317.94 
 
OF THE 
 
 UNIVLR5ITY 
 or ILLINOIS 
 
 S\7.S4 
 
 cop. a 
 
i 
 
Trip to California. 
 
 BY 
 
 le, . c. 3:sroBXj:E!. 
 
 PBINTED AT THE OFFICE OF 
 OUR BEST WORDS 
 
 Shelbytille, Illixois, 
 
 1890. 
 
•<7 
 
 }s/ io^ cr 
 
 TO MY MOTHER 
 THIS LITTLE BOOK IS LOVINGLY 
 DEDICATED 
 BY HER AFFECTIONATE SON, 
 
 K. O. NOBLE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 -4- 
 
 I. To New Obleans — 1 
 
 II. Theough Texas and Across the Continent.. 9 
 
 III. In Califoenia 17 
 
 lY. San Feancisco 43 
 
 V. The Betuen Joueney 51 
 
 VI. Denver & Eio Geande Railroad 58 
 
 VIL Kansas 69 
 
Errata:— Page 24, in the ninth line "Lice Junna" should 
 read "Tia Junna;" page 60, in the eighth line ''there" should be 
 "sheer;" page 66, in the eighth line **organ top" should read 
 "organ loft;" page 73, in the eleventh line should read "dear*' 
 instead of "clear." 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 I. 
 
 TO NEW OELEANS. 
 
 My wife and I had often thonglit of making this 
 little journey to the Pacific coast, and when the time 
 drew near for our departure, we found it was to be 
 quite an event in our rather monotonous lives, never 
 having traveled further east than the Atlantic, or 
 further west than the Arkansas river. We were quite 
 filled with enthusiasm at the prospect of so soon be- 
 holding the Pacific, and having the pleasure of say- 
 ing that we Jaad crossed the continent of America, 
 which, in these days of rapid methods of getting 
 around, is not considered much of an undertaking. 
 However little it may seem to others, it was quite an 
 event to look forward to in our lives. We had long 
 talked of such a trip and the time having arrived for 
 the realization of our hopes, we were quite elated and 
 felt like school children out for a picnic. 
 
 After making all necessary arrangements for our 
 domestic affairs and leaving our little flock in the 
 care of loving friends, our next great question was to 
 
2 
 
 OUB TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 / 
 
 select a route going, and a different one returning. 
 It was too early in the spring to think of the northern 
 route, and almost too late to think of the extreme 
 southern. But as California was not the one, and only 
 place we wished to see, we soon decided this very im- 
 portant question by selecting our route, going yia 
 Illinois Central to New Orleans, and from New 
 Orleans to San Francisco via Southern Pacific. This 
 selection gave us a glimpse of southern life quite as 
 much to be desired as the western, and at this time 
 of the year quite as pleasant. 
 
 On the 30th of April, 1888, we left Shelby ville for 
 Mattoon where we were obliged to remain until two 
 o'clock the next morning before taking train for the 
 south. We slept some at the hotel and finished our 
 nap on the cars before reaching Cairo, our first city 
 of any importance. We saw yery little of southern 
 Illinois, commonly called Egypt. What we could see 
 from the windows of our sleeper gave us the impres- 
 sion we were leaving a better country. Cairo is the 
 most southern city in Illinois, and is situated upon 
 the Ohio river quite close to where it unites with the 
 Mississippi. Here we had a most excellent breakfast, 
 and were not forced to eat seventy-five cents worth of 
 food in fifteen minutes as is so often expected, and so 
 seldom accomplished by the traveling public. We 
 had ample time, and a splendid meal, and then were 
 leisurely taken across the Ohio river. Our entire 
 train was run upon a large ferry boat, and then we 
 wore taken across the river and lauded where th^ 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 3 
 
 train could be once more run upon its track; and I 
 must say I felt as if we had a more solid foundation. 
 In; passing through. Kentucky we were kept quite 
 close to the river and saw very little good country, it, 
 was river bottom and subject to overflow. 
 
 Through Tennessee we saw some very good tim- 
 ber which could be used for railroad ties, or fence 
 posts, whenever the country demands such articles. 
 We saw very poor improvements. The greater por- 
 tion of the inhabitants are colored people, and live in 
 cheap wooden shanties, put out enough corn to keep 
 them through the winter and appear quite content 
 with life as they make it. To an enterprising farmer 
 in Illinois it would appear primitive in the extreme 
 to see people plowing with one horse and using old 
 ropes for lines; then, too, the corn was dropped by 
 hand by women and children, a practice obsolete in 
 the northern states these many years. It is not fair 
 to judge of a state by what you see from your car 
 window in passing through, but often in buying 
 goods merchants buy from samples and it is expected 
 the whole is to come up to the represented part. We 
 had a poor sample of Kentucky and Tennessee, also 
 Mississippi and Louisiana, and dare not render judg- 
 ment from the sample shown or our ideas would be 
 warped and one-sided. We could only think our 
 southern brothers could improve their methods in 
 agriculture as a science by a visit to Central Illinois. 
 
 As we neared New Orleans we found the country 
 very low and wet in many places, quite covered with 
 
4 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 water and swamps. We saw many little shanties set 
 upon poles five or six feet from the ground and en- 
 tirely surrounded by water. I wondered if the chil- 
 dren were web-footed and could swim, or were long 
 in the lower limbs, and good waders. From a pure- 
 ly artistic point of view these swamps would seem 
 quite lovely. A naturalist would find in them quite 
 a field for labor, besides the snakes and vermin. 
 Here we saw pine and oak trees with their branches 
 covered with the moss so often heard of, but never 
 before seen. It is a greenish gray color and looks 
 quite fantastic as the gentle zephyrs blow it back 
 and forth. Besides the trees and moss we saw many 
 rare plants and flowers we had never seen and found 
 only in a Southern climate. 
 
 Upon reaching the city of New Orleans, we 
 were driven to our rooms, previously engaged, where 
 we had time to shake some of the accumulated real 
 estate, not only from our feet, but our entire spring 
 suits. We found very pleasant rooms and a most 
 excellent table, at a very reasonable rate. Our hotel 
 was on the corner of Camp street and L^ f ay ette avenue 
 and our rooms faced upon a very pretty little square 
 or park giving us a good view and good air. As we 
 had slept quite well the night before on the train, 
 we were quite ready after breakfast to start out upon 
 an exploring expedition. 
 
 Our first visit took us to Oarrollton, about seven 
 miles out. We rode up St. Charles street, the most 
 beautiful street in the city. It is altogether a street 
 
0172? TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 5 
 
 of residence. Here we saw many lovely homes, sur- 
 rounded by large grounds, all beautifully planted 
 with trees, shrubs, and plants of nearly all kinds. 
 The orange tree in bloom and bearing fruit at the 
 same time, the magnolia tree in bud and full bloom, 
 evergreens, live oaks, flowers and vines, whose name 
 is legion, which, to fully appreciate their loveliness, 
 must be seen, as no one can describe their beauty and 
 fragrance. After a long cold winter in our northern 
 home, having snow and frost, cold winds and rain 
 until quite late, we more fully appreciated this luxury. 
 "We found CarroUton, but like many more places we 
 visit, the principal pleasure consists in getting there, 
 as the journey through the seven miles of homes and 
 lawns on either side of St. Charles street quite took 
 away our appreciation of an old tumble down town, 
 at the far end. Here we had a good view of the liv- 
 er and saw the levee. The river is so very wide it 
 looks more like a lake, and one can scarcely realize 
 that it is only a river. We saw many old negro 
 women fishing and tried to talk to some, but they did 
 not understand one word of English, they were 
 French or Spanish, and did not appear to be very 
 good fishers, judging from what we saw. 
 
 The next morning, May 3, we w^ere up quite 
 early, in order to see the people marketing in the 
 French markets. These markets are situated in the 
 old part of the city, among some of the oldest 
 streets, and are not very attractive from an out- 
 side view. They are arranged in stalls and coun- 
 
6 OiJB TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 ters or tables, very similar to other market houses ' 
 and contain nearly everything found in any market, 
 in the way of meats, fruits and vegetables; besides all 
 these in an endless variety, is to be found cheap 
 clothing, dry goods, notions, curiosities and many 
 other things not generally found in markets. One 
 thing you can depend upon finding, or seeing and 
 smelling in nearly every stall, booth or table, and 
 that is garlic. If you are fond of the vegetable and 
 enjoy the smell, a trip to the French markets will 
 quite repay in this respect alone. The stalls are most- 
 ly managed by French speaking people, although 
 nearly all speak English as well. After partaking of 
 a cup of very good chocolate, we left the markets for 
 other scenes, more cheering, if not more fragrant. 
 We next passed through a small park, admired the 
 many flowers and then visited the St. Louis Cathe- 
 dral, one of the oldest cathedrals in the city. Here 
 we found many worshipers returning from market- 
 ing, saw some fine paintings and many things of in- 
 terest. When we reached our rooms about eight 
 o'clock we were quite ready for breakfast and did 
 ample justice to the repast. After breakfast we went 
 to the general ticket office of the Southern Pacific 
 Eailroad Company where we selected our return 
 route after considerable delay as there seemed to be 
 quite a number of people who were going west, and 
 all were wishing to return over some other road. 
 After making a satisfactory selection we took a steam 
 motor car for lake Pontchartrain, about ten miles out 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA, 
 
 1 
 
 of the city. Here we found quite a lake, and quite a 
 resort. People who wish to spend the day fishing, 
 boating or picnicing, find all conveniences, and near- 
 ly every day hundreds of citizens and visitors can be 
 found here. As v/e were returning from the lake 
 we stopped off to see the cemeteries, which are very 
 different from those of other cities as the bodies of 
 friends are not buried in the earth but are placed in 
 vaults above ground. Some of these vaults are made 
 of granite, some of marble, and others, the larger 
 number, of common brick and mortar. The grounds 
 are well cared for and contain many beautiful trees 
 and flowers. The place is quite worth a special vis- 
 it. The water is so near the surface it would be quite 
 impossible to dig deep graves, as they would fill with 
 water, hence the necessity of making vaults and keep- 
 ing the bodies above ground. 
 
 In the afternoon of the 4:th of May we visited 
 the grounds where the Exhibition had so recently 
 been held. Here we saw nothing really worth seeing, 
 as the buildings were all taken away and the grounds 
 allowed to grow up in tall grass. I must make one 
 exception, and that is the Horticultural building, this 
 still remains and is full of rare plants, trees and 
 flowers, which we were quite pleased to see. We saw 
 several species of the banana tree, the large and dwarf 
 species, both kinds bearing fruit. The huge bunches 
 appeared quite out of proportion to the size of the 
 trees. We also saw an almost endless variety of the 
 cactus^ from California, New Merico and Colorado, 
 
8 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 some small, some large, one or two varieties were 
 quite a surprise to xis, they looked like immense 
 cucumbers, about twenty feet high, standing on one 
 end without any branches or leaves. They were 
 about one foot through and quite odd looking. We 
 also saw fan palm trees, from California and Colo- 
 rado, and many other trees and plants "too numerous 
 to mention," as farmers say on sale bills. The next 
 day we did some shopping and saw quite a good 
 deal of the city. Altogether we were much pleased 
 with our visit in New Orleans and regretted our in- 
 ability to stay longer. The air was moist, cool and 
 refreshing, the city looking its best, having at this 
 time of year the most bloom. Early as it was our 
 table was constantly supplied with fresh strawber- 
 lies, blackberries and early vegetables, green peas 
 and new potatoes. Like most cities there are many 
 things which require improving, the streets are not 
 well drained and stagnant water stands in many 
 places, and the buildings are not up to our modern 
 idea of a city, as they are old and quite shabby in 
 places. We had often read of the handsome Creole 
 residents of New Orleans. Very probably they exist, 
 but we saw nothing of them. The average northern 
 city contains quite as many handsome people, judg. 
 ing from what we saw in shops, on the street and m 
 the parks. For a few months in the latter part of 
 winter and early spring I think New Orleans a very 
 desirable place to visit. After May I am told it is 
 almost too hot for general comfort. 
 
II. 
 
 THROUGH TEXAS AND ACROSS THE 
 CONTINENT. 
 
 On the evening of the fourth of May we left New 
 Orleans, turning our faces towards the setting sun, 
 crossed the Mississippi river in a steamboat before 
 taking train for the west, and oiir idea of the width 
 and immensity of the "father of waters" was greatly 
 magnified. After reaching the west shore of the 
 river we took a sleeper on the Sunset route for Hous- 
 ton, Texas, and from thence ran down to Galveston. 
 Our sleeper did us little service that night as there 
 was a very merry party of southern planters on board, 
 who had been visiting New Orleans and were carry- 
 ing quite large samples of fire water or some other 
 exhilarating spirits with them. We had full bene- 
 fit of their free exhibit of jollity and lost most of a 
 good night's sleep as our fee. The next morning 
 about nine o'clock we reached Houston, quite a 
 
10 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 thriving little city of probably thirty thousand peo- 
 ple. There seems to be quite a spirit of enterprise 
 manifest here; and the chances are the city will be 
 much larger in the near future. 
 
 From Houston we were soon on our way to Gal- 
 veston, which place we reached about noon and were 
 immediately driven to the Beach hotel, the best in 
 the city. The hotel is situated, as the name would 
 imply, directly on the beach, and from the windows 
 and verandas we had a charming view of the Gulf. 
 Here we found the air delightfully cool and refresh- 
 ing. Galveston is situated upon an island of the 
 same name, about two miles wide and twenty-seven 
 miles long. The island is quite flat, very like a large 
 sand bar, and frequently suffers much from storms, 
 especially from tidal waves. The city is quite well 
 built, has a great many beautiful homes, all having 
 large and attractive grounds, has every appearance 
 of wealth, with age to tone down the newness, so often 
 found in western cities. Galveston is a great cotton 
 market. The one great disadvantage she has to con- 
 tend with is her shallow harbor. Should the com- 
 mittee now appointed to secure a deep water harbor 
 on the Gulf locate at Galveston and succeed in open- 
 ing a deep harbor, Galveston's future will be bright 
 and property rapidly advance, as she will not only be 
 an outlet for the grand state of Texas, but also for the 
 nation, Kansas and Nebraska as well as Colorado and 
 New Mexico, as it is much nearer to Galveston than 
 New York from these states and territory. Galves- 
 
OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 11 
 
 ton lias a poj^ulation now of about thirty -fiye thous- 
 and. The next day was Sunday and we spent the day 
 watching the breakers roll in and the bathers roll in 
 the breakers as well as seeing the carriages along the 
 beach. It is said Galveston has the finest beach for 
 driving of any city in America. About this I do not 
 know, but I do know the beach here for driving and 
 walking is very good. There is a stretch of many miles 
 of white, hard sand w^hich is much used for pleasure 
 driving etc. Next to New Orleans we enjoyed Gal- 
 veston and would heartily recommend any traveler 
 through Texas to make this city. 
 
 From Galveston we went directly to San Antonia, 
 one of the principal inland cities in Texas, and about 
 as large as Houston or Galveston. It is said to be 
 the oldest incorporated city in the United States. 
 The U. S. government building on Government Hill, 
 two miles from the city, is one of the most beautiful 
 and elaborate military posts in the country. While 
 in San Antonia we visited the old Spanish mission 
 called the Alamo. This building was built by the 
 Franciscan monks many years ago. The object 
 was to Christianize the wild Indians. Little prog- 
 ress was made in this direction. It was here also 
 that David Crockett lost his life while defending; 
 the town against the Mexicans. The building is 
 made of stone in the form of a cross, with a few small 
 windows near the roof, and not at all a cheerful place 
 for worship. The climate of this part of Texas is 
 said to be very dry and healthful. The city is com- 
 
12 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 pact and well built, but is sadly in need of wider 
 sidewalks. The walks are good enough but so very 
 narrow two people cannot walk together and pass 
 another without walking single file or going off into 
 the street. Many cattle kings make San Antonia 
 their home who can count their cattle by the thous- 
 ands. Eight here let me say as much as we hear and 
 read of cattle kings and Texas cattle, we were quite 
 prepared to expect good steak at our hotels, but alas for 
 Texas steers, we never from New York state to Cali- 
 fornia tasted such poor beef as in Texas. It was dry, 
 stringy, coarse, and not at all like our Illinois beef, 
 fed on blue glass and corn, and the cattle we saw if 
 not quite dead, were almost dead, they were so thin 
 and starved looking. I suppose it is a struggle for 
 life during the winter months, and the weak ones go 
 to the wall and the more enterprising live,— simply a 
 '^survival of the fittest," and those that lived all winter 
 were not fit for steak or roast beef. I would suggest 
 fewer in number and better care. 
 
 After leaving San Antonia we went direct to 
 El Paso, a thriving young city in western Texas, 
 situated upon the Kio Grande river and containing 
 about ten thousand people. The city is quite young 
 being about six years old, but is nicely planned and 
 very compact having many good, solid looking brick 
 blocks, also electric lights, water works, and street 
 car lines on several streets. The city is situated very 
 nicely having no near rival. It is eleven hundred 
 miles from St. Louis and about as far from San Fran- 
 
OUB TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 13 
 
 Cisco. Eents are very higli and property in good 
 locations quite high enough for the size of the place. 
 There is little rain fall during the year in this part of 
 Texas and the altitude is very high, consequently the 
 air is very dry and heavily charged with electricity. 
 I am told it is a very healthy place and the climate 
 peculiarly helpful to those suffering from lung or 
 bronchial troubles. The surrounding country is very 
 much like a desert— very little vegetation as little 
 rain falls; and at present only very crude attempts at 
 irrigation have been made. I think sometime dams 
 may be made across the Eio Grande river and water 
 drawn from this source to irrigate considerable of 
 the low lands bordering along the river. V/e saw 
 some fair vegetables and some vines looking healthy. 
 
 Just across the Eio Grande river is situated the 
 old town of El Paso del Norte, a Mexican town. This 
 is a very interesting little town. Here we had our 
 first glimpse of Mexican life and found it, ''compared 
 to our American manner of living," very primitive 
 and not likely to have many followers. The stores and 
 dwellings were made of clay bricks dried in the sun. 
 These are called adobe. The houses are one story 
 high, generally whitewashed on the out and inside, 
 and almost windowless. Should there be a window 
 it is generally found quite near the roof. There are 
 quite a number of stores carrying large stocks of 
 goods and doing a large business. We saw consid- 
 erable silver jewelry and some Mexican opals offered 
 quite reasonably low, also some very ingenious work 
 
14 
 
 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 in wax. While in El Paso del Norte, we visite l the 
 old mission church dedicated to the Lady Guadalupe. 
 This is another old Spanish mission established 
 several hundred years ago by the Franciscan monks. 
 The building is in a very good state of preservation, 
 and is now used by the Eoman Catholics as a place of 
 worship. We were told the wonderful story, ''not new 
 to us," of the origin of the banner hanging in the old 
 church in the city of old Mexico, also dedicated to the 
 Lady Guadalupe, which, if true, is a very remarkable 
 occurrence and quite miraculous. We saw a few Mexi- 
 can women enter the church for confession and pray- 
 ers. We could see little of their faces as they all wore 
 Bome old veils or shawls over their heads, Spanish 
 fashion, a very good idea, we thought, for the homely 
 ones to adopt. 
 
 After leaving El Paso we passed through part 
 of the territories of New Mexico and Arizona. Saw 
 very few towns of any importance, and absolutely no 
 vegetation of any kind, save of the cactus family and 
 sage bush; a few cottonwood trees were growing 
 where they could receive constant care and water 
 daily, and these looked lonely and ashamed of their 
 desolate surroundings. The land looked rich and 
 capable, in many places, to produce quite a variety 
 of trees and vegetation could there be sufficient water 
 applied; but the whole country for miles in every 
 direction appears quite destitute of water, and when 
 a breeze passes over this dry land the air is filled 
 with sand and dust, very demoralizing to clean linen. 
 
OXJB TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 15 
 
 Several copper and silver nrines are worked, but are 
 not very profitable to investors — so I was told by a 
 Scotch gentleman who is largely interested in mines 
 and cattle ranches in New Mexico. Of course we 
 saw the cactus plants in almost endless variety and 
 iu all stages of growth and bloom; these were very 
 beautiful as well as quite odd, but, after seeing them 
 exclusive of all other flowers for nearly five hundred 
 miles, we were not very enthusiastic the last hundred 
 miles over fresh beds of cactus. We were very glad 
 when we reached Yuma, where we were to have break- 
 fast and a few moments rest. Here we had a very 
 good breakfast and saw the ''noble red man" in great 
 numbers. We v/ere much interested in their appear- 
 ance, as we had not seen tnem in such large numbers 
 or so much native glory. Many of the m-n were 
 quite well formed and strong and vigorous looking. 
 The women also were very healthy looking; many 
 had their faces smeared with several colors of cheap 
 paint— yellow and red very largely predominating; 
 all wore their hair hanging down their backs, and 
 very few of either sex wore a full suit of clothes. 
 We saw one old fellow with a shirt on, and this con- 
 stituted his entire wardrobe; his wife, or a woman 
 who was near him, had on a cheap skirt of some sort 
 and a flimsy shawl over her shoulders, this was her 
 full costume. The entire outfit for both would have 
 been dear if costing over five dollars. If the TJ. S. 
 government has the clothing to supply the bill can- 
 not be a very extravagant one. Fortunately for them 
 
16 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 the climate of Yuma is of such a character as to sug- 
 gest future punishment and clothing for warmth is a 
 needless appendage. My wife gave one of the women 
 some oranges for her child which was strapped on 
 her back. The woman took them and thanked us in 
 a very pleasant and dignified manner, showing her 
 appreciation of a small kindness. Yuma is situated 
 upon the Colorado river, just where California joins 
 Arizona and old Mexico. There is little to see save 
 the old fort and the numerous Indians. The entire 
 country looks like a desert. The climate is said to 
 be very dry and healthful. About the healthf ulness 
 we could not vouch, but about the dryness and hot- 
 ness we bad not the least doubt. Yuma is the place 
 where the story is told of a man who had lived here 
 quite a number of years, when he finally died and 
 was taken to a region where ice is not known and 
 otherwise noted for its diy climate. He appeared 
 dissatisfied and very uncomfortable and when some 
 one asked him what he wanted he said he had just come 
 from Yuma, and he felt as if the change of climate 
 was too sudden and he would like an overcoat. We 
 did not find it much cooler after leaving Yuma and 
 entering the state of California. 
 
m. 
 
 IN CALIFOENIA. 
 
 Oar first impressions of California were not ve^y 
 flattering or favorable, as our line of travel took us 
 through the worst and most desolate part of the state. 
 Entering the state at the extreme southeastern cor- 
 ner we were taken for over one hundred miles 
 through the dry bed of some extinct lake, and we were 
 quite three hundred feet below the sea level with 
 nothing to see on all sides but a great ocean of sand- - 
 no vegetation of any kind, not even the hardy cactus 
 which we had seen for miles before. Off on both 
 sides great mountains towered forming a background 
 to the once salt lake. The heat was almost beyond 
 endurance. Although in a Pullman palace car and 
 surrounded by all the comforts and conveniences of 
 modern travel we were very uncomfortable for several 
 hours— nearly one whole day in fact— before reach- 
 ing higher and cooler regions. We could very read- 
 ily understand the privations and sufferings of the 
 
18 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 early settlers of California who came over this old 
 trail. About three oclock in the afternoon we began 
 ascending the mountains; and soon struck a cool cur- 
 rent of air from the Pacific ocean which relieved our 
 very uncomfortable atmosphere of some of the intense 
 heat. As we ascended the mouiitains, we soon began 
 to notice evidences of some vegetation, and soon found 
 small trees and grass, and before six o'clock p. M. were 
 quite out of the desert and in a region very pleasant 
 to behold, and very enjoyable. The air was cool, and 
 we for the first time began to realize that we were in 
 the much talked of California. Our first stopping 
 place was Colton, where we remained over night in 
 order to rest and refresh ourselves before again 
 proceeding upon our journey. 
 
 After a bath, a good supper and a night's rest, 
 we were quite prepared to see all there was to be seen 
 in Colton. This is only a small town, where two rail- 
 roads cross and just where the orange region com- 
 mences. It is only a few miles from Colton to River- 
 side where the famous Washington Navel oranges are 
 grown, but of this I will speak later. We saw quite 
 a number of nice homes with lawns covered with 
 bluegrass — an article not much seen west of the 
 Mississippi river; also saw orange trees in bloom and 
 full of ripe fruit, and many beautiful flowers. The 
 air was quite cool, although the sun shone brightly. 
 In the near distance great mountains could be seen 
 with snow covering their tops. We visited one 
 mountain where marble is being quarried. The 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 19 
 
 marble is very fine and much used in building 
 Property is not unreasonably high in Col ton; there 
 are several good streets of business blocks, and the 
 place may have a future. 
 
 From Oolton we took train south for San Diego. 
 This thriving and much boomed little city is situated 
 in the extreme southwest corner of California upon a 
 small bay of the same name and has an excellent har- 
 bor — the best on the Pacific coast outside of San 
 Francisco. On the train from Colton to San Diego 
 we met some friends we were very glad to see as well 
 as much surprised. We were soon in San Diego and 
 went directly to our friends' home on Logan avenue. 
 Here we remained nearly two weeks enjoying the 
 glorious climate and bay every moment. 
 
 There is little to sav about San Diego as a city 
 that would be new to most American people, as the 
 city has been so extensively advertised and boomed 
 there remains nothing more to be said; we only re- 
 peat a few facts worth mentioning leaving climate and 
 bay for more enthusiastic writers. San Diego at 
 present is quite a thriving little city of about twenty- 
 five thousand people. It is beautifully located upon 
 the foothills, giving the residents almost any desired 
 elevation for their homes. The grades are not too ab- 
 rupt, but quite steep in places; and one can have 
 their choice from the level of the ocean to the top of 
 some adjoining mountain. The bay is small, about 
 two miles wide by ten long, but is deep and consid- 
 ered excellent. The country around the city I can 
 
20 OUB TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 say little about, as like all southern California it ib 
 too dry to produce vegetables or fruit without irriga- 
 tion, and but little headway has been made in this 
 direction, as water for such purposes is very scarce- 
 most of the large streams io California flowing into 
 the bay near San Francisco, about the center of 
 state north and south, and very few streams are 
 found south. Then, too, the country is very moun- 
 tainous and rocky with very few wide valleys, leav- 
 ing comparatively little real desirable good farming 
 land even coiald it be watered. Then, too, the spec- 
 ulator and boomer has taken hold with a death like 
 grip and killed the little inducements the country 
 might offer for settlers in advancing comparatively 
 worthless land to ten times the value of good land 
 found in eastern states, leaving little for a poor man 
 to desire save the climate and bay, which certainly 
 are all any reasonable creature could desire but do 
 not sustain life long alone. 
 
 People, and intelligent people, differ very much 
 in their opinion as to the future of San Diego as a 
 city. I will not give all I heard, only two extreme 
 views. One gentleman from St. Louis I met in Eiv- 
 erside, a gentleman of wide views and much business 
 esiperience, the president of some car manufacturing 
 (Company, told me he thought San Diego would make 
 a very prosperous and a large city in a few years; he 
 thought the harbor was a sufficient inducement to ship- 
 pers and wholesale and manufacturing men to build 
 tip a large city, even Were there no land worth having 
 
PUB TRIF TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 21 
 
 within one hundred miles of San Diego. Another 
 gentleman of much travel through California told 
 jne San Diego county was the worst county in the 
 whole state and with nothing to ship from the haAor 
 but sand, the city could never be very large. These 
 are both probably extreme views but are as I received 
 them. San Diego has now many beautiful homes 
 with lawns of bluegrass, flowers and shrubbery that 
 would compare favorably with older eastern cities; 
 has electric lights, water works, electric car lines, and 
 several steam motor lines as well as several railroads, 
 with ships from many ports on its harbor. The lum- 
 ber teade is immense. The lumber is brought in 
 boats from the north and unloaded here and then 
 shipped by rail to inland cities, Los Angelos and other 
 places with no or very poor harbors. The city at 
 present is suffering greatly from a very large supply 
 of town lots and a very limited demand. I think I can 
 truthfully say I saw lots enough lying around the 
 city to fully accommodate a population of quite five 
 hundred thousand people, and, as there are now about 
 twenty-five thousand, there will for soaie years in the 
 future be no particular need to lay out fresh additions. 
 Many of these lots during the first excitement and 
 boom sold for fancy prices, but now are hanging fire 
 at less than one half what they could have been sold 
 for. Bents, too, for homes and business purposes 
 were very high but now are much reduced and quite 
 reasonable. 
 
 Our first excursion out of the city was to a place 
 
22 
 
 OUE TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 in the mountains called Sweet Water Dam. This is 
 a large reservoir furnishing water for National City 
 and Chulu Vista, two suburban town of San Diego. 
 The principal feature of this dam is the masonry. 
 The walls are built from one side of a deep ravine to 
 the other, and are about eighty feet high and probably 
 ten or twelve feet wide at the bottom, and four or five 
 on top. There is room on top for persons to walk 
 quite comfortably. The walk is guarded by iron 
 hand rails, making it quite safe. The water in the 
 reservoir, we were told, was over fifty feet deep and 
 constantly increasing in depth. The country is quite 
 romantic looking. The mountains were quite bare 
 and we sadly missed the trees and verdure so familiar 
 further north and east One very pleasant feature 
 of San Diego and most Calif ornian and western cities 
 is their means of travel. The cities are all well sup- 
 plied with street car lines, electric cars or steam motors 
 and these all run to some points of interest miles 
 out in the country. In this respect they are far in 
 advance of many eastern cities. Our friends accom- 
 panied us to Sweet Water Dam, and after admiring 
 the walls and scenery in general we had a most excel- 
 lent lunch, which we all did ample justice to, and 
 then returned home wiser and happier for our day's 
 adventure. 
 
 Our next trip was to a high rolling plateau 
 called University Heights, so called on account of 
 its eleyation and the probability of there sometime 
 being a university erected. The location is beauti- 
 
OUM TRIP TO VALIFORNIA. 
 
 23 
 
 ful, high and dry, commanding an excellent view of 
 the bay and city; all it lacks is the university and 
 students to quite satisfy one's expectations, as the 
 name suggests. This place is reached by an electric 
 car, running three or four miles from the city into 
 space, or town lots unsold and uninhabited, but not 
 unnumbered. The view from the heights quite re- 
 paid our efforts. Outside of this we saw little of 
 interest, save the never ending stakes showing town 
 lots marked off, splendid opportunities for invest- 
 ments which if not taken soon we would probably 
 miss a chance of making a fortune and such a chance 
 might never again be presented. We took the mat- 
 ter into serious consideration, hesitated betwixt 
 two opinions, and finally missed the chance, and 
 probably lost a fortune! After admiring the bay 
 and town lot stakes until we were thoroughly satis- 
 fied we returned to the city and the next day took a 
 little trip across the line into old Mexico. In 
 going we passed through National City, quite a thriv- 
 ing little place, having a good harbor and one rail- 
 road. San Diego and National City will soon be 
 one city as both are growing towards each other and 
 the distance be ween them is not great. After leav-r 
 ing National City we passed through Chulu Yista, 
 another suburban town on the bay. This place has 
 quite a number of very nice comfortable looking 
 homes, and is exclusively a place of residence. From 
 Chulu Vista we went to some hot sulphur Springs in 
 Old Mexico some distance across the line. We found 
 
24 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 everything here in a very primitive condition. No 
 conveniences of any kind in the way of hotels or 
 boarding houses; the bathing conveniences were 
 very rude and not inviting; the water we found quite 
 hot and strongly enough impregnated with sulphur 
 to suit the most fastidious. We drank some of the 
 water but did not bathe as we did not require such a 
 shock. On our return we passed through a Mexican 
 village called Lice Junna. This is a border town 
 and a resort for toughs, where upon Sundays, prize 
 fights, cock fights and bull fights ara indulged in 
 much to the entertainment of its patrons. Our stay 
 in this progressive place was limited having urgent 
 business in San Diego, besides the climate here is not 
 so good as nearer the bay. 
 
 Another very pleasant place of resort we visited 
 in company with our friends, was the island and 
 Hotel Coronado. The island is really a peninsula 
 joined to the main land by a very narrow neck of 
 land scarcely wide enough for a carriage driveway. 
 This seems a slight barrier to divide the bay from 
 the great Pacific ocean. The main land is not large 
 and is mostly platted into lots for homes. The 
 Hotel Del Coronado is the great attraction here, and 
 is in every particular a lovely place, situated upon 
 a point of land where the waters of the ocean and 
 bay almost meet. The hotel is built around a court 
 and this ground is planted with beautiful flowers and 
 trees, only to be found in a tropical climate. The in- 
 side of the hotel is elegantly furnished and compares 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 25 
 
 or far surpasses many of our eastern first class li otels 
 Here the sun shines, the birds sing, the flowers bloom, 
 the air is moist and spring like, not for a few weeks 
 or months in summer, but all the year around. Every 
 day is a repetition of the one preceding. Tomorrow 
 will be like today and today like yesterday, and right 
 here is where the southern coast of California has its 
 great advanta^^e and always will. There are no 
 storms, no thunder or cyclones, nothing but sun- 
 shine and flowers; of course there are fleas and some 
 loose sand flying around when the zephyrs are too 
 boisterous, but these are rare and the fleas bite as if 
 they were almost starved, I think they will soon die; 
 and then when the streets are sprinkled and the dust 
 ceases to fly this country will be quite perfect. A 
 few days after our visit to this famous hotel we were 
 invited by Miss N. to visit another seaside resort 
 further north. And right here in justice to our 
 friends, let me say we can never forget their untir- 
 ing efforts to make our visit most agreeable and 
 pleasant, nor the wonderful lunches that they pre- 
 pared for us; the remembrance of the same inclines 
 our mouths to long for more. The resort mentioned 
 further north on the coast is called La Jolla (pro- 
 nounced lah-hoe-yah), a Spanish name meaning ''the 
 hole." This resort is about sixteen miles north of 
 San Diego, and like many other towns on the coast 
 is very largely laid out but very little built. A good 
 hotel is situated upon the beach, but I think it is not 
 open for travelers; one or two small houses, xjrob- 
 
26 
 
 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 ably one occupied by some of the town company peo- 
 ple, the other vacant, ^ives a good idea of a town — 
 or this particular town. The beach is very pict- 
 uresque. Here we saw many beautiful gold fishes 
 in the water, quite close to shore; we also saw sea- 
 lions swimming around quite close and thousands of 
 crabs on the rocks; here also we noticed for the first 
 time a peculiar plant or plant- animal called the 
 anemone. In water, when open, they look like a 
 flower, but when closed and out of water they look 
 more like a piece of dark, cold starch. We also 
 found a great variety of small shells, very delicate 
 and pretty. 
 
 Returning from La JoUa, after having spent a 
 delightful day picking sea shells and wading along 
 the beach, we stopped for a short time at Pacific 
 Beach, another resort nearer San Diego and having 
 a large hotel and much better beach for bathing than 
 La Jolla, but not so romantic or quite so quiet and 
 retired. A few days rest and we were quite ready 
 for fresh fields or fresh resorts and the coast 
 abounds in these. The next place visited was Ocean 
 Beach, not far from San Diego and accessible with- 
 out the use of steam cars. Here we made quite a 
 party and had a sort of family gathering. The coast 
 is low and flat in places and oflPers splendid oppor- 
 tunities for surf bathing, in other places it is quite 
 rocky and very abrupt and rather dangerous. This 
 place also has a surplus of town lots offered for sale. 
 After walking along the beach and watching the tide 
 
OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 27 
 
 come ill, seeing the great waves break over the rocks, 
 we were treated to a famous dinner, having some- 
 thing of 'most everything desirable this beautiful 
 country affords. Some of our supplies were taken 
 from the sea and were much relished by all. Though 
 we were very hungry and our dinner so very tempt- 
 ing, one of our party quite surpassed all our efforts 
 in diminishing our supplies. After partaking of 
 quite a large sample of 'most everything and fre- 
 quently doubling the order, he finislied his repast by 
 trying to depopulate the Pacific or that part of it 
 by destroying the young and tender mussel, abivalye 
 something like a clam — only more so. He was very 
 successful in his efforts, so much so we were all com- 
 pelled to yield him the prize. "Well," he said, 
 never knew mussels were so good, and I never felt 
 so good in my life." He soon began to show his good 
 feeling by turning handsprings and standing on his 
 head on the beach. When, Lo! presto change, the 
 scene shifted, his countenance became ashen, the 
 imprisoned mussels made a strike for liberty or 
 death, or probably they preferred the deep sea; 
 however it was, they succeeded quite admirably 
 in reaching the coast, Jonah fashion, sadder but 
 wiser mussels. The boy. Oh! where was he? After 
 dinner we drove along the coast which soon changed 
 from a low flat beach to a steep rocky one, where we 
 saw great caves in the rocks, washed out by the action 
 of the waves during high tide. Some places were 
 quite frightful and dangerous to look into; here the 
 
28 
 
 OTJR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 waves came thundering and roaring np against tlie 
 rocks "sounding more like cannonading than anything 
 else I can think of. The view from these high rocky 
 bluffs was quite charming, the air very soft aiid warm, 
 and when it was time to return home our hearts were 
 filled with thankfulness for the happy days spent on 
 the coast and a feeling of almost sadness at times 
 came over us as we thought this would very likely 
 be our last day with our friends. Every moment had 
 been deeply enjoyed. We were so free from cares of 
 any kind, and our recreation so complete, having 
 every arrangement made for our pleasure and com- 
 fort planned by dear friends, we were sorry to once 
 more take up some of the burdens of life and be com- 
 pelled to plan and arrange all our future trips ourselves. 
 Oar time had been so fully taken up with picnics, 
 excursions, boat rides, drives etc., it all passed before 
 we were nearly ready to leave. We had only a few 
 weeks at our command and, as there were many places 
 of interest to visit before returning east, we were 
 obliged to shorten our delightful visit in San Diego 
 and turn our faces northward. 
 
 From San Diego we went directly to Elsinore 
 a little inland place among the mountains situated 
 upon the borders of a small sulphur lake, and having 
 numerous hot sulphur springs. The sulphur lake is 
 quite pretty to look at from a distance but upon a 
 near approach nearly kills one having a delicate sense 
 of smell. The fumes are horrible. We found a very 
 good hotel and enjoyed the baths. Here we found 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 29 
 
 it much hotter than on the coast and sadly missed 
 the cool breeze from the ocean. The smell of the 
 sulphur from the lake and springs strongly suggests 
 stale eggs. I did not at all relish this part, otherwise 
 it is quite a cosy little town, and a deliojhtful place 
 to bathe, fish, hunt or rest; we rested mostly. Our 
 next place of attraction was in the famous orange re- 
 gion and called 
 
 BIVERSIDE. 
 
 Eiverside is situated on the mesa or table 
 land, on the east bank of the Santa Ana river, and 
 about fifty miles from the sea coast; has an elevation 
 of eight hundred and fifty feet above sea level. The 
 valley is entirely surrounded by mountains ranging 
 from three thousand to thirteen thousand feet high. 
 The atmosphere is very dry, and is considered very 
 good for persons suffering from pulmonary or bron- 
 chial diseases; and a climate that is good for sick 
 people, is also good for well people. For ten months 
 in the year Riverside is considered almost a para- 
 dise to live in, but during July and August the days 
 are almost too hot for general comfort. It is only a 
 short distance to the sea whore the days are always 
 cool, making it a very desirable place for a perma- 
 nent residence. Eiverside contains many beautiful 
 iiomes, all having large orchards of orange groves; 
 also a large variety of other fruits, peaches, pears, 
 apricots, cherries, plums, prunes, olives, grapes, and 
 all the small fruits; and flowers of the most beautiful 
 kinds surround many of the homes. The different 
 
30 
 
 OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 denominational churches are well represented and all 
 appear well attended, as I am told the Ei\;grside peo- 
 ple are a prohibition and church attendirig people. 
 The public schools are also said to rank equal to east- 
 ern schools m cities of same size. 
 
 The great and principal attractive feature of 
 Eiverside, aside from its congenial climate, is the 
 cultivation of the orange tree. The annual sale of 
 fruits, which consists mostly of oranges, amounts to 
 nearly one million dollars. When we consider the 
 newness of the town and surrounding settlement we 
 more fully appreciate this vast fruit industry. The 
 streets are very uicely laid out, and homes on both 
 sides have large grounds, from j&ve to forty acres of 
 land, all planted in fruit— chieJiy the orange trees. 
 Riverside, like all southern California, is depend- 
 ent on irrigation for its prosperity. The better the 
 water supply the more the prosperity. Eiverside 
 has the best water supply in southern California, 
 having more water to the acre than any other settle- 
 ment. Land near Eiverside, like through all south- 
 ern California, is very high, and greatly prized by 
 the fortunate holders. In order that you may more 
 fully understand the value of real estate here, I will 
 give you the exact figures as they were given to 
 me by a real estate dealer, then you can more fully 
 appreciate our very low priced lands in central Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 Say you want twenty acres of land near Eiver- 
 
OVE TRIP TO CALIFORNIA, 31 
 
 side, this including water privilege will cost about as 
 follows: 
 
 Twenty acres land @ $1000 per acre $20,000 
 
 Sixteen hundred orange trees to plant @ $2,00 each . . 3,200 
 Benting and caring for same, one year @ $50. per acre, 1,000 
 
 Caring for orchard four years @ $30. per acre, 2,400 
 
 Interest on $20,000 @ 10 per cent, for five years 10,000 
 
 Cost of twenty acres with trees bearing, $36,600 
 
 This is simply the cost of your orchard. Your 
 
 houses and barns and grounds around house will cost 
 as much or little as you desire to expend. From 
 these figures you can readily see our poor eastern 
 people, small farmers, tenants, or day laborers, cannot 
 hope to buy large grounds near Eiverside; and people 
 of much wealth do not generally care to cultivate 
 oranges as a source of income. I cannot help think- 
 ing cheaper lands would be sooner occupied. B ut as 
 large as the figures per acre look I am told quite 
 handsome returns are realized. Some orchards re- 
 turn from $800 to $1500 per acre in fruit, yearly. 
 The average is about from three hundred to four 
 hundred dollars per acre, yearly, thus making a 
 large per cent, on the large investment. Then , too, 
 the climate you have free and this is one of Califor- 
 nia's chief attractions. The water for irrigation is 
 brought from some near river or mountain stream in 
 large ditches, and from the main ditch is run into 
 small ditches on each side of the street, and from 
 these small ditches it is run in small furrows on each 
 side of a row of trees. The orange trees are planted 
 
32 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA, 
 
 in rows very mucli like an apple orchard, only the 
 trees do not grow so large and are planted nearer to- 
 gether. These trees are cultivated about as we cul- 
 tivate corn, and water is turned upon the furrows 
 about once in six weeks. Our visit in Eiverside was 
 not long, but very pleasant and profitable in many 
 ways. One drive in particular we very much enjoy- 
 ed, this was through Magnolia avenue. This avenue 
 is about eight miles long and quite wide. It has a 
 row of trees upon each side and one through its cen- 
 ter, forming a double driveway. The houses on 
 either side are very handsome and the grounds quite 
 large, from ten to forty acres, and nearly all planted 
 with the Washington Navel oranges. 
 
 From Eiverside we w^ent to Pasadena, a beautiful 
 little city quite near Los Angeles. In fact it is a city 
 of residences made up largely of people who do busi- 
 ness in Los Angeles. It is probably nine miles dis- 
 tant by rail from Los Angeles, and very nicely situ- 
 ated; contains about ten thousand people. Here we 
 found good hotels, excellent churches, and many 
 beautiful homes. The climate here is very much 
 like Eiverside, probably some cooler as it is much 
 nearer the Pacific. I think it is about thirty miles 
 east of the coast, and well protected from the cold 
 winds by numerous foot hills. Oranges and other 
 fruits are grown here but do not appear to do as well 
 as in Eiverside. Eeal estate we found bringing 
 fancy prices, far beyond real worth. AVe found the 
 best sidewalks in Pasadena of any city visited. 
 
QUE TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 33 
 
 These walks are made of cement and are very smooth 
 and even. Most small and many large cities in the 
 west have such a variety of walks one is never quite 
 certain what they may meet in the next block, 
 whether wood, brick, stone, gravel, cement, or coal 
 ashes is quite uncertain. Should you step upon a 
 loose board you would soon discover the nature of 
 this particular kind of walk. We remained in Pasa- 
 dena about one week. While there visited the Kay- 
 mond Hotel and several points of interest quite close. 
 Above all we enjoyed the pure air, the beautiful 
 flowers, and the rest to be found in such quiet 
 secluded spots. From Pasadena we went to Los 
 Angeles. 
 
 This booming city contains about sixty thousand 
 people, and is situated twenty miles from the coast 
 and about five hundred and eighty-five miles south 
 of San Francisco. Next to San Francisco, Los 
 Angeles is the most flourishing and important city 
 of California. Taking all things into consideration, 
 equability of temperature, healthfulness pf climate, 
 grand mountain scenery, productiveness of soil, rail- 
 road and ocean facilities, it has few rivals, as a win- 
 ter resort or place of permanent residence. There is 
 a deliciousness of atmosphere about the summer 
 nights, that can be felt in no other part of the world, 
 50 we were told, and must accept the statement as a 
 fact, not being able to prove the falsity of the asser- 
 tion. But the winters of Los Angeles are perfection. 
 While all is rude and cold and leafless, flowerless and 
 
34 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 changeable, further north and east, in Los Angeles 
 wind and weather, and heaven and earth, seemingly 
 conspire in sunshine and blue sky, in leaf and blos- 
 som and golden fruit, to make this period the very 
 crown of the year. Los Angeles has had a wonder- 
 ful growth inside three or four years, and as a con- 
 sequence real estate has advanced very rapidly in 
 value, until it reached a period when buying and sell- 
 ing real estate seemed to occupy the attention of 
 almost every other citizen you came across. On the 
 streets nearly every other building was converted into 
 a real estate office, and the chief topic of conversation 
 on the streets, in hotels and boarding houses, and in 
 street cars and almost everywhere, ^'churches very 
 likely exempted," was the prices of lots and the won- 
 derful advance in certain localities. Hundreds of 
 men made enormous fortunes, and hundreds of the 
 last investors in outside properties have put their 
 money in a place where it is quite safe from thieves 
 and robbers, but where they will not realize a very 
 large profit for some time m the future. Los Angeles 
 as a commercial city is, and will be in the future, one 
 of the best cities in southern California. As a place 
 of residence we did not find it quite as attractive as 
 Pasadena. The streets were torn up, the walks poor 
 and the city generally in a very unfinished condition. 
 
 About twenty miles from Los Angeles is situated 
 Santa Monica, a famous sea side resort having an ex- 
 cellent beach for bathing and a very superior hotel. 
 This place is visited daily by hundreds of the Los 
 
OUB TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 35 
 
 Angeles people who seem to fully appreciate the ben- 
 efits of so delightful and convenient a resort. 
 
 Quite near the city is situated the ostrich farm, 
 where the experiment of raising the ostrich for profit 
 is being tried. When the farm was first started there 
 were about sixty large birds to start with. When 
 we visited the farm we found twenty-five large birds, 
 showing a large decrease. We concluded that at this 
 rate of raising birds the business would soon die out 
 for want of birds. We saw ten small birds about 
 two weeks old, also the eggs which were enormous 
 in size. The large birds are kept in lots fenced with 
 boards very much as we make lots for cattle or horses. 
 They are fed daily by the keeper. Their food con- 
 sists of grain and clover hay or green alfalfa cut fine. 
 They eat about as much as a horse or cow. The large 
 birds have very long bare legs which they use to con« 
 siderable advantage running. I cannot help think- 
 ing they could be employed to great advantage by 
 some enterprising base ball club. Another purpose 
 they put their legs to quite vigorously is kicking. 
 "We were told they coiald kick higher and harder 
 than a Texas mule. We did not doubt the assertion, 
 and kept quite a respectable distance from the fence. 
 The farm is very nicely situated in a small valley 
 surrounded by high mountains and we were told the 
 climate here resembled yery much the climate of 
 Africa where the birds are found. The gate fees 
 were fifty cents each for visitors and this part of the 
 farming seems to be the most profitable. 
 
36 OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Oar next point of interest, after fully enjoying 
 the climate and appreciating the advantages of Los 
 Angeles, was Santa Cruz, a lovely little city on the 
 bay of Monterey, about five hundred miles north of 
 Los Angeles and about one hundred miles south of 
 San Francisco. This place is situated upon the bay, 
 and at the foot of the coast range of mountains and 
 quite isolated from the rest of the world. The moun- 
 tains are covered with pine and other trees giving 
 the place a look more like the far east, and not so 
 desolate and barren as southern California appears 
 in general. Santa Cruz has a population of about 
 ten thousand people, during the summer there are 
 many more, as it is a famous resort for citizens from 
 San Francisco. Until the building of the hotel Del 
 Monte near Monterey, at least for fifteen or twenty 
 years, Santa Cruz had been the most popular and 
 most fashionable winter resort in California, and al- 
 though Monterey, forty miles further south on the 
 same bay, has become the Mecca of the fashionables 
 Santa Cruz has lost none of its popularity and as 
 many people congregate there as heretofore. The 
 beach is a very fine one about one mile from the cen- 
 ter of the town and reached by steam cars, or street 
 cars, or the walks are good and it is not too far for 
 pedestrians. We were fortunate in finding a very 
 comfortable private boarding house, called the New 
 England Home, kept by eastern people. Here our 
 rooms were large and cool, well furnished and our ta- 
 ble supplied with the best of everything in the way 
 
OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 37 
 
 of fruit and vegetables to be found in the market j and 
 I might say here, that in the way of fruits we had a 
 great variety, yiz: peaches, pears, plums, apricots, 
 cherries, oranges, figs, currants, gooseberries, straw- 
 berries, raspberries and blackberries, all fresh and 
 grown quite near. Our stay in Santa Cruz was de- 
 lightful, e spent most of our time on the beach 
 when the tide was low watching the bathers and hun- 
 dreds of people sitting or lying down on the white 
 sands. The air was cool, and we never suffered from 
 excessive heat. One day we visited the big trees of 
 Santa Cruz, about five miles north of the city. There 
 are about twenty very large trees. Although there 
 are scores of very large trees, yet a few are so very 
 large as to be quite worthy of special mention. The 
 largest is called the Giant and is three hundred feet 
 high, and twenty-one feet in diameter. Historic in- 
 terest is attached to another tree called general Fre- 
 mont; this tree is hollow and formed a home for 
 general Fremont in 1847. A whole family have lived 
 in this tree, doing their cooking, eating and sleeping 
 in its huge capacity; children have been born here 
 and it is said the tree ip so large that forty men can 
 stand up in its inside without any great inconven- 
 ience. We left our cards and address inside of this 
 great tree, and more fully appreciated the wonderful 
 in nature and the insignificance of man. 
 
 MONTEREY. 
 
 One day while in Santa Cruz we joined a party 
 of picnicjiers from San Francisco under the manage- 
 
88 OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 ment of the Y. M. 0. A. and visited Monterey. This 
 resort, so far as the hotel and grounds are concerned, 
 is generally considered by far the most delightful, as 
 well as the most fashioaable resort upon the Pacific 
 coast. I myself would prefer the Hotel Del Coro- 
 nada, at San Diego for beauty of architecture and gen- 
 eral attractiveness, but the grounds in Monterey are 
 simply incomparable and not surpassed. Nature has 
 done wonders in the way of large pine and forest 
 trees; then art has completed the land-scape leaving 
 little if anything more to be desired, hundreds of 
 acres are beautified, drives, walks, ponds, flowers, 
 lawn tennis, croquet and archery grounds are to be 
 found at almost every turn, and quite close but just 
 back of some high banks of evergreens is the great 
 ocean, with its beautiful beach, and elegant swimming 
 baths. These baths in themselves deserve more 
 than a passing mention but I fear I cannot properly 
 describe their attractiveness. They are immense 
 houses with glass sides and roofs. The inside is ar- 
 ranged in immense baths of sea-water of different 
 temperature from hot to quite cold, and here men, wo- 
 men and children by the hundreds are swimming, or 
 trying to. The water is heated by steam and is from 
 four to six feet deep. The walks between the vats 
 are filled with mattings and dressing rooms are quite 
 convenient, then to add to the beauty of |the place 
 the sides of the building are covered with vines and 
 flowers and hundreds of tropical plants and palm trees 
 are arranged along the various walks. There are sep- 
 
OUn TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 39 
 
 arate baths for ladies and gentlemen but usually they 
 are seen occupying the same vats. When everything 
 is taken into consideration and particularly its equa- 
 bility of temperature and healthfulness of climate 
 Monterey may justly be termed "The queen of Amer- 
 ican watering places." Monterey was founded 113 
 years ago by the Franciscan Missionaries, whose land- 
 marks of civilization dot the Pacific coast here and 
 there from the Mexican border to San Francisco, It 
 was the first capital of California, and has always en- 
 joyed the reputation of being one of the most health- 
 ful, and one of the most delightful spots in the state. 
 There is probably no place upon the sea coast in Cal- 
 ifornia so replete with natural charms as Monterey. 
 Its exquisite beauty and variety of scenery is diversi- 
 fied with ocean, bay, lake and streamlet, mountain, 
 hill and valley, and groves of oak, cypress, spruce 
 pine and other trees. The mountain views are very 
 beautiful, particularly the Santa Cruz spurs. 
 
 It seems too bad that when once finding a place 
 so lovely and so exactly suiting our ideal of beauty 
 in nature, and a place so exactly fitting our wants, 
 we should be obliged to tear ourselves away and flit 
 to other points less agreeable; but the whole of Cali- 
 fornia was not in Monterey and if we wished to see 
 other places, we dare not tarry long here. We made 
 many warm friends in Santa Cruz and were very loth 
 to leave this lovely valley and our friends, but wera 
 obliged to do so Our next place of interest was not 
 far oflf. This was San J ose, pronounced ''san ho-say." 
 
40 
 
 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 It is the county seat of Santa Clara county and is 
 located at about the geographical center of the valley, 
 about eight miles from tide water, and fifty miles 
 from San Francisco. San Jose has a population of 
 about twenty-five thousand people, having nearly 
 doubled her population within six years and with 
 every prospect of doubling again in less than that 
 period. Here we found electric lights, mountain 
 water, street cars, electric^ cars and several lines of 
 steam cars, and a very substantial compact city, hav- 
 ing more good schools, colleges and churches than 
 any city of its size visited. The country near the 
 city is very largely planted in fruit of many kinds- 
 The peach, pear, cherry, apricot, plum, prune and all 
 small fruits are very largely grown. Thousands 
 of acres are devoted to the fruits above mentioned, 
 and large canning and evaporating houses are kept 
 busy during the season caring for the immense 
 quantities of fruit grown in this valley. San Jose 
 is a beautiful city and deserves much more mention 
 than I can give it. Its beautiful homes, elegant busi- 
 ness blocks, and large parks, speak for the thrift and 
 enterprise of its people. Our principal object in going 
 to San Jose was to visit Mount Hamilton, or the Lick 
 Observatory which is located upon the extreme top of 
 Mount Hamilton. We took a stage about six o'clock 
 in the morning, and were soon on our way. The first 
 three miles of travel was quite level or having a very 
 little elevation, the driveway is lined with shade trees 
 upon both sides and the road bed is in splendid condi- 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA, 41 
 
 tion; then we struck the mountains and our drive 
 from here on was upward and onward for twenty - 
 four miles, higher and higher, sometimes so close 
 to the edge of the mountain, we could lookout of the 
 stage window down steep walls of rock hundreds of 
 feet below. The drive is considered one of the best 
 mountain drives in the world, and was built by the 
 county of Santa Clara in consideration of having the 
 observatory located here. 1 am told the road bed 
 cost over eighty-five thousand dollars. The view of 
 the valley below us and the mountains ahead of us is 
 simply incomparable and must be seen to be appre- 
 ciated. The road reminded me of an immense ser- 
 pent twisting around and around the same mountain 
 several times then jumping to another peak and 
 going higher and higher until the top was reached. 
 We were from 6 A. M. nntil 3 p. M. making this long 
 up hill trip. We made the same distance down 
 grade much quicker. When the top was reached 
 we found one of the finest observatories and the larg- 
 est telescope in the world. Besides the building 
 containing the telescope there are quite a number of 
 houses, some for dwellings for the several pro- 
 fessors, some for workshops and the numerous instru- 
 ments used. We found much that was quite inter- 
 esting, a look through the great glass being one of the 
 most interesting features. I was told by one of the 
 professors that the building as a whole was not quite 
 complete and had cost over six hundred thousand 
 dollars; this includes buildings and instruments, but 
 
42 
 
 OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 not the cost of constructing the road from San Jose. 
 This wonderful observatory was presented to the 
 state of California by the late James Lick, a wealthy 
 capitalist of San Francisco. Mr. Lick made an im- 
 mense fortune in California by the advance in real 
 estate and took this grand manner of disposing of 
 some of it, as he was a bachelor and had no near kin 
 to be benefited financially by his death. His body 
 rests under the great glass and is covered with tons 
 and tons of iron frame work supporting the glass. 
 To properly describe the various glasses, the view 
 from the top of Mount Hamilton and the drive home 
 would take hours of hard work besides fill several 
 books and probably tire the reader. To be fully ap- 
 preciated it must be seen and I would heartily re- 
 commend all visitors to California not by any means 
 to overlook this place of so much national interest. 
 The ride alone up and from the mountain top is 
 quite worth a day's time and the fare. Our next city 
 and place of much interest was the great metropolis 
 of California and the Pacific Coast. 
 
/ 
 
 SAN FEANCISCO. 
 
 The general attractiveness of San Francisco is 
 so widely known as to render needless any detailed 
 remarks in its behalf. It is without doubt one of 
 the most picturesque of American cities and is in 
 itself a pleasure resort as well as being the metropo- 
 lis of the Pacific coast. Here we saw the most per- 
 fect system of cable car service, in fact no other ser- 
 vice could mount the steep grades of many of the 
 streets. San Francisco is situated upon a bay of the 
 same name and faces the east, leaving several miles 
 of sand hills between the city and the ocean. The 
 bay is about twelve miles wide and over one hundred 
 long north and south', and is reached by vessels 
 passing through a narrow neck of water called the 
 Golden Gate. How the immense body of water ever 
 forces its way through the narrow space to raise the 
 entire bay several feet in height during high tide is 
 a mystery to me. 
 
 After securing a suite of rooms in the central part 
 
U OUJR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 of the city we were soon ready for our first tour of 
 exploration. We visited the Palace Hotel, the larg- 
 est and finest in the city. This occupies three 
 acres of land and like all first class hotels is furnished 
 without regard to cost. From here we next went to 
 the United States mint; this was closed for annual 
 settlement and we did not see g^old coined, but we 
 saw thousands of valuable coins, rare and antique? 
 we also saw a gold teaspoon said to have once graced 
 the iahle de hote of King Solomon. Oar next visit 
 was to Chinatown, a part of the city entirely given 
 ever to the Mongolian race and is said to contain 
 forty thousand of these queer people. They have 
 their markets, shops, theaters, joss-houses and seem 
 to be prosperiDg. A great many stores contain many 
 cjariosities andraie specimens of ivory carving, and 
 if you should wish to buy any of these, you would be 
 surprised at the low prices, as compared with the 
 same class of goods in the city stores. TVo also saw 
 many beautiful pieces of copper and bronze vases — 
 placques, also hundreds of vases made in Setsuma, 
 Japan, and considered rare. We had heard of people 
 being killed and robbed in Chinatown. I must say 
 we were treated quite otherwise as we were neither 
 killed or robbed unless it was a wilful inclination to 
 give fancy prices for goods bought We were treat- 
 ed quite courteously, shown whatever we wished to 
 see. This was in broad daylight. At night parties 
 frequently visit the gambling and opium dens and 
 report them hard in the extreme, but I fancy should 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 45 
 
 tlie same people visit the gambling and other dens of 
 the white folks not far from Chinatown they would 
 not find much difference between white and yellow 
 m en in regard to vice. The Chinese are a hard work- 
 ing class of people, do cheerfully and well, any small 
 service that other classes refuse to do, or if done at 
 all, is done poorly and exhorbitant prices asked. The 
 great objection to the Chinese by the people of Cal- 
 ifornia is because of their not becoming citizens and 
 taking all the money from American labor and send- 
 ing it to China; also their habit of living is repulsive 
 to the American and it is considered best to exclude 
 them entirely, as th«ir object is not to benefit Ameri- 
 ca but China. 
 
 We next went to Woodward's gardens in the 
 w^est part of the city. This is a sort of park, museum, 
 menagerie, aquarium and music hall combined, 
 should one place grow tiresome the next is sure to 
 please. Beautiful flowers, rare plants, followed by 
 great bears, lions, monkeys and other animals, then 
 the stuffed birds and animals too numerous to men- 
 tion, followed by music and beer if you wish, all go 
 to make up the attractiveness of the place. A day could 
 be very pleasantly spent here, ''not drinking beer" 
 but studying the u^onderful things upon exhibition. 
 
 Our next place of interest was the Golden Gate 
 park. In going there we passed over Nobb Hill, so 
 called because many of California's millionaires re- 
 side here. The residences are like all expensive 
 homes, grand. San Francisco as a city does not con- 
 
46 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 tain many very elegant homes, most of the houses 
 are frame, built quite close to the streets, and we 
 sadly missed the blue-grass lawns so familiar in 
 eastern cities. One feature you see until you tire of 
 ill the architecture of the homes, and that is the craze 
 for bay windows. Every one or two story shanty has 
 them, in fact you see bay windows at every turn, on 
 business houses, hotels and residences. The city 
 looks as though one architect had planned the entire 
 city, and he had a passion for bay windows. We 
 found the Golden Gate park very similar to other 
 parks, with this difference, the ground had been all 
 reclaimed from sand-dunes. It contains over one 
 thousand acres and quite a large portion is now beau- 
 tifully planted in trees and flowers, and has the usual 
 drives, artificial lakes etc., found in all well kept city 
 parks. 
 
 From the Golden Gate park we went to the Cliff 
 House, situated upon some great rocks overhanging 
 the Pacific ocean. The view is grand from the bal- 
 conies, and one great feature is to watch the sea-lions 
 as they play among the rocks quite close to the hotel; 
 there are hundreds of these great animals rolling 
 about and crawling over each other or diving from 
 the rocks. This place is quite worth seeing, the ho- 
 tel is good, and should you choose to spend more than 
 one day here you would find first class accommoda- 
 tions. Another point of interest, quite close to the 
 Cliff House, is the Siitro Heights. This is situated 
 upon the top of the cliffs, and consists of a 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 47 
 
 series of flower gardens and walks. The flowers 
 and statuary are quite fine, the grounds beautiful and 
 the view from the gardens perfect. Here we saw 
 statuary of nearly all the great gods and goddesses 
 in all their natural loveliness. It would be well to 
 hunt up your Greek mythology before visiting these 
 gardens, or you might not quite understand the dif- 
 ferent figures. Another day we spent in Oakland. 
 This place is just across the bay from San Francisco; 
 steam ferries run every hour. This city has about 
 sixty thousand people, and is the place of residence 
 of many people doing business in San Francisco. It 
 is considered a much more desirable place for resi- 
 dence than San Francisco. After dinner at one of 
 the best hotels, we were driven around the city, and 
 many miles in the country, saw many beautiful homes 
 having large grounds, and further out saw many 
 small farms devoted to fruit culture. The cherry 
 especially is grown very successfully near here 
 as well as most other fruits. The country in 
 this part of California is well watered, rains are more 
 frequent and irrigation not so necessary as in south- 
 ern California. Another day we spent shopping and 
 going through Taber's art rooms. Here we saw pho- 
 tographs of most of the leading people of Europe 
 and America as well as views of the most beautiful, 
 grand and romantic scenery in the United States; of 
 course the views were for sale. 
 
 Our next trip was quite a long one and quite 
 tiresome but it fully repaid our efforts and expense; 
 
48 OUB TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 this was a visit to the geysers. The geysers are 
 situated near Cloverdale, about one hundred miles 
 north of San Francisco. We took a ferry boat from 
 the city across the bay to Tiperon, and here we took 
 the steam cars to Cloverdale, and after a most 
 wretched dinner here we took stage up the moun- 
 tains for sixteen miles over the most horrible and 
 dangerous looking ledges and break-neck places imag- 
 inable. Our stage was full inside and out, the top 
 was covered by men and women, how they hung on 
 over such roads is beyond my comprehension as pas- 
 sengers inside the hack are frequently strapped in to 
 prevent them from falling all over the hack, or one 
 another. To add to our general misery the driver 
 relieved our curiosity by pointing out places where 
 the' stage sometime -before had been robbed, and 
 where some men had been shot; all very interesting 
 to read about, but when we were not certain but what 
 the scene might be repeated we were not so much 
 enthused. To a lover of the sublime, picturesque 
 and romantic I know of no drive to be compared 
 to this mountain drive. A four horse stage whirling 
 around bends in the road with one wheel close to 
 the edge of a precipice hundreds of f^et deep witii 
 the prospect of stage robbers ahead, and scenery 
 beyond description is quite enough to charm the 
 most fastidious. But when we reached the hotel and 
 geysers we were fully repaid for the day's travel. 
 The hotel was situated in the forest at the foot of a 
 mountain quite close to a clear, rapid running stream. 
 
t)UR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA, m 
 
 The rooms were cool and clean having bare floors 
 with skins of wild animals scattered around, large 
 open, fire places, fine pianos, and a table loaded with 
 all the luxuries of the season. We enjoyed the quiet 
 after our visit in the city and our rest here was rest 
 indeed* The geysers are a number of hot springs 
 where the whole district seems to be undergoing some 
 chemical change or the heat from some volcano is so 
 near the surface it throws the steam from the moun* 
 tain sides like a tremendous steam engine; water 
 boils and hisses as if mad, the ground is quite hot in 
 places, and quite soft and hollow sounding as if it 
 was not far to a hotter place. We were quite satis^ 
 fied with a surface view and did not care to investi*- 
 gate deeper. Springs of clear water run side by side 
 with streams of black and yellow water^ some hot 
 enough to cook an egg in a few minutes, and others 
 quite cold not far off, all goto make the place quite 
 interesting. Some of the steam from some hot 
 springs is brought to a large bath house where hot 
 steam baths along with plunge baths are to be had; 
 these are called sulphur baths, the steam coming 
 from sulphur springs. These we all tried as we were 
 very much in need of some sort of a bath after our 
 long, dusty ride. After our baths we slept splen- 
 didly, and thought the geysers and this part of Califor- 
 nia the most delightful yet found, and regretted our 
 inability to remain longer than one day. We returned 
 over the same mountain road for sixteen miles, 
 and thence by rail to San Francisco. There were 
 
50 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 many other places of interest in and around San 
 Francisco that, had we not felt somewhat pressed for 
 time, we should have visited. But for the time we 
 were there, we put in nearly every hour to good ad- 
 vantage and thoroughly enjoyed the time. The cli- 
 mate while we were there was perfect, not hot, not 
 cold, no storms, only perpetual sunshine, and agree- 
 able every way. 
 
THE RETUEN JOUENEY. 
 
 On tlie tliird oi Jtily we turned our faces towards 
 the rising sun and left San Francisco, tlie ocean and 
 the bay, and I fear the delightful climate, behind us 
 and never once left our sleeper until we reached Salt 
 Lake City. We saw nothing but mountains and des- 
 erts. After once getting out of California, we saw 
 no place where we felt like planting a vine and fig 
 tree. The scenery was all well enough but that doeis 
 not sustain life long alone, consequently the country 
 is very thinly settled except in mining regions. 
 
 SALT LAKE CITt 
 
 A place of probably forty thousand people, is sit- 
 uated at the north end of the beautiful Salt Lake 
 valley and about eighteen miles from the lake, and 
 is about 4,000 feet above sea level. It is on the 
 southern slope of a spur from the Wasatch mountains 
 where the waters of Clear Creek, a clear mountain 
 stream, have formed a semicircular elevation gradu- 
 ally shading into the valley below. The city ptoper 
 
 IIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOIS 
 
52 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 lies on this rise, being two miles wide and tliree and 
 one half long. From the lower southern wards, the 
 land rises gently northward 140 feet to Brigham 
 street, where a steep bench lifts the rest of the city 
 above the tops of houses below, making the finest 
 sites for residences and giving a magnificent view of 
 the whole valley below, as well as the lake and moun- 
 tains. The city is laid out in squares, the streets are 
 one hundred feet wide, having sixteen foot side-walks 
 on each side, rows of shade trees are planted along 
 the outside of the walks where gutters carry the 
 sparkling mountain water in all directions, all sum- 
 mer long, keeping the trees thrifty and purifying all 
 within their reach. The city has water works, elec- 
 tric and gas lights, horse cars, which will soon be 
 replaced with cable or electric cars, telephones and 
 several lines of steam cars, good hotels, excellent 
 schools and well attended churches. The climate of 
 Utah is not a panacea for all the ills that flesh is heir 
 to, but it commends itself to reason that a climate di- 
 rectly the opposite of a humid one will relieve or 
 cure most of its maladies. On the other hand the 
 powerful stimulus given to the system, of pure air 
 and high altitude, and the invigorating effect of the 
 late fall and short winters are in great contrast with 
 the long and severe winters of the east. The Utah 
 people in commenting upon the even and admirable 
 climate of southern California make this hit: A cli- 
 mate where there is no difference between Christmas 
 and fourth of July, where every day is like every other 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 53 
 
 day except for dust, is a first class place to die in, 
 but to live we want a climate that will stir up 
 our energies, that will bring out all our pow- 
 ers and keep us alive and aggressive without making 
 us suffer because of its rigor. This is claimed in 
 Utah. Salt Lake City is splendidly situated to be- 
 come one of the largest inland western cities; sur- 
 rounded by a splendid agricultural and mineral coun- 
 try, having no near rivals, it has already built up a 
 large trade. It is the only city of any size between 
 Denver and San Francisco, a distance of over 1,500 
 miles; has no rival north or south. The value of mines 
 near Salt Lake is placed at about fifty million dollars. 
 The assessed value of Salt Lake county is twenty-two 
 million dollars, the real value about fifty million 
 dollars, besides the mines. Utah has the finest 
 marble and granite found in the west. In so 
 short a sketch of Salt Lake City it is impossible to 
 do justice to its inhabitants, its soil, its minerals, its 
 resorts, its temples and tabernacles. Nothing short 
 of an entire volume could half describe the many at- 
 tractive features of this wonderful place. 
 
 The Mormons, a peculiar religious people, first 
 settled in Salt Lake Valley. These people, who call 
 themselves Latter Day Saints, are followers of Joseph 
 Smith. Smith was the son of a farmer in Vermont, 
 and when about ten years old his parents removed to 
 New York State. From his early years he was re- 
 garded as a visionary and fanatic. It is not neces- 
 sary to relate his visions and finding of the Book of 
 
54 
 
 OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Mormon, or his persecutions; he was the founder of 
 the Mormon church, and was shot injail at Carthage, 
 IlL, in 1844. After his death the Twelve Apostles 
 with Brigham Young at their head took the lead of 
 the Saints. They found the climate of Illinois too 
 hot for them and in 1847 started for the Eocky moun- 
 tains. They arrived in Salt Lake Valley July 24 
 1847. Some of the early migrations were performed 
 on foot by great companies of men and women, whose 
 effects were carried in hand carts. In several in- 
 stances the people suffered exceedingly from cold and 
 exposure. Their faith never failed. The cheerful- 
 ness, intelligence and zeal exhibited on all sides were 
 truly admirable. It would be unfair to shut our eyes 
 to the many excellent traits of the Mormons and 
 open them only to see their vices, the greatest of 
 which is polygamy. -The Mormons deserve great 
 credit for the manner they pursue in settling a new 
 country. They all work together for one purpose, 
 all under one church and succeed remarkably well in 
 building great temples and good cities which are a 
 monument to their untiring zeaL As to the Mor- 
 mons themselves, as a class, I can only quote Judge 
 Anderson's opinion. He says the Mormon church is 
 and always has been a treasonable organization in its 
 teachings, and in its practice hostile to the govern- 
 ment of the United States, disobedient to its laws, and 
 seeking its overthrow; and that the oath adminis- 
 tered to its members in theEndowment House binds 
 them under penalty of death to implicitly obey, in 
 
OUR TEIP TO CALIFOmiA, 
 
 m 
 
 all things temporal as well as spiritual, the Priest- 
 hood, and to avenge the death of the prophets, 
 Joseph and Hiram Smith, upon the government and 
 people of the United States. Ex-Lieiit. Gov. Robert- 
 son, of Indiana, further says, obedience, implicit obe- 
 dience is demanded in all things secnlar, as well as 
 spiritual, and is generally yielded with complete sub- 
 mission. The reason is, their belief is founded up- 
 on one of the dreariest and at the same time one of 
 the silliest books ever printed, the Book of Mor- 
 mon, and upon the pnerile and silly, pretended rev- 
 elations, said by them to have been delivered to 
 Joseph Smith and other prophets, and revelations by 
 the Almighty in person. They claim the Book to be 
 infallibly translated and say the Bible is not. 
 
 While in Salt Lake City we met some Wichita 
 friends. One gentleman was spending the summer 
 here for his health and was very enthusiastic about 
 results derived from a very short trial. One after- 
 noon he drove us all around the city, where we had 
 an excellent opportunity to see the various points of 
 interest, chief of which are the works of the Mormons. 
 The Temple comes first in point of interest. This is 
 made entirely of grey granite, is 186 feet long 99 feet 
 wide aod 100 feet high, exclusive of the towers which 
 are 220 feet high; the walls are ten feet wide at 
 the base and five feet at the top. The Temple was 
 begun in 1853 and will not be completed for several 
 years, it has already cost nearly three million dollars. 
 The Tabernacle comes next in order. This stands 
 
56 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 on the same block and was finished in 1867. It is 
 250 feet long, 150 wide and 80 feet high and is used 
 as the general assembly hall of the Mormons; the 
 seating capacity is about eight thousand. The roof 
 has no supports, save at the bottom; the acoustics 
 are almost perfect, a pin dropped near the pulpit can 
 be heard fall at the other end of the hall about 250 feet 
 off. The organ in the tabernacle is considered, with 
 one exception, the finest in the United States. It is 48 
 feet high, 33 feet wide containing 57 stops; there 
 are 2,648 pipes and it cost $100,000. It is considered 
 a rare treat to hear this grand organ Sundays. The 
 building is heated by steam and lighted by gas. We 
 next saw the tithing yards where tithes are paid and 
 new converts collected. Passing further east we next 
 saw the Lion House, the head quarters of the church; 
 the Bee Hive house, Brigham Young's residence, 
 now used as a rail road office ; across the street stands 
 the Amelia Palace, lately the residence of the head 
 of the Mormon church; a little further out and just 
 on the brow of the hill is Brigham Young's grave, 
 and as this is a good place to leave him we will quit 
 the Mormons and turn to other livelier scenes. 
 
 Outside of the city one of the greatest attractions 
 for tourists and visitors, as well as residents, is the 
 Great Salt Lake. The Great Salt Lake is a mysterious 
 inland sea, which more than any other body of water 
 on the globe has created and left unsatisfied the 
 curiosity of mankind. Its dead, dreamy, silent, tide- 
 less, slumbering waters are still an enigma. Our 
 
OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 57 
 
 purpose in visiting the lake was to take a bath, a 
 much needed affair after a dusty ride of eighteen 
 miles from the city. Steam cars leave the city several 
 times daily for the lake and are general crowded dur- 
 ing the bathing season which lasts from June 1 to 
 October 15. Bathing in Salt Lake is one of the 
 most delightful recreations possible; the water is so 
 haavy (nearly 20 per cent, salt) that a person cannot 
 sink in it. As one walks out into deep water, he finds 
 himself growing lighter and lighter, till when he is 
 up to his arm pits he ceases to weigh anything, his 
 toes are helpless for locomotion in the ordinary way, 
 and a little further out he is lifted entirely off his 
 feet and floats upright with his head, neck and tip 
 of the shoulders out of water without any exertion 
 on his part; here it is necessary to use some caution 
 as one's feet are determined to see the surface of the 
 lake and when they succeed it is quite difficult to get 
 them bacir in their proper position. It was very 
 amusing to see the vast crowds of people of all ages 
 and sizes in bathing, many for the first time; those 
 who found their feet floating and could not get them 
 down presented quite a laughable spectacle, more 
 enjoyed by the spectators than the participator. Of 
 all delightful places for bathing I have so far tried 
 I must award the prize to Salt Lake. The water at 
 Crarfield beach is very clear and the bottom of the 
 lake covered with soft, white sand. A brass band 
 furnishes music while bathers are enjoying the water. 
 
VI. 
 
 DENVER & EIO GRANDE RAILROAD. 
 
 Leaving Salt Lake City we took the Denver A 
 Rio Grande railroad for Denver. This is called the 
 Scenic Line of the world. The scenery is too grand 
 by far to admit of description. Before, we had cli- 
 mate, bay, flowers, f rait, cities and people, with Salt 
 Lake thrown in. Now for hundreds of miles we have 
 no flowers, no fruit, no cities, few people,— nothing 
 but rocks and rills, but by far the greater number of 
 rocks; small rocks, large rocks, tall rocks, short rocks, 
 red rocks and black rocks. In fact it was the Rocky 
 Mountains, and we fully began to understand why it 
 was called the Great Rocky. Had I ten thousand 
 tongues, luckily for my nearest friends I have not, I 
 might devote them all singing the praise of the Scenic 
 Road of the world, provided, of course, the compensa- 
 tion was equal to the wear and tear of the tongues. 
 
 The first point of special .interest was called Cas- 
 tle Gates. It should be called Gate Posts, as the 
 
OVR TRIP TO CALIFOBJSIIA. 
 
 59 
 
 gate is gone and only the posts remain. These 
 posts are, two huge pillars or ledges of the rock; 
 they are of different heights, one measuring five hun- 
 dred and the other four hundred and fifty feet from 
 top to base. They are richly dyed with red and the 
 firs and pines growing about them render this col- 
 oring more noticeable and beautiful. Between these 
 two sharp promontories, which are separated only by 
 a narrow space, the river and railroad both run, one 
 pressing closely against the other. Once past the 
 the gate, and looking back, the bold head-lands form- 
 ing it, have a new and more attractive beauty. They 
 are higher and more massive, it seems, than they were 
 in their shadow. After several hundred miles of 
 beautiful scenery, we concluded not to travel by night 
 at all but stop off at some hotel and continue our 
 journey the next day. Our first stop was at Green 
 Eiver. Here we found a most excellent hotel fur- 
 nished elegantly, having electric lights and water 
 in every room, the lawn was quite large and very 
 beautiful, having a good blue-grass sod. This place 
 looks like a very small oasis upon a very large 
 desert, as, for miles in every direction, nothing can 
 be seen but sand and rocks. The next morning we 
 were up quite early and walked down to Green river 
 where we had heard agates were to be found. We 
 found a large, yellow looking stream flowing through 
 beds of sand, but no moss agates. We were over one- 
 half a mile from the station when we heard our train 
 whistle. We had barely time to retrace our steps, 
 
60 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 eat a five minute breakfast, and jump aboard. The 
 next day we were provided with observation cars, 
 when passing over the more interesting parts of the 
 road. The most beautiful, sublime, imposing, and 
 awful view next presented was the Black canon. For 
 miles along this ^rand gorge the railway lies upon a 
 shelf that has been blasted in the solid walls of God's 
 masonry, walls that stand there two thousand feet in 
 height and so close together that for most of the dis- 
 tance through the canon, only a streak of sky, s6me. 
 times in broad daylight spangled with stars, is seen 
 above. Some poet has said: "I'll look no more, lest 
 my brain turn." It is just as well to keep cool and 
 not throw yoiiir hats away as some gentlemen did, they 
 were overcome, and beside themselves with over 
 enthusiasm. The scenery will keep, and if you do 
 not lose your brain you can visit it the second time; 
 like most good things it will admit of a second obser- 
 vation. The scene is constantly changmg; the great 
 black walls sometimes widen, then grow closer leav- 
 ing barely room for the river and railroad bed; now at 
 a sharp turn, Ghippeta Falls, a stream of liquid crys- 
 tal, pitches from the top of the dizzy cliffs to the 
 bosom of the sparkling river, which dashes beside 
 the road. Next we pass a towering monument of solid 
 stone which reaches to where it flaunts the eloads 
 like some great cathedral spire. Truly, for grandeur 
 and variety in scenery, the Black canon of the Gun- 
 nison has no equal. The next night we stopped off at 
 Gunnison. We put up at the La Veta hotel, one of 
 
OUE TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 61 
 
 the most magnificent in the state of Colorado, costing 
 about $225,000. The country around Gunnison 
 abounds in game, the clear streams are full of fish, 
 the scenery is grand, the air cool and clear. Mines 
 of silver, copper, lead and coal are found in the vicin- 
 ity and smelters have been erected to treat the ores. 
 The next morning we were up early and on our way 
 to see fresh lots of scenery, in fad there is nothing 
 else to see, and i£ one does not enjoy the grand and 
 beautiful in nature he would have a dreary time along 
 this route. 
 
 Our next point of great interest along this road 
 was Marshall Pass. If description beggars common 
 humanity in trying to describe how w^e get through 
 deep gorges, left open purposely for some enterpris- 
 ing railroad company to lay its tracks, how can I de- 
 scribe the manner in which we got over this immense 
 mountain, nearly eleven thousand feet high, having 
 no gorges to pass through. The train just simply 
 began climbing and kept it up, working like a hero, 
 until we were upon the top of this awful grade. It 
 is a question whether the beautiful scenery we behold 
 when once on top of the mountain is more to be ad- 
 mired than the engineering skill displayed in laying 
 track and running engines to such a height, up such 
 steep grades. Commencing at the foot of the moun- 
 tain we wind around and around, higher and higher, 
 zigzagiDg across to higher heights, then off on to 
 another spur, and up again. Some places in looking 
 back and down we can behold the road bed in four 
 
62 
 
 OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 different places beneath us, terrace above terrace. 
 All this time as we climb higher and higher, the Tiew 
 becomes more extensive, the air colder and colder 
 until we are in the region of perpetual snow. In July 
 it was quite comfortable, how it would be in January 
 can be better imagined than described. At last we 
 are on the top of this great mountain, our engines 
 puff and pant like some exhausted animal. Oh, how 
 they did work going up grade, they seemed almost 
 human in their efforts to get there safely; then after 
 a rest, and breathing spell, we started down grade- 
 Here you want to shut your eyes and not think what 
 the consequences would be if a rail was displaced or 
 our engine took a notion to jump the track; after the 
 first sensations were over you would never know what 
 hurt you. We were glad when once safely down and 
 on something like a level track once more. After 
 traveling nearly one whole day through scenery, that 
 in any other state than Colorado would be considered 
 wonderful and grand, we at last came to the crowning 
 wonder. This is called the Royal Gorge, and is situ- 
 ated between Canon City and Salida, and is of easy 
 access either from Denver or Pueblo. To describe 
 this canon is impossible. If you can imagine a solid 
 wall over one thousand feet high on each side of a 
 very narrow ravine with scarcely room for the river 
 and railroad to run side by side, after places where 
 tons and hundreds of tons of solid rock overhang the 
 track, looking as if once let loose nothing would suit 
 them better than to fall and crush our train and pas- 
 
OUB TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 63 
 
 sengers to atoms, you may have a slight idea of the 
 gorge; but as for shapes and coloring this immense 
 pile takes on at every turn, I must leave for artists to 
 finish. This much from our Guide : 
 
 "Now, what glories of rock piling confront the 
 wide distended eye. How those sharp-edged cliffs 
 standing with upright heads, that play at hand ball 
 with the clouds, alternate with one another, so that 
 first the right, then the left, then the right one beyond 
 strike our view; each one half obscured by its fellow 
 in front; each showing itself level browed with 
 its companions, as we came even with it, each 
 a score of hundreds of dizzy feet in height rising per- 
 pendicular from water and track, splintered atop into 
 airy pinnacles, braced behind against the almost con- 
 tinual mass through which the chasm has been cl«ft. 
 This is Eoyal Gorge." 
 
 From the Boyal Gorge we went directly to Col- 
 orado Springs and then on to Manitou. Manitou is 
 the ideal summer resort, or the guide book says so. 
 We found the mercury standing at 110 o Fahrenheit 
 in the shade. Just after leaving the coast where 
 overcoats and flannels were in demand we rather 
 doubted this assertion of our otherwise reliable Guide. 
 We soon threw flannels and overcoat aside and de- 
 voted our energies trying to keep cool. This place 
 has been favored by nature with healing springs equal, 
 if not superior, in efficacy to those of Ems or Spa or 
 Saratoga, and surrounded by scenery more beautiful, 
 grand, and varied than that of any similar resort in 
 the world. Here is an Arcadian valley lying at the 
 foot of Pike's Peak protected by encircling moun- 
 
64 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 tains. The village abounds in hotels which rival in 
 elegance and luxury also ''price per day" those of 
 the famous eastern watering places. 
 
 I had for quite a number of years thought that 
 if I once beheld Pike's Peak I never would rest until 
 I had stood on its snow-capped summit. Alas, for 
 human expectations! I found it bo fearfully hot I was 
 glad to stay in the valley and look up and see the 
 snow twelve miles away and almost directly above us. 
 We drank water from nearly all the springs and bathed 
 m the plunge baths and as a consequence were 
 almost sick for two days afterwards. One day we 
 spent visiting the Garden of the Gods. Why it is 
 called a garden I cannot imagine; it looks more like 
 a deserted graveyard of some extinct species of giants. 
 Here it is necessary to draw largely upon your imag- 
 ination if you wish to see in these rocks a striking 
 resemblance to petrified gods of Norse mythology, but 
 probably I am at fault, never having seen those gen- 
 tlemen in a petrified state. The drive is very inter- 
 esting, however, and upon an ordinary cool day would 
 be extremely pleasant. Here rocks stand about like 
 monuments, and fancy can call up many strange 
 resemblances. One day while in Manitou we visited 
 the Grand Caverns. These are located one and one- 
 half miles from the springs. The route to the cav- 
 erns takes us up the historic and beautiful Ute Pass 
 to a point beyond Eainbow Falls where the road 
 turns to the right and climbs by an easy grade to the 
 elevated spur above. Much labor and money have 
 
OUn TttIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 68 
 
 been expended to make this avenue of approach the 
 best of any of the famous drives in the surrounding 
 region. The Manitoa Grand Caverns are located 
 amid the most superb scenery. Directly in front, as 
 we stand at the portal, Pike's Peak is reared above the 
 lesser domes of the Kockies, its majestic snowy crest 
 Standing out boldly against the clear sky. Below is 
 the winding road by which we have come, and, by a 
 moment's walk along the slope southward, a view is 
 obtained hardly to be surpassed within the whole 
 range of the mountains. I think there were about 
 forty tourists in our party, all eager to enter the cav- 
 ern, but when the guide demanded $1.00 each for 
 admittance quite a number tried to have this exor- 
 bitant fee reduced one-half; but this the guide re- 
 fused to do, consequently, not more than half of our 
 party went through, preferring to enjoy the outside 
 scenery to inside darkness and dampness, and, after 
 one experience, the other half would do the same 
 thing. Each of those entering were provided with a 
 lamp and matches and told to follow our leader. After 
 passing through a long narrow passage, something 
 like the entrance to coal mines in eastern Ohio or 
 where coal is mined from hills, our first point of in- 
 terest was the Bee Line Vestibule where we saw the 
 Grant Monument built by visitors, placing loose 
 stones one above another; next came Stalactite Hall 
 where objects were seen resembling, according to our 
 guide's testimony, Duck's Head, Wax Candles, Ape, 
 Snow Owl, Banyan Tree, Broken Oolumn,the Wreck, 
 
m QUE TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 and Horse Shoe TuuneL After passing through sev- 
 eral interesting rooms we came to the Opera House; 
 this is a great room with a ceiling not less than sixty 
 feet from the level floor; here wq found Grandpa and 
 Grandchild, and Andromeda, still chained to the rock. 
 Concert Hall comes next in order. This room con- 
 tains the most marvelous feature of the caverns. The 
 visitor upon entering faces the organ top, thirty feet 
 from the floor, where, as though built in the wall of 
 the cavern, stands the famous Stalactite organ, formed 
 of clear stalactites from a few inches to several feet 
 in length, and one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch 
 in thickness. This natural instrument, under the 
 touch of a player, gives the full musical scale and is 
 played by the guide, rendering pleasing airs resem- 
 bling in tone the beautiful chimes of a village church. 
 Many other rooms were visited and then we were 
 once more out in the sunshine and ready for other 
 scenes more cheerful and less imaginary. 
 
 The next day we were up quite early and took 
 the morning train for Colorado Springs, where we 
 found a carriage and driver in waiting at the station 
 to take us to the top of Cheyenne Mountain. This 
 is a delightful drive of five or six miles through pine 
 groves and up a grade, not too steep to be difficult 
 climbing. Our object in visiting this mountain was 
 to see the last resting place of H. H. Jackson, i)oefc 
 and authoress. The grave is on the top of a spur of 
 the mountain in a small grove of pines, a very quiet 
 and lonely place, but a place the deceased loved and 
 
OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 67 
 
 used to frequent. We left our carriage some distance, 
 from the grave and each placed a small stone to help 
 finish the monument, already quite large, over the 
 grave, then rapidly drove back to Colorado Springs. 
 
 Colorado Springs is a beautiful little city of about 
 ten thousand people and is chiefly a city of homes 
 where families of many of the most influential busi- 
 ness men of the state reside; it is a temperance town 
 with charming society and has an elegant Opera 
 House. There are many points of scenic interest 
 within an hour's drive from the city. The dry air, 
 the altitade, and the climatic conditions make this 
 one of the best resorts in the world for those suffer- 
 ing from consumption. The death rate is very iow^ 
 being only 5.6 per 1000. Outside of California we 
 came across no more delightful spot than Colorado 
 Springs; our only objection was, we found it fearfully 
 hot. Although the heat is intense through the day 
 the nights and mornings are cool and pleasant. 
 
 From Colorado Springs we went to Denver, the 
 capital of Colorado and a city of 125.000 people with 
 an elevation of over 5,000 feet above sea level. The 
 city is beautifully situated with the Great Eocky 
 Mountaius on the west for a background, and the 
 illimitable plains stretching to the Missouri river 
 on the east. It is one of the greatest railroad cen- 
 ters in the west. We were driven over the city and 
 found beautiful parks and boulevards, opera houses 
 and costly and elegant public buildings, private res- 
 idences costing hundreds of thousands of dollars 
 
68 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 each, acd many more obvious signs of wealth, culti- 
 vation, and luxury. We visited Tabor's Grand Op- 
 era House, the finest building of this kind in Amer- 
 ica. We also visited the United States mint where 
 we saw gold being refined. The city has extensive 
 systems of street cars, motor lines and cables, is 
 lighted by gas and electricity, has excellent water 
 works, good police force, telephone communications 
 with suburban towns to the distance of one hundred 
 miles, as well as all over the city. The days we spent 
 there we found extremely hot, but our guide book 
 says the climate is delightful, healthful, and invigor- 
 ating. Here let me say you can get almost any kind 
 of a climate you want by referring to your guide 
 book, except the disagreeably hot or cold, wet or dry, 
 this is never mentioned but often realized by a disa- 
 greeable experience. The growth of Denver has 
 been very rapid and wonderful and is now only con- 
 sidered as on the threshhold of its prosperity. While 
 in Denver we were pleased to meet Mr. S. K. Hooper, 
 general passenger ticket agent of Denver and Eio 
 Grande E. E., a brother of our excellent pastor of the 
 M. E. church. From Denver we went to Ellsworth, 
 Kansas, and from there to Wichita, Kansas. 
 
VIL 
 
 KANSAS. 
 
 In traveling from Denver to Wichita we realize 
 that we have left the Pacific coast, with its bay and 
 climate, fruit and flowers far behind. We also 
 realize that we have bid good bye to the grand 
 Eockies with their sublime scenery, deep gorges, 
 and high rocks, and are once more in a prosy coun- 
 try very much like our own prairie state, only more 
 rolling and less peopled, Once more are we travel- 
 ing through a land of corn and hogs, *^not corn an(J 
 wine." Kansas is a prohibition state and we left the 
 wine in California, did not even have a sample with 
 us to stimulate our Kansas friends. The west half 
 of Kansas is a treeless plain covered with ^hort crisp 
 buffalo grass and sage brush, which for want of rain 
 in the agricultural seajson may be termed a vast 
 desert of wild, sparse pasturage, barren to all success- 
 ful cultivation, w^iile the eastern half of the state is a 
 grand rolling plain, watered by a thousand clear 
 
70 
 
 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 streams whose valleys are unrivaled in the produc- 
 tion of all cereals, vegetables, and fruits known to the 
 Middle States, with rainfall abundant and seasonable 
 to mature all crops. A delightful, dry, exhilarating 
 atmosphere. Cool summer nights, warm days, ever 
 tempered by a cool refreshing breeze. 
 
 Wichita is situated in the Arkansas valley, one 
 of the largest and most beautiful as well as produc- 
 tive valleys in the state. This valley embraces an area 
 of fifty by seventy miles and is traversed by the Great 
 and Little Arkansas, Nioneseah, Chicaskia and Wal- 
 nut Rivers, with innumerable lesser but no less beau- 
 tiful streams, well skirted with timber. This region 
 embraces the counties of Sedgwick, Sumner, and 
 part of Cowley and Butler, having Indian Territory 
 for its southern line. The soil is a deep black veg- 
 etable loam, with a slight admixture of sand, warm 
 and genial in its cultivation. In the very heart of 
 this magnificent country above described is Sedg- 
 wick county, and Wichita is the capital of Sedg- 
 wick county, and the great commercial metropolis 
 and railroad center of Southwestern Kansas. Its 
 wonderful progress and remarkable growth has been 
 the theme of conversation among hundreds of thous- 
 ands of people throughout the country. Writers 
 have exhausted their vocabularies and orators their 
 funds of rhetoric in dilating upon the giant strides 
 of this future great city of the west, and yet it is 
 doubtful if even the half has been told. Indian trad- 
 ing and cattle buying kept the few inhabitants of 
 
oun mip TO cALiFomiA. 
 
 71 
 
 early Wichita pretty well employed for a number of 
 years. The first trading camp was established in 
 1863 and a jT'ear later the Wichita Indians went into 
 camp at the mouth of the Little Arkansas river for 
 the purpose of tilling the soil. In the early part of 
 1867 Sedgwick county was established by the Kan- 
 sas legislature, and in November 1868 Wichita was 
 made county seat in an election polling only thirty- 
 five votes. This was the actual beginning of Wich- 
 ita. In 1870 the new place had advanced sufficiently 
 to have a hotel and post office, a law office and a bank. 
 The postmaster carried the mail in his liat, and 
 delivered it himself in the intervals when he was not 
 entertaining the cs-sual traveler at his hotel. In the 
 year following the inhabitants succeeded in getting 
 the new place incorporated as a city of the third class. 
 Early in 1 872 thecattle shipping point was transferred 
 from Newton to Wichita, and then the peaceful, 
 sleepy, little tiading place became the roughest, wild- 
 est, and wickedest place in the west. The desperado 
 from the cattle trail, and gambler and dance house 
 keeper from Kansas City made the town what they 
 pleased, and the moral force of the respectable peo* 
 pie here was not strong enough to hold them in 
 check. For four years Wichita had a bad name 
 among the young towns of Kansas, and what was 
 worse she deserved it. 
 
 When the cattle shipping point was transferred 
 to Dodge City, Wichita had a population of three 
 thousand, a few streets of straggling wooden build- 
 
72 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 ings, one railroad and two or three lively newspa- 
 
 In 1882 its population was 5,000 
 
 pers 
 
 « 1883 " 
 " 1884 " 
 
 8,000 
 12,000 
 
 " 1885 " " 16,000 
 
 " 1886 " " " 20,000 
 
 " 1887 " " " 30,000 
 
 " 1888 " « « 40,000 
 
 " 1889 she claims 45,000. 
 This I think a rather high estimate for 1889, as 
 opening the Oklahoma country took a great many 
 of Kansas people and of course Wichita contributed 
 her quota. She now claims ten railroads leading vn 
 different directions; sixty miles of street car and 
 motor lines carrying 9,000 people daily ; nine univer- 
 sities; 14 public school btiildings; 28 churches, bhe 
 has Burton car works costing $400,000, employing 
 1 500 men; Dold &!Sons' packing house costing $500,- 
 000 and employing 1,500 men; 48 manufacturing 
 houses with a capita lof 13,800,000; eight banks with 
 a capital of $2,150,000; water works costing $350,000; 
 five theaters and thirty hotels. Her wholesale bus- 
 iness for 1887 amounted to over $7,000,000; retail, 
 $11 000 000 There were three thousand buildings 
 erected in 1887 at a cost of $8,000,000; taxable prop- 
 erty amounts to $50,000,000. _ 
 
 These are the bare and dry statistics of W ichita 
 of to-day. What she will be ten years from now is 
 hard to predict. In 1882 her real estate boom began 
 and grew from year to year until speculators came to 
 
OVR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 73 
 
 believe that it would go on indefinitely. Eeal estate 
 worth from $40 to $70 per acre for farming purposes 
 quite near the city was bought by the thousands of 
 acres plotted and laid off as town site additions, sold 
 and resold. Day after day, month after month, the 
 boom went on until real estate brought a larger price 
 in Wichita than the same would have brought in St 
 Louis or Chicago. Lots in 1882 on some business 
 streets sold for from $500 to $1,000 each; in 1887 the 
 same sold for from $10,000 to $20,000 each. Acre 
 property clear in 1882 at $75,00 per acre sold for 
 |lb,0b0 per acre. In the spring of 1887 the boom 
 like all real estate booms in all towns broke and 
 ended very disastrously to many late investors. For- 
 tunately for the city, she began growing in a more 
 satisf aciory manner. As fast as real estate speculators 
 dropped out, manufacturers and business men came 
 in knd look their places. The Button Stock Car 
 Works with its immense plant and numerous workmen 
 i?rere wbrili more to Wichita than the entire real estate 
 boom, and the location ol the Dold & Whitticar 
 ineat packing establishments meant more for ths per- 
 manent good of the city than two or three million 
 tioilars or spebulative transfers in town lots. It was 
 the actual, visible presence of institutions such as 
 these that gave Wichita much of her best growth. 
 When outside people saw that Wichita had as many 
 factories, houses, and business places on the ground 
 as she had on paper, they were in no way inclined to 
 (ioubt the genuineness of the city's prosperity. 
 
74 OUR TRIP TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Although at this writing the city is considered very 
 quiet compared to booming days, she is just finish- 
 ing a county court house costing over $200,000; a 
 government building costing over $150,000; a 
 Young Men's Christian Association building costing 
 $75,000; $100,000 bonds have been voted for more 
 school buildings and another $100,000 for a city build- 
 ing. The principal streets are being paved at a large 
 expense and the city is being thoroughly sewered. 
 Ths crops during the past year throughout the Arkan- 
 sas valley were never better and the prospect for an 
 immense wheat crop next year will add very largely 
 to the city's prosperity, when the same are harvested 
 and marketed. Should the Indian Territory be 
 thrown open for settlement, in response to the west- 
 ern man's demand for more room, the city of Wich- 
 ita might double her population in five years by the 
 business that she would do as the outfitter and gen- 
 eral distributor for a new country. 
 
 After spending a very pleasant week in the city 
 of Wichita we next visited Winfield, Arkansas City 
 and Geuda Springs. Winfield and Arkansas City 
 are both, bright, prosperous little cities in the Ar- 
 kansas valley and surrounded by a very rich agricul- 
 tural country; both cities have numerous railroads 
 and all modern improvements such as waterworks, 
 street railways, etc. Geuda Springs is a watering 
 place as its name would imply. Geuda means in the 
 Indian tongue, healing, hence Geuda Springs mean 
 healing waters. There are seven mineral springs all 
 
OVB TRIP TO CALIFORNIA, 
 
 75 
 
 quite close together and all liaviiig different proper- 
 ties. During the spring, summer, and fall months 
 hundreds of people flock here and many are largely 
 benefited by the use of the waters. The town is not 
 large, has one railroad and seyeral good hotels, is 
 nine miles from Arkansas City and surrounded by 
 an excellent agricultural country. The Land and 
 Town Company have just erected an immense bath 
 house costing about $60,000, furnished elegantly and 
 supplied with all modern conveniences. A large 
 brick hotel has just been finished and it is thought 
 that a motor line will soon be built from Arkansas 
 City. There is no doubt about the virtue of the 
 mineral waters. By competent judges they are con- 
 sidered quite as good for many stomach and kidney 
 troubles as any waters found anywhere. From 
 Geuda Springs we went to Topeka, the cajjital of 
 Kansas and a very nice city of probably forty thous- 
 and people. Our next stop was Kansas City, next 
 St. Louis and then home. Kansas City and St. 
 Louis are too familiar to most of our friends to re- 
 quire any special notice. We were glad to once more 
 enter the Mississippi valley and see the wonderful 
 evidences of prosperity on all sides, the green fields, 
 the fat stock, the comfortable farm houses and good 
 barns on all sides spoke in strong language, the 
 richness of our own Prairie and banner State. 
 
 THE END.