, and where the moralist can draw ennobling les- sons of instruction, and enforce them by the great sanction of Nature. Listlessly and Avith a heavy heart T left the bridge and sauntered down the margin of the stream, then down the lane bordered by meadows and wheat-fields, througli which runs the Denver road. I felt oppressed with an in- definable sadness which I could not shako off, for in my ears seemed to be ever ringing the words, " Once more, but never again. " I was at last arrested by the thrilling notes of a skylark on the fence before me. Whilst listen- ing with wrapt attention to his song, I could not refrain from repeating the following stanzas from Shelley's ad- dress to a skvlark : I " \VTiat object* are the fountains Of thy happy strain? What fields, or waves, or mountains? What shapes ot skj', or plain ? What love of thine own kind? What ignorance of pain? "■ "Teach me half the gladness That thy brain must know, Such liarmonidus madness From my lips would flow The world would listen then, asl arn listening now. "■ 240 OVER THE PL.\IXS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. But even his cheerful, joyous and ringing notes could not break the gloomy spell tlmt had settled on my feelings. I therefore returned to tho liotel to jirepare for the home- ward joTirney. After breakfast, everything being ready, our kind Boul- der friends came in troo]»s to bid us a final farewell. The drive of twelve miles down the plain, through which flows the Boulder, by A'almont, and through the village of tho same name nestled at its feet, to the then terminus of the niilroail at Erie, was delightful and pleasant. The sky was perfectly transjmrent and of that deep azure blue of which tourists in Italy speak so enthusiastically. But in the East, as usual, over the plain hung a grayish, purplish haze. I do not knoAV how common this haze is, but every day I was out on the Plains lifteen or tM'enty miles from the mountains, while in Colorado and Wyoming, I encoun- tered ii. It is a meteorologic fact which should be inves- tigated, as it is a precursor of, and synchronous witli, elec- tric disturbances to the eastward of it. Its density also in- dicates the intensity' of the electric distui-bance. From the mountains I had noticed for several days that thchazo was more than usualh' dense and lurid. I then predicted great electric disturbances to the eastward, and got laugh- ed at for being so weatherwise. Yet on those very days tor- nadoes were raging from (ialvcston to Nebraska and east- Avard to Louisiana and Ohio. It was on one of those days, namely, the 16th of .Tune, that the town of Eldorado, in Kansas, was totally destroyed by a tornado. That riight, as Wf leil Denver, therc^ wasa brilliantaurora, which even the dense haze could not hide, seen as far east as Ohio j and the following night, Ilit> iSth, a most brilliant auroi-a was seen over the whole of the northern paft of tlie con- tinent, 1 therefore renewed my predictions, not only of storms but of earthquakes. The storms extended from Central Kansas to Xew York, and the earthquake occurred in New Jersev ami Brof)klvn on the 19th, and one at Lima on same date. It is well known that in California OVER TIIK PLAIN'S AND ON' TlIK MOCNTAINS. 241 they dread an earthquuko whencvci' a lurid luizo .sj)reada over the sky; and the recent terrible hurricane in the West Indies and the coast of Florida, accompanied by an earthquake, was synchronous with a lurid lia/,o that spread I'rom Western ^Nebraska to Central Ohio and south into Mississippi, and with a most brilliant liory red aurora. The record ofjdiysical }»lu'nomena occuri-ing all over tho globe, which I am keeping, shows the unvarying; contem- poraneousness of earthquakes, cyclones and otluT elec- trical disturbances, with auroras, lurid haziness and sun- spots as far as I am able to obtain the latter. In Europe, as my record also shows, these electric disturbances are often preceded by the phenomenon of mirai^e. Eeturning now to our drive to Erie : \Y^hen we had as- cended the terraced plateau some four miles east of Valmorit looking eastward, I saw distinctly an image, though faint, of tho mountains behind us reflected in the haze. It soon vanished, and I saw it no more. I called Mr. Ephraini Pound's attention to it, (who was kindly taking us in his carriage to Erie.) I remarked, " I suppose we must call that mirage, though to do so knocks all the philosophy of the wiseacres into a ' cocked hat. ' " They have only one explanation to give of this phenomenon, and that is, that it is caused by tho refraction of light through su])erim- posed strata of atmosphei-e of difterent densities; but this is not tho refraction but reflection of light. "This mirage," said he, " is a wonderful thing. I have seen it, not faint as it is )iow, but as clear and distinct as if it came from a looking-glass. One day I Avas driving along listlessly, almost in a half dreamy state, when sud- • denly I raised my eyes, and my first impression was that somehow my horse had turned around and was going home again. But looking behind I saw that lie was all right. I then knew it was mirage, but more distinct than I had ever seen it before. I then saw that it came as though from a looking-glass more elevated than my posi- tion; for r could see objects reflected that I could not see 16 242 0\'ER THE PL.\I\8 AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. from tho point where I was. There was White Rock and Valmont just as you see them now, and there was the Boulder flowing down througli the plain as distinct as though I stood over it, and lioulder City and the mouth of the canyon, too, which you see are hidden behind Val- mont. It was tho most woiulerful sight I ever saw. '' Fremont, in his journal, mentions the same phenomenon. Seeing, what he supposed, some horsemen opposite in a fog-bank, he sent one of his Jiu'ii to meet them, to ascer- tain who they win-o, w]\y they were apparently trying to head him ott', and what object they had in view. As his messenger departed, h(^ saw one of the strange party do the same; and discovered it was liis own ])arty mirrored back by the haze. We had now arrival ut Erie, and had but ten minutes to spare. We therefore! took cordial leave of our friends, Messrs. Pound, (/ors(Mi and C'aplain Austin, who had taken U8 to tlu! dejiot, and who wished us a ])leasant and safo journey, which we reciprocated by wishing tbcn\ long life anting shadows throw In thy abyss, and tlien tlie charining scene Is bathed in twilijihl irlooni. And high o'erhead The golden eagle soars in circles wide, And shrieks in triumph his hoar.-e thrilling notes; — The exulting shout of Liberty. ^Vliile I gazed on thee and thine, I was entranced. And saw things strange, and wnmlerful, sublime Ueyond all utterance. 3Iy thoughts afire All wild on wandering wings soared upward far Above this mocking unsubstantial world Of shadows, to realms empyreal, where Nor change, nor deatli, nor phantasy have place. Ye great and glorious Mountains, holil the keys T'unlock the secret chambers of the heart; Ye have the power to ciiange the iickle soul And harmonize its music with the spheres. Earth has no greater joj' to me than t!ii>; To flee the world and its corroding cares. And dwell amidst your rugged secnies, and fields Of ice and snow; tu hear the soothing hum Of flowing waters, and a requiem sung J5y odorous winds; to hear the eagle's shrill wild shriek; To listen to the thund'ring cataract's roar; To see in wild confusion, rocks on rocks, And clifls on cliff that scale the low'ring cloud ; To lay the ear upon your bri-ast and feel The throbbings of your mighty heart, and hear Entranced the gushing forth of Nature's sweet And glorious harmony, until I feel 3Iy .soul enlarged, enraptured, transported, Exalted far above the sordid (;ares, Gross pliiasures, and blind passions of the age; — Ah this '\i real, noble life indeed ! The transient spell that on my dreaminjr mind Had fallen and kindly ta'en me back To thoughts and ic.c.nf:^ s() wild and glorious Is broken now; and from alar I look Upon your snowy fields, and jagged peaks All clothed in sombre blue. Ere drops the veil OVKll THK ri-AIXS AXI> (iX TIIK MoIXTAINS. 245 That must furcver hide fiinn nn-, vour all Imi)osiiij; Ljiaiuleur. an 1 inaj<'>lio iniuii, Ray, cannot ye unseal those silent lips That keep the secrets, which from eldest Time Frail maii has tried, in vain, to wrest from you And yours; and which with expectatio!! wild The World on tiptoe e'er has stood to hear ? Thus far to me ynui- lin-mn ye've unveiled. And with a voice- inclodifuisly sweet. And nii<'n all ehjijuent. me have yc taught To understand the woightj- import of The lesson j^reat, ye were designed to teach To my benighted race, of grandeur, power, Wisdom, ])urity, and Orunipcitenee. "Will not ye, \s'liosi) resounding echoes make So many-tongued the thunder's awful peal, Make me your confidant and whispei- now Though in the lowest, gentlest brcalii. tlie word That gives the clew by which to tread tlx; maze Whose ititricacy has, till now, perplexed Confounded and embarrassed, iv.ul delied The purest, nob'e-t, highest effort^ of the mind; And solves t!in laws and causes of your birth? Ye i)rattling tell-tale Waters whose glib tongue The palsying frost doth strive in vain to hush, To me will ye not now divulge the strange And thrilling secrets of these mountains old, By telling how they rose alxjve the sea And plain ? Will ye impart the wonderful Mysterious argument to fill the blank, — The abysmal blank, up on the scroll That men call history; how living things Arose and flourished; then in Ocean waves O'erwhelmed, how long they lay in darkness and In ruin ; how amid the eartluiuake's shock When reeled the world and stars were blotted out, And darkness prime had filled again the deep Abyss, their forms arose above the sea, For aye preserved in stones as fossils strange? How long they've lain as now they lie upon The mountain side, or deep beneath the plain ? Ah, yes, enumerate the cycles long Of loveliness, of ruin, which have swept The earth by turns; how oft the Earth so lovely, green. 346 OVER THE ri>AIN3 ANO 0\ THE MOI\NTAINS. And filled with life exuberant, becHrne The bart. Ye hpav(!n-pnintin£j Peaks, and pearly I'"loods That tc-ach to ^lan bo nuich ; will ye not now Unfold the thrillinc; and transporlin;^ story Of all ye saw, and part of whicli ye wure In all the <;reat iilimitfible Past? What! .Silent still ! Not one small voice comes forth. The echo of the myriad years, to tell The wond'rin'd had seized This trembling Hph>Te; wild whirlwinds racki-d the Earth, The air. the sky. T!ie ll;ishing lightning cleft Th'abyss of d'lrkness shrouding Heaven and Earth; 'Twas thiTi in "• ir*.h'|Uake's ODUch, w'lile Oceim seethed. The .iir-!:encd Ivirtli y\wtn' I wide, mid gave ye birth, OVRR THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 247 "ye woiidi;rful, sublime, majestic, prand And beauteous Mountains. The tempest then grew calm ; The st^^irm's dark clouds flew swift ua leaves before Th'autumnal blast; the <,'entie 3I<)oii look<'d forth ; And silvery stars beamed bright and calm In the etherial space. Anon the pure And golden dawn l)roke forlli ; and Orient Sun Before iiis throne drove bac'k the; ebon spirit of "That fearful night; and when green Karth awoke. She found a i loudlesssky. Jlild zephyrs blew To fan and cool your glowing, infant brows; And there ye stood as now \e stand, gloriou-;, , Resplendent, great, magniflcent and calm, Sublime, immutable, majestic, And prou 1, a mystery iinfathomably deep. The ever-during wonder of my puny race. When I in ct)nteniplation wnipped behold The instability of ^lan, his works; — all that He is, and what he's wrought ; how rapidly New nations, tribes and peoples have, in turn. Arisen like the bubbles on a stienm And danced, and glittered fi)r awhi'e, then bur^t. Dissolved and disappeared from Ktirt'i ;— effaced For nye, and vanislied into airy nought ; Ah, well may I a frail ephem'ral child Of clay then weep, to see the pride ajid power And evanescent glory of my race, Fade like a mi>rning mi-t. and lost to sight. Yea, from all memory lost. Relentless Time Has ever fed upon liis off-spring; spared Nor young, nor old, nor beautiful, nor brave. We call him cru^d, but alike he treats Proud ilan, the crawling worm, the mountains high. And continents an 1 seas ; e'en the bright orbs That roll in glory through ee'estial s]>ace ; — All are engulfed and swallowed up by him. I weep, but sweet it is to shed such teius. For thus the heart o'erburdoned finds relief, And throws its sorrows off, But ye ne'er weep Nor know of sorrow, feel no grief nor care ; P'orye seem over-during as the Sun ; iS'or Time writes on your brows the boding lines Indelible of coming change and growing age. .Storms beat upon your naked breast, and then 248 i>VKR THK IM-AINS AN1> (i\ THE MOUNTAINS. Tho lii;htniiii^ glares upon your brows: the hoarse Ami bcllowiiii;- tlniiuler sliakes your sides; liut ax.uro ealni returns, and finds no -wound I'pon yf)ur breast, nor sear upon your brow. Day roHows niijht, and Ni^ht t!ie dyin^^ day; Tlie seasons come Hnd ujo ; and fleetin;^ years Pass and return, yet on your adamantine fi-ont Thouixh stern and old, Deeay nor Dcatli will set Their witherini; seal, nor leave a traee or mark Upon your brow ; but warmtli, a radiance rnild T^nfadinjuj beaut,, and the vigorous glow Of an immortal youth, sit high enthroned As erst : — the pledge seeure of endless years. Ye Mountains, rugged, strong, unchanging, grand, "NVilh beauty wild and terrible, your dark And dcej). mysterious chasms, o'erhiuig Hy toppling rocks, and your cold icy peaks That glitter like a distant star: ye seem Eternal ; think y(; the poignant words "No mork " Do not apply to you ; reesrved for such As me and mine? Yet in the future age To you will come, as comers to all beneath The stars, destructive change, llent, hurled and whelmed In ocean waters deep, the njlling wave AVill be the mound that marks your grave. Alas, ~\Vho then will come to weep and shed the bitter Tear above your tomb, save I from far, From bright abodes where the Eternal are ? 'Tis thus we part, but part to meet again, iiotli now aiKl then. A tenant for awhile Of this terrestrial sj>here, though I may roam .Vfar, I still behold your shadows weird ; And though to eyc's your wondrous forms no longer speak With burning words and eloquence so fierce That set my s.iul alirc: yet iti my heart I hear amongst your pines theso'.ig'iing wind ; I gnyji upon your silvery lakes, your cliff.-i And rocky ramparts, icy peaks, fir-clad Escarpments, gon^es deep and roaring waterfalls, And rusliing, surging stnjams in rocky beds; And as I ga/.e nu'lodious voices fill Mine cars, a glowing thrill darts through my veins. Mine eyes dilate, my heart with rapture swells, With wonted fire my soul's imbued again. And holds communion with the Great Unseen. OVKR TIIK PLVrXS AND I()lj\TAI NS. 249 Wc .soon run into the gniy li;i/^i' ^vlli(•h shut out the mountains, ns woW as out off everything from view on the Phiiiis, and wo saw them no nioi-c. The sun iiad a lurid ghire ; and a jtort'oct <^-ale of hot wind blew from the .South. Sevci-al jaelcass rabbits loping- away, a fewanteloj^es scud- diiii^ off over the Plains, and the killin<^of a calf belontrin^ to herdei's who had not precaution to clear tlie track of their Ktoek in time, were the only incidentsthat diversified the trip to Denver, where we arrived at three o'clock. -lvumnia<;- iiii^ tlii"ouu;!i the contents of a news depot, we Unind some stray eopies of different dates of the Democrat and Jtepub- lican, whieh to<^other posted us both as to news at homo and the world abroad that occurred while we w(M"e buried in the^reeesses of the )iiountains. With these avo whiled away the time until half-past nine, when the eastward- bound train lelt. We were soon ensconced in the com- fortable berths of Pullman's palace sleeping cars, and ob- livious to ever3"thing passinj^ around us. Jiut on we sped in charge of the fiery steed, and d;iy met us at Kit Carson,, near the eastern limits of Colorado. 250 OVEtt THK PLAINS ANl) OS THE MOUNTAINS. CIIAI'TEU XX. At Kit CarHOn there hud been rains ^vitiurl a few days, and vegetation looked fresh iind thrifty. At Arapahoe (pronounced Ah-mp-a-lio ) thirty-five miles east, it had rained heavily, as the hullUlo wallows on the Plains and ♦'xcavations along the railroad were yet filled to overflow- ing with water. At Pond Creek, at an elevation of over 4000 feet, the industrial agent, II. 8. Elliott, of the Kansas Pacific railroa'l, lias one of his experimental stations, at which were sown wheat, rye, barley and corn, all of which looked 7*emarkably vigorous and thrifty. The barley and r\'e were just coloring and would l)e rijic in ten days* There was also a nu.rsery of various species of deciduous trees grown from seed the present fiCJison, which were very flourishing, and the brilliant groen of their lcave^s con- trasted beautit'ully with the black moist soil on which tliey stood. Al Wallace, a meal sUttion, where we took breakfast, we met ilr. Elliott, \\ lio cxprcsscMl himself sanguine of the triumphant success of liis experiment. So far as we could judge there appeared nothing to prevent th(^ realization of his fondest ho]»cs, nami'ly : 'Diat of abolishing the " (Jreat American Desert." Off again, we successively passed Sheridan, (Jopher, Monument, Carlylc, (jrinnell, liuftalo, Ooyot*^, Park's Fort, Ogallah, ete., all stati(m.s from ten to fil'tecn miles apart, consisting generally only of the station house and tene- ments of th,e subterranean dwcfllings already mentioned, or cabins, though occasionall}' there ar«! a few neat and comfortable cottages. The whole hori7,on otherwise encloses an ex- 0V^:R THK PL.1IN.S AND ON THR MOUNTAINS. 251 panse of treeless, .shruble.ss plain, covered -with the whort, velvety buffalo grass. The only thing that gives variety Is the old buffalo trails, leading straight as the flight of an arrow north and south over the Plains, which can be fol- lowed with the eye, as far as sight can reach, by the deeper color and richer green of the butTalo grass. At short intervals we passed prairie dog villages, and, aa we had nothing else to do, we watched, for amusement, their antics when alarmed by the approach! iilc tniin. The first thing was for each member of the iamily to i-un home on the approa(!h of the train, then take a jKsep for an instant, when up would. fly heels and tails, and they were out of sight. The old one of every hillock, whom Ave took to be the paterfainilias, generally faced about when he got to the liole, and set himself up straight to look at and study the monster that creates such alarm and consternation in the village whenever he passes. AYhcn sitting up straight, in color, size and position lie looks like a ten-j)!n set on top of tlu'. hillock. Well, since there is so much uniibrniily and sameness in the landscape of these Plains, the variety of objects is lim- ited and their discussion soon exhausted. P'or want of something else, let us while away time by talking of this our unjustly stigmatised little friend, the Prairie Dog. A welcome friend he always is, for he relieves us of ennui, and breaks up the wearisomencss and dull monotony of these wide expansive and treeless Plains. For this I'eason he possesses, aside from his novelty, a permanent and abiding interest to all traversing this part of the Conti- nent. Ho was discovered by Lewis and Clarke, in their ever memorable expedition across the Continent to the Pacilic, in 1804, '05 and 'OB, and des(;ribed for the first time in their Journal. Thev called him the Prairie Doer, not because he is any way, even remotely, allied to the dog, or resembles him in nature and habits, but simply because he sounds his alarm not(^, " chip-ip-ip," so rapidly .and shrilly as to have some resemblance to the yelping of 252 OVER THE PLAIN'S AND ON TIIK MOUNTAINS. ;t pwp. Bill then, ovorybody talks of the liarkiiig of a S(iuirrol, yet iiultody thinks it a tsullicieiit leason tor calling' it a do;;. AVhv then should tlu' one be libelled, by beina: called a do-j;, tor velniiiui. ("nfortunately he has been many times christened, jjut the; names have not stuck widl, ex- cept the vulgar one given him by his discoverei's. The Indians called him lVi.'<20, describes him under the name ^jroposed by Prof Gutlu-ic. Audubon ]iro]>osed to call him iSpermopfiilu.-^ Ludovicia- nufi, because it seemt-d to him that he was nearer allied tO' the spermophiies than to the marinof. lie is, lioweverr less litlie and less active than thc^ sj)ci-nio])hiles, and not so short ann(lai;-e, ati animal that can t^lcoj) in the .shadow of liin tail '/ r>ah ! Sciuru.s indeed I Why all Squirrcldum foel.s insulted hy the propo- nition ! But recent zoologists liave called him Cynomys Zudovidanu'<. Cynomys literally Tiieans Dog-mouse, or Do""-rat. llencc^ it seems that Hcientilie men arc not in accord as to what he actually is, nor as to what he shall be mimed, except the spccitic name of his tirst idea Hti-uck liim of going out on iho Plains and seeing the dogs at home, and ascertaining what kind of a life they led. Creeping as near to a villago as possible Avithout being discovered by them, or of alarming iheni, from his favor- able position lu> (;ould overlook the entire plot of the town, and sueh a frolicsome, Avild and madcaji set of fel- lows, lio had never seen beiore. The youngcn" ones were rompingj'rolling, tumbling and ]tlaying like so many kit- tens, whilst the older ones were running about saluting each other and chatting in the greatest glee. Every ono was constiintly on the move, except a big old fellow who sat very still' and stately on the hillock around his burrow, never moving. Evidently ho was the "big dog" of the town, perhaps, its Mayor, and could not unbend his dignity enough to take part in the sports and amusements of the village. Every dog in the town Avould run up to him and have a short chat with him and then scamper away ; but he felt too much the cares of State, or his own importance to relax ono moment from his gravity. From observing their habits and studying their charac- ter, the young man has become fully persuaded that to avoid disordei', each village is a municipality consisting of a regillarly organized government; and that this grave old chap is at the head of it. lie also averred that in some villages he had observed lluit the Jackass llabbit was the Potentate. lie reasoned in this way; that if tho race of big dogs through dissipation became degenerato or extinct, then if the villago had no dog largo enough to fill the bill, they elected a .Tackass Kabbit; because tho firet qualification for chief of a dog-toAvn is, altitudinal dimensions, so that they will have to look up to him. If that is 80, there should be no hesitation to admit that they arc a Avise race. Man, himself, could go and learn lessons of wisdom in politics from them; for the Ilujnan raco have in no case, excepting that of Saul, selected their head "256 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. man for qualifii-ations that •would constrain them to louk up to liini, cither physically, morally or intoilectually. However, inono respect they copy roinotelythe precedent set by the Pi-airie Dogj they generally take the animal, 7ni}uis the rabbit. I Biiw, myself, a Jackass Riibbit, of the largest size, sit- ting on the highest hillock of the town looking as grave and dignified as any J.ord Mayor, and surrounded by the dogs, but Avhether ho was lord paramount and was there officially to receive us and tender us the hospitalities of the town I cannot say, as we very unceremoniously j)assed l. — Farewell to them 248 to 248. — Arrival and departure from Denver 249. CHAPTER XX. Rains at Kit Carson in Eastern Colorado 2-50. — Pond Creek experi- mental station 76. — Buffalo trails on Plains 251. — The Prairie dog 262 to 2-56. — Snow fences 2-50. — Siroccos in Rummer and " Nebraska zeph- >-rs" in Winter on the Plains 258.— Herds of Buffalo 2-59.- Night storm -of rain 261. — Arrival at home 262. KANSAS PACIFIC R. R. CO. Our roatl rims FKOM KAiVSAS CITY, MO., To DEIVVER, G3S MILES. ALSO, A Branch from Leaven worth to Lawrence, 33 Miles. We have iilso, the Denver Facilic, Iroiii Denver to Cheyenne, 106 miles. Al- so the IJoulder Valley Railiouil, now completed to Krie; will be com- pleted to lioulder City this summer. We are buildinjr a road IVom Junction City, Kan.sas, to Chiy county, Kiinsa.s; and a road from Kit Carson to Fort Lyon", Color- ado. We probably will build a road from Lawrence", Kansas, to Car- bondale coal-tields, thir- ty-two miles, this summer. t Passengers leavinj; .St. Loui,^ at 8:30 a. m. , will reach Kansas Citv in time to take the westward express leiivinj^at 10:00 p. m. : arrive at Bro'okville at 9:45 a. m. and Denver next morumg at 7:00. Time, 46 1-2 hours. Dis- tance, 923 miles. PULLMAN'S Are Attached to Each Train. Passengers leaving St. Louis in tlie evening express train, will arrive at Brookville at 9:00 p. m. next day, and have a good night's rest. Rob't E. Carr, President. Adolphus Meier, V. President. 'C. S. Greeley, Treasurer. Edmund S. Bowen, Gen'l Sup't. Our specialties AUK /"!', 'i"vm-^-r'< - AND EPICURE BROILERS, Either of Which are Perfectly Jmlispcnsiible in every Well Regulated House- hold. Unequah il in the Combinefl Merits of Ecoiioiuy, I>iirability, Convenience, Cleanliness, and Excellence of Operation. A single Triul is all we ask, lieinjr sati.sfled that they will not fail to give I'l-rfect .S:iti»l:iCtion. SOLD IJV Excelsior •Jlanu/actHrlUf/ Co* 61*2 & <>l I .\. Main Street, St. I^ouis, AM) AM. Live Htove Dealerw. ^ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-50m-4,'61(B899484)4'14 AA 000 526 049 F 780 ; ;■;,■,* '■ v ^■;;^('^>^ ■'■;'•?'■•:;