IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT.3) s, ,«, <.\l> rr; ' m t--)i' ■' '"i . HV THO ,- .if.. >.riy \i;ASK'.. '' * AHJ; gold salt and sul largely to t empire, was leaven of sti ntiained to bi patriotic citi than mere mi Preface. N the summer of 1879 the publishers of this work entered into negotiations with the writer for the preparation of a work on the West; it was to be an octavo volume of about five hundred pages; and, having had considerable experience in geographical and historical works, the writer felt confident of its completion in the early spring of 1880. But as he proceeded with his work, both he and his publishers felt that their original plan was too circumscribed for the subject before them. The country to be described was vast, beyond our ordinary conceptions of va-stness; mi.ch of it had never been adequately de- scribed, and the descriptions hitherto published were as far behind the existing facts as a ten-year-old almanac. The tide of immigration had doubled and quadrupled since 1876, and what was a howling wilderness, with only a half dozen straggling settlements, five years before, had already attained the popu- lation and organization of a State. The railways, which during the six years of financial depression, had added very little to their mileage in the new States and Territories, were now stretching their iron fingeft across the continent, pioneers instead of followers of settlement and civilization. The loaded trains groaned beneath the weight of the superabundant crops ; over all the hillsides the cattle roamed, fat, sleek and contented, in unnumbered thousands ; all the plains were spangled with millions of white-fleeced sheep. Along both slopes of the Rocky Mountains, from Texas to British America, in the summits and passes of the Sierra Madre, the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades, as well as in the smaller outlying ranges between, and even on the hills of the lower Coast Range, gold and silver, quicksilver and platinum, copper, lead and zinc, f:oal, salt and sulphur, were yieldii>g up their treasures; and every day was adding largely to the amount. The population, which was pouring into this vast empire, was composed of almost every people under the sun ; and while the leaven of sturdy law-abiding citizens from the Atlantic States was large, it re- mained to be seen whether the amalgamation would result in an intelligent and patriotic citizenship; whether education, moral principle, and higher aims than mere money-getting, would gain the ascendency. (3) IB P 8 ') PREFACE, \ Then the year i««o proved, from almost its beginning, to be an exceptional year, especially in its relations to the West. Our decennial census was to be taken, and it would be possible by the close of the year, but not earlier, to ascertain whether the boasted increase of these Western States and Territories was justified by the cold and careful enumerations of the census supervisors. Six hundred thousand emigrants reached our shores during the year, and more than twice that number of our own citizens migrated to the West. The railway kings were enlisting their syndicates and making their combinations, which have resulted in a twelvemonth in arrangements for the speedy completion of four new trunk routes to the Pacific on our own territory, and of the Canadian Tacific on our northern border. Eleven States and Territories, heretofore either in part or wholly inaccessible by rail, are now, or will be in a few months, provided with railroad transit across their entire breadth or length ; and the year on which we have entered is only carrying out right royally the plans and projects of its imperial predecessor. • r .<;;,. ; , < \ i It was evident to both publishers and author that our plans required extension and enlargement, and so we went from ordinary octavo to royal octavo; from 500 to 700, to 1000, and finally to over 1300 pages. Resolved to represent what had never previously been even attempted, and what for lack of material could not have been attempted with success — the prAent condition of each of the States and Territories which go to make up "Our Western Em- pire " — no pains nor expense has been spared to gain from every source every fact which could illustrate their topography, geology and mineralogy, climate, soil, productions, mineral wealth, pastoral facilities, population, accumulated wealth, education and religion, with notices of the Indian tribes found in their borders. For these purposes, every book and pamphlet, official and other, every report, railroad publication, mining record, every newspaper and every telegraphic report affecting any of these States or Territories, has been carefully scanned to the number of more than three thousand, and a correspondence opened and maintained with many hundreds of officials and others. The result is before the public. It has been a labor of love, notwithstanding the toil it has required. That it is absolutely free from error is impossible ; but the great care which has been taken to secure accuracy leads to the hope that there are no errors of great magnitude. At all events, it could not have been completed with as great a measure of perfection as it now possesses, a day earlier than the present. No man was ever blessed with more kindly and thoughtful friends than the writer. Every request for information has been most promptly and heartily met by tions of rorrespo liam A. Kansas .^ of the M of Arizoi 11. Bcail kcta, for Dakota a a valuable Dakota; for docun^ Louis, Prt able docui many don J. K, Hue ture of thii valuable d( and to Un A. L. Stok to Edward scriptive w ments and for official 1 to Rev. W; to Montana to be ackn( please accep cious than c In the hoj loved count public's mos Broo W rREFACE. met by those to whom it was addressed; and in many cases voluntary contribu- tions of great labor and value have been added. Two most valued and helpful correspondents have died while the work was in progress: his Excellency, Wil- liam A. Howard, (lovernor of Dakota, and Hon. Alfred (Iray, Secretary of the Kansas State lioard of Agriculture. Of the living, the warm ami hearty thanks of the writer are due to his Kxcellency, Gen. John C. Fremont, Governor of Arizona, for valuable information relative to that Territory; to Hon. W. H. H. Beadle, of Yankton, Dakota, Sui)erintcndent of Public Instruction of Da- kota, for much information and valuable memoranda in regard to Southeastern Dakota and the Black Hills; to J. B. Power, Esq., of St. Paul, Minnesota, for a valuable essay, and many important documents in regard to Montana and Dakota; to H. H. Young, Esq., Secretary of Minnesota Board of Emigration, for documents, etc., relative to Minnesota; to Hon. Andrew McKinley, of St. Louis, President of Missouri State Board of Immigration, for letters and valu- able documents; to his Excellency, Albinus Nance, Governor of Nebraska, for many documents; to his Excellency, J. P. St. John, Governor of Kansas, and J. K. Hudson, Esq., Mr. Gray's successor as Secretary of the Board of Agricul- ture of that State, for documents; to Robert E. Strahorn, Esq., of Omaha, for valuable documents and descriptions; to A. L. Webber, Esq., of Hot Springs, and to United States Senator A. H. Garland, for aid in regard to Arkansas; to A. L. Stokes, Esq., of Chicago, for valuable documents in regard to Oregon; to Edward J. Brockett, of Orange, N. J., for many valuable historical and de- scriptive works; to Charles C. Savage, Esq., of Bropklyn, for valuable docu- ments and information concerning Colorado; to Gen. N. A. Miles, U. S. A., for official reports of the exploration of the Yellowstone region ; and especially to Rev. Wayland Hoyt, D. D., of Brooklyn, for his invaluable aid in regard to Montana and the Yellowstone Park. There may be others whose aid ought to be acknowledged, but whose names are not now recalled. If so, they will please accept the grateful thanks of one whose memory of names is less tena- cious than of loving deeds. In the hope that this book may contribute to the honor and glory of our be- loved country, both at home and abroad, the writer subscribes himself the public's most humble servant. L. P. B. Brooklyn, February, i88i. 5 PRF.FACE... Table of Cc What it C( TENT — I Phknomi NANCE O Lands.., The Great / Perkins'i Hazen oi Facts— I L. Whiti Stories— vada De; Arizona- The whole I Silver, o' culture.., Wild Animals PHY's Griz other Fel AND Weas: Coyote ?— Prey— Per MERs— Rep Population— Ti EACH State Contents. PRF.FACG Table or Contents. PART I.— OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER I. What it CoMPREHF.Nns— The West heyonp the Mississippi— Its Area and Ex- tent — Comparison with other Emi'Ires— Climate — Mountains — Natural Phenomena — Soil — The Alkaline, Volcanic and "Bad Lands" — Preuomi- nance of Arable and Pasture Lands— Nutritious Grasses in the Grazing Lands 33 CHAPTER II. The Great American Df^f.rt: Where is it ?— The Hundredth Meridian— •• Eli Perkins's" Scare — The Facts in Reply— Colonel (Urkvet Brigadier-General) Hazen dm the Northern Pacific — Governor Howard's Answer, and other Facts — Dakota — Wyoming and its Agriculture — Montana — B. R. and Mr. Z. L. White on its Crops— The small modicum of Truth in these " Desert " Stories — The reported " Le-iErt " beyond the Rockies — The Utah and Ne- vada Desert — Testimony of Surveyors-General — The Texan Deserts and Arizona— The Great Am::rican Desert a Myth 37 CHAPTER III. The whole Region Abounding in Mineral Wealth — Production ok Gold and Silver, other Metals, etc. — Fokests^^Grasses — Root Crops— Fruits — Vini- culturk 51 CHAPTER IV. Wild Animals and Game— Beasts of Prey— Grizzly and ot -'.r Bears— Mr. Mur- phy's Grizzly Bear Story— The Cougar, Puma, or Panther— The Jaguar and other Felid.*:— Lynxes— ^Vhat sort of an Animal a Lynx is— The Marten AND Weasel Tribe— The Gray Wolf — The Coyote— Is the Prairie Wolf a Coyote? — Colonel Dodge's Opinion — Amphibia — The Whale Tribe — Biros of Prey— Perchers and Song-Hirds— Pigeons and Grouse— Waders and Swim> mers— Reptiles— Fishes— MoLLUsKs and Crustaceans—Domestic Animals., . . 5$ CHAPTER V. Population— The Increase since 1870— Tables Showing the estimated Increase in BACH State and Territory— Notes in regard to each State and Territory. ■■ (7) > i i U z p ? 63 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. The Nationalities and Races Represented — The Indians— Different Tribes, and THEIR Characteristics — The Moquis ok Arizona — Note concerning them — africans and coi.ored persons generally — chinese and japanese — hispano- Americans — Europeans of different Nationalities — British, British Ameri- * CAN, German, Scandinavian, French, Italian, Spanish, etc. — Americans born IN THE STATFJ5 66 CHAPTER VII. Characteristics and Psculiarities of the Populatiou — Humorous Aspects of the Blending ")F different Nations — The New Dialect — Specimens of 't— The Propensity to Humorous Exaggeration — Incidents, Manners and Habits of Ranch-owners and Ranchmew— Colonus of different Nationalities and Religions — M.^-nnonites— Stundists — Mormons— Catholic Emigration — Asso- ciation of Capitalists for Mining, Herding, Wool-growing, or Farming Pur- poses — Other Modes of Settlement 71 CHAPTER VIII. Variety of Soils and Surface — Alkaline Lands— The Llano Estacado — Mez- QuiTE Lands — The Plains— The Bad Lands— River-bottom Lands — Soils — The Mulatto Soils — The Chocolate Soils — Geography and Geognosy — Geology — ' haracteristics of the Rocky Mountains— Glacial Erosion — Horse-shoe Moraines — Volcanic Remains of the Yellowstone Country — The Geysers — Wonderful Lava Fields — Volcanic Mouni^ — The Vicinity OF Salt Lake — Professor Geikie's Summary of the Geology of the Central Region — Mineralogy — Mineral Wealth of the West, not Surpassed in any other part of the Globe — Wide diffusion of Gold and Silver — Lead, Copper, Zinc — Iron found Everywhere — Nickel — Rarer Metals — Salt in Brine Springs, Lakes, Salt Marshk, and Rock-Salt — Borax — Asphaltum AND Petroleum — Lignite — Coal — Building-Stonf-s — Colored Rocks and Clays— Precious Stones of all kinds — Porcelain Clays — Baryta — Ochres — Mineral Spring:- 81 ■" '■ CHAPTER IX. • ^^-^«... . . i Climates— Varieties of Climate — Causes — Climate of North West Coast — Small K iNge of Temperature on the California Coast — Extremes of Heat and Cold between the Coast RAr::E and Sierpa Nevada- -Ccld in Northern Dakota — Protracted and intense Heat at Top.t Yuma — The Soldier's Test — Temperature on the Plains — The Rocky Mountain Cli- mate — Hot at mid-day. Cool at Night — Annual Range from 55° to 65° — Healthfulness of this Climate — Rainfall— Great Variations — Compari- son OF different Sections — Western Oregon and Northern California, T23 to 135 inches — San Diego and Fort Yuma, 3.8< ro 2.00 inches — Gulf Coast 54 to 67 inches — Mississippi River to 9. . Meridian 45 to 28 inches — 97rH to 117TH Meridian 25 to n.5 inches- Farther West, 33 to 42 inches — Causes of deficient Rainfall — Two-thirds of Arable Lands DO not require Irrigation — One-third do — Advantages of Irrigation- Crops larger and more uniform— Winds— Character and Effect of dif- FKRE from Sett: The varh NIA— ExPEi The I —Hyi HAS B "Cou> posits- SlLVEU and R Winze- very I] The R Cost 01 DIFFUSE Modes i LOCATIC Mining- Experts Other Met; BAR— Co AND VlTK Occurs i Occur ei Statfs ai KST AbUN Found Pi FORNIA, ( Oxide— N Meials F — Antimo Combinat tive and i IN Galipoi — Borax- Utah— Sa OND, LiGNl Action to —True A; California Kaolin — V CONTENTS. FFRENT Winds — The Winds from the North — Gulf Winds— The Hot Winds FROM Mexico — Possiuility of their mitigation as the Country becomes Settled 94 CHAPTER X. The various Trocesses of Mining — Placer Mining — Gold Discovery in Califor- nia — Marshal's Specimens — Humphrey makes a Rocker — P. B. Reading's Experiment — John Bidwell's Discovery — Intense Excitkmknt — The Pan — The Rocker — The Ditch and tks " Tom " — The Sluice — Hydraulic Mining — Hydraulic Mining not /ESTH'vnc — Desolation of the Regions where it has been practised— Lode or Quartz Mining— True Fissure Veins — The "Country" Rock — Chimneys, Chutes, or Bonanzas— Pockets — Cement De- posits — Contact Lodes — What is meant by a C^ontacp Lode — Carbonates of Silver as rich as Sulphurets — Gold combiskd with Sulphurets — Mining and Reducing Processes — Sinking a Shaff — Running an Adit — CUiTING a Winze — Stoping — Depth of Mines — Great Heat of Deep Mines — The Water very Hot, ii;4° F. or more — Cost of Pumping out and Ventilating Mines — The Rf.ducti in of Pyritous and other Ores — Gold with Oxide of Iron — Cost op Reduction of Gold — Discoveries ok Silver Ores — Silver widely diffused — Various Conditions and Combinations of Silver in the Ores — Modes of Reduotion — T»w best Mining Rbgions — Placer Mining: the best Locations — Difficulties of Placer Mining — Difficulties ok Lode or Vein Mining— The best Mines bought up by Capitalists — The best Locations for Experts loi CHAPTER XL " Other Metals and Mineral Products — Quicksilver — Its Existence as Cinna- bar — Copper — Found in Various Forms, as Malachite, Red, Blue, Yellow, • • and Vitreous Carbonates and Oxides, Copper Glance, Pyrites, Native, etc.. Occurs in nearly all the States vnd Territories — Lead and Zinc — Both Occur either as Galena (Sulphurkt), Cakbonaie i>r Oxide, in most of the Statfs and Territories — Iron — Everywhere and in all Forms in the Great- est Abundance — Can Supply the Worlp with Iron and Steel — Platinum- Found Pure and in Combination with Gold, Iridium and Iridosmin in Cali- fornia, Oregon, Colorado, and Arizona — Tin — Occurs as Cassiterite or Oxide — Nickel— Found in Iron Ores — Iridium and Osmium — Tellurium — Rare Meials Found in Combination with Gold, >nd the latter also with Copper — Antimony — Arsenic — Manganese — The three Found in V^iriou^ Forms in Combination with Siiver, Copper, Lead, Zinc, and Iron — Sulphur — Found Na- tive and in Various Combinations with most of the Metals — Extensive Beds in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Yellov/stone Park, etc. — Borax — In California and Nevada — Soda — In California, Nevada, and Utah— Salt — Coal — Four Distinct Coal Fields: Eastern, Bituminous; Sec- ond, Lignite-Cretaceous; Third, Lignite-Tertiary, r.UT changed by Volcanic Action to Anthracite ; Fourth, Bituminous, and Farther North, Anthracite — True Anthracite Coal also in Arizona — Asphaltum and Petroleum in California, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana — Mica — Alum — Kaolin — Wood and Charcoal as Fuel— Mineral Springs 1 18 < 0! MM 8 lO CONTENTS. 1 ., ( It CHAPTER XII. Agriculture — Arable Lands East of the Rocky Mountains — Minnesota Farming Lands and Products — Dakota Territory Farming Lands — Montana Farms — Iowa Farms — Missouri Farming Lands — Nebraska Farming Lands — Kansas Farming— Arkansas Farms — The Indun Territory as a Farming Region — Texas Farming, Grain, Cotton, etc. — Review of Farming Lands East of Rocky Mountains— Much Poor and Indifferent Farming — Revo! ution in Farming Produced by Agricultural Machinery — Root Crom — Cottok — Sugar — Fruit Culture — Tkxtile Fibres and Tobacco — The Rocky Mountain Region — Won- derful Results of Irrigation — Beyond the Rockies — From the Sierra Ne- vada to the Coast Range — California — Vinicultuhe in California— The Products of Oregon and Washington 131 CHAPTER XIII. Timber and Lumber<~Reckless Waste of the Forest Growths—Only eight States AND Territories have Sufficient Forests for their own Supply, and some to Spare — Tree-Planting — The Forest Growths in Different Sections — Cal- ifornia Forests — What Trees are Planted — Cotton-Wood — Osaoe Orange — Catalpa — Maple, etc. — The Eucalyptus Globulus Should be Planted — Why? — Horticulture and Fruit-Culture— Floriculture— Wild Flowers— Market-Gardening 147 CHAPTER XIV. New Directions in which Agricultural Industry may be Developed, and in which it is already Developing— Millet and other Forage Cro"s — Silk- Culture — Rearing the Sii.k-worm — Stifuno the Cocoons — Reeling — The Filature — SciiAPPfe or Spun-Silk — Cocoons do not bear Transportation well — Advantages of Silk-Culture in the West — The Silkville Experiment — Prices of Raw Silk and of Silk-worm Eggs — Probability of a Large Demand FOR Raw Silk — Textile Fibres— Flax and Hemp — Paper Stock : Esparto Grass, Tule, Marsh-Mallow, etc. — Ramie, Jute, Tampico— The Nettle— Dye Stuffs— Cochineal — Oil-Producing Plants — The Olive — Cotton-Seed Oil — Hemp-seed and Linseed Oil — Oil of Sunflower Seeds and other Seeds-^Se- samum Indicum — Tar Weed (Madia Sativa) — Pea-nut, Ground-nut or Goober —Castor Bean (Ricinus Communis and Sanguinarius) — Tea and Coffee Culti- VAVION — FhUIT AND NUT-BEARING TREES AND SHRUBS — ThE OLIVE— ORANGES AND Lemons— Pomegranate — Fig- Banana, Plantain, Pineapple, Guava and OTHER Tropical Fruits — Papaw — Nut bearing Trees and Shrubs — Introduc- tion of Foreign Nut.s — English Walnut — Itauan Chestnut — Almond — Other Fruit-bearing Shrubs-- Japanese Persimmon, Carob, Jujube, Mezquite, ETC. — Trees and Shrubs containing Tannin — The Sumacs — The Wattles — The SPiRiSSAS or Hardhacks 152 CHAPTER XV. ,, ,, !.-.,, >„/'. •.;,' .....,„.-, .Stock-Raising — Cattle-herding, and the rearing of Horses and Mules — The Grazing Lands— The Stock-growing Region, par excellence— "Vimt^K Care of Stock — Number of Cattle in the West in 1879 — The Herdsmen or Cow-boys — Stock-raising profitable if well managed— Stock-raising in Texas— Ch- ¥AT Exf RAN( OF A Ano: JR- — Mi IN T. ANp TUCSI AfID . Camk Sheep-Fah Lambs the I fer — I Shelt] EASES C — Pape Sheep Plants Farmbi —The Not Ad with a Angora EMPLOVMEfTl Place f( V/ELL— I THESE Pi MAN — B GINEERS, —The I Teacher TORIES — i Manufac ducing, S PLOVfts — 1 ING— Wat factures Machines The Future, t Cavsj^ wh CO^/TENTS, HATlc Advantages — Pasturino on the Great Rances, or ononp's own I^nd-t Expense of rearing Cattle in Texas— The two Extremes in Stock-raising in Texas— ExAMi'LEs — Bkoinning on a Small Scale — Growth of a Texas Stoc|{,- ranche— Stock-raising in Kansas and Colorado — Joint-Stock Management OF A Rajr Shipping Choice Stock from these States and Territories to Europe — Dairy- Farming— Stock-raising Af4D Dairy- Farming in California — Hojise-Farming and Rearing Mules- Camels «6S CHAPTER XVI. Sheep-Farming and Wool-Growing — Number of Sheep and Annual Increase of Lambs in each State or Territory— The Great Wool States— Improving the Breed — Merinos — Cotswolds — Southiwwns— 7.eicesters — Tastes DiF- FER — Perils of the Flocks from Cold, Starvation, and Thirst — Winter Shelter and Winter Food Necessary in Kansas and farther North — Dis- ' eases of Sheep— The Scab— The Tick— Grub in the Head— The Pale Diskask — Paper Skin — The Foot-rot — The Black-leg — Pleuro-Pneumonia, etc.— The Sheep that Browse and the Shlep that Crop their Food — Shrubs and Plants Poisonous to Sheep — Sheep-Farming — The Shepherds — The Sheep- Farmbr in Colorado— The Purchase of the Sheep-Farm — Buying the Sheep — The Account — Beginning on a small Scale: the Man with only jj!i,ooo — Not Advisable to Marry, or bring a Family to a Sheep-Farm when starting with A very Small Capital- -Crossing the Breed with the Big-Horn — The Angora and other Goats — The Rocky Mountain Goat i8o CHAPTER XVII. Employments in Cities, Towns and Villages- "A Man's got to have Sand " — No Place for Men easily Discouraged — Energetic and Industrious Men can do v/ELL — Horticulture, Floriculture, Arboriculture — How to Succeed in these Pursuits — Mercantile 5usiness— The Road to Success for the Trades- man — Banking — The Trofessions, Clergymen, Lawyeps, Physicians, En- gineers, Artists, Mus.cians, and Teachers of Music, Vocal and Instrumental —The Love of Mu'iic Illustrated — The Leadville Miner and his Piano — Teachers and Educators — Provisions for Education in the States and Terri- TORIES — Artisans of all Tradi:s — Machinists, Operatives, and EMPLOYfes m Manufacturing Establishments — Employments connected with Mining, Re- ducing, Smelting AiJD Refining Metals— Farming, Herding, and other Em- PLOvts — Day-Laborers — How to Spell " Lynx " — Facilities for Manufactur- ing — Water-Power, Steam-Power — Woollen Manufacture — Cotton Manu- factures AND Cotton Seed— Other Textiles — Iron and Iron Warbs— Machinery — Manufactures of Wood, etc 191 ...:;r.v^.'i.- ■. . ..-.■ Peopli varies for Mi along, are DI! THE Ea The Routes SHOULD one — Ti Region- TR ;l Re City thi ERN, Sou: ERN Stat THE Gul York — T Territor Table of OF 1879.. The Selectioi migrant v Immigrani parts of s ernment i OR PRIVATI Warrants HOMESTEAI FOR THE Be Minor Orp Previously The Timbe Stone Lani HOW Secur] Who Should Migrate to this Western Empire, and the Rea5,ons Why — Desira- bleness OF Accurate Information — What English and Irish Farmers are Saying — This Book thoroughly Trustworthy, and written with no Inter- est but the Immigrant's to Serve — Intentional and Unintentional Misrep- resentation — Who should not come — The Land-Grant Railway Companies, and the Emigration Societies — The Hardships to which the Immigrant was Subjected Thirty or Forty Years ago— The comparative Ease and Comfort OF THE Immigrant's Lot now — The Immigrant should not buy his Land before SEEING IT — All Lands nct equally Desirable — Railway Pamphlets and Em- igration Society Circulars sometimes Overstate Advantages — The Immigrant SHOULD Examine for Himself — Age beyond which Emigration is Undesirable --Other Classes who ought not to come— Invalids— Lazy People— Fickle Mining and ^\^I^ Land Offic Veins— Hov — How TO S tions and Proof of C ETC. — VesTEI Provision ( Claims— Till — Effect of The Miner' Office — Gei %\ CONTENTS. n People — Those who have no Money— Amount of Capital Necessary — This VARIES WITH THE OCCUPATION — WhAT ARE NECESSARY EXPENSES— ALTERNATIVES FOR Men who have only £,\oa or less, anu a Family — Single Men can get ALONG, THOUGH NOT WITHOUT HARDSHIPS ANU PRIVATIONS — WHY SOME EMIGRANTS ARE Dissatisfied — "Our Western Empire" preferred to other Countries by THE Emigrant — Why ? 237 CHAPTER II. The Routes by which "Our Western Empire" is Reached — What the Immigrant SHOULD do on reaching Castle Garden — The Journey at best a Wearisome one — The Northeastern Region — Chicago the Point of Departure for this Region — Cautions and Advice to the Immigrant when Travelling — The Cen- TR VL Region— St. Louis, Omaha, St. Joseph, Atchison, or preferably Kansas City the Points of Departure for this Region, and for most of the South- ern, Southwestern and Pacific Regions also — The Southern and Southwest- ern States and Territories also reached by Steamers on the Mississippi and the Gulf, and these and the Pacific States by Ocean Steamers from New York — The Southern Region — The Southwestern — The Pacific States and Territories — Time occupied by the Emigrant Trains and the Steamers — Table of Destinations, Routes, Points of Departure and Fares in the Autumn of 1879 248 CHAPTER III. The Selection of a Farm — How to obtain Land — Various Ways in which an Im- migrant WITH Capital may obtain a Farm very Reasonably — Advice to the Immigrant who has but little Capital — In what States and Territories, or parts of States, are there Arable Government Lands ? — How to obtain Gov- ernment Lands — Prices of Arable or Farming Lands — Purchase at Auction OR Private Entry — Purchases and Locations with Bounty or Military Land- Warrants — Locations with Agricultural College Scrip — Pre-emption — The Homestead Sales — Laws extending the Homestead Privilege — Provisions FOR the Benefit of Soldiers and Sailors of the late War, their Widows and Minor Orphan Children — Homestead Lands Exempt from Liability for Debts Previously Contracted— Fees for Homestead Entries— Land-Warrants — The Timber-Culture Act — Terms and Mode of Purchase of Timber and Stone Lands — The Desert Land Act — Purchases under it — Grazing Lands: HOW Secured 254 CHAPTER IV. Mining and Mineral Lands — The United States Laws and Regulations of the Land Office IN REGARD to them — Extent of Claim — Rights of Claimants — Veins— How Controlled — Tunneling— Requirements of Location and Labor — How TO Secure A Patent for them — Provisions for Placer Claims — Limita- tions AND Liens — Placer and Lode Claims Jointly — Fees to Surveyors — Proof of Claims — Veins Crossing — Sites for Mills — Drainage, Easements, etc. — Vested Water-rights — Homesteads — Agricultural Lands — General Provision — Coal Lands— Who can Claim— Registering Claims— Conflicting Claims— The act of 1874— The Act of 1875 — Rules of the U. S. Land Office — Effect of the Act of 1872— Extent of Surface Ground — Surface Rights — The Miner's Laws or Rules — Interpretation of the Statutes by the Land Office — General Instructions from Surveyor- General— Placer Claims— |4 CONTENTS. MltL SITES— Deputy-Surveyor's Fees — Proofs of Citizenship of Mining ClAim- XMTS— State, Territorial and Local Rules or Laws — Nevada Statut^-s— Vir- feiNiA District, Nevada — Reese River District, Nevada — Statutes ok Orfxion —Quartz Statute of Idaho — Statute of Arizona — Mining Laws of Colorado •i— Supplementary Act to these Laws passed in 1874— The Colorado Act of 1877— Mining Laws of Ne\v Mexico 270 CHAPTER V. Other Lands iN some of the States more Desirable for Emigrants than Govern- ment Lands— State and Territorial Lands— Agricultural College, Uni- versity, AND School Lands — The Quantity, Prices, and Terms ok Purchase Other State Lands — Lands Granted to Benevolent Institutions— Desert AND SwaMp Lands— Lands held Under Micxican Titles in California, New Mexico, and Arizona— Some Danger of Conflict of Titles in these — The Texas Land System — Three Modes of Securing Homes in Texas under its Land Laws, viz. : By Settlement under the Homestead Donation Law; By Locating a Certificate; or by Purchase from the State of Common School, IJniversity or Asylum Lands— No United States Government Lands in Texas — Railroad Lands — Extent of these in the different States and Terri- tories — Range of Prices — Methods of Selling for Cash — On Short Credit — ■ On Long Credit— the Discounts for Cash Payments— Examples— Range of Prices — The Union Pacific, Central Pacific, Western Pacific, and Southern Pacific Lands — Their Rules for Selling— Their Terms higher and more Vigorously Enforced — Buying an Interest in a Mine — This does not Neces- sarily include Ownership ok the Land over it — Buying Partially improved Farms — They Should not be Bought at too High a Price 345 CHAPTER VI. Farming Life— Management of a Farm at the West— The Best Farming Regions— What Crops are Best — The Immigrant Farmer should decide what Crops he wishes to Cultivate, beforehand— If Small Chains and Root Crops, he should decide between Spring Wheat and Winter Wheat — Spring Wheat Best in the Northern Tier of States and Territories — Why? — Winter Wheat in the Middle Tier — Other Crops — Indian Corn — Sorghum — Oats — Root Croi's — The Region of Moderate or Small Rainfall — Necessity of Irrigation on These— Its Advantages— Crops Certain — Requires more Capital but Gives BETTER Results — Hints to Immigrant Farmers — Deep Plowing Needed — Ro- tation OF Crops — Some Manuring an Advantage — Agricultural Machinery — The Gang-Plow — Seed-Drill — Horse- Hoe — ^'Cultivator — Reaper and Binder OR Harvester, Mower, Horse-rake, etc., etc. — Should keep what Stock he CAN Feed — Sowing Grain in Drills, instead of Broadcast — Too much Seed Sown and not enough Care of its Quality — Hallett's Pedigree Wheat — The Immigrant in the South or Southwest — The Best Crops for him — Cot- ton IF HE chooses, but VEGETABLES, SMALL FRUITS, SwEET POTATOES, AND GENER- ALLY Market-Garden Produce, more Profitable on Account of its Earliness — Often Two Crops can be Raised in a Season — Some of the Cereals and In- dian Corn do well in Northern Texas and Arkansas — Need of Fertilizers here — Their Accfjssibility — Semi-Tropical Fruits most Profitable in Ari- zona, Southern New Mexico, and Southern California — How Farming can be ikADE Most PllOFITABLE 363 CONTENTS. IS CHAPTER VII. Western Farming Continued— What Capital is Necessary for a Comfortablr Beginning on a New Farm at the West — What the Railway Men say $i,ooo WILL DO— This Sum hardly Sukkiciknt under Homestead or Timber-Culture Acts, without Great Privations — Fiktekn Hundred Dollars Better— A Larger Amount Needed in some Stat»:s or Tkkkitories than in others — Less Money Needed in Arkansas or Texas than Ei^ewhere, but the Land Less Productive — The Disasters and Drawuacks to which the Western Farmrr IS Liable before he is fairly Established — Drought— Grasshoppers or Bee- tles, Gophers — Cattle Diseases — Swine Plague — Cyclones — Prairie Fires or Floods — The Remedy or Preventive to be found in varied I/xations — Varifj> Crops, or the Addition of Stock-raising to his other Farming — Buying a Par- tially Improved Farm — What is Boughi -The Price varying in different Locations— Advice to those who are unable at first to Buy and Stock a Farm — Incidents of Farm-Life — Renting Land unadvisable — Great Farms objectionable — Why? — The Homestead and other Exemptions in the dif- ferent States 379 CHAPTER Vni. The Immigrant as a Cattle-breeder and Stock-raiser — Methods of Stock-breed- ing in different States and Territories — The Texas Cattle-Ranche — The Large Ranche and the Small one — $15,000 to 525,000 for the Former, and 14,500 to Js.ooo for the Latter — The Ranche in Colorado — Only Large Ranches Profitable as a Rule — How a Man with a Small Capital may eventually have a Cattle-Ranche of his Own — The Herder's Life a lonely one and not without its Perils — Wyoming, Montana, California — " Th^ Bulls of the Blessed Trinity " — Dangers from Grizzly Bears, Panthers, Jaguars — Dangers of the Great and continued Snow Storms — Necessity of A Shelter and Fodder for the Cattle in Winter — Joint-Stock Cattle-, Ranches in Montana— Cattle easily Fatted there— In California the Stock choice and in Demand, both for Breeding and Dairy-farming — Cat- tle-breeding IN New Mexico, Utah, Arizona — In Washington, Oregon, Ne- vada, and Idaho — Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Ar- kansas AS Cattle-breeding States — Lands best Ad .ted to this Pursuit — Different Methods Advisable in Different Sections — The Cow-boys or Her- ders : THEIR Careof their Herds — Their isolated, half-savage Life — Round- ing up — Branding — Selecting the Steers and Hfifers for Market — The Cap- ital Necessary for Success — Combining Dairying with Cattle-breeding, less Capital required — Good Management Necessary — Becoming Manager of k Joint-Stock Cattle-Farm in Montana or Dakota — A Fortune acquired in a Few Years by a Shrewd and Skilful Man— How a Poor Man can acquire a Cattle-Ranche in time — Statistics of the Cost of a Moderately Large Ranche 390 13 MM MP) p % CHAPTER IX. SHEEP'FARMmC AND WoOI-GROWING-^ThE BeST REGIONS AND THE BeST BeEEDS— ThR Most Direct Routes thither — The Methods of Sheep-farming in our West-' KRN Empire — ^The Texas Sheep-farms — Large Flocks Preferred — Small Ones LESS Profitable— The Experience of Texan Sheep-farmers— Col. James' Statement— The Kansas PoLrcT that or Small Sheep-farms with other Farm- fv t^,, l6 CONTENTS. INC. Carrted on with it— Tkstimonv ok Mes3rs McIntosh, Uiit., Bryan, Hos- TETTER, GRINNEI.I., MATHIES AND WaDSWORTH — ThE Y(>UN(J COLORADO SHKEP-FAR« MER— Capital Reqiirei". in dikkerent Sections — The SiiEriiERDS — Antagon- ism ok the Herders and Sheiiierds — Improvino the Breeds— Wintering the Sheep — Water in Ahundance a Necessity — Destruction ok the Herds krom Thirst — Snowino Under— Fatal Ekkects ok a Severe Norther — The Shep- herd's Life more Isolated and with less Excitement than that ok the Herder or Cow-Boy — Irs Risks and Dangers — New Mexico the best Region for Large Sheep-farms, and Kansas and Nebraska for Small ones — How to Buy and Stock a Sheep-ranche— The Amount of Capital NEctasARY— The Cost and the Profits— Mr. Gray on the different Breeds of Sheep— Char- acter of the Varieties most Popular in the West — Diseases of Sheep — Mr. F. D. Curtis's Essay — Parasites — Liver-rot— Pale Disease — Hydatids — Worms in the Head— Scab— Sheep-ticks — Foot-rot — Constipation — Colics — DiARRHCEA and ScoURS — INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS — SnUFFLES AND SNORING —Poisons— Abortion — Black-leg — Paper-Skin — Lung- Worm — Stricana — Sheep healthier in the North than in the South — The Enemies ok the Sheep — How a Poor Man can become a Sheep-master 402 CHAPTER X. Other Farm Animals — Breeding Swine — Swine Husbandry less Popular in the Great West than East of the Mississippi — The States and Territories most largely engaged in it — Southern Swine generally of Poorer Breeds than those in the more Northern States— The Best Breeds— Berkshire, Poland- CHiNA, and Chester-White — Modfs of Management — The Margin of Profit IN the Business — Diseases to wtncii Swine are Liable — The Hog-Cholera — Swine Plague or IIo(j- Fever -Great Destruction ok Swine caused by ihis Disease — The Researches of Drs. Detmers, Law, Voyles, and Salmon into the Causes, Character, Symptoms, and Fatal Results of this Disease, and THE Possibility ok its Prevention or Cure— Swine-farming in Kansas and Iowa — Reports of Messrs. Coburn, Linscott Brothers, Prinule, Johnson, Sutton, and Keagy on Methods and Success in Swine-karming — Breeding of Horses, Asses, and Mules for the Market — This Pursuit very Profitable — The Mustang, the Broncho and the Burro — Dogs — The Shepherd Dog — Dogs for Hunting— The Greyhound; Dikkerent Varieties— Pointers, Set- ters, Bull-Dogs, Coach-Dogs, Terriers — Mongrel Hunting Dogs— Indian Cur-Dogs — Crosses between Dogs and Wolves — Worthless Dogs very De- structive OF Sheep — The Raising of Poultry — Different Breeds — The Cross OK the common Barn-yard Fowl with the Brahma, Houdan, Hamburg, Black- Spanish or Plymouth Rock the best — Bantams good Layers— Mr. A. P. Ford's Directions and Statistics — Other Fowls — Enemies of Fowls — Chicken-Chol- era — The Croup 440 CHAPTER XI. V Special Crops — Rice Corn — Pearl Millet — Other Millets — AlkalfA;-Hungarian Grass — Sweet Potatoes— Pea-Nut or GROuNp-NuT — The Sugar Question once MORE — Is NOT CORN WORTH MORE THAN TWENTY CENTS A BuSHEL TO MAN- UFACTURE INTO Sugar?— The Cultivation ok Tfjctilk^ — Flax, Hemp, Ramie, Jute, Tampico, Tule, Nettle, Esparto Grass, the Brake or Swamp Cane — Some ok the Cacti— Cultivation of Oil-Producing Plants— The Pea-Nut or // C0N7ENIS. Ground-Nut— Castor Bran, Olive, Flax, Rape, Hemp and CotTon Srkd, Tar Weed, St-SAMi:, rKiTERMiNT, Spearmint, Uercjamot— Cultivation ok Nut- BEARINC AND FRUIT-IIEARINC. TRKES AND SlIRUIlS— ENGLISH WaLNUT, ULACK Walnut, IIickorv Nut, Common Chestnut, Italian Chestnut, Almond, Fil- bert, Pecan, Hazel Nut, I'awpaw, Persimmon, Japanese Persimmon, Pomegran- ate, Mandrake, Apricot, Medlar, Orange, Lemon, Shaddock, etc. — Ordinary Fruits, Apples, Pears, Quinces, Picaciies, Plums, Cherries, Prunes, etc. — Small Fruits, Grapes, Zante Currants, Currants, Gooseherries, Straw- berries, Raspberries, Rlackderries, Dewberries, Partridceberries, Whortle- berries — Market Garden Vegetables — Employment for Professional Men, Artisans, Tradicsmen, Florists, Market-Gardeners, Factory Operatives, ETC.— Importance of Sustaining Schools and Churches 478 PART III.— THE SEVERAL ST/. FES AND TERRITORIES DESCRIBED. CHAPTER I . ARIZOMA. Its Location — Extent — Addition to its Area by the Gadsden TrfIaty— Date of Organization— Only one-twelfth of its Area yet Surveyed — Topography — Mountains, Rivers, Lakf^j, CaNons — Remarkable Character of these CaRons — They Drain the Mesas ok theik Moisture— The CaNons of the Colorado — Their Descent by Major J. W. Powell and his Companions in 1869 and 1871 — The Grand CaNon of the Colorado one of the Wonders of THE World — Table- lands — General FrImont's thorough Acquaintance with Arizona — His Proposition to Restore the Great Inland Sea in Southeastern California — A Moister Climate Secured to Arizona by this Measure — Soil, Cumate, Temperature and Rainfall — Yuma the Hottest and Driest Place in " Our Western Empire" — Wonders and Peculiarities of Arizona— Miner- als and Mines — ZoAlogy — Adventures with Wild Animals — The Bite of the Skunk — Rabid Wolvf.s— Productions, Mineral, Animal, Vegetable — Popu- lation—The Indians — Their large Number— Different Races— Some of them Industrious and Honest, others Thievish and Murderous — Nearly Extinct Races— The Extensive Ruins of Ancient Dwellings Inhabited BY Races now Nearly or Quite Extinct — The Casa Grande — Other Ruins — The Anciint Province of Tusayan — The Narratives of Colonel Powell and Proff^sor Newberry — Situation ok the Moquis Vilijvges on Lofty Mesas — Their Dwellings usually Three or Four Stories High, and Terraced in Front— The Rear Walls Blank— The Lower Story a Granary — Windows of Selenite — The Neatness of their Apartments — Their Mode of Life — Hospitality — Politeness — Occupations — Economy — Industry — Their Brf^d of Different Colors— Virgin Hash — Ceramic Art— Blankets — Other Manufactures of Wool — Taste in Dress — Dressing the Hair — Salutations — Sunrise Worship — Theology — Gymnastic Exercises — Sacri- fices of Fruits and Seeds Only — Language Peculiar— Probably of Toltec Origin — ^White Inhabitants — Present Condition, and the Advantages and Facilities it Affords to Settlers — Letters and Communications from Major-General J. C. Fr£mont, Governor of Arizona, and Colonel. J. W. u H ? I II CONTENTS. P0WKI.L, United States Army. Explorer or the Colorado, etc— Probabi* FUTiiRK— Hiocrapiiical Sketcii ok Major-general I-RtMONr, the rRESiNT CovERNOii or Arizona 492 CHAPTER II. ARKAJfSAS. Its Situation, Area, Extent— TorocRAi-iiv— Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Valleys — NaVICAIILK KlVF.RS AND RaIIAVAVS—SoII.—CMMATK—KaiNI'AI.I,— MINERALS AND Mineral and Hot Si-rings — Analysis oi- the Mot Si'rincs— The Village of Hot Springs— The Inhahitants ok the Adjacent Country— Vegetation — Woodland— Forest Growths and their Size— Fruits— Wii.n and Cultivated Grapf.s— Animals— Insect Pests— Arc ii.Koi.nGv—rRoinrcTioNs, Mineral, Vege- table AND Animal— Crops— Livestock — Manufactures— Commerce— Popula- tion- Origin OF Population — Education — Religious Denominations — Exemptions — Donated Lands — Views or Hon. Charles S. Keyser, Hon. David Walker, W. A. Webber, Esq., and Hon. A. H. Garland, U. S. Senator, ON the History and Probable Future of Arkansas 530 CHAPTER III. . CALIFORJflA. Its Situation— Topography— Mountains, Valleys, Lakf-s, Rivers, Harbors, Islands— Arable, Grazing, Timber and Worthless Lands, and the Probable Quantity of Each— Geology and Mineralogy — Gold and Silver in very MANY Forms— Quicksilver, Platinum, Lead, Copper, Tin, Arsenic, Iron in MANY Forms, Tellurium, Graphite, Borax, Salt, Soda, Si:lphur, Gypsum, Barytes, Antimony, Ochre, etc., among the Metals and Minerals of the State — Minf-s and Mining Industry — Immense Production of the Precious Metals in the State — Twenty-one Counties Produce either Gold or Silver OR both — Increased Production in 1S80— Soils and Vegetation— Red, Adobe, Buff, Sandy, Tule, Desert and Alkaline Soils— The Forest Trees — The Sequoias, Redwoods and other Trees Peculiar to California — Df.scription OF THE Giant Trees by Mr. Whitehill — ZoSlogy— Great Variety of Animal Life — Beasts of Prey— Rodents Destroying Crops— Ground Squirrels and Gophers— Wonders — Professor Whitney's Descriition of the Vosemite Valley — Other Descriptions of the Adjuncts of Vosemite — Cloud Rest — " I Salute the Grandest View in the World" — The Tuolumne Valley — The Eight or Nine Groves of Giant Sequoias — TheCalistoga Geysers — Natural Bridges — Caves — Grottos — Bell-sounding Rocks — Laki?s, Salt and Fresh — The Death Valley — Professor E. W. Hilgard on Climates of the State — Mean Temperatures and Semi-annual and Annual Rainfall of Nine Locali- ties — Agricultural Products— Cereals — Professor IIilgard's Account of Wheat-growing— The "Giant- header," Thresher and Sacking-wagon— Dis- posing OF the Straw — The Other Cereals — Beans — Potatoes— Other Vege- tables — Hops— Pea-nuts — Other Special Crops-tMarket Garden Crops and Small Fruits— California Fruit — Grapes and Wine — Forage Crops — Alfalfa Grasses — Stock-breeding and Dairying— Butter — Eggs — Apiaculture — Silk Culture — Manufactures — Railroads — Steamers — Commerce and Naviga- tioN, Imports and Exports, BXnks, etc. — California as a Health Resort — Population, how Classified — Education — Churches — Counties and Princi- , VKL Towns— HistoRY and Probable Future 551 Situation, !iIDF.S 1 and Si Feet > WITH I North the La GREAT ; Grand* THEIR /\ Lakes, < NISON, o, AND Veg Require cation- English Color A n( THE Geoi THE I'RKC ARY, AND Various BORN'S I)] CaRon Ci soutiiwes Mining M COUNTIES- —TiiE Ex Mining d ERAL WE/1 Arable La crease op farming— F OF iRRIOAl Descriptio; BE Fatted GROWING— Growth of Commerce- Counties— c Boundaries, Are, —Rivers— L Southeaster EOSSILS THE* (I CO INTENTS. «9 CHAPTER IV. COLORADO. Situation, BouNDARiKs, Arka—Topocrai'iiy— Mountains — Six Distinct Ranges be- sides MANY Spurs and Isolatku Summits — Finv two I'kaks over 13,000 Feet, ani> Several IIundkkd 10,000 Feet or more — Ten Towns or Mines over 10,000 Feet above the Sea, and Sixtvone over 5,000 Feet — Mountains Covered with Pink Fir and Spruce up to the Timher Line— Valleys, Plains, Parks — North, Middle, South, San I.uis, Estes, Kceria, Animas and Huerfano Parks THE Laroest, and IJest Known; hut there are Hundreds ok Smaller Ones ok GREAT Heauty— UivERs— The North and South Platte, the Arkansas, Rio Grande, the (Jrand, Green, San Juan, Tributaries ok the Kio Colorado, and their Afkluents — Lakes — Many <»k these atC^reat Klevations, as TiiECiREEN Lakes, Chicago Lakes, etc. — CaRons— CaRons ok the Arkansas, of the Gun- nison, OK the Grand and the Green Rivers— Climate and Kainkai.i. — Soil AND Vegetation — Arable Lands — Nearly 16,000,000 Acres ok these — A Part Require Irrigation— Great Facilities kor this--Crops as Akkectkd by Irri- gation— Hon. Mr. Barclay's Statement about it — What an Intelligent English Agriculturist and Member ok Parliament thinks ok Farming in Colorado— PRF.SENT Forest Area of Colorado— Geology, Mineralogy — All THE Geologic Formations of the Continent laid bare in the CaRons or on THE Precipitous Sides of the Mountains— Coal — The Lignite ok the Terti- ary, and the Bituminous and Anthracite of the Coal Measures Found at Various Places in the State— Wonders Produced by Erosion — Mr. Pano- born's Descriitions — The Fossils of TALBorr Hill — The Coal Minf^ ok CaNon City— The Grand CaNon of the Arkansas — The Ancient Ruins in Southwestern Colorado — Animals — Mines and Mining Industry— Early Mining History of the State— Mining Product Prior to 1880 — The same by CouNTiF-s— The Regions which ARE not known to Possess Mineral Deposits — The Extraordinary Development of Mining in the State since 1875 — Mining Districts — Description of each County known to Possf^s Min- eral Wealth — Its Mines and their Product — F'arming — Extent of Arable Lands — Irrigation Largely Practised — Its Advantagf.s — Rapid In- crease OF Farming Products — Excellence of Colorado Cereals — Dairy- farming — Raising Horses and Mules — Wagf-s of Farm-hands — Immense Yield of Irrigated Crops — High Farming— Stock-raising — Hon. Mr. Barclay's Description of Stock raising in the State — Dairy-farming — Cattle should be Fatted in Colorado and Kansas— Mr. Stratten's Experience— Wool- growing — Sheep-farming Profitable in Colorado — Its Rapid Increasb-t Growth of the Live stock Interest in the State— Railroads— Education — Commerce — Population — Cities, Counties and Towns — Increase since 1870 — Counties — Churcubs — The Future of Colorado 623 8 CHAPTER V. ^ DAKOTA. Boundaries, Area and Topography of Dakota— First Settlements — Organization — Rivers — Lakes — Dakota Divided into Four Sections: Northern, Central, Southeastern and Black Hills— Characteristics of each — The Bad Lands — Fossils there — Governor Howard's Description of thf.se Sections — His coArjEjvrs. Annnr-ss— Ills RrroRX to tiik Swrktarv nv tiik iNTrmoR — Tim Sitrvryor- Grnkrai.'s Kki'drt — North krn Dakota — Tiik Dkhcrii'TIon or it by Hon. Jamks n. r<>\VK,R— TirK I'lKM ConsipI'.rahi.k. AriKMi'Ts to Ctn.TiVATK tiik Uv.it RiVK.R Lands in Dakota- NViikat Cui.turk tiii rI', ank its Succkss— Otiikr Crops— Tiik Towns uk Nortiikrn Dakota— Tiik C'i.imatk and Rainkai.i,— Tiik Facilitirs for tiik Transportation ok Crops — nKVoNii tiik MissturRi — CiiARi.Ks Cari.kton Cokiin's Dkscription in tiik Ciiicaco TRimiNK— Tiik (!or- BKHPONIIKNT OK TIIK ClIKACO JoURNAI.— OTIIKR Tr.STIMONY— lilSllOP TkcK, Messrs. Rkkd anh IMa.!.— Ckntrai. Dakota— Tiik Account ok tiik Ciiicauo AND NoRTIIWKSTKRN RAILWAY ("OMMISSION — SoinHKASTKRN DAKOTA — RkV. EiiWARi) Ei.i.is's I.KTTKR — HoN. W. II. II. Ukadi.k's DFjirRiiTioN— IIis Compk TKNCV as a WiTNKSS— PeCIHIARITIKH ok Tlir, Tol'lXJRAI'IIY OK SOUTHKASTKRN Dakota — Mktkoroi.ocy ok South kastkrn Dakota — Tiik Hlack Mills- Mr. ZlMRt L. WiiiTK's DtacRiPTioN OF THIS Rkc.ion— Climatk and Mktkorol llANDs I.KSS (iVn IZKU — SUKKAlK or THK Country— Moi'NTAiNs, RivkR'., I-akj-s— Cmmaik— Mktk(iR()|,o<;v ok 1'orik GlHSON AND SU.I.— (JK.OI.O(iY ANI» MlNKRAI.O(iY— S(Hl. AND VK(;KTAT1oN— I'tlKKSTS — UaII.ROADS— TlIK ClIARACTKR OK TlIK I'ol'ULA I TON — KtV. 'llMOTIlY lllll.'s AC- COUNT OK TlIK TKRRITORV— TlIK INDIAN TlTLK TO Till'. rKRRlToR V - UlSIORV OF THE KkMOVAI. OK TlIK 1' IVK TRIIIKS AND OTIIKR INDIANS— KkI'DKiTIASIC OK SOMK OK THKIR Lands HY TIHC-CoVtRNMKNT — EkKORTS to DRIVK TIIKM KROM this TER- RITORY — The Outlook kor the Future— I'osskssion ok their Lands in Sev- KRALTY THEIK ONLY IIUI'E— INDIAN ANNUITY FUNDS 797 CHAPTER VIII. IOWA, The Situation of Iowa — Meanino of the Name— Mihration of the PAu-noo-ciiF.F.s thithkr in 1690— Contemporaneously Claimed hv the French on Account of Father Hennepin's Discovery- Wars ok the I'au-iujo < hees, or Iowas, with THE Sioux — French Tradin»;-I'osts on the River- Sale ok the I'rovjnck of Louisiana TO THE Spanish in 1763 — Retrocession to France in 1800— Sale to THE United States in 1803 — Settlement ok Julian DciiugUE- The Wars ok THE Iowas and Sioux— A New Enemy — The Sals and Foxes Attack them, and Drive THEM across THE Missouri, ahout 1828— Great Redlction in Nummers OK THE Iowas — White Settlement Commenced in 183a — Death ok Black Hawk — The Events in Civil History ok Iowa to its Orc.anization as a State IN 1846 — Top(k;rapiiy and Extent ok Iowa — Its Surface — Rivers— Lakes — Prairie and Timuer Lands — Black Walnut Shipied to Enuland — Geolooy and MiNERAL(KiY— The Drikt, Loess and Alluvium— Cretaceous Rocks — Coal Measures — The Character of Iowa Coal— Comparison with European and other Coals — No Gold or Silver in the State— Lead, Iron, Copper and Zinc— Lime — Buildinc: Stone — Gypsum Clays — Soil— Mineral Paint— Spring and Well-water — Natural Curiosities — Climate, General Remarks — Pro- fessor Parvin's Tables — The Signal Service Statistics ok the River Cities — ZodLOGY — Soil and Agricultural Productions — Iowa an Agricultural State — Statistics of its Crops — Spring and Winter Wheat — Sti)ck- raising — Dairy Farming — Population of Iowa at Different Periods— Railroads and Steam- boat Lines — The State Easy of Accf.ss — Public Lands— Railroad Lands — . State Lands — Partially Improved Farms — Manufacturk:s — Iowa as a Home FOR Immigrants — Education — Churches— Future Prospects ok the State.. .. 814 "3 i CHAPTERIX. KAJfSAS. Kansas Geographically the Central State— Its Boundaries — Latitude, Longi- tude, Length, Breadth and Area — Its Surface, Declination and Elevation at Various Points — Rivers— Lakes— Hills— No Mountains in the State — Geology and Mineralogy— The Geological Formations — The Quaternary, Tertiary, Cretaceous and Carboniferous and Lower Carboi^iferous Systems Represented — Fossils — Great Variety of these — Economic Geology — Coal — aa CONTENTS. Salt— Lead and Zinc — Gypsum — Building-Stone, etc., etc.— Gas or Burning Wells — Soil and Vegetation— Native Trees — Trees Planted under the Timber-Culture Acts — Increase of Rainfall Produced by Breaking up the Soil — Evidence of this — Flowers — ZoiiLocv— Natural Curiositif^s and Phf^ NOMENA — The Monument Rucks — The Pulpit Rock— The Rock City — The Perforated Rock — The Fossil Moss Agates — The Selenite Beds — Climate and Meteorology — Meteorological Statistics — Rainfall — Agricultural Pk ductions — Tables of Productions of 1877, 1878, 1879— Grains— Special Crops — Orchards and Vineyards — Apiaculture — Live-Stock — Prices of Necessary Merchandise — Boarding — Valuations of Real and Persot^al Es- tate — School Statistics — No Mines or Mining except Coal, Lead and Zinc — Manufactures — Railroads — Land;; for Immigrajts — Population — Indians — Sources from which Population is Derived— Counties, Cities and Towns — Area and Population ok Counties in 1879 — Schools and Education-- Chupjhes — Kansas a Home for iMMiCRANTS — Biographical Notice of Hon. Alfred Gray 854 CHAPTER X. LOUISMJ^A. \ s Louisiana not wholly within " Our Western Empire " — Its Location — Its Ex- tent AMD Area— Its Surface and Topography — Rivers, Lakf^ and Bayous — Geology and Mineralogy — Iron, Salt, Sulphur — Other Minerals — Soil and Vegetation— Forest Trees — Zoology — The Jaguar or American Leopard, or Tiger, Alligators and Crocodiles — Climate — Malarial Fevers in the Delta — The Uplands Healthy but Hot — Meteorology ok New Orleans and Shreveport — Agricultural Productions — Cotton, Sugar, Rice and Corn — The Soil Fertile, but the Farming Poor — Live-Stock — Manufacturing and Mining Industries — Commerce — Exports and Imports o" 1880 — The great Facilities enjo/ed by the State for FoRKicN and Coastwise Commerce — Railroads — Finances — Population — History as bearing on Population — Mixed Races largely Prevalent — The State not greatly increased by recent Immigration — Parishes or Counties— Principal Towns — Education — Churches — Not specially attractive to Immigrants at Present 887 CHAPTER XI. ' :^.v ■ ' - "- ■ - MIJfJfESOTA. Minnesota the Centre of North America — Its Situation, Boundaries, Dimen- s,i,ONS AND Area — Surface of the Country — The Three Slopes — Rivers, Lakes, etc. — The Lake State — Seven Thousand Lakes — Geology and Min- eralogy — Some Gold and Silver, more Iron and Copper— Minnesota am agricultural State— Soil and Vegetation — Rich Soil — Forests— The Big Woods — The Prairie Lands — Tree-planting in Minnesota — F'ruits — Z06LOGY — Climate — Its Salubrity — Advance of the Annual Temperature as the Country is Settled— Peculiarities of the Climate — Meteorology — Navigable Rivers and Railways — More than 3,000 Miles of Railroad in the State — Projected Railways — Land Grants — Agricultural Products — The Crops of 1878, 1879 and 18S0 — Special Crops— General Le Due's Efforts to Introduce the Amber Cane — Statistics of Crops — Grazing Lands — Live- stock — Statistics, of Livi-STocK— Dairy Farming — Statistics of Butter anp Ch Qu VVi AH —I Pof NA1 Missouri OF ■; Geoi —Co — Zo Prod — Ta ing — Popui — La? PASSKI CATIOI COLLE NOMIN. Situation- OGY At Copper — Graz Climat — Fort PLACER! Gulch, Butte J CLUSIVE] Southej White- Crops, Horses Interest Struggl Railroa and thei Principa Wages—: I 7 ,4 CONTENTS. n Cheese — MANtrrAcriiRKs — I.umuf.r and Flour, tk:? Leading Articles — Tmmensr QUANTITIKS OF BOTH PROUUCEU — OTHER MANUFACTURES — VALUATION AND Wealth— Population— Statistics ok Increase in Thirty Years— Nation- alities— The Indian Fopulation— Education — School Fund — Puiu.ic Schools — Universities, Normal Schools, etc— Counties and Cities — Valuation — Population of Cities and Towns at Different Periods — Religious Denomi- nations—History—Conclusion 900 '( '." 1 f . 'f. V CHAPTER XII. MISSOURI, Missouri's Situation — Boundaries and Extent of Latitude and Longitude— Face of the Country— Mountains and Hills— Valleys— Rivers and Lakes — Geology and Mineralogy — Economic Minerals — Lead — Zinc — Copper — Iron — Coal— Baryta — Cabinet Minerals — Building Materials— Mineral Springs — Zoology — Climate — Meteorology — Soil and Vegetation — Agricultural Products — Tables of Crops, 1878 and 1879— Notes on vjte Crops — Live-Stock — Tables, 1879, 1880 — Adaptation of Missouri for Grazing and Dairy-Farm- ing — Manufactures — Mining Products — Railroads — Population — Notes on Population — Counties and Cities— Table of Cities— Gt. Louis— Kansas City — Lands K '■ -v.- CHAPTER XX. WJSHIJ^GTCW TERRITORY. Situation of Washington Territory — Boundaries — The Boundary Line at th5 Northwest and North — Its Area — Length and Breadth — Comparative Size — Topography and Divisions — Western Washington — The Puget Sound Basin — What Puget Sound Includes — The Beauty, Value and Importance of THIS Great Inland Sea — The Lowlands and the Mountain Slopes of West- ern Washington — Rivers and Harbors of Western Washington — Eastern Washington — Its Rivers — Its Lakes — The Great Plains of the Columbia — River Valleys — Geology — Mineralogy — Zoology — Climate — Meteorology QF Western Washington— Governor Ferry's Remarks on the Mildness oy CONTENTS. 27 THE Climate, and the Reasons for it — The Climate of Eastern Washington — The Chinook Wind — Soil, Vegetation and Agricultural Troductions — The Alluvial Farming Lands — Table Lands — Forest Growths — Agricultu- ral Products— Timber and Lumber — Soil and Productions of Eastern Washington — The Yakima County — Remarkably Fat Cattle — From Whence they come — The Wonderful P'ertility of the Soil — The Mountain Slopes AND Mountain Tops as Rich as the Valleys— The Immense Yield of '\\'heat — Thirty-five to Fifty Bushels to the Acre — Exports — PopulationTablu — Indian Tribes and their Reservations— Partial Civilization of the Indians — Their Industry — Education — Counties and Principal Towns — Table of Population and Valuation of Counties — Chief Towns — Religious Denomina- tions AND Public Morals — Historical Data — The American Title to Wash- ington and Oregon — The Arbitration in regard to the Islands in the Gulf OF Georgia — The Early Settlers — Indian War in 1855— Conclusion — Wash- ington Territory Desirable for Immigrants — The Best Routes thither — The Early Completion of the Northern Pacific probable 1 189 CHAPTER XXI. ,', . , WYOMING TERRITORY. Situation — Boundaries — Length and Breadth — Form — ARea —Topography — Mountains — Elevation of Various Points — Rivers, Lakes, etc. — Remarkable Character of its Drainage — Irs Waters Discharged into the Pacific by the Columbia River, into the Gi.lf of California by the Colorado, into the Salt Lake Basin by the Bear River, into the Upper Missouri by the Madi- son and Gallatin, into the Middle Missouri by the Yellowstone and Big Cheyenne, into the Lower Missouri by the Niobrara and Platte, and into THE Gulf of Mexico by all these — Geology and Mineralogy — Coal — Petro- leum — Gold and Silver — Other Metals — Mining of Precious Metals not much Developed — Marble and other Mineral Products — Forests, Soil and Vegetation— Zoology — Climate — Meteorology of Cheyenne — Agricultural Productions and Stock Raising — Manufactures and Mining — Mining. Pro- ducts — Railways, Existinc; and Projected — Population and its Distribution —Education — Religious Denominations — Counties— Area — Population in 1880, and Valuation in 1877 — Principal Towns — Objects of Interest — The Yellowstone Nation.m. Park made a Separate Chapter — Historical Notes — Early Spanish Oi:cupation of Wyoming — Discovery of Arastras and Span- ish Buildings— Father de Smet — Captain Bridger — His Occupation running ijack to a time "When Laramie Peak hadn't begun to Grow" — Organization of the Territory — Indian Conflicts — The Custer Massacre — Advantages of Wyoming for certain Classes of Immigrants — Prospects in the Near Future 1213 < Hi CHAPTER XXII. THE YELLOWSTO.YE JfATlOJ^AL PARK. Situation— Boundaries and Area — Its Recent Discovery and Exploration— The Act of Congress setting it apart as a National Park — The Park drained INTO the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico — Its Volcanic Character — Not of much Value as an Agricultural Region — Inaccessible except from thb 28 CONTENTS. North and Wkst — Eastern Part not fui.i.y Exi'lorkd — No Mineral Wealth YET DiSCOVERKU EXCEl'T IN THE NoRIIlEAST CORNER — TjlE APPROACH TO THE Park at the North— The CaSdn ok the Yellowstone, outside the 1'ark — Cinnabar Mountain— " Tiik Devil's Si.ihe" — Kntrance to the Park— Rapid Review ok the Ohjects to he Visiteh — Seiulc hre Mountain — CaRon oe Gar- diner's River — Mammoth Hot Springs — J'ower Creek and Falls— The Columns and Towers ok Tower Creek CaRon — Mount Washiiurn — The Grand CAfioN OK THE Yellowstone — Yellowstone Lake — The Lakes ok the Southern Iour, Heart, Lewis and Shoshone— The Cross Cut wmhh avoids thI':se — The Upper and Lower Geyser Uasins ok the Fiki. Hoik or Upper Madison River— The Geysi.r IUsins ok Giiiiion's Fork — The Wonders of Beaver Lake and the Ohsidian Clikks — Return to Mammoth Hot Springs — Time in which the Trip can be made — The Wonders in Detail — Mammoth Hot Springs — Mr. Strahorn's Description — The Route to Tower Creek Falls and CAfSoN — Hon. N. P. Langford and Lieutenant Doane's Eulogy of them — The Ascent to Mount Washiiurn — Rev. Dr. Hoyt's Eloquent Pic- ture ok the View KRO.M ITS SUM.MIT — TlIE DESCENT FROM Moi'NT WasHBURN — The Old AND THE New Trail — The Grand CaSon ok the Yellowstone — Prs Bed Inaccessible at MOST Points — The Upper and Lower Fails ok tiik Yel- lowstone — The Latter at the Head ok the Grand Canon — Dr. IIoyt's Eloquent Description of the Falls and the CaRon— The Trail to Yellow- stone Lake— '1'iie Lake Itselk — Its Shape Compared lo the Human Hand — Prokessor Raymond's Criticism of the Comparison— 1 he Klevatio.n of the Lake — Professor Hayden's Statement only Correct if applied to Large Lakes — Hekjht ok Colorado Lakes — J he Yellowstone River Flows throu(;h the Lake — The Lake not its Source — Akfi.uents of thi: Lake — Mineral AND Hot Springs on its Banks — Its Waters generally very Pure and Sweet— The Trout Infested with Worms — Beauty of ihe Lake— Mar- shall's Description — Strahorn's Poetical Picture — 1'rokf.ssor Raymond's Eulogy — Rev. Dr. Hoyt's Pen Portraiture ok it — Movinc; Forward — The Upper and Lower Geyser Basins — Explanations in regard to Geysers — Those of Iceland the only others of Note in the World— Character of the Geyser Eruption— Old and Recent Geysers— The Upper Geyser Basin — Rev. Edwin Stanley's " Parade of the Geysers "—The (Jeysers not all in Action at once— Lieutenant Barlow on the Fan and Well Geysers— The Grotto — Mr. Norton's Description — Lieutenant Doane on the Grand Geyser — Professor Raymond on the Lower Geyser Basin— The Laugs or Extinct Geysers — Geyserdom not Paradise — Dr. Hoyt's Description of the Desolation — The Geysers and Hot Springs of Gibbon's Fork— Beaver Lake — The Obsidian Cliffs— Mountains of Glass — Review of the whole— Accf^si- bility of the Park — Its Future Attractions— Its Quiet and Beautiful '-,' Valleys and Glades — Distances within the Park 1227 CHAPTER XXIII. ALASKA. Relation of Alaska to Our Wf.stern Empire— Another Kamschatka— Absurdity OF the Stories told of its Present or Prospective Productiveness — Its Furs, Fisheries and Timber somewhat Valitahle — Peculiar Form of the Territory — The Bull's He.^d with two Long Horns— Its Three Divi- M CA Sii KA DU( Va —3 A P( MUC Prii THE — K cii'a: lash COMl PA THE J^C !• British Soil an ERALOG^ LATION- — Recen THAN Stocked New Tei Small — provinci Fort Gai Farmer Vf.rnon Usefulne Crops— L Pacific- Principal — assinibc IT BECAME CONTENTS. i|^ siONS, Sitka, Yitkon and the Islands— Arka — Population — Topography — Mountains — Rivkrs — Tmc Limits anu Area of each Division— Geolocy — Vol- canoes AND Glaciers — Mineralogy — Coal — Metals — Minerals— Gold and " Silver — Recent Discoveries — ZoOlouy — The Divisions in Detail — The Sit- - KAN Division — Its Fur Trade, Fisheries and Timber— Its A(;ru.ulti;rai, Pro- ductions CONFINED TO A FEW Vec.ETAHLES— 2. THE YUKON DISTRICT OK l.irfLE Value, except for its Fur Trade, Whale and other Fisheries on the Coast — 3. The Island District — Some Araiile Land on the Larger Islands, and A POssiniLiTV or Future Dairy-kakms there, though at too great Cost for MUCH Profit— The Capture of the Fur Seal on the Priiiyi.off Islands the Principal Industry, though Fisheries may Increask — Detailed Account of the Fisheries— The Population, Nationalities and Character— The Nativf^ — Koloshian Tribes — Kenaian Tribes— The Aleuts — The Eskimo— Prin- cipal Towns and Villages — Meteorolo(;y ok Fort St. Michael's and Una- lashka — Objects of Interest to the Tourist — Historical Notes — Can it be Commended to Immigrants ? 1266 PART IV.— THE LANDS OUTSIDE OF WESTERN EMPIRE." OUR CHAPTER I. - V THE J^OBTHWESTERX PROVIJ^CES OF THE DOMimOJ^ OF C AX ABA. I. British Columbia — Boundaries — Area — Islands — Soil of Islands and Coast — Soil and Surface ok the Interior — Mountains — Rivers — Geology and Min- eralogy—Coal — Gold, Silver, etc. — Fisheries— Timber — Fur-Trade — Popu- lation — Indians—Chief Towns — II. The Northwest Territories — Extent — Recent Division — Lakes— Rivers — Mountains— Soil— Climate Warmer than Manitoba — Wild Animals and Game Plenty — Rivers and Lakes Stocked with Fish— Population— Indians— Religion— III. Keewatin— The New Territory— Not much known ok it — IV. Manitoba — Its Territory too Small — No Good Reason for this — Its Boundaries — Its Rivers — The Province Nearly a Dead Level — Climate — Rainfall — Meteorology of Fort Garry — Agriculture — Conflicting Accounts — Report ok an " English Farmer "—Reply OF " A Canadian "—Climate very Severe in Winter— Mr. Vernon Smith's Description of the Rivers and Lakes and their Future Usefulness — Earl Dufkerin's Description — Mr. Vernon Smith on the Crops — Later Statistics not Available — Transportation — The Canadian Pacific — Its Present Condition and Prospects — Religion, Education, etc. — Principal Towns — Historical Notes— The Red River Settlement— Pembina — Assiniboia — Kiel's Revolution —The Rapid Growth of the Province since IT BECAME A PaRT OF THE DOMINION 1282 30 ,s:^, ., CONTENTS, CHAPTER II HOMES FOB IMMIORAMTS OJf THE ATLAJ^TIC SLOPE. Why many Immigrants do not like to oo to the West — Views of many or OUR OWN TeOI'LE ON THE SUBJECT — ARE THERE NOT HoMES FOR THESE ON THE Atlantic Slope? — Advantages of the East— Wisconsin and Michigan — Ohio, Indiana and Illinois — Tennessee— Maine, New IIamtsiiire and Vermont — Massachusetts and Connecticut— Northern New York- Long Island— Advantages of New System of Ensilage here and in New Jersey — New Jersey— The Southern Counties— West Virginia — North Carolina — East Tennessee — Northern Georgia — Florida — Conclusion 1303 \ i;«s/;< /' ; /) - .' j ~!t ^, '/.'•A ".*• ■"• ,;-j'jivi,r #i-/iU} ; >ov-f,,: Sfvi' A i« 1 # j^ Oi/^ WESTERN EMPIRE. from its mouth to the Canada line, and the west line of British America, above the fifty-fourth parallel. It has an area of 2,671,884 square miles, of which 577,390 or about one-fifth, belongs to Alaska. It extends over 42° of latitude, and in its farthest western boundary, " by Ounalaska's lonely shore," over 103° of longitude. Leaving Alaska out of the question, as a mere dependency, the remainderof "Our Western Empire" comprises 24° of latitude and 36° of longitude, having a breadth of nearly 2,000 miles from east to west, and a length from north to south of 1,700 miles, with an area of 2,094,494 square miles. The whole of Europe except Russia, including the great German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Republic of France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Kingdoms of Turkey, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and the minor States and principalities, have in all only an area of 1,678,791 square miles, about four-fifths of "Our Western Empire " exclusive of Alaska, or including it, less than three-fifths. Its population is of course much less than that of the larger European States, though somewhat greater than that of the Brazilian Empire, and increasing at a rate never equalled in the world's history. No empire in the world has a greater diversity of climate ; from the more than six months* winter of the northern border, and the mountainous regions, on some of which rest eternal snows, to the tropical heats of Arizona and Southern Texas, there is the greatestpossiblediversityof moistureanddrought,of heatandcold, of moderate, equable and health-giving temperature, and of rapid change, and fickle, inconstant skies. Like other large empires, it has great diversities of surface. Three ranges of lofty mountains traverse it from north to south with their numerous outlying spurs, their broad plateaux and table-lands rising to a height of 6,000 to 9,000 feet, their mesas or isolated flat-topped mountain summits, their deep and terrible canons, and their long valleys, sometimes narrow and precipitous, sometimes broad seas of ver- dure and flowers. These are: the Rocky Mountains, appropri- ately named "the backbone of the Continent," and occupying a posltio Pacific Nevad corresf looking altitude tops an tains ai Basin, a ward, ai its volca played \ ments, c of basim artificial fountains quaking sulphuroi some app or mouni attire; or transpare seems pu another, v cascades, while still a stream c or more, s salt and s on mountj liave said, which find Like oth There are precipitous dicular wal sunlight at THE WEST BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI. 35 .It lins ]ng of lain ga position about midway between the Mississippi river and the Pacific Ocean ; west of these, and parallel with them, the Sierra Nevada, or Snowy Range, whose peaks tower up into heights corresponding with those of the Alps ; and still farther west, and looking out upon the Pacific, the Coast Range, generally of lower altitude, but containing some lofty summits, whose snow-clad tops are the landmarks of the coast. Between the Rocky Moun- tains and the Sierra Nevada, is the great Utah or Salt Lake Basin, a vast depressed tract, none of whose streams flow out- ward, and some of whose lakes are salt and bitter. It has also its volcanic regions, and areas of erosion, where Dame Nature has played most fantastic tricks, now roaring lofty statues, monu- ments, castles, cathedrals, gateways, now scooping out vast series of basins of mineral waters either hot or cold, such as put all artificial baths to shame ; anon sending at intervals its geyser- fountains two hundred and fifty feet into the air; or filling the quaking and trembling earth with jets of hot steam, reeking with sulphurous odors. At some points, after a fearful descent into some apparently dark and gloomy ravine or caiion, all the hills or mountains around one seem to have put on their holiday attire ; one has donned for its bridal veil a beautiful and semi- transparent waterfall, whose height is so great that the water seems pulverized into glittering dust ere it reaches the valley > another, with a greater supply of water, forms four or five gigantic cascades, each higher than Niagara, in its downward career; while still another, in a rift between the mountain summits, forms a stream of moderate size in a perpendicular fall, a thousand feet or more, sheer down into the valley. Broad lakes, some of them salt and some fresh, with many outlets or with none, are found on mountain tops or in the centre of wide valleys ; while, as we have said, one vast basin has its own system of lakes and rivers which find no way of reaching the sea. Like other empires, not all the land has a rich and fertile soil. There are mountains, where the rocks are cold, bleak, bare and precipitous ; there are canons and ravines, whose nearly perpen- dicular walls, from 3,000 to 6,000 feet in height, only let in the sunlight at midday, and their clayey and rocky sides, of parti- I I P % \ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. }i colored lines, afford no hold for weed, vine, shrub or tree. There arc plains, plateaux and mesas covered with alkaline powder, and having as their only vegetation the gray, lichen-hued sage-brush; plains on which the gentle rain and soft falling dew seldom or never descends — yet these monotonous and apparently barren plains, under the influence of irrigation, yield most abundant crops, and even the despised sage-brush furnishes a delicious pasturage for cattle. There arc also considerable tracts where, in former times. the eroding influences of mountain streams have cut the deep strata of clay into the most fantastic forms — lands so utterly barren, that no toil could extract from them the least vestige oi a crop — the *' Bad Lands " of the Canadian trappers ; and there- are also some stretches of volcanic lands, for one of which the foul and mephitic vapors, and the earthquake shocks, have prompted the expressive name of Death Valley. But while these extraordinary displays of the power of natural forces render this Great West a true Wonderland, they really comprise but a small proportion of its surface, and no region of equal extent has a larger proportion of available and productive lands. The quantity of arable soil is immense. The wheat fields of Iowa, Minnesota, Northern and Southeastern Dakota. Kansas and Nebraska, the lands suited to the growth of Indian corn in these States and Territories, and in Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian Territory, and in portions of Colorado and New Mexico, the cotton lands of Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico, and, on the Pacific slope, the wheat and barley fields and the vineyards and orchards of California, the wheat and corn fields of Oregon and Washin -ton, are beyond all comparison for ex- cellence, on this contincri, or any other. In the way of gra2ing lands, no other country can compare with them. There are not only the cattle upon a thousand hills or plains, but thousands and tens of thousands of cattle on each vast plain or mountain slope. The States and Territories of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, North- western Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Cali- fornia, can furnish, within a few years, all the beef and mutton needed to feed the rest of the world. The grasses here are more r a more even ti (ireat i and sa^ now pn without and roo question The Grea- — " Eu : ADIER-Gl Answer, MoNlAN^ ov Trut BEVOND 'J Surveyor American Thirty some of th ican Deser Nebraska i of Wyomi and after ' most of Nf comprehenj were found in what is i cious metah desert to be trail niarkec often, alas ! were such tl After som . I THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT: WHERE IS ITt 37 more nutritious and fattening, and give to the flesh of the cattle a more gamey flavor than those of any other known country; and even those lands which were at first reckoned as portions of the (ireat American Desert, lands given over to alkaline deposits and sage-brush, and on which tiierc was but very little rainfall, now prove admirably adapted to pasturage, and, either with or without irrigation, most bounteous in Uieir production of grain and root crops. And in this connection we may well raise the question which we next discuss. :* CHAPTER II. The Great American Desert: Where is it? — The Hundredth Meridian — "Eli Perkins's" Scare — The Facts in Reply — Colonel (Brevet Brig- adier-General) Hazen on the Northern Pacific — Governor Howard's Answer, and other Facts — Uakoia — Wyoming and its A(;rici;ltlre — Montana — B. R. and Mr, Z. L. White on its Crops — The small Modicum ok Truth in these "Desert" Stories — The RKitJuiKo "DEsEur" BEYOND THE RoCKIES — ThE UtAH AND NEVADA DesERT — TESTIMONY OF Surveyors-General — The Texan Desert and Arizona — The Great American Desert a Myth. Thirty or forty years ago all our maps had a wide space, and some of them two or three wide spaces, inscribed, "Great Amer- ican Desert." Nearly the whole of the present States of Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, and Western Minnesota ; the Territories of Wyoming, Dakota, Montana, and Idaho, Western Texas, and after we had conquered " a piece '' from Mexico, Arizona, most of New Mexico, Utah and Nevada, were included in this comprehensive designation. By and by silver, and some gold, were found in Nevada, and in the neighborhood of Pike's Peak, in what is now Colorado ; but though the existence of the pre- cious metals there could not be denied, yet the terrors of the desert to be passed through (terrors of whose reality the wagon- trail marked at almost every step by skeletons of cattle, and too often, alas ! by the bones of emigrants, gave most ghastly proof) were such that only the most stout-hearted could brave them. After some years the tide of emigration, which at first had s i A Ml P! 3 ig OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. been confined to the eastern counties of Kansas and Nebraska, and had not reached the western counties of Iowa, and still less those of Minnesota, began to rise and overflow the adjacent counties and districts. The Union Pacific, the Northern Pacific, the Kansas Pacific, and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railways had plunged into this desert, and being all land grant roads, had made the discovery that these lands were not really a desert, but were capable of yielding excellent crops, and of fur- nishing superior pasturage to catde and sheep. The line of settlement has advanced with each year till now it has reached the loist meridian west from Greenwich, in Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota, and overleaping all barriers has extended to the foothills and peaks of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, and with moderate irrigation has pro- duced from these supposed desert-lands the most astonishing crops, and has furnished, as we have already said, pasturage so rich and abundant, to hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, that their flesh is more highly prized than any other in the market. Yet there have not been wanting those who from one motive or another, have sought to depreciate these lands, and have declared, in the face of the most conclusive evidence, that the ■whole region west of the looth meridian was a barren desert, incapable of producing crops or furnishing pasturage sufificient for the subsistence of men or animals, and that it would remain so undl God changed the physical laws which govern the distri- bution of clouds, and rain, levelled the mountains, and made the climate like that of the East. It is very easy to theorize on these matters, and to demonstrate that because, according to certain premises, a certain result should follow, therefore it will inevitably follow ; but he is not a wise man who neglects to test the truth of his theories by facts. The two regions, which, within the past decade, have been per- sistendy denounced by these pseudo-scientific theorists as portions of the Great American Desert, rainless, treeless, barren and incapable of ever being inhabi.:"d, are the regions lying near the lOOth meridian west from Greenwich and westward indefinitely, some the re The fi Indian Nebra! nearly whole < rado, a; a popu] plume < soon afi An awfl emigrants going out 1 30 50 6 336 60 60 35 >5o 40 78s 60 35 40 25 12 172 50 »5 40 •05 10 20 25 20 3 3 75 "The value of the several articles if bought at the fort would have been: Potatoes, #3.865 ; onions, $2,352; turnips, $85; carrots, $206.40; beets, $315; parsnips, $225; salsify, $9.40; cabbage, $125. Total, $7,182.80. The garden crops at Fort Ellis in other years have been fully one-third greater for the same amount of ground. >'< " "As a rule the farms of Montana have to be irrigated, and in most of the valleys there is an abundance of water for this pur- pose. The cost of constructing good canals for the irrigation of 160 acres of land is of course considerable, but when once com- pleted the expense of keeping them in order is very small, while the ability of the farmer to regulate absolutely the amount of moisture which his crop shall have more than compensates for all the extra labor and expense which irrigation makes neces- sary." The facts in regard to this region between the looth and 107th meridians seem to be (not reckoning too closely the exact line of either meridian) that there are some tracts, of very moderate extent in them, which are neither arable nor grazing lands — such as tlie '' bad lands " of Dakota, and a small district of Nebraska and Wyoming, and portions of the Yellowstone Park and its vicinity ; such, too, as some of the mountain regions in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, where there are frightful perpendicular precipices, from 1,000 to 5,000 feet in depth, the results of up^ heaval, volcanic action or erosion, but these constitute only com- paratively small and isolated tracts of a belt, 350 to 400 miles in width, and 1,700 miles in length. For the rest, at least one-fifth THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT: WHERE IS IT? 47 is arable, either with or without irrigation, and yields enormous crops; three-fifths are the best grazing lands to be found any- where, and one-fifth is good and serviceable timber, much of it of large size. Can anything better be said of any land the sun shines on ? The proportion of lands susceptible of improve- ment is larger than that of Great Britain or Germany, and very nearly equal to that of France ; and the arable lands are richer and more productive without manures, than those of these coun- tries with them. But what of the second region, where the maps still keep up the inscription, " Great American Desert ? " Stretching westward from the io8th meridian in Texas, Arizona and Colorado, the line trends still farther west, as it proceeds north, and occupies most of the Great Valley between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada or Cascade range, and includes Western Texas, the whole of Arizona, New Mexico, Western Colorado and Wyoming, all of Utah and most of Nevada, Idaho, and Eastern Oregon and Washington Territory. The most ardent believers in a " Great American Desert " do not now, whatever they may have done in the past, venture to pronounce all of tliis territory a desert, for there are too many evidences that considerable por- tions of the region are remarkably fertile ; yet, taken as a whole, it is far less susceptible of immediate cultivation than the first region already described. It includes the Great Salt Lake Basin, with its peculiar volcanic formations, the great table lands of Western Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, and the equally ele- vated plateaux of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, and the deep and terrible caiions of the Colorado and its tributaries. Nearly all this region is rich in minerals, and would eventually be occu- pied, were it an arid desert, throughout its whole extent; but there is a large quantity of arable land, capable v/ith irrigation, which in most sections is practicable, of yielding immense crops; there are many millions of acres of grazing lands where all the flocks and herds of the continent could find good pasturage, and there are extensive forests, some of them of stinted growth, but others of gigantic pines, cedars, firs and tulip trees. Mingled with these are districts where all culture is impossible, where f A OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Nature has Indulged in her wildest freaks, and where all the forces of the volcano, the earthquake, and the erosive and de- structive power of glacier, river, lake, and mountain torrent, have combined to make ruins grander and more Impressive, than those of all the wars which have taken place, since our planet was inhabited by man. Yet these desolations are not sufficiently extensive in any one section to make a very large desert, certainly not a " Great American Desert." One of the districts v/hlch the map-makers of the present year are most persistently designating as the " Great American Desert " is the western half of Utah, and the eastern half of Nevada. Yet of this very region, a writer of undoubted authority says, in \\\q. autumn of 1879: "The farmers here have developed something new In agricul- ture — new in this region at least. There are here and elsewhere vast tracts of ' desert lands,' or lands which are so high above the stream that they can never be Irrigated. Several years ago wheat was sown upon small patches of this seemingly arid and valueless soil. A tolerably fair crop was raised without artificial moisture or unusual rain, and now broad areas of this kind of land are being put under cultivation annually, producing as high as twenty bushels of wheat per acre. These are really warm alluvial soils formed by the crumbling of mountain ranges." The pamphlet issued by the Utah Board of Trade in 1879^ while commending the general fertility of the Territory under irrigation, which is generally practised, and in some sections without it, says very frankly, of the region lying west of Great Salt Lake in that Territory: " The western third of the Territory from end to end is an alternation of mountain, desert, sink and lake, with few oases k. f arable or grazing lands. Great Salt Lake covers an area ot 3, of large extent, which are as well watered and fertile as any in the nation. Its rivers are without exception formed from springs ; they are as clear as any crystal, and furnish water power that is almost limitless." Arizona alone remains of the possible deserts of this western region ; yet the Surveyor-General of this Territory tells us that the valleys of its rivers and streams are irrigable, and that when irrigated they yield immense crops ; while the hills and plains furnish abundant and nutritious pasturage, and stock-raising is a profitable pursuit ; that the Territory furnishes more grain, flour, bacon, lard, butter, cattle, mules and horses than are needed for home consumption, and that considerable quantities of all are ex- ported. Fruits arc comparatively plenty and cheap. Still more conclusive on this point is the testimony of Major- General J. C. Fremont, the present Governor of Arizona. I'roin actual investigation and a comparison of its pres' t condiiioii with what it was when he visited it thirty years a^ • declares that most of Arizona is arable, that its rainfall ranges from fifteen inches to twenty-four inches (this too was written when the rainfall had been much less than usual for five years ; in a letter to the writer about Christmas, 1879, he stated that they were then in the midst of an unprecedented rain storm which had lasted for nearly two weeks, had raised the rivers to a great height and had flooded much of the country), that the crops of wheat even when raised by the Indians were very heavy, the Maricopas sending at one time in August, 1879, 200 tons of wheat of the best quality to San Francisco, where it brought $2.22 the hundred pounds, and that most of the Indian tribes were( subsisting by agriculture. This surely cannot be a wholly desert land. « But while it is almost mathematically proved that the " Great American Desert " is a myth, receding from us as we try to approach it, it is not to be denied that here, as in other empires, there are some desert lands, treeless, though not auito rainless: MINERAL A.Vn VFAlEIAPI.E PRODUCTS. 51 often incapable of cultivation, though they may be rich In fossils or in the precious metals ; and that in these deserts may be found some of the most wonderful phenomena on the globe. ' I i CHAPTER III. The wholu Reoion AnouNDiNo in Mineral Wealth — Production of Gold AND Silver, other Metals, etc. — Forests — Grasses — Roor Crops — Fruits — Viniculture. Most of these States and Territories abound in mineral wealth. All the Territories and all the States except Minnesota, Nebraska and Kansas have either gold or silver mines or both, and it is by no means certain that even these will prove to be exceptions, though it is to be hoped they may; for agricultural products furni.sh a surer and belter avenue to the prosperity of the entire population, than the richest mines of the precious metals. The golden grain of these States is a better possession than the gold mines of California or Colorado, or the silver of Nevada or Montana. Yet we would not underrate the vast mineral wealth of this Western Empire. It is possible, though not at all certain, that some of the Peruvian mines or those of Mexico may have more extensive deposits of gold or silver than are already opened, or are yet to be discovered in the Great West; but the production of none of them has been as great, in so short a period, as that of our mines, and we have just arrived at a stage of progress, when our production may be almost indefinitely increased. During the first ten years after the discovery of gold and silver in California, and the West, it is difficult to estimate with accuracy the production of the precious metals there; but Professor Rossiter W. Raymond, who has devoted much time and study to the problem, names, as the result of his inquiries, a sum total of gold and silver which, by adding the production of 1878 and 1879, gives an aggregate for tlie Great West for the thirty years ending ?; k 3 52 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. June 30, 1879, of ^1,947,055,834, almost two bilHonsof the precious metals. By a singular coincidence these are very nearly the amount of the product of the ten principal items of our agriculture for the year 1879. That product was {^1,904,480,659. The completion of the Sutro tunnel in Nevada, which will make deep mining practicable, in those hitherto productive lodes, and the discoveries of carbonate ores of silver and chlorides or horn silver in Utah, in the San Juan and Gunnison districts and else- where, on the western slopesof the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, the new and extensive deposits of both gold and silver in the Black Hills, in Utah and in Montana, and the increasing annual production of bullion, warrant the belief that we are just enter- ing upon a new era in the production of the precious metals, which will far exceed that of the combined production of tlie Pacific States and Australia, twenty-five years ago. But our mineral productions in our Western Empire are by no means confined to gold and silver. Qutc^sz/ver, which is an absolute necessity for gold mining the world over, is more abundant in California, Nevada and Arizona than anywhere else in the world, and though, in the past, tedious litigation has pre- vented the mines from yielding their full product, yet not only has the large demand for our own mines been supplied, but we have exported millions of flasks to other countries. Nickel, platinum, and in vast quantities, copper, lead, iron and zinc, are among the products of this young empire ; and coal of all quali- ties is scattered in localities where it is most needed. r'-'- 5'^ Portions of this Western Empire are lacking in forest growths. The vast prairies and plains east of the Rocky Mountains had been so often burned over by the Indians, either carelessly or to promote the growth of the grasses, on which the buffalo, their principal game, fed, that though in times long ago they were covered with heavy forests, they seemed to have lost their ability to sustain any large amount of timber. Only near the banks of streams was there any considerable growth 01 trees, and these, in some sections, only the comparatively worthless cottonwood. But this deficiency will soon pass away. Encouraged by the Timbei culture act of Congress, and by tlit desire to produce MINERAL AND VEGETABLE rRODUCTS. jj trees instead of sending great distances for lumber, millions of trees have been planted, largely of the rapidly growing kinds, as the ailantus, locust, Osage orange, etc. ; and even on the alkaline plains they are growing and thriving, and have already increased to a sensible extent the amount of the scanty rainfall. But only a portion of the region lying between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains can be called treeless. In Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Missouri, Arkansas, parts of Texas and the Indian Territory, there are vast tracts of heavy timber, and the lumber exported from some of these States forms a very considerable portion of their productive wealth. West of the Rocky Moun- tains there is generally no lack of forests, especially on the mountain slopes ; Utah, New Mexico and Arizona are, however, but sparingly supplied with timber, and much of the land suffers, from drought except where irrigation is possible. On the Pacific slope, portions of California and Nevada, all of Western Oregon and Washington are remarkable for the gigantic height and bulk of their forest trees. The Redwoods and Sequoias, which range from 300 to 475 feet in height, are not the only giants of these forests ; several species of pine and fir and some of the cedars tower from 250 to 350 feet in height on the lower hills of the Coast range, in California, Oregon and Washington. In Eastern Washington and Oregon there are extensive, elevated plains, without much timber, which are very cold in winter and intensely hot in summer. In Wyoming and Colorado the mountains are generally clothed with forests, up to a point somewhat below the snow line ; but the plains, plateaux and foothills are very often devoid of trees, except along the water-courses, or where they have been planted by man. Over much of this vast territory, nearly all c^ it beyond the Rocky Mountains, and the alkaline plains east ol that range, there is little or nothing which can be called sod; the long, dry summers would destroy it if it existed. But the buffalo and gramma grasses, more nutritious than our cultivated grasses, are adapted to the summer drought, and furnish all the year round a most delicious pasturage for cattle. The bunch grass, and the white sage-brush (after frost), are eagerly cropped. < a >*« (4 54 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Wherever, as in California, Nevada, and portions of New Mexico, the cultivation of grasses for feeding cattle has been found desirable, the Alfalfa grass, a species of South American lucerne, which yields two or three enormous crops a year, and is admirably adapted to this climate, furnishes at small expense a succulent and nutritious food for cattle and sheep. There arc also other forage grasses, most of them native to the coast, which amply supply the absence of our sod-making grasses in the Atlantic States. In the season of melting snows, and moderate rains, these desolate and dreary plains are resplendent with flowers of every hue, and many' of them redolent of the sweetest perfumes. The root crops of this entire region are remarkable alike for their abundance, the great size they attain, and their ex- cellent quality. In the deep, rich, and easily penetrated soil of all these States and Territories root crops seem to run riot, and grow without stint. The common potato, the sweet potato and the yam, yield from 400 to 600 bushels to the acre, and are, perhaps, the most profitable crops which can be raised. Turnips, both yellow and white, carrots, beets, etc., yield fabulous quantities of such gigantic size that they are hardly recognizable. The whole melon tribe, including the pumpkin, squash, and cucumber, as well as the watermelon, muskmelon, cantelope, and citron-melon exhibit their greatest fertility and most abun- dant productiveness in the most arid and desert-looking of these lands. Arizona, Southern California, the southern part of New Mexico, and Western Texas, are peculiarly adapted to these creeping vines and their cooling fruits. This Great West is destined to be the garden of the world, in its cultivation and conservation of edible fruits and their products. Its great variety of climates and temperatures, and the elevation of its arable lands, even in semi-tropical regions, permits, and will continue to permit and demand, the produc- tion of the greatest variety of choice fruits to be found in any one region on the earth's surface. In the northern portion, the apples, pears, quinces, plums, cherries, and small fruits of Min- nesota, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. ^ Northern California are unsurpassed either in size or flavor by those of any other part of the world. It has been asserted that the larger fruits of California, as well as its vegetables, though of great size, lack the succulency and fine flavor of those raised in the Eastern States, but there is no reason to believe that this is true. Fruits carried to great distances from their native soil, and kept for months or years, do lose something of their flavor, as is well known ; but eaten where they are grown, they are unsurpassed in excellence. The belt below this, consisting of the States of Iowa, Missouri, Southern Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska, Wyoming, Northern Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Central California, adds to this list the peach, the apricot, and, above all, the grape. Already California is more largely en- oagcd in the culture of the vine than any other country in the world. Every known species and variety which possesses merit is grown there, and though her great vineyards are so young, she is only second to France in the amount of her wine produc- tion. Nowhere can finer " raisins of the sun " be produced than there. Her peaches are excellent, but not so much attention has been given to their culture, as in other regions. , • The whole belt of States and Territories we have named are capable of a like development in viniculture with California. Their grapes may have a slightly diffcrtmt flavoi, and the wines produced from them may be as ( inguishable, by the cultivated taste of the connoisseur, as tho.se ol Tokay and Xerc or Rheims ; but they will be in as great demand as the wines of the Californian vintage. Farther south, in Arkansas, the Indian Territory, T xas, Arizona, Southern New Mexico, Southern Utah and Nevada, and Southern California, sub-tropical fruits abound- -the orange, lemon, lime, fig, olive, pomegranate, banana, guava, Madeira nut, pecan, and the finest and most luscious varieties of thr peach, are some of the treasures which Dame Nature lays j) for her children in the sunny South. There are also many native fruits and nuts, less widely known, but not less delicious or grateful to the taste, than those we have named, to be found in the forests of the Great West. ' V i UN p5 8 56 . OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER IV. Wild Animals and Game — Beasts of Prey — Grizzly and other Bears — Mr. Murphy's Grizzly Bear Story — The Cougar, Puma, or Panther — The Jaguar and other Felid^ — Lynxes — The Marten and Weasel Tribe — The Gray Wolf — The Coyote — Amphibia — The Whale Tribe — Birds OF Prey — Perchers and Song Birds — Pigeons and Grouse — Waders and Swimmers — Reptiles — Fishes — Mollusks and Crustaceans — Domestic Animals. ' Many of the wild animals of our Western Empire are peculiar to that region. The Bison or American buffalo, whose range extended originally from the Rocky Mountains to the Appala- chians, has for these many years past been only found west of. the Mississippi, and as settlement and civilization advanced west- ward he has been driven back to the plains and foothills of the Rocky Mountains, a tract of not more than three hundred miles in width, and perhaps twelve hundred in length from north to south, and even this was encroached upon every year by the new towns springing up all along the line. Since the advent of railroads, crossing these plains, the number of bison has rapidly diminished. Many thousands were shot from the cars for fun, and left to die on the plains ; hunters destroyed tens of thousands for mere sport. More than as many more were slaughtered for the hams and tongues, and the Indians killed from one to two millions annually for the flesh, and the robes or skins. It is es- timated that within the past ten years, not less than twenty mil- lions of these noble animals have been slain, and that hardly more than 300,000 remain. The bison is not found west of the Rocky Mountains.* The moose, though plentiful in British ♦Colonel Richard J. Dod^ei United Slates Ariny,.i famous huiuer, speaks of another species, oral least a well -marked variety of the buffalo, known to hunters as the mountain or wood buflalo, or "the bison." It has shorter but stouter legs than the common buffalo, is very shy, and by no msans plentiful even in its chosen haunts, and inhabits only the deepest, darkest defiles and caiions, or the craggy and almost precipitous sides of mountains, from which it will not depart, whii*: its congener prefers the plains. Except in one instance, no sportsman has bagged more tha ^ one, but its existence is well vouched for, Uiough, so far as we are aware, it has never been de. cribed by any other writer. ,i« I J. Ill 51?' " ,"lf i A I'll H m ,i»,"i ,M|l !, i,' ■ ■»?':• ^;^A^'7r!\VV,^?V 1 y^' ^^' ns I i i i::' i* «" ^ pM :...,,„,7^ N lagirr.whi^Vi 'iifg^^i KOCKY MOUNTAIN COAT, ELK, RKI> DEKR, BLACK BEAR, FOX, MOOSE, WOLF, PANTirER, f'.RIZ^LV BEAR, COYOTE, PRAIRIE UOG, WILD CAT, BVFKALO, WILD HORSE. Columl part of The Rocky ! though abundar criminal subjecte thoiisan( tana. There and mul< beautiful represen sheep, ai goat, whi Himalaya there are the name ears; the ten specie porcupine, moles, rat! Of beas of them f( two speci( Mountains known as diet; ants, grapes anc vanity, it is treme huno a very stul are very sh formidable American p •Some practica ZOOLOGY OF OUK WESTERN ^MPIRE, 57 Columbia and Alaska, is only found in the region in he northern part of Washington Territory, in Northern Idaho, and Montana. The Elk, the next largest of the game animals east of the Rocky Mountains, has nearly the same range as the Buffalo, though it usually seeks the vicinity of the river valleys. It is less abundant than the bison, but has only partially escaped die indis- criminate slaughter to which those unfortunate animals have been subjected. They are often found in large numbers (three or four thousand it is said) in the great parks of Colorado, and in Mon- tana- There are three species of deer, the black-tailed, white-tailed, and mule deer; and at least one species of antelope, a graceful, beautiful creature. West of the Rocky Mountains, there is a representative of the Ibex family in the Bighorn or mountain sheep, and one of the goat family — the wild Rocky Mountain goat, which may, perhaps, be allied to the goat antelopes of the Himalaya Mountains. Of smaller four-footed game and rodents, there are six or eight species of hare and rabbits, one bearing the name of the Jackass rabbit, from the enormous length of its ears; the beaver, musk rat and mammoth mole; squirrels of ten species, five of gophers or prairie dogs, the yellow-haired porcupine, four species of kangaroo mice, the usual variety of moles, rats, mice and dormice. Of beasts of prey there are a considerable number, and some of them formidable in size and strength. There are probably two species, and possibly three, of bears eaist of the Rocky Mountains : the black, the cinnamon, and a smaller brown one, known as the Mexican bear.* The bear is omnivorous in his diet; ants, grubs, mice, moles, squirrels, rabbits, eggs, berries, grapes and fruit, all seem alike to Iwn, but if he tas a special vanity, it is for honey. He does not attack man unless in ex- treme hunger, or in protecting the cubs ; but if attacked makes a very stubborn fight, especially at close quarters. His claws are very sharp and strong. Beyond the Rocky Mountains the formidable and somewhat ferocious grizzly bear, the largest American plantigrade, except possibly the Arctic or white bear. p s * Some practical zoologists contend that these are not diflerent species but simply varieUos. tflHMI i OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 58 is pdcled to the number. The black, brown, and cinnamon bears usually avoid a conflict with man unless attacked, when they fight fiercely. It is said that among the miners of Western Colorado, a class of men not lacking in courage or pluck, when some new-comer, ambitious to show his prowess, proposes to go out and hunt the bears, which are very numerous there, the shrewd old miner, who is well versed in bear nature, will reply: "Guess not; I haven't lost any bear," The grizzly bear, espe- cially if hungry, is not wont to wait for a provocation to a fight, and he possesses so thick a hide and so much vitality, that it is very difficult to disable or kill him by even two or three well- aimed shots. When wounded his racre Is fearful, and his lone and strong claws enable him to make very short work of an antagonist who comes within reach of them.* The cougar, puma or panther, sometimes called the American lion, is another very formidable animal ; somewhat smaller than the African Hon or the Bengal tiger, it has as much ferocity and almost as much strength as either. It is, however, cowardly like * Mr. J. M. Murphy, in his " Sporting Adventures in the Far West," devotes one cha])ter to the grizzly bear, and relates some very humorous stories of experiences in hunting it. Forniid- .nbie and ferocious as it is, the grizzly is terrified by the human voice, when loud yells and cries are uttered, and will run away at once. Mr. Murphy says that a certain judge of San Francisco, who, while a good hunter and a'capital humorist, was of somewhat intemperate habits, h.nd en- gaged with a few friends to go out for a week's shooting among the grouse and quail, and was asked to be ready to join the party at a very early hour in the morning, so that a camping place could be reached in the afternoon. The night before starling he attended a ball and became so much intoxicated that on his way home he fell down several times in the mire, much to the detriment of his evening dress and opera hat. Just after reaching home the carriage came lo take him to the rendezvous, and he insisted on going in the plight he was in. After some ••(.•- monstrance he was taken as he was, and the party travelled to the mountains about forty miles distant, pitched camp and, building a (ire, prepared for supper. A Spaniard approached them and said that there was a gri/zly a few rods off in the bushes. The judge, who was dozin^^ .ear the fire, roused upat once and said tb|t he would go and bring it into the camp. His com- panions laughed at him and chaffed him, but his temper was roused, and seizing an empty shot- gun, he said he would prove his assertion, and strode off into the shrubbery. In about twenty minutes there was a great commotion in the bushes, and all the party seized their guns and pre- pared for some unknown danger. In another minute the bushes parted .ind out came the judge without a hat, and running with such speed as to cause his hair and coat-tails to stand out at right angles to his body. As he approached, he shouted at the top of his voice: "Clear the track ; here we come, the bear and me, confound our souls." They did clear the track, and the judge rushed through the fire and did not stop till he had run a good \ If mile to the rear. His companions stopped the bear and caused it to retreat by a few yells and shots, but the fool- bardy judge was the butt of many a joke on his race with the bear. ^^"^^"^S. .#^:~.i^: .-^-ifi ; .; !■• Mm 1 ^•>J' pj' ^ U P 8 ^ \ . all its t hungry miciabl( giving feet ei^ or 160 goes ar tiger is Californ cougar, of the t per]ia{)s catainou blunt tai Canada 1 plete the congener proper o verine o; cheeked five speci order cor black woli same spec congener ; always tri( one or two a man, anc when a la was carryi carry off la hunger has and even tl endeavor tc are so desti * This nnme i: differ in stinctuie ZOOLOGY OF OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. yp all its tribe, and seldom or never attacks man except when very hungry or in defence of its young. When attacked it is a for- midable animal, its strong claws and great muscular power giving it great advantage, it is, when full-grown, about four feet eight inches in length, exclusive of its tail, and weighs 1 50 or 160 pounds. It is an inhabitant of the forests, and rarely goes any great distance from them. The jaguar or American tiger is also found in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California. It is a larger and perhaps fiercer animal than the cougar, but is nowhere abundant and is not found at all north of the thirty-ninth parallel. A smaller, but equally fierce and perhat)s equally cowardly member of the feline family, is the catamount, ocelot, or tiger-cat,* while the wild cat, widi its s^ort blunt tail, and the lynx, of which there are three spcLi... — the Canada lynx, the bay lynx or red cat, and the banded lynx — com- plete the wild felines of the region. Of the marten tribe and its congeners there are many genera and species. The marten proper or American sable, the fitch marten, stone marten, wol- verine or fisher, two species of skunk, the mink, the yellow- cheeked weasel, the otter and sea otter, the badger, raccoon ; five species of fox, the raccoon fox or mountain cat. Next in order come the wolves. The American large gray, dusky or black wolf (all these distinctions of color being found in the same species) is a far less ferocious animal than his European congener ; he is cowardly, and when attacked by clogs or men always tries to find safety in flight. There are not more than one or two instances known where these wolves have attacked a man, and then it was only when they were frantic with hunger, when a large pack of them were together, and when the man was carrying some game. They are great thieves, and will carry ofif lambs or sheep, pigs, calves or young colts, and when hunger has made them desperate, they will hunt antelopes, deer and even the buffalo. Their bite is very sharp, and they always endeavor to hamstring their prey, if it is a large animal. They are so destructive to sheep and young cattle that great numbers * This name is also given by some to the Canada lynx, but improperly, as all the lynxes differ in structure from the true cats. i\ % \ Co OUR WESTLK.W EMPIRE. of tlicm arc killed by poison, usually by strychnine. There arc a class of men in the West known as "Wolfers" who make a special business of killing wolves, and selling their pelts, which are valuable. This is a profitable business, but those who engage in it undergo great privations and hardships, and they very often spend their hard-won gains in miserable debauchery. 'The coyote or barking wolf is an intermediate link between the gray wolf and the fox, and maintains about the same posi- tion in this country which the hyenas do in the East. He is a thief, and a mean, cowardly, vile-smelling thief, but he subserves one useful purpose — he is an indefatigable scavenger, though a very dirty and cruel one. lie will dig up the bodies of tlid dead and feast upon Uiem, and every animal that is wounded or sick falls a prey to him. If nothing better can be found he will prey upon chickens, rats, mice, moles, or any other of the small rodents. A pack of coyotes have be !i known to attack a wounded buck and siiip every bone clean in ten minutes. They are often covered widi sores from feasting on dead bodies. Colonel Dodge insists that the prairie wolf is not the genuine coyote, and that the coyote is a meaner animal found only in Texas. The cetacea of the Pacific coast include the right and Califor- nia gray whale, the hump-back and fin-back, two beaked whales, the sperm whale, black fish, walrus, ^nd three species of porpoise. The amphibia are the sea elephant, three or four sea lions, two species each of seal and sea otter. The birds of this vast territory number more than 500 species already described, and many more discovered but not yet fully described. There are twenty-five species of climbers, nearly two-thirds of them wood-peckers ; more than forty species of birds of prey, including six of the eagle family, twenty hawks, buzzard hawks and falcons ; twelve or thirteen species of owls; the king of the vultures, as large as the condor and the lammergeier ; and the turkey-vulture or turkey-buzzard, so common in the South. Of the perchers, fly-catchers, and grain-pluckers, most of them song birds, there are nearly 200 species; in the first group are included crows, ravens, magpies, jays, jackdaws and king-fishers ; M.E, VULTURE, HA\ i ^J^t^. ^?^^^'.^- va;j /«( ^j ^. ^If^T^ :^ // / w iH' ' 1 MR^Rit'^R^ ' W'' '' ^ ' f ^ P<^;^ ^ 'I ti'* v.; ' ! .J > m 4 ■ ^^^ ■ X ^K^^^» ^^«'^\ --tr»^:^Mir^^^ "^j^TZ- __-^./ ali auks, sea-pi The repti from those the Gulf of (alligators m affluents; in found in (d P % 62 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. edible in the waters of the Pacific and the Gulf, and in the thou- sands of fresh and salt lakes, and the numerous rivers of this vast region. Among these are ten species of the Salmonidae, native to the Pacific coast, besides several others now naturalized; the taking, packing and canning of the salmon forms one of the largest and most rapidly increasing industries of Oregon and Washington Territory ; the rivers and lakes swarm with trout. Seven or eight species of the cod family, about twenty species of eels, ten of mackerel, and two of the bonita or Spanish mackerel, numerous species of the perch -family and its congeners, the blue-fish, eight or nine species of bass, the lake white-fish (intro- duced) ; three species of tautog; one, the red-fish, a most delicious table fish ; about twenty species of flat-fish and flounders ; twelve species of sliad, herring, anchovies, etc. ; nearly thirty of the carp tribe, weak-fish, balloon-fish ; and over forty of the cartilaginous fishes, sharks, rays, sun-fish, sturgeons, etc., etc. There are seventy-five species of mollusks, including a great variety of clams, quahaugs, oysters, mussels, scollops, and fresh-water unionldai, whelks, limpets, sea-snails, cuttle-fish, polypi, octopi, squids, nautili, etc. - . : Of crustaceans, there are about twenty species, including lob- sters, crabs, hard and soft shell, king crabs, star-fish, fresh-water lobsters, shrimps, prawns, crawfish, etc. ; i ;? . .• ■ ' " ' ' No country in the world has a larger proportion of excellent pasturage land. While much of this is as yet unoccupied by herdsmen, the amount of live-stock is increasing at an exceed- ingly rapid rate. The estimates of the Agricultural Department at Washington, which, on live-stock, especially in the West, are generally considerably below the truth, gave, in December, 1878, 3,807,500 horses, more than one-third of all in the United States; 630,300 mules, about the same proportion of the whole; 3,650,- 000 milch cows, about one-third of the whole number in the Union; 11,588,000 other cattle, or more than one-half of the whole ; 1 9,000,000 sheep, or one-half of the whole ; and 1 2,000,- 000 swine, or almost two-fifths of the whole. The number in December, 1879, not yet reported, must be at least twenty per cent, in advance of these figures. AND Ter This m Missouri , in March other Sta present b States an( According west of tl: 300,000 tri that time 1: how rapid \ with the re figures whe mations in to these the Territory w from the lat seen that tl crease of 4, years. The cent, in the and only one increase of r time; while f during the la The follow cf these State which have in 1 INCREASE OF POPULATION. 63 CHAPTER V. Population — The Increase since 1870 — Table Showing the Estimated Increase in each State and Territory — Notes in regard to each State and Territory. This whole region is new to settlement, except the States of Missouri and Arkansas; the former was admitted into the Union in March, 182T, and the latter June 15th, 1836. Nine of the other States or Territories have been organized with their present boundaries over thirty-five years, and several of the States and all the Territories are less than thirty years old. According to the census of 1870, there were in the whole region west of the Mississippi 6,877,069 inhabitants, besides nearly 300,000 tribal or wild Indians. The growth of population since that time has been alniost incredibly rapid. In order to show how rapid has been the growth of this region we present here- with the results of the census taken in June, 1880 — the official figures where it was possible to obtain them, and the approxi- mations in round numbers, where it was not. We have added to these the number of Indians on reservations, in every State or Territory where there were large reservations, taking our figures from the latest report of the Indian Office in 1879. It will be seen that the present population aggregates 11,421,274, an in- crease of 4,544,205, or about 67.5 per cent., within the last ten years. The great States regard an increase of ten or eleven per cent, in the population in ten years as a remarkably rapid growth, and only one or two of them attain that; but here has been an increase of more than six times their best growth in the same time; while fully three-fourths of this advance has been achieved during the last four or five years. The following table shows the extraordinary growth of some of these States and Territories ; and we explain below the causes which have induced this exceptional growth. H[l] 8 64 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. State Stale or Population Population or Population Population Territory, 1S70. 1880. Territory. 1870. 1880. Arkansas . 484,471 802,564 Texas ( ,(,>•) 818,579 1,597.509 California . 560,247 864,686 Arizona (//) 9.658 40,441 Colorado (a) 39,864 194,649 Dakota (/" ) 14,181 135.180 Iowa (h) . 1,194,020 1,624,463 Idaho . . 14.999 32,611 Kansas (V) 364.399 995,966 Montana(y ) 20.59s 39,'57 Min'sota {d) 439.706 780,807 1 Indian Tor. 69,000 75,000 Missouri . 1.721,295 2,168,804 ! New Mex.(^ 91,874 118,430 Nebraska (i-) 122,293 452,432 Utah (/) 86,786 143,907 Nevada . . 42,491 62,265 Washington 23,955 75, 120 Oregon (/) Louisiana 90,923 726,915 174,767 940,263 Wyoming Totals . 9,118 20,788 11,339,809 6,877.069 {a) Colorado owes its rapid growth in the last decade to its superb climate, to its great advantages as a herding region, and above all to the extraordinary discoveries of rich ores of silver and gold on both the eastern and western slopes of the Rocky Moiuitains, in the San Juan district, in Leadville and vicinity, at Silverton, Ouray, Gunnison, and many other points of Western Colorado. {U) Iowa is essentially a prairie State, with a rich and fertile soil, and being gridironed by railroads, most of them having land-grants, and its advantages diligently made known, it has made large additions to its population. (/•) Kansas o— es its almost miraculous growth to its favorable location, to its excellent farming lands, and especially to the great enterprise and energy, with which the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fo Railroad has opened to settlement and to markets, the whole upper Arkansas valley, one of the finest farming and grazing regions on the continent. (d) Minnesota owes much of its growth to its fine climate, its rich wheat lands, especially those of the valley of the Red river of the North, and to the great enterprise of both her farmers and manufacturers, by which her wheat and Hour have become known all over the world, as the finest produced anywhere. (f) Nebraska has made a great advance within ten years, almost quadrupling her population, mainly through her excellent situation, her fine, arable lands, and the great efforts made by the Union Pacific and other land endowed roads, to make her advantages known. (/) Oregon has been largely built up by emigration called thither by her extensive salmon fisheries, her immense lumber business, the great fertility and productiveness of her soil, and her rich and valuable mines. Her facilities far water communication have been of great a(r. antage in bringing her products to market ; but as yet railways have not aided largely in developing her territory. (^) Texas has received large additions to its population from seven^l causes: its fine cotton and sugar lands have attracted very many settlers from tlie Atlantic and Gulf States of he South, as well as from the Mississippi valley, who hoped to better their condition by the change ; her vast ranges for cattle, and the double beef for th men, herdn immigratioi to the State tonsiderablt (/') Arizo imtii recent! most of whi for want of t mines, which of railroad ai removal, the the Territory within the pa: Governor Fre have changed i than they have (O Dakota ; in the entire W I sections, at nea I of the Territorj I Europe, as well I colony here, an. [This section \y\ jofthe Dakota or Jrivers, and by t jDakota owes its [prise with which Jin the face of th< Itory, al)ove the 4 land most produc jind Manitoba ro Ivhole valley of t k,6oo,ooo bushels puthwcstern Dak Jiiense deposits of p mines are exce 0) Montana h Northern, but soo pout midway, and plJy to meet the plena, the capital lie Territory;, as INCREASE OF POPULATION. 65 Ids, Iher Iviul Ifor to fry- dio md the double demand for cattle for die ranges of the New Northwest, and for beef for the English and French markets, have drawn great numbers of ranch- men, herdmen, cattle-buyers, etc., to the State. There has been also a large immigration of English farmers and laborers, and of the best class of Germans to the State ; and the extension of several of the railroad lines has induced a considerable influx of people from Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee. (70 Arizona has not grown so rapidly as some of the other Territories, for, until recently, she has had difficulties with the Indian tribes, and her arid soil, most of which can only be cultivated successfully by irrigation, was still arid for want of the means to build irrigating canals, or bore artesian wells ; lier mines, which were and are exceedingly rich, were almost inaccessible for want of railroad and wagon road facilities. These difficulties are now in course of removal, the Southern Pacific having reached Tucson, the former capital, and the Territory is responding most heartily to the new impulse it has received within the past two years. The Indians, under the efficient management of Governor Fremont, are friendly and peaceful, and heavy and continued rains have changed the face of nature. Its mines are richer, and its lands more fertile than they have been thought to be. (/) Dakota has made the most extraordinary growth of any State or Territory in the entire West, and this has been due to several causes, operating in different sections, at nearly the same time. Soiitheastern Dakota has been the portion of the Territory best known, and its fertile lands have attracted emigrants from Europe, as well as from the Eastern States. The Mennonites established a large colony here, and the Catholics are now purchasing lands for the same purpose. This section lying north and east of the Missouri river, and in the lower valley of the Dakota or James river, is very accessible, both by the Missouri and Dakota irivers, and by three railroad lines which penetrate this region. Northeastern [Dakota owes its rapid growth almost entirely to two raihva3s, and the enter- prise with which they have advertised their lands; the Northern Pacific, which in the face of the greatest difficulties has opened a line nearly across the Terri- Itory, above the 46th parallel, and has brought into market some of the finest ind most productive lands in the Northwest; and the St. Paul, Minneapolis md Manitoba road, and its branches, which have opened to settlement the Hvhole valley of the Red river of the North, which sent to market in 187S, ;, 600, 000 bushels of the finest spring wheat. The Black Hills Region, in jouthwestern Dakota, was first broiight into notice by the discovery there of im- [iiense deposits of gold and silver. Much of the region around is barren, but |he mines are exceedingly rich, and the population is rapidly increasing, (y) Montana has as yet no railroads, except the extension of the Utah lorthern, but soon will have ; the Northern Pacific crossing the Territory [bout midway, and the Utah and Northern penetrating it from the south, even- lally to meet the Northern Pacific. The latter road has recently readied lelena, the capital. The Missouri river is navigable for most of its course in le Territory^ as is the Yellowstone, though partially obstructed by rapids. s 66 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. \ But Montana has many fertile and very rich valleys, excellent pasture lands, and some of the best gold and silver mines in the whole Northwest. Its popu- lation will greatly increase in the next decade. (/) Utah has grown rapidly in spite of great obstacles, and mainly by emi- gration of two kinds : of Mormons from Europe, and of " Gentiles," /. <-., Non- Mormons, from the Eastern States, drawn thither by its exceedingly rich mines. The ores of the Territory in all directions seem to yield greater quantities of gold and silver than almost any others which have been opened ; and with greater facilities of access they must at no distant date pour a volume of gold and silver into the markets of the world which will make great changes in the prices of other commodities. t; ' - ; • v v : ,,''i' < r; CHAPTER VI. The Nationalities and Races Represented — The Indians — Different Tribes, and their Characteristics — The Moquis of Arizona — Note concerning them — Africans and Colored Persons generally — Chinese I and Japanese — Hispano-Americans — Europeans of different Nation- alities — British, British American, German, Scandinavian, French,] Italian, Spanish, etc. — Americans born in the States. Including the Indians in the Indian Territory, the Pueblos in New Mexico and Arizona, and the Indians employed on ranches! in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, and the triball Indians on the plains and elsewhere, there are. probably not lessj than 300,000 Indians of all races in the Great West. These Indians are of many tribes, and their languages, habits! and modes of life differ materially. A comparatively small number evidently belong to two of the races which preceded! the North American Indian on this continent. The Pueblos of! I^evv Me? still earlie Their dwc vU'sa or bi ladders or usually onl large reser ''if-'ir cattle, agriculture, factured \x\ their ornam advanced \n possibly belo Jn the \x\, Georgia, AJat Choctaws, Ci good L\\Sil\\^n^ ^^ the otlier [occupying po, I customed to * ^''^ry few of our •heir rocky fastnesses Sclionl of Mines, ,i,„ Colorado, and Gi ''S'lly civilized peopl, roljal)iJify are the 'len th,i iKi »ei •■It country wa H'i". .-m,! their religi^ pa-ouut in Scnl,„,,>, j Jces of Northwestern New Mexico, who are also found in small numbers in ArizonaB""^'"''""'"^''°'shipi -•^reat source of fire, as I.Ktire. Their have their name from their practice of living in towns or village^ pueblo being the Mexican name for a town or village. The! live in adobe houses, cultivate the soil, and though in secrej idolaters, are outwardly obedient to the priests, and devouj Catholics. They are a quiet, patient, good-tempered race, evidentlJ Aztec, and having no other affinity with the American Indianf than their color and hair. There are several villages in Arizon( "lanufa ves seen a blan J lursel "'•'y flair of th lilsful of s''Khtest deg <-'ir sheej water were J'ee. ■"'•"^ skill. Their hrca lliich > thicker th 'hey cultivate •1" writ, F'hcpileofediWesh poul "K if K'lMijes are spoj; fi). nc THE RACES AND NATIONS OF THE GREAT WEST. dj IScw Mexico and Colorado, of the cliff-dwellers, or Moquis, a still earlier race, of which they seem to be the only survivors. Their dwellings are hewn in the perpendicular rocks of some mesa or buttc, or crown its height, and are only accessible by ladders or rude rock stairways. Their catUe and sheep occupy usually only the top of the mesa, and here were constructed also large reservoirs for water, which they use for themselves and llieir cattle. They are engaged in manufactures as well as in acrriculture, and their blankets, their cordage, their bread manu- factured in thin sheets from the blue corn which they cultivate, their ornaments, etc., are very curious. They are as much advanced in civilization as the Peruvians of South America, and possibly belong to the same race.* ■ In the Indian Territory, the tribes removed thither from Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, in 1832 and 1833, the Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws and Seminoles, have farms and crood dwellings, and show no disposition to lead a nomadic life. I Of the other fifteen or sixteen tribes or fractions of tribes, now occupying portions of the Territory, some are becoming ac- customed to the herdsman's life and seem contented; others do ntli km * Very few of our explorers or tourists have visited these singuliir and interesting people in [their rocky fastnesses. Among the few are Prof. J. S. Newberry, now of the Columbia College iSchool of Mines, and an eminent scientist, Colonel J. W. Powell, the pioneer explorer of the io Colorado, and General J. C. Fremont. They are certainly a much more intelligent and highly civilized people than any of the Indian tribes now existing on this continent, and in all irob.iliility are the remnants of a race which preceded the Aztecs, the inhabitants of Mexico B'hen that country was first discovered. Their cliff dwellings exhibit remarkable architectural " ;kill, and their religious ceremonies, of which Colonel Powell has given a most interesting count in Scii/'itci's Alonlhly, while very singular, indicate their origin from one of the primitive [.ices of Northwestern Asia. They are generally regarded as fire-worshippers, but like the .usees, their worship seems to have been symbolical, and to have regarded fire and the sun, the rreat source of fire, The herds^men and shepherds, and in many cases their em- Iployers also, are as rough as the miners in their language and Idress. It is not uncommon to find among these rough, unkempt [and mud-bespattered men, graduates from our Eastern universi- ties and colleges, men who have enjoyed all the amenities of the lost refined society, but who, discarding all conventionalities, % 74 OUK II7:S7-£A\V EMPIRE. have chosen to live thus roughly and uncouthly. In some in- stances sons of English peers, themselves graduates from Oxford or Cambridtje, have followed the same course. A correspondent of the New York IVibune relates that he found in Leadville, in a building, half tent and half shanty, occupied by a miner and his family, a Steinway grand piano, perfectly in tune, a choice and well-selected library, and both in charge of a lady as refined and accomplished as could be met with in the best circles in our great cities, and these luxuries of civilization had been brought thither when the freight by ox or mule-team from the nearest railroad station, then eighty or a hundred miles away, was fifty cents a pound, Amone all classes the American fondness for humorous exacr- geration crops out. A miner will tell a stranger, with a per- fectly serious face, that a mine of very small promise has "millions in it," and perhaps in the next breath, examining a choice speci- men of ore, he will throw it from him contemptuously, declaring! that it won't yield more than iio pei cent, of pure silver. He[ will describe to another, with a face beaming with pity, " how discouraged th^: miners were, because they had to dig throuj^hl four feet of solid siiver before they could get at the gold ; " or I when the large yield of silver is spoken of, he will say: " Pshaw' that is of no account; there is a man down in Iowa that has inl vented a process for making silver for fifty dollars a ton ; so that is no good." This same tendency to exaj^geration is sometinvs acquired by our English cousins after a shoir residence hen, "Haven't you any larger happles than those 'lere ?" inquired a cockney tourist of a market woman in Washiiii^ton market, Xcwf York, pointing to a huge watermelon. " Can't yoii do hany bcttt than that?" "Happies'" rctorte/i the market woman, herscli'l of English birth. " Hanybody would know you was Hinglish, Them hain't happles; them's huckleberries!" The farmers are not as rough or rude in their mode of life as tiie herdsmen, shepherds or miners; though at first, on the fid tier, the luxuries of society, whether in habitation, equipmLiitJ dress, or table fare, are neglected, and only the necessaries of| life are sought. or pursu general j State at t founded { ment, hav advantao-t colonial oi successful, adopted a haps of go it. \w the colonics ni colony, an( rate; other used the ^ ]xirtly, per been the co Meeker, an Evans. In coloni(\s foi often so ne; Jinavian in COLONIES AND LARGE ESTATF-S. 75 Yet it is the testimony of ladies of the hiL;liest character who have penetrated into these mining hamlets, or the sJieep or cattle ranches, that nowhere in the wide world have the\ been treated with more courtesy, deference and respect, ii;an amoni^ these apparently rough men. Miss Isabella L. Bird, ajn English lady of high social position and adventurous spirit, wbose "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains " is a most charming record of actual adventures in Colorado, found that t;ven a noted outlaw and brigand, known as " Rocky Mountain Jim," manifested in his conduct toward women, the intelligence, chivalry and refine- ment of a gendeman. In almost all the States and Territories of this western region there are numerous colonies, where a body of settlers, bound together by the ties of comrif n race or nationality, community of religious faith, the desire of prosecuting a common avocation or pursuit, or, in some instances, from mere neighborhood, or general similarity of views, or from being natives of the same State at the East, have purchased a tract of land in common, and founded a colony, or settling on adjacent lands by mutual agree- ment, have become helpful to each other, and thus enjoyed th(; atlvantages of a colony without the difficulties incidental lo a colonial organization. Many of these colonies have proved very successful, a few as conspicuously unsuccessful. Four or five adopted at first the principle of a community of lands, and per- haps of goods, but all or nearly all have subsequently abandoned it. In the regions where irrigation is required, some of tlui colonies made their canals and ditches the property of the whole colony, and each individual who usetl the water paid a water- rate ; others had them constructed by a company, and those who used the water jiaid toll. Of the colonies on a secular, and partly, perhaps, on a political basis, the most successful hav(i been the colony of Greeley, in Colorado, founded by the lamented Meeker, and its almost as prosperous neighbors, Longmont and Evans. In Minnesota there have been many Scandinavian coloni(is founded, Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish, and these often so near each other as to make considerable tracts Scan- dinavian in character, and for a time in speech. These colonies 8 ■MM ^5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. i have gradually extended into Northeastern Dakota. The Norse element is an excellent one in our country, for the Scandinavians are a hardy, frugal, industrious, and thrifty people. In Iowa, Southern Minnesota and .Southeastern Dakota, as well as in Nebraska, there are many German colonies, generally of an ex- cellent character. In Southeastern and Northeastern Dakota, as well as in Manitoba, and still more in Kansas, the Mennonites, a religious denomination already known in the Atlantic States, Russian by birth, but of German origin, have settled in large colonies, and form a valuable addition to our farming popula- tion.* In Dakota, and perhaps also in Kansas, they have been accompanied by other religionists of somnvhat similar views, but of Sclavonic or Russian origin. These call themselves simply "Christians," but are known to the Russian government as either Molokani or Shindisti. These have settled on lands adjacent to the Mennonites. In some of these States and Territories there are also colonies of Bohemians (Czechs), of Moravians, and we believe also of Tyrolese and Swiss. In Southeastern Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas there are also many colonies of English and Scotch, mostly farmers, though some are artisans. Kansas has one, and perhaps more than one, French colony, where silk culture and the manufacture of silk has been carried on, though, wiiile awaiting the growth of the mulberry, and sufficient work for tlieir filature, they have turned the silk mill into a cheese factory. There are also French and Hvmcrarian colonists encraijed invini- culture in California. A considerable colony of Japanese came to California some years since to engage in the culture of tea, and perhaps some other Japanese products, but we have no recent intelligence of their success. In Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah ihcre * Mr. TI. J- Van Dyke, Jr., writinp; nf these Mennonites in their M.initoha settlement, s.;'. . t)i:it an innkeeper at Winnipeg stoutly insisted that they were " no i;(iO(l." On hein^' asked his re.ison for such a declaration, he still persisted that they were of nt) account. ".Are they nut industrious ? " " Ve-cs." "Are they not thrifty ? " " Ve-es." " Don't tliey pay fur what they l)uy jironiptly ? " "Ve-es. Ikit I'll tell you, when they come here, if any of them want to drink, every man pays for his own liquor. They never treat the crowd. I don't think they are of much account." The innkeeper's reason would seem to be decidedly creditable to the Mennonites. COLONIES AND LARGE ESTATES. 77 are many associations for mining purposes, composed entirely of English or Scotch capitalists, employing almost exclusively British miners, and having their principal offices in London. In Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Texas, there are also British associations engaged in the stock business. In Utah, where almost three-fourths of the population are Mormons, and most of them believe in polygamy, while several thousands of them actually practice it, the Mormon immigration is almost wholly from Great Britain, though a small number come from the Scan- dinavian countries. As most of these immigrants are practical polygamists, our Government has recently sought to restrain the influx of such open violatocs of our laws. In New Mexico the greater part of the inhabitants, certainly nii.c-cenths, includ- ing^ both the original inhabitants and the immigrants, are nom- inally or really members of the Roman Catholic Church. The: policy of our Government is, and has always been, opposed to the entire control of a State or Territory by one sect or denom- ination alone, inasmuch as perfect freedom of conscience, except \v!"iere it violates the rights of others, is the cardinal principle of our national Constitution. Where one sect is largely dominant in a State or Territory, the rights of the minority are almost Invariably invaded. In Utah this predominance involves also the practice of polygamy, which is an added violation of our national laws ; and in New Mexico the school moneys derived from the sale of school lands have been misdirected by the Jesuits and other religious orders, who have the entire control of educa- tion there, not only to the payment of teachers of theology in Roman Catholic seminaries, but to the pajment of the board of students of theology. So far as colonies of Roman Catholics are concerned, th ^y are perfectly right and proper, and very considerable settlements iiave been organized under the auspices of bishops and arch- bishops, in Dakota, Nebraska, Texas and Oregon, and perhaps in some other States and Territories. Xo objection is made to the organization t)f Mormon colonies, provided they obey the laws ; and, as a matter of fact, the Mormons have planted large colonies in Idaho, and smaller ones in Colorado and Arizona. f P S jfg- OUR IVESJ/'lfiM S, In a few instances colonies of Ameilcsm ^jWiBl^^deiriotninations have settled in a single township, ai^ have 4oaie m-^SL There are Episcopal, Preshx/terian, Methodi&l# and |>»9ssialy Baptist colonies of this sort. GeTierally, however, (mf Amt/y:an colonists prefer a diversity of relig^ious beliefs in their settl<:m<:fr':i. Recently, two methods of settlement and imp/^'/vemenf oi lands iiave been adopted. Tlvy are both of doubtful expediency, so far as the future of the States and Territories is concerned, though of great present profit and success in the development of new regions. The first method has been largely practised in California, and is coming into vogue in the newer States and Territories. A capitalist, usually, though not always, a practical farmer,stock-raiser or mining operator, or sometimes an association of capitalists, acting by their superintendent or general manager, purchases a large tra^t of land, often many thousands of acres, adapted to his \>ury/¥z, whether of raising grain, wine-making, stock or wool-growir^g, ''/r mining, ez-^'/Cts the necessary buildings, and procures the Ix^st aixljatest maciiin«ry for liis purpose, and hires his laborers, w'!'V> m^-y ^/' iiv' poorer classes of foreigners, Mexicans, Indians, or ^'Jliine^^, *^.4 w<>rks his estate evcclusively, or almost exclusively, wkh %*i^'' \'A'/,f j,i ; machir ry or steam- driven agricultural implem^aHs ^uj/j/iying the r .ice of very large numbers of laborers. If he >5 a farmer, and in the smooth prairie lands, he breaks up the .■/>{! widi his gangs of steam- plows, or an army of plowing machines each drawn by four horses or mules; sows his wluat or other grains with steam or four-horse drills ; '\rf\'/iiU','^ Uv^ lands, if irrigatit n is necessary, by water raised from an art<'/v«ain w^4I, by steam or wind-puwcr; rra[)s, gathers and binds or more ^/p^-ditiVisly still, clips off the heads of the grain and d< pv-vH-y them 'm an accompanying wagon by bushels, whence they ar< U'Afr'^crrcd by a chute to the threshing- machine, which threshes, ^mfUfH^, .separat<';s*ana sacks the grain with litde human int'-rvention. Wh^n the market is at il:^ highest point, he sends to if his iumdred thousand or two hundred thousand bushels of whtat, his oats, barley, and corn in nearly equal amounts, and employing cheap labor, his net profits on a single year's crops may be reckoned by the hundrcil thousand and the y tilled farr well for tl or Territc Tiiese lar<. and the esl absenteeis oligarchica lands and dition of tl than there, land, skinn isasignifica farm " in IS grain, tlie y farms, and i croD, thouel The grea more object tendency to of these im Oriental pal historian, a with all the herds, M'ithoi influences, w hinds. In th it is estim.u pasturage to it not unfreq whole ((Miiii\ isolated life i \vhv)je genius the pjlicy of small, and tht that schools, ',./ THE EVIL OF LARGE LANDED ESTATES. 79 thousand dollars, though his cultivation may be less thorough, and the yield per acre smaller, than on smaller and more carefully tilled farms. All this is very well for the capitalist, and equally well for the exporter of grain ; but it is not so well for the State or Territory, nor for its permanent and successful development. Tlicse large estates prevent the formation of villages and towns, and the establishment of primary and grammar schools ; encou ragt: absenteeism, and tend to the establishment of a privileged and oligarchical class; and in the not distant future, when the public lands and the railroad lands are all sold, will bring about a con- dition of things such as now exists in Great Britain, and sooner than there, because the cultivation is more superficial and the land, skinned for present crops, will soon lose its fertility. It is a significant fact in this connection, that on the great •' Dalrymple farm " in Northern Dakota, with its more than 30,000 acres in o-rain, the yield per acre is much less than that of adjacent small farms, and that the yield per acre diminishes with each successive croo, though the land is the best in the Red Rivr valley. The great catde and sheep ranches are in some n;spects still more objectionable, inasmuch as the herdsman's life has a strong tendency towards a condition of semi-civilization. The owner of these immense Hocks and herds may be, indeed, like the Oriental paliiarchs, a man of culture and refinement, a poet or historian, a king am»>ng men. and may surround his children with all the luxuries ot civilization; but his herdsmen or shep- herds, without opportunities of education, and far from civilizing influences, will, in the course of time, become mere boors and hinds. In the wasteful methods of stock-raising in these regions, it is estimated that it requires fifty acres o( the mountain pasturage to feed a single steer, and where the herd amounts, as it not unfrequendy does, to 4.000 or 5,000 head, it may require a whole (ounty to furnish them with suffivient pasture. This isolated life inevitably leads to results, directly opposed to the whole genius of our institutions. In tlw sale of the public lands, the pjlicy of the government has been, to hav'e the holdings small, and the ? ntlers within such neighborhood to ea^h other, that schools, churches, and villages, couM be maintained; this 8 80 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. has been, to some extent, also the policy of the land-grant rail- roads, though those holding large grants have too often departed from it ; but the pressure to sell large quantities of grazing lands, and in some instances farming lands also, has been so great, that the government officers and the railroad officials have too often yielded to it. In Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California, the old Spanish and Mexican land-laws have prevailed, under which a square league of land was about the smallest parcel put upon the market, and from six to thirty leagues not an uncommon purchase. California is already suffering from these immense estates. Another plan now prevailing to some extent, especially among the English middle classes, people of fixed incomes which terminate with their lives, is perhaps less objectionable though tending in the same direction. These people, younger sons of the nobility or gentry, retired army or navy officers, clergymen or their families, civil servants, etc., come to the western country and purchase one or two quarter sections or more, have them broken up, and perhaps a log-house or sod-house built, and let them, the first year for half the crop, and in the years that follow for $1.25 to $1.50 per acre. If their means are sufficient, they repeat this process, every year, till they have 2,500 or 3,000 acres leased in this way, and this gives them a comfortable annual income. This is less objectionable than the purchase of large tracts, because these quarter sections need not be con- tiguous, and there will thus be an opportunity for sufficiendy close setdement to permit the establishment of good schools and villages ; and these land-holders may sell their improved farms, at prices which will permit them to make still larger investments; but there is a strong tendency, in the process, toward the for- mation of a landed aristocracy. I greater or le.s rains on the range, aided c huge glaciers, disintegrated [their constitue land varying al [tioii as they wc (but irresistible Iduced similar c Iwestern slopes JThe great but , jdiains, as well JKocky Mounta |inland seas, whi connecting with Itlien another sti Inean, where tht Woms of all ti [the Colorado \n rellowstone, the |ivers, and pre their way tJiroug SOILS, GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 8i ^ '■.. ) CHAPTER VIII. Variety of Soils and Surfack — Geography and Geo<;nosy — Soils — Geology — Characteristics of the Rockv Mountains — Volcanic Remains of the Yellowstone Country — The Geysers — The Vicinity of Salt Lake — Professor Geikie's Summary of the Geoloc.y of the Central Recion — • Mineralogy. ■ - • 'I The variety of soils in this vast region is almost infinite, and in this chapter we can only glance at the principal causes which lead to such diversity. There are nearly 2,000 miles of coast, \vashed by the ocean and gulf on the Pacific and in Texas, upon ail of which has been cast by the waves, sand and alluvium to a 'Treater or less breadth, for thousands of years. The very heavy rains on the west coast and the western slope of the Coast range, aided during the glacial epoch by the movements of the huge glaciers, the largest by far which ever existed on our earth, disintegrated the rocks, and washed down upon the foot-hills their constituents, varying according to the nature of the rocks, and varying also in the fineness of their comminution, in propor- tion as they were for a longer or shorter time ground by the slow hut irresistible motion of the glaciers. The same causes pro- Iduced similar effects, in the early periods, on both the eastern and hvestern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. [The great but now elevated valley between those two mountain Idiains, as well as the greater part of the plains east of the jRocky Mountains, were for ages the bed of immense lakes or jinland seas, while the southern portion of California and Nevada connecting with the Pacific, through the Tejon pass, which was Ithen another strait of Gibraltar, formed an American Mediterra- Inean, where there is now only a desert. The upheaval of the bottoms of all these salt or fresh lakes, led to their drainage, by jllie Colorado and its afifluents, the Rio Grande, the Arkansas, the Vellowstone, the Missouri and the Snake rivers. Most of these rivers, and pre eminently the Colorado and its tributaries, cut [iieir way through the soft and disintegrating rocks which formed 6 %< % p g 82 OUR WESTliRN liMI'IRE. their beds, to such a depth as to make their channels deep canons, sometimes from 3,000 to 6,000 feet below the surface of the plateau, through which they had their course. The pla- teaux were thus robbed of all their rainfall, and in the course of time, became dry and largely uninhabitable, and what was once a populous region, with its large and strong cities, was changed into an arid and desert land. In some portions of these elevated plains thus drained of their 1 moisture, the surface of the earth is covered, especially during a | long, dry season, with alkaline salts, sulphate of soda and potassa, I sulphate of magnesia, common salt, and occasionally biborate ofj soda, the borax of commerce. On these lands, in their natural condition, there grows only the despised sage-brush. In the rare instances where springs are found, the water is apt to be| brackish. Yet these alkaline lands, when broken up by deep plowingl and well irrigated, yield most astonishing crops, and continue to do so year after year, while, by cultivation, the rainfall is in- creased, and the barren land becomes as the garden of Eden. Where irrigation is impossible, and the amount of alkali is ex- cessive, these lands are yet of some value for grazing, and the| white sage-brush, once regarded as the most worthless of all shrubs, is found to yield a nutritious pasturage for cattle, after thej frost has touched it. Farther south, on what is known as the Llano Estacado orl " staked plain " of Northwestern Texas and New Mexico, that rel markable product of a dry country, the mezquite tree, is found inl abundance, and its large and long roots (nine tenths of its woodyl fibre being below the surface), its trunk, its leaves, its bark,'an(ll its gum are all valuable. Where these lands are broken up anci plowed deeply, the roots of the mezqulte aid in bringing up thel moisture from below, and the rainfall increases from year to year! Eventually all these alkaline lands, or nearly all, will be brougli under cultivation, and will prove, either with or without irrigation some of the most productive and valuable lands of the West. The soil of "the plains," under which general term is includei] the territory lying west of the Mississippi, and especially wesj SO/LS, GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 83 of tlie Missouri river, and extending to tlie Rocky Mountains, is, with some exceptions, very rich and permanently productive. Tlie region lying between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers is not properly a plain or plateau, for there are considerable raives of mountains though of no great elevation. In some parts of it, as in Minnesota, Iowa, and Eastern Dakota, the prairies or gradually rising plateaux predominate. But the " plains " proper include Southern Dakota, below the Black Hills, Nebraska, Kansas, Eastern Colorado, Wyoming Territory, and most of Texas. There are sonic "Bad Lands," tiiough only a few small tracts in this region ; but the greater part of it is an alluvium of extraordinary depth, ranging from five to one hundred and fifty, and in some cases two hundred feet. P^or a'^cs this region was the bed of vast fresh water lakes, and re- ceived from the streams rushing down from the Rocky Mountains, vast quantities of loess, the debris of the decomposed rocks. Gradually it was upheaved, and the bed of '.he lakes became Imarshes, their waters being drained off through the Missouri and lits affluents, the Platte, the Arkansas and Red rivers, and the JRio Grande. The process of slow upheaval still continuing, these marshes, which had been continually enriched by the silt Ifroni the overflow of the rivers, and by the decay of vegetation ^or thousands of years, became dry land, and land of unexam- 3leJ fertility. The fires kindled in their grass and forests by roaming Indian tribes, prevented the growth of forest trees, )vcr large tracts of this region, and so diminished the rainfall ; l^vhile the countless herds of buffalo in their headlong tramps ^oiithward, beat the soil down into a solid and impenetrable crust, which permitted the rainfall to run off without soaking the earth. Without breaking up this solid crust, successful cultiva- [ion was impossible. W^ith it, the crops were so bountiful as to istonish the most sanguine, Texas, having a more varied surface, has also a greater variety )f soils than any other of the States or Territories, with the pos- lible exception of California. The coast soil is a sandy, grayish 3am, well adapted to cotton and rice, and, where darker and [icli :r, the best sugar land in the United States. The river 84 ou/j irr.sTF.HiV r..vrfRF.. bottom lands are black, rich and sticky at times, and form tlie best cotton land in the State. Sometimes small tracts lack eith<'r the phosphates, or sulphates, or both ; and crops will not j^row on them. These are known as "poison soils." A dark, gray soil, in the timber lands, is found excellent for ail kinds of fruits; this is sometimes called the mulatto soil. The deep red soils, containing some oxides of iron, are also well adapted to fruit, and to grains generally. The chocolate soils of Western Texas arc,] perhaps, the finest in the State, producing cotton, corn and semi- tropical fruits. The sandy and dryer soils of the north, even on I the lands adjacent to the Staked Plains, yield, with deep plowin-, very large crops of wheat. Wheat is also a good crop on th(; red soil. There are, of course, barren soils in these States and Ton! tories, though many of those which are so regarded need onlyl irrigation and deep plowing to make them abundantly produclivo.l The details of the geological structure of this vast region, il[ they were attainable, would fill many volumes, for we have evcryl form of cosmic and geologic action represented here which hnJ taken place in any part of our globe — among which we may namcl the tertiary and alluvial and diluvial deposits which have bc'nl made on its 2,000 miles and more of coast line during their a'.trrj nate elevations and depressions; the upheaval of the lofty moun- tain ridges from the broad and level plains ; the effects of formcJ extensive volcanic action, and its remaining, though comparaj tively enfeebled, activity at various points. Then, too, there ara the great phenomena of glacial action, on a scale much vaste] than that of any existing glaciers ; the huge horse-shoe-shapw moraines, in some cases filling up valleys, in others producinJ large lakes ; the erosions produced from the ice streams of thesi glaciers, and from the mountain floods, and the broken barrien of some great lakes; the depressions produced by earthqiiakj convulsions, and the exposure of horizontal strata of great thidj ness of the Cretaceous and Carlx)niferous formations, where thf sharp plough of the glacier had cut its way, or the force of till mountain toirents, of great volume, had worn their deep canon through them. GECLCCY AND M4NERALCGY. gj Tlif^ grand outlines of Its geologic structure which we have thus formulated show conclusively that, if the science of geoloi^^y had hatl its birth in this great empire of the West instead of the :omparativcly limited formations of Western liurope, we should ^lave had a system, which would have required fewer additions uid accommodations, to fit it to represent the geological structure )f all the continents, and many of the questions, which even low vex the souls of scientists, would have received their final solution. Considerable portions of this vast region have never been explored geologically, except by a very superficial reconnoissance It distant points; among these are Texas and most of California, I^Vashington Territory and much of Utah, Nevada, Arizona and lew Mexico. The first three seem to have geological features )cculiar to themselves, to which we may allude more fully when [peaking of them individually. The geological structure of the liore central States and Territories, and the effects of glacial [ction upon them, are very admirably summarized in a recent mature of Professor Archibald Geikie, the eminent Scottish k'ologist, who visited them in 1S79, portions of which we quote: "He had," he said, "three objects in the expedition — (i) To Itudy the effects of atmospheric agencies and of erosion gen- jrally upon the surface of the land; and there was no region [here those lessons could be learned with more powerful im- Iressiveness than in those great plateaux and table-lands. (2) [0 study the relation which the structure of the rocks under- leath bore to the form of the surface. In this country and in liirope generally one was continually brought face to face with mlence of 'dislocations, profusion of igneous rocks, faults and on, which greatly complicated the geological structure, and lade it sometimes by no means easy to tell how far the pres- it irregularities of the surface were due to unequal waste surface, and how far to the direct effects of underground »uses. The western regions of America which retained to this ly for thousands of square miles the horizontality which they W originally, presented wonderful facilities for the discussion this subject. (3) To watch with his own eyes some of tlie s t f h z ? 8 IMAGE EVALUATtON TEST TARGET (MT-3) ii; 1.0 I.I :5 150 ^^" ^ m S lis 1 2£ 2.2 liil 1.25 j 1.4 1 1.6 « 6" ► M '/] <'^- '/. "*' Photographic Sciences Corporalion 23 WIST MAIN STRIfT Wf8STeR,N.Y. MS80 (716) •72-4503 s .% 86 OUR WESTERN- EMPIRE. last phases of volcanic action. He had been familiar with these I as displayed in Italy and in the Lipari Isles ; but he was anxious to see some of those marvellous evidences of the gradual wearing and decay of a vast volcanic area which were so well seen in the famous region of the Yellowstone." The Professor went on to give a brief account of his journey, mentioning that in crossing the prairies toward the Rock) I Mountains he noted, in the few sections that occurred, soft, gray clays and marls, evidently cretaceous, and sometimes tertiary rocks. Getting down at some of the stations, and looking atl the ant-hills and burrows of the prairie-dog, he found that thel surface of the prairie was veneered with a thin coating of pink- ish, fine-grained sand, sometimes approaching to gravel, itsl color being due to the presence of a great many small pieces of I fresh felspar. It was clear that this mineral, as well as the quartzl and fragments of topaz which he saw, did not belong to thel strata in which they lay. In going west the grains of sand begani to get coarser, and assume the form of distinct pebbles, ttllj when he reached the mountains, these became huge blocks andl boulders, evidently derived from the hills in their neighborhood, After submitting that the phrase " Rocky Mountains " was a very! unfortunate one, as applied to the great number of independenJ ridges comparable to waves, that covered this part of Americaf the Professor said that he halted for a little while on the flanksl of the first great mountain ranges — those that formed tliel colossal bulwarks of Colorado. As seen from the prairies, theil form a very picturesque line of peaks. They had been pushed as a great wedge through the rocks forming the prairies, and had carried those rocks up with them. Crystalline massei formed the central core and crest of the range, and this featurJ was combined with some very interesting facts connected witll the surface erosion of the district. He found then where all tli| pink felspar and gravel had come from ; it had been borne dowJ from this region, where great masses of pink granite, gray gneisj and other crystalline rocks formed the core of the mountain( He found that the mountains themselves had been covered wit| glaciers, which had gone out into the plains and shed their hug ^ , ' ' GEOLOGY AXD MINLRALOGY, ^if-'' horseshoe-shaped moraines, where now everything was parched and barren. Having crossed the watershed of the Rocky Mountains, he struck westward into the Uintah, one of the few ranges in that region that had an east and west direction. The central portion of this range consisted, not of crystalHne rocks wedged through the older rocks, but of carboniferous rocks that had been upraised as a great flat dome, and had been above water for a very long time. This carboniferous centre was par- ticularly interesting from the fact of its presenting the strata perfectly horizontal. They could be seen, terrace after terrace, for miles, and it could be noted whether or not they had been cut through, by faults, to what extent they had been twisted, and to what extent eroded by atmospheric influences. Getting on the tops of these great mountains, he could see that the strata were alm.ost entirely horizontal for miles, and that the valleys had been trenched out of them, not by means of faults at all, but actually by erosion of the surface. He found also that the numerous lakes were true remains of erosion, that they had not been formed by any subterranean movements, but actually gouged out by the ice that once covered those mountains. Striking into one of the valleys, he found beautiful horseshoe moraines. These had gone across the valley and formed a suc- cession of lakes ; while the beavers had made a great many more lakes in places not reached by the moraines. In most of those valleys there were hundreds of acres of bog-land, entirely due to the damming of the waters by the beavers. The plains in the neighborhood of the Uintah Mountains, were called "Bad Lands," because they were crumbling down under the action of the weather, and nothing would grow upon them. A skeleton found in a hill of that district was brought to Professor Marsh, and turned out to be the bones of an extinct and undescribed reptile. From the Uintah Mountains Professor Geikie found his way north into the Yellowstone country, and examined the fading traces of volcanic action. The volcanoes seemed in that region to have confined themselves very much to the valleys. The heights on either hand consisted of crystalline rocks ; the bottom of the Valley had been literally deluged with sheets of lava. < m '"^^ (U, OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. -".^ These were examined with considerable care. In the course of the examination, huge mounds of gravel and stones were met "with, which, at the first glance, were evidendy moraines. The first was marked by a huge block of rock, an erratic of coarse granite different from the rocks round about. Such blocks he found to increase in number as he went up the valley; and on entering the second cailon, or gorge, he found the sides exqui- sitely glaciated. It was clear, therelore, that not only was this second canon old ; it was older than the glacial period ; it sup- plied a channel for the glacier that ground its way out from those mountains. Endeavoring to estimate the minimum thickness of the ice, he traced striae up to i,ooo feet, and they evidently went higher than that. But in going farther up the valley, he found that the erratic blocks of granite and gneiss dropped by the glacier as it melted went far above the i,ooo-feet limit; he got them on the shoulder of one of the great hills overlooking the valley i,6oo or 1,700 feet above the bottom of the valley; the ice, therefore, must have been 1,600 or 1,700 feet thick. It thus appeared that not only did those mountains possess glaciers, but some of these were of such thickness as to deserve the name of ice-sheets, covering the whole surrounding region. As to the volcanic phenomena of the district, he saw evidence of a long series of eruptions, one after another, separated by prolonged intervals, during which the river was at work cutting out the older lavas, the newer lavas filling up the hollows eroded by the river. In the grand canon of the Yellowstone, he saw the most marvellous piece of mineral color anywhere to be seen in the world. It was cut out of tufts of lavas, showing sulphur yellow, green, vermilion, crimson, and orange tints, so marvellous that it was impossible to transfer them to paper. Leaving the Yellowstone Valley, he struck southwestward into the famous geyser regions, where a number of geysers had been made known of late years more wonderful than those of Iceland. He tried hard here to get a pool to wash in, but could find nothing below 212®, and the only chance of getting a bath was to get into some hole where the water had had time to cool after flowing out of the hot crater. The whole ground was mud thro\ describing cil, the Pi supposed 1 — hundred of rough pi this lava v seemed to as to fill a were distin stages of its Coming a geological \ former vast terrace well 1,000 feet a I \ng what waj have been a 1,000 feet de Wahsatch an of the canon basin, he foi were smooth had come doi with them grc rubbish block came down tc that, when th( and was over GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. go honeycombed with holes, every one of which was filled with gurgling, boiling water. Some went off with wonderful regu- larity, others were more capricious ; and the chief geyser, which threw up an enormous body of water and steam, was very un- certain in its movements. In one part of the district he came upon a marvellous mud spring, the centre of it boiling like a great porridge-pot full of white and very pasty porridge. Steam rose through this, and, after forming great bubbles, burst, the mud thrown out forming a sort of rim round the crater. After describing a meeting with Indians on their way to a great coun- cil, the Professor said his road after tliat lay across what he supposed was one of the most wonderful lava fields in the world — hundreds and thousands of square miles of country — a sort of rough plain — huv.ag been absolutely deluged with lava. How this lava was poured out he at present could hardly tell ; it seemed to have risen through long fissures, and spread out so as to fill a vast area. Here and there along the margin of it were distinct volcanic mounds, apparently formed during later stages of its volcanic history. Coming at length to the Salt Lake territory, one of the first geological features that struck him was the evidence of the former vast expansion of the Salt Lake. He found traces of a terrace well marked along the sides of the mountains, about I, coo feet above the present level, and so succeeded in discover- ing what was the relation between the extended lake, which must have been a great many times larger than the present one, and 1,000 feet deeper, and the glaciers which at one time covered the Wahsatch and the Yellowstone Mountains, Striking into some of the canons descending from the Wahsatch into the Salt Lake basin, he found evidence of wonderful glaciation. The rocks were smoothed and polished and striated by the glaciers that had come down from the heights, and these glaciers had carried with them great quantities of moraine matter. Huge mounds of rubbish blocked up the valleys here and there, and these mounds came down to the level of the highest terrace. That was to say, that, when the Salt Lake extended far beyond its present area, and was over 1,000 feet deeper than now, the gkiciers from dit 4 QO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. . Wahsatch Mountains came down to its edge and shed their bergs over its waters. On his return journey the Professor re- sumed the examination of the prairies. Coming out of the Colorado Mountains, he noted, in connection with the gravel formerly observed, great quantities of a peculiar gray clay. This clay was inter-stratified with the gravel, and here and there contained a small lacustrine, or terrestrial shell. It was, there- fore, a fresh-water deposit, a deposit swept by the waters coming down from the mountains over the prairie ; and marked an inter- val in the period during which the gravel and sand were being thrown down. He traced the gravel mounds over an extensive tract, and he found the gravel had been deposited irregularly, just as would have been the case from the action of water escaping from the melting ends of the ice. A great current would traverse the plain in one direction ; then the ice mass would send water in another, so that the whole prairie must have been flooded with water derived from the melting ends of the vast sheets of ice. It was those excessive floods that brought down the gravel and sand; and during that time there were intervals when nothing but the finest mud was coming down, just as was seen in the valleys of the Rhine and Danube. It seems to be demonstrated by the discoveries of the past few years that no equal portion of the earth's surface contains so large an amount of available mineral wealth as this Western Empire. In only three of the twenty States and Territories which are comprised within it, viz., Louisiana, Kansas, and Nebraska, has there been wanting gold or silver ores, and it is as yet uncertain whether two of these may not yield silver in paying quantities. All the others contain both metals, usually in large quantities, and some of them have, in addition, large mines of quicksilver, and smaller but profitable ones of platinum. The so-called baser but really more useful metals, copper, zinc, lead, and iron, are found in every known form and in the great- est profusion. Lead is the most usual basis or matrix of the silver mines, either in the form of galena, or of carbonate, and sometimes of carburet, etc. ; but copper and zinc are not un- frequently found in combination with both gold and silver. I .■ / MIMKRALOGY. 91 Both copper and zinc are al..o found, uncombined with either gol'' or silver, and of such purity as to be profitably mined in many localities. Iron ores are found abundantly in every State and Territory, and every known ore is found in some districts, and frequently several different ores, as the magnetic, the haematite, or the specular ores, in close proximity to each other, and all in the immediate vicinity of coal beds. The railroad iron and steel of the future will be made from native ores in close neighborhood to the tracks where it is needed. But it is not alone for railroad iron or steel rails, that these vast iron deposits can be utilized. The iron of Utah, of California, of Montana, of Colorado, Texas, Missouri and Arizona is not surpassed by any in the world ; and when the time shall come, if it ever does, when the long conflict between heavy guns and armored ships shall be decided, our furnaces in this Western Empire will furnish the iron and our foundries the iron and steel plates or the guns which are to shatter them, of a quality which has never been equalled. For all building purpoajs, and for suspension bridges, for hardware, cutlery, tubing, r^as, water, arid sewer pipes ; for stoves, ranges, furnaces, and heaters, and every other use, to which the best qualities of iron and steel are capable of being applied, the iron ores of the Great West will be found sufficient to supply the needs of a world. Nickel, now coming so rapidly into use for so mapy purposes, is an incidental product of many of the iron mines, and can be largely produced. As yet we are importing all or nearly all the tin we use, but the tin deposits in California, and in several of the other States and Territories, when once developed by capi- tal and skill, may prove as profitable as those of Cornwall or the Straits of Banca. '■■■■- ■■■- "' ^:'•-•^''-..v. :.--■-::'■ ,,^»i/-: , ..-^ ^ <:v' - - •■ Of the rarer metals, which possess but a limited economical value, most are found as abundantly in the Great West as any- where. Osmium and iridium, two of the hardest of known metals, used in the gold-pen manufacture, as well as in other cases where hard and infusible points are required, are found only on the Pacific coast; many of the exceedingly rare metals pa M, OUR IVESTERN EMPIRE. known only to cnemists, are obtained from earths or mineral waters found here, while arsenic, antimony, bismuth, cerium, etc., etc., are found in connection with the ores of other metals. , The elementary bases of tlie mineral earths and salts are more easily separated here than elsewhere ; and the mineral springs aid volcanic geysers and fountains of the Yellowstone, of many places in California and Nevada, of Colorado, Arizona and Texas, yield not only all the salts of soda, potassa and lime, but their elementary bases also. Borax (biborate of soda) is found as a crust over shallow lakes in California and Nevada ; car- bonate of soda, very pure m the so-called alkaline lands; nitrates of soda and potassa, in commercial quantides, at various points ; sulphate of lime (the commercial plaster of Paris) comes to light not only in its ordinary condition of gypsum, of great value as a fertilizer, but in its raror And more beautiful forms of sele- nite, alabaster, etc. Salt is found in every shape, from the rock- salt, hewn out in great cubical blocks, to the brine springs of varying density, and the salt basins around the Great Salt Lake and along the shores and bays of the Pacific. The manufacture of salt on a large scale is one of the most profitable enterprises which could be undertaken. The market is unlimited, and the prices would be remunerative. Most of the mineral salts and acids might be manufactured also on the large scale at many points. .1. .-' Asphaltum and petroleum are found in large quantities in California, Utah, Wyoming and in the volcanic region around the headwaters of the Yellowstone ; and both are likely to be exten- sively utilized in the near future. Coal occurs abundantly and of all qualities at numerous points in this region. Lignite (the coal formation of the tertiary) is mined in Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and perhaps farther west. It is of very good quality, and is used on the railroad locomotives, in manufactories and dwellings to some extent. There Is also a bituminous coal of very good quality, but not a coking coal, in Kansas, Wyoming (where the coal-beds are very extensive), in Colorado, and in Utah and New Mexico. The coal-beds in Utah, New Mexico and Arizona are extensive, and of extraordinary thickness. The ./ MINERALOGY. 93 coal is of excellent quality, and some of It anthracite and seml- antliraclte. There are extensive coal-beds also on the Pacific coast, and those of Washington Territory', and the islands off the coast, are anthracite of the very best quality. Coal is also found, and of good quality, in Texas and Arkansas, but the reliance for fuel there I:; yet mosdy on wood. Marls and peats are found in many of the States and Territories, and, like the gypsum, may yet come into demand for replacing some of the elements of vegetation, which have been drawn from the rich soil by the too frequent sowing of the same crop. At present, however, the soil seems absolutely inexhaustible, and with a proper rotation of crops and constant deep ploughing it probably is so. There are found in the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Mountains, the Coast Range, and the numerous cross ranges and lateral spurs — such as the Uintah, the Wah- satch, the Bitter Root, Wine' river. Sweet Water or Laramie ranges, and at the entrance or exit of the canons of the Col- orado, building-stones of the greatest variety, granite, sienite, marbles of all hues and qualities, limestones, slates and sand- stones of every shade. Many of the marbles are very beautiful and exquisitely veined ; others of the purest and most brilliant white, suitable for statuary and ornamental purposes. In the Yellowstone Lake region, in the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake, and in the sides of the canons of the Yellowstone. Snake, Columbia, Colorado, and other large rivers, the stratified clays exhibit sii Ji an infinity of rhades of lb \ most brilliant colors as to baffle the skill of the most accomplished artist, and throw him into the depths of despair at his inability to reproduce them. What are known as the " Bad Lands " in Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana abound in fossils, and recent explora- tions show that there are deposited here in the successive strata, eroded by water and ice, the material from which can be traced the history of families of animals in their various stages of ad- vance or degradation, to a greater extent than in atiy other explored region of tlie earth's surface. Vastly greater discov- eries undoul?tedly remain to be made, and it is perhaps safe to 4 Pi g^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. j predict, that these wild and utterly desolate lands will yet yield, to the scientific explorer, a complete history of the mammals and reptiles which lived on the earth in the carboniferous and cre- taceous periods. ' In that class of minerals known as precious stones there is hardly anything lacking except the diamond, and it is certainly within the bounds of possibility that even that may yet be found. What are known as California diamonds, though possessing many characteristics of the true gem, are probably only very fine specimens of crystals of quartz or silica. Hut the other valuable gem"?,, as emeralds, probably also ruble , and topazes, precious beryls, chrysolite, amethyst, gold-stones, tourmalines, jades, the beautiful copper ore known as malachite, agates and carnelians of great beauty, jet, etc., etc., are sufficiently plentiful, in one part of the country or another. Porcelain clays, ochres, barytes, and other minerals and earths of economic use are found in most of the States and Terri- tories. Mineral springs, and waters of every variety and every degree of temperature, from boiling to freezing, are found everywhere in the mountains, and not a few in the plains. Col- orado, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, California, Arizona, Texas and Arkansas abound in these healing waters. In Colorado there are hundreds of them already claiming patronage, esith with some peculiar merit. In the Yellowstone Park and its vicinity most of the springs are too hot for bathing ; but when partially cooled, possess remarkable hygienic virtues. CHAPTER IX. Climates — Variety of Climate — Causes — Rainfall — Comparison of differ- ent Sections — Causes of deficient Rainfall — Winds — Character and Effect of different Winds — The Hot Winds from Mexico. In a region extending 1,700 miles from north to south, and T,8oo from east to west, there would be a considerable range of climatic conditions, even if the whole tract were i\early a dead r.iA'/A77oxs or climate. pj level ; but when two-thirds or three fourths of it is traversed by mountain chains, many of whose summits have an elevation of 13,000 to 14,000 feet, and the average height of iis plateaux and valleys ranges from 4,000 to 8.500 feet; when on the more northern summits, snow lies throughout the year ; and when the temperature of at least the western half is modified by the breezes and moisture from the Pacific, by the influences of the Pacific gulf stream, and by the climatic law that the Western coast of a continent has always a milder and higher temperature than the Kast coast; when, also, the temperature of the South- west is elevated by the hot and dry winds which come from tropical Mexico; and the cyclones formed in the Caribbean sea and the Mexica.n gulf contribute their share to the disturbance of atmospheric conditions, there would seem to be causes enough to account for the extraordinary diversities of climate which prevail in this Western Empire. The climate on the northwestern coast in Washington Ter- ritory ana Oregon is temperate, and the range comparatively small. The mercury seldom rises above 90*^ P., in many seasons not reaching that figure, and rarely falls below 10° or 12". In some seasons the lowest point reached is 18° or 20°. The average annual range is from 70° to 80°. The range on the California coast, at Los Angeles, San Diego, etc., is still smaller, in some years not exceeding 55° or 60°. In San Francisco the range is not over 50° or 53° — between 39° and 90° or 92°. These equable climates are very favorable to the health of invalids, es- pecially to such as are suffering from pulmonary diseases. East of the Coast range, and in a still greater degree, east of the Cas- cades or Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains, we find irreater extremes of cold, and in some instances of heat also. The plains of Eastern Washington and Oregon have extreme heat in summer, rising sometimes to or above ico° P., and cold equally extreme in winter, falling to — 30° or even lower in winter* making the annual range not less than 130° F. But probably Pembina, in Dakota, just on the British line, 49° north latitude, is the coldest inhabited place in all this Western Empire, and as the summer heat is intense, though for a brief period only, its > Cm g6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. annual range is the greatest. The spirit thermometer often marks — 50° in the winter, and in the winter of 1879-80 it is re- ported to have fallen to — 60". As it attains 94'' in tiie summer, this gives a ranf^e of 154°. The remainder of Dakota and Min- nesota is not subject to such extreme changes, tiiough the valley of the Red river of the Nortli seems to be the gateway through which the biting cold from the Arctic regions finds its way south- ward. The interior valleys of California are much hotter in sum- mer than the coast, and the winter temperature is somewhat lower. Their range is from 76° to 83°. In portions of New Mexico the climate is more equable, the mercury rarely rising in Santa Fe above 90°, though for one or two days in December it may drop to zero. But the hottest portions of this whole region are unquestionably vSouthern Arizona and Southern Texas. At Yuma, Maricopa Wells, Tucson, Phcenix,Wickenbergand other towns of Southern Arizona, and at Rio Grande City, Laredo, Corsicana and other towns of Southern Texas (Galveston ex- cepted, in consequence of its island climate), the summer heat during June, July, August and September reaches 117°, and oc- casionally even more, and rises above 100° usually for three- fourths of the days of those months. Some years ago a company of soldiers were stationed at a fort in one of the interior valleys of California. The weather was fearfully hot, the mercury at over 110° in the shade, and the men were grumbling as only soldiers can grumble at the heat. After a time one old soldier, bronzed by the tropical heats, said: " Boys, stop grumbling; this weather is not to be compared with what we had at Fort Yuma." " Were you ever at Fort Yuma ? " asked the soldiers. " Yes, I was there three years," said the veteran. " Well, how hot was it there ? How high did the thermometer get ? " "I don't know anything about your thermometers," answered the soldier ; " but I can tell you this : when I had been there about two years, two of our fellows died, and they were pretty hard fellows, too. Well, the second night after they died they came back pfter their blankets, and they hadn't wanted them once in all the while they had been in Yuma." / . ■ ir ;; ,; i^. ',-,;■,? ir.>.,in/„iij! i.-iM,;., j •■,■. In the region known as the plains, which embraces the greater yAA'/AIlOXS Of CLIMATE. 07 part of Minnesota, I(nva, Western Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Soiilluiasti in Dakota, luisurn Wyoming and Kastern Colorailo, part of Arkansas and the Iiulian 'I'erritory, and Northern 'I'rxas, the climate is generally warm in sutiuner, though the heat is not intense. The spring opens earlier as we proceed southward, and the autumn is later. There are strong winds and some- times cyclones, but, except in Minnesota an CO 104 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. looking for new placers which might yield th^Si^ V*. i9tULjC^^i iiMi,yQ ^^S r-^ . ^ m '.V, ■ . -^ H^%^ ''■ ' ■-^Si '^E ^ * '^- ■^, ^ ., ^ iB -yi, Vv 1 ' " ff»- ."- hs^. '■ ■, w* ■« ■?t^-' '>1' f^ ' '''V' '■- *--.^ ' ;--:.,jr. B^lBfeia : iji- tt-.js' ^^m. 3 ." ^^^^ •t — ^aw«^ y Sg^ ^B^-'i i 4'^pii T- ■-'- - -—-', 3^:;^:^^' ' ,!i ^•-4 ?,8^1 ^*y .v ■ ^'. ■ - - A SECTION OK A MINK — IIYIJRAUMC MINING. U ■I and swift, tion has b millions of market. '] '.'it some of tent, in Ar the Blac!: I the ancient with a suffi( Hydraulii the reoions vent, like th is completer chaos whicl Mosaic reco man, — " witl confusion an ceive of any reoion wiiicl: nient; Louie around then the streams ; flow their ba is one of ext We have a of the placer washed out; tain what wer extracted fro often called, r And, first, c it is of o-old 1 a vein of quai showing any ; sometimes in hard, sometime is in particles ( HYDRAULIC Ml N' INC. 107 and swift. Hy this process of hytlraiiiic mining the gold produc- tion has been largely maintained at nearly its old standard, and millions of dollars worth of gold bullion have been put upon the market. The ordinary placer mining is nearly at an end, except ■at some of the newer points. It is still conducted, to some ex- tent, in Arizona, New Mexico, in portions of Wyoming, and in the Blar!: Hills ; but hydraulic mining is now practised wherever the ancient deposits of gold in gravel can be found, and water with a sufficient head can be obtained. Hydraulic, or even sluice mining is not an aesthetic pursuit; the regions where it is practised may be, before the miner's ad- vent, like the garden of the Lord for beauty ; but after his work is completed, they bear no resemblance to anything, except the chaos which greeted the eye of the seer at the dawn of the Mosaic record of the rehabilitation of the earth for the use of man, — "without form and void " — ''Tohii c bo/m" — "the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness." It is impossible to con- ceive of anything more desolate, more utterly forbidding, than a region which has been subjected to this hydraulic mining treat- ment; boulders of all sizes are scattered over the surface, and around them coarse gravel, incapable of sustaining vegetation ; the streams are filled up with a fine clay, and very possibly over- flow their banks, producing dreary marshes, and the whole vista is one of extreme desolation and ruin. We have already spoken of the tracing up of the gold deposits of the placers to the lodes or veins from which they had been washed out ; let us now turn to these veins or lodes, and ascer- tain what were the processes by which the precious metal was extracted from them, or, in other words, how lode, or, as it is often called, quartz mining is conducted. -■' < ■ ^ ' And, first, of the vein or lode. Where this contains gold (and it is of gold mining we arc now speaking), it is almost always a vein of quartz, and usually of the milky opaque kind, scarcely showing any signs of crystallization. It is often found in slate, sometimes in porphyritic rock. The quartz is sometimes very hard, sometimes soft and crumbling; it may show the gold, if that is in particles of considerable size, but where it is in fine grains, ra loS orh' ii'i:si'/:fiN empire. it fa'{|iicntly docs not sliow it at all. '\\\v. gokl is very irrt^g- ularly dislrihutcd in tlu; (juartz, sonic portions being largely chai-j^fcd wiili it, while again, 'i^^r long distances, the (luarl/, vein is entirely harriMi ofgokl. Sometimes the vein contains roundeil pebbles, or, as Eastern men woiikl say , cobble-stones, of large si/e, of very hard (piartz, containing no gold, but bridging or l)liigging the vein. These are generally surrounded by soft, sometimes crumbling, quart/, which usually contains some gold. They are calUnl by the miners " boulder veins." Sometimes the course of the vein is blocked by a mass of porphyry or hard slate, which completely stops the miner's progress until it is cut through, and it may extend for several feet or yards. This is called by the miners a "horse." A true fissure vein is one which is formed by the filling up of a crack or fissure in the harder rocks (occasionetl by eartlu[uake, upheaval, or in some other wa}) with conglomerate, (piari/ and other matters, into which gold, either free or in combination with other motals or minerals, has been injected at intervals, in a lluid state. The width of the vein is the width of the crack or fissure; its length, the length to which the fissure extends within a mod- erate distance of the surlace ; its depth may be limited by the depth of the stratum in which it occurs, but more generally ex- tends far lower than any mining excavations can reach. The fissures and the veins are found at all conceivable angles or dips. Rarely they are found nearly horizontal, but this though at first a seeming advantage, is hardly a real one, inasmuch as from the nearly level character of the land adjacent there will be great difficulty eventually in freeing the lower levels of the mine from the water which accumulates. Often the dip of the fissure and the strata adjacent is at an angle of twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty degrees with the surface; sometimes it is even perpendicular; and where the angle is considerable and the vein or lode is first discovered on a hillside or near its summit, a tunnel run at a much lower level, so as to strike the vein, affords the best means of draining it. Not only does the fissure dip at very various angles, but it may penetrate the harder rocks at any angle varying from the pcrpcndicu slanting dji close tile vt may sloj)e i horizontal \ downward t The true have, chimn< connecting v angle of froi in gold than extend down determine in they were dej in a fluid or ^ Gold as w quantities in whicli are son one or two nK a true fissure value, even a« I lodes in the vi It was supp( turies in minin in which the pr earth, to be bn and the veins c I were reckoned I nature, large q I There might b Jmetal, which, w Igreatly to his p; jincidents or ace Fining. Jt was pld at Leadvill ]luan and Gunni) > light two disc TRUli FISSURE Vl.lXS OK 1 ODES. 109 perpendicular, so that the; ciuirc vein may enter tlie rocks in \\ sl.'uuinj^ (Hrcction, and the walls of slate or porpliyry which en- close the vein, and are called in miners' parlance '* country rock," may slope at an angle of forty-five degrees, or be even nearly horizontal in position, while they have at the same time the downward trend of the rocky stratum to which they belong. The true fissure vein may have, and the best veins often do have, chimneys, chutes, bonanzas, or branch fissures, generally connecting with the main y^(\\\\ or lode on its upper side, at an angle of from thirty to forty-five degrees, which may be richer in gold than the main vein. These chutes or chimneys often extend downward into the true or main vein, and are thought to determine in part its vahie. The mining geologists think that they were deposited much as soot is in a chimney, the gold being in a fluid or gaseous condition at the time. Gold as well as silver is sometimes found in considerable quantities in pockets, or small cavities in the rocks, and these, which are sometimes of moderate extent, may yield a fortune to one or two men; but these pockets are seldom connected with a true fissure vein, and when once exhausted, are not of any value, even as indications of the presence of fissure veins or lodes in the vicinity. It was supposed previous to 1S77, that the experience of cen- turies in mining for gold and silver had developed all the mode-; in which the precious metals or their ores, were deposited v.\ th(» earth, to be brought out for the use of man. The placer mines, and the veins or lodes, the true fissure veins, as they were called, were reckoned the only methods by which, in the processes of nature, large quantities of these metals or ores were deposited. JThere might be, indeed, pockets and chimneys of nearly pure Imetal, which, when the miner stumbled upon them, would add Igreatly to his profits so long as they lasted ; but these were only lincidents or accidents, not to be taken into account in scientific Imining. It was reserved for the opening of mines of silver and [gold at Leadville, and subsequently at other points in the San Juan and Gunnison districts, and probably also in Utah, to bring light two discoveries which are of the greatest importance to S no OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. miners and holders of mininnr property. The first and most obvious one was that silver, and to some extent also gold, in combination with lead, existed in large quantities and very rich ores, in other forms than the argentiferous galena or sulphuret, and that sulphur was not a necessary accompaniment of silver an^. gold ores, whether in combination with lead, zinc, copper, or iron. The carbonates of laad, etc., have proved the innst produc- tive of combinations. The second discovery was still more important, and is only just beginning io be understood: it is, that 'he deposits of ore need not be iv fissure veins, or lodes, in placers, in pockets, or in chimneys; but that there is another form, perhaps as producdvt, and certainly more easily worked — that of " contact lodes'' by which are meant deposits of silver ore, spread with a considerable thickness over the surface of a stratum of rock, and following it in all its sinuosities and its dip over a great extent. Unlike the fissure veins, these are not of great depth, thougli sometimes they occur in two or three layers with the strata of sandstone or limestone between. These con- tact lodes generally occur in cavernous limestone or sandstone. As we have already intimated, gold is found in the lodes, either free — /. c., pure or nearly so, or comb'ned with sulphurets of iron, copper, lead or zinc, in the form of pyrites. Its treat- ment after it comes from the mine differs somewhat in the two cases. The amount of gold in the quartz is often very small — smaller one hundred feet below the surface than near the surface; but, except in the barren portions of the vein, not diminishing or increasing very greatly in the lowest levels which have been reached (and some of these exceed 3,000 feet, or three-fifths of a mile). Quartz or ore which will assay twenty-tliree or four dol- lars per ton, and which yields after being put through the stamp batteries and the amalgamating process eighteen dollars per ton, is regarded as very good. Not over one-fourth of the gold mines exceed this, and very many fall below it, and are yet worked at a moderate profit. The mining and reducing processes are these : A lode or vrin having been traced out which bears evidence of being a true fis- sure vein, and the claim (1,500 feet in length, and 300 in width, u MINING AND REDUCING PROCESSES, III being the general extent of a single claim) being duly entered, the mine-owner begins operations by sinking a shaft in the line of the vein to ascertain its quality, and, when the shaft is down fifty or a hundred feet, running an adit or level along the course of the vein to ascertain its quality at that depth ; sometimes a winze is cut, — two adits at different levels cutting across the vein or veins at levels fifty feet apart, and connected with each other at their further extremity by a shaft which does not x\9^:. to the sur- face. Sometimes, if the shaft is on the top or side of a hill, a tunnel is run to it from the base of the hill for the purposes of drainage, ventilation and the more easy transportation of the ore. If on the examination of the quartz, or ore taken from the vein at this depth, the promise of success is good, additional capital is enlisted, and the shaft is constructed to a greater depth, levels or adits run at different levels and of considerable length, rails put down on the levels, steam-hoisting machinery set up at the mouth of the shaft, pumping machinery put in to relieve the mine of the accumulation of water (which is often very hot — as high as 154° F. in some of the Nevada mines), and stoping, either overhand or underhand, commenced, especially if the vein or veins dip at an angle of 40° or 50°. Stoping is the break- ing out with a pickaxe the quartz of the vein, and letting it fall on the level ready to be hoisted by the machinery. If the miner stands at his work and brings down the quartz from the vein at the level of his breast or above, it is called "overhand stoping;" if he picks it from about his feet or below and stoops, sits or crouches at his work, and the masses thus broken out fall to tlie level below, it is " underhand stoping." This mining, if profitable, may be extended to as great a depth as may be desired, the only checks upon it being, the great ex- pense of the pumping apparatus at considerable depths, and the difficulty of freeing the mine from water ; the more than torrid temperature in the deep mines, and the time and expense of hoisting the ores from such great depths. By a tunnel like the Siitro tunnel, the water can be carried off at moderate expense, the heat gready mitigated by free ventilation, and the ores hoisted and brought to the surface at a much lower cost; but such tunnels are exceedingly expensive. us u S 112 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The ore broken out and hoisted to the surface Is now ready for reduction. If the masses are of large size they are at first put through tlie rock-breaker, which reduces them to the size of a goose-egg ; they are next conducted to the stamp-batteries or stamp-?Tjili, where they are fed into the stamping-machine, a cylindrical machine, whose walls are of hardened chilled iron, its floor or mortar of the hardest steel, and a solid mass of chilled iron faced with hard steel, of cylindrical form, descends with a twisting motion upon the quartz, grinding and crushing it to powder — the inner surface of the cylinder is coated generally with quicksilver, and the powdered quartz mingled with water in the stamping-machine, flows out upon amalgamated copper plates, which have a sufficient extent to catch the larger part of the gold particles. Tlie stamping-machine is cleaned out at frequent intervals, and the plates have their coating of amalgam removed, the superfluous quicksilver is squeezed out through buckskin, and the remainder expelled by heat, the sublimed quicksilver being recovered for future use. The gold remains a spongy mass, but is melted and cast in the form of an ingot. This is the improved process of to-day, the result of twenty- five years of experiment and invention. By this process about seventy-five per cent, of the gold is saved, whereas with the ruder processes of the arastra and the earlier stamp-mills, only from sixteen to forty per cent, of the gold was secured; and the working over of the tailings of the arastras and of the long Toms, and early sluices, by Chinese miners, yielded them a very profitable harvest of gold. A new process has recently been devised, which, bringing galvanic action to bear upon the masses of ore of the size of a goose-egg, reduces them to a state of dis- integration, rendering the stamp-mills unnecessary and causing the lumps to crumble upon mere pressure, sets the entire gold in the ore free instantly, and thus dispensing with much cosdy ma- chinery, at the same time greatly increases the gold producdon. If, as was largely the case in Colorado and to some extent in some of the other States and Territories, the gold was combined with the sulphurets, and came from the mine as pyrites, it was, either before or after being put into the rock-breaker, roasted to gi higher grade, w Where the o hpper, lead, or protracted treat Vr than gold-n bushing proces Ian be reduced llius, unless the [educe low gradi MINIiXG AND REDUCING PROCESSES. Hj expel the sulphur, which prevented amalgamation. This is now done at some mills in the open air, at others in furnaces. When roasted it is reduced to powder under water in the stamp-mills, amalgamated in the mortars, passed over the amalgamated cop- per plates, and beyond these made to flow over rough, thick, hairy, woollen blankets, which catch a considerable quantity of the gold which is saved by repeated washings ; the stream of water, still thick with the powdered quartz, falls into tanks called huddling tanks, where it settles, and from the lower portion of the huddled tailings, a dollar or two more of gold is extracted. By a process invented by T. A. Edison, the electrician, these huddled tailings are made to yield up a large and profitable residue of the gold hitherto wasted. In the Black Hills, Dakota, the gold is largely combined or encrusted widi oxide of iron, and requires a somewhat different treatment, to free it from the iron, which prevents the gold from amalgamating, and requires the patient labor of the Chinese to extract that which remains in the tailings. This oxide of iron, in the placer deposits, coats over the gold and gravel and forms a dense and firm cement, sometimes of great extent, which cannot j be washed out in the sluice-boxes, but requires to be put through [the stamp batteries like the quartz from the lodes. The gold mines of the Black Hills are so situated, far up on the hills, that the ore can be carried directly into the stamp-mills by chutes, land hence, though the gold ores are of low grade, averaging not Imore than ^lo or ^12 per ton, the cost of reduction is so small, [ranging from $1.80 to $4.50 per ton, that the profit on these liform low grade ores is better than is obtained on ores of higher grade, which cost more for reduction. Where the ores contain gold and silver in combination with popper, lead, or zinc, and sulphur, a more active, expensive and Drotracted treatment is necessary ; but this belongs rather to sil- ler than gold-mining. Where the raw amalgamation and wet Crushing process described above is all that is necessary, gold [an be reduced from the quartz for from ^3 to $5 per ton, and Ihus, unless the transportation is too expensive, it is possible to ]educe low grade ores, those containing from $15 to %20 of gold 8 114 OUR WESTERN EAtFIRE. \ '!» to the ton, and maKC a fair profit on the business. The plant or first cost of a stamp-mill of five, ten, or even twenty stamps is not now so great, as to deter the owners of a good mine from setting it up,; or if it is the property of parties who are not miners but who understand their business, two or three mines of moderate size can keep it constandy employed. By this pro- cess, while from seventy to seventy-five per cent, of the gold is saved, much, generally all, of the silver is lost, and the whole of the copper, lead and zinc. - :.-.,;. .u . ; .; ^ ' Silver was first discovered, in any considerable quantity, in these States and Territories, in Nevada in 1857 by the Grosh brothers; but owing to its being largely combined witii gold, and the death of the discoverers soon after, the discovery was not prosecuted at first very vigorously. In June, 1S59, the first great discovery of silver was made on apart of what is now known as the Comstock lode, the grounds of the Ophir Mining Company. Peter O'Reilly and Patrick McLaughlin were the discoverers, but as the land was claimed by Kirby and others, they employed Henry Comstock to purchase the land. Comstock negotiated at the same time one or two other claims, and finally purchased the whole tract, to which he gave his name, but appreciated its value so little, that he sold it for a few thousand dollars, and regarded himself as having made an excellent bargain. From that Comstock lode or vein, more than three hundred millions of dollars have been taken since that time — a period of twenty years. •-.■ - - ' ^-^ '■■•:: . .-"a ' Silver is found in all, or nearly all, the different systems of rocks forming the crust of the earth, from Azoic to Tertiary. Lii . . * ,. Both Idaho and Montana are rich in copper, both in combina- tion with silver and alone. Montana parts her copper from the silver in some of her smelting-works and ships it to the Hast. So far as yet discovered, the copper in Dakota, at the Black Hills, is mostly combined with gold and silver, but deposits of it, not thus alloyed, may yet be discovered. In Minnesota the great copper field is around the shores of Lake Superior ; the copper deposits of the Ontonagon district in Northern Michi- gan, dipping under the lake, and reappearing on the Western shore. Proceeding southward, lowi has some copper, but not de- veloped. Missouri, large beds of it, formerly worked exten- sively, but now of such low grade as not to be profitably exploited; Nebraska only a small deposit in the southeast ; while Kansas, which abounds in lead and zinc, has not yet developed any cop- per. Wyoming is abundantly supplied with most of the ores of copper. In Colorado, from ^90,000 to ^\ 20,000 value of copper, parted from silver and gold, is sent to market every year. There are also mines of copper alone. But New Mexico, while all her mines of gold, silver and lead are rich, excels all the other States and Territories of the West in the wealth of her copper mines, which are now in a fair way to be developed on a large scale. Arkansas has large deposits of copper ore among her other mineral wealth; it is found, though not developed, in the Indian Territory, and Texas can furnish a supply, not only for all the copper-heads, but for all the copper-bottoms of the world. Lead is as widely diffused as copper ; perhaps even more ex- tensively. Wherever silver is found, lead is almost invariably present, either as sulphuret (galena), carbonate, or oxide. And where silver is absent, or present only in infinitesimal proportions, as in Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri, and in some of the mines of Wyoming, Dakota and Montana, the lead puts In its u LEAD, ZINC, IRON, STEEL. 121 appparance, as sufficient of itself, without the more costly metal. The quantities of it parted from silver are enormous, the supply from two districts of Nevada alone bein^ nearly sufficient for the American market, and that of Colorado nearly a million of dollars annually. The other great mining regions add to this vast total, and Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and other States east of the Mississippi, aid in rolling up an immense aggregate. For- tunately the demand for lead is great and constant, not limited to the arts of war and the slaughter of game, but extending also to many of the arts of peace, being used in rolls, sheets, and piping and tubing, furnishing the basis of nearly all of our paints, and of many of our drugs. Zinc is not quite so widely distributed, but is often found in combination with silver and lead. It is also found by itself, or with lead in the form of sulphuret (Rlende), silicate (calamine), or carbonate (Smithsonite). It is mined and reduced quite largely in Kansas, and to some extent in Missouri and Cali- fornia. The resources of our Western Empire, for the production of Iron and Steel, have no parallel on the globe. No one of the States and Territories composing it lacks deposits of iron ore, in some of its many and varied forms ; and in many of them it is found of such excellent quality, and in such immediate prox- imity to coal-beds, and the necessary lluxes, that the cost of pro- duction is reduced to the lowest minimum. The great railways which traverse the continent can have their iron and steel rails [manufactured within 500 feet of their tracks, and of such quality as cannot be obtained at any price abroad. The mountains of iron ore yielding from fifty to ninety per cent, of the pure metal, which are found in Missouri, Utah, Oregon, California, Wyoming, [Texas and Montana, only needed the present demand for iron land steel to stimulate their development, and in a short time Ithere will be enough iron and steel, of the best quality, produced |in these States and Territories, to supply not only all the iron and steel rails (and it is estimated that nearly 2,000,000 tons of ^hese will be needed the present year), but all the machinery for lining, milling, manufacturing and agricultural purposes, all the K J < 122 OUR u'F.srr.K.v empire. iron and steel for steamers and ships, whether for commerce or naval pur[)oses, all the steel guns, all the bridges, all the build- ings, all the hardware, car-wheels, cutlery, and all of both metals that is needed for any other purpose under the sun, not only within the limits of our Western Empire, but all the world over. Duty or no duty, neither England nor any other nation of Europe can compete with furnaces, where the ore, fluxes and coal can be thrown directly into the furnace through chutes, without handling, and the prime cost of all the material and its conversion into steel, need not exceed from ;^io to ^12 per ton, while the product is of the very best quality. But the first cost of the establishment of these furnaces, and the rollinnf- mills, machine-shops, foundries, etc., etc., is very large, and re- quires, and will require, the investment of many millions of capital, though, once under way, the returns will be enormous, and the rapid growth of these establishments will be gigantic. European capitalists are already transferring their furnaces and workmen to this country in large numbers, and they arc wise in doing so. Within the next five years there will bo a demand for the services of every skilled worker in iron and stcd who may land In this country, and at good wages. The consumption of iron and steel, of our own production, and imported from abroad in 1879, was 4,410,000 tons, of which 510,000 tons were imported; we are perfecdy safe in predicting that, in 1889, it will exceed 12,000,000 tons, and all of it will be raised from our own mines, and smelted in our own furnaces. Platimun is fouiai pure, and in combination with gold, iridium and iridosmin on Uie coast of California and Oregon, and in| some of the gold mines of Colorado and Arizona and perhaps else- where. The quantity is not large, indeed it is a rare metall everywhere, the Russian mines, which furnish from 4,200 to 5,000 pounds annually, producing about four-fifths of the wholej amount yielded by all countries. The whole quantity producet in the United States does not probably exceed 450 or 51 pounds. Mr. Edison, the inventor, in 1879 desired to use plaj tinum wires for holding the carbons for his divided electriil lights, ai goJd-mlni ply of th( fused tliai \n such si; would enl to i)ay, an( tinum IS n( Tin is n States, but Nevada, Id the State o form as ca stream tin, i per cent. 01 is from 28,0 comes from Jacca. The any apprccia Nickci, \x\^ value 111 the i where, \x\ con but a v(^Yy sr cent., and occ treatment of tratcd by var five per cent, electro-platin^ enable skill \n is worth abou In'dimi and min, wlifcli con of rhodium, Strains and son ciates with plat, bodies, and is i Tile iridosmin ar PLATINUM, TIN, NICKEL, IRiDIUM. 123 lights, and acklrossctl inquiries to all parties connected with gold-mining operations in regard to a possible or probable sup- ply of the metal. He found that it was much more widely dif- fused than had generally been supposeil, but that it was found in such small ([uanliiies that any considerable increased demand would enhance the price beyond the limit which he could afford to pay, and he substituted a less expensive material for it. Pla- tinum is now worth from $70 to ;ii,75 per pound. Tin is not found In large (juantities in any part of the United States, but the greater part of what does occur is in California, Nevada, Idaho, Missouri, Arizona and Texas. It is also found in the State of Durango, in Mexico. It is mostly found in its best form as cassiterite or oxide of tin, and is classed as mine tin, stream tin, and wood tin. This ore contains about seventy-eight per cent, of pure metal. The entire production of the world is from 28,000 to 30,000 tons, of which more than three-fifths comes from the East Indies, from Danca and the straits of Ma- lacca. The American production is not sufficient to exert any appreciable influence on the market. Nickel, which is now becoming a metal of so much economic value in the useful arts, is found'in our Western Empire, as else- where, in combination with several of the ores of iron. It forms but a very small constituent in these ores, from two to five per cent., and occurs oftenest in the argillaceous ores. By proper treatment of the ores, it is removed in the .slag, and is concen- trated by various processes till the matte contains about thirty- five per cent, when it is dissolved out by acids. Its use in electro-plating Is very important In the arts, and requires consid- erable skill In Its successful manipulation. Nickel in a pure state is worth about '^'^ a pound. Iridium and Osmijim, or rather the compound known as Iridos- min, which contains both metals, and usually a small percentage of rhodium, and sometimes ruthenium, Is found In small hard grains and sometimes In scales, in the placer deposits, and asso- ciates with platinum. The alloy Is the hardest of known metallic bodies, and is Infusible except under the oxy-hydrogen blow-pipe. The Iridosmin Is used In Its native condition for pointing the nibs g .'J H % 124 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of gold pens, being as nearly as possible indestructible cither by accidents, or by the chemicals in the ink, and being very hard. Only the rounded particles are suitable for this purpose, and these constitute only from one-fifth to one-tenth of the whole. The price a few years since was ^^250 per ounce. From three to eight ounces are obtained at the Assay offices in the melting of one million of dollars of gold. The iridium, when isolated, fur- nishes the basis of a black used in decorating porcelain, which when baked in, is indestructible. Tellurium is found in combination with both gold and silver as tellurides of those metals. It belongs to the same class of ele- mentary bodies as sulphur, and imitates it in most of its com- pounds. It has little economic value, but is a great source of annoyance in the reduction works, in California, Colorado, and MontL.ia, from the intensely poisonous and foetid properties of its compounds. It is found sparingly in most of the larger gold deposits. Antimony, Arsenic, and Manganese, are found as sulphides, sul- phates, carbonates, oxides, and in rarer forms, in combination with silver, copper, lead, zinc, and iron, sometimes impairing, at others enhancing, the value of the compound. In most cases the antimony and arsenic are expelled in the smelter's furnace. The manganese in its combination with iron is, to a certain extent, beneficial. -..'._.:.,..<■ ,.. ^-..^ ■,. ,.,,"..,;,;;..* ■•■■.l-m..-^ "^,\.y ,., ' Sulphur, in the form of sulphides and sulphates, is present in a large proportion of the silver, lead, copper, zinc, and iron ores. But it is also found in a native state in large masses or deposits, in those portions of California which were formerly subject to volcanic eruptions, in Humboldt county, in Nevada, at several points in Utah, especially in Millard county, where the deposit is more than twenty feet thick; at Brimstone Mountain in the Yel- lowstone F*ark region, in Dakota, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. Sulphuric and muriatic acid are produced at some of the smelting works from the sulphurets of iron, copper, and lead; while the sulphates of soda, magnesia and potassa, are obtained in a nearly pure state in the alkaline lakes of California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. The sulphate of lime (gypsum or plaster 0^ Paris) is almost evei Colorado, ' beautiful foi copper, and by the redu( Borax (cJ points \n Ca alkaline lake; Jarge quan titi tlie price of t below twenty evaporated fr '"g" or by lixi the demand h; supplied from Soda, both a; and also as sulj Y the Great Sa Jfornia and Nev in the YeIIowst( |so nearly chemi 5'<^//.-_This m [region. On th( evaporation anc [iprings, and m x of nearly pure s Wg^ bodies \n pes, and m mo s a saturated so Y anci three-fc nanufactured Jar ••oduced by nati Nst perfectly p fevler river. Th Jliich pour thefr , 'Salt deposits, a V r.Ul.PI/UR, BORAX, SODA, SALT. 125 al V of Paris) Is found In extensive deposits nearly or quite pure, in almost every State and Territory of the region, and in California, Colorado, Texas, and perhaps elsewhere, It assumes also Its beautiful forms of alabaster and selenite. The sulphates of zinc, copper, and Iron, if they do not exist naturally, are easily forme d by the reduction of the sulphurets of those metals. Borax (chemically the biborate of soda) Is found at sevcrr.l points in California and Nevada, In the mud and the water of alkaline lakes ; and Is now produced of great purity, and in such large quantities as to have revolutionized the market, and caused the price of the article at retail to fall from fifty or sixty cents below twenty cents per pound. It is either gathered In crystals, evaporated from the water, or procured from the mud, by wash- ing or by lixiviation. The supply seems Inexhaustible, though the demand has greatly Increased since the market began to be supplied from the Pacific coast. Soda, both as caustic soda, and carbonate of soda or pearlash, and also as sulphate of soda or Glauber's salts, exists naturally in the Great Salt Lake and its vicinity ; at several places in Cali- fornia and Nevada, and In the alkaline lands. It Is also found in the Yellowstone region and in Texas. That found in Utah i;; so nearly chemically pure as hardly to need refining. Sail. — This Invaluable mineral is widely diffused over this \-<\9X iregion. On the shores of the Pacific it Is procured by solar vaporatlon and boiling. All over California there are salt prings, and In many places salt lakes, from which Incrustations if nearly pure salt can be gathered. In Nevada It Is found in large bodies in the beds of desiccated lakes, In the waters of salt lakes, and in mountain deposits. In Utah, the Great Salt Lake a saturated solution of common salt, five gallons of It yielding ne and three-fourths gallons of crystallized salt. It Is now anufactured largely from the waters of the lake, and much is if^foduced by natural solar evaporation. Rock-salt, much of It most perfectly pure, Is mined In Salt Creek Canon and on the vier river. The northern part of Utah abounds in salt springs, hich pour their waters into the Salt Lake. Wyoming has also terSssalt deposits, as well as Kansas and Nebraska, many of them i \ 126 OL'J! IVE STERN EMPIRE. in the form of brine springs. Arkansas, the Indian Territory, and Texas have also brine springs, salt lakes, and deposits of salt. Arizona and New Mexico have salt deposits and salt lakes. The supply in most of the States and Territories now exceeds the demand, but the growing requirements of the smelting and re- duction works for it, m the reduction of pyritous ores, and to some extent the carbonates also, as well as its use for domestic and packing purposes, insure a future demand which will require the erection of additional salt-works. d Coal is found,at many points in this vast region, and of many different qualities. There are four distinct coal-fields between the Mississippi river and the Pacific ocean, and they comprise an area of more than 200,000 square miles. The first of these coal- fields extends from Iowa, in which State it covers a large area, through Missouri, Eastern Nebraska and Kansas, Arkansas, the eastern portion of the Indian Territory, and Fast : Texas. This is called the Missouri coal-field. It is a biUiminous coal, from the middle coal measures of the carboniferous system, in many places of excellent quality, and belongs to the class of coking coals, being valuable for heating and smelting purposes. The total area of this coal-field is somewhat more than 47,000 square miles, or a little larger than the State of Pennsylvania. The second of the coal-fields begins in British America, near the Saskatchewan river, and passes sou di ward through Dakota, Eastern Montana, Western Nebraska, and Kansas, and Eastern Wyoming, through Colorado, east of the Rocky Mountains, Northeastern New Mexico.and Central and Western Texar is a lignite coal, belonging to the cretaceous period, and in • parts of its course yields a very fair heating coal, furnisL. some gas, but not coking. In some of the places where it isl mined, it assumes the characteristics of a cannel coal, though of inferior quality. It covers an area of about 40,000 square miles, but much of it is too deep for successful mining, especially as the quality of the coal is not of the first class. The third coal-field is a very remarkable one. L'ke tliel second, it commences in British America, passes through vVest-, ern Montana and Idaho, through Western Wyoming anJ JtaliJ COAL. 127 through Western Colorado and New Mexico, and perhaps Eastern Nevada, through Arizona and Northwestern Texas, and into Mexico. Like the second coal-field, it is a lignite, but of the tertiary instead of the cretaceous period, being found at the north only in the miocene, but in Texas, principally, in the eocene rocks. In Western Colorado, in Utah, and in New Mexico, near Santa Fe, volcanic action has changed it into an anthracite coal, that in New Mexico being of a quality nearly equal to that of the Pennsylvania mines. The coal-beds of La Plata county, Colorado, in the vicinity of Animas City, have recendy proved to be anthracite, probably tertiary lignites changed by volcanic action. At other places, as in parts of Utah, it has been hanged into a semi-bituminous coal. Some beds of it coke and give evidence of being good smelting coals. The fourth coal-field is in reality two coal-fields which inter- lock, the one, lignites of the tertiary, which pass through Eastern Washington and Oregon, and in California appear on both sides of the Coast range; the other, coming from Alaska, and furnish- insr on Vancouver island and in the Straits of San fuan dc Fuca some mines of excellent bituminous coal, and passing down the coast of Washington and Oregon, growing constantly poorer and more charged with sulphur, become, in California, interlaced with the deposits of the tertiary lignite. At one or two points, as at Monte Diablo, they yield a fair quality of bituminous coal. The last-named branch of this coal-field is found only in the cretaceous rocks, and as it approaches former or recent centres of volcanic [action changes, as on Vancouver island, to a semi-bituminous [coal, and in the Queen Charlotte islands, off the coast of British Columbia, to a true anthracite of excellent quality. This double coal-field covers nearly 60,000 square miles, and the preceding lone over 50,000. The San Francisco market is supplied with Icannel-coal from England and Australia ; bituminous and semi- Ibituminous from Chili and Vancover island ; andiracite from IPennsylvania and Queen Charlotte islands; Cumberland and lother bituminous coals from Pittsburgh, Leavenworth and IWyoming, and Pacific coast lignites from Bellingham Bay, Wash- lington Territory, Coos Bay, Oregon, and Monte Diablo in Cali- 3 ■ ^ ^2 7* 2 HHa \ 128 Oi//C H^ES'J'EJi.V EM PIKE. fornla. The Colorado and New Mexican coals will also appear in its markets as soon as a more direct railroad communication is established. In many portions of this vast territory, where fuel for smelting purposes is required either for the reduction of the precious metals and lead or copper, or for the production of pig-iron and Bessemer steel, the forests are still so dense and convenient that wood or charcoal is cheaper than coal. But other sections are obliged to rely upon coal and upon that which can be coked ; and in some of the States or Territories, as for example in Ne- vada, these coking coals, or the coke made from them, are brought from long distances, and at a considerable expense. Intimately connected with coal, geologically, are two other min- era! pa r % Asphaltum and Petroleum. In California there are lakes, vr rather marshes, which after the winter rains have a shallow depth of water on their surfaces, which are covered to a considerable depth with asphaltum, in varying degrees of hardness, some of it being of the consistency of molasses, and entangling the cattle, which are drawn thither by the hope of finding water, and perish in the sticky mass ; nearer the edges it is harden.ed, and becomes the solid asphalt of commerce. These lakes or marshes are found in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, and Los Angeles counties. Some petroleum is found with them, but the best petroleum oils of California, and they are of excellent quality, are in Humbuldt, Colusa, and Contra Costa counties, and in the vicinity of Monte Diablo; but all the coast counties have petroleum springs. Petroleum has also been dis- covered in Nevada, though it has not been developed. In Northwestern Colorado, on the White river, in and near the Ute Reservation, there are extensive springs and marshes of petro- leum, asphalt, and mineral tar. There are also petroleum springs on the headwaters of the Arkansas river, near Denver. The petroleum region of Northwestern Colorado extends northward through Western Wyoming, Montana, and possibly Idaho. Re- cently extensive springs and wells of petroleum of excelicntj quality have been discovered and worked about ninety milesj north of Point of Rocks, on the Union Pacific Railway, in Wyom- ''ng Ternto presented i >nexhaustlbl it will proh quantities, a portation. J been discove cafion. The Galfcfa, Austi ^^ them furn •■::^it a city of 0^ reservoirs c t'lrough wliich 0^ the presenc , O^ other mi ^'^^ mica, whic '■" very large sh as well as \n tJ 'na) found m gr otiier porcelain ( a"d Territories cates are also fo But aside fron mineral world ha' Won, as the ab b'sers. Theki ^f^'e yet discove; i'ellowstone Park F Jefferson, Mj Y '" California, Ncnption of t\^^ etailed account ''"nd in that true , «s medicinal or in character. S ''"Texas. Colora ')'°'n'ng-, have n< 9 ^ Jl C^ysE.S ,^o ,„,.^,,, ,^^^^^^ ■ns- Tern tor}'. The last report of .1 „ ■ "^ Presente« q"ant,t,es, as soon as arnan-emen u^ "'"'"'"'' '" large portation. Petroleum and bedsT.Tn" 'f '"^''*= ^^^ "^ "^ 's been discovered in Utah in .h. "■^' °'' P^raffin-wax have -non. The mineral waxi oft, eirr'i-'''^ "P^"'^'' ^^l^ Ga ,c,a, Austria. I„ Kansas there aTn ^"^ ^'^ °^ """' f"""'' '" of • >c-m furnishing a sufficient 'amit^T'n"' ^='""^"»' ^-"^ .•:^:ht a cty of 30,000 inhabitants^ The^ °^ ' "minating gas to of reservoirs of petroleum beCthe ,^, ? '"''""'^ "'^ «i'^'™ce ■ rough which the wells are bolj tf ""^ '"''""''"""^ ^^k^. of ^.e presence of petroleum in Misso 1 T '''° '"dications . Of other mineral productT no, ?' '^'•''^"^as, and Texas f- mica, which is found 'exTeLtTd^' "°"'"'' "^ ^^V ■"- , "• very large sheets, at numerous po 1 T1: "'°"2'' "<« >« .'^well as in the Ca.,cade Mounfars 1 *" ^"^"^y Mountains, ■na) found i„ g.eat quantity and neirlV *"• ^?'P''^'^ °^ ="""'- other porcelain clays and the f"ne"tTf ^^"''' '" ^'^'' ^ '^^°"" and »"d Territories west of the Rockv Mnf' r'"'"^ ''" ^" "'<= Spates cates are also found in combinat'L ' ' *'°^' °^ "'^ -'■■• I ^ut aside from thp * "'•"-"i. .a,' • mineral world has excitXo niuth iZlTy"^^'' "°""'"S ''" "'« 'Ton, as the abundance and va e,v „f '" ^" P^«^ of this vast Seysers. The known irevser. ^ . '" """"^^ springs and k yet discovered an'y T ' T^fo '^" ''' "'°'' --^ Nowstone Park, and near th'.r i '' '" ^^''^rnia, i„ ,he e Jefferson, Madison nd Ga, 2 ''"' "' *^ Yellows^ e! f«m California, has b^en the ee of"'?- ™^ '^»"'°"' '"- escr,pt,o„ of the Yellowstone Na"folpT'' ""'°"- '" °"r letailed account of these -.„!l ,."°"*' Park, we shall give a -in that true wont! and B uThe"""'^"^ P"-"-"'^ h "'edicinal or healing virtues are tl "T?' "'°"^'" '" P°- 130 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. their healing properties either to their thermal quality (the heat ranging from 95 to 225° F.) or to some not fully understood electric influence, which is thought to pervade them ; others, whether cold or warm, owe their reputed medicinal virtue to their impregnation with sulphur, iron, lime, potassa, soda, lithia, phos- phorus, or some and perhaps several of the sulphates, carbonates, phosphates, nitrates, lithiates, chlorides, bromides, or iodides, or other compounds of metals, alkalies, and alkaline earths, and mineral acids, and generally the more nauseous and diabolic the taste and smell of these villanous compounds from Nature's laboratory, the greater the healing virtues they are believed to contain. But nowhere in the wide world are there spas of such capacity, surrounded by such magnificent scenery, or possessing such natural advantages, to amuse and delight the visitor, and drive away ennuiy as are to be found in Texas, Arkansas, and in still greater numbers in Colorado, the Yellowstone region, Utah, Montana, Dakota, Minnesota, Nevada, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington. Nature has done its part with a most bountiful hand, and in many of these places man has done his part to make the whole surroundings attractive. Already are the springs of the Yellowstone Park, the most celebrated of those 1 in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Arkansas, and Texas,] widely known and appreciated in Europe, and every season! brings many hundreds of European visitors hither, in search of a new sensation. J- .!v/,: - ' j'j '■ilj ?• }■: i£ 'tq^; hf s: if) ■*' J..'!. AORICULTURE- fARMiNo L Montana ] Farming La RITORV AS A Review of f Indifferent lURAL Machi; ''LE FlljREs / Results of Ir io THE Coast j DUCTS of Orec No very do: our Western . veyors-Generai tJiat, in the new vlously deemed tlie enterprising arable Jands of inourchanf/^^-Q] will bea chapter repeti een tl lying betw was regarded fif considerable cuJi then ;;/ and th( prJ tJie United Stat sun, is there ISO fe \v in iiHsJ •i:>I.h;ov/ if)>/^ acres unl I tion or witho f. -^ ii-^H' K) so;y:^<^ '>j|j;-.d:^!i .'jf?^'>vl/ 1-- C^'X" \!'« i 132 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. /.'.•-' and the lava and volcanic scoriae have not yet been long enough exposed to the influences of sun, and rain, and glacial action, to render them fertile as they will eventually become. Of a con- siderable portion of this region, also, it may be said, that it has not yet been explored with sufficient thoroughness, to setde the questions whether it is best adapted to cultivation or grazing, or whether it is unfit for either. Perhaps we cannot now come nearer the truth than to say, that, o{ the 2,028,000 square miles comprised between the Mississippi and the Pacific, from 750,000 to 800,000 miles may fairly be reckoned arable. Of this one-fourth, and possibly a little more, may require more or less irrigation, for some years to come, to bring out their highest productiveness ; but this is regarded by the farmers themselves as an advantage, rather than a disadvan- tage, since by means of it, they are assured of large and excellent crops every year. None of the States lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi river have much waste or unimprovable land. Missouri, Arkansas, and portions of the Indian Territory, and Northwestern Texas are more mountainous than the others, and have some grazing, and some sterile lands. The Black Hills in Dakota (some portions of which are capable of cultivation, and yield excellent crops), and the Bad Lands in that Territory (which, however, amount to only 75,000 acres or about thr^e townships) and Nebraska, arc the only other exceptions to the general rule. Minnesota, Iowa, most of Nebraska, Kansas, the greater part of Eastern Wyoming and Eastern Colorado, Dakota, cxrept as above noted, Eastern Montana, the larger part of Missouri, Arkansas, the Indian Territory, and Texas, are not surpassed in the quality or productiveness of their soil, by any portions of equal extent in the known world. Look at these facts, and remember that none of these States or Territories have one-third and most of them not one-tenth of their arable lands under cultivation, Minnesota, one of the newest of these States, has but about one-eleventh of its area — 4,900,000 acres out of nearly 54,000,000 — under cultivation ; yet it produced in 1879, on 2,769,369 acres, 35,000,000 bushels of spring wheat of a quality which has 19.000,000 000 bushel; 000 bushels on 1 10,000 it-'ss than 4< Jl'ss than 95 Juced on Jai cultivation v averaged Jarr as it should.* yielded over (sixty pounds; All seeding b> wliere \n the v iess than 13,0 tiiough it only 'S79 from 26 5.332.360 bushc Southeastern D to the acre, and crops are equal least three-fifth, iiarvested. Mo mountainous coi acres of arable J, its arable lands 30,000 acres in, bushels {v^^xg\{A llndian corn averj bushels ; of potai I Jovva, an older. ¥ iier area undq I'v'ieat in i^^^^ ^ ■tlie same year vv; «'ng raised on ^"sheJs to the acn lis FARMING EAST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTA/XS. J 33 which has never been surpassed ; a crop of corn of about 19,000,000 bushels on about 475,000 acres; more than 21,000,- 000 bushels of oats, on 510,000 acres of land; over 3,000,- 000 bushels of the other cereals, barley, rye and buckwlieat, on 110,000 acres; over 4,100,000 bushels of potatoes, on less than 40,000 acres of land; and 1,800,000 tons of hay on loss than 950,000 acres. A large part of these crops were pro- duced on lands broken up for the first time, and much of the cultivation was crude and imperfect, yet the yield per acre averaged larger than that of any other State, though not so large as it should. Many of these new farms, when properly tilled, yielded over large tracts from thirty-three to forty-five bushels (sixty pounds) of wheat to the acre, and deep plowing and care- ful seeding by drill, would have brought the same results every- where in the wheat lands. Dakota Territory, which in 1870 had less than 13,000 white inhabitants and now has over 200,000, though it only began to grow about three years ago, yielded in 1879 from 266,618 acres in its northeastern counties alone, 5.332,360 bushels of spring wheat, and nearly as much more in Southeastern Dakota. The average yield was twenty-two bushels to the acre, and might have been thirty with the same labor. Other crops are equally productive. The land is mostly prairie, and at least three-fifths of this production was from the first crop ever harvested. Montana is a still newer region, and has much 1 mountainous country. It is roughly computed to have 15,000,000 acres of arable lands, and 38,000,000 acres of grazing lands; but its arable lands are the most fertile the sun shines upon. Its 30,000 acres in wheat produced an average of twenty-five [bushels (weighing sixty-four pounds) to the acre ; its yield of llndian corn averages forty bushels ; that of oats and barley fifty [bushels ; of potatoes 200 bushels, etc. Iowa, an older, though still a young State, has about one-third lof her area under cultivation. Her land is rich and fertile, but [wheat in 1878 was a comparative failure there. Indian corn die same year was a very successful crop, i 75,000,000 bushels eing raised on 4,686,000 acres of land — an average of 37.4 bushels to the acre. The crops of oats, barley, potatoes, and hay ^3 s 134 OUK WKSTEK^r EMPIRIi. ,'■% were also large, antl eight items of agricultural crops aggregated a value of $65,586,000. Missouri, the oldest State west of the Mississippi, has about one-fourth of her 42,000,000 acres under cultivation. Her crop of Indian corn in 1878 was 93,062,000 bushels — an average yield of 26,2 bushels to the acre; the wheat crop, 20,196,000 — an average of only eleven bushels to the acre; oats, 19,584,000 — an average of 30.6 bushels to the acre ; potatoes, 5.415,000 bushels, averaging seventy-five bushels to the acre ; tobacco, 23,023,000 pounds, averaging 770 pounds to the acre; hay, 1,620,000 tons; averaging 1.62 tons to the acre. Smaller quantities of rye, buck- wheat, and barley were produced, and hemp and flax were raised to some extent. The State has also extensive vineyards, and large quantities of grapes and wine are sent to market. The aggregate value of her agricultural productions in that year was about sixty-five millions of dollars. Nebraska has an area of 48,636,800 acres, of which less than 3,500,000 or about one-fourteenth of the whole are under cultivation. It is one of the newer States, having been admitted into the Union in 1867. Corn and wheat are the principal cereals cultivated, the crop of the former ranging from forty to fifty-four million bushels, an average )ield of forty-two bushels to the acre; and of the latter from fourteen to eighteen million bushels, mostly of spring wheat, an average of fifteen bushels to the acre. Rye and oats are also raised in considerable quantities; rye yielding an average of nearly twenty bushels to the acre, and oats about- thirty-four bushels. Potatoes and other root crops do well, potatoes averaging 125 bushels to the acre. Hay yields nearly two tons to the acre. Fruit culture is a very large interest in the State, and its fruits are of the best quality. The! entire crops of 1879 exceeded $25,000,000 in value. Kansas, from its central position, its fine climate, its largi body of arable lands, its railroad facilities, and its indomitaU enterprise, has come to be regarded as the garden spot of thi Great West. Its lands are probably no more fertile than thoi of some of the other States and Territories, but they have beei more extensively advertised, more promptly settled, and are cu tiVated vviti produce tli traded the |/ a'ly conside within its bo considerable future, be si State. Of the 51,; oi Kansas, 7 1,270,493 wei ^\{\.\\ of the cu to Indian con cultivated, tho five to one. J 20.5 bushels p, plowing and s quite 2o,ooo,oc ^^^3589.324.97 J '" ^879. ThisI yielded 17,4, ^^ '" 'S79; rye yi ^'^^^acre; baric- fo the acre ; Jris bushels to the; tons of hay an 55700,000. La also raised, and fiax, hemp, cast( Ivast amount of / State in i S7S an products in 1S7 t'le partial failur pccount of the i. ^orn, and potatoe: ^^^-ausas has lountains, valley, f FARMING EAST OF ///F. A'Od'A')' MOl'Xl^ilNS. 135 tlvatcd with an energy and thoroughness, which cannot fail to produce the highest results. The mining fever has not dis- tracted the attention of her setdcrs. It is hardly probable that any considerable amount of gold or silver ores will be found within its bounds, and though it has some lead, zinc, copper, and considerable coal, its mining interests will probably, for all the future, be subordinate to the agricultural development of the State. Of the 51,770,240 acres which are contained within the bounds of Kansas, 7,769,926 were under cultivation in 1879, of which 1,270,493 were plowed for the first time that year. About one- fifth of the cultivated area was devoted to wheat, and two-fifths to Indian corn. In Kansas, both winter and spring wheat are cultivated, though the winter wheat predominates in the ratio of five to one. In 1S78 the wheat crop was 32,315,358 bushels, or 20.5 bushels per acre for winter wheat, but in 1879, owing to late plowing and sowing, and a dry winter and spring, it was not quite 20,000,000 bushels. The corn crop, on the other hand, was 89,324,971 bushels in 1878, and about 109,000,000 bushels in 1879. This was almost sixty bushels to the acre. Oats yielded 17,41 1,473 bushels in 1878, but only 13,400,000 bushels in 1879; O'*^ yielded 2,722,000 bushels in 1878, 21,3 bushels to the acre ; barley 1,562,793 bushels in 1878, being 29.7 bushels to the acre ; Irish potatoes, 4,256,336 bushels in 1878, being 83.3 1 bushels to the acre. In 1879 the yield was smaller. 1,590,000 tons of hay and forage were cut, of an aggregate value of k5,70o,ooo. Large quantities of sorghum and broom corn were also raised, and 2,721,459 gallons of sorghum syrup produced. Flax, hemp, castor beans, sweet potatoes, tobacco, cotton, and a Ivast amount of fruit, were the other agricultural products of the IState in 1878 and 1879. The total value of field and garden Iproducts in 1878 was $52,859,857. In 1879, notwithstanding Itlie partial failure of the wheat crop, it was $60,129,781, on jaccount of the increased production of hay, sorghum, broom pm, and potatoes, and the piaterial advance of prices. -'-'»' "' Arkansas has a much more varied surface than Kansas; nountains, valleys, forests, and mines of silver, lead copper g 1^6 ' OUX WESTERN EMPIRE. ,, , . iron and coal, and quarries of novaculite or oil-stone, mill-stones, marble and lithographic-stone. It has also a more varied climate, from the semi-tropical temperature of its bottom-lamls, to the cool and bracing air of its mountain districts. Its productions are more varied, cotton being its great staple, and corn coming next in order; while the other cereals are only moderately culti- vated, and fruits, to which it is well adapted, figuring largely in its agricultural products. Of the 33,406,720 acres of lanil in the State, one-half is still a forest, while only about 2,500,000 acres are under cultivation, and perhaps three times that quantity arc good grazing lands. The staple crop is cotton, of which nearly 800,000 bales were produced in 1S78 on 1,165,850 acres, an average of about three-fourths of a bale to the acre. The yield of Indian corn the same year was al^out 23,000,000 busiiels on 958,000 acres, twenty-four bushels and a fraction to the acre. Of wheat in 1878 only 1,038,000 bushels were raised, an average of but six bushels to the acre. Of rye and oats the quantity grown was but small, though of the latter it was 1,665,420 bushels, a yield of 24.6 bushels to the acre. ^ tatoes yielded 121 bushels to the acre, but only 8,200 acres w lanted in this crop. Of the sweet potato and perhaps of the Irish potato also, the agriculturists of Arkansas insist that they can raise two crops a year. Hay is not a large crop, though the yield is as good as in most States, being 1.80 tons to the acre. Fruits of all kinds are abundant and of excellent quality. A considerable quantity of wine is made, both from wild grapes, which are of unusual excellence in the State, and from the Scuppernong, Post Oak, Herbemont, Norton's Seedling, and other cultivated grapes. The Indian Territory, which joins Arkansas on the west, con- tains much valuable farming-land, and some which is not desira- ble. The Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks, as, well as some of the other Indian tribes settled here, have among them many good farmers, who produce large crops from tlie| fertile soil. We cannot obtain statistics of the agricultural pro- ductions of the Territory, and as the United States government I is bound by the highest obligations of honor and justice to pro- tect these Indians in their right to the soil, and to prevent law- /'.ss adv quence only scr Texas \:\r\vXy c 50,000,00 I'lan ihrei llie first-c vated, and Texas is soil, and A \.^n\iQ<\ Sti tlie world. cotton and ^1^ pounds is excellent of it \v\ this ^^1^, twenty only a very belt being fi were sown 1 and the yie the acre; 54 5.531.500 bi potatoes are and root-cro pea-nut, groi is \^ry proli flax are prof Small fruits marketed ear I grapes, are al Idiice wines o jlault \n their p [which gives an iMhs of a bale. FAKMIXC, EAST OF Till: KOCKY MOVXTAIXS. »37 Ii.ss ndvcnturcrs from settling then;, it is of no [)arlicular conso- qiicnce that wo should be able to give particulars, which might only serve to stimulate the grec^il of the lawless. , Texas has a vast territory, 175,600,000 acres, and every variety of soil, surface, climate, and rainfall. While probably 50,000,000 acres of its lands are cultivable, though not more i!ian three-fifths of this amount can be reckoned arable land of the first-class, not more than 6,000,000 acres have yet been culti- vated, and much of this very carelessly and imperfecdy. Eastern Texas is sandy, and not very fertile ; Central Texas has a rich soil, and for a width of 200 miles is the best cotton region in the United States, and is capable of producing the cotton supply of the world. Yet, in 1878, only 1,808,386 acres were planted in cotton and yielded 497,310,000 i)Ounds of cotton, an average of 275 pounds to the acre.* The northern part of this central tract is excellent corn land, and from 2,246,000 acres, the greater part of it in this region, 58,396,000 bushels of corn were produced in 1S78, twenty-six bushels to the icrc. For wheat, rye, and oats, only a very small portion of the State is well adapted, the wheat belt being far smaller than that of Kansas. Only 450,000 acres were sown in wheat, 3,000 in rye and 149,500 in oats in 1878, and the yield was 7,200,000 bushels of wheat, sixteen bushels to the acre ; 54,000 bushels of rje, eighteen bushels to the acre, and 5,531,500 bushels of oats, thirty-seven bushels to the acre. Irish potatoes are not so prolific or so good as the sweet potatoes, and root-crops generally do not yield remarkably well. The pea-nut, ground-nut or goober, is perhaps an exception, as it is very prolific in the sandy soils. Tobacco, hemp, ramie, and ilax are profitable crops, where they are carefully cultivated. Small fruits and market-garden vegetables do well, and being [marketed early, afford a good profit. Peaches, cherries, and grapes, are also of excellent quality, and some of the latter pro- duce wines of fine flavor, when rightly handled. A prevalent fault in their production, is the addition of too much cane-sugar, [which gives an excess of alcohol and impairs their bouquet. *The average Texas bale ofcotiQii is 480 pounds; so that the average yield was only three- I fifths of a bale. :\ . .'.■'. 't' S •"■"••a ■HM 138 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Sugar from the sugar-cane, and also from sorghum, is produced in very considerable quantity in Texas, but the former is an un- certain crop. The latter under the new stimulus given to its production by recent discoveries, is likely to become much mou profitable. Western Texas is much better adapted to grazing than to fanning, and Northwestern Texas, except in its river bottoms, is a comparative desert, though its mining lands may attract to it some populatic-". F'- ' ■ • :•■ ■ ••■ C-''''^^^' '-^^ -rar,;./; Jx ij This, with the exception of Eastern Colorado, whose agricul- tural lands are but slightly developed as yet, constitutes a description of most of the arable lands lying east of the Rocky Mountains. Our brief review of them shows that hardly moic than one-tenth of these lands is yet under cultivation ; yet if, in 1878, this region alone yielded 135.000,000 bushels of wheat, and 502,000,000 bushels of Indian corn, what may be expected when its arable lands shall all be subjected to the plow? It is to be noticed, also, that much of the farming in this region is not, and under the circumstances could not be expected to be, of the best character. The emigrant, wliose scanty means have only enabled him to reach his western home, pay the first ft^c:-, build his sod-house, and with a poor and weak team, or perhaps by changing works, break up the firm and hard sod, is very sure to be unskilled in western farming, however much of an adept he may ha\^e been in agricultural pursuits in his own country, and so the plowing which should have gone to the depth of fif- teen or eighteen inclies aS least, does not penetrate more than three to foui", and both it and the planting are deferred till too late in the autumn, if the crop i.s to be winter wheat, or in the spring if it is to be spring wheat. If there is drought in winter or spring, deep plowing would have saved the crop, while shallow plowing prevents vigorous growth. The proper cultivation of the crop is prevented also by the limited means of the settler, and in harvesting it, he cannot readily avail liimself of the ac^ri- cultural machinery, which so lightens labor, and makes large farm- ing possible and profitable. The complete revolution vhich has taken place in the l-istl 1 *-* fa S f.A,!, twenty-five as at the \ gang-plow c and a steam is to be wile but drilled ii distances as tiller or spre sower scatte plishes the « much seed is e'glity pounc farmers prefe sod, and folio cultivated om ground is lef faction of the j The original recognized' in gathers, binds, which in turn cases sacks th< into a close be and when the threshing maci year, puts 30,0 threshing mach; market the cro smaller scale, I harvested, shoul acre, or double 1 The crop of In* J sixty to eighty b Ipractised; that c jof barley forty-fi^ jby early planting jbe raised in a y FARMIA'G EAST OF THE KOCKY MOUNTAIXS. |^ twenty-five or thirty years in farm work, is nowhere so evident as at the West. The plowing on the best farms is done by a gang-plow drawn by four horses, or, in some cases, by asteam-plow, and a steam or two-horse harrow breaks the clods. If the crop is to be wheat, or any of the other cereals, it is not sown broadcast, but drilled in with a two or four-horse seeding machine at such distances as to give the grain as it comes up an opportunity to tiller or spread out. Or, as in some of the States, a centrifugal sower scatters it evenly within a given radius, and thus accom- plishes the same object. In this way only about one- fourth as much seed is required, and a greater crop is raised. In Minnesota eighty pounds of spring wheat is sown to the acre. Some farmers prefer to plant Indian corn first on the broken and rotted sod, and follow with wheat or other small grains. The corn is cultivated once or twice with a horse-hoe or cultivator, and the ground is left clean and free for the wheat crop. But the per- fection of the agricultural machinery is seen in gathering the crop. The original reaper has been improved till it would not be recognized' in its new form. It is now the harvester, and cuts, gathers, binds, and loads the grain for the threshing machine, which in turn threshes, winnows, cleans, assorts and in some cases sacks the grain. Another improvement ruts and gathers into a close box-wagon all the h' ids of the grain as they stand, and when the wagon is filled, . nqities its entire load into the threshing machine. A single farmer in Dakota, the present year, puts 30,000 acres in wheat, and has orovided ihirty-five threshing machines and 140 harvesters to gather and prepare for market the crop. Wheat, raised in this way, or if on a much smaller scale, on lands properly plowed, sowed, cj kivated and harvested, should yield from thirty-three to forty-five bushels per lacre, or double the crop grown by careless and slovenly f ming. The crop of Indian corn on these new lands shoiil ' je from sixty to eighty bushels to the acre, or more, where irrigation is practised ; that of oats from seventy to seventy-five bushels, and [of barley forty-five to fifty-five bushels. In Arkansas and Texas, Iby early planting, two crops of wheat or even Indian corn can Ibe raised in a year; but very little of the farjning there is of a 39 ■MMM ■■MMtliliMM 140 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. high order, and even on rich lands the yield per acre is shame- fully small. Root crops, potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, beets, carrots, sweet- potatoes, yams, and the like, require deep plowing, and thorough cultivation in the first stage of growth, but will take care of them- selves afterward. The yield, in light but fertile loam, is enor- mous. In Minnesota, Dakota and Montana, from 300 to 6co bushels of potatoes of the best quality are raised to the acre, and from 800 to 1,000 bushels of turnips and beets. ^• I'lj. .ft i v. In the cotton region, on the best cotton-lands in the world, where the minimum of production should be two bales of ginned cotton or 960 pounds, too many of the farmers are content with a yield of half or two-fifths of a bale. ; m 1 This whole region is destined to become famous for its sugar production. Sorghum has been cultivated largely all over these States and Territories, and millions of gallons of sorghum syrup made ; but it is only within the last two years that it has been discovered that tlie early amber sorghum, a variety which ripens early, and before frost, is the best for the Northern 'States and Territories, though some of the larger kinds will yield more where the seasons are longer, it being only necessary that they should not suffer from frost before the seeds are ripe, and that the ripening is necessary to its crystallization into sugar. It has been ascertained by experiment that one ton or more of sugar can be produced from an acre, and tha' with ordinary cultivation and care, three-fourths of a ton to the ^cre is a certain crop. The sugar is pronounced superior to the Louisiana or Texas cane sugar, A sugar equally good, but in somewhat less quantity can be made from the stalks of Indian corn, and in both cases the ripe corn and the sorghum seed are saved. The Egypdan rice corn, which is now cultivated extensively in Kansas, and which yields from sixty to seventy-five bushels of its rice-like seed to the acre, belongs to the sorghum family, and will doubdess produce large quantilies of sugar. As the United States are now paying place \n the '"t is six weeks ei ^'"'■y. blackberry, ^e Northern and' 1, '^ ^'le papaw an FRUIT CULTURE EAST OF THE ROCKY MOUNT.ihXS. 141 an exotic, and never comes to maturity in our climate, but is propagated by cuttings. These become exhausted in a few years, and require renewal from tropical countries. They are, moreover, very sensitive to climatic changes, and often fail entirely. The sorghum, on the contrary, is hardy, ripens early, and is almost indifferent to climate, flourishing equally well in Northern Dakota and Texas. There is, throughout most of this region, irre- spective of the grazing lands, a large demand for forage grasses and plants, to supplement the pasturage for horses, mules, asses, milch cows and cattle, kept for farm use, and the small Hocks of sheep and goats which the farmer finds it profitable to keep. The buffalo, gramma and blue joint grasses soon give place, in cultivated lands, to clover, timothy and herd's grass ; but it has been found that corn sown for forage purposes, late in the season, Alfalfa clover, Hungarian grass, Egyptian rice corn, the millets, and especially the pearl millet, lalely introduced, and in the north, wild rice, furnish more nutritious and abundant food for domestic animals than any of the ordinary grasses. The pearl millet is said to yield on rich soil three crops in a seascxn, [and the enormous quantity of ninety tons of green or ten tons I of dry forage to the acre. Odier grasses, like the Texas millet, seem well adapted to the use of stock, and are coming into jcultivation for this purpose. '^ . : • < This whole region is well adapted to fruit culture. The apple lof different varieties, and, to a less extent, the pear, flourishes Ifrom Minnesota to Arkansas; the •■each from Iowa and Mis- Isouri to the Gulf; quinces froni Minnesota to Kansas, and [cherries and plums from Northern Dakota to the Gulf. Of [smaller fruits, grapes, native and wild, as well as the cultivated varieties, arc found everywliere, tliough the hardy species alone flourish at the North, whether wild or cultivated, while the more jobust summer grapes {Vilis (rstivalis), native and foreign, take r^fceir place in the South. The strawberry llourishes everywhere, pt is six weeks earlier. in Texas dian in Minnesota. The rasp- •^■lerry, blackberry, currant, and whortleberry, arc better adapted to he Northern and Middle Slates and Territories than to the South; Qt the papaw and the banana, the pomegranate, fig", orange, ;? (^ cfli s 142 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. lemon, and olive, are fouhd in the South alone. In the way of nuts, tiic North has the chestnut, hickory-nut, black walnut, butter- nut, hazel-nut, and beech-nut ; while the South has the pecan, the chinquepin, the filbert, the hard-shell almond, and can have the En<^lish walnut, and pistachio nut, if they will cultivate it. ' ' Of textile fibres, hem;j grows in all latitudes : flax mosdy in the North, cotton, ramie, jute, tampico, agave fibre and cactus fibres in the South, while the dry, wiry grasses of the river bottoms of the Mississippi and its western tributaries, now coming into demand for paper stock, are mainly the product of the northern region. Tobacco grows In almost all latitudes, but ivlissourl, Arkansas, and Texas are the only States in which it is largely cultivated. The Rocky Mountains consist of two, and a part of the distance, three principal ranges, having a general direction of north-north- west to south-southeast, and numerous spurs and out-liers con- necting these ranges and extending from them westward. The eastern slope has no spurs extending eastward unless we except some hills of no great elevation in Wyoming. The Black Hills in Dakota, the Osage and Ozark Mountains in Missouri and Ar!:ansas, belong to a different mountain system. While these mountain ranges have many peaks or summits from 13,00010 14,000 feet In height, and some even higher, the table-lands from which the summits rise are generally from 5,500 to 8,500 feet in height, and most of the passes by which the ranges arc crossed do not exceed that elevation. There are also many valleys andi parks between the ranges, which contain fine tracts of arable land; but the greater part of the land included within theje| ranges is better adapted for grazing than farming ; and con- siderable portions are only valuable for mining and the opera- tions connected with it. The grazing lands of Colorado, Wyo- ming and Montana are mainly, though not entii-ely, on thesel mountain plateaux and parks ; but the probabilities are, that there will be enough good farming-lands found in the vallcysl and parks, to supply the wants of the large mining, herding and! non-producing classes who are even now filling up this mountain! region with great rapidity. The wheat and other grains, Indianf FARMING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 1^3 corn, sorghum sugar, root crops, and '.egetables, milk, butter, and cheese, and pork, can be furnished by the farir.-rs, as well as most of the fruits, while the herdsmen can furnish the beef and mutton, and the sportsmen, the game, large and small ; but there will be little farm produce from the mountains to export. Much of what is grown in the mountains will require irriga- tion, and with it will yield most bountiful.,. Even the best authenticated statements of the enormous crops produced by irrigation are received with incredulity. Seventy, eighty, and in some cases even one hundred bushels of wheat, not on one acre alone, but on a tract of thirty or fifty acres; a like amount of barley ; eighty to a hundred and ten bushels of oats ; and from 150 to 200 bushels of Indian corn ; 400, 500, and 600 bushels of potatoes to the ac«*e ; these amounts, incredible as they seem, are materially below what is claimed for these lands, some of which without water would have proved utterly barren and worthless. In Montana these mountain valleys do not lack water, the rain- fall being there sufficient to produce good crops, and the whole remon abounding: in streams. Between the western slope of the Rocky Mountain ranges ar.d the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, or, as they are called in Oregon and Washington Territory, the Cascade Mountains, the character of the lands varies as you go southward from British Columbia. In the eastern part of Washington Territory and Oregon, the lands form generally a high, treeless plateau, moderately fertile, but, except in the river bottoms, generally better adapted to grazing than to cultivation. Farther south, within the limits of the Great Basin which includes nearly one-half of Utah and Nevada, the area of cultivable land is comparatively small, though by means of irrigation it is much increased ; con- siderable tracts are unfit even for grazing purposes, but these are generally good mining-lands. East and south of the Grci.t Basin are the sources of the Grand, Green, San Juan and Little Colorado, as well as other smaller tributaries of the Rio Colorado of the West, and that great river itself. These all flow through [Western Colorado, Southeastern Utah, Western New Mexico and Arizona, in such deep caiions that they leave many of the > ea o 144 OUR IV/iSTEK.V F.MPIRE. mesas and table-lands of these territories to drought and sterility, except where irrigation is possible, or when, as in the autumn and winter of 1 879-1 880, extraordinary and protracted rains de- luged the country. Yet this region is well adapted to grazing, and by a scanty irrigation will yield the crops and fruits neces- sary for the sustenance of its inhabitants. In New Mexico and Arizona there are, with irrigation, a larger amount of arable lands than has hitherto been supposed. ' ' Governor Fremont writes that, in the summer of 1879, a little band of Maricopa Indians, near Prescott, who had taken to farming, sent to San Francisco, over the Southern California road, ten car loads, — 200 tons, of wheat of their own raising, which was of such excellent quality that it brought $2.24 the hundred pounds when the usual market price was only ^2.10. The land on which such wheat could be grown, in an unusually dry sea- son, must be counted arable. West of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades, we find a fine agricultural region, Western Washington, Oregon, and Califor- nia. This is the land of gigantic forest trees, the sequoias, the cedars, firs, and loftiest pines, the tulip tree, liquidambar and other forest trees, which have no rivals in the Northern Hemis- phere. It is also the land of wheat and barley, of Indian corn and oats, of the vine, and its abundant wine product, as well as raisins of the best quality ; and in its southern portion, of the orange, lemon and lime, the olive, the fig, the pomegranate, and the Madeira nut or English walnut, and the French and Italian chestnut. The latter is, in Italy, largely cultivated for the food- producing quality of its nuts. /,•".'■! ' :) 1' The wheat crop of California is larger than that of "ny other State, ranging from 36,000.000 to 50,000,000 bushels annually, and is of the very best quality, bringing, in European markets, higher prices than any other. It never rains in harvest-time in California, and, on the large grain ranches, the giant header clips off the heads of the wheat, sweeps them into the huge wa«Ton- box from which they are shot into the threshing-machine, which is geared on to the header, and the reaping and threshing are carried on simultaneously; while the grain as it comes from thei threshing-n piled m /jc ^'ty air, ti.'J Jarge part o important cr whole bariej as much as i5»ooo,ooo b acre, though The product! demand, beinj able depender forJiay. \^^^^ '" 1878, or abc the various spc Dhourra or £, for fodder. Be remarkable for ■ sugar-beet yiek 0^ sugar. Hop crops add to th fornia have a de h'le palm to the I Territories farth jclierry, orange, ] jrant, strawberry IpineappJe ail atta |size. ^n addition to Y'N\(\Q\-i are ven pnd \n Europe r'^' and quality Py all greatly ^ Pe production o I"^."ce of incomt V^'^Z these as vv ^^'n Californfa, fifl FARMIKG ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 145 threshing-machine is sacked automatically, and the sacks are piled in heaps in the field, remaining uninjured in the pure, dry air, till they are sent to market or shipped for Europe. A large part of the crop is shipped in July. Barley is also a very important crop, California producing more than one-third of the whole barley crop of the United States, and nearly three times as much as any other State. Its product in 1878 was about 15,000,000 bushels, an average of twenty-three bushels to the acre, though forty to sixty bushels is not an wnusual product. The production of oats is hardly sufficient to supply the State demand, being but 4,350,000 bushels in 1878, though consider- able dependence is placed on wild oats, which are used largely for hay. Indian corn is also a small crop, about 3,500,000 bushels in 1878, or about thirty-five bushels to the acre. The Alfalfa and the various species of millet, including the pearl millet and the Dhourra or Egyptian rice-corn, are cultivated by the dairymen for fodder. Beans are largely grown. The root crops are more remarkable for enormous growth than for fine flavor. The sugar-beet yields several crops, and contains a high percentage of sugar. Hops are also an important crop, and other minor crops add to the aggregate of production. The fruits of Cali- fornia have a deservedly high reputation. The apple must yield I the palm to those of Oregon, Washington, or the States and Territories farther East, but the pear, quince, peach, apricot, cherry, orange, lemon, pomegranate, fig, prune, plum, olive, cur- Irant, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, banana, plantain, and Ipineapple all attain a high degree of excellence and a marvellous Isize. In addition to the native grape and the Mission grape, both of which are very largely grown, every known variety of grape found in Europe or America is cultivated here, and both in the flavor and quality of the fruit, and the abundance of the yield, [hey all gready surpass their product where they are native, be production of raisins was at first a partial failure, in conse- huence of incomplete drying, but having learned the art of {rying these as well as most other fruits, the raisins of the sun, . }tn California, in their recent samples, surpass those of. any J2P0 10 146 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Other part of the globe. The dried fruits of the State, after failures from careless drying, are now beginning to take rank with the best in the world. The California wines and brandies have not till recently attained to their best condition. They were too strongly alcoholic, fiery and heady, and were put upon the market before they had had sufficient age to ripen them. The conditions of climate and dryness were not taken into ac- count by the wine-growers, and the Mission grape being largely used for wine-making, its peculiar, earthy taste impaired the value of the wine. These difficulties have been, now, in a great measure overcome, and the present and future vintages of Cali- fornia will compare favorably with the best wines of Europe, with the additional advantage of being purer. The California brandy, when it has a sufficient age, is preferred by connolssrurs to the best cognac. There is yet, however, a considerable im- portation, not only of French brandies, but of the ligiitcr and cheaper French wines, especially clarets, which might be made there of really better quality than the imported wines. Both Oregon and Washington Territory contain, besides their great amount of timber lands, and their extensive ranges for grazing, large tracts of fertile, arable lands. There is no lad of rainfall in the reirion west of the Cascade Mountains. At some points the skies weep too constantly for successful grain culture, but this very excess of moisture gives to the forests a^ more gigantic growth, and to the grasses a larger and more vij orous development. For the most part, however, Oregon ani Washington are well adapted to the culture of the cereal: Even Eastern Washington and Oregon, formerly regarded a desert and rainless region, proves, notwithstanding its whitisi alkaline soil, and its moderate rainfall, one of the finest wlie; regions in the world. With deep plowing no irrigation is nccdei and the wheat, large, full-berried, and of the very best qiialii weighing from sixty-five to sixty-nine pounds to tlie bushel (t legal weight is sixty pounds), turns out from thirty to sixi bushels to the acre ; many of the farms averaging from foi to fifty bushels for their entire crop. In 1879 the wheat en was about enough to b'-'riey, and W\^\v\g fron 's a tolerably on account 0/ and there is among the lu, oHlie towns. 0^" exceJicnt qi elsewhere. Q most of the s apples, pears, Francisco mark '''MHER AVD LL-«n J Sect/ Flor "''s-^Cal/fo As we have a '^«t is but sc ■arefiil estimate «. the woocIJan '"e years ^vhic]l "fi structures, fo '"cs, for dwell ''finished thi: '"inesota, M •^^as, and Arkanj inl s a is so IrTe '•ntories that IS nc pf Oregon t needed 10,000,000 bushels, and that of Washingti "^s, but she "". f'^e home dVni' ^"if. Colorado, t'niber and \ ui J-V/!EST CHOWTllS. U1 was about half as much, simply because there were not men enough to sow a lary^cr crop. All the small grains, rye, oats, barley, and buckwheat are successfully cultivated there ; oats yielding from seventy to eighty bushels to the acre. Indian corn is a tolerably sure crop in Oregon, but less so in Washington on account of the cool nights. The root crops yield enormously, and there is a ready market for them at good prices at ht)ine among the lumbermen, fishermen, and manufacturing populaiidu of the towns. Flax, though cultivated mainly for the seed, is of excellent quality, the lint being longer, finer and silkier than elsewhere. Of fruits, the apple and pear are unsurpassctd, and most of the small fruits are successfully cultivated. Oregon apples, pears, and berries command a high price in the San Francisco market. CHAPTER XIII. ITimher and Lumher — Tree-Plantino — The Forest Growths in different Sections — California Forests — Horticulture and Fruit-Culturb — Floriculture — Wild Flowers — Market Gardeninu. As we have already seen, a considerable portion of this Great ^Vest is but scantily supplied with fon^st trees. In 1871, a preful estimate put down, in these twenty States and Territo- ries, the woodland, as covering 198,124,1X02 acres; but in the (line years which have since elapsed, the demand for railroad ties vA structures, for bridges, for machinery, partly of wood, for nines, for dwellings, and public buildings, and for export, has liminished this area by nearly or quite twenty-five per cent, llinnesota, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington, and perhaps fexas, and Arkansas to a moderate extent, are the only States Ir Territories that export lumber. Montana has good timber- Ws, but she is not as yet producing more than lumber enough fr the home demand. Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota, Kansas, Wy- ling, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada, have pt timber and lumber enough for their own needs, and are .1 J ,^^ OUK li'KSTEKJV EMPIRE. obliged to import a larg« share of what is consumed. The Indian Territory has a moderate amount, but the adjacent rail- roads are fast consuming it. Idaho has considerable forests on its mountains, but much of it is not accessible. The gigantic forests of California have been so recklessly wasted, that she now imports largely of timber, lumber, and fire-wood. In the prairie States, liberal premiums have been offered for tree-planting by the State authorities; and the National Government, by their Timber-Culture Act and its amendments, have sought to promote the cultivation of forest trees. The railroad companies, which Jivlien their o- standing /s j found on the Cottonwood, lo I found \x\ mode, The forest | wccpt \n a feu for the most p; Kooky MountaiJ "wt^ or cedar fi [instances to a h now have large land grants, have also encouraged tree-culture. But I though these efforts have led to the planting of some millions of »nce is as ren trees, many of them die the first or second year, and the whole ■iiindred an I number planted, in six or seven years, bears but a small propor-Bod feet in cir tion to the annual destruction of the forests. Bedwood of t\ The forest growths differ materially in different sections. InRund on the the northeast, Minnesota and Northern Dakota, pine is pre-cmi-Bina)lcr than t\ nent, though there are some of the harder woods scaltercdBpo feet, and * *" through the forests. In Missouri, cottonwoods, and the bois d'armmr p/ne (p' ^ or Osage orange, mingle with the other hard woods and '^x^'moiigiasn ) ]^ci\\ 1 and hemlock. Montana has pines and firs, and some oaks, blaclfte/icc of walnuts, maples, etc., etc. Oregon and Washington are rcmarkP able in their western halves fjr gigantic firs, and have also a fail share of pines, spruces, red cedars, and sequoias. From tiies and the almost inexhaustibla forests of Alaska, and Briti^ Columbia, the Pacific coast will probably draw its supplies i lumber and timber for many years to come. The forests Eastern and Middle Texas, and Arkansas, are largely compos of hard woods ; there are eight or ten species of oak, one evergreen, though not the genuine live-oak ; chinquepin, hickoij black walnut, cherry and ash ; and in Northern Arkansas tBIture and ot/ "'" tulip tree or yellow poplar, the SM'eet, sour, and black gufcng kinds t h » ^f cypress and the Osage orange, etc., etc. In Northwestern TexBi^e, the vin ^\ there are some forests of pine and fir. The mountains of Ali value for t' u\ zona, Colorado, and New Mexico, are generally covered, neale make niod to the snow line, with evergreen forests (pitch, yellow, and sprfc, however ^ pine), but the trees are not usually of such gigantic sizeas Mliisliijejy . ' ° 1 forty to ^nns pojidcrosa) i< ;; (^^««x Sabinia V tile white cedar ''5o^eet; and an '^''^^^rn chinque \\ Many other t] "'•fop/ca;, are joc '<^vergreens. ^'^ f'-ees planted fOXHSI- OKOWTItS found on tl,c Pacific coast Al , '*> »«onwoo„„ Z««,.„;,::;;/;°";,,-^y 'o -Shty feet,- The V«« ) both attain a height o?"!!. ^^t^ ^P"'^« (^A« «>ce of forty to forty.five fe" t T ^,?°,v''' ^'■"' » ^'>"'n- »" /W«w«) is often ,,5 Xk, h]^? ^ ' °™''" y^"°" P'ne -^(P'uusSabiniana). the weste,^ |S U l"''"'^ "^ °^ 'he nut- '50 feet; and among the decid„r ^ "" ''"^''" " height western chinquepin: one of ^'" '""'''■ "'« ^-r oak, and . Many other , Zees unknown at ir'""""""'^'' '"^^^l' '=5 :::;P-.a.toofeetormri„^-^^^^^^^^ Y^^^^^^t:^:^ '-'• "-- ■"« Timber '"? k/nds. the cotton JoodTarT "M^ °' "'^ "P"" ' fee, the vine, maple, and wh tel , ' ""^ '°"'"' ""= Osa.e * value for timber, but mo t oTTh ' "'^ ^"'^ °^ "'-'- ^a^e • -ake moderately dura^ ° , ^T "'''^ 8-^ ^r fuel, and f; however, to this list of ,^L , ""• There must be '■^'-^elytoproveofgrlafv ,:it"''' '' ^^"'^-' °- t value m a samtary point of view. f OS P4 a ISO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. as well as eventually as a timber tree, the Eucalyplus globulus, a tree which has the reputation of arresting the progress of marsh miasms, and of rendering the regions in which it is planted iieaithy. Unfortunately, this species is not hardy above latitude 39** or 40° north, but some of the other species of Eucalyptus may be less susceptible to the cold. One species, found in Aus- tralia, contests with the Sequoia giganica of California, the title to be considfired the largest tree in the wt)rld. It is said to be at least of {jrcater circumference. . i . In the newer portions of this vast region, the farmer has been so intent on bringing the greatest possible amount of his grain or root crops to market, that there has been comparatively little opportunity for developing seslhetic taste in the cultivation of a flower-garden ; and yet in sections where two years ago the sod was unbroken, the grounds around the often humble cabin or sod-house give evidence of refinement in the variety of flo\vcrs| already blooming there. In Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska,] Kansas, Texas, California, Oregon, Nevada, and Eastern an(| Central Colorado and New Mexico, the flower-gardens are ofter gay with beautiful flowers, of kinds unknown at the Iiast, anda^ often redolent with the sweetest perfumes. Many shrubs, wliiJ at the East are hcirdly half-hardy, and cannot in our climate bj preserved through the winter, on the Pacific coast and in Texas become trees of twenty or thirty feet in height. Among thesl we may name the fuchsia of several species, with its beautifij flowers of crimson, white, scarlet, yellow and blush ; the heli(| trope, with its rich perfume, which becomes a flourishing tre^ the mignonette, the smilax, here so delicate, there a liaH climber; the magnolia grandiflora, the syringa, there a state tree, the lily family, etc., etc. Wild flowers of great beauty and fragrance abound throm out all this region, except the alkaline or sage-brush lands, tl Llano Estacado and the dry mesas of Arizona, and the two latl[ during and after the scanty rains, are resplendent with briliia blossoming verdure, and during their dry seasons, the caj though of uncouth and ungainly forms, produce flowers of geous hues, and some of them of wonderful beauty. As to kit abundantly jr proportion o, perhaps, befn deners. l^j^e b'ige, cauliflo^ corn, sweet po okra, gumbo, i table oysters, beets, mangel- pumpkins, niuj l^'ns, peppers, t endive, pepper, leaves, etc., etc. tlieir season. *] "^•'^■'5 \n Europe enterprise here ; and for some y( g:enerations, no !^e needed, onlv vegetables as car any of the rapid] no <\,xx\^^r of a g market-gardener of the best grad profitable. \n tlJ k^^mg and care] garden business, \ I MARKET GAJiDENIiVG. 151 As to kitchen and market-gardens, they are found most abundandy in the neighborhood of the towns and cities. A large proportion of them are cukivated by Europeans, the Germans, perhaps, being most numerous among the larger market-gar- deners. Their products are of almost unlimited variety: cab- bage, cauliflower, kohl-rabi, onions, leeks, garlics, early sweet corn, sweet potatoes, the common potato of many varieties, yams, okra, gumbo, asparagus, celery, spinage, and other greens, vege- table oysters, egg-plants, radishes, lettuce, artichokes, turnips, beets, mangel-wurzel, ruta-baga, carrots, parsnips, squashes, pumpkins, muskmelons, watermelons, citrons, cucumbers, gher- kins, peppers, the flavoring plants, thyme, summer-savory, sage, endive, peppergrass, water-cresses, parsley, orange leaves, bay leaves, etc., etc. Many of them deal also in the small fruits in their season. To those who have been accustomed to this busi- ness in Europe or in the Eastern States, there is a fine field for enterprise here ; a very few acres of the fertile soil are sufficient, and for some years at least, and in most cases for one or two generations, no manure beyond that made upon the place will be needed, only deep and thorough tillage, to produce such vegetables as cannot be produced elsewhere. In the vicinity of I any of the rapidly growing towns of the mining region, there is jno danger of a glut in the market for these products, and if the I market-gardener can manage to keep two or three milch cows of the best grade, his milk and butter will prove additionally profitable. In this connection, too, the rearing of fowls, whose feeding and care is inexpensive, in connection with the market- garden business, is a source of large profit. P9 ■■■■■I 153 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER XIV. New Directions in which Agricultural Industry may be Developed, and IN which it is already Developing — Millet and other Forage Crops — Silk-Culture — Rearing the Silk-worm — Stifling the Cocoons — Reel- ing — The Filature — Schappe or Spun-Silk — Cocoons do not bear Transportation well — Advantages of Silk-Culture in the West — The SiLKViLLE Experiment — Prices of Raw Silk and of Silk-worm Eggs- Probability of a Large Demand for Raw Silk — Textile Fibres — Flax AND Hemp — Paper Stock : Esparto Grass, Tule, Marsh-mallow, etc. — Ramie, Jute, Tampico — The Nettle — Dye Stuffs — Cochineal — Oil- Prod jCing Plants — The Olive — Cotton-seed Oil — Hemp-seed and Lin- seed Oil — Oil of Sunflower Seeds and other Seeds — Sesamum IndicuiM — Tar Weed (Madia Sativa) — Pea-nut, Ground-nut or Gooher — Castor Bean (Ricinus Communis and Sanguinarius) — Tea and Coffee Cultiva- tion — Fruit and Nut-bearing Trees and Shrubs — The Olive — Oranges AND Lemons — Pomegranate — Fig — Lanana, Plantain, Pineapple, Guava and other Tropical Fruits — Papaw — Nut-bearing Trees and Shrubs- Introduction of Foreign Nuts — English Walnut — Italian Chestnut- Almond — Other Fruit-bearing Shrubs — Japanese Persimmon, Cargo, Jujube, Mezquite, etc. — Trees and Shrubs containing Tannin — The Sumacs — The Wattles — The Spiraeas or Hardhacks. We have already spoken of the cultivation of the Minnesota early amber-cane, or sorghum, and of the great impulse whidi has been given to its culture within two years past by the dis- covery that it contains its largest proportion of sugar, and almost its only crystallizable sugar, when it is ripe ; and have shown that not only can the seed be saved by waiting till this time, but that the yield of sugar is so large, and is produced by such sim- ple processes, that it is the most profitable crop a farmer can raise, and will materially diminish, if it does not entirely abolish, the necessity of our importing immense quantities of sugar from the West Indies, Demerara, Brazil and the Sandwich Islands. Our| importation of sugars now costs us ^100,000,000 annually. Wei may be, within ten years, and possibly within five, exporters in- stead of importers of raw sugars. It has been ascertained that the stalks of our Indian corn yield, \\\\v\\ ihc corn is ripe, about seventy-five per cent, of the quan- tity of sugaj the Egyptiai largely cuJtiv much as the; and lucrative The cuJtiva and th^ Eo-y^ some of the production of Lucerne, Huni grasses, fs weJJ ^'^ this subject forage from soj '^\'i^ rearing , aged, might be very large outk ^'^ the members business eli;ewli< There is necc ! mulberry trees, \ j§:rows very rapic haps the best, ti: the many-ieaved forsiJk-wonns, SI Y^^\ to the mu mbylonlca), the species of oak, an r mulberry than bomoreexpensiv. Kiirnish a good Kured, and the ^'lich there are m ofhose kinds whi If^^vlemon ye]]( ^M. Boissiere ,hi„l,s ,I.c . f»"«ec„ and „ half ,,„., hose mulberry sevem«n SILK-CULTURE. 1 53 tity of sugar produced by the amber sorghum ; that the millets, the Egyptian rice corn, and probably broom corn also, which is largely cultivated in some portions of the West, yield quite as much as the Indian corn. Here is a great opportunity for a new and lucrative industry, and there is little danger of overdoing it. The cultivation of the millets, and especially of the pearl millet and the Egyptian rice corn, already introduced into Kansas and some of the other States, both as a forage plant and for the production of sugar, and the increase in the crops of Alfalfa, Lucerne, Hungarian grass, and possibly some of the other forage grasses, is well worthy of attention. We shall have more to say on this subject in connection with stock-farming. The yield of forage from some of them is enormous. The rearing of silk-worms is an industry which, if rightly man- aged, might be made very successful. It does not require a very large outlay, but will be best conducted by colonies, some of the members of which have been practically familiar with the business eliiewhere. There is necessary, in starting the business, a plantation of [mulberry trees, but this need not be large at first, and the tree grows very rapidly. The white mulberry [Moms alba) is per- haps the best, though some prefer the black [Moms nigra) or jthe many-leaved [Morus imtlluaulis)^' Other trees afford food Ifor silk-worms, such as the Osage orange, regarded by many as [equal to the mulberry, the ailantus, the weeping-willow [Salix \Babylonica), the kilmarnock willow, some of the osiers, several Ispecies of oak, and the garden lettuce, but the silk is better from phe mulberry than from most of the others, and if well managed, no more expensive. When the mulberry trees are large enough b furnish a good supply of leaves, the silk-worm eggs should be brocured, and the purchaser should avoid any fancy varieties, of which there are many in the market, but should confine himself |o those kinds which will produce the large, single crop sulphur lellow, lemon yellow, or white cocoons. These in the long run l*M. Boissiere thinks the Lpoaor Japanese mulberry (Aforus japonica) better than any other, s fourteen and a half pounds of its leaves will make one pound of cocoons, while of the Ihite mulberry, twenty pounds are required, and of the moreltia new species fifteen pounds, and u lose mulberry seventeen pounds. I i s -''''"■WMHteidiMMtittl 154 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. will pay best. Shelves, or layers of brush, separated by proper supports, should be provided for feeding the worms, and the feeding, if the number is considerable, will keep the children pretty busy night and day for from three to five weeks. When the worms are ready to begin to spin, the brush is better than shelves or frames. When the cocoons are finished a few of the best shaped and largest must be reserved for the production of eggs, and the rest " stifled; " /. c, the chrysalides killed, either by subjecting them to the fumes of camphor, or some of the other hydro-carbons, or to steam heat, or baking them. It is not best for the families to reel the cocoons themselves; if there is a colony of silk-growers, some of tiicm will probably be skilful reelers, and one filature or reeling establishment is enough for a hundred silk-growers. Machines recently invented make reeling on a large scale easier than it was, and if the silk-growers bring their cocoons at an average price to the filature, receiving their pay when tlie silk is reeled and sold, a moderate capital only will be required. Raw silk is not so bulky as to make its transpor- tation very expensive, but if at a distance from market the silk may be doubled, twisted, and thrown, or brought into the condition of tram and organi;ine, without any great addition to the cost. Tlie pierced cocoons, or those through which the chrysalis has escaped, as well as wild silk-worm cocoons, if there are any, and the floss or outside silk of the reeled cocoons, may also be utilized in such an establishment, being boiled for a long time in soap and water, cut up, carded and spun to form the spun silk, or Schappe. Eventually it may be desirable to establish a factory for the production of sewing silk, ribbons, handkerchiefs, fringes and trimmings, dress goods, satins, laces, or velvets. The last are not as yet produced in this country. Cocoons are too bulky toi bear long transportation, and the only successful silk-cultiirej must either be, that in which one filature with skilled reelers works up the cocoons from a hundred families of silk-growers, or one in which the silk-worm eggs are produced for the markel in large quantities. There is an active demand for these atliigll prices, but even if the business was conducted with only thii end in view, the pierced cocoons might be utilized with profitB the i^i-^ One advai ^vecks of children, ^ prosecuted established der of the fail to be I crops. The s'Jk product '^"t the silk-| and violent ; extreme chan ^\'orm is then the French si. started siJk-gi silk-growers c J'ranklin coun ^las succeeded f'^ench and It ^g-g-s from the I healthy. ^ SilkvilJe is ree ^v'ho had becom '^he cocoons more easily ree 3"^^ M. Crozfer rawsiJk produ francs the kilo '■^^^' s'lk affords cgg-s for marke so much, and th( f"'s country for ^^'^^f^^Jess, from °^ '" the demanc But the price o cc (T years \%\ CAA^ SILK-CULTURE BE MADE PROFITABLE? 155 One advantage of the silk-culture is, that it occupies but a few weeks of the year, and most of the work can be performed by children, while other farm or manufacturing work can be prosecuted during the remainder of the year. M. Boissiere has established a cheese factory to employ his operatives the remain- der of the year. Conducted as we have indicated, it can hardly fail to be profitable in connection with the cultivation of other crops. The silk-worm disease which has so largely reduced the silk product of Italy and France, is not likely to be introduced here, but the silk-grower should select localities not subject to frequent and violent storms, or to severe thunder-storms, or rapid and extreme changes of temperature during the time of feeding, as the worm is then very sensitive, and easily killed. M. E. V. Boissiere, the French silk-grower and manufacturer already mentioned, has started silk-growing and silk manufacture with a colony of French silk-growers on a small scale at Silkville, Williamsburg P. O., Franklin county, Kansas, and after a struggle of several years, has succeeded in producing raw silk equal in quality to the best French and Italian, and his worms, though originally from the eggs from the moths of diseased worms, have proved perfectly healthy. A considerable portion of the raw silk produced at Silkville is reeled by hand by the daughters of the silk-growers, who had become experts in reeling in France. The cocoons from French silk-worms are much larger and more easily reeled than those from Chinese or Japanese worms, and M. Crozier, M. Boissiere's manager, says that in 1878 the raw silk produced there brought in the French market 130 francs the kilogram, or about ^10 a pound. At this price the raw silk affords a better profit than the production of silk-worm eggs for market, and is safer, as the price of the eggs varies so much, and the demand for them is liable to be below the sup- ply. In 1877, France alone paid 1,691,400 francs= ^338,280 to this country for silk-worm eggs ; but a part of these proving worthless, from bad management, there was a decided falling off in the demand in 1878 and 1879. But the price of raw silk also fluctuates widelj'-, ranging within ithe ten years 1868-1878, for the best Italian, from $7.25 to ft* >■-^ W 'P6 1^6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE, ^\^\ for the best Japanese (Maibash) from ^3.75 to $9.12, and for the Chinese (Tsatlee III.) from $4.25 to ^8 per pound. In 1878 the prices were still lower, averagin' ^''''' ^J^^' Assamese '«\or anu quality, w hetlicr fl„. i i- superior to pr.|r.rs fore,-,,,, ,o l.o.ne. ,ade . ,''"^''" '"''''• "'"•^'> always 7"' '.--• Tl,e co„c..e pla at ions ! "• '• "°"" ^^^-'l "'-" ;' "•'>"'.;!,' l>dore obtain „. ?, fi s '""'•' ", '"'" '""«" P-'o.! "■"<= •■•ncl skill rc„„ired in i.. n ""?• "lough there s l.-ss 7'-"'-"y-™picaip™c,,z : r- ■'^r''''^'^ '"• "°— . 01 ^iurccss in its cultivation in S„ , ''''' "'"« '^ » possibility outlay necessary ,o „,ake it a pro^"!;'''''""'^ '" '^='™"' "- ™!;^- '^ °''"" °^ ""y gi-eat commercial a ready spoken of ,|,e olive, vaUnb c -,ri r'"'"^"""- "'<-■ 'iav« ' Its beautiful wood. J,, c ,1 1, i "-' '°'" "^ '■""''. "« oil and -}' scale ,vitl, a fair m L "o 'sTc':" '''^" ^"™^'^'"' -a al.rorn,a and perbaps also nKevv''" 'T'"''^™"'-" loi'Sh «„b no great tare and nr„l,°- '' '™s cltivated ;^. ^-lil Missions, and S^ h ^''tT'-'r '^" '^"^''^^^ r' grown wild, tbey would fu '„ t 'V™'" '°"ff 'K-'Slect l«"vor varieties upon. It ^ ornr. u'°"''' """^ S rafting the Mubly cultivated inall t,/ '" """' '''<= °«ve might be *cl. i-s not too elevate .''It iS°t°'''''=^^'''P-IH ■"merous st.bstitutes for olive n I ""' '"^'- '"^ "lO'igl' the [*-. )■« the olive has oo manv """' ,'° '™"' "^'^« ^^^uce ! " -profitable tree. The orT^e ?:°^""'"T.-- '° "-ome popular and profitable in S 'r™! "'''^'' ''^^« l^^^nie he e..tent i„ Louisiana Texas^ i T f ''""''>• ^"'"^''.-d to h'lt be, if they are not, i„^So:,r; ' A " '"" ''^''■''°""^' -^ K»n,e of the varieties from C, n " P "% '' ''= P^l^We l>tive varieties, miVht be ml, 1 , ™' ''^ """he several [*l.thot,,d.mostoft em tuldl " •'"" """"^ ^ "'-^ ^ h- /rests which, at rare ;n:er 1,':,"^:^^ , ^^ ""= "-signal " • ^'^^^"^ aJ'"ost to the GuJf O 1 62 0:A llh.sn-lhW EMPIRE. coast of Texas. One species, the Citntx yaponica, or Kum-qiLit, bears a small but excellent oranj^e, and is perfectly hardy. I he lemon is noj as hardy as the orange, but its culture is v.\vx\ more prolilable. The shaddock, or larj^^e bitter orange, and the Sevilh;, or bitter orange of the south of Iuiro[)e, are both more hanly than most of the sweet varieties, but tln'ir fruit is less profitable. 1 lu- citron, from the thick peel or rind of which tht; preserved citron of commerce is prepared, is not, we b(;lievc, cultivated on tills continent, and its culture is diminishing in Europe. When an orange-grove is not in danger of frost it becomes in time immensely profitable, but it yields very little (and it is belter that it should not mature any) fruit till it is ten years old. I'Vom the tenth to the twentieth year it will yield every year a good and constantly increasing crop of fruit, and a still larger one each year, from the twentieth to the thirtieth year. In an ordinal ily healthy growth, without forcing, it does not attain its full matur- ity till about its thirtieth year. We have not deemed it necessary, in the case of either the tea or the orange-culture, to go into details, in regard to the processes of cultivation, or the prepa ration of the products for the market. In the case of the tea, these are not well setth-d, and in that of the oran^re and lemon,! different climates and different varieties require diverse treatment, ■wliicli aro Ji'L-"'.i' Those who contemplate their culture will be, necessarily, personsHfcli walm.*- 1 • -111 • 1 1 11 -11 1 iiH "'"ur, some 'ruit \r\ Sou zona {^\^^>r^ 'a"), and ^^^ wiiic/i y/(;itj , T/ie banana, ^onrisij \n t/,, "'«i. thoug/) t '"rost. 'iiic p 'lard/erand ri P'iral/ci. /t /j5 ^ca nVa/ofth slirubs, t/io /,/cj n"t. and ha^o/., o/* t;ie spcdo.s , f3"iS and the r not /nd,-(-* /"oreign n having considerable capital at command, and they will do well to make a special study of the subject, before investing. Fori this purpose, there are numerous essays and treatises to be iiad, some of them giving the results of careful, protracted, anclj intelligent experience. 'Y\\(i. pomegranate is already cultivated in California and Tcxasj :f^' vvhici, at tvve ^ o'" the very f) '■^''an chestnut "^ ^^'^^'^'^ in':r' •'"""'"" ^"'"-S N v M ' "'' ''r'"' mrnll I r ^ "^ ''t^lLriilarly in alJ M,. • ^''"'''"''» family is F^cular c,„ality. Tl,e pe ^ r'"'" ""'>■ ""-'v-.s on soi, o "a" T e fo .„„ ^^^^^ Mrub o b„sh „f n,„|„,^,^ 't- h"".ieh f^eepswoi. V; t'v';: ^■'■^•''' ^ ""'-ions no.; ^ I';- farinaceo,,., food o „ant ,r'""'"'' ^"^ -n.e.in.es Z f'"' '"' ' ='-P f-t is fataT o e he": r. '^--Ir ■-•■' "- either, but m Soutliern .J H aw O 164 OCR ll/LS/EAW EMPIRE. California, Arizona, Southern New Mexico, and Texas, both can be, and are successfully cultivated. The pistachio nut is also on trial, and will probably prove successful. Of other fruit-bearing shrubs and trees, we may name the Japanese persimmon, lately introduced, and said to be an excellent fruit, much superior to our native species, which however has some good qualities; the carob, a legume-bearing tree, whose pods and beans are sup- posed to have been the h'.isks fed to the swine, in the parable of the prodigal son ; the jujube, whose pulp forms the material for the jujube paste of commerce, and the mezquite, indigenous in Texas, whose bark and root yield tannin in large quantities, whose pods furnish a nutritious food, and whose gum is almost identical with g-um traijacanth. Of trees and shr- ja containing large amounts of tannin or tannic acid, besides the mezquite, there are five or six species of the rhus or sumac ; four at least native, and containing from einht to twenty-five per cent, of tannin, and two foreign, the Venetian and the Sicilian sumac, which contain a little more. These are both cultlvai;ed here.* The wattle, an Australian tree of the acacia family, of which there are two species — the golden and the black wattle. Acacia pycnautha and dcciirrcns — is also a valuable tree for the tannin its bark produces. It attains its full growth in ten years, yields from tvvcnty-four to thirty-six per cent, of tannin, and its wood is valuable for fences, for tools, and for fuel being nearly or quite equal \o hickory, for the last purpose. It grows in dry soils, and in almost rainless regions, and would be of great value for planting on the plains under the Timber- Culture Act. All the species of Sp.'nca contain a large percentage of tannin. Some of these, as the Spircca touicntosa, or common hardhack, and Spircca alba, or white hardback, arc commnii weeds, and can be easily raised o'n the poorest lands, y'.eluinj three to five tons to the arre. The extract from this would kl * We are not aware that the bark of the ailantus has ever been tested for tannin, W » belongs to the sumac family, it is reasonable to suppose that it may l)e somewhat rich in li piinciple. If it should prove to be, its rapid growth would make it nearly a^ valuable , is : wattles of v/hich mention is made above. We Iiave a found \x\ tliis Of" ^^liese lands year large djj 'or gra;:ing ai TREES AND SHRUBS CONTAINING TANNIN. i6<: superior to the best bark extract. The foreign species are oi larger growth and are much cultivated as ornamental shrubs. It is doubtful whether they contain a larg'.-r proportion of tannin than the native species. New forms of industry and profitable labor in connection wish farming, are constantly brought to the attenut-^n of the public. some of them valuable, others valueless; but dhos^.' which ha\ l- been detailed in this chapter are sufficicniiy num^r-rous to satisfy any ordinary ambition ; they have all been testtxl, and none of them, like the cultivation of the opium poppy, which has been commended by some writers, are of a character which will in- jure rather than benefit mankind. CHAPTER XV. Stock-raising — Cattle-herding, and the rearing of Horses and Mules — The Grazing Lands — The Siock-growing Region, par excellence — Win- ter Care of Stock— Numhir of (mtti.k \^ the West in 1S79— -The HEKDhMLN OR CoW-BoYS — S IC). K-R AISING PROFITABLE IF WELL MANAfiED — S10CK-RAISING IN Texas — Climatic Advanta(;es — Pasturin(;on the Great Rani;es, OR ON one's own Land - Expense of rearing Caitle in Texas — The two Extremes in Stock-raising in Texas — Examples — Beginning on a small Sc\le — Growth of a Texas Stoik-Ranche — Stock-raising in Kansas and C olorado — Joint .Stock Management of a Ranche — The Colorado Cattle Company's Estate of Hermosillo — Another Colorado Company— Statistics — The Estimate of Mr. A. A. Hayes, Jr. — The Difference of Profit isetween "Store" Cattle and "Fat" Cattle — Mr. Barclay's Account — The En(;lish View of the Matter — Stock- raising IN the Northern and Nurihwestern States and Territories — Shelter and Food for Siock— Fu iure Advantac;es ior Shipping Choice SlOCK FROM these StATES AND TERRITORIES TO EUROPE — DaIRV-FaR.MING — Stock-raising and Dairy-Farming in California — Horse-Farming anj RfAKiNG — Mules — Camels. We have already spoken of the vast extent of grazing lands found In this great Western Empire. What is the actual area jcf these lands can only be approximately estimated, since every [year large districts, previously supposed to be only available for grazing and almost worthless even for that purpose, are l06 OUK WESTERN EMPIRE. found to be susce^ptible of cultivation, and to yield immense crops when subjected to culture. There are, furthermore, many tracts which have not yet been surveyed and are really unex- plored even by the Indian, or the hunter and trapper ; in some, and perhaps many, of these there are beautiful valleys, narrow, . yet covered with a rich and succulent herbage, which will fatten and nourish large herds of cattle. As nearly as we can estimate, there must be somewhat more than a million of square miles of these grazing lands ; enough to supply the whole world with beef, mutton, leather, and wool. Most of the States and Territories have considerable tracts of t;razing lands, but the stock-growing XQ.. 3 50.400 n Tile t'stinia; and especfa] ^5.609,400 n S'ate number; 19.000,000, a] ratio in niiidi crease \n tiie thoug/i occasi "i^y ^aJ] off to in the Jajv obtain the mi dairy-farm /no- from stock-i-ai. tinction is carri ouning irom ^^'^''•n^iiiv, buttj ^\\(i cattJ buffalo and gamma grasses, which, though cured by the sun, r« , ' . S'^od su tained all their sweetness and nourishment. ' ^*" '^'^'"-^ In most of this Rocky Mountain region there is no uintei eincr '/e, b .^"^^'i and conifo is nil . \ shelter for cattle, and they hardly need any oftener than onB ,.', ^'^'a"roui ■"'■'cl. have pa., STOCK-RAISING AND CAT TLEIIEKDING, 167 winter in ten. A few of the more prudent stockmen put up rough, cheap sheds, and cut with a mowing-machine a score or two tons of the natural grasses, against a long or cold storm ; but it is so seldom that these precautions are necessary, that their fellow-stockmen laugh at them for their carefulness. Even in Montana and Dakota the pasturage grounds are so seldom visited by severe or desolating storms, that provision for them is the exception and not the rule. In Oregon and Washington somewhat greater attention is paid to the sheltering of the stock, but in California no effort is made in that direction. The aggregate amount of cattle in the Great West, at the end of 1878, was estimated by the Agricultut-al Department as 3,350,400 milch cows, and 12,259,000 oxen and other cattle. The estimate was below the truth, as the local statistics show, and especially in Colorado and the Territories. To this total of 15,609,400 neat cattle were to be added over three million head in the Territories not estimated by the department. The aggre- gate numbers at the close of 1879 were certainly not less than 19,000,000, and this increase was probably in about the same ratio in milch cows and in oxen and other cattle. The net in- crease in the great herds is about forty-five per cent, a year, though occasionally, in a year of unusually severe weather, it may fall off to thirty-five or thirty-eight per cent. In Texas and in the large herding districts elsewhere, no attempt is made to obtain the milk for use or for the production of butter or cheese, dairy-farming being regarded as an entirely distinct business from stock-raising, and having no connection with it. Tiiis dis- tinction is carried so far if) Texas, that the largest stock-giowers, owning from 10,000 to 50,000 head of cattle, either purchase their milk, butter and cheese, or go without it. The cattle are under the care of herders or " cow-boys," who see that they are driven to the best pasture, and where they can have a good supply of water. These cow-boys lead a lonely and hard life, being in the saddle most of the day, and lodging in small and comfortless huts at night. Once a year, there is what is called a " round up," when the vast herds of dift'erent owners, which have pastured together over the great tracts of as yet S3 s i68 OUR ivf.xrrJe/^ /'Jirvms. unsurveyed oov^rnmcnt lands, »r^ hr(f>i/\\t log^tfiK^r, and each owner or his lierdsmen separate ^h^ir o^ herds, and brand the calves which folkrw their mothers. J his !&;» time of excite- ment, and where the herds are large and wild, f4 considerable danger, as .should one of the herdsmen be unlK/Zwd in front of the rushing herds, he woijid be trampled to deafh in tandy. The herdsmen are usually very expert in the use of the lariat or lasso, and will bring a refractory cow or bullock to its knees in a moment, with the most unerring precision. The cattle intended for slaughter or shipping are usually caught in this way. A large proportion of the Texas and California herdsmen are Mexicans, but in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, and Wyoniing a majority are American*;, English, Irish, and Canadians. The usual wa ;es are from |^(6 to ^20 per month and food and lody^ing. Properly manage vd, tlie busi^^ss of raising stock is profitable, but it require s co*vtti*ierable capital, or if that is wanting, a thorough know'k>4^« 6# lh«v, Tim^e is an important element in the profitable niar :4/^$'mem tA this as we^' as of farming and fruit-culture. The myj»w 'h\yi ^>e^in«, even with a very moderate capital, takes good care of h^-s stock, imp«-oves the br< cd carefully, and watches the Jvfwall leaks, which rum so many men, will find himself at the ew\ (A tf^n or twelve jears, with a herd of catde, which will yield him an ample income each year. Of course flvre 'Aft' differences in th" mode of manaoeiiient of herds of cattle in iSv different regions in whic'j this is a prominent \y\(\' ,%Xry . Ifl Texa^, the stock-rai.ser has some grrat advantages, ami ^//me <1i«ik"Wanitages. On-^. great advantaLje is the climate, whiclj /r^fi/c-jy precludes the necessity of any wintn provision for his s^^J^ ; <:5-.f»y are l»etter provided on the range, if they can have easy acces« Ut water, than they could be if sliu' up in a corral, or provi/l-' d wit.'i liay, or even green forage. Hci has the advantage also in r<'gard to his pasturage lands; he need not, unless he chooses, pay out a dollar for all the grazing land he desires to occupy, especially in Northwestern Texas, or if liel prefers that his cattle should not become so wild, as they niayj become on the n-reaf r^,, , '^ - give see r:.:?.: r,:td '^ ''^^'-- •"- ^-^ »: away, he can buy one, .„o, three ^r a , ' ""-" '^'"y^e Srazmg lands, at a mere nomh ai ^ i ''"''-'"/^T'^^'-- 'eayues of •"•J - not required to fence" 1^^ ' t" ""'^ P- «"<=■ licidsman to every , ,00 or ,„' u \ "'''"' '"-" ™"st <;mnlov a -vc most of the expense of rn , '''' "' ^^"''=- "'-";'• ' e wil! "- '|- '.erd were looked after ryt^' "P' *'"^" '- -u,d h ! •0 e branded. Of course, he e'pe' ' 'T' "'"=" "'^y — ' -uch less here than far.he or^ |" 1 "^ '''""^ cattle are calves bemg only from ^s to com„,and as high a price. Unt I S " "°''"'' ='"'' '1° "ot effort made ,0 i^,J,, ,^„ ^^;^ :y -^ <>;• .873 there was little ^^^;:.::^rI-^"---Se:r^^n- r ; '7=: o;::o:::fs- :-itT "7-^''- -^ ^ound l-J» of 40,c«,, 50.000. ScooTt; ever'^ ^ ^' '"'"■^"'' ""h his '.' '" 'lie sam. „.unej-, or a, nT'° -^ '"^ '^""'P ' and pos i- •J« small herdsnmn „i,h h's\; T,'"""'''""'^'^^ *i" Permit -three bull, and ,,ossibly on, f 2; °\ ""'' '"'-'-d cows, two oiten the case that Ihe n,an vX^w c '?' ^'"=P ■ -" ■'' - scores of thousands, began T'°l V'" '^"'« "^^ "=ns or scale no lari,er than hi, hi M ^ " '"' "''"y ''^^ars ago on a ^;>f. Cad,..,ic „„es' 'r'w,^' r.:- ■■■^""r '^'"«™°" " -nths there, -nne ,0 the IJvcr 00 7 \ ''"'' 'P'"' ^-""^ ■'Here ,s one of a hundred exa, °,e "' ■^"^"'^' '="'■ '«?■ ' -■'' »"i.out a copper. Twe ^Z "v.^^'r " ''""' ™" ''-™'k' pt;ed w,th a stock-raiser. tL^V' '"'■ ■•'" '^'^'""an ent " he was to be boarded an i founT-' "" '"°'"'>' '° ^e given, place 01 wages he was to receive on'o "'7""'"^- "''"'' '" "'e ■Now he is worth |;,oo,ooo in ca^ , ,7 '/"" •='<'""-«'>. ■ «.arue. M^re is a P3 ;2 pa a I/O OUR WESTEKN EMPIRE. sailor, formerly a man before the mast, who has now six steam^ crs on the Rio Grande, 80,000 head of cattle, 25,000 head of horse stock, 12,000 sheep, and 150,000 acres of land, and last year invested ^29,000 in the Jackson & New Orleans Railroad." Thomas O'Connor, a soldier in the Texan war of independence, received his discharge in 1837, when his only earthly possessions were a Spanish pony, saddle and bridle, two old belt-pistols, one of them broken off at the breech, and an old ritle-gun. He went into the business of raising stock on this capital, and forty years later had 8o,ooC head of cattle, 500 saddle and stock horses, and 26,664 acres of land, with a river front of six leagues. In 1 85 1, a gentleman named Adams started a ranche (or grazing farm) twelve miles west of San Antonio with only 200 head of cattle. Upon his death his sons continued the business, and in 1877 sold the ranche, delivering to the purchasers 68,000 head of catde. In 1858 Captain Richard King, who had been a cabin- boy on board a coasting vessel, came to I'exas with a capital of pluck and energy, but with no money. Selecting a ranche at Santa Gertrudes, thirty-five miles west of Corpus Christi, he commenced rearing stock in a very small way. In 1878, twenty years later, he had 60,000 acres of land all fenced, over 50,000 head of cattle, more than 10,000 horses and mules, 22,000 sheep, and 8,000 Angora and grade goats. He brands 15,000 calves yearly, sends about 10,000 beeves to market every year, and 30,000 fleeces, besides a large number of horses and mules. The beginners on a small scale having, we will say, a ranche of 2,000 acres, which will not cost, on the pasturage lands of Texas, more than ^1,000, and with the cabins, corrals, etc., from 5^300 to $500 more, can purchase 100 cows with calves for from ^12 to ^14 each, and two good Hereford or Durham bulls at ■p-^o each — the entire investment not exceeding ^^3,000. The milk from these cows, allowing one-half to the calves, will fur- nish milk, butter, and cheese enough to support the family from the first, with the aid of a small vegetable garden. The calves being detained for six months in the corral, and '* roped oft," after drawing about half the milk, the cows will be gentle and come home at night regularly, — until the herd becomes too large to be ma stock, as in twelve year to y the end o a^'gregate from the \ '^"[y that tir extra hanc thereafter. leaving ^9 support its This showi prices. Bl managed, ij Jn Kansa somewhat d o^ the unbn and fattening better blood for even a stock-raiser Pre-emption, secure water to these unsi considerable pushing- west and ere long- of farming fr Congress has supposed to four miles sq %'its below t petuity, stock Ine purchas the 'i exas cow worth from p aj'OCA' NA/S/iVG IN KANSAS AND COLORADO. 171 to be managed easily at the homestead. The increase from this stock, as has been demonstrated by repeated experiment, will be in twelve years not less than 14,537. Selling off a portion from year to year, at a fair market valuation, and the remainder at the end of twelve years to close out the business, will show the aggregate receipts to have been not less than ;^ 10 1,7 50, aside from the value of the ranche, which will have more than doubled in that time. From this is only to be deducted the cost of an extra hand after the fifth year and an additional one each year thereafter. For this expense $4,250 is an ample allowance, leaving $97,500 net for the twelve years' work. The stock will support itself without the outlay of a dollar for hay or grain. This shows a very handsome profit, even with stock at low prices. But, of course, the profit of a great ranche, properly managed, is proportionately greater. In Kansas and Colorado stock-ranches or farms are managed somewhat differently. The buffalo and gama, or gamma grass, of the unbroken pasturage lands, is somewhat more nutritious and fattening than that of Texas, and the stocks of cattle are of better blood. At present it is not difficult to obtain pasturage for even a large herd, on unsurveyed government lands, the stock-raiser entering perhaps three quarter-sections under the Pre-emption, Homestead, and Timber Culture Acts, in order to secure water for his herd. But there is this difficulty in regard to these unsurveyed lands, that the surveys are going on with considerable rapidity, the frontier of arable farming lands is pushing westward at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles a year ; and ere long the stock-raiser will find himself pushed by the tide of farming immigrants, and will be compelled " to move on." Congress has now before it a bill to sell the pasturage lands supposed to be only fit for pasturage, at a low rate, in lots of four miles square, or about 8,000 acres, reserving its mineral rights below the soil. It will thus be possible to obtain, in per- petuity, stock ranges at a moderate price. The purchasable stock in these States is of better grade than the Texas cows or steers, and brings better prices. Cows are worth from $18 to $20 per head at three years old, and steers 172 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. from «5^8 to $ioat two years old. No sensible stock-raiser would think of purchasin c* JSpa O COWS. Year. One Two Three Four , Five Six Seven Orijjinal Cows at j; 1 8 a head Number of Cows. Number of Calves. Number ..f Heifer Calves. V 1^ (^ Mil 4,000 3,200 1,600 516,000 4,000 3,200 1,600 16,000 5.600 7,200 4.480 5,760 2,240 2,880 22,400 28,800 9,440 : 2,200 16,096 7.552 9.856 12,877 3.776 4.928 6,438 37.760 49.280 ai J6 ifur head 4,000 4,3 . •o v'o. ^ "-^ r. ^ -u G 5. . Vt $8,000 8,000 11,200 14,400 18,880 $4,Soo 4,800 6,720 8,640 $2.S,Soo 28,800 40,320 51,840 56,640 49.280 38,628 72,000 $366,308 174 Om WESTERN F.MPIRR. STEERS. Yrar One... 'I'wo... 'I'lircc. Four.. Five... Six .... Seven . i (J) 1, 600 i,6ro 2,240 2,880 4,928 6,438 Ill 6,000 16,000 22,400 2 ^9.65. (S, ,4,65, profit on ,LV ■, ■ '''""'-^ "'•' l>""i s „(■ I . . .0 value of .,„ p'„p„ "" , ^^^ -'; «t ' S.ooo in ap,!,,.,,-„„„ I amount of the increasing profi , T "'" ■•"'>' ™nsi,l..r,-,We I '...her, and „,e free pa.:;,,^ ' t,-,, ';;;"'•' "' '' °^ ™'-. -<>" e I are more clearly defined, and d,e ^ "'■^'' "'^ ""^ «^^'l'l<-- l-"".* I =".7' 7,' "P"" "'0 market; but etrv r. "f '?* '"^ -'"•^•yod I SKlerable quantity of arable lam , ^ T" '''""''' ''"<-• ^ con- I "T'^ '° '■'>"<=" l,i. beeves for the marl 'r "'"''' "'' "'« «"ck- I "'^''^^ ^ ff"-^" difference in tl,e 'ria i "' '''' """ ''^-''" will I tl.e great ranches of Kansa N I' '"" °'"^"" fo-- 'l^'m. A be -vithin easy distance of die ;::::'r' ''f '■"'°"'''' "'" -" ;;' '?'- ,"-■■> beeves on tl eC tot 7''"'"' '""•■^ "'-h U M,, whence they can be sh^ed for F ' '-"'T ""-»-. -^ I Hitherto they have been cirri 1 '"'"-' ''"'«'■ T """^ ("- -steers vv^ "hh , "b JT "'' '■™'" "«- -States as where d,ey were fattenecfa 1 s'.i" \T ''™"''^)' '° "'->H pool. The Chica^.0 dealers m ,1 T^ °'" '^''"■^■■•'."" 'o Liver ■™ -''I 'l.em in' Liver ^''tt" ''\ -f '' *™' '" ^^°'-.- "o por at,on between Colorado an iC;T,"; ""= ""'^^- '-->"- . "o"- J- W. Barclay, M p " L . P?' '"''' "°t ^o.st over S'o ""-• i" 'he autumn of ,87' "a « V"'^'' Colorado for the th rd ">™' to insist that he Br ti i, Go^' ' "''""■'■^ -= '^"-n, usel ■P'ion by English fan rtof sTor^V^'""'^' allow the in : - - -.^' 'weby ^c:^:r; -t:;"^-;--^ I 03 ',u pa Hi O 4 ^^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I lis ^"" U lit 11=25 1111.4 iiil <^ '/ %^} ?. %^*, "* ^ % fl^.^^ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S8C (716) 672-4503 '4^ ip 4p Jb <^^ "% wmmtmm 176 Oi'/! ll'ESTEK/^ EM I'/ RE. head which now goes into the pocket of the Chicago dealer and shipper. Mr. Barclay demonstrates that we can land fattened cattle at Liverpool at an average price of i^c^o to jjiioo, yielding us a very large profit and still greatly undersell the British stock-raiser in his own market. The shipping of slaughtered beeves in refrigerator cars and steamers with the recent improve- ments in artificial refrigeration offers still greater profits. In the more northern and northwestern Stau.'s and Terri- tories, of which Montana may perhaps be taken as the type, there are some slight differences in the management of the busi- ness, as well as in the pasturage and the character of the stock. In all these States and Territories pasturage is free; that is, the government lands, as yet unsurveyed, furnish, and will for years to come, abundant pasturage in well-watered valleys for much larger numbers of cattle than are likely to be raised there. There is no buffalo or gama grass there, but the bunch grass, especially in Montana, is more nutritious than either, and the stock fatten on it as well as they would on grain, The Montana. beeves have an excellent reputation for juiciness, tenderness, and flavor; the only complaint in regard to them is that they are ico fat. There are no Texas cattle here: they are all of the American or native breed, or grade animals from Short-horn or Hereford stock. Many of the stock-raisers keep them out on the range all winter, and claim that their loss is not more than one or two per cent., as the bunch grass, which grows to the height of two or three feet, is not often covered with snow on the hillsides; but the best stock-men think it safer to provide some of the wild hay, which can be cut and stacked for ^i to $1.25 per ton, against possible emergencies, and also to provide rude shelter for their animals during severe storms. They have one cow-boy to T,500 or 2,000 cattle. The cost of raising a steer for the first four years is from 60 cents to %\ per year. A three or four- year old steer is worth at the ranche about $20, at the larger towns or railroad points from $25 to ^30. Much of the stock- raising \s done in these territories by companies, usually joint- stock companies, who trust the management to a competent and STOCK-RAISING IN CALIFORNIA. i>jm skilful expert, who becomes, after a time, a partner. There is a fine opening for good stock-farmers with little or no capital to make large fortunes in this business. When railroads traverse thcjse territories, as they soon will, the exceptionally fine stock raised here will command much higher prices, and can be shipped to England at considerably less expense than from Colorado. Increasing attention is being paid in Minnesota, Dakota, and Montana to dairy-farming, for which that region possesses fine facilities. Good butter com- mantis a very high price all over that region, and the infusion of Ayrshire, Alderney, or Jersey blood into the stock intended for the dairies will enable the dairy-farmers to supply a vast demand at largely remunerative prices. Recent improvements in the breeding of dairy stock, and in all the processes of butter and cheese-making, have reduced the business almost to one of the exact sciences. Stock-raising in California is not now comparatively so exten- sive a business as it was a few years ago, as former pasturage lands have been taken up for agricultural purposes. Before the American occupation much of the country was taken up in large ranches, often of from 50,000 to 1 50,000 acres, and the Hispano- American owner had his vast herds of Mexican cattle, long and sharp-horned, of vicious temper, thick hides, and lean, rather gamy flesh, droves of the Mexican or mustang horses, and very large flocks of the Mexican sheep, a degenerate breed from the original Spanisii Merino. Very few of these ranches now re- main, and the Mexican cattle have, for the most part, given place to Eastern cattle brought in by the early settlers and im- proved by breeding from the best pure-blooded stock. The stock now actually raised in California is very little beyond what is demanded for home use, and although considerable herds are 'exported, the deficiency in the Californian markets is made up by catde brought from Oregon and Washington Territory. The general quality of California cattle is so high that they are in demand for breeding by the stock-growers of Colorado, Wyom- ing, and Montana, and command liberal prices for that purpose. The climate of California is so mild that stock requires no 12 o I«g OUR If^ESTEKAT EMPIRE. shelter, but the long dry season burns up the herbage so thor- oughly that the best stock-growers find it necessary to sow the Alfalfa and other forage grasses largely to feed their stock in the dryest months. There are still many large ranches, but the proprietors are usually wide-awake Americans, and they do not confine themselves to raising stock. Extensive wheat-fields, vineyards or olive-groves, or the rearing, of great numbers of horses or mules, or large docks of sheep, also occupy their atten- tion and prevent their exclusive interest in either pursuit. The herdsmen or cow-boys — vaqiicros is the more sonorous Spanish name, and is most used in California — are often Mexicans, but quite as often French, German, Swiss, Swedes, or Irishmen. The lasso is used as in Texas in rounding up the herds, and the other features of the business do not differ materially from those already described, except that greater care is taken in improv- ing the breeds by the introduction of the best imported cattle. Dairy farming is rapidly increasing in California. The butter is generally good, and some of it of the "gilt-edged" quality. It brings a high price, ranging generally from 40 to 60 cents a pound, or, which is substantially the same thing, from 60 cents to ^i.io a roll, the roll, though nominally two pounds, always 'Coming considerably short of that weight. The milk is of excel- ilent qualitj', though there are comparatively few Alderncys ori Jersey cows in the State. Cheese is not very largely produced, reliance for this product being had upon the Eastern cheese I •factories. The rearing of horses and mules is not a large branch of the I stock-raising industry west of the Mississippi river, except in California, Texas, and Arkansas, though it is increasing- in Kansas, Colorado, and perhaps Nt:w Mexico. In Texas the| greater part of the horses raised on the ranches are either mus- tangs (the descendants of the Spanish horses introduced into Mexico three centuries ago), very tough and serviceable, buti vicious and tricky, or a cross between these and our largerl American horse, somewhat larger than the mustang and lessj tricky, but not quite so tough. These are usually called bronj chos. The Indian ponies belong to this cross. Horses of better) breeds are raised on sn.aller f,™, , , ' ''» States from States east of „,e XL k™"«'" '"'^ "'«« droves In Calffornia the Norman",??.'' ^T "''" '" '"g« now bemg i„,,oduced i„ la^; , l,:":", ^^r^'^-" '-rses afe The reanng of horses and n,tles '„ ?/°: '^'''"^'" '><>^^«. and some of the large stock.^n",, ^^ ,f° ''^ ^->' Profitable, are turnmg their at,e;,tion to it tL ^T^' ^"'l Colorado roads m these new States and Terrt ' '"'''"'''°" °f '^'i- creased demand for good horses r" '"""^ "<^="« a vastly in- ™se use, and for .he saddle 1;: '"r "?'"""«'"' ^-'a r- settlements tributary to it, all of wWch 1°" ^' '' '-»'a dozen the connection. The raising of mule '^"7 '"'""^ '° '"='k<= s.nce the mule is more suPefc ' u '^."'" ""'•^ P^fi'able, poorer fare than the horse U,:-. " "'^}'"'- ^'"^ "i" live on granted, but that is partly due to '.rT'"'""' """^ ^'""^born- jected. Mules bring on the avera^ e 1 n '° "''"'' ^'^ '» »"b. "-" horses. In the mini„^. di^tricTarr ^°"-^'""^Wy Wfrher ™n.nff reg,ons, mules are i^ o,.'! ?' ^"V^P'^'^''^ '" "»= "ew for drawing the immense frC"^'™'' '' P^'^'^"^"™^'^- «nd pnces for these purposes. The tl'f ?' ""'^ ^'""""'1 high Sanderson & Co., whose line, r.t A ^^^ '°"P'"^' ^^'r'ow. of Western Colorado and K^.t.nt' "m '''"'='■ '° ^" P-' are practicable road.s, keep hun IrecLn" ""' "''"'= "'"« [number of mules in their stable ""' ='"'' '^ ^'i" 'arger , An attempt has been m. i ■ Wf has met with a irird'oTetT '"^ ^•^"'^' '■"'" ^«-. ■ou d seem to be well adapte To ' '"'?''• '^''"^ ^"'•'"••'1 omhern New Me.xico, and lou hJn'c Vr°' '''^^"'' '^"™-. IBactnan species could be intr.H , Cahforn.a, and if the north; but the camel is be t ltd t .? ""'f; "" "^" '"-■ .0 our wide-awake, restless, imp^.tt Ya:^:':' °'''"'^' "■^" < >— « "^ CO W H > OS ;^ « o i8o OUR Wi:sil-.R.\ i: Ml' I RE. CHAPTER XVI. Smf.kp-Farming AND Wool-Growing — Number of Sheep and Annual Increase oi Lamhs in each State or Territory — The Great Wool States — Impkov- in;; 'ihe Breed — Merinos — ('oiswolds — Southdowns — I.licesters — Tastes Differ — Perils of the Flocks from CoLp, Starvation, and Thirst — Winter Shelter and Winter Food Necessary in Kansas and further Norih — Diseases OF Sheep — The Sheep that Browse and the Sheep tiiai' Crop their Food — Shrurs and Plants Poisonous to Sheep — Sheep-I'akm- iNf; — The Shepherds — The Sheep-Farmer in Colorado — The Purchase of the Sheep-Farm — Buying the Sheep — The Account — Beginning on a Small Scale: the Man wi-^h only $1,000 — Crossing the Breed with the Big-horn — The Angora and other Goats — The Rocky Mountain Goat. There are none of the States or Territories of the Great West which are not encjacred to a g^reater or less extent in the rearing of sheep, either for their wool or their flesh, or both ; but the extent of the business, and the size of the flocks, differ very greatly in different sections. The latest statistics give the number of sheep in this Western Empire as approximately 20,810,000, somewhat more than one-half of all in the United States, and the numbers are increasing, at a ratio which will soon enable them to rival Australia in the supply of mutton and woo! to the world. California leads the whole country in numbers and perhaps in quality; her flocks numbering about 7,300,000, and avera.;ing ninety lambs each year to every one hundred ewes. Texas follows with about 4,560,000, of an average quality somewhat 1 below those of California, but improving. Her sheep-growers j claim about eighty lambs annually to one hundred ewes. Col- orado is next with 2,000,000 sheep, mostly of good quality, and I modestly estimates her net increase at seventy-five lambs for| one hundred ewes. Next follow in their order Missouri, Oregon,| and New Mexico, with 1,450,000, 1,250,000, and 1,000,000 re- spectively. Those of New Mexico are largely of the old Mex-j ican breed, and the Navajo Indians have flocks exceedingl 500,000. Utah and Iowa are the only other States or Territoriesj whose Hocks approximate half a million. uoiiid be r as tJicse, ar liicy couid ( b;-st iniportc and began ; ^ents prove Leicester or breeding, the Moreover, it for mutton, ar of size, and t desirable imp and of wool f ^^W Merino bi much Jarg-era best of the feJi '" five or six y jP'-r year, and pcventeen to tv llie crosses [nnitton, and a "^t'rent charac idapted to the Y''^^^ ?oods, tashmeres or an /"robably nine ^'"'■'^ns. approxi "ii'ie over the Ji, BREEDS— M J. :< 1X0 I'REIERKF. D. i8i The original sto.ic on which all, or nearly all these flocks were started, were Mexican ewes, from the original Spanish Merinos brought over here, by the early Spanish settlers, in the sixteenth century, and largely raised on the Missions, which were so numerous in Mexico. They were, in the beginning, good stock for that time; but in three centuries of neglect, they had degen- erated till they were a puny race, gaunt and small, and yielded only from three to four pounds of coarse felting wool annually. Tli(,' California and Texas shepherds readily saw that there would be no profit, either in the wool or mutton of such sheep as these, and though a selection from these were the best ewes liicy could obtain, they procured, often at very high prices, the b;st imported or Eastern Merino, Cotswold or Leicester oucks, and began at once to improve the breed. Some of the experi- ments proved failures. It was found that the cross with the Leicester or Southdown was not desirable, at least until, by cross breeding, the size of the ewes had been materially increased. Moreover, it was more profitable to raise sheep for wool than for mutton, and while it was desirable to have an eye to increase of size, and to improvement of the flesh in the future, the most desirable improvement for the present was the increase of size, and of wool production, by breeding with the largest and best full Merino bucks; thereby producing in two or three crosses, a I much larger and better fleeced sheep. The Merino wool is the best of the felting wools, and by careful breeding, the sheep can in five or six years be brought to yield from ten to twelve pounds per year, and eventually the bucks and wethers reach from |s('venteen to twenty-five pounds of washed wool. The crosses with the Cotswolds bring a better sheep for [nnitton, and a fleece of perhaps equal weight, but it is of a ifferent character — a medium long and fine combing wool, adapted to the manufacture of all kinds of worsted or hard- pisted goods, but not suitable for broadcloths, merinos, pshmeres or any description of the softer woollens. Probably nine-tenths of these vast flocks, or nearly nineteen millions, approximate more or less closely to the Merino standard; vhile over the line in the Dominion of Canada, where the sheep •^ oj U fj ^(a P hJ ' < (a i8a OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. is raised quite as much for the llosh as for the fleece, the Cotswolds, Leicesters and Southdowns are greatly in excess of the Merinos. Even in Texas, those sheep-masters are wisest, wlio provide some shelter, if not fodder for their flocks, in the severe storms which occasionally visit the hill slopes, which form the best pastur- age for shvep. In Southern California, this is never done, but the greatest sufferin^^ to which the flocks are subjected comes from the failure of the pasturage, in the long and dry summer, and the failure also of water. In some years in that State, entire flocks have been almost annihilated by starvation and thirst, and when at last in desperation, the shepherds attempted to drive them to the fresher and moister pastures of the mountains, every foot of the way was strewn with the festering carcasses of the poor animals. By sad experience the sheep-masters of California have learned two things : first, that in the dry season at least, the pastures on the slopes and foot-hills of the mountains are much better lor sheep, than those on the plains, or generally in the valleys: and second, that it is a wise measure of economy to sow Alfalfa, millet, Hungarian grass, or something ofi the sort, to feed to their sheep in seasons when the pasturage is scanty. In Kansas, Colorado, and all the States and Territories farther) north, both shelter and hay or grain are necessary, though not always furnished. In New Mexico and Arizona, the generall practice is to furnish neither, though sometimes the flocks sufferl in consequen( e. The greater part of the flocks in these twol Territories is the Mexican sheep, which is hardier, thousjh far! less valuable, than the improved breeds of the other States and! Territories. .Sheep suffer in some sections from a variety of diseases, manil of them fatal, others greatly depreciating their value. Amonj these are the scab, the result of the attachment of an insect, tkl Acarus scabiei, first to the wool, and afterward to the skin an| flesh of the sheep, causing severe torture and a most intolera itching to the poor animal, causing it to rub off its wool and pn duce ugly sores on its back and sides, in which the pestiferoui DISEASES OF SHEF.P. 183 insect riots and multiplies. This is cured by dipping the sheep several times in a strong decoction of tobacco, or m strong lime- water, or, better still, in a wash to which the impure carbolic acid of tile quality known as " sheep-dip," has been added. Tiiis is by no means the only disease caused by parasitic insects, from which the sheep suffers. The iick is an insect which works its way through the wool into the llesh of the sheep, and, like tlie preceding, causes intolerable itching and loss of wool. Dipping the sheep when they first manift^st the symptoms of its presence is an effectual cure. The various worms or maggots which enter the body of the sheep, or are taken in with the food and hatched in the stomach, are a cause of great suffering and mortality to the poor animal. Among these are the grtib in llie head, the fluke, or liver-rot, tape-warm, lung-worm, the white intestinal worms which cause " tlu pale disease " in lambs, or wliat is known as " paper-skin" in the full-grown sheep— and hydatids or worms in the bladder and kidneys. Most of these diseases are incurable, except in the earlier stages. The usq of sulphur, spirits of turpentine, linseed oil, castor oil, Glauber salts, wood and cob ashes with salt, etc., are recommended, but in these, as in most cases of diseases of animals, the treatment is generally empirical, and without any very clear ideas of the indications to be fulfilled. The fool-rot is another troublesome and often fatal disease, which is especially prevalent in Texas. It is said to be caused by pasturing the sheep on low, moist lands. It first ap- pears as a purulent sore behind the hoofs, and if not treated, not only produces great lameness in the animal, but causes the hoofs to slough off and the sheep to die. This is also best cured by the use of the "sheep-dip," or impure carbolic acid. The black- leg is a more speedily fatal disease, usually affecting young lambs ; the legs become swollen, turn black, and seem filled with a black, decomposed blood, and the lamb dies within two or three days. It is said that bleeding on the first indications of the disease will cure it. Sheep are also subject to pleuro-pneumo- nia, to snuffles and snoring, to colics, constipation, diarrhoeas and scouring. They are generally mucli more healthy in a tolerably dry atmosphere, and on high land along the slopes and p •) I 1 84 Ol'K IVFSTF.RN RSfifKE. foot hills of the mountains. The mesas, or isolated table-lands of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah, would afford th(;m good pasture-grounds, if, by artesian wells, or reservoirs, they could be supplied with the very moderate quantity of water they reqihire. Such a region was found in Palestine, east of the Jor- dan, on the elevated plains or mesas, where the King of Moab, Mesha, and his predecessors, kept their myriads of sheep, 200.000 forming his annual tribute to the King of Israel. Different breeds or varieties of sheep feed in different ways. The Cotswold and Leicester breeds crop the grass very closely, but do not browse, or eat the branches of trees or shrubs ; the Merino, on the contrary, is a browsing animal, and where there are shrubs, plants, or young trees having limbs within reach, it prefers them to grass. This necessitates two precautions in pasturing this breed ; they should not be pastured in an orchard, especially of young trees, as they v/ill do great injury, though on a field of winter wheat during the winter or very early spring, their presence is rather beneficial than injurious, as they do not crop the roots so closely as other sheep. Great care should be taken in their pastures that no poison- ous shrubs or vines should remain within their reach ; for the sheep has not the keen instinct to avoid poisons which the hog possesses. If poke- root {Phytolacca decandra), bitter-sweet {Solanum dulcamara"), deadly nightshade {Digitalis purpurea], aconite, henbane {Hyoscyamus), or either the green or white hellebores, the poison ash, or the poisonous species of the Rhm or sumach, comes in his way, the sheep, and particularly the Merino sheep, will be sure to eat them and die. Sheep-farming is more monotonous and unexciting than stock- raising, or the care of catde or horses; for the sheep is a timid j and harmless creature, easily controlled, and not as intelligent or sympathetic as the horse, the cow, or the dog. The shep- herd has a lonely life in taking care of his flocks, and but for the companionship of his faithful and almost rational companions, the collies, or shepherd-dogs, his lot would be almost intolerable. But, humdrum as it is, it is more immediately profitable, and we suspect, even for a period of ten or twenty years, with flocks of large size, more permanently so, than the cattle range. THE yOU\C SIIEEri-AKMIlK AND HIS ILOCK. I8: Let us illustrate this assertion by taking an actual case, in no respect exceptional, in Colorado. We select this State lji'(aus(i from its central position we find here all or nearly all the advan- tages and disadvantages attending sheep-farming in any [joriion of "Our Western limpire." We take the case of a young man who has, or can command about ;5si 5,000, and who has resolved to put his money into a sheep-farm on the hills, or rather plateaux of Colorado. I le selects as his location V\ Taso county, on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, though he might have found locations, perhaps equally desirable, in Huerfano, Las Animas or Pueblo counties, or perhaps somewhat farther north. But in his choice, he must seek first for the great and important requisite — water. Having found a township containing the necessary number of streams and, if possible, some springs, he next proceeds to pur- chase or secure title to his lands ; for though he might, as the stock-raisers do, pasture his llock on the government lands, yet there is an irrepressible conflict in Colorado between the cattle- herders and owners, and the sheep-farmers and their shepherds, and the sheep-master will be better situated if he owns his land. If there is a land ofificc near him, and a sale takes place, he can purchase a quarter section (160 acres) at the government price, $1.25 per acre. He can next pre-empt 160 acres more for $1.25 per acre and fees, having six or thirty months to pay for it and receive his tide. Next he can claim 160 acres more under the Homestead Act, paying only fees, and having lived on it for five years can obtain his title, and lastly he can claim 160 acres more under the Timber-Culture Act, planting in the course of five years forty acres of trees upon it which he will need for the shelter of his flocks. He has now 640 acres, or one mile square, which may cost him, all told, possibly jj^soo. But he needs more. How ' is he to obtain it? In one of three or four ways. If, as is prob- able, the bill now before Congress passed during the recent session, he can purchase, at a very low price, a tract of from four to eight square miles as pasturage land, subject to the lia- bility of being explored below the surface for minerals, but with [ft guarantee of all his surface rights. If it did not, he can 1l< s 1 86 OLA' HhSTKKX F.MPIKE. buy up soldiers' or bounty land scrip at $3 or )f»3.50 per acre, wliicii he can locate where he pleases. 11 he is within six or eight miles of a land-grant railroad (and all the railroads here- abouts have land-grants), he can purchase from them, probably at ;i^5 per acre, on long time, the additional land he wants. Or he may very possibly fmd, as the man described by Mr. A. A. Hayes, Jr., in Harper s Monthly for January, 1880,* did, a sheep-farm for sale with its corrals, cabins, etc., favorably situat( d, but which its owner, tired of this monotonous life, and anxious to go back to civilization and Kastern comforts, was willing to sell for )i;4,ooo. It is ample for 5,000 slieep, but in ordc.-r to be secure he avails himself of his priviinges already described and secures an additional 640 acres. This purchase made, the joung sheep- farmer has next to buy his sheep. He avails himself of the judgment of an expert, buys 2,000 selected ewes, " second cross " if they are to be had, at <;3 per head — $6,000; and 60 bucks at an average of 5^30 — $i,8co. He needs also a pair of mules and a saddle-horse, for which lu; has to pay about $275 more, and finds it best to break up eighty acres and sow it half in wheat and half in Alfalfa or some otlnr forage crop. This costs him, perhaps, $500 more. He has now left, of his $15,000, $1,925 as working capital. This transaction is completed, we will say October i. He mi;s: employ for this flock one herder, a cook, and for a time team- sters, etc. His ewes will come in during the following May, and from the 2,000 ewes, he will have living, on the first of the following October, a year from the time of making his purchase, at least 1,500 lambs or seventy-five per cent, of the whole number. (The Merino ewe very seldom has twin lambs.) This is a very liberal estimate for losses, blunders, etc. The Texan sheep-masters claim that they raise from eighty to ninety per cent., which would be 1,800, and surely with all his precautions he should do nearly or quite as well, but we prefer to understate rather than overstate the probable results of the business. Let us now go on with his account (supposing him to be an accurate * We are de'Hed to Mr. Hayos* very able article on the " Shepherds of Colorado," for most of the details of this account of the expenses and profits of a sheep-farm. ^ I and careliil accountant) lor tlie ni^xt llirce years. I lis gross increase of values and receipts for this first year will be: 1,500 lambs (average one-half ewes, one-half wethers), at $i each . ^3,000 00 In June ho shears his wool, and gets fronn : s.or'^ ewes, 5 lbs. each, or 10,000 lbs., at 3i cents . $3,100 00 60 bucks, 17 lbs. each, or 1,000 lbs., at 15 cents . . 150 00 3,350 00 $5,250 00 Expemes : Murder!^, (canisters, cook, and provisions 5»»S35 00 Sli'-aring 2,060 sheep, at 6 cents i 23 60 Hay and grain 375 00 $2,233 60 Losses (all estimated as made up, in money) : Elwcs, 4 per cent, on $6,000 ^240 00 Bucks, 5 per cent, on $1,800 90 00 330 00 Depreciation : On bucks, 5 percent, on 1,800 90 00 2,653 ^° Net profits for first year $2,596 40 SECOND YEAR. The 1,500 lambs will be a year older, and worth an additional 15 per cent, (or 15 per cent, on $3,000) $450 00 1,500 new lambs will be worih, as before 3>ooo 00 And there will be of wool from 2,000 sheep, 5 lbs. each, or 10,000 lbs., at 21 cents . $2,100 00 1,500 lambs, 4 lbs. each, or 6,000 lbs., at 21 cents . 1,260 00 60 bucks, 17 lbs. each, or 1,000 lbs., at 15 cents . 150 00 3.510 co $6,960 00 Expenses : Herders, etc $2,060 00 Shearing 3,560 sheep, at 6 cents 213 60 Hay and grain 330 00 $2,623 60 Losses : On ewes, 4 per cent, on $6,000 $240 00 On bucks, 5 per cent, on $1,800 .... 90 00 On lambs, 7 per cent, on $3,000 . . . . 210 00 540 00 Depreciation : On ewes, 5 per cent, on $6,000 $3°° 00 On bucks, 5 per cent, on $i,Soo .... 90 00 390 00 3>553 60 Net profits for second year $3,406 40 S ig^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. THIRD YEAR. The second year's lambs will be worth an additional 15 per cent., or, say (15 percent, on 113,000) ^45© 00 There will 'be 1,500 lambs from original 2,000 ewes, and, say, from newj5o ewes (one-half of 1,500, not more than 60 per cent, in first lambing, or, say, 450 — in all, 1,950 lambs, at %2 . 3,900 00 Wool will be : From 3,500 ewes, 5^ lbs. each, or 19,250 lbs., at 21 cents . $4,042 50 From i,95olambs, 4lbs. each,or7,8oolbs.,at2icent3 1,638 00 From 60 bucks, 17 lbs. each, or 1, 000 lbs., at 15 cents 15000 5,83050 $io,i8o 50 Expenses : Herders and fodder ^^2,970 00 Shearing 5,510 sheep, at 6 centF 330 60 New corrals, etc 300 00 $3,600 60 Losses : On ewes, 4 per cent, on $6,000 .... $240 00 On new sheep, 4 per cent, r i $4,500 . . . 180 00 On lambs, 7 per cent, on $3,000 . . . . 210 00 On bucks, 5 percent, on $1,800 .... 90 00 720 00 Depreciation : On old ewes, 10 per cent, on $6,000 . . . $600 00 On bucks, 20 per cent, on $1,800 .... 360 00 960 00 5,280 60 Net profits for third year $4)899 90 RECAPITULATION. First year's profits $2,596 40 Second year's profits 3i4o6 40 Third year's profits 4,899 90 Total $10,902 70 At the end of five years after selling off the original 2,000 ewes, which are now more than replaced by those of a better grade, which will give larger lambs, and yield heavier fleeces, and disposing also of 2,000 wethers and lambs, our your j sheep- master finds that his net profits received within th- .ive years amount to a little more than $37,500, and that he has still on hand 3,500 ewes and ewe lambs, 2,013 wethers and male lambs all over a year old, 150 bucks, of high grade and good size, and il SHEEP FARMliWG OiW A S^f.t/./. iCILE. |3g that the increased value of his land and buildings being added to his stock its present value is $28,767. In other wordi: he has earnings, stock on hand and improved land to show to the amount of 1(^66,267, for an original investment of not more than 113,200, or about 500 per cent, advance in five years. Extend the time to ten years, and if he can obtain land he will, after selling off his surplus stock to the aniount of at least $25,000, have a (lock of 25,000 sheep, 450 bucks, and can shear Irom 180.00') to 200,000 pounds of wool annually, and his possess^ions, in land, buildings, and animals in the a'jsence of any extraordinary misfortune, are worth from $100,000 to $i20,cco, and his net income over $40,000 a year. Of course it is possible to build up a handsome fortune in the course of ten or twenty years from a much smaller beginning than this; there were instances, when land was lower and sheep- ranges on government lands were, more available than now, when an investment of $',000 resulted in an ample fortune in fifteen or twenty years. If, however, the emigrant knows something of the care of sheep, and has but a thousand dollars, our advice to him would be to secure land, if he can, under the Homestead and Timber Culture Acts, or by pre-emption, and hire himself out in some capacity to a large sheep-farmer, either taking his pay in lambs to be herded with his employer's flock, or investing a part of his money in them, and gradually getting ready his cabin and corrals, putting out his trees, and hire, say, forty acres of his land broken and seeded to wheat, and perhaps an equal quantity to corn. Alfalfa or millet. In this way he can, at the end of three or four years, have a range of his own with 1,000 ewes to stock it and can go on swimmingly from that time. His wheat and forage plants, f jr whi^ h there is a ready sale, will bring him not only an ample support, if he takes his pay for herding in lambs, but will give him additional means for the pur- chase of land and stock. But we would not advise a young man to narry or to bring his family to this wild primitive life till he has a comfortable cabin and sheep-ranche of his own. The life of the shepherd on a large sheep-farm is isolated and lonely, though not in most sections fraught with any considerable dan- (0 J2 pa s MH 190 OUR IVRSrERN EMPIKE. gar; but his family would find it monotonous and wearisome beyond me.'xsure In Texas the sheep-farmer usually resides with his family in a village, which may be ten, twenty-five, or even fifty miles from his farm and flocks. It is not necessary that he should be daily in attendance there if he has competent and faithful shepherds. As land becomes more valuable even for pasturarj^e in this Great West, and there comes a demand for a hardier breed of sheep which can ascend to the higher mountain pastures, and whose flesh will be of finer flavor, it may be worthy of experi- ment to try the crossing of the wild native Rocky Mountain sheep or Big-horn with the largest Merino grades, and thus pro- duce a large and hardy breed which will combine the excellen- cies of both. The Big-iiorn ranges in weight from 250 to 350 pounds, and thrives and fattens where the common sheep would starve. Its coat or fleece is a fine and siiky hair rather than wool. Its flesh is tender and of excellent flavor. Its form and motions are graceful. If these qualities could be grafted upon the Merino, without materially injuring the value of its fleece, though they might change its character, it would be a great gain to the sheep-masters. The rearing of the .Angora goat has become a favorite in- dustry with many of the larger stock-farmers of the West. A single stock-farm in Colorado has 8,000 of these animals, and they are largely raised in California, Texas, and to some extent in Kansas and Wyoming. Tiiose raised here are usually grades from pure Angora or Syrian bucks crossed with selected she- goats of the native stock, and the crossing continued until the progeny is not more than one-eighth or one-sixteenth of the common stock. The mohair or curly glossy hair from these is said to be fully equal to the best Syrian mohair. They are hardy, of much larger size than the common goat, will live and :hrive on the roughest and poorest fare, while their fleece is very valuable. If the so-called Rocky Mountain goat [Aploccrus Montanus) is really a goat and not a goat-like antelope — a point not yet quite settled — a cross of this and the Angora goat, which it s»;rongly resembles, might be still better. OTHER EMPLOYMENTS. , |g| The flesh of the Angora goat is better than that of the com- mon goat, and it yields about four quarts daily of an excellent and rich milk, while the cost of its k(>cping is only about one- twelfth that of a cow. In some scc:ions this is an important consideration. CHAPTER XVII. Employments in Citiks, Towns and ViLtAOEs — Horticulture, Floricul- ture, Arboriculture — Mercantile Business — Bankinc; — '"'me I'rokes- sioNS, Clergymen, Lawyers, Physicians, Engineers, Artists, Muskians, and Teach srs oi" Music, Vocal and Instrumental — Teaiiiers and Edu- cators — Artisans of all Trades — Machinists, Operatives, and Em- ployes IN Manufacturing Establishments — Emplovmi-nis Connected WITH Mining, Reducing, Smelting, and Refining Metals — Farming, Herding, and other Employes — Day-Laijorers — Facilities for Manufac- turing — Water- Power, Steam-Poweu — Woollen Manufacture — Cot- ton Manufactures and Cotton Sekd — Other Textiles — Ikon and Iron Wares — Machinery — Manufactures of Wood, etc. "But," says the man who is contemplating a migration to the Great West, and who has read the preceding pages with great interest, " in all this, I do not find anything which exactly hits my case. I have not the capital necessary for the purchase or opening of a mine of gold or silver, of platinum or copper, of lead, zinc, or iron ; nor have I the education in metallurgy, which would qualify me for that bi'siness, if I had the cai'iial. I am not familiar with the dmber or the lumber trade, and Jie capital for engaging in that is lacking. I have no practical accjuaintance with farming, am no judge of soils, and if I were to [uit what little money I have into a farm, I should probably k ,c it all, and find myself a penniless stranger in a strange land. I have never been accustomed to the care of large herds of cattle or flocks of sheep, and if I had, these callings require a capital which is far beyond my means. Is there not something which a professional man, or an educated man of small means, or of a limited fixed income, or a retired army officer, engineer, chemist, or govern- «■ MM 192 OUR WESTERX EMPIRE. ment clerk, banker's clerk, accountant, tradesman, gardener, florist, nurseryman, carpenter, builder, painter, mason, marble worker, glazier, tinman, jeweller, blacksmith, brass-founder, paper-maker, factory operative, or willing and honest day- laborer can do?" Yes, friend, there is room enough and work enough for all these classes, and to whichever of them you belong, if you are in prime health and vigor, and have enterprise, patience, endurance, and even a small capital, you can do well in your calling. An English immigrant, who had tried a great variety of pur- suits without adhering long to any, and whom Mr. A. A. Hayes, Jr., met on a sheep-farm in Colorado, herding sheep at $20 a month and his keeping, said to Mr. Hayes, with a grim resolu- tion, " I tell you a feller can just make money in this country, but lies got to have sandy Sand is the Colorado vernacular {or grit, or dogged resolution. The Great West is no place for any man who is easily dis- couraged or disheartened, and who, after a two or three months' trial of a business, into which he has thrown very little energy, becomes home-sick, and concludes that he had better return to the East or to Europe. Such a man will not succeed anywhere. But to the man who has energy and pluck, who is not cast down because everything does not go just as he expected it won! 1 T the man who has given pledges to fortune, who has a wife .mJ little ones dependent upon him, or who is looking for- ward to having a home to which he can bring one dearer to him than life, or who has parents or minor brothers and sisters, who must look to him for support, the man who knows hov*' to do at least one thing well, and who is observant, patient, brave, honest and true, there is no part of the world where he can do better, whatever his calling, than this great Western Empire. Such a man has been an assistant to a market-gardener, florist, or nurseryman at the East or in Europe. He has become familiar with the plants, flowers, shrubs, or young trees to be raised, and with the best methods of propagating and cultivating them, and he has been sufficiently prudent and far-.sightcd to save ^400 or {^500 to start in his new home at the West. Let THE FLORIST OR MARKET-GARDENER. 193 him locate his garden, or nursery, or market-garden, as near as may be to some one of the new towns, which are springing up ail over this region. If he is early enough to take up his forty acres under the Timber-Culture Act, it will be just the thing, for he can plant his ten acres with trees for nursery purposes, and while obtaining his land for ten or fifteen dollars, can be making a profit from the trees, which give him the land. But if there is no suitable location of this kind available, he can buy land from the government, near the railroad, for ^^2.50 an acre, or with sol- diers' bounty warrants, or from the railroad company, so that it will not cost him at the utmost over 5^200 for the forty acres he takes, and this on sufficient time, to enable him to realize on his first crop before paying for it. The breaking up the sod will be the first considerable expense, and this he can provide for, either i)y changing works with a neighbor, or, which will be better, by hiring out for a year to some one in one of the same lines of business with himself. Meantime he can put in his first crop, and, if he is wise, he will make that a root crop, potatoes, beets, turnips, ruta-bagas, sweet potatoes, or something of the sort. From this crop, even on twenty acres, he will realize enough to build his cabin, stock his nursery, flower-garden, or market- garden, and obtain a horse and wagon, or a pair of pack-mules or asses. Starting thus fairly in his second year, he will find, if he will make his place and wares known, that there is a ready and good market for everything h~ can raise; and so rich is the virgin soil, that for perhaps a score of years, no manure, or at most only that made on the place will be needed. At the end of three or, at the most, four years from the time he first plants his foot in the West, he is so well situated as to be able to sup- port his family, or those dependent on him, in comfort, and that without impairing his business capital. If he is very enterprising he will be likely by this time to combine the three vocations of I market-gardener, florist, and nurseryman, and acquiring more land, and employing the necessary help, he will soon be on the ;h road to fortune. : ' . . 17 The intending immigrant has been perhaps a clerk or small Iproprietor of a grocery or a dry-goods shop, or of a druggist's >3 < Is 11-4 mim 194 OUA' WESTERN EMPIRE. or apothecary shop. He has saved, by careful economy, ;^6oo or ^800. He understands his business well, knows where, when and how to buy, and how to sell. What can he do ? This is the most difficult class to provide for, and yet the case is by no means a hopeless one. We would advise that the im- migrant should select some point where a village or town is just commencing, either in a mining or farming region, and visit it before purchasing his goods ; find out what goods will be wanted, and v.'hat quantities, and then, having secured a town-lot before they have had an opportunity to rise much, and, if he can buy to advantage, a forty-acre lot in the vicinity, and arranging for the erection of a shop, of sods, logs, or slabs, only so that it is suffi- ciently roomy and cheap, let him buy his goods, if east of the Rocky Mountains, at Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Joseph, Omaha, Kansas City, or Denver, Galveston, or Houston ; or if he needs and can afford a larger stock, at Chicago, St. Louis, or New Or- leans. There is no advantage in going farther East for the quanti- ties he will want, and, ere long, the commercial travellers will visit him and take his orders, if he will allow them to do so. At first he will be obliged to buy on credit in part, but as soon as possi- ble he should pay cash for his purchases, and in selling, a week's credit is better than a month's. Grocers, shopkeepers, and the mercantile class generally, are sure to be ruined if they buy and sell on credit. The shopkeeper should make his prices as low as possible, and deal justly and honestly by his customers, but -he should insist on cash payments, or, at the utmost, give credit only for from ten to thirty days. Doing this, and buying closely, paying cash for everything as soon as possible, and living eco- nomically, the merchant, shopkeeper, or grocer, though he may not make money so rapidly as those in some other callings, can- not fail, whatever the times, and will be likely, in the course of a dozen years or so, to acquire a competence. The purchase of forty or eighty acres of land will prove advantageous, as it will add to his credit much more than its value, and when improved will add to his profits also. For the young banker who is skilled in finance, and has a good 1 credit at the East for his honor and integrity, even though he I BANKERS, CLERGYMEN. 195 may not have much capital, there is a good opening in almost every part of the West. Coming to a town or city with good references, and plenty of enterprise, he can, in the legitimate course of his business, make a fortune in a few years, if he will carefully avoid all reckless speculation. Men, and men in new mining and farming communities especially, are very credulous and reckless in trusting their money with anybody who will promise to take care of it for them ; but they will be furious if they find that they have been defrauded. But both mining and the sale of crops require banking operations, and if these arc well and honestly conducted, the young banker has an excellent opportunity for success. The professions are somewhat in danger of being crowded, though " there is always," as Horace Greeley said, " plenty of room at the top." Clergymen coming to settle in the new towns or villages, if dependent upon their professions for a living, and having sufficient health to preach and act as pastors, will find it necessary in most cases, at first, to take an appointment from their denominational missionary boards, and draw a part of their pay from thence, as the young churches, in these new settlements^ are generally composed of those who have yet their fortunes to make ; and though they may be, and often are, liberal, even to an extent beyond their means, they cannot, at first, erect churches and support their pastors without aid. This condition of things is, however, but temporary, and the missionary societico at the East, with their wealthy clientage at home, furnish most of the aid required, till they are able to go alone. In cases of emigra- tion in colonies, of which we shall have more to say by and by, the colonies are often of a single denomination, and bring their pastors with them. This has usually been the case with the I Scandinavian, Mennonite, and Roman Catholic colonies from [Europe, and with many of those from the Eastern States. If a clergyman of moderate means, who is not disposed, on account [of health or for any other cause, to devote himself solely to his clerical duties, migrates to this western region, the way is open Ito him, of course, to engage in farming, wool-growing, stock- jraising, mining or any other reputable employment, and his P i < S ■■i daiiMB 1 90 CUR W'liS'lERiV EMPIRE. chances of success are not lessened by his profession, while he may, if he is really an earnest Christian man, do a great amount of ^-ood. The lawyers have a better chance foi'a fortune than the cler^^y- men, especially in the mining districts, although they congregate tliorc in large numbers. There is always a great deal of litiga- tion in regard to mining property, and the disposition of mininir estates ; and in addition to this, crimes against the person, figlus, siiooting affrays, murders and suicides, the results of the two great vices of mining towns in their early history, — gambling and intemperance — are sufficiendy rife to give employment to very many lawyers. In the farming towns there is less litigation, but conveyancing and disputes about boundaries, transportation, and prices of crops, and other matters, give the legal profession generally, a fair share of business. The joint-stock companies, which now carry on most of the mining, and a large part of tin; farming, stock-raising, and sheep-growing ranches, each have their counsel, and sometimes more than one. In addition to this, the legal profession have almost a monop. oly of polidcs. They slide into political life as easily as a tliick takes to water, and sooner or later some of its prizes — mem- bership of die State House of Representatives, State Senate, or Congress, United States Senatorships, Judgeships, from the lowest to the highest, United States Commissionerships, United States Marshalships, Clerks of courts, and of counties, or State offices — fall to their lot. Physicians have not so good an outlook as the legal profession, though they swarm in the newer towns in great numbers, and perhaps the most arrant quacks have, at first, as good a chance as the best educated and most accomplished physicians, Bui time in this, as in most matters, brings about its revenges. Edu- cation, talent, integrity, and skill, will in the end triumph. There are probably, in most of the towns and villages of the West, more physicians than can get a living by their profession ; bu: some of them, who are skilful as chemists or metallurgists, will become connected with mining interests; others, accompiisheii botanists, anatomists, zoologists, or geologists, will turn aside to I P/lYSfCIAJ^S, ENGINEERS, Ak'TISTS. 197 these pursuits, and perhaps fill a professor's or tcaclier's chair ; while others still will enjj^ajrc in farming, or sheep, or stock- raisino^; and with the rai)iclly increasing population, there will he room for more, if they are of the best sort. We cannot, how- ever, advise physicians, born an* iM s Iij8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE, these new lands? Most assuredly lie can, and the higher and purer his artistic attainments, the more abundant will be his patronaj^e. The vast wealth attained by a large number of mining and other capitalists in this region, is freely lavished on objects of art, and they are not generally so ignorant as not to , know a good picture or group of statuary when they see it. iXowhere is the true artist more sure of iiearty appreciation tlian lie re. As to musicians and teachers of music, vocal and Instrumental, there is no calling in greater demand. A very large proportion of the emigrants from Europe are Germans, lovers of music from their birth. Another considerable portion are Scandinavi- ans, equally gifted in natural fondness for music, while for tlie others instrumental and vocal music has come to be considered a necessity. Nowhere is the performance of a really excellent brass band more thoroughly appreciated than in any of these western towns ; the best opera-singers receive a far more enthu- siastic reception, in the towns and cities of this western region, than awaits them in the great cities of the East. Every church and hall has its choir, and every town of 3,000 inhabitants its musical association for culture in vocal or instrumental music. As an instance of the fondness of the western people for parlor- music, an incident related by a visitor to Colorado may suffice, This gentleman went to Leadville, Colorado, when it was in the formative plastic condition, in the winter or spring of ic/S, There were very few even frame buildings yet erected, and the majority of the citizens were living in large tents, happy if they could secure boards enough for a floor to keep them from the mud. Sod-houses were also in demand, among those who found the tents a little too frail for the strong winds. The near- est accessible railroad station was 130 miles distant, and the roads leading to it were horrible beyond description. The low- est price of transporting freight' from the railroad station to Leadville was fifty cents a pound, and the railroad freights to their final station were also very high. There were yet very few women in the town, as the accommodations were so rougli and poor. He had been doing some business with a young man ^aps in the good teacht Tile immens( agement m a MUSICIANS AND MUSICTEACnF.RS, |pn who was working energetically at a shaft of a new mine, and whom he found very intelligent, though roughly clad ; and at the; conclusion of his business, the young miner asked him to go home and dine with him if he could put up with "canned vittles." lie accepted the invitation, and the miner led the way through the mud to one of these tent-houses. They were met at tho door by a very beiutifMl young lady, whom the miner introduced as his wife. She was plainly but tastefully dressed, and her manners and conversation showed that she was a well-educated, refined and accomplished woman. As she arranged the table for their meal, the visitor looked about the room, and was aston- ished to see on one side a Chickering grand-piano. " How did you ever get that here?" he asked. "Oh," was the reply, "it was brought piece-meal on the backs of pack-mules, and we put it together after it came." " But it must have cost you an enormous sum to transport it so far?" "Well, yes, a litde under |i200, but then we were both so fond of music, and my wife is one of the best players I ever heard, and I was afraid she would be lonely here amid so many discomforts." The visitor expressed a desire to hear some pieces played, being himself a connoisseur in music, and when his hostess complied with his re- quest, without any apologies or excuses, he was fain to confess that her husband had not overrated her skill. The railroad has but just reached Leadville, but among the wares offered for sale in its principal thoroughfares, pianos and cabinet organs, as well as other musical instruments, hold a con- spicuous place. In the farming districts the great ambition of the farmer, after he has purchased and paid for his harvester, is to get a " pianny" for his daughter. "But," asks another anxious immigrant, "can you tell us whether the schoolmaster, or the teacher of any description has a chance there?" "Yes, indeed! There is a very active de- mand for good teachers aH over this vast region, greater per- haps in the northern and middle tier than in the south, but a good teacher will find employment very readily anywhere. The immense amount of school-lands and their judicious man- agement in all the new States and Territories, insures for them, S9 '3 0} S 200 oi'h' /r/.A/'/iA'A' I.Mr IK E. in the not distant future, such an endowment as can he found in no other country. Two sections (1,280 acres, or one-eij^hlecntli of the whole area) in each townsiiip are set apart for common or public scliools, and heside th(! interest on these funds, there is a State school fund, from the proceeds of fines, civil or military, the sale of estrays, etc., and a district tax which is at present three or four times the amount received from the school funds. Kansas, which is a fair representativ(; of these States and Terri- tories, will have, when its school lands are sold, a school fund of $13,000,000 for its common schools alone. It expended on these schools, in 1879, about ^5^1, 400,000, of which a full million was paid for teachers' wages ; paying its male teachers a monthly average of about $33, and its female teachers about $26. This included town and country ; the average wages in the towns were, of course, higher. In the older settled and more populous counties the average of monthly wages is, for the whole county, from ^43 to $50 for male, and from ^^30 to ^40 for female teachers. There arc also liberal appropriations of lands, in all these States and Territories, for the endowment of a State University, a State Agricultural College, and generally of Normal Schools and State Institutions for the Blind and Deaf Mutes. There are also, ill c'ach State and Territory, many private and denomina- tional schools, some of them liberally endowed. These educa- tional endowments are not suffered to remain unused. The progress of common school, as well as of higher education, has been, in w^^arly all this region, rapid beyond any former prece- dent. No village, no hamlet even, is without its district school, and the settler pays no tax with greater alacrity, than that for the maintenance of the school. There are two or three excc[)- tions to this general prevalence of a desire for the best educa- tional privileges. In Utah the school funds, and generally the public schools, are under the control of the Mormons, and the opportunities of primary education do not average more than twelve weeks of tuition to the pupils in attendance, who are only 43.5 per cent. of the school population ; and the higher schools arc few and KDUCATIONAI. CONDITION. 20 1 not of iiigh grade. This dcficicnry is partly mad(; up hy private or donoininational schools, but these are not very well sustained, in New Mexico, where a lar^e pro[)()rtion of the in' ;il)itants are llispano-Americans and Pueblo Indians, anil more than nin(?ty-live per cent. Roman Catholics, the control of the school funds has fallen into the hands of the Jesuits and other monastic and teaching ortlers of the Roman Catholic Church, ami these moneys have been perverted to exclusive denominational teaching, and even to paying the boaril of tlieological students in Roman Catholic seminaries. These abuses cannot be pre- vented until there is a more enterprising and larger non-catholic population ; but, until a change takes place, the territory cannot come into the Union as a State, since it has not a fully Repub- lican form of government. In Texas and Arkansas, there has been, until recently, less interest in public instruction than in some of the more northern States ; but this difference is fast disappearing, and the school systems of these States are being rapidly and efficiently organ- ized.''' Texas has a large number of private and denominational schools, many of them of a high grade. On its admission into the Union, having been previously an independent Republic, it did not cede its unclaimed lands to the United States Govern- ment, but retained them all in its own possession. . The State has, however, made a very liberal provision of lands for school purposes, and will eventually have a large school fund. For artisans of all the usual trades there is, in the newer States and Territories, ample employment. Carpenters and builders, masons and bricklayers, and generally tinners, painters, and glaziers, are in especial demand, and at fair wages. Bakers and confectioners find employment in the towns and cities^ and the plumbers, gas-fitters, and brass-founders are mostly confined I to the larger cities. Butchers are, of course, wanted everywhere, and fishermen and fish-dealers find generally ample employment on the coasts, and in the rivers and lakes of the interior, which jabound in fish of most of the edible kinds. *Tlie newly awakened zeal for public school education in Arkansas is said to be almost phe- nomenal; and indicates a brilliant future for a State, which, in spite of gre.tt natural advantages, has, in the past, been apathetic, and lacking in public spirit and enterprise. s 202 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Hatters and furriers find business enough where furs and pelts are so plentiful ; the blacksmith finds constant employ, and the saw-mill and grist-mill are kept busy, and profitably so. Machinists have abundant work in the mining districts, and to some extent nlso in the farming region, since the universal use of agricultural machinery often necessitates repairs which are beyond the ordinary skill of the blacksmith ; and where there are extensive fiouring mills, they, too, require the skill of an expert for their repairing. Manitfactut'in r is conducted with great advantage at many points, the admirable water-powers being so abundant, and oper- atives fi\m woollen mills, cotton mills (a limited number), all kinds of wood-working factories, millers, sugar-boilers, brewers, smelters, furnace men, and workmen on coats, vests, and panta- loons, overalls, etc., etc., will find employment in Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, California or Texas, and the metal workers in most of the mining districts. Farm-hands, herdsmen, and shep- herds will seldom fail of employment, in the farming and grazing regions, if they are trustworthy and faithful, even though they may not have had much previous experience. The day-laborer, unskilled in any of the arts or trad s, is wel- comed in all parts of the West, if he is honest, temperate, and willing to work. On the farms there is plenty of work for him, except in mid-winter; in the grazing districts, there is always need for extra hands at fair wages, and he can, if he will, acquire, for a merely nominal sum, a piece of land sufficient for the needs of his family, and erecdng a sod-house at only the cost of labor, can be comfortably situated, and, in a few years, can attain what to him will be a competence, such as he could never have acquired in the East or in Europe. In the mining districts, too, there is abundant work for brawny arms and powerful muscles. Here, also, he can have what land he needs, almost for the asking, and the chickens, eggs, potatoes, and other vegetables he can raise, and the pigs he will contrive to keep, will always com- mand a high price at his own door. Then there are railroads to be built, canals and irrigating ditches to be dug, and sluices to be laid and tended. FACILITIES FOR MANUFACTURWG. 203 The industrious, well-behaved, and honest day-laborer can nowhere have a better chance of bettering his position than in the Great West. Not a few of the great bonanza capitalists and mine-owners have, with commendable enterprise and industry, worked their way up from this very class. One of these men said to a friend, a few months ago, " Tom, I /ead the papers now-a-days what I can, though I make rather slow work of it, for you know my early eddication was neglected, all along of my having to carry a hod so much when I was a boy ; but I find some things in the papers that bother me. I thought I knew all the wild varmint about here pretty well, for I have shot enough of 'em, but the papers are telling about a new one, which they ray is very plenty, but I don't seem ever to have heerd of it before." "What do they call it?" asked his friend. "A lynix," was the answer, "and that's what bothers me ; I don't seem to remember no lynixes round here." " How do they spell it ? " asked the other. •' L-y-n-x — lynix," said the capitalist. " Why that spells lynx ; you certainly know what lynxes are ? " ''Lynx, is it ? To be sure I do ; I've killed hundreds of 'em ; but who ever thought of spelling lynx that a way; I supposed it was spelt l-i-n-k-s. What a fool I was, to be sure." As to vianufactiiring, it is believed that no part of the world offers greater facilities for it than this Western Empire. Wher- ever water-power is desirable, there is no lack of the most maofnificent water-falls on the grlobe. In the whole northern tier of States and Territories, Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, there is water-power, yet unutilized, sufficient to put in motion all the machinery on the globe. In the middle tier — Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Colo- rado, Utah, Nevada, and California — there is an abundance; though in some of these States, as, for instance, in Kansas and Nebraska, the fall is not as great ; while in the southern tier — Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Indian Territory, Arizona, and New Mexico — the water-power is sufficient, and more than sufficient, for all practical purposes, present and prospective. If it should be contended that, under favorable circumstances, S3 s mm 204 OCA' WESTEAW EMPIRE. Steam-power is more economical than water-power, though we might be incHnec! to doubt it, where the water-sup[)iy was con- stant and from a sjufficient head or height, still we can point the advocates of steam to the immense coal-beds already described, which traverse nearly or quite every State and Territory, and furnish a fuel which is very cheap, abundant and admirably adapted to its purpose. Within the next ten years wool will become one of the largest products of this region, and the wool- growers of the vast grazing districts will not consent to send their wool to the East, and have it manufactured there, to be returned to them, with its value enhanced, five or ten fold, or as in the finer goods, twenty or thirty fold. They will prefer to have it manufactured in their own vicinity, and thus not only the cost of a double transportation saved, but a considerable portion of the manufacturer's profit also. Already the woollen goods of California and Oregon have a much higher reputation, in certain lines, than those produced elsewhere in Europe or America ; and commanding the finest and most perfect machinery and workmen of the highest skill, with their wool at a lower price than it can be obtained elsewhere, there seems to be no good reason why any goods made wholly or in part of wool, should not be produced there, in the greatest perfection, and at the lowest price. The mohair goods made in part from the hair and fleece of the Angora goat, and in part from the long combing wool of the Cotswold or Leicester sheep, and, in the cheaper grades, a filling of cotton, can be made equally well here. The material is all at hand for making these goods of better quality, and at lower prices than they have ever yet brought. In the southern tier of States and Territories, the manufacture of cotton goods can find its finest development. By a process discovered a few years since, the cotton can be spun into yarns of all degrees of fineness, just as it comes from the field, unginned, and with its beautiful and glossy fibres unbroken and unbruised by the teeth of the gin, while the cotton seed can be pressed for its valuable oil, and its oil-cake sold to the farmers and stock-raisers for their cattle. The cloths made from this MANUFACTURES OF TEXTILES, IRON AND WOOD. 205 unginned cotton will far surpass in beauty and durability any cotton goods made elsewhere ; while the cost of manufacture will be greatly reduced, and there will be no waste. Other textiles, the growth of this region — flax, hemp, jute, ramie, agave and other fibres, the cactus fibre and the tule rush, bunch grass, straw, etc. — can be manufactured very largely into cloths and into paper pulp, the uses of which are every day in- creasing, till already everything, from the driving-wheel of a locomotive, to a petroleum barrel, or a linen handkerchief, a house, a wash-pail, a lamp, or a pill-box, is made from it. But it is not simply in the department of textiles that the Great West offers the best field for manufactures. Iron and steel can be smelted and manufactured more cheaply than any- where else, and the telegraph wires which span the world, the rails which stretch across the continent, the steel plates for our new navy, the huge steel guns which will constitute its offensive armament, the locomotive and stationary engines, and the vast and complicated machinery used in the reduction or smelting of gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, lead, or zinc, as well as the agricultural machines which now cannot be manufactured fast enough to supply the demand, and the infinitude of iron and steel castings, will all be manufactured in this western land, not simply on its borders, as now, but in the very heart of the country. The manufactures of wood in all their numberless varieties of wooden ware, furniture, machinery, carriages, wagons, carts and drays, doors, sashes, blinds, and even houses all complete, with inner walls of a compound of paper and gypsum, are already largely produced in many parts of this Great West, and are destined to an infinitely larger production, as the demand for them oroes on increasing:. There is then abundant room and employment for every honest, industrious man who will come, but no room for the idler, sluggard, or drone. > 206 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER XVIII. The Future, the Glorious Future of this Grand Empire of the West — The Causes which have led to its Growth — Bishop Berkeley's Pre- diction — The "Empire" he saw — The Germ of the Great Repub- lic — What the Empire is, and what it is to be — Irs (iKowrii and future Capacity — The future Climate — The future Soil and Pro- ductiveness — Influence of Railroads in Developing this Region — The Gold and Silver Mines as aiding in the Development of the Country — The Future of the Mines of the Precious Metals — The Western Slopes of the Rocky Mountains full of Gold and Silver — Results of Increased Production of Gold and Silver — Effect of Increased Production of other Metals — No Metal but Tin to be Imported — Mineral Earths and Elements to be Developed — Coal — Petroleum — Metallic and Mineral Products of the Far West in 1880 — The Production of a. d. 1900 — Vegetable Products — Wheat — Indian Corn — Corn Crop of 1879 — Sorghum — Sorghum Sugar — Oats — Barley — Rye — Buckwheat — Egyptian Rice Corn — Summing up of Cereal Products — Root Crops — Potatoes — Sweet-Potatoes — Other Root Crops — Orchard Products — Textiles — Cotton — The future Demand for Cotton — Wool — Wool Clip in a. d. 1900 — Other Textiles — The Hay Crop — Dairy Products — Tobacco — Sugar, not from Sorghum — Hops — Summary of Vegetable Products, Exclusive of Cereals — Fisheries of the Pacific AND THE Gulf, of the Lakes and Rivers of the Interior — Fish-Culture, Present and Prospective — Live-Stock in 1880 and 1900 — Forest PRODucrs — Various Ways in which Wood is used and destroyed— Probable Value of Forest Products in 1900 — Manufactures — Future of Manufactures — Commerce — Internal and Interstate Commerce- General Summary — Character of future Population — Little Danger of War — Indians — Probable early Extinction of Indian Tribes — The Colored Race — The Mexicans, Chinese and Japanese — Probability of a large Influx of Chinese on the Pacific Coast in the near Future- European Immigrants — Emigrants from the Eastern United States — The Character of its Citizens the best Guaranty of its Future. " Westward ihe course of empire takes its way j The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day ; Time's noblest offspring is the last." So wrote Bishop Berkeley more than a hundred and fifty years ago, when this Great Western Empire, which we have pa J2pa A VISION Ol' OLK VVKbTKRN EMl'lRli. endeavor world, exi touched 1 Jesuit mis New Mex penetrate( lie then s cation of colonies, ^ Atlantic. nucleus of Yet in Atlantic o grandest ei realize in a gave to it, ^ great Rom be, the empi immensity < moral powe the libaiy \\ liberty whicl for the peoj portion larg loremost in i the Mississij has more th have fifty mil capacity of th life, has neve not one-twer twenty times fifty millions , what can wcv!) extent? ... , 'But where ! heritage, with // GROWTH AND FUTURE CAPACITY. 207 endeavored to describe, was utterly unknown to the civilized world, except from the reports of adventurous navigators who had touched upon its southern or western shores, or the journals of Jesuit missionaries, who had established themselves in California, New Mexico, and Texas, or the few hunters and trappers who had penetrated up the Missouri or its tributaries. The empire which he then saw in vision (for he had not at the time of the publi- cation of this poem visited America) was composed of the colonies, which lay between the Appalachian range and the Atlantic. A population of not more than 1,200,000 was the nucleus of the future empire. Yet in this mere handful of people scattered along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia, lay the germ of the grandest empire this world has ever seen — an empire destined to realize in altogether another sense than the late British premier gave to it, when he quoted a few months ago, the dictum of the great Roman orator, — Imperium ct Libertas. Here is, and is to be, the empire in its vastness of extent, its teeming population, its immensity of resources, its ripe and universal culture, and its moral power over the nations of the earth, and united with this the liboiy which is the right and privilege of a great people — a liberty which is not license, but law ; a government ^the people, for the people, and by the people. And of this great empire, the portion largest in population, most abundant in resources, and foremost in all great enterprises is to be the region lying between the Mississippi river and the Western Sea. To-day, this region has more than eleven millions of inhabitants. In a. d. 1900 it will have fifty millions. In a. d. 1950 who shall say how many ? The capacity of the country, in point of production, to sustain human life, has never yet been tested ; but if, when our arable lands are not one-twentieth developed, and our grazing lands can feed twenty times the cattle and sheep now there, we are feeding fifty millions at home, and nearly twenty-five millions in Europe, what can we not do when our resources are tasked to their full extent? ,r, u But where shall we begin to speak of the future of this goodly heritage, with which God has endowed this Nadon ? We have J2pq s ■MatMB 208 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. \k told you of its present varied but beneficent climate, with its western Gulf stream from the north, bringing mild and genial breezes to the Pacific shore ; of its torrid heats, coming up from Mexico, to be tempered by the Arcfic cold from the Valley of the Red river of the North. Is there to be an improvement in its climates ? We fully believe so. The vast plains beaten almost to the solidity of stone by the hoofs of the buffalo for many hundred years, are being rapidly broken up by the plow, and warmth and moisture penetrate the soil. The rainfall is in- creasing, and these treeless plains are fast becoming clad with groves and islands of forest trees, which will turn what was once a desert into a fertile field. The mesas and platcanx beyond the Rocky Mountains, drained of their moisture by the deep canons cut by the rivers, were once densely inhabited, and again, by the plan-.ing of forest trees, and the boring of drive and artesian wells, their capacity for cultivation, and for sustaining a lari^e population, drawn thither by their mineral wealth, will be fully restored, and the reoion so lon i 310 OUR WKSTRRN EMI' IKE. portlonatc value of silver and goltl, which had existed for the last five hundred years, when fifteen ounces of silver would purcliasc an ounce of gold. Now the ounce of gold is worth more than fifteen and a half ounces of silver, and with our vastly increased production it will soon require sixteen ounces to purchase an ounce of gold. The prevalent opinion among the best mining geologists is that the western and some of the eastern slopes of the ranj^as composing the Rocky Mountain chain, and the spurs running east and west from it, are charged with lodes or veins of gold and silver-bearing ores; and there is every reason to believe that the eastern, and perhaps the western slope, of the Sierra Nevada, through its whole extent, is equally rich in these ores. They have been traced as far north as the line of British America, and, indeed, beyond it; they exist in Montana, Idaho, and Eastern Oregon, and Washington, in Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona (in the last three, perhaps, most abundantly of all), and in Western Texas. The valuable mines of California are mostly on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, though a few are on the eastern slope of the Coast Range. If this opinion of the geologists shall prove to be correct thcr is nothing to prevent the opening of three hundred thousan! mines, all profitable, if well managed, and a yield of one thousaiK; millions of gold and silver annually. Such a yield could not fail to produce two results : the further disturbance of the ratio between the values of gold and silver, since the production of silver wil be far greater in bulk, and probably greater even in value, than] that of gold; and a universal advance in the price of other com- ■Tnodities, or, which is the same thing, a depreciation of the pur- .chasing power of gold. But it is not solely in the so-called precious metals that the I •production will be so greatly increased ; lead is combined wii silver in certainly eighty per cent, of the ores ; copper and zincj with both gold and silver in a very considerable proportion, and! TTon.i. platinum, osmium, and other rare metals in a small nunif tec. But all these metals, or rather their ores, are found ii /XCKK.tSF. OF METM.l.URClCAr. DEl'El.OPMENT. 21 ( great abimtlancc without any admixture of the precious metals, and the ores of lead, copper, zinc, and iron are capable of im- mense development. Another decade will see copper ores reduced, and the copper refined, in the immediate neighborhood of the mines, in such quantities that there will be no nec(;ssiiy of importation of that metal, and still less of sending the conctn- trated ores to Swansea, or anywhere else, for reduction. Iron and steel will be made so abundantly and cheaply from the very best ores and by the best processes, that, instead of importing either to supply our greatly increased demand, we shall export both iron and steel to all the nations around us. Before the dawn of the twentieth century, tin will be the only metal we shall have occasion to import ; and if, as seems probable, the small veins of tin already discovered in California, Nevada, Utah, Col- orado, and Texas shall enlarge as they go deeper into the earth, this, too, may be stricken from the list of our imports. Platinum, nickel, aluminium, all destined to play an important part in oi:r manufactures, in the near future, exist here, and can be produced as cheaply as anywhere else in the world. All the metallic and mineral earths and elements used in medicine, chemistry, farming, or the useful arts, and all the salts of these, either exist as the natural productions of this region, or are capable of easy transformation into the compounds adapted to use. Of other mineral products, coal exists in too large quantities, and of every known quality and variety, to make any lack of it possible for ages to come ; whether required for the production of heat or steam, for manufacturing or for smelting, for coking coal for the production of iron and steel, or for family use, an- thracite, semi-anthracite, bituminous, semi-bituminous and lig- nites, in all these forms, are to be had for the asking, at reason- able prices and at hundreds of points. Petroleum, whose existence has long been known, but which [has not been largely developed, is now found in such quantities in Wyoming and California as to have already become a large litem in the traffic, and will eventually prove a formidable rival [of the Eastern oil wells. If, before the close of the century, elec- P pa s 212 or/^ tij.s /■/■:/,•. \- I.Mr IRE. tricity (Iocs not become tlie iiiii\crsal illuminator, the oil wells of Wyominij and California may be taxed to the utmost to supply the illuminating and hcatiny^ material for this Western Empire. An eminent metallurjijist and scientist has recently estimated the entin; mineral production of the re<.Mon west of the Missis- sippi for the year 1880 as worth jJ^i.ocxd.ooo.ooo, and has ^iven the items on which his estimate is based. With the wonderful developmcMit which is now takini^'' place in everythintr appertain- in;^^ to mineral products and metalluri^y, it is certainly within bounds to predict that the proiluct of the year a. d. 1900 will not be less than 55.000.000,000, and the man who should esti- mate it at twice that sum could hardly be regarded as e.xccs- sivi.'ly sanguine in his anticipations. Turning now to the vegetable and animal products of this region, what shall be our forecast for them twenty y<;ars henct;? Wheat, though not our largest grain crop, is the pioiKcr among the grains, being especially adapted to new lands, easily rais(.d, and readily marketed, usually at a paying price. Wc estimate that the population of the United States, in a. d. 1900, will be not far from one hundred millions, of whom at least 90,000,000 will require wheat bread; and a barrel of flour, 2co pounds = eight bushels of wheat, will not be more than a fair supply for each. This would require 720,000,000 bushels for home consumption. Our last year's product (1879) was in rovuid numbers 450,000,000 bushels, of which fully one-hall, or about 230,000,000 bushels, was grown west of the Mississippi. But our export demand is no'A from 150,000,000 to 200,000,000 bushels, and is constantly increasing. Within the next t\v( ntv years, all the wheat districts of this Western Empire will l;e traversed so thoroughly by railroads that tb'^ wheat-grower in , Montana, Oregon, or Washington will be able to obtain a fair price for his wheat, and to market it at once; the greater part of the arable lands of the whole region, and especially the wheat j lands, will be under cultivation ; better methods of plowing, seed- ing, and where necessary. irrigating and fertilizing the soil, will prevail, and the lowest average for the wheat crop' will be twentyl /f not 1 stances 2,(XX),O0 he aMi/>|< or its eq be W'ortli Indian \^ round niature '\\\ is a succe; its perfec "car ih(.' Ji 'ts van'ouy '^"sheJs, an (iemand fo lion IS Ja rrr, 'or faiteninj i^itfXmg hoi forms the st pie, is mai liominy, nia and syrup, / markets not somewhat cJ stalks, green tile juice of s".irar is mad as tlie crop n Of this grt $600,000,000, i^nshels was I ^ting second anti Missouri, tile other Sta tion of this . i<)«x>. 21 3 if not twcnty-fivc^ hiislu.'ls to the acre, lliubr these circum- stances the wheat crop of tliat year oiiL;lit not to be less than j.cxDO.ooo.ooo bushels, and may exceed that amount. This wouM bf! ample for our own supply with 1,000,000,000 busiicls of wheat or its etjuivalent in llour for export. This crop should certainly be worth ^j; 2, 000,000,000. Indian corn is the larj^cst of our grain crops, yieUling^, in icS'o, in round numbers, 1,545,000,000 bushels. It is not ct-rtain to mature in the extreme northern portions of the Great West, but is a successful crop to the extreme southern limit, recpiirinj; for its perfection a lonj^er summer than it can always command near the line of Hritish America. We export of Iiulian.corn and its various preparations, the e(]uivalent of about 100,000.000 bushels, and our export of this is increasing ; though the foreign demand for it is less than for wheat, ihit our home consump- tion is large and varied. It forms the principal food employed for fattening cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry, is largely used for feeding horses, especially those which are constanth' worked, forms the staple article of food of at least 6,000,000 of our peo- ple, is manufactured into corn-meal, samp, hulled corn, or hominy, maizena, corn-starch, common starch, glucose, sugar, and syrup, fusel oil and whiskey. When the price is low, and markets not easily accessible, it is burned instead of coal, being somewhat cheaper and making a hotter fire. Its leaves and stalks, green or dried, aie used as a fodder for catdi*, and from the juice of Its stalks, cut when the corn is just ripe, a cane- sugar is made. In all of these ways this grain is utilized, large as the crop may be. Of this great crop which, at a low valuation, was worth nearly ;J6oo,ooo,ooo, a little more than two-fifths or about 650.000.00 j . bushels was raised In the region west of the Mississippi; low 1 being second only to Illinois In the magnitude of Its corn crop, and Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, and Minnesota being the other States of largest production. Although the produc- tion of this grain west of die Mississippi Is desUned to Increase largely within the next twenty years, and may very possibly reach in that time the present product of the entire United Pi 214 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. States or even a little more, yet we do not anticipate for it so rapid an increase proportionally as in the wheat crop, for several reasons. It cannot be grown so successfully or with as much certainty as some other crops in the whole of the region where the greatest agricultural activity and enterprise is displayed; other crops produced more easily and with greater certainty, will, to some extent, take its place. Among these we may name tiie pearl and other millets, and the Egyptian rice corn, all of which yield larger crops and with less labor, and are better liked by cattle, and form a less heavy food for horses and swine ; the great progress which is making in the cukivation of barley, three-fifdis of the whole crop being raised west of the Missis- sippi, and its substitution to some extent for corn for horses and catde ; and the wonderf j1 impulse recently given to the culture of sorghum, and especially of the early amber sorghum, for the production of sugar. All the sorghums, as well as the millets, the rice corn, and the broom corn, belong to the Zea family, and the seeds of the sorghum furnish a valuable food for animals, while its stalk yields a considerably larger quantity of saccharine juice than the Indian corn. There is, however, an increasing demand for corn for the manufacture of glucose sugar and syrup. This industry has very recently become largely devel- oped, immense factories for its production having been estab- lished, mostly since January, 1880, in Buffalo, Chicago, and other cities and towns in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. One in Chicago has cost ^650,000, and is said to have a capacity of 20,000 bushels of corn, equal to 300 tons of sugar per day. The l net profit is said to be 300 per cent. The export demand for corn, while increasing, is not likely to be enlarged very rapidly, and will be rather in its products than in the corn itself, since its cultivation is also increasing in the south of Europe. But witli the multiplication of the facilities for speedy and cheap trans- portation, the price will be enhanced, and it will no longer com- pete with coal as fuel. Should the crop of corn, in the region west of the Mississippi, amount, in a. d. 1900, to 1,600,000,000 bushels, it would be perfecdy safe to estimate its value atj ^1,200,000,000. . We of sor ripens of the the oth Northe perimei by mam t\\^ a rah to the ac fitable ci sugar, th and even furnish fi and for o sugar coi ton, which it would s would be I from ;^So,c tlucts, besi from the si duction of must conti here from but imperfj of the sucr^ a large scail ^^ by tliel ant! constaif necessity o] acres to M Western fa] *The experinit amber cane, give ran be accomi)lishj SORGHUM. 215 We have alluded to the great probable increase in the culture of sorghum, and especially of the early amber variety, which ripens its seed long before frost comes. Though the smallest of the sorghums, and yielding a smaller quantity of juice than the other, the early amber kind is the one best adapted to the Nortliern States and Territories. Careful and oft-repeated ex- periments demonstrate that in ordinarily good corn-land, either by manuring and irrigation, or without, as is the case in most of the arable lands of the Great West, a crop can be raised which will yield on an average a ton or more of raw crystallized sugar to the acre.* With that yield it would be by far the most pro- fitable crop which could be cultivated, as, in addition to the sugar, the leaves and seed form a very valuable food for cattle, and even the bagasse or exhausted stalks, where not required to furnish fuel for the evaporators, have a value for paper stock and for other purposes. Even if but three-quarters of a ton of sugar could be made to the acre, worth from ^70 to ^75 per ton, which is considerably below the present price of raw sugar, it would still be a very profitable crop, and one for which there would be an unlimited demand. We are importing annually from ^80,000,000 to ;^ 1 00,000,000 value of sugar and sugar pro- ducts, besides the amount made in Florida, Louisiana and Texas from the sugar-cane ; and all our exertions to increase the pro- duction of sugar from the cane have proved ineffectual, and must continue to do so, because the sugar-cane cannot grow here from the seed, but is only propagated by cuttings, and gives but imperfect results, with very frequent failures. The culture of the sugar-beet for sugar has not, so far, proved successful on a large scale, and cannot probably compete with the sorghum. If, by the cultivation of this plant we can supply the present and constantly increasing demand for sugar, and prevent any necessity of importation, the devotion of three or tive million acres to this crop will be one of the best measures which our Western farmers can adopt. The processes for sugar-making *The experiments of the Aijriciiliuial Department in 1879, which were all with the early amber cine, give an averaj^e of 1,588 iiounHs '.o the acre, but these were not a fair test of what can be accomplished with other and largi:r varieties. ;2M P 2l6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. from sorghum are much simpler and less expensive than those for the sugar-cane. With an apparatus costing only from ^loo to $150, any farmer can boil it down to a syrup which will yield at least twelve pounds of sugar to the gallon, and the syrup can be crystallized from this at any time within a year. General Lc Due advises that the farmers should not attempt anything more than the production of the syrup, and that there should be one or more sugar-mills in each county where the sorghum is culti- vated, which will find constant employment throughout the year in cr)'stallizing the sugar from the syrup. It is not to be for- gotten, also, that when sugar becomes a domestic product, and the price of the refined article is lowered, as it will be, the con- sumption will be greatly increased, irrespective of the increase of our population, so that if we are paying 51^150,000,000 for sugar now, we shall expend certainly ;^500,ooo,ooo for it twenty )ears hence, with our population doubled, and their appetite for .sweets increased. The next great cereal crop is oats, of which we nOw raise .i).bout 420,000,000 bushels in the entire United States, of which <)ne-third is grown west of the Mississippi. The present value of the entire crop is about ^125,000,000. Oats are so valuable both for human and animal food that we may confidently expect that the crop, which is so well adapted to the Northern and Central States and Territories, and yields so bountifully there (seventy to eighty bushels or more to the acre), will be more largely cultivated each year. Our exports of this grain, though not large (5,500,000 bushels in 1879), are increasing, while our imports of it have nearly ceased. We may safely set down the oat crop of the Great West, in a. d. 1900, at 500,000,000 bushels, and its money value as at least ^175,000,000. Of the other cereals, the production of barley, of which wc now raise from 40,000,000 to 45,000,000 bushels, and import 6,000,300 or more, is likely to increase — not so much, it is to be hoped, for its use in the manufacture of malt liquors, as for its value for horses and cattle, and the fondness which the German, Scandinavian, and Russian emigrants have for it as an article of food. It is grown and marketed as easily as oats, and on suit- RYE AND BUCKWHEAT. 217 able soils yields almost as largely. It brings from seventy-five cents to a dollar a bushel, and on the newer lands is a fairly profitable crop. The product of barley in the Great West, in A. 1). 1900, may be safely set down at 200,000,000 bushels, and wordi as many dollars. Rye will also increase moderately. The crop for the whole country now ranges from 23,000,000 to 28,000,000 bushels, and it is worth from sixty to eighty cents per bushel. Not quite one- fourth of the whole crop was grown west of the Mississippi. It is not here, as in Europe, now largely used for food, though there is some demand for it in the manufacture of whiskey; it is seldom fed to cattle, but with the influx of emigrants from Central and Southern Europe, it will be more largely used for food. It grows well on poor soils, and most of the soil in the Great vVest is too rich for it. It may reach 50,000,000 bushels, west of the Mississippi, by a. d. 1900, but that will be its utmost limit. Buchoheat, the cereal which is least grown in the United States, its largest crop being only a little more than 1 3,000,000 bushels, is hardly an appreciable crop, west of the Mississippi, 350,000 bushels being the largest crop ever grown there. It is not probable that it will become a very important crop at any time, though it may reach 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 bushels, worth fifty or sixty cents per bushel. The Egyptian rice corn, and the pearl millet, both cereals belonging to the millet family, are likely to be largely cultivated, within the next twenty years, both as forage plants, and for their se( or r;rains. They yield nearly as much seed as oats, and the ; ;> vHt of fodder which may be cut from them is from forty to eigi.; ; tons of green forage, or from seven to ten tons of dry, in three cuttings, in a single season. The grain of the rice corn is regarded by the Kansas farmer as superior to Indian corn for cattle and hogs, and many prefer its meal to corn or oat meal for human food. We may confidently expect that from these cereals or their congeners, the crop of a. d. 1900, west of the |li''^slssippi, will not be less than 50,000,000 bushels of seed, or lit ':'quivalent of forage. g S 2i8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Thus much for the cereals.* We foot up the crop of a. d. 1 900 as follows : Wheat 2,000,000,000 bushels, Value |2, 000,000,000 Indian Corn . . . 1,600,000,000 " " 1,200,000,000 Sorghum Sugar, etc. . " 500,000,000 Oats 500,000,000 " ** 175,000,000 Harley 200,000,000 " ** 200,000,000 Rye 50,000,000 " " 40,000,000 Buckwheat . . . 5,000,000 " " 2,500,000 Millet and Rice Corn 50,000,000 with forage, " 50,000,000 j54, 167,500,000 Of the cereal production at dates still farther in the future it is not wise to ■ ■ ^ak. Circumstances may change ; an oriental population, if larg ii the ascendancy, may prefer other grains, and cultivate them y other processes, in the coming- century; or root crops, or such edibles as the bread-fruit, the cassava, or the pith of the sago-palm, may be deemed preferable to those grains which we have been accustomed to consider the staff of life. The future century must provide its own bread. We turn next to the root crops and the vegetables, which, though perhaps neither tubers, nor bulbs, serve to sustain life in man and beast. Potatoes rank first in the list — our common, sometimes called Irish potatoes — because they did not come from Ireland, — the Solanunt tuberosum. Of these about 185,000,000 bushels were grown in 1879, although it was not regarded as a very favorable year for this crop. Of these about one-third, or 62,000,000 bushels, were grown west of the Mississippi. The labor of harvesting this crop is greater than that required on some others, though now materially diminished by the use of the •potato-digger; but very few crops pay as well. In all the newer * We have not deemed it necessary to speak of the production of rice, of which there are a few plantations in Western Louisiana and Texas; it is undoubtedly capable of great tlevclif- ment, and in the event of a large migration of Mongolians to this Western Empire witliin the next twenty years, may receive it ; but the experience of all the past is that, in warm climates, the cultivation of such cereals as require much labor and exposure of life and liealih, is not su .cessfully prosecuted, except where labor is compulsory. Other cereals more easily cul- tivated wi!i be substituted for this. The -Mild rice, a plant of northern growth, is exteubively gathered fur forage and hay, but is not cultivated, so far .is we are aware. VEGETABLE AND HOOT CHOI'S. 219 lands, and many of the old ones, the yield is from 1 50 to 400 or even 500 bushels to the acre, while the price at the nearest market seldom falls below thirty-three cents per bushel, and ranges from this to sixty cents. A crop which will bring from 1^60 to $125 per acre is a profitable crop for the emigrant to raise, and as there is, and is likely to be, a demand for all that are grown, we may well expect that there will be a great increase in the production. The autumn of the year 1900 will very pos- sibly give a crop of potatoes, west of the Mississippi, of not less than 650,000,000 bushels, worth probably half that number of dollars. The sweet potato and yam, though largely grown in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, and Kansas, will never approach to these figures, but may, twenty years hence, yield 50,000,000 bushels, and at a value of perhaps seventy-five cents per bushel. Neither of these tubers are exported to any great extent. In 1879, 625,000 bushels of the common potato were shipped to other countries, 550,000 bushels going to the West Indies and South America. There is some prospect of an in- crease of this demand both from the Pacific and the Texan ports, but the principal consumption will continue to be in the home markets. Of the other root and vegetable crops, turnips, rutabagas, onions, leeks, mangel-wurzel, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, peas, beans, pumpkins, squashes, melons, okra, spinage, celery, cucum- bers, tomatoes, pie-plant, egg-plants, salsify, green corn, radishes, lettuce, etc., though we know the present aggregate to be very large, and the prospective one vastly greater, yet it is difficult to arrive at any very definite estimates concerning it. The census of 1870 reported these products very imperfectly, probably omitting more than it reported. Its aggregates were nearly ^27,000,000, while it is perfectly safe to put down the actual production as nearly or quite ^50,000,000. Since that time these products have undergone an immense development, and what- ever may be the census figures, the actual production cannot fall short of ^100,000,000; indeed, the consumption of twenty- five of our largest cities would very nearly reach that sum. We o H 220 QUA' n ES TURN EMPIRE. think tliat a fair estimate of the consuniption of those articles by the 50,000,000 of jx'ople west of the Mississippi, in a. d. 1900, would not be less than 5^150,000,000. The orchard producls and the small fruit sales, including the wine and raisins from the •'irapes, the cider, etc., from apples, and the preserved, dried, and canned fruits, are next to be considered. In 1870 these products for the whole United States, so far as reported, amounted to about 55^53,000,000. Since that time die orchard, grape, wine, and small fruit products have nt.ariy or quite quadrupled. The State of Kansas, which then was set down as having $173,000 of these products, reported, in 1878, ji6,5oo,ooo of orchard products alone, with less than half her trees in bearing ; California has made even greater advance, and Oregon, Washington, Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa at least an equal one. One hundred and sixty million dollars is a low estimate of these products for 1880, for the whole coun- try, and twice that amount is equally low for the region west of the Mississippi in a. d. 1900. Textiles come next in order. The cotton crop of 1879-80 is exceptionally large, the largest ever produced in this country, and, owing to the lateness and mildness of the autumn and early winter, picking was continued much later than usual. It is esti- mated as equal to 5,750,000 bales of 480 pounds, worth not less than $320,000,000. Nearly one-half of this great crop is raised west of the Mississippi, mosdy in Louisiana, Texas, and Ar- kansas, though the Indian Territory, California, Arizona, Kansas, and Missouri add small quotas to the amount. The State of Texas alone has excellent cotton lands, as yet mostly uncultivated, of sufficient extent to grow not only the whole crop of 1879, but the entire supply of cotton needed for the consumption of the world — about 1 2,000,000 or 1 3,000,000 bales. rVnd as the cotton lands east of the Mississippi, unless their methods of cultivation are gready improved, shall be worn out, and become sterile, the natural tendency will be to transfer the greater part of the cotton production to Texas and Arkansas, where virgin soils will yield larger crops. The culture of cotton in the South Is not so scientific and thor- TEXTILES. 221 (yw ^, ^ f4 ZS P jJ ca B 222 OUR WESTEKN EMl'iKi:. it will task the energies of our manufacturers to supply all these and our home market ; while our agriculturists will be stimulated by the demand to make two bales of cQtton grow where now only a half bale is grown. Wool has improved as much in quality as it has increased in quantity within the past decade, and the improvement and in- crease has but just begun. The wool clip of the region west of the Mississippi in 1879 exceeded 100,000,000 pounds, and was fully equal in quantity, and much superior in quality, to that of the whole United States in 1870. The rapid multiplication of flocks of sheep of improved grades, throughout the whole region, insures to that region within twenty years, an annual clip of not less than 350,000,000 pounds, of an average value of not less than twenty-two cents per pound, or an aggregate of ^77,000,000. This will all be required at home, and we shall cease to import wool for our manufacturers. The hair of the Angora goat and the grade goats, and possibly also that of the camel, will also be largely in demand, and tliere will be a sufficient supply at remunerative prices. Probably these textiles will make up the amount to full ^100,000,000 by the year a. d. 1900. Raw, or rather reeled silk, is now imported, to the extent of from ;^7,ooo,ooo to ^12,000,000 annually, to be manufactured here. If common sense, without excitement or mania of any sort, shall ever take possession of the minds of our people on the subject of rearing silkworms, every farmer who has been five years on his place will be as sure to have a cocoonery as he will to have a barn. The children and young women of the household will rear the worms, gather and stifle the cocoons, and the town or village filature will reel them. Then instead of sending %\ 2,000,000 abroad for raw silk, and 5^25,000,000 more for silk goods, we shall export both. Fifty millions of dollars will be less than the value of our raw silk and silk products, raised and made west of the Mississippi in the year a. d. 1900. Of the other textiles proper, flax^ hemp, ramie, j'ule, cactus fibre, etc., they are all destined to have a considerable develop- ment, and if methods of bleaching egual to those provided by THE HAY CROP AND DAIRY INTEREST. 223 nature in Ireland, can be invented or discovered, there is no good reason why the culture of flax, ramie, jute, hemp, ntttle and cactus fibre, should not increase to an enormous extent. I'lax is now cultivated principally for its seed, and the oil obtained from it. The present value of this for the United States is about ^5,000,000 ; that of hemp about ^2,000,000, and of the other textiles perhaps ;j^i 50,000 in all. To what extent these values may be increased within the next twenty years it is im[)Ossible to say. We imported in the year 1879 nearly $1,000,000 worth of raw flax, and $1,829,000 of raw hemp; and $14,600,000 worth of manufactures of flax, and $107,000 worth of manufactured hemp, $3,781,037 worth of raw jute, and $1,776,750 worth of manufactured jute. All of these articles and raw material should be produced here, and perhaps they will be, within twenty years. But we have not yet noticed a crop which ranks third among our great national products, being surpassed only by Indian corn and wheat— the hay crop. In 1879 this was estimated by the United States Agricultural Department «/ 35,648,000 tons, having a value of $325,851,280. This crop, in the nature of the case, must increase ; the great increase of cattle and sheep will require it, in all the Northern and Middle States and Territories of the Great West, and the magnitude which the dairy interest is assuming, will add to the necessity. Under this general head of hay, all plants cultivated for forage must be included. Much of the hay, in the north especially, is wild, and costs only the labor and expense of the gathering, but this will eventually give way to the cultivated grasses. The value of the hay crop of the Great West in a. d. 1900 will not be less than $700,000,000. Intimately associated with this crop is the dairy interest, which is now rapidly increasing under the stimulus of a large export demand, a demand which, by good management, may be almost indefinitely enlarged. The exports of butter and cheese in the year ending June 30, 1879, were $18,000,000, and for the coming year they will probably be much greater. It is estimated that 1,500,000,000 pounds of butter are now made in this country, and about 900,000,000 pounds of cheese; i ,000,000,000 gallons of milk are sold, and condensed milk to the extent of about i-4 J > P I lb 324 OUR UKSTEKN IIMPIRE. $6,000,000. Tlic value of these dairy products in the aggregatj; is about <; 5 90,000,000. Tliat tlie region west of tlie Mississippi will require in a. d. 1900 not less than ;}i 5 00,000,000 worth of dairy products is absolutely certain, and the export demand may reach another )i> 1 00,000,000. Three other items close our sum- mary of vei^etable production, present and prospective, viz. : I. Tobacco, the crop of which varies in different years, but its value is not far from )«^2 2,000,000 annually. The production of this in the Cireat West will be in the future quite large, as sonii; of the land is admirably adapted for it, and it is regarded as a profitable and tlesirable crop. We doubt, however, if that region will in A. 1). 1900 much exceed the whole present United Stales crop in quantity, though the quality may be somewhat better. It may be safely estimated at #25,000,000. 2. Sugar and syrup from the sugar-cane, maple and sugar-beet. The value of tluiso products in 1879 was about p5 .^3 s 336 OVK n'F.STF.KJ^ F.Mr IRE. would cxliaust tlu: supply within ton or fiftc(rn years. In icSyS more tiian S'l^oocooo worth of canned salmon was shipjjcd from tlic vicinity of the Columbia river, and in 1879 the catch and shipments were fifty per cent, greater than the previous year. Salmon are also brought in large cjuantities from our great northern Territory of Alaska. Hut this vast product from a single fish, greater than all the products of all the fisheries in the United States, in 1870, by twenty-five per cent., by no means exhausts the resources of the fisheries of the Pacific. The seal, sea-otter, sea-lion, and other fisheries of the mammals of the sea, amount to over $3,500,000, while the markets of the Pacific coast swarm with fish of ail kinds ; and the whale fishery, conducted from Pacific ports, has taken the place of that from the former whaling ports of the At- lantic. The (ircat Lakes at the Northeast and the coast of Texas and Louisiana on the South are teeming with edible fish, But far beyond these, in its aggregates, within the next twenty years, will be the fisheries of smaller lakes and rivers from artifi- cial propagation. Every State and Territory of the interic ^n profit by this. Minnesota claims 7,000 lakes, many of th< considerable size; Dakota, Montana, Oregon, and Washington abound in lakes. California has many, and most of them of great purity. Utah has them both of fresh and salt water, and all the States and Territories have greater or less numbers, Then the rivers, which have their sources and many of them their entire course in this region : the Columbia with its gigantic affluents, the Clarke and Lewis, or Snake ; the Missouri, with its scon.'s of afiluents, some of them themselves mighty rivers ; the Platte, the Kansas, the Arkansas, the Red river of the South, and the Red river of the North ; the Prazos, the Colorado, and the Rio Grande of Texas and New Mexico; the great Colorado of the West with its tributaries, the Grand, Green, San Juan and Little Colorado, the Sacramento and San Joaquin of California. and the Gila of Arizona, and the numerous bays and estuaries j of the Pacific and Gulf coasts are also teeming with the finny tribes. All these lakes, rivers and estuaries are now beinijl stocked, or have already been supplied with thousands and mil- LIVESTOCK IS A. D. icjoo. 127 lions of \oimt; fisli of tlu: lu-st kimls ; the; larj^'cr lakrs liavti the \\\W. trout, t'u; land-locked salmon, the \vhil(.' fish, the niiiskc- \o\v^v, th»; black hass, the J^^niylinvj, and the smaller fry; the streams are replenished with the brook trout, which, in some of them, attains a hiij^^e si/e, whih; in the streams llowin^ into the sea, tlu; salmon is introduced, or its waste supplied, the shad, striped bass, white fish, Spanish mackerel, and oth(;r fish (;(iually valuable, but not so well known, arc introduced in iarjje num- bers. The n;suk is likely to be that fish will be plentiful in all parts of the West, anil at such prices as to make them in de- mand for tlu; food of all classes. The fish protluct of the Great West in A. i>. 1900 will not fall below ^100,000,000. We turn ni;xt to tlu; live-stock of this vast rej^ion. In 1870 the States and Territories west of the IVIississi[)pi held, accord- iiiij to the census of that year, live-stock of the value of $347,- ^,50,790. bi the suiumer of 1S78 the numbers and value of the live-stock of the same rej^non had increased until it was worth, ,it the very low pric(;s then rulinj^-, lass, metal, or stone for railroad ties; paper made fiom straw and condensed into a hard wood for |fiiriiiturc ; artificial stone or cement for supports of mines; and Icoal for fuel and smelting purposes, the whole West will be, by Ithe year 1900, a treeless region ; but before that time comes, Ithe coming scarcity of forest trees will enhance the price of all [the products, and even if tlie consumption should be no greater ^han now, its money value would not be less than a thousand million dollars. The manufacturing industry of this region did not make a fcomparatively large showing in 1870 with the Eastern States. pf the $4,232,325,442 of reported manufactured products for tie preceding year, only ;^437.232.i i 7, a less amount, probabl)-, [)y$6o,ooo,ooo or $70,000,000 than the existing condition of manu- actures there warranted, was set down as the production ol the Entire Western region, and of this amount, nearly one-half was to i 230 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the credit of Missouri alone. At that time only Missouri, Califor- nia, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas and Texas had manufactiin.s exceeding in value ^j^ 1 0,000,000. The other States and Terri- tories were new, and had not yet emerged from their almost wholly agricultural condition. Nine years later, Minnesota iiad manufacturing industries exceeding ;^75,ooo,ooo in value; Kan- sas about $95,000,000; Iowa more than js^ 1 00,000,000 ; California more than ;5> 150,000,000; Texas about ;>^50,ooo,ooo ; and Missouri over ;^ 300,000,000. The newer States and Territories wtrt wheeling into line, and in 1879-80 the total manufactiirinc interest of this region was over ;5^ i ,000,000,000. In the near future, the amount of manufacturing here vill exceed that in the East. The water-power, the raw material, the coal, the iron, the cotton, the wool, flax, hemp, jute, etc., the wood, copper, lead, zinc, grain, paper, and paper stock, every- diing indeed which enters into the composition of any kind of manufactured goods, is at hand. The skilled labor is there also, and if the capital is not now, it soon wmII be. It is not a rash or 1 hap-hazard prediction, which we make, when we say that the census of a. d. 1900 (the twelfth census) will show that the many- 1 factures of the region west of the Mississippi exceed in annua) j product $5,000,000,000. The amount of the commerce of this Western Empire r,i the end of the next twenty years is not easily predicted. Thel number of good seaports on the Pacific coast is not as hxm as on the corresponding extent of the Atlantic, but a few of them are among the best in the world. On the Gulf coastl aside from New Orleans, which hardly belongs to our Weslern Empire, none of the ports are of the first-class, tliough scvd are cfood for all but the larcfest vessels. There is also a iirtail extent of river and some lake navigation. Hie commerce w;;!!l Eastern Asia, with Australasia, with the Sandwich Ishuids, wii the Northwest Coast, Mexico, Central America, and the westl coast of South America is likely to be greatly increased, aodi from the Oulf ports, Europe, the Mediterran(\in, Northcni| Africa, India, and the eastern coast of South America will l)e| readily reached. SUMMARY OF ANNUAL PRODUCTIOX. 23 1 The internal and interstate commerce, by coast and river steamers, and by the numberless railroads which gridiron the whole region, will also attain a magnitude almost beyond our conception. On the ocean and coast steamers, the river steamers, and the railroad freight trains, almost the entire yield of our mines, placers and quarries, of the farms and forest pro- ducts, and all the surplusage of live-stock, as well as the wool and hides, and the flesh of all the slaughtered animals, all the machinery, dry-goods, groceries, hardware, drugs, oils, etc., in- tended for the consumption of 50,000,000 of people, will be car- ried. We dare not attempt to reckon up the aggregate of this commerce, lest we should be accused of oriental extravagance of statement; but a summary of the various items of production, which we have demonstrated as probable twenty years hence, will give some idea of what the outgoing commerce of that period may be, and the incoming commercial receipts will be very nearly as much more. We sum up, then, as follows: Mining Products and Quarries in a. d. 1900 $5,000,000,000 Cereal Products 4,167,500,000 Root Crops, Textiles, Market Garden, Dairy Products, Hay, Tobacco, etc 3,028,500.000 Fisheries 100,0^,0,000 Live-Stock . . 3,000,000,000 Forest Products 1,000,000,000 Manufactures 5,000,000,000 Grand Total $2 1,29''), 000. 000 Or more than ten times our present national debt. It is to be remembered that this is only the valuation of the products and crops of a single year; that it does not include either the value of the real or personal estate of the 50,000,000 who will inhabit our Western Empire at that time. And what shall we say of the population which, twenty years hence, will fill this vast region with life and industrial activity ? Remember, it is but twenty years, but little more than half a gen- eration ; and many of those who are actively engaged in business now will be active and useful then ; but who that remembers the ?- P3 < p3 >* 3 1 — < (•/> fi:; < rJ H r> a 1— « 03 J5 P> P i ua 232 (A- ir/:srEKN empire. year before the civil war, and the changes through which our nation lias passed in twenty years, can fail to realize that even two decades may separate us from an era, which seems to belong to the half-forgotten past, and from circumstances which have entirely changed our condition and character as a nation. There is very little reason to apprehend either a foreign or a civil war within that time. The magnitude and comparative isolation of our territory prevents our position from being one which menaces any other great power; while our resources are ample to repel any foreign invasion. As to a civil war, there are now no sufficient causes to provoke it. While slavery existed, it was a standing menace against a free government. But, now, there may be temporary discontent, on the part of a single State, from some real or imaginary hardship ; while the great mass of States are so bound to each other by a multiplicity of ties, finan- cial, commercial, sanitary, charitable, literary, and religious, that there can be no general movement which would lead to a civil war. Questions like that of the disposition of the Indians, that of the prohibition of polygamy among the Mormons, and that of undenominational public schools, may excite a temporary ripple in the smooth sea of our prosperity, but the calm will soon return. A bitter Presidential contest may produce excitement and apprehension for a time, and some fear of Ca^sarism on one hand, or of a revolutionary dictatorship on the other ; but the nation is too patriotic to sustain any attempts at unconstitutional rule. Vexed questions of the rights of labor and Ci.oital, or of the right to prohibit the migration of particular nationalities to our soil may excite temporary strife and discord, but in the end we shall settle down upon the broad principles of the universal brotherhood of man and the equality of all men before the law. It would have been better in some respects if our male suffraj^^e had not been quite so nearly universal as it is, but the danqers apprehended from that source are now very nearly obviated. Let us glance, then, at the races and nationalities which will probably make up .'he 50,000,000 to be found west of the Mis- sissippi in A. D. 1900. It may, we think, bo taken as a setded fact that by the com- I I PROBABLE DWIiXDLING OF IXDIAX TA'/BES. *j3 mcnccment of the twentieth century, the Indian, especially in his nomadic condition, will have ceased to be a disturbing factor in the West. The tribes are diminishing in a very rapid ratio. In i860, there were somewhat more than 500,000 of them widiin the limits of the United States. In 1870, the number had dwin- dled to 383,000. In 1878, there were but 275,000, and the super- visors of the census, in 1880, will hardly report more than 250,- 000. At this ratio they would be extinct by a. d. 1900. This is hardly probable, but they will be so few as to be of very little importance. There are natural laws which would bring about this result in time, but it must be said that for nearly the whole of the present century the policy of our government has been to hasten it. They have been removed from one district of country, and from one reservation to another, and have been exposed to the frauds of unscrupulous traders, who have plied them with the vilest liquors, and have plundered them of all their property, while, in too many instances, the government agent has stood by and permitted the wrongs, without even protesting against them. Moreover, the government has not observed its treaty provisions, and the Indian, learning only the worst vices of civil- ization, has come to his death, either by vice, disease, or murder inflicted by the whites. While we write, a treaty has been negotiated which will, very soon we hope, put an end to the system of large reservations and give to the Indians about 4S0 acres of land per family in severalty, and pay them an annuity, while the remainder of their reservations is to be put upon the market. This plan, just adopted on the great reservation of the Utes in Colorado, by which more than 1 i ,000,000 acres of their lands are to be offered for sale, will undoubtedly be followed by similar action in regard to the great reservations in Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, California, and perhaps Arizona, and the Indian Territory. The measure is, in itself, a good one, but to be of much benefit to the Indians it should have been adopted years ago. The diminution and final extinction of the Indian races will not be materially delayed by it. We may safely predict, that with the exception of the Indian > ?\ S 234 OUK U'ESrEKxV EMPIRE. Territory, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and possibly Idaho, Montana, \\'a.shinijfton and Dakota, the Indian will, by a. d. 1900, have ceased to be an ai)preciable element of the population, and even in these Territories, except possibly the Indian Territory, their numbers will be so small as to excite no alarm, and lead to no difficulties. Nearly 200,000,000 acres of 'and, some of it excellent farming land, and perhaps more containing valuable mineral deposits, will thus be dirown upon the market. The colored race, which in 1870 numbered in all the States and Territories west of the Mississippi less than 900,000, or only about one -sixth of the whole number in the United States, has "'nee that time increased largely by immigration ; and probably at the census of the present year will show 1,400,00c or 1,500,000 in that region. The natural increase in this race is not likely to be large, for in time they too will become extinct, under the pressure of a higher civilization, but the accessions from the East will continue for some years to come. It is doubtful, however, whether there will be more than 3,000,000 or 3,500,000 in the territory west of the Mississippi in a. d. 1900. The Mexican races, whether Hispano-American or pure Indian, fail to hold their own by the side of our more robust civilization. It is to be hoped, both for our sakes and theirs, that the mania for annexation may not seize our people before that time, and Mexico be brought into the Union, either peacefully or by force — for our sakes, because we have already a sufficient territory, and the accession of a weak nation almost wholly uneducated, and speaking another language than ours, would degrade rather than improve our national character; and for theirs, because they would inevitably be placed in an inferior position, and might be goaded to a resistance which would prove fatal to tlicn\ But, for the Mexicans who are residing in the Great West, we can predict no considerable accessions, except from immigradon. They are not aggressive, and taking an Inferior s posidon, they will be likely to be kept there. The Chinese and Japanese are likely to be exceptioris to the general law in regard to weaker races. The immigration of the Chinese hitherto has been, with but few exceptions, of the coolie or 1 1 CHINESE AND OTHER NATIONAL/TIE'. 235 peasant class. When a better class ccme, bringing their fanulies, such a tide of immigration will pour in upon the Pacific coast, as will materially change the situation of affairs there, though not necessarily for the worse. The better classes in China are by no means barbarians, but people of as much refinement and delicacy of manner as can be found anywhere, and in moraL vastly the superiors of their persecutors in California. It is worthy of notice, that wherever the Chinese have emigrated in considerable numbers, they have always in the end become the masters of the country, however intelligent and physically vigorous and powerful the natives might be. This has been the result at Singapore, at Saigon, at Bangkok, and in other parts of Malaysia. They can, if they choose, plant 50,000,000 of Chinese colonists on the Pacific coast and the interior, within the next twenty years ; but that will hardly be their policy. If they obtain a foothold they will l^ecome largely engaged in commercial transactions, in which they possess great skill, and the peasant class will be in demand for both skilled and unskilled labor. We regard it as altogether probable that the census of 1900 will report not less than 10,000,000 of them west of the Mississippi. Of the emigrants from Europe, it is probable that the nation- alities will prevail in about the following order : Germans, Irish, Scandinavians, English, Scotch and Welch, Italians, Russians, Canadian French, French, Swiss, Spanish, Belgians and Hol- landers. There will also be a considerable number of emigrants from the West Indies, and from South America. But the larger proportion of immigrants will be from the States east of the Mississippi, not a few of them originally European emigrants, who are now drifting westward ; others, the children of such emigrants, but a fair proportion of the genuine Yankee stock, drawn thither to become farmers, mine-owners, stock-raisers, sheep-masters, or manufacturers. Very many of our best citizens are among these settlers in the Great West, and they will do good service in making it and keeping it patriotic, loyal and pure. The future of this Western Empire is to be what its citizens P9 ?i3 pi p d S 236 OUR IVF.STEhW EMPIRE. shall make it. With all the advantaq^es of mineral wealth vastly surpassiiiLj^ that of Ormiizd or of Incl ; with a soil of such extent and fcrlility, tiuit it could su|)[)ly the world with bread, with (locks and h(-'rds beyond the dream of the most opulent of the patriarchs of the Hast, and all the elements of material prosperity in such abundance as to defy description, if its citizens are industrious, enterprising, intelligent, moral, law-abiding, God- fearing men and women, there is in reserve for it a future which not all the dreams of the poets, or the rapt vision of the seers, can descrijje in too glowing colors — a future which shall make the ancient Paradise a modern reality, and cause men to flock thither, as to a new Eden. But if industry and enterprise are lacking, if morals are debased, and intelligence wanes ; if reverence for law and order is lost, and there comes a time when they do not fear God and keep His commandments ; if pride, self-confidence, and fullness of bread, lead to all the vices which ruined the empires of the OKI World ; all this material wealth and prosperity, all these advantages of situation and production, will only make its downfall the more sudden and terrible. And its swift de- struction will call forth a wail of anguish from all the nations of the earth, as much deeper and more distressing, as its position had been grander and more imposing, than that of any of the older empires. Which shall it be ? a government of the people, for the people, by the people ; a government firm and persistent for liberty and law, for freedom, justice, and right, between man •and his fellow-man, and between man and his Creator ? or a government without law, without justice, without purity, without right, and witiiout order ; — an anarchy, where men's evil pas- sions and corrupt practices, all the arts of the demagogue, all the schemes of the hypocrite, and all the vices of the debauchee are allowed to destroy the nation, without check or restraint .-* Kome and Greece, Babylon and Nineveh, Corinth and Ephesus, the most powerful empires and cities of their times, owed their ruin to this uncontrolled spirit of license and mis- rule, and in modern times, we h.ave seen powerful natic.is brought to the verge of destruction from the same causes. Let us heed the warning while there is time. PART II. IMMIGRATION. Who Should Go, and Why? Thk How, When and Where of Emigration to thk I'ar West. CHAPTER I. Who Should Migrate to this Western Empire, and the Reasons Why — Desiraiii.eness ok Accurate Iniokmation — Intentional and Unin- tentional Misrepresentation — Who should not come — The Land- Grant Raitavay Companies, and the Emicration Societies — Aoe I^eyond WHICH ICmicration is Undesirahle — (^tiier Obstacles — Amount ok Capital Necessary — Tins yaries with the Occupation — What are ' Necessary Expenses — Why some Emigrants are Dissatisiied. "Are you tliinking of cmiLjrating to that ' Ear West ' in America, about which we hoar so much lately?" asks one nei^^rh- bor of another in Enj^land, in the winter of 1879-1880. "Yes," is the reply. *' I am thinking of it very seriously, but I fmd it hard to come to a decision. All my acquaintance are here ; I feel strongly attached to the country antl place in which I was born and reared, where I foimd my good wife, and where my ale ones were born. England is v(;ry dear to me ; and yet I cannot buy an acre, no, nor a rood of ground, even to be buried in ; I must be a tenant all my life, and liable to be evicted at the landlord's pleasure. I had, in past years, laid up a litUe money, but it is fast going, in these past three years of bad crops, low prices, and poor markets, and yet I am paying five pound rent per acre for my place. Then again, my children cannot get on here, and as I belong to the Metliodists, they can have no chance imless they go to the church, which I don't like (237) ?- pa rf cd >-• Z~4 3 C/J c^ < f^ H > cri >— • Ci] J3 OQj P ^ pa 238 OUR WESri'.RS' RMPIRi:. to have them do. Now, I am told diat I cat) take up a farm of 160 acres in that western country, under what they call llie Homestead Act, for less money than I pay rent for one acre here, and excellent land too, and that in live years' tinu* I can have as ^ood a farm as this — yes, and bettiT — all my own, and a steady income of /"500 or £(iQO a year, and j^^ood school-; and churches, all convenient. When I consider all these thini;:; I think I must ^o, though it will be a sore thing to leave diar old England. How I wish now, that I had some book, or some- body that I knew wouldn't deceive me, to tell me all about the country, just as it is, and enable me to decide what I ouglit to do." There are many thousands not only in England, but in Ireland and Scotland, Germany, Sweden and Norway, in Austria and Russia, in Italy and France, who are asking themselves and others the question, whether it is not best to emigrate to this far- off western land, and thus escape from evils, discomforts, and oppressions of all sorts, which have become well-nigh intolerable, And there are scores of thousands more in our own country, who, from one cause or another, are revolving the same ques- tion in their own minds, and are sincerely desirous of light in regard to it. To all such honest inquirers, we propose to give the informa- tion which they seek, and we beg leave to assure them at the start, that we have no object in view, except their benefit. We have no interest in any railroad, land grant, colony, mining, farming, stock-raising, or wool-growing company or organiza- tion west of the Mississippi river; we do not own a square foot of land west of that river, and do not expect to do so ; but we know the country, its advantages and disadvantages, and we propose to state these honestly and fairly. We could obtain the indorsement of all the governors, senators, and representatives of that entire region, to the truthfulness and fairness of our book, if it were needful ; but we think that every one who will read it will be satisfied for themselves that it is an honest and trustworthy book. Having thus avouched the honesty of our purpose, and the NORKOKS OF TltR OT.D EMIGRATION. 239 knowledge of the subject which we possess, we will proceed tf> answer the very important questions, Who should (•ini}^nit(;, and \vhy? The emij^ration societies, the railroad companies, and the steamship ajjjents, would answer the question very promptly, by sayini;, " Iwery one who has the means to r(.'ach the West should }i^o ;" and they would be j^rcatly in the wroniL,^ and il tiicy were believed, would do much wronj^- to emi;^^rants by such an answer. No ! not every one who has the means to reach there should go; not even every one who has from <(; 1,000 to $10,000 to invest, after reaching the country. The (piestion, " Who should go?" requires a previous consideration of many oiher questions before it can be rightly answered. There are always many hard- ships attending emigration ; not so many now as there were in former days, when the European emigrant took passage; across the Adantic in the steerage of a sailing packet, and was tossed on the waves, with but scant fare and horrible accommodations, for from thirty to sixty, or seventy-five days, and landing at the end of his tedious voyage, at New York, found himst.'lf the prey of the landsharks and confidence men, who swarmed around him. He was very fortunate, if he succeeded in making his way by barge and canal boat to Buffalo, and thence by other sailing vessels to distant Ohio, Indiana, or Illinois, and amid the forests, or the wide treeless plains, shaken by chills and fever, reared his rude log-hut, and set out resolutely to make a home and a for- tune for his family. That is not so very long ago either. Forty or fifty years ago, the emigrant had to take all these hardships into the account, if he would make his home in the West. It is not thirty-five years, hardly more than thirty, since those who sought homes beyond the Mississipiii were obliged to go with their huge wagons — "prairie schooners" they were called — drawn by five, eight, or even twelve yoke of oxen, carrying with them their entire household goods, and travelling for many weeks, eight or ten miles a day, before reaching their new homes. When we compare the present facilities of travel and settle- ment with the hard lot of these pioneers of civilization, and the I O 240 ouK n'/:sTi:/iN kmi'iki:. spct'tl and safety with which our emi]L,'rants nacii their desired location, and the perils antl dangers troin hvhans, from storms and snows, from hiinj^^cr and thirst, from tlie j^ivin;,^ out of their cattle, or the [)rairie fires — perils which marked the whole trail from the Mississippi to the Pacific with the skeletons of their cattle, and, not so rarely as could have been wished, with human hones also — with the present freedom from these dangers and miseries, we are almost inclined to declare that there are now no hartlshi[)s for emigrants to face. This, however, would not be (|uite true. To the emigrant from luirope, the ten or twelve days' passage in the stec-rage of these magnificent ocean steam- ships, though a vast improvement on the old sailing vessels, is not quite an "earthly paradise," as indeed it could not well be. Most of these steamship lines, also, are in some way connected with some one or more of the emigration companies, which, in turn, have their arrangements with some of the great railway companies, and are under obligations to send their emigrants to particular sections of country, where their lands are situated. Of course, these emigration companies and railroad agents e.xtol their particular section in the highest terms, and cannot say any- thing too strong in disparagement of every other region. They have no intention, probably, of misrepresenting either their own lands, or the lands in other States or Te;ritories; but human nature must be differently constituted from what it now is, if the emigrant does not find that some things have been overstated, and that the advantages of other localities have been unduly depreciated. There are two remedies for this difficulty: one, that the emi- grant should inform himself thoroughly before making arrange- ments to come to this country, what will be the best location for him, taking into consideration climate, chances of employment, accessibility to good markets, prices of land, condition of society, advantages of education, etc., etc. His sources of information must be free from all temptation to misrepresentation and self. interest, and they must be from parties who are fully informed of i\\G. present condition of affairs there, for so rapid are the changes which are taking place in this Great West, that statements which ruFSENT /r.4Rns/r/Ps of emigration. 241 were perfectly true two years aj^o, are now very far from the truth. It has been our sole object in the preparation of this work, to make it as perfect a j^uide to the emigrant as it could he made, one which should be in every respect impartial, and have no interest except that of the emigrant to serve. If the intending iniiL;rant will study such a book faithfully, he will fmd no difh- riiUy in determining what is the best locality for him, ami then can make his arrangements with that steamship or emigration c()m[)any, which will take him directly to his desired location ; but he should be careful to make no contract, binding him to pur- chase land of any emigration company till he has seen it for him- self. I le can, of course, procure his tickets and transportation at a consiilerable reduction, if he takes his land from the emi- gration company, but the extra cost of this will much more than make up the difference, if the land they allot to him should prove undesirable from any cause. The other way of avoiding the difficulty is this : the emigrant, having by in(|uiry and study come to a conclusion as to the best location for him, takes passage on a steamer for New York oi' New Orleans, and thence by rail to the pcjint where he desires to settle, leaving his family, if he has one, behind him, till he can provide a home for them. This will cost him more than to buy his ticket from the emigration company, but if he wants a farm, he can take up his land under the Homestead or Timber-Cul- ture Acts, or pre-empt it, and the cost under either of the former plans will not exceed '^2^ for 160 acres, and under the latter not over $1.25 per acre with thirty months to pay for it, while that must be very poor land which he can get from the emigration company at anything less than %^ per acre. As soon as he is able he can send for his family, and buying the ticket here it will cost him no more than if he had bought it of the emigration company. But, in whatever way the emigrant secures his land, there are still hardships ; his first home will be in all probability a log-cabin, an adobe,* or a sod-house. If he purchases in the northern, or even the central tier of States or Territories, the deep snows, and the consequent embargo on travel, will annoy c/1 > J2 ^ (^ g 16 * A house built of sun-dried bricks or of clay morLir. 242 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. and distress him, as being so different from all his past experi- ence. The climate, too, may, very possibly, affect his health at first ; an unusual languor and listlessne^s may oppress him, the effect of his acclimatization. There will be times when he feels as if he must go back to his European home ; as if he could not endure life in a region where everything is so different from the home of his childhood. But if he is brave and resolute these feelings will soon pass away, and when his first crop is harvested and sold, he will look forward hopefully to a better future than he could have had at home. In general we may lay down these rules in regard to immi- gration : 1. Age. A man who has his fortup"; to make, or a family to support, should not emigrate from Europe to the West, after he has passed his forty-fifth year. There may be a few excep- tions to this, but they ar^ very few. Aftc;r a man has reached his forty-fifth year, he finds it far more difficult to change all his habits and modes of life and thought, than when he was younger. If he is a farmer, stock-raiser, or sheep-master, or has been a foreman or manager in either of these callings, he will find that it is necessary to ic^rn all his business anew, from the difference in soil, climate, and ways of doing business. A capitalist who has money tc invest in these or any other kinds of business, can come and make his investments at any age, when he is able to travel, and examine the property for himself; but we are not making a book for capitalists, but for workingmen. 2. As a general rule an invalid, or a person in feeble health, will not find it advisable to come to the West to become a per- manent resident, unless he has sufficient property to insure his support. Some do migrate under these circumstances, espe- cially these whose lungs are affected, and in Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Southern California, New Mexico, Utah, or Washington Territory, find positive benefit ; while Arkansas, Texas and Arizona have a good reputation for rheumatic affec- tions. But, in either disease, the beneficial result is contingent upon a permanent residence there. To come away, even after severa! years, is, in most cases, certain to prove fatal ; while a W/fO SHOULD NOT COME. 243 majority of those who go to these States and Territories for their health, after a brief and temporary improvement, suddenly become worse and die of the disease. The invalid, if he will come, should not stay in the larger towns but resort to the hills, whore an open-air life is possible. 3. No man should come who is averse to work, or who ex- pects, by coming, to lead an easier life, for some years at least, than he is leading at home. Since the primeval sentence at the expulsion from Eden, " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou return unto the ground," there has been no reprieve from toil, of hand or brain, and there will not be, till the lost Eden returns, which will not be in our clay. Industry will reap a better reward here than elsewhere, and the honest toiler may hope, in the later years of life, to enjoy a competence ; but It can only be procured by hard and wearisome labor. 4. No man should come whose temper is fickle, and who will tTJve way at the first rebuff and become discouraged, despondent and home-sick. The persevering, earnest, and sanguine worker, who grows stronger under defeats and discouragements, who will not give up, is the man to succeed. 5. No man can come with much hope of success, unless he has a little capital beyond what is necessary to bring him to tJie West. This is particularly true of a man who has a family. If he brings his family with him, which it is not always wise to do at first, they must have something to live upon till he can receive some return for his labor; and he will need money to purchase his land, break it up, sow it, cultivate it, and reap the harvest. If he attempts to raise stock, or to keep sheep, still more capital will be wanted ; if he starts a market-garden, a nursery, or raises flowers for profit, he must still have some capital to start with ; if he is a mechanic or a tradesman, he cannot start without some capital. How much he must have will depend very much on what he proposes to do ; for what would be sufficient for a mechanic or a market-gardener, might be too little for a farmer, a stock-raiser, or a tradesman. The safe rule will be, as much as the emigrant can command ; but in no case less than $500 after the travelling expenses are I * — ^ r J H > Pi lO:; 244 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE: paid ; and for a farmer, stock-raiser, sheep-master, miner, or tradesman, not less than ^i,ooo, and as much more as he can honcsdy command. If the man has a family, these sums should be doubled. " But," asks the intending emigrant, "isn't it possible to go to the West and settle down with less money than this ? With the utmost economy 1 have not been able to save but £\oo in ten years, and it will take at least ^25 of it to pay the passage and trans- I)ortation for myself and family. Must I be cut off from all hope of realizing the object for which I have been saving and working so lonof?" No, friend ; hope springs eternal in the human breast, so you need not give over hoping; but as to the emigrating, you have just a choice of two alternatives : either to postpone your emigra- tion for two, three, or five years, in the hope of being able to make up the amount you need— a somewhat doubtful expedient in the present depressed condition of the markets and failure of the crops; or, leaving with your family, say ^75 of the ^100, take the rest and go alone to the West, and seeking employment as a farm-hand, or herder, or shepherd, or miner, secure as soon as possible a homestead farm of 80 or 160 acrt.'s, on which the only payments will be from fourteen to twenty-five dollars {£2 ids. to £^) ; get twenty acres of it broken up by changing works, and have it planted to root crops, on sown with wheat ; by the second year a sod-house can be built and a crop raised, which ■will not only pay for further improvements, but leave £20 or ^25 to be sent to the family at home. At the end of four or five years, with good management, you can send for them, and welcome them to a home, humble and rude indeed, hut your own, and with a fair prospect of improving your condi- tion rapidly. We recommend the latter alternative, because homestead lands, in desirable locations, are becoming daily more scarce, and in two or three years may not be obtainable at all. But to come with a family, with too small a sum to sustain them, and make the necessary outlay for the scanty comforts of the pioneer, until you can receive a return from your crops, is to expose yourself and them to severe suffering, and, perhaps, to premat done vv 6. It youngr • fall witl; com for ti accuston very oftt It is be so many just SUffi: that they obtain en that there the countr from the J and water, they have and thougl iielp them charity) the of the kind been helpec the country terms, wher came hithei frontier. T liardships, b to do for hin necessity of until he can hardships, b soon will be The emigr; fheyniake^su the prospL-rit^ auspices, can I THE DISSATISFIED EMIGRANT. 245 premature death. Fartlier on we propose to show what can bo done with 5^1,000 by a careful and intellinrent emigrant. 6. It is unwise for aged people to come, even if it is with their young and robust children. The hardships of the pioneer life fall with peculiar severity upon the aged ; they miss the little comforts and privileges to which thoy have been for many years accustomed; and the fatigues and exposures they must undergo very often shorten their days, without adding to their happiness. It is because these precautions have not been heeded, because so many emigrants have come without more means than were just sufficient to carry them to their destination, firmly believing that they could pick up money in the streets, or that they could obtain employment which would be immediately remunerative, that there are so many disappointed and homesick emigrants in the country. Without employment, without money or food, sick from the long voyage and journey, from the change of climate and water, or possibly from some malarious influences to which they have been exposed, they are indeed in a pitiable condition ; and though the kind hand is almost invariably stretched out to help them (for the western people are full of kindness and charity) they often become so utt(;rly wretched as to be unmindful of the kindnesses they have received ; and even when they have been helped to return to their old homes, they will often denounce the country and those who have aided them in the strongest terms, when the fault has only been with themselves, that they came hither so entirely unprepared for their new life on the frontier. The prudent, energetic emigrant who comes expecting hardships, but prepared to meet them, who does not expect others to do for him what he can do for himself, and who recognizes the necessity of providing for his own support and that of his family until he can receive returns for his labor, will encounter some, hardships, but he will rejoice in triumphing over them, and very soon will be in a position to help others. The emigration societies and the land-grant railroads, though they make such a fair showing, and paint in such glowing colors the prosperity of the emigrants who have come out under their auspices, cannot guarantee success to those emigrants who have ^ 33 < tf >-• pa ;3 'C—^ (/> P^ < rJ H > 0(S \~* UX JS ^ P d ■iiinM iinm— ■ 1 1 246 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. no disposition to help themselves. The railroad companies and the emigration societies also give the emigrant from six to eleven years to pay lor their land, but the price is high, and the interest at from seven to ten per cent, adds materially to the price, while the first payment comes hard on a man who has little or no money, and his title is not complete till he has paid for the land, while a default in payment works a forfeiture of his farm, and the loss of most of what he has paid. Meanwhile, if he has no money, how is he and how is his family, if he has one, to be fed before he can raise a crop, or earn money for immediate support? Neither the emigration society nor the railroad company can or will support him. He would have done better to have gone to work for any one who would give him his board and even mod- erate waires, and if he could secure a farm under the Homestead or Timber-Culture Act, he w'ould at least have no heavy debt to weigh him down, and no ground of anxiety about his own food and raiment. No industrious, willing, able-bodied man need starve if he reaches the West alone, with but a dollar in his pocket, but he will not accumulate oropcrty so rapidly as if he had a little to start with. John Jacob Astor, the founder of the Astor family, once said, that the only difficulty he had in accumulating his vast estate was in earnintr the first thousand dollars. We have purposely presented the dark side of the picture to emiii^rants, because they need to know the worst as well as the bv;st. The rosy and pleasant side is presented to them every day, and they arc tempted to believe that there are no shadows till they come into the actual experience of them, and then they find them so dark and gloomy that they are ready to recoil from them, and say, " If we had only known, we would not have come." But the emigrant who goes to the West with small means should know beforehand that there are awaitincf him and his family, if he has one, exposures to severe cold and intense heat; hard beds, perhaps of pine or spruce boughs, or dried leaves on the ground ; scanty food at times, with hunger for his only sauce; poor cooking, from the want of proper utensils ; clothing THE HAKDShirS OF THE EMIGRANT. 247 which he would have uisdained at his old home ; a lack of all the conveniences of life ; very possibly at first no schools, no church, no post-office within twenty or thirty miles ; a house of one or two rooms built of sods or of logs, with a floor of earth, and upon this humble house, perhaps the summer's sun beats fujrcely, and the winter'3 snows may bury it out of sight. But he should know also that these privations and discomforts will be but temporary; that in, perhaps, four or five years, he will have a pleasant home and farm, with all the comforts of life, and all his own ; that school and church, and town-hall and post- office, with perhaps a daily mail, will all have come by that time ; that good clothing and the luxuries of choice beds, excellent and toothsome fare, and the music of organ or piano, may gratify his tastes ; and knowing these things, he should decide whether the privations of the first few years were worth enduring, for the sake of the comforts and substantial benefits which will probably follow. There is another view of this subject of emigration to which attention should be directed. For some years past great eftbrts have been made to direct emigration to other countries than the United States ; the Dominion of Canada, Australia, Brazil, Bue- nos Ayres, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Chili, have sought to attract emigrants to their respective countries. The Dominion and Australia have been moderately successful, for the whole influence of the British Government has been exerted, properly enough, in their favor ; but the emigrants to Canada have had much greater hardships to undergo than those to our western country, and very nearly two-thirds of them have eventually crossed the border and located themselves under the Stars and Stripes.-^' The Australian emigrants have struggled manfully with the trying climate, and the very great hardships which they have had to encounter, but many of them have come into the * Lately there is much complaint among the emigrants to Manitoba, that i)y reccni Acts of the Cohmial LegisKiture, they cannot secure lands within five miles of the jiroposed railway to the Pacific coast for less than six dollars per acre, and all honr.esteading is cut off friim that belt, and, further, that by the Act of July last, the homestead grant, however distant from market, is limited to eighty acres, while the United States Government make it 160 acres. p^ p3 < CC u—4 P3 3 1 1 < t>J H ^> PH »— < fJ f^ PQ ; ' ^ ^ pa 248 OUK VVK STERN EM II RE. West by way of San Francisco, and the tide of emigration to the United States to-day is more tiian four times that to Australia. Tlie emififration to the South American States has in most cases proved a complete failure. I.iberal as were the offers of the governments, the whole matter was badly organized and man- aged, and the sufferings of the emigrants became so intolerable that they were glad to escape to their old homes with the loss of everything, being indebted in many cases to the consuls of their respective countries for a free passage homewards. The present rapid influx of emigrants from Europe to the United States, and their strenuous objections to going to any other country, shows conclusively that the experience of sixty years of emigration has convinced the people of Europe that the will fare best here. CHAPTER II. The Routes bv which our Western Empire is Reached — The Northeastern Region — The Central Region — The Southern — The Southwestern— The Pacific States and Territories. The immigrant who has valiantly resisted at Hamburg, Bre- men, Rotterdam, or Havre, at Southampton, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, or Cardiff, the blandishments of the emigration com- panies, and the glowing representations of the railway companies, and who lands at Castle Garden, New York, unpledged to any company, and under no obligation to take a poor route when there is a better to be had, may well rejoice in his freeJom ; but he will find himself beset by as hungry a horde of runners and canvassers for all the difPjrent routes, as ever drove a poor man to distraction. If he has made up his mind to what section of the West hi; will migrate (and he should have done this before leaving home;, our adv:':e to him would be to stop over a day at Castle Garden and make choice of the route which will bring him most directly, quickly, and safely to his desired destination. He cannot well do this from the flaming posters placarded there ; nor from the ROUTE FOR NORrilWESTERN E AUG RANT. 249 noisy vociferations of the runners; and there is a strong possi- bility that even some of the officials may have been slif^hily in- Huenced by interested persons to give tlie preference to one route or another from motives not altogether disinterested. Knowing where he wishes to go, and knowing also, as he may, what railway lines will take him thither most surely, directly, with the greatest amount of comfort, and the smallest amount of cost he can make up his own mind as to his route as well as anybody else M\ do it for him, and, as all the routes have their real eastern termini at Castle Garden, he can purchase his tickets there and have no further trouble, except occasionally looking out for his meals and his baggage, till he reaches liis destination, or the railway terminus nearest to it. The journey on an emigrant train will be at the best a long and weary one, but if he has a fellow-countryman or shipmate of his own way of thinking, and bound for the same vicinity as himself, the companionship will relieve the journey of some of its tedium for both. If our immigrant is a farmer, or farm-hand, and desires to establish himself in Iowa, Minnesota, Dakota, Northeastern Montana, or Nebraska, he will probably find it desirable to make Chicago his point of departure for the Northwest. Chicago is distant from New York about 950 miles, the five trunk roads running thither varying from 933 to 975 miles in the length of their lines to it. There is very little room for choice between the Hudson River and New York Central, the Erie, the Penn- sylvania Central, and the Baltimore and Ohio roads, all of which run trains through to Chicago. They are all good roads, and give the immigrant as nearly the worth of his money as they can [possibly afford. These lines, we believe, now all make close connection with the Chicago and Northwestern lines, which are the connectiner lines with the Northern Pacific, and the Minne- sota, Iowa, and Dakota Railways. By taking a through ticket, ycia the Chicago and Northwestern, to any point reached by this Irailway or its connections, he will be insured a passage with as Ifew annoyances as he will find on any route. One precaution me should not fail to take. The number and class of his railway 250 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ticket, and the railroads over whicli lie is to pass, and the num- bers and stamps of his baggage chcclcs, should all be noted down in a little memorandum, and he will do well occasionally to sec that all his baggage is on board. In case of loss of either baggage or ticket, he will recover damages much more readily if he can tell on which of the affiliated roads it was lost and what were the numbers. Ke should also have a printed time-table of the roads over which he passes, which will be furnished him for the askin-r at the office of the railroad on which he is to travel, in Castle Garden. It seems a pity to be obliged to caution a man against his fellow-man, especially when he is a stranger in a strange land ; but it is necessary to say, once for all, not only to emigrants from Europe, but to our own people who may be migrating westward, that it is best to be shy of strangers, unless they are introduced to you by those whom you have reason to confide in as honest and trustworthy, and even then it is not necessary or wise to bi.come too confidential with them, to tell them all your family history, to show your money to them, or inform them just the amount you carry about you. It is very imprudent and foolish to eiiL^age in any games of chance or skill with strangers, especially in any involving the winning or losing money. If you win, your antag- onist has probably lost what he can ill afford to lose ; if you lose, as you probably will (for generally, it is only sharpers who pro- pose to play in a public conveyance), you will feel the loss and have occasion at the same time to lament your folly. Never manifest a sus-lcious disposition in regard to those who are about you. If there is anything you cannot understand, ask the con- ductor, courteously and pleasandy, and he will generally be cour- teous in his reply. Do not make yourself conspicuous by loud talking, or a swaggering manner. There are always people on the train who will weigh a man at what he is really worth, not at "he value he may set upon himself. Do not judge of people by I'leir dress or their pretensions. You will often find in the West, a millionaire in plain, rough clothing, or an eminent scholar in a dress which might be worn by a tramp; while a gambler, Hack-leg, or horse-thief may sport his diamonds, or dress in irre- proachable taste. ROUTES FOR THE PACIFIC STATES. 551 The immij^rant who Is attracted to Nebraska, Kansas, Colo- ratio, Wyoming, Western or Central Montana, klaho, Utah, Nevada, or New Mexico, Texas or Arizona does not need to make Chicago his point of departure, unless he chooses to do so. His more direct route will lie through St. Louis ; and Omaha, Nebraska, Kansas City, Missouri, St. Joseph, Missouri, or Atchi- son, Kansas, will be his points of tleparture. Omaha is the east- ern terminus of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railways, though recently a part of its traffic has been transferred to Kan- sas C'ty- '^t. Joseph is the terminus of the St. Joseph and Den- ver branch of the Union Pacific, and is otherwise a railroad cen- tre of some importance. Atchison is the eastern terminus of the central branch of the Union Pacific and also of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the most enterprising and energetic railway in the Western Empire, but which is now also extended to Kansas City. The last-named place has recently beccjme one of the greatest railway centres west of the Mississippi. It is the most easterly terminus of the Union Pacific, and commands from its position the travel and transportation of the Kansas Pacific, the Denver Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa l'\'*, tb.e Utah and Northern ; the Missouri, Kansas and Texas ; the I louslon and Texas Central ; the St. Louis and San Francisco, and tb.e Texas Pacific. All these roads but one are now controlled by onv,' man, or rather by a combination, of which he is the head. The immi- grant leaving New York by either of the great trunk roads, Erie, New York Central, Pennsylvania Central, or Baltimore and Ohio, will do better as matters now stantl, to buy his ili rough tickets via the Wabash Railway, which connects directly at Kan- sas City v;ith all these roads. I^y either of the other lines, Chicago and Northwestern, or Chicago and Burlington, he will be obliged to change cars and re-check his baggage at Kansas City, Omaha, Atchison or St. Joseph. He may be required to do so on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, but probably he will not. If the emigrant's destination is to Oregon or Washington, he will still find it best to take this route going by the Union and Central Pacific, and stopping off at Kelton or at Junction, twenty miles east of Sacramento, and going thence by stage and rail to § i W H > (A I-^ Ui F 3 v^ ■S --, Wyoiiiiin- fnpor,,,, Kansas.. ,»"l''';'. Kansas.... HmchniwMi, K insa, l.r..ul;n,d, Kan.s.,,s." f;'"*l>y. Kansas . . . ,''<•■■*,';'>■. Kan.., s ..II l.:.I,, Ciiy. U,,\i, .rwd, Ltali... ■ '"A.llial,, ;;'; ^■■' ■"!■.. •!■:;;,• ■.. I'.iliisiiin. 'IVvis ■"."■ '"-'v.i-i )inK„„. •jv..va, . . . ;.rtU ,,„!,, .,-cvas. ..";;';;. I".|,an -IVrri.or ■TiSn,,, ,\rl''-v.-ida . ^"'An^d.s.Califo'rnia: :'"""g'i, California jlucson.Ar./ona. . , ..,., "^"rt "enton, have L\^"'™ple.ion of ,1 *'neS„nihcrn P.icifi A'.I//.A-(KI/) /'.lA'/iS. 253 to|)i)cil stoves, on wlilc'Ii the passt'iij^MM-s tan licat any food or ilrinks they ncotl for ^oun^- cliiltlrcn or invaliils ; have an arran^e- iiu'iU by which, by the usi,- of hoards fiirnisli(;d by the company, hunks can be made in wliich, witli the aid of coals, blankets and shawls, the piissen^^'rs can sleep as w(;ll as in the steeraj^e of a -,ltanishi|). The followinir tabif, compiled with j;,^ri'at care, yives lIk: railroad fares which prevailed in the autumn of 1S79: l»i.»iinatinii. Pnrtl.ind, Orfgnn , I'.irdin.l, I M K""' I'ortl.uul, Drcuoil.. Portland, Orcunn . K.iri n ntmi, Monl.ina. . Kiirl II- nlim, Monlaiia. IIjI 11,1, MiMll.ni.v H.Uiia, Miim.iiia IM,ni. Moiii.iii.i 1) liver, t'uliirailo I'll. Wo, Ccilurado Oilurailii SpriiigH, Cul C.inun Ci[y, Culiirado . . . , AUmii'-a, Coliiradii Del Norte, Coloradi) tLcacIvilli.', Colorado '■\,3Ve C'ily, C'olnr.idii ,.-1.1111,1 l-'i', N'uw .M xicii . , INKmIUi, New Mixic i')'i)(J.iliciitr. Ni'W Mexico I Chiyi niie, WyoiniiiK Triporia, Kansas Wiihiia, Kansas ' Hulchin^nn, K insas l,r...u IV'uil, Kaiis.is Kin*Ky, Kansas DhiU ■ I' ly. Kansas O^dcn, Ulidi \\\l l,al-. Ciiy, Utah I'rnvo, I'lali , , Vnrh.Uiati,...^ S.iii AiiiMiIti, 'I'l X.1S (i.ilv-stnn, Texas U'.iro, Texas . , . . Utiii-iiHi, Texas , fin Wnrtli, Texas iViiiii.i, Iii'li.iii 'IVrritory . FuriSniiih, Arkansas.... lI'iiMDii, Texas IVi'las, 'I'exas IVmIw.,,,,!, lilack Hdls, ll.ikoia Uiilwood, BKick Hills, Dakiita Virsini.-* City, Nevada Cir^dii. Nrvada IxK Anijeles, California... S.in Piig.i, Cillfornia.. .. tTucsoii, Arizona I . l.M.) io8,(jo 75.<«« 46. yt 97 J • Ol 5') 3356 3.V56 35.. 6 3S;;6 41. so .■>-•/> 11. ol 08. T I 5.1.i6 4...,,, \6.-<\ iy.:io 17. .(I 18.40 19.41 3 • II 6....1 r (>., . ) .;i..y.i .1 1.1 o -';■?■> 2';. 5'' 27,'«i VU.iKl 28.5:; 3"=" 27.50 39-5° 3 B e! Railroad or Steamer Knntcn, and Points of Dep.iriiirc. lion j4 Uiii.illlla. 85.44 j to.mj ! 75.00 via U. 1'. K. K. H Sia«i! Iiy jnnclioii Keddinij 5=^-^1^ i ?J aid Kos. luiii; lly r.ic.lic Mail lo S.ui Francisco, and tlience liy Sieani'rlo I'orilaiid lly liiinii ft I'. 11. i'.i.ilic,aiid Ulal\J\ Nor. R. R. I>y Mis.,oiiri Kivji- liy riiKiiu^t i: M. I'.iclii-.and Ul,ili& Nor. R. R, l!y St. Louis ii( .Mi'.^oiiri Rivir L.iiir r.iiis liy l'i!i.)ii ['.itifn-, Ul.ili & Northern R. R via St. I.oiiis, Kansas Ciiy, and the Atchinon, To|> ka & S.inia l-V U. R via St. I.oiiis, Kansas Cliy, and the Atchison, T'opeka {t S.iiila I'e R. R via St. Lniiis, K. ins IS C'ily, and tlio Atchison, Top ka S; Saiua I'V K R,. .... via M. I.oiiis, K.in^.is t'ily, and the Atchison, Top. ka S: Santa Vi- K . R via M. l.oiiis, Kan-, In lily, and the Atchison, T .poka S: Santa Ke R . R via Si. 1,'Mii-.. K.iii-.i'. t'iiy, .iiul tlie Aiihison, Top. ka Jv .-..iiii.i Kf R. R By .Ai'lii.on, Top'ka it S.ini.i I'V K. R.,orI)y Union I'.ielfic, Color.ulo C. iilr,il, .oid St.i>;e. . . , I!y .All liison, Topcka & Santa Fe R. R. I5y Union P.acfic R. R lly At. hi-on, Topeka & Siinta Fc R. R.. . I!y Union Paci lie lly Union Paitifn' Si Utah N.irr.nv Oangc R. R. liy St. Louis & .\IisN Kall^as & Texas R. R. Ky U. P., and Stage from Sydney to Dcadwood. Hy Northern Pacific, and Stage from Bismarck. , 68. o5 I liy Union and Cenir.d Pacific 67..KJ I • 75.00 I By Union, Central & Southern Pacific 86.00 I " •• " " 89.00 1 " " " " " 93.44 I 88.00 Bj.'vi 98.1^6 '93.no *ri3. B4..«. 48.00 20.00 20.00 20. (K> 2 5.*X> 28.0<1 34..x> 42.. K> ,8. = , 64-75 3-7^ 4.8,. 4-35 54' 6.35 7"5 46.44 48.44 3 ••')4 52.44 30.9 > 3-'.o» i-.o.oo 46.00 4J.0O 25.00 25.00 2-,. 00 27.00 30.00 33.00 I 39.00 I 47.00 4t.-3 I 89-75 I 45. .XJ 20. tx) 9!8j 935 I... 40 It. 35 12...5 40.,. o 4.'.. '. 44ri> 46. .« 25.00 48.00 47.00 55.00 66.no 69.0.-) 17.CO 88.iH> 53.00 55.50 15-55 28.00 25.00 27.00 30.00 33.00 39..>o 47..IO 4'.--3 89-75 4... o 1-7' 9.3 > 9 ." 1.1.4 • II. .ii I-'-' 5 5'."-' 5-. M 55.. n 56.51 27-4' 23.50 2- .' n 16. .-.J 1 7.-0 10.5 I 10.. 5 CI.O > 18.00 30.00 'III March. i3ao,the Ut.ah and Northern R, R. was completed to Milena, Montana, and the fares to that li wu iiid to Fort Henton, have oinseqiiently hecn reduced somewhat on this route. JThc lomplction of the railroad to I.eadville, Alamosa ami Santa Fi', li.is reduced these fares somewhat. jTh.) Sciiiihern Pacific is now completed to Tucson, and fares arc lower. 954 Ol'H iy£S7£AAr EMriHE, CHAITl'R III. How TO OIITAIN l-AND — OoVKRNMF.N I I.ANDS — PrK K.S Of ArAIII.E OR FaRMINi; Lands — I'liRciiASK at Auction or I'rivatf. Mnirv — I'rk-kmi'IIon— Tiik IIoMi.siKAi) Sai.ks — Land-.VVarranis — Tiik 'riMiiKR-Ciu/ruuK At r — 'Ikkms and Modk ok ruRLiiASK t)i' Timiiku Lands — ('iKa/in(; Lands; now Ski ruin. Havinc. arrived at his destination, the immij^rant, if a farnicr. or if disposed to invest in arable lands, looks about him, to sctr iiow he can best secure a farm. If he is a member of a colony formed in ICurope, or in our own Iiastern States, or if he comes out under the management of an emi<;ration company, he is spartjcl that trouble. He takes what is allotted to him, what{!ver its (luality, and without any privilcj^e of change ; or if he is allowed a voice in the allotment, it must still be in the same tract of land. Not all the immigrants, however, are disposed to come iniosiich an arrangement as this. It is very well in a small colony, where all the colonists are friends and acquaintances, and where the town lots and farming lands are about equally eligible, to unite together in this way, but to be only one of several thousands to whom land is allotted without choice of the party who is to cultivate it, and without the stimulus of individual enterprise, though it may suit foreign colonists, is not much to the taste of our independent and self-reliant American emigrants. We will suppose, then, that our immigrant, having decided where he desires to locate his farm, proceeds to secure it. There are many ways in which he may do this ; some of them dependini| upon the amount of money he has at command, others upon the locality itself, and the amount and desirableness of the govern- ment land in the market. If he has a sufficient capital and proposes to farm his own land, he will perhaps find it advisahltj to purchase a partially improved farm from some sctili r who desires to pay off the debts he has incurred and start anew on government land farther west. There are very often such oppor- tunies by which an immigrant, who has some capital, may, for less money than he would have to expend on new and unbroken lands, procure a good farm, with such improvements as may enable him Jioiy TO si:ci'h'/: a /■.ia-a/. 255 to enter upon it at once. In all these cases, however, he should carefully examine his title, and sec that there are no clouds on it. If, liovyever, there is no suc,'i oi)portunity where he wishes to locate, he will do well to purchase, if he can fmd it, ^a)vernni<'nt land of the best quality, either at auction or l)y private ciury, \H''m^ careful to select a farm with either a sprin^^ or running; wuttr on it, and, if it is to be had, one of the altcirnate sidioiis on or near a railway line, present or immediately prosp(.ctive. riu; land, if not near a railway, will be heUl by the government at $1.25 per acre and the fees, which may bring the price up to $1-33 o** $^-35 per acre. If it is within the railroad limit the price will be $2.50 per acre, with the fees, which may bring it up to ^2.60. In either case, he will do well if he can aflord it to take a ([uarter-section (160 acres) in this way. If he needs more hereafter he can probably secure it at a less cost. but it may happen that there has been such active emigration to that neighborhood, that th(*re are no desirable {|uarter-seclions to be had, among these alternate sections along the railroad, and that the remoter lands are, for some reason, not desirable. Or, it may be that there is no railroad in the immediate vicinity, or that the lands have not been surveyed, and so put upon die market. In the first case, lie can probably buy the railroad land, paying a little more for it, usually }2;5 per acre, but receiving a liberal discount for cash payment. In the second case, he may be obliged to pre-empt his land, in which case he will have thirty- three months to pay for it, and a longer time if it is not surveyed, but meantime does not receive a full title; or he can enter it provisionally under the Homestead or the Timber-Culture Act, receiving his full title in five or eight years. Or, he may fmd some school lands or other State lands in the vicinity, which he may be able to purchase on fair terms ; or, at the very worst, if there is no survey, no railroad near, no State or Territorial lands ready for purchase, nothing but a mining settlement just spnmg into existence, which will afford him a good market for whatever he can raise, he can " scjuat " on the land, taking his chance of dispossession, but with pay for his improvements, if the land should prove to be mining land, and filing a pre-emption claijn as soon as possible. ^-.' f'--^ P •4: s 256 //■A.SV/.,V.\- EMPIRE. The immi_(^rant who lias hut little money will take a somewhat different course. Me will do better to look out for a quarter- section under the Homestead Act, or the Timber-Culture.Act, or both, if he needs so much land, and he will find it for his advantaLje, if there are lands near a railroad, to secure those, taking if he f-hooses, only half the quantity and thereby saviiiir som(;thini4, and if he takes the same <|uantity under the Timber-Culture Act, it will cost him S!4 more; but he obtains his full title only at the end of five years of cultivation (unless he was a soldier in the late war, when ti,e time of service in the war is deducted), and under the Timber- Culture Act, not till the end of eight years, though the tree-plant- ing is- extended over the whole time, a certain quantity bein;^ planted each year. Jf there is no opportunity to obtain a desirable farm in this way, the next best mode is by pre-emption, Avhich will give him at least thirty-three months, time for two crops, before he will have to pay for his land. Or failing tlil-, the school land^- which thougii of sligluly higher price arc usually sold on time, in seven or ten annual instalments, or W. may purchase on long credit, tliough at a higher price, railroad lands in an eligible location. In order that there may be ni possibility of misunderstanding the provisions imder A\hich government lands are sold, we give below the acts and inter- pretations of them, by the United States Land Office, under wliidi the public lands are sold or given to settle rs for famiini; or grazing purposes, and also the laws in regard to timbcn- lan(i> and mining lands. These, have been rompiUxl and coini)are(i with the reports of the office with great care, and anj believed in embody every particular necessary for procuring governnur,; lands under all circumstances. We ought to say, that there is very K\\.\\^ govctnim cut laud Q\\'g\h\(i for fanning purposes in Iowa, Missouri, Eastern Kansas, East(M-n Nebraska, or California, and none in Texas, though die State has vast quantities for sale at merely nominal prices. In some of the other States and Territories grazing and timber-lands are greatly in excess of those adapted to cultivation. In Minnesota, Dakote, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, quantities -Nevada, Id til-' grazing HO\ f- ARAur.r issued by tli explicit m r lands ; There are per acre, ^vJ] S2.50 per acr Title may ortlinar)' " x^n Jiomestead, an '• This r,ia- [auction to the J -• The Jands Jiit-Te offcnxl ('a\-e not since k-irket. In tJ, W following si > '''le apj)I,-c pster for th( p^'''^'"|),)n the rr r-'cc. and the Fcha.' Th '^t-'-money ^ receiver w \\hen the p, f^fe t'tle will be '7 HOIV TO SECURE GOVERA'AfEA'7 LAXDS. 257 Wyomirifj, Western Nebraska, HY'stern Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, there are still large quantities of arable lands, and a considerable amount in Utah, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, and Arizona, though in all tiit^se tlij grazing and mineral lands largely i)redominate. HOW TO OBTAIN GOVERNMENT LAN1>S. I. Akaijle Lands. — The following is compileil from circulars issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and is explicit in reference to the manner of acquiring title to public lands : There are two classes of public lands-- the one class at $1.25 per acre, which is designated as minim.:))!, and the other at S2.50 per acre, or double minimum. Tide may be ac(juired by purchase at public sale, or by ordinary " [private entry," and in virtue of the pre-emption, 'Homestead, and timber-culture laws. i;v rrRciiAsE at rriu.ic sale. I. This ina\- Ite done where lands are "offered" at [auction to the highest bidder. pid)lic liY PRIVATi: KNTUV OR LOCATION. 2. The lands liable to disposal in this manner are those which [were offered at public sale, but were not then sold, and which lliave not since been reserved or otherwise withdrawn from Biiarket. In this class of offtircd and im reserved pidjlic lands, ihe lollowing steps may be takc'n to ac(|uire title : CASH rrkCUASES. 3. The applicant will jjrescnt a written application to the |t'i;ister for the district in which tlu; kind desired is situated. [hereupon the register will so certif)' to the receiver, stating the [nee, and die applicant must then pa)' the amount of th.e |iirohase-inoney. The receiver will then issue his receipt for the money paid, nd when the proceedings are found regular, a patent or com- (ete tide will be issued. >7 g3 2-8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. LOCATIONS WITH WARRANTS. 4. Application must be made as in cash cases, but must be accompanied by a warrant duly assigned as the consideration for the land ; yet, where the tract is ^2.50 per acre, the party, in addition to the surrendered warrant, must pay in cash $1.25 per acre, as the warrant is in satisfaction of only so many acres, at ^1.25 per acre, or furnish a warrant of such denomination as will, at the legal value of $1.25 per acre, cover the rated price of the land. The following fees are chargeable by the land officers, and the several amounts must h^i. paid at the time of location: For a 40-acre wr.rrant, 50 cents each to the register and receiver — total, ji.cc For a 60-acrc warrant, 75 cents ' " " " " 1.50 For an 80-acrc warrant, ^i .00 " " ** ** 2.00 For a 1 2o-n(rc warrant, <;i.5Q " " " " 3,00 For a luo-atre warrant, 52.00 " ** " " 4.00 AGIUCUI.TURAL COLLEGE SCRIP. 5, This scrip may be used — First. In the location of lands at ''private entry',' but when so, used is only applicable to lands not mineral, which may be sub- 1 ject to private entry at $1.25 per acre, restricted to a ''quarter section'' or it may be located on a part of a "quarter-section,"! where such part is taken as in full for a quarter; but it cannot be applied to different subdivisions to make an area eqiiivalentj to a quarter-section. The manner of proceeding to acquire titlej \.ith this class ol paper is the same as in cash and warrant cases.] the fees to be paid being the same as on warrants. Second. In [)aynicnt of pre-em{)tion claims in the same niannerj and under the sanu- rules and regulations as govern the applica- tion to pre-enijjlions of military land warrants. Third. In payment for homesteads commuted under sectiooj 2301 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. ri'.K-K.MI'TIONS ADMISSIIil.I-: 'lO Till". KXIKXT OF ONE (JlAin.l-K-SEC'j TKiX, 01; dXK lit XDkKI) AXI) SIXTY ACRES. 6. These are admitted under sections 2257 to 22S8 of tlicRej ';•■•' -''i;! l-hefr ''''^''■'-aftcr to m "10(1 ths from t] more settlers '■'-"^''''"g upon [s'liallcst !,.v-al ''^- -ShonM \ rRK-EMPTIO.V OF LANDS. 259 vised Statutes of the United States, upon "offered" and "un- offcred" lands, and upon any of the unsurveycd lands belongi^ig to the Unitetl States. The pre-emption privilege is restricted to ihc heads of families, widows, or single men over the age of twenty-one, who are citizens of the United States, or who have: J.cdared their intention to become citizens, as required by ih',; naturalization laws. ;. The right of pre-emption for one quarter-section, or iCu acres, at the price of $2.50 per acre, to the alternate United State:, or reserved sections along the line of railroads, is continued by the Revised Statutes. 8. Section 2281 thereof protects the rights of settlers alor,. the line of railroads, where settlement existed prior to with- drawal, and in such cases allows the land to be taken by prc- einptors at $1.25 per acre. 9. Where the tract is "offered'' land, the party must file his declaratory statement, as to the fact of his settlement, within thirty days from the date of said settlement, and within one year from cicUc of settlement must make proof of his actual residence on, and cultivation of, the tract. 10. Where the tract h.as been surveyed and iioi offered at public sale, the claimant must file his declaratory statement within three months from date of settlement, and make proof and payment within thirty months after the expiration of the three months allowed for filing his declaratory notice, or in odier words, witliin thirty-three months from date of settlement. 11. Where.' settlements arc made on unsurveycd \dind?,, settlers arc rcjiHi'i (1, v.ithin thrc iivviiths after the date of the receipt at the (li;.trici. land ofiJce of tlrj improved plat of the township em- linuiiv,; their claims, to file their declaratory statement, and thereafter to make: proof and payment for the tract within diirty nioiuhs from the expiration of said three months. When two or more settlers on unsurveyed land are found upon survey to be [residing upon, or to have valuable improvements upon, the same smallest legal subdivision, they may make joint entry of such Itract, and. separates entiics of the residue of their claims, 12. Sliould the settler, in either of the aforesaid cases, die pa (.■4 m ^ pa (4 o 26o OUR U'ESrERi\r EMP/KE. before establishing his ciaiir witliin the per<<<>i'i Jimit/yi by law. r^p ^itJe may hv perfv^'«-tccl by the <'xecutor, adminni^^fator, >//■ one o' tlv5 heirs, by making the reqiuisi(f.<; proof" of settlcrt^-nt AtA pay- ing- for the land ; the legal representatives of the deceaw^d ^/ft^. emptor being entitled to make the entry at any time witl-Hfl the period to which the pre-emptor wou'kl be entitled if living. LAWS KXTKXDING THI-: HOMESTEAD PRIVILEGE. 13. The laws exu-nd'ng the homestead privilege, embraced in sections 2289 to 2317 of thu Ren-ised Statutes, give to every citizen, and to those who have declared tin ir intention lo Ijeconie citizens, the right to a homestead on surveyed land ;. 14. To obtain honjiest<-,p.ds, tlK^ party must make affidavit before the register ec rec^-ivrr that \v. is over the age of twenty- one, or the head of a faminJv •, tj.at he is a citizen of the Tnited States, or has declared his i-Fv^^-Dtion to ly-rome such; and that the entry is made for k-is ex-^'iv^S'ive use an^'l benefii, and for actual settlement and culfivMVMi. 15. Where the applicant hris W'.-.i.cW 'miwaX settlement "H the land he desires to enter, but i.> ;,/<- .y good ce >^-, from personal attendance at tlie (Xxsifi^t &i#xJ ti/iJKt'. the ".irtdarit mav be made before th(,' clerk of the rt for the county uitliin which the land is situated. 16. On compliance of r'lK.' party with tlv foregoing requi.'-e- ments, the matter will then 1/ /nt( red on the records of the div trict office, and reported to \\y ^/ei^eral 1 and Offict*. 17. An inLej)tive riglit is \t'.ifAA'j^ '^ the sc^tder by suilj pro- ceedings, and upon faitjjj'il iiSyr>if'^A'(\<.(' tA the law in regard to j settlement and cultivation ffj-Kr rfj^xvA^f will issue his certificate, and make proper returns Uf th*' iiv\Mtxd\ Land ()fr> f as tiiej basis of a patent or compk-te MM' iof i\v. horn' .-.tead. In makiiid final proof, it is required that the honoie:*!/ ad part)- sliall appcarj in person at the district land (/»>»/ e, lint wh( re, hoin <^onil cause, the luihiesscs of said jiarty cannol atteml in persun at iliej tlistrict office, their testimony may be taken before any otiicer authorized by law to administer oaths, 18. Where a homestead settler dies before the consummatio o( hi.s clair continue t; requisite pi title passes "lake the p <\l^^, leavin*'- tli'j henefit c tlie United 5 19- 'i^iie s party before Latid Oifice, and might (rU reli/iquisji \^\^ ^ government. ofa Jioinestea "ill set apart a due notice of t tostich contes [ascertain when J tormal written I I 's open lo tl,^.^ -V'- -\s th,; ■ r^-'inqui.shing o\ second r\n\y ; cmcell, dasin, p'T-red irom en '"Jeinentonat l^'' mav eiiangv p'f'' to (oriipK I'cted. Yi:>'icu/iural CO Wtreation for a f'y to the a>ne o\ ""'nation must Nnct officers. fitnesses. THE HOMESTEAD LAW. 261 of hii? claim, the widow, or, in case of her cleatii, the hein> may conLinue the settlement and cultivation, and obtain tide upon rc(iiii'>ite proof at the proper time. If the widow proves up, the ti'tic passes to her; if she dies before proving" up and the heirs make the proof, the tide will vest in them. Where both parents die, leaving infant heirs, the homestead may be sold for cash for the benefit of such heirs, and the purchaser will receive tide from the United States. ly. ihe sale of a homestead claim by the settler to another uarty before completion of title, is not recognized by the General Land Office, but would h^i prima facie evidence of abandonment, and might give cause for cancellation of the claim. A party may relinquish his claim, but on his doing so, the land reverts to the government. Where application is made to contest the validity of a homestead entry on the ground of abandonment, the officers will set apart a day for a hearing, giving all tlu; parties in interest due notice of the lime and place of trial. The expenses incident to such contest must be defrayed by the contestant, who must ascertain when notic : of cancellaiion is received, and /hai make jiormal written application for the tract, which, after cancidlaiion, lis open to they/;'.y/ ''<',V'*'' <^pplicanL 10. As th<^ la v allows but one homestead privilege, a settler irLTinquishing or abandoning hi-, chiinv cannot thereafter make a Isccond ( n 1 1 y ; Ijut where, a part)- having made one entry, it is Icancelh 1 as in\alid, lor sonic oilur reason, he is not thereby de- Ibarred from entering again. W'ln^re an individual has made jbt'ttlement on a tract and lilc'tl his pre-emption declaration therefor, K- mav ehange hi < filing into a homesteacl, if he continues in gv^od laith to ((Mn|)ly with the pre-emption laws until the change is effected. If tlic Jto)iics\'aif scfllcr docs vol i.'isJi io rcviain five years on Viinxct, iJic /'Ti' pcnni/s liiui 10 pay for it loiik cash or zcarranis, v'a^^riculiural coUci^e scrip, upon viakino pi 00/ oj Sitilevun* and mlivalioii foi' a psi'iod not less tJian six moniJis from f/ie da/c of \\lry lo die lime of payment. This proof of actual settlem<'ni and ultivation must be the affida\it of the party, made before the ptrict officers, corroborated by the tcstinxwy of iwo credible Vitnesses. I t& >-• ;■-■* 3 Z-* f J H P* H U^ ca J3 iO . 1 y^ idj 3 MM 262 CTA' ii7:sr/:A'X KMriRi:. 22. Them is another class of homesteads designated as "ad- joining farm homesteads." In these cases the law allows an applicant, oioning and residing o\\ an original farm, to enter othir land lying contiguous thereto, which shall not, with such farm, exceed in the aggregate 160 acres. In applying for an entry of this class, the party must make affidavit describing the tract which he owns and upon which he resides as his origin;il i.iriii. In making final proof, it is not required that he should prove actual residence on the separate tract entered ; but it must appear that he has continued for the period required by law to reside upon and cultivate the original farm tract, and has bona Jide made use of the entered tract as part of the homestead. 23. Provisions for the benefit of soldiers and sailors of the nil: war, their widoivs and minor orphan children: Sections 2304, 2305, 2306, 2307, 2308, and 2309 of the Revised Statutes, (ur the benefit of soldiers and sailors, their widows and minor orphan children, provide : First. In section 2304, that every soldier and officer of t!' army, and every seaman, marine, and officer of the navy, wiio served for not less than ninety days in the army or navy of ij- United States "during the recent rebellion," and who was honorallv discharged, and has remained loyal to the government, may cnt-r^ under the provisions of the homestead law, 1 60 acres of the puulic lands. Second. In section 2305, that the time of his service, or the I whole term of his enlistment, if the party was discharged o.d account of wounds or disability incurred in the line of duty, sha!! be deducted from tlie period of five years during which tliej claimant must reside upon and cultivate the entered tract, but the party shall, in every case, reside upon, improve, and cultivate] his homestead for a period of at least one year. Third. That any person entitled to the benefits of section 2jo|) who had, prior to tlie 22d of June, 1874, made a homestead entryj ol less than 160 acres, may enter an additional quantity of laoJ sufficient to make, with the previous entry, 160 acres. Four/h. That the widow, if immarried, or in case of her dcat!i| or marriage, thr:u the minor orphan children, of a person wli would be under its if the per minor chi] ment. J'flh- T iiiay file hi: have SIX n commence 24. The avail thems •Statutes m First. On so, inimediai party so elec specified tra( actual settler six months, \ agent iiavino- and commenc Second. Th be initiated b act only by th copies of the Thinl App which, with tlu t'le party's fir receiver will n forms prescrib cases of origir party will mak entered tract, i f'le party has "■''en he applic fhe additional t stated, and pay ^^len the party no.)/;:s//:.tii /..ix/)S io soi.d/j-.ks, eic. 263 would be entitled to the benefits of section 2304, may enter lands under its provisions, with the additional privilege accorded, that if the person died during his term of enlistment, the widow or minor children shall have the benefit of the whole term of enlist- ment. FiJ'lh. That any person entitled to the benefit of section 2304 may file his claim for a tract of land through an agent, and shall have six months thereafter within which to make his entry and commence his settlement and improvement upon the land. 24. The following is the course of proceedings for parties to avail themselves of the benefit of these sections of the Revised Statutes in making homestead entries : • First. On the party producing proper proof of his right to do so, immediate entry of the tract desired may be made ; but if the party so elect, he may file a declaration to the effect that he claims a specified tract of land as his homestead, and that he takes it for actual settlement and cultivation. Thereafter, at any time within six months, the party may come forward, either in person or by agent having his power of attorney, make his entry of the land, and commence his settlement and improvement. Second. The claims of widows and minor orphan children may be initiated by declaration as above. Minor orphan children can act only by their duly appointed guardians, who must file certified copies of the powers of guardianship. Third. Applications for additional entries must be for a quantity which, with the original entr)', will not exceed 160 acres. Where the party's first entry has been consummated, the register and receiver will require him to make application and affidavit in the forms prescribed, and to pay the same fee and commissions as in cases of original entry. Then, to complete the transaction, the party will make payment of the usual final commissions on the entered tract, for winch the receiver will issue his receipt. In case the party has not made proof on his original homestead entry wiien he applies for additional land, he will be allowed to make the additional entry on proper application and affidavit as above stated, and paying the usual fee and commissions. Thereafter, when the party shall make final proof on the original entry, he > PR 1 (4' 1 P \ 264 OCA' IVESTEKIV EMPIRE. will be requirecl to pay the final commissions on both entries, when a final receipt will be issued for the money, and thereupon a final certificate issued to call both for the tract in the origin;;! entry and the additional tract. 25. The followinnr proof will be required of parties apj)lyiii; for the benefits of these sections, in addition to the prescribud affidavit of the applicant: First. Certified copy of certificate of discharge, showing when the party enlisted and when he was discharged ; or, if this can- not be procured, then the affidavits of two respectable, dis- interested witnesses, corroborative of the allegations contained in the prescribed affidavit; on these points. Second. In case of widows, the prescribed evidence of military service of the husband, as above, with affidavit of widowhood. Third. In case of minor orphan children, in addition to the prescribed evidence of military service of the father, proof 0:" death or marriage of the mother. Evidence of death may be the testimony of two witnesses or certificate of a physician duly attested. Evidence of marriage may be a certified copy of marriage certificate, or of the record of same, or testimony of two witnesses to the marriage ceremony. 28. All lands obtained tinder the homestead lazos are exempt from liability for debts contracted prior to the issni)ig 0/ palcnl therefor. 29. For homestead entries on lands in Kansas, fees are to be paid according to the following table : Acres. One hundred and sixty.. Eighty Forty Eighty Forty Price per acre. $1 25 I 25 I 25 2 50 2 50 Payable when entry is made. $4 00 2 00 1 00 4 00 2 00 SION. Payal)lewhen | ccrtific ite l^suc^ $4 00 2 00 I 00 4 00 2 00 Fees. Payable when entry is made $10 00 5 00 5 00 10 00 5 00 T(>tal ices ;uid ctiin- IIUSSIUIIS. j;i8 00 9 00 7 00 1 8 00 9 00 Note. — Where c.irius ar^; made on #'.50 land by olTiceis, soldiers and sailors, under section 2304 of the Re- vised Statutes, double the amcimn of the above commissions must of course be paid — that is, for 160 acres of ^.p f8 at the date of entry, and J3 upon proving up. TIMBER.CUL TURE ACTS. 265 ;■ r LAWS TO PROMOTE TIMBER CULTURE. 31. The Timber-Culture Act of June 14th, 1878, amendatory of the act of Marcli 13th, 1874 (sections 2464 to 2468 of the Revised Statutes), is to the following effect: First. The privilege of entry under this act is confined to per- sons who are heads of families, or over twenty-one years of age, and who are citizens of the United States, or have declared their intention to become such. Second. The affidavit required for initiating an entry under this act may be made before the register or receiver of the dis- trict office for the land district embracing the desired tract, or before some officer authorized to administer oaths in that district, who is required by law to use an official seal. Third. Not more than 1 60 acres in any one section can be entered under this act, and no person can make more than one entry thereunder. Fourth. The ratio of area required to be broken, planted, etc., in all entries under the act of June 14, 1878, is onc-sixtccnth of the land embraced in the entry, except where the entered tract is less than forty acres, in which case it is one-sixteenth of that quantity. The party making an entry of a quarter-section, or 160 acres, is required to break or plow five acres covered thereby during the first year, and five acres in addition during the second year. The five acres broken or plowed during the first year, he is required to cultivate by raising a crop, or othi:r- wise, during the second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cut- tings.during the third year. Thefive acres broken orplowed during the second year, he is required to cultivate, by raising a crop or otherwise, during the third year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings, during the fourth year. The tracts embraced in entries of, a less (juandty than one-quarter section are required to be broken or plowed, cultivated, and planted in trees, tree seeds or cuttings, during the same periods, and to the same extent, in proportion to their total areas, as are provided for in entries of a quarter-section. Provision is made in the act for an extension of time in case the trees, seeds or cuttings planted pes PQ 69 ' 266 OIA' ]f lis THAW EMPIRE. should W. destroyed by grasshoi)pcrs, or by extreme and unusual dr()uj.dit. Fijlh. If, at the e,\i)iration of ei^ht years, or at any time within five years thereafter, the [ktscmi niakino- the entry, or, if hi: er she be dead, his or her heirs or k;gal repi'esentatives, shall prove by two credible witnesses the fact of such plantin^^-, cultivation, etc., of the said timber for not less than the said period of eli^lu )ears, he, she or they shall receive a patent for the land em- braced in said entry. Sixlli. If at any time after one year from the date of entiy, and prior to the issue of a patent therefor, the claimant sl!;ill fail to comply with the re{[uireinents of lliis act, or any part thereof, then such land shall become liable to a contest in the manner provided in homestead cases; and upon due proof ol" such failure the entry shall be cancelled, and die land become aj^ain subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by some other p(.'rson under the provisions of this act. Seventh. No land acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of fmal certificate tlierefor. FJoJitli. The fees for entries under the act of June 14, 1878, arc ten dollars, if the tract a[)plied for is morci than eitrhty acres, and five dollars, if it is eighty acres or less; and the commission of reg- isters and receivers on all entries (irrespective of area) are four dollars (two dollars to each) at the date of entry, and a like sum at t!ie date of final proof. iViii/h. No distinction is made, as to area or the an^joiintof fee and commissions, between minimum and double-minimum lands ; a party may enter 1 60 acres of either on payment of tlic prescribed fee and commissions. Tenth. The fifth section of the act entitled "An act in addi- tion to an act to punish crimes against the United States anJ for other purposes," approved March 3, 1857, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations und affidavits required or authorized by this act. Eleventh. The parties who have already made entries undtr tiic Tin of whic the sani that is, 1 final pre the act c tile nunil 'j:-r requ ^ 32. TJ; fifth sec til First. ' this act t( nierly dor allow cnti sections; not e.xceec shall be eji Second. land applie the party t ^"^^^ that pa Third. \ section of tl to make apj '1 ^^'^<^ cane then perfecl unless appli( Toitrih. \\ Kball be cu ^'-'■'■n "tinibe ^^•i'lg sufilcic 2>Z' Any p, '%!it to appc tile Com miss "i^y stlJl furt APr/:.U.S UM^KA' 77M/iEK.Ci I/LK/-. AC'/S. 26? the 'riinh'jr-Culturc! Acts of March 3, 1S73, and Marcli 13, 1S74, of wliich the act ol" Jiuic 14, 187^, is ainciulaiory. may comifleio the same by comphance with the rc;c[iiireinLiits of the latter act; that is, they may do so by sho\viIl^^ at tli(! lime of makinj^^ their filial proof, that they have had under cultivation, as recjuired by the act of June 14, 1.S7S, an amount of limber sufficient to make 'Jk: number of acres recjuired thereby, being one-fourth the num- \y.:i' required by die forme.-r acts. 32. The following- reL;ulaiions are prescribed pursuant to the fiflh section of the act of June 14, 187S, viz. : /'h's/. The register and receiver will not restrict entries under this act to one quarter-section only in each section, as was for- merly done under die acts to which this is amendatory, but may allow entries to be made of subdivisions of tlifferent ([uarter^ sections; provided that each entry shall form a com[)act body, not exceeding' 160 acres, and that not more than that quantity shall be entered in any one section. Sccoiuil. When they shall have satisfied tl. 'mselves that the land applied for is properly subject to an entry, they will require the party to make die prescribed affidavit, and to pay the fee and that part of the commission payable at die date of entry. TJiird. When a contest is instituted, as contemplated in third section of the act of Juik.' 14, 1878, the contestant will be allowc;d to make application to enter the land. Should the contest result in the cancellation of th(i contested entry, the contestant may then perfect his own, but no preference right will be allowed unless application is made by him at date of instituting contest. FoiDili. In all cases under diis act it will be required that trees shall be cultivated which shall be of the class included in the tt:i :n " timber," the cultivation of shrubbery and fruit trees not beiii!/ sufficient. 14: v:> S PRESENTATION OE APPEALS. Any party aggriev(;d by the rejection of his claim has a ri^lit to appeal from the decision of the register and receiver to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and from him may still further appeal to the Secretary of the Interior. All s^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // f /^ .^^. ^J^ 1.0 I.I Him, til S 1^ '"1 2.0 IL25 i 1.4 Ml Ml 1.6 Sciences Corporation '4 %^^ k •SJ \ \ -♦u ^>. \ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTEfi.NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^v^ 268 OCR irESTE-KN E MP IKE. appeals to tlv; Commissioner must be within thirty days from the date of hind officer's decision, and all appeals to the Secre- tary within sixty days after service of notice. If not appealed, the decision is by law made final. II. Timi!i:r AM) Stone Lands. — The laws of the United States permit the sale of lands unfit for cultivation, but valuable only or chiefly for the timber and stone they contain, and not with- drawn from ordinary sale as mineral lands ; but the purchaser must be a citizen of the United States, or have legally declared his intention to become a citi/XMi. The minimum price of such lands is to be two dollars and fifty cents per acre, witli the usual fees, and the purchaser from the government is restricted to i6o acres or less. III. Desert Lands. — By the following act of Congress passed March 3, 1877, entitled, "An act for the sale of desert lands, in certain States and Territories," provision was made for the sale of such lands as could only be made valuable by irrigation : Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America i)i Con_gress assembled. That it shall be lawful for any citizen of the United States, or any person of requisite age "who may be entitled to become a citizen, and w'ho has filed his declaration to become such," and upon payment of twenty-five cents per acre, to file a declaration, under oath, with the register and the receiver of the land district in which any desert land is situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract of desert land, not exceeding one section, by conducting water upon the same within the period of three years thereafter: Provided, hoioever. That th(; right to the use of water by the per- son so conducting the same on or to any tract of desert land of 640 acres shall depend upon bo7ia fide prior appropriation ; and such right shall not exceed the amount of water actually appropriated and necessarily used for the purpose of irrigation and reclamation ; and all surplus water over and above such actual appropriation and use, together with the water of all lakes, rivers, and other sources of water supply upon the public lands and not navigable, shall remain and be held free for the appropriation and use of the public for irrigation, mining, and manufacturing DESERT LAXDS ACT. 269 purposes suljijcct to existing; rights. Said declaration shall describe particularly said section of land if surveyed, and if unsurveyed shall describe the same as nearly as possible without a survey. At any time within the period of three years after filing said declaradon, upon making satisfactory proof to the register and receiver of the reclamation of said tract of land in the manner aforesaid, and upon the payment to the receiver of the additional sum of one dollar per acre for a tract of land not exceeding 640 acres to any one person, a patent for the same shall be issued to him : Provided, That no person shall be permitted to enter more than one tract of land and not to exceed 640 acres, which shall be in compact form. Sec. 2. That all lands, exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands, which will not, without Irrigation, produce some aj^rricultural crop, shall be deemed desert lands within the meaning of this act, which fact shall be ascertained by proof of two or more credible witnesses under oath, whose affidavits shall be filed in the land office in which said tract of land may be situated. Skc. 3. That this act shall only apply to and take effect in the States of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and the Territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota, and the determination of w'hat may be con- sidered desert land shall be subject to the decision and regulation of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. More than 1,000,000 acres of these lands were sold before June 30, 1S78, a period of fifteen months after the law took effect. Provision will probably be made for the entry of these desert lands as homestead lands under the same provisions, as they will in most cases prove valuable as wheat lands or for root crops. W. Grazing Lands. — Up to 1880 grazing lands could only be purchased, except in Texas, or from the great land-grant rail- ways, on the same terms as other aoricultural lands; and, as a consequence, in the thinly settled States and Territories, the greater part of the herds were pastured on the unsold and generally unsurveyed government lands. As these were ?- pS rf! cd pa :i '^-* fcC f-i H 'T^ P^ »— < fJ 3 P4 rm 270 OL'/i WESTERN EMPIRE. gradually encroached upon by the farmers, the stock-raisers luid begun to be desirous of purchasing their pasturage lanils, wiiieii being usually on the mountain slopes were not generally con- sidered arable. The laws in regard to agricultural lands made this almost impossible ; but a bill was introduced into Congress at its recent session (1879-1880) which will probably obviate the existing difficulty. It provides for the sale of grazing lands (which are carefully defined) in quantities of eight square miles or less, at nominal rates, with the usual fees. CHAPTER IV. Mining and Mineral Lands — The United States Laws and Regulations OF the Land Office in regard to t: ..i — State, Territorial and L(ji:al Rules or Laws. V. Mining and Mineral Lands. — The United States laws recrulatinsf mininsf lands and mineral resources Inive been verv often modified, but are now reduced to a practical basis; these laws, however, are to some extent modified in their operations by the State mining laws, and the local regulations in the minintj districts. They are at this time as follows : LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES, relative to mining lands and mineral resources, reserved from sale under the l'ki>emi>tk)n acts. [From Revised Statutes of the United States, bciiif; a full text of all laws now in force concern- ing mining rights.] Chapter 6. — Sec. 2318. In all cases land valuable for minerals shall be reserved from sale except as otherwise expressly directed by law. — Sec. 5, July d^, 1866. Sec. 2319, All valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and purchase, and the lands in which they are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the United States, and those who have declared their intention and accc several n inconsistt 10, 1S72. ^*^':c. 23 other rock or otiier v; as to long ^^'^'X laws i, located aftt or more ]je ^^■ngth aJon^ l>e made un" tile claim ioc side of tJie 1 ^^ limited b on each sid where advei render such shall be para Skc. 2321. '" t'le case oi an associatior authori;:ed agl t'on and beliei file laws of th( _^y the fijfno- '"corporation. Sec. 2^'>'> 0'"wJi'"ch shall led S:e, situated M/X/XJ AXD MINERAL LANDS. 271 intention to become sucli, under regulations prescribed by law, and according to the local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States. — Sec. i, May 10, 1S72. EXTENT OF CLAIM. Skc. 2320. Mining claims upc;. veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits heretofore located, shall be governed as to length along the vein or lode by the customs, regulations, and laws in force at tlie date of their location. A mining claim located after the loti ^ ly of May, 1872, whether located by one or more persons, may equal, but shall not exceed 1,500 feet in Icnsjth along the vein or lode, but no location of a minino- claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located. No claim shall extend more than 300 feet on each side of the middle of the vein at tlie surface, nor shall anv claim be limited by any mining '"cgulation, to less than twenty-five feet on each side of the midtlle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights existing on the lodi day of May, 1872, render such limitation necessary. The end lines of each claim shall be parallel to each her. — Sec. 2, J\Iay 10, 1872. RIGHTS OF CLAIMANTS. Skc. 2321. Proof of citizenship under this chapter may consist, in the case of an individual, of his own affidavit ; in the case of an association of persons unincorporated, of the affidavit of their authorized agent, made on his own knowledge or upon informa- tion and belief; and in the case of a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory thereof. by the filing of a cerdhed copy of their charter or certificate of incorporation. — Sec. 7, May 10, 1872. 9* i ^H pa O VEINS — now CONTROLLED. Sec. 2322. The locators of all mining locations heretofore made, or which shall h''r(\ifter be made, or any mine) al vein, lode, or ledge, situated on the public domain, their hc>rs, and assigns, Mi 272 OLK IVKSTEKN EMPIRE. where no adverse claim exists, on the loth clay of May, 1S72, so long as they comply with the laws of the United States, and with State, Territorial, and local regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United States governing their possessory title, shall have the exclusive rigiit of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, and ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside of such surface lines extended downward verti- cally, although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular in their course downward as to extend outside the vertical lines of such surface locations; but their right of possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward, as above described, through the end lines of their locations, so continued in their own directions that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins or ledges; and nothing in this section shall authorize the locator or possessor of a vein or lode which extends in its downward course beyond the vertical lines of his claim to enter upon the surface of a.claim owned or possessed by another. — Sec. 3, Ulay 10, 1S72. lations not the laws 0/ ,:^o\(jrninsr o ii'-'ccssary t lollovving re <»;i the grou TUNNF.LLIXr.. Sec. 2323. Where a tunrrel is run for the development of a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins or lodes within 3,000 feet from the face of such tunnel on the line thereof not previously known to exist, discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface; and locations on the line of such tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made by other parties after the commencement of the tunnel, and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence, shall be invalid ; but failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for si.x months shall be considered as an abandonment of the rifrht to all undiscovered veins on the line of such tunnel. — Sec. 4, May 10, 1872. REQUIREMENTS OF LOCATION AND LABOR. Sec. 2324. The miners of each mining district may make regu- f!/:Qi'IRF.AfENTS OF I.OCATIOX iXD L.I/iOR. 273 latlons not " . conllict with the laws of the United States, or with the laws of the State or Territory in which the ilistrict is sitiiate-d, ^o\erning the location, manner of recording, amount of work iV-'cessary to hold possession of a minin_Lj claim, subject to the lollovving requirements: The location must be distinctly marked on the ground, so that its boundaries can be readily traced. All records of mining claims hereafter made shall contain the name or names of the locators, the date of the location, and such a description of the claim or claims located by reference to some natural object or permanent monument as will identify the claim. On each claim located after the 10th day of May, 1872, and until a patent has been issued therefor, not less than ;^ioo worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made during rich year. On all claims located prior to the icth day of May, 1S72, $10 worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made by the loth day of June, 1874, and each year there- after, for each 100 feet in length along the vein until a patent has been Issued therefor ; but where such claims are held in common, 5uch expenditure may be made on any one claim, and upon a failure to comply with these conditions, the claim or mine upon which such failure occurred shall be open to relocation. In the same manner as if no location of the same had ev(;r been made : Pivviiicd, That the original locators, their heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, have not resumed work upon the claim after failure and L)efore such location. Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners to contribute his proportion of the expenditures required hereby, the co-owners who have performed the labor or made the improvements may, at the expiration of the year, give isiidi delinquent co-owner personal notice in writing or notice by j publication in the newspaper published nearest the claim, for at least once a week for ninety days, and if, at the expiration of [ninety days after such notice in writing or by publication, such udinquent shall fail or refuse to contribute his proportion of the hxpenditure required by this section, his interest In the claim jshall become the property of his co-owners who have made the |requircd expenclitures. — Sec. 5, Alay 10, 1872. 18 ?-• s £-* k4 £-« < r^ ^ i>* p^ ;-. U3 ',<^ ^ P d, (4 ! ■74 OCA' 1 1 'AS ■/■/■: AW r.MPlRE. now TO SECURE PATENT. Sec. 2325. A patent for any land claimed and located for valuable deposits may be obtained in the following manner: Any person, association, or corporation authorized to locate a claim under this chapter, haviuLj claimed and located a piece of land for such purposes, who has or have complied with the terms of this chapter, may file, in the proper land office, an application for a patent, under oath, showing such compliance, together with a plat and field notes of the claim or claims in common, made by or under the direction of the United States Surveyor-General, show- ing accurately the boundaries of the claim or claims, which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground, and shall post a copy of such plat, together with a notice of such application for a patent, in a conspicuous place on the land embraced in such plat previous to the filing of the application for a patent, and shall file an affidavit of at least two persons, that such notice has been duly posted, and shall file a copy of the notice in such land office, and shall thereupon be entitled to a patent for the land in the manner following: The Register of the land office, upon the filing of such application, plat, field notes, notices, and affiJavits, shall publish a notice that such application has been made, for the period of sixty days, in a newspaper to be by him designated as published nearest to such claim ; and he shall also post siicli notice in his office for the same period. The claimant, at the time of filing this application, or at any time thereafter, within the sixty days of publication, shall file with the Register a certifi- cate of the United States Surveyor-General that $500 worth of labor has been expended on improvements made upon the claim by himself or grantors ; that th.e plat is correct, with such further descripdon by such reference to natural objects or permanent monuments as shall identify the claim, and furnish an accurate description, to be incorporated in the patent. At the expiration of sixty days of publicadon, the claimant shall file his aftidavi; showing that the plat and notice have been posted in a con spicuous place 6' 9. .870. " '"^^'"'^^o"- of public lands.- , Si:<:. 2J30. Legal subdivisions of f^r,„ »«o ten-acre tracts, and two or more ^ "' ""^ "'^ subdivided persons, bavin, contiguous da,™ "rr''"^'"' '''"^'^'^''"^ °f f "'V^y be less tlKtn ten acr"^ e, cb ' ""' f "'°"?'' -^1. >"eof but no location of a nl^f / ''^ ™'^<^ J°''"' ^'O' ''^'>o.f J"l>-. .S70, shall excec'l ,6on r "'"''^' ""^"^^ "'« 9th vocation of persons, wl ' o^a C' ^'i,"'^' °"^ P^^" or '"■ted .States surve^•s■ an,l JT "" inform to the rf^" >^Pon agricultural lands of atr"™';""" °'- ''omestead J''(r 9. 1 S70. -^ "'^"''-'^ 'o --"ly P"rchaser.-5-„. ,. ,, , ■'^~-.3.ii. ^Vhere placer cItIiv.^ "lor,n to legal s.dxlivisions, no fjrtbe '"" '"''"'"^ '^"*=' ""^ "1"-"1. and all placer minin "l ' " T?"' °' P'^' ^''■^" be ','^'V, .873, shall confornt .. '"'' ■'"'<='• "'o ,oth day f ™«1 .States system of '.dlhnd '"'''' '^""''^^'^'^ »'"> * ■ «""l'".-ons of snch surve and o'""^'';' ''""' "'^ ^^"^ngular »re than t„ent>- acres for ea "T'f 'r'°" ^''^" '"5t,de Pkcer clain,s cannot be eonform ^ ;"'"' ''''"'''"'■ b« "here h p'- shall be '^^<^::i:z:x::^'''''T --^ ^^•^ ^ands ; and where by 03 .>-< £9 > ol it;? tJ a 2^6 OUR U7CSTERA' F.Af/'/RF.. the sej^regation of mineral land in any \ii^a\ subdivision a quan- tity of agricultural land less than forty acres remains, such frac- tional portion of aj^ricultural land may be entered by any party qualified by law, for homestead or pre-emption purposes. — Sec. lo, May lo, 1872. LIMITATIONS AND MENS, Si:c. 2332. Where such person or association, they and their grantors, have held and worked their claims for a period equal to the time prescribed by the statute of limitations for miniiv claims of the State or Territory where the same may be situated. evidence of such possession and workini^ of the claim for such period shall be sufficient to establish a right to a patent thereto under this chapter, in the absence of any adverse claim ; but nothinj^ in this chapter shall be deemed to impair any lien which may have attached in any way whatever to any mining claim or property thereto attached prior to the issuance of a patent.— Sec. 13, yii/y 9, 1870. 1'i.ACEH ANO i.onr-: ct.aims jointi.v. Skc. 2333. Where the same person, association or corpora- tion, is in possession of a placer claim, and also a vein or lode included within the boundaries thereof, apjjlication shall be made for a patent for the placer claim, with the statement that it in- cludes such vein or lode ; and in such case a patent shall issue for the placer claim, subject to tli(! provisions of this chapter, in- cludinjj^ such vein or lode, upon the payment of ^^ jjer acre lor such vein or lode claim, and twenty-five feet of surface on car'i side thereof 'Ih'^ remainder of the placer claim, or any placer claim not embracing an)' vein or lode? claim, shall be paid for at the rate of $2.50 per acre, together with all costs of proceedings: and where a vein or lod(!, such as is described in section 23:0 of | this act, is known to exist within the boundaries of a placer claim, an application for a patent for such a placer claim whicli does not include an application for the vein or lode claim, shall be construed as a conclusive declaration that the claimant of the placer claim has no right of possession of the vein or lode claim;! 1)11 1 where l^iK'wn, a and (;iiicr '''''• -^33. appoint m > competent : mi;)i()rr cJai, claims, and smaller quan lication of nc l^eat li/)crty a.u] tliey sha Deputy Survc I'le General I 'iiaxi/niini cJiai tin's cliapter, a] may designate mines are situi '"strict, and fix t'le Qnd tliat t [^"'^ject, eachaj- mentofallcha "0" and ^uvvo. po-istcr and K Retransmitted, [mission cr of tJie , ^^'-^' ^<^o5- All ff^'- '"ay be verffil Pncj all pfiici testimon er, and, u-Jienl pll hav cthc sari FEES TO SUKVEYORS. 277 Init where the existence of a vein or lode in a placer claim is not known, a patent for the placer claim shall convey all valuable ,\\\(\ other min(.Tal deposits within the boundaries thereof. — Sec, II, May 10, 1872. FEES TO SURVEYORS. Six. 2334. The Surveyor-General of the United States may appoint in each land tlistrict containinj^ mineral lands as many competent surveyors as shall apply for appointment to survey mining claims. The expenses of the survey of vein or lode claims, and the survey and subdivision of placer claims into smaller quantities than 160 acres, together with the cost of pub- lication of notices, .shall be paid by the applicants, and they shall be at liberty to obtain the same at the most reasonable rates, aiul they shall also be at liberty to employ any United .States Deputy Surveyor to make the survey. The Commissioner of the General Land Oflice shall also have power to establish the maximum charges for surveys and publication of notices under this chapter, and in case of excessive charges for publication, he may designate any newspaper published in a land district where mines are situated, for the publication of mining notices in such district, and fix the rates to be charged by such paper ; and to the end that the Commissioner may be fully informed on the subject, each applicant shall file with the Register a sworn state- [mentof all charges and fees paid by such applicant for publica- jtion and surveys, together with all fees and money paid the Register and Receiver of the land office, which statement shall be transmitted, with the other papers in the case, to the Com- imisbioner of the General Land Office. — Sec. 12, Alay 10, 1872. P9 P 3 PROOF OF CLAIMS. Sec. 2335. All affidavits required to be made under this chap- iter may be verified before any officer authorized to administer oaths within the land district where the claim may be situated, pnd all testimony and proofs may be taken before any such pfiicer, and, when duly certified by the officer taking the same, pall have the same force and effect as if taken before the Regis- ■■■■I 278 ^^'^ U'KSTFKX latriKE. tcr and Receiver of the land office. In cases of contest as to the miner.il or ajjricultural cliaracler of laiul, the testimony and proofs may he taken as herein proviilfd, on |)crsonal notice of at least ten days to tiie opposing; party ; or if such party cannot he found, then hy puhlication of at least once a week for thirty da)s in a newspaper, to be designated by the Ke<;ister of the land office as j)ublished nearest to the location of such land ; and the Register shall require proof that such notice has been given. — Sec. 13, May 10, 1S72. VEINS CROS.SIN(;. Sf.c. 2336. When two or more veins intersect or cross eadi other, priority of tide shall govern, aiul such prior location shall be entitled to all ore or mineral containi;d within the .space of intersection ; but the subse([uent location shall have the right of way through the space of intersection, for the purjjoses of con- venient working of the mine ; and, where two or more V( ins unite, the oldest or prior location shall take tlie vein below tin.- point of union, including all the space of intersection. — Sec. 14, May 10, 1872. SITES FOR MIL(^. Six:. 2337. Where non-mineral land not contiguous to the vein or lode is used or occupied by the proprietor of such vein or lode for mining or milling purposes, such non-adjacent sur- face-ground may be embraced and included in an a[)plicatIon for a patent for such vein or lode, and the same may be patcntul therewith, subject to the same pr(.liminary requirements as tu the survey and notice as are applicable to veins or lodes; but no location hereafter made of such non-adjacent land shall cxccal five acres, and payment for the same must be made at tlie rate as fixed by this chapter for the superfices of the lode. The owner of a quartz-mill or reduction works not owning a mine in connection therewith, may also receive a patent for his mill-site as provided in this section. — Sec. 15, ]\Iay 10, 1S72. DRAINAGE, EASEMENTS, ETC. Sec. 2 3 38. As a condition of sale in the absence of necessary I citizens, which 'oraoricultura valuable mine: and which are of such homes and shall be er per acre, and i HOMESTEADS 0!^ MI.XEK.ir. /.A/VPS. 279 legislation by Conj^ross, the local lA'^isiaturc; of any State or Territory may provide riiics for workiii;^ iniiu:s iiuolviiv^ casc- im.'iits, (lraiiKiL;L', aiul oiIkm" necessary nu aiis to ilu-ir conijjlL'le ilcvclopnu-nt, and those coniliiions shall be hilly expressed in tlie patent. — Sec. 5, yu/y 26, 1866. VKSTIin WATKR KKiMTS. Si;c. 2339. Whenever, by priority of possession, rights to the use of water for miiiint;, agricultural, manufacturing or other pui poses, have vested and accrued, aiul the san;e are recogni/.t:il ami acknowledged by the local customs, laws antl decisions of courts, the jjossessors and owners of such vested rights shidl be maintained and protected in the same ; and the right of way for the construction of ditches and canals for the purposes herein specified, is acknowledged and confirmed ; but whenever any person in the construction of any ditch or canal, injures or dam- aifes the possession of any settler on the i)ublic domain, the party committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or damage. — Scr. 9, ^ii/y 26, 1866. Si;c. 2340. All patents granted, or pre-emption or homesteads allowed, shall be subject to any vested and accrued water rights, or ri PR J'- pa LODE CLAIMS PREVIOUSLY LOCATED. 2. By an examination of the several sections of the forego'ng act it will be seen that the status of lode claims, located /rrevVw^r to the date thereof, is not changed with regard to their extent along ilie lode ortoidth of surface, such claims being restricted and governed both as to their lateral and litiear extent by the State, Territorial, or local laws, customs or regulations which were in ?84 OCA' WES/EAW EMl'lRE. force in their respective districts at the date of such locations, in so far as the same cUd not conflict with the Hmitation fixed by the mining statute of July 26, 1S66. ENLARGEMENT OF RIGHTS. 3. Minini^ rights acquired under such previous locations arc, however, enlarged by said act of May 10, 1872, in the folio, ing respect, viz. : The locators of all such previously taken veins or lodes, their heirs and assigns, so long as they comply with the laws of Congress, and with State, Territorial, or local regulations not in conflict therewith, qroverning mining claims, are invested by said act with the exclusive possessory right of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, or ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside of such surface lines extending downward vertically, although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular, in their course downward, as to extend outside the vertical lines of such locations at the surface; it being ex- pressly provided, however, that the right of possession to such outside parts of said veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward as aforesaid, through the end lines of their locations, so continued in their own direction, that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins, lodes, or ledges ; no right being granted, however, to the claimant of such outside portion of a vein or ledge to enter upon the surface location of another claimant. LIMITS OF THE LAW. 4. It is to be distincdy understood, however, that the law limits the possessory rights to veins, lodes, or ledges otJicr than the one named in the original location, to such as were not adversely claimed, at tJic date of said act of Jllay 10, 1872, and that where such other vein or ledge was so adversely claimed at that date, the right of the party so adversely claiming is in no way impaired by said act. ANNUAL LABOR. 5. From and after the date of said act of Congress, in order to hoW the possosson- title tn . • • ' ' ^^S -Kifor which .-, pa„n, ha, not b""'i '^ '''^ ^''"'""^'y '"^"'cd or Jode, the acrcrreiT^r, t '" ^^"inion, upon the ^.n "P"" any one claim, a failure to c^nr^'-'r '"'''■ ""^^ '- n"! ^">'"ne )car suhjectin. the dZ ^ "■'"' "■''^ -cment „ occurred to relocation by otW ' J?- "'?" "'''^I' ^"^h foi,,,;" "0- location thereof had e v Tbee "' '" "-""^ ^ 'f - P -.dor the oriyinaj location si aH '"''"''' ""''^■'■' 'h= clain,a„ts ^'--ch failure, and hefor"e:u:Lt:-:-'' ""^^ "--" PAILURC TO C0>,PU. ,v,T„ xnr , 6. Upon the failure ofnn "''• lo>'e, or ied.e which I afno Cn "^"'"' ^°-°"-- of a vein port,on of the expenditu,": nece ,1"??'',? ™"'"''"^^- '"^ P™ »'>cld ,n ownership i„ comn o 1 " '"''' ""= ^'-"'. or clai.ns f° "'«! the labor, or „,ade theTm 'o °^"'"-' ^^''o ''>ve pe «'■ n,ay, at the expiration of t ' ' r™""' ^^ ^"l^-^^ b)' aid o«ner personal notice in wri i , ' ' •"'^'^' ■'"^'' clelinquent co -«pnper published ,>ear"s e V^- '''T '' ''"^''^^'■^"" ^Z for n,„ety days : and if „p. ' ''""" '°' ^' ^'-'^^t once a week -" :-- ;-n writing, or':, rt^^"::,""" °' "'■"^">- "--^-^ -t "J c.ffhty da).s after the firs, „ ^M'"at,„n of one hundred ■^;'''-1---"t co-owner hrharrrr 7 """''''">" °^ " - l»7"'o„,eet such expen > !' „ '^'.''"' '" »"'nbu,e his pro.' '"*<= clain,, by law, passe to ""l'™«™ents, his interest «'«*"'- or ,„„I„„;: - '- --ers who have „,ade t' '■ J^i.qhts under n.nfenfo r -"1-vious le,islat"t?c:r:'"''-''-=-f°-. -anted - oas to invest the patentee wT' '" ""■"■""' ''^ *'S h"^-^''----.e3th.uSr:::;-^-- i S3 CO rxr Kt* .'-. pa ID J O 286 OU/^ IVESTJ-KX EMPIRE. top or apex of which lies within the end and side boundary lines of his claim on the surface as patented, extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes or ledges may so far de- part from a perpendicular in their course downward as to extend outside the vertical side lines of the claim at the surface. The right to possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges to be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward through the end lines of the claim at the surface, so continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins or ledges ; it being expressly provided, however, that all veins, lodes or ledges, the top or apex of which lies inside such sur- face locations, other than the one named in the patent, which were adversely claimed at the date of said act, are excluded from such conveyance by patent. FINAL DECISION. 8. Applications for patents for mining claims pending the date of the act of May loth, 1872, may be prosecuted to final decis- ion in the General Land Office ; and where no adverse rights are affected thereby, patents will be issued in pursuance of the provisions of said act. EFFECT OF ACT OF 1 872. 9. From and after the date of said act, any person who is a citizen of the United States, or who has declared his intention to become a citizen, may locate, record and hold a mining claim of fifteen Jiundred linear feet along the course of any mineral vein or lode subject to location ; or an association of persons, severally qualified as above, may make joint location of such claim o{ fifteen hnndrcd feet, but in no event can a location of a vein or lode made subsequent to the act exceed fifteen hundred feet along the course thereof, whatever may be the numher of persons composing the association. EXTENT OF SURFACE GROUND. 10. With regard to the extent of surface ground adjoining a -ations made names of Jo ""'"'"- "' •'^'--V"- cocy^. v™.orlocle, and claimed for the conv • ' '*^ act provKl.,, that the. la.cral extent "f I ""■ ^""^'"^ "'^^'=°^ ">« -l^' after Its „a.ssa,.. .,,„„ h, no el 7'"^,°' ^^•'■"■'' <"■ '"''- 5..cl> surface nVl„,s s|,all be lin,it, , ' "■■'■^"^'•- •■'"'' ">=«t no l-s than .wen,y.r,ve fee, on "d '/ ''?^"""'"S regulations to a the surface, except where ac r 1° '"' '"'"'"'^ °'' "><-■ -"' sa,d act may render such h' mka^on '^ ''"'^""^' =" "'« 'l•'■■'- "^ 3uch Cain, to be In a„ casenrit^t^^odt. '^■■" ""- SURFACE RIGHTS. ^cated after the date^ .tt'"""'"' ""' "° '°''^' d^lm teen htnulred feet in length /^"."llnT'Tr " P'-'-"«'o,?n.m -l-ether surface ground of the Mdt '"'/"" '" "•'''"'^ b"t "Pon the local regulations or Sta e or "l" ^^ ■'''"'" '''='^™' '«7^. render such TrmiR OWN LAWS. '2. It ,s provided in said act that th. • niay make rules and recndatlnnV """'^'■' °'' ^•''ch district .l.e United States, or oV : St "^ T ""'■'" *"" "^ '=>"■ T/ 'nets are respectively situated t ^'""'■'' '" "■'>'^'' >="ch dis- » -ordin.and amou rofl?ri""'"»" "" '''"•■■°"- '"-"- .f he claim. It |i,,o„ise req .ret T^T', '° ''°'^ P°-<-ion *^''nctly marked on the around ," ^°"'''°" "'"^^ be so '^adily traced. This is a^'n, f "" "' ^''""^^^"'^s may be ™"°' exercise too muc care Tfi"'"' T''"' '"' '°'^^-^^ PS' --HI "^ > ff} > — « rj a . 288 OUR WRS7KRN I:MPIRF.. sci'iption of iJic €101111' or claims located, l)y rcfcTcnce to sonic natural object or /jermanent monument, as will identify the claim. KKCokniNG cr.Anrs. 13. The said act declares that no lode claim can be rccordcxl until after the discovery of a vein or lode within the limits of the jj;-round claimed ; the object of which provision is evidently to jjrevent the encumbering' of the district mininjj record with use- less locations before sufficient work has been done thereon to determine whether a vein or lode has been really discovered or not. WHAT CLAIMANT SHOULD DO. 14. The claimant should, therefore, prior to recording his claim, unless the vein can be traced upon the surface, sink a shaft, or run a tunnel or drift to a sufficient depth therein to discover and develop a mineral-bearing vein, lode or crevice ; should deter- mine, if possible, the general course of such vein in either direc- tion from the point of discovery, by which direction he will be fTOverned in markino: t!ie boundaries of his claim on the surface; and should give the course and distance as nearly as practicable from the discovery shaft on the claim to some permanent, well- known points or objects, such for instance, as stone monuments, blazed trees, the confluence of streams, point of intersection of well-known gulches, ravines or roads, prominent buttes, hills, etc., which may be in the immediate vicinity, and which will serve to perpetuate and fix the locus of the claim and render it sus- ceptible of identification from the description thereof given in the record ot locations in the district. NAMES OF ADJOINING CLAIMS. 15. In addition to the foregoing data, the claimant should state the names of adjoining claims, or, if none adjoin, the relative positions of the nearest claims; should drive a post, or erect a monument of stones at each corner of his surface ground, and at the point of discovery, or discovery shaft, should fix a post, stake or board, upon which should be designated the name of the Iod( claimed, being c! tion to tl claim of of discov liie other claimed u ^ 16. Wit tlon shall i rately desc filed for rei thereupon , 17- \n on hundred fee quires that iess than ont or improven "^"^^^^h. the ch having the ^'s heirs, assil tJiereon. after 'S- The I'm "er of locatioj ceived v^hf^^ proper attentic '9- The fou ^"""el is run U '9 C DETAILS— TU.WXEL RIGHTS. ,89 the lode, the name or names of the locators, the number of feet claimed, and in which direction from the point of discovery, it being essential that the location notice filed for record, in addi- tion to the foregoing description, should state whether the entire claim of fifteen hundred feet is taken on one side of the -point of discovery, or whether it is partly upon one and pardy upon ilio other side thereof, and in die latter case, how many feet arc claimed upon each side of such discovery point. FILING NOTICK. 16. Within a reasonable time, say twenty days after the loca- tion shall have been marked on the ground, notice thereof,, accu- rately describing the claim, in the manner aforesaid, should be filed for record with the proper recorder of the district, who will thereupon issue the usual certificate of location. HOLDING rOSSESSORV RIGHT, ^ 1 7. In order to hold the possessory rigbt to a claimi of fifteen- hundred feet of a vein or lode located as aforesaid, the act re- quires that until a patent shall have been issued therefor, not less than one hundred dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made thereon during each year,, in default of which the claim shall be subject to relocation by any other party having the necessary qualifications, unless the original locator, his heirs, assigns, or legal representatives,, have resumed work thereon, after such failure and before such, relocation. i:> IMPORTANCE OF DETAILS. 18. The importance o{ attending to these details in the man- ner of location, labor and expenditure, will be more readily per- ceived when it is understood that a failure to give the subject proper attention may invalidate the claim. TUNNEL RIGHTS. 19. The fourteenth section of the act provides that where a tunnel is run for the development of a vein or lode, or for the «9 290 OiW IILS ■/•/:. AW EMI'lKi:. discovery of mines, the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins or lodes within Uirec diousaiul feet from the face of such tunnel on the line thereof, not previ- ously known to exist, discovered in such tunnel, to the same extont as if discovered from the surface;; and locations on ihc line of such tunni.-l of veins or lodes not ap[)earing on the siir face, made by other parties after the commencement of the tun nel, and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonaUi. diligence, shall be invalid, but failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandonnicm of the right to all undiscovered veins or lodes on the line of said tunnel. EFFECT OF FOURTEENTM SECTION. 20. The effect of this section is simply to give the proprietors of a mining tunnel, run in good faith, the possessory right to 1 ,500 feet of any blind lodes cut, discovered or intersected by such tunnel, which were not previously known to exist, within 3,000 fat from the face or point of commencement of such tunnel, and to prohibit other parties, after the commencement of the tunnel, from prospecting for and making locations of lodes on the line .thc]'cof and within said distance of 3,000 feet, unless such lodes .appear upon the surface, or were previously known to exist. CONSTRUCTION OF TERMS. 121. The term "face," as used in said section, is construed and held to mean the first working face formed in the tunnel, and to signify the point at which the tunnel actually enters cover, it being from this point that the 3,000 feet are to be counted, upon which the prospecting is prohibited as aforesaid. PROPER NOTICE. 22. To avail themselves of the benefit of this provision of law, the proprietors of a mining tunnel will be required, at the time they enter cover, as aforesaid, to give proper notice of thdr tunnel location, by erecting a substantial post, board or monu- ment, at the face or point of commencement thereof, upon whidi should be posted a good and sufficient notice, giving the names of tJie [ or prop( width til point of in the vie licretofor and at tl that mine, or not th boundary such lines the face or marked w u'itliin wliic is prohibitc reasonable 23. At th( tunnel, as a, location, de/i the mining 1 attaclied the claimants or the case, stat predecessors of tlie work f prosecute wo reasonable di for the discov( 24- This no t'le said sworr for future refer 25. By a cc culty will PKorr.K Aonc/i-su oj;.\ sr.i u.m: \rs. -S/i of" the parties or company claiming the tunnel riyht, the actual or proposed course or direction of the tunnel, the heij^ht and width thereof, and the course and distance from such face or point of commencement to some permanent, well-known objects ill the vicinity by which to fix and determine the ioats in manner heretofore set forth applicable to locations of veins or loiks; and at the time of posting such notice they shall, in ortlcr that miners or prospectors may be enabled to determine whether or not they are within the lines of the tunnel, establish tiie boundary lines thereof by stakes or monuments placed along such lines at proper intervals, to the terminus of 3,000 feet from the face or point of commencement of the tunnel, and the lines so marked will define and govern as to the specific boundaries within which prospecting for lodes not previously known to exist is prohibited, while work on the tunnel is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence. SWOKN STATEMENTS. 23. At the time of posting notice and marking the lines of the tunnel, as aforesaid, a full and correct copy of such notice of location, defining the tunnel claim, must be filed for record with the mining recorder of the district, to which notice must be attached the sworn statement or declaration of the owners, daimants or projectors of such tunnel, setting forth the facts in the case, stating the amount expended by themselves and their predecessors in interest in prosecuting work thereon, the extent of the work performed, and that it is bona jide their intention to prosecute work on the tunnel so located and described with reasonable diligence for the development of a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, or both, as die case may be. cflf MISCELLANEOUS. 24. This notice of location must be duly recorded, and with the said sworn statement attached, kept on the recorder's files for future reference. 25, By a compliance with the foregoing, much needless difficulty will be avoided, and the way for the adjustment of 292 or/i n7:s//:A'X i-MriKE. \i\^^cA ri;.;l)ls acciuirod in virtmr of said fourth section of the act will Ik: maile miu h mori: easy and certain. 26. This office will take particular care that no improjjcr advantage is taken of this provision of law by parties makinj^ or I)rolessin}j^ to make tunne.'l locations ostcuiiihiy for the purposfj iiiincd in the statute, Init really for the purpose of inonopo- li/ini4 ''^^' 1^"*^' lyi'^k' ''^ fi't>nt of their tunnels to the detrinv nt oi liv; mining interests and to the exclusion (A bona Ju{c prospet tors or miners ; but will hold such tunnel claimants to a strict com- I)liance with the terms of the act ; and as rcixsomxbU diligence 00 their part in prosecuting the work is one of the essential coij. ditions of their implieil contract, neglij^^ence or want of duo dllii^ence will be construed as workinv^ a forfeiture of their right to all undiscovered veins on the line of such tunnel. GOVIiUNMFST TPrLE TO VEIN OR LODE CI^IMS. 27. By the sixth section of said act, authority is ^^dven for granting' title for mines by patent from die government, to anv person, association or corporation having the necessary (lualili- cations as to citizenship, and holding the right of possession to a claim in compliance with law. .^ CORRECT SURVEYS. 28, The claimant is required in the first place to have a correct survey of his claim made under authority of the Surveyor- General of the State or Territory in which the claim lies; such survey to show with acctiracy the exterior surface boundaries of the claim, which boundaries arc required to be distincdy markd by monuments on the ground. POSTING copy OF PLAT, 29. The claimant is then required to post a copy of the plat of such survey in a conspicuous place upon the claim, together with the notice of his intention to apply for ai patent therefor, which notice will give the date of posting, the name o{ the claimant, the name of the claim, mine or lode, the mining district or county; whether the location is of record, and if so, where I l^- This affi , '■''oni \\Mi niinir I 'blIo;vs, viz. : V^ I ^^'"•rect copy o appears upon l^y tlie seal of pake oath to i r^^^theappj • Since jiEi.n xoTK!:- Ktti/tis TO THE ruh.Misr.s. 21>3 tin* record may he found; the niimlK^r of feet claimed alonyf tlic vein, and tlio presumed direction thereof; tlie number of fcrt claimed on the lode in each ilireclion ix im the point of ilisct)V(*ry, or other well-ch^fined jjlace on the clain\ ; tlic name or names of adjoininj^ claimants on the same or other lodes, or if nune adjoin, the names of the nearest claims, etc, FIELD NOTES. 30. After posting;- the said plat and notice upon the premises, the claimant will file widi the proper re>;ister and receiver a copy of sucii plat, and the field notes of survey of the claim, accompanied by the affidavit of at least two credible witnesses tiiat such plat and notice arc posted conspicuously upon the claim, givin;^ the date and place of such posting; ; a copy of the notice so posted to be attached to and form a part of said affidavit. RIGHTS TO THE PRFMISES. 31. Attached to the field notes so filed, must be the sworn statement of the claimant that he has the possessory rij,dit to the premises therein described, in virtue of a compliance by himself (and by his grantors, if he claims by purchase) with the mining rules, regulations and customs of the mining district. State or Territory in which the claim lies, and with the mining laws of Congress; such sworn statement to narrate briefly, but as clearly as possible, the facts constituting such compliance, the origin of his possession, and the basis of his claim to a patent. SUPPORT OF AFFIDAVIT. 32. This affidavit should be supported by appropriate evidence from the mining recorder's office, as to his possessory right as follows, viz, : Where he claims to be a locator, a full, true and correct copy of such location should be furnished, as the same appears upon the mining records ; such copy to be attested by the seal of the recorder, or, if he has no seal, then he should make oath to the same being correct, as shown by his reconls. [Where the applicant claims as a locator, in company with others, who have since conveyed their interests in die lode to him, a copy o 9 3 294 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of the orifj^inal record of location should be filed, tog'ether with an abstract of title from the proper recorder, under seal or oath as aforesaid, tracing the co-locator's possessory rights in the claim, to sucii applicant for patent. Where the applicant claims only s a purchaser for valuable consideration, a copy of he locatii)n record must be filed, under seal or upon oath as afore- said, with an abstract of title certified as above, by the proper recorder, tracing the right of possession by a continuous chain of conveyances, from the original locators to the applicant. DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS. "^^i' ^n the event of the minmg records in any case having been destroyed by fire or otherwise lost, affidavit of the fact should be made, and secondary evidence of possessory tide will be received, which may consist of the affidavit of the claimant, supported by those of any other parties cognizant of the facts relative to his location, occupancy, possession, improvements, etc. ; and in such case of lost records, any deeds, certificates of location or purchase, or other evidence which may be in the claimant's possession, and tend to establish his claim, should be filed. PUnUSHING NOTICE. 34. Upon the receipt of these papers the register will, at the expense of the claimant, publish a notice of such application for the period of sixty days, in a newspaper published nearest to the claim, and will post a copy of such notice in his office for the same period. WHAT NOTICE MUST EMBRACE. 35. The notice so published and posted must be as full and complete as possible, and embrace all the data given in the notice posted upon the claim. 36. Too much care cannot be exercised in the preparation of these notices, inasmuch as upon their accuracy and completeness will depend, in a great measure, the regularity and validity of the whole [proceeding. FIT.INr, Cr.RTIFICATE. 37. The claimant, either at the time of filing these papers w'tl HI SURVE YOR-CENKRAL'S INS 7 RUCTIONS. 295 the Register or at any time during the sixty clays* publication, is required to file a certificate of the Surveyor-General that not less than ^500 worth of labor has been expended or improvements made upon the claim by the applicant or his grantors; that the plat filed by the applicant is correct ; that the field notes of the survey, as filed, furnish such an accurate description of the claim as will, if incorporated into a patent, serve to fully identify the oremises; and that such reference is made thereir. to natural objects or permanent monuments as will perpetuate and fix the locus thereof. 1 1 l! 1 1 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FROM SURVEYOR-GENERAL, 38. It will be the more convenient way to have this certificate indorsed by the Surveyor-General, both upon the plat and field notes of the survey filed by the claimant as aforesaid. 39. After the period of sixty days of newspaper publication has expired, the claimant will file his affidavit, showing that the plat and notice aforesaid remained conspicuously posted upon the claim sought to be patented, during said sixty days' publi- cation. 40. Upon the filing of this affidavit the Register will, if no ad- verse claim was filed in his office during the period of publication, permit the claimant to pay for the land according to the area given in the plat and field notes of survey aforesaid, at the rate of $5 for each acre and $5 for each fractional part of an acre, the Receiver issuing the usual duplicate receipt therefor; after which ihe whole matter will be forwarded to the Commissionc^ of the General Land Office, and a patent issued thereon if found resfular, 41. In sending up the papers in the case, the Register must not omit certifying to the fact that the notice was posted in his office for the full period of sixty days, such certificate to state dis- tinctly when such posting was done, and how long continued. 42. The consecutive series of numbers of mineral entries must be continued, whether the same are of lode or placer claims. 43. The Surveyor-General must continue to designate all. sur- veyed mineral claims, as heretofore, by a progressive series of numbers, beginning with lot No. 37 in each township; the claim p* ed < pa >-* pa CO Ct3 < fJ E-* '.>• frt (— « Cii IS ca P S I ' ■ m' 2q6 our western empire. to be so designated at date of filing the plat, field notes, etc., in addition to the local designation of the claim ; it being required in all cases that the plat and field notes of the survey of a claim must, in addition to the reference to permanent objects in the neinfhborhood, describe the locus of the claim with reference to the lines of public surveys, by a line connecting a corner of a claim with the nearest public corner of the United States surveys, unless said claim be on unsurveyed lands at a remote distance from such public corner ; in which latter case the reference by course and distance to permanent objects in the neighborhood will be a sufficient designation by which to fix the locus until the public survey shall have been closed upon its boundaries. ADVERSE CLAIMS, 44. The seventh section of the act provides for adverse claims; fixes the time within which they shall be filed to have legal effect, and prescribes the manner of their adjustment. 45. Said section requires that the adverse claim shall be filed during the period of publication of notice ; that it must be on the oath of the adverse claimant ; and that it must show the nature, the boundaries, and the extent of the adverse claim. 46. In order that this section of law may be properly carried into effect, the following is communicated for the information of all concerned : 47. An adverse mining claim must be filed with the Register of the same land office with whom the application for patent was filed, or, in his absence, with the Receiver, and within the sixty days' period of newspaper publication of notice. 48. The adverse notice must be duly sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths within the land district, or before the Register or Receiver ; it will fully set forth the nature and extent of the interference or conflict ; whether the adverse party claims as a purchaser for a valuable consideration or as a locator; if the former, the original conveyance, or a duly certified copy thereof, should be furnished ; or if the transaction was a mere verbial one, he will narrate the circumstances attending the pur- chase, the date thereof, and the amount paid, which facts should be supf were pr file a di proper r 1 1 be supported by the affidavit of on. ^^^ were present at the time ; and .f he l"^' '"'"'" ^''""^^^•^' '^ any file a duly certified copy of tL ,oc, ^ ' ^"^"' '^ ""^' proper recorder. iocation from the office of the n;ay ..; shown, U wil, t^ .■ntr:^,;:^ T' " °^ "^ ^'^"" file a plat showing his claim and hk Xh ''""= ^'^'"^^^ 'o with the one against which he clal! ?''""''°" ^"^ Position conn.ct may be the better unde ™d "t!^ ,"'^ '='«^"' "^ ">e from an actual survey by a United State f " " •"'"' ''^ "'^d- .il offically certify thereon to its corro, """^ '"^^^o^' ^^o there must be attached to suchXnf "'"' ""'' '" ^'''""•<'". sworn statement by the surveyor as to 1'""'^ ^ '^'"''^^^'^ °^ •e labor performed or improvement /'''""""^"^ ™'"<= of cla™ has been filed, infori-„; , ^m'" ~"/-' "«' -ch advfrse verse claim will be required wThithir 5'"' "'""^'<^'' 'he of such fihng to commence proclet,., '^ '^''^'' ^'°'" "><= date ;unsd,ct,on, to determine the quest on^f 1 '°"" "^ '='""?«<="' '0 prosecute the same with reasorabLt^l "' °' '°''''''°"' -"^ »nd that should such adverse clah^lfr^f"''^ '°«"^' judgment cla.m will be considered waived td I r° '° '°' '"'^ ''^-'■- be allowed to proceed upon its merits ''''''"'"°" '"°^ "^ P"'-' 5'. Wlien an adverse rhin, ; ^i Receiver wi„ indorse^^^f Te tt : tlf ^^^^'''' '" ^^^-- or nd preserve a record of the date of no ^ ^•'''"^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^'n^-. nd thereafter all proceedings on the.r"'"' "'"^^ ^^^'"^o" • e suspended, with the excepf ^n o tle^^ "I"" ''' P^^^"^ -'^l ^ ^at'on and posting of notices InH i ?"^P^^t'on of the publi- ^ «^ry proof thereof, untH he con^ ^ '' '"^ ^^^ ^^'"^ ^^ the ne e . ^^^^d in court, or the adverL^:^^^^^ !!^^" ^^^ ^-n adj dt verse claim waived or withdrawn. as CO > a? t< o 2q8 <^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. 52. The proceedings after rendition of judgment by the court in sucii case, are so clearly defined by the act itself as to render it unnecessary to enlarge thereon in this place. PLACER CLAIMS. 53. The tenth section of the act under consideration provides: " That the act entitled 'An act to amend an act granting tlie right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes,' approved July 9, 1870, shall be and remain in full force, except as to the proceedings to obtain a patent, which shall be similar to the proceeding prescribed by section six and seven of this act for obtaining patents for vein or lode claims; but where said placer claims shall be upon surveyed lands and conform to legal sub-divisions, no further survey or plat shall be required, and all placer mining claims hereafter located shall con- form, as nearly as practicable, with the United States system of public land surveys and the rectangular sub-divisions of such surveys, and no such locations shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant; but where placer claims can- not be conformed to legal sub-divisions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands," etc. 54. The proceedings for obtaining patents for veins or lodes having already been fully given, it will not be necessary to repeat them here ; it being thought that careful attention thereto by applicants and the local officers will enable them to act under- standingly in the matter, and make such slight modifications in the notice, or otherwise, as may be necessary in view of the different nature of the two classes of claims; placer claims being fixed, however, at $2.50 per acre, or fractional part of an acre. 55. The twelfth and thirteenth sections of said act of July 9, 1870, read as follows: • ••• • • • •* 56. It will be observed that that pordon of the first proviso to the said twelfth section, which requires placer clairns upon sur- veyed lands to conform to legal sub-divisions, is related by the present statute with regard to claims heretofore located, but that where such claims are located previous to the survey and do not I'l.ACl.R CLAIMS. 299 conform to legal sub-divisions, survey, plat, and entry thereof may be made according to the boundaries fixed by local rules, but where such claims do conform to legal sub-divisions, the entry may be effected according to such legal sub-divisions without the necessity of further survey or plat. 57. In the second proviso to said twelfth section, authority is given for the sub-division of forty-acre legal sub-divisions into (cn-acj'e lots, which is intended for the greater convenience of miners in segregating their claims both from one another and from intervening agricultural lands. 58. It is held, therefore, that under a proper construction of the law, these ten-acre lots in mining districts should be con- sidered and dealt with, to ail intents and purposes, as legal sub- divisions, and that an applicant having a legal claim which con- forms to one or more of these ten-acre lots, either adjoining or cornering, may make entry thereof, after the usual proceedings, without further survey or plat. 59. In cases of this kind, however, the notice given of the application must be very specific and accurate in description, and as the forty-acre tracts may be subdivided into ten-acre lots, either in the form of ten by ten chains or of parallelograms, five by twenty chains, so long as the lines are parallel and at right angles with the lines of public surveys, it will be necessary that the nodce and application state specifically what ten-acre lots are sought to be patented, in addition to other data required in the notice. 60. Where the ten-acre subdivision is in the form of a square, it may be described, for instance, as the " S. E. ^ of the S. W. y^ of the N. W. i^," or if in the form of a parallelogram, as aforesaid, it may be described as the " W. yi of the W. \^ of the S. W. }i of the N E. Va of the S. E W. %. (or, the of section — N. Yi of the' S. yi of the N. , township , range ," and as the case may be ; but, in addition to this de- scription of the land, the notice must give all the other data that is required in a mineral application by which parties may be put on inquiry as to the premises sought to be patented. 61. The proceedings necessary for the adjustment of rights O 300 (T/i- WLS/EK'N EMriRE. where a known vein or lode is embraced by a placer claim, are so clearly delmed in the eleventh section of the act as to render any particular instructions upon that point at this time un- necessary. 62. When an adverse claim is filed to a placer application, the proceedings are the same as in the case of vein or lode claims already described. locatlor said, th( 66. 1 makinor QUANTrrV OF PLACER GROUND SUBJECT TO LOCATION. 63. By the twelfth section of the said amendatory act of July 9, 1870. (third proviso,) it is declared "that no location of a placer claim hereafter made shall exceed 160 acres for any one person or association of persons, which location shall conform to the United States surveys," etc, 64. The tenth section of the act of May 10, 1872, provides that "all placer mining claims hereafter located shall conform, as near as practicable, with the United States system of public land surveys, and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys ; and no such locations shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant." 65. The foregoing provisions of law are construed to mean that after the 9th clay of July, 1870, no location of a placer claim can be made to exceed 160 acres, whatever may be the number of locators associated together, or whatever the local regulations of the district may allow ; and that from and after the passage of said act of May 10, 1872, no location made by an individual can exceed twenty acres, and no location made by an associa- tion of individuals can exceed 1 60 acres, which location of 1 60 acres cannot be made by a less number than eight boiia fide locators, but that whether as much as twenty acres can be located by an individual, or 1 60 acres by an association, depends entirely upon the mining regulations in force in the respecdve districts at the date of the location ; it being held that such mining regu- lations are in no way enlarged by said acts of Congress, but remain intact and in full force with recrard to the size of loca- tions, in so far as they do not permit locations in excess of the limits fixed by Congress, but that where such regulations permit MAKING PROOF OF ri..\CI:R CLAIMS. «oi locations in excess of the maximums fixed by Congress as afore- said, tiiey are restricted accordingly. 66. The regulations hereinbefore given as to the manner of making locations on the ground, and placing the same on record, must be observed in the case of placer locations, so far as the same are applicable; the law requiring, however, that where placer claims are upon surveyed public lands, the locations must hereafter be made to conform to legal subdivisions thereof. 67. With regard to the proofs necessary to establish the pos- sessory right to a placer claim, the said thirteenth section of the act of July 9. 1870, provides that "where said person or associa- tion, they and their grantors, shall have held and worked their said claims for a period equal to the time prescribed by the statute of limitations for mining claims for the State or Territory where the same may be situated, evidence of such possession and working of tlie claims for such period shall be sufficient to establish a right to a patent thereto under thiff act, in the absence of any advei-se claim." 68. This provision of law will greatly lessen the burden of proof, more especially in the case of old claims located many years since, the records of which in many cases have been de- stroyed by fire, or lost in other ways during the lapse of time, but concerning the possessory right to which all controversy or litigation has long been settled. 69. When an applicant desires to make proof of possessory right in accordance with this provision of law, you will not re- quire him to produce evidence of location, copies of conveyance, or abstracts of tide, as in other cases, but will require him to fur- nish a duly certified copy of the statute of limitations for mining daims for the State or Territory, together with his sworn state- ment, nrivinii a clear and succinct narration of the facts as to the origin of his title, and likewise as to the continuation of his pos- session of the mining ground covered by this application ; the area thereof; the nature and extent of the mining that has been done thereon ; whether there has been any opposition to his pos- session or litigation with regard to his claim, and if so, when the same ceased; whether such cessation was caused by compromise ?- pes < Pi B .!-« c/> p^ k: rJ H ::> Ptj f-* CJ ;s « '^ :^ aa ^Q2 ^'■■^'' "/-.^y^-A'A- EMPIRE. or by judicial decree ; and any additional facts, within the claim- ant's knowledge, having a direct bearing upon his possession and bona fides which he may desire to submit in siipi-'ort of his claim. 70. There should likewise be filed a certificate under seal of the court having jurisdiction of mining cases within the judicial district embracing the claim, that no suit or action of an .char- acter whatever, involving the right of possession to any portion of the claim applied for is pending, and that there has been no litigation before said court affecting the title to said claim or any part thereof, for a period equal to the time fixed by the statute of limitations for mining claims in the State or Territory as afore- said, odier than tLit which has been finally decided in favor of the claimant. 71. The claimant should support his narrative of facts relative to his possession, occupancy, and improvements, by corrobora- tive testimony of any disinterested person or oersons of credi- bility, who may be cognizant of the facts in the case, and arc capable of testifying understandingly in the premises. 72. It will be to the advantage of claimants to make their proofs as full and complete as practicable. DFJ'UTV SURVEYORS — CHARGES — FEES OF REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS, ETC. 73. The twelfth section of the said act of May 10. 1872, pro- vides for the appointment of surveyors of mineral claims, author- izes the Commissioner of the General Land Office to establish the rates to be charged for surveys and for newspaper publica- tions, prescribes the fees allowed to the local officers for receiv- ing and acting upon applications for mining patents and for adverse claims thereto, etc. 74. The Surveyor-General of the several districts will, in pur- suance of said law, appoint in each land district as many compe- tent deputies for the survey of mining claims as may seek such appointment ; it being distinctly understood that ill expenses of these notices and surveys are to be borne by the mining claim- ants, and not by the United States ; the system of making de- posits for mineral surveys, as required by previous instructions, being the op to do i 75. ' office ?£/, «in estir deposit nated d( passed t tors for ! General manner. 76. Th deputy SI "lay be Jo ience of n Ih The their assis by them. 7.S. The I Register ar paid by \{xx\ WthalJ fee. s«'orn state the in format 79- ^\\Q\\\ heen made \ he taken wit 80. The fe 3nd acting i ""^er said a "'be paid by f'le like sum -'verse claim, ,^'- All fees '^ amendatory S2. The R, '""'■■• ■^■"■'-■'- •'•>■-...,. .,,,,, , . , . '-'" ///A/A- 1)1-7 /Pi! being hereby revoked as regard, fi 1 , 303 "><= option of employing a„vd '"'"'^' "«= '^'"imant hav,„ ■o do l,is vvork -.LL rre,r' ''"''"'^ ^''^->'- -""" such ufs:;; '^ #---.• in d,esre;:r.:,,^;^\°f "^ ^'a- and o,„„ an es<,n,ate of ,ho cost the ■« ,°'""^' ""« °fficer will „, ', deposit with an,, A • "-"^"'' winch nnionnt fh,. .1 • na «l ,U ' Assistant Unite "'""'•'■ ^r the greater conven 7>S. i he law requires that each . r Recrister and Receiver n c ^PPl'cant shall file wffh .. 79- bJioiiJd It appear fhnt f^-n made by any' urvejo „?""'' o'- e:corbita„t charges have ^ ^ken with .he^view^Tc^rSfS^' '""^'^ ^'^ - acl^^n^XTn'r"''''^ '^'■^^- and" Receiver fo «,- ;^ u|jon app icationt: fr.- • , ^^'^^t^'ver, for fi mo- ""der said act of £, ,0,^7! T''^^ ^^"^ Patents. nJde - b; paid by the appL^'t d^^^^^ l^^^^^ to each offic '^^^ I'l^e sum of five doliarsTs n.v Ki '^' ''"^" °^ fi''^^^ and . ^'- All fees or charp-es under k" ^"^""^'^^ ^^^im. '^ -endatory. .ay be^id n ujj ^/st 7 ''' ^"^ ^^ *^^ - "' ""' t'^e close of each >• pci < pa >-* £3 ■ — « '^ > (SJ «<; o 304 oi'K n'f.sn:/ix empirf.. month, forward to this office an abstract of mining applications filed, and a register of receipts, accompanied with an abstract of mineral lands sold. 83. The fees and purchase-money received by Registers and Receivers must be placed to the credit of the United States in the Receiver's montlily and quarterly account, charging up in the disbursing account the sums to which the Register and Receiver may be respectively entitled as fees and commissions, with limitations in regard to the legal maximum. 84. The thirteenth section of the said act of May 10, 1872, provides that all affidavits required under said act, or the act of which it is amendatory, may be verified before any officer authorized to administer oaths within the land district where the claims may be situated, in which case tiiey will have the same force and effect as if taken before the Register or Receiver, and that in cases of contest as to the mineral or agricultural character of land, the testimony and proofs may be taken before any such officer on personal notice of at least ten days to the opposing party, or, if said party cannot be found, then, after publication of notice for at least once a week for thirty days, in a newspaper 10 be designated by the Register as published nearest to the location of such land, proof of such notice must be made to the Register, 85. The instructions heretofore issued with regard to disprov- ing the mineral character of lands, are accordingly modified so as to allow proof upon that point to be taken before any officer authorized to administer oaths within the land district, and that where the residence of the parties who claim the land to be mineral is known, such evidence may be taken without pubhca- tion, ten days after the mineral claimants or affiants shall have been personally notified of the time and place of such hearing; but in cases where such affiants or claimants cannot be served with personal notice, or where the land applied for is returned as mineral upon the township plat, or where the same is now or may hereafter be suspended for non-mineral proof, by order of this office, then the party who claims the right to enter the land as agricultural will be required, at his own expense, to publish a notice once each week for five consecutive weeks in the news- paper land is county, the new \\\(\c\\ n( required 20. 1 87 2, oi said n '!^\\\ be t such heari ^(^. The non-minera occupied b """'J'nS' pui embraced a v^\n or Jodc to the same are applicab no location i ceed five acn same rate as Vcio: owner c '■"ine m conn( miJl-site as pr ^7- To avai '"? the posses not contiguou; ceeding the q |"H regulatio We may file ;, I patent, under application, togi hmbrace and dc jcontiguous mill- P patent wil] be 20 paper of lar^^est circulation publish. 1 • . 3°S land IS s tuni^r./^. •/• I-'"DiishecI m tho rni.«. • ajjctpcr in either case tn Kr. i • a«JO'ninir countv .vh,ch notice must be clear a °d t V^"'"'--'' I-^ "■<= Reg," er' »a.cl nonce, when te.timon/af !, f' '''" ''"^ °f P"blical„ ^S6. The /Iftccnth section of • , non-mineral land no^ r^.!- ''^''^ ^^^ provides "Th,. u occupied bv the ;. .^°"f'S:uous to the v^,^ or I I '^^^'"^ 1 t^y the proprietor of c;m^u . " ^'^ 'ode, is used or '"•'^n^ purposes, such non!adh '^"" """ ^°^" ^°^ "^'n'n^ or no ocation hereafter „ ^f '11^ "'^'^ '^ ^"-X Th^ c-d five acres, and payment foL"°"-^^J''^^« '-"d sha , ex «-e rate as fi.ed by'.his act for .h""' """^^ •«= ■"=")« a the The owner of the quartz-mill or tV • '"P'^^"^" °f the lode ■™"e.n connection therewTth mav ..""'°" "°"^^' "« °wnine a «7- 1 o avail themselves of th;. • 2 "- possessory right t^ a v ^ UTT'' °' '='»'■ P-"'« hold- eding. tl e q„a„t; ^„ ^ or m.llmg purposes, not ex *^?fi:t t,r -^'--'^ pier; ^"-^ •-' Ppl.ca.,on, together with the plat ?nt''/M ^""^ ''^^ein, wWch ■ PS < as .-=• pet O 3o6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 88. In making the survey in a case of this kind, the lode claim should be described in the plat and field notes as " Lot No. 37, A." and the mill-site as " Lot No. ^t, 13," or whatever may be its appropriate numerical designation ; the course and distance from a corner of the mill-site to a corner of the lode claim to be in- variably given in such plat and field notes, and a copy of tlic plat and notice of application for patent must be conspicuously posted upon the mill-site as well as upon the vein or lode for tho statutory period of sixty days. In making the entry, no separate- receipt or certificate need be issued for the mill-site, but the whole area of both lode and mill-site will be embraced in one entry, the price being %^ for each acre antl fractional part of an acre embraced by such lode and mill-site claim. 89. In case the owner of a quartz mill or reduction works is not the owner or claimant of a vein or lode, the law permits him to make application therefor in the same manner prescribed herein for mining claims, and after due notice and proceedings, in the absence of a valid adverse filing, to enter and receive a patent for the mill-site at said price per acre. 90. In every case there must be satisfactory proof that the land claimed as a mill-site is not mineral in character, which proof may, where the matter is unquestioned, consist of the sworn statement of the claimant, supported by that of one or more disinterested persons capable from acquaintance with the land to testify understandingly. 91. The law expressly limits mill-site locations made from and after its passage to five acres, but whether so much as that can be located depends upon the local customs, rules or regulations. 92. The Registers uid Receivers will preserve an unbroken consecutive series o! numbers for all mineral entries. PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP OF MINING CLAIMANTS. 93. The proof necessary to establish the citizenship of appli- cants for mining patents, whether under the present or past enactments, it will be seen by reference to the seventh section of the act under consideration, may consist, in the case of an in- dividual claimant, of his own affidavit of the fact ; in the case of Repeat! I'le Unitct and regula of the Uni made \n th, and the pei of their acti there was, a Montana, 01 established, or mining di ''fate law, \ ^few Mexico t'le iast nam somewhat ier and District ^^ great imj '"tending to ^ STATU7 "The fol/owir, ''^ ^^evada apf Seoion I. ^ tJie age of tw ^3ims \n any "" '-'><^<'- MW/KC I.^U'a. "n association of per,ons „„, • W •heir authorucd ^s^.Tr^jronXT'^'f- "' ""' '^"^'^^'^ of formation and belief .,.ae t^,::, ^ "!" ^-'^'^i.- or upon i„! »rc cuens; and in ,hc case ,7a n' **" "^ '»''' association -cl under the laws of „,: v^"'^:'"'^''^ "nipany, ,.,,,°„? State or Territory of ,he Jnited sL'^"?' °J ""= '**' "'any fied copy of „,„., ^,^^^^^ or cer'ficrof ' ""^ '''"^ "' ' -»' 94. These affidavits of citi,M 1 '"™rp„ration. Raster or Receive, or any other '1"'^ "T •"■«••" ''^'•o- .'>e '" oaths within the district *""■ ="«''°""d .o adminis! STATK AND ryrMirb . Repeated allusion, nrcl i "'"""' ""* .!.« United States Gover^::';' Zt%"''"'"S laws and rules of ™l regulations, as restrictTn; L ° 'h'= ^'"'^ ""'' "'her local law of ..e United States laws "tV^th ° td'" "'°^''^'"^' "'<^ - on madem •'■« government law, w.hif,.?^^ *''"'^'' ^ave be,.„ and the perfection they have e^c d , '"l' '"^ °' <='ff'« V^ars of .heir action, there is far llT^l^ "'7"«'' «-eful observation' t ere was, a (c. years JoZ7T''°' '''""' '°"' '="« ,ha„ Montana, or the Black him' ^"'' '*"= """ot learn that in 1 ,,T established. In C,«f„ ' "">' '"<^'' '••>«'s or rules L„ . ' -inin, district'^^^To::''" ■^'^r^- «'-"' eve'r;^ :;- S«.e h.w, but Cahfornirrd n'^^^o""^ ^-'"'« "«< aT New Mexico, and Arizona, have "hei.^r^"' '''«'«'• C°'"radc, 'I'e last named Territory, from ;, ^'?'"= °' Territorial laws »mewl,at lengthy code. We'veber '^ "■'""''°"' ^avin, , and District laws, so far as thty artM T ^•"<-'- Territorial of great importance to the ml ''^ °'"»''"«'- »» they are ■"«i%Mo purchase n:-„l'^™;:--". ^''<' '"o- -"o' a": »'^evadaapproveV;::brryT:r ^ ^"^'"'^ "^ '"« ■''-e Section i. Any six nr -, • I ; ' »ge of twen'ty-one yea,:"and"""' "'"' "<= "^'es of >-t a; ■ • a? 1^ O _j08 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. within the boundaries of any established mining district, may form a new mining district embracing said claims, at a meeting of such persons to be called by posting for five days^ in at least five conspicuous places within the limits of such proposed new district, notices in writing stating the place and time for holding such meeting, describing as near as may be the limits of such proposed new district, and signed by not less than five of such persons. At said meeting all males of the age of twenty-one years and upward holding mining claims, or any interest therein, within said limits, may vote, and by a majority vote determine whether said new mining district shall be established, and its boundaries, which shall be within the limits named ir; said notices; and thereafter the persons so qualified and holding mining claims in such newly established district shall proceed to select a name therefor and elect a district recorder, who shall be qualified as aforesaid. He shall perform all the duties required of him by law, and shall, within thirty days after qualifying, file and record in his office a record of the proceedings of said meeting. No district formed under tjie provisions of this act shall be divided by any county line. Mining districts now existing may be con- tinued. Sec. 2 2. On and after the second Saturday of July, 1866, all locations of mining claims shall be made in the following manner: On a monument not less than three feet high, firmly established in a conspicuous place on thr: claim, there shall be placed a plainly-written notice embracing a description of the ground claimed, the date of location, the name of the claim, the name of the company, and the names of the locators, with the number of feet claimed by each, and a copy of said notice, accompanied by a written request for a survey of said claim by the district recorder, shall, within thirty days after the making of such loca- tion, be filed in the office of the district recorder of the district in which said claim is located ; and in case there be no legally authorized district recorder in and for the district,, or the claim be outside of the limits of an organized mining district, then, and in that case, said notice may be filed in the office of the county recorder of the county in whi^h said claim is located ; and a written served w Idfter; tii duties re act. He and for s allowed b after the claim, as a written request for a survey bv ,!,„ ^"^ ^erved upon H.e county surveyor w I -""""'^ '""'^y°'- ^'«" be kter; the county surveyor Jh' ^ ■•'-■^»"='ble time there duties required 'of a di^::i'crretrd:rr',f " P"^"™ ^'' "- act. He sljall keep a record of aHfetr^'^ 'he provisions of this a Wed by law for his services in if "'""'"'' ""^ same fees after the making of such oca ,^ rhr^i „^"'"'' ""«y da; c a,m as assessment work, toT^d tl 1"' '^ ^°"" °" ^^ " Je day preceding ,he first Satu dav T ? '° "'"' ''"^'"*"S August, excavation i„yolvi„. the rl' , 1^ "«=" '"""owin^ earth or loose material, or CtZv^""^ f ^"' ^"^'^ ^^ of ewo hundred feet in the claim'a'd as fo' °' "'''' ™^*=' ^^ ^-h sa-d d,str,ct recorder shall sun^ey the same" '!.'"'' ^ '^"'''''''■ of survey as provided in sectionV. of th """^ '''°^'' "«= "°"ee recorder shall file and record a ce rifill ""' '"'' ^"''^ '^'s'rict "- work. Which shall be s^Uta^STn^ Slt^^r " ■mSTmci.-— C0UKTV,NEVAB* DAY OF TU- . ■■ ^ MONTH OF YEAR. Th's ,s to certify that on the-_l:% 1 " ' ^o^Pany. surveyed on- ^J T ^°^^^"^^ by the y,or on behalf of said comZZ^Tj^'' "'' ^'^ ^^^" ^one ^'-;P to the first Saturday ;;"l4:'f^^^^^^^^^^ to hold said Sec -5 A ^^ ' ' ^^^^^'ict Recorder •fe" t.^ hundred feet of any onette ^°''' ''>"''^«'°" ""Te e^of the same, for which he shal t^ 'T?' ^^ """"^ "^ d'scoy ee. additional. ,n the case ofloltir 'i° '""'^ ''^° ''""dred. ' 'option of two hundred feet by "rrTr' " '^^'^"^^-^ 'he ^» clam stall, ;„ the aggregate exc^ I ''"""^^ '" allowed; fee' on any one ledge. ^^ ^ '' "^'^'^'' '" extent two thousand I ^EC- 24. Any locatinn r«oj " ' ' ■ -n «.sl.all be deemed o/ne„t°V/''^'= ''V -thority of this ""ations of said ledge rt f " *P^' ^P-^-"^- angles and -- '" -d one S^J^^^^^^r^ I uc 01 It. except OS •^ S ;:> OJ »— * ft} o 3IO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE, where they would by so doing invade the territory of a claim previously located. Sec. 31. On the first Saturday of August, 1866, at which time the first assessment year shall begin, this act shall supersede all district mining laws, and thereafter said laws shall be considered as repealed : Provided, Any and all rights heretofore acquired under and by virtue of such distinct mining laws shall be deter- mined in accordance with said mining laws existing at the time when said rights were acquired. During the period extending; from and including the ist day of May, 1866, to and including the day immediately preceding the first Saturday of the following August, no claim shall become subject to relocation by reason of the non-performance of assessment work. Locations may be made under this act at any time on and after the second Saturday of July, 1866, at which time the district recorders elected under this act shall, if qualified, enter upon the discharge of their duties, and on and after said second Saturday of July, no loc^ai • hall be made under district mining laws. Sec. 32. The doing of assessment work, or the payment of assessment dues, shall not be required in order to hold a claim during any assessment year, if during the year next preceding such assessment year there has been done on said claim, by or on behalf of the claimants thereof, an amount of work costing, at a fair valuation, not less than fifty cents for each foot in said claim ; but in all other cases assessment work shall be done or assessment dues shall be paid as provided in this act. Assess- ment dues shall be paid for every assessment year by the parties holding the claim to the district recorder elected under this acf ' before the first Saturday of Augiist, commencing the assessmcnl year for which they are paid, except as otherwise provided in diis section. , . . Sec. 33. Except as otherwise provided in section 32, every mining claim located and held under district mining laws, on which, before the i st day of May, 1 866, there has been work done involving the excavation of fifty cubic feet of earth or loose matter, or five cubic feet of solid rock, for each 200 feet in s; 'h claim, shall be subject to assessment dues. On every min "ir 18 R] The foIJov City, Nevada Article i. feet on the Je Art. 2. A]] an additional Art. 3. All || at each corne. Art. 4. All $10 or three d; can work to th c'aimashema^ ^''m from worki ^RT. 5- All q sections. A«T. 6. All c from the time of claim located and h u ^^^ti^ict. ceding .he fi., Saeul^^:; -^^^fo- "■« '^y ■« ^r " assessment work or *k ^"g^ust, 1866. Thf» H«- / ^^^" enable d.e owl' o^^.^ PfV'"^ of such asseTte„;i:' r/l August, ,866. ^'^'' ^""""encing on d,e Zt L I ""' Sec Id Th "■"' ^turday of Ihe lo^atbn „f ^'7""*^'« ^ork done within th. ,v year following the dZ / ? ""^ beginning of thlT "' -ing assess^^ent year an°d f"' '°^"°"' -"dl'tu^^^"' provided in sectionT2 of * "^^"y y^^ thereafter „ "" —..,„., '' "' '"^ -^ -ch elai. shallt st^tt L' SfT^^-^XSr::"--^— Walor r^-----n,.e„-^3-^^^ 18— REGULATIONS OP THE „,. " ' -. i The following are the r , ""™'"' "-^vad. nl at each cornei Art a AU '. **"'* "ot'ces <'oorthreCd^yT::,f™-'>al, be worked to the a ™ work to .1,7:.;: tt^r "" " ^''^'' ^'="-- d tr:r ' claim as he max, «i ^"^^ ^^ soon after fh« 1 • owner Art r a II ^ ^'^ <^^aim for siv n,^ .u , ^" exempt ^-5. Al, .nar. Cai.s shall brkrw"X ^f "• A«T 6 All I • ' " " ■ "y a name and in h *e tin,f ^taS' ^^ ^^^^'r -^^e* withi ' ;:„ ,,^ 6-« PC) 3 CO o:; 14; > PCS '^ 1-3 O 312 OUR WESTERN EMPfRE. y.^. . . Art. 7. All claims recorded in the Gold Hill record, and lying in the Virginia district, shall be recorded free of charge in the record of Virginia district, upon the presentation of a certificate from the recorder of the Gold Hill district, certifying that said claims have been duly recorded in said district ; and said claims shall be recorded within thirty days after the passage Qf this article. \.': '.r\^.,>i.\ -A'J ^.^ui^i-^ii^iuv'. , ov _ ■....^',':.t. ..h.^^ Art. 9. Surface and hill claims shall be 100 feet square, and be designated by stakes and notices at each corner. Art. 10. All ravine and gulch claims shall be 100 feet in length, and in width extend from bank to bank, and be designated by a stake and notice at each end. Art. II. All claims shall be worked within ten days after water can be 1 A si^fificieht to work said claims. Art. 12. ' ' ravine, gulch, and surface claims shall be recorded within ten days after location. Art. 1 3. All claims not worked according to the laws of this district shall be forfeited and subject to relocation. Art. 14. There shall be a recorder elected, to hold his office for the term of twelve months, who shall be entitled to the sum of fifty cents for each claim located and recorded. •■'^•' ''■• Art. 1 5. The recorder shall keep a book with all the laws of this district written therein, which shall, at all times, be subject to the inspection of the miners of said district ; and he is further- more required to post in two conspicuous places a copy of the laws of said district. • >/ ..i\ii ic n Hi 1- 'i ■)' 'i ' 19, — REGULATIONS OF REESE RIVER DISTRICT, NEVADA. The following are the regulations of the Reese River District, JNevada^ ■ cuiii^ti. ;-.>ij.-,iJi. iu\ Section i. The district shall be knowA as the Reese River Mining District, and shall be bounded as follows, to wit: On the north by a distance of ten miles from the. overland telegraph line, on the east by Dry creek, on the south by a distance of ten miles, from. the overland telegraph line, and on the west by Edward's creek, where not conflicting with any new districts formed to date. Sec. 2. Therelshall be a mininjr recorder elected on the ist day of; year fn electior least fii held, aft ieast tW( district ; Sec. 3, book or aJi public ^or thatp the rights the order each claim ^eep his b ^e shall a stead, for u also be the office all be to his office Sec. 4. A f^ll presence . Sec. 5. js! individual, 01 be deemed e Sec. 6. Ea Jiundred feet and angles, o t^e mineral a, of and locator discovery. Sec. 7. The shall be entitk ^^'^ated by him construed to m iiundred feet o Sec. 8. All 1, aay of June next for ^w ,• ^^str/ct. ye.r j„,;r;;:r, ;;^„::;'«-'>o sha„ h^,, .«,„ ,„^„^ ele«,o„ which can on y be /one t" '°°"^' ^-"'oved bya „"« «=ft fifty claim-holders ciln ^.^ ^ *""*=" call, signed bvoT held, after said notice ^XTebT" °' ^ ""^'^ elecfon .o'be least twenty days in .on.e Xtoe"/"^^ ^"'' P^-^'-l-ed tat Astnct; and the recorder shaTbeT r'^'M "'"^'' '" "--"earest thl Sec. 3 ,t shall be the duty o the re ,'"' "^ ""'^ '""^'ct. book or books a full and trud,f ^re ::d J"! ^'"^ '" ^ »""able al pub he meetings ; to place on record l1. ° "'' P^ceedings of for that purpose, when such claim !hn ''^""" '"■°"S'" to him >e nghts and interests of p frioca ""' '"'^^""'^^^ "'^'' -a/Tec^ the order of their date, for wWd, '°;«.°^\'-ecording the sameTn ead. claim recorded. t shaT' I T'f *"= ^''='" deceive sTf '? keep his books open at 1 Ltr^";^, "^ ""'y of the record rt he shall also have the poweTto 1 '"'P'"'°" °f "'e public stead for whose official actshe har;'r,-;''<=P"'y '° act'^^^n Ws ako be the duty of the recorder "^ l*^ ^«P<"""We. Itshal individual, or by a compa™ °/„'°^!':°" °f "'ining ground by any be deemed equivalent to a^^^ecord o "t^ "^^'-^^'^ ^'S-.S Sec. 6. Each claimant «i ilT '""^ ^a-ne- ' ^-dred feet on a^Sd t he^^,- T''? '.°^''^ ^^^ 'ocation two "dangles offshoots, outcrops dep^T' T. "" "'^ '«P^' =?-" e mmeral and other valuafe the' i^-' '""^"■°"=' ='"d al of and locator of a new lead be n^enT^r"'"^* ""= ^'^verer discovery. , , . - - A.^^'ng entitled to one claim extra for « b. ...a'dtti-irir*,'* " '"'<^' s"fc *«» ■ X "ons sliall be made by a written n^.- '•^^'■* '? "V' '- -5/*"^" notice posted s pa , — « ""^ CO ^■^ CO ID ►J O JU OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. upon the ground, and boundaries described, and all claimants' names posted on the notice. Sec. 9. Work done on any tunnel, cut, shaft, or drift, in good faith, shall be considered as being done upon the claim owned by such person or company. Sec. 10. Every claim (whether by individual or company) lo- cated shall be recorded within ten days after the date of location. Sec. 1 1. All miners locating a mining claim in this district shall place and maintain thereon a good and substantial monument or stake, with a notice thereon of the name of the claim, the names of the locators, date of location, record, and extent of claim. It is hereby requested that owners in claims already lo- cated do comply with the requirements of this section. Sec. 1 2. The recorder shall go upon the ground with any and all parties desiring to locate claims, and shall be entitled : j - • Sec. 1 5. These laws shall take effect on and after the 4th day of June, 1864. ' ' "• 1 ■ J ' ' 20.— QUARTZ STATUTE OF THE STATE OF OREGON. Section i. That any person, or company of persons, estab- lishing a claim on any quartz lead containing gold, silver, copper, tin, or lead, or a claim on a vein of cinnabar, for the purpose of mining the same, shall be allowed to have, hold, and possess the land or vein, with all its dips, spurs, and angles, for the distance of three hundred feet in length, and seventy-five feet in width on each side of such lead or vein. ' Sec. 2. To establish a valid claihi the discoverer or person w/sh/ng ytm, wii or claim: days he ( as herein claim or i said claim \i any cla it shall be son or per ^^ sicknesi Sec. 3. , mk^r pro chase as th claims are" J lead or v^m additional cj tion shall b< coverer to J< vein. Sec. 4. Ev 'n§:such claii or taking sue the amount c each successii penalty of for incorporate co ^ a'lowed to wor as above for al , ^^^- 5. It sh; "Pon the recein miners' district paries thereof; , jofiice as other c h'"'"? claims ;■ J?y appoint ad of s.ck„ess. or i„ the service of 'h; ""'""" ""^ ''''«="' on acco„„: , f <^- 3- Any person may L°d 1„ ?"""^ '" '™- of war " ™fer provided, upon each lefd T '"" ''y '°^'«'<'". arhe„, coverer to locate* n,« . *^ ^^^ow any oer^on '^:^ '^^^oTZ::::Cr:^^ °^ "--3. areer estabnsh. ^^verorathTSrylar^ "^^rorreS I J V- " ''''" ">« *e duty of Z °" '"''• '^^d or vein "pon the receiot of , • " '"^ county clerk nf , "-.•district n said r °' """"--• ™eet/o;2,r"'^' dariVc fk /. '" county, with ^ a^ • • ^ "'^^anizincr a »t a oT^ '° '■^'^"^^ "-o ^m" in a t.T°". "' "''' ''°"- Upoira'd:;uVfrs:th d^-^"';-- «>' -S:. L:™? r K o.- - vicU/::n;;J'-^^j''J^ .ha.. resideTt^^ "■ ^" """'"g Caims and < OS >-* £3 .— » "^ CO > oJ ;^ M 13 ►J PCI O 3i6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. water rights in the order in which they are presented for record; and shall transmit a copy of such record at the end of each month to the county clerk, who shall record the same in the above-mentioned book of record, for which he shall receive one dollar for each and every claim. It shall further be the duty of said county clerk to furnish a copy of this law to his said deputy, who shall keep the same in his office, open at all reasonable times for the inspection of all persons interested therein. ,;i v .; Sec. 6. Miners shall be empowered to make local laws in re- lation to the possession of water rights, the possession and working of placer claims, and the survey and sale of town lots in mining camps, subject to the laws of the United States. Sec. 7. That ditches used for mining purposes, and mining flumes permanendy affixed to the soil, be and they are hereby declared real estate for all intents and purposes whatever. Sec. 8. That all laws relative to the sale and transfer of real estate, and the application of the liens of mechanics and laborers therein, be and they are hereby made applicable to said ditches and flumes : Provided, That all interests in mining claims known as placer or surface diggings may be granted, sold, and conveyed by bill of sale and delivery of possession as in cases of the sale of personal property : Provided further. That the bills of sale or conveyances executed on the sale of any placer or surface mining claim shall be recorded within thirty days after the date of such sale, in the office of the county clerk of the county in which such sale is made, in a book to be kept by the county clerk for that purpose, to be called the record of conveyances of mining claims. i|,„<,,v y,\ mufIj 'M'o.mu-. notirj mt '>.• -.'A Sec. 9. Mortgages of interests in placer or surface mining claims r>hall be executed, acknowledged, recorded, and foreclosed as mortgages of chattels. Sec. 10. The county clerk shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar each for every conveyance or mortgage recorded under the provisions of this act. . . i.'l'. 21. — QUARTZ STATUTE OF IDAHO. f^Hli' The following is the statute of Idaho in regard to quartz claims: cover £ by rxgh \n Icngt bounds and suci of sa/d c Skc. 3 sJiaii, at t not Jess tJ on wJiich locator, til, and day vv Sec. 4. office, withi P'OZ'idcd, \ '"''es distan days. Sec. 5. ^ provisions o '(^<:OY^{X\g to assigns; />,.^ date of recor tliereon wort dollars. Sec. 6. An pursuance of J at /east once 'V and work/; , , ^^c- 7. The ^^y b'/ls of sale ''^k shall be [;"HreguJat/o, ■'^'■'cts, and Si h''""'ng quartz 3' 7 Ixiunds of «.;,! ,1 • ^ *" '''f's, spurs an,i . " ""^eaclth, »d such ol f"";"^ "'- "'e 4li 'of d'"^''-*^ *"'"n ".e - which shar^: " :^:,:''-e..a:ea:hrd:?::rjr'=' locator, the number of r^r ■ ",'" 'P"^''J"''g 'he „al t'"'' -d clay when the same ^af tl^: ' '°^""''=^ ^^^ '"e ;rr ,:„'„'J<= office' wth,C".ef:r' '?'" '''^ '•'^""'•''ecf in the r P-isions ^f ,ee J7:, --.ed ,•„ accordance .i.H d ^ecordmg: to hold the same , '''^" <="'''le the „!' „ "'^ assigns; yO,.«„v/^^ '^ '^"'.«, to the use of himself V 'u " '° f te of recordit^^ J';;:"'"". ""^ ">-"- -^ om kl'^^ ^r^" 'r" tkereon work aL Perform, or cause ^u '''"' "'« dollars. ^""""'.ng ;„ ,^,„^ J^"»e .o be performed, Sa-. 6 Anv o °"' '"""''^^d <-'. /^ny person n pursuance of this act ''■ ' ,,.i I , 'J ,; Sec. 8! Conveyances of quartz claims shall hereafter require the same formalities and shall be subject to the same rules of construction as the transfer and conveyance of real estate. Sec. 9. The location and pre-emption of quartz claims here- tofore made shall be established and proved when there is a contest before the courts, by the local rules, customs, and regulations of the miners in each mining district where such claim is located, when not in conflict with the laws of the United States or the laws o{ this Territory. Sec. 10. This act to take effect and to be in force from and after its approval by the governor. Approved February 4, 1864. 23. — STATUTE OF ARIZONA. The following is the statute of Arizona on the registry and government of mines and mineral deposits, with the exception of the sections providing the manner in which the rights of miners shall be enforced by the courts: Sec. I. All mining rights on the public lands of the United States, as well as rights acquired by discovery on the lands of private individuals, are possessory in their character only, and such possessory rights shall be limited, regulated, and governed as hereinafter provided. Sec. 1 5. Every mining claim or pertenencia is declared to consist of a superficial area of 200 yards square, to be measured so as to include the principal mineral vein or mineral deposits, always having reference to and following the dip of the vein so far as it can or may be worked, with all the earth and minerals therein. But any mining district organize'd in accordance with the provisions of this chapter may prescribe the dimensions of said min' ig claim or pertenencia for such district: Prov^dcl That in no case the dimensions so prescribed shall exce«.d the number of yards allowed by this section ; and further providei That no such mining district shall diminish the extent of the territorial claim to one pertenencia, as defined in this section. Sec. owned chapter, be entiti to the CA said \g'ii\ to the ge long by 2 mined by Sec. ly, formed a and one o\ consequen( shall be er only upon < Six-. 18. mineral Jan( "'ill site ani shall not ej other water J P'ace a dam its water for tile time anc registration a and register 'Jiey shall be years from th< ^^^Gnd in fit! reduction worl record of such ''leir tide to chapter, with thereon provide ments of that « 32 of this chap ' ^^^«ed upon s£ Sec ir A ^f^J^oi^A. long by 200 yards wide tU j- . ° '^^ measured 200 v. j formed a compaTy for T^ '";"°"' *■■« associated and 1, ^nd one or several shall tr"""""" ""^ -°*n» '? 1 ' ^1 be entiUed ,o denounce rndrr"^'^"'' '" «''P'°'-a.o„ on^ upon each lode. ""'' ^<=e'«- one discovery Ca.m /"='^' '8. It shall be lawfi,! f ■ ™"eml '-ds to locate and t J L""^ ^''"■'"'•"" of a mine or ■".' s,te and other necessary 1'^^?"'="""°" "' Public lands for a ^a'l not exceed one-^uartZr sLl^^' '"""^"^'' ''■<=^evvith, JlXh oAer water suitable for ,1,, °"' ""'aininrr a strJam Pl-e a dan, or other ob;fc7°"- '''">' ^''alM^ave a ^ht to ;« water for .he above ^7^/ °" ""'' ''^-"' =>ncl to te : the time and in tU^ ^ Purposes. TJiev .U.u . •f-o" an;d::;:ur:;?r*^-^ '- ''>^X.e ct SSt f ^-^-""e°ce:':?.h'™^'^t '° ^--" e meysiiaJJ be known as omx^-i- , °' ^ne probate con r^ o j vear-; frr^,y. *u • auxiliary Janrk a i .. court, and cci ;:> Pi O 330 Oih' fl'/ATAA'/V FMPIRE, in each year. Siicli claims shall be subject to all the provisions of this chapter which are applicable to mininjj rights, and may be abandoned and relocated. All rights to auxiliary lands acquired under the laws of any mining district before this act takes effect shall be valid, and the owners of the same, upon complying with the provisions of this section, may take the like proceedings to confirm their tides, with a like effect. Si:c. 19. It shall be the duty of all claimants of mining claims, mineral lands, and auxiliary tracts, to at once define the extent and boundary of them as nearly as possible, by good substantial monuments or other conspicuous marks, in the presence of the recorder of the mining district, or of some witness who shall prove to the satisfaction of the recorder that the same has been done, and to post up a public notice of their claim at the opening of the principal vein, and to have them properly registered and recorded within three months from the time of first claiming them at the office of the mining district recorder according to the provisions of this chapter. Such record shall give a faithful description of the veins, mineral deposits, and tracts r 'ands, the character and bearing of the veins or deposits, an ^ir con- nection with natural monuments or conspicuous objects in the vicinity. Sec. 20. No person shall change his original monuments or boundaries of mineral or other lands, but if a subsequent investigation makes this convenient or necessary, and it can be done v/ithout prejudice to other parties, then such change shall take place by the sanction of the judge of the probate court, provided they are properly recorded, and the new boundaries and monuments fixed at once when the original ones are re- moved. Sec. 21. All minerals, woods, waters, earths, and vegetation found within the boundaries of any tract of land registered and claimed for mining shall be exclusively used by him or them who are legally entided to the possession of the land wherein or whereon they are situated, so long as they are used for mining purposes only : Provided, That no one shall have the right to prevent transient persons from using the waters along the pub- MIS'ISG REGULATIONS OF ARIZONA. 321 lie highways, where they were provided hy nature in natural tan!cs, springs, streams, or otlierwise, nor from, making such equitable disposition of the waters as the legislature shall pre- scribe, f Si:c. 22. No person shall have the right to impede or incon- venience travelling by fencing up the public roads, filling them up with rubbish, or undermining them so as to endanger their safety, neither shall any one change their established direction without sanction of the proper authorities. Si:c. 23. Whenever two or more persons or parties explore and prospect one and the same vein, and at or about the same time but at different places, and without knowledge of each otiier, then he or they who shall prove first occupancy shall have the right of first location, taking the principal point of excavation as the centre of their claim or claims on each side along the general direction of such vein or deposit. The other parties shall proceed by the same laws after ihe others have fixed their boundaries. Should there be left vacant ground between the different parties, then it shall be at the option of the first dis- coverers so to change their boundaries as shall best suit them, and have them recorded accordingly. Any other parties shall locate in the order of the time of their arrival on the vein or mineral deposit. Sec. 24. Whenever two or more parties shall select the same mine or mineral deposit for exploration, and the parties first on the ground, knowing the other parties to be at work, shall fail to give warning, either verbally or in writing, of their priority claim on such vein or deposit, then that portion of the mine situated between the main excavations of the two parties shall be equally divided between them, irrespective of the number of members each company may have : Provided, That the intervening por- tions shall not exceed the quantity of land allowed by the pro- visions of diis chapter. Sec. 25. The laws and proceedings of all mining districts established in this Territory for the denouncement, registration, and regulation of mines, mining claims, mineral lands, and auxiliary lands, prior to the day this act takes effect, are hereby 6 21 322 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. legalized and declared to be as valid and binding in all courts of law as if enacted by this legislative assembly, to the extent anrl under the conditions and restrictions herein contained. I. All rights, claims, and titles to any veins, mineral lands, or mineral deposits, and auxiliary lands, acquired before this act takes effect, under, by virtue of, and in conformity to the laws of said mining districts, are hereby declared to be valid and legal, and shall be respected and enforced in all courts of this Terri- tory, when sustain :1 by the evidence herein provided ; but no amount of work done tiiereon shall be construed to give a per- petual title thereto, bit shall give such title only and such rights and privileges as are provided in section 29 of this chapter ; and no person who was at the time of the location of his claim an inhabitant of this Territory shall forfeit his claim because he was not a resident also of the mining district in which his said claim was located. And no such right, claim, or title shall be con- sidered as abandoned provided the claimant shall within six months from the day this act takes effect file with the clerk of the probate court of the county in which his claim is situated a brief description of the same, giving the name of the district in which the lode is situated, and of the lode or lodes, and the ex- tent of his claim thereon, with a declaration that he intends to retain and work the same according to law, unless such claim has been forfeited and subject to re-location under the laws of such mining district before this act takes effect. II. All records and all papers required by the laws of said mining districts to be deposited with the recorders of said dis- tricts for record shall be received as evidence of their contents in all courts of this Territory, and si'.all not be rejected for any defects in their form, when their contents may be understood, but shall be valid to the extent provided by said mining laws, except as hereinbefore restricted : Provided, That such records and papers are deposited with or recorded by the clerk of the probate court of the county in which said mining district is j located, and within three mond.s from the time this act takes effect; and if said records or papers are lost or mutilated, c; if j such recorder of a mining district shall neglect or refuse to MIXING REGULATIONS OF ARIZONA. 323 deposit the same as aforesaid, an affidavit of their contents made by any person interested therein, or certified or sworn copies thereof, may be so recorded, and shall have the like effect. III. All conveyances of mines, mining rights, mineral and auxiliary lands made prior to the time this act takes effect shall be valid and binding to pass the title of the grantor thereof, although defective in form and execution, if their contents can be understood, and as such shall be received and regarded in all courts of this Territory: Provided, That such conveyances shall be deposited with or recorded by the clerk of the probate court of the county where said mines are situated, within three months from the time this act takes effect, and if lost or mutilated, copies or affidavits of their contents, executed as aforesaid, may be recorded as provided above. Si;c. 26. Every recorder, register, clerk, or other recording officer, of every such mining district, or who has at any time acted as such recording officer, within three months after this act takes effect, shall deposit with the clerk of the probate court of the county in which said district or greater part thereof is situated, all records which he has so kept, and all papers deposited in his hands for record, and papers so made or deposited widi his predecessors in said office, which are in his hands as aforesaid, or he shall so deposit certified copies of the same. And such records and other papers shall be securely kept by such clerk, open in office hours to public inspection, and copies of die same duly certified by hiTn shall be received in all courts of justice, and have the same effect as the originals. And any such recorder, register, or other recording officer of each mining district who shall neglect or refuse to comply with the provisions of this section shall Jdc liable in dauiaoe", to the party injured thereby, and shall be liable to be punished by the judge of pr; l)are of the county in which said mining district, or the greater part thereof, is situated, for contempt, by fine not exceeding ^5,000 and imprisoned not more than one year, and shall be incapable of holding any such office and mining claim. • Sec. 27. Mining districts now existing may be continued, or new mining districts may be established in the manner and for the purposes hereinafter provided. P* P3 < (H >-• 9 < '^ H '^ (A H— • U3 ^ P9 LD hJ ^"^ ^ pa 224 ^^'^^ WF.STERX EMPIRE. I. The recorder of every mining district now existingr shall at the same time that he deposits the records of said districts with the clerk of the probate court, as the last preceding section re- quires, take an oath before the judge of said court that he will faithfully perform the duties of his office until another recorder shall be elected and qualified in his place, which oath shall be recorded by the clerk of the probate court. He shall record in a book to be kept by him for that purpose all notices of claims or rights to veins, mineral deposits, mineral lands, and auxiliary lands which may be left with him to be recorded, and shall note on all papers which may be received by him to be recorded, the time when they were so received by him, and they shall be con- sidered as recorded from that time. He shall, when requested by any such claimant, go with him to his claim and see that the same is measured by metes and bounds, and marked by substan- tial monuments on the surface of the earth, and shall make a record of the same, and of the time when it was done, and cer- tify it to be correct, or shall make a record and certificate of the same on the evidence of a credible witness, who was present when the same was done, and is cognizant of the facts, and whose name shall be entered on the record. He shall, when re- quested by any such claimant, go with him to his claim and ex- amine any shaft that may be sunk by him, or tunnels that may be opened to the same, and make measurements of the same, and a record and certificate as aforesaid ; and he shall in like manner examine, measure, or estimate, and make and record a certificate of any work which is required by law to be done by a claimant. And the said recording officer shall, quarterly, tile with the clerk of the probate court of the county in which said district is located a copy by him certified of all records made by him for the three months last preceding, which shall be duly recorded by said clerk, and a copy of said record duly certified by him shall be evidence of its contents in all courts of this Territory. And such recording officer shall be liable to all the 'penalties provided in the preceding section if he shall neglect or refuse to perform any of the acts and duties required of him by this section, but shall not be required to perform any such ser- vice unt tricts, an with him the probi with him such pape he deposi such minii la us of lYi such distrii proceed/no thereof fije W. Any mining dair districts, or mine or mii mining distn meeting of p ^'siied, and o included the specifying th t'lem, to be j; and if any pa, by \^^v\r\g a c at least ten "meeting aJ] p, •nay determine new district s boundaries nar f'le persons h< ^ shall proceed j elect a recorde perform all the '" this chapter hfie probate cou .^"^ a" subseqi ''^'•^'n provided. ^ v.ce unt,l his fees for the same ,^ u ^ 3^5 '"C.S are paid hin,, if he renuttl' t I f v '^ "-^ ""•"■"? ^is- :"'■ '""' f"^ record is req^u "d\o iJ "'' '^ f^ P^per depl;,,,, .l.e probate court, he shalUt d.e ^1 'T'^"'' ''>' "'^ ^'"Ic of w«. him take and receive 117^7 fi^P'P'^'' '''^° '''-■positcd -c paper by said clerk, a„ part,'" ,'^ '"'" '"' --■"'•"' l.e cleposjts said paper with him to'be re'" , ,"'' ^^''^ ''"^ "'>- such mmmg districts „,ay make ht ^' ^''"'■'^''^'''l- All laws of the Territory, may Xct'r "°r '"^°"-«™t with tl,e s..ch districts, and I their com^nsal' K "", «°— ^nt of proceedmgs siiail be recordTr Z, "' "" ^''"^ ««^ and ".ereof filed with the clerk of it ! „ j" "^°^'^ =>"" P^P«s "• Any number of person, , ™"" "" aforesaid ;n.n. Cairns in any n,i„';rd;HrJ7^ """ '"'='^-=' °-"^ distncts, or who have discove ed and ''">-.?"'«"ous mining. m.ne or mineral lands, not witll dl ?'' ""l' '° ''^•"•"ce a ">.n,os district, may proceed to make ! n ' °' ""^ established meet,„gofpersonsholdin..cla^n^^t ""vnuning district at a iished, and of claimants in anv '" ' *'"■'■" ^° ^ be estab included therein. They sha7 '"' '° ""^ ^vided or to be specifying the limit, of sa d f "°"'^"= '■" writing and ■'™.'" "'« e persons holding claims in l^h n "T""^' ^"'' "--'Pon sWI proceed to select a n-,^ . '^ "^'^'^blished dis'rict *ct a recorder, who hall h'' 'rf ""'^'^ '='^'' ">erefo and Frformall the duties and L k""' ^^ ="'°''^«"d, wi.. Zt ,:* ^"^-P'- for such offieCtd 'r^ ^ 'iabilifc prL de' h^; probate court as aforeSd"' record^ l,"' "''"" '"^ "^'"^ <> ■' .^" ^"bsequent „,eetin.s I Z, P^^^edings of this 'erem provided. "' "' ""^ """e and in the manner >- art < .^ >- ■■:• •^—4 1 tl^" v: a:: < w E-» > P« (— • M ^ pa i^ hJ < *26 (^^'^^ WESTEK/\' EMPJRE. Sec. 28. It shall be the duty of all claimants of mineral tracts to sink at least one shaft of thirty feet in depth, or to run a tunnel of fifty feet in length, in the body of the vein or in the adjoining rock, so as to test the vein from the surface, for the purpose of ascertaining the character and capacity of such mineral deposit, within the space of one year from the day of first taking possession thereof, and they shall notify the recorder of the mining district that said shaft or other work is cohiplcted. and that they intend working the vein or mineral deposit. And the recorder shall examine said work in person, and make and record a certificate of the result of such examination, which shall contain a statement of the condition and quality of the vein or mineral deposit, the amount of labor performed, and a general view of the results obtained. Said report shall be accompanied by three specimens taken from different parts of the work, which said .specimens, with a copy of the record so made by him, shall be filed by him within the time required by this act in the office of the clerk of the probate court. And said clerk shall make a record of the same. Such specimens shall be numbered and described by him, and ba preserved for the use of the mineralogical professorship of the University of Ari- zona. Sec. 29. The judge of the probate court, at any time within thirty days after the record made by the clerk of said court, as provided in the preceding section, upon complaint in writing made to him by such claimants, describing fully their claims, stating the labor performed by them, and the certificate thereof, and that the registration of the same has been made as required by law, and requesting that their title thereto may be coniirmcd, shall cause a summons, under the seal of his court, to be issiitd, requiring all persons interested to^appear at a day named then- in, and which shall not be less than sixty days, from the day the, same was issued, and show cause why the title of such com- Ijlainan'is and claimants should not be confirmed, a copy ofj . ii;':h ccmplaint and summons, duly attested by the clerk ol the i)V(er, an J be kept posted in the office of said clerk from the! and if ]] pJied wi ''^'^ subsL oi tills 'J of mines the samf after un]( the said court, whi ceedings 1 unless t\iQ of the con Plaint, and harrcd fi-oi claims. Ai that day •;• answer, set sliaJi then chapter anc decree is rr, "^'"e, by sail juc'ge shaJ] o^'such deer, aforesaid, vvi| ^ands who be, ^"yJawacqul f''e clerk of claim as reqi tlie shaft suni as aforesaid, o'" their titlesi "ot apply excl such mine or PERFFXTING TITLE TO MINING CLAIMS. 327 day of issuing the same to the return day thereof; and if no person shall appear on such return day to contest the right of die claimants to such claims, the judge of probate shall examine all the records filed in the office of his clerk relating to such claims, and if he finds that the said claimants have in all respects com- plied with the provisions of this chapter, he shall make a decree in substance that the complainants have complied with the laws this Territory relating to the denouncement and registration o of mines, have acquired a perfect title to their claims (describing the same) until the ist day of January, a. d. 1868, and forever after unless abandoned by them. And the said clerk shall give the said claimant a copy of such decree, under the seal of the court, which shall be conclusive evidence of title in any pro- ceedings relating to such claims, until they are abandoned. And unless the persons adversely interested and contesting the title of the complainants shall apptiar on the day named in said com- plaint, and proceed as hereinafter provided, they shall be forever barred from contesting the title of said complainants to such claims. And if the contestants shall so appear they shall on that day .r some day to be fixed by said judge proceed to file an answer, setting forth their claim and case, and the proceedings shall then be conducted in conformity to the provisions of this diapter and the code of civil practice. And whenever a final decree is made thereon, cietermining the title to said claim or mine, by said judge, or by any other court on appeal, the said judge shall cause a record to be made in the office of his clerk of such decree, and a certified copy thereof may be made as aforesaid, with the like effect. And any claimants of mineral lands who before this act takes effect have in any way or under any law acquired a tide to such mineral lands, after fihitg with the clerk of the court their evidence of title and description of claim as required by this chapter, may cause an examination of the shaft sunk by them or other work done by them to be made as aforesaid, and take the like proceedings for the confirmation of their tides, with the same effect : Provided, This section shall not apply except when the complainants are in possession of such mine or mining rights, claiming dtle thereto. p* CA < 03 >-• J— 4 g c? p^ rt: f^ H ,•?» ed ;-i CJ ;3 pa '^ •i m 328 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Sec. 30. By reason of the Indian wars and unsettled condition of the country, the time within which a shaft is required to be sunk, or other labor performed on a claim, shall not commence until two years from the day this act takes effect, and all the pro- visions of this chapter relating thereto are suspended for that time ; but any claimant may sink a shaft or do such other labor, and at any time after the record of their claims with the probate- court, and thereupon institute proceedings to confirm their titles, and be entitled to all the rights and privileges provided for in this chapter. Sec. 31. No single person or company shall be compelled to sink shafts or make other improvements on more than one of the tracts of land claimed by him or them for the same vein or mineral deposit; and any number of claimants on the same vein or mineral deposit, who may unite for said purpose, sliall be allowed to concentrate labor, capital, and energy to any one single point which to him or them shall be the best suited to as- certain to the best advantage the general character, quality, and capacity of that particular vein or mineral deposit, and may take the like proceedings to confirm their titles. Sec. 32. After the work required by section 28 of this chapter has been performed, and the record thereof made as therein pro- vided, two years shall be allowed the claimants of mineral lands to develop the same, and procure machinery and provide for working the same ; and during that time the same shall not be considered abandoned, although no work be done thereon : Pro- vided. That in such an event, they shall annually, and before the ist day of June in each year, file with the clerk of the probate coui't an affidavit signed by them that they have not abandoned sudi claims', but intend, in good faith, to work them ; and said term of two years shall not commence until the ist day of January, a. n. 1868. And after the expiration of said term of two years, it shall be obligatory upon claimants to such mineral lands to hold acturJ possession of them and work the vein, which obligation shall be considered as complied with by doing at least thirty days* work thereon in each year; but if such claimants are prevented from working such vein by the hostility of Indians or other good cause, """'"' "■'' '-"n-n-E z„„^,. , rendering said working difficult or A ^'S .l.omy of .,,e judge oT proba, fi st ohf • °"f' ^''^^ ^^^^ ''V - performmg labor tl,ereon from .i2 ,"'' ""^ "^•^'^ from >!- one year at any one Z. Z,Z T"' '"' '"' "°' -re ''^,''=- "2^ ""-■ •continuance of such '■^isc. ii. Any person wlio mav ,K^ pos,t as aforesaid, vvMch is not incf TT' ' '"'■"'=^='' ^^'n „r do- or whici, may be in a mini Ji ^tt ^ ^ """ing dis.r t ^... .onzed recorder, may a^qu ^e tj le ,r "^ ""=^'= ''■' ''° '%-"y •"''». ty g,Ving notice as afo're ^j"!':;'"^"";. ^^^ 'o auxSary ."« clerk of ,l,e probate cour o .he" '^""'^'"'^ ""= ^^"^^ >vith « situated, and may take the !a ' ' ^'" '"'"■'='' '^e same effect, w,th the clerk of the p obr:ou;nr '"^"' "'■"' "«= '"^' ^tc. 34. Discoverers of n-.;^ . "^'*^'^- or possession of otherlla 'rt;: t"'] '•","'t'<^»-' ownership work of smking the shaft requ.vL bv '' ^^"''^ ''°'"g 'he »Wi pay .0 such parties st^c '1^ ''"'.°" ^« of *is chapter -me as may be awarded by the jud? oT'T ''"^ "'^ "»^ "f^he' « either party, or shall give bond fo r^"" "P°" ^""Plaint ' 'he same, and suretie! to be '° !"'',: T''"' '°^ Pa/men "fcenever it becomes necessarv n "^ T""^ ^^ ''"'^ J^'Iffe ; and -"""els for the purpose ofd.S^r.j-^^'^fg-us to con truct '»«l.ng of ores or other subtlr^ ' ^'=""'^"0". or the better '7-ls, it shall be lawW or nTo"r°t" ^""'""' ^ """ g «l. tunnel or drift through ah n •'^ °' P""'^^ '° construe! W.^, That all dama.es arisinir""" ""'' P""'- P^per^ ;»'l>e other parties, to be S,- "™ -^'' -bterranean Co" s ^Pa.d by the parties for whorbe„e,f !, 7"'"' '"^^-- ^''ail " » be paid before such work ;= ""'' '""n^^lling is don,. *e satisfaction of the juZ « !°T"'T* °' -™"-ty g ven ,0 f "e; but no damaoes "hfll 1 ^^^'^ '^'^ ""= Paymenf of tl e f-.^"ch lands shairbe st p aC sul """''^ '^"^' »'-" c'aim P-^ected or actually in process of ' '""""' =''^" ''ave been s s_ CO O 33t> OUR WESTERN EMJ'JRt:. Sec. 35. Whenever such tunnel as mentioned in the precedinc^ section shall intersect or traverse inineral deposits, or run along lodes claimed and held by other parties, then it shall be at the option of the owners of such other mineral deposits either to pay one-half of the expense of excavation for the distance that such tunnel runs through their mineral deposits, and secure the whole of the ores excavated, or to divide the ores with the tunncllin(r parties, the latter paying ail 'expenses of excavation ; or, it sliall be optional with either party to abandon all claim to the ores excavated. Six. 36. If, in the construction of such subterranean works, new veins or deposits are encountered in ground not claimed c owned by other parties, they shall become the property of the party for whom such tunnel is constructed, and shall be denounced and registered as is required of new mines, and shall be governed by the same laws as are prescribed in this chapter. Sec. T^y. Any claimant or claimants not complying with any of the foregoing conditions and obligations, shall forfeit all ri^ht to any such recorded or unrecorded claims to mineral and auxih'ary tracts ; and it shall not be lawful for him or them to register such claims anew within a period of three years after such forfeiture. All such tracts shall be free for working and registry to any but those excepted in this section. Sec. 38. All veins and mineral deposits situated on public lands, which have not been worked and occupied from the time of the acquisition of the Territory by the United States up to the time of the passage of this chapter, except as herein pro- 'vided, shall be considered as abandoned and subject to rej,' ^ry and denouncement. Sec. 39. All veins and mineral deposits that have been or may be abandoned hereafter shall, in all cases and respects, be gov- erned by the laws regulating the opening and working of new veins and deposits, as prescribed in this chapter. Sec. 40. Whenever any mine, vein, or mineral deposit shall have been abandoned or forfeited in accordance with the provi- sions of this chapter, and registered anew by other parties, it shall be obligatory upon such parties to give the former owners warning , ABANDONED MINING CLAIMS. 33» thereof, so as to remove from the tract, within the space of three months, anything he or they may think valuable or useful. Such warning shall be given in the nearest newspaper published in the Territory, and by posting it at three of the most conspicuous places in the county where the' mine is situated. Three months after the expiration of such warning, any and all buildings, furnac(;s, arrastras, metals, and every other species of property which may still remain on the ground of such mine, vein, or mineral deposit shall become the undisputed property of the new claimant, without compensation of any kind to any person what- ever. Sir. 41. Any person taking possession of or entering upon a mining clain. or auxiliary lands, registered according to the pro- visions of this chapter, and before it is abandoned, shall be ousted therefrom in a summary manner by the order of the probate judge, and the malfeaser shall be adjudged to pay all darhages and costs consequent thereon. Six'. 51. It shall be the duty of persons who may discover and claim mining rights or mineral lands, at the same time that they may define the boundary of their claim or claims to any lode or mine as required by the provisions of this chapter, to lay off and define the boundary of one pertenencia, as required by the pro- visions of this chapter, adjgining their claim or claims, which shall be the property of the Territory of Arizona. And at the same time that they present their notice of claim or claims to be recorded by the recorder of the mining district, they shall also present to such recorder the claim of said Territory. And, if said discoverers and claimants shall neglect or refuse to present to such recorder the claim of said Territory as aforesaid, they shall forever forfeit all daim to the mine or ledge so discovered by them. Any rr cord- ing officer recording the claim or claims of such discoverers and daimants, when the claim of said Territory is not filed therewith as aforesaid, shall be subject to all the penalties provided in section 26 of this chapter. Such claim shall be recorded as pro- vided in this chapter for like claims, but no work shall be required to be done thereon, nor shall it be considered to be abandoned so long as it is the property of the Territory ; and if sold, the i 3 332 OUR WESTEKN EMPIRE. time within which the purchaser shall be required to work said claim shall commence from the day of sale, except when the time is suspended as before provided. Every clerk of the probate court, as soon as he records the said claim, shall send a copy of his record to the treasurer of the Territory, and no fees shall be chary^ed by any recording officer in any matter relating to said claim. And the Territorial treasurer may, at any time after sI.k months from the day he receives such record as aforesaid, and at such time and place as in his opinion will be most for the interest of the Territory, cause such claim to be sold at auction to the highest bidder ; but every such sale shall be at least twice adver- tised in the Territorial newspaper, and be held at his office, or the office of the clerk of the probate court, or the recorder of the mining district of the county where the claim is situated. And the treasurer is authorized to make a deed of the same to the purchaser in the name of the Territory ; and the amount received by him shall be added by him to any fund now or here- after provided for the protection of the people of the Territory of Arizona against hostile Indians, and be expended as provided by law. And after all such expenses as are incurred by the Terri- torial authorities for the purpose of destroying or bringing into subjection all hostile Indian tribes in this Territory are liquidated, then all remaining or accruing funds^out of all or any sales of Territorial mining claims, shall be applied as a sinking fund for school purposes. Sec. 52. The extraction of gold from alluvial and diluvial deposits, generally termed placer mining, shall not be considered mining proper, and shall not entide persons occupied in it to the provisions of this chapter, nor shall any previous section of this chapter be so construed as to refer to the extraction of gold from the above-mentioned deposits. Sec. 53. This chapter shall be in force and take effect from and after the ist day of January, a. d. 1865. enact •Si;rTr( ''^^V^^ Z.///.V .. ,,...,.,,,, LAWS OF COLORADO. MINING IJJ ^^■■r>u,s , The Ion 7""/ "' '■""^ """ e.ua, but not e«ee. 1^^^^^^:^'" '°^^'^'' ^^ feet on ..acl, sy,. of „,^ 000^^ ,h "-''' ■''"■" ''^ «even.y.H^: ".er counties .he wicUh o^ ,1 et.'! 77' "'^^''^-- ■ -^ in aH SKle of the centre of the vein or c" '"'" '5° f^et on each after any county n,ay, at a, l "on I"? ^''""''^'■'^' ^'^-^ here irreater wi.lth, not exce,,.clin?^,£^^r'T' "'""""• "^'-'"'"e on a the vein or lode, by a n ^„ .°! 17,°" ^^'l ^'■''^' "^ "'^ «""- lecon; and any county, iyZcht ''"'''' '""^^ "st at said ^e.ern„„e upon a ,ess .i^hh tU"l::;:^-'' ^'-'°"' -^ s-.3.Thec,isc„v~;:rr"'™ from the date of disco":; eJrd1.»"f: "■■""•" three „o„th, -corder of the county in wh !, ^ "l ,""' '" "" "«'- "^ 'he on cert,fica,e, which shall conta ": , °1, '-'•"""^d >>>■ a loca "'■ •"= "ame of the locator. ,d !„ f' "'""'^ "^ ">e lode ■ ™^er of feet in length da^td elcT ° 'T'"" ■ **' ">« e discovery shaft; 5th, the j^eneml en! ; ""^ "'"' ""'^^^ of as may be. *>'-""al course of the lode as near -^R. 4- Any location certifiraf»„f 1 , Sfp r D r DISCOVERY SHAFT. '""^^ ^'■■"-- '—ert.ea. the discoverer ^3 13 a tj^ OUR IVKSTFRN EM PIKE. shall locate liis claim by first sinUinj^^ a discovery shaft upon the lode to tht; depth of at hast ten fcrt from tlic lowest part of tlic rim of such shaft at the surface, or deeper, if necessary to show a well-defined crevice. Second, by jjostinj^ at the point of dis- covery on the surface, a plain sign or notice contaiiiiiiL; the; name of the lode, the name of the locator, and the date of discovery. Third, by marking the surface boundaries of the claim. STAKING, Skc. 6. Such surface boundaries shall Ix; marked by six siih- stantial posts, hewed or marked on the side or sides which arc in toward the claim, and sunk in the ground, to wit: One at each corner and one at the centre of each side line. Where it is practically impossible on account of bed-rock or precipitous ground to sink such posts, they may be placed in a pile of stones. OPF.N CUTS, F.TC Slc. 7, Any open cut, cross cut or tunnel which shall cut a lode at the depth of ten feet below the surface, shall hold such lode the same as if a discovery shaft were sunk thereon, or an adit of at least ten feet along tiie lode, from the point where; the lode may be in any manner discovered, shall be equivalent to a discovery shaft. TIME. Sec. 8. The discoverer shall have sixty days from the time of uncovering or disclosing a lode to sink a discovery shaft thereon. CONSTRUCTION OF CFRTIFICATE Sec. 9. The location or location certificate of any lode claim shall be construed to include all surface gfround within the sur- face lines thereof and all lodes and ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside of such linos extended downward, vertically, with such parts of all lodes or ledges as continue to dip beyond the side lines of the claim, but shall not include any portion of such lodes or ledges beyond the end lines of the claim, or at the end lines continued, whether by dip or otherwise, or beyond the side lines in any other manner than by the dip of the lode. "'^■'-oc.tnox OF c,..„„s. ".ends ,«.y„n, „,' ,^,J, ; ' lo. . ,„ , ,„„„,„.,,__^, ^_^_^^^^ ■he surface, or as cxtcclcd ver I^nllv I ■"'" "' '"'y I'"'"' on .t.» .n.er.sec,«l by .,„ c'teriorlLes '"'"' """ ''<""' "'Iut' K""IT (,K WAV AXI. kir Mr ■'^'■^'•■- ■'•All mini,,,, dain,,!'""'""^ aft- be located. ^^^tZ^Z^""^'^' '" "•'"''' ">''y l-r.- or Hume for minin-. n.^^^^'" '" "'^ ^«'>' "f "ay of any di u , wLcher now in use^or IrmavVT '"T"^ °^ P-^-trn any such location .. /^^vJl/::; ';•'"-■-. >ai^' -' -™.ss "0 be exercised affainst any lo":^, 'o, ' m'" ' ''"'" "^ "'•••y-^'"'! and not abandoned prior t! Z Zwr"''''^ •■>-' -honied flume, trannvay or pack-trail, litl '!'"''" "' ""^ •'"^'' "^ e.^cep. by condemnation, as in a ' ' rT'''T"' °'" ""= """«• h'SLways !,,„,, „„^^.„^ ^^ ^^^c of land taken for public ccon,pa„,ed by „„ completion otlfe". ""' ""'' ^•''-"'-"'. ^ .surficent without writings. X 1 ""J T^'" "'« ^'-"i. shal ■tch or/lumc shall be so c^nst^uc ed tT'': f ■^''''''•'•'' '''■»' ''"^'. '1' ch or (lume shall not iniure " ""' "^"■•■- '''•<"" such otherwise. '"J""^ vested rights by flooding or Sec. ,2. When the rHit to nWn • • •he ownership or right o'f oclrc:':","' ""'' ^^P^"'<= f-" ngluful occupant of the surface mav, ' f"'"'"' "'"*>™er or from the miner, and if it be refusTd 1"""' '^"■"'^«°'-y security 'vorkmg until st.ch security is d^T,'"^"'" '"'^ ""'"^^ ^om ^hall fix the amount of the bonf ' ' '" "^''^ f°^ -Junction Sec I , If '"'■iWATr.w or ct.a,„s *eorl.:K:t:d'':rtT°^^"^"''-"'-"^ ^'^••"' "ore. '■^. 0".^inal certificate was defe l!""'"'' ''''" ^PP'-^^end that quirements of the law had not h ' "■™"<^°"^. "'■ that the re- a O 336 ^^'^'' »V:S-^'^A'y\^ EMPIRE. passage of this law, and he shall be desirous of securing the bene- fits of this act, such locator cr his assigns may file an addi- tional certificate, subject to the provisions of this act : Provided, That such relocation does not interfere vvith the existing rigiits of others, at the time of such relocation ; and no such relocation, or the record thereof, shall preclude the claimant or claimants from proving any such title or titles as he or they may have held under previous location. PROOF OF DEVELOPMENT. Sec. 14. The amount of work done, or improvements made during each year, shall be that prescribed by the laws of the United States. FORM OF AFFIDAVIT. Sec. 1 5. Within six months after any set time, or annual period herein allowed for die performance of labor or making improvements upon any lode claim, the person on whose behalf such outla) was made, or some person for him, shall make and record an affidavit in substance as follows: ss. State or Coi-ojiado, ) County of | Before me, the subscriber, personally appeared who, being duly sworn, saith that at least dollars' vorth of work or im- provements were performed or made npon [here describe the claim or part of claim] situate in mining district, county of State of Coloratk). Such expenditure was made by or at the expense of. owners of said claim, for the purpose of said claim. [Jurat.] (Signature.) And such signature shall be prima facie evidence of the per- formance of such labor. WORKING OVER OLD CLAIMS Sec. 16. The relocation of abandoned lode claims shall be by sinkiiig a new discovery shaft and fixing new boundaries in the same manner as if it were the location of a new' claim; or tlie relocator may sink the original discovery shaft ten feet deeper than it was at the tim.e of abandonment, and erect new or adopt the old boundaries, renewing the posts if removed or destroyed. In either case a new location-stake shall be erected. In any , rase whether the whole or part of ., 537 the location certificate may su.e ,h" ''':*"''°"«d claim is taken '^e - location is 'ocate/asXtXtr ^"^ "^"^ C RECORD FOR rr *,w SfC I 7 JSJo J . CLAIM. )ocation,whetherr:caSta;:b' ''^"" "^^ '"- on. And .f .t purport to claim more 1 ''^ ""'^ °^ «vera| locator" Sec. 1 8. All a ts or hereby repealed. ' ^^'^^ ""^ ^^^' '" conflict ivith this act are Sec. rp. Xhis act shall k • ^ ,8;, ^"all be .„ rorce from and after June t. Approved February ,3, ,8^,. *' Sec. I. In all =.,■ ''<'™or,t,es. • '" ail actions oenrlm., • Territory, wherein the tiill ^, '" ^">' '''""ct court of ,!,• 'f shall be in ^^ tl 1 ''°"^^-" '° -" ^^ ^h part of he ""'^'■^™""d as welU ^Vsurfa ""' '"'*=■■ F^iL 01 the propertv in A\c. surface survev nf j-.' determination o( the quetr ''1"'='^ ''^ "ecessa^fo f te'fnate some competent sur! "^'^^ ^"^l' "^der shal! parties to such suit J. ™fveyor, not related to .n, r ? ™- -^ "r-.n";l^';S; '-"-ested in thel^^" tt . PPLcation, the court ma^a IsoT" ' ^^^^ ^"^^^^^e to such » be selected by such adve se an, """"' ^""P^'^"' ="rve™r '••end upon such .J'ZlT'"'''' 'f"'^ ^-^y '> shalTbe < as ■^^ 3 I — « "^ a" ter by payment or bv "^ """*« ^ such fine to be disrh-, , '^ *sc,,arg'ed^, ^^r^tX?: 7:7' i" -•^' Jan untif -«-„, proof of a common So'rof'r °" '™'= "-'- ^ "'s Sec. 4 If anv n enter or atten.p\ ~ e7 L^r "^ ^^^" —ate and a^r^e to -f numbers are calcu ated^ "• """'^"•^' ^"^ ^^-^ error -^-1 possession of any o'd" e ,l7 ^"T" ^'^ P^'"-- -the !f -^ry or attempted entry !nv " '^'^^^ ^^^'"^' -" Pi 13 •-3 342 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. prosecution of such business shall hoist or raise water from mines or natural channels, and tlie same shall flow away from the premises of such persons or corporations, to any natural ciiannel or gulch, the same shall be considered beyond the control of the party so hoisting or raising the same, and may be taken and used by other parties the same as that of natural water-courses. 1 836. — Sec. 7. After any such water shall have been so raised, and the same shall have flown into any such natural channel, gulch or draw, the party so hoisting or raising the same shall only be liable for injury caused thereby, in the same manner as riparian owners along natural v/ater-courses. t. EXPLANATORY. 1837. — Sec. 8. The provisions of this act shall not be constnied to apply to incipient or undeveloped mines, but to those only which shall have been opened, and shall clearly derive a benefit froni being drained. EVIDENCE. 1838. — Sec. 9. In trial of cases arising under this act the court shall admit evidence of the normal stand or position of the water while at rest in an idle mine, also the observed prevalence of a common water-level or a standing water-line in the same or separate lodes ; also the effect, if any, the elevating or depressing the water by natural or mechanical means in any given lode has upon elevating or depressing the water in the same, contiguous or separate lodes or mines ; also the effect which draining or ceasing to drain any given lode or mine had upon the water in the same, or contiguous or separate lodes or mines, and all other evidence which tends to prove the common intrress or subterraneous communication of water into the same lode or mine, or contiguous or separate lodes or mines. Approved March 16, 1877. TAXES. .Section 3, Article 10, of the Constitution of the State of Colorado, reads as follows : "All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects '"'"'"' ^^"--^ o^ "^'v Ma.-,,co. Within the territorial limits nf n , 343 shall be levied and Xel ^::ur ""'^ 'r?'"^ '"« '-• and prescnbe such regulations as si In , ^""""^ '""='• >"'"<='' «''all tajnon of all p„pe„y, rJl^lZT ^ ^'"" ^^'"^"•°" f- and m,„,„g claims bearing gold IZT" l T'"'"'' ™« ">'"« (except the net proceedf tnd st flee " "'''^^ P''™""^ metals, shall be exempt from taxation orle ""^"^■^'"en.s thereof '>e date of the adoption of th," co '. . ^'""^ °^ "=" ^^^-"^ fr"-" be uxed as provided by la„ D,tcL ""I' ^"^ ""='^='ft" -"ay and used by i„di„d„4 „; co ptr;-'""' r' ^"'"''""- °™ed owned by such individuals 0^0^"" "' ""^''""^ 'an^s members thereof shall not be seXe, T'' 7 "'" '""-'dual ^^^ o.„ed and -d exclustvl^rLr^^VToi:^ -'"^^ MINING LAWS OF NEW MEXICO. Sec. Sec. 5. Sec. 6. An Act to Regulate the Manner of T • ■ **' ^°«=aunc Mininrr n • S Aiinmg Claims, and for Other Purposes. ' ' ' CONTENTS. Sec. I. Location-bounds to be marked • • '' locator ; make record in fh ' """"^ °^ "ame of ^.^rsttLretfde^rt- • Repeals fo;:e7a:L^""'"r^"''-al estate. Sec. . . That anv "" """ ""'" = ™ningdaimuponaLror7od:Xar°tr "1""^ '" '"-"= a fcearmg gold, silver, cinnabar lad "fn °'''""="°''' ■" place- .o"ndaries may be' readii; ^ "cS' '°" T "^ ^™""" » *« pous place on such locadon ? : !" ?"" '" ''"'"e con- ereon the name or names of "he In ' '" """"^' ^'a.ing J«r mtention to locate the m „ ^! ^ ^ .'"' '°=ator.,, his of hereof by reference to such^S ^^^^^f '"^ ^ <^-"P'ion oDject or permanent monu- S Pi ►■— « ^^ •«! a f%^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ment as will identify the claim ; and also within three months after posting such notice, cause to be recorded a copy thereof in the office of the recorder of the county in which the notice is posted ; and it is provided that no other record of such notice shall be necessary. Sec. 2, In order to carry out the intent of the preceding section, it is hereby made the duty of the probate judges of. the several counties of this Territory, and they are hereby required to provide, at the expense of their respective counties, such book or books as may be necessary and suitable in which to enter the record hereinbefore provided for. The fees for record- ing such notices shall be ten cents for every one hundred words. Sec. 3. That in estimating the worth of labor required to be performed upon any mining claim, to hold the same by the laws of the United States, in the regulation of mines, the value of a day's labor is hereby fixed at the sum of four dollars : Provided, .however. That in the sense of this statute, eight hours of labor actually performed upon the mining claim shall constitute a day's labor. Sec. 4. All locations heretofore made in good faith, to which there shall be no adverse claims, the certificate of which locations have been or may be filed for record and recorded in the recorder's office of the county where the location is made, within six months after the passage of this act, are hereby confirmed and made valid. But where there may appear to be any such adverse claim, the said location shall be held to be the property of the person having the superior title or claim, according to the laws in force at the time of the making of the said locations. Sec. 5. An action of ejectment will lie for the recovery of the possession of a mining claim, as well as of any real estate, where the party suing has been wrongfully ousted from the possession thereof, and the possession wrongfully detained. Sec. 6. That "an act concerning mining claims," approved January i8th, 1865, and an act amendatory thereof, approved January 3d, 1 866 ; also, an act entitled an act to amend certain acts concerning mining claims in the Territory of New Mexico, approved January ist, 1872; be and the same are hereby Emigrant i^evada, or ( I'le State are more desirab >'0 moderate ; ^''tate lands.? I. The pu6. Territories, a J,28o acres i '•lese States ; '^"ds. They a with interest ai "lents. By seJ f'^em. or a spri, ^ very valuable 2.500,000 to 5,0 F^^^-Congres 46.000 acres, or pny government r^'^ State and T rotate or Territo repealed; Provided Thof i 34? such repeal. _ ^'"'- "-^ '" anywise affected by a-'Se^i J^:^r ^''^" '^'"= ^"^^ -" ■'e '" M force ,W,„ Approved January „, ,j7g. I CHAPTER V. State and Territorial LAvnc a J.28o acres m each ^^ , ' sixteenth and th.VH, • L *"■ or a spring, „fe pu^ ' J^^" ''"'"" «°-'"^ "> "ul ' "e^ valuable property rt "^ °'^''" '^^"'^ 'he owner o ^■«» 'o 5,000,0^ J; J''^ "J-""/ of .hese lands is ^i '^ -Congre^ssl^, ^~""-''^ ^'"%- ^«* .. S.rM r f «» acres, or the p„fr.e oAo'7''\°' '^"''^' "-at f^^^ •y ^"ese lands are located by s CO ^ a 346 ouK n'EsrEHN empire. State or Territorial officers, and do not always rate quite as high as the school lands, though they may be as valuable. They are sold at present, in most of the States and Territories, at from ^3 to ;^6 per acre. The Agricultural College lands or scrip arc granted only to the States, under the law of 1862. ihe grant is of 30,000 acres for each Senator and Representative in Congress when the grant is made , the scrip issued for it having the privi- lege of location in any State or Territory where there arc govern' ment lands unsold. This land scrip of the various States is often in the market, and is purchasable at various rates, from $2 to '^'^ per acre. There are also grants from Congress of lands for the building of State prisons, for insane hospitals, institutions for deaf mutes, blind and idiotic children, etc. Some of the States have also received from Congress grants of swamp and over- flowed lands, and of desert lands, which had been long in the market without selling. S' me of these lands are of excellent quality, and with slight ex^ jnse for drainage or irrigation will be very productive. There are also bounty land warrants capable of location on any government lands, the scrip for which was granted to soldiers of the war of 181 2, the Florida war, Mexican war, or the late civil war. These, which usually realized to the original owners but about fifty or sixty cents per acre, are now held at from 5(^3 to ^4.50 per acre, but, for some purposes, are well v/orth the money. In California, New Mexico, and Arizona there are lands yet held under Mexican titles, sometimes of great extent, but these are, for the most part, pasturage lands. There is always a liability ' to a conflict of titles in relation to these, and therefore they are less desirable than government lands in which the tide is absolute and without a flaw on which to base a litigation. ' When the Republic of Texas was annexed to the United States and became the State of Texas, her public lands were not ijiven up to the United States Government, as all the other public lands had been, but were retained by the State for the purposes of edu- cation, internal improvements, etc. From the proceeds of these lands the State has built several railroads, has laid the foundation for a very large school fund, and endowed a university, asylums, the same ar years. Apj in vvliich the returning fi( $15- After made, paten fee, 55. " Under th located upon certificates a nates.' TJ,e hcadrights or railroad and c vation for pi fifteen cents ; —the largest issued to raili and require th I^ythecertificai which patents common schoo cents per acre "The State TliXAS LANDS— HO IV SOLD. 347 etc. '1 lie school fund now amounts to 113,500,000, and when the school lands are all sold will probably approach ;j^ 1 8,000,000. The Land Commissioner of the Stale yives the following account of the three methods by which the public lands are furnished to sclti'Ts at prices below those of most of the other States and Territories. It should be understood, however, that not all of these lands are of the best quality: " Persons desiring to secure homes in Te.xas can do so enner (i) by settlement under the homestead donation law, (2) by locating a certificate, or (3) by purchase from the State of common school, university or asylum lands. "Under the first mode, every head of a family who has no other homestead can accjuire title to 160 acres, and each single person of eighteen years of age can secure eighty acres, by settling on the same and occupying and improving it for three consecutive years. Application must be made to the surveyor of the county in which the party desires to settle. The fees for surveying and returning field notes to the general land office are from ;jiio to ^15. After three years' occupancy, proof of which fact must be made, patent will issue to the settler or his vendor. Patent fee, $5. " Under the second mode, land certificates or warrants can be located upon any vacant and unappropriated public land. These certificates are of two characters, viz.: 'Straights' and 'alter- nates.' Tile ' straights ' are those issued to early settlers as headrights or for service in the Texas revolution, and to some railroad and ditch companies, and are located without any reser- vation for public schools. These certificates are worth from fifteen cents to thirty-five cents per acre, according to quantity —the largest bringing the lowest figure. 'Alternates' are issued to railroads and other works of internal improvements, and require the survey of double the amount of land called for by the certificate. This is divided in two equal parts, one-half of which patents to the owner, and the remainder is reserved for common schools. These certificates can be bought for about ten cents per acre. "The State does not sell any certificates, and they can only be >-• (.a o 3^8 OUR WHSIERN LMriKE. bought from the persons or corporations to whom they were issued. Under either of the above modes first-class huid must not be expected in the older and settled counties, but must U: sought in the west and northwest. '• Hy the third moile, viz., purchase, choice homes may be secured. Within the .settled and organized counties of the State there are about 12,800,000 acres of common school lands, 219,. 000 acres of •. diversity, and 407,615 acres of asylum lands. These are all for sale on ten years' time; die university and asylum lands to actual settlers in tracts of 80 to 160 acres, at a minimum price of %\.^o per acre; the common school lands in tracts of 160 acres to three sections, or 1,920 acres, at a mini- mum of %\ per acre. These lands are among the fmest in the State, and are to be found in almost every organized county. Application for purchase must be made to the county surveyor, in whose office will be found a map and general description of the lands of his county." We come next to railroad lands. The great enterprises which were proposed for opening highways from the Missis"ippi to the Pacific coast, and for encouraging the settlement of lands far beyond the frontiers, were too vast to be undertaken by private corporations without government aid in some shape. Wlien, in the midst of our civil war, it became desirable to initiate a system of railways, which should connect the Mississippi valley with the l*acific coast, it was found necessary not only to grant lands along the line, alternate sections, to a width of ten miles on each side of the track or road-bed, but, as these lands could not be made readily available, the government loaned its credit, issuing bonds to the amount of $54,700,000, and taking bonds of the roads in return. On these bonds the United States jrov- ernment has paid interest beyond what has been repaid, to the amount of more than $26,000,000. Similar aid was subsequently granted in the way of bonds, though in smaller amounts, to the Kansas Pacific, the Western Pacific, and the Sioux City and Pacific Railroads to the amount of nearly $10,000,000 more, and interest to the amount of $4,500,000 has been paid on these bonds by the government, so that these roads have been furnished with RAILROAD LAND CRAXIS. 349 bonds and interest by the United States to the amount of over ^^96,000,000, besides the land-grants, which amounted on the Union and Central Pucitic and their branches to about 9,018,000 acres. Hut the grants of land for aid in railroad construction were, by no means, confmed to these roads which received bonds ; olh(!r roads projected because of the success of the first trans- continental railway, maile their plans and surveys with termini on the Pacific coast, and demanded both land and bonds, and receivi d the former, but not the latter. The Northern Pacific was the largest and boldest of these enterprises, and as deserving as any one of them. It proposed to extend its line from Dululh, on Lake Superior, to the mouth of the Columbia river, with several bra'".ches, its general course being between the 45th and 47th parallels. It has a land-grant of about 6,000,000 acres, in alternate sections, on both sides of its road-bed, and is now operating more than 800 miles of its road. In general, it may be said, that all the railroads in Minnesota, Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, Oregon, Wash- ington, and Idaho are land-grant railroads, either as branches of the great trunk roads, or by direct grant under their own cor- porate titles. After the Union and Central Pacific and the Northern Pacific, the most important of these are the Chicago and Northwestern and its branches and leased roads, the Wabash and its connections, the Burlington and Missouri River, the Kansas Pacific, the Denver Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa PY', with its branches and extensions, the Denver and Rio Grande, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern, the Memphis and Little Rock, and the Little Rock and Fort Smith, the Texas Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Western Pacific, the Atlantic and Pacific, the St. Louis and San Francisco, the Oregon Central, and the Oregon and California, the Utah Central, Utah Southern, and the Utah and Northern. The Texas railroads are also land-grant railroads, but obtain their lands within that State from the State itself, and not from the National Government. These roads have, in all, I CO pa O 350 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. not far from 35,000,000 acres already patented to them, and nearly as much more yet to come when surveyed and when their lines are completed. Each road has its schedule of prices, its plan of payment by instalments, and its rate of interest for its lands. The prices for the lands on the line of the same road vary accordiiifr to their location, their distance from markets, the character of the land, and the length of the credit given. It is perhaps sufficient to say in regard to the States and Terri- tories east of the Rocky Mountains, except in Texas, that the railroads sell their lands at prices ranging from ^2 or $2.50 to ^10 or ^12 per acre, according to the location, distance from markets and from neighbors, quality of soil, necessity of irrioa- tion, and general productiveness. They usually have schedules of terms, according to the length of credit given on the lands; . thus, at eleven years' credit, a first payment of from ten to twcntv- five per cent., with interest in advance on the remainder, and interest annually in advance; the second payment on the princi- pal bei'i-> on the third or fourth year, and subsequently annual pay.nents of principal and interest until the whole is j)ai(l up. Generally, in these long credits, the price per acre is about ten per cent, more than on shorter credits. A contract to gi\c a deed is issued about the third year, but no warranty deed is given till the last payment has been made. They have also schedules for six years, for three years, or some of them for two, and for cash ; in these, the price is ten per cent, lower than in the first, the Interest is not paid till it has accrued, and there are other small discounts. Where cash is paid in full at the time of pur- chase, a discount of twenty-five per cmt. is made by some road> and thirty-three and oiie-third per cent, by others. Timb(;r lands are held at a higher price than prairie lands, varying, however in different Stales and Territories. A purchaser can buy on' these terms 640 acres in one piece or less, as he pleases. H- may buy more than this quantity if he chooses, but the t;ovcrn- ment or even sections (the railroad lands are all odd sections) surround this on all sides, so that his lands will be a mile apart, unless he can buy the government seccion between, which lie may dc bounty ^^W or I titles th agr/cuiti its price ^crc, so tliese ian Most c sciieduJe son, Tope all, except t'lrce and five per ce in tf re St. 7 f'le principaj f'le end of tj P^T cent, is tenth of the 0" t^ie LaJaiK "5o ncres, at follou-s • '}P''^ ^ i.S.Sr •;'""'' i, 1S82 Jotal of Payniei its price bein- for ,h '^ '"' "'"" =" '!'« rate of c '" "'' *e.; Ian* "'"^"' '°^ '^ acres «.,„ T . C''^ ^-'-° P- «»»' of .he ,oacls in ,i ■ ■ >''"' ^° acres of ^ out twenty- TFRMS OF SALE T^nnsm ,-_r, ^^'^'^ '^^ ^^vs.n. EXAMPLE, '^e payments would be 352 OUK WLSil.kX EMPIRE. SIX YEARS CREDIT. 20 per cent, discount. Terms No. 2 — Is on six years' credit, with seven per cent, interest. The first payment at date of purchase is one-sixth of the principal and seven per cent, interest on the remainder. The second payment at the end of the first year is only interest. Afterwards one-sixth of the principal is paid and seven per cent, annual interest on the remainder until the whole is paid. We make a discount from the appraised price of twenty per cent., and the payments will come as per EXAMPLE. 160 acres, at $5 an acre, bought April i, 1879, would amount to $800. Twenty per cent, off would reduce it to $640, and the payments would be as follows : ■'■'■• Date of Payments. April I, 1879, (date of purchase) . . April I, 1880 April I, 1881 April I, 1882 April I, 1883 April I, 1884 April I, 1885 Total of payments at end of 6 years Principal. $106 67 106 67 106 67 106 67 106 66 106 66 $640 00 Interest. $37 33 37 33 29 86 22,39 U 93 7 46 5149 30 Total. ;^I44 00 37 yi 136 S3 129 06 121 60 114 12 106 66 $7^9 30 TWO YEARS CREDIT. 30 jier cent, discount. Terms No. 3 — Three payments. In consideration of the pur- chaser's paying one-third of the principal at time of purchase, with ten per cent, interest on the remainder, and the balance in two annual payments, we make a discount from the appraised price of THIRTY per cent., and the payments will come as per EXAMPLE. 160 acres, at $5 an acre, bought April i, 1879, would amo'int to jSoo. Tliirty per cent, off would reduce it to $560, and the payments would be as follows: Date of Payments. April I, 1879 April I, 1880 April I, 1 88 1 Total of payments at end of 2 years Principal, Interest. $37 33 18 67 $186 67 186 67 186 66 5560 00 556 00 Total. $224 00 205 3-1 i 186 661 J6i6 00 Ul Terms chase nic a cliscou/ <^ppraised •V'J h 187, <^'asli discoun '^'otal amou or less than h ^^ paymei taken, pure] count. P^ICF AND \ ^^'abaunsce .^/orrjs C'liase Mar/on Butler Harder Sedgwick •^fcPherson Reno . Rice . Barton Rush . Pairiiee Edn-ards . ForJ . Pratt. ; ; JH,'cnian J''^^ ^^orthern ^^'^■ota and Mo r '^ '^'^ Nor 3"a. somewhat J( f '' yeans, or vv; 2J y^i <^A.SM PURCHASE. .^PP-ised pX;""">-"-- -d one.', -^d' p ^.r '^ ^-^^ ^ cent, from the 'J^^'' ^' ^«79. r6o acres at . '''^"''^• Cash discount of ,, i ' " ' ^^ P'-'"' ^•^'re . iZyi per cent, o/r . Total amount of payment 5S00 00 266 67 ir "* '^'cven years' credi'f ' ' ' ' $^\% i-i J^ payments are all m^ , • taken, purch'icf..-^ , '" advance r»r „, i rchasers on Jong eredie w/ll tt- aL 7"^ ^"^ "^^d i^c- aJiowed a Jih^roi a- count. "" ^°"^^ credit wflJ be alln 7 ^ ^"^ ^^^ i^c- aJiowed a Jih^roi j- i ^ ^ -^^Jt^^U^^ KAKAS. I ^Vabaunsee . Morris . Chase Marion Biitler Harvev Sedgwick McPherson Reno . Rice . l^arton Rush . Paiviiee . Uw-ixih . Ford . Pratt. ; ; £odgeman Acres. 27,069.1 J '23,650.50 90,422.87 ; 38,746.02 44,961.54 42,566.41 29,837.59 202,038.77 86,467.10 196,013.43 57,403.67 '27,cS58.52 91,716.63 95,721.10 ^2,( 12.04 .^4,099. 55 The N -~~-J^'v-^jy:^s± 4 00 to 8 00 ^ ""' a<,o was equivalent pa I': s^ O 354 OLK WESJ/^.flN / stodc has now ap- preciated, though still quoted at hfty-fr to fihy six. The immi- grant on tliis, and we lydieve on all the MinnesMs* and Uakot.i railroads, receives also material reductions ol" iAttt J0)r hiins. ''and family, and specially low rates of freight for the transportation of his household goods, hve-stock. and farming implements, and this, whether he buys the company's lands or government land, The freights of grain and other produce on this road going cast- ward are also very low. The rates of interest on Minnesota and Northern Pacific Railroad lands are seven per cent. ; on the Iowa Railroad lands they are only si.x per cent., but on the long credits the price of the Jands are advanced ten per cent. In Tex IS thf. 5>f ;ces of railroad lands are considerably cheaper, ranging from ^2 i/> ^5 per acre on long time, and seldom exceed- ing #2 when they i^tt paid fof in two or three years. In the northwest coi^ties, ^vV^re there >s so much drought that tlie lands are only S'i>i'taiW-<^ ^/f prizing, tlv.y can be bought at lower prices than these, ^*p<-',el'all/ U titken in large quantities. West of the Rocky JA^'AiWJm^, on the L^ on Pacific, Central, Western, and South<::rw R'icifK: and the' branches and connec- tions, prices are higher, afvi terms (dicre beings little or no coir petition) are more r1gK>roiis^'/ enforced. The following extract from the latest circular <-/ th''5;*t roads explains itself Some of these lands are wc. worth the price asked for them; others are nearly wort!ilesi« ; >/ii' a^ the buyer is re(j jested to select for him- self and the compajjy r'-fu^/'S to make selections or take anv risk, there h no '^ronn4 U/r cz/Wplaint: No Sale lirjo)'^ Patent. — Tl^ general rule o{ the compaii} is to sell no land \)vii)f(i', 'a patent fois been i'^sued to the compam.j This protects the pu^^iti$^'f against the danger of gettiiii; abaii! title, and the company agairtst the suspicion of taking adxantage of the ii^rnorant. Railroad Title. — The (."ompnny holds under a patent direct! from the Federal Government, and its title is thus free (roiiitlie dangers that beset all titles that have passed through a numberj of individuals. No suit will be insdtuted aijainst the railroadf title on .UAvaint ol minor heirs, undivided interests, dcfectivej ;"'^ con-ectnrs> '".'•"""•(■urono- 'ress not hi aine iini. can H- to *tte oe i acknovvJedgn^ents, or those con.n.on fl ^^^ s-cess,on of conveyances. """ '^"^ ^« ^'- ^ound in a Jon^ on the lands before na^^n^■ ^^o^Pany invites seffl.. * other applicants anr) n^ • ^° ^^em in nrefpr. ^^'^^^'^ , no dc-tinire coLact^W h f T"" " "^^ '^e settle"! r ?"'' '-- a" <-a,V,y. U : '„ r3:^*--<'-I upon thrta., ^.t i; cause tlie latter offers a I, T somebody else n„ 1 l laml that n,ay be reol^f ,'' P"'"' " "■'! "ot eli Z "^ ^- ''-^•' [i^akerifieJcl, Kern ( ■ ' ^^n, County, CaJifornia]. , The value of tlu^ nnnK • •^''"'' ^'"■f"- -7.ctness..,;:S--^.-^ e,U,re,y„p„„ ,„„ ^^^^ *-' x::^^^^ »'■■-■-- ct^b '";,"„ '.'r' ■>- ■"ii-inot Wn ^'""•" '"'i> entire H, ' °'' '^ "'<-' Po^t- K«y i, p '"^■^"^'>- l^"' '^'"'se f ;t ""'-;^^' ""= -applicant I'lK-llirihlc ,n . '"""'^•« aboiu It 7 ^' '■'' plain ""'J «• .llc.n-ble to otk,^. ,'" J';, "''>■ '""I'Tstand tl.at >-* PS pa is: ^ a 356 OUR IVESTERJV EMPIRE. is all that is necessary for getting' the application right. The address given should be the permanent address, where the ap- plicant can be reached at any time ; and if, after giving it, he should move, he should then send his new address, mentionincr in his letter the township and range of the land for which he has applied, so that the new address can be put with the application, which is filed according to the township and range in which it is situated. If he wants several pieces of land in the same town- ship, he should include all in one application ; if he wants land in different townships, then there should be a different application for each township. The Land Agent will send a receipt for the application, and if then the applicant will, without unreasonable delay, permanently occupy and cultivate the land, he can expect to have preference over all other applicants ; but his claim will not be entided to any consideration if he does not show his good faith by occupa- tion and cultivation, or improvement. The company will give a preference to settlers over speculators. If the settler goes upon the land before survey, he should de- scribe it as nearly as possible, and so soon as the survey is made, send the description to the Land Agent. An application for land confers no vested right or privilege on the applicant. It is merely a notice that he wishes to buy. The filing of an application does not carry with it the right or permission to cut wood or timber from the lands of tlie company, except for firti-wood for the domestic uses of the actual occupants of the tract applied for, or for fencing and improving it. Applicants, or other persons, who shall be detected in cutting wood or timber on railroad lands, except for the purposes above specified, or in selling or carrying it away, will be prosecuted widi the utmost severity of the law. Laud Policy of Company. — The policy of the company lias always been, and is now, to encourage the settlement of its lands in small tracts, by persons who will live on and cultivate them. To this end setders are invited to make applications to buy and to occupy and put to use the vacant lands until such time as tlie)'| shall be ready for sale. If the settler desires to buy, the company a specuia land, \\\\\ of that oi 'ast of all a'»va)-.s. an appiicant. application st'ttie/nent, actual settie ^^^ini; and i U'hen the ^anci, a;i adju f''e Lund An '■'S^Jt to bliy^i ^vho shall be tile appJicants or fa/i to be I 3"^' place men ^'«"^^^i tiic/r ap file land will th\ '"o'' Piirciiase b fo se]]. micular, so asl ,^0'"piai/us for til nofconndenc ^0 dct^d will )aid. V/.V./,;>, Col J''^ '■" .San l\ ^'^ ^^"^s drawn ^rc^ i-,-:..m gives him the first p ' / ''''' "^ ^''^''''' applicant Thl " '^'^ ^°W to him J. ^ Preferred se. dement conZJ '' ""•''^'^°"l«nf«l by tlr""" """■'' ""^'"'^ "Silt to buy. at the Lad, ,1 "^ *•">'''" to the narr^ , ^^ who shall be deen,ed ,n '""*' *'" '^"= «*arded L ' ""' ""= •l.e applicant.,, or^ H,: "^ -st e,.d,abt It '":S'''^T! »ffail to be presen/ ""• P^'y "o attentinnT , '°"'<^ ^ - p'-e n,e,j;:: .:';: rtr^ .°^„'^^ -p-- ."1: 'r, "°'---' ' >"'a l)e con^.Vi ""^ time I *e land vi^ the "T;'"'' ""' '" -S''^ or cWn : '° '"^' '"""- to sell. ^ "^ P'^""" to whom the coL "^ "•'• ^ "P^" Careful regard is n • , ""' ""^' ^''°°- P'tloular, ,so\ ' f"' '" *^ requirement, of t, , V/.v./>,r- . P'"^ ^^^" We been j'"t-fi[.u Coin.. — All „_j b 0^ .^e a';;:- Tof , "-. -•"-> '^r: :tat:^'^ - riders upon busfnl '' '" ^'■^"sniission Ti '" '^^- I OS 1— • "^ .-:-■• at PCI O ^^g oi'f; ir/asT/j/i^A' empire. attended with much delay and vexation, and therefore such orders or checks will not be received ; but a check drawn by any solvent country bank upon a San Francisco bank, with which it has funds, is good. No paper is made out until after payment. No contract is made to accept work of any kind as payment, if the purchaser is in the employment of the company, he should j^et his money and come with it to the Land Office. It is useless for him to bother with offers to grade, cut wood, or do something in compensation for land. The departments have separate ac- counts. The company does not give free transportation to persons who wish to examine or buy, or who have bought land. Nor after purchase does it carry their building material, furniture or cattle, free. In this as in other respects, the land and transport,! tion departments of the company manage their business on the cash basis and on separate accounts. Prices. — The lands are not uniform in price, but are offered at various figures from $2.50 upwards per acre; usually land covered with tall timber is held at 55^5 per acre, and tiiat wltii pine at $10. Most is for sale at from $2.50 to ^5^5. It is im- possible to give the prices by sections or minor subdivisions in this pamphlet. Special inquiry must be made as to each piece, The purchaser must pay for the acknowledgment of the three signatures to the deed — the law now allows one dollar lor cacli signature — and he must pay for recording, usually about %i.^^ for each deed. Grading Lands. — When lands are ready to be sold, the com- pany sends a man well acquainted with the quality of soil and skilled in determining the kind of agricultural product Lowliidii it is best adapted, as also in determining its true market vahic, to look at the various sections and tracts. After personal ex- amination, he grades the land as being first, second or tliirti quality of farming, vineyard, timber or grazing land, and reports! the value of each piece. His report is examined, and, if loiinilj correct, a price is established. The price is generally that of I unimproved land of the same quality in the immediate vicinityatj the time of the grading. In ascertaining the value, any improve- ments that a soffl**,. « i «/, 'lK'r.-shouldom.r„,o;ep\/:::;" ^7 nght to buy, even if tl-^;" are thus assured that i„ 'jl " "'^ ■''"'°""' asked. Set l'"v.leffe of purchase at th " j r '" '"■'"» ='^^°-'«l tl'e first .ec.cc ,n their improvemen s' '''' ''"'"'■ "-y «'" also be pro for payment of a part of~ the purcK '' °" ^''""•'•'« ■''llowinff time c.ffh.y acres or more and if i' !2tTTT^~'^ "'« '^^ct be eKl..y acres, or if it be covered twth, T^'' " " >^ '-^^ than except upon fu„ pay„,,„, of ca rLt;:) "° ''"'' "•'" "« -al . 7i™« e(.'n s lio/ncst attach('( " vaca/u pass to I '/"/)e ia Congresi San \\(:x\ and San ( ^'ass, east TiieSa/ witli the ^ part of tht to the Jatte ■f^^ie ianci and covers f^Je road o, "ii^e-s from t Sa'Ha Clara ^".ircies an, under Uq^\ company, ;vi '"''e, even b^ road. '^''le raiiro; ^''"O"^. firt)--on Santa Cru;: c 3"d small po ^^O'^t of tlK,s, ^^exican n,-; ^'^^ ccnpanv '""^torthat'iit access. ^f should be perhaps in Te> "'"'''''''' ^-^-^'y ^^.ns ,,,. 361 vacant l.,,|eral land, ■' .,,, 1," '"'"'"■"' as mineral, an- not Conirress. cxlnd \ '^'l^'^'^'^'^rn Pacific Railro.J r h \ cxtuul /ro,n San fos,'. I,. ^^^'road Company bv San Benito I'ass J^.,. . '' ' "> ^''X of Gilmv n i ^ and San Gornonio ]>.,, , ™^^"' '^'Jiadiapi Pass I n^ An . Pass, eastward to tlie N,.,. n "■ ""'' alw from T,!,, / Ti.c..Sanl.>an,.i. r„^ l; '■■;■ °" ■'':; Colorado rive" ''"■''^^' part or tl,a route before,, "f'' ^''^'"^ '--" construe," d on to ■ e latter road was passed '"'"'"^^ "^ ^^''cWse and land ine Jand-u-rant from i^ i and covers ill tU " ^""""^ ^° J'^rt Yinna k r •, "vers all the unreser-ed odd «^ ■ ^^o mdes lonn- tie road on eacli side k wn n ""' '^''^'^'" ^J^'>ty miles of' -'- fro. the road if a„ ^^^^ -^ ^ake more th.^ t J San^a Clara. Santa Crt.. A ont'ev T""n"' '• ^"^ PO'-^ion. oT %eies and San Bern- r I^ ^' ^^^" ^^'"'t^. \fntura 7 "ncler Mevicn '''''"'^'^^''"0 and other conn ; ^'''^' ^os ivicxican grant or \vere n^I counties were held -pany. vvhi.h .,,n ,,, . ,:'",p"— -rved from the 'he railroad .rrant on ,i ''"'-. fi%-one n,i U, ''"'°" "'^'^^«-'" San Jos, and T Ar«v- ''iiKis, however wf>,-«. • Stanislaus We^can .rants. t,r „.„e ' I, .'^ P^^viously covered w( h '^^»"'Pany l,ns little In/r"™'^ '^"^'•''">' ^^"Pied Trf "« of that little is in ,,,;;^., 7. -^'<-- '•" those counties and T] , • ""■^' ^"'' ^' P--nt difficidt "f ^^"- ^ «ese are all a en pi': «; fi-i E-« r.~- Pfj >< CJ» ■ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) V A .v^^ 1.0 3« 2.2 I.I 1.25 U2 IE LL4 116 Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 VyiST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145tO (716)S73-4S03 ^^S" ^ .**^^ 362 OUR h7:sv7-:a'.v empire. carefully reserved In' the United States government, and where land which had been patented to them, proved to be mineral or mininii^ land, before they had sold it, the ijjovernment claimed it and has (j^iven them other lands in the place of it. Tiie mining laws and regulations, which we have given in full in a previous chapter, explain fully the only methods of procuring mining lands direct from the government. There is nothin^r to prevent an immigrant from buying an interest in a mine, and in the land in which or under which it is situated, from those who hold it, but an interest in a mine is not necessarily an interest in the land above it. A bill now b-^fore Congress provides that land may be sold in tracts containing eight square miles or less, for grazing purposes, subject to the condition that if a mine passes underneath it, the rights of th*e miners shall not be prtjjudiced by this occupancy of the surface. We have alluded in previous chapters to the opportunities which are often offered to buy partially improved farms and cat- tle or sheep ranches. This opportunity occurs so frequently that the immigrant who has two or three thousand dollars of capital will often find it better to purchase one of these farms, than to take up new land by any of the methods offered in this chapter. It is not at all to the discredit of the fertility, climate, cr productiveness of any of these States or Territories that so many farms should be for sale. The causes which lead to i«" are usually these : a man with very litde capital has taken up a farm or sheep or cattle ranche, either by pre-emption or under the Homestead or Timber-Culture Acts, or has bought of the railroad lands, and being perhaps not a good manager, or having a large family and meeting with misfortunes in his crops, finds himself in debt, and unable to extricate himself and keep his farm. Per- haps he has bought too much land, and the cost of breaking it up and his annual payments on it swallow up all he can make, and he becomes discouraged. He will find that if he mortgages his land, the interest will eat up the whole value of the farm, and, being sold out under foreclosure, he has nothing left, and has to hire himself out as a laborer. If he can sell the farm, the pay- ments yet to be made can be met by the purchaser, and thougli Having readi tlie ^'arious met sessor of a assist Jiim in Jn the case o ^|^''y; for the- Jiis own coun 3s good a fai are so dififerei BUYING PARTIALLY IMPKOVED lARMS. ^63 he receives less than he has expended in money and labor upon the land, yet he is out of debt and can move on to the frontier where, taking a farm under the Homestead Act or Timber-Culture Act, and building a sod house, he can have a better chance to retrieve his fortunes. Meanwhile, the immigrant who buys finds the land ready broken for crops, and perhaps the crops for the season sown, so that within four or six months he can, if the sea- son is favorable, realize from his crop nearly what the farm has cost him. These farms can generally be bought at a reasonable price, because there are so many in the m.arket. They should not be bought at a high price for two reasons : first, that in most regions there is some uncertainty about the crop from drought, grass- hoppers, Colorado beetles, worms, or excess of rain ; and second, that the first crop, especially of grain or roots and tubers, is usually larger than those which succeed it. By caution in buying, the immigrant will generally do well, and by careful and thorough cultivation he may find his partially improved farm a source of great wealth. CHAPTER VI. P3 HI 09 3 Farming Life — The Amount of Capital Needed — Management of a Farm AT THE West — The Best Fai^ming Regions — What Crops are Best — How Farming can he made most Proi-itaule. Having in previous chapters shown the immigrant how to reach the West, how to select his land or location, and the various methods by which he may become the owner and pos- sessor of a farm or other landed estate, we are now ready to assist him in settling upon his land and making his first crops. In the case of immigrants from Europe this is particularly neces- sary ; for though it is very possible that the immigrant may, in his own country, and under the circumstances existing there, be as good a farmer as can be found, yet the circumstances here are so different in the character of the soil, the climate and sea- 2(54 '^^'^^ ll'IiSyEA'JV EMPIRE. sons, tho ainounL of rain-fall, and the crops most in demand, that he will find that he has much of his business to learn anew. 'I'lu; lirst thiuL,^ to be decided is, what description of crops he would prefer lo cultivate, and this point should be settled before he sets out for the West, whether his previous home had been in Europe or in the Atlantic States. If he desires to raise the small o-rains, and perhaps root crops, he must still decide whether he will grow winter or spring wheat and rye. For spring wheat and the other small grains, as well as for root crops, there is no region so good as Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, and perhaps Iowa and Southern Dakota, east of the Rocky Mountains, and Washington and Oregon west of those mountains.''' The springs wheat of Montana surpasses that of any other part of the world. In an average season it weighs sixty-nine pounds to the bushu', sixty pounds being the standard, and with ordinary care in cul- tivation thirty-five to forty bushels to the acre, many ejitire crops exceeding this large vield. Dakota and Minnesota and Oregon and Washington Territory are not far behind. Iowa grows some winter wheat, though the spring wheat largely predomi- nates ; but, probably on account of less thorough cultivation, neither the yield nor the weight are equal to those of the north- ernmost tier of States and Territories. There is one other rea- son alleged for the excellence of the grain crops of this northern region, which includes the fertile valley of the Red river of the North ; it is that the surface frost thaws very early in the spring-, but that at the depth of three and one-half or four inches the earth is still frozen, and that when the seed is sown this deeper frost, thawing gradually, keeps the roots of the grain moist and develops them more moderately and surely than can be done in any other way. There is this further advantage in recjard to Northern Minnc- sota, Dakota, and Eastern Montana, that the crops can be quickly and cheaply marketed over the Northern Pacific and its * For iill tliis norllurn rej;ii)n j/^;';/^'- wheat is a very ccitain crop, 7f;'«/r/" wheat an exceed- ingly uncertain one. Diirinjj the lonfj and severe frosts, the roots of the winter whcnt are frozen, or winter-killed, and in many instances it does not recover its vitality. Some winter wheat is sown in Minnesota, Northern Dakota, and more in Iowa, but it proves very nearly a failure, while the spring wheat yields from twenty-one to forty bushels, or even more, to the acre. tW7'j-j! n;,E,,r m.,.,. b-nchcs, and „,at „„,„ „„ , " '"""'"" 36= "°t after the five yea .' ', ""^^ "<= ^^'o^Id rotate h; ""' one of clover, Alfalfa Huni'fa °^-""' °"'^' °^™"' crop, and the constituents vvithdrau^? ^'■'"''' ^-^ '"'"«, thus .In :;-f ^'jo ^eep hoteCud n^ Jtl?" '° '^ -P'-^T leap and svvme, and though it " " r'"'--' "^^ and cows ::;:----'::s::i^™t^f/f-:p^^^ and he can consume n n. . r , • ' P'*^duced bv hie. . • , -;;p;oa.ct3 w.c;\rp:;, r^p^ - "o., aLJ";:'::^' almost to the Canarh h , ''"''^'^■^ of the soro-Juim «.-ii ^ ' f >-"< "-e blx^■::•t ""^ '-- -™a:^ L;:"' o..l.ern lowa, Missoun', Neb La' r"'"' '''^")' '- -il fi i fe' reg,on east of ,he Rocl vM '"' '"'^ Wyomin. his Centra California, so.ne di ^ f, ' °""'^"r' ^"^ Nonhcn'an 0,-. , „est of these n^untls hT:':' '"^'' -^ ^^'este:' ". : fXpZ^' '''"'' ""P- --'• as i e'cas^orr K ' "^ '"''^ '^',^>ptian rice corn sw^..»- "-"^ castor-oil bean hm-i rt "° '^^■"- Kspec/l cln 'T'°''- ■''"■^"'^' ■•'"^ Ht „„r"; ;*a and Eastern Colo ado fo,.™""'"' ''^"-= •"'nd C " -ops, among the States and T "'"'^" ^^'"'''■' -"^ Indiln ''fountains P,,«- "-^"^ ana ierritor es f>',c.^ r i ^"^''^'» "111;,, j^Ljf ^y miiot^ • "-^'icb east (^r «-hf> D^ 1 g . — « "^ :_■> 1-4 a i ^T^nd the Jine of ^66 OCR WESTERN EMPIRE. general advance in their settlement of these farming lands. That line is moving westward at about the rate of fifteen miles a year in Kansas and Nebraska, but it is not well for the immi- grant to go to the front at first, for these reasons : As we go westward from the Missouri river to the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, the amount of rainfall diminishes, and there is dan- ger of drought, which would be fatal to corn, though the wiicat, ripening earlier, might not be so much affected by it. The rain fall is increasinjr as the line of cultivation moves westward, because the spring rains are absorbed where the hard surface or crust has been broken ; but where the soil has been beaten solid for hundreds of years under the hoofs of millions of buffalo, all the rain which falls either runs off or is speedily evaporated. The deeply-plowed lands drink in the rain, and the vegetation which springs up gathers the moisture from dew and showers and suffers it to be more slowly evaporated and return in rain. We know, that taking one year with another, the rainfall which ten years ago, on these unbroken lands, west of the 98th meri- dian, was only 10.5 or 1 1 inches annually, has steadily increased, till in 1879 it was 17 or 17.5 inches. Even with this amount some of the crops would be tiie better for irrigation ; but with the prospect of an increasing rainfall each year the settler can bide his time. Two things can be said in regard to the danger from drought in this region of very moderate rainfall: first, tl^.at though the amount of rain is perhaps somewhat less than could be desired, it always falls just at the right time to help the crops, and is not so violent or copious as to uproot or injure them; second, in the valley of the Upper Arkansas, where much of this land is situated, there is a remarkable provision of nature to prevent injury to plants and grains ; the river and its branches, though fed in the spring by mountain torrents, never overllows its banks, but its valley, which is alluvial, is underlaid at a depth of eight or ten feet by a close, solid clay, and the water spreads out and flows under the surface of this loam and above the clay, saturating the loam with moisture. The soil of this valley re- tains its moisture even when there is no rain for three months or more, and the crops do not suffer from drought. The valley of the ch-oug] •States now in that ni( t'.\pens( rado th< from 5,( ^^"^^^ land as the c ripen in cr '"^^ crops '^'he iiT or under 'ind It adv a con side] canals or c better be number to sufficient Cc called desei 0^^160 dou ^'s irrigatin accordino t, "'s land, wh cabin and c gathering cr ' expiration 0/ o^a net valu< ^!^^" -$7,500 , <^'ear and his ''^'•mers on th advantage of '''''-'^'^^^^A'r>fA',>,c.rfOAr. ol the Platte, m Nch^a-n • ^^7 ;'-.H. vvi,,. u,e i::r:.a:;;rT,;:';:;^7-'-'v protect r™. 'v .^^'t-at tlaiiLier Irom J.. ■ Greenwich, is nnf '!« nK-ridian wl.id, a.,. ™, ■'',''"" ^ "'"''-• ">^- 'ancls west of »l;ense, be proviclecl wi,i ^ " '"' ^"'"^">' " "ode a^ -clo the lands are still J"Sjf\ '" Eastern Cot on, 5,000 ,0 6,soo or 7,000 fee 'b ? '" '^^"••^=^' ^"'>^'i"'' '-and a,e too l,i„„ for corn tops "l' *" '^°'-"""» »? as the cool niglus and somewh^e ? r'^ '''"•'"' "'"' '^'■■"ainty "P™.n,.; but „,ostof it will w " ;'^'^ '^^"^"^ "ay prevent ts' ■"S crops of corn, wheat, o at ,, '"If'' >''^-'^ "'o^' astonis 1- Ihe .mmigrant who does not rn '• or under the direction of a ,1^° '"" "" """"^"^ "' a colony nd ,t advisable to farn, land' r" S"" ^°'"''-y. -'" hardly ""mber to use the water thu obtl > ''"' "''' =■ considerable ^"ffio,cnt capital to take up a sou ', ■^""' "'''"« a n,an has *^ '---t land, which cl: v^ : 'ij^^" -") °f the IT. ofMfcdowp and ^640 more at the end ?"' ^^' ""^ P^^'^^t h.s .rngatmg ditch, which may co t I, / '"'' ^"''''- ^""^fuct lishn? r !°'=^'»"' «°ck his fl^Tnd ?'" f''°°°'° *'3-°- te a„d,wh,ch will cost him «,ooo mo "P °"e-half of cabn and corrals, he can rely w ih m"' "' ^'■'^°° ""h his Sathenn. crops from this ,"0 Zt ""r'^-^We certainty upon p.rat,on of the three ycC from t ' "'"'^'^"■"" before'the ::r;:! :i- "^-^ --".a: Siti'T! ^^..f'^-^" "- .and! more ,68 ouK ivEsrj:A:x umpike. rainfall is gr(2atcr than usual, less irrigation is required; if it is less than usual, more water can be turned on, and these lands which, when watered, are the richest ant! most fertile in the West, respond with a great crop every year. . Of course irrigation does not entirely preclude the dangers from the insect pests, the Rocky Mountain locust or grasshop- per, and the Colorado beede or potato buL,^; but it is a partial preventive to the ravages of both, and llie farmers of those regions have learned how to prevent serious evils from their depredations, by early and deeper plowing, ditches, fire-pits, and the protection of the grouse or prairie hens from indiscriminate slaughter. , The enterprising farmer wiH find farming greatly facilitated, when his land is once broken, by the use of agricultural machinery and improved methods of cultivation. We cannot urge upon him too strongly the necessity of deeper plowing than is generally practised, and thorough harrowing and cultivation. For these purposes, and especially on prairie lands, he will find it wise, if he can, to procure the best kind of gang-plows, and those which will turn the deepest furrows, the best harrows, cul- tivators and horse-hoes. And having procured good agricultural machines, he must take good care of tliem, not expasing them to the weather to rust and crack and 'all to pieces when not in use. If the farmer keeps as much stock as he should, say for a farm of 1 60 acres or twice that quantity, a pair of stout, strong and serviceable horses, a pair of good mules, one or two yoke of oxen (better two than one), two or three good milch cows and half a dozen pigs, and cultivates ten or twenty acres in forage grasses, such as Alfalfa, Hungarian grass, millet or Egyptian rice-corn, he will, if he manages well, accumulate manures which will restore to the soil the elements which his wheat, barley, oats and corn have taken from it, and though his neighbors may laugh at him for doing so, his enormous crops will show that he is wise in putting his fertilizers on even prairie soils. But to return to the new agricultural machines: The grains and root crops are sown so much better and so much more rapidly by the use of some of the drills or seed-sowers, and the t4' ^yA -% \t ■ , ti I' I :S^- m ■''//^•1a_w;^ii t/- l-J.-A I i V -J^l m:c . ■''■:* :'*f: - *iii M W ■'P IJ, m -^:^¥' ,%r r--Ji ■ '■ (l/lll 11 I rt''**/ c? ' — ' f'l ,<< PCX :3 v-j pci ;^' W' ^^ u, ^i^^: ' "' K farmer w/ 'lis crops, 'mprovLnl soon iKiy /; crops nt't-il 'IS uc/1 a J. ,j root crojjs, "«-ci. ccrta/i "on U)th t/i vit'ld niudi I Pwts cie,stro> 'o%eorthe •"'orn, tobacco, ■^"y other sjK^! ^''e ^oil and re ''2-^ been acciir '''^h- soil he coiista/u con/J/c I ^■'-Ty early, ;, /''•eliarvestcom ^'ntiieHast.a r't'if farmer i J ]'""•« 0/- course J r ''^ PO-ssibM r.^o/roniran( f^ °^ ^^^^ mastJ Tf and careie \fy, threshJ J^"Westinetil r^^'. now, of J f '^fippfnjr t/,e f ;'^"^s bound P°'"tl^e sorgho '"' -"!«. .-mcl ,„ak.. ,„o.s. a«/,r"''"''P°"''"'''>''° '''versify ™°--l«. as „.,, ,,, „,,'^'%' • ';;■' corn. „is so,,„.„„" „ ^ J Vieldmuch better i„ , • ' ^'"^ ^'-^'^'■'^ and small r ''^' 'j^utr lor beiMP- nr,.f. ii •">niaJJ fruits ulll pests destroyed before n . "^'"-'^''^y ^ared for and th torn, tobacco, castor beanr °'''' '''=''■""'». beans bmn P^^^-n accmulating; and"" "" "■^'-- <"' ""= "an,,,'";'' «"')••-". f.c will 4„ rrfo/ , '■"'' '°'' '^ -'""»*t invarllr 7'-'con,,,-et,,-,,:^^J' '•<--■ crops a n,ore earn "'tj h "-^:"'f UCn^S'- -P^. 'he practice is very *e sorghum and rice-corn beinVcut off'T ' ""'"■ "'« "ff cut off after they are >- £3 O 370 OLA' ir/:SI/:/• w,-,y. hnpovorish it T ' " " ''' "'"' ""■ '■-« 'o t),e acr... There i., has besro„.«| „,,„„ ,„ ■- '"^ 2«'lly l>cr,tafio which the Al.niyhty On one oil,er poi,„ ,h,.rc. is „ee'-'l=' or two drilling the wheat has materiajk 1 ' , "= "^w- n>«tl,o•. 1.IU it is still too t nt ''"^""■'y "-"^d «sl'ty to eighty-nve ponnJs of ^eed e",!, ""r"'"'^ """^ '^='"^as parts, per acre, is the „sual allowance' V ? T' °' ^""^-''^^^ »iit connecte.1 with a..ric,,k„rr f "' "'"='"*^ '» no state- '»" of ".e cereals, i.ore c^ Lrif a'^ 7'^'''"' ""'' "- -'" va- *a"on than this, that the talf f ''" T '''^'"»''^''' rf-m ve.„„es ,,..r,er than is nocc',: " '-n /"■'."T "^^''^ "^ »bout W^-. or oats, sh„„|,| be care ul v se ! T'f' "'''""'^^ <"«''«at, h^ b^™,. c,ille.l, and those ronL''; "'' ''"'^"^"^ 'arges *T-itioi, to ,i„er o, e.v, and so . " "'' ""'' ^''°-" "«^ '"os *ter„fs.allall of iucica^iiii; llic proilucliaii !?y tillering wp.s not confined to v heat, for Mai Halleli exhibited to the IJiitiili A>->(jciation at the same mceliiig a jilant of barky from a siiM^Bfre the dim grain with no stems, and a plant of oat.s from a single gra'""f "'''''I'- test quality of '■' if .'''" '""'''' '■- not I ;- -yl-h are ,salable only at low p ,"', s .'^"'-^ ""= P-""- '''''" '^ ""' --ed farable to increase the quantitJof ^ '''"'''' "'^' « '^ not ,»d every way better to raise eloh^T"; '"'""'■ '' « not easier *e sa,ne quantity fron, ^ acts, t'^ '""" '°° --^. 'han pacres,and you can raise tZ' J!, T^'"'"^ ^°"-'^'^ of »es, can you not put the other.!^ , ''= "^ ^^'«« from ,oo -.sorghum, or root eroo .„ 1^ '' '" "'''^' "^--ley, India^ Kiand.. Hvenifwhel'^^'::^ r-T'".' "'^'^ P™fi 'o" r "^ '-° - three j-ears Lo lesn t't''""^"^ '^"''^ => ''-W, fc.an acre from it with the s.Ce ,abo" H '"' '^'"'^ '" '-"'-e I 0"r cereal crops are so important to'"'''^"^^''"'^^' 7? Kemy, that we have felt Sdln"".' "'"'°"'' '"^^"h -"d r •" "'<-" consideration of the method f'T"^ »nsiderable h per acre can be greatlv (nc-, , ^^ *'"'^'' their produc K will appreciate^ur tbor;t:h' 'f "' '"^'■■^- ''^t our I L;- "s now turn to the m,mie^« "'"'°"- r^™'ng in the milder ZT '""■ "''° ^^' decided to hand Territories, He reekr/h '™P'''' ^°""'<=™ belt of h-a, Texas, New Mexico aMo"' '".'^^''--s. Western '"„„es from Europe hrfinds T' "' ^°""'^'^" ^''''Tornia h^l"ti.erto been wholly^a c st ?"^ '"'^ "°P' 'o «h h hsraats from Illinois or tl e Ob "',f ^- ^'"' '» "'» true of ^'"8e proportion of tl e A me l™"'^^.' '" °"'- »- -""try h etc, are from the Southern T^'f'"'""'"^^'^--' hlhechmate, crops, etc do n^? ^''^nfc and Gui " States p^asand the StatL and "tri torie^'T"^ '''^^^ ''™"' '^o- '-'ntones adjacent. The farmer I* PCS >-., CO O 374 or/i iv/-:srEA\v em r ire. who mlgrrates to this region can have a much wider choice of crops tlian the northern farmer ; whether he can or will find his labor better remunerated remains to be proved, Arkansas, Texas, and Southern California are the three sections in this region in one of which tlie farmer will be most likely to settle, for Louisiana is not sufficiently healthy for settlers from a north- ern climate, and Arizona and New Mexico, as well as Northwest Texas, have too little rain-fall to be attractive to farmers gen erally. It is not indispensable if an emigrant settles in Arkansas or Texas, that he should devote himself exclusively to the culture of cotton, or indeed that he should grow it at all. Much less should he reason that because rice and cane-sugar are prodiicd there he must necessarily cultivate those crops. These States have lands adapted to a great variety of crops, and I when all the circumstances are taken into account, perhaps one crop is as profitable as another. If the emigrant selects hisj farm in any of the coast counties, he will find the land seme-i what high priced, but he can raise sea-island or long staple cottoi!,! and if he cultivates his crop skilfully he ought to make at least! a bale to the acre of this valuable product ; or he can grow ricej or sugar cane, though for the latter he will require a largd capital for his sugar works. The middling, or short staple cottonJ can be grown here, though not so profitably as fifty or sixti miles north, as the land is too valuable ; nor is this land udj adapted to wheat, but all the subtropical fruits as well as mosj cf those of more temperate climates, and most of the rootcropj can be cultivated with great profit from the early date at wliicj they ripen. Two crops of sweet or Irish potatoes can be raistj in the long season, and the first will be at least six weeks earlia than in the vicinity of St. Louis. Strawberries, raspberriej peaches, grapes, plums, as well as bananas, olives, figs, orangq lemons, guavas and all market garden vegetables groj luxuriantly, and are all from six to eight weeks earlier than the North. The trade in these articles of produce, between t| coast counties of Texas and St. Louis and Chicago, is large aij constantly increasing. crop is consumption of and wheat (2,2] ''^"^r '" 1879), ""ore than tweni '^''tre is no gc I elevated lands, r^a" the cereals '^ M^ S. C. VVhi, letit e.ol J"*--' a method by w «°PPor.«nayoftes,..J '"""cotton crop. ^' CROPS rV TEXAS. 375 If the emigrant prefers a farm seventy or eighty miles back from the coast, he is in Eastern Texas in the " timber country," where he can engage if he. chooses in the himber business with a (rood opportunity to make money ; and the land here is fair tor cotton, excellent for corn, and yields moderate crops of wheat. In Central Texas, at this distance from the coast he will tind the best cotton lands in the State, and if he will give his undivided attention to his crop he can raise two bales of cotton to the acre; but he must not let the weeds overrun it. nor the worms destroy it.'-* The easy-going planters around him will not set him a good example in these respects. Their shallow plowing without manure, their scant and slovenly cultivation, and careless picking, yields from half to three-fifths of a bale to the acre, and with an indolence born, or at least nurtured by the protracted heat of the long season, they are content with this result; and it is no more than fair to say that our energetic immigrant, after a fewyears' experience of the enervating mlluence of the climate, will very possibly fall into the same careless ways. A hundred miles or more north from the Gulf coast, in North- eastern and Central Texas, is a good region for the cultivation of the cerealf. Indian corn grows well and yields fairly every- where in Texas, except in the arid lands in the northwest of the State ; but the lands of which we are now speaking yield good crops of wheat, oats, barley and millet as well as corn. Texas is not, however, one of the great cereal-producing States. Her wheat crop is not more than sufficient in ordinary years for the consumption of her own people. A moderate amount of flour and wheat (2,212 barrels of the former and 4.614 bushels of the latter in 1879) are exported, but the importation of wheat is imore than twenty times, and of flour about twelve times as much. There is no good and sufficient reason why, in these more elevated lands, where the heat is not so enervating, the quantity of all the cereals annually produced should not be ten or twenty *A Mr. S. C. White, ot Jasper, Texas, claims to have discovered and have practised for seven • lleenyears a method by which his growing cotton is rendered perfectly -uorm-proof, and offers oil jm opportunity of testing his process. The discovery, if it proves to be one, will be invaluable Ik the cotton crop. ;>- pA '^ ^ § < r.j F-; pd 1— . PJ ?i' ca '"> wJ ^ iU 2^6 ^^'^^^' If'^-fT/CAW EMPIRE. tiines what it is ; corn is a crop so admirably adapted to these lands, and the demand for it at New Orleans on the one side, and throughout Arizona on the other, as well as the large home market, should make this a favorite crop with tlie immigrants. The production of wheat, barley and oats also might easily b increased almost indefmiteiy. Good corn land is also good land for sorghum, and both can be planted in February, and if two crops are not produced from the same fields in a year, as they might be, of the earlier varie- ties, it is entirely practicable to have the sorghum planted at different times, so as to have the juice extracted from the stalks and boiled down into syrup in those months when other labor is not driving. Another very important consideration in favor of this mode of cultivation is that the leaves and seeds make an excellent fodder for milch cows, as well as other cattle, when the heat of summer has dried the grasses. The millets yield a large amount of foracfe and almost as much sugar as the sorghum. Root crops also yield largely in this region of Texas, and there is the great advantage that the best qualities of Irish potatoes as well as sweet potatoes can be ripened so early as to be put in the Northern markets full six weeks earlier than those grown in Illinois or Iowa, and so bring a better price. It is claimed, and we presume correctly, that of both kinds of potatoes two crops can be raised on the same land every year. Of other miscel- laneous products named in the consideration of the productions of the central belt, all can be produced with equal advantage here by proper care and good farming, and the crops will be largely remunerative. But Texas lands, especially after several years' cropping, and mere scratching the surface with a light plow, will not yield large crops without deep plowing and thorough, not lavish, manuring. It may as well be said here as anyvihere that, except in the cotton and grain region of Central Texas, the soil though fair is not of the first class, and will very soon run down without careful cultivation and a moderate use of fertil- izers. Fortunately, some of the best of these, after farm-yard manures, plaster of Paris, some of the marls, and alkaline earths, salt, etc., are easily accessible in ,the neighborhood of most ofi t^ie farm P^iosphai does not time, so better tha ^'^e otJ western T stili, much IS capable < ^'0 Grande by artesian ^ tJuctive land t^ie State ha; sale at such require irriga Arkansas craps; but K and U^hite riv are very prodj ;^^"'cii has so J. '"""'gTants, in lands on many 2re dying out • '^'"li great succ keneraJiy acces' "^ file soil are '"?. clear-heade r'«''3cter, couJd \^'on which u'o F)' other of th p''ouId come \n , pettlements, v; Nation on the J ,/lie farming Ja r^^aries. thouo] ^^^"•ngated. Tj^ ^^OSP^CTS J^ ^^,^^^,^^ the farms, while o-uano fid ' %77 p'.osphaees can 1^ ^^ t!^::^' ^ "-"-' and anifi^ iiie other portions of the Sm. western Tpyic ^ i ^tate, as wpIJ -^o Rio Grande or their •!« ""S^^"°"' <="''« from the p!" ^^'^ - wh rr.t hr '--^" ' "m1- ^^^^^^^^^^^ '- very productive "Sl'^r »- '-ds in d^et^^Sr' *^'' '- so long bound Ctdr""^?"'"^ '"™- '"e e Ci;' "«rauts, industrious and "«^'' "'"= ''^^^ as yet bu ff*^ ! "^-n„anyaccou,u:.^d: ra r^^'"^ "'^" -ui'd fi ' £ j-,,y-es:s;;''T,:x::rr r-'^ ^'-v ardTaX: "'"•^ ^°'l are fast passin. a^' ° t"" '" ''"'' ='°^^"'y tiHaee S. clear-headed, and skilful fe^'; ^'r^^^ "'""sand ente prE *»facter, could almost evoi,r '' ',"''"«^"' and up^H^tTn" \«'on which would be aide u"' "'" ^'^'^"•' and make Its affluents, the Colorado >-• 1^ 278 O^'l^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Chiquito, Flax river, and in the northeast the San Juan, run through canons so deep as to drain very efl'ectiialiy the moisture from the mesas or tabic lands. Still, irrigation is possible on many of these lands, and would make them very productive, while the occasional protracted storms, might by cultivation, be made to give place to a larger and more equally distributed rain- fall. The mineral wealth of Arizona will call a population thither sufhcient to make irrigation practicable, and then as in former ages, this region will show its thriving farms, its beautiful vil- lages, and its populous cities. In the central part of the terri- tory, not far from Prescott, the Maricopis Indians raise large crops of wheat of such excellence that it commands the highest price in San Francisco, in competition with the best California wheat. Southern California is the garden of the State. Vast crops of wheat and barley are grown here, and the vineyards, olive- yards, and plantations of pomegranates, almonds, Madeira nuts, etc., give the country an almost tropical appearance. Cotton does not succeed so well as other crops here on account of the long d''y season. The climate is delightful, and is regarded as particularly bene- ficial to those suffering from pulmonary diseases if they come before the disease has progressed too far. Although much of the land is taken up in very extensive ranches, there are still,! especially along the route of the Southern Pacific Railway, many desirable farming lands, both of the government and the railway j grants. jo-ol /" ^exas or aI ^"^ '^'^ cheap '^'^'•fo'' Texas '" "K/ustr/ous '''•"'■^Put/bri ^'^"^ ^'^^l Santa! ^^'■^^enient we ],, 'y^ny, but it r^^'^^^^^ in the '^'°^^^f'n)e,so,^ CffAPTER vii 379 "■^^.VA...,, ,:^, '",;'««'«* rn.v .. „,,,,:^;'"«'^« Amounts rrr "■"; "^^--"^ ---^^ s:~^^^ effect velv"^„"' :. '"°'' <"■ '"•- chiWro ,^ '^' ""'"^= ''' '^ ton -icrritorv or n ^'"''■'' ='"'' Minne.of, Montana, on lonq- credif '"""^'^■^"''"'■e Acts, or pre en n, ""^"^ "'« «liool lands of the Stn/ , ™"'Pany, eni.Vration r. ^ "^ ="""al instalments F I"' "'^ "^"^"V sot'" vnM ''"'^' °' severestrncTcI r , ^'^ "'en ft will ,■„,,, ,° f^^^^^le m ten " ">- Sbt; :V7 ""^ «"' fo- o 'r'::^ r '- ^ !->' b« the „ ' ^f 7^^ '"^ "'-y do be«e 7s ° T 'T'' ^^'S^.s. --^SsSrnr"'^''^'-^^^""-^^^^^^ Tl>e following ,TJ °«^S'onal droughts ^ ''"'ff^ " -'"«riot,s tne fetr7 ''' " "'■^' -' ''e done with « . PAa and Santa Fe rIii 'department of the aZ ^"' ' «.itement we ll ^^'''"^V- It is nearer ,1, '^f^'"''"". To- ""■P^tny bu^v " T' P''"''^''ed by any rli "'"' "'^" ^"^ ^- ^ "-, .ome r;: /:- - I'-e may S: e.e^r^ P"ces. It should be said also O 3 So ^^'-A' iy£:S7£JiN EMPJRE. tliat these lands are not more fertile than other lands in Kansas and elsewhere, and are occasionally subject to drought. The programme as there laid down, if the emigrant has but the jj^^ooo, requires incessant and very severe labor, and the margin, which leaves nothing for furniture, is much too meagre for the support of a family for fifteen months or more, and will require some other source's of income or the incurring of indebtedness. But here is the statement : " First payment on 1 60 acres of railroad land, on six years' time, a-t the rate of $4.80 per acre, will be ^i 7 2. So ; house of two rooms and small kitchen, $250; team and harness, 5180; breaking- plough, 52,22; harrow, ^10; cow, %ZO\ interest payment on land one year from purchase, ^44.80 ; total, $709.60 — leaving a bal- ance of <;29().40 for seed and support of family until crop can be raised. Nearly every family coming to Kansas to make a home have more or less furniture, farming implements, etc., which they can rarely sell to advantage. l>y inquiring of our nearest agent, they can ascertain the cost of chartering a car to destination, or rate per 100 pounds, and if the amount they will sacrifice on the sale of their goods is greater than the cost of transporting it to their new home, they can readily see it will pay to bring these things along, and they will find them very useful, if money with which to lay in a new supply is scarce. " The cost of starting on a new farm in a new country of course depends largely on the size of the family, and the economy, energy antl perseverance of the farmer, but no man with a family should come to the Arkansas valley with less than $1,000 to start with. I'or a man of limited means, it is most advisable to come in the early spring, say in February or March. A week or two will get his house up, and his family settled, and then he is ready for business. No time is wasted in clearing the land of stumps and stones; it lies all ready for the plow, entirely free from either, and the farmer commences at once turning over the sod. In a few weeks enough sod will be broken to. enable him to put in a fair crop of barley, rye or broom corn ; the latter does well on sod, and is one of the best paying crops in the State. Enough vegetables can be raised for family use the first year. A few J added t and eco cash is s ''» t\\it n( f^^arn a \\\ o^\'n impj "After newo-rou, ;o that a/r ^J'O' acres of ills own '1 "fig-iibori ivitii his te, ■'^ame course changino-iat S-'^'es him th "lake necess "i^-nts on h/s 'I's land. " ^^^''5 mak "lonths from ^^e quick ret '"a'^-es it possi ous habits, to . "^fter harvc ^^alize the rev f 3c^es cu]ti^, , 7 occupant V Y^ ^^^\ take ' ''■"^^J'ty and s( 3We home, ail h r"^'"^ ^^^m. wi,i^ h'';'nce of tile ra P"^^«fartmac r^"^-^' etc., with r'" ^^ f^-^ste, he ""'"■>■'■ ^ r/,0(;s,,,vD n„,, A few hor,s ,n,l i • , """•'« c^» no... cash is scare,. t|, T ^ "■""■"'• '» "'<-■ folloui, '"''"^'rioiis ^'irn a little nnu/ . , ^>' ^'"'^ "i^'ans a h... i . ^'"* '* ^^^'»m "After flw. • ' "'■'^ ^""st cron Iv. '"akinn- hjo ^itcr tile sprinn- cron.; N^ , ^ "''"^ matured of ''« own tl„. fZ, "••■ '"" "ot be m"L. P'" '" =" '<:ast ■^ "'■'•.^'-'^-in :>! l^^'r- ,""' '- can s.cu e ,", I!^ '',^--" ^riil 'vi". Lis team ' P ''■■">' ''"'■ "^ "se bv a V """^ ''■•<'"' «me course 'ill ''"■•^<-'«'n.? I>is ,vj,cat ii . '•■ "' '""'^ "0* Jives him the real "^'=-'' "^^P' -'■^■" hi" "-,'■ ^- b/ ex- -"ake necessarraddir"'" "'"' *'"'^'> "> ^e rT' '"^'•^^^d. Lis land. '"■"• ^"'f P^vide enouyl, for "P'™"'"'^. ™prove- -n.ismake,nvoc °' ""■"^" Payment on moiths from tl„. \ "P" "'■"'^' '"™m the sim. I , ^\^ nuick rlt ™: ^:^„ ';;■« comme„c::r '^^^ T'" "'l-es it possible fo ' m '^V''^""""' ■'" » short a '• ''''"'■ "- habits, to secure a f ""'' """''-' "'-".ns b 'IT'''' '■: "'''« ■■After harvest::",,:, t: T" "T^ °^ *-> ° " '" '"'"■^"■■■- realize tlie m,,-. > - ^ ^^^P oi ^vl^oa^ .u r »f acres c,l,; el " '°'''- E^ch^ tdd "''■. '^''^'"^ '» ;v-p- "'s:: ■,:;; ;r: pr'-'-- tf r i-r ^-t I '^nd and take i rl i ?. ' ^^ ^^^^ t^'rd veir f ""' ''^"'^^ *'iome all hk ^"^■'''•■"«'. ''e has made I C ""' '"'"■'^•. i"'^'» f-™. wh^::;;'i:"a''fr^'^' ^" p^"!-- «: r^*- 1"ence of the m • i ^ ^'^^^ years beromo , P''oducts '"J a star ^ir' "™""' "•" "- coun™ v7 '"''^ '" »"- •„,s,e,c ' wf ''" "• '■"^'"*nff cost ofT "'•' ^«""-«cl. ^' "'«= end of five years have hffe" '■" f, "^ nis farm all 382 <^^'^^' »'-^^S'//-A'A- EMriRE. siirroundt;d and dlviclccl by a beautiful Osaj^^c orange hcd^c fence, and gnn'cs of forest trees, fruit-bearinj,'' orchards, small fruits of all kinds, and llovvers and ornamental shade trees will surround his home. All these im[)rovements, that in the East- ern States would have required a heavy outlay of money and many years of time, are here secured in a very short time at a nominal cost. •'The new settler is not obliged to spend any money in fencing his farm. The herd-law protects his fields, and he can devotcj all his time to the breaking of sod and growing of crops. I'enccs can be grown with Osage orange that will turn stock in four years, and costing only the farmer's own labor in cariiig fur them. "If the setder can find on the alternate sections of the lands along the railroad, any desirable lands as yet unsold, he can pre- empt 160 acres for very small fees, to be paid for at the end of thirty-three months, for $2.50 per acre, the sum of ^400 and some fees to the amount of ^20 or <,2^, or he can take up 80 acres in Homestead and 80 more under the Timber-Culture Act; tho fees for both being about $30 or $36, but he will not obtain a clear tide under from five to eight years. By securing his land by one of these methods his payments will at first not exceed <;30 or ;«;36, and so he will have from $136 to ^142 more for the support of his family, making his entire sum $425 to $431 for their support for fifteen or oftener twenty months, aside from ■what vegetables and other produce he can raise in that time, From diis small sum must be deducted what he has to pay for furniture or the freight of it if he has brought it with him, and also probabl)' for pigs and poultry, though a part of this can come out of the item of interest payment on land one year from purchase, 1^44.80." We think it might be possible for an energetic, industrious farmer, who is a good manager, to live widi his family, and plow, sow, and stock his farm on ^1,000, till he can realize from hisj crops, if he pre-empts his land, or secures it under the Home- stead or Timber-Culture Act; but buying railroad land, even! on six years' time, it would be impossible, unless he had other] item of be (limli not p/ca With avoided. there wc otiier I'nst c}(-'ones, , after h/s j g^ood farm "S to cnjo labor. ^ 'le d/sn fJistressj'ng ^^1^7 fall ijjj( '""§■ ^I's first ^J's crops of vestige of til tempered by harvest ; or tl f'^'structjon ol ^»'^^at is un^A rushes irresisl scarce pcrni/tf W'stered, iroA '^'''^''^g storm '"^'o'ves scorJ '^arns, churchej '^'•ops. are alike ^;d it is much., °' '^ope and ac^ af-e infrequent . .7 "PPer affluel Jihssouri. f ^et> whiie thi be „irie firls v^i" b m 7''" ""■■ -'"'' .'■-■ se, nor ^ 'iG disasters tn i ' i *ey fall upon a fanner »vl,o i, t I V" '•""' ""'"""» when '■'»' ■•^ under the stX'e ' ■''™^"' ^''l^'' «'hnt is X e "^ rushes irresistil K. ■ °'" "'"'".^ terrible still .!''■"'"'.'■■ ^"^ snrr. ,'"''"'''> over cabin, hay-rick. , 7 '"''''"■'s «■•« « ce , ern„tt,no- hi„„,,f j j^^ ^^^s and stacks of „ain kktered, fron, their burnin" hn ^ '" "'"'^P''- scorched aTd ~v|ng stonn plowing "ZlhT' "'■ ""^^ -ore, the s«"ft "volves scores or irun r^f .-^ ''°""^' «'«' thriving, village ^rns, churches, forest tr , ,J" / ''!"'"'"" "'taster ^^^J^f!' ™ 't ,s much, if ,„a„y y , ™ '° 'he four ivnuls of heaven ;^>ope and activity, are not;::' ,t ;"■• ^T J-^"- and " H Yet, while these disasters visit the „ ' "'« western settler only at >-• 1< ■J 84 ^^'^" IV/:STEKX KMr/KK. irregular and somf^timrs distant intorvals, and rannot always be guarded against by any known prccaiilion, tlu'jr possibility is to be taken into tiic account, as a drawback upon what might otherwise be a i)erilous prosperity, and as the fanner attains a belter position, he will ilo well to seek, if he can, to become thu owner of a second farm (not falling into the error of trying to hold too much land) differently located, and, if possible, adaptal to a different kind of culture. If his first is a grain farm, his second may be devoted to root crops, or sorghum, or fora^^r(; gtasses, or to some of the specialties alreaily noticed; if the first is on a prairie or in a valley, the second may be on a hill-side, in the timber, or at least by the banks of a stream, or he may gradually work into the rearing of cattle or sheep, or horses or mules. The cyclone or the prairie fire may spare one if the other is sw(;pt as with the besom of destruction ; or if the grass- hopper or locust, the weevil or the cutworm, the caterpillar, or the gopher and mole d(;stroy his grain or root crops on one farm, there may be something left on the other. The yoiinjj man witii but little capital, but with no one dependent upon him, can. of course, commence farming with a small sum, but he will find his account, after purchasing or securing his land, and breaking it up and sowing his crop, in hiring out to some farmer in the vicinity, and working his way up to competence, in five or six years. At the end of that time he may be the owner of a good farm and farm-buildings, mainly the result of his own labor during those years. To those possessing somewhat larger moans, say <>4,ooo or $5,000, a better plan is to buy a partially improvc^d farm, from some of those settlers who are constantly disposed to obey the policeman's injunction, and "move on." In many instances these settlers have either pre-empted their lands, secured them under the Homestead Act, or bought of the railroad companies, and in either case, have become embarrassed from some cause, and unable to make the desired payments, and so they are disposed to sell out, and moving to the extreme frontier try again. Some of this class have thus moved on, by successive stages, from Eastern Iowa or Missouri to the frontier of Kansas, Nebraska, n.iivot.i, ( ''I'kI is a , ''I'T iiave ''■<■ ^^implf.' '■'itcred .in cliase at go f'lcre Is pro '''loilM sec I oriiic no ffi '^'■'^S /protect '^m)s\\^r ■ I), 3t tile time. •'/ emily pract;'so(|| '''^ ^' '■'' iT /,(, /. H"^nd tun |liar\'e,st, '^larm ofj^c l^^"^' .sheds for r '''^"^''' a lin] N otluT agncu P"'acl.,nen-./ t''^<^' or iuist r''' 'f u-ouM CO r^H-ouidbet 7^^ are two ^''^^"d has but '5 b( Hakoln, or ^I'V/XG AN Ian ^'v^n into M r\/PAor/.:n /;,/. .»/ ihrV J ^1 is a liomf'stcad ^i ^".^f''"a. \Vy,„„ ^''''''" "^ title. an.J I '"". 't is worti Ml; lc(.' simpl '■"tercel anc-w. eith cliasc at i^ov tlierc! sliniiM 1 only til '>r f'tali 5»5 ir th ^^?r"^^ it I)r/or-. ilu. , <• II leir ^'^^•mstoth.M'ni;,,!^^ lies 'vc \'( a "vctiiin. '"■'^^■^-nu'nts. as '■'^ •iro „,,. the; '^'^''»\.i '^^^'m-stoacl. or l,v ,..,. •'!"'' ^''" ^'« '*""u-nt price. //- '>' pre ;s prohably a siun <| •'^'-<-" to it that th P''''-<''ni)fr,| |,y (I ^'^' ^" Pn-/ect the till '"'Ption, or f)i,r. "'<"'i.i^inalsetilc..r '['\ -")•■ a ,.urcl,..s. of .1,", I '"^'■'«">; '>- fro,,', d pure '^' property Tor iiaser taxes ":" ", '-,."-. - ,„e „r :!;:.;':! "■■■''': '" filler huiltl ini> ■s will •s, or V may be no fence ^onsccitience. as the herd tone prohahly |„. ■^ry impc^rfe "'l'*)' \mCV. of |.j| 'K)I loud. ( '' '"nsi.h.rahly I »cn- P""'- or indiffc T\ CSS '^' ^'iljin and protects thv. setti 1 t-'t ones, hut tl (-TS c ''^^v. in most of t\^ yrc'nt, and th '^ '-"^ not of much t.'re <* -Statt; !!;;-|;';':'H,t.ontiu.oti.;;:^^^^^ '•'■'' '^••'•n broken by th and '[ cTri- lane a tonsiderabh one, two. or thr at til ic time y- ^roixs. and tl P'ou- and liarro "n^'>i are not portion of the eraii\' The- hr it CI ■op. uith th ^'■rc iDav be and will \^ he dei '^^-^^ is .eneralV the b " "'"^'^^ P' liiai T- and turn " '''^''' Pt't ill his nl irvost. ^'P i'^-^^h and P'ou for j,| ^■iri^iii soil foi ^^•^'^'- and has yielded '^ ^rou ino crop on it a so nren- aser can, ouini I'urch Icaljin, ^lu-ds fo.' 1 ' ^ ^.^l-rchased In tl ■' "^'-^t crop - beam '^ "^"re plentiful ornavi^rable ri and peril, li'hf ;ip.s a (^--rovvin r stocl. eieh ns w noar a railroad lattc loth r a little th ^■M -iwniy acres u\ .^'•crop.thenecessarvl I'ntlcr cultivat ^i)- u ith clear titi !e. '''••>n-icultural imn[ ^ worse for r)' hve-stocl. 'on. and with We ! mad P'<'ments, tl olnrat ar), and plows", h ^'-'^ liardly much 'V ^^-agons. harness !(). pt'mtor\- f ""'■'•>■. in Dakota, Wcst.-n, V f ^^"''"j' """-■'' ••«' .^^>""-.-. or Alon a ' •• :'^"-^'-' \V...st..,, k; or C«r>^ „.. . ^' "' ni Orerrnn .... 11' , . $ or iuistern K "r^r.ooo. In Af [wa.s, it pees ansas. or in Califo w \vould •oi'ld be bett. "^on or Wash ''^'^^csota. Missouri. E oes, rakes, ricul- ansas, ino-ton tern Tli, -^^ about twice as n^httV";' r'^^^^^ "' ^-''- ''• ^^'^ ^^^^^ buildings and "lan who has " "^°"-y enough to tak e him 386 OL'K irESTEi^X EMPIRE. and thcni to llicir destination maychoose; for without the $ 1,000 or $1,500 he cannot buy a farm, nor support his family on it while waiting for his first or second crop, even if the land were given him utright. He may rent a farm with a cabin and the land broken, agrce- ing- to give half the first full crop for the rent the first \ ear, and $1 to $1.50 per acre thereafter, but he must still have money to buy his furniture, agricultural implemenis, and necessary live- stock, ind to support his family till his first crop comes in. This will require at least $450, and that amount is more than he proba- bly has. Or he can hire out his own services to some large farmer, and those of such members of his family as are able to work, and secur- ing a homestead claim, erect his humble cabin, and after four or five years of hard work, he may succeed in getting his farm clear of debt, but not well stocked, nor very well cultivated. The pri- vations he and his family must undergo before he reaches this point, and indeed for two or three years after, will be very painful and severe, but in the end, perhaps, they will feel paid for their sacrifices. Hard as this life is, for so long a time, it is much better than renting a farm, and yet very many are to be found who arei anxious to rent lands. Indeed, so much are farms In demand] for rent, that as we have noticed elsewhere, Englishmen of fixed incomes, retired army or navy officers, clergymen, and retired civil officers have come to this country in very con- siderable numbers, purchased railroad and other new lands,! hired them broken with the plow, erected cheap cabins, and! rented them, deriving a much better interest for their monevl from the rental, tlian they could realize in I^ngland. In nianij instances these foreign purchasers become the possessors ofj large tracts of land, and thus lay the foundation for a landed aristocracy in the future. Renting farms is not a good practice in our Western Empird It is not wise for those who hire the farms, and it will in the end prove injurious to the owners if they settle in the vicinity oj theit lands. The policy of our government and of on hiim^r ^gtc the W' ^J^m^vG r^^^j^rs cwiv.sE. rnstitutions fs to have the LinH I i , • ^87 b-n,,. that these landholders "ha, \e ^ "^^''''^•- "-"^ ■"'■•quisite States or have declared their ^t ZT' °' "■<= ^'""<^'J re. of these seulements w,th sZ.I f °""= '*"^''- O"^' applianees of an intelligent hi^h 1 ,' "'■'"'^I^P'-'rs, and all the Tl.e rented lands, os.reeiailv f t, "^ ^'"^ ^"""^«tion, -'-. .0 this. The ctr^: :-- 'n'°^*' --*-- lord .s not,e.xccpt in States wherea n" " '' "'^'''''"'J- '■''"J- andhns no special interest in ■hr'^"'-*-"'-''""!-^ tax-paver '"'f.?™ce: the buildi;" "t rvJ'"" °^-'>«>'-^.-nt^' or .he n,oral character of fecomn ■^'' '^"'' ""^ ""P^oven,en .0 Ian., are matters which colrZ""''',''"' "^ -"^-^"'".ation ■» '0 ,?et as much fron, his fa™ "l'",';'"'- "'^ only object : '(,f ^ '^ --'-^ent with that cWec ^Tt '"' '^^""^ ^'^ ""'^ th West tends to demoralize a man aid T^""" ^' P'-^"'*^ i" se l-sLness and meanness, and incfed ah h "^""^ °"' '"•'^ J."-«^<-'d. We have already referred h n ' ""'■■'*' "-a''"!. &™in,o„a,ar,eLallTu, ^41^ "f^ --''-t on reprobation of it ;„ ,•,, ^^ ^ -"""o' speal: ,00 strongly in portions of the West where prev t 'Tu'"^'''"' °^ ''-- *e most from these overgrown 'n 1 "'"''■' ''■''^ ^"«'-'-«d "d Colorado have also been maternal,"', '""f""' ^"^ 'r-^as r t en,, and now Western Mfnn'ot. K ?' '" "'"^?rowth Montana, are in danger of ini ,rv f ' V"''"" "••>'<".« and Vscdof ,, lands alead;t:t:;„f;- "' *•-•«- ^^ 'S;3 "e and received its prefe re,l s J' '■" ^^ '" S=-So pe Pynent. As these were for '""' "' bo"ds at par fn «-ai ."enof large :. hhth;' T" '"f" ^' -O' 'ow ^riceT ;» '''-PPortnnityof ,; ' : , ;::''- -'..e of these'la.^ konds and stock, and thus sec"rred hn ' ^""''"^ ^°' "•<^^'" '.' i: / >? f^ S 6-* 3 CO O 388 f^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. some of these great farms, and some of the wheat-fields of Southern California have been very nearly as large. This brings in a large revenue to the proprietors, $200,000 or $300,000 annually ♦or the present, but the objections to it are these : 1 . The soil is not properly tilled ; the plowing is of the shal- lowest, merely scratching the ground ; the same crop is sown on each field year after year, and the yield per acre diminishes every year. The grain is all sent away, the straw and refuse burned in large heaps. Nothing is left to feed the soil or re- place what is taken from it. 2. There are no villages, no schools, no trade built up, noth- ing to encourage, and everything to discourage permanent set- tlement. The proprietor chooses to cultivate his own land, and desires no neicrhboring small landholders. 3. This mode of cultivation encourages tramps and wandennc farm laborers, and discourages families and homes Each divi- sion of the great farm has its superintendent, who has his head- quarters during the farming season in his divisions M'ith excellent stables for his numerous horses and sheds for the agricultural machinery. There are rude temporary cabins whore the travd- ling laborers sleep at niglit well packed together, and a lar^e cabin where the cooking is done for the entire division. 'Hie men who come from all quarters are hired by the day or week, and dismissed as soon as their work is done. The superintend- ent and foremen are in the saddle all day through the plowinn-, harrowing, sowing and harvesting and threshing, overseeing their workjiien and dismissing them at once if they are not thor oughly efficient. When the work is completed, the men are sent off without a word, and their future welfare is not a matter of consideration with any of the employers, who do not even know the names of their men. 4. These vast farms, often comprising two, three, or fou townships, are utterly opposed to the genius of our institution and prevent that heaUhy growth of population, manufacture: mechanism, and the industrial progress which has made oui country what it is. Even the machinery, the horses, the pn visions are purchased in large distant cities. Small farms wi strijggi/, on t/ie p; " to YwQ i enterprisi cicveiopec of its rcd^ Most of lau's which from tile d hold goods prokiblygQ tlie way for , '^ors easily ; it is a quest "ouW not be collection of i-'liaracter of tl ""'S^t be som credit. IVegive th w average 0/ '"■^sb, and d] ''oira exempts /'^'"Pt iJomestl ^"5000, and furr r"^"'- Otiiej, f'°^ f° ^2.50 pptions. ^^'^^ following I . >t a honj n eighty ftenances, tc r^'^ '■" ^ny , ^^-^^ttheoptj '"V. and tile 1 laivs which protect ,(,„ '''""°'''" ''ave homp<=,» i " goods bv ''"^'^''"'ent of his irm , ^"""g- farmer p™^4tX rr„Thr- ^'^t'^:'^'- ■1"^ «)■ for cunnintr a ' I '^■'"^'"P"on laws and h, ''^^^ iiors easily ■ but ^ ""Principled men to If T" °P^"<=d " - a qu stio, I trr"'^^^' -'<--■ ".ese , tvs t:"' "'^■■--''- •ouid not be be, "^ "'''^ political econ "°' ^'"'^<=d- »«ection of d:b :"" '" f'^"'-'' ^" stay LlZZlT. '"'"'"'' '^ ^'^cterof the n 1? "^"^^ -'■edits depend '' ,'"'' '"^ ""^ •«'>t be some ^ f' ^^^^^ this rule t^t ^^' "P°" "'« credit. "" ""-'" *''° would find it diffic ?t ' ^~",""'"'^ "'^'■- H'e give the H. '"'" "'"-'' lair averap-e of fh^o i ^-^eniption Jaw ^r at- '»- tempts but fo r;"-;' '^ --S instead of ^Z"' ^-f S<»o,andfurnitur,. 1 ,^'''"ff to an amount n^; ^"""^ ^*s Othe. r "'"'• '"ols. live-stock r , ^weeding L,«o to s° ' ' '"" ^-ritori try f "'' """""^ Lions. ' ''"^ °^ »-«« on the homestead" T""' ''""^ '"^ following are the o •• "'^^'' *"" -I- e.. , 7'>^' a homlstead onS:""r' "'" *^'""-ota law- K eighty acres a,,d t^ ^ ."^""^ 1"antity of land „ , 'SttTheTptirrr" --Xriiitrf -^ - iffm n '" ^' tile owner q^ • *""«*ge, or instearl '?'" amount one lo^ k • '^"^"^'ty of land n^. OS >^ £9 O 390 OUR WESTER iV EMPIRE. owned and occupied by any resident of this State, shall not be subject to attachment, levy, or sale, upon any execution or any other process issuing out of any court within this State. This section shall be deemed and construed to exempt such home- stead in the manner aforesaid during the time it shall be occu- pied by the widow or minor child or children of any deceased person who was, when living, entitled to the benefits of this act." The same law provides, in addition, that furniture shall be exempt to the amount of $500; animals, with food, and farmino' utensils, $300; provisions, tools, the books or instruments of pro- fessional men, etc., $400, CHAPTER VIII. The Immigrant as a Cattle-breeder and Stock-raiser — Methods of Stock- breeding IN Different States and Territories — The Texas Cattle ranche — The Ranche in California, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana- Cattle-breeding IN New Mexico, Utah, Arizona — In Washington', Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho — Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas as Cattle-breeding States — Lands best Adapted | TO THIS Pursuit — Diiferent Methods Advisable in Different Sections — Scenes in a Cattle-ranche — " The Bulls of Trinity " — The Cow-i.ovs or Herders: their Care of their Herds — Their isolated, half-savace Life — Rounding up — Branding — The Capital Necessary for Success- How A Poor Man can acquire a Cattle-ranche in Time — StatistilsofI the Cost of a moderately large Ranche. Our immigrant, like the sons of Jacob, has "had his trade orj occupation about cattle from his youth until now," and he desires! in migrating to this Western Empire to continues in the biisiiKsa with which he is familiar; or he has heard wonderful talcs of ijreat success and wealth gained in cattle-farminfr, and he believei that a similar success is withm his reach, if he follows the busil ness. Tliis latter view of the case is one more likely to be enten tained by one who emigrates from one of our Eastern Statd than by a European, for our Yankee is a universal genius an| believes himself capable of doing anything and everything wW any man has ever done — and generally, it must be acknowledgej pa r?* pct .afi PCi . (JSM a ;;»le from K,, "o'Uana. are /a ;f ^'■'■"^ mud J ey require so, r^^ders. and " Ij^d for fodder c ^^e cost of ^•^m^-.,^^^,^^ /A' r^^^s. I . --—-^^irt, y^ TEXAS fie .s successful in „hat he undcr^t . ' »' iiiiCTant o-enpnll,, r ""'^'^'^kcs— while tlm r. ilow, or under whaf r.v^ "- b-iness of s.octa ™,:"--p. "", "- i™"i,.ant ,o ,„,o I'^Vect of success ? Ti.ere ? ~"duc.cd here, wi,h a a ^ answered before „, ca " 1 "; T"f °""^' 1"«"on ,o be '""V^e.. ,.\v,,„, does ,'''^f""^''°""'^- '"'cse 'ues company and rnnr?. . • ^ ^^"^e-ranche owned hv n • • A catde-:a„ht«;d"r """'>■ • """''"°* Colorado, 0. Mon.a;: '"-'w;: ^ T"-- - one thing,. ,„, ,-„ ™»'«rant proposes to start a cZef " ^""^ ='"°"'«'- If our Leilas „o occasion for barns or , , *-'"" ^"^ less costlv »;-boys will be mainly £11 '^r ™'-^--"^' ''- herders or i-atrt^-H^-;j':;t^s^:f :-''~es,a„dhet:^r-^-^^--^£ I »' ^- :^t XXtr'^--' ^— *e general run ;-^.n°;ofiargesi.:x:,d'::dd" ''""'r "-^- tr i ?"'=" r*--'" '*° o-- three years oir^r°""'=^'--dilp. 1I„! ^■■""^=' Colorado Wvn ^"^ "Carcasses. The " " ana, are larger, of beUer h ^T'"° ""'' I^nicularly frol J'l" brinsr much !,;m ''^"'^'^ breeds, not wild h, ^ ■: Vh require . f^*" P"'^ !"«'> alive and n ^ ''''^ ^"'' I y require somewhat more c-,r» , j '^s dressed beef I ' >erders, and should haveTol ' '"'^^'^ '"'^'ligent cllss '^ "" °^^-'"^ -ers, ii; thTla^e w y ;7 ^'^^^^ ^^ I * ^va),in Texas IS only pa 3 jp2 ocK ir/:S7i:/^x empiri:. about forty to fifty cents per head per annum ; in the central and northern tiers of States and rerritories, it ranges from 60 cents to )^i.io; but this difference is more than made up in their greatL-r market value. As to the capital required, this depends, even in Texas, very much upon the ability or inability of the stock-raiser to buy and fence his land. Land is very cheap in Texas ; grazing lands can be bougiit for from 10 cents to %\ per acre — but from 3,000 to 5,000 acres are required for 1,000 head of cattle, and the fencing of this from $1 ,500 to 5^2,500, the fence being at first a single board and a barbed wire — which will be sufficient to turn cattle. If the stock-raiser prefers to pasture on the range he must have for 1,000 cattle at least six herdsmen, whose wages will be from $1,200 to 5^1,500 and their cabins and keeping. Eight hundred cows, each with a calf, will cost about $10,000, and it will be best to invest not less than $2,000 more in Durham oi' Holstein bulls in order to improve the Dreed. The house, stable and pens, even of the rudest kind, will cost $1,000, and the horses, saddles, wagons and supplies not less than $1,000 more. If the immigrant buys and fences his land, he will have to invest from $18,500 to $21,500 at the start. If he buys no land except a homestead and pastures on the unimproved lands, he will be able to get along with about $4,500 less, say from $14,000 to $17,000 in all. For three years the returns will be small. The stock-raiser will keep his heifer calves, and sell a few of his steers when they are a year old, though it pays better to keep them till they are two or three years old. His stock will be improving in quality every year, and at the end of three years he will have a mixed herd of 1,200 to 1,500 head, and can thereafter, unless his herd should be attacked by cattle plague or some other disease, sell off every year from $6,000 to $8,000 worth of cattle and yet increase his herd each year ; but he will have to buy his land and fence it, if he has not already done so, and increase the number of his employes. , ^^^ But, says the immigrant, can I not start in the business of cattle raising with less than $15,000 or $20,000? Yes, if you area single man, and have decided to settle in Texas. You may begi witli a 100 CO' part of twenty J start on met/iocJs succeed i Texas mi ""l^Ieasan join t-stocf on ihii'xr gj some of tlh or thirty ye stances are without own Tile busines as wall as ca are very fe^v niake any ace gowitiioutit. erately Jaro-e, ■ 'soften carrfe( "^^y begin xvit "ttie-ranche a 'f's still possfl •"■'"^fniost on! Colorado and i . ^''S^ ^caie, and ^^ock companie] 2^ail themseivei eniment lands Pn'^^' Coloradl P"'-c'^ased lands,! n^d hnds on tf [raising in CoiorJ pe pasturage, ar ^■.•"•t on nnich less ,N. ""' '*'"••'" bc-.-inn , > '" ■"" succeed in sToc ,'"''""''«'•''"' "'■''• a S» ^ """^ °">'-''- Texas intima et "^ ""'" States ancT'' "l"''^' ">"y JO...C-stock companies w, ' "'"'"• ^''^ *cre arc r, '°° on tlieir great rin.T ' """'^ omplov a fl ""^ "° »nK.of L^pJ^^.f!''- ' -it'lu be poSe [I'T ""''"^^'^^ Tl.e businesT ;:tr:, ^'"■'" ""^■''' - 'he e" : 7„ ^'-X -e.ie as well as cif.l "'" °''ganized or sv,„ *'"' """=s. ;t2;r r^- -''^ --^ ^ ^^^^^^^ te -^'t ■-- "y begin wi.,,: fc;~""-'-" -iti, ..oek.^i^il'f ■^"'•'^-'•'•yinff «■» still possible to f::' r "■•= -"- "n,!. On"^,'"'' "P - ".It most onlv- , I '°''' *"'io"t ownin,. . ™""^'' «"i'"ent lands P , ^ ""'niproved and nn ^ ^^^° ,^)'tiie Colorado CattJ r^ ^''''"^^'"o Ranche IT ""' biased lands n.. ^""'"'P^^^V, besides its " ' '"^ °^"^d 1'^)'^^ 'ands o.f ;, rrr^" "-^iy 500,000 aj: 'r r" ^^ ^^- m cZ , ■'^""^"^ "fountain slone^ ^ ^ ""^ ""^"r- ^e, and CpWado beer has the hiX^^^^^^^^^^ ►as /33 tQ^ OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. The man who attempts to start a cattlc-rancho with less than 1,000 head, and with a capital of less than $20,000 or <,J5,ooo, will hardly find it profitable. And while this is the: lowest limit, 1^100,000, $200,000, or even $500,000 can be invested with ;.;r(at advantai^e and profit in the business. W'c have spoken of the joint-stock comj)anies for stock-raising. I'ersoiis of moilcraic capital, but who liave money which can lie for two or three years without much return, in the hope of an ample one after that time, may find this a desirable mode of investment. It is not dinicult for men who have been accustomed to the care of cattle, and who have a little capital of their own, to obtain a situation on these large ranches, where purchasinj^ and branding a few cattle, they can have them pastured free on the ranche, and securing for themselves a quarter or half section of land, can, by degrees, erect the necessary cabins and ccrrals, break up their land, and sow it with forage grasses or root crops, and keeping up two or three of their cows, they have their own butter and milk, fat somu pigs, and at the end of, say, five years, have a fair stock of cattle to start their own ranche, and if the location has been well selected, with abundant water, they can probably secure, when needed, sutii- cient land to pasture their stock, at very moderate prices. The herder's life is, however, a very lonely one, and a man who has a family will find it very distressing to him and them, to ktad a life of such isolation and with so few comforts. There is indeed a prospect of a moderate competence in the future, but that futurei seems so far off, and meanwhile his children, if he has any, are! growing up without opportunities of education, and without the refininfif inlluences of social life. Cattle-ranches of large extent cannot exist in the immcdiatej vicinity of large villages; they require too much room; someofj them occupy an entire county, and except the necessary dweJJino^sl and offices at the home of the proprietor, where there may be also a post-office, there will be in the whole county no scttlej ment aside from the isolated cabins of the herders, and, of course neither schools nor churches. The life of the herder is not without its perils, and those mord serious than are usually supposed. These perils are of variouj Jv'inds ; art; Ur hulls an any one thirst or i'hc p, Conroy,' t'rn CaJif visits the and while upon tile of the buJ all directio retreat for '"('an time ( and hy a st 'oot, w'lih^i^^ ^"t just at 1 "loiinted on ^'(-^rds, and c thong], he ],, rado herds a fornia buJIs, mounted, he «lien the ex( f'"*" upon iYi deftly /Jung. . g'ore and toss ^I't this pe ^^nger to whic %''est sunimi ""onarch amon ^^' fresli bee/: ''''' even m th< ^^ by the yeJJ, ^^^'■f^t^' to attac ^'""'er. his territ """' "' '"'• //«•/-.... ,,,, kinds: ,vh,.T,., as i„-,vv,sc.,if • »l bulls a,H, M,'s ,!""'■""'• ''^"^■"■'■1'' M-" , T ^ ^^ ""'" -y on. els. ::.'.„ f'-'^-;-. -specially whr" ^.tr ' "»-• moan time others r..-« • " "^' ^^ccs thcin r,. i " uuicrs aie conimLr un -if i,; l , ^ '^'-'solute y, but and bv a sfnliVi k ^ i -^ * "^ '^''^ bark- • N.. • /> ^^uc Hut just at the crisis of 1, fo, I "■■' '■' ^Pl«'-en,K. no 1 "nt »»"nt«1, 1 e is '„ '''•■'P'' "°' ■'<> 'vilcl. If he r , '"'■' ^^''■- '" "'e excted animals, «or;l,[ i ^ '" """ding up time »?er to ,vl,ich the herder ise , ',' ''^ "^ "'^^'"^ 'he onlv '"J'lest summit of ,!,„ p , ,, '^'^Posed. AVest of ,h„ a- ? ^ I '-"^'e to attack men as vd a^ h ' '^" ''^'="°-' '>« wll „"" OS >-* £9 r: - (x% a 39-- oL/i ir/js/ /-AW r.MriKE. a ino-^i formidable anta<;oiust. It is V(;ry dannroroiis to attack liim sinj^loliaiulcd. The cougar or pantluT, and the jaj^uar or Aimtricaii lij^i-T, arc also ready to prey upon the 1um'*-' '^^" '^^>"ncf recorded in ^\ 'K'II the SUM Ii'K n • SHOWS an- Micltc..! I ^ ^'''"" ''^"^^""'•'i 'lis sway and tU • '■"in, .iriil to some cxtrin i,, w i . fc ,u.s„„..s, of stock.nai.si,,,, ,Jr,' " "^'""ff'"n a„"d the """■"•"■'•and do not ordin.^rilvl T "■""•"'• ^"> keep o„t »J -.m„,er the only co ?iZ ' """'' "'•■^'■- '" "'<-• -sp r *« .Ley arc too fa' T;"an"l ""•'"'■'' '" "°"'-a ca 1^ ^ "y"ftl.eNorth..rn I'acifi L , :;,:'-^-''7"''' '^ ''^n.^land ,; an at a very Jar^c profit '' ""'""" ^P<-'rial fatteni,,.. In California there nre 1. » r " ""clios left \ |„ ' "• '"" f"" of llie old Mexicin q • , "• -^ '« tter race of cartle I,, , ^'''"""Spanish ■pl."rn..d, raw-boned, lean Me.ic ,;:,'•''"", ""•■ P'^^' of tlu,- »f'ar,c herds are n„t now the 2' ''••■'',''' ''''^ P™P'-'<'''''-s ;;;-.^".n. hldal.os of thirty, v^, ''f ft .''t:'' ""'"^ "°'"P""«. but ".io, keen-eyed Americans Ger^, ^ -7" •''S". but « idc- ™l= can boast of a pedi^ee , T''^ T' -"ff'''^'""^-". whose « J«. IS to n,ake fortones o'u of ' ''-•'■''■'^°°'^' •'■"J "hose ° ™. le raised i„ California tholri "■ '"''*■ ^'"= """'be «^^cvcs are not shipped (14 o 2C)8 O^'A" WESTERN RMPIliE. ihence to other countries to any great extent. They number probably about 1,800,000 head, of which about one-third are milch cows, and dairy-farming is rapidly increasing in importance. The character of the stock is very high, and some of the best im- ported cattle on this continent are to be found in California Both the bulls and cows are in demand in the States and Terri- tories east of the State, for stocking new ranches. Kansas and Nebraska, especially the former, have been more famous in the past for pasturing and fattening Texas cattle driven thither for that purpose, and shipping tiiem when fattened over their railways to the East than for the management of large herds of their own ; but this practice is less prevalent now than some years ago, as the Texas catde arc now fattened to a considerable extent at home, and shipped either as live-stock by steamer to Europe, or slaughtered and sent packed in refrii^rci-. ating rooms on the steamers to Europe or to New York. Kan- sas has now nearly 1,300,000 head of cattle, of which about one- third are milch cows, and Nebraska about 700,000 in the same proportions, while Texas with her 7,000,000 of cattle has not over 800,000 milch cows. The western half of both Kansas and Ne- braska is well adapted to stock-raising, and with the facilities for shipping their stock to market over nine or ten nearly parallel railways, the business can be conducted with large profit. Iowa and Missouri have each nearly 2,500,000 head of cattle, of whidi in Iowa more than 800,000 are milch cows, and in Missouri about 675,000. Wyoming has large and increasing herds, and is probably somewhat better adapted to cattle than to sheep. Besides her own extensive ranges of pasture, the Wyoming stock-raisers have for some years driven large herds into the North Park of Colorado, where the pasturage is excellent. Utah and Nevada have some good grazing lands, and are turning attention to cattle-raising, and the number of herds, tliough small, is increasing. New Mexico is peculiarly adapted to sheep-cultnrc, but, though dry, is also a good region for cattle, as are also ] portions of Arize na. In the lofty mesas or table- lands from which still more lofty spires and peaks lift their heads into \.\\( and po( an^l the {\.\rn\^\\ In all which p; being tu with oth( do what sity once large, ma; the Ji erde are cmplo man ship a of all the! Territory, the cattle v too-ether fr of cattle an their emplo selves. Th g-uarded an to their con sionally a bi rude treatm ^vouJd show or toss the '"nstrumcnt o '^^^\r work Av both they anc The herd I fwo other fmj ^^ere to be br ^o^vs througji pass through file brandj'r, \^ Pi'Je of Jogs at "7//A h'OUXD UP." 399 into the region of pcrjictiial snow, the melting; snows form lakes and pools whose waters can be made to irrigate the lands below, an«^l these lands, 6,000, 7,000 and even 9,000 feet above the sea, furnish excellent grazing for cattle. In all those States and Territories where there arc larrre herds which pasture upon the unsurveyed government or State lands, being turned out, as the phrase is, upon the range, they mingle with other herds and stray away often many miles. The herders do what they q7\.\\ to keep them together; but there is a neces- sity once a year for a " round up," which, if the herd is very large, may last two or three weeks. This is a great occasion for the herders and the cattle men, of whom a considerable number are employed as extra hands. These are all experts in horse- manship and in the use of the lasso or lariat, and they have need of all their skill very often. In Texas, New Mexico, the Indian Territory, Arizona, and formerly in Southern California, where the cattle were very wild, the herders, after gathering the herds together from over a wide circuit, rode into the crowded masses of catde and lassoed every steer or cow which had the brand of their employer upon it and drew them out into a herd by them- selves. The calves followed their dams, and each herd was guarded and separated from the other till they could be driven to their corrals or their own particular herdingground. Occa- sionally a bull, bullock, or steer, or a cow unaccustomed to this rude treatment, and afraid her calf was to be taken from her, would show fight, and, with head lowered, would attempt to gore or toss the horse or his rider, from whose unerring aim the instrument of torture had been flung, but the horses trained to their work were too active and alert to be in much danger, and both they and their riders enjoyed the sport. The herd being dius separated from the herds of other owners, two other important duties remained to be performed ; the calves were to be branded, which was effected by driving them with the cows through a passage so narrow that but one animal could pass through at a time, and at the narrowest part of the passage the brander, his branding-iron heated to redness in a blazing pile of logs at his back, pressed it down upon the back of the S *iX cH pa 5^ ►-5 u-— »J cO- P^< rt: f>J ^ P^ prf f_-« fj "/^ ^ ' "> >-j i--*^ ^^ (J» a ^OO ^^'^' WESTERN EMPIRE calf. Every proprietor has his own peculiar brand, which is recorded in the county records. The next thing to be done is to select the three or four-year old steers to be sent to market, and, if any of the cows and calves are to be sold, they also are withdrawn from the herd. The se- lection of these animals for sale is easy or difficult, according to the degree of wildness which they manifest ; sometimes they are readily and easily culled out, but at other times the lasso is re- quired, and there is a protracted struggle, before a refractory steer will take his place where he belongs. Where, as in Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and to some extent in Montana and California, dairy-farming is connected with stock-raising, and the herds are much smaller, it is possible for a man who is thoroughly conversant with the business to conduct a good stock and dairy farm, beginning, we will say, with forty or fifty cows and two or three bulls, with as matiy j ; rling or two-year old steers as he can find pasture for, with a capital at first of not more than ^6,000. For this purpose he should buy a quarter-section, pre-empt another, take anodier under the Homestead Act, and another still under the Timber-Culture Act, if on the plains, looking out for the springs, and if he makes a wise selection he will have the land between the springs for a free range for some years. He will need to put considerable money into fixtures for a dairy farm, to select his cows from Alderney and Jersey grades if he can find them ; if not, Ayrshires or Holsteins ; and he should have at least one Alderney and per- haps one Holstein bull. He should sow forage grasses largely and keep his dairy cow.- near the homestead, feeding them freely as the [)astures become dry. He will be able to sell his steers at the end of one or two years if in good condition for a very larger profit, and well-made butter and cheese always commands high prices throughout these States and Territories. An industrious and skilful dairy farmer beeinnine in this mod- erate way can, in ten years, have as large a dairy as he will wish! to manage, and sell every year from 5^3,000 to ;{^6,ooo worth i choice stock without impairing the value of his herd, and v' h^ engage //j /f iie IS ar situat/on i ^^^cid^r a p come weait 's as folio w: o[ as good ^S'er m wiic and MndQn^\ '"^gesofhcr on unsiirveyc or/g/na/ herd, f^^ stock, and or tivo-year o '■^^'^- Wh^n '"•'g^'naliy p„t ^"d of the bus profits after n ;^os« ab/i/t/es become wealth) '■^ --y 'mle opportuJi^'^^f f !" P"-^-""^ pages, however „,. »gase,n stock-farn,;„/J°,;''^„7" "'"' "'"'= ^ "« cap- a t ' if he IS an exnpr^ ;« *i. ">^ reasonable n.-« ^^^P'tai to ""der a plan™ ^'T °" ""« °f 'he ioinf" ^ '"='>' ""^'ain a -ewei^^; "S',""'^' '■" Montana tw°« ""^'"^'' -''. '•« as follows "^oneo ""'"'r ''«"'''«1 b/Mr 7; T'"^ '^•^- »f-..oo., .nair/a^ptX^'^'f ='^ P-''- aK^^ •^»--n::i:^rCpr''"''-'^^^^^^^^^^ »« unsurveyed lands) Thr'°"' "<=■ f"'^ --anffel frt? "'' onginal herd, but tlu- capitalists retain th!' 7 ' ■""•'"S' *-tock, and ifie d.^"'-"''"'"^'^- "'es from' "''^^ '" "^^ or tivo.year old 1 ^^^ "^V ''"V from fhl "'^='"« of 7"'^ after payi ^^ ^ ^--s thereafter one , X' [^ ''^^ >*<'se abilities and i„t! ''.''P^"^'^'- 'n ten years 'T^° " "^' hco^e^wealthy. '"'^^"'^ -i-ify him fo^t 'Z::Z » — ' (luj ^-1 pel ^ ;^ o m^ 402 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER IX. Sheep-farming and Wool-growing — The Best Regions and the Lest Breeds — The Most Direct Routes thither — The Methods ov Sheep- farming IN OUR Western Empire — Capital Required in Different Sfx- TioNs — The Shepherds — Antagonism of the Herders and Shepherds- Improving the Breeds — Wintering the Sheep — Water in Aijundancea Necessity — Destruction of the Herds from Thirst — Snowinc; Under- Fatal Effects of a Severe Norther — The Shepherd's Life more Isolated AND WITH less EXCITEMENT THAN THAT OF THE HerDER OR CoW-DOY— hs Risks and Dangers — How to Buy and Stock a Sheep-ranche — The Amount OF Capital Necessary — The Cost and the Profits — The Enemies of the Shee.' -How a Poor Man can become a Sheep-master. The ini ising attention which has been given within the past ten or twenty years to sheep-farming in Great Britain, as well as on the continent, and the fact that in the Australian colonies, the South African colonies, and the Dominion of Canada, it is one of the chief branches of agricultural industry, will almost neces- sarily inspire in the minds of emigrants from Great Britain or the continent of Europe the desire to engage in it here. In Europe sheep-farming, except on a very small scale, cannot be conducted by any but wealthy proprietors. The land, especially in the United Kingdom, is in few hands, and is so valuable that a sufficiency of it for a large sheep-farm is beyond the means of the small farmer. Sheep-pastures, which rent at from ^8 to $25 per acre, are certainly beyond the reach of men of small means, especially if they reckon as they do in Colorado, in their lavish way, that they need to have a range of five acres to a sheep, in order to change their flocks from one pasture to another. The large and constandy increasing importation of sheep and mutton for food purposes into Great Britain from Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, reduces the price of mutton there so low that the farmers cannot raise sheep for their flesh, and the vast increase in the production of wool, and the marked appreciation in its quality in the United States and Canada, as well as in other countries, keeps down the price of that staple. PS OS pa CO a Let West f, with a « prospec him to profitahl Let w. the man sheep-far siWe; an( very few o than u'o ui( starting- on great adva, on the who cheaper Jan aJi present i f^'e Mexican ^^;ooIatas/ie will average commands^'a sheep are siJ and somet/mj rof, though nl ^''^''e IS no fol I , ^"f- PerhaJ , ^f3te is that fi] ^'■ow'ers. who J '"^f'^e to mak warrant. TiieJ '"tending in,n,if ''}' theoretical 1 j'^^^^^'athasbeJ P''°'^ers, and m J i'T^'^' in the! Ir'' 7.ooo,oocf r^^^^'-aS'e small ^■"•'y-n. ■f,EF.Dr.D FOR o,„^ Let ..s (hen . •. ^'""'''"-iKAfwc. West fro,„ ; ; pX";;'^-^ whether „,e ,•„,„;„„„, ^„ . ^°^ »■■"• a small cS :,^ ^"^P^. -' fron, ou/ow„ .T'"""' i° "■<= p^^pect of sucC : : -;- "p- »'-p-ra::;jt:ra'T'- him to locate ... , ^°' '" what rerrfMn v ^.„ ^"^ ^^'^ pro«taB,e T;::' ^'- "-"3 or she^^" ^ L^^ t" ' '"^ Let us say at th^ '"^^^ the man vvJio M. ^""^'"encement of thi^ ^• sheep-farm w^ ^^ ^^"^^ ^-ooo at h om''"'!,""' ^'^^^ '« * ; and Iven S^T^ ^" ^^"^^'^^^ -^ oth rs~; ' ^."'^^^^^ very few of rh q ^^'''^ '""^^ capital h T' ? "^^"-"'g^ 'nipos- vcry icw Of the States or Tprr.v • ' ' "^ '^ ^"^y PractiVp M« • than wouid suit th , • ^'^^'tories, and with p m V "^ '" ^ ™ol at a shearing .V^ ""=>' >''^'<1 ^ut three off "''Sely of will averate ovT^i *" '^^'"'^^^ ^''«P have been ' P°""''^ °^ avLrag-e overfive pounrls „. u ^^" "nproved till il,. ""■mancis a so.nevvhaf Zt Ir ''■' "'^'^y ^'^ and he "^^J *ep are subject ,o thelclb .*" "'" "'^^'<«- T e tJ , B«. perhaps, Z beslt' "''-' °' "'^ «-''• '' ' "lore skillful tha rit''f'"-^-^''rZ. " those who desi: ""'" s.all sheep-farn,, r.::t'l:'y-"'^^<^rs do „:^ I &fH pa O because they a^e apt to be in the 404 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. way of their great free-ranges, and, as they allege, on account of the greater profit ami advantage of handling them in large llucks; hut it is well to note what these sheep-masters say of the busi- ness. Col. John James, a sheep-master for thirty years, and occupying an extensive tract west of San Antonio, writes that that region known as Western Texas is well adapted for Merino sheep. "We have not tried fairly," he says, " to jaisc the finer and heavier mutton sheep. We know they do not herd well, or as well as the Merinos, and a great deal of expense is saved by being able to run them in large flocks. The fmer-wooled sheep pay the best. We know no other disease among them except the scab,''' which is not hard to cure, nor is the expense heavy to do so. We think that the scab will not originate in that country if the sheep are properly cared for and kept out of dirty pens. We have now an excellent scab law, and that disease will be so generally controlled that we will not hear much of it from this time forward. We run our sheep in llocks of from i,oooto 1,500, generally as high as the last named figure, and we use Mexicans for shepherds, and pay them $12 a month, and rations which cost about $6 a month more. The cost of living on a ranche may be rated somewhat as to the taste and habits of each ranchero. If persons can economize labor, the outlay for food is not a serious item. Meat is abundant and cheap, and is gen- erally produced on the ranche. The people live generally upon fresh meat — cattle, hogs, mutton, chickens, and game. Coffee, sugar, and flour cost higher than where there are railroads. Corn is either raised on the ranche, or purchased at about ^i per buslifil, and there are mills within reach to grind it. "Shiep and cattle men care very little for farming, their atten- tion in the spring of the year being devoted to their stock, which j then requires more attention than at other times. "We do not pen our flocks at night; our shepherds sleep out! on the ridges at night with the sheep — the flocks, at night, beingi near to each other for mutual protection ; nor do we put up any] feed for winter use. The grasses and other food they get, uponj * Perhaps not in that vicinity, but in the lower lands of Texas the foot-rot has been fearfull]lj prevalent among the sheep. As the lands are drained this disease disappears. , ^'"^■■'"'"unt of fl,~ "" »vcraffe are ,, ' '•""'■^- «-^''*A.„. »y.sWttV:r,K'''"-'^""='^--nJune No , '"' co"lril.utc n,n„'; 'r ■ "'''^'"'' --"'J saline ^r ' """ '^'"-'<^P "k best ran<.cs til , " ■'° So°o be driven ,'""'^- °''<^" i" f- -^l- -r o t;" '"°""^ '■'^='-" »''y be s, r '"■, ^°'- ""'es .0 'f " -- '--Vu?^^^^^^^^^^^^ and d:e I'c: r!!- ^f'len t IS ho^^ 1 " ^"^''r rarxr^o r^ ,, ^'^ ^o than Probably 900 will hV^"'' *°° 'ambs a year old f "^rino sht^ !',''" •>/"•"• and generally ne,',^ ^T '"^ ""^''• *ne in M^"'^ f "^ ^'"ff^ more tl.an one ^ f "''''=''• The «)"'-ce^n air ,/","" =" "«' -rHil^^t ""r'"^ ''^ centsafleere \u *"', ^ ^ "P the wool nn.^ , ^ ^anche, "3an AnZio. ''^' ''° "^ -" °"r sbeep ^ -;^'3, ''• '^ «ve "The fleeces f. I- r '^^ ^^'i our wool ^>*^ PQ ;3 1-3 O 406 ^'^^ IVESTERfi^ EMPIRE. as they mature, say in the winter preceding the clip ; therefore they are four years old. Such was the case the present year, and these animals produced the most wool. " The heaviest lleece we sheared from a ram, raised at home, gave over seventeen pounds. Good wethers give from Jx to ten [)ounds for the year's growth. " Sheep kept in smaller (locks give more wool than when kept in large Hocks, but not enough to compensate for the extra expense. "There are plenty of four-year-old mutton sheep upon the ranches now, in Uvalde and Frio counties, which will net sixty pounds, and will yield twenty pounds of tallow, and this is a good weight for Merino sheep to reach. " When a wool-grower has sheep enough to supply a Hock master, say five thousand head or more, fifty cents a year will keep and care for each sheep, including taxes and other ex- penditures, and will also enable a man to procure and pay more reliable labor than we have now. "The business suits single men better at the present time. but upon the general occupation of the country, that difficulty will be less felt. " Lands for sheep have been purchased generally during the past year at about fifty cents per acre, but values are increasing. " Wool-growers may begin upon a small tract of land, but the time is at hand when they will be required to own or rent the land they graze" upon. All prudent wool-growers buy lands adjoining to them as fast as their means will permit them to do so. " It is true that this business will be an important one in this country. I think it will be second only to the great cotton inter- ests of Texas, but it will take time to get the breeding stock to occupy the country. Sheep for breeding purposes can be got from Mexico, but they are very indifferent in quality and size, and wool very coarse ; otherwise they have to come from the Western States. " By selling our mutton in January or February, when animals j for food are often on the decline in more northern counties, and g'cnci pnce? mar/vc W'Ooi 1 regard i/.e ^'i^ s/ie w/t/i t/i, '■" t/ie St of tile St. 'V T/,< cu^t/vat/nc ^^^^g t/ie/ 'nterest/ng examp/e. fo t'le /nqi Sfate Boan 'o'' Deceml s'x reports, i "^^^^i, w/iert 'fsfu^tsofbi '■'•oni t/,e Sou ^"'^ fvvo from o>vn story f^a '"tested more '"■^f- yet t/ie/r '"^ 's /'"ke/y t, ^^ f^'ey caii t/ ones. '''"^ "'■"<-■ years I ^'f^' -'"ch as g* of fleece' r" ""'"on at "^ffE h\i/^SAS POLICY / generally so in othn. ^''^^''•^^i^MWG. woo/ which com^= ■ '" '''■s'crop. n,,. *^ ","= f">"> o„r regard each crop J"'" ""'^''« ^l-'t ^l^f.T'f.T'' '^ ""= •'■'•<= policy of S.eVT''-" "■""'" "■'••" f'y cuh L > ""'' ' ••■ffe "'"-•opfam, „t' ^""'^^ People >s, on^he ' " "'^ ""= ^'•'■' f-'of .he large, cCf ",' *^"'"' ™«s "c T,;" ™""'-«'°'> '" ll'e Slate reporhn ' "'"•'^P'-anches in I.' '•''■'' '''" ^'•••y of "■estate was, "^ '»'°°° «l'een in ,s ""'"''' "^ ™"n.y '■"?• T/.e ereri":"' Vt°°° "-' >• ar and i" ""^ ■''^''■'->--'« culefvatinj, the "d T ""=■"= '■"»" sheep fe.n " "'''""' '""'■^^■ example/ VVel, '"^'T''^^ '» those'^wjl '?'',^'""'« fa.' to be - •'>-•", jw:.t; -'--'' f^n, a „atvi.;: ,?°^ '"- State Board of An- i * ^^'^'•■"'^"t Secretarv r .^° '""'"■"' fo^ Decen,ber ^fsf :« '"? ~"«'"^d '"^ O.^VT 'Kansas f'"eports, onelom he' ^'■^""^ P"'"ished I fZ ^ '^''^'' West, where the Th ^^"''-''"^ east of the I? '"^' '«»<>). '«"" 'he Southe°^;''''°"= ^^^ 'he Northern^^'" P'"'''-'^ '"•"' »em, tame" grasses, take ihe f ™'""^'^''' "^ |/^^^W.o.,^,„^^_ -""^P'-ofthewiM We nine years • h^A ' "^^^-^^^ ^^^^^/k--" Hav. • . r 04.nal 's ol r ''^^"'^"^^^ in Iowa O '"'^^''^^P r^^eds. such as Co? , ^''"'^'"^^ '" this w' ^,^" ^°° ^'^ad • ^old woo) in ,879 fo^ o ^o8 ^^'^ n'/isrr.KN empire. twenty two cents. Lonjj, fine wool most profitable. Wcthors may l)o kept until three or four years old; ewes until seven Lose from two to three per cent, of my llock annually by natural causes ; tloj^^s kill about two per cent. ; wolves this year ^ot three per ct;nt. My sheep run on prairie in summer; k(;pt in a dou. proof corral at ni^ht. Turn them on tame pasture towards fall, and wiien this bej.,dns to fail commence feedinjr prairie hay, milK.i or clover, increasin^j the hay until they have all th(;y will eat, As cold weather comes on, 'i^iL\A a little corn, {gradually increas- inji quantity until they g(;t an ear apiece each day ; give corn morning and night, and all the hay they will eat clean ; salt twice: a week in summer, and once in winter. Last year I had 148 sheep, worth $333 — sold wool for 5(^203.28; mutton, $31.50 = $23478; and have now 208 head, worth j^iGoo. Dogs and wolves are great drawbacks here to success in raising sheep." A. y. Uhi, DoHo;/ass, Butler- County. — " Have been for thirteen years raising sheep in Kansas ; previously had experience in Illinois and Texas. Find Kansas has much drier cli^iate, not so much mud ; sheep lots and corrals can be kept i "ich better condition ; no fear of foot rot, unless shipped in w.t.. scock from abroad ; much larger percentage of lambs can be raised on account of dry weather at dropping time, which, with me, is in March and April. In Texas, grass dried too soon, and winter feed cost too much. My flock came originally from Michigan; have owned same stock for eighteen years ; in that time had rams from Vermont, Illinois and Missouri. All seemed to do well, from whatever section they came, with proper care. Many bring sheep to Kansas late in fall, thin in flesh, half i^AiA them, then attribute failure to acclimation. I think good feed and proper care all the acclimation needed in Kansas. I lave at .present 478 in my flock ; 1,000 may be successfully kept in one flock. 1 consider Cotswold ewes, bred to Merino rams, best cross for wool ; for mutton, Southdowns preferable. My expe- rience is, however, that mutton alone will not pay ; for both wool and mutton, cross from Cotswolds and Merinos best. I raise eighty-five per cent, of all lambs dropped. My average weight of fleece, in 1 879, seventeen ana a quarter pounds. Sell my mut- '■'•"ts ,,,.T ,,o,„.,l M ""y wool for ,870 1,1 , '*"■ cross of M.. „, ,,^';'7.''™'i'.-'Wc. ,.a"■■ "11" t-iip ot JS7n at tei/ ^^ • Wethers tf i «^ . *« Lave killed fifteen head „ ,? "^ ^^ '^'^^^'^ or does' >'-P-n,e the prairie :yre'::;7r """""« ^"^^ P-^ountof «c.n r ^^A ' ^'^"'^ «"Id wool mrl ' '"^^"• .^530.40, and have on hand c,? , '""''"" ^^ the ^"d 512 sheep .vorth<53 each, e— 3 ►- -if '^ f ' i Ft 410 OilR WESTERN EMPIRE. or $1,024. Goats are advantageous to lead sheep; there are eight in my flock, that lead the sheep out in the morning and back at night. I see no drawback to successful sheep culture here ; if slieep are sheltered from storms, and not allowed to get chilled, there is no fear of disease." y. L. Grinncll, Peabody, Maricn County. — " Have raised sheep here four years ; was never in the business elsewhere. Have 500 now ; ewes from Iowa, bucks from Missouri. They do bet- ter second year tl. m first. For wool, a cross of Merino and Cotswold is most profitable ; for mutton. Southdown, or cross of Southdown and Cotr wold ; and this last is also preferable for both wool and mutton. Increase in my flock "was 108 lambs from 100 ewes. Cotswolds are most prolific. Average weigiit of fleece from my sheep, six and a quarter pounds. Only local market for mutton ; price, 5^3 per head. Delaine or combing- wool most profitable. Paysi to keep wethers until four years old for wool, rather than to sell younger for mutton ; good breeding ewes should be kept until exhausted. Losses from natural causes, about three per cent, per annum ; none by disease or wolves ; dogs killed this year about one and a half per cent. My flock is herded by day and corraled at night during summer; in winter, kept in yards with good sheds ; on fair days, allowed to range in stalk-fields. Original cost of flock I750 Original cost of bucks 200 Lost by dogs 220 Lost by other causes ■ 300 Total jr,47o Value of wool sold ^1,340 Value of mutton sold 275 Present value of flock 1,600 Total . . $3^, Drawbacks are want of tame grass for fall pasture, and dogs. yoscpJi Hosteller, Glasco, Cloud County. — " Have been raising! sheep for six years in Kansas; previcisly handled sheep in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. Some of the advantages Kansas possesse, chea/ier shorter \ Pen/is)iv^ stock CO/] American cross vvoui for woo], II •"utton, she rams, Avt cent, of nui five pounds, Kansas Qt), '■™'"$2.5otc ^wfent)'-two i grade of wooi are four ycat '"e- Losses cent, annually are herded thn tfiem m the sh "i^'it- Dur/nc a bushel of co" t'le stalk fieic /'■arm sJieds in s^it fhem up JS'ieep eat abo'I iMcli month. polio Ws; rr'year,at,o png 7 months f'^«shel.scorn,a't |'onesl,ay,at^2 r^'^'"?- 5 cents per »' 5 head, at ^3 Total . possesses over Pennsylvania ar. i ' ' ' ^u oM-T feed and P^s^LT^Z^J"'' "T"''^ '" '>andl,W honcr w,„tcrs. Have now fi " t' ''''""'■y ^'™-'-. and enn,sylvan,a and Wisconsin r ewes , H ''T'^'' ""^ ™ in tock com.njf originally from oT ^"«^'" '" '$^.5oto^4,. wethers «/ to T •. ^"^^ <"" ewes ranges '•-.y-two and a quarte t I'^oe"' "^^'P"'' '879 soldi .-de of wool, long ijjerino. Kel mv '""k"'' *'°^' P^fitaUe f f"- years old; good ewes „C h f ""^^^ '"°^ *°°' "" 'hey fe Losses in my flock from n^^^ , '"'P' P^^'ably till thev *7 ^" ;i'e .We'; t:r;; otr? -■"'^-^ <^ ^ot dt,t:^ ■f . During winter feed all th '•' ^"'' '""'^ ^"^ co;raUt St r '° --^ - "eid^^^^^^^^^^ "-^ -•" eat::';; tne Stalk fields and on Drpir;« • ^^^^^X' ^^'^^ ^anp-g them «„ I, ' "' *3. U90 ewes) fiKerest/ year it •« ,. |n„,. ^™'^' '^^ '° per cent, ping 7 months, at $c >busheIscorn,at,5,ems' jloneshay, at $2 '^"i"g, 5 cents per head' 5s» S iiead, at ^3 Total i^^>47o 00 M7 00 35 00 »o5 00 70 00 25 00 15 00 jSi,867 00 ' — • fjj .'3 1-J pa O 412 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Spring of 1879, 650 head at 53 1 1,950 00 Wool, 4,191 lbs., at 22|^ cents 932 50 Total $2,882 50 J*rofit $1,015 50 " Being too poor to buy sheep is the only drawback I know of to successful sheep husbandry in Kansas. From my experience, I find that where a farmer takes good care of his sheep, it always proves a success, and I think it is to-day the best paying business in the country." //. Afal/iics, Ilalstcad, Hai'vcy Coiinty. — " Have had five years' experience in sheep-culture here, and some years in Central Iowa. Points in favor of Kansas for sheep-raising are, mild, dry climate, less cold rains in lambing-time, great variety of ridi grass, longer time for grazing, and less feed required. l\Iy flock numbers 750; original stock came from Illinois and Missouri; prefer Kansas sheep. Merinos are most profitable for wool; for mutton, Cotswolds crossed with Southdown; for both wool and mutton, Merino ewes crossed with Cotswold bucks. Fleeces from my fiock average five pounds. Ewes are worth $2.50 to 1^3. Sold wool of 1879 for twenty-five cents, Most profitable wool is from long-wooled Merinos. Should never sell wethers before maturity. Sheep maybe profitably kept till five or six years old. No losses from other than natural causes, about three per cent, annually. My flock is herded, and corraled at night. During summer are kept on open prairie ; watered once a day. Have salt in a trough in corral at all times. Have a good shed, open to south, in winter; fied about five bushels of corn a day ; sometimes feed straw, but usually hay, givino; all they will cat; in nice weather, often turn them on the prairie, "The flock has cost about ;^ 1,068; expenses, «J^302 ; total, ^1,370; receipts to date, ^2,315 ; present value of flock, $3,o8y total, ,f,.|,4oo. Deduct cost, ^f, 1,3 70 ; net income, ;Js3.030. Want! of shade in summer, and carelessness on the part of owners, are the drawbacks to successful sheep husbandry. "A practice prevails in some parts of the State by which ai farmer who has a (lock of sheep, but who prefers to give his "'SnVAC OUT SUEEP aetent/on to the cultivation of , he soil ' . ^'^ .'l>oop-.nas.or, ,vho manages i a, 1,M," ""^ ""^"^ '° ->°".er sel nff off the older and lower tr-,1"^^ "^ ''« '<"ows how makes up their number from t.^ " ''^"^ ='"'' ^vethers and' -J .sells the wool and giteTto 1'""'" °' "^ ""ck, "hears of the proceeds of the sales Ld ?"""■ °'' ""= "°* one-l alf »f.er the losses and sales tmlr"'' ""f ""-'-'f of the a fb that the owner of the flock reTli *-?"''• ^^ ""''^ P'^" it i, "y .nvcstment," '■^^'-«» about thirty pe[ cent on , f But It is true as Co] I r profit from lar,,e "ocks T Vere? ,r%'''^' "'= P^portional .^.s profit .ncreases in almostT.o„^" ™"' ^™" °"-. a"d reaches „s tens of thousands i""'.^'^^'' -'"'o, when the lock »'a.e„,ents thoroughly verified 'of tlor'""'"" "^ ">'-^ "e g"' more than ..ooo sheep, the first t 1 ! ' m''"""^''=^ o-" '"-^'"3 of of Pawn... county, in Southwes Ka's '' ^^ "' W.-'*vvortl nver, as fi.rnished by him with i lu't f ' '°""' ^^ "><^ Arkansas ec, to the Kansas State Boa d iff !°"' ""^ '"•"J">g.% corrak ^ -P-fann in Colorado, fta ted „ .l?"!!""'- ^"^ ^^ ° ' ' Geneva V. Y., as reported brM'^v^u" "^^ <^- <■— 'X fW„ ^w. „f „^,y by Mr. VV. H. Coleman in the 'n March, ,876, Wr. G H W.H Homestead and Timber-Cultur'e Act"'° '°°'^ '"^ ""^er the "xny. and the same distance frL , '^' ""^'"' '" '^awnee The first .mprovement on the land ^"'"' "'^ count>-.seat »"^-.,„gor six posts covered I, >, '' ""-' '^"'''''■"^' "f a aWe '-"-ber, w^th sod wall on the ou^ de '' T^' 'l""^ "^ -"■ 4^ *emen breaking prairie and lent' "'"^^ "^' '--' by summer. In August of fl, '^'"^ "P '''e farm d, , ,u f ;-.-y to hisC°' f;^::? ^■";' "^- ^^-^-°" . -ved ^» '" a", and turned on the an ' 'p'™"^'" '"^ «ock, I ,' [W'ads.vorth had built tw-o hlos^^ '^^'^^''^ -'""^^ set . vir '«"'y-e«ht feet long by twenr '' '''^'' °"<= '"""dred and «^^^d„est,corneri^gZi^t"t^' '*=" "'■'^<=' °"e runn^^ f»™'ng two sides of f sq^ J^ ' """"'"^ "°«'' and soul »- '» '^e southeast. Th ^t Jo^ Lt^'^^^^ ^ence running around DC .a 414 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the open sides of this square completed the corral. A stable was also built, measuring fourteen by thirty-two feet, and con- necting with the south end of the shed running north and south. At the same time a well was dug, thirty feet deep, and a wind- mill put up, with a capacity for raising water for 10,000 sheen. In 1877, Mr. Wadsworth built his present residence at a cost of about $1,500; and in 1879, a granary large enough to hou! 2,500 bushels of wheat, with shed for farming implements ami two buggies, twenty-four by thirty-two feet, at a cost of <;ioo The roof was thatched with broom-corn, and fastened with wire. There are no fences on the farm except the portable one around the corral, the herd law being in force in the county. On the right are two sheds, one hundred and twenty-eight by twenty nine feet each, which cost, including corral, $525, the lumber used costing $30 per thousand feet. On the south, and connect- ing with the shed running north and south, is the stable, fourteen by thirty-two feet, which cost ^20. Next south is the sod shantv, the first home, which cost $75. Farther south is the granary and tool-shed already mentioned, while back of this is the new- home. The wind-mill cost $50 ; the well underneath, <^2o. Near the wind-mill is a reservoir made of two-inch plank, five by six- teen, and three feet deep, supplying four troughs, each sixteen feet long and one foot wide; ample to water 4,000 sheep; cost $35. Near the well are appliances for dipping. The boiler is eighteen inches deep, thirty inches wide, and eight feet long, witli plank sides and galvanized iron bottom, in a clay and partly excavated furnace ; the smoke-stack is ten-inch stove-pipe— total cost, $7. The dipping-vat is built of two-inch pine, and is six- teen inches wide, five feet deep, and twelve feet long at the top The end farthest from the dripping-platform is perpendicular, but the end nearest the platform slopes from the upper edge inward, for six feet, or to the middle of the vat, forming at once the end and the bottom of one-half of it. On this slope arei nailed cross-slats, to give the sheep a foothold to walk out. It i leads to the dripping-platform, an ascending inclined plane, six- teen feet long by ten feet wide, divided by a fence supporting aj cut-gate ai the lower end, and at the upper end a gate foreadi y^ «'"J corral WindmiJi, well a division. The floo • '"'■'^■''"^Wue. strips covering the joi„',s"ot"°'",'"^''^'><='' «"«: with half^u '"ch strips, to give th^ 1 ■■ ""="<=■ '>nd cross vZ "'^'' ™i« the de ePdi r^r^-^' ^"^ ">e she'epte drl""''-''' ^"""^ "' "'- ^ '"e vlr..t;t:;";f ;;fe t "-^-- ^^^^^ "le portaoJe corra?' f • which tlie sheep are Ji f '^ '° arranged thaf ,1 '-. and conne«s /f!;/" '.'^ ^« J-oli o " ^^P^ fr»" •"? ■•-o. The liqu o'r us?;;:''! ^ .'-^- Pen caprb, 'o I:!; iit:^^:-' "^^riroi: s- '^^i "ev-: ^ch n,ore effective wl 'en ,'^ ' '" ^^ "^eded-!!;'; ^ PfS-platform if. V ? ""■'' "'arm. Cost r.r *'"<:e it is «^3-5o, wit,;;,,^^, ^;^^'^-'-. 57; cost of app;;::' *'°-^°' '"P- ^'-- s"b-ranche s st Ir" T" *> ^'"^^ 'h p Tn T'^i^'^' '»^7e„dituresfo"t etl""^ ^°"-™ff statement of rec • *^^ ^--ess on his ;;!'::?£'? "-^ '- been e^i^-P- S''^P'ierd.s' house ''°''' ""^ "^anche. Sheds and corral *''•••••.. ""■^^"•--"vtro^v : : • •• : : ; : : ; i^^ • • • 105 00 pa CO- . ■ * Pft O 41(3 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Dipping-vats, boiler, etc. Incidentuls . . , . Total ^778 50 The land on which ilic ranchc is located was homcstcaded, and cost the usual government fees. Operitions commenced Octo- ber I, 1876, with 1,000 ewes, 1,062 wethers and lambs, and 23 bucks — 2,085 'lead in all. Receipts and expenses for the year ending October i, 1877: EXPENSES. I RECEIPTS. Two shepherds .... $600 00 Shearing 150 00 Dipping 85 00 Grain 210 00 Hay 200 00 23 sheep, died 57 5° 15 siiee[), killed by wolves and dot's 37 50 Wool sold $'.950 00 Ewes sold 1,250 00 Wethers and bucks sold . . 225 50 Total 5ii34o 00 For year ending October i, 1878: EXPENSES. Two she])herds .... ;^6oo 00 Grain 175 00 Hay 140 00 Shearing 150 00 Dipping 85 00 14 shec]), died 35 oc» 13 sheep, killed by wolves and dogs ..... 32 50 Total J53,42S 50 RECEIPTS. Wool sold ^2,150 00 Ewes sold ii37S 00 Wethers and bucks sold . . 762 50 Total 51,217 50 For year ending October i, 1879 • EXPENSES. Two shepherds . . . Grain Hay Shearing, dipping, etc. . 16 sheep, died . . . . Total ^4,28750 $600 00 120 00 125 00 300 00 I 40 00 Total . . . . . . . ^1,185 00 RECEIPTS. Wool sold ^1,80000 Ewes and wethers . . . 1,750 00 Total ^3,550 00 1 For receipts I'nal I'nv oacii, or -^:00, H] S6,6oo I/: (■'(\(\x(:^ on b)' the or ^<^\^ renici Mr. VVc /n additioi iias boiigii '■" iSjS, he ^^79, iie Ji now he has orr\'e. Th. to the bene/i '^'^le itemj "ere not boi tfie sheep ac 3hlJet, rye, a ' and cured, ar ' of fodder be// , '^^r. Coiem^ I follows ; ■^"f'le /alio/ laftCT several y( |;0"ncl his i^ea'lt r" Colorado. pntr^iaddec/ ptcrcd eighty £ Font twenty^fiv I ''-50 iono fwenty-hve Mer pclustrious and 27 ^ COf.OA',UO ^/A.A/./:;.,,^ For these ,J,ree years the totil . 4./ receipts, ^ 1 "■ "' M.948.C0 'PI,,, . ^7.420.50 on oner "y "- -d'nary sales, s„ ,' ^^'^^^ '- bo^futite. oT now remain. ""'V youn<. and woll-.^ra,), ,1 1 Mr. VVadsvvorth combin „ *'' Inaddiiion to the ^,„ "^'^ ffeneral CarminfMvJd, ,1, noiv he has rrrni,/,-n ^vneat, yielcnKr k-rQ k , , ' '" o(yv, 71 '^^^'•''-'^^"^y-fi^'^^ acres oft/ '''''^'' ^"^ J he Items of Ir '"<-'cn wre not bought b,Tt roT f'"'" '" ""= sfatements of *^ sheep account oh °" *'■ '^™. •"'nd the Ir '"'"''' , »'-. rye. and t^^":;^:' '"^ "«'. of the fot fa:^'"^' and cured, are used 7 !, ' '"' "rn sown thirl '"'' 1*^ ---I .vears of office worlf,"'r °' ^""-'-Pt-e tendencies Jloiind h s hc'ilrli c^ ... ~.^^°'^'^ 'n Geneva N V ^ i , ^"^'^S ." Colorado" :'::,:^:^>' '"■'''"■-• ■-"'" -^ '"-t^; :' f '-"^■f"■■"• ]""«' eighty acres und" , e ' "'""'' '" ^''^^P'^-'^n' ^ ^ '4st i ! "^ ''-ks fron, the el/ /A.*^: ^'^' -■«'. and ■ '^ '^ '^""^ "o^. at the en.^ . ■.;' ;>- fle: "*? OS > — c p: •< r.i- ! E-* , .: ,» Ol .. -^ P^ ^" Pd tz> 1-3 '< ^i;« le was e end of fi ve 4i8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. years, lie lias eighteen ranches,* 6,000 sheep, and occupies 100 square miles of land. The slender, delicate young man has grown rugi^ud and robust, and weighs 184 pounds. From IctttTs and conversations I propose to brielly outline the character of a Colorado sheep-farm. A ranche or ranch is a definite term for a spring of water and some rude buildings, and an indefinite amount of grazing land, These springs are found at various points on the plains, mostly in ravines, and several miles apart, and the owner is entitled, bv mutual consent of the farmers, to graze the land on either side halfway to the next spring. It is an object therefore to buy as many springs and as little land as possible. In securing new ranches, G. would enter them in his herdsmen's names, and then buy of them at a low figure. The spring is literally the main- spring of sheep-farming, as the land is valueless without water, and wells have been sunk 600 and 800 feet without obtaininif water. There is neither dew nor rain except for a brief time in spring. The water is carefully used, being pumped into reser- voirs, and the sheep watered from troughs. The native grass is thin and wiry, and grows in bunches six or eight inches high. Once eaten off it does not renew itself in die same season. The sheep are pastured all the year round, and hay is fed only when the grass is buried in snow. The range needed for each sheep is five acres, as frequent shifting is neces- sary. The buildings are a pitch-pine cabin for the ranchmen, and a corral or shcep-pcn, 100 by 150 feet square, and .enclosed by a tight board-fence six feet high. It has no roof, as experiencei shows that sheep in covered pens are often smothered bj 'now drifts. When exposed to a storm the she^'p pack togetherani keep warm. After the pasturage at one ranche is exhauste the furniture of t!ie cabin, the pump, and the troughs are carriei to the ranche that is next used. The ranchmen are often intelligent Eastern men, who havj 'K ■006 Jambs. *In niosl of ihc Western States niul Territories the latuhe or latti' is the nnme a])|>lieJ| the entire shevp or cnttlo-farni, and these sections of it, to which the sheep are moved for nfj p.isture, are calleil mli lainliei, or, as in Australi.i, stations. 7' ^"^' 'n ten ^''^'^P --^nd three "•'"f^'' was very 3" average of fift come to Colora.ln r , . "* month and bo"? ° r' ''" '"-•"'*• '''lu-y .,,, „ "'" ilo most of tlifir ,. I ■ '^'"■'-' of about 3 r^^„ 7 '^'""- » .xs to star o:;::'"^ ^' "'■«'«. aftcT th cH?" '''"T'^- '''-y "'»•• Contrary o .,:"::'"'■ '""'' ''-vi.h .,, 'T,:. ^f •' --• visions are brouijl.t to ,1," "-" °'''"=' lvs it r, ^ TI.0 -rork of ,l,e ,,^„, . "^ '"S"'^' be >lri>c„ and watcl,,,! 1 ,'^ """""'onous. The sl„. ;- ^-'<» J paper: Ci w! ' , ^ "'f "= '^'^^^ ^ "^ H: ■]- 'l-.n driven out even tt " '°''"' ^^^ ^'-■vera ' , h""; -» of March and .^."7"?-^ '" ^°'"^' '" May, to avoid ,1 *"'"aweli-„,„,^,,j';'^, "!! percentage of loss is u st ' t an^i in te71y "'::i-^"f,'''-y---,.'":ere 2;;^;:^' I ' ""^ '■^'y '° fifty-five per cent ° r • ^^ ""' ''"'"^ed to I O 420 OUK lt'/:S77:A'X /.•.i//7/'/r. cent., and he lost i 75 lambs. The clip of wool was also rodiircd. When 1,000 sheep and 1,000 lambs are turned into the corral there is a tremendous bleatinij until the lambs and their mothers jjct toj^ethcr. A loni;, narrow pen. with divisions holdinj^^ one sheep each, is used for the she(![) without lambs, A motherless lamb is given to each one, and they are kept toj^cthcr until the lamb is owned — usually two days. The bottom boards of the pen arc nailed on the outside of the posts, so that the lambs can slip under when in dan<;er of beinj; lain on. The lambs are weaned the first of October, and taken to another ranche. Shearing is usually done in June, but ( i, waits till July, imth to gain in weight of Heece (a sheep sometimes gains a pound ol wool-weight in a hot week), and to get help at a lower lii^iire than he could when everybody was shearing. The work is done by Mexicans, who come north for the purpose. They get five cents per sheep, and shear fifty to one hundred per day, usiivr shears with very long blades. The sheep are not washed. A Mexican sheep shears thirty cents' worth of wool, a grade .sheep one dollar's worth. G.'s shearing is done by twelve men in two weeks. As fast as the lleec(;s are delivered to tlie tyer the shearer receives a ticket, and at the close of the shearing two or three men are usually found to hold all the tickets. The Mexi- cans are great gamblers, and contrive to lose their enrninq;s before they are in hand. Mach tleece is put in a bo.\ with four strings, and tied, then put in large sacks holding 500 or 600 pounds each. These are drawn to market by a " bull team;' either three wagons fastened together and drawn by twelve yoke of oxen, or one wagon drawn by seven yoke. G.'s clip of 187S was 18,000 pounds, which cost two cents by rail to Boston, a netted there twenty cents per pound. It can, howe'vcr, be .sold to good advantage at Colorado Springs, and the clip of \%]%\ 20,000 pounds, G. "pooled" with a neighbor who had 30, pounds, and by careful watching of the market, with weekly tele grams from an Eastern wool-house, the lot was sold lor twenty four and a-half, when others were getting twenty and twenty-twi cents. El Paso county wool is rated two or three cents highej than other wools, but the cold weather of the previous winti reduced the clip an average of one pound per head. "stiiaveberJ ''■0'" 515.000 tof ■0'"^' to the VV^el '■'^- a^ter two Jen sold out h\ %tl to seek 't ^^'^'ere tiiel :7^^o. Pueb/o. "^'^'■^^0, have A iko l*li« I . '^«*vC's tJic' J,.: .p. 'veil, and ud a.d „.„iL '■"'""'' ""'' ""-•"«. and u.c ,„;.::rci o'" '".;■"'■';"" A su,n,nary of r V ""'«"akes Merino rams . , '^ ^ »i . * • • • • • • . ',000 00 fc ,«rs' sale „f „.oo| , Value of present herd ^'2,500 00 2,500 00 3>5oo 00 /^t." raised 2.000 iambs in ,Q. , " ' " * * '5'°°° oc 'S6'o. }fe nronr... . ^^^9, and will Inv,. *^ proposes when his /j^ , I "^^^ 2.500 ewes in B- .l.e Loadville cxxitoi ° f" '"""^ ' »^-5o will co^-.r ex ' ^''^'°' l.^t.acl,). i,aya„cl > rai, I? ^^ ''"^ '"''' '75 wethers fo/';''""'' •fed .he same pnWo' ''"""; ''"'-^ "'« winter and r'''°° "e have already 1 plrfn ''■•■■">-^'^'- °'J-^. but dechl?' '"' Ifcpfarms where Z 7 ' *""'™ "" ^«°""t of thn. " ^-i.ea,andthet :t:.r- f°'°°°' ^o.-'o: f^' l» . ^'"-""- <"• would now find ' S-'^'at properties r-i.'5.oootos5o,oooormoe f " necessary to bLii J',' h >o the West fron, Et;:;::, ^f ^' ■ r"" ■"->■ -"° i.a Fe, after two or three vo-i. ' "°'''-' ^'^^" tiie httor kado ll ■ """fano. Fren,ont Tas A " "°"""'«^ of "■ '"^^ """"^ ^'ories to tell of ,,f """''^ -"^ Bent, in "^ yo'-ng- men who >-' f»^ CO - r? O 422 ouK ii'/:sTi:h'X f.v/'ikf.. played the drand Strlijnior on so lari^e a scale, and would comf into Colorado Sprinirs or Pueblo, drivinij tluMr four-in-hands and spendinj^ several days at a time in reckless dissipation. Ncfj^lott in<^^ their business, they were constantly Heeced by sharpers, till their capital was all expended, and they were often too far down in the scale of social demoralization, to retrace their steps and re^j^ain their lost manhood. No man can succeed either in stock raisins^, sheep-farming or general agriculture, who does not , r?" ""■' 1':ST' -"-"p-na, aui:r:;:t'itr''°-' 'n.o native sheen of V ., '''-«<-'• re„,a,n fl' W<-'rino.s, brought there' ■■'"''° '" » ''«-™^i"> two pou„l "'''?•*"'' vfir. k , '^" '"'■ each wetl„.r l™""«!. /or each ewe to reckon tiie Ct) 1 Cx4 iMMIi 424 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. annual increase of the flock at one hundred per cent, of the ewes. As the mutton is of no particular account in New Mexico, the whole profit turning upon the wool, the young wethers at two years old are exchanged, after shearing, for more ewes to increase the stock of wool-producers. A sheep-farmer, in three years' time, beginning with a flock of 5,000 ewes and 100 bucks, will have 18,000 sheep and lambs, and will shear from 40,000 to 50,000 pounds of wool, and in five yv..ars he will shear 40,000 sheep and obtain 1 20,000 pounds of wool or more. In New Mexico, while the rainfall is scanty, the snow and rain on the mountains fill the streams, and the facilities for irrigation and for preserving the water in rescvoirs are generally good. Siieep thrive better in a dry than in a wet country, and they require water but once a day, and this they can have without difficulty. Artesian wells g"nerally sucveed well on the plains in this Terri- tory. There are no diseases here to which sheep are liable, and the few destroyed by wild animals are the principal losses. The corrals are usually of adobe or sun-dried bricks, and can easily be made, vher*; they are not already, proof against wild animals, Neither the jaguar nor the grizzly bear are found in New- Mexico, and the cougar or panther and gray wolf are not abundant. The brown or cinnamon and the black bear seldom attack sheep when in care of a shepherd, and never in a corral, and the coyotes are too cowardly to attack any except the sick, lame, or wounded. No provision for sheep in the winter is necessary in New Mexico. There are no heavy snows there, except high up in the mountains, and the floods which sometimes pour down such torrents of water into the Rio Grande and its tributaries, are either skilfully turned into the reservoirs for irrigation, or are drank up by the thirsty sands of the river beds. The railways which already traverse, or will soon cross the Territory in different directions, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and its branches, the Denver and Rio Grande, the St. Louis and San Francisco, and perhaps also the Atlantic and Pacific, or a branch of the Texas Pacific, will make New Mexico convenient of access, and enable her to send her products to market on favorable terms. lor mutton, as well no r ^ '""ucenienf' «- « e ■file sheep-farmfn--•• I — < CJ o .,6 (^c'^' ii7:s//-:a\v empire. if they wish to avoid buildinq^ shelters and gathering fodder. Oregon, Montana, Dakota, and pcndiaps Utah, if they are not averse to th(;se precautions. Those havin_sj^ a lars^er amount of capital can ^abi,inr^t,m ""' ''^ breed /shaken f' °"'; '"'"'''"l years a.o 1^^,, "■<-■ '"'Prove- pounds. Full ,v. , ^°o pounds nnrJ .. '^ sJender f'^-'".' all other bl^ ee* T'"- '""S-°°'.' ''ornless she "■«''■ It has dressed n "'"■'"'" "^ body ,ndT P' I'-'ii-ter. Twn , , "'■■'y--'*« and a nu-,r, *""-"' of "«ce of ten to'r"°'* "'•'^^^ '-'° ^"-^'Tj T""* '° "■« -I'- an ov : t^'^V"""'' cashed wo""*' '"''. ^'•'=''' ^ sheep. *" 'eng.h-used for vvorslds U-"""^' "'"' "'''^- « IS a mutton pa 3 g— * 0-: ^28 ^^'^ ires 7V:A:v empire. Hislory. — The Lincoln orisrinatcd in England less than loo years ago, as a cross between a Leicester and a common breed now extinct, but then inhabiting the low, alluvial and rich herbacred flats of Lincolnshire, from which it takes its name and where it best flourishes. The QnswoLD is a white, coarsa long-wool, hornless sheep, large size, long bodied, broadening from shoulders to rump, head well tapered from ears to nose, finely proportioned, and covered to between the eyes with a thick forelock of wool, ears long and well formed, legs good length, well shaped and clean. Weight of yearlings about 120 pounds; full grown have dressed 344 pounds. Weight of fleece about eight pounds. Wool some- times nine inches long, and widely used for woollens. It is a mutton and wool sheep. History. — The Cotswold originated in England less than 100 years ago, as a cross between a Leicester and descendants of common sheep imported from Spain in the twelfth century. Its name comes from the cots or huts built in the hilly wolds or fields where it was developed and established. OxFORDDOwN is a whitish, coarse, long-wool, hornless sheep of medium size, round bodied and short legged, face and legs dark, a Cotsvvold-shaped head and thick-set and somewhat curly fleece of eight to nine pounds of wool five to seven inches long, used for worsteds. At fourteen months it dresses eighty to eighty-eight pounds. A mutton and wool sheep. History.- -The Oxforddown originated in Oxfordshire, England, since 1S30, whence its name. It is a cross between a Cotswold ram and a Hampshiredown ewe, followed by careful inbreeding. Cheviot is a white, coarse, medium-wool, hornless mountain sheep of medium size, long bodied, hind-quarters and saddle full and heavy, fore-quarters light, face strong featured and massive, head and legs generally white, but sometimes dun or spe^ckled. At three years they dress eighty pounds. The fleece yields about five pounds, and is used for Scotch tweed and cheviot cloth. It is a mutton and wool sheep. History. — The Chevio" is a cross between a Lincoln and a breed of common sheep found in the hilly parts of the Scottish lowlj cast , Th sheef but tJ Cotsu His canie j com mo Leicest quarter siiccessi and this followed TiHo C sJiecp, of Its remai some ins( of l)u tter. jflis/ory of As/a a, group. ""porta tf 01 The Ax JTiediuni-.si^ s^iaped Jiea together on pointing a Ji c'"'n, clean, t outer one o f^oth coais I pounds. ^^istoiy,.^' "^°" g-oat, na ^^ ^\"as ir7iport( '^''^ Casiia ''^-^lAGO/i!^ GOAT Wan*, bcl/ovcd to h , ' ""~""''""^-"'"^r. .^^:'-^-.'.-7-,„r ,: ;; !;^, '; .■■^ -^ ™-on and toTer '■ ^"^ onjfinatins- in Fr-,„i r . '^'^""'cky i, a„ . "' -'"t^ep- can,e fronf ,s c L" n I "' '"-■""'^'^^•' <■>'»■ t fortv T""" ''^*=^^ common ewos n r/ .'r™''"'' ^^ '■°""»s • IW ^'"■' ^ff"' ^t Leicester r"n, ,i ' ■''.^''■""° '"■•'"'. tile K,,'^ '"'"«' "''"' 'ocaj, followed by w ■; '^°'-^"'°'''. Oxforddovn " f "'■^'''°«-" "'"• ■*«.p, of different van . "''™ ^'^'"^^P is a whft^ d, »"•« instances » f' ^^'^'''^''^ from fifteen '^ "^'"'''^'^'^ ^Y of Imtter. '° '^"""^'^ • "'= fat bein. ulej K° '''""'>' ^'"' '" //W,, ._T,,, p -^ ' ''y '^°"<-' in place »f As/a 'and Africa''"'rr'l '" ''' "'•"''^"^ ^hecp fo„„ , . f-P- Tbose T:;;t , ^ -- ,-.s ,,,,;:;,:^^""; - portion., ^Ponadons fro,n Kara.an'L i t^ ,f-« -e ft^r" J HE A.NGORA Govt k r.r ^^^'"o^- '"Aerrl ' 7 -7. '-.e. Ion,,':' ,;,:::f' « ^-l--. Ho,. :-;■'-.. coarse ,4'T:; ::;::' poi clii oute Both pound; /// 3/' Jon ^oacs arc used, and ^^''■^)'. -soft and lort, ^ogcth^j. silk)' Jiai coarse haf r, and an an i '^O'.— Tile A "^^" ffoat, native THK(i,lr^/^- country abo: ^^•eigii about tu' '*' formed moh lair. o "^ tJn: district ab and a half bou -ASIIMEi^j.. ( '"^proved ■ g'ora, ut /lite -OAT is o-eneraJJ^. of a '^'•'ety of a com- '" ^'^sia Minor ^n years ag-Q. ff'-ayish v^iie, built OS >-« £3 430 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. much liUe a sheep, is of medium size, back near the hips a little crovvniniT, ears long, wide and drooping, no tuft under the chin, small horns, sometimes spiral, shooting out near each other from top of the head, erect or slightly spreading and pointing a little backward, a long, heavy outer coat of coarse hair and an under coat of soft, silky, fluffy wool, weighing about one-half pound, and used for Cashmere shawls. History. — The Cashmere goat is a noble species of the goat, inhabiting the high table-lands of Cashmere, Thibet and Mongolia, in Central Asia. It was imported into the United States about fifteen years ago. DiSEASKs OK SnEi;i'. — It is perhaps desirable to add here a brief description of the disease^ to which sheep are liable, especially as ii is as true now as it was twenty years ago, that the diseases to which sheep are liable in this country arc very different from those which affect them in Europe. The late Hon. Henry S. Randall, in his valuable treatise on Sheep Hus- bandry, published in i860, and subsequent writers on diseases of sheep, have called attention to this fact. It is true, also, that diseases which prevail in one section may be entirely unknown in another. Thus the foot-rot has prevailed extensively in Texas, and to some extent in Southern California and .Southern Kansas ; but is entirely unknown in the Northern .States, and Territories of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Dakota and Minnesota, and very infrequent in the middle belt of States and Territories. The scab is found everywhere, but is now treated successfully. Worms in the head are not common in the West ; though they kill many sheep in England and some in the Atlantic States. Inflammation of the lungs is less common than in England, but does occur. Mr. Frank D. Curtis, of Charlton, Saratoga county, New- York, one of the most intelligent, accomplished and successful of our American sheep-masters, has described so briefly and so well the greater part of the known American diseases of sheep, that we cannot do better than to give to our readers his essay, only supplementing it with two or three western diseases, whidi he has failed to notice. ^^SJ^^Sjrs OF SHEEP. Cj — ^^ ^ftEEP. -^ -'y'-i/l:' S":;;'7'' - '-t when C-seased T.''' J'-y will ,oM °'°'' ^'-"P' change, in ','°"""-' "^ '^''ock easily affectcc I'v "'""''""'•^"■«. and thev a. '"^' '^'"^ vareties iv.Vi, ^ ^^ foot-rot finn .i t)etvveen '"stended nos ril, ^ ?"'=''^"*-' °" account o'h "''"" "'^ ^''■etare not .on" ^° "^"^^^^'^ '""nuenc^es n^ Precautionary common in \ ^'"""■f ■'^'leeiJ. Tlie ,,"7, '"Venous dis- The 1.: tr'r^^ "■''-'■ '-nfc-st the ntrna?r '" ^'^° °*- "'an in , i ''"'■t^=" ^^ "-re destrucTe ^ kr'"' "' ''''-P- SoufI, A "">' ''^^e prevailed ,. '^ ""°reign countries ^ite f^A-l i ™-'"f<-Med in ,i,i3 cou„„vTn 1 '"*<^*"'''"^ of pa CO- >- OS O ^32 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Pakasiti.s. — The most ancient and disastrous of the maladies caused by tlie development of worms In the body Is the tivcr-rot, which is caused by the presence of sucking- worms, like leeches, which are developed In the liver. These worms or Mukes jms- sess the power of self-impregnation, and are propagated by eggs, of which they produce Immense numbers. These eggs are car- ried along with the bile into the stomach, and so passed out with the excrement of the sheep. They are supposed to be hatched in stagnant water. In which they develop into a form of mullusks. But as the disease {liver-rot) is almost unknown in the United States, and especially In the West, wc will not take time or space to fully describe It. There is another worm which is developed In the lungs and bron- chial tubes of sheep. These worms cause the *' pale disease " in lambs, which has been so fatal in many sections of this country. The worm Is akin to the crnpe-worm in chickens, and Is a species of S(ronQy/?is, a slender, thread-like worm. They are supposed to be breathed into the lungs or taken into the mouth while feeding, from whence they make their way through the trachea into the air-passages, in which they produce such derangement in aeration or the purification of the blood as to cause irritation and violent coughing. The important functions of the blood being interrupted, paleness of the skin and debility of the body soon follow, and result in t^he death of the animal. The disease is more prevalent or fatal among lambs than among sheep. As soon as a lamb is attacked a poor appetite ensues, whidi helps to reduce the strength. .Such penetrating medicines as turpentine, sulphur, and assafcctida may be given, which, throngh absorption, will reach the lungs, and in the earlier stages of the disease may effect a cure. In order to allow free and full absorption, no food should be given for several hours afterward nor for a few hours before. Twenty grains of assafoitida and a half teaspoon of spirits of turpentine are all that should be administered at one dose to a lamb. One-third more may be given to a full-grown sheep. This may be followed by a table- spoonful of sulphur daily, mixed with molasses. As the appetite is capricious and feeble, in order to keep up the strength gruels s/iod/c mi.vcci siiecj; hv. al/oi tile ma '^(■.s/cies ■I'ld \n t arc fatal ^)t{ m CO 'ThI may ^''Jiaciatj'o "■'t'l mijci \n it. /\^ , 0' fi'r/ient accorcli/Kr . ounce or tv ^'"■66 da^-s /"( % gruels sJ P'Tgat/ve wi a few hours "■'^' not cure ' ^^ an astr/nc ^'^'en in Jarg ["'"turpcnt/ne I '''e bladder ar ^^ornis j'n i )%'and, ou'/n m are of t ps[U7imermc f'W AttJ Imnd to av • f"is up the n fV'PP^-'-passan pateiy deveic ">^- "-anure of 1"' " 7 «""= '«»'"re, norT, "'"' ''""'^ not '"■"■''- ">o above ;;!'.;'"-'^" ''- '-«, ; ;°V-''"n^' «l,ere . — "vu, n 'THi in tile inte.stinf.« -n' "'. ^"■^'""'^^(I's) or \vr»r., • *'"-'''^' ^''^. '": fetal. T/,e fi" • , ' '"-■ '«'-, „,,,, ;j ^" « ". el,e blaj,,,; «*■"> condition ,;"^,"!P"^»'>' of '•'I«-worni, and i, " "n '''a'-rhu.-a. Tiu. „."'"".'•'-* "* a fallin., '---/on rapidij fo;,;^;°'^P«' W a do,/ 'o^'J-'^J- ''on,,, '".'■'• A-^ »on as tC"; "'""'■ation «o,- ,::'} ■-">'' ""-.ved «»-l'"&' to d,, ° f .''^' t'-en, fr„,„ one-, .T'''"''''^-'^ (""•satire Hill ,„ .S^"-" ''"nno tl,e ti„„. „. ,""'"'■ ^ouris|,. ' '"V '.ours befc'rat 7 "'^''" "" "'« ani^nl L ".'^'"- ^''^ :" - -- the i:at^tr''"'"'''--^'" o::'''^ " '"''■^' '^ an astrinirent .,„ , /'• ^^hen gnen i„ s„„i| ' ^"PP^as r '■" '^^^".au tit^';^ "- "-o™, i;™f ;;:r;'-'-vtacts «f 'urpcntine and );„ f "" "«''>'<■■ poison ,, ^' ""'' »''"='' ■ 7""- andi-L':: r' °" '--^ "- -^-t'Cd, f ;-- ^o- "orn,,s in the heid '""^ Paras.tes in ,hkn,l, ou.ing to d,l f*"' "°' -^^ ™'"'"on in d,; '"•I to av ?h .'"• "■'"' their „o.,es „ '^' '^^"'^e, sl,eep , "'™ passes out of '""^'y develop: iifl th^ Pre ft th le until HJcus untii 't arri reacii J'ema "ostnis to t/iP '"'•'^tmaturft) \Q< '^ '"'-%• son,eti.rtri:;'"^ ere it '^y penetrate to am s PCS o 434 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the brain, causing the sheep to lose its appetite and die a linfjerin«4^ and painful death. We have known them to pine away, scarcely eatintj anythinj^ for weeks — simply breatliinir— until they die of starvation, or were killed to put them out of their misery. There is no remedy except in the first sta_L,^cs of the disease, when the maggots are passing up the nostrils. This may be known by violent shaking of the head, sneezing', and running around. Tobacco-smoke blown up the nostrils at this time, or the smoke of a small quantity of burning siiipiuir, may cause them to lose their hold on the membranes, wlicn tho sheep will cast them out. Some people pour spirits of turpen- tine into the nostrils. They lay tiie sheep upon its back so that the liquid will run into the head ; but this is a dangerous and cruel practice. In the first stages, in the hands of a skilful person, it is possible to open the passages of the head and remove the maggots, without permanent injury to the animal. Smearing the noses of shee[ i July and August with tar, two or three times a week, will, to some extent, prevent the attacks of the gadfly. ScAH. — The worst form of external parasites is the Acam^ scabiei. This insect is a mite in size and attaches itself to the skin, into which it burrows. It multiplies rapidly and cuts off the connection of the cuticle from its attachments to the body, when it becomes dry and hard, and the wool is loosened and falls out. Its presence can easily be determined, as the sheep is uneasy and inclined to rub itself against any convenient thing. Unless they are destroyed, the whole body will soon be covered, causing great distress to the sheep and entire loss of the fleece. They will also be conveyed to other sheep, and eventually spread through the whole flock. One female will produce thoii.sandsi of insects in a few days. The proper cure is to dip the animalj in a solution of sulphur and tobacco, in the proportions of fou parts of tobacco and ten of sulphur to a gallon of water. Th stems of tobacco will answer every purpose, if thoroughly steepedj The sulphur may be stirred in the liquid. Patches of loose skii and wool should be removed before the sheep are immersed. Thi liquid should be as warm as the hand will bear, and time shoull ho ij an/Vi); to SMI tc'ir, /j( /j'.vi/in. co/n/or '/'(.' snri f'l'- sjc/n »■' rnc/oii causes i\ i:/)o\\n / nd o/' til '-''"'•'cfua/ J tob/hco. poudcroci %<-'(/ ;,,,„ ^" t/ii.s u'a^ (ortiirino- ^.^ Vaiiou-fnj^r' ''m f/ic iJe^ 'f 's most CO '"''' Uino th, "itcnj/.r/f. cai ll'/icn thh ^, ''^^'"niat/on ^ ^"'' f^>^' prohi '^'"'^'^ troatm ■'^7 or /-,„., I*" .iT'vi'n for it .„ 'ooi':*07: "'' "' "><■• pain ca, ; '' ""■" "'" W rXlT "'" "'' "'<•• "'^ "W ^^''-P .md i;'"-' """'• Aft..,. ;,:,''// ''''^'•nA' .snuff or , '■;;"-'""-TI,is disease ■ ""^'^ => -o^"y and l>y .illoiviny s|,„.,, ,„ '"="*'^ '■'< contauiou, .,„ , ;r "-• '-'.s .rb:;;::: !r"-' -'Vo:. r ,:t:^ p^^-ed '' •' "»'t con,n,on in . ? "'^ '"«■ »■'•(=/. e.c ' r "^■"'■^"■"" "«<■■ hut n,ay be ' r'""' ''°'^' "«' ajvvl!, ^"°"" "^y '•m.e- (:"■• "-Ix^n there T'""-' "^ ">- d"ctv I) "^ "'^' °'^«''de Fwor fun,,o"s\ J'"'^'--^ °f ""^ foot, >"," u ''f P^°'^P' and h- '^eatmenra f„,7"'^ ^' "■^' Cotton can . '"''' '""''"' ^^ [»« to expose tl","™'- '"'- '^ooh Z",,^, ™^«d by ti,e ^'"^ "'^-^^-P-ion. r -^^'-oiefoot! ^<- thoroughly ^jfi OUR WESTENS E.\triKE. smeared with an ointment of powdered blue vitriol, one poiinrl; vertlJLjris, iialf a pound; linseed oil, one pint; tar, one (luart. 'I'his combination makes a salve which will adhere to the loot Carbolic acid reduced (five; parts of water to one of acid) would be an effc^ctivt; remedy, and would also be the best cure lor canker of the foot. Healthy sheep should never be allowed in a pasture where those affectetl with fool-rot have run until ;i winter's fros^ have intervened, v.hich will destroy the virus, bicipient foot-root caus(;d by feedin^r on wet ^^ound ni.i) lie ch(!cked without difficulty by prompt applications of blu(> vitriol in liquid form, or by diluted carbolic acid; but when tin- disoasc becomes thoroughly ulc(!rous, sev<'ral applications of the re mt.'dios recommended are necessary to effect a p(?rfect cure. CoNSTii'ATioN. — We hav(! known fatal constipation, acrom- I)anied with fever, to prevail in the sprint^ of the y<;ar following; a ionj^j and severe winter, durini;^ which fodder became so scaro as to compel farmers to turn out thtMr sheep before the fresh grass had started. The sh(!i'p ate of the dry anil frost-bitten grass so heartily as to cause it to become clogi^cicl \'\ the niincii, ])roducing constipation in whole flocks, bi some n(.'iL(hl)()rlio(HK it was so general that it was supposed a contagious ilisorder had broken out amonij them. A !iMmb(;r died Ix'tore the causf; \\;is discovered. Purgatives, togeth(;r with restraining the sheep from feeding in the fiekls, soon restored the flocks to their nor- mal condition. Colics. — These troubk;s are caused bv costiveness or llatu- lence, which also causes stretches (lying on the ground and roll- ing about), the latter being more of a symptom than a diseas'. A change of food in this cas(r, as well as in the; oj)j)osit(.' cascol scours, is the first thing to be dom?. Injections of warm watir and soap, or linseed oil, followed with an ounce of the latter er of castor oil, or four ounces of Mpsom salts, given by the nioiith.i is the first remedy in cas(,>s of costiveness or colic. I'owdcreJ sulphur and salt should be frequently given as corn.'Ctivcs ainl aids in digestion. Abrupt changes from dry to succulent foo( are dangerous, and should never be made on an empty stomadij as these animals, like cattle, are equally subject to bloat, an( uit/i i\ /;■«•{/ J,; /"■0(illC( •'" /a/iiij ciiccked, t'l scour '^ff-'igt/i. l/len; juijj a^tri;)n-,.,j(, oroveujcl (j »•'" sonict/,, 3 valt;al)/(. J "■'I'i cau.s(.'(i "■'islicd for , wli/c/i, Tor a "''")i/e.stecl ;: ''''^■''e sympt '^"'"lal slio„/( •^'■f^'r t/i/s, c/o> cac/i every /"(^ 'raii/Uer-,>ntai,-( "'"^t t^e /Jt.ced by , „, r':;.'t/n-oator/. '^^^''^''•, or wi, ' ''^^' treatnicnt, en *<".i,'ili. A t,is„ ,■ ,''''■''-■ "'<■ K'nc/,./ '■■* """"lion ""'' '"":< 'l/s..as,.s •,. ?''''--'i''eep are no, , . ■""»■■■'"' ""^n vi •,; • ""^'^ "'■'""ary c,Vc'„"t ,"'" '" "^^ "^^'^''^d T''"' -•<'■• o.4lb.o^ '^': ;■"' '■" "'« win ',^:™;"°"-. -inch ""■"■fe'«l perfe t C ' "''^^ ^"""'•■cl with '"'•"'"^ ^'"-P r""^' »"-'w in-nut rr'"" °'" "»-• '-tit; 7 *•-«'-• ,"r ""■^•''-« of ,; ;'^ '-.W-l a„,, ^;.^;^ apparent, tl,e •■ "^^ '-!>. Cear ^ ',,''; "'^'^ "Pon the d^ ^^^-^h a J S-^L-nxKs AXD Sv^ ■^"e nostrils Imifoiis secretions ,vl,- . "-' «oppa„e of ,i l'«°rso,„e or;," """^ ""-■ -"'-i bva '^""^'"'^ with r>«.i» o/frenl, '■''^" ^"''^ance irritatfn i*'" '°'''- or by r"«'l i>y a nor, '"""-' "'^"'•'K' lotion ^""-■'' ''>' ^Pon^'- r*. 'I>ey n av I •""^ °f "'« chest wr^' ^ "''^cesses h"'^-. or wi^,, , " '';''-P exposed to he f" '''"■■''«'='•• r '^-"»-'. s aTt" " ''"" ^"^' l-adiy vent :^r °' '''« I '^■^''°"^''"i'''>e nostril rS,.''^'''^'- 'nnaling. the pa s i^ .-3 s^ ^28 (^^'^ IVKSTIiAW EMPIRE. fumes of burning tar, will usually clean out the nostrils and afford relief Poisons. — Sheep will eat almost every plant that grows, uhich makes them valuable in keeping a farm free from foul stuff. On this account they are often poisoned by eating laurel, Saint John's wort, and other poisonous hcfrbs. The effects are some- times confined to the stomach, producing a deraiigement which may be corrected by mild doses of cathartics. The lips and mouth are often made sore by eating poisonous plants, especially Saint John's wort, which sometimes makes the mouth so sore that the sheep cannot eat. In all such cases aperient medicine^ should be administered, and the lips and mouth dressed widi a healing ointment. A change of pasture is also essential to c-et rid of the cause. ABOirrioN. — On account of the timid nature of sheep they are easily friglitened, and wdien roughly handled or chased by dojrs they are apt to abort. Dysent"ry and other acute deranf^emcnts of th'j stomach will sometimes produce this same disorder, hence abrupt ..hanges in diet should be avoided, and a mixture of drv aiic' green food given through the winter. Roots are very essen- tial to the good lieallh of sheep. Salt and water should alwavs be accessible, as sheep desire to drink often and l)ut little ata time. If these sanitary recommendations are carefully carridl out, sickness among sheep wdll be very much lessened, espcciallvj in the severe forms of abortion or other disturbances of thtl uterus. The black-leg is a disease wdiich has aftected lamlis invarieiisj parts of the country. Its character seems imcertain, thout;l! generally believed to be connected with disease of the lun^s.j The legs seem to becoine powerless ami the llesh turns black. Tiiej disease generally proves fatal in a short time. It may iij tlie same kncwn as lung-worm in other sections, but this :{ d(jubtlul. .Some attempts at medication have proved beneficial in delay] ing th(^ tat.il termination, while others have apparently hastened it. As a general rule, the administration of anti-sei)tics and stimulants, such as diluted carbolic acid, powdered charcoa It minute doscq r,r ^ i t devclopcHitis . , "• """t'li when ,h« ..f5^""<^ Pepper !«-• q'Klen,ic in ccVm ' '"'''= '' "°' conti,.! T •'"■'=^<="' a >Wth what Mr - '".'^S^™!'''. as A,yV/..^/„„ ' "' Beverly, N. y '-"I- .„ ;,,^7'^ -"-^ " the pak d,la ■e""'"^, '° »-■ •^en&ai' i" 'vet tl,a„ in 1/ ''"P«'--»l'">.- whiw, ' ''^^'-'''^1 years -'-/look b t^,,r°"^- " - not 7noT"'''°''--ors. fro,,, three to\^, ,■',''■ '' ^"■''-^^ tC h" " '° '"se an "> " ^'-^ those t,a ""'•'• ■'""' "'°»e in ooj, ,'' ""^ ^S^ "f beco,„e very pa ,7 '" /'""^ eondition.'^;', "«'' "^^ -^ 'iable name o- ven fr^r fi ^ "^ ^^e caiisp ^r .. ^'-p '" aU: :,:- °^ •^, better, ^c it'^rr"-^ animals. Th^ u- • """^ ^" a irrcatrr '^^'^ >'ouncr *-«'= n mb::^;:: ^ ■■' r" ^^"'■■^- - " : ;■■" ^'•^" --'"-3 "•'"''P'Pe with , ' ""-' '""S--^. '"■ /n the't'b ""'' '■" '°"- l«riso„ with the n "'''■• ''"' ">e fatilL '^'"''"^"t "'an failure ,o eat T 'r '"' ^*"«l- The ™ ^ " •"'■'-"«'^'- ■" com- ■Stricana or 1 1 ™"'-^'™"er. ^ ""^ '''«ase i. ,„„ "«">cr disease Iff" " ''"''aps a verv ■ ^'^case affect ncr d. ^O '"correrf « ";™. so minute in^^yf^'P- '' 's cansed bv ' "^^ »f»"'a,,„,Tyin,, ,das, '/''•' " ^^"""t be seen wlf '"■^' "'"*" "' '"'e the wool' fr i ■ '' " '''="«ed ,o eause d """ "'" aid f- heeo„er„:r r s^-^' "-^•^ -'^":,; ';: -^ '<>. p'c^ ''«»mes rouri, and ? '"''ffS'^'' and wasted V""' ""^ I '" "ocks that havn K P °^ ^^^ aq-es j. ;, ^^ '^ "ot p-'' -deed, ;rist: t'^^' ^-^ "- d":^? f-^-^^ >-, OS i'll" ^ .-1 E-Hf 440 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. preventative and cure, wood and cob ashes with salt are used with partial success. We have seen sheep in Vermont and Massachusetts badly affected with this disease as well as in our own State. The sheep in the more Northern States and Territories of liir Great West, are as a rule less subject to disease than those of the Southern States and Territories. This is probably due to the absence of marshy and moist lands, th.e purer and more elevated atmosphere, the great range of pasturage and ilic absence or rarity of those insect and vegetable pests which produce and promote disease among these harmless animals. CHAPTER X. Other Farm Animals — Breedinc Swine — Swine Husbandry less Popilar IN THE Great West than Easi- ok the Mississiiti — The States and Teuki- TORiEs MOST lar(;klv encacko in it — The IIkst I'reeds — Modes of Man- agement — The Margin ok Prokit in the Ulsiness — Diseases to wiiiai Swine are Liahi.e — FiREEniNn ok Horses, Asses, and Mules for the Mar- ket — 'J'his Pursuit very l^RoKirAUi.E — Docs — The Shepherd Doc. — Doos for Huntin(; — The Grevhound; Different Varieties — Pointers, Skt- ters, Bull-dogs, Coach dogs, Terriers — Mongrel Hunting Dot;s — Ixdiax Cur-dogs — Crosses Between Dogs and Wolves — W^orthless Dues vkrv Destructive ok Sheep. The whole of " Our Western Empire" reported, at the close of 1879, but a little more than 12,000,000 swine, only about ono- third of the whole number in the United States. Iowa liad nearly 3,000,000, one-fourth of the whole number, and Missouri another fourth. Of the other half, Texas had a little more than 2,000,000, or one-third; Kansas and Arkansas respectively 1,300,000 and 1,200,000, and the remainder were divitled among the other States and Territories ; those on the Pacific slope having the smallest numbers. Beyond* the Ricky Mountains, rearing swine is not a favorite pursuit v/ith the farmers, partly perhaps because the climate and seasons are not so well adapted to the animal, and partly because there is more difficulty in protecting a herd oC s\vin( than the sv and p mi. \ S-ent/e, wilJ &^x iJeet of "0 gooi '^\\-^aranda- %e a litter as sivmc from the atta I "''^■^'^ than slieep or neJ "/ ""'' ^"'''nals anW r ''*' "'""■'ne sec ,"r "'^"'."- S''^'^? are ea^ T"' °"'^'- "■'eves S-cntle,andvveli-bel,nv^ S:san(l|,o ,„J " "'-^f '"^ sJiould '"■" spring, over a f' *''"^' °"'".s L'k T '''-■''■* •^'•'-- .i.t ""ffood qualities to "" ''"^''^dous t-n, li ^' ^"'' "'"^'i,'!. I'-- Southern swle ar "'"''''^'^""^ "'e H/ ' '•°""'"'^ <■■-'- °^ -= '-vc been ^^t eff °'' '' '^ ™''^. "C t ,e be m''""^ ''^ °-- "'^ ='ocfc, and witi, ' ' "^°"-^ ■"'-"'<-■ of late ^ r ^''''''''' 'l'0"k'h »fter Illinois, the ar """"""^'^''^^ ''-Tee n "' '° ™P'ove ''■--■■■ne (the th ee s"::' T'"^''' ^''-v after i^tT"' -?aboi„ , "•' ""mbers of ^'ock. '■ -"^' <^«^"s have be™ m^LT'"""' '™"'' "bo^ Stock, '^■^^' States, ion P-^7. two or tl^ee bX^r'^'?"'^ ^^'-^^ ^^^ th either the J 'mnrn,...-. , .. crosses of tl tile P, ^a,se only the best '^ best farmers n Ka, ;: ^'^%^n,h or th -™tnjri, t/iese br^« j ^^^nsas, "^P'-oved b3a). M M :' ^^^ the Pol. M. M ''^"'P^oyedl,rTT\'^!':^''^^^h to and fand- t^^ White. tmVN.. _ '"'' ^'^^' ■'^ow of th. ..,, ' '^ '^"^^ others Chester \Vh ^'e.'T /ew cli 'te, either tiles 'l^-- to with th Pi're or cro ''''' °^ the other b ^^-a'u;>^rrl:^•^^^theB;;i:J: ^t'creas in tliePoI. 6"'ve tlie Ja i^r eve and-Ch fli« J "lake the I t'le best rr.r, -„ r . "*- ^' ;t return for the g'cneral ^^^'gt^st and pure opinion se itth ^e and oth ■eed, and the e number o/ '^''' Whites, ar^ ^•"^■'^ to be th, ^reat anio land ders, 'S^'^ htte,; bu ;"°"^'y expended ^.^'-e rather too J, "'ost quiet i :it on th ^ogs, and *^ amount of fe,.^- ' too iaroe /n i.^ ?^^t '^ 'n the'^.h ?! ^^'^^^^^''-^^^ h Jtliefai Jora I lame ^"^^ their /lesh niie •"•S OH IS V ^'S-ht place em, and giy^ ''equire n pack 'eryfi ne to make fine h. ',^ave smaller bo nes, ^'"^^"^^a-halfold "\^'-. but d -grained. J] ams and shoul 'o not vveio-h '^'y are the best fo -^--ZC.-^::.'^°'-^-C.:r^";-f-Xear '"'and-ChinasTt ;"""?• ^"''''" not ha ve as ^ersaJiyao-reedthat OS CO O 442 OCA' IVES r fit,'/ /'lifnrrE. the crosses of t\\< '■■^', breeds make i(l*o>;etlM'/ fjbe test animals for market. These eros^i^fis should vvei^^'iv a-t on<; yi«;»r«iW, when fat- tened, from 350 to 450 poinuls, and at eiounds, Willi corn at twenty eefvis a bushel, aik! some jjasture, and pro[>er treatment, [.oik can he jjnide 'Cen- tral and Western Kansas at from ,52 lo $2.25 per loo pounds, and If will brin:^- from $2.87 to $2>-S^ P^''" hundred, live weight. Most of the dis(;ases, to which swine are; sul)je(t, can ))(.• ])n - vented much more easily than they can b(> curetl, and tlr- sensi- ble and judicious swine-breedt;r will find that, by avoidin;^- cloud- ing, damp and filthy pens or wallows, by occasional changes of pasture, -and die usf; o^f green food, and maslies when the drv food is too const;j>ating, k will be possible to ward off disease, and to ha /e at y.rU'XxU' Ivalthy herd of swine. The various forms of worms w'bV-h ififest swi-fte — the tape-worm, the tricliina, and the round vvc>riiw>~are, lo a considerable extent, the result of gross and iovA U',c.(\^\iy/y an-^l of filthy and close pens. The Iiqct is not an uncleanly aniti*i';iisses amounting'- in 1877 to more than #1 2,00'//X)0), led tho Uuik'd S.'afcs yloriiitl- tural Dcparlnicnt at Was!!!n;:^ir>n to make, ii, 1878, a vcrv thorough investigation of th-e disease, including its history, syni|)- toms, causes, dia;(»K/4s, prognosis, post-mortem a[)pearanc(:s, preventive mea.sur^'^ mA treatment. The investigation was con fided 'to four of tii<; mim. ^iW^nent veterinary surgeons in tiie United Staters — \}f«,, ii. /, lletm/rsof Chicago, James Law of Ithaca, N. Y., D. W, Voylc» i/( New Albany, Ind., and D E. Salmon of Swannan^/4, ^/ Cz—earh f/f whom >p(;nt months in tiie investigation, pursuing if j^j^^'pe-ndentiy 01 all the others, i;ic! without conference with them. T' e results of these invesuga- tions were published in a v< ry vaJuable volume in tlie autumn ot 1879, witli numerous colorevl [)iates of the appearances of the | lungs, stomach and intestines, and tables and records of the con- clusions to which they came. These reports are so ahle and exhaustive, and of so high and conclusive authority, that we be-j "" '-^'sernhf.- .'"■"^■wl so d(. '-''^^^- h is I, P^''*'nn:nts an -""0 should acCt '"' "■'"■'''■ "'•-■'■y form ' " '"^'^''"'•'-•s of P'-i.s and tro,„d,s V.n^ '■""' ^ '.'orous con,l;, " '° '^^'^^P »'«"tion, of Z'"^'':^"^; '■« «'-on,/ 'r T'' "'^"'"''^^'•'iv^/ --•• and t, \::™':-'J-ndennr;d ,;:f-™;"^' *e con- """•-•■-s of ,I,e 1" "^""'-"t ""• .spread of d' ?"' ""'y deeply ''•^'■•a.sed or dead Ik.X ' , °""'^ ''■^« l""alt,cs, and ,, " •^"'"'' -^''ould be pro '"?'' '-'"^ o.- al' ";'""'•• ""'' 'I- 'O.S t°V";'"«''erds '">'"■ slioinM l„. ,1 ;' ''^'■<-- been penned ' "'«e dis- ^'■'•'-l of infecdon'"""-'^'"' '""^ P'o- ",! .J;™ <■- a sin,,, "'' ":<^ -" I-rl,aps best b , '''■"™' ""-' "" ■•'^^scniWance ,o X ' "' "'^'''j' '-a""! A",,,., a, / , P^v,,! .so d.stn, ''-'•■"'"" '" "'e pie urn '""'"'«• '' lias P^^'-H^nts and resea'!) '""?-'""' and inf^t ' '"' "'''' '"«- '™« repeated a nd ? '"^ ""- v.'terinirv"' '■"' "'^ <'■''•■ and under a , ,.„ ,,r,> ! ^Z""*-'™-. '"any (■;. pa i3 444 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. together witli their post-mortem examinations, have proved tliat it can be transmitted, by inoculation and by devourinfj^ portions of the tlesh of diseased animals, to other swine, and to rabbits, sheep, and doi^^s as well, and produces the same symptoms and as often the same fatal termination, as where it is communicated by ordinary contact. The veterinarians are agreed in diesc points, that it is produced by the transmission of a specific germ, a bacillus as some of them call it, into the stomach or circulation, and that this germ is propagated with inconceivable rapidity and may promote diseased action in any organ or set of organs, the lungs, liver, stomach, bowels, lymphatics, kidneys, muscles, nerves or brain, but that the lungs and the lymphatic glands are akvays affected, and the other organs and tissues, one or more of them often. The best name for it is Swine- Plague or Hog- Fever. The disease does not origitiate from filth, crowding, and improper or heating food, but when it has been once communi- cated to any member of a herd of swine, its propagation is greatly accelerated, and its mortality hastened and aggravated by impure and unwholesome surroundings, SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS. The disease is ushered in by a cold shivering, lasting from a f(.'\v minutes to several hours, frequent sneezing and more or Itss coughing. The temperature of the body is increased, and though it is a difficult matter to ascertain the exact temperature without a struggle which will, of itself, increase the temperature, yet enough seems to have been ascertained to make it certain that it ran(r<^s between two or three and ten or twelve deorces above the normal or healthy temperature. There is also at first a partial, and soon a total loss of appetite ; a rough and sumt-- what staring appearance of the coat of hair ; a drooping of the ears (characteristic); loss of vivacity; attempts to vomit in .■5ome cases) ; a tendency to root in the bedding and to lie down in a dark and quiet corner; a dull look of the eyes, which not seldom become dim and injected ; swelling of the head (observed in several cases) ; eruptions on the ears and on other parts of the body (quite frequent) ; bleeding from the nose (in a itw 'U'C c acccic ron.sti t/ie /la (•maci.'i •stancci tile cor case) ; , peculiar fwrenic Tin's ocic cially iT 1 ni/lc. or , ■""■c incliMi isli hiack, '■"'■(I. and , '''■f i^orti'o IX'tu-ce/] ih •Tid on the or fsonietin Tou-ard a fa frequontK- u veals, if /,j^.j ■^^ tlie morl animal becon ''"'' "ndecicle '"^''W'- to ad' '^'■'■dalh- in : '■'•'■alvness /„ , "•■'■'^•^•' f'n.V an '^"^'"on Av/t/, , .^'"'^■'"'^^ n,]e the. 7 ^'^'^'-''- and n :::::"■"' "™ '-»„. ^""^) ■• Mvo/lin,. of ,1, ,. ^^™«v^^^. ^"^'-■/.atfon, r;^:""--""y 'abo'L. te""- - ".e bra -'-™ion : a' C:f; "'""°" "'""- -™ af""; ?''^— e oT -^'■) •• ".ore or loss 't^ '■''■^; °'^'^-" at an ea " ""^ "'""■« 'n •"- o^W ,-sr.:r "-'-"' as c,,at. ±--"-' -c, of .C Penetratf iiiiL '/'>■ ^^ ti^e herd of /ui- swfn as ^^ 's a Jar -"ciidcterisf IP ^r .i "'^ •° ■••nnounc,. , °' "'<^ ''••«-ase, _^'-^' 'ncJinecI to, b, th (- ^vi^cI I'sh l)J, /I, ic/. ^'intl hard f^osti-vo, t/,e c/ '^' tl/arrh nno ■^■;« one. at a d ^^vorahh presence espe- '■'^fance of half 'S UK ;aijy gray If til adni (Icr 'in^l on th oi* ^sometini ■' i^'-escnt, the f: ish e anmia/fi oi" broMn- i^ortions of th ■^'^-" t^H) hind h '1 a Jc" eces are se sl^ cUKi contain m «^ ^^ ''^'■A,'-^ number of '" ?"^" ^''^-'^^^^ '" on ti)e J cases th nif- an 'toward h, a fatal ncch, exlii/ S"s. be/ifnd th ""'"'^^ surface of e more ten- >it n e ears ''^ uniform redne ""lerous ia and thti I ro-er ^'^en on th 00(}\- ■qnentJ\- to terni ss ■eaJs, if pj, P^'rplc. A 'nation of the d c'^- -S't- ^^ As ti), eiintis is P^iysical "sease thij ^-\7)lo redness cii le nose 'JoLs. 'e niorbid -■^""i-. frcu , r?™" °f "- "> ani'mal becom "^'"^^ irequen^/v . , • ''^^ ^n P'-^^^-^ss i^roo-resses r ^ "" '^^'^^^'"" vo^w.... . ^ "-^'^es tile m^ ^-^ .yiisii). ingcs ■^'"■'"ndecidcd; th^ ^ ^^'^ai.er and a iiaDi(' stejxs ower; th movements of'ih ^' .^ait becomes . ^^ ^^^vance its C '^-T ''' ^^^ort, as ^ s ir. ^i. . . •^ V'Ot Ycrv r./V..„\ th 'OJ'ax re- s' ■'^oiind. e siciv ^'■erin.,- sta<>-(. v.-"al< e animai uas ncss nia i\"(: th (.'ir '" tJie hind '"'■>' o^ten), and inies ] ■'^onietim 'amen I PO; •'!".' '^' ^^e too h "^' i/uartcrc ^ ■^^-'^netimpc appearanee. T.^^ H!'"' i-alvs, :;, ess. great '^^ loo iieavy to h^ "°" ^^'th the n. , ^ ""^^'"'ed, •ad, if th e anim, ^' nose aim and is ], (often e ■»' IS on its I r) '"'^^^^ nde the diZl , °^^ ^^"^^^'n^ the c ^^^'^^^andon?:!'''^'^"'"^aIsarei'K. ^•Pt in a dr eo-s ^"''onnd; but ■oopin t;-''. cr ii as a > "'^ '''^"-''"-'a (Usually OS f — I ri'l 446 OUR WESTEK.X EMP/KE. one or two days before death) takes the place of the previous costiveness ; the voice becomes very peculiar, j^rows very faint and hoarse ; the sick animal manifests a jj^reat indifference to its surroundings, and to what is going on ; emaciation and general debility increase very fast ; the skin (especially if the disease has been of long duration) becomes wrinkled, hard, dry, parclinuint- like, and very unclean ; a cold, clammy sweat breaks out (observed several times, once as early as forty-eight liours before death), and death ensues either under convulsions (com- paratively rare), or gradually and widunit any struggle. A peculiar symptom, which, however, has been observed only once, in a litter of nine pigs, about a week old, at liie beginning, or in the first stage of the disease, may here be mentioned. It con- sisted in a peculiar and constant twitching of all voluntary mus- cles. All nine pigs died, and I am sorry duit I had no oppor- tunity to make any post-morlcni examination. In some cases numerous eruptions (ulcerous nodules) appeared on the tender skin on the lower surface of the body between the legs and behind the ears, and in a few cases wliole pieces of skin (in one case as large as a man's hand) were destroyed by the morbid process, sloughed off, and left behind a raw, ulcerous surface. In another case a part of the lower lip, of the gums, and of the lower jaw-bone had undergone ulcerous destruction. Wherever pigs or hogs had been ringed, the wounds thus made showed a great tendency to ulcerate. In several cases the morbid process had caused sufficient ulcerous destruction to form an opening directly into the nasal cavities large enough to enable the animal to breathe through, instead of tlirough the nostrils, which had become nearly closed by swelling and by exudations and morbid products adhering to their borders. In those few cases in which the disease has not a fatal termi- nation the symptoms gradually disappear, coughing becomes more frequent and easie-r ; the discharges from the nose, for a day or two, become co[jious, but soon diminish, and finally cease alto- getlier; appetite returns, and becomes normal; t!ie offensive smell of the excrements disappears; sores or ulcers that may happen i detai/( "77] to /JC appear attacke nre«{ak( value, s droopfn, tV'diiJi' iiafr; t/ic 'ippet/tc; i f''(." weak- ''id;fferen( conier, an ^^'A^r. and ; co/or of t] ^fast /n an sf'pation o! tonis, thoiii, ''^''^^^\: frci ^■)'c.s; atten, ^"'t 'wreath/, ^^'^"I'nal mus 'loarse vo/ce ""'^i^'orabJe, . ^'"^^■r the ii'J •^^'•f^i^'ty may .^'^•"f- •■ among '' '"'oni seven '^niniaJs that h, ^">i «-•„,-, .1,„,„'|, uJ '° ''^•••" ^ "'o an,-n,al bocon, ""' ^""••'ins for a /o,,: ,; ,' '''""' »<«»e»'I,at ),oa ; '^"'.'^.'""^ '"«■ ^-'j;-' ;.■ nr. r >:•!::-'- ■^>™r-.s or.„e d,-sea.,e are ., I '"•■ '.e fait u, T ""'>■ "''■"''^^ i'^ "l"e. .scarcely ever a,? "^^ ^>™P'on,s o"s2 , T''^-^'°"' I>«f.e forexcren,cn s ' r"' °.' ''"i-"><.' for food;''' '°'' "f ''■'^ "•'-■ak and unrl. "! ', "^ "P"' emaciation • T ' " '"""<--d '■"'W'-rence to " "'' '''•'^T'en.ly sf,'!? ' ^^'■'■■"'''■■l''■«tv■• 5*-, "f '1.0 cxcrenK „: 'if"' ''^"'■^"■-- -^mel,, a^ " ""= '',^'^- '»^"n an advancc<| s, ' ;,: ,^ "'^ •■*>™Ptom is al C P™"'''-"- "»"s, ,i,o„,./, „„.'":* '-^ '^•'^"^''ns. As otlier c,? '"""' '°"- "'' ^■>-''-'l.^.- accnn,,,,: :f .^'-■''■n,, f™'» 'he no c ■ °, ^e '"^''- Oes; attcmnt^; f„ • °'^ ™"™s in tJie ;„ -^^ oiling of "■It I>roatl,i r ; ■°'"."' °^ ■■-->' vomitin. , "r ''"*'' °'' *e ''»^^o voice in ' 1,"' "' "' '^''^ ''reatl,, and a ' ." "" "''■ ""'•^-•omWe, but is the ™ ■■''"'' °f "'o disease i , '•''S'-r the lierd A '"'' ™ "''= younn-er , •" ''«'dcdly •"»'ity .na^ t; sft :r^ P'^^^ '--'''.an" I r : ,r'7'' °'- "'^ «'•■■ amon.ani™, ?™ "'^ ''^'^ "inctv to o >" '' °'^ "'<^ \^'^^^ seventy-five to '"^ °'' ''^^^^" months o T "^ ^^^ •- "-' '.» '» « r; - :- * ir „r " ^°'"' ™"dition, and >-' >t pa ^^8 ' OCA' ll/iSTKhW KMPlKi:. naturally stron;,^ and viirorniis, the mortality sometimes may not cxccctl twenty-live per cent., but may, on an avera,i;e, reach forty to fifty per cent. The proy^nosis is comparatixcly favorable only in thosi; few cases in which the morbid process is not very violent; in which the seat of the disease is conlinecl to the res[)iratory organs and to the skin ; in which any thumping or pumping motion of the Hanks is absent and in which the patient is, naturally, a strong, vigorous animal, not too young and in a good condition ; further, in which but a few, not more than two or dirce, animals are kept in the same pen or sty, and receive nothing but clean, uncontaminated food and pure water for drinking, and* in which a frequent and thorough cleaning of the sty or pen pre- vents any consumption of excrements. The duration of the disease varies according to the violence and the seat of the morbid process, the age and the constitution of the patient, and the tr(!atment and keeping in general. Where the morbid process is violent, where its principal seat is in one of the most vital organs — in the heart, for instance — where a large number of animals are kept together in one sty or pen, where sties and pens are very dirty, or where the sick animals are very young, the disease frequently becomes fatal in a day or two, and sometimes even within twentv-four hours. On the other hand, where the morbid i)rocess is not very violent or ex- tensive, where the heart, for instance, is not seriously afR.'ctecl, and where the patients are naturally strong and vigorous, and well kept in every respect, It usually takes from one to three weeks to cause death. If the termination is not a fatal one, the convalescence, at any rate, rf^cpiircs an equal antl probaljjy a mucii longer time. A perfect rtjcover)- seldom occurs ; Inmost cases some lasting disorders — morbid changes which can be re- paired but slowly or not at all — remain behind, and interfere more or less with the orowth and fatteniuijf of the animal. From a pecuniary standpoint, it makes but little difference to the owner whether a pig affected with this plague recovers or dies, because those which do survive usually make very poor returns for the food consumed, unless' the attack has been a very mild one. f-turc, arc. l "•'""■ "'' lli<-se v.-w, , particular species fl„. "^' •''"'"^' fathers Jr,VM • '■'vas a, ,rst believed tl,at th " , " "■7,"'""'"^ '•"^■""■^-t«| "^■/'■'■y were inhaled and Iken "' '''''^''^■'^ '° a distance <^-wiy IS now C'VI) r»J,. I r ■»!«'-'•"" of d,e,se ,..;?'•„':; -^'-y .^rood .ea.ons. The ;™;-fi-.s; and the p,-. t I'hv"'"; " ''- -•™""' «'^ 'r T" "''-" f- 1 on :;;:' '■"'-'■^'"■•-^ ". wit'; ; : ckarsed with iaaV/i (-,!-„ , ''■''''''"'^ "■■ <'nnk the «•■, , , lib ■^). were watered fro 1 esions (111 nil (T Ifroiii th "-;g:-™n!!!"-^<'"^">ci e ( I'rau' stacf> .^Tass, either and in the morn <'^0'-^"s. wounds, or the ^n food, and si ^n a bare yard "^'■""-ie„.hadd;:,r:'; 'pasture, ^cies or pens. An not containin or on grass, !-s the- soon( cJov "nals allowed '••^appeared any old h^^«J the disease ''''^-'''"-''' ^^ ~ ^'^S"e made its ann 2g ^ '^^ appearance ternal '' or later in eve to run out times of in the ^^^'-es or wounds, con- 'O' instance where the r, ihe neio-hborhood. Furthe as •<; pa >-- « CiJ 5^ ^ ^^^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 121 I.I 11.25 |25 ■^ Ui 12.2 £? 144 ■■■ S -^ 12.0 ^> iniii^ ■yui. /] ^I^*' ■^ -^ Kiotographic Sciences Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STREET WSBSTM.N.Y. 14580 (714) 872-4503 450 OUR IVESTEKN EMPIRE. plague, at least during the summer or while a south wind was pre- vailing, seemed to have a special tendency to spread from south to north. If the history of swine-plague is inquired into, it will probably be found that that tendency has been prevailing every year. This year, for instance, the disease made its appearance, as I have been informed, for the first time, in Wisconsin. These facts, of course, could not fail to be suggestive. So I conceived the idea that the contagious or infectious principle, abundant in the excretions of the diseased animals, might rise in the air in daytime, be carried off a certain distance by winds, and come down again during the night with the dew. That such might be the case appeared to be possible, because the excrements of hogs, if exposed to the influence of sunlight, heat, rain, and wind, are soon ground to powder (partially at least), which is fine enouoh to be raised into the air and to be carried off bv winds, Moreover, as t!ie bacillus-germs, which, I have no doubt, must be looked upon as die infectious principle, are so exceedingly small, it appears to be possible and even probable that they are carried up into the air by the aqueous vapors arising from evaporating urine and moisture contained in the excrements, and from other evaporating fluids (small pools of water), which may have become polluted with the excretions of sick hogs. To ascertain the facts, I collected dew from the herbage of a hoir-lot occupied by diseased animals, and also from the grass of an adjoining pasture, and on examining the same under the^ microscope I found the identical bacilli and bacillus-germs invariably found in the blood, other fluids, and morbid tis- sues of swine affected with the plague. Consequently, I have come to the conclusion that the bacillus-germs rise into th ; air during the day, are carried from one place toj another by the wind, and are introduced into the organism ofj the animal either by eadng herbage (grass, clover, etc.), or old! straw co\er(;d with dew, or by entering wounds and beind absorbi'd i^y the veins and lymphatics. There is, however, stilf another way by which the contagious or infectious principle is| conveyed from one place to another. It is by means of riinnina water. It has been observed that wherever swine-plague pre] etm e/)e any tran.s ctiiaJIyp^ P''^?i'e on a ''"^^'n iimfte """' ""' "--'- « r...-s.nr.,. vailed amon. ,,„,,, ,„, , , ' '"^---'rr... access to tJlO rrr. I ^" "^<^' loos nnr! r.' \ ^" b)-.her means." '-"'P"^"' ""'-s they became inLtej %'ncultural «Titers ,.oii "^^ ^-een assertpW k "•-cl.in breec :\*'"" 'i" ''" •■>-' "-'' "ess sL"^""' germs) are prese, t r "' P""riples (the i«Sl /"""''■ "-S. co„,s.,n ;!,?, of "'^ ''•^' ""="• of course dt A "'"'^ =" "'fcction, ind wan :f '", '""'^ ^"'l of cli^ water "' T''- '»«>t of the „? f P' """^ yOUtlff dOf^S -.n. r yP'S^' ="- £9 !■ — <" Za CO- j:::^ PC? » — ■« Cxi »=:-< lOCJ O 452 OUR WESTERN EMPfRE. been destroyed, but have been preserved till they find sufficient food again. In order to prevent such a local spreading^, two remedies may be resorted to. The one is a radical one, and consists in destroying every sick hog or pig immediately, wher- ever the disease makes its appearance, and in disinfecting the infected premises by such means as are the most effective and the most practicable. If this is done, and if healthy hogs are kept away from such a locality, say for one month after the dis- eased animals have been destroyed, and the sticks, pens, etc., dis- infected with chloride of lime or carbolic acid, and the yards plowed, etc., the disease will be stamped out. I know that this is a violent way of dealing with the jjlague, but in the end it mav prove to be by far the cheapest. The other remedy is more of a palliative character, and may be substituted if swine-plai^aie, as is now the case, is prevailing almost everywhere, or in cases in which the radical measures are considered as too severe and too sweeping. It consists in a perfect isolation of every diseased herd, not only during the actual existence of the plague but for some time, say one month, after the occurrence of the last case of sickness, and after the sties and pens have been thorou^diK' cleaned and disinfc:cted with carbolic acid or other disinfectants of equal efficiency, and the yards, etc., plowed. Old straw-stacks, etc., must be burned, or rapidly converted into manure. It is also very essential that diseased animals are not allowed any access to running water, streamlets or creeks accessible to other healthy swine. Those healthy hogs and pigs which are within the possible intluence of the contagious or infectious j)rinciple, perhaps on the same farm or in the immediate neighborhood of a diseased herd, must be protected by special means. For these, I think, it will be best to make movable pens, say eight feet square, of common fence-boards (eleven fence-boards will make a pen) ; put two animals in each pen ; place the latter, if possi- ble, on high and dry ground, but by no means in an old hog-lot, on a manure-heap, or near a slough, and move each pen every i noon to a new place, until after all danger has passed. If this is done the animals will not be compelled to eat their food soiled with excrements, and as dry earth is a good disinfectant, an in-j fcciion, vcrv lll.-,.|„ ■„ ' ■ '-"Ta cse. r; T" """>«l'-'-ly before ;" '""'■ °' •"-' ''^'''^" fron •' -other of ,he anh„a/s dn,s kepf':'""?^? """ ^"^^"^ one or fined to that one pen. '^P'' ^^''y '■'<-■'/ it will remain con- J' t'le iloatof .,o,„e other co„ta:f:,."'"^Sion of swine plagfe' ciinmnrr to nirl ,.* '^^i^ious diseases iT nk i , ** ' ^ ^ lo, Old straw or Inx- ,.♦- •„ ' " ^osorbed bv n,- :r - —in, the J;:ct;'^c'ir tf "7 --^ a «fs":::r:r"C.r''".'^canbedo„etopre^ , f'P'« o-t'le of ttV:^!^""' '" '---y tCin°fS I *P«e that the f 1 "''"^^''- «"". wherever Te """"a' '*mi ed ; ::; °' "'^ «^'-- ^r dnn " ;„t;a" ?"" •" I "''''''■^™"'^^-"of"vine-p,;;::^,tiitr s*^ = 3 f--1 6-* »:;a o 454 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. •risable to give every morning and evening some carbolic acid, Kay about ten drops for eacli animal weighing from 120 to 1^0 pounds, in the water for drinking; anil whert'ver there is reason to suspect that the infectious principle may be iloating in the air, it will be advisable to treat every wound or scratch a \\o\r or nin may happen to have immediately with diluted carbolic aciil. During a time, or in a neighborhood in which swine-plague is prevailing, care should be taken neither to ring nor to castrate any hog or pig, because every wound, no matter how small, is apt to become a port of entry for the infectious principle, and the very smallest amount of the latter is sufficient to produce the disease." "Still, all these minor measures and precautions will avail but little unless a dissemination of the infectious principle, or discas;;- germs, is made impossible, i. Any transportation of dead, sick, or infected swine, and even of hogs or pigs that have be(Mi the least exposed to the contagion, or may i^ossibly constitute the bearers of the same, must be effectively [)rohibited. 2. Even' one who loses a hog or i)ig by swine-plague must be compelled by law to bury the same immediately, or as soon as it is dead, at least four feet deep, or else to cremate the carcass at once, so that the contagious or infectious principle may be thoroughly destroyed, and not be carried ijy dogs, wolves, rats, crows, etc., to other places." Another thing may yet be mentioned, w'hich, if properly exe- cuted, will at least aid very materially in preventing the disease; that is, to orive all food either in clean troughs, or if corn in the ear is fed, to throw it on a wooden platform which can be swept clean before each feeding. TREATMENT. "If the cause and the nature of the morbid process and the character and the importance of the morbid changes are taken into proper consideration, it cannot be expected that a therapeu- tic treatment will be of much avail in a fully developed case of swine-i)lague. ' Specific * remedies, such as are advertised in column advertisements in certain newsjjapers, and warranted to be infallible, or to cure every case, can do no good whatever. whole orgi fo assert tJ without dis 3n extent a even \( me, ^erms can destruction important n IS existing u o'' morbid c( colon) may posited in t\ '"^"^^ ''n the a^ ^'^Jy ci]ange( ' ^come disea I intj, are a downnVht fnnJ -, i 455 o"'oftl,epocke>so ,t ;;":-^"r ""'^'^ ''"-f- money .^t an;- s,n»v. No cure Ua.T ^ ''"•"■'''■ '^''" '^ '"'-■acly to calh '-'."'""-'"d years, and tha I, . ! I " ^""''" ^°' '"<"■- t'-an ^f"> ^'tl,e„,o.st learned veeril" ""''-•■'^"•s-'"! a^'ain and ^■' turope, and ,„,, J X 2' "''" '" "^"^ '''''"'■''■™'-- 'r«u,nent will ever be discover™^ ." r7" ^ '"'«'«-•" that a '""[ *-'°P«l. will yield. nIC ; "'°-^^ 'I'^^ases. once pro al.l,ty d,at f"lly ioveloped 1 1 '.V '"■ '"^ P^"^'«^" "^ r«.tment It i,, ,„,, ,,,^^ f l^J''''-'^'^^";' »'" "er yield to k.ll«l or destroyed if ontsidl of f ; ■ ' "T' ""■''• «-■"'' can be -aci., on the surface of t|,e anl , ' b:,';"''' "r"''^™' ^ «'"»" '' ^^-^-^P' '" such - ,?u,ns) as n,ay happen 1 tveT"-' """'^"« '-"J-'-^va W process. They are inside of 2 ■!"""^' ■"^^'""l ''r *e mor- "•ery part and tissue morbidly aff 1 T-""'""'' •'""' "°' "nly in aneabdo„,in^a,':y;^;^ :',:-7-t>--n the penWdiut." My changed, and every lymphat I „ T- "''''>' '^^^■'^ ^'=^" '"or S3 0:$ CO I — < rjjf •jr.'- >w? .':!> 1-3 456 <^(-'^ n'ESTEKX EMriRE. who advertise their 'sure cure' and their high-sounding^ 'spe- cifics " to swindle the farmer out of his hard-earned dollars and cents — how, I ask, will those cjuacks restore, repair, stop, and reduce all those morbid chan^^es ? " Still, I do not wish to say that a rational treatir<".nt can do nn ^rood ; on the contrary, it may in many cases avert the worst am! most fatal morbid changes, and may thereby aid nature consider ably in effectinjj^ a recovery in all those cases in which the disease presents itself in a mild form, and in which very dangerous or ir- reparable morbid changes lu^ve not yet taken place, A good dietetical treatment, however, including a strict observance of sanitary principles, is of much more importance than the use o{ medicines. In the first place, the sick animals, if possible, should be kept one by one in separate pens. The latter, if movable- movable ones, perhaps six to eight feet square and without a iloor, are preferable — ought to be moved once a da)', at noon, or after the dew has disapjieared from the grass ; if the pens are not movable, they must be kept scrupulously clean, because a pig affected with swine-plague has a vitiated appetite, and eats its own excrements and those of others, and, as those excrements contain innumerable bacilli and their germs, will add thereby fuel to the tlame ; in other words, will increase the extent and the malignancy of the morbid process by introducing into die organ- ism more and more of the infectious principle. The food given ought to be clean, of the very best quality and easy of digestion, and the water for drinking must be clean and fresh, be supplied three times a day in a clean trough, and be drawn each time, if possible, from a deep well. Water from ponds and water that has been standing in open vessels, and that maj^ possibly have become contaminated with the infectious principle, should not be used. If the diseased animal has any wounds or lesions, they must be washed or dressed from one to three times a day with diluted carbolic acid or other equally effective disinfectants." Dr. Detmers experimented with carbolic acid — ten drops for each hundred pounds of live weight of the hogs, administered three times a day in the water given the hogs for drinking. Two of the nine on which it was tried, survived, but did not com- of very ^ood ri at any purpose or vcnit nine nioi stage oft I'limediat vcloped I salicyJic I no good j| been obs developed proved to Perslstenti one rccov ^I'hich wen empted. practice an '"variably t, termination, C'lanipaign •^"re'ttostru '■esults obtai '■emained fn^ "A case w ^^'•- Crews ] twelve, and P rpose and wi,,, ,„ ,„„,^ ^ ^ " "I l>as been u.secl for e|,, ,,; f or .«»/„„„ „„,„„^ give" o . "'"''"^"f "■'"•'- l.c.-llc.boe nine mont w nl,i ^ 1 '>'*^'-' 'o some s hmtB /,i '"-"ore .'lage of the disease, ond.seemstoL ' '"" ■^''™y)' '" 'he first ""■""'■fcly; at least the'roa '.'''■""''-•'' '''•-• ■""*-! process "loped cases, it did no ^oj T'"'""'- '" °"'" "'ore de ■«l'cyi'c acid, and carboll '^"dj j''""'*-'--- "■■-'Ipl.ite ot ,oda" -good results plain,,, Z.^^Z"T'^ - oTt.'.e: U^l^^ J-ere treated with ctrbo^c Il^nd^' " ^•^'--' '^-S •'rniination. A ?^r2 ^°"^^1"<^"ces, and acce emtedM ;^e nos.„,„„, but noneof tL" °V^P^^'«"' -"d -sure '«"lt3 obtained, and so it „,, t ^"^ '"'""'='' '" '^Ik about le '*.ned invisible. """' "^^ ^"PPosed that the latter We ;cr-. lOd Is PCX O ^-S ^^'^ IVF-STEUX EMPIRE. advised him to separate those apparently yet healthy, or hut sli;jfhtly alTected, iVnin the very sick ones ; to put the former in ;i separate yard, not acci'ssibh; to the others; to feeil them clean fooil ; to wat.T them \\\vvv. times a day from a well, ami to i^ivc! to each animal, twt) c^r lln-ee times a tlay, about ten drops of carbolic acid in their drinkiiiij^ water, lie; liid so, and savoil everyone he se[Kirated (fourteen in number), while all others, with th(! exception of two animals which died later, died within a short time." Dr. Salmon had made many experiments in the treatment of the disease with bisulphite of soda, salicylic acid, bichromate of potassa, and bromide: of ammonia. These were all atlminist( red at an early staL;(: of the disease. The first two mitii;ati;d the symptoms somewhat, but in most instances the fatal result followed. The last two did not produce any a[)preciable result. Dr. Law recommends the following measures to arrest and extirpate the disease : Without entering at this time into all the details of the necessary restrictive measures, the following inav be es{)ecially mentioned : i . The appointment of a local autlioriti' and inspector to carry out the measures for the suppression of the disease. 2. The injunction on all having the ownership or care of hogs, and ujjon all who may be called upon to advise concerning the same, or to treat them, to make known to sudi local authority all cases of real or suspected hog-fever, under a penally for every neglect of such injunction. 3. The obligation of the local authority, under advice of a competent veterinarv inspector, to see to the destruction of all pigs suf'fering from the plague, tiieir deep burial in a secluded place, and the thoroiiL[h disinfection of the premises, utensils, and persons. 4. The thorough seclusion of all domestic animals that have been in contact with the sick pigs, and in the case of sheep and rabhits the destruction of the sick when this shall appear nccessar)'. 5. Unless, where all the pigs in the infected herd have been destroyed, tlie remainder should be placed on a register and examined daily by the inspector, so that the sick may he taken out and slaughtered on the appearance of the first signs of illness. 6. Sheep and rabbits that have been in contact with the j Jack of ,,^.t^ veterinarian ---«••-. .V.MV.M.,. ,,„,,„,,,,.^., ;'■•"' "-7 '■<■- .,,-,,o.s;:; , '■; '■;;;■"■ .■^''7 "- last l^- ,■:;'; •ho real valMoasas^ "';-■, '-■•^"-■"' '"' "'" -""r,rtl, , ' l"; 7"'<= """I <'>e disease l,as l.C iV^ i'' ■■'"''"■'''^ «l'"''^n>c V,' ~; removal is made by speci-d i, '''^' ■•'"I^P'-"»«^I, lu.t ' ,'' ^1-" t'-Mnanyplal" L : ZT"" ''" '""-'- loc.litie, c"ish between the diffbrent -f o 4*^0 OCR U'F.STF.HX E.VriKE. coiMiniinicahlc and dcstnictivc diseases of swine, and to adopt the measures pecessary to tluir supprt.'ssion in tlie ditlcrcnt cases. Ill illustration 1 need only to recall the numerous reports in u hich what is supposed to be ho^-cholera lias been fouml to depend on /utij^-iOorms, on any one of the four different kinds of intcslitial ronud-ivonns, on the iard-iconns, on embryo Uipc-wovms, on uialignant aiiihrax, on pncuuionia, or on erysipelas. To class all these as one and apply to all the same suppressive measures would b(.' a simple waste of the public money, but to distinL,aiish them and apply the proper antidote to each ov(^r a wide extent of territory would demand a number of experts whom it would be no easy matter to fmd. This state of thinj^s is the natural result of a persistent neglect of veterinary sanitary science and medicine as a factor in the national well-beino;', and must for a time prove a heavy incubus on all concerted efforts to restrict and stamp out our animal platjues. It will retard success under the best devised system, and will sometimes lead to losses that miL,du have been saved, yet if an earnest and prolonj^ed effort is made, the obstacle should not be an insuperable one, and the United States shoidd be purged not of this plague only, but of all tiiose animal pestilences which at present threaten our future well- being. The rearing and breedinij of swine is conducted in connection with other farming, and often, and perhaps most profitably, on dairy farms. Where the swine can have good pasture and plenty of buttermilk, or sour milk with their food, they thrive well. Where there are large herds of swine, if the farmer raises also large crops of corn, or the Egyptian rice-corn, he can fatten his swine very cheaply. The business of rearing swine either for sale or for breeding purposes, or for pork, is, aside from the risks of epidemic dis- eases, very profitable. A man with a farm of a half-section, 320 acres, well in hand, sixty acres of it in corn, or thirty in corn and thirty in rice-corn, and a dairy herd of thirty to fifty cows, can begin operations with, say, thirty young sows of the Poland- China or improved Berkshire breed, and three or four boars of the alternate breed, a total outlay of not much over ^200; may '^- /^'/AV .su;y, r.arnun,,. ''<^"nt upon two litt.rs a vrnr i,u , 4^' nave enou" 1 ,.(V . , • ,. '""' "i-ttine l .trive him at tlk^ ..,,,1 J i *4.9ot, and •■''■'"" "» v.-,h,c. is .-nhancH,' , : , ' ™;" '-■"'.^ ™n.s;;,„l.r„,: •" "r-'y cinublc. its previous v I ; ^ ""'^' '^ ^ Soo.l ,„ana,„ *'^' f" this ina.,,,,^ :;' "'"-'•^-'•■■n.i > /■ A C;./;/„v,, /Wo;w, A/,,„A// ,^ ;""« P-scnt stock; a /^ o " '"'"""^^ ''"'P^"-'l ri.rl ''-<1 arc. their ,h.,,h is the IZ^'^T '"' P'^''^^""^ 'Lis S«t v„ahty, stron.. "y l>a c "«'"- »'ei.,ht, yet can Ix. rea?i . r "''''""'^ ''"-^'-■'•«. -vill atNn ™'1-^l«l for prolih,..,,., ar^ , ^ 'r,"" ^' -r a.e, s^r: 1 •^•i:'-' "onch.rf,,! „nifor„,itv in':^ ?''' ■''"'' ^'"•'-■'■"' ■Mothers' «^^. -Lite strip in face, f,.,.^ "j ""l^;'""^ sho„ld he ofo^sv "J."o,lerately lon,^, straight I ack '' , ,'^" "''""-■- I'"'')' deep *"• .»d stron,^, face sho wi "7' "'"'^■-'"■"".'o.sstn d ;«"-■'<. jowl heavy, indicah,.; ,""<'■''';. ^'^ ".ck sl'l;^ i.rJ.v, , " " 'O ten months oM • ™y "oars I ' l>.'= months old; two htters ^ ""•'''' f™"' <^iiiht to *• ""1 '^^'- S'-"-nff proper cTre 1, "' ,''"' ""' ""^ '"-"V. with ' , *' ';'--'^'y in .September fir tl'o 'l^' ""'"' ™'"'= ^"^y i" Apr •S' in td"' ^r ■•" --- "-"' - ■ ^N in good order, weioli ^^^ . "^^ <^"e year olrl -stalk; use some - 3 , — • rj o 462 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. milk, with ground rye, wheat bran, shorts, and other stuffs, wliicli make an agre'jable and healthful variety; crowding, or very warm sleeping-places, I avoid. Don't consider it profitable to cook fi.ed, with corn at twenty cents per bushel, but with wind or other cheap power, it would often be profitable to grind and soak for Ibrty-eight hours before feeding. Summer pasture necessary; the hog is emphatically a grass-eater ; red clover and blue-^rrass best. No disease among my hogs ; try to raise stock with robust constitutions ; don't confine to exclusive corn diet 365 days in the year ; don't let them crowd in large numbers ; give them my pcr- sonil attention, and have had no occasion to curse my luck or the hog-cholera ; principal causes of disease, mean class of hc^s, kept in a mean way, by negligent farmers. Experience has proven to me that good pork, at a cost of two cents per pound, brings more than corn at twenty cents \)<\r bushel. Sold pork in 1870 for $1.2^ to "^^ per 100 pounds, live weight. This State prese.its no obstacles to success in this branch of farm industry; lack of success and profit is with the man who practises false economy, by using year after year runty, ill-favored animals as sires, instead of pure-bred boars, of any breed, that would im- prove the value of their stock from fifty to 100 per cent, bv the first cross ; lack of clover, blue-grass and artichoke pastures, pure water and shade ; the idea prevails that 'any fool can raise hogs,' hence no care in studying new breeds and methods." Linscott Bros,, Ho! ion, Jacksoyi County, Easiej^n Kansas.— "Twenty years' experience; now raising pure-bred Poland- China ; they are more quiet, sows make better mothers, are bet- ter sucklers, more prolific, pigs never get mangy, easily fattened at nine months old ; if desirable to keep longer, will continue growing till thirty months old ; when fattened, h;^ve less waste, bring higher prices ; best grass hog ; will make two pounds of meat on grass to one of any odier ^^reed ; grass meat being cheapest meut made, this is a great . ' . antage. Marks of pure- bred, in color, nearly black, some white, occasionally .sandy spots, long body, deep sides, heavy liams, short legs, when fattened, should ' roll a cob,' rather large ears, drooped, rather short head, slightly dished face, has more meat back of shoulders tiian other bre( i'olci pure undt twcl\ one J April litter. 500 p nono. soakec ue wis m fall, ^vcan a slop-fee grain, n only sei profitabl no preva Sold por fattened ^. M. "Twoyej stock; th close con/ other bree ^ii'th Polar 3oi'ng; so in tivo yea old my ho t'lem; too produce sic '"eed. with t ?ood, but n( f'^^rowpor ^" J 879 porl '^^ ^^og, at 01 iwdve months ,>l, m ' "" "°' sooner tli.in "•' ""' one liuer at,"';/;' T,- "-y have two t IV'^ "' ^■-'"- -' ;\pnl one, anj October on" 7 ' •'™'-' ''''J ''aised tvvolit," ''"-•• 0-- Logs at one J ;,. t"''" '"— ■■ eight p" ! 500 pounds; at two year. , ' ^°"'' "'"der, wei' - ^al::s ™"4t::ef-'^^t"w:2'---7^^ ITofitable pork-ratin,^ 7'" '"^'"^ ■'"^-'utei; nece!: 'T' ""prevailing disea ■!' ''°"" •'""d "-e-grass best u '^ ^°' Sold pork in ,s'o n T°"^ <"- '^°S- i" Kansas \e"" ''"'' "Two years' f' ""'' ^^"<4'«"v,« 0,„ , ,?' ""'^ J"=^"- old." -yojears experience bree-llnrv ■ ""•■'• l-l^^s/cru Ka„„„ ;-k ; think they n,a,ure ea, l? IT ' "'!''' «"^^''ire prts ~ Close confinemenf .... ^^^'^^' 'atton wuh Je^« r j t^'^^^^t oAer breed. B • t croT" ""'' ''"" "^^ '-' J b tt!^' , ""''■'''^ :f"'o'-d. Ha;7br::z™r ^- p-'b l:: !«ing; sows at einht nmn,l f '"•'^'" "'OMhs, bwt if ' " '- years ; have^hL'" :;^!::' "-. °^'-er tha'n';!, 'l^ o!d my Jiocrs vvei<.h .- '*^ ^pnl and May /> ^ 6 '- out not necessary Cr^.^ '• Summer nn-.f. ^n^row pork in Kans.V r "^^ ^^'^^^^ ^wo events n ^ '^ In rQ., , ^^3"^as, Will corn If f P^^' pound Jn 1879 pork brolur^^ r ^'^ ^^^'t:"ty cenfc r i ^' K', r. one y^oif :';-'; p- pou... 1,:::,.^,: "^s -■^'03.0 pounds is good height.. ,'"2^ frj >■ — • (jjf o 464 "^^^ IVESTEKN' EMPIRE. y. M. yohnson, Harvcyvillc, Wapawiscc Ctninty, Eastern Kansas. — "Twenty years' experience breeding'' swine ; now raising pure- bred Poland-China : prefer theni, because of their gentle, c[uiet dispositions, large size, early fattening qualities, non-liability to disease, compared with a while hog; body good length, short legs, broad, straight back, deep, full sides, full square hams, heavy shoulders, drooping ears, not too large, short head, wide between eyes. Rest cross for pork among pure-breds, Poland and Berkshire. First breed boars at nine months old ; sows, at same age, twice a year ; have litters come in March and Septem- ber. In good condition, at one year old, my hogs weigh 375 to 400 pounds. Thus far, in Kansas, have kept them confined, hav- ing no pasture fenced ; keep breeding sows separate from other hogs ; have corn and rye ground to make swill ; feed dry corn. One year ago quite a number of farmers tried boilers, but found no profit in it. Not necessary to have summer pasture to make a good hog, but less expensive ; red clover best. Never had any disease aniong hogs in this neighborJiood. Costs about two cents per pound to grow pork in Kansas, counting corn at twenty cents per bushel. Average price received for 1879 pork, ^3.37 per TOO pounds, live weight. At a year old, a well-fattened hog ought to weigh 400 pounds. No drawbacks to success here; but when corn is high, there is no money in feeding and raising hogs in close pens." A. S. Silt Ion, W'spcr, Lincoln County, Central Kansas. — "In 1875, I raised twelve pigs from two sows, one a Poland China, the other a good grade ; have used pure Berkshire males on rbove sows and offspring; have tried no other kind, having been very successful with these; in 1876, had the two old sows and six young sows of the 1875 pigs; raised and sold 100 pigs that summer, and increased my herd some; in 1877, sold fewer pigs, but began to fatten them; sold that year, in pigs, shoats, and fat hogs, over 100, and had at the highest on hand 200 ; In 1878, fattened and sold 100; sold fifty or more young ones, and had at times 300; in 1879, fattened about 100; sold over 100 shoats, weighing over 100 pounds each, fifty or more pigs and sows; had as high as 400 at one time ; now have 200. Berkshire Is a finc-ha,Ve,l, black 1,. ' ^''^"^'"■ •oars, round, syl'S'caTL"'''''^''" •"-<=• "hite fe« snnl, ' on our Western c^ , 'y- ''"^^ s^iort Jeers ^n •,^"'^^"' erect -^."Sabeiru, rl^r'T '' ^-^ r su, ':f""^f - boars first younger T'''^ "''' ''°S- '" my lame h, , ?'' °""^''' ralc; sl.ouW 1 ^''^'' Preferable: can'^ '"'^ °"« "vo co.ne. a „n"l ^-^P'-^^ber; saves labir anc T' f ''"'"' '<>■"« '■car old "ZklT'^S'^ °f P'SS can be • vfd T" ,°'' "'^ '^^-r. Have ^ad:ot :/-f ,' ^ t' °"- ^^ Po-ndttd "°^'' ^' ^ «• Since ..ettburT, "'^ <^'°^':. 'o"! pens n 7 ■ r "P^rds. "■pen by be 1 f """"'-■ •-"" con,pe bed ?"""' '°"''' "^ '^^ open suffic entiv f^ i l-'-^^wre; also have i ,.^ j tiiem extrT • U^ ^"-nciy to Jet n (ro .j,^^ , "'^^ ^ yard *i.orsei, cattle «c::r "'",''" ^ ^■•-y-ac e b dtf "•.''°'- "ra tviice T d=„ , water and straw sh^^, r ' prairie V to cleat to' "'" ''"" 4°o togetbeJ b ,t t '^""''' ^'"^ " three cents T ' '''' '" •"" "sed onlv ZT^ ^ '°' ''^^Itb I^e. ent stock; prefer tJiem K "" "^' Pure-bred Rrrl- i- iL'em • u.;'i , "lem becansp T v.^ i . ■^^erksinres o ^66 ^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. on face, feet, and tip of tail, very short head, good length of body, large hams, stand wide apart on front feet, nearly straight on back and belly from head to tail, short in legs. My exi)enence is, that Poland-China and Berkshire make best cross among purc- brcds for pork. Consider one year old best age to first breed boars ; sows, at from nine to twelve months ; have best luck witli two litters a year, in March and September. At one year old, in good condition, mine weigh about 350 pounds. Average in- crease, about seven pigs to a sow. Have had no disease amon'^'> mustangs Ind," '''''""• °' ^ hund^ec W /''°"'"''"* "''o ""{.s, Indian ponies anW ,i "orses for ivorl- ti ''«= ffeneral name of I , ''" "^^^ between fl„ ^'"^ "=""e of. Canuck "f "'''° ""-""i'^out -1 1 w ''™ -^o ^y East. VVitho ,: r*-""^" '°.->litheCan.H ?*'-""'"'^"'e •"e wester ':,^^,--'» ("«»ft,«„^, „":''- °-s at t„e »"-. would "ar d,;^^':^;:':" ^ "-e ,ar,e (a^r ' / ^ tfr^'l"^ won d not TN ; ^'^ ^o f-^ St and H, t ? ^^nche- fiut while the .. h "'°""- :t",.:::i:r '•^' -<' "•"'•^- 1:? ^f h? ,'^ ''-^-. -d "■ Ever; o,? f r""' ""-■ " l^"-o," ha a ? '• """''"'• -"^ i: — « "^^ 468 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. passes of the Great Divide, nine, ten and ele'^en tlioiisand foot above tiie sea, passes never tracked by a vvhecl, and only peno- trable by tlie sure-footed ass during tlie four summer months, the patient little donkey picks his way, bearinj^ a heavy load of concentrated ore, or panniers of *' canned vitdes," or perhaps furniture or grain, which could not by any other mode reach the mining camps far up in the mountain gulches. Strange that an animal so gentle, meek and patient, should, by the mingling of a nobler strain of blood with its own, give birth to a progeny so thoroughly perverse and refractory, yet so indispensable on account of its hardiness and strength as the mule. This contrary, obstinate, sulky brute, whose intelligence seems to be wholly concentrated on the best mode of accom- plishing the greatest amount of mischief and destruction, is nevertheless invaluable in all the western lands. He commands a price at least fifty per cent, higher than that of a horse of the same grade ; and is universally employed in hauling ore, timber, miners' supplies, groceries, dry-goods, furniture, hardware, etc., etc. Unlike the burro, the primary function of the mule is not to cross the " Divides " on mountain trails, but to draw over the roads, good or bad (generally the latter), those huge waq^ons with their loads of from two to four tons. A mule-team mav consist of four, six or eight mules. But there are pack-miiles also, which bear on their backs heavy loads, fastened to them with all the packer's skill, and which, if well bound with the skik ful but complicated diamond hitch,* will resist the determined and desperate efforts of the mule to rid himself of it. But woe to the packer who, in his zeal to display his skill, comes within * This is a peculiar fastening of the X'^\,^i•^ which hind the pack on tlie iuu'l's hack, anil the ability to execute it successfully is lejjardeil as one of the highest attainmenis annnii,' the moun- taineers. It is related of one of Professor Ilayden's corp'^, that at one time lie was seprnntiil from his companions and fell into a camp of packers and mule-drivers. His new compaiiinns looked with contempt upon the delicate and apparently frail youth, and began to badger him. " Von are nothing but a lender-foot," they said ; " what business have y u up here, anidiij; men that have been in the mountains for years ? You had better go Iiome to your Yankee friemls ami J?t them take care of you. We don't need any ' tender-feet ' up here." " I may be a tender- foot," replied the young man, quietly, " ])robably I am; but I can put the diamond hilfhcna mule's pack with any of you." "Can you?" asked his tormentors, in astonishment. "Then you are welcome to the best we have in camp." reach of the heels of m • • .^ to-ijlier than !^ f • '^'''^ ™"'e colts ar, , '"' '""^'anj.s , '"OS, it is =0 ; ^t^-^J-''^-- of these JlVstlT"'"' '"''"fen in their l,a".e and '"'^ ^°"-^) among tle^r fl°T" fc'ra t^ : '; '"-ff-'s and cur! 7 ""^''^ ^""-d in I ^"'^ °' sheep or catde. "^'"S^nt canines who are s»* is^ pa ■H 470 ^UR WESTEhW EMPIRE. The shepherd-dog is truly the companion of his master, listens to and understands every word spoken in his hearing, and is so faithful in guarding his woolly tlock that he will sacrifice his own life for their preservation. We may be told that sometimes even these dogs have proved unfaithful to the trust confided to them, and have killed the sheep they were set to protect. This may be true in very rare instances, but have there been no castas where men, honored and trusted, have proven false to tlicir trusts .? If so, why visit on a poor dog the punishment due to man, with his superior intelligence? In those parts of the West where game is still plentiful, hunt- ing dogs are in great demand, and there are many kennels of superior breeds. The hunters in Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Dakota and on the Pacific slope, have many fine clogs adapted to the great variety of game found there. The pointers and setters for feathered game, are of excellent quality, and the stag-hounds, employed for hunting the deer and elk, are not sur- passed anywhere. The fox-hounds and wolf-dogs are not always quite so good, but answer a tolerable purpose. Very few of the most plucky dogs like to attack the grizzly bear, for a single blow of its powerfiil claws kills them. 'i1iey are not in so much fear of the black or cinnamon bears, and often render efficient aid to the hunters in bringing them down. The whole tribe of cur-dogs, Indian dogs, mongrels, and crosses on the coyote or the gray wolf are a nuisance, and kill more sheep than the coyotes or gray wolves, ten times over. The laws for the destruction of these pests are very strict and severe, but it is difficult to carry them into effect. Where there arc Indian camps there are sure to be scores of these wretched dogs, mangy, ugly, and half-starved, but the Indian values them very higiily, and some of the savage tribes offer them as sacrifices at the burial of their dead braves, while others, when hard pressed, cook and eat them. Most of them seem to be on excellent terms with the coyotes, the most despicable of all the carrion hunters of the wolf tribe, and it is not always easy to distinguish which is dog and which coyote. We have alluded, incidentally, more than once to the rearing! ofpoultry.asapursmttol,,. f M 471 -^' - l>arclly any crop Jfch '" ""'"■^ ■■'""•-■ '""^1. " oS" most p(."op!e finri . ^^ brceclinrr of A,n^w r , crossed with n a *a'H''"V ""•' ''-•"n-yarcl Z^V^T"^ ;'- induce .1::;% ":,.;i"'"^^" -- -^"-roTt: Raising Pouury tm t «lc. nine „,o,,:f;,j "^ f^t beino- half-bloo. °o„e ,° T^ ^;f^ .3..0 pe. ,:,X , '^'j^ir^T" '"■^- '-■«■'■'■ ' O poultry as clieapjy as sN. ^''S'e -^^'^t^-s that sh.> .. ™.sli made from corn '^'T^^-^""'. after wl,,",, ,"' '^'^' '""• /^^r. Arthur P. Ford of TNn / ^"^^^ ^loudans. " the Brahma and any of the 5v- „ ^j ^^ 41----^ ' 'I O 472 OCA' WESTERN EMPIRE. foregoing-. The large thoroughbred Asiatics do not thrive south of the thirty-t'ifili parallel of latitude; the climate is too warm for them ; they may live two or three years, but their progeny in- variably degenerates. This is now a very generally acccfjtcd fact among those who have had experience in raising fowls in the South for actual profit. The dark colors arc the hanli('st, and in every way the most remunerative. Light-colored fowls are generally delicate, and nearly always inferior layers and set- ters. Persons forming a stock from any of the six varieties named should be careful to select the dark colors. VVhit(,' fowls are very pretty for the fancier, but they are an injudicious invest- ment for the ordinary poultry-raiser in the South. " HousKs. — [''owls should in all cases, wherever practicable, be allowed to sleep on trees for the eight months from ist March to I St November; they enjoy the privilege very much, and are always healthy; whereas when sleeping in houses during this warm period they will be constantly liable to all the diseases that appertain to their kind. When the cold weather comes on thev should be put into the house at night, as they will not lay well during the winter if exposed to the cold rain and ice. The house should be placed upon the highest part of the grounds assigned to the fowls, in order to secure thorough drainage. It should be built of inch boards, placed two inches apart, to afford good ventilation ; the roof should be close, the floor covered with dry, loose sand, and the roost made of two-inch laths, and slipped between the openings, in order that they may be withdrawn fre- quently and cleansed with kerosene oil. The house should con- tain nothing whatever except the roosts ; no nests or boxes should be allowed in it ; and it should be whitewashed at least twice during the winter, and the floor frequently cleansed and supplied with fresh loose sand. "Lice. — Red lice will infest a fowl-house, even during the winter, in the South, and will be principally found on the under sides of the roosts, in small mahogany-colored patches. These lice infallibly cause sore heads, swelled eyes, and the dangerous disease known to fanciers as roup; they are instantly killed, how- ever, by applications of kerosene oil ; and for this purpose the iinic'.' to (jr and r uliitc the s,\) these j cncc b and un "\Va the hea ciioicra "■ea tiler will be f( Jiens anc to place i tii'a, wiiic t'ley dnnl^ surprisin "FooiC ^rain, to /] '^^^1 to then '■ave a supj "■inter nio/i times, for tl '■endcrs mo during the c during i\^^ ^ '^'^'•s' scraps, 'at two cents [tivoorthree '^^'^s, as it is If ss. etc., is J^'iouid also I [P'^cticable. rf^osts should I'll '^ovnr. "-'.era )i^: ::;■■„:"" °f -"■> in J,,:;^ P^"''!- --c. of ;- -d induces E; J:; '"7°°;' '°"'--'' -»: :t »rpri,sing|y 1,,^ ° '^" • ^"^' '"the course of *. h " """-"• "^^ "Food iThlf ^ T"?'^' °^ "• ^ ~""™« « f™. to flour or moil '?•"''', ^^ ''^*'' occasiomllv f , W to them nrJn • n "'■''"' with a little „,=/^ '■°"' ''ard ""'f fo^ tl.ey arr.;,; "-■-.-. '"oo'J than'l ' , do';:"f„"- ;«'ors more food aetua llv '"'''•'«'^' -"J *e cold " '"■ ^^^^ss, etc.. is alJnllT^: ^" abundance of .. '^'^V'°"^ ^^^ c. tne winter whenever ^^t^^m P0 ;:.:-- PCS 1^ OS O 474 OCK ll'KSriiKX l.MriRK. " Ranc.k. — A dry ranj^'c is essential ; fowls uill not tlirivo In (lamp l')calilit's or on dirty premises. They should never 1)(. aliowt'il access to rolled inamiro heaps, as tlic aniinonia jnrur- ated by such hiraps always causes sore eyes and, if continued, .death. Tiiere is a very j^reat difference; between an ordinary , stahUr, or cow-yard, antl a compost h(.'ap ; in the former the fowls ' obtain much footl without risk, but in the latter the food obtained is always at the cost of disc-ase. "SrniNc; Hkns. — Hens should never be set between ist May and ist September, as the small lice will become trouhlc- some durinj^ the warm weather; and the yountj chicks will not thrive. Tliey may be set advantageously at any time between Septeml) -r and May; but the chicks will re{[uire mucii care and prot(;ction if hatched durinj^ the cold winter months. The hardiest chicks and most easily raised are those hatched during the months of February and March. Only the cjj^gs of the finest, healthiest hens should be set, and particularly those from the best layers ; but eggs from hens that have had attacks of roup should never be set, as the constitutions of such hens are always weakened by this disease, and the chickens will be liable to similar attacks. It is certain that only strong-, healthy hens can lay eggs that will produce strong, healthy chickens. The nests should always be made on the ground, so that the eggs can obtain the natural amount of moisture essential to hatchinjj; and never under any circumstances should hens be allowed to set or even to lay in the fowl-house. They should be taken care- fully from the nests once daily, and given corn and water; but when hatching has actually commenced they should be let most rigidly alone. " Chickkns. — The young chickens should be kept in coops fcr^ at least one month after being hatched, or many of them will j be lost by injuries and various accidents. A little meat, finely chopped up and fed to them occasionally, will be found of threat advantage. Only the largest, best formed should be kept forj stock, and the inferior should be sold or eaten. " Profits. — A stock of three cocks and twenty-seven hens willj be found very manageable and remunerative by any family in tliel "e at x\\^ pests. 77,^. ^'■^^ )'oung. V says o '^'se t/iem ti ^"mcs the prf, country, ami Will v.VH -—■"•. calculi^, r.: r'^: 'T ''""'"■-- t'!,:'} ;;■"'■! '" '■'' ^'''''»' «'*''> 'lie In Vu^^''""'^''^n'.ur . 46 do/cii fL'Ks for wl.,' "'•*•. *'"■••• • • ■ • ^'y 277 dozen cm o. ,, " ^^'^'^^'TOR. :^ '"";""-^' -val in avo ' ;; '°° ^^'^•^' -^^^X. 406 raise, ",, * " ' ^y 30 Jlcad of fowls .,^ -^ • ■ • . . ^'■""*' 20,c„(, '"^^'•^' '^ 75 cents per pair .•••••... • • . "Tlius, thirty heick^rr , ""S^^ '" >•<-, or .4 a^i! S;1' '"" ' ^'-^ P'-ofit or.ss . • seventy e^^jfs caci r "■'" P''"''''<^«-' annulv , '' 'f'^'^''- "S .should in eve 'T "'"''• '^''<-' e.vtensiorV """' """^ <^°o" food at rC^. T -7-a.-ci, a,s it i^^ .Ir'""-''---- ^"*'-T.s are also "' '°«- " ' '"'''''>' ""•■'■'- Where landl""::? °'" ""''' "^^ -"k'cs and , .?"■': poultry a toleril,!,, , ^' '"' ^' "'<-' West it „ '""■«■<= "« grasshoppers and T "''• '^''''^y "ill nnL ° '°"'^ "'« "lem than i, T ""^^ "° more noMn7V "^ ^^"'■ ' ^- the pr,tr " '°" ■'^°^'^' -'l ".ey „nl 'Tr^' tteeT t^ 1 ■ ' ; - >-. s j»--«-^ O (^-6 ^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Ducks and geese are also profitable where there is water. The latter especially have a triple value, for their eggs, their flesh and their feathers, which are plucked from the living bird, once or twice a year. This is a large business now in some parts of Texas, and is conducted on an extended scale. Pigeons are easily raised, especially in the vicinity of towns; they are very prolific, and the young pigeons or squabs command high prices. The raising of poultry in the West is attended with some risks, as they have many enemies. Foxes, coyotes, raccoons, weasels, ground-hogs, and other four-footed marauders, and the whole tribe of hawks, owls and vultures, are ready to pounce upon the helpless fowls. But a still more formidable enemy is the so-called " chicken cholera," a disease which has made sad havoc in the poultry- yards of all parts of the country. Many farmers have lost hun- dreds of fowls, and where a flock are attacked from twenty-five to ninety per cent. die. Ducks, geese and turkeys are as subject to it as hens and chickens. The disease is contagious and goes through an entire flock when one or tvo are affected. The symptoms are: at first, the fowl begins to mope around, some- times seeming to have a full crop, but oftener an empty one- it will net eat, but drinks often, and seems to be very thirsty; the comb and watdes become a dark red, nearly a black color; the droppings are at first of a pale green color, then dark green and yellow, but grow thinner, clearer and more liquid with each evacuation, till utterly weakened and prostrate, in the course nf from twelve to forty-eight hours the fowl dies, usually with great appearance of agony. Many times they will use their last re- maining strength to crawl or flutter away under bushes or a fence to die. The liver is always found to be diseasexl. They sometimes have an appearance of facness, but this is due to dropsical effusion. The discharges and the flesh of the fowls have a most offensive odor. That the cause of this disease, like that of the so-called "hog cholera," was a germ or organism of a contagious nature, and capable of the most rapid propagation, was discovered in France by J Fren a vet tiofis. i'Vcnc obtain (iiseas cholcr; iN,So. i^ii. I)., Pasteur months o'istrate i'' \hQ c/i tlieir sicl« from tile ^ \\\\\d\ so satisfac tnere is dci But unti adopted, ft i'e ^"esortec perfectly fi tei-osene oi ' and that the ' with fine g, put m i\^q\^ exclusively c (fen a part eirown dn lease prevails 1''"'% the da •■^"other ([\ l*rabh. c/esl if fender pffecting the by M. Mont, of r; ---'•--.. French veterinar! ''''"' ^'■■^■•"«- and M To • *" obtained on d,/, '' " ' "'""''• '° ^'Pplj' d,e l„ , "^ ''"""'=« '-"^'"^o. and frn„ 1 , ^ ^cademie dcs ^o,- " chicken if tl.e cWcl^ns '•'"'''■■"^^ "'^y f>e ^Teal ■ " ".^'' '"= ''-» clem! ■Leirsick :;>:,7 '"-"'fed wid, d,Cf,i':r '■'"-'• ^-"^ ''-' principle of n-cm.l ^" " "O'-d he ha, " "'^P^tected ^>"'>'ci. this ZIT." '° "" '^'"•^'-" cl'olera T "' ^^""^'^ » satisfactorv^h ^ ■''^^"°™P'''h=d are so sim^l ? P™'=^-'^^<=s i^erosene ofl fl.nf ;^^"^'". by the free n«^ r V °^ ^^^t I '* fine r,aM "''' '"'^'^ P"'-e water Ind "'^, '"^« ",e fowls, h "-"-err r^r- ^-^ --"'aCSf ^", ^-'^^ evTlusively of cr r„ k ' "" '°"'>:- Their fL!i , ^'■'■''fctida i?i«" a part of ,' " """"■ ""•-" and oX °^ .^''°"''l "°t be *«row 11 ""'"• They should hit '"'^'^^ ^''°"'d be «o pre a |7i" "•'^'' °'- •''"y "'anure eans "" ^''''' ^''"'^^ to J P'^^aus amono- ofh/^^,- t "^aps, especiallv .Y ^ "«"».;lie day the ^nlTouT'''" ^"™als'bt, s^^ ,f;V''" *-W e* !!" "'l^'' affects^fo:, :';' Po^f -. S-veity ,„, King the T ""^ "'^''^^'-al distinct d^''" '^''"'^'■a. is I " 's sometimes g: i: — « '~^ (—■ ^ /•■I o ^yS ^^■^' l^'-^'ST£A\V EMPIRE. analogous to croup, and the fowls die of suffocation ; at other times It is only a severe catarrh, and sometimes a contagious one ; at still ether times it is an Inflammation of the lungs or a sort of pleuro-pneumonla. These ai-e all caused primarily bv damp and unwholesome temperatures at the roosts, foul air, currents of air, etc. The symptoms are sneezing, mucous discharge from the nostrils, froth In the corners of the eyes, and a tendency to suffocation — stimulating food, red pepper, and bran mash, are as good as any medicines internally, and the external application of a wash of sulphate of iron (copperas), spirits of turpentine or kerosene to the head and throat (takino- care diat none of it enters the eyes), are the best external remedies. If the mucous discharge is copious and offensive, separate the sick fowls from the rest of the flock, as, at this stao^e, the disease is contagious. A lump of borax of the size of a chestnut dissolved In one or two quarts of their drinking water, is a very good remedy for the suffocating trouble of the throat. CHAPTER XI. Spfxiai. Crops — Rick Corn — Pearl Millet — Other Millets — Hungarian' Grass — SwicF/r Potatoes — Pea-nut or Ground-nut — The Sugar Question once more — Is not Corn worth more than Twenty Cents a Bushel to MA^curAcruRE into Sugar? — The Cultivation of Textiles- Flax, Hemp, Ramie, Jute, Tampico, Tule, Nettle, Esparto Grass, the Brake or Swamp Cane — Some of the Cacti — Cultivation of Oil- Producing Plants — Castor Bean, Olive, Flax, Rape, Hemp and Cotton- seed, Tar Weed, Sesame, Peppermint, Spearmint, Bergamot— Culti- vation OF Nut-hearing and Fruit-hkaring Trees and Shrubs— English Walnut, Black Walnut, Hickory-nut, Common Chestnut, Italian' Chestnut, Almond, Filbert, Pecan, Hazel-nut, Pawpaw, Persimmon, Japanese Persimmon, Pomegranate, Mandrake, Apricot, Medlar, OriVnge, Lemon, Shaddock, eiv. — Ordinary Fruits, Apples, Pear?, Quinces, Peaches, Plums, Cherries, Prunes, etc. — Small Fruits, Grapes, Currants, Gooskhf.rries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackbekkif,?, iHav- BERRIES, PaRTKIIxjEBERRIES, WHORTLEBERRIES — EMPLOYMENT FOR PrOFE- SIGNAL Men, Artisans, Tradesmen, Florists, Market-Gardeners, FactorVj Operatives, etc. In previous chapters we have endeavored to place before the settler the results attained by skilful farmers and stock-raisersJ in pa: is u \ secc can arab times to tuj oats, ciiltfva oi his swine, \ or to t yield sc amount purpose just as tops eitb sfaiJcs car be made ^^^^g use ^?asse o, preserved "ow the m f'jere now "'orth muc ks been .^'^"■•^as. anc 's some di.s ='",?ar and '"''Jionsofp, contend/no-* . . SPECIAL CROPS. in the ordinarv to turn his attP„f;„ ' '^ ^<-*«-''ns des/rahl,, ■. ■ "^ ""■«<= oats, barley co"° ^° '"""= °""^^ --ps n aJ'' ' ''^ "'•" f°^ '■™ find, perhaps nl:"'' r'""''*^' -''-'' wi> Pm^" '" '"'^ "'''^^'' °7;'h ""r- '"" " "'"'^'^ °-'e i:,';;: 'f he has any cows, kept for ^ • '"tne, he will do well fn ! , ■"''>' P^'i-poses anv .u "■■to those wlWch ' 'r ''''"™''°"«'-«^ofc '^ °'' yield some other "''*""" '° "'eir value fl ? ^^' P'"""''- purpose for both the^-o cr l^' ™"'^'"- answer an , , ^ i-' - *e seed ^tnsX 1 '"' '""" '^^ -"' ea:K tr"'^ ■ops either reserved^"' ecrf!"'" 1"PP''^ '■- ^rale and t'h" stalks can be crusherl r , ^ '"'"^'^ or for sowJn f, '''^ "« tnade to furn ',1 ,""-" '^^^'^''arine juice / 7^' "'"''' ""e ^'"S used for forairr -^ P™;!"" - "- " - w J^hT "'^^' ^gasseordrvrn??'^^ '^ ^'''"^^ for sute„ditT? """'■'">'''"Chica.,o St '"™^ "f -"any "- *« as made, itcontainstee s fn':"'""''"^="°'^0'"e sulphuric acid and other /:« «< o:? >--. PO £■• -« 3 -•^f •^^ CO p t WtJ f J- ' f"* ^- PC, ( ■ p^ •si-i r-tj ;.;:> ■—J ,< tM O 480 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. substances which are very injurious ; others insisting- that it is perfectly devoid of any injurious quality, and equal in quality to any sugar in the market. These crops are both easily raised, and can be cultivated with- out any special instructions. Broovi corn is largely cultivated in several of the States and Territories, and is a very sure crop, growing and ripening wherever sorghum and Indian corn will ripen. In Kansas the average yield is about 580 pounds to the acre. It always finds a prompt and ready sale, and brings from 'i^io to ^25 per acre. Another excellent plant for both forage and grain is the Egypiian rice corn, or Pampas rice. It has been extensively tested in Kansas, and while inferior to Indian corn as a forarfe plant, its grain is richer in fattening qualities, yields on good land a larger crop, and stands drought better than any other grain, ripening its grain where Indian corn and all the cereals failed. It is not only excellent for fattening stock, swine and poultry, but when ground yields a richer, better and more appetizing food for family use than any of the other cereals. It yields from forty to sixty bushels of grain to the acre, and as it tillers very widely, requires less seed for sowing than other grains. Another of these forage plants which promises fairly, is the pearl millet. Its yield of forage is enormous ; it can be cut four or five times in a season, and will yield from fifty to eighty tons of green forage, or seven to ten tons of dry, to the acre. It stands drought much better than Indian corn, and thoufih its stalks are not as sweet and somewhat more woody than those of the corn (it is one of the sugar-producing plants), it yields a much larger quantity, and in its green state is eaten with g^reat avidity by cattle. The seeds or grain are excellent food for cat- tle or poultry, though not quite $0 rich in the fat-producing prin- ciples as the rice corn. It is sometimes confounded with the German millet, an inferior plant, and one of much less value for forage, though even this yields from five to six tons of dry forage to the acre. Alfalfa, a species of I Aicern, long cultivated in Chili and Peru, has been very widely introduced into California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas as a forage grass, and is 'n■^■a,„,,„^ «w«_™,, ,.,,,,„^.^. much Iikccl. It has a I 48 1 '-.'°7 fe surface and d^^S,, '~;f ■^" -aches fa. ,o„,, ».l below, so ,|,at j, j„,, best t ' T ""= ''■-■'"'>=* "f tl>o pcrcnn,a!, and these tap-roots in ? ^ '^''"'•'"''- '^''-e ffrass is .™v to the si.e of a ci ™ -^^ ' t;,"^"-- "' fo- or fivt : . fro.nnvetoei.d«tonsofhay, in a v "a ,, r. °' ''™ "°'«. ■" a] "ffcrly sought for by horses an,l '" ^"'■>">""-''"ou»and 7II .n cold ch-n,ates. and cirnot "^ " ^'""■^ "<« "ouri »f 40° north latitude. "°' ""^ »"«"3fully c.dtivatcd north Hunq-arian o-nijc o *- ^p.4.or"cir„%:L::tar^^^ -"e fcge pUt thro„gi,out theWe t ,t ^'^'"""■^^°""=asa lliree or three and a half feet ^n,I • , ^'°""' '" "'^ '"-'iiriu of i«,. per acre. „ ^ bl te^ "o ,rit'l 'T "^ '° '■"^ '<> .ate off nvo or three crops a year / ''''■ " ■^='=*> ^"'' to »n l.e plan,s than timothy or con 'n, 1 "" ''"""'*'"• ^ut is better "' be fed to horses or cattle ""ri "'"■ ^'^ -«d should tan or some lighter food s itt e^^ '"' f'""''' ""= ""-" » th «fen proves a powerful diuretic Tl' "*='' f '"' ^"'■""fating and ^»"=a.s, u, ,S7S, ,vas #,,;«, ^ ": P™J"« of this grLs in »ore than the Alfalfa. " '^ »a'J to c.v^haust the so," Another class of • i "f-n^e profit. ar;''thrLr:"^'"L^'' '''' f^^" P^X a very f ^. ramie. and the cacti c-,n 1 1 , "''^ °f these, as cotton 'southern portion of t'.r We f„'r"""^-"'"">' »"'-""?„ *ese flourish well in Te J, aT P""=- ^H, or nearly all »'■>-" Kan.sas, New S Ato""\"" '"^■■^" '^^^'^^ Southern California. a//„« m- I^ '' ■^°"""'-"' Nevada and "1 able 0,1, and a rich oil-cak^ (Z T'''''' "■'"''^'' P'-^lt.ee a |-o more to say by-and by jfet'T "•"^' <^^ "■"'^" - « Ivansas. or in the latitude of's. 7 " '■'"''^'' =" <■="■ north CO ►- • pet '• -•> ^ O 48: OUR WESTER iW EMPIRE. it is largely used for gunny-bags, for paper stock, as a substitute for hair, for cheap carpeting, and employed in the adulteration of cheap silk and mohair goods, etc., etc. The setdcr in Texas, Arizona, or Southern California would hardly find am crop more remunerative. The ramie or China grass, like the hemp and the netde, belongs to the family of Urticacca.-, or nettle-like plants. It yields a beautiful fibre, stronger than Ikmiih, finer than flax, and of a beautiful whiteness. It will rrrow wherever cotton grows, yields three crops a year, of about 1,500 pounds of fibre to the acre, and ought to be largely cultivated. The different species and genera of the cactus do not rcquin; cukivation. They abound in Texas, Arizona, Southern New Mexico, and Southern California, and especially the peninsula of Old California. Many of the species have an abundance of Ioh't white fibres, easily obtained by crushing them between rollers, and these can be used to advantage for many purposes. In Southern California they are curled and used for filling mat- tresses, for which their elasticity admirably adapts them. The brake, or Sica/^ip-eane, which is our only plant akin to the bamboo of the eastern continent, abounds along the shores of the Gulf and the southern rivers. It is one of the best materials known for the production of paper stock, and by an ingenious machine is easily reduced to a tough and fibrous pulp of great strength. The iicle, a rush found abundandy on the islands and shores of the California lakes and rivers, is also an excellent material lor paper stock. So is the palmetto, which will grow on the poorest lands in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico, as well as in Arkansas and the Indian Territory. The Agave Americana, a native of Mexico, but sufficieiuly hardy to grow anywhere south of 40° north latitude, yields a fibre nearly equal to hemp, and capable of being extensively raised on sandy and dry lands. This is good for cordage, fori brushes, for which purpose it is sold as tampico, and for paper stock. The Esparto grass, which is found in the south of Spain and on the coast of i\lgeria, is in great demand in England andj to some extent here for paper stock. It grows very profusely on t/i( a ver) denia/i I'laA nettle, add tii( vafiiabii climate.' pirc," e: tlieni dr soil, an CI ^Towth a fitable \\\ only the painters ; forage pj; about twe to the mar economical U'here tlic -'^linnesota, and Dako attended wj ments, cann ''^'"P. i. c., 'i'^re, v\'as f( '0 the invei onlyahght. o'"ton wiiitcn, peculiar dim possible that /eqiiired con /■''^f pIcntiTu specially tlie pansas, in ig P'sed for tJ]^ r^t was mo ''■'''''' ^^^^'^ -tArn .VETTLE^ ...^ ^Mli JLE. on the poorest lands, and at tlv. • ^83 a very profitable crop for the '0^^^^ '^''^'^^ ^or it would be demand for paper pulp, fo, ^^^ T ' ''"^^^' ^^ ^^^^'re fs a rrrcat ax /^.. uLL::^;"^^^ o^ n,anu..cturer" nettle, Urtua Pioinj ^,,\ , ^P' Cci;niads Sa/r'^y • . j , -liable a-nt upon ^e S-.I, a „ch and I,i,,My ^,^,,^^1^ .^"-ng for their best l« ble when properly cultivated 1 V " ^" "^ "'<^"' are pro- only *e lint, but seeds vvh cl ' V ' '"'' ''"^P y'^'Wi"" not F."'cr.s and artists; and 1 "„: ;^:'t • ™'"^"" -'^ "-d by K'e plant aside fron, its fibre xf'"! ^"^^ ™'"able as a fr '-nty per cent, stronger h^J'" "^^''^ ^-'-d ^ i^ to the manufacture of cordai «;''"'''' '"'"'' '^ *«» "''apted »no,n,cal use of its seeds o^ leav l "! "rV""" "^ ^">- ''^>- ''-= tl.e soil and rainfall arradao, 'f "^'^'^''''^ P'-P^-s. Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri A A ""'^P"-''' 'o these crops as ;„ '"d Dakota, and VVestenf O "'"'' ^'''"" '-'"-«■ ^^'bra fc' ""-'I^J with considerable hb^'""- ''^'" -■""-"-, thoth «n.. cannot fail to be rSr"n "'V"" """''"^ "^P™ - ">P.^. '•., the process of removh ; d ^"^''^'""'^ °f "-^ and fc. was formerly a difficult and hi ' "■°°''^' P°"''°" f™™ ""e I 7'« -ventive skill of so ,e 1 '""^ ^'°'''^- <>«. thanks «;ly a .^bt amusement. Ue blfaT "r '"''^''^'''■"' '' i^ "ovv «fon whitened), as practised'n "h '"f "'" "''^ (''«™Pi^ "oT 1?=™- climate and the constan ' "^ ^ P™'^^^^ ^^ some- r "' *e former, for ,^ .^ds r"°" °' "■•'•'' ^"'l "-P. E^d r 'f ^'^ ("°' - favorable yea °fo 'tl/'^' P™'"^"- '" 1.2 "'^ '"^'' °nly on ne-trlv ,^ "°P'^' "••"' was r' «^ ""^ ".an ^9 pe, " ^e ^°'°°° --=■ and the net P acre. Hemp „,as raised in that >< CO ^84 O^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. State the same year on only 606 acres, but the crop sold mainly for the lint for about ;!^56 per acre. The nettle is not yet imuh cultivateLl as a textile and forai^e plant; but the climate is bfjttor adapted to it than that of Germany, where it has proved a urcit success. The nettle fibre is fme and even and of jj^reat strcinrtli so that it is well adapted to the manufacture of fabrics for sum- mer wear, as well as to fine cords, etc. l"'or these purposes it is thouy^ht to surpass llax, and it grows well on a poor soil, thoii<-li, of course, not as large as on a rich one. Turning now from textiles to oil-producing plants, we notice, first, after the textile seeds, cotton, flax and hemp, all of which yield oils of great commercial value, and which form a constantly increasing product both for home consumption and export, a very valuable though humble plant which is destined yet to be- come a very important product of the soil — the Arachis Hypo- g(?a, known as the pea-nut, ground-nut, or goober. This sin- gular plant possesses a variety of claims upon our consideration; its straw or vines when cured make an excellent hay or forat^c which cattle eat greedily; the nuts or seeds, enclosed in a hard shell and spreading and ripening beneath the soil like the tubers of a potato, are, when baked or roasted, in great demand anioni'^ children, and grown people also; while they yield on pressure a clear, pure oil, which for salad purposes is equal to olive oil, and is of great value for illuminating and lubricating purposes, and is also used for the manufacture of the better qualities of soap. The nuts when powdered are, in France, largely mixed with cacao for the manufacture of chocolate, and in the so-called chocolate condiments, are substituted for the cacao. The pea nut is very easily cultivated, and in a good soil yields a larg( and profitable crop. It is raised in considerable quantities ii Tennessee and in Kansas, and to some extent in other States, It yields from twenty to fifty bushels to the acre, and with gooi cultivation on good land, the crop may easily be increased ti 80, 100, or even 125 bushels. The price simply for use foi roasting purposes varies from twenty-two cents to %\ per bushelj the first being an exceptionally low price caused by a suddei glut in the market which was unprepared for it at the tinn vco- 'ivated somevv '"unties in Kj ^"^^Ji only t, "^' f'le produc ''''■ This is With a simple oil-milj -in,i . ^r . 485 ■ epncenu^ht readily aclvan J; t''"*-' ""-• P™d"ct, wo tl,i, k liarclly any crop so easily raised ' HI T'"" '"°^'-' ''<-''■ bushel llic culture of the 0//-T ,- , ^^^ '''■"'^'•- Lcrauve in Texas (possiUy jrA I '„ "°,' ""'^ Practicable but 7 '" ^'-.'-"^ and «ou.h/r "cW„ "?'•• '" "''-■ '"''i- Terr . ;*;;-<..r .t ,s possible, both for the • '•' "'"'"^""y •I'-'^^able, hrdly necessary to go into part":,, ar '" "'"' ""-■ ""■ '' ,^ ofc. t,vat,on of this interestinc pU, . " "'"""' '° ""-■ ■""'•°''^- be kdy to cultivate it have ^rS be "'°" °' ''"""" "'"> wo"id .« -Southern Europe, and if „otta„ " "TF'' '" "» culture ammd then, the best processes of ^ '^^ '"''"' '''•'"» 'I'ose 1'-^ ve oil, thou,d/a litt Lble'tor''""" ""' '-™"S ' vegetable mucilage it contains ,'s j"! n'™""-' '•'''"^'■'' <•'<»>' t''« «' >e vegetable oils, though for fa„^ ''-"«"'''^'' ^^ ">- best •seel, the oil of the seeds of tie sV^'^rP'''^'^^ '''"■ ™bich it is « already described, or octo^Zsf'""; °' "^ «■■-" J" fc Pacfic coast, all of which are adt.f", r"' ""= '^^-"^■^'1 of '7 "-- seeds, is preferable Th 'en! "'' °" ^''P^^^'^'l Jtiva .on, as they yield on an average T ' ' ""'^ ^" '^°«'>y of r™ *^ ^^^'l P^dueed on an Z"^" ''^"' ''^ P°"nds of oil The seeds of the sum -tet, gold of pleasure, s^:^;::' ;;"';■• "P^' "^ -leworts. W Swedish turnip, all of them ;ir„ T-''^^' """'P «bbaae : '7 ^'™»'e where Indian corn'^'l-f ™'"^'' -" be matured f™"* to 875 pounds of oil to the acres""";' ^"'^ '''''" 385 I Tliere are also a few oil nr„ Product. "^ * [■edicinal character, or perhTos t""^ P'""' "''°'*^ °i's I'ave a ^er, which may be ct, W,^ Ij L' 7' V'=^'^''" ''al"e for the per l« Ae prairie lands. Th ' 1 . "' P™'*' l^^ "'^ fern.er, especbn J hroil plant, /./.J ' ^2^ '' ^ ""'^^ ''^ "^ -st'oXTor f «H somewhat largely TkT ^^""■'^"'"'"■'"s- This is "uT hf in Kansas hfvt 68 ,;:"'"'' ?'"" S'^es; m^.^ K> only twenty-two aunties rV^ P'""'"' '^'■"' i^' i" '879 hl.e product being vah^d^t iTe' Tj ''^r '"^'^^^ eadf: r"'^"--------aril7^:5StC 03 ^86 f^l'^' "■/..S"//'A'A' I.MPIKE. tlie crop shoiilil 1)o from twenty to twcnty-fivc bushels per aero and with spt^cial care kIiouIcI reach thirty l)iishels. In the ahscncf of any oll-niills near, tlie price of the beans was '^\ per hiislul. With an oil-mill near, as they mi^Oit have had in the cniinii,.s havinjr large crops of it, they would have been able to realize at least ;Jir.50 per bushel, and still have left a lar<;c maro;in ofjjrolit to the manufacturer. The plant is of larj^^e, rank growth, and matures its beans in a summer of ordinary length. It is plaiitd in Kansas in March, April or May, according to the locality. Peppermint and spearmint are largely cultivated in some sec- tions mainly for the oil, though the dried herbs are sold in small quantities. In Illinois there are large tracts sown with thcni for this purpose, and the culture proves profitable. Hergamot is sown for the same puri)ose. These j^lants can be profiiably cultivated, if there is a distilling apparatus in the vicinity to distil off the oils. They are a crop easily raised, as they require no weeding or hoeing, if j)lanted on clean land, and can be harvested with the mower or harvester. Among other special crops, we may notice also those of the nut-bearing and fruit-bearing trees and shrubs, not included in those of the ordinary orchard. Under the Timber-Culture Act, though orchard trees arc not allowed to be reckoned among those planted for the purpose of holding the land, yet quite a variety of the nut or fruit-bearinof trees are permitted. Among those which are native to our soil are the butternut and black walnut, three species of the hickory, the chestnut, of which there are two or three varieties, and its congener, the chinquepin, of which there arc two; the horse- 1 chestnut and the buckeye, which though not edible by man are prized by some animals and have an economic value for their starch; the pinon pine, whose edible nuts furnished food to j Fremont's men and to many explorers since ; two or three species of the beech, whose three-cornered nuts are greedilyj seized by swine and squirrels; the pecan nut, a shrub; tliej filbert, which though not native is naturalized ; the hazel nut;j and of imported nut-bearing trees, the English walnut, called! also the Madeira nut, and the Italian chestnut. The last two! trees. bois d\i, arc groH Ordiai ^'ery i\iis„ space doc pears, pc, '['le apple d'ft-Tent v; 0^ ^owa, A are of ex( valiiab/e, t\ o^tiie mfd 3"d, to son territory, ]V fruit-g-rowinj ^"cceed so ^ exceJlence ^'■ancisco, w 3"dcountrie< Quinces o-, arc very v.In.l . , ' '''''' ''''''''''■ IS only n/brinr f^ . ^t-i'ian dicstniit rni-n.M "" anu are mcnt both in ;•■' ""''""''tolly caD.->W„ ,■ forty or L" :;: ""' ''"=''">' of "'nTatr i^"'-"" ""P™^- I • r'l/^tcj as o/io rif f^K I "^ '• 'oi^ rails in.i «.i c»b.n<,.t «ork. T,,, ,.„,^ "f '"^ l.e.s. of ot,r natJvo v„c„7 0-l.ards of f„„ ,,,„ ^^ „ "'°'^'= ""-" "-oy jj^ -wie a., pt: f :^,raiS' "^^^ ^'^'" -'^ So:::? »' Iowa, Minnesota, Dakota M "' '•'=S'°"s- The annl are of excellent „ 'r.*"^"'^. Montana, Oreo-„n ^„,, ,,, , ^PP'<-'s "liable, thoth'o'fdt' '"' ^°'""'^"'' 1"^" Price^t"^?" «f *e middle" U' ' f""' ^-'•'-■"■-. are tlfe app t!" f ''"^"^ »aius. Ihownes ^^ rais.ns, and esnoddl^, .. " '^^'iHitation. The „rr>dn lor llic use of tlw. (~ 'I'lantitics for iiln,,, „., i ,■ '^ "I"- , "' ""• t'<-Tnians, mi.rlir ,.^„ii , l'""»-|"i'lilinj,rs anil -I -voral varieties, U:^^:'2 'T"""'' "^ '- -^P-ies kern.s, wl,o„|e|>erries, curram u ? °. '""■'"' ^•^'■'■""-■■S dew! ^-cberries, a.ul several lede, Ift'' T '"^■' ^"' -^I--'"y red •I'o others ,n growing on a tre^in , l'"""'^' "■'"•<-'> 'Urtcr from l-|ndge or win.erj,?ee„ ber y T"' "' " »''""> - vine tic ™'"™fcJ. and all are cul.l.n •."''■• "" '"'■ "'^ most n..? ;■"; '» ">e fanners incoM'^7:^ "", ■'■''" ^ -y " «<^ "J a ready „,arket i„ „, '.v Ce ° , T,^ -''"^^ ^°°'' P'''-^ ad ''""culLand the returns -.re v' ""•■"" '■""ivation is no -- of t„e year wi, Jti^e^^ i^:'::;:::;^'' ^"^ -- - a "o should call attention h,Z P'?"'"'''"-'y ™nvenie„t. : ::r °^ -^--bies::. x :::.'• r ^'^-."-^- of .i. »l our larger cities, as •■mnri', "" ''"OW" n the vicinit,, •eiffhborhood of one of ,1. ^^'•■"■'''" '""''■" A settler „h?^ psiw.-nii .1 . °^ ^"cse western f« •"'^uicr in the ™lly the mining villages, if ho has '7"' "f ^''"^S«. and "••n of eighty or forty car. m.i V '"''"^ of 'So acres or '7-. if '.e will devote ton o^ ^ ■' "*°""^ '°''""- ■•> a Vw '""'-tion of these vegeubles 7'" '"^= '° "- intellt nT k«'^. peas, string-bean; Ihna and I ,'' ''^''''S^''- o<^'"y. ctX -^Ci -*E r^^^^^^^^^^ ^"^^^^^-^Pter of our First P^r^ , I »"Po«..nife Which "Our W^teT: 'rpi^ln'^-'"' °"' '"^ ■empire offers to men who e~ - ;a fc— . c c« • «c fj- F-« r^-~ pa >< pSi O 490 OUR WESTERX EMPIRE. have not been accustomed to farming^, and who have no special adaptation to it. There are very few of them who are not too old for successful emigration, and who possess industry and energy, and a little capital, who will not find, in the course of five or six years, that their condition has been materially im- proved by their removal. All such persons should buy a little land, even if it be not more than forty acres ; the time will come within the next twenty or thirty years when land even in the West will be very valuable and not easily obtained ; and those who have trades or professions, or pursuits which yield them a comfortable support, though they may not desire to farm their lands, yet desire a good vegetable and a good flower-garden. They need also pasture for one or more horses, one or two cows, and perhaps some swine and poultry. Their land, mean- while is growing in value constantly, and in their declining years may become their most important possession. We would especially urge this upon professional men, clcrgy- men, lawyers, physicians, artists, etc., and also upon merchants, tradesmen and master-mechanics. Florists and nurserymen can do well with small tracts of land, and will find their business, if well managed, a surer road to wealth than a large farm. Even day-laborers, especially near the mining villages and towns, will be able, by raising vegetables, keeping a cow, the inevitable pig, and a moderate stock of poultry, to make a much better living than they could in " the old country." The concentradon of a large populadon in these districts so sparsely settled hitherto, will, of necessity, bring in a great variety of manufactures, and thus furnish ample employment to many operatives ; but to each of these we would say, in all kind- ness : endeavor, as soon as possible, and even at considerable sacrifice, to become the owners of a little land, and to have a home of your own. It is the first step toward independence, and when you have "A little home well filled, A little farm well tilled, A little wife well willed," and the olive-plants begin to be numerous about your table, you W]II not be so anxious for ...m 49r '^''or union as .o in,,^^ . 't^:;"" ■• ^^'-^ '»e behes., of a yo- o«.„ acres and !vai, t, I ih y^?- T" '°° '-^' >'- can til! -■"-o you a liule l.omestead ' '"^''^---but, by ail „,ea„s, ^ o all classes of cnffi '» '■■^t.-.Wi.sI. yot^sdve'in '" "' "°"''' =■■■>'• "■-""-'r : in your , *'>«''- you have childrero „' ''f'"'^ °^ '"'" ''-elli,, . ■'Wrongest sareguards of free in'-."^-' ' '?°°' '^ °"<^ of .l!^' oL.sly n,ade ample provision " " ""°"-'*- ""= State has „enc cannot now do a li„,,t ,,, vvilT: Tol p I ""ir '' "''■^' ">' Sute ^^ chddren of the commnnity c^n r' ' .."^^r"" ^'"■''''■™> ■•■"'' "^ -— 'o heeomeVheTnlt::'^ i^dro/tl- .'~::i^^^^^^^ ro. yon .. j„ ,, ,,„„ ^^^ o-ly establishn,e„t of O „" f T T'' ^''' '"-^'^ '» "ard the -; reference to the ^Tt bn th^ "' ^'^ "■"»- ''■-- -' - «l-vers or unbelievers i„ Chrisdinitv T" '"'^^ y^'^-lves K to learn that a church^W do m^ , ' *'" "°' '^'ke yo„ '^'" ffood order and respec fo . 1? ', ° P^^^'^''^^ -"d main- better social condition and a hi^l ' "''" ^"^ y°" ^ P"rer and f-bling-den, a ■.•quor.a oo„ ^ :Lr"''"' "' ■^°-'^' '"an a oj your families, as you seek aft r Z be""::"" ""-■"^*^ ^ ^"^ >°" and the promotion of iustice -,„./ J ^' interests of societv to the church over the! iL,> ^°°^ °'"^^'- ^"^ the preference much evil. '""'= '"="''"0'>s which are fraught w'th so OS pa ►J O t - PART III. THE SEVERAL STATES AND TERRITORIES DESCRIBED. CHAPTER I. ARIZONA. Its Location — Extent — Topography — Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Canons — Table-lands — Irs Soil, Climatk, Temperature, ai.p T i-'fai.l — Its Wonders and Peculiarities — Irs Minerals and Mines l! i; olooy — Adventures with its Wild Animals — Its Productions, Mineral, Animal, Vegetable — Irs Population — The Indians nearly Extinct Races— The Ancient Province of Tusayan — White Inhabitants — Its Present Condition, and the Advantages and Facilities it affords to Settlers- Letters AND Communications from Major-General J. C. Fremont, Gov- ernor OF Arizona, and Colonel J. W. Powell, United States Army, Explorer of the Colorado, etc. — Its Probable Future. The Territory of Arizona occupies a part of the southwestern portion of " Our Western Empire," though separated from the Pacific by Southern CaUfornia and the rocky and terrible desert of Lower Cahfornia, above the head of the gulf; it does liot extend so far south as Southwestern Texas, but is compK'.' between the parallels of 31° 20' and ^7° o^ north latitude, ;)'u; between the meridians of 109° and 114° 35' west longitude from Greenwich. But a small portion of it has been surveyed, and as its western boundary along the Colorado of the West is irregular, there is some doubt about its actual area. It is esti- mated, in the last Land Office Report, at 113,916 square miles, or 72,906,240 acres. The probability is that it will be found to exceed this amount by several thousand square miles. Its :arm is somewhat irregular; on the north it is bounded by the 'i";i itory of Utah, the thirty- seventh parallel forming the boundary as far {492) OS •<* cd ,. pa *^" i—* t:.-. - ,-3i >~-' C' o- «t; f-.J e-* l->~-^ *■■-' cr; ^ — ^ PJf itf:^ PC\ :::> ,-3 '< (ua O ■H 11.1 IIS ui ( i I • M I i tl^ ! o I h. iwi- — ^- ^ 1'% ^' ^r^ ^ -^f '■■ 'f/L #^ #iJ; i'^ ■ ^ "^- te^ ^■- f-i^'^r— s^w- ^ J 7 / "A •^ ^ ..t^" •^bdrftak ,^~/Ur(i» iV?i- ylr*» i•*■ (xi »< cd li— < pqi S— M 3 c.r> ci-4 >< i.^ F-S cxs £3 :.:> O BOUNDARIES AND ORGANIZATION. 493 west as the 114th meridian, which forms the western boundary of Utah ; this meridian forms also the western boundary of Arizona as far south as the thirty-sixth parallel, where the Colo- rado of the West crosses the angle formed by the meridian and parallel, and proceeds northwest and then west-southwest, and turning sharply south at Callville, just after it emerges from the Grand Canon, flows southwardly thence to the Gulf of Califor- nia, forming, for all this distance (about 500 miles), the western boundary of Arizona. The original southern boundary, acquired from Mexico in the Treaty of Guadaloupe-Hidalgo (February 2d, 184S), was the river Gila, the most considerable of the lower affluents of the Colorado, and the only one which is navigable for any considerable distance. By the Gadsden Treaty, made at Mexico, December 30th, 1853, all the territory lying south of the Gila to the border of the Mexican State of Sonora, was conveyed to the United States. The southern boundary now runs due west along the parallel of 31° 20' to the iiith meridian, and thence west-northwest in a straight diagonal line till it reaches the Colorado in about 32° 30'. The Territory is bounded on the east by New Mexico. 'The law authorizing the organization of the Territory was passed February 24th, 1863, and the Territorial Government inaugurated December 29th, 1863. It has never been thor- oughly explored, and, up to 1880, only about 6,100,000 acres had been surveyed, about one-twelfth of its area. Its area is about equal to that of all the New England States, New York and New Jersey. The country is mountainous in much of its extent, though there is but little regularity about its mountain ranges. In the middle and northeast there are elevated plateaux of vast extent having a mean altitude, varying from 3,000 to 7,500 feet above the sea, and from these plateaux volcanic cones and hills rise at many points. In the north a mesa or plateau stretches away far into Utah Territory. South of the Gila river the plain sinks almost to the sea-level, but in the southeast and along the Sonora line, there are fourteen or fifteen detached ranges, and four or five isolated peaks. Many, perhaps most, of the mountain ranges have a general course from northwest to f*^ txi rtc: pc3 >-< £9 r3f C3- c^ci «: C>J E-* "P^ prj \-- fjJ :^t; ^OC^ tl> -J '^ cj:;! C3 494 OUR WESTIIRN EMPIRE. southeast, but the Mogollon Mountains, and some of the otlicr groups extending into New Mexico, have an east and west direction. The highest known elevation in the Territory is Moint San Francisco, at the northern end of the lofty San I'raiiciscd plateau, from which it rises to a height of 12,700 feet above the sea-level. Scattered among these mountain ranges, detached and isoIat(xI mountain summits, plateaux and mesas, are many valleys of great beauty and fertility, but the river valleys are generally narrow ravines, gorges and canons, accessible to the rays of the sun only at high noon, and whose precipitous and nearly perpen- dicular walls excite terror rather than pleasure. The valleys of the Colorado Chiquilo, or Flax river, and of the Rio Salinas, or Salt river, are exceptions to this, being the garden spots and granaries of the Territory, and the bordering mountains fur- nishing great stock-ranges where the cattle are sometimes too fat to be driven. The most remarkable feature of the topography of Arizona is the tendency of its rivers and streams to form canons, of great de[)th and with precipitous sides. Either the strata dirough which these rivers have cut their way to the Gulf of California are more friable and easily eroded than the same strata else- where, or the great descent of the rivers and their immense- volume when swollen by the rains and melting snows give them a force which is irresistible. The whole Territory is drained by the Colorado river and its tributaries. Most of these tributa- ries — all, indeed, except the Gila, which is in itself a large river— ^nter the Colorado high up in its course ; the San Juan, which en*^^ers the northeast corner of the Territory and receives a con- siderable affluent, the Rio de Chelly, there ; and the Colorado Chiquito, or Flax river, with its important affluents, the Rio Puerco of the West, Rio Ouemado, and Chevelon's Fork, {■^\\\\^% into the parent stream above the Big Canon of the river, and forming deep, dark' and precipitous canons of their own, ihe Colorado itself, through more than 600 miles of its course through Arizona, flows through deep canons, and receives nearly 200 streams, large and small, all of them coming through gorges of DESCENT OF THE GRAND CANON. ^pj less depth, and falling over the as yet only partially eroded rocks in cataracts, into the main stream. Its descent in these 600 miles is more than 3,000 feet. The Big or (Irand Canon is one of the wonders of the world. Its descent has been several times attein[)ted, and was accomi)lished, though not without loss of life, by a party under command of Major J. W. Powell in 1869, and again in 1871. The narrative of these descents, as given by the intrepid explorers, is of the most thrilling interest. Through its whole course, except the last 500 or 600 miles, and through the entire course of its principal affluents, these canons succeed one another, each one in the downward course of the current being deeper, darker and more terrible than its predecessor. At irregular intervals there are ra[)ids, cataracts, and falls of great height, while every one of the tributary streams plunges into the main river through a minor canon of its own, by a cataract often of 150, 200, or 300 feet. The ten stalwart men, provided with every necessity for their perilous journey, and stocked with ample supplies, who, on the 30th of May, 1809, had started from the Green river station, in four boats, to descend the Colorado, had passed through the last of the great canons, on the 29th of August, their numbers reduced to six, their boats to two, hatless, shoeless, and ragged, their provisions exhausted, their instru- ments broken, and they themselves battered and bruised by their conflicts with rapids, cataracts, whirlpools and rugged rocks. The walls of their long prison house were in some places more than a mile in height, and in their dark gorges they could only catch a glimpse of the sun at high noon. Yet the monuments, towers, cathedrals, casdes and lofty battlements of all conceivable colors, were grand, impressive and often beauti- ful beyond description ; and worn and wearied as they were, they were full of enthusiasm over the accomplishment of their perilous voyage. Three of those w^ho had left them were slain by Indians ; one returned to Utah. The river is navigable, though with some difficulty, on account of its numerous rapids, from Callville, Nevada, at the terminus of the Grand Canon, to its mouth, a distance of 612 miles. >^ pes pa ;3 «tf U-^ ^ (xi t::Z fjj ^. ■pa :^> .^ (.j^ 496 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Neither the Colorado Chiquito nor the San Juan are navigable, but their cafions and the rapid descent of their waters are only inferior to those of the parent stream. The lower waters of thr. Colorado are not much higher than the Gulf of California, and, indeed, flow at one point through a broad and almost stagnant lake. The Gila rises in the mountains of Now Mexico, and for about one-half of its course traverses a mountainous region, though it does not at any point cut for itself deep or prcci[)itoiis gorges. rVom the mouth of the Rio San Pedro its course is through a less elevated region, and a part of the distance is navigable and without rapids. These deep canons of the principal rivers drain much of the surrounding country of its moisture, and render large tracts unfit for anything but grazing, and still larger ones unfit for that, un- less by aqueducts, reservoirs, or artesian wells the necessary water can be supplied for stock. In the existing condition of the country, much of the rainfall which, in some seasons, is abundant, or sufficiently so for the country, if it could be saved, is wasted, running off from these hard-baked table-lands into the cafions and not penetrating the soil. Yet this soil under irn'nja- tion is wonderfully productive. The lands which can be irrigated yield sixty-five bushels of the finest wheat in the world to the acre, and proportionate quantities of other cereals ; while Indian corn and the root crops are produced in almost incredible quan- tities. Fortunately for the Territory, very much of this land which once produced large crops can be reclaimed ; many of the gorges and ravines can, at small expense, be made reservoirs, and thus treasure up the water which comes down from the melting snows of the mountains, or that which now runs off into the cafions after heavy rains, and this can be used with great advantage for irrijjation, for the wateringf of live-stock, and for miniii"- purposes ; while deep plowing and the breaking up of the hard and dry sod will render the soil far more pervious and absorbent of the rains, and so capable of more easy cultivation. But on these mesas and high table-lands, where there are no streams available for purposes of irrigation, artesian wells have never failed to bring water, and usually with sufficient head and \n sill suppli .Vo' of An; It tliirt routes of the { 'w\ the ii jector ci tor)', lie uith a V %xmx\g 1 restore, I merly exi •^lountain was so fu, ^W^^, and tliat it sho f'l'it sea w fall to \Vc.i nould ren( '^''tW as its In his K 'S78. Gent Territory, \, "ear the Ifn, fairly repres I 'e« moist ar ''•Ps sonnnvl [above the thi "Broken r Y^^^ and |; ''tvated valJe r«ent in gene [>ater-vvays ai r'^«. of whic *Seebiogi 3a tory, l.e l,as devot„l „„,ch Z-I'" •••^^"vo^no^ of ,J,e rir" i'ra..n. ,-,u,,e,„,,. Hi» ^,"1 o ° '• """'"■- ■"■S^'cultur: and -'°-. '■y a short ship. ::: P 7"-"°".'" "-govcn,n,ent o .llountains, where it, dr„ , .."""■ '-^^t of tli<. San Rem, 1 "--f"" of so.,„'\', ''':-'■' n-Var i>c.,ow d,e ™ ; ^ ;P'"Un>l fraught with so „nn° ?' •■■"'' ~-"P-'-nsi " it ll>« 't sliould be acted nn^^ aclvantan.es ,0 ,|,at who),. ' 'S78. Generil Fn-.„,on, ' f '''",'"''"' "^ ".o Interior i„ Or, K ^-"•'-y. with espe7a ItLctT"'" ""' '"P".'.'- ^o" h^' L r '"■^* '^^ Colorado anrl r i "^'■^' '" ^'"'^ona L a^ s c^: cr: «: .r>^i E-t (!^"^ cxj ( — • ;^i> ,_ji '< (u;! ^r)8 ^^^ IVESIEKN A.WM'A. course. The valley of the Colorado, between Its river, hills or IjordcrinjT mountains, is dry, stony, and barren, the mountains naked rock. Crossing these in journeying from Khrenberg cast ward, a traveller in spring wouUl fmd this country covered witli bloom, the shrubs and trees being represented mainly by acaci,; , and cacti, and the ground covered with low-flowering plan;, among grass growing thinly. Except for some shrub-like trtt- . and gigantic cactus (Sai^iuira), ocolillo, and yucca trees, tl.r ridges here along are still of naked glistening, and black or bar- ren, rock, showing no signs of water. The acacias, Palo vcrdc, and other trees crowd down into the dry stream-beds, reachin}^' after the water below the sands, but the ocolillo and tree-cactus delight in the stony and dry mountain sides. In the rainy sea- son |hese stream-beds are short-lived torrents. This is the country traversed by the desert roads. But this character of desert, applied to the valleys, comes only from the heated air and absence of water, and not absence of vegetation. A run- ning stream would make anywhere here a p den. "After some seventy miles, as the crow , over such coun- try, what may be called fertile mountains are reached ; that is to say, mountains more or less covered with shrubs and grass, and having springs and running streams, and affording good cattle- ranges. Continuing eastward, the country in this respect steadily improves, until, after travelling over about a hundred miles of air distance from Ehrenberg, scattering junipers of very sturdy growth appear, several feet in diameter, with here and there small oaks and locust trees ; and presently the road enters among pines, which thenceforward generally cover the more upland parts of the country to the eastward. " The elevation here is probably 5,cxx) feet in the valleys, the surrounding mountains rising several thousand feet higher. On the higher ranges, such as the San Francisco and Mogollon, these open woodlands become extensive forests, where the pinc: reach sometimes a solid growth of six feet in diameter. From Prescott the San Francisco Mountains show grandly in tiie hori- zon of hills some sixty-five miles away to the northeast, and 1 2,700 feet above the sea. These and the Mogollon Mountains '"ft '' castM Mc\i( the /I, south, "/n /iiainta to sea, elevate apart. selves 1 usually enter, u absorb ti lower CO only a fc This maj- the vallc)' There ar( rains, u'Ikj rents, anc ^nL\ of O, commence the sky is 3%lUsnoi ;'Tass there "Miintaln is ' ^"^m Mr. A "'•^"V years en^nj "" ^'"11 an .1,-er- [;•*"*; to fiver, ^^■"■^ '..<-. , ha, arc llie principal uatcr-shcd, of A.- • "^ .3.000 fcctal^ov. th.. La. Tl , VZnl^ '"'"^•^" ^^^oo a, "',? forty „„|c., in bread,],, ^mZL } '^^"■'''" "^"""'ry avc'ra,. -'-rcily over .he Lead ,a^"r '':f "^'^ ""-' Terri.o'ry s„ ,. Icx,co Nord, and east of tl es/ ''" •""' P"''«Wy into »u h, are reported to be the ,.rel f ?! .''""''"•■■^■•'' <^' 'o .1,.. ■; In contradistinction to he Fa! ["'* "' ^"«'""-* "•amtatn themselves i„ gati JrhuT" ^■■''"; *'''••'■'•■ '''^' '^'^--"-•^ "'-.dryness is one of*"! "Ln 7*-'"' '^'"" "»""'ai, dovated region. Streams and '^ '""''"■' °f ""■'^ 'vhoL 7^The larger streamTIXj.:r """. ''''' -'^ "" s*es ,„ absorption and c^apo"a"o/ ?''; '""' *"-^'^' "'™'- ««.ally stnk and disappear undeT h ,' f "'" ''""'"'•■'• °"« ent.r where the soil s jrencrallv II ' ""'<^y '^'"ch they absorb them. Ct .he waS-'fh «','"'' '""'^ ^"""^^ Z lower country, at variable depths oZ - "'" '^ '"'"<' '^ '" " - "lya fe,v feet below the st,rfe e ° „ C T, '""'■ ""' "-■•"'>• J'"^ "")■ g've the necessary provis"o„ 17 ""^ "P'""'' ^■••'"^■y.^ *e valleys, while the mo,„,^tX° ft rn" ? ""7 '■°'- "'<^ ^rn^s in riicre are t«o seasons of ZT ' " '^"^'-i'^ntly for sto.k ™"». «'-" tl.e wash'and ^^T''7^ '"^ -^-ly s.. ^er -f.-'l .He winter season of ::;'t '^'-•™"- '-""Porary tor- ™l of October, the falling w^ath^ of d '""''• ~°>^- -' "•>= -nmoneed, e.vcept in the high nTuntats tT"'7 ^' ""' >-' "; Jty .s .ini„tern,ptedly clotKir" h! , "^ ''^>'^ ="•<-' 'varm "■^'" ->">v l.as j.,st falle'n i„^,e ^^ I "' """^'^^ ^' "■Kht, and S"« «l.cre is beginning. ,0 dry ud .„ r"'"" ^'""""^i"- The »ma,n^p™bably cSveredlu h ,," ; *■■ "°"''"" ''''- ^^^ "- 'From ^fr A o K ~ _L '— ■» ►—■ •« CQQ 017: ii7:S7/:a\v emi'IRE. "The Little Colorado (Colorado Chiquito) and Salt river (Rio Salinas) regions are reported to be the granaries of the Territory. Their valleys are becoming garden-spots, and tiie bordering mountains great stock-ranges, where the cattle are sometimes too fat to be driven. Like California, the country is favorable to animal life. In the Salt River valley there are probably 100,000 acres under cultivation ; in the Gila valley, between the Pima villages and the mouth of the canon, about 50,000; in t' " Santa Cruz valley, about 25.000; and 25,000 more in all the southern district. In the Salt River valley the amount under cultivation is being rapidly augmented to the full extent of the water supply. On the San Pedro river the land is sparsely occupied, and mostly for grazing ; and farther to the eastward the country is better adapted to grazing than agriculture. Many years ago I found on the San Pedro and neighboring countrv many wild cattle wh'ch had belonged to ranches now deserted, where the people had been killed or driven off by Indians. So far as my present knowledge goes, the grazing and farming lands comprehend an area about equal to that of the State of New York." In his report for 1879, dated November 20, 1879, Genera! Fremont gives these additional items respecting the southern and northern portions of the Territory : " Near the end of February of the present year I found fig trees budding and apricots in bloom at Phoenix. The cotton- wood trees which line the streets were in full sprinQf foliage, and the fields were green with Alfalfa and grain. The town is on the Salt river tributary of the Gila, about 1,800 feet above the sea. The river liere runs thnaigh a broad valley plain encirded by mountains. It furnishes abundant water for irrio'ation, and the acecjuias or water-ditches arc; spread out over the valley in a space eight or ten miles broad. Streams of running water, which one met in every direction, gave a very grateful sense o*^ freshness in this dry country of Arizona, and remains ofoldj acequias used by the former Indian population show that witli them, too, it was a f^.vorite place. F^or seven or eiglv; months of the year the weather is raid to oe pleasant, but hot for the { remamder. The to,v„ ;« ,1, Soi districr, and i,s growing p.^IJ.™';^- "^ ''n /mportant farmin. non. >y,ts position, wl.iclas in fe L """^^'' •■""' "-ade pcJa Ka;^vay pa.es ,wd;:v,;:°r:;;ro"^^^^^^^ bottom lands, v/Jiic'i iro ^f ' ^"^ town. p,. f ^' va% p.ope. o'; :,: "cir ,r ""'■^^"- -•"--" I- between the boalering ,v" ,°i„'t" "" ""™-^' "•■-" wW h » *y, hot and barren. All eL f •? ^ ^ '^P'''"^'^ "f Rfty ",11^ «. and west eourse runnin!,,, '^ '"'' ''abiuble. J„ '' Ar.o„a, the Colorado borde In '::!>'' "^ "<>"'-- ,i„- ^^ Here m the canons the Indians from''* " ■"-'■•"""■"' country evce le„, fruit and .rain, and C tl th ''"""''^ '""« ''ave ..rown » pnm,t,ve trade .vith other t b s T";"'"''^ '■"- "'aintained rejion has the resources to sus^ " '^" ""'^ «''ole northern -;^ a pennanent and val lb e t trr "t "'>' P°P"latio„ and !»» the enterprise to penetra e T 4?" ""= """-ailway ^hich 4e country fertile ; wooded 1 ^'"•' <^"'"ate is healthvJ , «»ard into New S '"f/''^"^'' from the C^^Z^.f *;^e had when ad!:^^:^ ZZ '" ^''"•^'^"- -Kon f «ku.stiUe fi-rassesw'll s!,nT '''' ""P'°V«I 'o -et it f, coalfields anc?heavv7 "^P " """ense herds mj ' " \y . "™^y lorests of i:„,k ' and Its nreaf F^'ory. will command a -.al "*,'"''' """'""°"-'' "'™"g'? S of farn„„. lands, and in it 'li ■ "''^■'- '' '«» broad vallev! Vm. silver and gold.^. """'"^' *»'ncts are abtuKlance of 1.13°':;'™' °' "- New York D.,y r,;,,.^ . . F'cli are used for f,. i , ^"^ cottonvvood pn.i Pek, which furnishes water / f> ^"^ ^'° ^ cord. The Pm. ^r- ^-ce in its cou :e ror . "^ ^'"''^'^ ''^^^ - the s "j , ^^^^- can always be fou d bv r'""^ ^' ^^ or twelve , i et '""^---bi,asca.i;;or'^^^^ Stillt^^ '" this as ,n many other as o 502 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. parts of Arizona, though by adopting such measures as were adopted by the highly civilized Indians who had populous towns in all this region ages ago, and adding to these acequias and reservoirs, drive wells and artesian wells, this desert land may aeain be made to blossom as the rose. The climate of Arizona may, perhaps, be inferred from what has already been said. It varies in different parts of the Territory. The lowlands, from Fort Yuma eastward, along the valley of the Gila and farther south between the thirty-second and thirty-third parallels, are extremely hot in summer. May, June, July, August, and September are the hottest months, and a record of 112° Fahrenheit in the shade is not very infrequent during those months. During the other months of the year the heat is not excessive, and the dry air makes it healthy. The rainfall is principally in July and August in this part of the Territory, though there is occasionally a season of rain in December and January.* It is, however, a characteristic of the heat of Arizona, that it is not enfeebling or oppressive, and that there is much less liability to sun-stroke than in the towns and cities of the north. " In the southeastern portion of the Territory," says General Fremont, " the climate is especially agreeable. In the Sierra de Santa Caterina, the Pinalena Mountains, the Chiricahui Mountains, and the Peloncello Range, as well as the Cordilleras de Rio I * Yuma (latitude 32° 43' 32") is probably the hottest place in the United S'lales. Armyj officers as.-^eii that it has icacheil a temiierature of 126° Falirenheit in the sli.idu. In i.S";-;S,j the signal-service officers reported 106 days, between April 29 and Octoi)cr 3, 111 wliicli lliej maximum tempevature was above ioo° ; thirty days in which it was above loS", and iwclvej days in \s hich it was above 110°. On four days it stood at 112°, and on one at 115". TaoonJ thoiij.di a liiiie further south (latitude 32° 28'), is not so hot. Its niaximuni was 110°, and (iiilyl fifty-one , all in the summer months, exceeded 100°. Phrenix (l.ititi.ide 33° 18 )J Wickeuburi^ (latitude 33° 5S'), and Maricopa Wells (latitude 33° 10') approach Viiiiu ml temperature, the teni|)eraiure exceeding 100° for seventy-nine, eif^htytwo and ci(jluy-iix (i.iya respectively, and reaching 112° more than once. Florence (latitude 33° 2'] is very mucli I'l^l Tucson in its temperature. Prescott, the capital of the Territory (latitude 34° 29'), 5.700 feel above the sea, has a very fine climate. In 1878, but two days exceeded 100°. The nic.m ofl summer temperature did not exceed 84°. The mean of the year was 65° 49'. Camp VerJej in nearly the same latitude, but less elevated, had thirty-six days in which the temper.iliirt exceeded 100°, and several times reached ioS°. Camp Grant (latitude 32° 25'), on the jal Pedro river, but above the canons of the Gila, was below Prescott in temperature, never exca'tliif 95° in summer, though its winter minimum was not below 24°, while that of Prescott was l'. Gila, the suffic rich J )'ear twcnt monti This j land M a rich it will I The well kf .southei the Ore Genera grass-cc wooded \i a laror Wallapa largest 1 consider valley ; n known. are belie lands. Chiquito, crossinp- variegate( with its and the presently. Vet far thirty-seve *»^est of th( coal said t( ^« Vaca (r CLIMATE OF ARIZO.VA. 503 lies. A™y , wliic'ii fee I and uvc'.ve 'I'at^cn, 1)0, ami ciily' 3.1 YuiM i«| iily-six (I'V^ miicli 1 , 5.700 frti llie roe.'." '1 lamp VetJel emperaturi on ilii: sai r exccc'li'l L was l». Gila, north of the river, and just on the borders of New Mexico, tiie character of the country is greatly improved. It is sufficiently well watered, and in greater part an exceptionally rich pasture ground, which the mild and even climate of all the year makes favorable to animal life. Its annual rainfall is twenty-four inches, and as this occurs mosdy in the summer months, the grass remains fresh and green the year round. . . . This grazing country comprehends large tracts of agricultural land which will become valuable because situated in the midst of a rich mining region, and the railroad which is about to penetrate it will carry off its surplus produce." The northern and northwestern part of the Territory is not so well known, and has not been so fully explored as the central and southern portions. The region of the Cerbat Mountains, south of the Great Bend and Grand Canon of the Colorado, was visited by General Fremont in December, 1878. He represents it as a grass-covered country, with valleys and mountain ranges well wooded with both juniper and pine. The juniper of this region is a large forest tree often four or five feet in diameter. In the Wallapai Valley, just east of the Cerbat range, is Red lake, the largest lake in the Territory, which receives the waters of a very considerable creek. There are numerous Lirge springs in this valley ; north and east of th Colorado is a region very little known. It is mountainous, but the mountains so far .1 known are believed to be mesas, isolated, lofty and Hat- topped table lands. North and northeast of the Fh x river or Colorado Chiquito, between the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth parall Is, after crossing a region known as the Painted D( crt, from the variegated colors of its rocks, lies the ancient provuice of Tusayan, with its groups of villages of the Moquis or cliff-dwellers, and the ruins of their ancient towns, which we \vi describe presently. Yet farther to the northeast, between the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh parallels and the 109th and iioth meridians, just west of the Navajo reservation, are extensive beds of anthracite coal said to be of excellent quality. There are also in the Mesa la Vaca (Plain of the Cows) and the Calabasa Mountains, rich ■a I — *■ ^ S 504 QUA' lVi:STERjV EMPIRE. deposits of gold, silver and copper. " The face of the country here," says General Fremont, " presents mountain ranges with broad intervening valleys running into each other by easy passes. The hills and lower ridges are wooded with juniper and pinon pine, worthy sometimes to be called forests, the higher ranges with yellow pine. The valleys, occasionally of several Inintlred thousand acres in extent, are covered with varieties of the most nutritious grass, among them bunch and grandma grass. This would be notably a grazing country if water could be had, but the scarcity of it repels settlement, and at present it is mostly unoccupied. The great trough of the Colorado near by seems to have drained it of all except what is afforded by occasional springs and the streams in the higher mountains. But no attempt to store and retain water by dams, or to obtain it by artesian or flowing wells, has been made." The elevation of this region Insures for it a mild and equable temperature. The rainfall of Arizona is a variable quantity in the different sections of the Territory and at different seasons. The five years previous to July i, ICS79. had been, throughout Arizona, years of drought ; the rainfall had been very slight, except in a very few localities, through the entire Territory, and hence the reports of the amount of rain during that period must be regarded as below the average of ten or twenty years. This long season of diOught is now happily ended. In a private letter to the writer, dated December 30, 1879, General Fremont said: "The whole country here (Prescott) is covered with snow, and the streams are impass- able. We have had for a week a continued storm of rain and snow. Nothing like it has been known for many years past. There had been so little falling weather for the last five years that even the pine trees were beginning to die in the mountains. Now all vegetation will revive, and the Territory will be greatly prosperous during the coming year." The rainfall in Arizona is usually almost wholly during July and August, and so heavy a rain in December was without precedent. The signal-service year, July I, 1 8/7, to June 30, 1878, the first in which we had any full meteoi ologlcal reports from /.rizona, gave the rainfall at the different stations as follows: Yuma, two inches, Wickenburg, of an inc.,. ^'r.^cou^s^]^;^!';^'^"-''' (six ^on.,.), 065 >o.«. , Camp Grant, S.96 inches n I '"''"='^' ^amp Verde pbra,,o„s „hicl, have bet::n,a ri:!;."?""'^ P"'"""'™' -- walls of the canons of the Or.! f"^°"a are those alon'-°"Rh straff r! ""'' '' '^ "■ere are e'potT "' "' '''"' "'"'='' of^er ,?',,, T'™""^' " rNonh A~ '-: -- ev .eo,o;::;s:iri:'- Pnmary azoic rocks, and tha^^t I "'^ ''"""■^' '''=P°--'s .0 thf ™cks have been altered by t lanic TT' """'' ''" "^ »"-e ^ Srst; Tr t'"° f -"" ^" "' ^^^' ''^-- near:> vertical descent, are Whin ri"'^"' ^'^''^ '6.°°o feet 'f "e, of course, the smw", V""^ ''°"'>ds of Arizona Tu -• S t-' _3f C" cx;. kC Cj^ B~* i~..„ (crj ( — » pa ifilH ,C1CJ I:::^ !-3 fct: «::i:ar eo6 '^^■^ WESTERN EMPIRE. bonatcs and oxides of iron, platinum and quicksilver arc dis- tributed very widely over the Territory, (iold Is found free both in placers and in quartz lodes ; silver in galena, and com- bined with both lead and copper as sulphides and carbonates: copper is also found alone in the form of gray sulphu rets ; quick- silver in the form of cinnabar and perhaps other combinations; tin, platinum and nickel nearly pure; iron ores of all kinds, and well situated for producing the finer qualities of iron and steel; besides the anthracite coal In the northeast there is bituminous cbal adapted to smelting purposes at Camp Apache and else- where. Immense deposits of salt of the purest quality have been discovered, and there are large beds of sulphur, gypsum, hydraulic lime, valuable mineral springs, natural loadstones of great magnetic power, and fossil woods of many varieties. There are also opal pebbles, garnets, red, white and yellow ; azuritc, malachite, chalcedony, sapphires, opals, and possibly some dia- monds. Gold and silver mining was prosecuted by the Spaniards and Mexicans for many years before the Territory came into the pcssession of the United States, and some of these mines arc still largely productive. Among these were the Cerro Colorado, now known as the Heintzelman mine ; the Mowry, Santa Rita, Salero, CahuabI, and San Pedro, and the quicksilver mine of la Paz. Many others have since been discovered, and new mines are being constantly opened. They are found in all the ex- plored portions of the Territory, and seem to indicate that the mineral wealth of Arizona is greater than that of any other Ter- ritory of the West. For mining purposes all the exploded por- tion of the Territory below the thirty-sixth parallel has been divided into mining districts. These are most numerous in die southeast, though the new developments are to a considerable extent in the central and northwest portions. Those most noted in the southeast are the Dos Cabezas, the Sierra Bonlta (north of the Gila), the Dragoon Range district, the Globe district, the Tombstone district, the Huachuca district, the Patag-onia, the Washington and the Harshaw districts, the Santa Rita dis- •trict, the mines of which have been worked for many years, and '".nvc r,,sr^,„, ^^ ^^^^^^^ with profit. A mimW of np,v „,• , Jo; -«th end of the s.n^ "Z ZZ^'^" !"^'" "P-ed at the tl>e Anvaca ch-.s.rics, an<"l'"vari di... b.."«- al,a„do„ed as a placer n, ine m ' '' ''""■'"• *'"'^''' ■-"■"■t come to the surface as having a rich l/r '?? ='«"• '»« ^<-*cently 1 ,ese are , .11, except the Sierr-,t,?-'''^"-'"''S'-'^^« <-"•■''«" North of that river, and b .^"n'r::' T" "' '"^ ^'■•'=' ^-''■ »onK.dKstnct.theoresof«.h,^hare,,ol "'''■''■ '^ "'^ ^as.le the Pioneer, l>inal. IVer and V ^ ""'')' ■'•'-gentiferous iraleni • rWo, Gray Ea,de, sCr , : Sit' TV *^ '''•^*^^^^^^^^^^ R"ffner s Can,p (copper a d ^t , ^''f '"'"'' ^'•"^'■"^' -'-^ Richer than any of these is the .re uM- '"' ,"'^ ^^'^^e n,ines the thirty-fifti, parallel and o^t 'e n!l T" ' "'^ '''■^'"". '"'ove .•'cariya hundred miles Ion<. an r, ''"'''" °'" "4° =0', a belt "carries between porphyl^'l ' 7 ""■"^'"' I'-n>o tsay ore matter, „,,ich is' in'tersp'e * dU^ ■ "' ^ ''^'^ '^'•^-dth of of s'lver Tliese are said 'to be ; ' JT ''T''''"y ^'""Hdes dred dollars the ton. The whole I '' ''"'"""S ■■^«eml hun- The Bra*haw and other dis^lt , tWn " ""'• '° ^^'"^^ «'•>--.■■ around Prescott, the capital of I e T '"■• """"' °^ ""'"V -""es ™"es. The great obstacles in tl e ,vav If'"'"' ''''" ">->■ -!. Arizona ha;-e been hitherto ih, , ^ ^"ccessful n,inin<. in •I- 'ack of capital, ..n Tf ^od '^T ''""' ''"^^'"'^ '"*'-" --cty of water and timber ^Some f , "' "''"""'i'' -"d the removed. The .greater part of ^th nd '" ':'^'''*' -<= -- Apaches ,n the extreme ea.t an 1 th t m' '" "'" territory ,thc bems- somewhat uneasy) art not n " m '^ '" "'« "°«h alone ; "«• Much of this ^,,i t ;„ 'Cr't '"' '"'"''^y -^ "- 1 -management of General Frcr^^on and M '"^ ""' '" ">^ ^'-'l- *e army officer in com„,and o^l e "r ^^^JT^""^"' Willco.x -e Southern Pacific Railroad tratse'^ ■''''" "' """''"^ the ferntory from west to east while Tk^'°""''=^" P°«'on of A chison, Topeka and Santa F-Tare ra • I''"^ '''"''^ ^"^ "'« fteeast. Toll and good wa..™ r , "P'^'^ ^PProaching fron, and central „ .• Sfon-roads traverse all .i . lanid^ , .P""'""^ of the Territorv r f " southern •^P%.-though the Vicinity Of s^r.,^---;^^^^^^^^^^ >-. OS «CJ PC? •*. , pa, »--''*■ E — ' »j ^— ^- c" c<-:: rtj .r-K-j e-* ;-r-- pt: P.:t «f;:-i oci :*::> ,-4 ».< (:j-J ' o 5o8 OL'K IfESTE/iN F.MriHE, of timber, there is an ample supply in other portions of the Ter- ritory, which will be brought thither by some of the railways. The want of water is still a clifticulty in some of the mines, and will cause the abandonment of those where it cannot; be obtained, but the construction of acequias or water ditches, or the repair of those constructed many years ago by the Indians, the building of reservoir dams, and the boring of artesian or drive wells, will supply many of the mines which have hitherto lacked. Very many rich veins or lodes have been opened by individuals, gen- erally farmers or stock-raisers, which have not come upon the market at all. Their owners have not sufficient capital to de- velop them extensively, and hence there has sprung up a prac- tice which General Fremont denominates " gold-farming," which, so far as we are aware, does not prevail to any considerable ex- tent elsewhere. A farmer, who has discovered a gold lode or placer on his farm, as very many of them do, proceeds with his farm-work or cattle-breeding just as the other farmers do, but when he has a leisure day he picks out a few bushels of ore from the lode, or of gravel from the placer, washes out the gold with the pan, or amalgamates it, if fine, and then expels the quick- silver by a slight roasting, puts the gold in a sack or pouch, and the next market-day sells it at the nearest town. He thus sup- plies himself with funds, and knowing his mine will not deterio- rate by keeping, reserves to some future day any complete de- velopment of it. The prospects for the speedy opening of the immense mineral wealth of Arizona to the world are now much brighter than ever before. But with this prospective development there an Hock- ing into the Territory hosts of " mining sh?Tps," as the miners call them, unprincipled men who will bond a mine which, while imperfectly opened, may prove to be either a pocket or a vein, and which, until it is further developed, may be dear or cheap at 5i«,5,ooo, but which is very probably in a district with very little water or timber, and providing themselves with opinions from some of their partners in rascality, will come Last and work up this doubtful property into a gold mine with a capital of from ^250,000 to ;& 1, 000,000, and interesting a few friends in the mat- an; iiu] is \\ \\K .stre; and , the n of or what prcse cxperi be jus mine, t The the Co Cruz a cactus, dry and its gay There tile sum and Aug ^ndjiinfj: woods. tend wii ("I'mish i coals \x\ t '^"nydouljt th: °""^f Poi-lion „| "f'l'e buyer is, slrcam. or decs i' 7 ''■■■'"«■• <='-^''-'l<. or river? I "•' """<=• -'' "? wl,at prico i,s in „ , '^-; "'"l'- is tl.cre nea; S!' Ilie mine by slnf,. , , ' " '"" I'myress Im. i, "'^' of or,. ,-. ■ """"='■ or uin/e > \vi '''''=" "'ai'f in present value of ,1 • ^ '" P*-'"" 'on ? \\/,„, : p, "">' =•"'' cper.. "' "'^' "•- as appraised by^ i , , ".;;,7;"-'' , T'-- points befn,. ,.„v,,, , ' ''°"^^' bt' justified in offorL T "^y ascertained tlie in,. T'--- vegetation of Arizona Ys,' r ''"^ ""'>' '^ '^'"th.* ?'' Colorado and tl,at of tl,e 1-^ T ^'"^ '°>^<^^ -alley of Cruzare for the most na I '''/"■■ ^^« as the Rio S ° ^ac.us, which abounds n a' i" *'"".' '''>'■ '" ^'-e ^ L Tand desert land, is W 1 M^'"""-'' '--•--' clel , f , ' " ^ c^"J:::ti' -'-^ ■ ^" ''"-- ''-^ - -■' ^' ^ '"""""» on the part «^ fXj >- - 3 C'' 0- wt: Xj-I E-« ,'."~^ pr; J:-:;? pul ^--:!T iOQI ' ..> ,_JI ,ct: 4 f^j 510 OVK ll'llSTEKS F.Mr IKE. tlu- casti'rn aiul southeastern parts t)f the Territory there are more streams, ami tlie mountains are covered, tiiouj^h i^parscly, with pine and juniper. North of the Gila tiiere is in the east an extensive mass ol mountains known as tiie Mo;.^ollon Moun- tains, which i're covered with yellow pine, pinon or nut-pine, and juniper, while the valleys which are watered by the streams which unite to form the Colorado Chiquito, and the Salinas, San Carlos, Bonito, Prieto, and Azul, affluents of the Gila, an; cov- ered with rich grasses and are excellent gra/.inj,^ and arable lands. A broad but elevated valley lies between the Mogollon and the San Francisco range, which is watered only by tlu; San Francisco river and its affluents, and by one or two small lakes, and by one or two creeks which tlow into the Salinas. This valley plateau is but little known, but in its upper portion at least is probably very dry. The lower portion is said to be an excellent grain region. Another extensive mountain mass, extending more than 200 miles from north to south and about 125 from east to west, of which the San Francisco Mountains form the eastern barrier, and which is traversed by many fertile valleys and some lofty mesas or plateaux, extends westward to the Black Mountains, which overlook the Colorado valley. Nearly in the centre of this mountain mass is situated Prescott, the capital of the Ter- ritory, which is 5,700 feet above the sea, and enjoys a fine climate, not too hot or too cold, a pure air, and freedom from malaria. The atmosphere here is very dry and highly electric, at times almost painfully so. Thunder-storms are very frequent in sum- mer, and so many of the pine trees, which are abundant here, have been struck by lightning tliat they arc unfit for lumber. Most of these mountains are covered with yellow pine, juniper, and piiion pine, with some oaks, and much good lumber is fur- nished from those thirty or forty miles north of Prescott. In this region, as well as farther south, those fruits which dclii^ht in a hot climate and do not require too much moisture, lloiirish in perfection. The peach, apricot, fig, banana, and where they have been planted, the olive and pomegranate, yield abundant fruit. The oraiige, lemon, and lime probably require more 11.7/) ./''ir/o ■""islure. Some of til,, ml,,,. . , 5" l':'l"'». «-?"l.l ""Wo>,bl«llydo ir"''l "''^' ""^ '••■"«""'' talipot Cr,,. valley, > >-" m the Gil, Salinas, and Sa„' a „//' .""•' /'^^S^'ions north of the Cr.\ , C "lu.to, there is ha„||,, e,,o.,!, kL i?; °."''"'' "'•"• Colorado f- 'Icscnption of „,ei,. vc..,e.at,' , V '"1'^^ '">■ "'"-^"I'-'r- -1 - -so thoroughly .Irahu^J li.f^"^ ""-' ^"lomdo the •'•■■»ert ta.stof,l,eColora.l,.tl, ""; ''"' "> ^ al.no.s. a '»"• rf which is volcanic i„ chara . 'V '^,''°"' '''«'-•'"■ « I"- ■"^1- as a "painted des,..rt'' 1 ' / " '■'"'' ''""•" "P"" '1-e -ones, s ales, and sandstones Si "'r' ' " ^°'"^ <"• '''' «"• - "' 'l>e- Moquis, where, i„ „„. , ,,,,^ "'' "' ""» are tlie villages "P." reservoirs for do.nestic'', j"" ""'^T ''^» '^-'> 'measured l«".ons o these „,esas they J .'"^ ""' ^ '■^^'•^-■-"- O I eUs of Line, red, yello.., oran, e cob ' °"'';' '° "'"'^"'^ "»■■'> '"gcach carefully in fields l.v r, .|f 1 7' ""' "'"'"= ^°'-"' "^-^P- ^rme granaries. Their crops of I, ^"T'^^ "''"' '" --P- »■ and the gracing „as goo, fo T'" """'^ '■"^"™'^' ^ '^ti^e A large „„„ ,•„" „ , ^°°; ^o"- "'eT goats and sheen. '-".vvhid, would indicate t„'Vr";r'' ''^ «'ll«lJ/«« /« Sronnd for cattle. The Nava I w " , °'"'"'' ^-^ ^' P'-tur^ partly .n A,.i.„na an' ^" "^ "'em >"y numerous in Arizona Of ,[ ' "'''' ""'""''» are not "-. km there are two ^ec" o "'", «=•""' "'<= «"< - in antelope, the bi..l,orn or ""' ""■■ ^ooky Wo,,,, »t""Jant in the „„rd,ern pa ' T dl T '' °^ ""^™ '«-« more '™;. Of the s,„aller -anr k' ""-' J^^'^-^ory than in the south! *.t, and .se eral speael";} I ^et Of t^f "='^^' '"<= >'^ P----). the g,.„,,j, tea,, i, ^ery rare ,T 1 ; • ? , ^"S'^' '«^»»'» of y rare, ,f he inhabits the Territory at as i 5': ouK ir/:sT/:K.v /imp/ke. all; the black and cinnamon lu-ars an; more numerous. The puma or cou<^ar is fouml in the forests, th()u,iL;h less njMncrous than in better-watered countries; tin; jai^uar is found in tht; low lands, thou^di less abundant than in Texas. The ()C(;lot, the wild cat and the lynx are occasionally found in the forests, as well as the reil or ^ray wolf, and one or two species of fox. The prairie wolf, usually called the coyote,* is not found in the Territory, thouj^h the true coyote, a miserable little cur of an animal scarcely larger than a fox, is occasionally seen ; but there are peccari(;s, raccoons, opossums, skunks, and the ijophcT or prairie doj^' or marmot. Tliere are said to be large herds of mustangs or wild horses in the plains of Southern Arizona. Of birds there are a considerable number, many of them of gay-colored plumage. The Wheeler expedition sent to the Smithsonian Institution 500 specimens, and 183 distinct species, and others have since been discovered. Game-birds are abundant, pheasants, partridges, quails and grouse, especially the sage-hen and the prairie-hen. The crane, ibis and flamingo are among the birds of Southern Arizona. Eagles, vultures, buzzards, hawks and owls are numerous; the king vulture, little inferior in size to the condor or lammergeier, a rare bird in North America, is only found in the United States, in this Territory and in Texas. There are many varieties of fish found in the rivers, some of them edible fish of great delicacy and peculiar to this Territory. Several species of fish have been discovered in the mineral springs. There are also many species of mollusks. The reptiles and serpents of Arizona are formidable, and in some parts of the Territory numerous. There are alliirntors in the Gila and Lower Colorado, horned toads, lizards, scorpions, and centipedes in the chaparral and among the cacti, rattlesnakes on the vicsas 0: table-lands of Central and Northern Arizona. The skunk, in other sections a harmless animal, except for his fearfully offensive odor, is, in all the region below the fortieth par- * Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, United Sl.ites Army, a very \\\'^\\ .Tuihoriiy in all hunting matters, insists (" The Plains of the Great West ") that the coyote is an insignificaiil little animal hardly larger than a fox, and is found only in Texas, Arizona and Mexico; and that the prairie wolf, so often called a coyote, and so aliundant on the " plains," is really an entirely different and much larger specie.'' of the canine family. ^"r..r,,,s ,„„„ ,,,,, ,,,„^,^^ alH, very much clr.a,lc the .^round >'>^' &«-■ or hands or feJof ^ ''"■'''••'''■"'' '" ^to ami T"' 3 ';-h an., ,„„.., o\it :: ;;r:- -^1 "i.^ appeit'r 7 'V':'."'" •'"^''y- These bites „', "■■""■" '° '''» ■'••past ,1;-^ nnnnals are very nun ero „ T' "" "''"'■' °' ™'"- Loloraclo, Kansas, the Inch-in T ^"'""^' New Mev.Vo n-y thousands of the ' , j-j^^^ -" Texas, and t ou^h tl>'^ f"r be,njj in great deman/i,f ^7-^'''"' ^°' "'<-•'> skins "»-em to diminish in Zt, ""^t''?^"*^ '^-'''. "-T "o a case of these skunk bites ^vhich 1 T^ '*■ '' "°<'Ke relite! 'occurred in the Gua.laloVc Mo't.S''^' 'r ""' P™- ' the southeast border of Arlona A ,'r '"^''■''' "« ^"^ ^om :r, ''"^P'"^', i" a common or A tit" Tf ""' '"■•" -'•"■•■"'<-• 'tat he was being eaten up by sol' 7" ""''"" ^rean.ed ">-e prevented his moving ^ X^/"""^'' '™' a sort of night pm and horror together wolehYm '°"-'-" """-'• '"-"ever, the »J. With a cry and sullen ffort'h'° '"'' " '^'^""'^ -"'"^ < '™- t struck the other side of tl ! '^T" ""-■ ^"""al fro, ™, who, recognizing the in r^d 'rusl T ''" "P°" "- °'h tittcn man, who had he-,r.i r , ' ""''"' °"f of the tent "r-i ^^;e, was so parai": tfl^t ^'"^-"" oT'jku ! *« to get up, and seeing tl,eskunl'°' "'^' •"= "ade no '""c^ hnnself in the bhnk ts "Ae a'^'""^^-^^ '"•™ ^^-in ta, apparently seeking for an on '"'' "'''"^'^d all over '»-7ch the blanketfasif ryr'^'';"' «"*"i>-one beZ ;n..^ condition of this poor felbw '° f' ""' '"'» ^'•«™- Tl'e «"bed. I„ ,h, meantime the oH "" '''^ '■•"^^'"ed than , «P.ns and lifted up oneTde of theT '"? '"'' '°o-necl th" * "'7.P<^'""? the animal ti^ 'i!;;"/' '"""ff - "- moo ! Mtened ,t so that it „„ off iZ he rf .' *"^"^^' "' '-« ""• Th,s skunk emitted no odor ,1 'P' '^"'^ ^"k of the j>. .#:-. .act fr-^ — o ti4 OUh: [\''E STERN EMPIRE. he made light of the matter and examined the wound. The whole ball of the right thumb was torn, lacerated and gnawed in a fearful manner. He had no caustics or other means of cauteri- zation, aii.l so long a time had elapsed that he thought they would have done more harm mentally than good physically. So he had the wound carefully and thoroughly washed with Castile soap, cut off the protuberant pieces of mangled flesh, and, binding it up, kept on a simple water-dressing till the wound healed, which was in about ten days. The man was with Colonel Dodge for more than a year after this, but never experienced any ill effects except temporary pain from the wound. Colonel Dodge says that this was the only non-fatal case of which he knew in that region, though in other sections they were not often fatal. The gray wolves not unfrequendy suffer from rabies or go mad, and in that condition lose all fear, and will rush Into houses, tents, etc., biting every one whom they can reach. Productions of Arizona. — In 1879 there was about $3,500,000 of gold, silver and copper sent to San Francisco from Arizona. In '880, the amount will, in all probability, be over |s8,ooo,ooo, and as ;:oor as railroads, now constructing, are completed through the Territory, the mineral exports will be much increased, and lead, anthracite coal, platinum, quicksilver and other metals will be .added to them. Wheat is the principal vegetable production exported. It is of excellent quality, fully equal to the best California, and where irrigation can be practised, the yield is enormous. We have no statistics of the vegetable crops gathered the last year, and be- lieve none have been collected. Fruit, of semi-tropical qualities, is beginning to be extensively cultivated. Lumber and timber can be produced in some quarters, sufficient not only to supply the home demand, but to have considerable quantities to export, The Papago Indians, in the southwest, the Pimas and Maricopas, in the south and central region, the Mohaves, and to some ex- tent, the Yumas, in the west and on the Lower Colorado, and the more civilized bands of the Apaches In the east, cultivate the soil and obtain a livelihood from it, the Maricopas and Papagos ex- porting considerable grain to San Francisco. In the northeast .1 A , ""alapais and tliP V, ■ '^™'ng'. as a readv *e Apaches, are more inclined IP""' ^'^ ""■■" as some of good lierdmen. The ZTu ^ "°'"-'«''''^ "&. but win i IJfcQ n- B- IT Apaches in th^ -„ .1 '" make Utes or P-Utes, in the north and „„ J """"''••ast, and the Pah- any mdusto-, and are roving troub. "'''' "'^ "°' ■•"dined o . The white population of a2. "" '"'' ""■^■^'■^''• -in the pas^'tZ ; ,^° f - .-- 9.^. °Th':e'h2t™ ;" --es and minin/ a" ^^^ '"""•' ?' "^^^""^ '•'"™ '-I pursuits, or the rearin. "f cattL .""° P''^'"^"^'' agricul "■■e 32.052 Indians in the T ""'' '''"'^^P- I" -870 the rl a^y somewhat diminished slnl^r 7^ "'" ""-'^- '- P o other fatal diseases have ^,1^ 1 "'' ^' ""= ^^'"all-po.x and tribes have sr-,r,.„i "g-ed amonq- them !.n,i " 'wvt scarcely escaped star,,,.- ■ ' "" ^°'"e of the ^;ds,suchas.heSuechs,A;acrMV'"" ^"^^ °"'- -aller Cosn,nas, Chemehuevis and Wa In n '■"■ ^P"^'"= Coyoteros ^^^ about 5,000, and have a arl ^f "'« ^P^^tes, wlfo n. m '7 '''v.ded into six bands the T '"r" '" "'« ^outhea" ptL r'" ^"^ cochis;'\i'°\f'-'^. ^--p-. A?- part, treacherous TnrI «,• >• '-''ina. 1 hey are fnr <^i, ;■" ^- Me.ico,\:rLrmrwir"'' ^^^^ °' -- ^- t^r e exception of these and^hl P ntr^'7 P'^-^ment. W "h of Aruona are friendly to the whit '" ""•' """''• "'<= '"dTans TheT'" '''•P"=^^^^'^'-.-nd,forInchrn"! "£f ? ?«- -SSr wiu :L;r ' ''-''''^- --<- aves and dwelhngs hewn out of the r.i^ ' °' ""■^'•-conduits ^any portions of th^T • '~- -clusively that it SircT 117"^' f" ™-' -'-» densely populated by a peo- ;."•:•: ^ Oct ; • (j-j »™.5 '—-"I O ri(^ OUR WESTF.KX EMPIRE. pie far in advance, in point of civilization, of most of the Indian tribes. There is no written record of them, and it is only a matter of conjecture who and what they were. Occasionally a deserted house is found sufficiently well preserved to ascertain the character of the architecture. The walls of the Casa Grande, situated on the Gila, near Sanford, are still two stories above the uround. In size, the structure is about thirty by sixty feet; the walls are thick, and made of mud, which was evidently confined and dried as it was built. It is divided into many small rooms, and the partitions are also made of mud. The floors were made by placini^ sticks close together and covering them with cement. Around and near the Casa Grande are the ruins of many other buildings ; but, by the lapse of time, the decay of vegetation has formed earth and nearly covered them, and all that now marks the place where once a stately mansion stood is the elevation of the ground. Near the Ancha Mountains are ruins not so ex- tensive, but in far better preservation than the Casa Grande; and near these ruins are old arastras, for the reduction of silver ores — which indicate that this old people were not unmindful of the root of all evil. On the Verde river are immense rooms duo- in from the sides of high, perpendicular sandstone banks, that can only be reached with ladders. •' Very little information is obtained by excavating these ruins. Pottery of an excellent quality, and ornamented with paint, is found everywhere, and occasionally a stone axe is unearthed, but nothing to indicate that they were a warlike people ; on the con- trary, scarcely an implement of defence can be found, thout^fh there are reasons to believe, from the numerous lookouts or places for observadon to be seen on the tops of hills and moun- tains, and the construction of their houses, that they had enemies, and that they were constantly on the alert to avoid surprise; and also, that by the hands of these enemies they perished. It is not improbable that the Apaches were the enemies who caused their destrucdon. Indeed, the Apaches have a legend that such is the case. During the past year I opened an old ruin at Puebia Viejo, on the Upper Gila, and found the bones of several human beings within ; also the bones of a number of domestic animals. Oi bo hac mil( that { The r seen c proof people soil. J Many J of the '; ivHOWS. "Ine depth o t^e sami But b they are remnant ancient f Territory tills once who are ^vJiich one adhere to are still f, trol of Cai prohibited .^''^%es an in their rite On the fi ^^^^o/^A. V.qo, and there found that M^r ,"''''«' ""''^■^ fr"" I'ueb I h- farn, I„ j, h, ^^^ ', e „f "« =>" ''•'•d opened a ruin ot seen on every h-^nA / "-ngatino- canak \l. . ^"^Ject. :::t.^--. ^u. ., w.on,rde::r^t;:4":::'r- «T •'^ "'<-an, no one ^n excavatfno- a ,„«it , *1'° ?V"'«''°" of"'-- father o^T""-''' ""'I *''° ■^"•'1 Z "" '" '^'''ted. but ail excent ,1, "^ "^'^ '°""s. thirtv *?« ind^"- "^"^^.^'o^ally tl,e inhabitan 1, ''''""""''^ '^re in ' '■''°™ "'^'r ntes and worship. There are otherJ'"'' "^ ''"^y^" " mother groups of these vil- ixi PCS ^Ig OUR WESTERI^ EMPIRE. lages on the San Juan river in New Mexico and Southwestern Colorado, which have been visited by Professor J. S. Newberry and his companions, in i860, whose language, religion, etc., are identical with these. Colonel J. W. Powell, United States army, visited the province of Tusayan in 1871, and spent about two months in studying the language, manners, customs, and religion of these interesting people. The narratives of Professor New- berry (which has not been published) and of Colonel Powell are both full of interest, and from them we glean a few particulars in addition to those already given in Part I., chapter vi., page 6;, which will, we think, be of interest to our readers. The villages of these Moquis are always situated on some lofty mesa or isolated table-land, difficult of access; their dwellings are of stone, usually three or four stories high, and around an inte- rior court, common to the village. The outer walls are blank and inaccessible, and the inner court is only approached by a covered way easily defended. Entering the village plaza or in- terior court-yard, the houses are joined together, forming a con- tinuous wall outside, and within the court they are built in terraces, the second story being set back upon the first, the third upon the second, and the fourth upon the third. There are no doors or low windows to the first story ; access to it is had only by ascending a ladder to the top of the story and then descend- ing another to the floor of the first. This lower story is for the most part a store-house where the corn or other grain used by the family is stored, each color of the corn by itself. The second story, or sometimes the third, contains the family room, which is twenty or twenty-four feet by twelve or fifteen in width, and about eight feet high. Usually all the rooms are plastered care- fully, and sometimes they are painted with rude devices. For doors and windows there are openings only, except that some- times small windows are glu-.ed with thin sheets of selenite, the transparent flat crystals of gypsum. To go up to the third or fourth story you climb by a stairway made in the projecting wail of the partition In a corner of each principal room a little fire- place is seen, large enough to hold about an armful of wood; a stone chimney is built in the corner, and often capped outside only pa, Kt: -■J F-« — -,. Prt .^--4 pj i, v<^-'l loa '•""> ,-J '^ »::>:» rj> CMKK inVKl.LERS. w la in wl nei to \ the yan chui reso with cove way i hatch Th are al to tak refresh hapsp carefuJl of hirci seeds caJ peo the dist with the preven hine to packed wJien a ^viien no O'ainiiKr fields nea '"nches to f^e sprinj 'tisg-athe * Some of tl ""■"gbirds and ^//^ i>H^^..r^cs o. r^^ ,,,^^^^ S19 W'th a pottery pipe. The cxtedor of ,K . "^ lar and unsightly, and ,!,« s' ee," ° . "' ''°"=^^ ''» ^«T irregu- ■n the centre of each court a llrte T""^. ^^<= "'"'V. f'orh wh,ch,s„sed for bathing; butvvtf ,1"'^. '^'""'"'■" ""^ pool nes, ,s observed. Separated fom^L" I ''°"^=^ ^^^" -^'-anli the Spaniards. It is a large under, ^ ^'*"=^' H<"'^<=." by yard or plaza, chiefly intended f^™?'' '■°°'" ■" "■« c;urt Curch, in fact, of the' ilU^^ tut 1 '"''^T' ^-en,onies, "l J resort A deep pit is excavated in h "'t, '' ' P'-« °f -c ^ »"!> long logs, over which arc placed , "^ '°"' """^ ™vered covered with earth, heaped in =, ."^ ""='^'' "'ese. in turn -y .-^ left, and the entr^f o^^l • 'k" ? '"'^ ^^^ ''^tchway. ^ '^"'^ '^ "^^ a ladder down diis -alL'rTit,;;:,;;^^^^ ,, to take a seat on a mat placed fir v„''^ ' ^'"" ="■*= '""■'ed refreshment is offered, perhaps a m7 "^°" ">" """r' -"'' some haps peaches or apricots A ft " "'"' * ''«'« bread n^r carefully Heared a'way and t^V^d T "'^"' ^^-^^^r.^ of b.rds,* the matron or her dauth °°'" '"^''"^ "^ feathe ', -ds which may have been droppfd Vr°^" ""^ """"^^ o al people; the desolate circumrmncJ ^''' " ^^^^ "o""-".- the distance to the forests anT-^ ""*"■ "''''<^'' 'hey live «"> their fear of the negCL 1"""'^ "^ ^^-e- 'og'le; prevents them from maldn . rcurl™''"' '""^ Apaches,lhich t»"e to teach them the most ri. id '" ^ *"^"^^' «" com packed from a distant forest on t^' K T'""^- ^heir wood 7s *n a fire is kindled but a few Lnl' "'""'''=' ^^ «ses, and "'.en no longer needed the brlld " '^^""'"'' ^'^ "sed and ■„ , ""^^ ^y- out in the drifting sLTu ^'^^"■<^<"-" is raised in cl.es ,0 two feet deep, i„ S ^ ' J ^^^ing pits eighteen .^espnng, while the ground it ' '''^' ^'"'^ '''^'"-d eLlyIn 'f 'sratherer? K.-^ i • >^^ "^^ist. When .V u ^ _i!l!^^^^ght ,n from the fields fnT , ^' "'P"'"^^ ;^i^;;;:;7^i;;^^;;;;;^ ^^^jnbaskets carried by :'°-°f'"-e^;^;;;;;;^7ir ___J^— ^SKets carried by t>^ ^ S20 fTA' H/iS7£/{A EMPIRE. the women, and stored away in their rooms, bcinjj carefully corded. They take great pains to raise corn of different colors, and have the corn of each color stored in a separate room. This is ground to a fine Hour in stone-mills, then made into a paste like a rather thick gruel. In every house there is a little oven made of a Hat stone eighteen or twenty inches square, raised four or five inches from the Hoor, and beneath diis a little fire is built. When the oven is hot and the dough mixed in a little vessel of pottery, the good woman plunges her hand in the mix- ture and rapidly smears the broad surface of the furnace rock with a thin coating of the paste. In a few moments the film of batter is baked ; when taken up it looks like a sheet of paper. This she folds and places on a tray. Having made seven sheets of this paper bread from the batter of one color and placed them on the tray, she takes batter of another color, and, in this way, makes seven sheets of each of the several colors of corn-batter. They have many curious ways of preparing their food, but perhaps the daintiest dish is " virgin hash." This is made by ehewing morsels of meat and bread, rolling them in the mouth into little lumps about the size of a horse-chestnut, and then tying them up in bits of corn-husk. When a number of these are made, they are thrown into a pot and boiled like dumplings. The most curious thing of all is, that only certain persons are allowed to prepare these dumplings; the tongue and palate kr jading must be done by a virgin. An old feud is sometimes avenged by pretending hospitality, and giving to the enemy dumplings made by a lewd woman. In this warm and dry climate the people live principally out of doors or on the tops of their houses, and it is a merry si^ht lo see a score or two of little naked children climbing up ami down the stairways and ladders, and running about the tops ol the houses engaged in some active sport. In every house vessels of stone and pottery are found in i^rcat abundance. These Indian women have great skill in ceramic art, decorating their vessels with picture-writings in various colors, but chiefly black. In the early history of this country, before the advent of the Spaniards, these neonle r-,; i 5»t ^1""™.:: but beticJn ti :;'tr;r"' ■''";' '■'•'"" " •"-'«= «>- '•'"■;' "'"> »'.oe,, a,ul now tl e 'elt, ■'" '?° "'">■ "^■'•'•' -'P- ::';'';• °'^-™"'. 'I^uyl. all tlK.ir priest h'n- "' ""■''■ ''"'I""*.' '^ !""' '"''•>"'ir Sannents, are still n'7 /'''''"""■''• ""■'> 'vecldin. is n>"s.ly done by ,l,e „,,, t I T ?"°"- '''''^ *<.avinr, P'^cly «.ater.proof. as we I,a e J^adv'T /"^'r''- '''"■>• -« W™ wear moccasins, lejr„in.^ .h'^ ™''' ''•''^'^ 67. «o."on, moccasins with lone. ro"fV ^"'^ "■'•"'^'--t^ ■• 'he »-;'"nes with a red border bdo'"' '?""'^°'-"-^ ''>«' blacic! f "■' "'•°^™ over the body so as ,0: ' ^ '™" '^'••'"'^" o - under the left ann. A bn„ Iftdle of "'" ""-" "^''' ■">-'- "und around the waist. Tht- o'f "^"^ "^"'s'" ^'o-'s is The won,en have beautiful, black 1,, '^r"'™' '^ "'^ "ack. ^ffrow very Ion. and which they .fke '' '"'' "'"■^'' ''^ ="'°-ed Early ,n the morning, imn,ediat2 Ift ' TV/""^ ''" ''''^^'inS-- ;« pleasant, the women all reintto f '''''^'^''' ''''"'<= "eather ;»S -.1. them little vases Tf™ '^'V"'' T' "" "°--' ^="^- «e another's hair. It is wal^'ed i,!" T^''' ^^^ ='nd braid plant, a species of yucca, and tiZ a lo^ ^"7 °' "'^ ^°-P '■•■ The n,arried ladies have !" , T''. '" '^'-J' '" the open "ot at the back of the head b /b""" - '""^ ^''-^^ '" " along the middle hne above and e .' ,'"?"''="=' ''^'^'^ '^ Parted '"»'«', and rolled into a coirsuorVr^'''^''"">' '^™'d-d or » as to cover each ear ^ivin! ,7^°"^^ ^y little wooden pins /'- politeness of the^ ^r^l^T sVo"' '"'T'''^ ^PP--- If you meet then, in the fields , hi " '" *"" «'"tations ;«"■-,, ..May ,,, ,,^,^«^^''» hey^reet you with a salutation on do one of them a favor evenT T '" >'°"'- ««'*.•■ If f ' yo" ; if a man, he s ^s ..t:: k wa"? '^ '^^^ ^'«'" "-• "« :^" ;"'-«tin,? feature in thet Ian '^" "'r^". "es-ka-li.- le 1 '"''"'^^'y ^y -en. others \f"^"' "'^^ "lany words Men by a girf, is one word -sole ^''""T"- "P^"><='-." as »d notlung is considered more vul ^ ' ''"y' ■'' ''= ^"other- '1 2" ;o use a woman'Tword t" 2""' ""'^ ^^P'^ "-n ' '"= ''-vn of day the govern'or of d e tl^ """'• tne town goes up to the ;» a:j •< OS ■-._ . pa ^"•-"! ;3 C''* r-t"^ •< Sj-:i e-HT 'IZ^^ ol i"""* u> .'.'orw iOCJ :^-> 1^ "*• (:;ht him up from the lower world and raised for him the sky tu its present altitude. .'■*■ **"* Hm .',',■£'-1 P^ CO jj^ OUK »7;.97AA'A'' EAfr/A'F., choain-a-vi. Prof. Ncwhorry found a smaller numl)or, perhaps not niiidi more than 1,000, on i\\v. mesas oi i\\v. San Juan rcj^ion; but tlu' ruins of tlieir towns aiul villa^^K's, some.' oi tliem of ;;iiat si/(? and stren^^tli and of remarkahU: arcliitv.'ctural lu-auty, crown tlu' summits of almost every iHcsa and hill-top throuj^hout W,-- vada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, ami Southern Caii- fornia. " Not only Salt Lake City, l)ut nearly every settlement in the Territory of Utah, and many in the State of Nevada," says Colonc;l Powell, "are built on the site of one of these ancient towns. They iiave been found also on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, near Golden City, and southward from liiat point." Who were these people, and from whence did they come? Colonel Powell, on somewhat insufficient evidence, thinks thur. related to the Shoshones, Utes, Pi-Utes, and Comanches, and re(]^ards the Navajos and Apaches, with some of the smaller tribes in California, as the intruders who have pursued them so mercilessly and nearly destroyed them from off the face of the earth. The arguments by which he supports this theory seem to us far from satisfactory. The erection of these massive build- ings, the progress in agriculture, the entire avoidance of a no- madic life, the proficiency in ceramic art, the ability to spin and weave wool and cotton so dextrously, the daily preparation of skilfully cooked food, the worship of the sun, the virgin priest- esses, and the complex system of religious belief, all indicate a superiority over the Utes, Shoshones, and Comanches which is entirely incompatible with any recent common origin with them, whatever may be the supposed affinities of language. It is no new thing for a conquered nation to force upon its conquerors its own lanfjuaofe. The Saxons did this with the Normans; the Malays have done it with the Chinese. Their affinities of race, habits, and manners, as well as religion, seem to be much nearer to the Toltecs and Peruvians than even to the Aztecs, from whom they differ in language, and in the sternness and cruelty of their religious practices, while their difference from the Sho- shones, Utes, and Comanches is infinitely greater. Colonel Powell says that some of the inhabitants of the thirty towns AK'I/.OXA AH A HOME /-OH /M/ah'AXlS. 525 which were destroyed have; luxomc noiiiailie, " lor tin: Co-a-ni-nis ami Wal-la-[);i s, wlio now live in tlie rocks and deep j^orL^es of thi; San I'rancisco Plateau, claim that they once dwelt in puehlos or towns n{rar wliere Ziitii now stands." This is possible, thouj^h iVoin what little is known of these tribes, the I'imas or Maricopas would seem to have had stronger claims to such an orij^in ; but, if true, it is one of those cases of degeneration or moral lapse, whirh can only be accounted for on the liiblical ground of Adam's fall. That these Moquisand their kinsmen, the ancient cliff-dwellers, wen: originally of Asiatic origin, and migrated from that portion of Asia inhabited by the Aryan race, is too evidt.nt to need demonstration ; and those who are so zealous to fmd on this continent the descendants of the lost ten tribes, may find among them a more hopeful quest than among the Anglo-Saxons of Kuro|)(.' or America. Returning to the general subject of the Territory of Arizona, we have but little to add. The population of the Territory in 1870 was only 9,658 whites and civilized Indians, and about 25,000 tribal Indians. The recent census (1880) makes the white population 40,441 and adding tribal Indians it is proixibly about 65,000. It is now divided into five counties — Yuma, Pima, Maricopa, Mohave and Yavapai. The last named has an area as large as the State of Iowa. The principal towns are Tucson, the former capital, which had in 1870 a population of 3,224. Its present population is estimated at somewhat more than 6,oco; the Southern Pacific Railway now extends to it. Arizona City, situated at the junction of the Gila and Colorado, population in 1870, 1,144, 'low estimated at about 1,600. Prescott, the present capital, which had, in 1870, 668 inhabitants, has now about 2,000. It is, like Tucson, central to a fine mining country. Phoenix, on the Rio Salinas, is a thriving and growing town, though very hot in summer. Ehrenburg, on the Colorado, is the chief shipping point for Central Arizona. Florence, Sanford, Mineral Park, Hardy ville and Wickenburg are also places of some importance. We can hardly recommend this Territory to the emigrant p»* pri rt:: eS .>-' .•...-*• Z-^! 9 cO ««: ':^\ E-« .._., Cti 1 -t M4 ::t^; lOCl r/^ "d .<«: ^:«^l C26 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. farmer, though those who take up favorably situated lands near the mining centres, and can have facilities for irrigation, uIH undoubtedly do well. The soil when irrigated is fertile enough to produce any crop. The stock-raiser and the sheep-farnur will find excellent grazing lands and a good market in Arizona, nor except in the extreme north or the southeast need they have any great apprehension of Indian raids. Wild beasts certainly exist there, but they are less numerous than in the otJK r new Territories, and the losses from them will not be large, while the profits of both cattle and sheep-raising are certain and speedy. But mining is the pursuit in which Arizona, like the adjacent State of Nevada, is likely to be pre-eminent. Transportation for mining products is now good and will soon be better; capital is flowing mto the Territory. The Indians have ceased to be trou- blesome in the mining districts, and wood and water, two indis- pens.ible requisites for successful mining, though not as abundant as desirable, are yet to be had a'"d vithout excessive cost; while the placers, veins and lodes, already opened or now opening, indi- catu deposits of the precious metals, richer than those of any other State or Territory in the West. The future of Arizona, after long years of waidng, trial and disappointment, se(Miis now to l^e assured. It has purchased this right to a fuliire f)rosj)(Mity with the blood of some of its best citizens, slain eitht r by the fierce, treacherous and bloodthirsty Apaches, or by the still more bloodthirsty and reckless outlaws, who, prior to its territorial organization, made it tlieir refiige and j)lanned and executed there the most gigantic crimes. But they have now been driven from the Territory, and its present citizens are quiet, peaceful and law-abiding. GENi-RAL JOHN C. FREMONT. No description of "Our Western Empire" would have any claims to completeness, which failed to do justice to the gn;at ser- vices rendered to almost every part of that vast region by Gen- eral Fremont. His fame as an explorer, resolute, intrepid, yet thoughtful of his men, successful, notwithstanding innumerable obstacles, always grappling with broad principles, yet ever mind- ful of the minutest details, has become world-wide, and the title -ony ,0 .he universal reco, ^In'^"'' '^f'"" h"". '-ars t,.,- of discovery an i ;'t'"?.^"-' '-acber,. of l't<;'ly to succeed. He has won the f fi , '" ""■" t'-'eat effi.rt he is f led then, forward to In ag nV i::" r"?''"'°-^'"'"'--'>e •''= savage and treacherous A," ""T ''"''" "''- ^"^ «»ven '.one whom they had hno n for " 7" "'" -f-'^ '" 'i^en ."'e brave, and as a comn.ande 2;f ^ T" "" "'" l^-^est ;;>«r otfence.,, but had shown TuZ '"'"'^y P""'^hed -■.""quered, which far I^^^S^T'"'^" '"'^ '^eatn.ent of ;-'on south of the forty-ninth ?\ '^''"'■"'- '» '^H the ' ""'ont ,s honored and rev"renc e": *; ' "'' "'""^ "' -1°''" C ?-::^;::"l£:'fF^^--.?'Hi:^^^^ ;:rar;::::rrt:tK--r^-:"-^™ ■^•«) from .8,,3to,S35 'He .e" •'" "" ^'""ed States ^""ed States Army in n ''econ,pan,ed Captain Williams 18-7 Q , . ""/» in a survey of tl-i« r-i \ 'J''ams, ^^/Aandm '838-9 assisted nULiI r°'"^" ™"""->- in °"" '" ^"P'onng the country !•(_ pc;; >—■ *• ^ wtj -' f~* ■ PC% 528 OUR VVESTERiX EMPIRE. between the Missouri river and the British line. While thus engaired he was appointed second lieutenant of topographical engineers, July 7th, 1838. On the 19th of October, 1841, he married Jessie, daughter of Hon. Thomas M. Benton, of Missouri. \\\ i\Iay, 1842, he began, unde>" the authority of tlu; government, the exploration of an overland route to the Pacific; examined the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, ascended in August the highei-t peak of the Wind River Mountains, now called Fremont's Beak, and returning late, in the autumn of 1842, published a report highly commended by Humboldt in iiis "Aspects of Nature." In the summer of 1843, '" another expedition, he explored the Great Salt Lake, and reached Fort Var.couver, near the mouth of Columbia river, in November of that year. Attempting to return by a more southern route, his progress was impeded by deep snows, and his party suffcreil severely from hunger and cold. Changing his course he returned through the Great Basin and the South Pass, having exhibiteij a fortitude and daring rarely surpassed, and was breveted cap- tain, July 31st, 1844. In a third expedition in 1845 ^"^^ cxplorcil the Sierra Nevada, California, etc. In March, 1846, he success fully repelled an attack by Mexicans near Monterey ; was major couimanding battalion of California volunteers, July to November, 1846; was a[)pointed lieutenant-colonel of mounted riHes, 2;th May, 1846 ; was appointed soon after Governor of California by Commodor'i Stockton, whose authority was disputed by General Stephen Kearney. Arrested by the latter, he; was tried by a court-martial, and found guilty of mutiny and disobedience. The finding was disapproved by the President, who offered him a full pardon. This he declined, and resigned his comiiiission. In 1848 he undertook a new expedition across the continent. His guide lost his way, and, after experiencing incredible hardshij)s, he returned with the loss of one-third of his party to Santa Fe. Renewing his efforts he successfully encountered the hostile Apaches, and in 1 00 days reached the Sacramento river. In 1849 he settled in California, having purchased the auriferous Mariposa tract, which was believec*. to be worth many millions of dollars. In his efforts to develop this somewhat too rapidly, l-e fell ,neo the hands „r,s„,ne Sinn, N v , '29 hearted and simnle as •, „i i r^"'^'^' niatters he was as ^ ^'■'•o'e or th,-.s r.ii:::^::--^^^^r^.TC7z years httgation in regard to ,> I !' ■ '''''' P'-«iously had siv »f "- United States%on „]';"„,;, «55 *« Suprenl Co '""e he was actively encrn„„i • f ""=• ^ut durinj; all d,;. ■«4P 1- was a ^r:i^S:^ ^ ^ ^^ "' '"' '"""-■ n t^.Un.ed States and Mexico "^"e s'd r "'"^ ""'= '^*-'- mal.e Ca hfornia a free Smte when d ^■""^ ''"""'^^e to Somhand the North, in regard to 1^" if "'"^^^^ ''«»'-«" t'.e was at ,ts height. I„ ,850-,, ,,i ""?^^ °f ""<-' «kve States enator from California. I^fs ' L""' '' ''''" ^"'■^'^<^ ^^^^ "r^:::ai?yrtf ■■- '°^- - <- ;™ r't^r'r '^'"-^ e^,Society /f C;!:--' -'? -d. 0. .e fCc^^:- Republican pa y tt"?; ''"7" ''•"""''<= 3^° nor, ' , ," ^"S ^ 4 for h,s successful competitor Mr Bucl '"' ™'« ^S-nst 'Sfo he v,s,ted Europe, wi ere he vv ' .^"".''""f "' J" ">« fall of On he ,4th of May, ,S6, he ,vas T f "'"' ^'^^'••" ''""or, "": L-nited States arm,- a, , ,™'fPP°inted a major-o-eneral f Di-'ict, with head-cu ; " ' stl' '" '°T'"' °f "- WeTt n "J- oojancipatin;" the .:h . o, t ho" 'r^"^'-''- ■•-"..; Sainst tl,e United States T,,?: T "'''^ ■'^''°"''' t^tc an,, *"' Lincoh, as pre,natt"e H " "™^ ^""""«1 1)' Pre i" ; "- /"--.ents! who"', : ha" CT'""" ^ ^•'■^'°™" ^ P"-^^' Mo., when, l3y the intri.,,,,, 'f n ^ "^'-'"•••l^™ at S,,ri„ ,fi,,d 530 OUR WFSTF^/f p.ittPrmE. teiiii)r# of tiie thir^'y-fifth parallel. He visited Iiurope repeatedly tn \yehM c/ this railway, and urged a land-grant for it with Qyj^ry jKfos^^K&e* of success; but the panic of 1873 crushed the enterprise for ^^^ ^n^,, a-nd disheartened some of tlie pro- moters of it in Vraf)//^. (jmnftrM Fremont'^ health was scriousl\ impaired for som^ ye,Ar%; Imt, on h\^ pardal recovery, he was appointed Governor o^ A/i/xma., where he is again exertini^ all his energies for th^e devd/^pment of ihe Gr^i^tt West, and lnym^ broad and deep plans tor ii'rning these aria deserts into a fruit- ful field. N. It/ ' CHAPTER II. AMANSAS. 'Its Situation, Af^fJ., RxTKM'f — ^o-pooraphy — Mountains, Rivfrs, T \kfv VaI.LEVS — NaVICA-W# t^4'/KRS AN// ^/ILWAYS SvM. ClJMATE— RaINKAI I Minerals and jMinekaI/ />«)/ Har Jjprings — Vegf.iation — An'mals— I'kh- DUCTiONS, Mineral, Vj-x;r,/AW.« and Animal— Crops — Commkrce— Poi., .LATioN" — Origin of Pfjro-ATrok -Education— Religious Denominations- Manufactures — KxEMPi IONS — Donateu Lands Views ok Hon. CiiARitj S. Keyser, Hon. David Walker, W. A. Weiuiek, Esq., and Hon. AH. Garland, U. S. Senator, on the History and PRouAiiLE Future of Arxan-ias. Arkans\s and Louisiana foim the southeastern States ol *' Our VVesteju Empire." Arkansas is washed by the waters ot Mawi ■''^^'"'■•>i,r// !«."■»». \ri„ih„K, r\ SHinJftim w . 1 Mtarj ^¥1 S.StlJt'^sS'^'^ S^fER It /hut If % "",%^^- i. 05 <<" ^'1^ M.Al' OK S .^iC-A^^ "?«"*• KM,,,,, SJ^*^'^ J* ^ ■ r "•"'^^r iV'Ir^T «\Wr^ "?«"*• KM, ,, '■,Ju'^.i^„ ■^f"'"'^^' ^<'P y, ■ "ll' ill I '••lulituj I > , ft L I III! 17 the ing it ha chin slssi'i souti Terri latitiK long-it 33-40( and al from 3 contair caption iniindal sufficiei cover t] the foot The J; Mississij State, as Hills in is the O eastward with narr summits, tliese tab! rounded I of this rai Boston M' of the Ari river, TJi l^-ail\vay, w southwest, and miner east and s( :"f " from Tennessfo, ~\°' t '^^''-" ''""'Hlary. sc.parat ■' '-^ 'he St. Francis riveTfor i '"'^'^ "^ °'"' ">" «v. Xe cla.ms the little peninsula bete r^'r '°""''' -"' "'-0:; s..ss,pp, nvers. On the north "rish ^\ ^'^""^'^ "'"'l "'e Mi " 33406,7.0 acres, one-sixth la ^er h!„ M^''^^' '''"'"•« ■""-- or and about the same si^e as F,^Ia„ f " '^'""^ "^ New York f™-. 30 to ,00 mnes vv^t;;^^: ^^^'"" P-"™ of ,he State contammg many lakes, bayo.^ and ,"""*''PP'' ''^ S<="e,ally low ,cept,on of some of the more I'atjT.T' ■■""' ''^' "'•"' "- el' ' ™nou,W, cover the whole of these lowh f" '°'-'- ^<^'''"m or ne^d "■e root-hins of the oirk 1::^ '" ^^'■'^" "•- s-^i-iiy to,::;; ine land rises bv o-ra i i '^ Mississippi, to the l^;^:^ 'IZ *'-s low valley of the HSreteTt VT f''-' ""---h^nZlnr^c; "/"« '^ -"^ ^'-^-Hiclf ^e^^r t1r'-r -^-"n St'e «ward and northward s 'real '°"*"'='^'- ""^"ds nor* ""'"arrow and deep ravnesTndo^ ™" '"'° ''^°^'' '^"e-la dj s^-its, though of no grea?'he"fht rr^"^*''"*^ '"'o higher ">«e table-lands is from Moo f ''" ^''"''^' elevation of ;»led knobs may rise f^m ..^"jr ^\-'i -- of the f this range have distinct local?. "^"^ '"?'"='•• The hills ^o.on Mountains (both flm^ 1 r^ ^1 T ''' '"'"^^'^ ^ tlie Arkansas river and IM • ^ ^ '*"= «vi war) nnrfi, ">•"■ The line of the St l" T ^^"""'^'"'^ south of °i R»i way. which cross .t StlT; ';"" ''''"'"'''" ^^ Souther„ »"*-st, nearly marks t e h e of dT""" r™" -«heas o "«l mineral lands from the 11 °" "^ "'e higher fore f -and southeast of Thfltaf "' Z™? ^ ' '°"'^"''= '" '" ^'"•ge deposits of valuable ■'•J^~3» A y 'a o 532 (^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. minerals are found in the northern division. The mountains, talilc- lands and valleys of this division present generally a rich surliuc, good drainage, romantic and ()ictures(iue scenery, and a proiIuc tivcness remarkable for the formations and latitude. The south- ern, southeastern and eastern divisions have rich tertiary, post- tertiary and alluvial deposits which are not excelled in fertility by any land on the globe. Exempt alike from the intense 1k;u of the extreme south, and the severe cold of the north, the genial climate and fertile soil of the State yield in abundance the rich j)roductions of both regions. The rich bottom-lands will pro- duce, under favorable conditions, from fifty to sixty busluls of Indian corn, and about 450 pounds of cotton per acre, which is considered a fair average crop. With better and more careful culture, they are capable of greatly exceeding this average, and in some instances do exceed it. Rivci's. — Arkansas is abundantly supplied with navigable rivers, so distributed as to give access interiorly to all parts of the State, The great boundary on the east is formed by the mighty Mississippi, The St, Francis on the northeast, wlmh rises in southeastern Missouri and flows through the low, un- dulating portions of the northeast, where it intermingles with lakes, creeks and paludal surfaces, is a tributary of the Mississippi. It is navigable to and beyond the Missouri line. The White river rises m northwestern Arkansas, flows through the lower southwestern counties of Missouri, and returns to the State, joining its affluent, the Black river, which affords, from the confluence, almost at all seasons, navigation for a dis- tance of 350 miles. White river, with its tributaries, gives drain- age for a broad expanse of country from the northwestern, mid- dle and northeastern parts of the northern section oi the State. The Arkansas river, one of the largest tributaries of the Mis- sissippi, rises in the mountains of Colorado, and flows easterly for a distance of 2,000 miles to join the Mississippi. White river is an affluent, flowing into it near its mouth. The Arkansas river bisects and drains this vast country ; it is navigable entirely across the State, and, during high water, beyond it, far up ir^o the Indian Territory, The Ouachita, with its tributaries, drains almost the entire 9fnf« i • ">>-• State, a distance lihick river rises m c 1 -;uie.ciisc,,a^i„^::3t;; -:;;:';,, f^r-' ^-^ -sses «,. "'•>Ls in ^5aline coijiu\' -,.,1 r SIX counties, dischargees into M n^' , ' ^^'^' P^'^'^^S thnnnrU -aviVable for .oo^n.ilel "" ''"^^'^'^^ ^"^ ^"ion coun;; ^ Ba>ou Bartholomew nnntJ, f^i nve, an anh,c;u o^ t W,°'' "■'■' ^^"-"' --• -'' ■!>. Little fron; fifty .0 sovonty-five nl. ^^ 'lirn';' T '"" "^''^'^'^'^ '- The Pettt Jean, a tributary of the A ?' °' ""-" y"^'- about seventy-five „,i|es. ^ """ ^^'''^^"^a^. '- navigable for ^<^arly every county in the Sm """ >'<-'^'-- of fee navigable st an, ,W, ' ^^ r?"'^'' ^^ °"e or more »av.gable l,igl„vay within 1,: 5 i";^' "'"'" '^'••^-'>-. f°nn a ""d secure an abundant sunl t^ . "'""^ """ -°°° ■"iles ,.,Most of these streams have i ' '° '^^"^ ™""'y- or motrntains, and A,r'^ ab mdC'"''! '" ''""^^ '" "- »»er for manufacturing purposes o '^ P'^^anent water fo'mtam-head of Sprincr^e ° H , °"" "^ "'^'^^ ^Prings the ;™^". Fulton, Sl.arp%: rVanlXh :"^" ■^'"^" '^'■■^'' "- Black over, Professor D n ^"''°'P'\ ™"nt,es, emptyin.r ,„.„ '»-"ce of Arkansas, thl'^p e^^"' '" "" ^^*S'-' ^ecr. ™^'>Sr the ledges of rock. One of dr'"'""^ ^"''' '■°«'> f^n Mammoth Spring,, in Hdton co„n T "^"^^^ '^''°- "tmt^, uelhng up on the 05 «r.* nc; 0^:'- (~( ■:■ «C : -i E-* -- o:? .-;;; f^ -•' s3 )t:»yi 534 OUR n'F. STERN luVriR/C. south side ot a low, rocky rld^c, from a submerged ab\ss bciicadi of sixty-four feet, and constituting, at its v«;ry source, a respectable lake of about one-sixteenth of a mile from north lo south, and one-fifth to one-sixth of that distance from cast to west. "It is said by those who have sounded the bottom, that tlicrc; arc large cavities and cre\ices in the rock, and tliat the ukuH body of the water issues from a large cavernous opening, of some forty yards in circumference. It has been estimated that it boils up at the rate of about 8,000 barrels per minute; the correctness of this estimate we had no means of v('rir)ing, but it may be safely estimated that the average constant How would be- at least sufficient to propel from twelve to fifteen run of stones. "The uniform temperature (60° Fahrenheit) and composition of the water is j)eculiarly congenial to the growtii of a variety of cr\ptogamic, at^uatic plants, possessing highly nutritive qualities, both for herbivorous animals and birds. "In the early settlement of the country, herds of herbivorous \vild animals travelled from great distances to this fountain lui- both food and water, as well as flocks of wild fowl. Now tlv cattle of the neighboring farms may be seen wading in its waters up to their middle, and browsing on the herbage, which appears peculiarly congenial to their tastes; it is, also, a general nsmt of geese, ducks and other aquatic birds. It affords valuable water-power for general manufacturing purposes." In addition to her water-courses, Arkansas is rcasonal)ly wc'I supplied with railways, which are being extended so as in embrace every section of the State. The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern road nms diagonally across the State, a distance of 300 miles, makin^^ con- nections with roads east and west. This is a land-ijiant roa ', holding nearly a million and a quarter acres of choice lands iii this State which it offers to immigrants at very low r::t-js, and b. its enterprise has attracted many immigrants to the State. A a general rule an immigrant, in this State particularly, will li'i better to buy of the State or United States government, tl' lands he needs ; but if, for any cause, he prefers to buy of a rail- rraci company, he will fi,,,! n,,. c, , . 53S »•[-■• 'ami-grant railways also ^ "^ ''"""■•"">'. a" will the .f'ptt:tX':;i-;t:7'';7...in,a.,i.tan.or , ' !"-■ fiule Rock, I'ine m ,fi ' ]\ " '''" ''"^''^» '^'"--I'^r. P-.ian.,„nn,,,^.;,.:-Jf^a„d ^ ,„,, ..^ ,.„„, AAansas City, „„ „,, M,s,i„° J'f ">' ""''■■^ ^0,,, Pin,, j.,,,,,,- l^-n „,ade of the j^ap bet vec:^ thi '"■• '^ ■^'"•^-'y '>as recentW ".11 soon he l,„ilt. ' '•'-" ""=' <^"y and J-ine Bh,,i; ^hich II"-' Mississippi, Ouachita and R.,l p- aAstanceofahoutthirty n,ilc, It f ";■■ ™'-"' ''=' completed lli^' Arkansas C^niJ Z '^'"" '^'"'':of- f about si..ty nu-los, an ™ I™;!"'^"' 'f -">P''--">I a distance Jon on White river, and 11 ^^^ ortirir"'^ '"^''^^■'-■" ^•'-^«>- A narro,v.gauj;e road is " n^ ^^-"'"'''''PP'- i>""n on the St. Louis Iron M ''"']""" '''■■tween Malvern a »'";"uous line of raihvay to'^t he trff ""'' " ""'"'''^ '^^^''^ a ;'- io«lan.ls near the A^i^ , s^ppi't'lT-tr' '''■'^^"^•''^' ^-^H in ".pcrato than perhaps any o tt „ ! ",r '"''"■'^ '° ''■^ ^"'^J *ca„,.s are not close' 1 by^ce i, ,7 " ^""'■■'' S«'^'»- The m-kxl by dronsh. in summer TI ! '""'«''■ ""^ ''^ the earth 'f- of the cli„,ate of the s";e .^''V"? ''°'"'» "'»''' character f "-'-ately elevated .a le-lCs'-'"''; '^f'' ""^ ^P''^'. f'- «e™,.h,s, Tennessee, for tl^ I .' ?''' ""P^'^'-'d. opposite •^.•■n annual temperature fo a se, " '' '" '''"''^ ««* the :- « [>■«'-: poin, .enl^^e :h: >-^X'-^ ^^'-^^ '■^".-- «^r, and for not more than r.n„ August or Septem ;f-rally reached in DeCnbcro'"' "™ '''">"' "fi".' "'e io. " "«ann„al range g.o ^ "'"''■'• °' "i°re -rarely in Janutr^ ,' »»"'>-•'> and nortlnveste"n 17"; r""'--- region in the '"l^rature is about Co" I'^lrenh , '.-^""^ ""^ '"^'an annull "'^" at Litde Rock. "™''^"' '"'^ "'^ '"amfali a triile eTs a:; -,%. ^, ^.^> ,o. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) !I.O I.I il lA£fl28 |2.5 jjo ■■■ ■■.J ■^ 1^ |2.2 ■It lit I L£ 12.0 ^ L25 iu 0% <^ '/• ?^ Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBS7EI«,N.Y. USSO (716)872-4503 ws^ 5^6 <^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. At Hopefield the heat of the hot months is longer continued, though but little higher. The average maximum temperature, which is reached per haps on twelve or fifteen days of the summer, is 98° I'ahrcniirii. In exceptionally hot summers it may rise to 101°. 5, but not for more than one or two days. The mean of the summer months is 8i°.4. The average minimum is 9°, rising some years to 17^, and at others sinking to 2°. The mean temperature of the year is 6o°.6. The average rainfall 63.42 inches. Hon. John R. Eakin, Chancellor of the Pulaski Chancery Court, an eminent agriculturist and author of a treatise on vini- culture, speaking in that work of a peculiarity in the climate of Central Arkansas, says : "In the Eastern and Northwestern States, they all try to avoid a northern exposure. Our country is somewhat differently situated, especially that portion lying west of the Ouachita and between the mountain ranges south of the Arkansas. It may be well to dwell on this a little. This section of country, and also that north of the Arkansas river for a considerable distance, is the only part of the United States protected against violent winds. The mountains which shield it range east and west. The Blue Ridge, Allegheny, and Cumberland Mountains run in a north and south direction, and, except in sheltered nooks pro- tected by spurs, the winds rush down on each side of them from Labrador and Hudson's Bay. The same is the case with the northern portion of Missouri, with Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, and on down the Mississippi and the Southern States east of the river. These north winds are very sudden and destructive, bringing, in twenty-four hours, the climate of the frigid zone — throwing against vegetation the identical air that was but yes- terday on an iceberg. This influence is greatly modified with us. These hills, to our north, perform the same office which the Alps do to Italy. This, as to climate, is the Italy of the United States." Sudden changes in the climate are less frequent than in the Eastern and Western States. All evidence demonstrates that there is not, on this continent, any locality superior to this region ^IR KANSAS AS A HEALTH RESORT. 537 [tive, lie — ycs- Iwith II the. IVited the that for the equable character of its climate and its freedom from sud- den changes and violent winds. In this connection it should be said that Arkansas, and espe- cially this central region, has a deservedly high reputation for the relief of pulmonary diseases. It strongly resembles that of Mentone and Pau in the south of France. The tables of vital statistics of the census of 1870 showed that no part of the United States was so favorable for consumptives as this, and partly no doubt for the reason which Chancellor Eakin has str.tcd. The air, though mild and not subject to sudden charges, is not sufficiently hot to be relaxing, and respiration is not so difficult as in the thinner air of the elevated plateaux of Colorado and New Mexico. The difference may be stated in another way: the invalid who goes to Colorado may recover his health pardy or wholly, but he must stay there. If he attempts to return East after one or two years the disease returns and r.peedily proves fatal. In Arkansas, on the contrary, the process of cure is radical, and the invalid, after one or two years, may leturn to the East without fear of the recurrence of the disease. Minerals and Mineral and Hot Springs. — Arkansas has a ijreat variety of mineral deposits, most of them of excellent quality and apparently of unlimited abundance. First in econ- omic importance are its immense beds of coal. The Arkansas coal-fields have an estimated area of 1 2,000 square miles, wholly, so far as known at present, in the valley of the Arkansas river, though the carboniferous basin may prove to extend southward beyond that valley. The Arkansas river runs for more than 150 miles through this coal formation. The counties of Wash- ington, Crawford, Sebastian, Franklin, Scott, J^ogan, Johnson, Yell, Pope, Perry, Conway, White, and Pulaski, are almost en- tirely situated in this coal basin. The veins vary from one to nine feet in thickness, though most of those which have been worked are from four to nine feet thick. It is found at from six to fifty feet below the surface. The coal is similar in structure and appearance to the Cumberland coal of Maryland, and an- alysis, as well as use, demonstrates its pracdcal identity in quality with tiiat well-known coal. It proves to be an excellent steam* I — -« ;::3 C38 O^'^ H'ESTERiW EMPIRE. producing and manufacturing coal, and commands a high price for bodi purposes. Mines have been opened and are now in successful operation near Russellville and Ouita in Pope county, at Spadia, and at Horsehead, in Johnson county, and at several points in Sebastian and other counties. The coal has been used freely in Litde Rock, St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans, and wherever tested it sells readily at a higher price than any other coal in the market. Inexhaustible deposits of haematite and other iron ores are found in close proximity to these coal-beds, and limestone of the best kinds for fluxing purposes and heavy forests of hard wood for charcoal are close by. Large and never-failing water-powers are contiguous to these coal and iron deposits. In the present demand for iron and steel, Arkansas offers extraordinary facilities for its successful manufacture. Several zinc mines have been opened in the northern part of the State, principally in Lawrence and Sharp counties — which are as rich in every respect as any in the Union. Lead and silver are abundant, and several mines are now being profitably worked. Notable among these are the Kellogg mine, eleven miles north of Little Rock, two mines in Sevier, one in Mont- gomery, another in Boone, an^d perhaps others. These mines are sufficiently rich in silver (argentiferous galena ores, yielding about fifty ounces of silver to the ton) to leave the lead as a clear profit, after paying all expenses of mining, smelting, etc. There are extensive caves of nitre and nitrous earth in New- ton and other northern counties of the State, from which large quantities of powder were nianufactured and used by die Con- federates during the recent war. Theri- are also numerous salt springs — some of which are being p: >ntably worked, notably one near Arkadelphia, which supplied salt for the entire army of Arkansas during its occupa- tion by the Confederates in 1862-3. Valuable mines of copper have been discovered in Montgomery and other counties, though no efforts have been made to work them. The manganese deposits are of considerable extent and ricli- ness. MINERALS OF ARKANSAS. 539 The novacullte or whetstone quarries near Hot Springs furnish a rock which has gained almost a world-wide fame, and its supply is inexhaustible. Marble of superior quality and in exhaustless quantities has been discovered in Boone and Newton counties, a block of which has been placed in the Washington Monument. Gypsum, kaolin, slate, limestone, granite, marl, chrome and other minerals for use as mineral paints, are among the economic minerals found in large quantities in the State, but few of them are as yet mined or quarried to any great extent. Dr. Lawrence, of Hot Springs, contributed to the Centennial Exposition a collection c. minerals, mostly from Magnet Cave, Hot Springs county, among which were manganite, or black oxide of manganese ; melanite, or crystallized black garnets ; green, yellow and black mica ; crystallized schorlamites ; quartz crystallized ; crystals of Perofskite, hornblende, elaeolite, epidote, strontianite, Shepardite, Lydian stone or touchstone, agate, hydro- titanite, titanic iron, sulphur from iron pyrites, talc, rutite, isolated and in quartz ; rose, smoky and milky quartz, chert, burrstone; the hornblendes, novaculite, quartzite, syenite and granite. The Hot Springs of Arkansas are situated in Hot Springs county, about sixty miles southwest from Little Rock. A narrow gauge railroad, twenty-five miles in length, now conveys passen- gers directly to the springs from Malvern Junction, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway. The springs, now sixt)'-six in number, are in a wild, mountainous region, issuing from the western slope of a spur of the Ozark range, at an eleva- tion of about 1,400 feet above the sea-level, and range in tem- perature from 93° to 1 50° Fahr. They discharge over 500,000 gallons of water daily, sufficient in quantity to accommodate, with delightful bathing, 10,000 bathers every day in the year. These natural earth-heated waters hold in solution valuable mineral constituents. Clear, tasteless, inodorous, they pour forth from the novaculite ridge as pure and sparkling as tb^ pellucid Neva. The various springs are qualitatively allied, not aolding in solu- tion or freighted with too many mineral constituents, and they are free from all noxious gases. It is believed tliPt the proper- >•- sg PA l:..-«. 3 £>?> C-"^ «: :.-:j E-;* "^V» pel — * CJ itii loa :z> ^ 1=*: f.^ c^ 540 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. tics of the waters, er^pecially in the treatment of chronic diseases, and particularly chronic rheumatism, scrofula, etc., are unequalled. There are no springs known of superior value, or that can com- pare with the Hot Springs of Arkansas, as adjuncts in the treat- ment of that class of chronic diseases. The advantages of the climate throughout the entire year, the pure, rarefied mountain air, the delightful waters, all make these springs one of the most delightful resorts for invalids in the United States, Within from seven to twelve miles of Hot Springs are other springs,- sulphurous and chalybeate, but not hot, to which many of the physicians order their patients after two or three courses of the Hot Springs treatment, and the change greatly facilitates < their recovery. The Hot Springs waters are not only used for bathing and for hot vapor baths, but the water is drank in large quantities, as hot as it can be borne, and with great benefit. There are about 6,000 inhabitants in Hot Springs City, and it is said that 10,000 or more invalids annually avail themselves of its baths and healing medicinal waters. Numerous analyses of the waters, which vary but slightly in their contents, though materially in their temperature, show that among the solid constituents of a gallon of the water are found the following: Silicates with base^ Bicarbonate of Lime, Bicarbonate of Magnesia, Carbonate of Soda, Carbonate of Potassa, Carbonate of Lithia, Sulphate of Magnesia, Chloride of Magnesia, Alumina with Oxide o^ Iron, Oxide of Manganese, Sulphate of Lime,? *Arseniate of Lime,? *Arseniate of Iron,? *Bromine, Iodine, a trace. Organic matter, a trace. The city of Hot Springs is in a deep ravine, and the springs issue from the slopes of the mountains on either side — those on one side being of much higher temperature than those on the other. The city consists of one very long and not very * These suits and elements were in very minute quantity in any of the waters, and were ntrf found at all in some of those examined. FORESTS AND VEGETATIO:: OF AKKAXSAS. 541 wide street, with short streets running up the hills on either side. It has almost as many hotels, boarding-houses, hospitals and private dwellings, and quite as many physicians of all sorts, as there are patients. The hills in the vicinity are occupied very largely by small farmers of the class known in the .South as " poor whites," who cultivate a little corn, a few potatoes, and keep a few swine, and a considerable number o^ fowls, and who in th(,"ir indolent and rude way, succeed in eking out a bare subsistence. The whole region containing the springs has long been in litigation, and within one or two years has been decided to be the property of the United States. Provision has been made, in a rough way, to extend the benefits of the springs to the very poor without compensation, and many of these are now availing themselves of this privilege. Vegetation. — The area of woodland in Arkansas in 1877, was 16,815,037 acres, just about one-half of its entire surface. The rapid progress of railroads in the State and adjacent States and the demands for shipment, lumber and manufactures may have slighdy decreased this amount within the past three years, but Arkansas still possesses a larger proportion of timber lands than any other State or Territory of " Our Western Empire." And a very large proportion of her timber is of the very best quality, much of it the best of the hard woods, and pines of gigantic growth. At the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, fifty species of forest trees v/ere exhibited (and these did not nearly exhaust the entire number found in her forests) ; these included thirteen species c^f oak, varying in diameter from twenty-one to fifty Inches ; two species of pine, thirty-six inches through ; black walnuts, forty-two inches in diameter ; hickory of three species, thirty-five to thirty-nine inches through ; a cottonwood, eighty- four inches, and sycamores, sixty inches ; red elm, sixty-three inches ; maple, two species, the sugar and the curled, twenty-six inches; three species of gum trees, the tupelo, black and sweet gum, from twenty-nine to thirty-nine inches in diameter; cypress, forty-eight inches ; yellow poplar, forty-five inches ; American elm, forty-six inches ; white ash, forty-two inches ; Bois d'Arc (Osage orange), twenty-two inches ; blue ash, twenty-three inches; p»« (3CS »«c; CA e9 :3f •< -^.j E-f y:^ (art 1 c*a ■ ( .'t;''-! '=9 !,,::.> i-J .«*: t:-^ 542 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. red cedar or juniper, sixteen inches ; beech, thirty inches; persim- mon, twenty-four inches ; sassafras, twenty-eight inches ; honey locust, twenty inches, and wild cherry, nineteen inches. Tlie supply of pine, cypress and oak is almost inexhaustible. The pines south of the Arkansas river grow to the height of 150 feet and more, and are from six to seven feet through. At the same exposition thirty-five species of pasture grasses, many of them new and native to Arkansas, were exhibited, all of them yielding largely and much sought after by cattle. The Alfalfa and four kinds of millet were also exhibited, yielding from four to eight tons of dried forage to the acre. All the fruits are sure of luxuriant growth, including as well the different kinds grown in the Northern States as those which nearly approach the tropics. Apples, peaches,* pears, plums, quinces, cherries, apricots, figs.f grapes, strawberries, and other small fruits, grow luxuriantly in all parts of the State, and arc noted for their size and flavor. In this climate fruit trees and the vine produce abundantly, and ripen their fruit in the greatest perfection ; and, though it may seem incredible to northern fruit-growers, yet we are credibly assured that the fruit crop of Arkansas has not been a failure but once in thirty years. Chancellor Eakin, in his little work on the culture of the grape, says : "This is the best region for wild grapes in America. What we mean to assert is, that the region between the Mississippi and the Staked Plains, and between the Missouri river and the swamp landt, of the Gulf, produce more and larger and better wild grapes than any other portion of the known world. This is deliberately said, after much reading, inquiry, travel and exten- sive observation." The growing of grapes for wine is largely practised in the State, as well as the culture of the other small fruits for northern * The apples of Washington and Benton counties, and of the southwestern counties goneraliy, are noted for their fine flavor and are in demand in St. Louis and Memphis. The peach seems specially at home in this State. The fruit is large and of excellent flavor, and grows with very little care. Peaches here ripen full four weeks earlier than in the vicinity of St. Louis. f 1* igs grow as finely here as in Louisiana, and nothing better can be said of that delicious fruit. ZOOLOGY OF lA'h.lXSAS. 543 \Vhat islppi Id the )etter This [xten- In the [thern Ineraliy. Ih seems lith very delicious markets. All kinds of fruit and vcl" 'tables mature and arc ready for market from three to four weeks earlier than in the latitude of St. Louis; and hence the culture of small fruits, and of mar- ket garden vegetables, is as profitable a business as a settler can prosecute, the transportation by river or railroad being speedy and cheap. Wild Animals. — Of beasts ot prey, there are some black and brown bears, though a much smaller number than its exten- sive forests would justify, rarely cougars and other wild felines. The jaguar may sometimes stray up from his Texan haunts, but we cannot learn of any hunters' who have discovered him on the soil of Arkansas, There are also occasionally wolves, foxes, raccoons, opossums, and perhaps the Texan coyotes. Peccarios and wild hogs are sometimes found. The buffalo prefers the plains, and the wooded mountainovis regions of Western Arkan- sas have no charms for him, but there are deer of two species ; rarely the elk, but not except by accident the antelope or the bighorn. Rabbits or hares, squirrels of several species and the gopher, are the principal rodents. Birds of prey are moderately abundant, but mostly of the eaele and vulture and hawk tribes. Of game birds there are wild turkeys, ducks, partridges, pinnated grouse or prairie hens, quail, etc. Of the birds of the State, there were exhibited at the Centennial the bald eagle and the royal eagle, as well as the following : Wild duck, crow, house-wren, blue bird, bobolink, sapsucker, redheaded woodpecker, blue jay, kingfisher, paroquet, flicker, bird hawk, robin, meadow lark, riiocking bird, red bird, mammoth woodpecker, cock of the woods and the snake-killer or water turkey. The rivers, lakes and bayous are well stocked with fish, among which are pickerel, black bass, buffalo-fish, cat-fish and shad, while the mountain streams have an abundance of perch, roach and trout. In the bayous, lakes and in the Red, Ouachita and Arkansas rivers the alligator sometimes makes his appear- ance, though he is less common than in Louisiana or Texas. The copperhead, the milk adder and other reptiles, venomous >^ --> 544 OUK ir/iST/iA'y EMPIRE, and harmless, arc plentiful in the lowlands, and the rattlesnake and moccasin snake are found in the hills. The insect tribes in Arkansas are exceedinj^ly numerous in the lowlands, and well deserve the name of pests. The mos(iuito of tiiis region is renowned for his size, vigor and venom, and the most fabulous stories are related of his strength and audacity. In the hills, however, this insect is less troublesome. The bot- fly, the tick, the chigoe and the guinea-worm are very annoying to man and beast. The cotton worm, the army worm and sev- eral (lies are destructive of vegetation. Some of the pests found a little farther north, such as the Colorado beetle and the Rocky Mountain locust, have not visited Arkansas in any considerable numbers. Arc/ucolooy. — There are no ruins of ancient cities or towns, indicative of its having been, in the remote past, the home of a semi-civilized race, in Arkansas. Neither the Aztec nor the Toltec race seem to have penetrated so far to the East. When De .Soto visited what is now Eastern Arkansas in 1541, the Natchez, a tribe now extinct, were in possession there, and 14c years later de La .Salle found them in possession, while the Quapaws were in the northeast, and the Osages in the western part of the State. Of one or other of these tribes, mounds and relics have been found in Hot Springs, Garland, Montgomery and Phillips counties. Some of these were exhibited at iW. Centennial, and consisted of vases, water carriers, bowls, mortars, pestles, rollers, discoidal stones, scrapers, skin dressers and polishers, axes, hatchets, lances, darts, pipes, beads, amulets, ponays or Indian money, hand hammers, sling balls, balls for games, plough points, knives and drills. Produrdons. — Until returns are had from the tenth census of mineral products, we cannot estimate the mineral productions of Arkansas. There is a moderate but constantly increasing quantity of her excellent semi-anthracite coal mined each year, and many thousand bushels of the lignite in the southeastern part of the State are also furnished to the Mississippi steamers. There are large quarries of novaculite, the Arkansas hone or oil-stone, in Hot Springs and Grant counties ; of brimstone in 545 the Ozark MoiinMlnc • r i !", "'';'',7"' ''"J oll,er counties' ■ '""\ ="'^' K^-'-y "K.rble "-' f"« returns (and even these 1 ,«'.''" '''■"''""•^' ""= ■1'^ year ,875. They arc as follows ' ^ '"""""^'" -<•• f- Articles. Cotton, pounds. Corn, biishds.... ' Wheat, " Oats, << Rye, " irish potatoes," "biis* Sweet " w Hay, tons Amount of Crop, 442,258,400 3J. 601, 200 3.598,200 4,32«,49o,779t 3,430,770 437,315 2,696,400 * ProI,ably an undZ^^;~-^ _______ , t Probably an over-estimate Caul. u ~~ ' y feed and do remarkably well on small ca„e wh' T "' '" ''''''"■°" cane, which, m many locali- ixi <-«.* PG .>".n pcb If-*, ""t 1'^ «c ."■^ or? •"5;? P4 f^B e^6 ^^'^' n'/:STf.h'X F.MPtKE. Maniifactiiyes, in Arkansas, are yet in their infancy, but havo made considerable pro^^ress since i(S7o, when there were only 1,364 manufacturing establishments, great and small, in the State, cmployinn^ 4452 hands of all ages, using $2,137,738 of capital and $4,823,651 in value of materials; paying 5(^754,950 in wages and protlucing goods and wares of the value of $7,699,676. There were also home manufactures of the value of $' P-™te,l its ni,n,l„T of So3,56.,. ,„ inen-aso of o ^"P"^^''°" "f the lar-e f^' to sa)-, howevcT that if' ^''^'"''^ f'"'''" '^'o It i! doubted in some nuan^rr "" ^""'■->""- '"e enunt'eration is^ "■' ''"^'''■•'•■^ .-' great nt.mber of 0,?^^^ " ^'''''' '' '«"' with.n '^y robbers, murderers, horse ti''"'^""^' S^'""'''"^. I>w" e was not safe, and crime 4:^^^^^^^ bngands. Huma '•>"< the ■' soft notes of the ni,to •" , "^ """" »'™t ■''rn.ed •>"''n,ght; >W,ileamanwasHr'''i'"'"' <^verywhere day was often sl,ot down in sheer wntn °"^'"'-^" f"^ « word, and q;ence of this state of thin " :::r!r J'"= "•■""-! ^ns;! oftliecommimity >verecnm, ,, .'' "'"^f ''><= better disposed mrf li.in-^'-"' '^ l».t i' oats the same, and of potatoes bn, '»"^"'y-fo"r bushel of '" the land but in the cultivator an, 7 "f"'''^' "'"^ '^^'^ 'no somewhere to stir up sucl, indoj. nt .n T'-' t""'' ''<= ^""'^ 'orce There are a few men of force n tie c;' '"''^^''■'^'" ''^'■""^'-s- ~ "pro^S '-- -'- -S "to ri','; t' - ■•"- ^r c.t^:r;ret- frr^^^Ho^n: ^-ijref r'^--' sioner. Hon. W. AW. I '""'' ''^'^'<=^ Centennial r^' be fnn ., • Webl^cr, and other.; Ti "^""'a' Cominis- "(^ too sanguine in regar.i to th,. r ^'"^■'^<= gentlemen „nv ™ prosperity of the State buth"'''"" ""= f"'"'-<= g™"!- tory, and they have proved 'thd f Ji "^ """ ^'^'^^^ '" '^s l" . -' -h which they Ive la rdt'ts'^ T" ''°''' -'' '- ^'le homestead law 01 th^ q. '">'-'- State in the utf '*^;;-<'- '"'era. „an that of ".the homestead of any married exi ««.• «3 or3- f=^=? wtf r-*_3 eU ;,:==» oc; ■ l::z^ ta i ; «•--« )!3Q '.-> ,-JI »-•<« PCS .' ~---» or; o tM»>aii.mii'.iik,.i.uiL.„.i„mi,iBi^^ are over 1,000,000 acres ar» f , 55 1 "- forfeited and unconfi^ed stl "'l ^' f' =' '° *' P- acre, and are for sale at fifty cents per aCe ani ?e ' """' '•^•°°° -- settler ,n quantities of .fc acrelo" r "^ ^'^ ''°"ated ,0 t/,e t;vat,on and improvement of five T ''™°^ °^ '^^^^'^^ and cu| about six dollars. ^"^ '"'^- and the fees, which are '■^^tZ!'::'^J^J<>^^ amount of about With these facilities for purchrse and T "' »^-5° P«^ acre. Arkansas offer to the ImmJZ. ^""<='"™t. the lands of reach of all. The land may fota 1^ ^'"''' "" '''•'^'" '^e "y. though diere is much exceilt b . , ' °^ "^'^ ''«''«« qual- of .t from which an industrfou tl '' ''^ "^^^<= ''^ """« ^"'"S- '"^" ^"""W make a comfortable CHAPTER III. CALIFORNIA. Roads-Steamers r'^'.^'^'^'^^'^^s. Mines and Mim ?. r ^~-^^^'^'"^- Banks p,, r ^«^'^^ERCE AND Navigatiov , ^^^^""^^'-Rail- -V AND PKOOAn^E Fuxuke "^^^^^^^ ^^ ^— A. Cns^^s^' C/U.iFiiRNn is one of fh i E"ipire," and stretches forVnn T' ^'^'"^ °'' "Our Western IS between fh» 1 , , ^°° ""'<=« a on? the Pa^;fi ""^^'^^ iween the parallels of ,20 ,0, ,. ^ "'^ "cific coast. It between the meridians of „J ''and *T """'' '^'""de, and fro™ Greenwich. ,t formed' a part of' 1 ''' °' "'^^' '""Situde Mexico to the United States at T i ' ''""'""'y ^«l«d by a-d .3 bounded north by Ores^„ ^; f7'f "'^ Mexican waT ;:* "^ L-- Cahfornfa. a„| wit 1 1^ t".'^ ^"^ A"-""' * -- - California trends so?thtXm1h?o::;„ Z 031 )::«-* we* ,'~^ (as <<~^ iOCJ o t|3 OUR IVE STERN EMPIRE. to C?ipe Mendocino in latitude 40°, and thence in a nearly south- easterly direction to the coast of Lower California. The area of the State is 188,981 square miles, or 1 20,947,840 acres, or about the combined areas of New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, Ohio and Michigan. Its length is 700 statute miles, and its averaire breadth more than 200 miles. Topography. — The mountain systems of California arc vast in extent, diversified in character, rich in mineral wealth, and unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur of scenery. They may be considered under two great divisions : the Sierra Nevada or Snowy Mountains, on the eastern border, stretching with its spurs over a breadth of about seventy miles in a series of ranges ; and the Coast Range, which, in its several chains, in- cludes aboiit forty miles in breadth, extends near the coast the whole length of the State and into Lower California. These two ranges unite near Fort Tejon in latitude 35° and again in latitude 40° 35', and separating again form the extensive and fertile valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento. The two lines of ranges of the Sierra Nevada may be traced in regular order for a distance of nearly seven degrees by their two lines of cnlminating crests, which rise in varying heights from 10,000 to 1 5,000 feet above the sea. There does not seem to be as much order in the position and direction of the summits of the Coast Range, peaks of widely varying heights and entirely different mineral constitution being found in close proximity. The summits of the Coast Range vary in altitude from 1,500 to 8,000 feet. The highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada are Mount Shasta, Lassens Butte, Spanish Peak, Pyramid Peak, Mounts Dana, Lyell, Brewer, Tyndal, Whitney, and several others of less note. Those of the Coast Range, though richer in minerals, are less lofty and less noted. On the eastern side of the crest line of the Sierra Nevada are a chain of lakes, including the Klamath lakes. Pyramid, Mono and Owen lakes, lying wholly east of the range, and Lake Tahoe, a gem of the purest crystal water, far up in the mountains, occupying a depression between two summits. The depression, in which most of these lakes are situated, continues southward to the entrance of H,,. r'\ • Ht siJ--.We cli.,a„ce no .[^JTomT ""^ ^°'--'"- ^or a co " '■' -any feet below .l,a o e „ , ? """"'''" '™it of tl,e sZ' '-» «'."w tl,a. k was once he u:/'' T'', *''"''°«'-l .•nv...«i!^ o,n„„„„ca,„j, ,vith the oc.an bv. ' '"•"^-"^ '^l^^ "^ <-stua v '»» recently been propce^l ! ' '"""^"''at narrow strait ^^ -"- "•- ancient "an. oerj^rr"" '=^"^"-' -^ "u"":'' -"ove tlje droui^ht from a r ' oTon ° "'"'''!' ""^ '''"'ate a^d 'i'vcly and. "^^S-'on once populous, but now exce" "''i^-;4,-;^ns se:t^aTe:""" ^^^'^ -''"' °^ abo^:!^; -n ^lop*^'" irbetre^Le fot':";; "^^^^^ ■•' called the east Coast Range is known L he c'r';"' °^ "«= Sierras and the p-tSefcrStat^^^^^^^^^^^^ that part of the State lvin,r = u "'^ '^"'"de of Fort T? - California. Ti: St;Tete;i":/'"<;.''-? »""si' ;» east and west throu..h Tr "T u" ''"" ^"'l »"« e..tend ^"e Monte DmKU i- • ■ * 'on, by ^o'^::^ S;*;.: :l.:f^. coast Ra„,e, about ,50 '&r s^^;r -{^^^^^^^^^^^^^ *e lar,est/are by "no "r:":°/" V'" "'^ J-'^"'". "'ou.h J-e are hundreds of the "of „tert J'""'' °' ^alifor X «fAem remarkable for fertilitv and h "' ^«^«' and many >* pet O 554 OUK IVKSTKhW EMPIRK. are siirrouncUHl by most forbiiUlin*^ and unpleasant scenery. In Mono, I'Vesno and Kern, Inyo antl San Bernardino counties there are several of these salt lakes, and in the last-named county, amonjj;^ the other evidences of volcanic action, is that combination of horrors known as the sink of the Amar^^oza river or "Death Valley." It is 150 feet and probably nion; below the level of the sea, intensely hot, dry, and sulphurous. California is, for the most part, well watered, but the Coast Raniife limits the lenojth of its navij^able rivers except in two or three instances. The Rio Salinas is the only navigable river on the coast which discharges direcdy into the Pacific below Cape Mendocino, but the Sacramento river from the north and the San Joaquin from the south, large and navigable rivers, both discharge into the beautiful IJayofSan Francisco. The Kiainaih river at the north, rising in the Klamath lake, flows through a crooked valley to the ocean, but is not navigable for any con- siderable distance. This is also true of the other rivers north of the Golden Gate. Most of the rivers east of the Sierras, in the long, depressed basin already described, discharge into lakes in the basin, and have no connection, direct or indirect, with the ocean. The harbor of San bVancisco is the finest on the whole Pacific coast, fifty miles in length by nine in width, landlocked and ap- proached by the Golden Gate, five miles in length with a width of one mile, and having nowhere less than thirty feet of water. That of San Diego, at the southern extremity of the State, is next in importance, and, with its railway connections soon to bo completed, will prove a formidable rival to that of San Francisco. The other harbors, ten or twelve in number, are either shallow or not well protected from violent winds, and need breakwaters or other improvements. There are many islands along the coast, some of them small and rocky, like the Farallones off the Golden Gate, and inhabited only by seals, sea-lions, and aquatic birds ; others are large and adapted to grazing or cultivation. The amount of arable lands in California, including those which only require irrigation to make them productive, and are so situated that they can be irrigated, and the swamp or tide '5^ k '4tf»«^^ 'Srs-f If ":>.;;■■ i^'Jv ^#i''. ' - ■ "s ■' :m'^!'- ''' :.:Miu:m f :'r ',:['' ':'i|t 7 " ^: i'l /y;.i40. ■ 'I ' ■ ' UV '' . / • , . i y; ' • ' III'.''. si* 1 »— • ^' »~3i - pri o I c V ai St cli till be irri Th ( gen (ab( be r byq sout Gcn( estua sea, ' forn rendc eastci At mines in Mq or lign been of whi Th( belong south .?old in down ft sibly tri Jng as due to V GEOLOGY AND MINEKAI.OGY. JJ) lands whicli, when reclaimed and protected from overflow, yield the lary;est crops in the world, is estimated at not less than 60,000,000 acres, or about one-half the area < the State ; the ^rrazinjj lands on the mountain slopes and on the sides of the valleys are estimated at 40,000,000 acres more, and the forest areas, much of them too steep for cultivation, were officially stated at 9,604,607 acres in 1872, but have been considerably diminished since that time. There are then somewhat more than 10,000,000 acres which, from one cause or other — some being under water, some volcanic and barren, or arid and not irrigable, or bald and bare mountain peaks — are worthless. This is, however, but one-twelfth of die area of the State. (icoiojiiy ami Mineralogy. — The Coast Range and its foot-hills generally belong to the tertiary system, but at San Pedro bay (about latitude 34°) the cretaceous rocks come to the coast, to be replaced at the mouth of the Margarita river (about n'' 10') by quaternary or recent alluvial deposits which extend to the southern line of the State. It is these alluvial deposits which General Fremont believes have filled up the ancient strait or estuary which led to the now dry and desert site of the inland sea, which formerly occupied a large part of Southeastern Cali- fornia, and which he urges our government to re-open and thus render an extensive portion of Western Arizona and South- eastern California again habitable. At two points of the Coast Range, viz.: at the Monte Diablo mines, in Contra Costa county, nearly east of San Francisco, and in Mendocino county (about latitude 39° 30'), the tertiary coal or lignite crops out in extensive beds. The first of these has been worked for many years, and produces a fair burning coal, of which about 1 50,000 tons are annually sent to market. The valleys lying between the Coast Range and the Sierras belong mostly to the cretaceous formation, though in tiie extreme south they are overlaid by alluvial sands. There is very litde ijold in these valleys except in placers which have been washed down from the mountains, though occasionally pockets, and pos- sibly true veins, have been found in metamorphic rocks belong- ing as high up in the series as the cretaceous. This may be due to volcanic action in ages long past. i ■>--' ^ ■1> O iU ce6 ^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Tlic greater part of the auriferous and argentiferous rocks of the State belongs to the triassic and Jurassic strata, which form. the surface rocks of the Sierra Nevada from the Columbia river nearly to the head of the Gulf of California. It is in these triassic and Jurassic strata that most of the gold and silver deposits irom the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific occur. South and west of the sierras, and in the vicinity of the upper waters of Kern river and its tributaries, is an extensive volcanic rej^ion, where basaltic and porphyritic rocks, sulphurous and chal) boate springs, dejiosits of sulphur and large tracts of lava and lava ashes are found. A somewhat similar though much smaller tract exists in Sonoma county, between two spurs of the Coast Range. There are geysers here, and. other indications of former volcanic action. Much of the region east of the sierras is of recent formations, though modified by former volcanic action, and is forbidding to the last degree. The lakes or sinks, often very deep, are always salt and bitter, and often without water most of the year. The beds of the lakes are covered with alkaline deposits. The famous Death Valley, the Dry Lakes, of which there are at least a dozen. Dry Salt Lake, Owen's Lake and other sinks of this region ^wo. striking evidenc " of its former volcanic character, and of the great changes which have taken place, some of them within modern times in this part of the State. The earthquakes of 187 1 were most violent in this section, especially in Kern, Inyo, and San Bernardino counties. Mineralogy. — Gold is found pure, in scales, fine dust, in nuggets and in crystals, and in combination with copper, s'her, lead, zinc, cinnabar, arsenic, iron, sulphur, tellurium, iridosmii.c, etc. Silver is found native, though very rarely, as a chloride: (horn-silver), in combination with lead as argentiferous gabna, sulphurets and carbonates of silver and lead, with copper as copper glance, red silver ore, etc., and with several of the rarer metals as well as with sulphur, iron, etc. Copper exists in the form of native copper, and as malachite, copper glance, rubescite, azurite, chalcopyrite and chrysocolla, in combination with sulphur, etc. Mercury or quicksilver appears as cinnabar very abun- dantly throughout the Coast Range, as coccinite in Santa Barbara, rnge about sixty „i,es from Los 1^^'' °^ '"• '" "'« Temisca »''--•- Lead is abundant as t^ent fif '' '"'' '" f"=""'^ else -ny cases carries a considerfb In. ""'' ""= ^'^'-=. and in -Ivbdate of lead (Wulfenite) o tur' "r"''^^ "' ''"^-- Tlu" Ars,.„,c occurs pure in Montere'' °"' ""^ '""^ '°<=alities one or two counties, and is ex taTJd ""'^i '""^ ""' ^^^^"'"'^ i" -vera) ores. Iron exists in^ut f' "' °"''''= '" ^-"in< '>^n,at,te as magnetic and specu l; „ ""' '' ''^'"''"'''^ '™". ^^ Ton ore in several localitieT r'n ' ""'^ ^' °^''^- "^ bo! con,b,nation with gold and ^er rnd'?"" °""" "^^'veandin ">e most refractory of ores. Uianfo„ iT""' ""'^ '"°™'^ ""e of everal localities, but are notp.-obaZfl' ''° ''"'"> ''^^ fc""'! in Ley possess many of the pro^errie „ 'th^^""'"'' '"'"''■ "'"'g'" occurs ,n Tuolumne county and !l u *"'"°"''- Gra,,h,te - .n one or more lakes and fn t"''''.^ borax and bo -aL ock-salt,as brine, and evapta ted t""?^"' ^^J^^^"'^ »alt as ' e numerous salt lakes; soda botl " ''^^ *^'^^ ^'"1 'rom of a hundred feet or more L thict '' "T''' '°'''^ '" deposit as carbonate of soda around t:^:7Z"l ^ f ^"<=- ^^ volcanic valleys; sulphur pure afa '"' '"'^^^- =•"'' '" smphates ; gypsum, bary.es antLr T'^ '" ''"'ph'n'ef and »-ndum, and cobalt in'tS form of '' "t''^'-^'^"''. Auorsp" P^nr. of the State. Ma.neske ^"^■"'""•=' ="'°""d '" various' '"--aline, pyrolusite ^^^ "'t^'"'"*^' '"^g"«''e. 'imont;:^ cl>ry»I,te and haysine are 'he otL •^'"'^''^^' "■^~". S-ne.s' s already stated, occurs Tn seve 1, , "T"'^ '"'""'''''' Col,' ^'""'en are found in sevemT of i "'""'• P^'™'-"™ and 'o™er, after many mishaosTndf, ''°^'' "^"""'i^, and the *"clard products'^ of he' Sate aid""' '"^ '-~'"« °"e of L ^■^^blepartof thelocaldtr^r " "°" ^^PP'^'"^ « -1;! . ^^^^es and Mining --C;, I.Y^ • V... ^-^ahfbrnia ,s one of the ^reat m' • "^ g^reat mining a:? ., eta •■■--*" iIjF " m '^ :?^ lOCl o I' 1) h 558 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. States. Her production of the precious metals has been larcrer than that of any other State or Territory, though Nevada has approached it, and amid all changes, and with the exhaustion of the ordinary placer-mining, the State has still maintained a very large yield, and is likely to increase rather than diminish it. Gold or silver or both have been discovered in paying quantities in eighteen counties of the State and possibly more. Of these counties all (except Humboldt, Klamath and Del Norte, which have deposits only in the shore and beach sands, being all coast counties, and Los Angeles, in which silver mines have recently been discovered) are situated along the eastern or western slopes of the Sierra Nevada ; some of them extending also across the valley to the eastern foot-hills of the Coast Range. These counties, with the character of their product and the processes used in obtaining it, are as follows, beginning with the southern- most : I . Inyo — silver mines in veins or lodes, mostly in Owen's valley and on the western slope of the Inyo or Buena Vista Mountains, one of the parallel ranges of the Sierra Nevada, from twelve to thirty miles southeast of the head of Owen's Lal:e. There are 700 or 800 claims here, and many of them are worked successfully. 2. Mariposa county, lying on the western slope of the main range of the Sierras, and having the famous valley of the Yosemite within its borders. The mines are mostly in the west and southwest part of the county, and the greater part of them, on the Mariposa estate, were once the property of General Fremont. Besides these there are the Oaks and Reese mines, which are largely productive. These are gold only, and in quartz veins. 3. Tuolumne county, lying immediately north of Mariposa on the western slope and foot-hills of the Sierra. The mines, mostly gold, though there are a few silver, and all in veins or lodes, arc in the west and southwest portion of the county. There arc somewhat more than fifty mines. 4. Calaveras county, situated northwest of Tuolumne, but on the same range. The mines are scattered throughout the county. There are many gold mines in quartz veins, and exten- sive placers (of gold), but they are very nearly exhausted. MINING IN Tfri? ^^, ^^ THE COUNTIES. n-osely in .he western pXf L ''"'' '"^'^« ^^ ^^^^'^n X ' and yielding well. P'" °^ "'^ -°"nty. gold in quaruTlf 6. Eldorado counM, fV.^ -d. This cou:;t;t:;;i:iif ^'"''- ^^^.^.- d a,n b ^^ ^^^ P^^y n ^^eS amenta valley, and is mines (gold in quartz veln»\ i, , ^^cramento river Tl,, •-.though the placers h::i' IJ '"'^^ ^'"^^^ been prod mostly in the wesiern part of .h^ ""'^ S''^^" °"t. are i^tu.t ' ,' ™o;e large stan,p .ills"'::';: ^tr„'!;- J"^^'^ ^ ^ ^- Tahoe ,s mostly i„ ^,,,-3 ,„„„^^ "°«hwest of Eldorado. Lake traverses the entire length of the .0 ^'="''^' ^^-fic Railway northeast. There are many p L ers ."^ i' "" ^°""'«'-' 'o former beds of what are knln . "«^^ ''^P°«i« in the be.ng worked by the procetsTf h ^ l'^'' "^"^•" which Ire also some quartz veins whth y eld th" r-"'"'"^- "^'-e a- gold exclusively. There are abo^. l'^''^''^' ^he product is worked. a''°« forty mmes and placers now «• Nevada cotmly, north of PI, of all the counties of CatorLat m^"";^' ''^ P^l^^^y ''- richest and placers, many of them verl r^h'" "''^'*- ''^ ^^'^ "> "es ™nty. Its placer gold is neare t f?""'^ '" °^«^ ">« "f any other mines or placers JnT t- ^'''°''"'= P"rity than tha! rtcorded, the omW i " ''"= State. Of the , , 7 r,i, 1 , ^ ''' product in most ., . , '^° placers Mraulic mining."^^ Through Js":'' ''"'"'^' '= "°'ed for its ^.""dred feet above the alcenVla^H^'-™.^ ^dge one or two -r, wh,ch the miners knowas L^^JbI ".^ ^"^'■^"' "'='' "^ a ""•a depth of five or six feet 1 ^ ""^ ^"^^d, whose sands P'obably a hundred and ten mile' '"°"' ^""^ '^^ ^ distance of ^- upheaved in the vol^Tic" t;"";"' T\ ^°'^- " ^^ nanges through which the Sierras ■ :.— << •^^ ■ .r:> — ' Cjul O c6o <^^^' WESTERN EMPIRE. have passed, and wlierever living streams cross its ancient bed witli their deep canons, tiiey wasii down rich masses of gold dust. The miners have been breaking down the blue gravel of this " dead river " bed by tunnels, blasting, and the hydraulic pro- cess, for the past twelve or thirteen years, and have reaped a rich harvest. In this county was found, in August, 1869, a nugget of gold weighing 95^^ pounds, worth ^21,156.52. 10. Yuba county, southwest of Sierra, is also a famous county for hydraulic mining, having five or six large deposits of gold. 1 1. Bjitte county, west of Yuba, has many quartz veins rich in gold. Seven or eight large mines are worked. 12. Plumas county, north of Sierra, has in the eastern and cen- tral portions of the county fifteen or twenty gold mines, some of them hydraulic, others quartz mines. 13. Alpine county, situated on the extreme eastern border of the State, on the crest of the Sierras, between latitude 38° 20' and 38° 50'. The ores here are sulphuretsand antimonial sulphurets; in all of them silver predominates, in some with a liberal per centage of gold, in others with considerable copper. The claims, which are very numerous, are all of them worked by openinj;; adits or tunnels. This requires more capital at first, but is necessary in so mountainous a region. The mines, so far as developed, yield very well, — from ^40 to 5^75 per ton of ore,— though there are difficulties in the reduction. 14. Shasta county, in the northern part of the State, the forty- first parallel passing through it, has deposits and quartz veins of gold and copper. The gold mines yield either free-milling gold or gold combined with sulphurets of copper, lead or zinc. The mines, eight or ten in number, which are worked, are in the western part of the county. 15. It has generally been supposed that the western slope of the Coast Range was barren of ores of the precious metals, but recent developments show that the silver-bearing ledges arc found there as well as on the eastern slope of the same range, or on both slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Los Angeles county, in the southern part of the State, on the coast, has hitherto been regarded as the finest agricultural county in the State, but recently there have been ,v ' 56i •Jercan. n„n,e.ou. trc''::r:;:i '---'<= veins of si, er itena(„lpl„,rets of silver and lead) and,! '' '"•«<^""ferous >1S to ^joo per ton. ^^''>- ^""^ "'^ assays ran.re from Tlie bcacli deposits of n i «, --iesof,o,dr„t„l?: rer^'r''' ^-^ Humboldt :S,r""'- '^*<= '"Hand :,-:.t7'^''--'-o"nci in tlfe ,.' '■■"<= "vers discharging inio 7 ''""'°" '° ^" coasts boanng mountains; these sands 2 ^ °' °^'=='" f™"' gold from the coast, contain gold t ' 1'^'' "^'^"'''•"g '=" n,iles out '0 repay the labor of collfc" on "J; I "''" ''"^"'■•"-'' - -d y beaches and bluffs, sometime, tlvoo '^ ""^ "' "-■'■race, or oW "ter mark, and from .50 to V ^f ? "'""^^ ''^'^'^ fion, ,i°^ bluffs or terraced beaches are eC^'^' f °^<= ""= ^«a. 1„ , '^ ', lour Icet. The miners call thi.. ,„ ^'^ '"<='ies to three or ;!-'^ ';ave been discov" d t ItT"'"'";'"^- ^'^--l °f ' -se Wanjath county, one at Cre cent Ck "l^" ''^'°>' Trinidad n ;" HumboUt county, and oTe '^V" "^1 ^°"^ --'y, one Orcs-on. These terraces in d en to .^""''°'P^ Curry co mty Tt'n:iinnit1°^'''1^" ""''^^^^^^ '°^« of Ne.tda has pXed";" °" "' ''■'' '" "^ Comstock "'"es m the counties named ab.,""" ^''^''- All the .old "^'actively .vorked Jthl^tZ-^ ''^T -°P-^d, and\ f "»" a hundred new quartz mitk [ T '^'='' P™''"«ion ; „,o , P«' year and a half and a" '„ ' ^"^ ^^^"-^^ »''! in d e """'.nesand place;s have bee„ o'""; '^ =" '™^''' -"d ma„y Chr"'' "^"•' p-vrousT;yTeL":d^"'',f-^'°pe" term no-led ,v,Vk / . ^' Fsture nearly throughout .eaT"' ^ ^"""^ ' '"'e/ e.xc • '„ d.stncts, the cattle soon acouire tN '" "' ^''^'-■'^'■ere in ,i^h fr- setting bogged, by"! mai^^/" °' '''^P''"^ 'hemse" 3 Sacramento, San Joaquin 'd SI ^' '''""■' °'' "'= counties of »'A> along the east shores of c;-^°'""°' ™""'""<^ «ith varWn! ' ^P. e 'nbutary valleys of Napfs:^" ^"' ■'^^ ''^"''o bays a f '0 the l.mit of tide-water if: "'■ '"""^ ''"aluma n^r v jalubrity, the tules, at le' 't ,1 ' "°'"^°«V 'hat, as Car j^ b^kish tide-water are les °,f"' '' "'^^ ''^'^ -ithin relch of "PP^portionsof thegriXs"™'^""- ^^rs that'the "•"'' ch^fly seaward of the Coast Range sIIT ■"''^' '""^ '^' P'-ins to many thousands of acres somT ' '" ^""fnuous racts of »!'■ non-alkaline land as to r^nd •' •'" ''""' '° '"terspersed w..»ut the other. Tl" "a, :'';;'' •"'Pos^e to til, onS s,s of course very variabir Near t^""' "' ""^ ■■" "'-e often httle more than common salV? ^ '"^"^ ">« 'a'kali' is ^^nage or appropriate adtu" ' M '"" ""= ^<='''^^^d only by «Snes,an salt.s, when limin' w » ^ """ *« ""cl chiefly e Great Valley the name a\Il ■ " "^ ""= "■°"'^'- «' t ^ the nature of the salt, which aim A " '"'''' '^■■'^« J"stified bv -bonate of soda, and om JtlT, ™'" ^""'^'"'^ -°- or less • ese substances, even to CeZZ o7 r"' J""' P^-"- of A e It may do but little harmT * ^°""^ of one per cen/ t eir accumulation at the s. 1 "" u^ "'^ *« '^ason, results i^ ' e corrosion of the roolc™ f„ :^'"''"' "'^ -''"^ cea e an' I P ants. But when stronger as il , '?^' '"'' ""^l ''-ath of Z ■iled during germinatio^ Mo ,'0 ° T" '^^ ^^'«' '^e seed ^ ^ ^"ffht to good tilth" by e::r:h; "' ^° ^"^-"^^ --o Fortunately, a very effectu-,1 » 71 ""ost thorou ot-,, ^t?, '-« were „,„,„ „,,„ ^ < • '> e ,>,.,a„ce.. .So„,e of el, « tliourrh not the lamo.^ r ^ ^'^^^^ are the bo.^ I M^A.R.vv),ire,,fe,,:^t" ^t'"'°"' °f "Suy :,:::• visitctl several of ,1, ^'"™j;o 7)v&,«<. ^ho I," ^ ?• Tl,e pnncipal tree in ,1, "'at paper: ^ '(-'-.ly Gian/and tlVy '"a^^r '^ ''^ °"<= ''•-«" - the once bewildered at ,l,e si e of i, "1 °^ ""= ^P^"ator are at tee of this tree the car,.ia„e road s- '^ "^ P^Portions, At the "^' for that pnrpose, we fo.°„l 'to "'"•'" "■'"' '' ''"e car- ase, ane heavens, and the mighty cafio" r ''' '''"^'^ '="'-'ain from from our pathway like '^he'o, :„"! / ^T^" ^''"'^'■•g away was not power, but majesty ■ To7i^ '° ='"°"'<='- «'orld, tl,e„ l -."ral, but tlte supelnat'u'J ^ufh"'' '"' ^"■"'■"''y ^ "orthe before us." ^ '"'^^'> «''"<;h seemed above us and Tne %;«/« Minpennrem or c i attaining a height of 300 e« and't™ ' ''' ' ^^"^ ^'«-'y tree «ve or eighty feet, i^;, th no t v.luTn™'"^'"^'^ °^ -'-ty-' forn,a, but is fast dLsappearino- 1 • *-■ '""^er-tree of Cali "on of the Coast Ran/e nott' '"^- '""""'='' ■° "'« upper por and but sparingly beio^Cprr:" 'd'T "'"" ^"'^ oC ;;"'" ^•"'-■''' b-'ng replaced by Xr tr^e ^^PP'=«""g entirely does not appear on the Coast uT u ''" *>"S^""'e congener - counties along the vv^^ l^^^f: '';' ^ ^°"'^"'--'' '° ''-"r ^'"'; '7- '>'='ong to the cedar faS T^ ^""'''- J^^'' of ^-.Av/„„,, i3 „„,„^^ ^ peer ^...^''^/"e^'-P'"*^ (^"«« o™,erc,al value. Its wood is whi^ ^ u"'°°'^ '" ^'^^ and free-sphttmg. l,s height is so,n!f ""^^'Sl't-grained, clear and erence forty-five feet^ has' ?°° f^". and its circum f»"r thick ; a sweetish res nn, '" '«'"'=<•■" '"^'es Ion » aid portion of the wood, tasting ^h ,1'"" """''' '""" "- harder "c properties. There areVeTnoler"""' ""' ''-'"^ cathar ■or yellow pine, 225 feet high. fit; ^ O 572 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. c P/;rus Salnuiana, Sabine's or nut pine, which has an edible cone or nut, much valued by the Indians, and P'lnus insigiiis, or Mon- terey pine. This and the yellow pine are similar to our yellow and pitch pines at the East, and are in demand for flooring pur- poses. The other species of pines rise from 30 to 100 feet in height, but are not so much prized. There are six species of true fir, one of them, Abies Douglasii, Douglas's spruce, being 300 feet in height, and three of the others, stately trees, 100 feet or more in height ; the western balsam fir, Picea grandis, grows to the height of 150 feet. The California white cedar — Liboccdi'us dccurrcns — grows to the height of 140 or 150 feet. There are also four species of cypress, three of juniper, two of arbor-vitai, and one of yew — Taxiis brevifolia — which attains the height of seventy-five feet. The wild nutmeg — Torrcya Californica — the California laurel — Oreodaphnc Californica — the madrona — Arbutus Mcnzicsii- -ywd, the manzanita — Arclostaphylos glaiica — are all beautif;' '. ■ greens. There are twelve species of oak, two of them ever- green or live oaks, the rest deciduous. The burr oak — Qncrciis macrocarpa? — is the largest of these, but its wood, like most of the others, is principally valuable for fuel. The Qiicrcus Carry- ana, sometimes called white oak, though not a large tree, has a dense, fine-grained wood, used for making agricultural imple- ments. There is one of the chestnut family, the Western chin- quapin, a fine tree, sometimes attaining a height of 125 feet. There are four acacias, thorny enough ; three poplars, or cotton- woods, one very large ; two alders ; the Mexican sycamore ; one species of walnut — ynglans I'upcstris — a fine tree ; three species of dogwood or Cornel, all differing from the Eastern dogwoods; four wild lilacs; two wild cherries, both shrubs; two maples — Acer niacrophyllum — a large and beautiful tree — and Acer circi- natuni — the vine maple, a smaller tree, found only in the moun- tains. There are three yuccas, two species of willow, a box elder, an Oregon ash, and the flowering ash, which is not a true ash, one species of buckeye, one of ironwood, a Parkinsonia or greenwood, small but elegant ; two or more species of cactus, a native persimmon, and the valuable Japanese species ; the pis- '? 1 CA LI Foam A TRPF<, ^rr. '"" a"" many species nf „ • 573 ""known elsewhere. The 2rl '™"-''-°P''cal trees which ar. but the cultivation of these and r" ™''" ''^'"■'^ ■■"■- mmero!,? bernes belongs rather to l,or fclf ^"'"'^ ''"'' ^'""e n^ts a d' -a plants and shrubs, some ol""' "'''= ^"^^ """V -ed" qualrties. Grasses ire „„ "•" Possessing verv v.I t, -'"•'-.s. but the;\r zrr:-^' ^-f --n,7en ts f°S?y regions along the „17 """'*'■'*• ^nd except in J » "'^'^ ^ permanent sod -.n,l -f "^y destitute of • (^-« .«/.,«), the „i,j °d, and de ^^^_^ ^1^^ oj tbe forage grasses and cerea s H "^ '° ■■"'>■ °" Alfalfa and 7"«, Egyptian rice-eorn o7m ^^""•"' ^^""''n. and pearl glium as a foratre ohnf ? / ^J'lurra, oats, uheat r, Wild flowers"abotd'i:'c; t: '"'^ '^^*"^' "^ "'■" oc^ ^°^- P-ed by florists elsewl ere o/ T""' T"^ "^ ""='" "'ose hi^hlv *r, and some of them IceeTl r'"^ '"-""'^ "^ f°" and synnga families, many of them sK ?^ '■'^'^"'- ^''^ lily and ^P.cuous alike for beauty a d fc " '"'' "^■" "■-='■ -d co"„^ ^"d filling the air for long diltfn?^^' ^'^ ''°""'^ ff™"ing wTd Zoology ^-Tu^,^ g' are st,ll more »' which twenty-seven 1 ''^^!''' "'" mammalia in Calif. • "-k, and brow';:: VexLrr°™".^' -'"''-S "h?Jri 2 f ■ """'^' yellow-cheeked weasel S ^""^""^^n sable or mar- .•„.— «• pa »-3l ' e-* 574 OVR WESTER X EMPIRE. c c c- 1^ ingly abundant in the State, preying upon lambs, young pigs, fowls, etc.), five species of fox, three or four species of sea-lion, two species of seal, and the sea-elephant. The larger and more formidable of these carnivora are becoming rare in the State except in some of the more sparsely inhabited counties ; the grizzly and other bears are found in the mountains, but the felidce, especially the cougar, jaguar, and the lynxes are rare, and the gray wolf is not often found near the settlements. Of the insect eaters, there are two moles, two shrews, and six- • teen species of bats. Of the rodents, there are the beaver, the sevvellel or mammoth mole, five species of ground-squirrels, pests which "multiply by the million and levy their assessments upon the grain crop, often carrying off half the crop and riddling the stacks and sacks of grain, and even finding their way into the barns c i ' ".^rehouses. There are also five species of tree- squirrels, mor irmless in their character. Of the mouse family there are eighteen species, including three naturalized ones. The musk-rat, jumping mouse, four species of kangaroo mice, and five of gophers, a pest almost as destructive of trees, shrubs, and plants as the squirrel is of the grain. There is a yellow- haired porcupine, six species of hares and rabbits, some of them peculiar to the Pacific coast, and a coney or rat-rabbit. Of ruminants, there are the elk, the white-tailed, black-tailed, and mule-deer, the American antelope, the mountain goat or goat- antelope, and the big-horn or mountain sheep. Of the cetacea, as well as of the sta-fishes, California claims justly all that are found in the waters of the Pacific within the bounds of the United States, possibly excluding Alaska. This includes the right and the California gray whale, the hump-back and fin-back, two of the beaked whales, the sperm whale, the black fish and three species of porpoise. Of birds there are 350 species or more, recognized as natives of California. There are twenty species of climbers, fifteen of them wood-peckers ; of birds of prey there are thirty-seven species, including five of the eagle family, ten species of buzzard- hawks, four hawks and four falcons ; twelve species of owls; the king of the vultures, and the turkey-buzzard, o^ turkey-vulture. There are eleven • ^^^^^oj^xia. dees, g^sbeak^-fi '\""»"^''^' ^'^^^^ and ^ ^'^'^''='' ^»a"ovvs, i'aving been' L,.^':; "^f^^ -e nun^efo™" 'C: '""^ "^^ *'-s, plover, kii-d^f ,,^^-« '-'"de cranes', ,e™"\-f^'^^ and coots nr • *^°cets, sn pes sai,rl„- °"^' b'tterns, scribed, ndudfn'*'"""'^'-^ °^^'- "'netV spee'^r?' ""'"^^- ■■="•'» -ooter cots f m'"^ ^P^">^ of /eeTe ^ '"'" ''^^" ^e- '-% coots, sheldrakp^j ,.. ^'^ese, brant, tc-il a i albatrosses, fulmar. ', "''-'*S:ansers. pejfcan. ' "'^^'^' "idn 200 are ed hie tu ^ ^aiiiornia c^( 1 • 1 salmon famf/v r . ^^^^e incJude n; • ' ' ^^^'^h . , 'dm'iy, four of the cc^A r ,^^ "»ne species nf ^i e'glu species of mackere ^"''^>' ^ ^o.en elk "" and the allied genera ' """'"''""^ ^^^^'e-s of the t' T7" °' k^Wsh; fifteen flaTfi'/^'^ ^^"^°^^-^> vi... the red ff '"^'^^ eiehtortpne^ • . ^^' ^tc., etc or^ ^^^-snails. -d cra:!fisr"on;"^'"^'"^' -abs, king err 1^" ''"^^ '»- **«s, salamanders, etc. «« pen :5r c cyQ OUR WKSTERX IIMVIRE. Objects of Interest and Wonder. — First among these is the far- famed valley of the Yosemite, known everywhere as one of the wonders of the world. The best and most accurate and satis- factory description of this wonderful valley ever written is that from the pen of Josiah D. Whitney, LL. D., State Geologist of California, and a member of the National Academy of Science. This description, slightly condensed, we give below : "The word Yosemite means 'a full-grown grizzly bear,' and was not the aboriginal name of the valley itself, but that of a noted chief of the tribe inhabiting it. The present Indian name of the Yosemite is said to be AJi-ioaJi-nce. "The Yosemite valley is situated in the Sierra Nevada of California, about 150 miles in a direct line a little south of cast from San Francisco, nearly in the centre of the State of Califor- nia, north and south, and about midway between the east and west bases of the Sierra, which is here not far from seventy miles in width. It is a level area, about six miles in length, and from half a mile to a mile in width, and is sunk nearly a mile in dcptli below the general level of the adjacent region. It has very much the character of a gorge or trough, hollowed in the moun- tains in a direction nearly at right angles to their general trend. This gorge has not a regular form, but while its general direc- tion remains nearly the same, its sides advance and retreat, with angular projections and recesses, thus giving a great variety of outline to the enclosing masses. The river Merced, which rises in the Sierra, some fifteen miles higher up than the head of the valley, in the group of mountains of which Mount Lyell is the dominating peak, runs through the Yosemite with many graceful windings, and gives rise at the head of the valley to the remark- able waterfalls, which will be noticed farther on. Two branches of the main Merced also enter the valley near its head ; one, the Tenaya Fork, which rises in a beautiful mountain lake of the same name, comes in from the northeast ; the other, the Illilou- ette, enters from the south. These tributaries join the Merced through deep caflons, as the mountain gorges in the Sierra arc always called ; but there are several other smaller streams whidi also enter tlie valley, leaping over its walls, and giving rise in T/IE YOSEAr/Tp t- , , , ' almost cvcrv mc ^ ^'^^ not in ^enenl nf ' '° '"^^'"^strng- falls ■ . u- ^ . ^^^ melting. '^^- «"o^ upon the adfacen ^ ''^'^ °^ "ThepIeasure.seek,W^ n ^ ^^"^ "mountains is not confine his exnln ? ^^''^"^'•' ^^^o visits th. V 0- com^anc,;:; f ~ ^« ^^- valley p^ ; ^ S?'^^' ^^^ views of the o-r^ . ^^J^^ent to it obtpm ^'"'^"^ ^ari- or at least one n. ^ '^"^y '"'^'"des a toiTr , /''"' ^ J°'"-- "SL one or more visit. ►„ . ^ around its pvJ • «. from wliich the obser, Prominent points of '°''' "- *pths of the vanevT'i "'T' ""'^ '-' « eel T" ^'^"^'^ ofv'iewsoflorf„= ,. y Wowhim, but ak„ '"^^"'y down into -■arkable apCch 7^'"" °' ""= "alls wlWche':?' '':^""-^-' '■^fe'.t and .i™nd:rn"''"'''^ '" '"^se lal, T " '^ ""^ pressed by them r„ """ traveller mav K ''^'''y 'PProachft from the ;"'"'"^ "'«-" ^osemite by th! ^""f' '""■ »fcat may be Jiff ?P''^"«' on the visitor ^^ " ''''*"?^ «« before hi """ e="'^«">y of the V '"' approaches 'ock called p''"'' °" ""= "°«'' --de of the ^"^r'""'^- "^"^ l-e °"'i' ^ -'e, measured ^ZZ"' ""^ "'^'ance acres t Se'" ' •~- 'he summit of tl,e BridalVeSck 5*^ t ■- we* ..J f-^ ^ fc*-J :*-^ laci o St l^g O^/A" WESTER X EMPIRE. to that of El Capltan, and at the base of these cliffs there is only just room for the river to pass. El Capitan is an immense block of granite projecting squarely out into the valley, and presenting two almost vertical faces, which meet in a sharp cdsre 3,300 feet in perpendicular elevation. The sides or walls of this mass are bare, smooth and entirely destitute of vegetation, h is doubtful if anywhere in the world there is presented so squarely cut, so lofty and so imposing a face of rock. On the oppo- site side of the valley is the grand mass of the Cathedral Rocks, divided into two parts by a deep notch between them. The most striking face of the larger Cathedral Rock is turned up the valley, but on the side facing die entrance there is a feature of great beauty, namely, the Bridal \'eil Falls, made by the creek of the same name, which, as it enters the valley, descends in a vertical sheet of 630 feet perpendicular, striking there a pile of debris, down which it rushes in a series of cascades, with a vertical descent of nearly 300 feet more, the total height of the fall beinfY 900 feet. This creek flows through the entire year, but the fall is only great when the amount of water is near its maximum. When the stream is neither too full nor too low, the mass of water, in its fall, vibrates with the varying pressure of the wind blowing in the daydmc up the valley in the most beautiful and remark- able manner. It is this fluttering and waving of the sheet of water which has given it the poetic but somewhat fanciful name it now bears, that of the Indians having been Pohono, a term having reference, it is said, to the chilliness of the air under tiic hiofh cliff and near the fallinir waters. There is also a charminT fall in a deep square recess of the rocks opposite the Bridal V^eil. and just below El Capitan. This fall, which is over 1,000 feet high, is called the Virgin's Tears. It runs, however, but a sliort ti;ne during the early summer months. " Passing up the valley after entering between the Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan, the level area or river-bottom increases to nearly half a mile in width. This area is broken up into small meadows, gay with flowers in the early summer, and sandier regions on which grow numerous pitch-pines, and some oaks, cedars and firs. The walls of the valley continue lofty and •1« descent .^ To " ""•''' °^ ""'^ ''^ 1 r'""^''- vertical fall of ," ' ? °"'' ""'^™'^<-'" ■'^heet V "•■"■ ''"' of cascade, and f „ "''' "'"" ^ <'<=^cent of L.?"" '■* '^■•••'' » fc". and its denth .7 J"neand J„ly ;, „„,,„'"' -^"S"«- i» rail, howevt ,:, . "™ '"'="• The boa ; JL"'"'" '"■^"'y ™"-«n«.s, give . r H- :rr""'"" '-'' ''■" - tf j ;■"■• °f able natural obiectst H ' '"""'"^'' ■■"""".. the „' f« '"'"- •vaterfalh which calj" "'" "°'-'''- •n><-<^ are certa" 1 '™"''''- •'At the head f l """P^'^ W'h it. '^^"ainly very fe„ a^« Cfeettve'r^:; - ;^ ca-Jed tlf v'^r^JTrdT .^ahout 6c» feet i„ elevat^n^ n, "^ ,"""■■• ""• ^-- da PaH . ^« the falls o^f ti:t;c:;t:a^"'"^' " •-'" '"SreaLo: and attractive obiect, H ^ ^' '"'■■"'••"■" ^^xtremelv ni! ' . :T'.e <'on.e-s£::, t:3^;';-vhole — r."^'^ '^'""-<'- ~n.ty of the Yosemite are ako IT'" T'"'^''' ^''^''ac.eri.e the Dome, on the nr.rfk •, ° *^^t'"<-'me vsrranr/ ^>L t ^ -hinations of"°: 1:"'; "' "^ -"<=)'• 'endtlelV to be''°7'? t-theVose-nieS ''^irj' '™"' -"-s po 1 ^'de 5*, is not visible fJ^ , Sentrnel Dome on ,1, '^ «■>' view fro^- ; """ ""= ^^'% "self; but it aff , °PP°''"= P««"y of the high Sierras A n^^- '"'"'""""dinffs. A projecting- cliff called i>; :j O c c. 580 ^^-* WESTERN EAfPlRE. Glacier Point, a little lower than this, and just on the edge of the valley, is also much visited for the sake of the grand view which it offers of the whole region, but especially on account of its favorable situation with reference to the Half-Dome, of which it commands a most wonderful view. The rock thus named \< the highest point in the immediate vicinity of the Yoscmite, rising to an elevation of 4,737 feet above the general level of the valley. The Half-Dome has the appearance of having bcon originally a dome-shaped mass which has been split into two parts, one of which has sunk down and disappeared ; hence the name. It fronts the Valley of die Tenaya fork of the Merced with a very steep slope, crowned by a vertical wall of fully 1,600 feet in elevation,- forming together a mass of rock of the most astonishing form and imposing magnitude. Arrangements are now made by which this Half-Dome, or, as it is now called, the South Dome, may itself be ascended. It is a weary climb, pos- sible only by the aid of a rope of great strength fastened to the rock by iron staples every fifteen feet, by which the climber works his way, hand over hand, for about 1,500 feet; but the view at the top is grand and beautiful. Still more magnificent is the view from Cloud's Rest, fourteen miles away by the trail, and a most fatiguing journey, but once reached, the traveller feels that he has seen ' all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.' "The rocky citadel juts out into space, so that you seem isolated from the world, and held pendant over the valley. Around you is an unbroken horizon of mountain peaks, with the great valley in the centre, its walls dwarfed to pigmy pro- portions. The lesser mountains and barren rolling ridges re- ' semble nothing so much as a storm-tossed ocean turned to stone. A more absolute desolation could not be conceived. You feel the weight of the centuries that look down upon you from the lonesome peaks of the Sierras. The spectacle reminds one strongly of maps of the moon ; it gives the same impres- sion of lifeless repose after giant upheavals of mountains and rending of rock-buttressed walls. Thomas Hill, the artist, says that he once took a seven days' camping excursion about the — .. .... rcou.,„: ...,,,, valley, with a „ep|,,„ „f ,,, ^ '^""''^ 58. i-layas ,he view f^c.,, ': Lr:r "'°""r"" '" "- Alp o he l-_ at a„<, said: ' I sal„,e ,h ! .n"^,?' "!"' '■-^'>«>. '.^ ,00k off California m ,864 ,„ be "|„.|,Tf ^ Congress to the Sta,,. „f on,' .0 be aI.so'.i„a,Lab ' t'";;'"^ "-• --«. an.l r ea 'Hatportionsof ,,K. valley :i :;,:', '™<-': -'h ^he concl "„ from such leases .0 be ev,?™ , '?. .'"'f ''• ""= mcon.e arisin! /;o,.-rty or the roads Icadi " ,' o • Ti P"''^"''^''"" "<■ '^e .y commissioners appointed bv 7, ' ^ ''*-• f-"^"' ■» ".ana<..d U'ai'on roads, railroadi and trails h T'"™"^ °f "'•-■ Smte convenient access to the vallly t,^ r* '"-■':" '^'"" '° afford morel ■n? ren,arkable views of the 4,:"' 'V-""- Points command! Tlw iuolumnc river -inn.l^ ^ "'' '""■'■""ndinm which enters it ■, r ■', """''"^i- tributary of tho « ■ I "-"^^ " a fe,v mi es north oCi ». '^ *""" Joaquin lumne county as the Merced does M- """^ ""^ ''"i"-^ Tuo :" "'^ .^'<--^'-a Nevada, and lon/fir'''"'"' "'^° '«» ''» Purees \ose„„te valley, flows ZLT\ '*' '"''''■■■' """hwest o tl l « picturesque and grand si'T"" '^""^ "<--«^'v or nul and as lofty waterfall ^ "'" ^°^"''^'^ and with as ma' ! But these remarkable vallev= I """'lers of California. ,T^lt° "% ^"'^"•^'^ all the natural ::;■:"^^"'^^'^™-°"--tlt^;r^■■''"°• ^^""-. w ■''qnoias, whose vast heiVht nn . ^''"""^ °f tho .d.^antiV V^C'-' across tlf ^t : ^ ''^^ ''eauty .ou^id^r,; in i\apa county near r-^r . i'l 'he evidences of recent tr^'V' ^ ""'•'•°'' ^="'^5' where are * whole valley or caflon T fi,rf"'L ''^"""^ ™'-"- actio" --e the natu^l bridges and the chyote^ " OS '* iOd 58i OVK H'i:SlEA\V EMI'INE. 5 r caves of Calaveras county, with their bell-sounding rocks, tlic magnificent grotto near Cirizzly Flat, in 1^1 Dorado county ; of the lakes, Tahoe, the gen\ of the mountains, almost at the sum mit of the Sierras, and the smaller but romantic Lake Donncr on the boundary line of Nevada ; Mono (salt) lake, in Mono county, not far from Yoscmite ; Klamath lake, in the nortli ; Tulare lake in the county of the same name ; and the wild vol- canic region in the soudieastin Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino, and Kern counties; that region of horrors enclosing the sink of the Amargoza river, the " Death Valley," of which we have already spoken, 400 feet below the level of the sea, while within sight of it the Sierras tower 14.000 or 15,000 feet above the sea. This deep depression, forty miles long and eight or ten wide, is partly crusted over with salt and soda and other alkalies several inches thick, and partly composed of an ash-like earth mixed with a tenacious clay, sand, and alkali so soft that no animal can cross it without being mired. There is no vegetation on any jjart of it, and the temperature during at least six months of the year ranges from 110° to 140° Fahrenheit. Climates. — Prof. E. W. Hilgard thus describes th' arious climates of the State : "Taking as a convenient point of view the central portion of the State, the climates of California may be roughly classified a;; follows : "1. The bay and coast climate. Its prominent characteristics are, first, the small range of the thermometer, caused by the tempering influence of the sea, the prevailing winds being from the west. The average winter and summer temperature at San , Francisco thus differs by only about 6° Fahrenheit (53° and 59° respectively). Snow rarely reaches the level of the sea, and is sometimes not seen for several seasons, even on the summits of the Coast Range.* A few light frosts with the thermometer at between 28° and 32° Fahrenheit for a few hours during the *The winter of 1880 was one of the exceptional years in which snow did rcich the coast, Biitl the thermometer' marked 18° Fahrenheit. This severe weallier was very destructive to flowering plants and shrubs, hut was said not to have occurred for more than thirty years pre- vijusly. Ordinarily, the fuchsia and heliotrope live and thrive in the open air there in winter. ni^Wu is the ordinary vxnrrtntu c . ^^^ n"".bc. of •lu.t^l4'r; rc,:\rr' ^'"^ '" •'"■"-^ -^^ !-<-• Cease K.„,,e. Uncl.r a M^ZZ 1°^ ""-' '«''"'••' <"■ I- mo.,mai„s, accompanied by do" K ^tT ^''y' " -"^<-'P» over l"-<^atl. of a furnace, it licks un .11 ''"'"■ ""■• soil, loosenin., the oin r n ^ '''•■""^' "'"^^'"^g whether wa,^ons, furniture, or ZCTan, "°°''^'" ^'"'""'•-^ resound at ni.lu„it,,,|,,',.~'''" I ™"«"S the latter to ncses, to the discomfort of t ^ne^t":: r"' -""'— "-rthly '""OS comprise the vast majorL of ,he , T"' ""' =" ^"^'' versal „,flic,io„ fortunately last, h„? ■ ''°P"'a'i«"- This uni- when the welcome sea-fo ' ZlhlTu' "T '''" """"^ <'-^)' • wa forty or fifty „„•,,, I'h^^'f^l'^;" ."^^pt standi,,,, |i,.ia -■h ..sgrateful coolness and moisn"? i^ "'"'^ '''^■■•'""■■•^. <-">'l parched vefjetation and .h„ irr"t d '" ^'"'^ ''''•■ ''«o the "Uurinj, the winter monti th ' 'T'"^ P°P>'lation. - the same time cold ; anc ' ^i \X """ " '"■'""'">' "^V. ^ut or n,ore, ,t causes but little di co,„t^ TT""'' ''"'' => "''^'-•fc -nally .0 the younj grass an T rl n '""''^''' ^"^^ "««- ea ure of the coast climate is he'fo "" > '^''r'^""'' distinctive by the prevaih-n,. west winds or unVm r ^f ^' '" ^"""^ "'« <«=- 'l»rcross,„8; the cold Alaskan curren ;n , "' '' "" ''''"'' °f """"■? '" ^'^ffu'arly almost every 'ft "IV""' '^'"^ ''^^'-^Ss, of June to that of Auc^ust anH . ""'^'^"°°'' from the latter par ojea with a Sor^^ouftZ^ :rZZ '!^V"'°"^"'°"' "^ ^ea ally not only the heat. h. t also rl^ ^ ""'■ '^'P^"" ma'eri "nder their influence plan rZ, in T""" '''""^hf. so that ■"O'^ure can, in a loose soil J" f ^"' " """^"'"^'^ de-^ree of • e latitude of San FZkLTLf'r ''''"' "'« --o" ^n ; ™te sub.tropi«d and n^r h n'p „ 7^*^"^"'=" '" ">e coas '!« latter (such as currants an!) '^ u "^^ """'^^ «■''« by side ■ -'I In great perfectio^ while.heT"''^""-'^ ">-"? -''th aTe i-w,ng luxuriantly, c;n ripe ',f|; ^^P^' o-"^- -C thoug,: "leir (rmt only ,„ valleys prt- '3" ■•■•' s o 2i I — 584 OC/X WESTERN EMPIRE. tected by mountain ridges from the direct influence of the sum- mer trade-winds. Thus while a broad river of fog may be pour- ing in at the Golden Gate, covering the two cities and spreading out on the opposite shore to a width of eight or ten miles, the hamlet of San Rafael, only fourteen miles to the north, but under the lee of Mount Tamalpais, and the old town of San Jose, under the protection of its seaward mountains, forty miles to the south, are mostly basking in full sunshine, and ripen to great perfec- tion not only the grape, but also the more tender fruits of their groves of fig and orange. - ■ . .' 2. Climate of the ^reat interior valley. "The average winter temperature is lower than that of corresponding portions of the coast, although the minimum is little, if at all, below that of the latter. Sub-tropical plants, therefore, winter there almost as readily as on the coast. In summer, however, the average temperature is high, often remaining above 100° Fahrenheit for many days, the nights also being very warm. At the same time, however, the air is so dry as to render the heat much less oppressive than is the case east of the mountains, sunstroke being almost unknown. Standing on the summits of the Coast Range in summer, and looking down upon the thick shroud of fog covering all to seaward, the white masses can be seen drift- ing against the mountain side, and, rising upward, dissolving into thin air as soon as, on passing the divide, they meet the warmth of the Great Valley. From points in the latter the cloud-banks may be seen filling the mountain passes and some- times pouring like a cataract over the summit ridges, but power- less to disturb even for a moment the serenity of the summer sky, or to yield a drop of moisture to the parched soil of the San Joaquin plains. The unwary traveller, starting from Sacramento or Stockton on a hot summer's day without the thought of shawl or overcoat, may find himself chilled to the bone on crossing the Coast Range, and runs imminent risk of rheumatism or pneu- monia. On the other hand, the San Franciscan, feeling the need of having his pores opened by a good perspirauon, can have his wish gratified in a 1 hour or two by taking the reverse direction. The ' norther ' is, of course, more frequent in the great valley /-VT'^VP/O^ CLIMATE 'I "-efore does not Z th"""?""^'"- "^ '^ "^rand makes ,tself felt; snow falls fndr'^' '""""^''^'^ "f elevat.„n are cool . and we thus ZT^^I^YT' """'^ "^ -" "- as understood in fhf. lu- , iV ^ familiar /rV,w of c e^Pec-aily in the"„te St:"!':""''"^^ ^^^^'^^ summer thunder-storms, wlucl are ^l' "'" P''«"°-nenon of' »"d ■" the San Joaqu n va ' rT' ""'^"°"" °" "'« coas ome ,nto play more and more L J A '""" ^'^""^^a' f'-'atu 'es h'lly and mountainous reg.^ns I'n ' ,™"'" "°"''«'ard in the 'oward the Oregon line,Ca4 d al "° ' °' ^^" ^'""--o bfy '"crease of timber growth Tl r ° '" S<^''"^\ by a grad,^^' cl^ates described fn.e™ ng,!' oVr.^ "' '"^ '"- P^^S .'l>e valleys are open to seaward r„n '"t'P"''^"'' according as tp--^ - S:^^':r;es'rf "^"^'^-^ p"-*;d"n?o;:f ^'.^jo.ning valley, and almo ,• tt 7' '^ '•'"P'--"ca\le n "„ n„lar conditions are predom inan' T T'''^ "'" '^S'on where cLmates above defined areToH - ^T° "'<==°""'vvard, the chie7 mcrease of temperature the d^'"^ ^' ""^"^^ ''^"ors viz ' ,1 -ase, from about San F anasro""^'" "'■"'"^"' ""^ the' de summer focrs Ac ■'/'^" Cisco southward of fh.. r «-'eit. mCz:^:iz- '"=" "^ --er'a o r;:: ^« excepted, the averages vaTa^ °"^ ""^ ^°^^'' '°-l va il ^^ '<- ramfal, along the cfast^d "rer^'"' f^ '"^ '-""'^e decrease ,s slow, descending -- /Of? > .1— a C3 5 86 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. from twenty-four inches at San Francisco to fifteen at Santa Barbara, twelve at Los Angeles, and nine to ten at San Diego. But in the interior valley the decrease is much more rapid, as previously stated, modified locally, according as the divide of the Coast Range is so high as to preclude the access of moisture from the sea, or low enough to admit its influence. The same factor influences also the cooling and moistening effect of the summer winds and fogs, which temper the summer climate of the Los Angeles plain, but fail to reach the Mojave desert or the fervid plains of the upper San Joaquin valley." We suppleiiKint this general statement by the following table, corrected to the latest date. It is the average in most cases of twenty years : »-«. »•-•, Plac San Francisco Sacramento Humboldt Bay IJcnicia . Monterey . Visalia . San Diego . Lo.s Angeles . Fort Yuma i c 5 til 56-3° 58-51 52-0 1 56-5°| 54-o^ 60.6=^ 59-4° 58.6^ 72.0° 59-5 71-5^ 57-5° 67. o^ 59-0I1 79-5' 69. i'' 68.6^ 90.0^1 E < 58.8I 62.1°; 53-0'' 60.5 ^ 57-0': 60.9° 63.8I 75-5°' Mean perature. Year. 5^1 .Ecu « = s ainfall. Vcar. E «a 2 2.31 « 51-9^ 56.6= 24.97 27.28 47-9' 59-9" 19.80 1.70 21.50 43-5' 51-5" . . . . . . 57-24 1 49.0' 5«-o" . . . . . . 22.86 1 51-0' 55-5'^ . . . . • . 12.20 1 48.6' 62.4° 9.96 0-53 10.40 54.1^ 61.6^ 11.70 .80 12.150 54-3' 61.7^ 19.88 1.38 2l.2(i 57-0' 73-5" 1.89 •73 2.62 In 1878, the maximum temperature was reached in San Fran- cisco, September 15th to i8th, when the thermometer stood at 86°, 90°, 92° and 93° Fahrenheit. In no other days of the year, except one in October, did it reach 80°. The lowest point was reached on the 4th of January and was 39° l^'ahrenheit. There were no frosts during the year. The extreme range of the year was 54°. In Sacramento the highest point reached was 103°; for three days the thermometer rose above 100° ; for twenty-three days it exceeded 95°, and for sixty-three days it was above 90°. The lowest point was reached January 3d. It was 27°. For six days there were frosts. The extreme range was 76°. , :.; In San Diego the thermometer indicated 91° on the first of September, but did not reach on" „ 5*7 o» only eleven days of the yTar C "''^^- " ^^^^ed vU;r;^;^;f \J''e4ewa?:3™"'"'""'"- ^-''-e ;-9.'6) reached .o6.5». jj T?:,; '°"f'."de from Greenwich ceeied 95 . The minimum, Januarv .Ih "^^'"'"^ days it ex- -ft days o frost. The ran.e was sfjo""' ''*° ^''^'•^ '^'^^e 1-os Angeles (latitude ,4" y* , ^ ^' i "8° .6') reached 93° on tt 'ot^of n"^'"',* '"'"' Greenwich er. Seven days exceeded ^ °!,, "'>"'."d "'e .stof Septem 'he 3. St of December, llerfw ■"'"""'"" »'« 36 s« Tn ?6.f° "^'^^ "'ere no frosts Ti, ^ '".5 . :,. . ™>''s- ihe range was fort Yuma (latitude ^2°.,. ;;3:.Juty.9th,.fourda.sw^;:rol^7;•-^^''4°^ .-: /rot; .tiv"^ • -"^ °- -^'.nciretrnrr .t- iiicr years the max mi.r», k j i ^'-^ above The nunimum, December t'Trnd 1 ^''" "'^ '"«'' ''^ '^6^ Range 8o». ' •='" ^nd January 3d, was .,<.' A?ncuUm-al Products ~P r '' i" a manner so attractive, thaTJel' ""'f ''^''.« "--^ted these sard to them. Speakino- at first of ^^ '"'"■ '" Pa«. in re- . "Of all the field-crops^row" n t^r;: '""■^f' "^ ->-■ «"Portantatthistime.Itwa, "he ;.'■"'''•'' is the most ■"'reduced on the subsidence of th "',™ '"^"^ "" a large scale -e,ved proved to be so much gtatj T' ""' "'^ -'-» "'O^e from the placer mines thftt "°"^ ^^"'"•'' than ™rs,nce remained the lar's and ' "7^ ^■'' ""'^'y' ^'^^ ''a P'o "ct of California agricuTt ,re T ^'"''■^">' ^PP-ciat.d 78, an average year, las "000 ocL' ^f""""' f"""-<^ '" ■069.8^5 were exported as grain ^°T ^ "™'^''^- "' »'>ich ''»''^- In the markets of the world ,t.^°°'^ •^^'^'"-'^ of ™st are noted for their hi^h n 1 ^^ *''"^'^ °f "'e ft ific ;*r of the .berry,' and tlS.^'^' ""^ P'"'"?"^^ - .gh PQ i>~5i .J 588 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. incentive to this culture. Nor is the California wheat-grower obliged to be very careful in the choice . of his seed. Probably every known variety of wheat has in the course of time been brought and tried here ; but all, in a short time, seems to assume very nearly the same peculiar California type, upon which, in fact, it would seem hard to improve materially. It is almost ludicrous, at times, to compare the eastern seed with its Califor- nia offspring, which has undergone the 'swelling process' of one season's growth in her generous soil and climate. It is but fair to say that substantially the same peculiarities are observable in the wheats of Oregon, grown in the valley of the Willamette and on the plains of the Upper Columbia. Since the growing season in the greater part of California extends, with little interruption from cold, from the begmning of November to June, the distinc- tion between winter and spring grain is also in a great measure lost. The farmer plows and sows as early as practicable, watch- ing his chances between rains, in November and December if he can, in March if he must, or at any convenient time between; increasing the amount of seed sown per acre in proportion as there remains less time for the grain to tiller. Should the ears fail to fill, he can still make hay, .;,; ; ;. " Much discussion has been had concerning the merits of early as compai-ed with late sowing. The objections against the former practice are that copious early rains may start the growth too rapidly, the chances being that in that case but little more water will fall until Christmas. It is true that the weather-wise may sometimes gain materially by delay in sowing ; but the general result of experience seems to be that it is better in the long run to take the risk of having to sow twice, rather than that of being kept from sowing at all, until too late, by persistent rains. It has therefore become a very common practice to ' dry-sow ' grain in summer-fallowed land in September and October. The seed lies quiescent in the parched and dusty ground until called forth by the rains, and in clean fields and ordinary seasons such grain generally yields the highest returns. The preparation of the ground for the crop on the large wheat farms is usually made by means of jang-plows with from two to six shares, drawn by ce.Urifo,al sower, .hie, 'shoS;:"^''"^' '^^''-«-'" -"'t furrows, ,„ strips thirty or more ft ' ^ !" "P°" ""^ ^esh-turned "•e great (usually flexible) wl T"*'' ^^'""^ ">e clay eTds work, and thirty or forty atesX'^ "" ''"' ^'''-''''--d their ■nornm. have been converted „l! ''.r''^ "" stubble-field in the 'ate, appliances for seedin. a„ ^ n "^""'f^''-'' Srain-field. ol .*e ganj..p,o„, themselv:?, ^^ hat T"'' T ''^'=" ""-"^hed to •" one open,tion-certai ,y "^e t r '' '^^"^ ''^ P^f-n'^d machinery. Seed drills are a, vlt in*^. ^r'"" °' '^bor-savin^ "owhere, probably, would drn in 'Vr '?'"^'' "''=■ -'">oui adnut o subsequent culture, fo want of"! r'""^' '" ^'J- fo fail on the heavier soils. DurinHhe "^ "°P' "f"^" '^'ally « often done by rolling alonT^a d :""[ "''"" ""= ^"-'^ring , "^n f e ;r ;:::f -;;^ ^^y,, effects oftorl^ ''^" />;ne) .he^vho.esale'„,ode o'' t? ' '"•*'= --"^ week of The scythe is used only to cur.heT ^ " "l"^")' Prevalent then follows the reaper h red f '>'' ^'"' "'^' °" =™all farms uUhe ,^,. .nli;XY;:i:X^r "- fam^r iCel^, too slow for the large crain L^ , ' " '° ^""eed is far »meti,„es thousands, ofTc'rr''' ° ''"' '"'^ ''""dreds ami ="owed by the exceedingly r7pid°:r'^ ""■""'" ""= ^^^-^ time ;"'■ ■^-'°- '03S by shed'dfnSer;'"'"^'' '''^''^l' "-eatens him *y even at night. His impin enr k ^u^ •'" *"' ''=''«°n very ""» the golden fields by from four „ • ^' P""' '"-'^''^'•' Pushed otters clip off the heads ^th onN r "*^ " ''"''''■ "^ vibrating ona swath sixteen and e" twenVv e'T"'-"^''' "^-^-«-S >'.»lv.ng apron carries the laden 7'^" '"^' ^'d<=. wWIe a re ^*. and having a curiou , w,de s anl'° k :T" '"'•'" ="°4 S everal of these wagons d ive tctandi 1 ,'°' "'"^ ^^^P'-"- ^d the steam-thresher, where, w.thirhalf .'''"^^" "'"««">^ --..^■■n the morning bre::r.::i--:^^s:i;t: pK<« J lea; ,~J O 590 06'A' ivesterjV em r ike. c 'i^ slilpinont to Liverpool. Even this energetic mode of procedure, however, has appeared too slow to some of the progressive men in business, and we have seen a wondrous and fearful combina- tion of header, thresiier and sacking-wagon, moving in procession side by side through the doomed grain. If this stupendous com- bination and last refinement shall prove practically successful, we shall doubtless next see the llouring-mill itself form a part of this agricultural pageant. Where farming is not done on quite so energetic a plan, the reaped and bound grain being at that season perfectly safe from rain, is left either in shocks or stacks until the threshing party comes around, mosdy with a portable engine often fed with straw alone, to drive the huge ' separator,' Vv'hose combined din and puffing will sometimes startU* late sleep- ers, as it suddenly starts up in the morning from the most unex- pected places. Two wagons usually aided by some ' bucks ' (a kind of sledge-rake, which also serves to remove the straw from the mouth of the thresher) feed the devouring monster. In an incredibly short time the shocks or stacks are cleared away and in their stead appear square piles of turgid grain-sacks and broad, low hillock? of straw. Both products often remain thus for six or eight weeks, the grain getting so thoroughly dry in the interval that there is frequently an overweight of five or more per cent, when, after I;s long passage in the damp sea air, the cargo reaches Liverpool. The moral question thus arising as to who is entided to the benefit of this increase I will not pretend to determine; but the producers say that they rarely hear of any differences in their favor. " The manner of disposing of the straw is one of the weakest points of California agriculture. Near to cities or cheap trans- portation, much of it is baled like hay, and finds a ready marker, but in remote districts it is got rid of by applying the torch ; and these 'straw fires' habitually redden the autumn skies as do the prairie fires in the Western States, covering the whole country with a smoke haze, as a faint reminiscence of the Indian summer, which is not otherwise well-defined on the Pacific coast, ihis holocaust of valuable materials, which might be made the means of some slight return of plant-food to the soil, is a standing re- easy to convert ic i,„o n^^^^^ J° "o, „ake " ^^ ummer rains. For i„ ^X^rl^T" "^'' '" ™"""-'e« l>avin. ow to favor rapid deca,- Jl '^."-•"'Perature i.s, after all !^ akes two seasons to 4„der tl,e ' , rr'"'"?'""- '' ""=■•« fore ffi-ound As yet, tlie conviction tl»r, ? "P'*='' considerable fon, and pound-foolishness 1 Is „ot ' ! ''T''"*'"'"^' '^ P-nywi ! luce tI.emajorityofwheat-g oZftn V"'f"'^"' '""""'oW o ^u.«ra.v,nto stacks with con'cave' :': f ' '^ '--s of putting arge-scale planting g,Ve, a Ja^as it '°°" '^ "''-' ^X^en, of fanmng on a smaller'scale. '' "' " ^°''" ""••^'. '« that of n," « ^^ the other ceroilQ K. ? - as ye. lay clain, rjntal'^y^r "'^ ^^^ "'<= «"'y ones tint -Unre are n,uch the same fk ' "['""r '^ ='"'' "^ "-' ds of Cal,forn,a are of exceptional vfi„' t""'' ^° ">'^ "parleys o lier' variety bein^ so eap-erlv f 1"'''">'' "'at of the tL ^- '"t'e of it finds is^:^J',:::^^',^-'>y eastern '""-ers l^t" common (six and four roZ ^"'''^"''"'a-brewed beer T " or s.^ i.i.h quality th ™;;el:sv:h;''rr^'^^' "'^™-'- 52 OC,' ..*)it( •^^ or; 5—31 C3 .J 592 OUR WESTER!^ EMPIRE. to quality, size, and yield per acre, can compete with any in the Mississippi valley. The large foreign element in the population limits the demand for corn-meal, and, as before remarked, on account of the mild winters, hog-raiaing on a large scale is not likely to become important in the State. A good deal, however, is planted for green-soiling purposes in connection with dairies. The planting is generally done very late in April, and in May after everything else has been attended to, since in the coast climate a crop of corn is often made without a drop of rain from the time of planting, when the season has been one of abundant moisture. Of late, several millets, and among them especially the D/mrra or Egyptian corn, are coming into favor. The Dhurra, though not as much relished by cattle as maize fodder, will admit of three cuttings each season, when irrigated, and the meal made from its grain is by many preferred to corn-meal, while as a chicken-feed it is, apparently, superior to anything else. " Of other field crops, the 'beans ' that formed the chief solace of the Argonauts of early days are still prominent, especially where the Mexican element is somewhat strong. To them •frijoles' are still the staff of life, supplemented by the ' tamales,' the native preparation of the ' roasting-ears ' of green corn. " The Irish potatoes grown in California are not, as a rule, of first quality, but incline to be watery. The tuber is largely im- ported from Utah under the name and style of 'Salt Lake pota- toes,' albeit much that is sold under that brand is of California growth. The sweet-potato flourishes especially in the lighter soils of the coast south of San Francisco ; its quality would not be likely to be criticised by any but those who have been accus- tomed to the product of the Gulf States or of the Antilles. " The big pumpkins of California have acquired a world-wide reputation not unlike that enjoyed by the sea-serpent. The un- prejudiced observer, however, readily appreciates the fact that when a well-organized pumpkin has ten months* time to grow instead of three or four, it has every reason to give a corre- sponding account of its stewardship. But while a laudable ambition to excel may result in the production of three hundred- mconvcnr.-nt to l,a,u||e in, I 1 •'^""■>• ••"■« not the rulo- b,.;„ -«•••■•" nge, incline, ..'b n'^^""-''- °^«->-"-^ ox :;,,v f mammoth beets (mange, ^ 1:"'' ""'«''• ''•'- san,e i t^,,;' ^^^Kn left out in the fiel.T /l ^' ^^""'^ a"'' turniu, wl "•-"'y to ,.0. ^JZZvr'l" '''"'"■ -"■'-■ t • -other crop. The dairy nZ an '^\'T ^°"-» '° p" crops largely, and are chiefll ^'o^^k-breeders raise thV .1.0 monsters. '""=«>' -^P°n3ib]e for the prodic^io''';; S-, anr^X::reltttt:i^l^, ■•" ^ '-^^ P°--o„ „r ,he -hness ,. as much as nineteen 1 ^n '^ ' ■>"'? "' -'^--'.nan (bu I can vouch for fifteen onrr " ''^'■'^'='' '" ''ome cas, s a feir degree of purftv s , °'" P'-"''^°"«' experience! 1 ^ ;'-dy exist, thi fZest;^:: err°'^^ ^-t-sUfri 10 ..smanagement. It i, difficu 1 1 '""""\^PP'"-ently been ch,e and the possibility of keep^g J.Irf "^' «•"' such n.ateri Ae plantmg of successive crop "^^h T^^^ ^°' "'"« "onths by one of the most important 2d N '"^"^."-y should not become able to compete wuh any suLr ' 'T' '" """ S'«^' ='"d iu I Iv ^'-o'lueed in the soIZT^TJIT^"^ '"" ^^ --ft" iiop-PTow np- 1*« an ; ^ ^'"on ot the coast Russ,an river region, „'ort„ "fSan 7'"'° ^^""^^ ''""in the duct ,s of e..cellent quality, and hi k'""T ^y- The pro! brewers. ^ '* '""'^'i sought after hv P, T ■•Q( , "'"^r Dy Eastern -ntion:^:;;:^,;;' "ot^L":;- Vr '■"P""-- -ay be »«.of San Francisco; of!L I' "^^ '" '^^ ^°ast region I'oo'l of Stockton, supplying f Ll. ^°'^ ™°'' ''" *<= "■^'sbbor" Pom,d .old ffovernmenrLa coffe'"°u'.°^ *« P^^^^e^cl and -me ndghborhood the c£e of he"p '^^"^^^'- '' *« plant (Pynthmm caneum\ i, K.- '^'"'^'a" '"sect-powder Product being in very g^ L ,tn"^-'"''''''"""^ ^='™«d 0"Uhe 7''"!; abundance of fleaT Th,C^ '.°" °" ^"O""' °f the pre i::r' "'^' '^ som whL i":^ ."^'"'""pp''^^-^-^ C3 594 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. oil in tlcmand, the fact that the whole State is overrun with the plant that produces it, as a most troublesome weed, proves what could be clone with it if fostered. *' Nothing, probably, strikes the new-comer to California more forcibly, and nothing certainly more agreeably, than the advan- tages offered by a climate where plants can ordinarily Ix: kept growing from ten to twelve months in the year, providetl water is supplied. The immigrant desiring to make a home for him- self is delighted to find that the rapid growth of shrubbery and flowers — and among them many that he has so far seen only nurtured in greenhouses — will enable him to create around him in the course of three seasons, on a bare lot, a home atmosphere that elsewhere it would have required ten or more years to establish. The housewife, however industriously disposed, is not ill-pleased to find herself relieved from the annual pressure v">f the ' preserving season ' by the circumstance that fresh fruits are in the market at reasonable rates during all but a few weeks in the year ; so that a few gallons of jellies is all that is really called for in the way of 'putting up.' It is not less pleasing to her, as well as to the rest of the family, that a good supply of fresh vegetables is at her command at all seasons, and that the Christmas dinner, if the turkey docs cost thirty cents a pound, may be graced with crisp lettuce, radishes, and green peas just as readily as it may be celebrated by an open-air picnic on the green grass under blooming bushes of the scarlet gooseberry. Of course there are seasons of preference for each vegetable, but among the great variety naturally introduced by the various nationalities there are few that cannot be found in the San Fran- cisco market at almost any time in the year — if not from local culture, then from some point between Los Angeles and the mouth of the Columbia. The truck-gardens are largely in the hands of the Italians and Portuy:uese, who have brouijlit with them from their home habits of thrift ; and their manure; piles, windmills for irrigation, and laborious care of their unceasing round of crops on a small area, render their establishments easy of recognition. Their products are distributed partly by them- selves, partly by the biquitous Chinese huckster, trotting with his two \m^^ baskets uikI.t •,„.,:,.*, »» c-y for any ,.„,,,. „, ^^^t^^^'^'^^^'^^^n. would i;..««I ,„,!,, truck-fan„,W b, si ." ,-,""""" •■''^" "^^' ^n- C'ty ". .I.C Unitcl Stitcs ', ' "{ '''-■ '"''>■ '^■"•-1 'l>.U in no » well ae so ^'onerously aided ^f^^^^^Z^ZX:^- --s the reputation of pears seetn to have been the tn, ^"'"' '''^''"" "•'""■'■ Its spocal excellence; sranc J r'" '" «-'"''"'"S 'he award of Piace alongside. and.l^Hra ' ;- T^ "■"'^, ^^P'"'^ -'- P"te the palm with Sicily and ,1,^ , n'"""' ''*"'= '^°'»'-- '" dis- pecuharity of California fruit „' re -■'• '^'"-' "'«' «ril- V\"°' '^'-"■•"'' ' 's o7 and convcnicnco of tU , "'' ^^^'y. >i't as vfh h, be necessary to rcl ^^r^'^^'^^^^^ '^ "ot so .ene^ ,V^' "'''"^'^'^ r "^'^''* ^'it.«m cn.nllv .»» '^"^'^^"'> ^v'lat would S- ..ey ro^r .;: -^-;on up . ... no^rn'Xr'o T J""""ff countrcs, w icrc -il«<^ .i, .'>"-''' ^an Bernardino aid other more strictly tron o'l f ■ ' P""^^«l'P'e, banana "Z^' »."easure, what has li °' 'i^'' ""'^ ^ "'ainly under tial?: ■Wl'^'s here also. Uri, T ""^ '''^- '"°'-<^ northern r produced, „,„ch also ) ; .'^f' ""■ "^ ''.c hish":'' al "'J: very poor lots nn. ^ ^ *^'-"^'P^'nmontaI srn.r,. , ^ ^ ?)«™a.,c experiments, diTcusl' ''''r'^''^' P°«siblc tin,V ^v '"connection with the aWc, .raid '"'' '"'^""'"'^ '"V'^^igat;,^' c'tnc acid can hardjy fail before I ^^''^ "lanufacture "'^ste of precious n,aterial TI ^°"^'- ^« P"t an end to 7 extent similarly used 1 V P°"^^^^'-^'nate. which t\l Theolluo . ' ^^eneral y finds p r.o > . ^ ^° some ^^"le mixtures of ... ^^'"^'"'''^ '" ^^^^ cities C J M ^ !'"' • 'turacted considerable a-- - Pti T 5q8 ^^'^' "'/i\S/ytAW EMPIRE. attention, and small quantities of excellent oil have been made in various parts of the State, proving beyond cavil that its pro- duction can be made an important industry. The culture of the fig in California is co-extensive with that of the vine, and Loth fresh and dried fruit of the highest quality is found in the market. "As to nuts, the European walnut, Italian chestnut and almond are those whose culture on a large scale has been successfully carried out. The filbert may also be mentioned. Of these, the almond has been made the subject of the largest experiments, and, as might be expected, there have been numerous disappoint- ments in consequence of the selection of unsuitable localities, subject to light frosts at the lime of bloom. The best results have been obtained in situations moderately elevated above the valleys, ' thermal belts,' where the cold air cannot accumulate. The quality of ihe product leaves nothing to be desired, where proper care is had in selection of varieties. "The Jappnese persimmon promises here, as in the Soudicrn United States, to prove an important acquisition. The jujube, the carob, the pistachio nut, and many others are under trial, "Of siiir.ll fruits, the strawberry Is in the market durlnor the twelve months of the year. Raspberries and blackberries are largfly grown, both for market and canning. The currant Is of especial excellence and size, and Is extensively grown between the rows in orchards. Gooseberries have not been altofrcdicr successful In gene''al culture. "A good deal has been said and written about coffee culture. It was currently reported that a kind of coffee grew wild In the fout-hllls, and of course the real coffee must succeed. The 'wild coffee,' however, is simply the California buckthorn [Franoula Calijornica), and of course no more suitable for a beverage than turnip-seed. True, coffee trees are now growing at numerous points I;, the State, but It Is not probable that the culture will prove a success outside of South California. " The grape-vine was among the culture plants Introduced earliest by the Catholic missionaries. The similarity of the Cali- fornia climate to that of the vine-crrowino: recrions of the Medlter- COFFEE AND GRAPE CULTURE. 599 nade pro- •e of :, and n the imond ssfully sc, the mcnts, ppoint- :alities, rcsuks )ve the mulate. 1, where outhcrn jujube, itrial. the Incs are Int IS of ictween toireiher I culture. II in the Ihc 'wild \mngnh icre than jmerous ture will reduced Ihc Cali- llediter- uig ranean would naturally suggest the probable success of vine culture, corroborated by the fact that a native vine, albeit with a somewhat acid and unpalatable fruit, grows abundantly along the banks of all the larger streams. The grape variety introduced by the missionaries, and still universally known as the * Mission ' grape, was probably the outcome of seed brought from Spain ; it most resembles that of the vineyards which furnish the ' Beni- carlo' wine. It is a rather pale-blue, small, round berry, forming at times very large and somewhat straggling bunches. It is very sweet, especially in South California, has very little acid, very litdc astringency, no definite flavor, and, on the whole, commends itself as a wine-grape only by the abundance of its juice and its rrrcat fruitfulness. The American immiofrants found this vine growing neglected around the old missions, along with the olive, fig and pomegranate. It soon attracted the attention of the European emigrants from wine-growing countries, was resusci- tated and propagated, and still forms the bulk of the vineyards of California. We have good testimony to the effect that the wines made by the missionaries were of very indifferent quality, owing partly, of course, to the inferiority of the grape used, but chiefly to the primitive mode of manufacture ; the entire caskage consisting of a few large, half-glazed earthenware jars {tinajas), from which the fermented wine was rarely racked off, being niosdy consumed the same season. Still, the luscious grapes and refreshing wines of the missions are dwelt upon with all the delight that contrast can impart by travelers just from the fiery ordeal of the Arizona deserts, or the thirsty plains of the Upper San Joaquin. The European wine-makers soon improved vastly upon the processes and product of the padres, but, in accordance with the fast ideas of the early times of California, they impru- dcndy threw their immature product upon the general market, and thereby damaged the reputation of California wines to such a degree that it is only of late years that the prejudice thus created has been overcome, not only in consequence of better methods of treatment, and greater maturity of the wines when marketed, but also, and most essentially, by the introduction of the best grape varieties from all parts of the world. The result a:: cc', ,—1 ■:3 6oo OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. is, that at this time, a large part of tlic wines exported are either partially or wholly made of foreign grape varieties, and, as a whole, v/ill compare favorably with the product of any luiro[)ean country, while among the choicer kinds now ripening there are some that will take rank with the high-priced fancy brands of France. It is true that so far all California-grown wines arc recognizable to experts, a peculiar flavor difficult to define, which has been called * earthy,' recalling to mind that of the wines of the Vaud and of some of Burgundy. But this peculiarity re- mains unperceived by most persons, and is not comparable in intensity to the ' foxy ' aroma of wines made from the American grape varieties. " Another prominent peculiarity of the California wines is that they are generally of considerable alcoholic strength, as the re- sult of the intense and unremitting sunshine under which tlicy invariably ripen. This is especially the case in the Los Angeles region, whose natural wines are by many, at first blush, thought to be ' fortified,' since they not only reach the maximum alcoholic strength attainable by fermentation, but even then retain a very perceptible amount of unchanged sugar. This circumstance interferes, of course, with the safe daily and sanitary use of the native wines at home, and explains the fact that as yet a not in- considerable amount, of French clarets especially, is imported into California for table use by the foreign-born population. This folly (for such it must be considered in this point of view) has already been in a measure remedied by the use of such varieties as the Hungarian ' Yinfandel ' and others of a more acid and tart character ; and it is quite probable that it will be found desirable to limit the time of exposure of the ripe grapes to the sugar-making autumn sun in order to restrict still further the alcoholic strength of some of the wines. Of course, the German and French vintners are difficult to convince that there may be in California too much of the blessed sunshine, every hour of which, in their native climes, adds to the market value of their product. This is but one of the many points in which the vini- cultural practice of California seems susceptible of improvement. We find elsewhere that long experience teaches the vintners of each country how to obtain tl.r. 1 . ««' Fr.,cular conCit/ons ; an ,',:: ''"""''<=. ■•-""■■' ""cK.. ,heir ""^d-e each the pn^cC of '^ '■•'"■^' '•"■"^'> and Gorn.a /'j country, and the Wr ^ ^''""'"g- Pi-evailfnrMn fh. «% eno„,„, a;i^•^':;:zr• t"^^"^ --■'^"e rr The experin,e„,al sta^c in C "l ".r • '""^ ^"""ary treatn^t ■"Sly evidenced by the grit !? r"^-"""^"'? - also stnk- ™>^y.-.rds of progressive .,row" T ,^ ^'^'"'' =''" '"°"»J in i,e 'n "=e n,arl.o,s and i„ fair^Tn oV" '" '"''"'' °' -'>-!> we fi^ ploy of tliejjrape varieties of X "'■""^' •■'"^' '''-■^"'i''"! d"s more convincing as re^arcLth, 1 ","""-" • ^'"' "«'"-n^' can be - *- industry than tiK- e« n'oH ^"' "'■'"'"'''•'■•'>' °f ''-Stat r'"i' '" "'i3 respect the be t „r , '"°f °^ "'«<-■ "f'-n su allows the currant and the oran. J » ' '" ^ '^'imate v'hich ^ "Another dntwback to tlKoSit T? ''''''-■ "^^ ='d<=- '^dency of each vine-jjro verrl V^""-' "'"^ "'"^ far is the ;° °n'y an unnecesfarrm hij ''' °"" "™^-' 'nvolvit -b.e, etc., but also the ::S^" "' ^°^">' ''"■Win^' ™l>m? ,s an easy thing, and cinl "''■^"'"P'ion that wine iiie introductbn of lo • ^ '"^^ a reonJir '^^--' »perts (like T :: ::£:;:Siir"a,ed by^pt: estabJishment of Buena - , pa; 602 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. P2: Vista, near Sonoma Town), has gone far toward redeeming the wines of California from the reproach cast upon them by the hasty marketing of first crude efforts, which has, until lately, caused much of the native product to be sold under foreign labels. They have always possessed at least the merit of being made of the grape pure and simple, ungallized and unpalntecl, not so much, perhaps, as tlic result of superior virtue of wine- makers on the Pacific coast as because the superabundance and low price of grapes reduces the temptadon to adulterate or 'correct' the natural product to a minimum. Even within the last few years some vineyards in the interior have been in part harvested by turning in hogs ; and other uses for the surplus product have been sought and found in the making of an excel- lent syrup by evaporation of the must. The growing appre- ciation and consequent better price of California wines will probably hereafter prevent recourse to such expedients. "A detailed consideradon of the methods of wine-making is be- yond the limits of the present article, but it should be said that after the picking of the grapes (usually by Chinese) the means and appliances used in the succeeding processes are generally (as in other branches of agriculture in California) of the most approved and efficient kind, and the operations conducted in the most cleanly manner. The reported treading of the grapes by the feet of 'Greasers' in the southern part of the State applies only to the pommace destined for distillation into brandy; albeit for certain kinds of wine (W? IVESTEKAT EMPIRE. extent, the ' first run ' of the ' "^ "'- ord/na,,. barley hay,- wW^h, ^j,,, oat, inSv ''™? ' *'"•■'" ''^V ' -"d mass of the hay crop, are LZIZT"^' "!""'""^' "'« "-" fi«| ^tnke the agricultural i, ,mf J''' ^^Jf"-""'^" «Wities that gram, as well as so much of the flrlv' °'' °^ ""= '^'^ ^o«n does not promise a good crain . ^ T" ''^ fro"' any cause tl'ae conmionly springs up ^1,,™''' '"'^ ">^ ' volunteer crop • P^ev,ous season's grl'n on Tand rr^''' •n''^'' ''" ''^^vesting X purpose, for which It genera |vt """r"^' '' ''^^oted to , s according to location.^ OddWnrT'' ^" '""" """^ "' C connnonly arises on freslStr^f ' ?^"^""'-' "° " - straw ,s so strong and tall as , '"'"*'','''"''■ ^'""^ ">e fact that the ■«°%. Agreftdeala, o .cunuo"',""""^'''^ '■^ -'4 Smm .s almost full-grown-i be „ ' ZT " ""'""'■ "'-" ">e liat the greatest total weirfu i, i, '^ 1 ''"°"" "'=« it is then yn that case of course , f red '''"""^^i, "- q'-lity, however of Apnl to that of May) tC Weather "? 'T""'''"^ ""^ (-^ .s httle difficulty about curing Ther '^ '° ''-•>' "'^^ "ere storms to call fo a hasty ganerin! of H "f "° ^"'''^^•" "'"nder- - there that injury from^rat "wi| „^ '''^; ^^ ""''' danger s.iocks are often left exoosed f„ ""'' ''''^' ^^y that the -ion of dew and suns ,i, f T eTelT"'^ '° ">e'bleachin; to gather them into laro-e rlJ,^^' P™«'«' ''owever is -ference to protection CrXT *^'f' '"''" "■"''°« " ch conven,e„ce for pressing "to teles Th^""'' ''^g^'-'J '° 'he contract with gangs or ■dressers 't;,,,' " ■""^"^ <^°"'= by CcrtXtd%::rc?S:,7'' - '-e sear., after of t e culture of Alfalfa; tl bit .^e '' " "'^ '"troduction the variety of Lucerne that wi T ""''v^^ally applied 6"« 6o6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. climate of Chili, is of course especially valuable in California, as it enables the plant to withstand a drought so protracted as to kill out even more resistant plants than red clover; as a substi- tute for the latter, it is difficult to over-estimate the importance of Alfalfa to California agriculture; which will be more and more recognized as a regular system of rotation becomes a part of tlie general practice. At first Alfalfa was used almost exclusively for pasture and green-soiling purposes; but during the last three or four years Alfalfa hay has become a regular article in the general market, occasional objections to its use being the result of want of practice in curing. On the irrigated lands of Kern, Fresno, and Tulare counties, three and even four cuts of forage, aggregating to something like twelve to fourteen tons of hay per acre, have frequently been made. As the most avail- able green forage during summer. Alfalfa has become an Invalu- able adjunct to all dairy and stock-farming, wherever the soil can, during the dry season, supply any moisture within two or three feet of the surface. ''Grasses. — Of the ordinary pasture and meadow grasses of Europe and the East, but a few have to any extent gone Into cultivadon. One of the most unsulted to the climate, viz., Ken- tucky blue grass, is carefully nurtured by daily sprinklings as the chief Incrredlent of lawns, 'for which the Eastern immlcrrant generally maintains a preference, often satisfied at an inordinate cost of money and labor, and sometimes of health. As water for household purposes is almost universally kept under press- ure from elevated tanks or water-works, the hose and lawn- sprinkler are probably in more general use here than in any other country; and innumerable attacks of rheumadsm and malarious fever are traceable to their Intemperate use, even to the injury of the coveted grass itself. But few attempts have as yet been made to find an acceptable substitute for the costly blue-grass lawn. Among those which promise best are the >alian rye grass, which remains green all summer without irri- gation in the bay climate ; and, with proper treatment, doubtless the Bermuda grass could also be used. In either case, fully six out of seven weekly sprinklings might be dispensed with. This srocA:„,r^^^,^^ ,^^ ,^^^^^^^^ other points it l« r« i . "^ 'or ' vo untecr In,' i -i -fc'.ons the soft meadow .;''^''f^ T '""''"■^'''"'y '>riifated gularly inappropriate namc^o j f"""""'' ""d-^ tl,e sin wcl as l,ay; but tlie latter irnJr '° "'^ '<"■ P^^ure as ;-■. Oflate various ;:L;r::-"'"^' "'"'^'' -<-• '-aly n ■"ff .nto favor; amon.. tire osn T'"^ °' '"'Shvm are com corn, and the pearl ntil t r^^ylf "^ "'"■ ^'"'™' °-- Ii"yr nC planes are undl trial in v rLt p^;;' ^^ff • Otherl^:;" for none can compare i„ import. nCwith,h ^'''"' '■ ''"' "'"^ Al al a, n ,s probable that hereafter r'T''^ grasses and and clovers, now considered a 1 , "'" °^""-' "ativc grasses able for culture. "' '^ "^^'''' ""'y. will be found profit! pation, the bree^nj. of Z^^^'tZ^'^' '° '^^ An.erican occu- lt cattle, roaming in Z^tZTl:"'':" ' '"^^^ ^--"° j! ^''"^^ "^"'Pa'ion of the inhabitants T"'' ""^'«=^' "as e remnant of the original Span !h M ''"'^ '° •'' ^'^^•'" -'^'^nt I'ngs to the old pursuft, which afibn)",''" P°P"''''-" ^"-'l Pcrnms of indulgence in that I// ''" '^='=)' "velihood, and ""possible to the 'Ameri^no^Kf ''"'"'''' "''''•^'--"- o'be nanonalities that compose the '^ ^ '^ "''"'''^ '"^V be the " ">"' happens that'^e ven X" m"°" "^ "'^ ^"''"^ State owned by Americans, .he hertsl \V'" ' ^"^ ^'^"^ - "a.ve 'vaqueros,' who, mounted n '".^S'-^at extent still ,he «'tl. the old-time lassoTn ' "''""' ''«'■'='>' "n.stanes and •1-''°™ of their hi^ Mixca: fT^'^ ''='^°')' ^-'ed f^und ">!- 'o gtu-de their steed Z *"''■ ='"'' '^^^'x '"ore than a ^'-pln-ll-sideswithadlreCJof' T"! ''""'""S around the »ff»"st the breaking of neck. If ''' '"■"'"^'-y Precautions ;erves ofnovice lookers-on a's a t;:,''"';^ ^^^-^''^S to the arely happen to these wild rid»rs '^ ° "^"^ ""'^^"'^ very '"g .n bounds and ' corralin; the iaule f '"""""'y '" "^-P" " t"e cattle intrusted to their care, 1(3:-; I— 3i 6o8 Oi'K !r/:s7'/:A'A' empiri:. S on the most riijjgcd groiiiul, is remarkable. It is but fair to say, however, that their practice has been (jiiite successfully imitated by other nationalities, and that many a swarthy h(?rdsman now- a-days responds more promptly to the Saxon or Norse saluta- tion than to that of the Mexican-Spanish dialect. "The purely pastoral method of stock-raising is, of course, gradually receding before the advance of agriculture proper to the more thinly settled regions ; maintaining itself, however, in some of the large ranches o\/ned by parties declining to sell to small farmers. The obvious disadvantage of being entirely at the mercy of the seasons, thus sometimes losing in a single dry year all the increase of a previous succession of favorable ones, has gone far toward the introduction of a safer system, in which the hardy and nutritious Alfalfa serves to carry reduced nuniljcrs of stock of correspondingly higher quality safely through the dry months. In few States, probably, is the value of improved breeds more highly appreciated than in California; and nowhere, probably, can the best strains of the more important breeds be seen in greater perfection, i . one domestic animal of com- mon note, not as well represented in California as elsewhere, is the hog ; the obvious cause of the comparative neglect being the absence of a sufficiently long and regular period of frcc;:Inrr weather, whereby the safe packing and curing of pork, hams, etc., is rendered too precarious. While, therefore, fresh pork of excellent quality is commonly found in the markets, the sup- plies of bacon, ham, and lard are, as a rule, furnished by the Western States, and partly by Oregon. Foremost in numbers among the rest is undoubtedly the sheep, in its double capacity of wool-bearer and producer of some of the best mutton in the world ; a combination which has doubtless contributed much to the preference given it on the part of the somewhat inert native population. Easily satisfied with scanty pasturage, and in the southern part of the State scarcely needing shelter, the sheep is the very animal <'or the swarthy inhabitant of the adobe house, who loves to take his ease lounging on the airy veranda, askiiiLf of fate no luxury beyond a due allowance of cigaritos, and not at all envious of the greater comforts and riches of his unquiet, hard-working, and ever-scheming Saxon neighbor. CALIFORMA SHE HP. 6oq "The common sheep of the country, whiU; far from beiiv^ a high-bred animal, is yet siipc'rior in many points to the stock commonly found in other countries, and its adaptation to the diinate has rendered it profitable in cases where improved stock failed to pay. The Spanish Merino, whose blood doubtless runs in ihi veins of the native stock, seems to be best adapted to its improvement, and the b(.'st of this breed has been imported into liii; Slate. 'I'he wool-clip is among the most important products ol' South California ; but it would seem that the attainment c the highest quality requires some change from the natural con- (1 'ions of pasturage, which present too great a contrast between the wet and dry seasons to insure perfect uniformity of the fibre. This, however, can undoubtedly be accomplished by the intro- duction of the proper forage plants. In dry seasons, such as that of 1876-77, the mortality among the larger flocks has some- times amount quality of dairy products is improving so much that as a market for all but tlie choicest kinds, California will soon be closed to the Eastern producer, and will, perhaps, compete with him in foreign markets. The average quality of the milk supplied to San Francisco and Oakland, from the numerous 'dairy ranches' on the coast and bay and in the Coast Range, is greatly superior to that generally found in Eastern cities ; one obvious reason being that in the absence of distilleries there is no opportunity or temptation to feed the cows on unhealthy offal ; nor do the sleek and healthy cows that range the breezy hills of the coast ever need to be propped or slung up in order to enable them to stand the milking process. It is believed that an undue increase of bulk from a too free use of the pump is all that the milk con- sumers of ther.e cities ever have to complain of. ''Bnltcr is now very generally of fair quality, some brands being quite up to the 'gilt-edge ' standard. It is usually sold in rolls supposed to weigh two pounds, but in reality always several ounces belov that weight — a circumstiuic-; so well understood, however hat the practice hardly amounts to deception. The price per roll rarely falls below fifty cents to the consumer, ami ranges more generally from sixty cents to %\.\o about Christmas time, when even that which has been packed in casks w ith salt during the spring and summer brings seventy cents. "The intimate connection "(to the housekeeper at least) of butter with egcrs suggests a few words on that subject in this place. The demand for eggs is unusually large in California cities, in consequence of the commonly prevailing practice of not only single men and women, but also small families in moderate circumstances, living in lodgings, and taking an easily made breakfast of eggs, bread and coffee, thereafter going to the res- taurant for dinner, and thus avoiding the pains and pleasures of housekeeping. V^iatever may be said of the desirabiiity of this practice in a social point of view, it manifests its effects in the price of eggs, wnicl; rarely falls below thirty cents per dozen to the consumer, and is more frequently among the fifties and up- ward ; even so, fowls cannot often be boucrht at less than eitrhty cents apiece, and j^i is a common price. Poultry-keepings is therefore a very remunerative n„rs,„V , *'' s."ce feed ,s as cheap as elsewhere " ":" ^''-^-'o-^y managed '"- wh,d, have no, as yl ^ een " " •■''-■ "^ ">« ind.^.' specal d,Hicuines to be o4r ome "n ""t"^' '''"=- ="« "o ;-_; )-' a great .leal of money LVLr"^'""""^' '" -="''■-- a»J 'he mar™; is a^ '"' °' '^'P^-^ hivesa"i,T " ' "°^^ of bees have been introduced an 7 T "'" '"'P™^«l varieties .ate especially this indu "tr 4 r ra^s"? '™""^- P-' of I e en,et w,th elsewhere, as can rS K "" ' ^^^'^ ""^ °ft«' to 'horns' the export, amouniint. h^.s I """" ^'""^ *<= 'i-nires ' kail millions of ponnds. Ho ^ k i'/.f '?, "", '«" "»" thre^ and "- the desert region of thatcl,nt"f I *<= '""ey-bee takes to :^ ^-•" -'PPosed by many to 77. ' T' "'"■^"•'"<^-'' '" what ,: ;'".^"«'-nable fact ; namely It so ''°''' ''"' "'>«' is 1" An.ona, struck a re.rular'fit "'" """"''■ P'-ospeciin<, "'■f "here tl,e bees had been !'"" ' "' '»"^-> '" a « kf ' «b»"?'. the vein-contents w c Z^"^ ''T^''^ for years a^,]' ;•;«;, they took to it kindi;:nd" ; ,:;.;'"-'^ ''" ''-■" -arch-' "bulous amount of honey.^ Anotht ',' "-"^^^""S therefrom possession o/ the court-house c „nl J^^'"""™"' ^lony took ;»™..ated several hundrt p'^ /oft" "^■'•"r''-. -^1 Z, The bee ,s very fond of the tiow-er nf "^ *'^"" dis^covered 7"). as well as of a nun,be oT „ ," "'°""'->'" ==age {^,y, :^<-^;; ""iin,ited pastu::'t,: o I 't r " t-'-' ^"' -^- «m.s that certain kinds of fir, ^ """"'-^""'■ths of die year It "■^I'oney a tendency o becom:?',"? T' '''''"'''•^'^' ' Part to -Paration of n,inute\vhite " , L'f ''"' ''''^'"'"S. fro'n, I e ™ ascenained. Such honev who! T "''"'' ''^^ ""t as yet l^ly of tl,e highest, J,as been ,„ ",' "' '^'"'''"''' ^^- ^-^ner '" '^--n and Knglish m rk ' l^'i,:"'^"'"' °^ ^^""-^'o" Tne prejud,ce arising from ex:; CO «— 31 614 0[/a: western empire. this merely conventional defect will soon be overcome, and Soutli California will doubtless become one of the largest, if not the largest, honey-producing country of the world. ''Silk-culture is at present almost extinct in California in con- sequence of the reaction against the mania for this industry that began in the State some eighteen years age and raged witii unabated fury for several years, inflicting severe losses upon those who indulged in the popular delusion that the silk-wonn would thrive in the State without any special precautions in the way of shelter and such intelligent care as can be given only by those versed in its treatment. Some of the airy sheds that wcro supposed to be an adequate protection against the compara- tively slight changes of temperature are still extant, as monu- ments of that flush period when mulberry trees were thouij^ht to be the only nursery stock worth having. It can hardly be doubted that the advantages offered by a climate in which the food of the worm is available during all but two or three months in the year, yet free from the excessive heat that elsewhere mili- tates against the insect's well-being, will ultimately assert them- selves in the resumption of silk-culture in a calmer mood. It has been very successfully kept up, on a small scale, by Mr. Gustavus Neumann, of San Francisco, showing pretty concki- sivel)' that it is not the nature of the climate, but adverse com- mercial and industrial circumstances that at present keep the rise of silk-culture in check." The tables on page 615 show the leading agricultural products of the State (except grapes and wine) for the year 1878 as esti- mated by the Agricultural Department; the statistics of 1879 are not yet received. They give also the estimated live-stock of the State in January, 1S79. In regard to items not entering into these statistics, .vc mav say that in 1877 California had 30,000,000 grape vines, most of them in bearing, one county (Los Angeles) alone having over 6,000,000 ; of fruit trees, common to temperate climates, 340,000 in bearing, and of sub- tropical fruit trees, the almond, lemon, orange, olive, fig, etc.. 500,000. Of wine 6,400,000 gallons were exported in 1877 over the Central Pacific Railway, and about 1 Sou til [lot llv.: in con- try that -•cd with LIS upon lk-\vorni ns in tile I only by hat were :onipara- as monu- iou;j;lu to larelly be which the ie months ■here niili- ;ert thcm- mootl It Ic, by Mr. y conclu- rse corn- keep the |l products :8 as esti- of iS/9 llive-stock •.vc nK'\' L most ol i-iniT over 340,000 id, lemon, lions were Ind about CROPS AND LIVESTOCK IN CALIFORNIA. 615 45,000,000 pounds of wool, beside the large amount retained for home consumption. Of salmon, mostly in tins, 7,841,680 pounds were shipped eastward in 1877 ; of borax 536,000 pounds. 1 Crops. Measures. Quantity produced. Av'nc yield Nunilier of .-icres V\ilue per bushel or Total valuation. 1 Products. per acre. of each crop. Ion. Indian corn bushels 3,467,250 34-5 100,500 .60 $2,080,350 Wlieat . 41,990,000 17- 2,470,000 1.03 43.249,700 Rve . . 195,000 15- 13,000 •75 146,250 Oats . . 4,350,000 30- 145,000 .69 3,001,500 Barley . 14,950,000 23- 650,000 •65 9,717.500 Potatoes . 4,377.600 114. 38,400 .98 4,290,048 Hay . . tons 1,271,000 2.05 620,000 4,036,900 12.61 16,027,310 $78,512,658 ! I.ive-stock. — Animals. Number. Average price. Value. Horses .... Whiles Milch cows , . . Oxen and other cattle Sheep Swine 273,000 25,700 459,600 1,010,000 6,889,000 565,000 2543-95 66.24 25.90 18.91 1.61 5-95 $".998,350 1,702,368 11,903,640 19,099,100 11,091,290 3.361,750 $59,156,498 Maimfactui'ins; Products. — California, not content with being the richest agricultural State and one of the best mining States of " Our Western Empire," aspires also to a high rank as a manu- facturing State, for which, indeed, she has many facilities. Her earliest manufactures were connected with her minine interests mining implements and machinery, and generally, miners' su )- plies. In these she has been remarkably successful, and at tie present time some of the best mining machinery known is pro- duced at San Francisco, and in other California cities ; the excep- tional size and excellence of her forest trees led to the produc- tion of lumber for mining, building, and railroad purposes, and to the finer manufactures of wood as furniture, etc.; the vast l^erds of cattle and the great quantities of hides placed upon her market led to the establishment of tanneries and to the produc- tion of leather for harness, saddles, hunters' trappings, etc., a dass of manufactures very greatly to the taste of her Hispano- PC", .-a .'3 6i6 OUR IVr.S/A/fJV f/tf/'Il tj-5' ::::> American |.>oj:)iilation ; and her va#t ftodfi* /©"f slieerj- made her chief city one ot ciie l>est wool market*- m the ^// ntr juad stimu- lated manufactures of s ftjrure among her products, are mostly in demand for the jimrtin^ <'4iHncts and miners' supplies. What amount of capital is >«ves*- nearly traversed ArLona „ r.'"'"*-"-^' '-°'<"-ado at vla »s pos»i|,|, i„ El ,. '"'°"'''/"'' IS making its wav a, J , 1 >.,,:, • ■"*"' on the PI, r 1 "y as rapid y '•""7. '3 now pr,..„„jj fo,„.^ ';'" C.'-an'le. The Southern ""="J.ng by a,ran,,e,ne.u,;' h T ,'^'^"f"-"^"°" *ith all speed ea^t-n tenfiinus withu, 1 Tv ' v '' f^^^''^ '^""'. 'o makelts ^"J thus hnd an outlet for the c,?' "' <^'''^«t°n. Texi '')■ -y of the Arexican Si^Z^T "'^''""'-" t'^l'T.^":' i'-e proposing c, enter Califo 1;^ f """^- ^wo „,h„ .^^ "i"'l^-i.and Santa Pe or ?^ ™ "" '°""'' "'e Atchison ' '-Cisco, already beyond Sa„Mp""^; "'"' ''^'- '-""'s and S n I -,"-;..• the thirt ° df pa':,,^^' "'" '--"'•■>'''>■ cross aIo a J-%'1. the rich Me4,„ Sute 1 'so, ' ""'I'"*-' ""^^ l^-nd. " t-raymas on the Gulf of rniv ^^' ^'^'^ ""<' ternunus Santa Barbara o^ San n '^"'''"■•na, and another either ! f;-%.-f ''- Gi:"r,'::f:i,;;t r j^^^^ ^'-•«^' ^^t-ng '^f '^an D e • ^ >-— , C.g -ve done since .86,. T Jse LIIT "" "'^ ^''''■^°'-"- ^anks and a circulation of * , c , . ^ '""'<= » "capital of st. on,. ^ T"ere arc besides" tife^^.'n.tV 't^^"= "^'"-"' "^ C^ P"vate banking l,ouses and ^nv ' ■■'."'^^, ""'' """^ companies capUa of ,3,,,,^,, - r SsTn r"" ^" ••• W - ^Si,oi9,95i. Some of fh^ .^Posus m December, i87n\f -ense business. '^ '^'^ ^^'''^^^^ banking houses do an 'in/ Califoniia as a /AW/A /> al-acly given show c:,^ustrth~':r ''''' ^^''-'' - have forma from San l-ran,-:„ ^ "' ''"= '^oast region nf r i -^ of .emperat:rrart,.r;:,sr'' "^ -"!':.- "ten l,e averages of the winter and ^ """" '''Terence be- 'I'y and bracing air, and its ab"nja„f '■'"'""=■" "'°"*«. ''■' clear c»us fru,ts,is the best region to :?r, "'T^--- food and lut' a tendency to predominance of tt "'"' '''"^' *^ak lungs s.bly come. What has been dcduc 1'""" ""'"-'^ ^°"W pos premises proves to be true in n "«^°'-e'ically from ,1 e" ' "'ate for consumptives croul '^ ' "'"'''= ''^ "° bet er J 'cndency than the co^Z/rVr ""'"'"■ °' "'"^e of 2J^, southward The ^ coast of California from the ,SM *""= Cisco fl,. 1 , °'"'''" ""n* may be a liiM 1 , '^ "' ''^''allel csco, though the temperature is Lh ""■''' ^' San Fran- ^' San Jose, Santa Cru^, AJonte ° rr? ,""°'^-''^«'''"«We ; but Buenaventura, Los Angele,: S,.nct a'' f"'^ ^""'"^ Sa ian Bernardino and San dLSZ, '"'''"'"'■ Wilmington larther north, from the ,01',,.?, '''""^"= ''^ ■^''mply perfect' »"- closer to the coast' d.esh '"' P"^"^'' ">« mounS ' »Par-ly inhabited, and the t^L rl't "'^ '■°'''^''*"".? ^"^ "1 "'ake It pleasant. The vallc s betw ."'"^ =""'' '"^ ''eavy to Range are very pleasant in winter h? , ^'""^' ^"^ *- Coas" »' and dry. On the moun u \l„''"' "'f ^"'""'*^- are intensely '""ate, but Lake Tahoe 1 e Yn ^'^ "'"^ '"" "''^'y varietv of "'-'*,''> bealthfnl and pieasani T"'"' ""' "" «<='"-- g oves «")• adapted to invalids of ,,■:,""'' ?'""'■ ="•« "o't spe.' ■'"'•■"?^ of the State have a ht^ '■"'■ .^'''">' °f ^e mineral ""aneous diseases. The \\t "'r>niau°n for rheumatic and ^"n.y.and the Sulphu Snr " -^'^''"ff^ °f Calisto^a in n!" -' '- ^'-an, are la^^^Sd ^^i:^: ^ '"^ •■ C^ysts^^ PC' POi f eluding tribal Indians, 560,247 ; with these Indians, 582,031. Of these 499,424 were whites, 4,272 colored (/. c, of African de- scent), 49.310 Ciiinese and Japanese, 7,241 civilized, and 21,784 tribal Indians. Of the 560,247 inhabitants (exclusive of tribal Indians), 349,479 were males, and 210,768 were females. The census of 1880 makes the population, exclusive of tribal In- dians, 864,686, or with them, about 875,'^ 50. The number of persons of African descent has probably moderately increased; the Chinese are stated by the census as only 51,000, but the largest accessions to the population have been from the Eastern States and from Great Britain, Germany, the Scandinavian States, and other European countries. Of late years there has been violent opposition on the part of a portion of the workingmen and some other classes in the State to the inHux of Chinese immigrants, of whom considerable num- bers had come into California as house-servants, mechanics, rail- road laborers and miners. The Chinese have been very useful in all these capacities, and have unquestionably added materially to the wealth of the State, but it is objected, that they work for lower wages than other workingmen ; that they send back their money and their bones to China, and many of them return thither themselves carrying their earnings with them ; that they are addicted to opium-eating and other vices ; that the Chinese women do not migrate hither, and that their habits and modes of life are uncleanly. Moreover they are idolaters or at least heathen, and are under the control of the six Chinese companies in San Francisco, who contract for their labor, and govern and rule them absolutely. There are, undoubtedly, valid objections to the admission of a class of laborers in a community, who are wholly foreign to our religion, language, customs and authority, who are really the subjects of a foreign and irresponsible power,and especially when the greater part of them are coolies, or in reality the slaves of the Chinese companies, who exercise over them a really absolute authority. The difficulty is enhanced when these foreigners do not, and cannot, become nor seek to become citizens. As General Garfield has well said, their coming " is too THE CfflNRSE IN CALIFORXIA. 6_'I much like an Importation to he welcomed without n'^striction, too much like an invasion to be looked upon without solicitude. We cannot consent to allow any form of servile labor to be introduced among us under the guise of immigration." Still the objections urged against the Chinese as a race, and which have led to serious riots and great injustice against them, seem at this distance trivial. Our country boasts that it is the refuge and home of the oppressed of all nations, and if some of these objections are to be regarded as valid against the Chinese, it might be well to inquire whether most of them might not be urged with the same propriety against other nationalities, some of which are now the bitterest persecutors of the Orientals. It is rather because of the dansrer of the iniroduction of a servile class wholly irresponsible to our laws and institutions, than from any regard to the demonstrations of the hoodlums and dangerous classes of the Pacific coast, and the demagogue leaders who have urged them on, that our government, recog- nizing its duties and responsibilities to a nation, with whom all our relations have been as friendly as they have been with China, have sent a commission composed of three of our most eminent citizens to treat concerning these and other matters, with the Chinese government, and while preventing this coolie immigration, to encourage the coming of respectable Chinese citizens and their families. We must admit these, and, admitting them, we are firmly persuaded that the dawn of the twentieth century will see a population of not less than ten millions of Chinese in "Our Western Empire." Education. — The educational position of California is .worthy of all praise. No child in the State need grow up in ignorance. She has a permanent school-fund of about ^2,000,000, but her annual expenditures for her public schools alone exceed $5,000,- 000, and include a tax of ten cents on every hundred dollars of taxable property. Her teachers are well paid, and somewhat more than $2,000,000 is expended annually for teachers' wages. There are, besides these public schools, which are free to the children of the \vhole State, a great number of private and endowed academies, institutes and high schools for secondary 5^ PC* pa at 622 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE, ;3 instruction ; many of them of the highest character. A State university, well encloweil both by the State and United States; a State normal school, an agricultural college, and a military academy, all well and efficiently managed, and thirteen other universities and colleges, mostly sustained by the different reli- gious denominations. These have i8o professors and about 2,500 students, and property, including their permanent funtis, to the amount of about ;ji2, 500,000. There are also professional schools of law, medicine, theology and science, and there is now building an observatory in an eligible site, endowed most liber- ally by a former citizen of California, Mr. James Lick. CImrdies, — Every denomination known in the United States has its representatives in California. The Roman Catholics have several dioceses and one arch-diocese there, nearly 200 priests, and an adherent population (estimated) of somewhat more than 100,000 persons, made up of Mexicans, Spanish, Irish, Germans, Italians and some Americans. The Methodists are probably quite as numerous, having about 225 churches and a stilJ larger number of preachers. The Presbyterian churches have somewhat more than 100 churches and ministers. The Baptists about ninety churches. The " Christian " connection and the Disciples about fifty churches. The Protestant Episco- pal about fifty-five churches; the Congregationalists about seventy churches. There are also " Friends," Jewish Syna- gogues, " Evangelical Association," Lutherans, German Re- formed " United Brethren in Christ," Unitarians, Universalists, New Jerusalem Church, Second Adventlsts, Greek Church, six Spiritualist organizations, four Mormon churches, seven Chinese congregations with five temples, etc., etc. Counties and Cities. — There are fifty-three counties in the State, some of them of great extent, but sparsely inhabited. The most populous counties (most of them also the smallest in area) are San Francisco, Alameda, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Sonoma, San Joaquin, Nevada, Los Angeles, Solano, Placer, Butte, Humboldt, Yuba, Amador, Napa, Yolo, Mendocino, Mon- terey and Contra Costa. Of cities and towns San Francisco has, by the census of 1880, 233,956 inhabitants. It is much the State tates ; ilitary other t reli- about funds, sional s now libcr- States :holics y 200 ewhat , Irisli, ts are and a irches Tlie ection pisco- aboiit Syna- 1 Re- ;alists, :h, six ilnese pp. 3 s n the bited, est in Clara, 'lacer, Mon- icisco :hthe ^, W^4 "^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ■2.5 |5o -"^ n^ 1^ KiS 12.2 IL25 i 1.4 Ik f V Pliotographic Sciences Corporation 3S WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 (716) S73-4S03 4> >'. ^ '"'•'. '"lllilllljj 3>-- CO ff^ilir*/i^ /jt /j!trt//,'f\\\ //•■ /'■''<■/ _: --A li S> :il<> of .Mi|t>r; 1 -zx~\i • I / .'si'/ Vi"'"'" „». I >.6"f..»'".y,.,„.' \ -i:>^- /^Vj^-.-'VVE-vV— - '^^"''^'"TfjLi ;('2''i^)Mli^HSsi|mjjl01;S0 '■^-v- INDIAN PLOT ^•*=? <'.-? Si ( adr celc the THE FUTURE OF CALIFORNIA. 623 largest city on the Pacific coast and has an extensive commerce and a large amount of manufacturing. Sacramento, the capital of the State, had 16,283 inhabitants in 1870, and the census of 1880 gives it 21,420. Oakland, across the bay from San Fran- cisco, had 34.556 in 1880 ; San Jose, 1 2,567 ; Los Angeles, 1 1,31 1 ; and Stockton in the San Joaquin valley 10,287 inhabitants; Marys- ville, Santa Cruz, San Diego, and Santa Barbara are the other towns of importance. California, as the gateway of the Pacific, holds a different position to "Our Western Empire" from any other State or Territory in it. With its fine climate, its vast extent of fertile soil, its rich ai.a abundant pasturage, its great mineral wealth, its extensive commerce, and its growing manufactures, it has a career before it much like that of the State of New York on the Atlantic coast. If it shall shake off the death-grapple of the horde of political communists and demagogues, the miserable miscreants, who call themselves *' workingmen," but most of whom never did an honest day's work in their lives, who are now trying to throttle it, it will have a great and glorious future as the leading State of this great Western Empire ; but if not — CHAPTER IV. COLORADO. Situation, Boundaries, Area — Topography — Mountains, Valleys, Plains, Parks, Rivers, Lakes, Canons — Climate, Soil, and Vegetation — Geol- ogy, Mineralogy, Animals — Mines and Mining Industry — The Extra- ordinary Development of Mining in the State since 1875 — Mining Dis- Tuicrs — Farming — Stock-raising — Wool-growing — Railroads — Com- merce — Population — Increase since 1870 — Counties — Education — Churches — The Future of Colorado. Colorado, often called ''the Centennial State," because it was admitted to the Union in 1876, the yei^r of our Centennial celebration of our national existence^ is situated very nearly in the centre of " Our Western Empire," the distance in a direct 624 OUR WESTERLY EMPIRE. •Ci line beings about the same to St. Louis and to San Francisco — to the frontier of British America and to that of Mexico. It hes between the thirty-seventh and the forty-first parallels of north latitude, and between the i02d and the 109th meridians of longi- tude west from Greenwich. Its width from north to south is about 280 miles, and its length from east to west about 370 miles. Its area is 104,500 square miles, or 66,880,000 acres. The great plains which stretch from the Missouri river to the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, rising slowly but steadily with each mile of their advance westward, have attained, when they reach the mountains, an elevation of between 6,000 and 7,000 feet above the sea. Eastern Colorado, for about three-sevenths of its extent, from east to west, consists of the most elevated part of these plains, which reach as far as Denver. West of the 105th meridian come the Rocky Mountains, which here attain their greatest breadth. The mountains consist of several prin- cipal ranges (which, however, do not extend continuously from north to south, but are broken off and made irregular by the great parks which are a feature of the mountains in Colorado), and of numerous spurs or short ranges extending westward, southwestward and northwestward, and terminating usually in broad plateaux, which are suddenly broken off by the deep canons of the Green, Grand, and other tributari^ 5 of the Colo- rado of the West. It is a feature of the Rocky Mountains, and perhaps of all mountain chains on this continent, that the eastern slope of each range is generally much more gradual than the western, and that the ascent, even of its highest summits, is less difficult on the eastern than the western face. The western slope of each range is generally precipitous and sometimes im- practicable. The ranges in their order, beginning with the east- ernmost, are the Colorado Front Range, which, though adopting some local names in the southern part of its course, extends from the northern to the southern bounds of the State. It has several lofty peaks, among which are Mount Evans, Mount Rosalia, Pike's Peak, and Chief Mountain. The first three are over 14,000 feet in height. The next in order is the Northern Colorado or Main Range, which joins the Front Range at the northern face of the COLORADO MOUNTAINS. 625 South Park. It has three summits above 14,000 feet, and three above 13,000; the first three are Gray's IVak, Irwin's Peak, and Long's Peak ; the second three, Arapahoe Peak, Mount Guyot, and James Peak. Paid Mountain, in (iiipin county, 10,322 teet, is also in this range. The Park Range, between which and the preceding are situated the three great parks. North, Middle and South, extends from the northern border oi the State nearly to the Arkansas river, in latitude 38° 40'. This range has six sum- mits of 14,000 feet or above, viz. : Buckskin Mountain, Mount Cameron, Horseshoe Mountain, Mount Lincoln, Quandary Peak, Silverheels, and Sheep Mountain, 12,589 feet. The Sawatch or Saguache Range, which is reckoned a part of the Main Range, begins at the Grand river and extends south as far as the Saguache river, where it sends out a spur to the south- west, known as the Cochetopa Hills — has ten summits, all but one of them over 14,000 feet ; these are: Mount Antero, Mount Elbert, Mount Harvard, Holy Cross Mountain, La Plata, Mas- sive Mountain, Mount Princefon, Shavano and Mount Yale, while Mount Grizzly is 13,956 feet in height. Between the Saguache and the Park ranges is interposed, in Southern Colorado, the Sangre de Christo Range, which has four summits over 14,000 feet; one of them, Blanca Peak, the highest in Colorado, and the highest, except one, in the whole Wesr Besides Blanca, Baldy Peak, Culebra and Hunt's Peak are above 14,000 feet, and the two Spanish Peaks are 13,620 and 12,720 feet respectively. In Southwestern Colorado there is a confused group of moun- tains, consisting: of the main or dividing range and numerous spurs, known as the Uncompahgre Mountains, San Miguel Mountains, Dolores, La Plata, etc. There are thirteen principal peaks in this group,^eleven of them over 14,000 feet, several of which are withm a few feet of the altitude of Blanca Peak. These summits are. Mount i^olus, Handie's Peak, Pyramid, Pridgeon's San Luis Peak, Simpson's, Mount Sneffles, Stewart's Peak, Uncompahgre, Wetterhorn, Mount Wilson, and the two lower summits, Blaine's Peak, 13,905, and Engineer Mountain, I3>076 feet. On the west, these mountains terminate in broad 40 «t:: 1— «■ <:3 626 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ,1:::! and elevated plateaux and mesas, which extend to the river banks and there are riven by the deep canons of the affluents of the Colorado. Among these plateaux are the Grand Mesa, north of Gunnison river, the Uncompahgre Plateau, between the Gunni- son and the Dolores, and extending to the Grand river; the Dolores Plateau, between the Dolores and the San Mip-uel river, and the Southwest Plateau, between the Dolores and the Rio Mancos, and extending to the San Juan river. In Western Colorado, in what is known as the Gunnison country, there is another mass of mountains, probably spurs from the Saguache or Sawatch range, which trend northwestward, westward and southwestward. There are many summits in this group which is known as the Elk Mountains ; more than twenty being visible from the summit of Castle Peak, but only four rise to 14,000 feet, and one, Teocalli, is but 13,1 13. Besides those which we have named, there are several hun- dred peaks in the State ranging from 10,000 to 12,000 feet above the sea, which would be noticeable in any other State, but rising from elevated table-lands 6,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea, they seem much less lofty than they otherwise would. Of the twenty most famous passes over the Rocky Mountains in this State only two are below 9,000 feet, and only five, of which the noted Veta Pass is one, are below 10,000, while five are above 12,000 feet and one, the Argentine, is 13,100 feet above the sea, and is only practicable in summer. Of the great numbers of lakes scattered in the mountain val- leys, only one group, the San Luis lakes, situated in the beauti- ful San Luis Park, are below 8,000 feet in altitude, while the Green Lakes are 10,000 feet, and the Chicago Lakes 11,500 feet above the sea. Of seventy-three important towns or locations in Colorado, only twelve are below 5,000 feet, and ten are above 10,000 feet, the Present Help Mine on Mount Lincoln being 14,000 feet. " The parks of Colorado are a distinct and remarkable feature of this mountain system. They are generally composed of level or rolling lands, covered with luxuriant grasses, and dotted here and there with groves of timber. They are walled about with r/m r^u'A-s of Colorado mountains grand and J.i 'o rated Oom each other by moun tailn ^ "''"' ^"'' ""'>' »^'Pa- as a d,ameter of about t',ir.; m " " anT^' ['" ''°"'' '''rk '"" '/"^ -'l^are miles, or ZTSo^^^'''' "^ '°"'^'^''^' '«» elevat,on of about g.ocx, feet. Tl.^^'^, """^' ^'«' '^n average ■"ff a length of si.xty-five miles bv a h n" "'"^'' ''"•?". ''av- - area of about .,s'oo squ": I'fJ '^^^f "' "^ f°«>-five miles, altitude of about 8,000. The South' P i'°°'?°° ''"''^' «"d an u..ns on all sides, except the eas" it'^'f " '^"'"^ '" ^^ "-""' -t, ,ts area about ,,L,oco "c.^s Th™^°" ^ "^^^'^ ^,000 about 7,000 feet above the seart;. f ^" ^"'^ '^ '"wer having an area of .ibout a l^ *' '^''S^^ ^» all the rest ^-ined by the north t ^1^^,^ ^^ ^J^ North Park nes of the Grand river; the South b m ^"''"^ ''^ "-'buta- Ha«e, and the San Lt.is by "hfR o cl ,"7' °' "^ S°"th '"butanes, and by streams flov L nto ^t 1 ^""^' ^"'l "^ %ena, Estes, Animas a„,l H r ^^" ^"■=' 'akes. sHerable size and nf . Huerfano Parks are also nf =.i.ie and ot great beautv M„ °' <^on- Garden of the Gods adjacent are nor""?"' ''"'' ^"^ the Phenornena illustrating the erosion of the" "T'' ^"'"'^^ "^ ^'-a' offfeoogi,t3t,,^, these parks were . °'- '"'^ "^^ °Pinion al^es, but that by some volcan c o, otV'" "•'^ """"^ °' ™« fey were upheaved and drained" of H """""'^' convulsion relative position to the mount's wtlTr'T^' '""""Sh ..,eir Tlie mountains of Colorado 1 disturbed. -pen, and other forest^^^ts TpTf "'"" P'"^' «■■■ ^P™ce. 0.800 to t.,8a. feet. Above the t mh r"°"^ ''''^•"S from arren rock, varied 'by the occalri ''"' '" ''^ '''^^'k and Alpme flowers. ^ occasional presence of grass and >-^-i:^hXtt:7e^3'Ir^'' """J^^^ -en-diansof ,ongi. :^i2i^erican D^serr X""/!"''"'' '° ''^ '""^ °f "^ -^-^i:f?2?^^?f^ii^ann«be justly said <:3 628 OUR WF.STF.RN EMPIRE. that Colorado is not well watered. Its liiijher lands may require some irrij^Mtion, but the streams are there to irrigate them. On the east of the " Great Divide " th(^ South IMatie river, with about twenty tributaries on each side, rises iar up among the summits of the Park Range, and pursuing a north-northeast, and then an easterly course, drains ten of the central and northeast counties; while the North Platte, taking its rise in the Rabbit I'Lars Rancre, drains the whole of the North Park. Returning to the eastern part of the State the Republican river, an affluent of the Kansas, with its four principal tributaries drains the eastern portion of Weld, Arapahoe, and Elbert counties. Put the royal stream of Eastern Colorado is the Arkansas, which rises in the Saguache or Sawatch range, its sources interlacing with those of the Grand river, the largest affluent of the Colorado of the West, and in its passage downwards to the eastern boundary of the State receives more than sixty tributary streams. It is a noble river, and, in its passage through the mountain chains, cuts deep and frightful canons almost to the base of the mountains themselves. Some of its tributaries, like the Purgatoire, Big Sandy creek, Horse creek, Apishapa, Huerfano river and Fontaine qui Botiillc, are themselves rivers of considerable magnitude. The Rio Grande del Norte rises in the San juan Range, where it inter- laces with the sources of the Gunnison, Dolores and San Juaii rivers, and flowing east-southeast receives numerous tribu- taries from San Juan, Hinsdale, Rio Oande, Saguache, Conejos, and Costilla counties, turns .south near Alarnosa and passes out of the State very nearly midway of its southern border. The western slope of the " Great Divide " is drained wholly (except for some small streams which fall into the San Luis lakes) by the principal affluents which go to make up the Rio Colorado of the West. All of these except the main stream and some of the tributaries of the Green river have their sources in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and most of them either in the Park, the Saguache, the Elk or the San Juan Mountains. The tributaries of the Green river are, the Yampah or Bear river, with its branches, Elk and Elkhead creeks. Little Snake river and Vermillion creek, and the White river with its numerous squire . On I about immits hen an lunlics; Range, eastern Kansas, »rtion of I stream ia;j;uache ic Grand ;t, and in tlie State 5ble river, deep and lemselves. idy creek, HI Bouillc. The Rio Ire it inter- San )uan [ous tribu- ;, Conejos, passes out -leil wholly San Luis [up the Rio lain stream leir sources [hem either JMountains. Bear river, ^nake river numerous 1-— «' v.ANi)N or ii;:: culoi'.ado. i?4 J; n cJ, k th of Sp( of and the uor Icav side Now illust Boul Gran Cent, Gunn State. they of fee an out of the either usually stratifie n •^■IfOKS Of- COLOH^OO. iributaries. The Grand river l,,s it. ■ ■ ^^'^ traverses with it, tributaries th^M n,""'"^^' '" ''"^ f^"'"' I'arl: by its afllnents, liable r e^ ^^ V "",'' ""-^'^ ''"^l^^. and waters throu^H, all the val eys rf d, ""I'-' ^"'^^ '"^"*">« it' Mountains and the Kli. rani^,;', ,! ""-" '^-^-e de Chris,: Umnson and the Rio Ooltre-s and ' *-"■"*' "'"'"^^'"«. 'I'e .c Uncompahgre. the San Mil^uel a'd n""""™"^ "*"«--, ,;„? '^'^PP^intment creek ^-'ie. ,n .he extreLrs^ t Ier:h:",r^ ^^ ''° ^°' "-^' "nurous branches drain the wl ^le of L^ P,'" '" •'"■•'" ^"'' "» dale, and the western part of Com ins L ■"'' ■^^" ■''"'"• "'"»■ l»vc scores of creeks and su^am^.rn '"'""• '^" ""* "--« •-c are but few square .nile" irhstr' r , ""•■•"• ^ ">« of one or „,ore living streams. ""= "'"'^'' ■'"-'^ '''^^'itute Mr. Trank Fossett speaks of the cafions^f .,::;: riv^r!' ""'"'' °" '-^°'--''>. "•"» ine nver canons or rh. i of ;l- .nore elevated porttftf^Coirir '"" ^^'^ ^"""^ ■" »" and st„k,ng feature of the ereat R„!l nl '°""'""'' ^ P-^^'iar tl>e countless ages of the p.TtL ^ "°""'^'" "y^"-™. In ;om channels deep down h ^ ,! T'" "^ ""= »"-«an,s have l-ingtheperpend^lar^r Ueor'^s.nTr °' '"^ "'-"'-- de or hundreds, and in fome Id i" ie r"'" f'^"'''"g°" ^ithe; Nowhere are the grand and b^ul ' M '""'^""''^ °f f'^"' fctrated than i„ „,e,e moun^in '.-""'^ "^ore effectually Boulder, Clear Creek, Cl~ and 7" ''''^ ^'^™^ °f Grand ca.non of the Arkansas ali on ,: ' ''"°"'' ='"'' 'he Contmental Divide, defy descnptfolVii' astern slope of „,e C™.son,and Uncompahgre risers i J P '"^ "^ "'e Colorado, Sate, are still more massive IIT , ^ ""'"'"" Pa" of d,e % rise without a brelk 7r ,„ t J^e r';' • i" ""^"^ --- feet and along the Colorado cent nL T^^'' °^ "'°"^ands - «let of ,„^ kind for hund^s ";,: '" Th^T '^"i "^^"'^ » the Gunnison is one of the worid' J^e Grand canon pa PC"? 3 i- ♦ -'■an ■ 6^0 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. the water for distances of from one to three thousand feet, ter- minate in level summits surmounted by a second wall of pro- dir^ious heij^^ht, thus formin*^ a canon within a canon. Throiicrh the chasm between these giant formations and huge bastions and turrets one above another, dashes the river, its surface wliite with foam. The heights of these perpendicular canon walls and their elevations with that of the river above sea-level at several points, are as follows: Level of the Gunnisoii at mouth of Mountain creek above sea-level, 7,200 feet ; of top of wall or plateau on north side, 8,000 feet; height of wall, 1,600 feet; height of wall at point below on east side, 1,900 feet; on west side, 1 ,800 feet ; height of wall in gneiss rock, 900 feet. Some distance below, the canon wall rises direcdy from the river, 3,000 feet, of v^hich the 1,800 feet nearest the water is gneiss rock ; total elevation of top of wall or plateau above the sea, 9,800 {f et." Climate. — The great elevation of most of the places of resi- dence in Colorado insures a temperate climate, rather too cool than too hot. The mean annual temperature of most of the towns, which are 5,000 feet or thereabouts above the sea, is not far from 50° — perhaps for a long term of years 48.5° to 49.3°. The summer mean ranges from 64.6° to 69.2°, and the winter mean from 31.3° to 32.8°, so that the mean difference or range does not exceed t^'j^ or 38°. The extremes are 93° to 99° max- imum in summer, with from six to thirty da)'s, according to the elevation, above 90°, and the minimum in winter — 3° to — 12° with an average of six to ten days with the mercury below zero. There is, therefore, an extreme range in .:ie whole year of fiom 96° to 110°. The rainfall averages about 18.84 inches, and is increasing. The dry and bracing character of the air at 5,000 to 6,000 feet above the sea renders the climate a d^ sirable one for invalids with weak lungs, where the disease is not too far advanced, and thousands who have resorted thither have been temporarily, and many of them permanently benefited. Generally it is pot safe for persons who are suffering from pulmonary diseases to re- turn to the East, at least not for foui or five years, iiowever ?:i CLIMATE, SOIL AND VEGETATION OF COLORADO. 631 ct, ter- Df p ro- ll rough 3ns and i white ails and several outh of wall or 00 feet; on west :. Some lie river, is gneiss ; the sea, ;s of resi- r too cool ;>st of the ;ea, is not [o 49-3'- [he winter or range 99° max- ing to the to— 12° ;low zero. ,r of fiom Increasing. |6,ooo feci Lr invalids [advanced, Irnporarily, it is pot lases to re- 1 however complete may seem to be the recovery, as the return of the disease at the East is almost sure to follow even a brief visit thither. Those whose lungs are diseased should also avoid the higher elevations. An altitude exceeding 7,000 feet is danger- ous, because the rarefaction of the atmosphere makes respira- tion more difficult, and will often bring on hemorrhage of the lungs. We give below the Signal Service reports — the average from three points, one of them the station on the summit of Pike's Peak, 14,147 feet above the sea, for the sake of comparison : PLACES. 1. .2 u > It ■Z 3 ^1 M 1!, " c 3 * 2 n Si Maximum tenipc-ature in summer. III Minimum temperature in winter. Number of days; thermoTieter below zero. •s rt 0: J nniial rainfall. { laches. Denver Colorado Springs Pike's Peak 5.197 ft. 6.023 ft. M.r47 ft 18.1° 45.° ij.6° 69.2' 64.6° 35.5° 49-5° 48.8° 20 63 3>.3° 3=.8° 5.03° 99" 3j» 93° 6 above 50'. 58.2'' j 25 -23.6° 9 2 86 111° 96.° 81.8° 19.43° 27.82° West of th( Jtains th( earlier and lies h averajje snow com and the mean temperature of winter is lower. The elevation of the towns is higher, averaging at least 8,000 feet. These towns ar so new that we have not statistics of their climate which can be depended upon. The quantity of the snow-fall is not great except on the moun- tain ranges and higher elevations. In the mountain towns it begins early and lies late, blocking the trails and passes over the mountains, and requiring often a circuitous journey to reach them. The railways now building will be protected from these heavy snows generally by snow sheds. The snow never entirely disappears from altitudes of from i 2,000 to 14,400 feet. Soil and Vegetation. — Of the 104,500 square miles which con- stitute the area of Colorado, it is difficult to estimate very accu- rately what proportion should be considered as arable land, for several reasons. But a small portion, comparatively, of the State has been surveyed ; only one-third in all, including the great area of pasturage, mining and timber lands. The great amount of land included in railroad grants, and the still greater quantity in Indian reservations, most of which are now in process pcA £91 IS*, 632 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of extinction, the uncertainty whether land at first regarded as desert, or, at most, as sterile grazing lands, may not prove to be arable land of the very best quality when irrigated ; and the almost daily discovery of new means of irrigation. It wa.i roughiv estimated in 1878 that there were about 15,000 square miles of arable lands, or lands which would become arable with irrigation, in the State. With the great increase of irrigating canals con- structed since that time, and the large body of good lands which will be thrown on the market by the treaty with the Utes, con- firmed by Congress in June, 1880, which sets free nearly 1 1,400,000 acres, and the cultivation of the great parks which is just beginning, there can hardly be less than 25,000 square miles entitled to that designation to-day, or in round numbers, 1 6,000,000 acres. Probably not more than one-fifth of this is under cultiva- tion, though the amount is rapidly increasing. "The soil at the first glance does not look promising. It is composed of a fine, dark-brown mould mixed with gravel, very compact, but at the same time very porous and friable. When the gravel has been completely decomposed, or the soil consists of fine dust, blown or washed from the higher portions of the plains (called bluffs), it inclines to clay. Near the surface the earth is darker than lower down, but the quality is essentially the same and very uni- form throughout. The soil is indeed so rich in the mineral con- stituents of plants, and its depth so great, that with a proper supply of water, it yields larger and finer crops of wheat, barley and oats than any other State in America. Water, however, is necessary, except in the bottoms of the shallower valleys trav- ersed by streams ; and the cultivable land is thus limited to the area that the water of the mountain streams will suffice to irri- gate. The agricultural portion of the State is now mainly the strip of land, ten to thirty miles broad, which extends from north to south, the whole width of the State, along the plains at the base of the foot-hills. Owing to the general flatness and gradual sloping character of the ground the land can be irrigated at small cost. Between Denver and the northern boundary of Colorado, six principal streams, besides the river Platte, flow from the foot- hills across the plains. The water frpm these streams is con- ^^'^fCATfoj, ,„ co:.o„^^o. veyed in canals or ditche, „ I,- i 633 ■""- long. Some o the Lmtl'l "'" """''""'' ^ ""ch as fifl operation an,o„,..„e fa™?.f -j^f '-^ been k^^'Z mer and Weld r-, „ 1 "''"""='>'es. The Iar<.est nf In , ^""' acres. I he compan v itself «. '"^^'^^es water to rricrate ^r. ^ " perpetuity to UZfZ7C°°°'"''^' "■'-"• '^ a ri^ to #.5 per acre. The lanIS '■*'"°"' ''' ''^ »«'"%' at * , and upwards. At this rate ^e ?i„d'" 7'^''''' "^ <='ff'''V acr bej taken in five installments for rh"''^P"''*^'=^'ipayn,e, Settlers on the public lands can h """^^nience of buyer Jomesteading a settler can b'ome o """ f°^ ^^ P^ -"-By dolars, but he must reside on'tTn 7"" °^ '^° ^'^^^s for a few a mie. The settler may cl,oose to '''"' ^^"'^ '^'^ can Z dence for six months, toged'r tv ^.^^'P'' '" -''-'' case re^I pmvements, gives a titfe. Byte '''™"°" °^ ^^rtain h^' obtamed for ^,..5 an acre if dLlt'f ''"°" ""^ '^"^ -"ay b" acre tf m the vicinity cf a ra K . ""^ * '"="''«'ay, or 4, I T -pre-empt once. ' ^l(^, ^ 7^;/ -«ler can on^^ J,^, ° ^ . ■"es, m square miles alternatelv with T"""' °'' '''"'^ ^'°"? 'heir object to homesteading and 1^ " ' P""^"^ '^"^s, whkh are -d at prices varying LT.^TZT' ^^""^>'^ -" "er cums ances. »-5 '° <.6 an acre, according to cir iiie undulation of tlw 1 • ;"y easy. The water is supped"',"'': P'°"'"^ ='"d ''rrigation from the main canal, but from a ! , t,"'" '^""^'- "o' dfre tiv PW along the surface of heol "^"'^ *'<^''' ^'-'ned w'th T -O 634 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. :;:> I * ten acres in the same time. Cereals require to be watered once or twice in the season. The custom is to break new land in August, September, and October, turning the sod two or three inches deep, and the winter frost pulverizes it, and makes it into a good seed-bed by spring. Old stubble-land is irrigated in a similar manner before being plowed, either in autumn or sprino-, and the seed is sown as soon after plowing as possih'e. The soil, once thoroughly wet, is very retentive of moisture, and no more irrigation is necessary till June, when the water is again turned over the crops for a day or two. The land is very easily tilled and cleaned, and irrigation is a simple process, as may be easily understood from the fact that one man alone (exchangincr, it may be, help with a neighbor in harvest) can cultivate eighty acres under crops in rotation, and that, too, without working so hard as a small farmer in this country (England). Self-binding reaping machines are in general use, and give complete satis- faction. Threshing machines, driven by steam or horse-power, are driven from farm to farm as at home. " Colorado produces all kinds of crops and vegetables grown in England, with the addition of many that flourish only in a warmer climate, such as Indian corn, sugar-beet, tomatoeS, etc. Grapes and peaches ripen in the open air, and in the southern parts of the State grapes and plums grow wild. Flax is also occasionally met with, growing wild. The wheat and barley raised on the irrigated lands are as fine as any in the world. The average crop of wheat is from twenty to twenty-five bushels per acre ; of barley, about thirty-five bushels ; and of oats, it is asserted that m the uplands the yield is occasionally as high as from eighty to ninety bushels per acre. Specimens of cabbages, mangolds, swedes, and beet root of enormous size, are exhibited at the State fair ; but as cattle-feeding is not yet practised, they are raised chiefly for domestic use. But the average of crops is not much indication of what the soil, in the hands of a skillful farmer, may be made to yield. The majority of those who have taken to farming in Colorado, knew little or nothing of the busi- ness when they settled, and their cultivation would generally be considered slovenly at home. When the soil is well cleaned and tilled, and the supply of wat^r ^ ^^5 five and forty bushels o^wheal/r a ''""''• ' '■^'"™ "^ ""«y. pected; and in seve^l cases Ist """"^ ''" ^^^■*°"-Wy ex- crops are not considered .^reril v I " ^'''^^' ^'"'°"ff'' the of Wheat have been thresLcd „ '^.'^■^l^' °^'=.'- ''°">'-five bushel! are a„d ^^^^ ^^^^.^^^ tolLhW r T""' '° ""^ ""^'ained 'and as yet under cultivation is no t'^''-'^''" ^'-e quantity of ncreas,„g mining population, and asf"' '° ^""P'^ 'he fast about 500 miles away^he Co oTal , ' "?"■"' »n'Petitor is "age m his favor. The deminf r '"''' ''^^ ">« cost of car ■niik is great, and in s ;pXit thl ^^h""^^' '''"^^' <^SSs. nd can add very materiall/fo' , ,f IJ^e' wT""' ^— '-ife «8 to to per quarter (eight bushekr. K "" '""^ ^' f™", 57.50; °=''s from iS4.38 to /s per qua ' ''"i'^>'' f''""' J!6.25 to *'^-5o to PS per ton of To,^ oou/h . "'^ '^ ^"''^ « from l-arm labor of satisfactory qualjtv LT ^''^^"^^ P^"" dozen, obtamed. Wages are about s.'oer '"^'" '^''^'"'^' >>« od.?mg, which cost as much Jrl tI^T^' "'* ^oard and the month, and, although he i,^ ^he laborer is engaged bv April, he finds employment ,T t'T^ ""'^ ^^^ October to and the fanners easily get ha" dfw.'^:'"^''^'' °^ 'he mines general rule, ],owever,'ff™e's,n7or '^^ "^^'^ *«-• Asa Aemselves; but they have ^1 atSctf T'"'' "" "'-■'• ^-"^ own and that in such a cZlLlff " "'^' "'^ '""^ is their "■"ch lighter and more agreeTb'le thn"" T^ " =<•"■ '^"^"^ is country (Great Britain). For the same " ''""'"'"^ "^ '•" '^s per acre, although the wages paidTn TZ" *" '^"^^ "^ 'abor scarcely, if at all, greater than fhr ""^ '=''"''■«'■ are hich is *« o,' eij.htv or o,,7l, !, , """'" "" ''illf"!, nn''"? between coal beds the rocks are crer Ju, whT'"','^ °^ ™"y ''f '''- S,lur,an systems are largely represen't J , "'" °'^^°"ian and west. In the upper vallej.sVfXe Rio r '" I ."""^ ='"'' ^°"">- e v,c,n,ty of some of tie affluent o^rr-''^' '^°"<=' ''"^ i" are evidences of extensive vokanlc a„^^ "'' "''=^' "'^'^e The erosive action of I, "• and perhaps also of fflacier?;,:^^:.''"''"^ ^ "P''' ''---t as nowhere produced such remarLb " .""' '"""^ ^'^"'«l> " '^, "ot only manifest in those H. ■"''""' "^ '" Colorado "'■ailed in Arizona, but in °, ? ?'"'°"^ ^'^^h are only " City of the Gods." in the WW t 2:'"" '"'''"'^'^^ - *' part of Summit county, where a tr "^ '■'°"'"' '" ""= ""--""vest ,™' -to the semblance of oaThedr^l f '"°"^'' ■"- » -■■>' is ;nffs, ,n ruins indeed, but glorfou'tt; ■'' '°"'"-'' ^"^ d«-i:. terraces and many storied temp ea .t • "'"r"'^ '^"'''' ''°™es, r ^"?,''--°^d avenues betwe' n thaV" ""'' "?"'^^ °^''- '''"d 'Should be other than the work of h f'"" ""P°s^ible that "•ough less extensive wonte of ,fon'"''"^^^ or the similar and the Bottle Rocks; or the rem"r M '"' '^'*' '^^'"'o" Hill fOe s (which may or may not have be \"''''"^''"^« "^ "'e m the .. Garden of the Gp'ls ,° or the Ro" . r' ""''''' "' ^™^'-) Creek and Temple cafions or Zr ? ' *^°''S^^' o"" "-e Grape and farther west the Great ca«l \?Th" r"'"" °' "'^ A''''-- For an interestfno- -,.. . ^"^ Cninnison. ;jo-f Fr^moT;:™:; weiir f f^^^ "--'•-=• -P-ny *e gigantic Camarasu^nd other fo,"'""'"'''^ ''°"- ° mals of the Jurassic period wWch in ,1 ' 7^'""^ ^"^ -"am- ' ; rpass all previous discov! e, " ="? T ' «^ geologic age, ^angWn, author Of the ...ewl:;;,irou2Tt^^^^^ li f ^jS OU/l IVESTEHI^ EMPIRE. of whose very vivid description of a tour through this true won- derland we here introduce to our readers. " Rattling over the bridge spanning the Arkansas at the city's* feet, we speed on through clumps of riclily foliaged trees, and in a few moments are at the entrance of the canon, catching a glimpse, just as we enter between its towering walls, of the Grand canon of the Arkansas and the cosy-looking bath-houses at the springs near by. A quick word of wonder at the height and the closeness of the walls, a sharp turn of the road, and look- ing back, the way is lost by which we came. Here in the solitary mountains we are alone. No world behind ; no world before. Turn upon turn, and new walls rise up so abruptly before us as to cause an in"oluntary cry of terror, soon relieved, however, as our excited senses become more familiar with the new tension upon them. Awe still holds us bonden slaves, but the eye drinks in such beauty as fairly intoxicates the soul. On either hand the walls loom up until only the slender opal of a narrow strip of sky forms exquisite contrast with the pine-covered heights. Rifled boulders every now and then wall in the road on the river side, their base washed by the creek, wild and beautiful in its whirl and roar. Here the perpendicular piles of rock are covered with growths of trees that ascend in exact line with the wall and cast their shadows on the road below. Nature's grape- vines trail along the ground and cling around the trunks of the trees, hanging like Arcadian curtains and making bowers of the most exquisite character imaginable. Between these, we catch bewitching glances of the creek on its merry, tempestuous way to the Arkansas, its sparkling surface throwing back rapid re- flections of masses of green foliage and trailing vines. Deep pools give back the blue of the cloudless sky, and as base accom- paniments come in the dark shadows of the canon walls with their sharply drawn ridges and truncated cones. Here and there, all along the wild way, are rushing cascades, tortuous twists of the stream, gayly lichened or dark heeding rocks, mossy nooks or glowing lawns, and overhead the cottonwoods mingling their rare autumnal splendors of red and gold with the sombre green *CaAon City. won- lity's* ,nd in ing a >f the lOuses height I loolc- oUtary before. : us as iver, as tension I drinks and the strip of heights, on the Deautiful rock are with the s grape- s of the s of the ■e catch iOus way |apid re- Deep accom- ith their Lhere, all Is of the ooks or ,g their •e green CRAPE CREEK CANON. 639 of pine and cedar. The cafion is beyond question the most beautiful in marvellous coloring, wondrous splendor of foliage, picturesque cascades and winding streams of any in Colorado. The Grand canon of the Arkansas is deeper, but it is -awful as seen from the only point oif view, that from the top, and the sen- sations caused in strongest of contrast with those experienced in Grape Creek caflon. The walls of the latter are so gorgeous a variety of colors as to fairly bewilder with their splendor : red — from the darkest tinge of blood to the most delicate shades of pink ; green — from die richest depths to t'.e rarest hues of the emerald ; blue — from thj op. \ to the deepest sea, variegated until almost defying the rainbov^ to excel in exquisite blending. These glorious transidons of color meet one at every turn, and the contrast formed every now and then by tremendous walls of bare, black rock, or broad seams of iron ore set in red or green, render all the more striking the singular beauty of the canon. Over the waiis on either side, the grapevine, from which the canor takes its name, climbs in wonderfully rich profusion, and in autumn, when the leaves become so delicately tinted and the vines hang thick with their purple fruit, the effect is something to call to mind but never to describe. Added to the indescribable beauty of the vines are the many-colored mosses which paint the rocks in infinite variety of hue, ofttimes growing so high and rank as to reach to the very pinnacle of the topmost rocks and fringe their craggy brows so lavishly as to render them almost symmetrical in appearance as seen b^low. At different points these moss- covered walls rise to the height of i,ooo feet, and so completely do they hem one in on all sides that with but slight stretch of im- agination the place could be viewed from below as a gigantic, moss-covered bucket, but one that never 'hung in the well.' Just above Temple canon, and where Grape creek enters the canon of its name, the walls are exceedingly high and precipitous, and in the coolest nook of their shadows, where sunlight can never reach, is a quiet, placid pool of water clearer than a crys- tal, and so faithfully reflecting back the curiously and brilliantly colored rocks overhanging it, as to have gained the name of Painted Rock Pool. It is a very gem in itself, and its setting ■:Jis» m eg. 640 OC/A' WKSTF.A'f^ EMPIRE. and the rare grandeur of the surroundin«^s, is well in keeping. Those visiting the cailon should not fail to follow up the course of the creek from the point where it debouches into the cafion. It will have to be done on foot, but the wholly unexpected sur- prises of the hour or two's ramble will more than repay the ex- ertion. The walls of the sides of the parent cafton are fully 1,500 feet in height, and so narrow that the tall pines and cot- tonwoods keep the gorge in a tender half-light, broken at mid- day by glaring rays that give a magical charm to the scene. On all sides from points in the walls of rock, tufts of grass and blue- bells grow, forming, with the grapevines, most pleasing pictures in contrast with many-tinted rocks, in the crevices of which their roots have found nourishment. The walls are of almost as many colors as there are sharp turns in the creek's course, and rare and perfect in beauty is the amphitheatre of black rock with pearly-white veins running in every direction, the whole over- hung by climbing vines and their pendant berries. Just at the entrance to Temple canon is a little grove of cottonwoods. Their pendant swinging boughs meet in perfect arches over- head, and the profusion of their polished, brilliant leaves renders complete the most charming of bowers in which to take the noon- day lunch and prepare for the climb into Temple cafion, which must be done on foot. Temple is a side cafion, with entrance from Grape Creek cafion, some four and a half miles from Canon City, and was discovered but a year or two ago. '"i'.' v ^ "The climb is not steep, though rather rough, especially to effect an entrance into the Temple proper, which is to the right of the litde canon, and can only be accomplished by clambering over several-huge boulders, which, if removed, would render the illusion of a temple and stairway all the more striking. Once passing in through the great rifts of rock, for all the world like the stairway to some grand place of amusement, the body of the Temple is reached, and to the tourist's astonishment, before him is a stage with overhanging arch, with ' flats ' and ' flies,' with dressing-rooms on either side, and a scene already set as if for some grand tableau. If so intensely realistic from the parquet, as the broad circling floor might aptly be termed, or from the 641 aves on cul„,r side, twc.ntv nvl, ■ '"■'•l"n■ '"•"■•"! ■■ the arch almost as s,„ooth and „erf,..V "^ ""•' """•-. T/ie arrh "- '-'I "<■ ma,,, and d rt 'hr'""'°""' ^"^ '^ fas on« V; strcan, above falls ;„ „ ;;"^f ''^' '"^t -season the water f™„,T 'l™^ "'.the eanon below At T' """' ""'^ "' face to the y^ 01 the Ten,ple is,.a's can be '""' ""^ '■«■<•■« from he »- action, and tht si pe ll'Tf;"'-' "" ''^•^■" '■'«■ o t »' '■■'Wcanx preparation A w ' '" " '^^'"'''a^ly susj^c-stive ™''c7'.e -chapairof a.h.:7, 'f '" "" '"y ''i^l-stl^v L" most dar,,,., efforts have been„nd 7 "'' ''"'• '""' ""> "I'h '""'-led. The co,nin^ of ™ ? "'.^"■";'> ""^ "-' none h t- ««-„ of a /Ii,d„ fron,%henes ?/: """"' '"™™Wy he on tl,e supernatnral still sr:f 7^ 'r''"'' '" ™ -'"''<■ t J'ocl. to the thnid not re-idilv , ^''"' '" 'P' to ca,„e a ""t a solitary ,i>rn of , ^ '"''Sotten. There is nl , barean,! , ^ vegetation abont the T ^ ateol.itely "ft and towering walls an,l . Temple ; „» ,-,; k. ..,,r >2 C4J Oi'f^ H'llSTllKJV HMriKI:. :S "Oa*.; Crix'k carton is left with unfiM^^nctl rcj^rct, and as \vc toil ii|) ilir asctMU on th(^ riturn trip we cast manyj^Manccs back to aiil iiuinory in fixing its lu.autics upon the mind. A couple ol niiU's over a road the tamest imaginable, after the three miles of down grade, brings us to the base of Curiosity 1 liil, well named, as is speedily proven by the discovery of all sorts of oijil and beautiful little specimens of ribbon moss and linear agate crystals and the like. The surfaco of the hill is one vast field ot curiosities, and so plentiful and varied arc they that even those usually wholly indifferent to such diings soon find themselves vying with the most enthusiastic in exclamations of delight upon finding some particularly attractive si)ecimen. 13y blaslinj^, large bodies of the most perfect crystals are obtained, invariably bedded in ribbon agate of the most beautiful colors and shapes, and polishing readily, they form beyond all comparison the love- liest of cabinet attraciions. Many very valuable specimens ol" blood agate have been found on Curiosity Hill, and for agates of all hues and forms it is possibly the most .satisfactory field for the specimen-seeker in Southern Colorado. Trotting homeward we watch the bla/ing splendor of the sunset upon the lofty heads of the rocky monarchs around us, while the cool twilight of the open park between us and Canon City envelops all about our road. "Next morning we are off for Oil Creek canon, which is wholly different from others seen thus far. The windings of the road in following the heavily-wootled stream are decidedly of a ro- mantic character, running now through a bewitching little grove, and the next moment joining with the merry waters and keeping them close company until another cluster of aspens or firs causes a separation of sight only, for the music of the foaming stream comes to us through the leaves, thus rendering the meeting all the more delightful. A half mile from the mouth of the canon we come upon the oil wells from which the stream takes its name, and about which its perfect purity is polluted by the pe- troleum that lies thick upon its surface. Some considerable surface work has been dorte at the wells in the way of tubing and the like, and they have been yielding more or less oil for tlic past UivAtn years l>.> . • Hi "cr, u i,..„, ,„, „;„v,„:'::i;r,::;':r ""* '"■'■"« ■"•■"'-■ '■"«■ tli<.(irst)• of .1,,.. coloring,, 1 ,;,,,, „ >j"'; "' Y ""•■ l^'illiancy an, I va- •l".»c.rcn,.nclous ruins ar. Z T J " "'""' ""I"'• i.. -ch transfor-na'tio of ^7 1°" •;'™"^"' "- P-<^ > f ;'"jrl..y tiers extending, tow- rd '^ T" '""''''"'' ">">'-'. while '!>« I'olwarks of great sl,ip\ ° f '" ""^"'"'^^ «« vividly u, mind -vay to dust. Directly a ,e.^ of T "''""''''^ ''"'' '" ^•^ "o >^-|«rk,wecatchfullj,Lp e of„ "■''''?•" ""''^ "«= ""fe of or:; —1 644 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. \ " The road, as it nears the head of the park, abruptly dashes into a thickly grown grove of pinon trees. We halt for a mo- ment to get a full view of the largest pinon tree in Colorado, and probably in the country, and after entertaining something of a 'ontempl for the scraggy little trunk of the average pinon tree, it is quite refreshing to behold one fully three feet in t!i- ameter, though all the more uncouth and ugly for its unwonteJ circumference. The pinons bear extraordinary quantities of the sweetest litde nuts, but outside of this tliey are of no possible worth. Around the sharpest and steepest of curves, a dasli across the madly-surging stream, and a helter-skelter scramble up a low but exceedingly rocky ascent, and we are at the mouth of Marble Cave, so near in fa:t as to barely escape falling into it in looking for it. The ragged, jagged crevice by which the cave is entered is anything but enticing, and the sensation experienced as one's head is all there is left above ground is far from the pleasantest. "The descent is almost perpendicular for a hundred feet or more, and the staircase formed by the broken ledges on either side of the chasm far from soothing to one's nerves, especially as all the lights obtained are the meagre ^;lintings which steal through the three-cornered opening above and struggle faintly half way to the bottom of the rift of rocks. vStumbling over un- seen boulders, and barely escaping serious contact with the en- compassing walls, we grope to the point where our guide has kindled a fire, and find it the intersection of the two main halls of the cave. The ghastly flare thrown upon the wiiUs by the burning pine chills us to the bone, and a tremulous inspecticii of the situation adds no warmth. We are in a strange and awful rift in some buried mountain, the walls so narrow that our elbows touch on either side, antl so weird and terrific in heiglu, as seen through the heavily-rolling smoke, as to look ten tiiiK:- the 150 feet our guide informs us is the distance to the roof. The pine burns brighter, the smoke grows thicker, but we press on, now crawling on all-fours into some wondrous chamber 01 stalactite and stalagmite, and anon tugging up a strand of rope over frightful boulders that have fallen from the dizzy height '""""'' "^■-- --- '....orr ,n.,. above, to obstruct man in iearnin.. ,l„ ^^^ vuls,on of nature. VVe ^ZZl t^^T ^ ""» ='"'""' -"- si uddenn^ly into i,i, ,,,'„,,, i^;;*, ^"'^ i'atan's Bower, we Io„k selve., ,„to l,i.s Arm-Ci^air. We d a/r" '' "^ "'™- »- Queens Grot,, and the sl,ortesTwl,en I T'' "^ '"•^^="1« m o>.r those fearh,! rocks crowd7„ Tnd T' '^ °' ""' '»>' back Cer a,nly the clear blue sky never". .t"""^ -"^nsideration finally stand under it a^ain Ue c/ ^ '° '°^ ^'^ ^^^ »''-" we encompassed by marble walls andlh "' '^ "^ ™'"'' '"'Plies rought from its innermost retssef a ''^'"'"^"^ "^ "'a-bl ■' 'l'<;s"n, are exceedinrfy beautifnl f •''^''" '" '^^ "i-" ylare of -■■ white. The marble is ts '' " ""T ',"°"'<=^ -^f^ct of red polish, and parties in Canon clu^ '"' ''«'''--^' and rich« P;ac|,ca purposes. All ab ufl'hm'V'''" '■"'^'- - »-l as which the cave is entered, are 1 fi "" *^ '°* '-■'■^^t of ajate and .shell rock, and Tot ft dlT' '""^""^"^ "^ Ja»pe pemfcd to solid rock, and wlL b,o '"'r '''^ '■"'"'^"- '^ee.,' f"l vems of agate and crystl O T °"'" ^''°*'"g beauti- more notice of the cosy and . . , ""^ ■"«"■•" trip we tall 'f^ghoue the park, a d b 1 ""i n^ '^ ^--Oouses'slatt ej of the y,eld of grain-p..i„c pT '"''' '"""'"'''^ '" the deta Is ».»'-.of irrigation practised!o Ll"'?^^'^"^'^'^ ■''™"gh e "0 gram whatever cjn b,- ^ ^^^'en^'vely m the State ■ in fi,,: «"'-->n-..ntio„. M-i„'; :rt I' ""^""' ■•- ^°^^ •home of the gentleman «L ^ ^ '"" l'"" "P at the pleas o.t Hill, where IVofess^ M .V:,;; 1° r^n '" "^^ '°P -' Ta -' Cope, of the Academy of Na "l s ' ^""'S'^- ''"'• Professor F;"« at work e..huming the r ttf 'T""' ^'''''--'d-'ph.a, have «ls, compared to which nn^.''"">'^'-^d bones of ani ;»odon sinks to insi^fi L^' w"'" '"" '"P-'^"- th ' ad make direct for the wall nfM "" ""'"^ '<=ave the road »f >he park, and a sho dril L "' ™'' °" "'^ --' ^^e , «,^»^l>in,? the st,m,f,it the Ic!, T^'"^' "' '° "''^ ^ase, we ait *e'' ''>'*- ""lescrib bli r T '"'"'' °^ -««■ islf ■ ffirst time we appreciate , re ''"'hr'"'" "^ "><= ^^■«>-. and To Ve de Christo ^.e A L ^ '"'' ^'''"''•^'" "^ '^e -' of Professor Cope, pt^:::ZrX'"' ^^ ^^ - '^ I ^' " *" ^'f>in and without is *>2 CCS OCIi —■J >i«' ::3 5^6 OUK WESTEKh' EMPIRE. heaped-iip bones, rocks now, and many of them so perfectly agatized that at a casual glance it would stagger any but a scientist's belief that they were ever covered with flesh. As seen, here, however, it is so palpably apparent that the seemincr rock and agate are bone as to leave no room for shadow of tioubt. Before us are perfect parts of skeletons so huge as to ])repare one for the belief that Noah's Ark was a myth ; sections of vertebrae three feet in width ; ribs fifteen feet long ; thigh-bones over six feet in length — and the five or six tons of bones thus far shipped East comprising only the parts of three animals. In one pit the diameter of the socket of the vertebrae measured fif- teen inches, width of spinal process forty-one inches, and depth of vertebrai twenty-nine inches. In another place there was a thigh-bone six feet and two inches in length ; a section of back- bone lying just as the monster rolled over and died, with eleven ribs attached, the back-bone twenty feet long and from sixteen to thirty inches deep, and the ribs five to eight feet in length and six inches broad. Just showing upon the surface was a part oi a thigh-bone twenty-two inches in width and thirty in length, and near it a nine-foot rib four inches in diameter, a foot wide at six feet, and where it articulated with the vertebrae, twenty-three and a half inches in width. The entire rib was fifteen feet In length. All over the hill we come upon little piles of broken bones which will require days of patient labor and skillful hand- ling to properly set in place. The first discovery of the fossils was made in April last by a young graduate of Obcrlin Collei^e, who, teaching a country school in the park five days in the week, spent his Saturdays about the hills hunting deer, and occasion- ally getting a shot at a grizzly. Immediately upon satisfying liimself of the character of the discovery, the young man wrote to his old Professor in Ohio, and subsequently to Professor Cope, of Philadelphia. Hardly had the latter organized his party of exploration before Professor Marsh had his, under the leadership of Professor Mudge, of Kansas, duly equipped, and by the mid- dle of May both parties were actively engaged excavating, setting up and preparing for shipment the bones which Professor Marsh declares are seven million years old. t;rrectly ,' but a sh. As seeming adow of lee as to sections gh-bones »nes thus mals. In \sured ftf- and depth vere was a n of back- vith eleven Dm sixteen length and IS a part oi length, and wide at six Lventy-three ^een feet in of broken \f\\\iu\ hand- the fossils [lin Colle.Lic, n the Nveek, ^d occasion- satisfying man wrote Fessor Cope, (lis party of _ leadership I by the mid- excavating, ph Professor GIGANTIC LIIARACTER OF FOSSILS. 647 "The first animal discovered was of entirely new genus and species in scientific circles, and was named the camarasuras su- premus, from the chamber of caverns in the centres of the vertebric. Of the first petrifactions exhumed was a femur or thigh-bone six feet in length, scapular or shoulder-blade five and a half feet long, sacrum, or the part of the backbone over the hips — corresponding to four vertebrae united in one — forty inches. Vertebra; immediately in front of this measured in elevation two feet six inches, and the spread of tiie diapophyses was three feet. Professor Hayden, the widely-known chief of the United States Geological Survey, upon visimig this place and inspecting these and other parts of the animal, declared it his conviction that the beast must have been fully a hundred feet in length. The thigh-bone, measuring some six feet, stood over the hips eighteen to twenty feet. The animal was undoubtedly shorter of front than of hind legs, and Professor Marsh thinks it had the power to raise up like a kangaroo on its hind legs and browse off the leaves of the trees from sixty to eighty feet in height. The professor also gives it as his opinion that the 'critter* fed entirely upon grass and leaves, the vertebrae of the neck being some twenty-one inches in length, and the spread of the diapophyses three feet, this being understood of cervical vertebra;. The skeleton is not completely exhumed, though between 7,500 and 8,000 pounds of bone have been shipped to Professor Cope. A part of the jaw of a laelaps trihedrodon, ten inches long, and containing eight teeth varying from five to eight inches in length, has also been shipped. Recently a leg bone of this same animal was exhumed and found to measure a little over four feet, and with a portion of the head all crushed into small pieces, sent on to the professor. A part of the femur of another animal has been found, measuring six feet, but somewhat lighter than tlie others. The vertebrae are three feet six inches in eleavtion, showing a very tall brute, but not so heavy as the camarasuras. When found, it was lying on the right side with vertebrae and ribs of that side in place, the ribs measuring over six feet in length, and the prongs where they join the back fifteen inchts in width. Man^' of the bones of the camarasuras are misplaced .-J 648 OLR WESTERN EMPIRE. »— — ^ -■ CO' 1 ( and broken up, quite a pile being found at the spot vvlierc several of the teetli of the trihedrodon were discovered, thus indi- cating the preying of the one upon the other. While the general estimate of the age of these huge fossils among American geol- ogists is seven million years, English scientists declare them fourteen million years old. Both the camarasuras and the trihedrodon were of the Jurassic period, being found in beds, which, according to Professor Marsh, correspond with the Wealden beds of England. All this section of the country must have been a plain when so much of Colorado was covered by an ocean, and before the mountains were formed. The fossils are found in rock long upheaved, its character now a sort of shale or marlite, which upon being dug out and exposed to the air crumbles to pieces. In most instances it is free from bone decay, the parts of animals taken out being remarkable for their clean and per- fect solidity. Marsh and Cope agree that the camarasuras was the largest and most bulky animal capable of progress on land of which we have any knowledge, it being very much larger than the mastodon, which was of a much later period. "Professor Mudge, with his party, is working about three- quarters of a mile distant from Professor Cope's camp, and very recently discovered portions of an animal of even more monstrous proportions than those already referred to, and of entirely dif- ferent genus and species from either. The explorations of the Marsh and Cope parties will be pushed with all possible vigor, the entire scientific world being intensely interested not only in the work here on Talbott Hill, but in the setting up of the gi- gantic skeletons at Yale College and the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia. Excursions from several of the leading colleges to the scene of the discoveries are planned for the sum- mer, and the season's work promises to add to the lively in- terest in scientific circles. •*The next morning our way is southward ten miles or more to the coal mines, stopping at the iron spring a little over three miles from town. It is up a short, dry gulch leading off from the road, and quite peculiar, inasmuch as the water springs from and has worn its tiny channel up the very edge of a long, thin ridge that J"« out into the gulch. Over th. f . *^5 has scattered its ii-r.n ,. '"^ 'ace of the riVIo-. ,1, Punty in the wonderful cL^'l^'r f'"'^'^^'''>''« but s^ol" however, the iron nf "^"^^-^n"!. of the sprin.r Tn ,h -g'y char,.;;,:,; , r ,rrj ■•-'^, anc^;..':. : ;:?■ ' ^ ^ve arc bowJincr aloiKr ;» . , ^' niines. An W.nd mule, through a vefn o ,o!iJ" ,~''' '""^'^ attached to a "> d'ameter. It i, a „eird ride ,1 , '""'"""''» °ver five (J bowels of the eartlMhefl it"; °^ '"°^'= -'° ■'■-■nk; causmg a gl,astly effect not a alMr ', "'"" '''■'"''""'-«= 'amp! e coal on either side and overi.td"" r "" "" "-'^"-^^ c7 "to he dusky depths of the ann. , ^""y ^""^ f<-et we peer chambers, catching qtu'ck hnre^r ,' T"'"'^' -■•'■« of side n..ners look ,0 be, as ,ve ±^30 • !' '""'-" '^'"'^"S^. as he fo^s of the men, their ffce" Zrl'u"- ^^ ^^^ "» he P l<-s of powder ,„ canisters almost 1, , ""^ "°»' and then l-ambers and at one point we are sh 7 '^^ ^""-^"^^ '« h" apoor m,ner to his deith bt t a da, 1 "'" "f '"^^ '""^«= "'absent old, blind mule trr^t. ^> °^ ^wo before R . •,, closini,' behind „":rt,:"', '"' "'^ P-=-S t'-o"gh d"" "•? ;f '-f wholesouK/air'tft'tdt lirr • '°°-'- P--^^^^^^^^ ermore fron, the world behi d ^ .'^r ?' ''= ^"'^'^ "^ o^ ' "''^. °'" l^^" "f a moments timJ " '" 'PP'''^^^ an age ■ 'Klity-six side chambers nr I " <=°'"Panson. There t ' 01 track upon wh.ch the coal is carri f ^,' "'' '" a", four miles ":;"» average five feet two nches '^"i '° ""^ °«er world. The The gigantic, solid lump of coil 11 ? T^*"' 4°° tons per dav fc« across and four fee, r . '^'" '<=« "me inches Inn ■ 1/ I (J ^ » < (5tj-0 ^'^^P U-ESTER.V EM PIKE. of the mine in tliree clays. Caiion City coal is probably the finest bituminous coal in the world, and is so extensively used throu"-h- out the West as to require the running- of special trains for coal alone, on the Denver and Rio Grande road, which has its own track to the mines. The supply is beyond all human calculation, for the valley of the Arkansas is one vast coal bed for mile npon mile. " On the return trip we make quite a detour to the east, to spend a little time at the gypsum beds, which are twelve feet in thickness. " Leaving the hotel immediately following an early breakfast, next morning, a drive of twelve miles brings us to the Grand Canon of the Arkansas. Disappointment is bitter, and fcelin'Ts of resentment almost beyond control, as nowhere can the eve discover the caiion. In the immediate foreground the pinon growth is rank and dense ; just beyond, great, bleak ridges of bare, cold rock contrast strongly with the profusion of foliage hiding everything beneath from sight, while away in the dim dis- tance the snow-crowned peaks of the continental divide are out- lined sharp and clear against the solid blue of the morning sky. Though grand beyond anything we have seen in amazing extent of vision, the mind is so wrapped up in the anticipation of full realization of the gloom, and vastness, and solemn grandeur of the Grand Canon, as to resent almost angrily their apparent absence. A half dozen steps from the clump of pinon trees where the horses have been fastened, and all thoughts of resentment, of disappointment and chagrin vanish, and a very cry of absolute terror escapes us. At our very feet is the canon — another step would hurl us into eternity. Shuddering, we peer down the awful slopes ; fascinated we steal a little nearer to circumvent a very mountain that has rolled into the chasm, and at last the eye reaches down the sharp incline 3,000 feet to the bed of the river, the impetuous Arkansas, forty to sixty feet in width, yet to us a mere ribbon of molten silver. Though surging madly against its rocky sides, leaping wildly over gigantic masses of rock and hoarsely murmuring against its imprisonment within these lofty walls, it finds no avenue of escape. Every portion of these marble ; finest rou'fh- or coal ts own Lilation, ic tipon east, to : feet in -eakfast, i Grand feelings the eye \e plnon idees of )f foliage : dim dis- j are out- ning sky. ig extent n of full leu r of the absence, 'here the [tment, of absolute :her step ,o\vn the [umvent a ,t the eye I the river, it to us a ly against Irock and |iese lofty fee marble THE ROYAL GORGE. gjj bastions is as smooth as if polished, and as stationary as the mighty walls that look down upon them from such fearful height. *' Fairly awed into a bravado as reckless as it is strange to us, we crawl out upon tottering ledges to peer into sheer depths of untold ruggcdness ; we grasp with death-like clutch some over- hanging limb and swing out upon a promontory beside which the apex of the highest cathedral spire in the world would be as a sapling in height. We crawl where at home we would hardly dare look with telescope, and in the mad excitement of the hour tread, with perfect abandon, brinks, the bare thoughts of which, in after recollection, make us faint of heart and dizzy of head. Eager now for still greater horrors of depth, blind to every- thinof but an intolerable desire to behold the most sava ''^rk, etc f".- a month on the road wihL- In ^^ "' V''^^'' '•'"'' "°» '""ff '"•■^"■-■l".- ".s. The reader may be in r^ ''''""'^''' '">'>' ■"•••? more con„.aratively short Z^V^T'i '° ^'^1^ '^ "•^■-"e are no and the reply „ould be, therTar 'I >"'"" ^'''^ ^ "- base, almost beyond enumeration A , "" '""">' '" •"«««» to be day^' tour is that fron, Cafion A \ '"^"''''''' '""^ to five ;Y" "f ,">e Sierra Moja la or \vVt' m" "'" ^'«' "«-«1 e Oa Creek Canon to R^sit., IZI'TT """' ""■'-''" Wet Mountam valley and G ape r ' , °° ''' """^ '""'" ''" b- Imer,- as an old prospectl' vol ,"''"°".- '"'"^ - =« ' "".- I'«l> a range of altitude, aid affo ds ca ^^r™'"""^ '^^ ''''^^ and onjoyment of life ofttin,es above 1^, """'"■"'"'■"■- '-^ '1"^ several distinct craters, and in h„ '"''• ^'■^'•- K<«ita are cone-shaped hills that ril oo V^^^ ""^■^^''* S-^-over re .nnumerable n,ines. Abou°t it , Z^T" /"""^ "^ "'"" "ful speamens of crystallisation cl^ ,'"'' ""^ "'"»' beau- Pymesof most brilliant hues V^T"! '""* "^ '^Par and g" eh or glade to obtain a nearer vie ' rV ""^ ''"'^ «-- ' valley, and the Sangrede Chr o7In eT 'f ^^'^' ^'°""'ai « a very delightful one, looki ^at .^"'^ ^^'""^ "^ «'=^'ern lin,it Pa.n..ng with the point of vie ' he"",,"""-" '"'^ -™'^ ^'^and ^■ye, ranging down the i.^! ' Iv"!'-'',"' '''^' ^'^'^^ ->1 '3.50O feet m altitude, beholds .Te '^ "' S:'"^'^ '° mountains ;;*n^ and swelling againsr, e lea ^^"r' ''"' ■"'''J-'- P-k Shddoned with. Manv K ,„ , ■^''>' '=^'-''- "'ortal eie w ,. ;*y. often called ^Z B^^^ZJ^ "-^"^ """^ '" " •ippropnate to the tourist after I. f' '' "^"'^ '^hich seen.s CO; I— 31 :3Cl :S I- C54 OTA' /;/..v.-.ViV.\- ;;.i;/'//v/:. Lake of thu Clouds. The fourtli night ciuls at Canon City, ami the expense of the trip hardly averaj^es $5 per day, including everything. Another exceedingly pleasant trip from Carton City is to Poncho Springs, sixty-five miles up the Arkansas river, for which a running description of the drive through the Upper Arkansas carton will suffice. Engaging a seat in the regular buckboard line leaving Carton City every other day, the start is made immediately after early breakfast, and the sun is hardly over the mountains before the sublimely grand confines of Grape Creek carton are reached. A word as to the buckboard, for beyond all comparison the most comfortable and enjoyable of all vehicles for mountain travel, it deserves at the least a [)assinir mention. Built expressly for Harlow 6c Sanderson, the great stage men of Colorado, the buckboard of their lines is a roomy, double-seated, open vehicle, the slatted bed lying dircictly upon the axles, and the seats set well up on fish-plate springs, the jar consequent upon striking rock or stone is almost lost before it reaches the seat. There is none of the rolling, swaying motion of the- bulky coach, or of the short, jerky action of the aptly named 'Jerkee.* There being no top, the eye ranges at will, and the bed of the conveyance is so near the ground one can readily spring out and walk when so inclined, many preferring so to do when climbing long hills. " Emerging from Grape Creek canon the road winds throiioh Webster Park, thence into Copper Gulch, at the head of which is a towering gateway of solid rock, and passing through it to the top of the divide the scene is grand beyond all conception. Directly ahead is the snowy range, with its white-capped crests looming high above the clouds, which hang about the rocky breasts below as if loth to leave their ample resting-place. To the left is the Greenhorn range, to the right the great conti- nental divide, and imagination could not picture sight more sviu- lime. Through Seven-mile Gulch the road enters Pleasant Park, with its rugged rock sculptures, its densely- wooded slopes and grassy lawns. On every side are most curious monuments formed of monster boulders one atop the other, and holding position, by apparently so frail a thread, that the gust of a mo- ^ THi-. vi.iri> HOUSES of ti/k sax juan. 655 y, and ludin>; »n City cr, for ljpi)i;r start is hardly f Grape ard, for ■able of passing ic great 1 roomy, dy upon ;, the jar before it T motion die apdy ts at will, one can referring th rough of which uijh it to nception. 2cl crests he rocky [ace. To ;at conti- lore s'liu- ,ant Park, lopes and inuments holding [of a mo- niciu's duraii >:i would hurl them from dizzy heights to the level of the park. W'liile in the park, ma^^nificent views are obtained of Mount IManca and Pike's Peak, either of them not less than eij^hty miles away, and at the summit of the divide between Pleasant Park and the South Arkansas — altitude 7,800 feet — the view in all directions is beyond description. From this the descent is commenced ; at nightfall the solid, comfortable ami roomy old stone house, known, Colorado over, as Bales', is reached, and with it the South Arkansas. Twenty miles farther is the Clialk Creek region, with its hot springs, fishing and hunting, and thirty miles beyond arc the noted Twin Lakes. Fifteen miles from the lakes is California Gulch, with the wonderful Mount of the Holy Cross to the north." There are, in the southwestern part of the State, in La Plata, Conejos, and San Juan counties, and around the head-waters of the sources of the San Juan river, many of those ruins of houses cut in the rocks of the perpendicular cliffs, or on the summits of the isolated mesas or table-rocks, of which there are so many hundreds of examples in New Mexico, Arizona and Southern Utah. This whole region was denscdy pojoulated ages ago, and by races far superior to the existing tribes of Indians. The Moquis, already described in our account of Arizona, may possi- bly belong to the same race with these cliff-dwellers, for they have similar ideas in regard to their dwellings and languages, customs, habits and religion, entirely diverse from any of the other Indian tribes, but some of these ruins are many centuries old. They were in their present condition of ruins when the Spaniards first penetrated here, 330 or 340 years ago. That thc:y had formidable enemies, whose attacks they evaded by their fortified dwelling-places, seems evident; but whether those enemies were Apaches, Aztecs, or other tribes or nations, now, like themselves, extinct, does not clearly appear. The extent of these ruins, often 250 by 600 or 700 feet, the massive blocks of stone of which some of them are constructed, and the vast labor by which others were hewn out of die solid rock, are well fitted to excite our admiration. The Estufas or chapels, for their worship of the sun in these buildings, were very large and -•J t t > I. C 5-6 PTA' U'/LSTF./IX KMr/KF.. elaborately constructed. It is hcliovcd that they wore so iinwar- likn as to hav(i no olTiMisivt: weapons, 'llicy probably burnt d the botlics of their deail. (See Arizona. ) The mineral wealth of Colorado does not consist alone in the amount of the precious metals contained in its broad mineral belt, thou<;h diis will eventually be found, we think, jijreater than that of any other State, but includes also copper, lead, zinc, platina, tellurium, iron in vast (juantities and of all kinds of ores, coal, }^rypsum, salt, kaolin, and pottery clays, etc., etc. The coal of Colorado is worthy of special remark. It is widely distribut(Hl, being found anil worked in Weld, Moulder, Jefferson, Kl Paso, iM'emont, Huerfano, Las Animas, and La Plata comi- ties, anti is known also to e.xist in San Juan, Ouray, (iunnison and Summit counties. It is of very different cpialities and of different geolojj^ic ages. In the north it is a lignite of the terti- ary period, of very good cjuality. Toward the centre of the State it is a lignite of the cretaceous period, but of still better quality. In the south, in tiie vicinity of Trinidad, Las Animas county, the true coal measures have been reached, and the coal is a bituminous coking coal of great value. West of the Rocky Mountains, in La Plata county, it is from the true coal measures, semi-bituminous or semi-antliracite. Volcanic action in Las Animas and La Plata counties has probably affected the quality of the coals, much as it has in some parts of New Mexico, mak- ing, what would otherwise have been a soft, bituminous coal, a hard and dense anthracite. It is believed that the coal mines of Gunnison county, which are known to be anthracite, have been changed in the same v.-ay, but the quality is not inferior to that of Pennsylvania and a r '^';ing coal of the best quality. The an a in this county is aboit 600 scpiare miles, and the beds are from ten to fifty feet or more in thickness. There are two distinct beds, separated only by four feet of iron shale. Some of it is said to be a true anthracite of excellent quality, whether affected by volcanic action or not is not fully settled. The coal mines of Colorado will eventually be sufficient to supply the entire West. Zoology. — The wild animals of Colorado are usually those of the plains, though there are a few not found in any considerable \v.'\r- widely forson, coun- nnison and of le tcrti- of the 1 better Animas ZOOr.OGY ()/> CO I.OKA DO. 657 numbers on the plains or elscwh(.'re in tlu; Rocky Mountains, riie l)lack and brown bear occur in eonsidcrablc lunnbcis both in Mastorn and Western Colorado, and arc; hunted to some; extent. The j^riz/ly bear is not coininon even west of the Rocky Mountains, and is unknown in I'-astern Colorado, lie is a for- midable customer in a close fij^dit, but is easily frightened away liy shouts or yells, when uninjured. The puma, couj^ar or panther is somewhat rare, except in the northwest of the State, but his coiijfcner, the jajruar, Am<:rican or mountain lion, is found west of the Rocky Mountains, in the .San Juan country, thouj^h his hahitat has been generally sup|)osecl to be limited to Texas and Arizona. The j^ray or black wolf is found west of the Rocky Mountains, and, perhaps, east of them : the prairie wolf, usually, though perhaps incorrectly, called coyote, is frequent cnouj^jh in luistern Colorado, but not [)l<;nty in the west. The lynx, ocelot, wild cat, martin, fisher, and skunk are here, as else- where, in considerable numbers. The buffalo still iVequents, though in greatly decreased numbers, the elevated plains of Eastern Colorado, but never appears in the mouni.iins or west of them. His rare congener, the mountain or wood buffalo, is occasionally found, solitary, in the Rocky Mountains. The (.-Ik [iMpiti], the finest game animal of the West, has been thus far very abundant in the West and especially in the great parks ; but it has been so destructively hunted that its numbers are fast diminishing. The Virginia and mule-deer are numerous, and the antelope is found on the plains, while in the mountains the bighorn, or Rocky Mountain sheep and, more rarely, the Rocky Mountain goat, are plenty enough to make hunting of them rare sport. The smaller rodents and munchers, squirrels of many species, beavers, minks, muskrats, rats, mice, moles, gophers, marmots, rabbits, sage, and jackass hares, etc., etc., are, in the asrricultural districts, more plentiful than desirable. Birds, though not as numerous as in California, are yet aijundant and of many genera and species. Of birds of prey, there are two, possibly three, species of the eagle, several of the vulture, and hawks and owls in abundance. In and around the lakes, in the parks and elsewhere, and on the plains, are a great 4i ^;5 ecu CX3^ 3 6;S OUK WESTER N^ EMPIRE. i i abundance of game birds, the wild goose migrating southward, duci' "*'^ '="-Srely of Leadville, are many of them in r,^^^ '"^""'>'' '" "'« vicfnltv abandoned or forfeited or ll '^"°"' "'"''"^ ''^vin. been "^'r'- ag-ain. j„,, uo.ZS, f^ ^"^"'^^-^ over a,!d anti the o,mnison regions in tZ '^°'o'-ado, the San fuan --Wing tbci? so:;:;, f „X'---^ basi„s,anc/r st,ea,„s ,„ these mountains-^n 'r l! Mo^ntams. Most of '"i'l'est sources of the Rin r ""-""'• '"''^ed, exceot th. ;;-"- «'"-ei.- falls in : ^ SaTt *' ^"^' ^^ "'Sag 7 are found the Roarinl Fork th r'"~"°" ^-t-a^d"^- each, all tributaries of the r. . ' '' """'eraus affluent, r.f "-fof the Rio Coo^do :r:h"u'r"^°f "•- 'wo» ti ^niinas (a large stream), Rio Ja /Or' 4 i~-3) 66o OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. i 3 ^ Plata, Rio Mancos (also an important river), McElmo, Hoven- weep and East Montezuma creek:i — all tributaries of the San Juan river, another of the principal affluents of the Rio Colorado. This whole region of Western and Southwestern Colorado, com- posed of the spurs and outlying ridges of the westernmost range of the Rocky Mountains, is full of veins and lodes of gold and silver, and unless portions of Arizona may be excepted, there is no richer region for the precious metals in the whole West. But let us go into the mining history of the State somewhat more in detail. Gold was discovered in the Colorado Territory, not far from Pike's Peak, in 1859; it was in refractory forms, mostly sulphurets of iron and gold, a pyrites of iron and gold reduced with great difiiculty, though in the placers there was some free gold. The production for ten years after 1859 was on an average about ^^3,000,000 per annum, exceeding that amount by ^300,000 or ^400,000 each year of the fir t five, and falling short of it by about the same amount in \\k jci.st five. All of this product was gold except about ^330,000 of silver and ;^4o,ooo in copper, both parted from the gold. The entire production of the Colorado mines and placers up to the close of 1869 was estimated at |ii2 7,583,081, and as it was apparently diminishing and was difficult of reduction, while that of Nevada and California was increasing, the population did not greatly increase and many of the miners migrated to Nevada and elsewhere. Thus far all the gold and silver had been pro- duced either on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains or at least on the slopes of the front or lower range and east of :'m' Main, Park, or Sangre de Christo range. T3ut in 1870 the £ n« r product began to increase, moderately at first, but soon in; ■ largely, l.ake county had been among the earliest gold pro- ducing counties, and its placers, though yielding from «=- -ce .S.-o, ,„ f,, ,^ ^Coin Va/ue.) Vear. ,, T ■ ■ I OIL VEX I /^ I'rcviou.s,o,87o.... .„„ „ ' ' ^"^*'- iS?" *'7a'ij,o8i oo «,,„ ■B/l -'.000,00000 7^"'°°°°° *40.oaooo , 1S76.. =^.'6>.475o2 3.096,02300 00^°;^ 28,00000 3.790,00000 ,877 ' 2.7-6,315 8, 3,'22,9,2 00 ^''" °° 73,67600 ■».";8,ooo 00 1879... 3.49^,j84 16 J'7=*'379 33 .1,^6^ 80,00000 ^,434,387 02 '^ 57^-,oJ^ 6.34. .8078. i^'^^^ »-t7.4ooo^ ^..^..g.^g^ •I' . I ■ —^ •3.'»i,ooo 00 f9.ooo 00 6i6q2j ^ 7,216,2835, iotal <„ ■ "" '50,00000 R '^o* 73 lo.iicR iifi 3 I Name.. ( \^ ^^ —- -_ _J ''^- /^. fc'i>''n..T7Tr. hr ~-- — ~ ' '^''' I ~^. Cif.ir Creek *^S52,ocx) 00 I Si -nn r^„ I ■ ' I-ake v.: 4Sr.354 08 ^ Ig'J?? °° ^'.389,289 00 ^, .IT f'..ik ••••• 125,00000 ?S'^^^ ''503,29100 ,J^°'|°^°o IJouIder.... 60,00000 ;S'^°°° '33,06000 1?^'£:°°| Summit... 130,00000 2^'^^ 250,00000 !^°'^°° T , , r |^7^645 92 125,000 00 ,06,000 00 ' -ti 93 ( 83,059,046 -lA «, -„„„ 34 I #3.790.000 00 I i!4,o28.ooo oo Counties. I T Clear Creek 1 1876. ' ^''Pin 1" ^2,203,047 00 \777o " -— fe=:::;:-^^^::::| iSi ISii IsS ! at, ; '"""•-■fi™ v. SS?! 350.00O-00 I ^°- 'inS^M^M '"-- pCli :C5 652 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRR. COLORADO'S MINING PRODUCT BY COUNTIES, lS77-'78'79. Col'NTIIiS. Lake (iilpin Clear Creek Houkler Custer I'ark Gunnison Summit Chaffee The San Juan Region. Otiier sources Totals 1877. 2,208,037 09 2,206,577 91 593.325 35 354,081 34 616,459 32 190,000 00 377.472 52 1 1 8,000 00 37,216,283 53 1878. *3.' 52,925 44 2,280,901 II 2,511,105 85 679,123 so 452,500 00 426,698 00 320,774 00 534,089 00 200,000 00 $10,558,116 90 1B79. i»i2,(f?2,8o8 61 2,608,055 00 1,912,410 00 800,000 00 720,000 CO 434.749 CXJ 300,000 00 295.717 00 71,240 00 483,500 00 12,940 00 )S' 9,679.5*^4 61 "•SI ^§^ The first of these tables is remarkable as showing the won- der! i *' -elopment of silver production in the last ten years, and es^ ally in the last five or six years. The carbonate silver lodes of Leadville and its vicinity, and the silver production in other counties in 1879 brought the aggregate of silver product to 5^13,100,000, and will probably bring it to $17,000,000 or $18,000,000 the present year. Meanwhile, the production of gold is not only not diminishing, but last year was almost double what it had previously been, and the present year will probably advance still more rapidly. Gold production has passed through three successive stages in Colorado. From 1859 to 1869 it was obtained very largely from placer deposits ; and later from hydraulic mining, which is only placer mining on a larger scale; then came the era of the sulphurets of gold and iron, and the tellurides, refractory ores, but rich in gold ; now the mines of the San Juan region (the counties of Hinsdale', San Juan, Ouray, and La Plata) as well as those of the Gunnison, so far as they are gold, are mostly free-milling gold, easily extracted, and yielding large amounts to the ton of ore ; the mines of Silver Cliff and Rosita, in Custer county, so far as they yield gold, which many of them do, differ from all the other gold mines of the State, but are not specially difficult of reduction. The mining product of Colorado seems likely to be, when it shall be well developed, of nearly equal values of gold and silver ; while its mines of copper, lead, zinc, iron, and coal are of great and constantly increasing II to8 6i 055 00 410 00 ,000 00 ,000 00 ,749 00 i.CXK) 00 ,.717 00 ,240 00 5,500 00 2,940 00 9,584 61 ;he won- n years, ite silver uction in product )0,ooo or uction of ist double probably ' through 69 it was iter from rer scale ; I, and the [les of the turay, and they are yielding Cliff and lich many »tate, but [roduct of •loped, of if copper, Increasing MINIXG TOPOGRAPHY, ^5^ value. Nevada, a much older State, has produced much more silver thus far, but, widi her rapid and scientific development, and her wide diffusion of the precious metals (the western half of the State being a vast series of ore beds), Colorado bids fair within twenty years to pass her sister of the " snowy plume." The Gunnison region, though but little explored as yet, gives promise of immense mineral wealth, as does also the whole of the San Juan country, and, when the Ute reservation is opened to settlers under the new treaty, there will be such an abundance of mineral wealth that the old story will be revived, " that the miners are completely discouraged, because they have to dig through four feet of solid silver to get down to the gold." Let us take another glance at the mineral wealth of the State from the topographical point of view. The only part of the State which has not, up to the present time, given indications of deposits of the precious metals, is the region lying east of the meridian of 105° west from Greenwich, and extending eastward to the eastern boundary of the State on the i02d meridian. This embraces the large grazing and, to some extent, farming counties of Weld, Arapahoe, Elbert, Bent and Las Animas, as well as parts of Huerfano, Pueblo, El Paso and Douglas, and small fractions of Fremont and Larimer. It is about three- sevenths of the State, and is a part of the great plateau or plain which extends with a very gradual slope to the Missouri river, and includes the whole of Kansas and Nebraska. There are not as yet any manifestations of rnineral wealth in Costilla county, which includes the great San Luis Park, and is largely inhabited by Mexicans, nor very much in Conejos, both counties being largely inhabited by Mexicans. But the whole region west of the 105th parallel, except the two counties named, is a congeries of mountains, all or nearly all of which are rich in gold, silver, copper and lead. "A belt," says Mr. Fossett, " showing but slight interruptions, has been traced from the North Park and the northern part of Boulder county, south through Gilpin and Clear Creek, thence southwesterly through Summit, Park, Lake Chaffee, and into Gunnison county. It approaches the point where the great ■CTk .1:2 CO' i — • f 664 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Sawatch (SaL^uiachc) or main range divides into the Sangre dc Christo on the southeast, and the San Juan Mountains on the southwest. Tlie belt appears at intervals in each of these moun- tain systems or their outlying spurs and valleys down to the New Mexico boundary, and across it. "In the San Juan Mountains, which form the Continental Divide in the south, it is rich in silver veins, extending all through the counties of Hinsdale, San Juan and Ouray. Gold is also found there, as well as in Rio Grande county. The gold and silver bearing deposits of the Sierra Mojada and of the hills and valleys skirting the Sangre de Christo range are fast bring- ing Custer county into notoriety. "The Sawatch (Saguache) range extends from the point of union of the more southerly mountain systems northward to the Mount of the Holy Cross and the headwaters of the Arkansas, and is but another name for a portion of the main Rocky Moun- tain divide. It forms the dividing line between Gunnison county and Chaffee and Lake counties, and also separates Summit from the latter. Rich mineral discoveries have been and are still being made on both its eastern and western slopes, silver being the predominating metal. "East of this, and of the upper Arkansas valley, is the Park range of mountains, separating the latter from South Park, and uniting with the main range at Mount Lincoln. This, with its foot-hills, is enormously productive. On the western slope are the world-renowned carbo.nate deposits and veins of Leadville, immeasurably rich in silver and lead, and the gold veins and alluvial deposits of California Gulch. On the range itself and its eastern slopes are vast numbers of deposits and veins. Sil- ver predominates there, but gold, copper and lead are mined. Down in the park are gold placer mmes." - ; r Northward extends the main range which, all along its course between Summit and Grand counties on the western slope and Park, Clear Creek, Gilpin, and Boulder on the east, is more or less rich in silver veins. Its extending foot-hills possess veins and alluvial deposits rich in gold. The outlying mountain spurs, hills and gulches are also ribbed with metalliferous veins, some ^fOUJVT.Uj^S I.C7LI OF corn .. districts of Clear Creek anTr f • ^P'' ^'^ ^'^^ famous mfn precious metal ' ""• "''"'^'^ "■■""ricle vefn, '' "'''^'• oura,aJttra„^°;;;:t^ ?-'^'^ -~-xc possess rich deposits or , ■^"''" ^^^nties anrJ }^^^^^^'^- 'vrought until the recent!"' ^"'' <^^"not be ex,l. ! - *^ -ti^et, is fu,;r::;;,:r>'' *^'> -<.. open ti-:?iri- /et us then briefly pass m • ^' classify as far as we ni a wl ''•'^^'^''^ ^^^ "^''nine coiinf. . We begin with ^ ^'"' "^'"^^''^^ wealth. ^ "°""^'^«' ^nd Boulder county, 2i% .1,^ r , . , ^ ^"5o- coulder coimf,, • ^ ^^^ aiscovered 00 :»''-sitad„,i„ ;:;,;Xo%°'"°''"'^'"^ Xa^d ;;!' ' ' great extent and I— ji -- * 666 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. c; variety. Flourishinc^ towns and beautiful farms clot its surface, and mines and mills are profitably operated all over the moun- tain sections, from the sunny i)lains at Boulder back to the snow- barren summit of the snowy ran:,•■. The prospectors searching for new gold or silver lodes in 1 87 1, 1872 and 1873 often encountered mineral of great weight but of a peculiar appearance, which they passed over as worth- less. In 1873 Professor J. Alden Smith and others began to test this mineral and found it to be tellurides of gold and silver, GOLD AA'D S/fl-AA^ /„ ''^'' '""^^^riN C017UTY, «„J . ^Ji^rJN COUNTY and especially ,!,« fo,„,, "'"^'^ 66; e°d- Tl,c. combination of 'Iri'' " '".T '-"^^^^'^V^y rich i„ i\ortli Carolina, the tcIIiM-.M " California, Monfnna . . - oniy fo„„„ ,, , jjt trrr °^ ""^ p-'- -r, "orkuij^- been founil profitable T, ^f"" ™""'y '«>» their economic value, and „,.4v „n,: ' '"•" "-•"""■""' itself has 1 ous and f^ ~"nt:in ,sT« of Boulder county are ^ t ;t;^ f -,000. The c'o^^m /e!' except quality though^notclkiJir.r^'^^P--''. '"' — ' . ^""■"""^-'' -s the smallest co,r„,, -portant for its mines, d.o 4 t th' '" "'' ^'='"=' ='"'' '^ -"ainly g"-? lands, and some whc1, " ^f ^°'"^ff<«"i Arming and Arectly south of Boulder and it t y""^ ""'« ^«'"e- It hes ferson. Clear Creek and Grand m"""^"^ "^^ "'« <--ounty If centrated in Central City BTa"t H ?' "^ "' P^P^'^ion s eo„ fe;v are gathered in Sm''tKi,f ""^ '"' ^'=^^''='ville, ^l^^ -.rcirpf °;/''<> -"-y coi'i7far'n:r:„i '^^--'^ :[:;•-■" "ouide^riS^^^^^ of t, crossmj the county dia^^on, ^ , ' ^"'"'^ <=°''"ty south and .„ valuable deposits :?:Tn"L '^ ^T'^' developnt " Cent a?r""""°"'' "■'>' '^-*n under L„"""' ''""'"y '' "'« r;;;^' ^"y^"d Nevadavme, though 1, ' °^ '^'^'^'^ "«-k. gold lodes outside of this. These mt J^ """ """^ ^^'"able *ough owinjj to the combinario„ "'" P""«'' ^^T rich ^''= "^': ^"- -^^^ '" *e couTy eVe'ntteHe" 1 exit pat 668 OUf! n'liSTEKX EMPIRE. »■■■■■«' CO north and nort.'iwcst of Black Hawk, across North Clear Creek and other hills from York Gulch to the Day Hill. Some of the silver lodes lure rank with the best in the State. The production of the precious metals began in Gilpin county in 1859, and has steadily increased in value, except in 1861 and 1866, to du: present time. More than ^130,000,000 of gold and silver have been produced in the county in that time. The yield in 1S78 was 5f;2, 280,87 1, and in 1879, #2,608,159. Of this about niiic- tenths is gold, eight per cent, silver, and the remainder copper and lead. The ores are not rich, but for the most part are now easily reduced. Most of them are treated by the stamp mill processes, though a few of them are more readily and profitably reduced by the smelter. No other county in the State has given so uniform and ample returns in gold mining as Gilpin, and recent developments, both in gold and silver lodes, give good reason to believe that its past production will very soon be doubled and perhaps quad- rupled. The richest gold lodes on Quartz Hill and elsewhere are being consolidated, and contrary to usual experience are found to yield more largely the deeper they go. At a thousand feet depth the ore is very rich. There are now in the county over 1,000 stamps and all are kept busy. The mines are splen- didly equipped, have a large capital, and the universal practice now is, to have large reserves of ore constantly on the dump, so as to avoid stripping the mine at any time of ore. hi 1878 and 1879, new discoveries of silver ore were made of exceptional richness, yielding at the rate of several thousand dollars to the ton. .. i- Clear Creek cotinty includes the region drained by South Clear creek, south and southwest of Gilpin, and bounded by that county on the north, Jefferson county on the east. Park on the south, and Summit and Grand on the west. The western part of the county is covered with lofty mountains rising to a heis^ht of 11,000 to 14,000 feet. There are twelve or fifteen of these summits, spurs of the Colorado Front Range, and the streams which descend from their snow-clad heights cut deep canons and long narrow valleys and ravines, which are ribbed with veins ■'"■'''"''' "■'^"^ »-'^'^.- coc:vr,.. C ; -->'.A- '■ '""" 'I'o recent "» -delate i„ ,«<;, on Meci^^ \T "" ""' ^'■'-'- '"«ovTry ve ores could not be reduced ., '""""""• ^' «■■« ti,e 2- 1.S6S that Hmi.?.,„ ' ""= countv an,l ;. countv ':""'-'""«■ W's carried on to -inv '^ *='» "ot till coimty. S.nce ,8;, ,1,,. ann„al nrol , , ^ *>""'''" '■•''"^"' i" the #..9..,4io in ,.;„, A, „ ,t ^'i, 1 °1 '" "^^S. and fallin,: off' ^-en,ainder ,o,d, lead, and e r: ^^ ° ""■' -- ^'ver'a^d ne^l nearly ec,t,al|i„. t,,at „f , ,!"',"-- if- of the two base »|' 'a-'e'' qnan- f«ens,ve reduction nu'lls and Z ' "'"f'' ''■'"-•'•<-• are li: t ■" Georgetown. "°''^^ '" tl,e cotuuj-, six of thtn, f''.'-"""'y""'iLca' '' "°t "<=>v as a „oI, I -; -d found rich g:^'^, ; t in°r'^' "'""^ '-" Peneeratc I C on„a Gulch. So^ab,„ld nt "s'^thr^MT''"'' "'^^ "-"- ''"7 ^"'' "Pidly wa.s it washed , '"■*''' "^ g°W and so »""" a continuous line for i! f T """ <^'=""'« were stiK f ■«» fe« or si... „,fe '°: '"-■ ^'''""l^ '-'5fth of the g„S, at"' - --■- partially C^, ^T, 'TT ""^ '""-^ -Wch border '^«'-; which soon had about co^^ '^" "'•"''•' °-' "- "tining . | :;'-7';. which was cri,^:^°S:''S--^,P-'y concentrated ' °f 'he Leadville of to-clav A 7' '"' '= P^n'v on the *-■ -r ,0,'- riv:: :^' - f ,-" t-r.: ■ sea. tJiat JutJe could be done -«: incj CCW — « £1 • — I' • 670 ^'^^ H'KSTKkW /i.Wr/A'H. in placer mining from tiie mitUilc of October to May or Jimp. Tile greater part of tlie miners went to Denver or to tiu; States on tlie approacli of winter, and stayed till tlie next summer, most of tiiem squandering their gains h<'fore tiieir return. But tile placers were very ricli. • Some claims yielded over a thousand dollars a day, and one firm was said to have tak(;n out iji 1 00,000 in sixty days. Careful estimates give ;ji i ,000,0'jo as the yield of the first summer, and 1^4,000,000 as the production of the six years ending with December, 1865. Subse([uent to that date the production was light — ;j4 100,000 or so for a year or two — dwindling to 55^60,000 in 1869, and to 520,000 in 1876. Meantime placer and lode mines had been developed in other parts of the county, and some gold lodes were discovered near Old Oro. At Granite, seventeen miles away, and now the county-seat of Chaffee county, some gold was discovered, aiul at Homestake, thirty miles north, on the Tennessee fork of tiic Arkansas river, mines were opened, which were at first rich in lead but poor in silver. In all up to 1873 the mines and placers of Lake county had yielded about 5^^6,400,00 Imost entirely gold. After that time, for three years the yiel. ^a light, a part of it silver, and up to the close of 1876 only amounted to $343,200. Some tin\e in 1874 Messrs. W. H. Stevens and A. B. Wood, practical men and experienced miners, had bought up a con- siderable portion of the California Gulch placer claims, wliich had been carelessly and imperfectly worked, and commenced building a twelve-mile ditch from the headwaters of the Arkansas, to re-work them by the hydraulic process. This required con- siderable time, and the ditches and hydraulic apparatus were not ready till 1878. But Messrs. Stevens and Wood were too shrewd to let any chances of bettering themselves pass. The placer miners had from the beginning complained of the great weight of the boulders they were obliged to move over and over in the creek, but it had never occurred to them that these boulders might owe their weight to their metallic constituents. Messrs. Stevens and Wood ascertained that these boulders con- tained a large amount of carbonate of lead carrying silver, and rm: sronv oi- l lad villi:. 671 June. Suites r, most over a Pion out i,o'X) ;is )tluction [ucnt to • a year 1 1S76. in other red near now the d, and at k of the ■St rich in \d pU\cers it entirely ;ht, apart lunted to very (luictly secured government titles to nine claims, each com- prising 1,500 Icet by 300, or in all about 100 acres, crossinjr Lalilornia Gulch anil extending high up on the hills. The names ol' the principal locations made by them ucrt; the Dome, the Rock, .Stone, Lime, liull's l{ye and Iron. i lie "Rock" claim was first worked, and proved to be rich in lead but poor in sil- ver. Soon others located claims, and considerable activity in mining began. As yet, however, there were no great discoveries of silver to attract people to the as yet unnamed site of the great silver city. The agent of the St. Louis Smelting and Refming Com- pany in April, 1877, commenced the establishment of sampling works in what is now Leadville, and in May began the erection of a smeltcT, and by October had a blast furnace in operation. So doubtful was he of success, that he made a contract before the smelter was completed with Mttssrs. Stevens and Wood for the delivery of a thousand tons of their lead ore from the Rock mine. Before this was ciuirely delivered, so many discoveries had been made, and such development of mines had taken place, that the only difficulty experienced in both the sampling and smelting works was that of handling the rich ores which were forced upon them. In the summer of 1877, the now growing village received its name of Leadville from what seemed thus far to be the staple ore of its mines. It was during this summer that Mr. A. B. Wood, the partner of Mr. Stevens, despondent perhaps at the small yield of silver in his nine clairrts, sold his half interest in them to L. Z. Leiter, of the great Chicago firm of Field, Leiter & Co., for the sum of $40,000. At that time the " Iron" mine, one of the best in Lead- ville, was undeveloped, and Mr. Leiter was thought to have paid all the claims were worth. A year later he refused a million dollars for his property, and now it is said that five millions would not purchase his Leadville interests, which, however, include other mines as well as these. Discovery and development went forward with a constantly accelerating force. The Iron mine yielded its hundreds of thousands of dollars of silver, and scores of others in the same :3I' If !■ *: f. c 672 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. vicinity were equally prolific. The town had g^rown to be more than a mere mining- camp by January, 1878, and its production for the previous year was $555,000. In April, 1878, George H. Fryer began to sink a shaft on the hill east of Stray Horse Gulch, now known as Fryer's Hill. His shaft struck at first low grade carbonates, and he gave his mine the name of New Discovery. A month later August Rische and George T. Hook, two pros- pectors without money, persuaded Mr. H. A. W. Tabor to fur- nish them what pre called in Colorado " the grub stakes; " i. c, the necessary money outfit on the chance of a third interest in whatever they might discove»*. In this case the " grub stakes " amounted to ^17. They struck ore very near the surface, sold their first wagon load for between $200 and $300, and found it growing richer as diey went down. They named the mine the Little Pittsburgh. In September of the same year. Tabor and Rische bought mit Hook, paying him $98,000 for his one-third in- terest in the mine. This mine was now consolidated with the New Discovery, the Winnemuccaand the Dives, and Rische's in- terest was bought about the first of November, 1S7S, by J. B. Chaffee and Moffat for $262,500. In the next seven and a half months the consolidated mines yielded of ores actually sold $2,184,586. Other mines on the same hill, the Little Chief, the Chrysolite, Vulture, Colorado Chief, Amie, etc., etc., etc., proved nearly as rich. The production of the Leadvillc mines in 1878 was $3,152,925. The process of development went on still more rapidly in 1879, and what was originally a mere mining camp became a city of no mean pretensions, having in June, 18S0, a population of over 30,000 inhabitants. Its yield of silver and gold for 1S79 exceeded ^^i 2,000,000. It has sixteen smelting^ establishments and two sampling works, which together in 1879 produced $10,500,000. Besides this was the amount sent by private par- ties to foreign smelters, and the large yield of gold from places worked by hydraulic mining — making in all between $12,000,000 and $13,000,000 for Leadville alone. As we have said elsewhere, the silver at Leadville is a car- bonate of lead and silver, and does not occur in placers nor in fissure ve,ns, but in broad strata nf . ''3 ■"':'irrf-;f »r w- ""■" " ■-' "orth and northwest of Svilt f '^' "^^" ""- District" ™. es. are also engaging ti,e "1 'L ^ ""'"'" '° '-"'^A e nch m the carbonates They m" " T" ^^ ^«eptia^,all Leadv e The completion of 'ailrn^d' °™'''="''^ "v^"^ "o Leadv,lle by two routes, will Jl ,w ° , '^""'"'""ication with rap.d development. ^"' """ "'°"d<^-'-ful city a still , "o- There are, of course sea,n„o r, "'-ests. The ComstoclTode i r ^-^r '" ^" '"ese „,i„in„ nyalled prosperity, has come to L IT^' ""^''^ >'^^^^ "f un"! mines does not pay exn^n! , '^ "'''«" the yield ^r ? Amie have had kL ^, ' ""'' "'e Little PittI , '' ^ "aa a somewhat «i'tv,;i^ i 'ttsbumh anH protracted, experience of hi rme V T*^'' fortunately^ fe^ days w,l/ return, and the weahhil f"]^^ •"" "'= Prosperous *ese n,oun.ains, will be pu a ht l:";;^ "^/"^ ^Teologic ^s „ . ^^^'' '«'"'y, a new county tt'ff 7 °^ '"""• 'ngthe southern part of tha" coun °T ""' ^''^''' ="''' includ- ance and will have more Gran"-^' '' '°"'<= ""•"'"& Cor kansas river traverses it rom no h to"' '^r^-^^^^- VZ forms Its eastern xv^W o j ^° ^ouih. The Pa.i Joundary, and "olIetttertlfeTT °^ ^^^^^^'^ veTef: Mount Harvard, Mount yIiI M„^°''' ""'' '"'''^ P^aks, La PlaTa -d Mount Shavano stand t;tfa:"sn^-'"r'°"' "-"' Ante™ Both ranges are silver-bearing a^dn' °^ ''"^ "="•" --ange produced j7,,ooo of ,he pred™,. f ™"'"'y' "'''ich i„ jg^.; do much better in :S8o. "^ °"' '"^'^'^' ™^>- be relied upon 'to i'<'rk counly, enclosintr as it rfo„ ., - a.a of nearly ..ool^tal^t L t^" '°""' ^^^^ -'> as a grazing than a mining countv h I ''""''= "PPropriately years has furnished mor^ than '*6 " ' """"'' "'"■^'' ''" '^en J products has some claim to be LS'°°° "' ^"'^ ^"<^ -'-r Tl^e South Park is between o^I'h ^ """'"^ --^gfon also -or -■J «:5 E I— C 674 0(/A' WESTERN EMPIRE. higher. Mount Lincoln, Mount Evans, and Mount Rosalie, three of these peaks, ard' only a few feet lower than Blanca Peak, the kinjTf of the Colorado Mountains, their highest summits measur- ing 14,297, 14,330, and 14,340 feet respectively; while at the south and southwest of the Park, but still in this county, the Buffalo Peaks, Thirty-nine Mile Mount, and Black Mountain rear their lofty heads. The climate here is cool but pleasant in summer, while the winters are long and severe. The whole of this mountain region is rich in gold and silver. The mineral belt is about thirty-five miles long and fourteen wide. The gold mines are mostly high up (above the timber line on Mount Lincoln and Mount Bross), and are very produc- tive. There are very many of these mines near the summit of Mount Lincoln, one of them (the Present Help mine) being 14,200 feet above the sea, and said to be the highest mine in North America. The Phillips mine, in the Buckskin district, is the great gold mine of this section. It was discovered in 1862, and in four or five years yielded over ^300,000. Then the ore began to be largely mixed with pyrites, and the miners not understanding how to work it abandoned it for a time, but it is now worked again with great success. There are some placers in the county which have yielded largely, and are again doing well under the hydraulic process. Nearly all the silver mines and some of the gold mines of Park county are, like those in Leadville and its vicinity, contact lodes or level deposits and not fissure veins. Since 1862 Park county has yielded ^6,559,601 in gold and sil- ver, about equal quantities of each. There are more than fifty silver mines actively employed and the number is increasing. The production averages about ^500,000 a year. With the advent of the railways and the Leadville branch of the Denver and Rio Grande, the county is well supplied with railway com- munication, and its mining products will be largely increased. .Fair Play and Alma — the latter far up the slope of Mount Lin- 'Coln — -are its principal towns. Fremont county is a region containing much arable land and fine orchards of fruit. So far as we are aware, there have not yet been any discoveries of gold or silver within its boundaries; ^■-«'0.vr ,^^ ,„,^, ^^^^^^^^ ... --"^^-.yr (^U UNTIES iM't It -s rich in bituminous coal of „ ' ^^^ marble, gypsun,, i,„e, alum a^d n , "T^^^"' l-^'^y. i" iron remarkable fossils and the Latest nT ,"" '"^ '''" "^^ -""t western county,. ^^^^ """■'al wonders in the whole Here are those o-' covered by Professorfw:::! fnf C " "' ^«'"« --als dis- tl>e Grand canon of the Arka",! ?'' '," ""'^ ^"""'V also are canons Oil Creek caflon. and t .e 'o^ s"'^ ^"<^ C-P<= Crec" mineral and medicinal sprin..s "n i""'"^"' ^"^^ numerous anta Fe Railway bisects'th^^o^ J^^^ ^'!'"'^°"- ^opeka an" cipal town. '^"""ty. Canon City is its nrfn ^ <^'"*'"«»«/j' has for its western k , Sangre de Christo Range, wh LhTs L^'ib '^ "'" ''""'""•'' ^f the mam range of the RockJ Mo mta „ , P^" "^ Colorado the county is the Wet Mount^inTe^tnn n" ''^ "T"" ^^^ "^ •' de Chnsto, and between them°k 7 .P'"''''"'^' '° "i<= San-.re beaut, „l -eadow.hke stretch surrounl^'^K "°""''"" ^-"e^. a one s,de, covered with verdure and u "^^ ''""'^"'ike hills on graceful pines. The .oZ^lTZT"- T^"' ^'''^ --"»>■• bu b"t -t has been found within^ he Tast fi"" "^ '"'' S^'^'"-? 'and possessed very remarkable and varied "' T^''" ^■^■^'•■•' "'at i Tte .Senator gold lode at R„sim ' "^u""^' ^''P''^"^- was discovered in ,87. by M !' , '' o '''"'^' "^ "•« ™unty ^Mvas not much irked oe ore r: ''"^r^™' ^'^ P^-fffe! p/oW/, " Little Rose") in ,1, ' w ,^f ^'"= ■•"''« '" Kosita ^autiful. and its mines .'Le bee„ veTv T"^'" ^'''"'=>'' ^ -^ Pocahontas, Humboldt, and otllr lod? f' '"'"• '" •«74 the tXVaTd ts? --^ ^^-- "" '' """^' ^''-^' ^ick, then worki /atTr ""^T '^^^'°P'"^"'- Mr F C B. ;'l-n,rockonMs:a rCh - Jy"< " The boundaries of the rich mineral belt are very sharply de- fined, not by the formation of the rocks, for, as I shall presendy show, that is not uniform, but by the developments and explora- tions that ha/e been made upon it in mines and prospect holes. The. Wet Mountain valley at this point extends northwest and southeast, and the two mining camps of Silver Cliff and Rosita, seven miles apart, are situated about equally distant from Grape creek, which flows through it ; the latter, which is the further south, being a little further up upon the foot-hills than the former. The altitude of Silver Cliff is 7,900 feet, and that of Rosita 8 736 feet above the sea. No valuable bodies of ore "'""^^"— ---... ,„,.^ have been found south ^,1, , ■ 6,, necting these t>vo"'^l f' l^" "■« valley side) of a line co ■"•ners call .the wash,' that is 1 j' '^"^^ '^ «PP™ached what" rock and soil that has been 1^':^,:'' "^ -"^1, g.avel, bro"t hills, becomes deeoer =„ i [""S""' «°wn from the nei-rhh^ • which lies beneath T/' !^^ '^"^ --ocfc • or ■rlcC^ ,""« uciieatn, IS more d ffim.lh * . ^^'^ 'n place ' southwestern boundary of the m iT''- "^"-^ »"thern t; fore, to ie along the 'on and.an.ane. ■I.e surlace of a fn.cture in 'hi fol^f "^"-"y ^e se.^ upon ben.^ rubbed with a knife-blade si "o". """'u" =""•=• '^''-'> <"' siona ly the mass of chloride of sHvTr ; "''"''"" '"^'^^- O^ca- " l.«'e globules of horn silver a"d I fo '>"'-''' "«»' '' ^PP-ars the Racne Boy mine an accretion „/.,? '" ""= ^°'^^«^^ of two or three inches Ion. and hdf ^ '"1''°™ ^""'^'•' '" « cavity together in one n,ass,CuM t a t' ""'''^' '"="• '^ -"'-"ed Th.s .nass, if broken off fron, ,|,e r„i . ^'l -"f ^ '''''y'^ ""'"We. assayed by itself, would ' run al "''"''" '^ ''"^'-J and wenty thousand ounces of silVo a ! "'"7 '^'' ""^'^ "'an current rates for silver bars would b^ v 1' ',"'' '^ *°" "^ " at the specmens are very frequentl fold °f '' ^'^'"" »^3,ooo. Such -nes on the chloride belt 1^^ "et,: '"?<=, '^-'"'^ ^oy and othe large masses surrounded by leaner '! ' "^"^ '""'"""^'''^^ '" nowhere in the chloride be 'Tn' hL ^'''^^''''^ '■°^'^' ''■*^'-'= « The rock just covers the entire 3"??! '"'"'^ '"^-^ ^ --»• two m,les long and half a m le wde '^' T"'"'^' °^«^an area ;!°^e.- that is. all of it contaTns a^ t ? "'f, ^^"^^ ""ass of it Theo •„ only a small por^n jn '"""" r"«^<'f-'-- f>e rich enousfh to make tL • ^"^ >"^' ^een proved .r. ^^ this portion cover itaTraL'"'"'"""" "^ "Pr^Lble" become very valuable properfe "^ """"^^ -''-'> ' believe wili i ne theory of fh** rv^^i • by the miners he et ^t r^' \"' "^ """^ ?^--"y accepted — * If 3» 68o OVK IVESTERN EMPIRE. V 0-3. O through the crevices cither in vvater soKitions or volatilized — in the form of gases. These solutions or gases are supposed to have come up through cracks ir the earth's crust. Such a de- posit is called in the old world ' stockv.ork,' and Professor New- berry, in writing recendy of * The Origin and Classification of Ore Deposits,' mentions this as one of the two most important examples of this kind of deposit that have come under his obser-. vation. The other is the gold deposit in Bingham canon, Utah. None of the oldest miners ever saw before any ore that looked like this at Silver Cliff, and this explains their failure to discover its value until recendy. The same is true of the quartzite gold ore in Bingham cafton. The miners worked for years there get- ting out silver-lead ores, but threw aside the gold ore as waste, not dreaming of its value. "But the mineral belt which I have described and bounded in the earlier part of this letter contains other classes of mines. At Rosita (this beautiful name means ' Little Rose ') in the Poca- hontas-Humboldt lode, the trachyte, instead of being shattered and impregnated, so that the entire mass of rock may be mined out and reduced, has been rent asunder, and a true fissure formed in it which has been filled with gray copper, galena, zinc blende, iron and copper pyrites and heavy spar — all carrying sulphide of silver. These form a narrow pay streak from one to eighteen inches wide, and the remainder is filled with a gangue rock, generally of a trachytic formation. This vein is a re- markably persistent one — that is, it extends for a long distance through the hills and across the gulches, and is inclosed by walls that are as clearly defined as those of a room. Other smaller veins of the same character have been found in the c .untry north of Rosita, and on some of them valuable mines have been located and developed. " Still another class of mines in the same mineral belt remains to be mentioned. These are what Professor Newberry has called the ' mechanically-filled ' veins, and they include the Bas- sick and the Bull-Domingo. The former is supposed to be a true fissure vein in the trachyte rock, the cavity of which, after the rocks were rent asunder, was filled with well-rounded pebbles and ll remains "" "-"■«•--.,. .„„,,,, ,„^^.^^.^^ bouMers, generally simihr in • «»• goW and silver, free gold I hi Y" '"«' "'■"' '-•""rilrof ■ron and copper carrying.",: ."^"t «"'-'» ''"<' "'^ Wri of -iones „,,l,in shells, ,|,e plbL T. """<-™'» »"no„„d the "l^out which the metallic substal '"'"'''"•^ '"""in" uc d "-i'o, situated in the g anUe "oT "'^'^f''"'- '" "-■ '"'" Uo ">;-• stones are generally gra„ite of '"'' ' ''"•-• ''--i'-^ ■substance is argentiferous git "3 ^^.f""^' ='"'' "'o cen.en.i, ,' 'ones, but in many cases entrrlfif "°' °"'>- '^'"rounds tl^ between then,. In both of S' "'' •""-' '^^^■t'"'--"- spaces meta l,c matter came up frlm b^l " '' ^"P''°^«l "'at the solution. ^ P '™'" below ,n the form of a hot Vf ": thfu:i^ r :/ f ^'— ^^le mini„g ,,..,„ of the n,ost important re'ons „ he w"' ■''"r^^""^' -^ ^^^^^ •Jistinct c asses of ,«• "^ ^^^t- We Inv^ K , ore which they produc: •isTnsl:'':'" '"''^ ="-- ""'lue t found elsewhere, and presel ^ f"""" ''"^'•■'•^"t from thlr ; - are .0 some de^: rneV oTtl " """'"^ ^"'' -'^^ ^n '•«e questions, as well as on ihe^ne '"'"^"'■"' -'""■o" of bod.es that are believed to exis ,T u"*>?P °^ "><= '="-ge ore ""covered, depends the fut!," "' "''""'' ''"^^ "ot yet been of. e companies whicirariTesS"'^ °'-*"^ -"P» -" The production of the Custer ^^Z '^P''^' 'n them " 879. There are extensive iron hI ^^' ""^ Production of 'he borders of Custer and FrLoT'"' "" ^''^P^ ^^^^^ near Coorado "includes," says M S F ""^ "' ^''"''■'^■«-" "^■■ous counties of Hinsdale, RJoGraLc'"'* ""'*= """■"- Conejos, and Ouray,- and San „ p "^^^ ^'" •'"=•"• La Plata ^!!:^!^n£_£ostV are'or :ra^f „:;^^^ ^^^ -unties S" *r I .~~ ___^^^er the same head * Colorado ; its GoIH ,„.. c:, 77 ' "* :-xr.i 3 if '"'"""■ '"°'^-'^^'^^^^^^;^:^^^ 682 OUR WESTKKN EMPIRE. »- »• It »— CiJ- a Here is an area of some 1 5,000 square miles, or more territory than LS included in any one of the States of New Jersey, New Hampshire, or Vermont, with Delaware thrown in. West of San Luis Park is one mass of mountains thrown together in the most chaotic confusion. " These mountains contain thousands of silver veins, many of thorn of huge size and some of great richness. There are also gold lodes and placers. The Rocky Mountain range extends to the westward in this region. The silver belt is from twenty to forty miles wide, and perhaps eighty miles long in an air-liiic. The rugged and almost impassable character of the mountains and their vast extent, and the heavy snows and long winters, have acted as serious drawbacks to growth and developnu-nt. There is probably more country standing on edge in this section than anywhere else beneath the sun. Until recendy no work was prosecuted in the winter seasons, except on a very few- mines and on tunnels. It took years to build roads to the most impoilant points — trails or foot-paths being the only thing pre- viously afforded. The approach of the railway and the comple- tion of many smelting works are bringing the San Juan country forward." A Southern adventurer named Baker penetrated into this region in 1858 prospecting for gold. He had found some indi- cations of it, and had commenced operations, when, in i860, he became involved in difficulty with the Navajo Indians, and he had some bloody conflicts with them. Several of his followers were killed, but he held on until he heard of the civil war in the spring of 1861, when he returned East and joined the Confed- erate army. A bold and desperate man, he took part in several severe battles, but at length, at the close of the conflict, with two associates, one of them named White, he returned to South- western Colorado, and, after several sharp fights with his old enemies, the Navajos, persuaded his comrades to go with him on a perilous and foolhardy expedition to descend the unknown Colorado of the West. Just as they were ready to launch their boat on those unknown waters Baker was shot by an Indian and died soon after, \ 't enjoined upon his comrades the prosecution /( THE SAN JUAN COUNTRY. O83 erntory ;y, New ^est of :r in the many of arc also itends to wcnty to 1 air-line, mountains r winters. t;loi)nH:nt. lis section y no work very few the most thing pre- he comple- n country of the voyajjc. They set out and their journey has become his- torical, riit; partner of White was lost in running one of the cataracts, and White, lashed to his raft, was discovered by In- dians, unconscious and more dead than alive, a short distance above Callville, near where the river emerges from the Grand cafion. After his escape from this perilous voyage it is said that he returned to the San Juan country, and was living there in 1878. After this disastrous ending of the first attempts to penetrate this region, few white men ventured thither for several years. Adnah l^'rench, or J. Gary French, and two others, penetrated up the canon of the Las Animas rivei and located the Little Giant gold mine in 1870. They then returned to Santa Fe, and, in 1871, came back to the San Juan country, and, while French worked his mine, the others went on to what is now Silv-erton. There was a fair production from the Little Ciiant mine for sev- eral years, but others have since overshadowed it. The entire production of gold, silver, and lead in the San Juan country up to January, 1880, is reported as ;jii, 838,061. In 1880, they are likely to largely exceed this amount, as they have stamp- mills, smelters, and reduction works, and railways penetrating far into the region. Most of the San Juan region was formerly included in the county of Conejos. After several mining districts had been located and settled, the counties of La Plata, Rio Grande, and Hinsdale were created, and afterwards those of San Juan and Ouray. We will take these counties in their order. "Zrt Plata county" says Mr. Frank Fossett, "is the extreme southwestern division of Colorado, bordering on New Mexico and Utah, and touching the corner of Arizona. This section is rich in coal, possesses silver veins, gold placers, and many fine fertile valleys ; farming and stock-growing are especially suc- cessful. The county is settling up rapidly ; a railway is expected from the East, and is nearly completed to Animas City on the Animas river, about west longitude 107° 50', in which case La Plata would be the smelting depot of San Juan county mines. " The stock and agricultural resources and advantages of La iriCi :3C! .31 t 1 $ G 684 OaX WESTERN K Mr IKE. Plata county and of its valleys along the San Juan river and tributaries have already been referred to in part first of this volume. The coal measures an; deserving of especial mention. on account of their quality and enormous size. The area of coal land is estimated at over 6 and a ciilor nation nn,i r ■ ■ "-^okc conccn- ""run steadily. TI,cloca,ir„nh """""" """-"'n iaccr .Kcr lodes in „„ ,„, n.oun ai ^^t;'ri ''"i""'-' """"'-'- '•"'v for a lialf miie or a n„r ""-* *'"«'»' Pfruendi.,, ".;ri-cl extensively. '' "'"'•' "" --V - ^-maiytf 1 1" " ' 'Oinisillcr as Wcro ♦!,„ country i„ .8,,' .1 "'"""""" '''•^~vcrics of tl,e S. , -i. to tiLr ovvirs"';,! ^ """^ ''"•■"^•^""y of „o i.nmtdi:;"! ■'"'"' v/wiitrs, on account of rh,. i- '"""eciiate bene- ke. wa.,o„ roads and railway •^!''''^'!'"^V™"' =■" "'<= "-ar- cul,ar cl.sadvanta,,es. „ was n-adt- , '"T ^'""■«' ""'1- p.- i ountam ranges, and at that ti,ne t,s " "'"'"■'' '"""-ssible •I'" cap,tal,sts and mill „,,„ w re , o "r'''",'"'^' """> railways m".c;ral weal.l,. The pioneerlu , 7 ',",'""' '" '"vestigate its "' r,cl, veins were too poor'oKT V" ^'™ """^'"K '"» '"vties ";<•■ precious „„,al.s, an!l "tco.t^oZ"',' '"' ""= -Tactio. oT ^dm.t o( attemixini; it, unles. ''' '° «« '"•« '« market to reg.on by pu„in,. their money , to if f'" ='PP^«'-'ion of the ;^-;t ■".lis. They were conZetin. ~ f " "' "^"^ "''"<-■'' and Vork cty, and inspection and ^ "-'"'"« business i„ K "„ confidence in its wXth d t sul/°""" *'"' "^ °^« Ct tlw ;^^'«1. The results o/ ^i , tstt"' '''?'"'™" '^ - "Iwt' GoLlen Qneen mines and mi s T'V" "'"= kittle Annie and A«r,ct .nduced then, to look urt "er ''""""" "°""'-" ^oU '^'""^'=«'KationoftheLakerr •, er .ct a concentrating mill there ''t, *''"" ^^"==^'' "•-"' ferm.,. mineral from the J„'t „ ' "'P""'"^ "'e silver- ™n- then had his value it ofe 1 T'' "'"' °^ *<= ore. T^.e ^vng it distributed amo ^C o^t "^""^"^"'-^ '^ '-'-d of >" mportant item where it cost ° "' *' ''"'"'""«• This was ■' "■«» treat it after it rJacW rer ^" "'■^ '» '^ "-''« 'han :acf ;t3i I ? 686 OUR WESTERN Ei'FIRE. 1 — • CO IS E- U a "The Ute and UI^j mines were purchased late in 1876, and the new owners then erected quarters for workmen and shaft and ore houses for the mine. The n.'xt spring- contracts were let for sinking shafts and running drifts, and for the construction of works for the treatment of the ore. The stack lurnace was not completed till near the close of the season, but 2,000 tons of ore had been mined and concentrated, and the dressed ore snit to New York. It yielded a net profit of twelve dollars per ion. The smelting works were completed so that reduction, parting and refining began in July, 1878. Up to this time Crooke tv Co. had expended over ^400,000 on their mines, works, and other property of this locality. "The Ute mine is situatec' well up on a mountain, and the Ule is located at the foot of the same. The patented surface ground of each is 1,500 feet long by ^,00 wide, nnd both are in (uulcna minincf district near Lake City. There are now several smciun'T works doing a large business there, but as yet no railway nt arcr than Del None, From present appearances their first railway communication may be from the north by way of Gunnison, though this is not certain. The silver production of Hinsdale county, I."* 1878, was ^156,000, and in 1879, considerably more. ''Sa/i yuaji cormty is the point where several niasf>ive riinges of mountains unite ; among them the San Juan, tlie Uncompaiigre, the La Plata an*d the Las Animas mountains. Isolated summits, such as Sultan Mountain, Engineer's Mountain, Mount Kendall, Pidgeon's Peak, Rio Grande Pyramid and Hendie's Peak are scattered over the comparatively small territor\- of the county. Silverton, its capital, was one of the first locations where mining was attempted in 1871 or 1872. Its production is almost exclu- sively silver, and it has many hundreds of valuable and well- developed lodes, and is destined to yield immense quantities of silver and lead when it becomes more accessible by railway, and capital is led to invest here. It has several reduction and two or three concentrating v^orks at Silverton. Several extensive tun- nel enterprises are in progress, forcing their way to the silver ores through the hearts of the lofty mountains. One of these — the Roedel Tunnel, owned by the Midland Mining Company — is intended to m^« •^^^'//-Z' v/i/jvs, •■-y feet, y ™d r ,i:^-^ ^■'"■^■■".^ m wicM "f .r' ■^'""■'^ ^" '» -S. per cent: oHetd V? '" ^°° °""^« of ° ;""^"'^'>-^ ■-> chlorides. Tl,. f ' '"-''« '» a'so cons,VI„ , f ' ""'' '■•"'" 60 --^.stone, as I^ci^: J^^kT r"'^.°--'-™^."y • C"T The ,„o« remarkable of H "" "'"■'^•" ^""' King Solomon Monn,, ""^"'^ silver-riWwl -■'-ted d,e NoTh sir" "" "— "s v r""':","-^ - Company's (f^f, "^'"^s. T/ie r..i ^ '''^"^'^^ are Lead-waters of tl n'™" "'^ '"' ™'" blet, t ^^P"'^"' ^Ic- '■" 'his region ,,:' ^"~'"Pa''S.-e river it ,°" "■•"«'■■ 'he ''ave been^vo ked s,''° T"-^^'fi"ed lodes a, t?'"'^' ^"'^h P^fitable mine, t "■''''^'">'- "a.elton m! "''"^'' ^^« or y'elclof,8r-t' -T """"^ '■"'° notice T "'""'" ''^^^ "">ny TLe Denver a;dRirr''-^^°'°°°--""' "..'; of , t °" T^'' "^""'on «'end its ro: :',^:,^-"'<-- '^aihvay, .in" '^i^:^;--'^^ "-re. G.-'P to Silverton ha "' "'=' '"^'o'-'e and U' ' ''°'"' '° ™s City, seve tv or -T" ^''^"S-^^ "s plans r^^'""""'''^^' -" 0-ay wii Cv'i^'tr''^'^ '^""^^ -" . Bo^,ri.r ^"'■- '" noi.rhbors ;, , P°''"°" "'■ the Sin I ^ ' """^ "^o™- ^'-« pe;:nd Ir r" ""■'•'^'^ »- /ed'of"'^'™- ^'-^^ ■ "'" ironres am ";°""'a'ns and deenl, '""^'^S"' and b'*l ?oads rr"? "''"■^■'' '■' ''^ Senerallv ^ "•" ^^^''"'-■•^ and ^P'd i-o ti, li," '"_?«essibi|ity o'f tie t!" 'possibility to ''■^'■^''. future advan""'"" ""^l^- havin:"'? '? ^«"''"i «ays have been""'"' *''" ^e much „!" •! ^^'" «'ab- —41 ;l J 688 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CJi, Q possibly by way of Gunnison and Grand river. Heretofore it has cost ;^25 a ton to pack the ore on burros from the mines to Sil- verton, or to a wagon road, and as much more to get it to Denver or Pueblo. The unusual value of the mineral is all that enabled the miners to dispose of their products under such disadvantages. The county is full of mineral veins of gold, and mineral chan- nels or lodes from ten to twenty feet wide, and of every known and unknown combination of the precious metals, with other metals and elements, abound in almost every part of the county. The San Miguel river has also immense placer deposits, which are now worked by hydraulic mining on a large scale. As a mining county, only the eastern portion of Ouray has been much developed, but everywhere the prospector has been rewardetl for his toil. The whole regions, watered by the sources of the Uncompahgre, the Upper San Miguel, the Rio del Cotio, and the headwaters of the Dolores, is full ol lodes of great rich- ness and of a most peculiar character. TJK-y are believed to be true fissure veins, and not contact lodes like those of Lake county; but many of the lodes are very wide, from three to forty feet, and contain pay streaks running side by side, and only sep- arated by clay or thin slate partitions, in which gold and silver in various and unusual forms are found, separate yet in the same lode. Sometimes several of these wide and mulLiform lodes run side by side. The " Begole Mineral rarin," now owned by the Norfolk and Ouray Reduction Works, is one of these singular mineral veins, but they are abundant in all the eastern part of the county. Mr. Frank Fossett thus describes the Begole Mineral Farm: " The Beixole ' Mineral Farm ' is one of the wonders of this part of the State. It is near the town of Ouray, and at about 800 feet greater elevation.* It comprises forty acres of ground, being four claims 1,500 feet long by 300 wide, and was at first supposed to be a horizontal deposit of silver-bearing ore, but subsequent developments prove it to contain four mineral ihan- nels or lodes, from ten to twenty feet wide. One of these lodes * Ouray is 7,64t> feet above the sea. Another ,ode l::'"/, J'^. --e gaiena wLf:.:,:":;?' '^^''■ quamite, and often m^'Ir . ^'""^ ""^f^ vein Tn. ^"""'""y- was discovered and In.' f , P'^ces chlorides T(, • '''"''^ Arizona miner a„d tt,.'" '^^^ by Aug .sts R 7''°^'^-"^ summer season. "' " ^'^'^'«- They had ! ^ ^"''^^ ^" °W £'arf ^'°"-^' °"^^^ '^^•^"«- CoVany.'U: and fron r " : T'''"'''-' '''■°'" »'°° 'o *?,o ^ ,' °^ *<="'-''>« Soud.ves.ern '^ol aJo '^C^ ^"'""^ *<= ^" - r:,fo:r'"' amounts of o-J ^ '^^^ ^^^^'nt Sneffle. ^^ '^^^" ^^^^t the San Mlo-uel ^ ? ^^"^^ ^^ the ores of H • '''' ^"^ ^ of transportation. ,„ the s ^ jf ""'!! -'' -orn,o„s ■'"^>. m Basin"."""'":'"" ^-"^^ «e " Tef jf .° 't" °^ ''-ee %"er San M ■ T""" '^°'"n>bia, one of ri! ^ '" ""' '■'■■S''on. • xrii •— «i I « * Q 690 ^^-^ WESTERN EMI'IKE. river are pronounced by California experts the richest that have ever been found on this continent, and they are now preparing to work them with the largest and best hydraulic appliances. An eminent French mining engineer, M. Cuemeyngs, after a careful examination of the chief mining districts of Colorado, has just decided to purchase for his principals, a Parisian banking- house, the Pandora mine, near San Miguel Park, on the upper San IV^iguel river, pronouncing it the richest and most favorably situated mine he had seen. Another mining engineer, Mr. E. M. Pearce, says of the San Miguel Park region: "This is the very heart of the mineral wealth of the Rocky Mountains." The Dolores country, of which Rico, the chief town, is not yet a year old, is situated in the southern part of Ouray county, and is sixty-five miles from Animas City, the latest terminus of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway. This is destined to be the great attraction of Colorado miners for 1 880-1 881, rivalling in richness Eagle river or the Gunnison country. Rico has about 1,500 inhabitants. Senator Jones, of Nevada, and his associates, have already purchased a controlling interest in some of its rich mines. The Dolores Plateau extends over most of Western Ouray. Gold and silver are said to exist there, but there is also reason to hope that with irrigation these lands may prove arable and productive, or at least well adapted to grazing. The ruins scattered over all that region indicate that himdreds of years ago, this as well as the other plateaux of Arizona, Utah and New JVIe^iqo wtre densely peopled by an intelligent, agricultural •people. .With the possible exception of the great county of Gunnison, whose iiTnineral wealth is as yet but slightly developed, Ouray county gives the promise of a greater out-put of the precious metals in the nqar future than any other county of the State; Lake county may overshadow i: for a time from the great con centration of capital in and around Leadville, but when the con- tact lodes of Leadville begin to diminish their yield, the Our;i\ mines, true fissure veins, will be at their best and with a certainty .of permanency ; while the rich placer deposits will yield for years CUNN/SON COUNTY, to come their milJions of free cmM ,,r. ^' t'on. and a possibility of larp-e n , ^''^ '^'^^^y communica -al wealth on the wester^^a L^x [h"' ^^°^'"^^- -^ A ■ cent future before it. ^^''^"^' ^^^ ^^^nty has a magnifi. Gunmson county is th^. I.^ S-e to be -p.o4u:';, :; ;:^t ,"7"^ ^^^-» °^ the comny ,s very large, having an arca'f wealthiest The Sun™,t county forn,s its no ^rn bo "T"" '°;°°° ^1^- ""''e Saguache bound it on the east s" '"'""'''"■>■■ Lake, Chaffee and on the soutl,, and Utah o he'::;''r / "'""'^''^ ^"^ ^"4 Grand nver and its numerous affl.rf ' '" "'''^*='-^'=d by the son and the Rio Dolores are tt,' ''™ °^*'"'^'', the Gunn' rivers. The r„nn- , '"eniselvos larw mH ; ""' in- Ounnison has more fl,o„ , " ° 'mportant some of them important rivers IT, , n^ '""'''•'^'^ tributaries k number, of which the ^X^'^T Y' ^ "-"<=- northeastern part of the countv the R ■' '"^ '^''S-^'^'- '" the nver, with a score of affluent, /.an "''"^ ^~°'^ °f ">« Gntnd aguache) Range, winds it ' -a! a:^,;'; ;°"-« 'n 'he Sawatch ofpeaks wluchgo to make t,p the 2° f '"''^■•'"'■"^We group tarns Each of these tributarie of the r ""J"' ""= ^"^ '^""n small, has, like the parent stream f '""'' ""'='•■ '^fffe and -1 deep, through 'which ^^^^T:''^-^"^ ve^y da fc tffer nver. The Grand canon o Cc '"'" "'"' ''''"' "' '^e ■1.= most remarkable canons of the Ri^ r r"°" "^'^ -■"- of T'e first discoveries of sllv, "Colorado of the West •87-^ though there had prob b| .""br'" ""f" '" ""^ ^''"'^^'in '^^ or ,86,. The discover 3'",r""*'^-"'"-"^ *-' - George and Lewis Waite «.ho htl > v ^.'' *"''' '"o brothers fr°." Fair Play i„ p„fc co m ' ^s'ct r^-" "" --"'-•- "ndered into the Elk MountL , "^ *-' '°'' '"'"'''^^^- Thev of silver that cropped to d^ u rr^™,"' '"'' ''"=■■« found a vel --^.. The, ,ji, som f^ f :;t;,"= ""= "^'^ "^ - sma t pent where a satisfactory asXc'd u""""'- "'=" *<= "^ar- '>« 't contained both silver Ind go,dt ''™™''"''' ^"^ '■"""d •Cli -31 I i^ ir 2k^i !: H~-ii i» '-O- .-■^ te: '^ e- *■* Or s >«a: t«{ CJ 602 O:/^ WESTERN EMPIRE. and go to Fairplay and work as miners in order to procure the means for obtaining supplies for the cruelly cold winters in the mountains, but they tolled on faithfully for seven years, when the reward came. In 1878 and 1879 the overflow from Leadvillf began to come into the Elk Mountain region, and while the brothers had secured for themselves three very excellent lodes, called the Whopper, Index, and Teller, very many new claims were entered in their immediate vicinity on the affluents of Roaring Fork ; others on East river, a branch of the Gunni- son ; Cooper creek, and others still on the Crested Buttes, and on Slate creek. It was computed that over 18,000 persons visited these mines in the summer of 1879, and 50,000 or more in the spring and early summer of 1880. To reach the head- waters of the Gunnison from Lcauville, fifty miles away, it was necessary to cross a lofty range of mountains where the passes were filled with gigantic snow-banks. In one place an immense deposit of snow was tunnelled and cut through in order to reach the land of promise ahead of those who would come with the summer. More than two thousand claims were recorded in 1879. The mines are all high up on the mountains, and the winter is long and severe. There are only about five and a half months in which work can be done in the open air; but in the tunnels work is carried on through the winter. The ore Is mostly silver, with a moderate amount of gold. It is galena, ruby silver, horn silver, gray copper and native silver, and ranges from 100 to 500 or even 1,000 ounces of silver, and from one to six ounces of gold to the ton. There are now several smelters In the mining region, where numerous mining towns have sprung up within a year. Gothic City has about 2,000 Inhabi- tants ; Gunnison, the county-seat, perhaps as many, while Crested Buttes, Irwin, and some other settlements are rapidly growing. There is a possibility of a railway — an extension of the Colorado Central — to Gunnison, within a year. The mines thus far located are about six miles east of the bounds of the Ute Reservation. If that reservation reverts to the United States under the recent treaty, the whole course of the Gunni- son river will be prospected, and probably valuable mines dis- SUMM/T cocwry. 693 covered. Gunnison counfv , < extends from tl,e cre.st"of 7, "c ''''°'" 5,c«o ..juaro „,iles ,. on the north an,? t i ^^ii"cl it on the easf r- i ^^^ poses, and is rich \TT^ l^'^P"'''' '° f^n»in,.- and '■■"'';''*"^ eWdend, be in.^ ," r'^.H"' -,'' "- of'^ WeS/'wt tion are coal n...n "^'^^ future fn ^i ^ ^'" its scerir::::? °' r^"^"' i-'-'y- ""'"" '°'- The fi:;fs,tHor;' "■■?"- ^"^"^"^— '^ Summit county h^ ^^P^ned m Colorado was tVf^ n , i-lch miners loX'Z"'^ ""'^ '"'"- '" h^' vav°''''' ''" ^erdtrr- and .0 d,e deve,opn,e J^/ , r^c:;? r' , T'«. great natural barrier the . ™"s drawbaci. to Su„:',l f;„4"°y-8e, ,, as acted as a ct I i. t: u. o 694 Ot'/? WESTERN EMriRE. a dififerent shape during the past few months. New wagon roads have been built at much lower elevations and on better grades, furnishing connection with Georgetown and Leadville. Rail- ways are also projected and surveyed to both of these points. An extension of the Colorado Central Railroad is to be com- pleted to Breckenridge and Leadville this year. The leading towns of Summit are Kokomo, Carbonateville, and Summit City in the Ten Mile section — all founded within eighteen months— Montezuma and Saints John in the Snake river region, and Breckenridge in the Blue river placer country. The total mineral production of Summit county from 1861 to January, 1880, was 5^7,336,912, of which ^^6,360,9 12 was goki, ^820,000 silver, $130,000 lead. In the early years of Colorado mining, the tributaries of the Blue river in this county were among the most productive in placer gold of any in the Terri- tory. The Georgia, French, and Humbug gulches, the Blue and Gold Run, the Illinois, McNulty, and other placers yielded large amounts ; for several successive seasons a million a season was taken out. The yield condnued to be large for several years, and has been continued to the present time ; and the great enterprises in hydraulic mining, inaugurated in 1878 by the Fuller Placer Company, and by L. S. Ballou, are on a more gigantic scale than any others east of California. The Tr t named company have constructed a flume or flumes thirty iniks in length, bringing the water from a lake on the eastern sloj ( of the "Great Continental Divide," which was over 12,000 fit above the sea, through a pass in the divide 1 1,810 feet above ti c sea, and, after using it in their hydraulic mining, sufferiiiL; i: waters to fall into a tributary of the Grand river and thus f-ii! their way into the Pacific. The product of these placers, In 1879, was over $100,000, and, in 1880, will reach at least $500,000. It is estimated that from $8,000,000 to $12,000,000 will be realized from these placers. They can only be worked for five and a-half months in the year on account of the great elevation. There are several important mining districts, old and new, on the eastern border of Summit county, in the Blue river valley, that are attracting much attention. Of these the gold placers a "'"« ^-onl .ij "ver region contains bod a" t",^" ""'"'-•ad. The Snake and copper-bearing vein Xe T^' ^'''"''^ -" -''phuret ,^::---_oftheX,^-— ^^^^^^^^^ *ne Snake river m* " -"•a chstricts, and lies on"d,e w °t"ern°T"''^ ^''" ^'^^ Monte- tarns Its elevation is from 00^^.. P' °' "''= R°^ky Moun and us distance fron, C, o" 'Cn an'.''^ 'T' "'"'- --'-", twenty n,iles. <;r. , v^Lf , '" ""<= ''""^m twelve height overlook and i-.u-.K 'tin "'"' '"°""'=""'' of .reat forests and grassy val s sen al'?"' "•* "^ ■"=■«"£ esque in the extreme. SmU 1 '"P" ^""^ «nd piclur Zi'T'1'''^"-^^'^-^^r:\ZZ the Blue fro^: south. East of the Montez,,™, • ''* '^°n"^'' 'n from th^ mmes, located on the ere" o ^e P "'°" """" "^^ ^^""a d"t rict Ime of Clear Creek and Sum:' °"""^"'^' ^■•"^«. -d on ,Te ,1, T ^Tf ,' '=«'''^"'ent, however at th the Ten Mile district. TT,;, S,"? , P""""""' '™« i^ over he past seventeen or eight en mo L l'^T\ '""""^ ''"4 been opened in the moumains we!t 'f t '*";'l S^^'^"« veins havf eral thousand n,en have assemlLd 1 *!"« "^er, and sev! Sood for one of the leadin ATer di ' c ^^^ '"*'^^"ons a4 ;!-t valuable mineral ditcl I ^f !;:'■' °' "'^^'^'- F-'h "''e^reg.on, but these ^vere m"de t • '"'"''' ''" ""e Eagle "fficent time has not yet elanTed f .' • '''°"' ='"'' °f eou^se fame of Ten Mile has brou JhT „1 ' f"" ^^^^'opment. The county very extensively and the "^ ^ "" """"S*- '° P™spect the "!l, .^alth is of the fi4 order " '^ "° ''°'"'' ">-' '"at L mfn ^'iL' Ten Mile D' ^ • -P-allel „nges of mo'urnfa:., t ""^^^^'"^ ^'"P- of Ten Mile creek. The UDoeTT^ f"" '"tervening vaHev of '- -'e Wide and u^^t^^t^'^ of^^^s v^ ^evel. The westerly Jfif a 3' 4r I t — • ( »»■ IS £ 6p6 ^'''^' WESTERN EMPIRE. range, containln^^ most of the mines, is from i,ooo to 1,500 feet hiy^hcr, is called the Gore rany^c, and further north is divided l)y the Grand river. On the east Ten Mile range has several peaks from 13,500 to 14.200 feet high. The creek was calK.d Ten Mile because it was supposed to be ten miles long, but it is in reality seventeen miles in U^ngth. The two ranges borilciiiig Ten Mile valley e.xtend nordnvard from the main divide on either side of a depression called Arkansas Pass. This is four- teen miles north of Leadville, and from it, waters How towards either ocean. About two miles further west the Kagle river starts from Tennessee Pass. McNulty gulch empdes into Ten Mile creek near its source and the site of the new town of Carbonateville. It gave its main gold product in i860, 1861, 1862, but is still worked by Colonel James McNassar, and turns out from 5fi4,ooo to '^'j.ooo a summer. Its total yield from i860 is estimated by old miners at nearly 5^360,000. Further down T''n Mile arc the Follett placer dig- gings- This region had been prospected by several different parties, but no high grade ore was found in quandty. In the summer of 1878, George B. Robinson, a leading Leadville merchant, out- fitted an old prospector named Charles Jones, and the Seventy- eight, Smuggler, and other mines of the Robinson group were found, and subsequendy the Wheel of Fortune and Grand Union. Then people began to move over that way, and to stake off claims sometimes on top of the snow in mid-winter. Leadville and Ten Mile have afforded a rich harvest for surveyors. In this elevated region snow falls deep and often, and there is usually five or six feet of it on the ground from January to late in April, but nothing could stop the fever-heat of excitement that set in with the year 1879. Men kept coming in over routes that were terrible to think of; trees were felled, cabins built, tents pitched on top of the snow, and prospecting carried on, irrespective of the difficulties in the way. The lack of surface indications were made up for by a superabundance of faith. The miner would seek for unclaimed ground, clear away the snow from a chosen locality, and then commence to sink in "'"''■'"""■'■"^■o^-o.uo «„.,,, varch of cl,.,,o.s;. ,„ vein T/,; , «9; «.s occa.si.„,a„y ,,„rcc.ssful .ml ;'?"'""■' ''>''-' "^ Prosp,.,;,,. pom..,l on Sheep, |.:,k ,„„, ''C^\l '7, «o„d ,,rik,.s „ '.-c ^^ ;"'-«-"l .h. fame of Ten Mil, "r"'"' '?" °f wl.icl, ,,,..,, I'"- a ikstance of siy mil,. ''"™ sites were u-,! I ''■■ ""l,ryo eit/es of' Kok j.^ V ""^ "^ '"■"'■• Carbonateville present,.,! ,."'"' ■'"'"""U, or Ten M . -<- prin,i.,Ve hrbl,:, o .^.r ""-"'^•V of % c:b' ,s ienL >ve been rfiscovered and lo , " ^ i"'^"''"'"^' "-"'act lode!" 200 ounces nf .:;i ^^orkeol. Some of fli,..- • ' ' Tl>e Ea'le rif ^^ "' """' '" "'<= '»". ''""^ """- y'^'d "-agle river s.arts from .h,. , ■ • • "■" "'^'""y of Tennessee Pass, c3l I » ►i:^ I*- c3 ggg 0£/^ WESTER!^ EMPIRE, west of the head of Ten Mile, and flows nortluvcsterly between the Gore and a more westerly range of mountains into the Grantl. It is the newest mining ilistrict of the almost unexploreil regions of Western Colorado. The mountains that enclose it are said to contain many silver veins, some of them assaying from one to eleven hundred ounces. Many prospectors went in there, in the summer of 1879, and in a beautiful i)ark the embryo metro[)olis, ICagle City, was located. Wt'st of the headwaters of the Kagle !•> the Mountain of die Holy Cross, whose eastern face always shows vast beds of snow, which have the form of a cross. This snow fills two mammoth ravines. The height of the cross is about 1,500 feet and the arms are each about 700 feet long. The climate of the Eagle river country, and of that beyond, is fine. The river valleys form excellent grazing lands, and lower portions arc adapted to farming. The country is full of wild game, and the streams abound in fish. Summit county, west of the 107th meridian, is now included in the Ute Reservation ; but when, as is now confidcndy expected, that vast tract is released to the United States "•» "ng.an.l two otluT elites, '"'', """"-' '^ '■'-'vcntecn m.les Ion... -pin-ee ^i,„, ';, ,,'='""'^"'"' »-,• six and a half f-'of iron pipe, a„d\notlewi"''? '""'' °"^' "■i.l- .. oo ''•••■^ been run. ,n drifting, n | 1^ ■;•, "^ '^''-'°^^ " ".c" ' "w. 'rr:'::.:-:: ^'■'^' '-'-- •' -^^^ °^ '-'^"-^ -'^ fvey n,en were en-pCd"","'' '""^■' ''""' ^ ■'"d from forty ,o projected to enter tlie ro„„; r ^"'°'^''" Central has b,.,.n ".rou,h Steamboat ^.r n ! 'L d" H V' '"'' -'J -- - juncon of Fortification cr,Lk if l"/''™ ,'" ^^'^''^r, at the largest tnbutary of Green river ""' , ^ ^',"'«''. °r liear riyer, ,l,e southwest part of .he coul ,h """•■'' ^^''™'*'-' ^-nd. in tie nature's architecture, ,he ^C^ „ 'd, 'Tr''"''y .•n^.a;ce of worth v,sitin.>. ^">' "' ">^' Gods," are wonders well crer;:i^::i7;i-::Ss'-:f':r ^^^-^-ryation. n. and ,ts two great tributarie he v! ' ■ "''° "^ ""= ^est '^. Whtte river, with their affluent! 7 '' ,'"' ^"'^ "^^r, and '>*.= canons of great depth '".''f ;.*••"" "'e county, and e7 ..res so largely developed t (i;;.'"--''^-- "«' "'e coal melt found .n Rout, county also bu ■^''" ^"^ S"'"""' counties at- -"""y "nexplored, si far a^ it n ^^TV' ^' P^-"' almo :^#v*«. //„„/«„«, ..,„^| ^,. """•"' "<="'* 's concerned, deposits of coal, but are c as1e K '""'"'" '"'^'^ ~nside;able cooties. • ^'--'' -nong .he farming and gra.i : W.th the exception of Z«, ^, ■ western section large beds tf .^ X! .T'-''' -h-l. has In its y of TnuKlad, none of the other "o "*>' ™^' ''" ""= vicin- *ose named above, are known, '"' "' ">« State, beside f<:P0f ts. The ren,ainder "r ., ° '"''■^'■^^ '-Por.ant „,„ 1^ - ">e precious metals, a;;:..^ t^^jf^^^^^^ - 6 * grazing counties. 31' 700 OUR WESTEKN EMPIRE. K- »-' »t t: 'i»^^ c t-^' »-• i:--«' •— '-n ;-^- »!:.t r-*-^ Ji.. >-^ csr ti>- w ex... u^ c*y CJ^ The arable lands of Colorado comprise at least 1 5,000 square miles of its territory, while the grazin^^ lands are at least four, and possibly five times that quantity. i\\\ or nearly all the ara- ble lands require irrigation, but when irrigated they yield enor- mous crops, and the deposits from the canals maintain and increase the fertility of the lands, while the water dissolves the alkaline and other ingredients of the soil, and insures large crops every year. The first cost of these canals- and ditches from the mountains is considerable, but it is in most cases borne by one or more communities of farmers, and the expenditure is followed by such large and abundant returns that it is not seriously felt. Of late incorporated companies have been constructing these canals and renting the water, and in some cases have purchased large tracts of land, which they sell in farms of 80 to 1 60 acres with the water- right at from ten to fifteen dollars per acre. The larg'>:t of these companies is the W(;ld and Larimer Canal Company, an English corporation. It -as a canal, as we have elsewhere said, fifty-four miles in length and capable of irrigating 40,000 v.. 50,000 acres. The Greeley Canal is thirty-four miles Ion?-, and waters a region almost as large. There are many of these canals also in the southern part of the State. "It is," says Mr. Frank Fossett, "a well-established fact that heavier and more reliable crops can be obtained by the aid of ardficial irrigation, taking one year after another, than where the uncertain natural rainfall is depended on. . . . The prosperous, well-to-do farmers along the South Platte, the Cache-la-Poudre, Saint Vrain, Boulder, Ralston, and Clear creeks, the Fountaine, Cucharas, and the Arkansas and Las Anima* or Puroatoire rivers, are all illustrative of the truth of this statement. Rich waving fields of grain now greet the eye where once were bar- ren, uninhabitable wastes, and vegetables of such prodigious size, and in such immense quantities, are raised as would astonish those unaccustomed to the crops grown on Colorado soil. Farming has often been enormously remunerative, and few tliat have followed it steadily have failed to accumulate money or property. Many men have well-stocked farms of great extent and value, the result of a few years' industry and effort. We can hardly distinguish criticalK K ^> ?ra.,ng ccneies, since, nu y"} 'hTu" '" '"^""'"S and ,he i><^ut,raj It may b^. • , ., ^ * "^ ^"u root cron^ Douglas. Boulder JfT ^'^^ ^'^'"''"^r. V\ ekl A T~" , '-'"'ucr, Jetterson FI P^, t^ "^ <-ja, Hrapahoe Saguache and Costflh . ., '''*^' ^i^t-bJo Jn^ P-^^oe. Son,e of the e r " P™'^^'^'>' "«' "' tntse coujities have ^Ic^ '" t^'*^ resntvf sheep-growin. counties-; -rPa.!., t ^P"'""'™ ^» SraJn^o; bcng noted for their sheen f ' ''^' Animas in ,J,^, -c- Arapahoe ,,avin;tT^;t::t:r' ^^"'^' ^-^'--"W^^^^^^^ g-z,ng and sheep-?aisi„g co^ f, °" '" "- -me Ii„, ^ Weld Elbert, Arapahoe, I?| p^ 'o "' <"' '*''■''''"'<•-. are IJent H;;er a„o, ,„j ^ aso. Las Annnas, Pueblo, Dou4s , The annual farm products „f r , '"S ". qi.anii.y and v, l,,e Corl / r' ° "'" ■"^='*''>- '"creas '"ve been difficult to g„in ^uci r "? "^ ' ^"■•'■■'«' characT; often con(Iictin.r Th, f ''""" '^^"'» various so,,. ti,. r u "■ '"^ larniers an. «„. i "-^ sources are 'he full extent of th,- , i "°' a'ways willlno ,„ l |-r figure ..n^- htthl^ l^:;''- '4 ^^^ ^^ o^a^ " " ™"'et,mes difficult to o-et ^ °'"'""^d- Conseouendv ^peculators always fig , ° f,^ ~"^",^t'™"=- MHle'rs a^J P-xL^g ™7 ";?';" "' "^^ "-^-^ f- -"ead o, that f -^ -'.e a^-eage of^i dtr Z "^ ^''^^y to!: /o7 ev^ before. The result w^s tilt' Ta it "" ""^" ^^^'^ '"a ' had previously suffered losses U f?"","" "<" '''<-' feruK-rs, »*e. causes, can.e out with a hZ S^''^^^''°PPers and fron f^'-. as did those who I ad n ''',"*°"<= -^^sh balance in thd Tl-e Rood fortune attend! 7 ^ ™"^^^*^'=^ '" *e b sin s ;--- of tilled land in "tf o ^t^'"" °' "'^ ^^"^^^^n ro2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. in Other fifty or sixty per cent. The harvest was not as boun- tiful, iiowever, as in the preceding year. While the aggregate may have been somewhat greater for the entire State, the return of grain and some other crops per acre was considerably less. In the northern counties this was partly due to frequent rains just before the harvest time, causing wheat to ' rust.' In South- ern Colorado no such misfortune was reported. "The total agricultural productions of Colorado, for 1878, ex- clusive of stock, may be summed up, as follows : '■-'5 i^^ If o e... Wheat 1,310,000 bush. $1,310,000 Corn 300,000 " 210,000 Oats 250,000 " 125,000 Barley 150,000 " 80,000 Rye 50,000 " 30,000 Potatoes 450,000 " 350,000 Hay 50,000 tons. 800,000 Garden produce 250,000 Butter, cheese and eggs, milk — dairy product 350,000 Total $3,515,000 The year 1S79 was one of larger production as well as of nuicli more extended acreage. In every agricultural product named above there was a marked advance ; while the vast influx of settlers, capitalists, speculators and tourists furnished a ready market for all that the farmers of the State could produce, and at prices whicli were satisfactory to the producer. While the returns of the census which, perhaps, may not prove very accu- rate, are not yet at hand, there are sufficient data to make it cer- tain that the product of the nine items named above exceeded In 1879 ^6,500,000, and would have found a ready market had they reached three times that sum. The average yield of wheat has been from twenty to twenty- five bushels. Possibly twenty-two bushels come nearer the truth, taking one year nith another. There are many farms and belts of land that yield thirty, forty, and occasionally fifty bushels to the acre. This, of course, is far above average returns of the State. Colorado flour Is the finest in the world. Quantities of '"'"''-■ '''<^- -y '"^^c-r.o.. oCtrisd"''"°'^"^°'''-S'ate, Oats k '°^ bushels to the alrJ T^ °° '° 5°°' =">''. rareW -^ ^*'°" we I m the northern counties is "nil " '^°'"' "»' "'n-e al night atmosphere, yet the vTeld i "' ^?'"'' °"'"^' ■« "'e chill '"ff '-ger. South of the .,>i,:;°?"''r'^'« ^'nd steadily tj ."'e good prices prevailing ^Z ' "' '"'' '"""'"-n 'ale; "'t ui various kinds ran i • ^ P'^^t levv years ■n -some of the southern Zn^T I'""'^ ^"^eessft.lK-^ "j Jh-e are thrifty orchards ofZ:/?'''''''^ ="-' ---lively C-^"on City. North of the ..Di'^.f ""'', P^^'^'' "-ees at a ,d nea^' 7-enced; but app/e Le^lt ""f ""'''^ '"«-'">• '.s been "l>^n protected fro,, the „"r' ""' <^ '° ff™w and bear S -.crops of apples ha : b „ ob^""?- ""^■«- ScveraTv:; L-™erand other counties '''""^'' '" M-»„, C„„uJ "- past Z 'yl^^'"^" •'" '■'"^^«' "^ "" ""'e importanc • , • ' nrU y^'irs. Ovvinq- to tho n.,(- V- P^^^^'ice with n 704 OCR ni-:s/A,A',y /'^//TKZ. s- c- w 2»~ C3 •^ v.- i^ — ' Km Cr», t'^-^ 6-. i»-. Cl!T >: ta.: ^S! cit:> •--.3 '<< t^i CJ!» ties. There, arx^ in Arapahoe a#4 ^iT^f^on, nantwre than else- where?, are nmiarkaUy large number':^ // sup4/;^/?f caqde, many of them of the ly-st blorxJed stock, and vaf(i/^,d at v/'/y high figures. Some of the finest cows and bulls of eastern lo^^^lities have been purchased and imported by these enterprising farmer ', //f the far-away Colorado border. There a^e fmely-stocked dairy-farms in other sections beside the counties enumerated, including Douglas, Fremont, Lake and Saguache, but tliose named first take the lead. At the State and county fairs the displays of Durham, Alderney. Hereford, Shorthorns, Jersey and Swiss cat- tle, and of stork crossed therewith, are very fine. There is a remark 'ibly large amount of money invested in horse-Hesh m Colorado, AnA the average quality of stock is very high in so.ne q«.*ariers, Th^f liveries and private stables (espe- cially the latter) of #o$■ m fj;anlfes't there as among the fast trotters of the town-^, Colorado can make #o «icfe 4d iaf iwore than is known in Minnesota or Kansas. Wages of id^rm hand^ MMially range from $15 to $20 per month, with boar same as female ^om^i^M. servants receive. Laborers hircii especially for harvesting receive from two to three dollars per day and board. 1 here is quite a difference in the prices received for farming products, according to locality. No countrj has a better market, and one bf-auty of this is, that it is right at home. Hay is usually from j^20 io $30 per ton in the mountain mining; camps, and about half that sum on the farms of the plains and parks. By the cental, or hundred pounds, potatoes ranged dur- .■5 1(' lan else- many of 1 litiures. avc been . o( the iry-farms including med first plays of •wiss cat- I'ested in :k is very es (espc- Colorado rpe num- )r saddle • the fast f farming ng is the of wheat ;ses them, and river irea gi^ 's nesota or $20 per ibout thr ers hired Dllars per > received itry has a : at home. in minioL; Dlains and ntred dur- /'/VWT-.v/VZA 11'/// ,v '"S the past year or t,vo from « ^05 'o f .75.- wheat. ■ ./-H.et,o„ofasectionoftJ;ti,:::-^;;;:t--r .^1 uc *c V a ^-^ K_ r>-2 err:, ^ Co^ C^IJi '•-^J *^: 706 ^^A' i^'^'STEKN EMPIRE. and Weld Canal. The total length will be fifty-four miles, and a tract of country thirty-six miles long, and from three to ten miles wide, will be irrigated. The canal starts from the Cache- la-Poudre river, at the Colorado Central Railway crossing, and continues eastward until the Denver Pacific is crossed. A part of this land was pre-empted, and some is being sold at -from ^{53 to $10 per acre. Western Colorado is beginning to be settled up by miners and farmers. For many years the great Sierra Madre acted a^ a barrier to immigration and advancement ; but population is moving in that direction at last. Beside the wonderful mining discoveries of that region, the farming and pastoral resources are considerable. There are fine parks and numberless valleys enclosing the streams. These are extremely fertile, and will prove very serviceable and valuable now that a demand has arisen for their products. The Gunnison river alone has from 50,000 to 100,000 acres of farming land available for irrigation that is lower than San Luis Park, and which yielded 20,000 tons of hay last season. We have devoted considerable space in Parts I. and II. to the advantages and disadvantages of stock-raising and sheep-farm- ing in Colorado. Both pursuits are carried on with greater suc- cess and in a more thoroughly satisfactory way in that State than in any other. It is not necessary for us to recapitulate what we have said there ; but we give below the statements of a thor- oughly intelligent P^nglish gentleman, Hon. J. W. Barclay, M. P., himself interested at home in the cattle business, and who has spent many months in the last four years in Colorado, returning thence to England in November, 1879. Mr. Barclay has no motive for cfver-coloring his account of stock-raising in the State, and his views will be interesting to our readers as those of a competent foreign observer. Mr. Barclay says : " But although a great future undoubtedly awaits the farming interest in Colorado, the present profit is greatest for the stock- keepers. There is, indeed, probably no part of the world where a young man with a few thousands can employ himself more stream, will formTl^ • " .""^ "^i-hborhood of " "' '"'' «ocks of sl,ee; or he^d!' r' """^'-"-'^ and he can''"'"'"*^"' without rent Th , °^ ""»'<' on the n„l,l ? ^''■■'^^ '"'^ boys;' and aft. """''^ ''' ^^^ "'e food l"^ ' '""''^ around -1.01 r mainly; 'n "'''""^ '■°'- "'« expens" ,""'''' °^''" •^°"- •>e mountains in Montan' c.^t' '^' ^''^'''^ -ayC^ " ' »'5 each. Shorthorn t;), ^f'^""«. or in Oregon i" ""^ country can h,. , "''• '^irly bred =.n i • ^ '^ost of ^-r/,:h. ^ -:;^-' - rroJ,30 to' Z, ^^jl ^^ "i-e :;• -^ ;an occasional "b:;„:itr''!-> -y, f^ Cai;)^: ^3- VViien crossef? w.VJ, , '?"^ '" Colorado or V\7 :*"'or- P-e, and yield He c! 'o 'fi " ''"'' °' ="'-P hey'sor^ '' " 'f the stockman hatthl ° ''^ P°""ds. '^ '^ '°°" ™- "!= «o be had out in t e Wes '^'°"'^"^°°'' -"en-and s , iniss on of rr^« ^^nas, is uncertain r ^ . ' °' P^s- S^^i"?, but too Hr, r government will sell In , ' ""'' "" ^tout .oc«Vc°:, ' ^ f; "'"•-'■•"". ■•" lots olt ' ""'"^ '°'- to'""^'^ aiive aboiif r ^.^ -^ tnree-vpaf- ^i i "-- of the stock after d. 7""'^' '"''""^ only^To 'h''^"' 'ttende to 7;;'"'" °' ""= ->vs,V the ^ !,f °"' f^'"^' Per "lucn. To cut the .-M;T .31 if f=: *K. ^^ ' CI fe"-* •». "-^ »«. g s r--J csr. ^ ^j »^ «->^ •^a» 708 ^^^ WESTF.Rf^ EMPIRE. grass with a mowing-machine in some of the meadows, and to save the hay for the emergency of .a snow-storm severe enoiioli to debar the cattle from their food, is ail that is necessary. lUit even that slight precaution is, I fear, rather the exception than the rule in the Colorado ranches. " The ease with which meat may be grown out in the West was forcibly impressed on my attention by an incident I observeti in the North Park. The North Park is a great undulating plain within the Rocky Mountains, at an elevation of 7,000 or 8,000 feet. The drove I saw consisted of 3,000 cattle, of a size and quality that would have attracted favorable notice in any of oii^- markets at home. They had been feeding on very nutritious grass in the Park all summer, and were expected to weigh 1,400 pounds. They were born on the Pacific slope, and were feeding here, as a resting-point in their journey from California cast- wards. They were part of a lot sold to Chicago dealers at $37.50 a head, and were going to Illinois to be fattened for the Engiisii market, and would reach Liverpool, ready for the butcher, early in 1880. Thus cattle that first see the light on the shores of the Pacific are driven slowly, at the rate of about ten miles a day, as far as the centre of America, and after grazing there for a year, are carried by railway to the rnaize-g rowing States, whence, alter a stay of a few months, they make their final journey to Liver- pool, These are facts tliat lead to reflection. Only ten years ago, cattle from the Eastern and Middle States were taken west- ward across the mountains to California, but the tables are now turned. Cattle-breeding has developed so rapidly in the Pacific States, as not merely to supply the demand there, but to pour its surplus of the improved American cattle back to the East, and thus to supplant the inferior Texas breed, which in a few years may be expected to disappear altogether. It is computed that during the present year 50,000 cattle have made the journey eastwards across the plains. *' Looking at the capacity for development shown by facts liie farmer i„ tl.i^ country has! t"' "'^'■^<--ff™«™>,' -State, :"he tra""" ''," ^^^^^ -^"^ "''"'^' ^'^^'e ,^^->Sroth : :" '^ !"-^'- '^Tiiir-''- « le for the farmer, and ad.nit, ' ^ r ""P°'-«"on of store S-l. conduct from the ' far,.: '' fri^^.f ' f "'\'-- "- ''utche; i hose who say tliat then. ; ' "°' kmdiy.* -d .'.at what the fan nf C, ' /'T''"' ^™°"^' ^^-^rican cattle ;o.;. disease, hetray a wa^tTa; °,7an^" "'7= '^ P^^^o ' -■^^■- 1I.C real opposition comes frnr "'"' ""= ''^'•■'» of ti.e . •^':- ^-'^y^^^^;^^;^^ ___^^ to any store :"' <'" very nu.c:h k-.ter ,0 .el „■ , '; '"^ '''"■"^"' '^'^-"S vi^ ," "/ "t ''' ^^''''^ "'^'X ^7- ^'° i^ at a„ u.u,oah. ; . !" ^"^ '"'^ '^"'^-' ^^^ -- o er e'e at ^^ "^'■"" «'-- •' ''""' e.staie at hon.e ■ . ' '"'^"'""^ ^^e proprietor nf K >T' ""^ '^•■'"'<-". where •^^.^ "" do at s n " " '-7"^'"' -'^-i-t as well fn „ he ^ ° ""' °"'^'- ■'^'•^'- a '■'""'• Corn, harlev. ry ., "e r-^''""'^""''^ ^' ^37-50 per hefda,. a, T.' '" '"^ ^''-'-P-' ^"")"ction in Illinois an,I ^^ynxn. Montan.-. or Dnkotr u ,'^"*^"'"ff '"ot crops ■'"^'•«'; and with the ;r 'T '"^ - '-..'er measure of caVb f '^"'^ '^^ ^""^^ "^ 'he r '"■'• """■■'^ they wileo .,;'"' "" ''^''^'^^ ^^ ^ -« cost o ^ / "' ''"■■ ''"^^^ '--'« w^Jiun the nutntious bunch grass alone ^'°"'ana cattle, .31 Co CKiM 710 i''6'A' ir/:s7V-:Aw empire. cattle being imported, whether in health or disease ; but the j^rcat body of farmers want cheap store cattle, and they can have thcin both cheap and healthy from the natural breedinj,^ ;^rounds of tlie West, if only the government would put itself to a little troui)lc and exercise a little care and common sense. There never has been any disease in the Western States, or in Illinois, Iowa, or Michigan. The direct route for cattle is through those Slates on the main lines of railway, and, crossing into Canada at Detroit or Port Huron, they could be shipped from Canadian ports. Cattle could thus be carried to England without ever ap- proaching at any point within hundreds of miles of any place where disease has existed. Those acquainted with the system of transport know that simple and effective arrangements coukl be made insuring that only western cattle should pass into Canada, and the only hope I see for the British grazier is in get- ting these cattle. The attention of the department was called to this suggestion by a cjuestion put in the House of Commons last session, but the mouthpiece of the government would not conde- scend so far as even to promise an inquiry. Such neglect we are unfortunately but too familiar with, and there seems little hope of a change, until farmers or mercantile men insist on having some men in the government of this commercial and agricultural country, who know practically something of the country's interests, I cannot but think that we should be better off if we interfered less in our neighbors' affairs, and paid some attention to our own." Dairy- Farming. — Though so new a country, Colorado has many remarkable advantages for dairy-farming. The small parks on the eastern side of the divide, where the valleys of the streams are not ravines or canons — parks which contain from 100 to 1,000 acres each — form the best pasture grounds for a dairy-farm to be found anywhere; the grass is rich and nutri- tious; the water is abundant, cold, and pure; and the soil is so fertile that it yields in profusion, the roots, grains, and forac^e plants necessary to produce the greatest quantity of rich milk. Good cows of the Alderney, Jersey, and Holstein breeds arc to be had at reasonable prices in the State, and the dairj'-farmer, selecting cows which will yield at least fourteen pounds of butter 6™ ; the dairy„,a„ will ZXV" ' ^"'" ""^'d •■'» a .ra",' CO.". potatoes, oats, anti L , ^ t^'^;"-, '» a n.i.ed c^ „ tl e re„,a„„nj^ forty to Alfalfa .?;.*-'-""''' "op, and seed c ovv, -'■■cl., at „ cents per lb., ^n, ,„' '" "'" '"!<-• «oo lbs. of " appear on the Alfalfa, the crop „" j Y'' ^^ "^ «-' '>'os „ „ J St al»ut pay for cuttin,,- Z7 ,' ""' "'"■^'' "'"''inarilywn & '. W.1I, under favorable' ,;„™ "'«'%'• 'lu'te late '„ Th'! ""s forty tons of Alfalfa witi T ' '"' °"'-- '°n Per ace fo«y acres set apart for t ^e ' '^ "T ''"'' ^"''^^ ".V-clon he ;ucl.,.raln feed as the co!l r™T' "T "'"' "^ -'l'«tion of wenty-cow dairy i„ ft,], fe« n,^ I T '"-' ""^'''"^ 'o keep { the second year. We will . ' '"''■'•' "'"'"tf of the AI^Mr 'ec'ion of twenty i ^ t 'ToT: tl^ '''r '^^ ^^^ '^ - and n,ade the „ece.ssary prepare b's to°r "^''"' °^ ^ctob ^ We quarters, putting ,i,e ^J^ J^"°"' '° k<^':p them in comfortn »'l.at the result will be T """^ "" *■"" <■<•■«! I vve wHI - '".";''''""?''• "•'" net ,, en, ^ T, , f>^uu JOS. of biitrpr 1^ ^5 cents per ^X ^/so'cVr^^'^ --"-d'fe -tt^o^"^'^ *''^- > ^250, chickens raised nn ^i ' ^^ °"e year oJc' f'" will net ^.00 more, wh ch " t "'""' """^ ^^ -fu^' erage of ^9..50 per cow. t^^V ,'V °' »''«5°. or a, W5 each. By making a cood .. °'^'°""' '*-'" ''e abou i-acl.ng up with some good butter f'°" °^ "^''"<^ ^o^s, then " a few years have a fine herd ofT'''"^^ ^''^^''' "-e farmir Wn %;;e fco per head." "'' "^^'^'^^ ^''-«. worth at the lo„e »n^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. % >; '^ 1.0 ■^ ^ ■2.2 III 1.1 l.-^aa IL25 i 1.4 I 1.6 <,% ^ V3 ^> ^^ {fetographic _Scierices Corporation 23 WiST MAIN STREET WEBSTSR,N.Y. 14580 (716)a72-4S03 iV ^ ..''5» V "^'^^ m^ Si ^* cx :52 712 <5^'^^' li'IiSTERN EMPIRE. II. to shecp-fayming- in Colorado, in connection with other States ; it only remains to speak of the extent and success of the sheep- farming interest in the State. In 1S70, Colorado had not more than 20,000 sheep. In 1880, she has not far from 2,500,000. The increase in the number of Hocks of sheep is without any precedent in the history of the rapidly growing States of the West. The counties which are most largely engaged in sheep- farming are El Paso, Las Animas, Huerfano, Conejos, Pueblo, Elbert, Bent, Arapahoe, Larimer, and Weld. The sheep in the so-called Mexican counties, Conejos, Las Animas, and Huerfano, are mostly Mexican sheep, though a few of them have been im- proved by crossing with a superior breed ; but in the other coun- ties they are almost entirely of improved breeds. The Mexican sheep yields but three or four pounds of wool, while it costs as much to keep and cara for it as the improved Merino or Cots- wold grade, which yields from six to twelve pounds. As good Merino wool is worth on an average twenty-five cents per pound or more, this difference in yield makes a great difference in the value of the sheep. In 1879. Colorado is said to have marketed 7,000,000 pounds of wool, worth ^1,400,000; reared over 1,000,000 lambs, worth at the lowest estimate $1.50 each, or ^1,500,000, and sent to market or consumed at home 200,000 sheep worth $2.50 each, or 5^500,000 more. In 1880, she will sell 10,000,000 pounds of wool, worth ^2,500,000; rear 2,000,000 lambs, worth ^3,000,000; and sell or consume 300,000 sheep, for which she will receive $900,000, an aggregate of $6,400,000. . . "Thus far," says Mr. Frank Eossett, "the business of sheep- raising in Colorado has been very profitable. A flock of 1,800 ewes, costing $4,500, were placed on a ranche in Southern Col- orado. In eight years, 1,600 sheep were killed for mutton and consumed on the ranche, and 7,740 were sold for $29,680. There are 14,800 head on hand, worth $3 per head, $44,400. The clips of wool paid for the shepherds' hire and all current expenses. The result shows a net profit over the original in- vestment of $69,520, equal to 193 per cent, per annum for eight years in succession. Per contra, out of a flock of 1,200 very fine — 4 SIILEP-l'ARMING Ji\ COLORADO. 713 ates ; heep- more 0,000. It any of the sheep- \ieblo, in the ertano, ^en im- ;r coun- Aexican costs as or Cots- \s good •r pound ce in the selected ewes, worth $4 per head, 800 died during a storm of two days in ]\Lirch, 1878. The 400 tiiat survived rai;ied in the summer of that year more than that number of lambs. " Many of the sheep men have two ranges for their herds — one for summer and the other for winter. The herder usually col- lects the sheep at night on a side hill, and sleeps by them. They lie quietly unless disturbed by wolves, who are the most trouble- some in stormy weather. Shepherd dogs are very useful in the protection and herding of sheep, and are born and raised, and die with them. Lambs are weaned about the first of October. Sheep will travel about three miles out on to the range and back to water or the herding grounds each day. Those coming to Colorado to engage in the sheep business should engage on a sheep ranche, and stay there long enough to understand all about the methods of conducting the business. In selecting or taking up land for sheep-growing, plenty of range or room, with hay land and a water supply, are requisites for successful opera- tions. Good sheep should be purchased to begin with, as they are the cheapest in the long run, and close attention must be given to the business in order to make money and build up a fortune. " While large numbers of the sheep of Colorado are of American breeds, hosts of them are native M'jxican sheep. Still larger numbers are of mixed blood, obtained by crossing the long- legged, gaunt, coarse, light-wool Mexicans with Merino rams. The Cotswold has not been crossed so successfully with the full- blood Mexican, but makes fine stock when crossed with the three-quarter Merino. This brings size to the sheep, weight to the fleece, and length of staple. Since Colorado has been found to be the sheep-growing State of the West, large herds have been driven into her borders from other sections. California has been a heavy contributor, on account of the small expenses and large profits attending sheep-raising here as compared with the Pacific slope. Thirty thousand sheep were driven in from that State in the spring of 1879." The number of horses, asses and mules in the State is large in proportion to the population, and is rapidly increasing in two ..J 714 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. £» 13 »tj ^- ^"^ v-» c;^:. »~: s f^ f*5 ^ Ua ::%' *^ directions: the number of wealthy mine-owners has f;reatly multiplied within two o* three years, and these men all crave the best horses to be procured for money, and have already brought into the State very many choice animals ; the mines and the rail- roads, as well as the immense freighting business, require a large and constantly increasing supply of horses and mules larger and heavier than either the broncho or mustang. To meet this latter demand, and to some extent the former also, such great corpora- tions as the Colorado Catde Company, of the Hermosillo Estate, have undertaken the rearing of many thousands of horses and mules, and find the enterprise largely profitable, even more so than cattle-breeding. It is impossible to estimate with any very close approximation to accuracy, the present value of the live-stock interest of Colo- rado. So rapid is its growth ; so sudden the transition from a "waste, howling wilderness" to a compact and populous State; from the sage brush, the alkaline plains, and the frightful preci- pices and canons, to the fields green with future harvests and dotted all over with thousands of cattle, sheep, horses and mules, that figures which frighten us by their enormous amount prove strangely and ridiculously inadequate to express the enormous strides which every material interest is making in this land of wonders. It is known that the increased valuation of the live-stock interest in 1878 (not the total value, that was many times more) over the previous year was $6,200,000. It is known also that the increase of the same interest in 1879 more than doubled these figures. In 1880, from the various causes we have specified, they must have doubled again, and, possibly, much more than doubled. When we add to this the receipts, gains and profits of the farming industry for the same three years, which mounted in that time from $4,000,000 to more than $13,000,000, we have an aggregate which for so young a State is astounding. Railroads. — No State west of the Missouri river is so thor- oughly interlaced with railways now completed, or soon to be completed, as Colorado. At the northeast the Union Pacific enters the corner of the "'" "■"'"■^'■^ o^ CO,CJ,,,^„, anci Jefferson counties to Golden and '>^^''"'"<-'^' '^""'J^'-. Ha : '7 r^- - -- " as^ hi ^^;*" '° Windsor, on "a^vk, and tlirough Clear Creek .„ P'" "^"""'y '" Black : ir ,'^-'^'%' a further e et^r? '° .^"^-S^own. and to Lead VI e. Thi^ rr.,- ^"-^^n^'on throup-h Summ.v "acific. wh < ' -f^ J , pacific also confrr^Ic. *u t^ ^ Denve'r. "' ' '^''^ '"-^H VVeld and A^ptoe tunt^: Under the same ffeneril .^ . , • ;^e ne.Iy reorgani/ed M /orl'^fi""^ ^^^^ P-ific. and Kansas City, Missouri, cro « Ka^ r ^^'"''- ''^^''"g from passes .hrough Bent, ElberrandtrplL!"'" "" '° -«• -^ llie Denver, South Park and pf 7 """"^""^ '° Denver Denver, had its western f, • '^*"''<^> ^Weh, starting f Vaiiey, pushed 0:1"™'?; L" 'f ' « ^^^--e ^^H^ reachmg the latter city earlyl,!^'"'':''""''^^ and LMe st L^^'^"^^^ "-■■ va%,o;s?d°""™? ''■--' ^e Saguache range) at Cottonwood T "="" ^'^^e (the August, and is now pushing oTfor ^^^ r''"^"^ G"""'^"" in '=5 mj^es distant, which it liH ptbaM '^ <"'"^''^'^ "^"""'y) From Buena Vista in r< cc P^^aWy enter by (anuar,, qo rrom Denver fli« rk - E' Moro, ext;„ „,'':"br„er al ''''° P""<^^ ^°« -"".ward f«'rce, reaching Leadville "^ "''^ Arkansas river to Tt. ;„7' "^"« one branch goes to n5 m"'' ^°^""^ "> Ala- and another through ConeioHo A ^°''"' '" Ri° Grande . But the great railroad of kIL^p ? ^"^' '" ^'^^ coun"y ;;^*e Atchison, Topeka and t „?' ^^''rf ^"'^ ^^ «^^- "' ^- K-sas City and Atchtn"^:^^ SV^^ :::? Q? yid OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Kansas on the line of the valley of the Arkansas river, which it follows in Colorado, through Bent and Pueblo, where it connects with the Denver and Rio Grande, en route for Leadville, and at La Junta, in Bent county, sending an arm southwestward and southward through Las Animas county, past the great coal fields and mines of Trinidad, reached Las Vegas, and crossing the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, paused for a little at Santa Fe, and is continuing its southern route down the valley of the Rio Grande to Mcsiila, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, and stretching thence across Chihuahua and Sonora — Mexican States — will make its southern terminus at Guaymas, on the Californian Gulf. By its connection with the St. Louis and San PVancisco RaiKv-ay, and the Atlantic and Pacilic, to all whose privileges it has fallen heir, it proposes also to strike westward from Santa Pe along the route of the Plax river one of the affluents of the Rio Colorado of the West, cross Arizona, bridge the Grand Canon of the Colorado with a single span of 400 feet, 1,600 feet above the water, and make a western terminus at San Diego or Los Angeles. Neither the Union Pacific, the Northern, the Southern or the Texas Pacific lias conceived a grander scheme for crossing the continent, or prosecuted it with such unfaltering energy and such audacity of enieri^rise and engineering skill. Its crossing of the Raton Mountains in Southern Colorado; its passage carved along the perpendicular precipices of the Grand Canon of the Arkansas, and its other engineering feats, have excited the ad- miration of the greatest enoineers in the world. In Colorado it has made a close alliance with its former rival, the Denver and Rio Grande, and the two having divided Southern Colorado and New Mexico between them, the latter has extended a line through Huerfano, crossing the Sangre de Christo range at Veta Pass, at the height of 9,339 feet, through Costilla county and the San Luis Park, to Alamosa, whence one branch traverses Conejos and La Plata counties, and is now completed to the Las Animas river, with an eventual terminus, perhaps, on the San Juan river; the other branch' follows the Rio Grande on the line be- tween Rio Grande and Saguache counties, to the famous mineral '^'>i-c^m>,v ..V «.<,,,,^„ H.nsc,ale ana .San Juanl^t':;^.^- ""-"^ — ^^ ".rou^h an extension of flu. I . a ■ ^^^'''^^^on wht^r-f. ;,. • '^ affiliated, and tl,; s '7 '' ■ "= ™"''-^ "id, wl, d h "''' ■a'I'vay. i„ [, ' ! ^'^'= *>''" lia,-e more than V ''' "'''^ Tliereare „ "^ ^^' '*«°' "'^re were , ,,^ , ■°°° "'''« of tZx::::tt """ -'^^ ■"■•'- " " ■" "p-^^^"-- the most n^art ev. n' '°™""'"'=^ i^uHt at ffreat e.n ^ ' ^^'^'"^ ^"^ n^'-ning districts and ''^''^'^^ ^ and camps have Jli »«» cat ex ¥ yiS OCX WESTE/iAT EMPIRE. been established, there are good schools organized without delay. Denver is noted for its public schools, which are of the highest character. Leadville, the same month (July, 1877) that it assumed its corporate character, though then a small mining camp, established a public school, and has since multiplied its schools as rapidly as they were needed. Greeley, Evans, Longmont, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Canon City, Rosita, Silver Cliff, and all the rest, have made haste to establish schools. There is a State University at Boulder endowed with lands by the government, and supported by the State. It has a prepara- tory and a normal school department, and is about organizing its full course of university study. There is a college at Col- orado .Springs which has four courses of instruction — prepara- tory, normal, collegiate, and mining and metallurgy. The terms for tuition are only $25 a year, so that it is practically free. At Colorado Springs there is also a State Deaf Mute Institution, not yet, we believe, fully organized. There is a State Agricul- tural College at Fort Collins in active operation, and Farmers' Institutes are held in connection with it every winter. Aside from these there are several private or denominational institutions of collegiate character already founded, and others in prospect. The education of the young in Colorado will be amply provided for. Churches and Religious Denominations. — When we consider that Colorado is but four years old as a State, and that many of its larger towns and cities have not been in existence more than three or four years, we shall find that the religious progress of the State has been very commendable. The Roman Catholics have a large diocese, a considerable number of their adherents being Mexicans, of whom there are many in the southern coun- ties, and many also of other nationalities in the central and northern counties. There is also a Protestant Episcopal diocese with a smaller number of adherents, but very active and efficient. The Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, German Reformed, and many of the minor sects are also represented in the State by numerous congregations. Population. — In 1870 Colorado had but 39,864 inhabitants, •••''O-t what Denver and I , •„ "'"^''- 7.9 "',''"'•««' 'o tlK- Unio''i -""rf . ^"'" '^''- to-day. When tnbal Indums (.,5,0). k,;,,;/^'^' '"•'''•'y »''« has, including -__J' ""^ "'"•'y-o"= counties, viz.: County. /• ' <-"'inty-Scat. Arapahoe li'jiit H.iiilder...'; jChalTcc Clear Creek. IConflos CVtilla ICnsiur. .. . M^"i'.,'ias. .; Kll>crt ' w ivso...;; Fremont i''ilp;n .' jOrancI .. _' 'lunnison.. Hinsdale . . . .' Hiiernino... ' Ji^^fTcr>oii . . Il-akc ... II-" Plata.;; Larimer. ... l'-i< Animas "iiray ' Park ... ■■ iP"«--i'io..;;;; (Rio Grande. jRcuitt paijuache. ..;, pan Jnan ', jSiimmit . Weld.... ■■■ I>cnvcr '■as Anima>;;;" lloidder '■ranite ; " fjtorKetoivii;;;;; Conejos " '^an i.iiis. ..;;;;; Kosiia Castle Rock;;;; ' KioH'a Colorado Springs ; Canon * Central ; Hot Sidplu,rSp;in. '■onni.son.. '-akecitv.. ;;;'■" WaKenbiirg " ' Colden '■eadviljs .;;. ParroitC'itv ; ,''>ri Collins. ■■" 'rinidad Oinay ; f'airpl.iy . ; '■•el Norte..;; Hayden ; Saijiiache \\ .Silverlon ;;;; i l-reckenridue. '■ Greeley ..'.'...;; "'I Total l\'aliiation. i8;8.j v.;;ii"''''*'' I | J'''lV,'"'i88!I; SqnartMMilcs ''°P"'''"i"n, P«ip.ilation, '"I '879. June, ,fi(ju, ?",o76,76, ,„ "•=79.376 00 3.o97.3« 00 5 J 1, 000 ,000 5tO00 7.01X1,0 xj '•933,991 3t 244. .3.(6 o,j 3'9.';7> 90 500,654 00 95',7>J 00 1. ■•'02,032 52 3.'-'76.395 00 940,363 00 '•HiV.iJO; 00 djfii*' 75 6^,014 „o .'i64,.-;96 50 796,0:18 38 '.98S,v.;(5 ,K, fi'0,858 92 =54,447 00 ''3''2,33o O.J '.4.i5,2JO 00 2-0,622 95 790,2 ?9 ofj 5^1,874 00 74.661 00 ; 6)7,6,7 00 2.'i5.3-8 00 '69. (6j 00 _^ ='.S8.'?,82 7 00 ^43^.S5,4i9 22 4.0 J), 000 7;>o.C't^o '•'•'00,000 '•000,000 '.4oo,(xjo '•.lOiJiOOO $•6 o,(xxj '•."!' 0,000 2,810,000 '00,000 200,000 '.000,0o,ixjo ',000,000 'oi:),cx-xj '•000,000 8.';o,cyjo ' ,4oo,o<-<3 7.«xi,ooo )Si 26,450,000 Ci/ics and ro2c„s.~.Th<- fnll., • " "^ 2:Il-ilj2i5«_| 'owns of Colorado with their p::,^^:: "^ P-cpal cities and '-ned, ,n ,S7o, ,875, ,879, andTsSo: '° '' ™" ''<= ^■^«^- ;/i j Cities and Towns. Henver Leadvilie*;;; ', Central, "-i |l!lackH,-,wk,t . I jy'\alorado,Sprin[rs. beorijetown.,.'" I l;oiilder . .. I '"rinidad . ; I flnldcn I Greclev. . ; ' I'-akeCity ;; J'Thi.s i.s within the 'he same min.t.g camp. Population, ' r I ,"<""• 1 '2,000,. 4,820 Del N„Vt7 "9 800 ■''■»°' 5000 fi..^ Kosita. ^""^ 1,200 5.«» 6,500 7,200 ) .Silver Cliff ' " ' ' ""'"^ '."oo ^^^ 5,000 U^L I '<"l,8;)0 2,000 4,oco 1,200 5,000 '•500 3, OCX 1,000 1,100 1,000 1,200 Soo 1,500 900 I 500 I 800 I 1,200 I 1,000 I '.500 l.ooo phrase, to If 720 OUR WESTERS' EMPlRi:. roci Of course, in such a heterogeneous assemblage of all creeds and nationalities, there are many who never attend public wor- ship, and who are perhaps open scoffers at all religion — skeptics and infidels, eitiierof the more intellectual and professedly scien- tific sort, or of tiie coarse bruta' class, the American representa- tives of the Communists, Nihilists and Socialists of continental Europe. The Mormons, too, have been planting their missions in Southwest and Southern Colorado, in the hope of at least winning a sufficient mnnhc'r of adherents to secure the vote of the representatives of Colorado in Congress in favor of the admission of Utah, as a Mormon State, into the Union. But it is a very gratifying fact that none of our newer States have come into the Union with a better or more deserved repu- tation for good order, safety of person and property, and morality in its highest and best sense. From its central position, its rapid yet healthy development, its extensive and constantly increasing facilities of railway com- munication, its immense and as yet only partially developed mineral wealth, its jiroductive farming and grazing lands, and its intense enterprise, we may safely predict that Colorado is des- tined to be the leading State of the Rocky Mountain region, and not improbably the leader in wealth and power of the new " Western Empire." Two decades of such growth and progress as that of the last four years will place it among the grandest of American States ; the peer of New York in population and in wealth, and exerting an influence over all the sisterhood of States west of the Mississippi which will justify its claim to be the Empire State of the West. \\> II creeds blic vvor- -skeptics dly scicn- presenta- mtincntal missions at least (2 vote of )r of the er States /ed repu- 1 morality slopment, way com- leveloped Is, and its :lo is des- :gion, and the new [ progress andest of on and in :rhood of aim to be ^' ex 9c: t;-. (=t oci 96 as Ida whi lon^ tht ary. Rail Dak. tory iVebr MonJ H BOUNDARIES OF ^^A'OTA. 721 CHAPTER V. J>AKOTA. Boundaries, Area and Ton. Northern, Centra^ s2 "^'^"''^ '>H.nE,, ^^f'r''''''^"^--^'*- TO THE SECRE7ARY ^^ '"'''-^^^'ERNOR HoWARn's \, ^^^^'ARd's De- HowaRD-Th, sl vT '""' '•^^•^'^'^^'^-J^'O.KAP^ , / M ''-^'-"'^ ^^'^««^ HaLs-GcD.,,, Z' '*""'«-Cu„,v,., «„ mA' „^"- ^""" L- White's f ° ^"^ '°4 west loncrftude frn ^ "^^ ^'^^ nieridians of K ilway U'"''= /■!" '» '"--«, 4 /r;:;''^ "-;-' boun/ O^kota Is bo '";'f ^^ =» ^-"a" slice of the Yen' '''''"'■^■■" IS Doundecl on the no,.^i, i, , Yellowstone Pari- M u^ and the Missouri n-v^arr^ '' \ '°«'='' -utl, b^ ' ^' 90,590,480 acres. ex: . ex; S i:^ ^ ;::: 5*^ o «22 f akota, had not been conf "^"' ''^s^'-vation in r.-T , nece^aniy a ba„ie;:o\°„7~o' ^"^ '"^^ ----if" T Go^el" H^ "■"'"^'' D'-^o^ "'' --"unication w", t-overnor Howard added • J lie resources of this T. • t> "er vast extent of terWfnrw i ^^ i^akota, con- scarcely second to those of aly St2 "'-• '«'''"'""'^' '""''"■■ces on the east side of tl ^ lu " '" '*"« l^n'on. Dakn,. i^ "li'esofiandfitforlpL^TtrLr^,' '«'^' ^^^^ " re^ * In an address de]ivered~h77 ~~ — - cation, November 1st ,s,o 7 ^"^'^''"O'- ""ward at Yankton h f ^~~ ' -In .858. When it wfpt :,:!;'; *T"^ "''^' ''^'"S- ^-.-egationa, Asso- opposed on the ground ih r '''''"'' Minnesota to the XT, ■ years, the region would be XnH [ "'''^ "^^ ^"^''""^'ed ad sol """ ^"'^"''''''"" -^ ' f "d- But look now, ZZ'r\ ''^ '■' -^'^ not sustai. i^: ;. ^'"^ '-'- cut. in a fej forty millions of bush Is of wh ^ ^''''''^ ^' ">- great St,te of M ' ''^'"^">' "'=" "^ "'an- Here now is Dakota T rri " ''' T '""""^' "P ''^ '''"tmos tl '""T"'' "'"^ ''^ ^'"'•'y or "•- any State in the Un e Jc' T' "^ "*'" '^^^^^' and t " ""' ^ ""'^'y P°P"latfon. Vork and about four Zl the are To';'^ ''^^^'^- ^^ ^^ - el, ,1,7" ."'^'•^^ «^ ^^-^'e land 's no,v overcoming them in H '^'"" ^^ ''^ "-' the L ! ^"'" " '''"'^^ '^'^ ^e"' ''^^ p'^'-. and nL ^^2^^:^ ^ ^ ^-- "^ -Hr^r :; tsr: ^: ^''""^-'^' --^ o"r eastern border between F ™'"" "" ^^'^'y hand r !, '^ f f """'''''"g across our •^-■-■g« of 300 teams and „ ""' '"■^' «^°"^ 'ake the w J f " '°" "^^^ «" "''^' Pa-t of D'^kota, where the Zv M ''""' P^*" ''^'^ -"-'"'•ng Dakota T. '""" ''"'^ '^'^^ ^"--^r an nor alluded to Farjand °" ^"""' °' ^°""'^y -"> towns s . ""' " '^"^ "^ ^^onhe n •o-i'ed upon the p" ulat "■°""' ^"'^ '« "'«' ^^ Gr „d F^ k k "' '"'^"■''^- ^he Gov J and self-reliance of th! ''''''^ ^^'"^ eloquence and 1 i^ "'• "^ ^^^^ 'here just '""^ ^^"-. or th fai x:^^^ '^- -''^ortunr'af ;:::;:?? '''• ;'^ ^-^^'^-^ --^o possession. He described the "'*^' '" "^^'^^' '<> ^''^Puted t" Ihe"' '"''^"'^^^ '^^ "-"y P™S.-sing. Jii, general si,/"''' T'' ^"'^ "^^ -' discov r 11 . .' T ""'" '^^"^"'^-' «» ^^ -"g. He d:c,ar:d tr::!: hldlT"'^^- '^"^ -"- c^a italot^™^'"^^ ^'"^''^ 0' these one-third hid n . "ow had at least 1 50.000 nnr,„i .• Dakota was masterly -'' '^e future is assurer The g! ^""^'\^- -"-g. "ew c'e. t^ ^f? 'T" """"'^- '^"^ s Of new fbrn„ng communities. He 726 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. tt;: »«a;;; oc;; pci> :3 5±3r <3 Hon. Henry Espersen, United States Surveyor-General of Dakota, in his report to the United States Land Office, in No- vember, 1879, thus states the conditions of soil, clirtiate, agricul- ture and minerals of the Territory : "The soil of that portion of Dakota lying east of the Missouri river is generally a rich clay or sandy loam, very little rating below second-class. In the valleys of the Missouri, Big Sioux, Dakota, Vermilion, Cheyenne, Red river, and other streams, the soil is exceptionally rich, producing large crops of grain and grass. In this region there are no extensive areas of marsh or sand. The country is fairly watered by the streams named and their tributaries, and by numerous lakes in the northern and eastern portions. I have yet to hear of the point in the Terri- tory where water* cannot be had at a reasonable depth by dig- ging. West of the Missouri river the character of the soil is not so fully determined, most of that section having been included in Indian reservations, but as far as known it is generally good. The district west of the Missouri river, prominendy shown upon early maps as the ' bad lands,' might be compressed into a few townships. It may be said, in fact, that the proportion of waste land in the Territory, owing to the absence of swamps, mountain ranges, overflowed and sandy tracts, is less than in any other State or Territory in the Union. In the valleys and foot-hills of the Black Hills the soil is rich and productive, and the rainfall abundant the past season. It is expected that, in an agricultural way, that region will be self-sustaining without irrigation. "Owing to the dryness of the atmosphere and general even- ness of temperature, the climate of Dakota is very salubrious, and well adapted to agricultural pursuits. The average tem- perature of Southern Dakota may be compared to that of South- ern Illinois, Northern Indiana, and Ohio. In the northern por- tions the winters are somewhat more severe. In the southern hoped they would do so. Not only this church but all evangelical churches. lie spoke of the importance of occupying strategic points, of doing this early and keeping up the communica- lions like an army in its campaign. He alluded also to education and the munificent provision made by the United States for our future schools, declaring that if properly handled it would ultimately produce $25,000,000. He called for such a public sentiment as would paralyze any sacrilegious hand that should wrongly touch that fund." tl "" ■'^"'-^■<'-'^---.vu.. .,,„,,, part early frosts are very rare and rK , ''f tfe fi«t of November ' L ttle t't Tn"''^ ^^^> «"« ^own to ^'e;^s are almost unknown ' "^"^ '" ">« winter, and "le agricultural products „r .1, -- "•nge of those common to 1 n^,k "'"''y '"^'"''^ "-e whole and vegetables grow in the g^-at; n"" ''^'="-- Small gt"' ^0 a, parfcularly the Red river vaHev'^^r"""- '^°"''-n Oa tematic effort has yet been mJ '''^^ country. No sv« --s been done, there is no doutt ^ '"'T'^^^y- ^"'from what" 3".ted to the soil and climate are se^'d *'"'" "»-' ^«"«'« bes become a profitable occupa.,^„ T''^ "P""' f""'-?rowi„5 wH s.ock-ra,smg is the most gXin. • ^?"^"*- ""^^ '° grain grasses and mild climate h!vt -^ '"''""'•>'• T'-e excfllen; .■"Petus, and within the pa t :o^r" "^ """P^"'- ^1 a ."vested in young stock. ° ^"'"'^ '="-g« »"ms have been a-^ - :L7irr.hrtrr„t TT -^' - «'-arc. f being worked to a?mLd ?« H^, °- -" ■" .CvL v «M i . ^ '^'^ economic Blac. ™t^^IX;^-,^j -y<,ua„tityoutside of the ^en found in quantitie oTeomltdT''' l'^^''' ""^ "'- We Ae latter is now being worked ""'' "''".'■ ^ ^ne bed of «s o/:hr:t -^ t:i t^,^ .-- o„iy be said m «. '-P.tal and refined methods are em 1^ '""«^'ng. Daily „,« ' "»» open, and new discovenes are " '"" '? "'^ ^='™us mine^ -- w,th which the aurifero for T''"f' "^'"S made, ^h" he mmmg of very low.gn.de orel ^T'^'^'^'i makes profitable rZTl''^"^''- '° <- enough lid an?;^ ^'"' "^^ P^-- ra the Black Hills to emnlov fh„ ^'''"='" "•'^ 'm si^hf next ten years.- "P'"^ *^ P^^^"' mining facilities foTtJie «t;: «28 "^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. In his annual report to the Secretary of the Interior, beannpj date September 13, 1879, Governor Howard used the followin^r langfuage : "The mineral product of the Black Hills must be at least three millions of dollars for the year, and is rapidly increasino. A large number of stamps, for crushing the ore, and machinery of every kind, have been added, and it is believed the product of gold will be more than doubled the coming year. The mines are proving rich, and the systematic working of them is provinij^ remunerative. The rapid development of the agricultural re- sources of the Black Hills and the large immigration going in and producing food in the vicinity of the mines, must lessen the cost of living and stimulate production and insure the reward of all classes of labor. " Immigration this year has been large, far greater than in any former year, and this large increase extends to all parts of the settled pordon of the Territory — perhaps about the same per- centage of increase in each of the three divisions. Southeastern Dakota has had a very large increase of population. I am told by persons in whom I have confidence that as many as three hundred teams, immigrant wagons, have passed into the south- eastern part of the Territory daily through the summer. Quite as large a percentage has come into Northern Dakota. The same may be said of the increase in the Black Hills. In the ab- sence of census returns it is impossible to state with accuracy our present population. The swelling tide of immigration spread over so vast a territory, much of it in unorganized counties, makes satisfactory estimates difficult if not impossible. Well- informed persons have estimated our population at 160,000, others at 1 70,000, and some as high as 1 80,000. At the present time I think it is at least 150,000, probably more than that. The immigration to the Black Hills has been large and of a very satisfactory character. They claim to have, and I think witli good reason, from 25,000 to 30,000 inhabitants. "Railroad facilides are being largely increased in Dakota. We have of completed railroad in the Territory about 400 miles ; this will be increased before January next to over 500 miles. Sevpnl .. lines into dtVe ""^ »^P"-«io„s are pushing the' ^u over tliese pra r es • nr^. r ounaJo roamed im sheep everywhere abound h " ° T' ''°'^'"^ «'"> cattle 3 '" our Eastern home, a„,i • "°' '°"ff ^'"ce we were ,1 . f-graphies the sTo^ oHHrnrM'^t ''"'' '-■"-"front; Oesert/and were left to . l , '-*'"'^> "«= 'Great Ami only equalled by til ' ter '^rst' '''^"'^ ""^ ^^^<^^<^"Z 7- equal to the cold Jf ^.f.^^f'-V''"'' "''-« chilling blasts trade of an empire. '^ '"^^-"S to itself the LTyZ i^he mterest our neool^ t,i. ■ . ' i> Provements is steadHy Crlrsfn'" "!"?"'°" *"'' ">« mo„.| ;„ "umoer and in-proved i„ XTcfer ■ ""'f ''''' '"creased " ler th 'T" •"" '^^^ """' fo m':;,' ,f -''^^ =>- multiplied ^d r the richness and extent of o"r choo.TT"'- '^ *e con- . that Congress has provided for . '*"''^' " wiH be found veloped, will be eq^al to that of ' ' «''°°' ^""'' *=>', when d" -cnlegious hand l.,all be per: ,t Jt ^"'^ ''" ""^ f^"'-- f no •I- nch inheritance, Dakota"^ tte '''"'",'^^ """^ P--" of hi due"to llf '"'' and virtue.' * ^"P"''"''"' ^^»ncl to no 2"'V-°- a S^^ndTosXr'T ^"""^ 'f-"">T. - "ore, that we should go somewhat !. '"""'' ''«° '^vo or 'he topography, soil and prX ""f "to detail in regard to of^Dak^ta and through th?ki re:: oftf^r *^^"' ^ !:l^:|djhe^ffice^f .he Territory ^ wfll '' ''°'""°^ "°- ]^;^r^;;;;;i;;^;;;;;7;;^T7-r — ZL!lI!iiiPfrs°»«i wends anddev«? . . "^ "^ Dakota Terrif^r,, .!._. . . — 1^ 1 730 OUR WESTICRN^ E MP IKK. ^ whom he interested in the matter, we are enabled to lay before our readers a much more complete description of each section than has ever been published. We begin with Northern Dakota, and give a carefully written paper, prepared for the writer hy lion. James 11 Power, of St. i'aul, Minnesota, now the accom- plished and thoroughly informed Land Commissioner of the Northern Pacific Railway. Mr. Power's opportunities of being fully informed in regard to Northern Dakota have been excep- tional, and he has given our readers the full benefit of his re- searches. "NORTHERN DAKOTA. "The development of Northern Dakota in the past few years has been perfectly marvellous, and the vast plains which were once considered sterile and worthless have become populated with thousands of successful husbandmen whose labors on the soil, which is discovered to be as fertile as any in the world, add millions of dollars to the common wealth of the nation. "The building of the Nordiern Pacific Railroad is, without doubt, the greatest project of the character ever undertaken, and it is, as a well-known writer recendy said, ' of all the pro- jected railroads to the western ocean, the one which must be of the greatest value and importance to the American people. It is the one which will open to settlement by far the most exten- sive, most fertile and in every way most desirable regions.' " The practical history of Northern Dakota dates by the logic of events, from the advent of the railroad within its boundaries, as before that time the great plains had been almost unknown to man. Single trails extended in direct lines to the immense northern regions from whose forests came vast stores of valuable skins, and occasionally trappers and hunters made expeditions along the wooded streams which, with difficulty, find courses through the level land. " Thousands of b'lffalo roamed at will, finding rich nourishment in the succulent grasses, and deer, elk and wolves aided in swelling the wild population of the region, and furnished game for the tribes of Indians who made frequent hunting sallies from the north and south. Explorers returned with discouraging (,/ stories of the u.te. , """" "•'^•-^'- "le utter uselessne^Q ^f *i /3« nouncecl a,«u.,ran., The :S I, .™"^"' ,-'ch a waste wa, p™ .•5 ' a rich country mffrl,f 1 ""productive rcWnn ii was known tIla^ *k • ^^'^-t-. Several land companies hnrl K r .*«.J,f„t::*iH:\%°'»'~ tat ■:;,■;;: aWy adapted for vheat-raisi^l and . '' "^" ^°''' ^^"^ ad^ ! 7'-^ -4i?„d T;a';'';£r ^^^^^ Bo;„^i:«o':i„' the' »f *e road and themselves to 1^1"'' '''"■'''=''• ''"^ the benefit -f that end in view, bouglu Zo! ""'f^ "' "'^ '»"d, a„ , .60 acres of government aLsand'''' °^ ^'"^°«'' '-"^ and '-uCt:e« "^-^-'^ P^S: wXet'V^^^^^ - ofr.cc 1 ^^""'^^^^estof Faro-o n u ^^^^ selected 732 OUR iy£:s'n:/iN t.MPiiii:. cac;; PCI, f5 ^? Q» becm thus provcil, the future of Northern Dakota was assured, and, as the brilliant result of the trial became known, immi<;ra- tion to the {golden wheat {gardens commenced in earnest. These jijentlemen have continued and extended their operations since, and this year from 8,458 acres they have harvesteil 140,332 bushels of wheat, 15,867 bushels of oats, and 6,649 bushels of barley. "These fertile lands extend northward to the boundary line and southward beyond the line of the land grant to the railroad, which reaches, with its indemnity limit, fifty miles. The soil is in many respects peculiar. First is a rich, black, clayey loam, vary- in»r from fifteen to thirty-six inches in depth, possessing sub- stance and compactness, and, at the same time, a degree of mel- lowness. Beneath are several strata of clay of different varieties, some containing an impregnation of lime, which neutralizes the acids and gives vitality to tiie land. The clay sub-soil serves to retain the moisture, hriice crops would suffer little from drought. Seeding is commenced in March as soon as the frost is out of the ground to the depth of two or three inches, when the earth becomes dry. The gradual evaporation of the frost, which ex- tends to the depth of from two to three feet, keeps the soil in a good, moist condition, forcing the crops rapidly. This is the character of the land from the Red River valley to the bottom lands of the Missouri river, with the exception of a narrow strip running from north to south on the divide between the James and Missouri rivers, where a convulsion of nature has thrown gravel and rocks to the surface ; but the land, even in that sec- tion, is, with little exception, good for cultivation and excellent for grazing. •' Wheat — the most profitable crop on account of its beincr a cash article, and the proximity of a great shipping point, Duluth, but 250 miles from Fargo — is the staple of the country; althoufjh corn, oats, barley, flax, and all root crops reach a remarkable degree of perfection. The average yield of wheat is twenty-two bushels to the acre, but in many cases thirty bushels are raised, and instances are not rare where forty bushels and over have been produced. Corn yields from seventy-five bushels upward, "" '""' "'■ --"'/•*.• „,„„, •'i;;-- Pai:i'l':i:;L:;;,;:^:;:[-r.s. tl,e ,,.,<. „Ve„ here are «. I. . c soason. ""' -^'. -"d o, course .(..y aclva, C- vviieat this year rr«^^A u n. Northern Dako,', but ^Lf ' '"''"" ""'' '^'^^ No. 4, and Rejected are „!" ^";'«' ^"- =• while No ^' mercful decree of Provide ce""f '''"''■ ''''■^' "'"'■kin^. o(t these great wheat rard.-ns T " " '" "•'' dweloun.en? t -': 'tii::-^ :: -essijxr--^ - -.« „. .orj uv . '^"y-rive cents per c.xpenments evtnn,v Perfecfon, while native plum her " T'"'""'' ^='" ^e grown ,, ably well under cultivatLr ""' ='"'' ^^^^ ">rive\.Zk" DaC:: df NoSr;;!' 'rr^ "° ^-"'' - broken • '878, we find =44,"' r '"^^ ''"'■• P™^ to the year ,s„ 3.«.97. acres. Thi 11^76 sTs" ™"-'-. -i '.'''.'s '" SiUi::tr4-v^^^^^^^ tni^,^ ^"^ "ewbreak-frifr ♦•?,• ^ °"'y twenty ""'ten is capable of yield nit r ^''" "^ "■'"•'^'' we have Peoi^e aver that the busintf o/^he";^ '"""'''■ '""'^ ^^ ^^- - bushe, to every hutan L^^.r^.''"^''^' '^ "^ n 734 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE, "In 1870 the portion of Dakota of which we write could not boast of a single permanent resident. In 1877 the population was 8,700, with a cultivated area of 67,900 acres. In 1878, popu- lation 14,560; cultivated area 90,950 acres, 7 1,740 acre? in wheat and 80,340 acres of new breaking. In 1879 we find a population of 31.500; 179,020 acres under cultivation, 142,500 acres in wheat, and 1 1 4,000 acres of new breaking. " The following are the most impo; tant statistics of the counties tributary to the Northern Pacific Railroad: > ■■ . . •/ £»•* «:;; Ki:: oc;; ^ &• r^ ^ to! ^ 5^ c^ Counties. Pupulaiion, 1870. Population, 1879. Acres culti- vated. Acres in wheat. Acres newly 1 broken. Cass, D. T. Traill, '« Richland," Barnes, " Stutsman, " Kidder, " Burleigh, " None. << (( <( <( (( 12,000 6,000 3.300 3,000 600 100 6,500 102,000 22,950 31.500 13,000 3.770 1,500 4,300 179,020 90,000 iS,ooo 25.500 7.500 1,500 50,000 15,000 ! 18,000 j 14,000 ' 10,000 1 2,500 ; 4,500 31.500 142,500 114,000 i " The raising of wheat has not yet been commenced in Kidder and Burleigh counties, as the demand for oats northwest of Bis- marck has been very great, and they have been grown at a fine profit. Next year, however, a large area will be devoted to wheat, as an extensive flouring-mill, which has just been cchti- pleted at Bismarck, will consume upwards of 300,000 bushels. " The important towns at present on the line of the railroad arc Fargo, at the railroad crossing on the Red river, and Bismarck, at the Missouri river. Both are organized cities, and are quite metropolitan in character. ,, , ,; , i: ^.w .;:. " Fargo contains a population of 3,500, has excellent church and school buildings, county buildings, and many fine brick and wooden business blocks, and hamdsome residences. Excellent brick are manufactured within the city limits. ;.,;:.>, " Bismarck has a population of at least 2,500, and is aVnost equally favored \vith Fargo in the number and substantial ex- cellence oi" its buildings. .** Many other places are rapidly developing, among them being MJi^s.:i,iit i I -.* i -je \J,* 4,,74f f:; JLJ^t aid not 3ulation 8, popu- in wheat pulation acres in ; counties Acres newly ] broVtu, in Kidder /est of Bis- ./n at a fine [devoted to been co*n- busbels. Irailroad arc Bismarck, id areq^ite church and brick and Excellent Id is 8''^os^ )stantial ex- them being iJ/ff. y. B. POWER'S TESTIMONY. y^^ Casselton, twenty-two miles west of Fargo. From here a branch of the railroad is being extended northward. This town has already 500 inhabitants, and over ^20,000 has been expended this fall (1879) in buildings. ,,: ' "Valley City, the county-seat of Barnes county, on the Shey- enne river, has a population of 600 and is growing rapidly. Next spring (1880) at least ^75,000 will W expended there in the erection of county buildings, brick blocks for bank and stores, a hotel, and other edifices. "Jamestown, county-seat of Stutsman county, on the James river, gives promise of a most vigorous advance in 1880. It has now about 400 inhabitants, a good county-house, a school-house and a fine hotel. Among the contemplated improvements are a bank and store buildings, a flouring-mill and a large elevator. The James, or Dakota river, is a very long stream, and it is claimed to be navigable, commencing at a point some miles below the town.'-' " Besides the Red and Missouri rivers, the James and Sheyenne flow through Northern Dakota, and with their numberless ford- ing creeks supply the best possible drainage to the vast arable territory. These streams are well wooded in many places, the principal growth being oak, elm, ash, soft maple, box-elder and Cottonwood. Their waters are pure and palatable, and, on the prairies, excellent water is found by digging from twelve to twenty-five feet. • " It has been urged that these great northwestern prairies were uninhabitable, on account of the scarcity of fuel. A wise Provi- dence has provided for this want, however, as from the bound- less forests of Northern Minnesota wood can be obtained in any quantity at a low price, while the inexhaustible coal mines now being opened just beyond the Missouri river, will afford a limit- less supply of excellent soft coal. Near the river the coal is a soft and inferior lignite, but it hardens and improves further west, there being, undoubtedly, in the Yellowstone valley, some of the finest bituminous coal ever discovered. ♦Its navigableness is very doubtful, and at most only for a very short time. 'jiJ I I iMvtij; I'.. Jil.>M',;i> vi.i inih, ,}i«= valleys of „ "vers, all small stream" l7' °°'' ^"^'«'v and Upper H ' t^-t -f T^^^^ o^^f'rr^ ^'■'" ^^^^^^^ rTd, R r "'^ lands in the nver ll, ''"^""■'■"' ■" the p-wes'':;:ttS:r/atr r -h^- ^^^^^^ -e^-... plain. There is clea; I f^- ""^ <«<^asionally risb^T l^ ^"S if-"^ i^- '" '-'-' ""-'-^^^'ZZ - =— ':^rXVL:r l:f /-V -es of the ri.er valuable quality of stone for bu l7 ''^ ^'^ '^'=" Perfected A bluffs and buttes. '^""'''"^ Purposes is found i„ .he J iie next thirteen m.-i r ftes of clay, argillaceous limestonlt T^°^'^ of different varie lying m successive strata -p' ,"?^ ^'able sandstones and 1, Van,id Park at abl^rd^e c t^f'-^ f^^"" -er fl^TsI f "^- yards wide. The v... ^' """^ '« ^i^h water .'c """^^ river. *>'^°''^' "^ar where the raijroad "" ..po f r ^«*"road crosses the aaerof which resembles the r!!^^ ""' ''"'1 S'^neral char »^l/unni„g streams fl:wto;lth"rf^^ M^" ^"" P--^ At^ugh six mi ef oKef '''"'"■ ' °' broken country, being t^^ 740 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. JS-*! pci, divide between the Little Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, the road descends the lovely valley of Glendive creek for eleven miles, thus reaching the Yellowstone river at a point not yet de- cided upon. The country about here is beautiful in the extreme, and its fertility has been amply tested by settlers, who for a number of years have raised fine crops, producing wheat, oats, corn, melons, tomatoes, beets, cabbage, turnips, lettuce, peas, and particularly fine potatoes and onions. " For stock-raising, no country in the world excels this, the grasses and the climate being particularly adapted to such business." It may be urged that the foregoing statements in regard to Northern Dakota are from the pen of a Railroad Land Commis- sioner, and so are liable to be somewhat highly colored. Mr, Power is not liable to this charge, for his tendency is rather to understate than overstate the wonderful growth of the region he represents, but, to avoid even the suspicion of exaggeration, we append in notes the testimony of competent observers who have no possible interest to misstate the facts.* *The first witness we call is Charles Carleton Coffin, Esq., better known by his pen-name of " Carleton," an eminent author and oljserver, the correspondent of the Chicaf^o Tribune. In August, 1879, he wrote as follows to the Chicago Tribune: " Red RiVKK Valley, August 4. — In Dakota, 700 miles northwest of Chicago, in the valley of the Red river of the North, during the present week there is a harvest scene, the counterpart of which cannot be found on the face of the earth. It is a scene where science, invention, capital, and system have reduced the cost of whent-cuiture to its minimum. Nor is there seem- ingly any place on the face of the earth where it can be duplicated : for there is no other loca- tion where the soil, climate, location, with other conditions, combine as in that region. " Having been one of a party of journalists lo visit that section during the past week, I shall speak of what we have seen. " There are larger field* of wheat in California than in Dakota, hut California sows its wheat in the fall, while the cereals of Dakota are all sown in the spring. California has no rainfall in summer, but is dependent wholly upon the rainy season in winter. In Dakota the summer rain- fall is sufificient for the production of crops in perfection. But of this more by-and-by. "A few words of histoiy are needed nt the outset. In 1870 and 1871, at the time the constrac- tion of the Northern Pacific Railroad was ijcgun, the newspajjers contained descriptions of the country along its line, which were generally discredited and ridiculed. The country was sar- castically called ' Jay Cooke's Paradise.' The map issued \ry him represented the isothermal of Chicago as bending northward to the British boundary, and that of St, Paul as reaching far aWay to the Upper Saskatchewan. The country was declared to be the future wheat-field of the continent. Proctor Knott ridiculed the idea in Congress, After Mr. Cooke's failure, in Sep- tember, 1873, and the collapse of the Northern Pacific, those who had given such glowing descriptions of the country were held up to scorn ai>d ridicule,— the writer of this article being "0//"ZZ/^,vV ■"-'JJA/0\y, Of Central Dakota, which J.V. k . ^4i oMeof,he„u„,ber. 'x^^,, ^^ boundary of the a crushi.,., article bv f "^ , , ^'^ ""'"''*"• "^ the yU.^/z . 1 — — -— __ R'ver va„cy was fertile, bur^ ' Vr'rr '^°"'" ""' '^ «- - e ^h"' ''"' ^""'"'-^ ' ■"'"■ "'^-"tf west f..„„, ,he Kefin ' '"""'^^ '''^ '" 'h<- main ! .'n*"""^ "''*' "'^^ '<-' worthless; and thence to ,h m- " '° ""^ J»»"^s «hcre is . '"""'"'•"""'<• I quote: -i. streams. (,.;: . ''^ ^'--i. 'i«ie or „„ availlSe' ntl t'"'' ''"' •""^•" ^'^ '^ "'iieyond the Red river the . ' ""''■*'*" "'""^^^ «f «he Pacific down to ^.o. """' ''"' '''^ -ccutnulated evideac Tem^rr'* ''^ «"»-' -my offi " «"'. whde General Ha.en was wrif k ^"'^ "' "^ ^^""'-» m,ss,o„er of the company wa,? !"^ "•"' ""^^'ng article M- r „ Red river-the comprny'be .^ ""'"^ "'^ ^'^'^^ °" « ^uafter e L l •^- ''■ ^°**''' ^and Com- '-. was not a worS^Js^fof ^ri "^J" ''^ ^°^''' ''"o a I' ;:"-;;- west of the '" '875. producin,, a good crop '"' """'"'''"^ -- <'o„e i„ ;„„, g!/'^^ , ^-^ valley, at "Oliver Dalrymplet of Cot"L r ''' ' ''°*^" '° ^''^^^ but, through unfonun.. • ^ ^'■°^*=' "«^ar St. Paul u.a . N«f year he increased .he . ^ ' ^^^' P'""''"ff '.280 ac es I "" "'•••angement with '8-°oo being whea . and he "^'^: ^"' "" ^"^ - '"' I e h 1 I"''"^ "'"^ «-' -op i„ J g' ^-^: "SZ^' ;r rh^ - ^ —be Crandin f ^"^" ;;;!> Cheney, and Gr!;dT ' ^ar^ir"'^' '^'^'^ "'''" "^^^ '^ '^^ "--^^" »f''.s part of the contract wiilnt '^'°°° "'^'■^'''«f Which Mr D,r '^'°"'""''^^"'«he • 7 ''o not propose .0 ^'vrL 1" T'^"' °^ ^^.Soo acres. aM ea^n J"'''' '^ ^"^ ^"'«'-- ^- doubtless are fa...-,,ar vith thf T ""' ^'^ ^^-''•y-ple's sy tern „fr" •^""'^' '^74. g^'e bet>veen 400 000 anH T ^' ^"^" «' '0 say that hi ! ""''"'"« ' '■°'- your rend "•«= crop this ve:r wi ,.0 bT '"'"'*>'■'''-« '« twenty five t L, '""' ""■ '"'''^'- "^ «' whiVk MI ■ " ""* be less (bin a.o ^ "^ ""''bels per acri. tu « -^ -I be profitable next ye..r nTth '°°°' ''''''' ^'^^^ Leadvi He ' J*"* "*' P^-^^*^ - ""e let me say that Mr n . "'''"' «"'' '^e next " ^"^ "* « 'wnan^a /P owing ,n clover and letting it lie i4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 743 Territory to the Missouri river, there is not so much to be said, simply because it is not as yet much developed, most of it \ pci, gs C5 " Ik-hokl the scene ! Just think of a sea of wheat containing twenty square miles — 13,000 acres — rich, ripe, golden — the winds rippling over it. As far as the eye can see there is the same golden russet hue. ' Far away on the horizon you behold an army sweeping along in (^'rand procession. Riding on to meet it, you see a major-general on horseback — the superinteiuicnt, two brigadiers on horseback — repairers. No swords flash in the sunlight, but their weapons are monkey-wrenches and hammers. No brass band, no drumbeat or shrill note of the life; but the army moves on — a solid phalanx of twenty-four self-binding reapers — to the music of its own machinery. At one sweep, in a twinkling, a swath of 192 fvel has been cut and bound— the reapers tossing the bundles almost disdainfully into the air — each binder doing the work of six men. In all there are 115 self-binding reapers at work. During the harvest about 400 men are employed, and during threshing 600 — their wages being $2 a day with board. "It is estimated that this combination of capital, with a rigid system, adds about %\ per acre to Mr. Dalrymple's profit over those who farm in a small way. " In the month of March, 1875, when the article of General Hazen was having its full force Mr. Dalrymple was walking over these lands, and saying to himself, as he beheld the quality of the soil, ' Intrinsically, these lands are worth $25 per acre.' He believed it, and has demon- strated that they are worth far more than that; that, at that figure, they will pay for themselves in three years. " The acres owned by Mr. Dalrymple are not one whii better than the average throufrh the entire length and breadth of this valley, which is 400 miles long and 70 wide, and which is fast tilling with hardy settlers. Not only the lands of the valley, but the entire section between the Red river and the Missouri — a territory containing 80,000 square miles, in Northern D.ikota alone, saying nothing of Montana and Manitoba — is adapted to the cultivation of wheat, oats and barley, as will be shown in another letter. " The reason why wheat can be produced more cheaply and to greater profit here than any- where else, is due to several causes : " I. The soil is admirably adapted to its production. " 2. The climatic conditions. General Hazen showed that the rainfall over all this section for the year was very much less than on the Atlantic co.-ist; but he did not inform the piihlic that nearly all the rainfall is in the months of May, June and July — ^jnst when it is needed; that tlitre is very little in August ; that the days are hot and the nights cool ; that, consequently, rust, b'ij^ht, mildew, sprouting of grain in the shock, are almost unknown. " 3. The nearness of this section to the markets of the world. It is 250 miles from the Red river to Lake Superior. The tariff adopted by the Northern Pacific is fifteen cents per bushel from any point east of the Missouri river. It costs from twenty to thirty cents to transport a Inishel from Bismarck to New York. This low tariff, and the cheapness of water-carriage, give the farnier at present prices about ninety cents per bushel, leaving him a clear profit of alx)ul forty cents. " Is it a wonder that a great tide of immigration is setting in this direction; that the railroad trains are crowded with new-comers; that hotels are running over; that the Land Office at I'argo is crowded with applicants for pre-emption and homestead claims ? There are millions of acres, just as fertile as those under cultivation, awaiting the ever-increasing multitude." "Carleton." The correspondent of the Chicagoyournal, who has a high reputation for fairness and judicial accuracy in his statements, writing at about the same time from Bismarck, thus describes North- ern Dakota : " The Hill country. The wheat-growing region is not, however, limited to the Red River tbout $1 per acre fit here than any- to the Red River having been until Januarv ^^^r. , ^^3 vnlley. though in ,hcse rich b „~T 1. 1 JlJlJ^ "P^n tO 'he viewer is i„ » constant Zl^ f""^'"'"' ^"'■"'•^''"" ""^ "-. \2Z '5° ""'"' -"'^ X^t Ji". ""C .here ..re nun erli^tt,: V?:'" """ "^"«'''- Man^ : ;,7'' "^ '•^""-••''- '^«t frinKe,! wi.h timl,,.,. ,, : ! / " '"""y" '^"•""«h which J IT^ ' "''^"'^ ""^""K the c^-er i. ...h.; ::; ;:^,:---^;^ -^e .n^,„,::;;-:i:^ r ^v:^^^- whose gentle undulntio,,, are her . • '* ""' '"*'= "^^ ro|li„,, nr, r ^''^ '"«''• ^""'"g Kansas an.I Nebraska, whose ,« 1^ '""'"P""' » "'"-'■""' time ' T n "'^ '""" "^ '"'"4 ofthe sameness which cWr^''"^ ? '''•""" ''' ""' 'i'c^ times nlmose resemb es e ""V'" '"'""^ '--'•'- "f those sf.r''"'*^' '"' ""'-" «"y only there is here a t st ' ; :::" ""■^'■"- »'-« '"e vaU Js r'^ M;h r"^*^*^"^' '^"^ -"- -^es those regions. Wd 'a " h Tr ," """ "^ "'-^' ''•"«" d^^^^^^^^^^ ^"""-'•-^^ car window across some prei.v 1 7 ' '"'' ""'' "•"••"«' in cunoa ? ^"'ely. which -- away, a „„e of dTrCen ^ " ""'""^ P^'-'. 'he tZ e?';" ''"f "'« ^^^ '»- .-•nd knolls, with here .nd .h ' '""""""hs co,.,inuous nn/s ' " ''"^'^" •»"" or •h- hins are -ch^.i^rb^rrr'^-^r''^^ »-' "'-'"'^ c:r.:r ^" ■■"'- ^-^^ •ngoii and on in endless sucr« '" '"" ""^er ranges brok.„ m \""'''^'-; ""d when " There have been many disputes . ' ""' '"'"'^ '^''h of the siatements of i„ e,rli7 ''''"■'''"« ""^ Productiveness of thi • 'ionaily deceptive, filt Ih eT^Jr^ 'T'"^' "^^" '^^^^ 'U^^^ L^r ' ^"""'^^' -3^ atopic which has prob-.blv 17 T^ "'^ ''Peculations as to the .. "V*"^"*''''*?-"' or inten- discuss it_the pracTca flT '. ''''" ''"'"' "'-'--' ''v any „f !h ' J"^'^ °' ""^ '•^fi'on- purpose. Good crops of !^ ^""'' «'''^'"' '"" "-at it is Lj V "^ ""-' ^"'•"'em River valley ,o .heTis J- .l^'' ^ ''''' '^'^^ Vro,::^:'Z^^'' -^"-^-ci Tor tha^ Jave been al, that couldrjes e,'" t:-''^" '" ""'"' ^ -" - ^ " -. . V f " '""" ''*^ '""' history of the region ind thT , ^" y^"""" ^*'"' Pr"l'.il.ly be fhe ^ ^'''""' "'« "-esults expenence of oth'erye: ' 'i /.I""" ''' "^^ " "" '^'' ^ete m rj' X ^"7?"' ""*^ "" '"« ;cco"„t of the fine La, mar:e flT'""^ "' «'^'"-^^ -- -e ^^^^TZ"^'' "'"'"^'^^ ^"^ for the 2,ooo freiahf «,, fiovernmetit purposes inH f ., ^ ^ '^'*'°''''e crop, on Hi"s and otherStrTrd'tr '" '^ -^^^■•'^--•e w : trr -^ '--^^ -^ '-i«y cents per bushel orthTr^'''^"''^"^^"^-^''ed.an^^^^^^ ""^ "'« Black '»'"-. battle, in .86. bet^e 'r '"'^•'"' " ^^--'^ ^-n u; pti'^^ '" """ '^'"" "^'^ ™^sacres in Minnesou rr """' «''?'ey and the Indi.n *""^"^ «''« famous '" "-'. '>r wh^hXyi^^rer"- ^"^^^^'-"''-' - a Xi;- :r«r r "^^ ^"''- ''^■'" ""■• by. the yield of whicb "•"''' "' '"y "''^'•'-•"' '« the ere t1" ''•"•^' 5«> '--e, >^ eele f.rm of over 6 o^"' !s ' I " """«''' "'" ^"^-^ -vemy "jsh ?'" 'I """""'■ ''"'""'er ■^^1''. 'he yield of whic'^^ ' "''^ "''^''^ ''^' "^ Bismarck 2 ** ""^ ''•^••^- On the ';e cents per bush! ' p .IT^ '" ^ " -enty bul f^eTlT V'!!,'"" '"^-''^ ^ '- •■""'"es are also lar.l" ■ ""T"'' '""•'"•^ '■•' ""^ '■» '^d resuHr •"" ""^ '"'^'^ '"""y- ' '"""'^P"ncipal crop. The 744 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. settlement, and its 30,000,000 acres of arable lands are not encumbered by land grants to railroads or wagon roads. The average ^cld this year in placecl by ilic iiioHt careful Cftliinalvs at from twenty to twenty-seven bushels per acre. The liist wheat crop raised was iit 1874, wlien the entire product fur the whole len){th of the line was but 250,000 bu'olis this year, that city alone will manufacture 10,000 barrels of flour per day, or 3,000,000 barrels per year. Such i:« the surprising development of this new and as yet almost unknown wheat country, and such are the facilities for disposing of its products. The immense mills at Minnea|x>lis are the corollary of the vast wheat-fields of the new Northwest and the two agencies supplement and reinforce each other. "A peculiarity of wheat-growing in this region is the large scale upon which it is frequently conducted. Capitalists have gone into it as systematically as into manufacturing; and farmini; operations here assume proportions almost incredible tu those familiar only with the methods nf the older and more settled States. On the farm of Mr. Dalrymple — who is well called the * boss granger ' of the region — near Fargo, in the Red River valley, is a wheat-field of 20,000 acres the yield of which this year is expected to be something like 500,000 bushels. On this gigantic farm, which is managed as system.itically as a railroad, 400 men are employed in harvesting, and 500 to 600 in threshing. They use 250 pairs of horses and mules, 200 gang-plows, 115 self- binding reapers, and 20 steam-threshers. The men, animals and machinery are organized into separate divisions, with a superintendent for each. Nothing could be grander than a sijjht of these immense wheat-fields, stretching away farther than the eye can reach, in one unbroken golden sea, while a long procession of reaping machines, in echelon, like a battery of artillery moves steadily against the ihick-set ranks of grain. Each machine is drawn by three mules or horses, and besides the drivers a superintendent of each gang rides along on horseback, like the captain of a battery. There are also machinists, mounted, and carrying with them tools for re- pairing any break or disarrangement of the machinery. When a machine fails to work, one of these repairers is beside it instantly, dismounting and examining the machinery, and unless the break is serious, having it in running order again liefore an unfamiliar observer could realize what had taken place. Thus everything goes on orderly and efTectively. Travelling together, these 115 machines would cut a swath one-fifth of a mile in width; and they would lay low tw«nty miles of this mighty swath in a single d.iy. " The profits of farming on this extensive scale can be very closely estimated. Mr. Dalrym- ple finds that, for the first crop, the cost of preparing the ground, seed-sowing and harvesting, wear and tear of machinery, and interest on machinery and land, amounts to $11 per acre; and for subsequent crops, 58 per acre. A crop yields, in wheat or oats, from 5i8 to 520 fwr acre. which gives a very handsome profit. It is not unusual for the first crop to pay all expenses and leave enough to cover the cost of the land. While wheat-growing can be thus advantageously carried on upon a large scale, it can doubtless be followed successfully and profitably in a more moderate way ; but a small amount of capital is absolutely essential. Resides the purchase of the land, the settler must be able to put up buildings, buy the necessary machinery, seed, etc., and also must have the means of living for a year or more, until his first crop is harvested. For those who can do this, the low price at which lands can be obtained offers a desirable opportu- nity for investment to the capitalist or to thosi who seek new homes in this growing and fertile region." ■ .. _ ' .. . ■. .... ;, ,,:..«> ..„i,,....;.,,-, ,,,,...1 ,■■•; , iw. 1. quality of these lands is sn.Vl . i 745 of .he Re, R,„ vai,:;nC;.~^ "<" ■■"^-•- "> '"OS .r:.r:iT.xro? rr- ^' ~^^ - "p^f- :• ;s coal near .he Mis.o. a„7o7': ""r'""^"^ *-"^" l" e .s weU watered. Tl,e landrl^e „ o^,f "■ l-'-'y- ''"erc-on can be procured under Soldiers -.nlJ^ "'.r' ""^^''voycd, but soldiers or their fa„,i|ies, under ,|^ r 7 ."""'^'"^•^'l '-aw by .ec.in,forerure;:lre':;r:if "• °^ '■'<= «-™n,en, pro. "-on. no. ::!:::;z;'^z:t ;"" '"' '-■ "-p-c::: taxation for a period nf "'"''"'■ =''»" be exemm r Another law of 'hT t ^'"""^ f™'" *e time of nl "' deemed increal „ vlCr^ '""°"''" "'=" - -d '^T »"ch timber culture no '!?, "1"^'"^"' P^'-poses byrealol ? enhanced thereby; » ZTn^ ir""' "^ ^-' -'"" "; b1 poor, can come here, and in ei^^l? " '"?' ">=>"• "° ".atter C PO acres of land, with an abundi'r"'' Y" "'^ ""'"er of . ' oT Y""'^ '•'. and be entirely exem"f:rP'''^ "' ''"''^^ i"s. where ""less he should put mo^S/™ ""'"°" "'^ entire ti,^e "Pon h.s^,a„d during that ,•„:," *^'°°° -«'• of hnprovemems ^ We might add aini^^^JiTr—-- ^ J^^^ojand grants there. " I-nngine a vast plain ,n^ u ' '""^ '" ^'-'^^'ber, 1870 of th.s ncthern Northwest -' ^"'"" °^ "''^ Ea.st-and Ju J', l""'"'" '"''P^^''^" «f '^<^^- H.J. Van Dyke T m ^"" '''^^^'^ ^o^e idea •% an account of his Wsh 'th !""' ^^ '' '^-'^''buted to //. . . '""•e fullest degree ;:: "7 ■" '^^-^er. .8;,. „:, ':J2Z f'"'"""' '""^ J«--X. •^5 OUR WESTER!^ EAfP/RE. has issued a pamphlet encouraj^injj immigration to that region for the sake of bringinjr business to its lines, which it proposes to extend to the lilack Hills. Some of its statements are interesting, and, on the best of testimony, truthful. They say: " It should be understood, by the prospective settler, that the lands of this central belt consist almost exclusively of prairie, tiiere being no timber, save fringes along the water-courses. Tlie Western farmer does not need to be told of the ease with which a prairie farm can be brought under cultivation ; but the farmer from the more Eastern States may be informed, that all that it is necessary to do to bring the prairie under cultivation, is to plow under the prairie grasses in the same way as he plows the meadow at home ; and at once he has a field that is fit for the reception of any kind of seed, thus getting the land into as good shape for farming purposes as he could do if it had been covered with timber (as all of the Eastern States have been), after he had expended twenty to forty years' labor in getting rid of the timber and the always-following stumps. " To give the Eastern farmer some idea of the cost of making a productive farm in Central Dakota, we quote from a very readable article, recently published in the At/antic Monthly, from the pen of one of the oldest settlers in the ' New Northwest.' ' The Territory appeals more direcdy to the man who desires a farm of 'i6o or 320 acres, than to him who aims to emulate the Grandins, Dalrymples and Casses of the more northern part of the Territory, who have their ten, twenty, or even forty thousand acres in a farm.' As our estimate gives the cost of producing one acre of 'v!)( at, with hired labor, we will first say, that good men are plenty at all seasons of the year, at the following wages: from November ist to April 1st, $15 per month; from April ist to May 1st, $18 ; from May 1st to August 1st, $16; from August 1st to August 15th, %2 per day; from August 15th to September 15th, ;^i.5o per day; from September 15th to November 1st, ^18 per month. "The following is a careful estimate of the cost of raising wheat, furnishing everything : <^OSr OF MS/XG WUEAT. Plowing ,^ acres per day <,« n Per acre . .'^. ''' ^'° ^^^ '"^"''^ wages, 7; ,ent, per day Jiitt-rcst on team «.^,. u "■'•••. "■»r,l man |,or Jay, ,0 com. ■ , '•''"""' • • • . ..»■.„• i„du.lcd, , """ '"•"-' ™ '»". and har„«, for o„: "»»""« 35 acr« per day, «g« .„ „ 'cTa,« . . . .'^' ,■''■"'*"'«' """'h. 77 com, per day Wcarand.car„„,«,r,«'™*'''"'''^^' ''" •■-™ ^ ' ' ' ' '»'"««.= ,«r«„,, ',S';;4 ""'•■'••"•■ P^acre . ; ; ' ' ''»ar,l of man ,5 .^ f '° '" '""""'• " «"'^ Kt day V, ' ' acre . . ' * '°' « ° P"."«- -So acre, per ...acWno. ,.„ Wear and tear on reaper, ,„•„ • ■••■■... nuCine. K, ac're'.'''°' "' '' "" «»'- «^.5o, ,50 ac'rc, pe; • ^I'o. k.ng man, „ cents Mr da^ .'■••••■••. cents. Per acre. .' ''•"^' ""'"'=' P^"- "ay, and tard ,.' „ lliresliitig, S5menat«jn„.j, . ' ll'^ard, .5 n,c„ at as cfnXfT' ''° ""'''■ ''" ""- . ' ' ' ' Interest and wear and tear r.'l.V°"™' '''"''"'■ ' ' ' ' ' ■«arteing„,an,„el;™ ;t"""''^"«"'- >'- ac;e : ' ' v«n.e'nt"'; 1 :-- -" «" and tear on p;„„,„;„ •:„; ^ 747 I cu. m, 03 a It a 26 30 03 01 03 9 o a 50 OS I OS 16 41 6 lo 3 25 »S 6 10 32 S 60 Jotal cost per acre "This estimate makes the cost of " " " " ' ^^^^ twenty bushels, nJaceW m ni ^" ^^''^ o^ wheat v.VM- -t. interest 07^^,^^/^^' -'^h an allowance of ttf --i^inery, tools, and Ttot nd" f"? '" ^^"^' -P-vements ;^ear and tear of tools m;? °^ twenty-five per cent fl includincr seed AH • "'^"^^'"^'•y. and stock to hpL ^"^ one acre o wheat v^^r"^ ^^ '"'' ^^^^ ^-^ will make th'"' "°' ^^^^e entire investment *o 70.?/' P'°^'' °^ ^^^ Per cent on •n t.ft,cago, this would give -.g OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. an additional profit of thirty-seven cents a bushel, or $7 40 per acre. " From this calculation, the profit of a greater or less yield can readily be computed, the cost of raising remaining the same." In regard to climate they give the following table, the result of the observations, we believe, of United States officers at Fort Sully:* • '" ' ' ' cr;; cell ^- c5 - Rain and Snow. Temperature. inches. Wet Prevailing Months. days. winds. Maximum. Minimum. Rain. C'low. January . . 53" — 16° I.'^ 7^ 3 N. W. February . . 55° — ao^^" Vx sH 2/. N. VV. March . . 69' -4° sH 4H 7 W. N. W April . . . 77° go vA 8^ S. E. . Ma> . . . 89° 39° aH 4^ S. June . . . 97° 69° aH 6 s. s. w. July . . . 103^° 72° VA 8 s. w. August . . 102^° 68° (>}^ 7 s. September . 93^ 41° yA 3^2 s. October . . 84° 19° aVb H 10/2 N. W. November . 67° 29° H H 3 N. W. 1 December . Total . 49° —18° ... • • • s% 5 N. W. 47-75 24 695 1^ . f • • • 11 1 .1 . 1 1- • 1 .f : From this it will be seen that the climate is less severe than it is in Illinois, Northern .Indiana, Ohio, New York, or any part of New England. ..,,,,.,'i . ,. The Chicago and Northwestern Railway has two lines pene- trating Central Dakota — one from Tracy, Minnesota, northwest to Watertown, and to be extended westward to the James or Dakota river ; the other from Tracy westward to Huron, and to be extended to the Missouri river the present season, and eventually to the Black Hills ; it is hardly probable that any other railway (except possibly a branch of the Northern Pacific to the Black Hills) will for some years to come traverse this part of the Territory, and their rates for freight and transportation of emigrant movables and crops are therefore of interest. We * It is not st.ited whether this table was for a single year or an average of several years. It was probaltly the former, as the rainfall is exceptionally large for the latitude. therefore give them the bpn^fi, r , 749 eheir terms and r^^"^^ fc"owi„g dec/a.tion o^ Chicago to Volga, Dak., ^racy, Minn. " Marshall, '« FREIGHT RATES. '►7 *t*,j;i Emigrant Movables P" ^■»- .00 lbs |!45-oo 45- 00 45- 00 1. 10 1. 10 pa:;X7ril.'^'- "^ °- -". '^Hether .e;t,er:„ ^ eriy mcluded in the outfit of n^j' ""^ 'shrubbery, p^n ■ncludegeneralmercha di e ,umb!"^'"« .='^"'^^^. but doe Z" .ntended for seed, or for fe^dZ Z' •"T"""^' "^ S-"-'" (unless car contains li.e-stock (wheS if "'' '" '™"'^''')- When a fl be passe, free to tl^e .^^ iHrNT'"' "l ''"'''^' ~' lines of the Chicacro an^ m , '''°^<^ who live alon„ .1, reach the Free Lafd A , .^°"'''^«'em Railway and XT M,o ^ iJistrict of Cenfral n i desire to J e nearest a,srent of the Northwes'e „ 0^ ^'^' ''"'"''' ''PP'^ '° already supplied with rates to f^ cv M 7^' ^^l'"- 'f he is not on apphcation, be furnished Aen Is if I'"' '"'' ^°'S^' W". company to do all that it pos bW - '-! ■' '"'^'«ion of this rates, to have this fertile belt ,ade !"' ^' "'^ '""'^ favorable as are any other lands in the Wes A 'T""" '° '"^ P="rons entirely by the United Stat« and » ''' '"""^ «^^ °»"ea form, controlled by the Ch <^1' '/L^ "?'• '" -X "anner or fcy any other railway or coroor!,,. Northwestern Railway or -ept the Chicago'and Zr: ^^r'T"" "' -^P-^o" «y mterested in their settlemem iT/'''?^' ^''" ^ ■" any Chicago and Northwestern RaXav h ""'' '"'""' "'« the ement of these lands, is mer^t^T" ■"'" ''^^^ '" "'^ -t! 'at after they are settled, it ZrJ, "^ °"' °^ "'«= fact ipments ofthe products of hrLm?a,"'"\''^"^«' from the or M,lwa„kee, which, as will be seen li f '^' ""*= '" <^'""?o ■"ay not be necessary to su^eestlo / '"°'' " "'^'^ doo?s *«e lands, that the eariier selCs in th ' P^^P""'-- settler of -•vantage over those who c^ , "r tZ'^'r "" '?f ^^ => ^-« 'ater, as the first will, for many 750 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. t- '•-'•J years, have to provide for the recent comer, who thus will fur- nish a home market for many of the products that will be grown in the next five years. Besides, as will be noticed by our map, these lands lie directly in the course of the traveller to the min- ing camps of the Black Hills, which, being, in no sense of the word, an agricultural district, will always have to be provided by the nearest farming lands, not only with provisions, but also with horses, mules, live-stock of all sorts, and forage for them, thus offering another and very valuable market for those who occupy this Free Land district. A third market for the products of these lands will, for many years to come, be found along the Missouri river; and as the Chicago and Northwestern Railway will very certainly reach the Missouri river during the year 1880, there is no doubt that steamboat lines will be established from the point where the road reaches the river to all points on the upper Missouri, Yellowstone, Big Horn, ard o> 1 r navigable streams in the far Northwest. " The passenger rates announced are : from Chicago to Mar- shall, Minn., round trip, $21.85, single trip, $13.65 ; from Chicago to Volga, Dak., round trip, $24, single trip, $15. At Marshall, round trip tickets can be purchased for any points on either of the company's roads in Central Dakota at two cents a mile each way." We come next to Southeastern Dakota^ the section which has been longest settled, or rather the longest known to the public, for, with the exception of Vankton, Sioux City, and Sioux Falls, there are very few towns in this section that h- c been settled more than half a dozen years. The region is vv^l .: tied and the soil is of the very best. The railways now built o\ 1 .J- ing in this section make it very accessible, and the Missouri, Big Sioux, and White rivers add to the means of traversing it. The railways are from Sioux City to Yankton, Sioux City to Sioux Falls, and from the latter town to Fire-Steel on the James river, already completed, and soon to be finished to Brule City, on the . Missouri. The Rev. Edward Ellis, who has explored all parts of Dakota within the last two years, writing to N .v York, in May, 1880, says: .^.'c Deen "The most desirable part of th. T • '" home .s the southeasternifirst of aU I'"'""^ ^"^ =" P'^'-nent I "\''^J ""d -ore seasonable better .7"^°^ "^ '^'"'-'-' It kmds of garden sauce. The wLr ? ^P'^'' '°'- f™'t and all Nearly all the rivers of oZTr '"^P'^ '^^'- "'ore abundan "-• T'-e geographical p^LZTlTj" "" -""--^ co^' always maintain a decided adrntai "'''"^^" ^^^ota will pos,t,o„s There is any amounTof^lT" "" •""- -"'-ern be secured now, near the lines of tfefrn •?' ''"'' "'=" "" openmg up this section Conn,l , " railroads which are found are Kingsbury, in £^^;^^^^^'^ 'and tnXl Bramble, and Davidson, in the vi L r ,' ^''"■"P^n ; Miner James; also McCook, Turner a„d l t ^"'"'«°" «"d the counties are nior^ ,L , , '-^'^«' but these la^, „ j . . °re thorough y settlcrl n ,, "^^^ 'ast-named M.ssoun, ,s reported to be one of the r ' """"'y- °" 'he ntory, and the railroad runn^nV l' Tl '°""''"' '" the Ter! ■t a desirable point for ,ocatb„?. ™"^"' ""^ -"'- of it makes w.apSi::rs-ru^{7-^ Genera of Dakota Territory, and now s" ^'"'^^ ^"'■^^yor- Instruction for the Territorv and P 'P'""'™'''^"' of Public death) for the late Gove n'r' Hoi .T''' ^'"'"'^ ^""'» hi not easdy attainable concerni„rr' ^'JT ""'^'' information ^ecal y ful, in regard to the "lette^n '' '■""'°'^' •"" - probably more thoroughly Umi^lr w^kT'""" ^'- B^«dle than any other man livin|, and Ts 1 V' ' '"'°'' '^""'""^ nected w.th any railroad company or ctl ''' ""' •'^^"- ^o"- •■Dar'"''''"' ■'"''S'"^"'- ^'''""■-^t.on scheme which acres, th°dWrnt7y :TSirrutr"n1'" °'- '«-°'-^ 78.00O square miles* There a r. ^""^"'^ "'"' contain iern,ng it which are sometimes fe'oraM"""' ™P""'°"^ »"- *It was a favorite ide-i nf f ~ ~ — ~ — — ;52 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. tt:3 CS the first importance. In the first place but a very small part of it is mountainous, and this part is the Black Hills, which are hills, rather than mountains. Dakota does not lie among or upon the Rocky Mountains. If one will begin in New Mexico and follow along the Rocky Mountains, it will be found that they run nearly due north, through New Mexico, Colorado and into Wyoming, where they turn decidedly westward and then northwestward, leaving outlying lower ranges, spurs and hills to the north and northeast as far as the Black Hills. The traveler upon the Union Pacific Railroad observes this. He ascends along the Platte and the Lodge Pole to or a little beyond Cheyenne, and finds himself upon the elevated mountain plateaux ; and thence v/ertward he follows a mountain divide, from which the country is ^ ir rally lower toward the Yellowstone and Missouri, and also s ithward toward the Bear, Grand and Green rivers, of the Colorado. He commences to descend into the Utah basin, and the mountain range goes north-northwest through Idaho and Montana (including part of Western Wyoming). "Ascending the Missouri river from Omaha, the course is nearly north, to the southeast corner of Dakota, where it bends decidedly west for over loo miles, and then north and northwest for 300 miles, where it turns westward and heads far toward the Pacific ocean, in the Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone coming in from the west-southwest. ,»> ,1 * o :^-, .^ r- ii.-i /ti i .„, "These features, in physical geography, materially affect the character of the surface, soil, climate and agricultural products of Dakota. For instance, one wquld naturally expect that the heavy bend coward the west of the Missouri river would bear with it westward, the extent of fertile lands, etc., which are found in Eastern Nebraska. Then, too, the elevation above the sea at Yankton is only about 1,100 feet, but from this on the ascent is more and more rapid. " The general elevation of the plains about the foot-hills around the Black Hills is from 2,500 to 3,000 feet, and this is the highest part of the Territory. " No mountains lie to the north or northwest. ' ' • ' " The Continental valleys of the Mississippi (and Missouri) pass MR. BEADLE ON SOUTHEAST DAKOTA. 753 part of re IVills, pon the i follow 1 nearly yoming, estward, )rth and ipon the long the jnne, and id thence e country souri, and ers, of the basin, and Idaho and course is :re it bends . northwest toward the ine coming affect the il products let that the [would bear Ih are fountl ]e the sea at the ascent ihills around the highest tssouri) pass on to those of the Red river of the North, the Saskatchewan and the McKenzie — to the Arctic ocean. These streams, or their tributaries, interlock in Minnesota and Dakota, and from St. Paul to the Missouri river westward or a little north of that, is the line of greatest elevation east of the Missouri river in Dakota, being 1,500 feet at highest points. It is a general plain or prairie, with few hills even, except the so-called * co- teaus,' which are nine-tenths rich agricultural or grazing lands, and are not mountains at all ; merely regions of land more ele- vated than the intervening great valleys. " Most people understand what is meant by the ' Great Plains ' of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, etc. They lie in an almost per- fect inclined plain from the foot, of the mountains eastward to the Missouri river, and, down this incline, the rivers are cut like crrooves. The general surface is quite uniform. Take this ex- ample to understand Southern Dakota. It is composed of two such inclined plains upon a smaller plan. All that east of the Missouri river and up to about the forty-sixth parallel is a general inclined plane, sloping to the south, down and across which flow the Big Sioux, the Vermilion and the Dakota (or James) rivers, and the Missouri itself. The northern border is about 400 feet higher than the southern. That part of the south half of Dakota lying west of the Missouri is another //««(? inclined to the east — properly a part of the * Great Plains ' of the west extended up there. Its highest part is about 4,000 feet (mountains) and average lower part about 1,400 feet. Down across it flow the Keya Paha and Niobrara (near it in Nebraska), the White, Chey- enne, Moreau, Grand and Cannon Ball rivers. This region in- dines more sharply, the streams are more swift, and the country is a little more rough than further south. The so-called Bad Lands occupy a small part only — not over 75,000 acres — which is not good, grazing lands. We will now briefly refer again to each one of these regions. v ;;:•.. "The western part has, especially in its southeastern quarter. and along the Missouri river, a fine body of agricultural lands, suited to wheat, rye, barley, oats and corn. As one passes west it becomes more suited to grazing, and is covered with a rich 48 754 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. I!'' gITowth of the best grasses— especially those which, curing upon the ground, afford winter grazing. This has been amply tried for many years by the herds kept by, and for feeding, the Indians. When we reach the valleys of the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche, the agricultural character again decidedly im- proves, and the plains between these streams and the Black Hills are being rapidly occupied as farms, stock-ranches, vegeta- ble gardens, dairy farms, etc., as seems most profitable, to supply the people in the Hills with food. The valley of the Belie Fourche and its larger tributaries, is very delightful and fertile, one of the loveliest summer views in the West, wide, smooth and beautiful. The French called it 'La Belle Fourche' — the beautiful branch — /". e., of the Cheyenne. The Hills themselves are a real wonder-land. I have travelled through them and been in the principal mines. The examination changed my opinion. I look upon them as surpassingly rich in gold. They are peculiar — different from other gold regions. The same rule of expectation does not apply. They disappoint every one — but favorably. They are in gold somewhat as Leadville, Colorado, is in silver. Within five years everybody will recognize this, and within ten years that region will be a constant wonder in its gold product. I do not own a cent of interest there, directly or indi- rectly. Railroads will be there in two years or less, and then machinery, supplies and all conveniences will be cheaper, so that the mines can be opened and worked extensively, and it will be- come more than ever a wonder-land, because it is known, and not because it is not known. '• " ; > • ^• ■ - j-n ; ^ jv i "Southeastern Dakota has an area of 35,cxx> square miles, nearly every square foot of which is rich. It is generally well watered, has a deep dark prairie loam soil, mixed in places with a very small per cent, of sandy loam. It nearly all slopes slighdy to the south and receives the spring rains and sunshine, making its seasons early and its soil warm to germinate the spring seed. Its great crops are wheat and corn, men being divided as to which is the more profitable of the two. Its third great interest is cattle-raising. These three represent about equally the re^ sources of the farmers. As we go farther north, wheat domi- sourHE^sraKM Dakota nates, as the country is newer anVl ,v '" turned. Farther south, corn 'e':', .IV? "" '^ "^"'^ 1"-''V -me counties Stock-raising is d'ef T '"rP°«='"ce. and in U„,on counties, and dunW the "sf J ? ^'"'^'°"' ^'ay and ^,000 head of cattle each, mainL r elvT' k''^ ''"^^ ^<"'' about Poranly i„ Iowa. They have si I ^ ' ^''^ "' "> be fed tern- and about one and a-half n^Ulio ' hf ^ '■°°° ''^^^ "^ '«>?» ead, the three oldest counties ^"''''''' "^ ^l-^at. Thtse are -"-perhaps 460 nearl/so , «° ^'^ "^ -"^ad in ope a- ber . .880. It ,,as an excelli t^dvt" '°° ""'^^ ^-y Novem- and all social organisations, ts pool"'' '" ''''°°''' ^''^-'^''es continuous, and it is iaw-abidint and jn '°" !''.'°"^°"''^"^d and :"oo;rse:.- "-^- ^^ ■-ra,:rcS- e^ei't.^ 'er there are occasional stormy dlv.'T^ y^^"-- ^" *'"■ severe; but usually the win erHre f^' "'^'"' ^'^ '°"'«™es Unued States Signal Service r'porTs wm T""' ''"' '''"y- ^he IT,T/-^''" at Yankton and F^rT SuH /'"P^"'"''^ ^^ Aat Sully ,s on the west edge of the best ."^""f"' '^^'^' ^«^P' " D,d you ever observe the disanL ! '^"'^"""■•a' 'ands. who go by rail .0 CalifornifNevadrjTrr'u "'^' ""^^ People cure for lung and other dise'afes'l L "^ '" ""^ ^°P- "f ^ -ff-enng greatly. The trouble s the too' '""" """^ ™"'^ ^ack change from the more damp sea la ' andIT' T'' '°° ^"^^en very dry air. But the men of UnT 1 "'"' '"'"^'"' t° 'hat and travellers to CalifornTa.tt celrraL^^'^"" '"'"'^^'^ ■ nie,r journey improved and cured , T "''"^' health, catarrhal, and like diseases. Whv" Th '""S^' ''™"-^'>'a'. » the other. They travelled bv hoT '' ^"''' ''""'>' f™"' »"« ovva, Nebraska, Dakota, Wyol^ et V"' °"^" -™- s 756 OC/H WESTERN EMPIRE. summer travel and sojourn, and should be taken before the transfer even to Colorado, though that is better than California at first. I do not extend this idea. Its statement will be under- stood, as the history of the early days gave the best proof of its value." We add, on the opposite page, the meteorology of the two sta- tions of the Signal Service Bureau in Southeastern Dakota, and as Fort Sully station was changed to Deadwood in December, 1877, we have completed the year from the Deadwood report, the lati- tude being nearly the same, though the altitude of Deadwood is considerably higher. We give a later meteorological report from Deadwood and Lead City farther on. We come next to the smallest, but, in some respects, the most important section of Dakota, the mineral region known as " The Black Hills." Let Mr. Zimri L. White, the accomplished and judicious correspondent of the New York Tribune, who visited and explored the Hills in the summer of 1879, describe for us the topography and histoiy of the region. We may say in pass- ing, that the Black Hills extend westward into Wyoming Terri- tory, and are between the 43d and 45th parallels of latitude and the 103d and 105th meridians of longitude. "The Black Hills, or Cheyenne Mountains, are a detached spur of the Rockies lying between the two forks of the Cheyenne river (one of the largest tributaries of the Missouri), whose con- fluence is near their eastern boundary. The North Cheyenne, or Belle Fourche, flowing from a point in Wyoming Territory west of and nearly opposite the centre of the Hills, bears off to the northeast and then to the southeast, forming a sort of an ox- bow, while the South Cheyenne separates the Hills from the Southern plains. The area thus embraced is about 5,000 square miles, and may be divided into three parts — rugged mountains containing mineral veins and deposits, grass-covered foot-hills and prairies, capable of supporting enormous herds of cattle, and fertile valleys which, with or without irrigation, will produce all the grain, hay, potatoes and other vegetables that the future population of the Black Hills can consume. "The mountains proper, as distinguished from the foot-hills, METEOROLOGY. m •e the ifornia under- f of its ;wo sta- ,, and as ir,i877. the lati- Iwood is I report the most as "The ished and ho visited ibe for us ay in pass- ilng Terri- Ltitude and foot-hills, n o n f) n n s Fort Sully. Deadwood. 9' ^ O if > 'H^'i' i^ > !:S ^^ i a §■ s t •: : r r I I «8 o Maximum Temperature. (M u s to tb 'S & M I 1.° Minimum Temperature, ■^ b ON 00 V* Mean Temperature, 0\ w 1 O OJ ^ vt j? ^ 5^ g" 00 U> M VI bo b O p o 10 VO VO VO VI >l «8 * vp VI op vj VI t^ & M t^ , 0\ VI o, >i< m i|t M M M Ut 01 Ul ""MM VI 00 iM M d> 5 Ul Ln vp M VI VI 00 00 VI 4» ^ "p 8v t«3 n en W t/J w w w n o p p 3 3 W 5/3 w p '?" p -> W 3 3 M 3 ov VI ?! Rainfall. Barometrical Pressure. Humidity. o o o It s H C/) C! P > O o 8 n ■r ^ *. -. "^ o Qui w a* M Wi «,n VI VI VI 04 en VO VO 00 VI VO ut Ov vo 00 g" ^ ov 4^ VO - M 0> Ov ° M 1/1 VI M OJ 4^ .fk 4^ 00 Ov 4k VI M M M 00 VI «« C>J M M O o o Maximum Temperature. Minimum Temperature. t OJ 4^ Ov .? VI VI % :s ^fJ 4k 5*" M »4 ^n Mean N U> 00 VI M 4k VI VI VI 4k M 00 Ul Temperature. N P u> ^m M •^ VI 4k Vl C p &-. Rainfall. 4^ tn Ov M *" •N 00 ^ ^4 VO M M Ov- OV A OV Ul OV VI Oj 4^ U> VI u> U> Ul (a> M M M M M M M M U> M VO VO VO VO VO VO VO VO >o Barometrical %> 00 VI VO 00 VI 00 v| 'S VI M 00 00 :g i ^, Pressure. M 4" ov 00 VO M OV "" M 00 VI ** VI VI Ov ov o> 0\ VI Os Ov o> VI VI vg^ 00 M VO Cn o. 00 M 4>- 4k Ul Vt •!* Humidity. \n M 00 M VO 4>- 4k VO Ov oe ^m VI C/J W to W en pa en W j^ en 'f, en W S! W en w en ?! en W W en t?; ?! in e/j en !2! !^ • !z! ^ ^ < <: - f i^ 'en Vj f" M W W r en s; a; ?5 .:^ en en W ?: en en W 2.^ If > a: o 55 M ■Tf r «l-^*o I tr-t 00 *^ I 00 C/3 o 2! ?; C/J M < o w 5« w •0 o !f^;f ■ &--.«l ecu ::31' s '5 I 75g OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. cover about two-thirds of the area to which the name Black Hills applies. These are generally steep, covered with pine forests or the bare trunks of trees that have been killed by fires, and separated from each other by gulches and cartons through which small streams How. These mountains are remarkably rich in minerals, although they have not been sufficiently explored to make it possible to estimate the value of their deposits. The gold mines are most developed, but there are silver mines rich enough, in promise, at least, to induce men who have capital and experience to purchase them and to invest their money in ex- pensive mills for reducing the ores. Specimens of very rich cop- per ore have also been found, but I have heard of no mines beinf^ worked. Salt deposits have been uncovered, and machinery is now on the way to the Hills to enable the owner of one mine to try the experiment of manufacturing salt from the rock. Petro- leum of excellent quality and in inexhaustible quantities has also been discovered, and many wells are already worked. Coal has been found in considerable quantities, and is now being tested in the gold mills near Deadwood. The gold mines exceed all others in value, and will probably continue to do so as long as there is mining in the Black Hills, but some of the other mineral deposits are of such character and promise as to invite capital and enter- prise in their development. " The foot-hills are covered with the richest and most nutri- tious grasses. Unlike the plains, where the grass-roots stand apart, leaving small spots of bare ground between them, the carpet is close and thick at the bottom, like the tame grass of a meadow in the East, and when cut shows a heavy swath, and cures either standing or as hay, retaining its bright, green color and its rich juices. These foot-hills, where the land is too dry for cultivation, and water for irrigation is not available, are ex- cellently adapted for grazing. The grass furnishes good feed all winu r, and the winds blow the snow off from the hills while it lies in the valleys, and the numerous canons and bluffs afford shelter for the cattle during storms. No one now feeds or shelters his cattle in the winter; the value of individual animals that may die from exposure not being great enough to warrant SIOUX CLAIMS TO BLACK HILLS. 759 k Hills forests cs, and w which rich in ored to s. The ncs rich 3ital and jy in cx- rich cop- ies beincr hinery is ; mine to . Petro- i has also Coal has r tested in all others s there is 1 deposits nd enter- the extra expense of such care. At the same time I am inclined to think that in the end a little feedinjj^ and shelter would pay in the better condition the cattle would be in in the spring and the better prices that would be realized. It is estimated that there are now 100,000 head of cattle in the hills, but the grass seems hardly to have been touched. Stock-raising will eventually become one of the most important industries in the region. "The arable lands of the Black Hills are from 500 to 600 square miles in extent, and consist of bottom lands along the streams and prairies and lower slopes of the foot-hills between the water-courses. The former generally need no artificial irri- gation, but the latter require more water than the rains furnish and that is available in sufficient quantity in the brooks and creeks. The agricultural lands are of marvellous richness. "The Black Hills were in the heart of the Sioux country until February, 1877, and were so jealously guarded by the Indians that white people who visited them did so at the peril of their lives. The Indians did not live in the Hills. They had a super- stition that the Great Spirit never intended these mountains for the habitation of man. The terrific thunder storms which are frequent here, perhaps had something to do with this belief. They said that the Great Spirit haci covered the Hills with trees to furnish the Indians with tepee poles, and filled the foot-hills with antelope and deer to supply him with food when the buffalo were scarce; and they frequently made excursions here, but never remained long. From one end of the Hills to the other, I am told, there are nowhere to be found the evidences of a long encampment of Indians. The Sioux have known of the existence of gold in the Black Hills for many years. A third of a century ago, it is said, they showed to Father De Smet, the Roman Catho- lic missionary, who spent his life amongst them, and in whom they had the most implicit confidence, large nuggets which they had picked up in the gulches. He warned them not to show these nuggets to white men, as it would arouse their cupidity and cause the Indians to be driven out of the country. Never- theless, rumors of the mineral wealth of the Hills did get abroad, and evidences have been found that a few adventurers came here ftv: «: *«»:: ":;{ c3 760 ^^'^ WESTERN KMPmE, in search of gold many years ago, and actually began to work the placers. They were probably all massacred by the Indians/' " Several government expeditions were made into the Black Hills before that of General Custer, in the summer of 1874, ami the report of each showed the presence of gold and other min- erals. The first of these was tiiat of Captain Bonneville, in 1834. Gen'eral Harney came in here in 1855, and the highest peak in the Hills was named in his honor. Other expeditions led by Warren visited the Hills in i856-'57, by Dr. Hayden in 1858-59, and by General Sully in 1864. The dates of these visits I give on the authority of a resident of this city, as I have access to no records by which I can verify them. I have said that the explor- ations of each of these parties proved the presence of gold in these mountains ; but no excitement was caused by their reports, because no one supposed that the precious metal existed here in sufficient quantities for profitable working. General Custer's expedition in 1874 is still remembered by most newspaper readers. The practical miners who accompa- \ him reported excellent ' prospects,' that is, that in washing the gravel of the streams in pans they obtained gold in sufficient quantities to make it pay for working. The reports of these miners were received with incredulity in the East ; and, during the winter of 1874-75, the question was widely discussed whether there was gold in the Black Hills or not. " So great was the public interest in the discoveries reported by those who accompanied General Custer that, in the summer of 1875, the Interior Department sent out an exploring expedi- tion in charge of Professor Jenney, a young geologist. He came into the Hills with a train and escort, went pretty well over them, and made a map of the country. He discovered gold in many places, and more than confirmed Custer's reports of the previous year. Professor Jenney did not visit Deadwood and Whitewood gulches, the timber being so thick that he could not get to them with his train. But the adventurous placer-miners of the West did not wait for a scientific report upon the country. • Mr. Robert E. Strahorn, in his " New West Illustrated," has traced the history of some of these parties who fell victims to their adventurous spirit. Some of them commenced operations in placer-mining as early as 1852. but bravmg tlie ),o,,tili(y of ,|,„ i„ ,• ' 7«' ''"■ ""'' "- »vash out the jjo|,| j '" "'^,,,"'"» '" "'« summ.T of all pcTsons to enter this country a„.l , '" T"""''"' '"'^^^'= ■ssued a proclanwtio,, warning"' !^,,' ""l ' '''^''"''•■"t. I bdieve n.ory that had been set ajTrf f^ t? ,''*=,"'"^' '"''^'''"S "'« <- Mhle to keep an old place -miner o " i";"' ^"' '' '« '"'Pos- P.->y streaks; • he will go .1 rou 'h fir ''"^■''™ "''"=^^' "'--«= are ts whole army to guard thr '^ "'^'" ""' ""hout send policy of forcible remota, was aba'L'""^ "' ^PP™^'''. a d the" IVovember. '^"''°"«'' about the middle of "The men who came to the H.-n- ™ter settled principally i„ L '" "^75 and the follo„(„„ French creeks. Cust'er Ci^ ^t h" "" "'"• °" Vmg" nf Rockerville also became tlLVnlt '"T '"P"''""' '°4 and "lines m that region were".Il [ "'='' P'"""" diggings Th^ year considerate quan dtie 'V ,?'f'=^' ''''' ''"""g^he fi,tt l^venotvisited that reg^ but ifj t"' "^^" '''''" "« I "'■ose experience and^screntit a.^ '" '°''' ^-^ => gentleman great confidence in him that 1 ^"^"""^"'« «"se one to have -eb the largest pC dltTn'.r °" fP""^ ^"^ ^rencH --emansa.,h*1arai-^^-.de£ ■^.l 7 K"^ 762 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. miles in length and twelve miles in width. It is not all as rich, by any means, as the wagon-load of which he spoke. Gold always runs in streaks, but the extent of it is very great. .It is not now available for the want of water. " When the discoveries of gold in Deadvvood and Whitewood gulches, on the site of this city, and above and below it, were made, the first workings were very rich, and the fame of them soon attrat ted the people here from all parts of the Hills. Cus- ter City was almost deserted, and for a year or so Deadwood was one of the liveliest mining camps in the country. But, although the placer-mines in these two gulches and their tribu- taries paid well for a time, the prosperity they brought was only temporary, and, if quartz mines had not been discovered and opened, Deadwood would now be a deserted village. Out of fifty placer claims, a dozen or so are now being worked, chiefly by Chinamen who pay to the owners fifty cents a day royalty for each man who works. By carefully washing over the tail- ings and the gravel which was left because it was ' lean,' these Chinamen are able to earn from %\ to $1.50 a day, and with that they are contented. "The existence of veins of quartz in the hills above Dead- wood was known to the early miners here, but none of them seem to have appreciated their value. When they 'prospected' them they showed only from ^2 to ^15 worth of gold to a ton of ore, and nobody seemed to think that ore of that grade would pay for mining and milling. And the first attempts to reduce the quartz here were failures pecuniarily, and none of them can be said to have been really profitable until the California capi- talists came here, developed the mines, and began to take out and reduce the ore on a large scale. " Very few valuable quartz gold mines, or mines which by sufficient development have been proved to be valuable, ' "^ve yet been discovered outside of the great belt above this town. One or two mines whi'^h promise well are said to have been opened in the Rockford District, about twenty-fiv<^ miles south of here. I shall visit that regioa and probably write a letter from there. A new mine has also been discovered near Custer CLIMATE OF THU », . n- r '"'^ "LACK HlLL': C.ty, from which some asto„,sh.-„.Iv • , '^^ llie reduction of about 800 p3L"f' """^ ^^ ^^'^ taken ■ng from ,t of gold at the rate "f ° ' "'"'' ^"'' "'^ <">«!, s.derab e excitement in Deadwood ^ '' " '""' ''^^ ^«-ed con- In dosing this general rl»c • • say tl,at 'he country foots'lh'f"" °'" ">■= ^'^^k Hills I m, instead of three. \ the :^^ 3" if' ",1^' ["^^ -«'ed „ ^eTr^ if 1-r p"-^>'.v as": r s^'h™ ' r "t^ "«= p- a"~rof ™:„t; rfTh^""'^^'^^ ^-^^:j;t3:"r hppn Km.-i,. • "^"tJbs, It they ever harl ,'#■ r- ■'^ "■ ^heir Vor. turnpike. roUXr J^ ^ ^^ 4-!/': Ne" a necessity for ,he traveller fol ,1, "^ """P'"^ ^« ^^ole,. delightful lankets every night since I caSn°°i ''"'^ ^'^P' ""^1^ evenmgs I found a light ove'coat ° ^ 7<"'' ^"^ °"e or two upon the street Tl, . ■ "'^°*' cmfortab e when „„• tei"g about thl't orst ^,7 M "^ ="''= '■^"'- 'o-tth^e J:^^ =;'.-'ed in the cafions and '^otirr;?' '^"' ">« ^wns a "at ;.e them f„, ,,^ cold^rdra^d t.'f T "---''.ch amate. During the last three Z l ' "'^ "ffor of the ;:r^ :ckn::rhet r;™^^^^ ^a's^ of vejretation tu • *^ ^^ ^^''^ covered wIM. o , ' ^^ 764 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Sergeant J. O'Dowd, of the United States Signal Service at Deadwood, furnishes the following summary of the meteorology of that city for the year ending June 30th, 1 879. The observations from July ist to December, 1878, were taken at Lead City, two miles from Deadwood, and at several hundred feet higher altitude- ^ ICC 1878. July . . . August . September . October . . November . December . January February . March April . May . June . Totals for year 1 §1 if if B . 11 c . i-~ .§1 H H 92 H e2 1= 67.14 63-25 41 s. 5.77 16 65-85 62.80 85 46 s. 2.61 9 49.15 63-16 86 27 s. 2.06 8 39-58 60.50 72 6 N.W. 1.81 '3 36.72 63.67 66 3 s. 0.75 3 18.26 72.47 54 —25 N. 363 II 21.76 6585 56 —24 s.w. 0.58 3 24-45 68.80 53 — 12 s.w. 0.72 5 34.80 62.00 71 —5 s.w. 0-5I 9 45-5° 53-00 71 20 N.E. 7.69 8 53-80 63.20 8r 29 N.E. 5-03 13 61.30 57.40 92 92 37 S. 4.67 18 43- 19 63.01 — »5 35.83 116 It will be observed that the heaviest rainfall, 23.16 inches of the 35.83, of the year was in the months of April, May, June and July — the months in which the crops would be most benefited. The mines of the Black Hills yield both gold and silver, though the silver deposits were not discovered till some time after active mining for gold had made the region widely known. The gold mines may be included in four classes: i. Placers. 2. Quartz veins between slate walls. 3. Quartz veins between porphyry walls. 4. Cement deposits. The placers in the Black Hills are of great extent, and some of them have yielded very large sums. Elsewhere in this work we have described the methods of placer mining, the use of the pan, the rocker, the Tom, the sluice and the hydraulic pipe, flume and sluice, and, as placer mining is much the same in the Black Hills as elsewhere, it is not necessary for us to repeat what we have said of these processes. Two points, however, ' ' >!-;;■: 'jI.' '!, lI Service at meteorology observations 2ad City, two gher altitude- ^^y ca,a,j,, ,^ ^^^ ^^^^^. ^^^^^^ ^ "rt B . •y ■ '22 u n •2 c "0 c <1 -4 Wl o 1. H 55 = 5-77 16 2.6l 9 2.06 8 i.8i 13 0-75 3 3-63 II 0.58 3 0.72 5 0.51 9 7.69 8 5-03 n 4.67 18 116 35-83 1.16 inches of lay, June and t benefited, silver, though le after active n. The gold 5, 2, Quartz 2en porphyry nt, and some e in this work :he use of the ydraulic pipe, : same in the us to repeat ints, however, may be noticed : ist Thr,*- 1 i ^65 f Cay or «.avel .L^L'^J^^' Z ^"'<^'--«Hat fs, bed but at such a distance fromWal I ""^ ='"'°""' "f free <,old ;'-goH and conse.u^VTe-irrf'r-''''^^'^'"-'' brought to the water, or the waTer to ,h . ""-" ''" ^''""^ be cost-are not usually considered ve,^ 'r^fi'^' n'' "' '""^'^erable ■he amount of gold is larije In (1,1^^0^""' '° *°* unless or gulches have proved .5, rich t at he i^'"!"'^^^ ''^y P'acers from some of them by wagon oads'l '''" ''='= ^een brought were more extensive, it hL been fold' "?V"' ^^-^- 4 d'tcbes or flumes of several mHes lenlf T 'f ' '° '^°""™" stream to supply the pipes for hyd,^uS '^'''"^ =• '"°"«a'n seem to be distributed all over the hills T% ''"''^'^ P'^'^rs ered near the southern border on q • ' '^"' *^^^ ^iscov- "ear the present sites of Custer r,-? ^f'"S^ ^"^ French creeks "■ore profitable have been r ^' ^"'"^°'^'^<='-^i"e. Others still' -ariyall .he gulches b^eel'Xr' ''^' Deadwoodra"" or s,xty miles, yield rich paylvt and" '°'"''' " '"'"="'- 0^5% a ly worked. These placer a e so rich ^'h "' "'^'" ^^ P-fit of .hem yet undeveloped, that nac"' '^"^ ""=re are so many ^ducted with profit here for man vt '"^ *'" P^'-bly be ■'-.he natural law of places "tW^V" '"'"<^- B". second which may be longer or shor r "'•" ."^'^r a period of time depth, and the .horoughness- „ H, T '"'' '° *^''' <=«""' ""d -worked out and be'con^w:^ : '^'' f 7^ -P'o.cd, t J ey offer the chance of acquirin" jt , "'" ^^''^''^^ss minef l»y '".o a placer mine, with Z ' ' "*"' "° r"^" shock -"ent property. ,t ; goodt lo„'""'°" "'^^ '>« '- ' ^ P ' "■^'may be it is hard to sav A > ^ '^ " '^'''^ '"d bow lono- -nds 300 feet along "th^.^, j^ ^^l ^'-^ in the Black Hi if The second class of crold „| "."V™"" r-ni to rim h»^rtz in slate, or between slat ,?""^ '" "'^ '^' ^^ Hills- k-'elf above Deadwoo't SX "''^'•^' "'^'^ "^^^^ h;e -untairaretmrrmr '"^^ '^ "^--"^ « ti si:: •'■''' •^" -g'eof abiurrTt^'"*^""''^" '■- -'— vem Of b„wn quart. ^„.af^t^'^-;^ ( Sj ex;; , ifc^ cch • fcr ::3' O-j ^ f^ S f. or; sS t^ S a ''^ , Si?^* 1 O .' w 766 OC/H WESTERN EMPIRE. small quantities, and separated from the country rock on each side by a layer of chloritic slate often containing more gold than the quartz itself. The vein is of enormous width — from 40 to 150 feet — but is frequently divided by 'horses' of slate, or large bodies of that substance extending into or across the vein. The rock in these ' horses ' is sometimes rich enough to work, but generally is quite barren. "There are two theories of the formation of these veins; and while there seems to be sufficient ore in all the large mines for present purposes, the future of these properties may depend in great degree upon which of these theories proves to be the cor- rect one. The first is that advanced by Professor Jenney, the young geologist who was sent to explore the Black Hills in 1875 for the Interior Department, and who is now a resident of Dead- wood. He holds that these ledges of gold-bearing rock are true fissure veins — ' interlaminated fissures,' he calls them, that is, fissures opened between the layers of the slate rock, and not across the line of stratification. The auriferous quartz, he says, has been formed by the water solutions which have come up from below. He accounts for the ' horses ' of slate in the vein by likening the cleaving of the rock to the splitting of a piece of oak wood. When a wedge is driven into it, particles of tiie wood cling from side to side across the opening made by the wedge. So, he thinks, when the rock was opened, bodies of slate extended across from one wa)l to the other, and remained in that position when the aqueous solution from below came up, surrounded them, and deposited the gold-bearing quartz. He explains the fact that the slate walls and horses contain gold by saying that the slate, which had minute spaces between its layers, soaked up the mineral-bearing fluid, which in some cases re- placed the particles of slate." As a rule, the impregnation of the slate becomes less as the distance from the wall of the vein increases. Believing the veins to be true fissures. Professor j Jenney supposes that they extend into the earth for an indefinite | Q'stance, and probably grow richer in their lower portions. Pro- feasor Jenney believes that after these veins were formed the ocean covered what are now the Black Hills, and that by its ck on each e gold than -from 40 to ite, or large ; vein. The ,0 work, but E veins ; and re mines for ay depend in ;o be the cor- r Jenney, the Hills in 1875 dent of Dead- ■ rock are true them, that is, rock, and not quartz, he says, iiave come up ,ate in the vein [ting of a piece larticles of tiie ] made by the [ed, bodies of and remained lelow came up, jg quartz. He [ontain gold by een its layers, ;ome cases re- egnation of the ill of the vein ares. Professor | lor an indefinite] [portions. Pro- ;re formed the ,nd that by its DIVERSE THEORTES A50UT THE LODES. 767 action it tore down tlie surface, scattering fragments of the vein all over the country. Evidences of marine action are easily to be found in the vicinity of the mines. " The other theory held by several geologists of much learn- ing and experieince is that the vein matter was precipitated from an aqueous solution that covered it. Their explanation and argument is this: The foot-wall of these veins is slate, a forma- tion which everybody knows is of aqueous origin. The vein of quartz is deposited on this slate parallel with its line of stratifica- tion, just as one layer of rock is deposited on another. Above the vein we also find slate, and above that, where it has not been carried away by the action of the elements, a cement formation also of aqueous origin. These facts point conclusively to a hori- zontal deposit of the vein matter on a slate bed. The precipi- tant was probably oxide of iron, and it is therefore very natural that those ores containing the largest proportion of oxide of iron should be the richest in gold, as they are. After all these de- posits had been made, the hills were gradually thrown up in their present forms under water. "If the true fissure vein theory is correct (and it is the one most generally accepted by the most experienced miners), then there is reason to believe tliat the ore extends far into the bowels of the earth. And even if the theory of an aqueous deposit or precipitation is accepted, the fields over which these deposits took place may have been so great that when turned up upon their edges they may be practically inexhaustible. These quartz veins between slate strata seem to be, in many respects, the analogues of the ^ contact lodes ' of silver in Col- orado, and may have had a similar origin. "The quartz veins between porphyry walls have not been sufficiendy developed to make it safe to give an opinion in regard to them. Some of the best mines of this class are situ- ated in Strav'berry gulch, about seven miles east of Deadwood, and in some of them considera^ble bodies of ore have been found. In another year, when a few mills shall have been erected near them for the purpose of working their ores, and development has been puslied furtlier, morre will be known of their value. It I "'9ft'! ft:; cc;; ecu •^ ■ -Cj 76g - OU/! WESTERN EMPIRE. is an interesting fact that they have already attracted the atten- tion of the rich California miners and capitalists who have de- veloped the great ' belt ' above Deadwood, and that it is possible that they may purchase one of the most promising of them and see what it contains. " In many of the placer mines, a little below the bed of the stream but considerably above bed rock, a layer of hard cement, consisting of sand, gravel, and boulders, and carrying free gold held together in one hard, conglomerate mass by oxide of iron, has been found. This substance has been a great obstacle to gulch miners on some claims. They had no means of crushing it to free the gold, and to remove it in order to get at the aurif- erous gravel beneath was very expensive. On the hill-tops, which have withstood best the action of the elements, similar cement deposits have also been found, varying from one and a-half to twelve and eighteen feet in thickness. Some of these are very rich in gold and others very lean. A number of mines have been opened on the cement beds and are now working successfully, while others have already worked out their pay ore. The rock is reduced in the same manner as quartz, by stamping and amalgamating. A cement deposit may be very valuable as long as it lasts, and may bring to its owners large profits, but its value depends entirely upon its extent and character. Like a placer (and it is, in fact, nothing but a solidified placer), it will some day be worked out and become worthless. Attempts have been made to sell these cement beds and the mines opened on them as true fissure veins, which they are not. Very possibly the ore * prospects ' and 'mills' as high* as it is represented; but the wrong done to the proposed purchaser consists in giving the impression that it is a true fissure vein, when it is in reality only a solidified placer and may and probably will soon become exhausted." V- ^ ./ ' ^- . ,: v; "•-M -■< ,:s^iri . .Vi-vv-^i ■!.■ --^t- The gold mines, aside from the placers and cement deposits, in the Black Hills, have been again classified by the mining men as those on the Bonanza Belt in the neighborhood of Deadwood, and those not on the belt. The mines on the belt which have attained the greatest reputation are the Father De Smet, the ^Otl^ GRADE GOLD OfiF - r,n DeaCwood, .He CoMen tJ^^^'" '^^ .^ The belt is about two m;i , '"'""nuations of tl.k K i in width. '"'° ""'<=" '" length and from ,<^ .' ' '';''• /'--•nesnotonthebelf ,'^^ • '-'"^oofeet "-.Caledonia, which 11^^,1" t T:"'''" ^^ Deadwood are terntory ,,500 feet lon„ and , " ''^""'- ""^ covers In .^? Several deposit n.ines f^e al „7„° 1" 7f^' "'°"^'' '■" '"opa Lf ' The Sliver mimW thus fpr hn u Butte creek ahnut. 7 "^^ ^^^" mostly at rnl« ., ^^°"f twelve miles ea<,t ^f n , Galena, on Bear ^^^^-r s.]ver deposits, but these are H ^'"^^°^d- There are ores are chiefly sulphurets and rl, . ""^'^ P''^'"'^'"g-. The '" grade ores, and a small s„i'! ^'^1"""^ "'« "fining o, cl«rged «75 pe, ,o„ for reductln Th'' '"^ ™PerfectlyJ,as «ase as railroads, and large" td be J ' l"*'™'"'^^ "i" oon , A large proportion of fbl Tl ^^ """''^'■^ ^-^e in elsewhere would be regLde/as ofT' ''"^"^'^ «" ore wW^^ ™n,n. at from ,9 or gfo to «,, orV^ ^'''^' "^"^ °f 'hem favorally situated, that th!' *^^^ P"^"" '°"- But thoy ^Z '"'o the mill, without bZ tTdr; '^ '"" ''^ ^^utes d.Ve ' L ■'0 stamps or more are al!o n,„ . "' '"• '^''^ '^"-ge mi k of pse than the smaller ones while T\ '''' P^°PO«.C ex »*• Gold can be mineSa^d mid ^ 'u '" "■'^» -= -ucl. f 770 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ble, and the quality improves sliijhtly as the depth increases. Thus it comes to pass that ores yielding from $9 to ^i 5 per ton pay a better profit, as well as a steadier one, than ores of much richer grade, which are more difficult to mine, less easily milled and which must be carried to greater distances to be marketed successfully. Mr. White states the yield of the Black Hills mines in 1878 as ;Ji3, 500,000 ; in 1879 as about 55^4,500,000, and in 1880 as probably $6,000,000. The Black Hills form the most elevated portion of Dakota, indeed the only portion which rises above 2,000 feet, or generally above 1,500 to 1,800 feet. The following table gives the aUitude of the principal summits and towns of this region, though some of the points named are in the Wyoming portion of the Hills : Inyan Kara Peak . . Bare Butte .... Floral Valley . . . Crook's Monument . Terry's Peak . . . Custer's Peak . . . Devil's Tower . . . Rapid City . . . Crook City . . . Rochford (estimated) 6,500 4,800 6,196 7,600 7,200 6,750 5,100 3,»7S 3.725 4,500 Harney's Peak 7,440 Belle Fourche 3,734 Castle Creek Valley . . . . 6,136 Dodge's Peak 7,300 Warren's Peak 6,900 Crow Peaks 6,200 Dead wood 4,425 Rockerville 4,125 Pactola (estimated) • . . . 4,000 Custer City " 4,200 The present population of the cities and settlements of the Black Hills is hardly less than 30,000, and may exceed that. A year and a half since (in January or February, 1879), it was esti- mated at 18,000, and was probably divided very much as follows : Deadwood 6,000 1 Rapid City 500 Golden Gate 700 ; Crook City 500 Lead City 2,500 ; Custer City 400 Rockerville Rochford 600 Sturgis City 300 Sheridan 200 Tigerville 200 Central City 2,000 vGayville 800 600 ! Spearfish City 250 Hill City 200 Galena 250 Pactola, Hayward and other settlements 2,500 Total 18,000 ^^^CA- ///z/^ ^^^,, one wliclXs been vefJ'Ll^elvl'T"'^' ""="' " ""'"'"? rec^ioT "<'s, and its minin,, onllZT^ ^" Possession of by cat," ,' "-" "ardiy cqua^ie^rr Xerin^r Vv" ^ -="« '^'""' "«» ai'ffregati„i,Mnore tl,an ,, 500 'Tall ""^\^•=": "=> stamp-n,|lls arsrest and n,ost power uuS' """"^ ."'^'^'^ generally of , e larger than in tl,e same number of ' '" ■ "' «"'<' P^duct n acter of the region will be ,1^;.:':" '''"'^''"-- ''■- char years to come. But it would bet LZ "\ ^"'' '""'••''^e. ^r -me have supposed, that the Blacl: Hi;"'"'' '° ^"'^P"-' ^^ wholly or mainly upon other rel„s^"'.*""^' ^'^ '''-'Pendent clothmg or manufactures Thr n '" ■"'PP''^^ of food --h of the hill countryUseSre '''^" '?' '°°'-'""-^' - -"a an exceedingly rich soil and tsn 7' •"' '° ^ S^-at dep-h with and market garden vegetable and°f-"°" -f ^"^'■-' ^o' ^ot for the supply of the 50,^ or « ™ ' "'" '"= =""P''= «- 'ong "'ere. Those portions of^eHils'a^ ''7'''' *'«' "'" ««''- ■■"^enot suited to mining or farmL " '"^>T"' ^"""'^y which «nmnsr, and even portions o tlTe m„ 'k''^'^'''''^' ''^••'P'-d to aro covered with rich and nutrlio ''^'■'«'^'' " Bad Lands " region for dairy-farming, and the J •^■^''"- " '^ J"^' "-e -dy and profitable mfrke, for th?"'"^ T"'"'" ^""'^^ a which can be produced Sh J r ^'"'' ''""^r and cheese able here, thoug'h perhaps ^Z^Z^'^'' ="- P^ve prT^! and Lmcolns would pay better than^' ^'^■'^««^^=. Southdowns "■e market for mutton wilTte do^ ' T""''' '^°°" ^h<=ep; for wools will bring as good Jricestl^f ?"'•""'' ""= »-4 other purposes. We see'^no ea L L ,"^ "°°'^' "'°"ffh fof '/- rcg.o„ fo, ,he production ofthebertl^ T ""? ""' ''-<»"e The fine water-powers in the vt . ^^'"^ °f mutton, are readily accessible, as weH al .T 'i ' "" "■'' "''""' -''-'' 'ea and iron which are IvaitL J T^"^ '''^P°^'" °f copper "ake ,t an important manufecturL tr ''"""'' '""" «« ''"g we may expect to see the iT"^ ^'°"' *"d '" a few vearf 'ricultural machinery wWeharrn"". T'"""^^ "^ ■"'"■"/and old manufactures of wool and'^rwP 1' " "'^" ^^ '" "- "-n^ ^-ed on the spot instead of brnJ'afC TI ''"'■ P™' ^ « >; *" ^^ "°^' brought from Chi- 772 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. c5 cago, the capital of a treeless region, across 8oo or i,ooo miles of prairie, to a region of forest growths. 1^'or so new a country, the educational and religious institutions of this as of other sections of Dakota are of a high order. Not Deadwood alone, but all the new towns of the Black Hills have excellent schools and good churches. For these the whole Ter- ritory is largely indebted to the active exertions and excellent in- fluence of the late Governor Howard and his efficient coadjutors. The social condition of all parts of the Territory is greatly higher than that of most new setdements. Mr. White writes of the towns of the Black Hills : " Deadwood is a remarkably quiet, orderly, law-abiding town. This is the more remarkable when it is remembered ihat at the time it was first settled this was an Indian reservation, over which the Territorial authorities had no jurisdiction. .' ' ' . ' i " The people who came here organized a temporary govern- ment of their own, the only sanction of which was common con- sent, but its laws were recognized and obeyed for about a year and a half. WHien the treaty with the Sioux was completed in February, 1877, opening the hills to settlement, the government that had been improvised was dissolved, but the Territorial officers did not arrive here until forty days later, and in the meantime there was not even the semblance of a government, and yet order was preserved. "There are public gambling-houses in Deadwood, but they are not numerous, nor do they thrust themselves upon the atten- tion of the stranger by open doors or bands of music. The gambling is almost without exception conducted in back and second-story rooms, and the proprietors of the houses are not apparently having a prosperous time of it. There is one variety theatre here, and although I have not attended one of its per- formances, its programme contains nothing that seems to be objectionable as variety shows go. Its performances close at a seasonable hour. There is also one dance-house on Main street. Of drinking-saloons there are of course an abundance. " On the otht. hand, Deadwood is a city of homes. Small but tastefully built cottages are springing up by scores on all the refined, cultivated socil ,^L:;r'"^T "i" ""d intclli; -0'.^ ".'' 'h^ Black Hills a a d f/ ;""': '""'"'-' ^ and nt^«l hesitate to make l,i. I, '^''"'" °^ access, no on,. "<" find good socict^ Evt,„''r' '■"'; ""•""«'' <"«- "'atTe " ^"»nes in tl,e a^n'ote rchcs ir'i ' " ''"•'-■ ""''''">^ " M-y of then, are well ed" cat and a^ "° """" '^"^'^'■■-- tant homes they have left, althotrttr" '"'''''""' ''" '^^ ^is- "."f P"t up with many ^rfvatio fs s7 ""^ ,"°" '"'^'^ '" ™"4r'. wmd blows, and here is one d „ i "''■'' '''°" "'>'•':'' "ay the » o ".inks he has made a ".elt rike ' H^'- '''' "'"'" ^ -" m.les out of town, but in one corner 'V .1" ''™' ''" "^ '°K-'>°-e, »s parlor and dining-room ston, ""^ '■°°'"' *'"''^1' -^ervvs f of popular nn,src, and i Zfonr"", ?" ''''"'' "^ - la , . of some of the popular maga „, ,j ",r'''^' "-' ''""-^t nun.bc^; • We have spoken of the „,ea^' 'f '""^Tated jour„;,ls." J'ff-ent sections of the Ter-^oVT Th '^ °'^ ™""»""ication in '"? m numbers and mileage tHl the T ' •' "" '"""^""V "'creas- "^'•^■■sed by them in nearl all .r • "°''^' '^''^'''^^^ »°" to be Fepared by Hon. Henr;^:" 'eT'T"" 7'" '""'^-'"^ '^. General for Dakota, gives tho^ f r ""'^'' ^'^"='* Surveyor an we have added dfe fets ^T f rat't? '" '^'°^<-™''-' ■«79. ™° -]f-"gh ^LTefX''''" of railways, built or building. The Northern Pacific R,:i , astern boundary, to the Dtd 'J"'"*'"« '"™™ I'^'-go on the sf 'X5::"r:oSrtx 'r ^"^^ ^- - K;""!' '° ''^"'«^' °" 'he a2s"" ^""'^^ °f "- Dakota lie Milwaukee and Saint Paul R, V , • "'Paul Railroad, with some eighty miles > 1 774 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ft: hitilt of a line from Canton to the Missouri river; completed in 1880 to the Missouri. Also a line upon which work is now in progress from Eden to Yankton. The Sioux Falls and Pembina Railroad, up the Big Sioux River valley, of which some seventy miles are in operation. The Dakota Central Railroad, located from Garey to the Dakota river, upon which work is now progressing ; completed to Huron, on Dakota river. The Worthington and Sioux Falls Railroad (Saint Paul and Sioux City), of which about forty miles are built, having Yank- ton for its objective point ; and The Southern Minnesota Railroad, building from Flandreau to Sioux Falls. The total length of road now in operation in the Territory is almost 1,200 miles. Indian Tribes and Rcscjvations. — The Indian reservations in Dakota, in January, 1880, still comprised about 42,000,000 acres, about seven-sixteenths of the entire area of the Territory. This vast area is cut up into several reservations in diflerent parts of the Territory. As it is largely in excess of the needs of the Indians, arrangements are making by the government to purchase considerable portions of it, and to distribute the remainder in severalty to the Indians, giving them also the interest of the purchase-money of the lands which the govern- ment buys from them, as annuities. There were on these reservations in January, 1880, 26,530 Indians of all ages. Of these 25,237 were Sioux or Dakotas, of twenty-one different bands or sub-tribes; 1,393 (the Indians at the Fort Berthold Agency) were the remnant of other tribes formerly hostile to the Sioux, and were divided as follows: Arickarees, 720; Gros Ventres, 448; Mandans, 225. Since the severe punishment of Sitting Bull and his band for their massacre of General Custer and his troops, and their escape into British America, the remaining bands of Sioux have been peaceful and friendly to the whites. They are, for the most part, making decided progress in civilization. With the almost complete destruction of the ''"'-'J'-XWX Of DAKOTA buflalo, they have very ,.c„,.rall. .K , ' 77% ">«loraee amount of |,t„,„ , 7 f ^"''°"<^o chase, excont , an.n,als, and with each y"a f „ ' '"PP''"^' "^ "'« fur.b,"^^ » '-""'S their attention Tthe „" nT'^' ""'"'^-"f .he„'?,t Jrawn,^, ,reijj|„, a„d ,„ the 2,nl > ""^ ''""'-' ^"^ Worses ,o ;"-;>' "f them have buil tfo 2'' T'^" "^ "'■'"^"'""■'••- Verv apnces, and the more promil i , '""' ^' '^^^'^l' of the ten ;"e;able numbers sent^E ■^"o^S: f'^"'' ^^^' --•- " iccurn become nn¥ ^ i . 'c>'"-* "istruction on/^i P^P'e'n 'heirpro,rerto": rd"S;r "" '^^^^^ °f "- J'«=P'-«ent population ofth^T • ' ["''rrV'^'^^'^ °^ -'"•"' tr^:e^n^'"''"''<"=^■'4S'ribaI Centra Dakota ,o,ooo, So.Zaem ;;''?''' '^^ •-"""" 36,ooo, Hills ,6,ooo. The inhabitant, of N .^ ''* 74.000, Black ' rgely of European birth, tl oLh ,!°".''''^" '^''^'^'- ••'■■o verv 'lenient, mainly from Nevv En T ?r " ^ ■'""'^'■>"t American »'' Ohio, to maintain AmlStf-;^"' ^°'-''' P^nn^)" ' n7a R;-ans who have been a Cia'd '"-'r^; '^'^ Mennon t :* "l» have come here for the M! "'"' "'"'" ''" Rnssia and »' enjoy there, Norwe Wnn, 7 T «'" T'' "^"^ "''-"y they ca„ - Catholic colonies f o BltmT'"' ^"' ^^ Gerlan, t^ve come over under the dSolf w"'V"'' '-'""d, wh ch Mt.o„ Considerable numbers 1,=,, '"'' °'^'''e northern ^^"sfied with the homestead ?a.t'°"" '■'■°"' Manitoba hs :-;p;- and push in ihat :;'^v"'r"' '^-^ '-^ of r 'n ""'• '"°'- "-^ -"o^' part of t^i '"'"""■'='"'■' "f t'.i^ t ""• One company of Russian!' , P°°''<='' '^'"^ of emi- Pe^eral cases they have boncrhf , "^"f^ "^en of property Fn L:r •" ^°°'°^ -- an"! tSn^l"'^ °' '^"' ' »"'^- ""■-numfes of their own faith """^ '° ^' '° '»ve entire : ll II i cc;; :S ^76 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. In Central Dakota the emigration is largely European, Nor- wegian, Swedish, and German, with a considerable admixture of American families. In Southeastern Dakota the American fami- lies predominate, though there are here also Mennonite, Bel- gian, German, and Irish colonics. The farming lands of this region are more generally in small holdings, and the class of immigrants who are occupying them are of a character superior to those who are settling in many other regions. It is a very desirable region for the best class of farming immigrants. The character of the population of the Black Hills has been already described. They are, as a rule, superior to most mining populations. Whr.n ihe division of this Territory is accom- plished, as it will be when railroad communication is established from the East with the Black Hil's, the southern part will prob- ably have for its northern boundary the forty-fifth parallel as a continuation of the line of Wyoming, and the new State may also have that portion of Wyoming which contains the western half of the Black Hills, as it will be desirable to have that region under one government. This region will have a sufficient popu- lation for admission into the Union as a State by that time. The northern part of the Territory, while the largest, will probably have no mineral products, except coal, and possibly lead; biit'it will be a rich farming and grazing country, and accessible both by its rivers and railways to the best markets. Churches and Religious Teachings. — The population of Dakota, though drawn from such diverse sources, has more of the relicrious element in it than is found in most of the States or Territories of the West. Several of the colonies, of which there are a considerable number in the Territory, are founded in part on religious principles. This is especially the case with the Mennonite settlements, in which there are from 10,000 to 20,000 people, and the Roman Catholic colonies, which are rapidly increasing in numbers and already give full employment to an active and energetic bishop. The Scandinavian immigrants are mostly Lutherans, and they bring their clergymen with them, and establish churches at once. The Germans, when not Catholics, are mostly rationalists, and not favorably disposed toward religion, PJiOSPECTS OF DAKOTA. 777 in, Nor- xture of :an fami- ^ite, Bcl- s of this : class of r superior is a very nts. ; has been ost mining is accom- established t will prob- parallcl as a / State may the western - that region Fficient popu- ,t time. Ihe kvill probably lead; but it Iccssible both though some of them arc very earnest in their Christian zeal. But the large numbers of immigrants from the Eastern States were mostly from Christian homes, and they manifest their remembrance of their early associations by rearing schools and churches at once in these new villages, even while they them- selves may be living in a dug-out or a sod-house. All of the Protestant denominations seem to be very fairly represented, and all manifest much zeal in organizing churches and gathering congregations. The irreligious element is stronger in the Dlack Hills than elsewhere in the Territory, but from Mr. White's testimony already quoted, it seems that there is less Sabbath- breaking and open, unblushing vice there, than in most mining districts. Taking it all in all, there is not at the present time a better region for the farmer or stock-raiser than Dakota, and those who prefer a mining region can be as well accommodated in the Black Hills as in any part of the West, especially if they do not propose to engage personally in mining. Other States and Territories may boast of greater natural wonders and more grand and delightful scenery, though, in both these particulars, Dakota has much to produce emotions of sur- prise, awe, and delight ; but what gives this Territory its peculiar charm is its thorough adaptation for quiet and beautiful homes. The sun shines on no fairer land, and on none where so many circumstances combine to make a residence so home-like and ddightful. !■■ 778 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER VI. IDAHO TERRITORY. |;1'-1 It-"' crit s Topography— Boundaries — Length and Breadth — Area — Latitude and Longitude — Distrihution of Area — Arable Lands — Grazing Lands- Timber Lands — Mining Lands — Desert Lands — Mountains — Lakes- Rivers — Climate — Meteorology of Boise City — Geology and Miner- alogy — The Precious Metals — Other Metals and Minerals — Mineral Springs — Natural Wonders — Sulphur Lake and Deposits — Salt Springs — Soil and Vegetable Productions — Forest Trees — Zoology — Mines AND Mining — Production of Gold and Silver since 1862 — Present Falling off — Great Mineral Wealth — Stock-Raising — Sheep-Farming — The Culture of Arable Lands — Obstacles to the Progress of Growth of Idaho — The Lack of Railroads and of Wagon-roads — The Lack of Capital — Mormon Influence the Greatest Obstacle of all. Idaho Territory is one of the central or interior Territories of the northern tier, in form much like a huge chair. Its northern and very narrow boundary (at the top of the chair) is British America, while the seat of the chair is bounded on the north by Montana. The Bitter Root Mountains, one of the principal ranges of the Rocky Mountains, form the eastern boundary between Idaho and Montana, and between it and Wyoming the boundary follows the iiith meridian west from Greenwich. On the south, following the 42d parallel, it is bounded by Utah and Nevada ; on the west it is bounded by Oregon and Washington j Territory, the line being the 1 17th meridian to the mouth of thej Boise river, thence along the Snake river for 350 miles to Lewis- ton, and thence northward along the 117th meridian to British] America. The southwest corner of Yellowstone Park is within the bounds of Idaho. The Territory lies between the 42d andj 49th parallels of north latitude, and between the 1 1 ith and i i/thj meridians of longitude west from Greenwich. It is about 410J miles long from north to south, and a little less than 300 miles wide at its widest portion. Its area as stated at the Land Office is 86,294 square miles, or 55,228,160 acres. There arc very diverse estimates of the proportions of this area in arable, grazj Ir -Latitudk and IA2ING Lands- tains — Lakes— GY AND MlNER- iRALS— Mineral 3 — Salt Springs Zoology — Mines 1862 — Present -Sheep-Farming iREss OF Growth 3 — The Lack of all. 3r Territories Its nortiiern air) is British 1 the north by the principal ern boundary Wyoming the eenwich. On by Utah and 1 "VVashinqjton mouth of thei niles to Lewis- Jian to British Park is within n the 4 2d andl ith and ii/thj is about 410J han 300 miles le Land Office here are ver) n arable, grazj I : 'i ! i ;"■""& «:: cc:; fS en !«-, ____ja». iUxC^. :^ %«. '^'e*-!,. md^ ■wKfrsRAUNii.1.) K*.7^ Ainlfin'r£najbify ^, farmer. K fe;jgi^^---^J ^ jHfcrtin^i^ KaiinurkiltitT ' I o - 1 / > »^ " ^Itmrrmll, ./ ^» — h- (i.>,M-^-^.i-;,. J""-" <,'/ «in*< SUJlWCily- ? T U \jfrvn< 0*' m 1 •UTTC I an tiHiriitM'^ AWrWi ft. tBujn •ft; ! — ^^^-.t:_Ji._^_..iL.^)_ :._._.iyi.iA^i2^._L.i j^ei'/^j*^-!! ..o^- f • i KeUon mumfnt Pf ^^\ n WBMM^M'S^o SrnU- „f Mil.vi — BfuM ^..mJ r^-n ^ I in vo Kt 4« tn M* /Wiifp L Ofjfirr/tf /ji- /JtYn/,'rT, V/" /I'l-'l/ cell m?, timber and mining lands anrf 1 ''' Governor Bray.nan, «tth a s,Z , ":'' "^ "'""'''"ss lands *■"• the Territory, of wLhonr".""P"'"^« acquaintance :;'; "- '■-■■"ory regard Ss ab Td"^ "a ""■" "■°- '■-""ar of the quality of d,ese lands vvi 1 aflbrd ^PP™'"""-''-- o^fmate .n he,r natural state, ,5,ooo,o<^ ^^1 ""^,l"-' f- cultivation l;y rr,gat,on, ,a,ooo.ooo acre ■ La2 , "^ "*" '"'•■^■''""ation '">bor lands, ,0,000,000 acreV- m *" '""''■ 5'°o°.ooo acres "«= 4.-'.S,,<5o acres of desert ;rer^ '''"'• '•°°°'°°o acres.' ^iiicc. Any estimate of fl„. „ 1 ^ """^ to the ous classes of land in this Terr, '^" °'" ^^■"'■•^ of the vari .vaned in its climate and aid I ''' 'k ^''''''" '" ''^ =^"^face and "s total area of 55,..8,,6o c 'ud °"'^ ^'PP^-mate. Of gncultural, either in its natt^aYLate „''' "•°°°'°°° ^^■"^ '° b by irrigation with the availablcltT n' " ""^ '^'^ ''••■daimed ^5,ooo,<^ acres pasture lands To n "°" """■"*•' ''" ""-" «^eams »J t'>e remainder, 8,2.8 ,fc '; '°'°°°'°°° acres timber lands-' -f^ingofinaccess'iblc'm'^u aii:'ra[''^^rr''''^^^'^-X' Ihe surveyor-ijeneral w^„l 1 ? "'' ""'' 'ava beds " S.ooo.oooacres,o1.the;a;ufof'm''''^'"^'"'''= "- -PPOsed srf ^"^ ""-' '°.°°o.oo: acl7;Tr''^'" '"^ ^5,0'c^.ooo •-^t" 'ate IS .mdoubtedly nearer ,1 f''"''' '^'"l^- This last ■"" "> the amount of ,4 ' ,1 " 7""' "'=>" "'<= governors 7'-. .-t would seem ttTsoT,^'"'''' '''''''''' ^'-ays on,:' "■''"-average rainfall does not wl '"T"'^^- ^ Territory ">an three-fourths of thattn 2. '"' '""'"'= "^'■^■•^. and more -"- summer and autum" pi I^r T' ^P"'"^'' '-""g the «>'e ."ore than one-fourth "fftf^ ^"^, '^'"'''''' cannot well ;."■. There are undoub d^'fe.^rj;'^"'^. ^^"^ -'thout irr^ "d in some years, without irril. f"^' '" '''^''°- "here w^h ^ "-erately good gracing ctnt^VrSS 03 ^ ex;; II 780 ^^^ ;rA'57'/iAW EMPIRE. Montana, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington, were not so much better aihii)tc:tl to grazing. .• ; It is primarily a mining country, and when the railroads now projected or in progress have given it access to a market at reasonable rates it may, if the Mormons and Indians will refrain from killing the immigrants, yield a large amount of the precious metals, and raise enough grain and root crops, beef and mutton to supply its own inhabitants, but there will be little of cither to export, at least for some years to come. Topography, Jlfoun/ainSy Lakes, Rivers, etc. — Idaho is a moun- tainous Territory, more so. perhaps, than any other of the States or Territories of " Our Western Empire," although there are no summits as lofty as those in Colorado, California, Oregon, Wash- ington or Arizona. The altitudes range from 2,000 feet above the sea in the Snake River valley to nearly 10,000 feet at the summit of some of Its loftiest peaks. Its general average of elevation is above 4,000 feet. On its northeast border from Lake Pend d'Oreille and Clark's fork of the Columbia river down to the Lewis or Snake river at the Wyoming boundary, the Bitter Root Mountains, one of the main ranges, though not the highest range, of the Rocky Mountains, separate it from Montana ; almost parallel widi these is an irregular range trend- ing in general from northwest to southeast, known as the Salmon River Mountains, one of the oudying ranges of the Rocky Moun- ♦■ iins. These traverse the central portion of the State. On the west, near the eastern bank of the Snake river, from the Wciser to the Salmon river, is a range of hills 5,000 or 6,000 feet in height. The southern part of the Territory, south of the Snake river, is an elevated plateau, and in the southwest an alkaline desert. There are many valleys between these ranges of mountains and these elevated plateaux, some of them of considerable breadth and fertility ; others broad but barren ; others still narrow and fertile, and others yet mere rocky defiles and canons. There are about twenty lakes of considerable size, and a great number of small lakes or ponds in the Territory. The largest are Lakes Pend d'Oreille, Creur d'Alene and Kaniksu in the north, the Pay- so much oads now narkct at /ill refrain - precious kI mutton f either to is a moun- ' the States lere are no gon, Wash- feet above feet at the average of border from umbla river (I- bounckiry, , though not Irate it from Irange trend- the Sahnon .ocky ^loun- .te. On the h the Wciser le.ooo feet in ,f the Snake an alkaline pf mountains Irable breadth narrow and hons. There treat number tst are Lakes jrth, the Tay- TIIE SA'.I A7-: KIVflK .tXD /TS TRinUTARlF.S. 78, ctte and Weiser lakes in the centre, Rocky, Har, Market, I)e Lacy and Jackson's lakes in the east, and l>ear lake in'the southeast. The whole of Idaho, except a very small tract in the southeast, belongs to the river system of the Columbia river and drains into the I'acilic ocean. The exception is Bear river and lake in the southeast, the waters of which are discharged into the Great Salt lake. There is also a bare possibility that some one of the sources of the Green river, one of the constituents of the Colorado of the West, may rise in the mountains of the southeast, interlac- ing there with the sources of the Snake river or Lewis' fork. But more than 80,000 of the 86,000 square miles of the Terri- tory are drained by the great tributaries of the Columbia and their aflluents, and five-sixths of the So,ooo miles by the Lewis' fork or Snake river and its branches. The nordieast corner is drained by the Kootenai, an affluent of the Columbia, which joins it In British Columbia, and the Pend d'Oreille or Clark's fork crosses the Territory a lltde above the forty-eighth parallel. The Spokane river, another of the tributaries of the Columbia, which flows through Lake Cocur d'Alcne, drains a plateau thirty or forty miles in width, and below this the Snake river, the largest constituent of the Columbia, occupies the whole Territory. The Palousc, one of its principal affluents, in Washington Territory, drains a plateau south of the Spokane, and the Snake river itself, rising by several sources in Wyoming Territory, flows northwest, then southwest, west, northwest and north, having a course of about 1,100 miles in this Territory, receiving during its course between thirty and forty tributaries, some of them, like the Salmon, Boise, Owyhee, Bruneau, Wood and Weiser, being themselves large rivers. The Salmon river drains the central part of the Territory. The Snake river, owing to its numerous falls and rapids, is not navigable in Idaho, but becomes navigable at Lewiston, the point where it leaves the Territory. At its headwaters, and for a considerable distance below, there are rich bottom lands, which, though 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, will, it is thought, prove productive. For 150 miles below these, it flows through a broad valley of moderately rich and fertile land. At or near the mouth of Bannack river it ;82 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. b"**«l cm O enters a deep, rocky caflon, throuj^h which it passes for sevcnt)'- fivc miles. In 'this carton an; several very large falls, one of them the: celebrated Shoshone falls, exceeding Niagara in heij.;ht (being 200 feet), and rivalling it in the volume of water and tlv grandeur of its surroundings. Cliiuatc. — The meteorology of Idaho is somewhat meagrt;. The Signal Service Department has but one station in the Territory, that at Bois6 City, and their deficiency has not been, so far as we are aware, made up by private observations. Boise City is cen- trally situated, but its elevation is only 2,877 ^"^'^^ ^"^^ '^ gives but an indefinite idea of the temperature, rainfall, etc., of the more elevated tracts where nearly all the mines and many of the agri- cultural districts are situated. The following table and the appended note give all the particulars furnished by the Signal Service office : METEOROLOGY OF BOISE CITY, IDAHO TERRITORY. Latitude 43° 40'. Loiiy c 116° 6'. Elevation above sealevcl 2,877 feet. 1877-1878. Months. 1877. July Aujjust .... September . October . . . November . December . , 1878. Jntuiary . . . P'ebruary . . March . . . . April May June Year. . . . il Bi i ^2 >. n rii E 2 e2 Ss &.2 S-s irrr >,^ £ 1^ ^1 V 2 a X I? 1 = ^ H H H t- per *5 C < "•< cent in. III. 106 44 74-9 62 36.8 035 29.500 98 43 73-9 55 :iM 0.09 29.572 9' 32 61.0 59 4S.0 0.27 29.65;, 74 21 49.0 53 57-' 085 29.792 63 18 41. 1 45 69.6 2.05 29'934 54 8 30-9 4b 67.9 0.01 30.074 55 7 34-3 48 66.2 '•73 30.081 57 ^8 39-7 29 675 2.1S 2993 • 75 26 48.0 49 62.0 1.63 29.997 77 23 5'2 54 5 'J 0.37 29.914 86 29 58.8 57 49.9 1. 18 29.961 96 43 723 S3 .3«9 o.8f. 29-975 106 7 52.9 99 54- > 11.57 29.866 Direction of Winds III (he order of frequency. N. E.. N., S. W. N. E., S., N., N. W. S., Calm, N. W.. N.. N. E. S., Calm, W., N. S., Calm, N. E., N. Calm, W., N., S. W. S., Calm, W., N. N. E., E., S., W., Calm. S., Calm, W., N. E., E. W., Calm, N. W., N., S. W., S. N. W., N., N. E., W., .S. E., E. N. W., N. E.. .S.. N. E. S., Calm, N., N. E., W., N. W. The Signal Service Report for 1878-9 varies but very little from the above. The maxiiniini temperature of the year was 103°, and the minimum 5°, the range, 98°, varying only one degree from the previou.s year, while the mean was 52.7°. The rainfall w.is for the autumn of 1878 l.io inches; for the winter of 187S-9, 5.37 inches; for the spring of 1879,4.38 inches, and for the summer of 1879, 1. 46 inches, making 12.31 inches in all, or .74 of an inch more ih.m the previous year. It is noticeable that 9,75 inches of this, or nearly four-fifths, fell in the winter and spring, and the proportion was about the same as the year before. GEOLOGY .iXD MINERALOGY. 783 Geology and Minenilogy. — The Jjeoloj^y of tlic Territory has been only partially investigated. The mountains, like the Rocky Mountains generally, are at their summits and on their western slopes, granitic or feldspathic, with, perhaps, some metatnorphic rocks on their sides. The vallc^ys are on their surface alluvial or diluvial — tiie result of the constant wear and erosion of the stcf'p mountain slopes. Oftener perhaps than in other Stales and Territories, this debris from the mountains is a very 'iv\ dust — especially in the valleys of the Salmon and Snake riv«.:rs. The gold washed out of the veins or lodes in the mountains has been ground by attrition to the fmest (lour, so fme that although all the sand and the soil along those river valleys for many miles contain large quantities of it, it could not be separated by washing, and was only to be secured by running it very slowly over electro-plated silver plates, covered with mercury. In the centre of the southern half of the Territory lliere is an extensive volcanic plateau, inaccessible and unexplored, destitute of soil or vegetation. The Bear river region, in Southeastern Idaho, as well as that bordering on the Yellowstone Park, is vol- canic in its character. Among its minerals gold has been found in the fme impalpable powder already mentioned, in large grains and nuggets, and in gold veins and lodes along nearly the whole course of the Snake and Salmon rivers, in the Sawtooth or Sal- mon river range of mountains at almost all points, and at many points on the western slope of the Bitter Root mountains. On the east fork of Salmon river and about the sources, and indeed in nearly the whole length of Wood river and at the southt rn termination of the Sawtooth range, silver is very plentiful, and silver mining would be conducted with great success w< re the facilities of transportation of the rich ores less difficult.* Copper is found in very rich ores — sixty-five to seventy per cent., and also native copper of great purity in Bear Lake county, and in the *This Wood river region, a district about eighty miles lonj? and forty miles wide, is just now the scene of great excitement from the discovery of a number of rieh silver lodes on both sides of Wood river. It is declared by some to be a second Leadville, and hundreds and per- haps thousands are flocking thither from Utah, Nevada, California and Bome from Northern Colorado. Whether they will corns to stay remains to be seen. cc;; yg^ OUR ll'F.STF.K.V EMPIRE. Snaki: river copper mlnln^^ district. It is also rombincd with sil- ver in the Sawtooth range and the Wood river district. Load in the form of galena or siilphur(;t and carbonate of lead is found in all the silver mines, and an ore yielding about seventy- eight per cent, of pure lead iv found in the Bear river. Iron is abundant and in all forms. Coal is found in great quantities and of excellent quality for coking and furnace purposes along Bear lake, and is also mined at Smith's fork and on Irvin creek The Mammoth mine hero shows a vein seventy feet thick of clear coal, and with adjacent veins, separated by thin veins of clay, will aggregate 200 feet in thickness. The Utah and Northern Railroad, which f)asses near, will soon open this great mine to a market. There is also a largo bed of very good coal in Northern Idaho near Lewiston, and another in Boise county, about twenty-five miles north of Boise City. Antimony, arsenic and surphur are found in considerable quantities, the latter especially in the volcanic districts. In Bear Lake county, near the Bear river, there is a sulphur lake very heavily encrusted with sulphur, and a mountain eighty-five per cent, of which is pure sulphur. The "Soda Springs," now becoming a popular resort from Salt Lake City, are in the same vicinity, near the Bear river and the Utah and Northern Railroad. Mr. Robert E. Strahorn, who has recently explored this won- derful region which gives so many evidences of volcanic action, past and present, thus writes of it in the New West Illustmkd of December, 1879: "Soda Springs, a hamlet of probably one hundred souls, is located within a stone's throw of Bear river, near the latter's 'big bend' in Sonthfastrrn Idaho, and thirty-five miles cast of OnoiJ;; Station, Utah and Northern Railway. It takes its name from a group of noteworthy .springs in the vicinity, and thrives mainly upon the latter's fast-increasing popularity. "One spring is graced with a lively steam vent which finds its way upward through a massive boulder. Fremont named It * Steamboat Spring,* on account of its measured pufT which resem- bles that of an engine. The waters of this spring are utilized In a comfortable bath-house near by. A group of four of the other cd with sil- t. \atc of U'ixd ut scvcnty- 2r. Iron is I quantities poses along itl on Irvin cvcnty feet jy thin veins ; Utah and n this great •y good coal ioise county, lony, arsenic s, the latter county, near icrusted with yhich is pure opular resort ear the Bear red this won- llcanic action, ^si IllusiraUd Ired souls, is latter's'big ist of Onoi.la [name fron\ a [irives mainly which finds 3nt named it kvhich rcscm- Ire utilized in of the other 77//; SOn.4 AXD OTIIEK SPA'/XOS. ^gj springs liavo attracted particular attention on account of the curative properties of tiie waters. Tlie strongly niinerali/.eil lluid is also ever hul ^)ling up from the depths of pretty basins in Hear river, in Soila creek, along the streets of the village — in fact, cverywhcTo in the vicinity — and is as pleasant as a beverage, as it has b(!(!n found exhilarating and strengthening as a tonic. Invalids with some of the most deep-set and loathsome blood diseases claim to have found a perfect cure In these fountains. A mile distant are other and not less interesting springs, the waters of which are so thoroughly charged with calcareous matter as to quickly form a coating of limestone upon any object immersed In them. "'V. dc V.' thus humorously writes of the great Hooper Spring: ' Hooper Spring, one mile from the main town, is not surpassed In the world. Kight or ten springs all bubble up within a radius of ten or twelve feet, and all unite in one and How off Into Soda creek, In a stream six feet wide and four feet deep. This Is the most powerful spring in the world. Its water is very highly charged. It is surprising how much people drink. Five pints Is the usual draught ; ten will blow a man up ; and then, if you can find his mouth, twenty more will reunite the fragments, free him from disease and set him on his feet, regen- erated and born again. The water from this spring Is bottled and sold. It will when known become famous the world over. No mineral water I ever drank has such a delicious taste ; none causes such an appetite. The men that drink It can't do with- out it; children cry for It; old people renew their youth at this fountain.' "The Octagon Spring has received some attention from Cap- Itain Hooper, who has a handsome summer villa near by, and in summer we find scores of visitors seated under the rustic shade^ drinking the life-saving fluid from early morn until late at night. We meet here the lame, the halt, and even some that are nearly Iblind, all testifying to the wonderful benefits they derive from Ithese waters. The mineral constituents of these springs render Ithem the best of alteratives, and very efficacious in scrofulous |and glandular difficulties, and for all diseases of the skin.. They so 786 OUJi WESTERN EMPIRE. are also an excellent diuretic, and contain enough iron to make them of value as a tonic. One quart of the water from the * Octagon Spring ' contains : Grains. Sulphate of magnesia 12.10 Sulphate of lime 2.12 Carbonate of lime 3.86 Carbonate of magnesia 3.22 Chloride of calcium 1.33 Chloride of magnesium 1.12 Chloride of sodium 2.24 Vegetable matter 85 " There is sufficient carbonic acid gas to give the whole a power over disease. As a beverage these waters resemble in taste the famed Saratoga. A few minutes' walk away is a beau- tiful spring called the Ninety Per Cent. It is all soda save ten per cent. The water is delicious. It contains no iron. " P'our miles southeast of Soda Springs is Swan lake, one of the loveliest natural gems in the Wasatch chain. It reclines in an oval basin, whose rim is ten feet above the surrounding country, The shores are densely covered with trees, shrubs, and the luxu- riant undergrowth native to that country. The outlet is a series of small moss-covered basins, symmetrically arranged, the clear water overflowing the banks, trickling into the nearest emerald tub, then successively into others, until it forms a sparkling stream and dances away to a confluence with the Bear river in the valley below. " The rim is apparendy formed by petrifaction, and extends down as far as the eye can penetrate the clear crystal water, Timber and bodies of trees coated with a calcareous substance can be seen in the depths, but no bottom has yet been reached in the centre, and it is supposed that it is fed by subterranean springs from the base of the mountain. "Adjacent to this fit abode for water nymphs is the singular sulphur lake, out of whose centre liquid sulphur incessandy boils and coats the shores with thick deposits, looking as though it might be a direct out-cropping of Plutonian regions. Near by n to make from the Grains. 12. lO 2.12 3.86 3.22 1.33 1.12 2.24 ■85 the whole a resemble in /ay is a beau- soda save ten iron. 1 lake, one of , reclines in an riding country. , and the luxu- itlet is a series .Tcd, the clear [carest emerald s a sparkling Bear river in In, and extends crystal water. -ous substance [t been reached ly subterranean lis the singular Incessantly hoh \y as though It ions. Nearhy 77//t /C7i CAVES OF IDAHO. 787 is a mountain, eighty-fivo per cent, of which is pure sulphur. Mr. Williams i.-5 now hauling several tons of it to Oneida Station for shipment to Mr. G. Y. Wallace, of .Salt Lake, who will experi- ment with it to ascertain whether it will fxiy to make it an article of commerce. The great sulphur deposit extends from the base of the mountain to an unknown drpth, width and Inadth. Re- move the top crust anywhere near where it crops out and you find almost pure sulphur. The bed must I)e .t inimrnse area. You can load a wagon with your hands without pi^ 1<: or shovel as quickly as you could fill it with corn. You can take up a rock and touch a match to it and it will burn up, leaving a black sub- stance which probably represents the impurity. A piece that weighs a pound will leave a lump of this about as large as a pea. " Four miles from the village is the great ice cave, which a recent visitor describes as follows: 'This cave is situated very close to the roadside, on a level stretch of prairie about midway hctween the two crossings of the Rear river. We co'^Tmenced the descent just as the heavens were reverberating with deep- rolling thunder and the rain pouring down in a perfectly reckless manner, thereby making us feel that it was an opportune time to shelter ourselves beneath the ai^ching rocky cavern. Follow- ing our guidf", we descended a rocky stairway some twenty feet to a level grassy rotunda some hundreds of feet in circumference, walled in by solid lava rocks. From this we descended still fur- ther over a rugged, rocky pathway, about twenty feet, when we found ourselves on the congealed floor of the immense ice cave, where ice can be found all the year round. While our guide was lighting our tallow dips, we surveyed the reeky walls which surrounded us. The roof, some ten feet above our heads, was tilled widi little niches or pockets, which had been utilized by cave swallows, while the side walls were as perpendicular and solid as though hewn by the hand of man out of solid rock. Coursing our way over the ice, which was apparently firm and solid for a distance of about loo yards, we came to a huge pile of lava rock which had rolled from the roof and almost choked up the passage-way. Our guide bade us follow him, and we soon found ourselves once again in a clear open way, wide and ecu utat 788 <^'^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. high enough to drive a six-horse stage-coach comfortably. This smooth tunnel we follow for probably 100 yards, when we again descend a rocky stairway, some ten feet or more, and stand upon what apparently was once the bed of a large river, with a per- fectly solid sandy floor. The roof and side walls are here found to be covered with minute stalactites which, reflecting the light of our candles, lend a weird aspect to the surroundings. We now proceed onward several hundred feet through this perfectly symmetrical tunnel to the end, or what appears to be the end.' "About tvv'o miles to the northwest of the ice cave is a slum- bering volcano, out of which came part of the immense bodies of lava that cover this plain for miles around. The rim of the crater is almost circular, and stands up about 200 feet above the level of the plateau below. In the cooling process, the heart cf the crater settled down about 100 feet below the rim, leaving a perfect representation to the student of nature of an immense extinct volcano. We have been able, during our short sojourn in this wonderland, to clearly trace nearly fifty immense extinct volcanoes, which appear, from the apparent age of the lava beds, to have been flowing about the same time. "All kinds of game common to the western mountains can be found in the region surrounding Soda Springs. Bear, deer, elk, mountain lions, mountain sheep, sage hens, and ducks are espe- cially plentiful. Trout fishing in Soda creek, Eight Mile creek, Bear river, and Blackfoot river, is of that character which can be appreciated even by the novice. Cast your hook in almost any of these waters, and prepare for a two or three pound trout as an almost instant result. "The altitude of Soda Springs is 5,738 feet,. The warmth of summer is tempered by the coolness of the nights. Blankets are not uncomfortable even in the warmest nights of August. The atmosphere is dry, like all mountainous regions, and is therefore very favorable to consumptives or those afflicted with pulmonary diseases. This waF once the favorite resort of Brigham Yoiinj,', and is still the regular summering place of numerous Salt Lake City merchants, who have built app:opnate residences. " Salt is also one of the Idaho minerals. The Salt Springs ly. This we again and upon ith a per- ere found the light ngs. We s perfecdy the end.' is a slum- nse bodies rim of the t above the he heart cf n, leaving a in immense lort sojourn ::nse extinct le lava beds, tains can be .r, deer, elk, s are espt- Mile creek, rhich can be almost any ind trout as warmth oi ilankets arc lugust. The is therefore II pulmonary Iham Young, IS Salt Lake les. salt Springs THE ONEIDA SALT PRODUCTION. ^gg which have been utilized since 1866, are in Oneida county, near the Wyoming border, about fifty miles northeast of the Soda Springs, on the Old Lander emigrant road leading from Soutli Pass to Oregon. The road passes directly along the flat below die spring, where, before being concentrated in pipes, the water iiad spread out and, evaporating in the sun, formed large masses of salt crystals which attracted the attention of passers-by and led to the discovery of the spring flowing from the hillside above. It is clear and sparkling as the purest spring water, and never would be suspected of containing mineral. The valley in which it is situated is known now as Salt Spring valley, and Is about ten miles long by an average of one mile wide ; through it flows a rapid stream well filled with mountain trout. " The Salt Springs were first taken up by B. F. White, Esq, (the present owner), and jjartner, in June, 1866, and works have since been in constant operaUon, every year witnessing an incrc;ase in the demand, until almost the entire stream flowing from the spring has been utilized. The salt is made by boiling the water in large galvanized iron pans, into wMch it is led by v/oodcn pipes leading direct from the spring, thus insuring perfect clean- liness, and a uniformly white, clean and beautiful product. The water is kept constantly running into tlie boilers, and is kept iX a boiling heat all the time. The salt is shoveled out once in every thirty minutes, and after draining twenty-five hours is thence thrown Into the drying-house, there to rtmain until sacked and prepared for shipping. The most scrup'dous clean- liness is observed in every operation, and when t.ie Immense banks of salt lie piled up in the drying-house, they r jsemble huge snow-banks more than anything one could Imagine, It takes from two to four months for salt made in this manner to dry and ripen, and for this reason it becomes necessary to keep on hand a large supply, so that at any time a thousand tons of the purest and whitest salt In the world may be seen here In these far west 'Oneida salt works.' "Following Is an analysis of the' Oneida salt, made by Dr. Piggot, the well-known analytical chemist, of Baltimore. It shows a higher percentage of pure salt than tlie celebrated Onondaga «:: ^1 CCIi t- or; O ygCj OVR tVJ:.<>//'/»/fr brand, man^ifactured at Sy/acuse, whale ^fceifllher 'Liverpool,' 'Turk's Island ' or 'SaL'inaw' sarf^t ^'p^KM/^h k ic purity, or are as white, clear o-r soluble in liquids: Chlorkl* of sodium (pure salt) . .,../,./ ^7.79 Sulph. soda / / / i-54 Chloride of calcium .67 Sulpli. magnesia . . . . , Trace Total 100.00 "In 1866 only 15,000 pounds of salt were here manufactured; but the demand in Idaho, Utah and Montana has so steadily in- creased that the product has averaged about 600,000 pounds per annum up to 1877, ^" '^7S it ran up to 1,500,000 pounds, and in 1879 to nf'^r\y 2,000,000 pounds, much of the production of the last two' ytufi having hiA^n consumed in Montana smelting works. It is :^.'*r,ked in 5, io, 25, 50 and 100 pound bags, and is laid down a< pO'tiwU- 200 miles distant by wagon transportation at from three to fbi-i^ ^-^V^ pcky M'ywntains, the Sierra Ne\ada and other higli mountain ranj^/;i> on this continent luving a general di- rection from fiftfil^ U) W>uth, the western face or slope is precip itous, and has wi'f<^ little arable land, though portions of the mountain below the snow-line may be covered with timber. But it is precisely tliese precipitous mountain sides which are oftenest the places of deposit of the precious metals. In Idaho we have not only the western face of the Rocky Mountains, but the long and bold spur of l'u\t ran^. kno\vn as the Salmon River and Sawtooth Mountains, the latter name being given as characteristic of their precipitous face-,. There is also a rocky wall overlooking tl\e val- THE BAKKEN LAND^ OF IDAHO. 791 Jverpool,' , or are as 100.00 .nufactured; steadily lu- ) pounds per pounds, and ■oduction of ana smelting . bags, and is sportation at ly stated our id not gready se lands ca- tory ot" which len surveyed, ciples. Our rm tilt' eabt- stern tace to Ui and other ral di- grencr )pe IS precip ^tions ol ih^ timber. But li are oftencst 1) we have noL the long and ind Sawtooth Iristic of ihtu' Iking the val- ley of the Snake rive^ for a long stretch of its course, and the deep, dark canon through which It flows for seventy-five miles in the lava lands. There are furthermore the alkaline Innds, a desert and dreary waste, the lofty mesas and plains, not irrigable, and unfit even for grazing without it, and the hillsides and foothills facing the east, which, though affording good pasture grounds in many instances for herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, are not adapted to cultivation. In short, it is only the river valley and bottom land, and not all of these, which can properly be called arable lands, and with an average rainfall of only twelve inches, more than three-fourths of it between November and April, even these must often, perhaps not always, be irrigated. The soil, when irrigated, is generally fertile ; perhaps not so rich as that of Montana, or California, or the Willamette valley, but it yields for a first crop from twenty-five to forty bushels of wheat, fifty bushels or thereabouts of barley, and fifty-five of oats. Corn does not do well, except in the river bottoms, the season being too short for it. TVuits are said to be raised with great 'success, especially in Northern Idaho. The forest trees of Ic'aho are^ma:' 'y those of the Pacific slope, but radier of Oregon and Washington, than of California. The vaitous species of pine, including the pinon or nut pine, the P. pondcrosa iir yellow pine, and several other species of fir, spruce, tamarack and cypress, the red cedar, though not the "Redwood," the white cedar, the juniper, and some of the hardwood trees, as the oak of three or four speeies, chinquapin, hickory, etc., etc., are the principal trees of its forests. At fiiU age, the pines, firs and cedars attain a height of about 150 feet. Like the Pacific States generally, it has very little sod, tlvnigh the bvmch grass is found on most of the grazing lands, and is so nutritious that cat- de fatten upon it very readily. Wild flowers abound in the valleys, atul many of them are of remarkable beauty. Lands upon which are foimd in luxuriant growth the bunch grass, larkspur and the wild sunflower of tue Pacific coast, are w^ell adapted to the growth of cereals, and these are the most com- mon products of the plateaux of Northern Idaho. Wild fruits abound in Northern and Central Idaho, especially tlie wild 792 OUR WESTERN EAfP/RE. a? berries and wild cherries, though the wild clierry of the Pacific coast is a shrub, and not a tree. Its fruit is, however, more edible and pleasant than that of the East. Zoo/fl/^y. — The wild animals of the Territory are, in general, those of Oregon and California. The grizzly bear is seldom seen, but has been found in the Territory. The black and cin- namon bear are common ; the puma, cougar, panther or moun- tain lion (the beast is known by all four names) is troublesome, especially in the grazing lands ; the gray wolf and the western coyote, all the fur-bearing animals, the martin, fisher, lynx, pos- sibly the ocelot, the otter, mink, muskrat and beaver, as well as the smaller rodents ; the marmot or gopher, sewellel and other species of mole are abundant. Moose [Alecs Americanns) are found occasionally in Northern Idaho. Naturalists insist that the moose and true elk are identical ; but the animal generally known as the elk or Wapiti [Cennis Catiafloisis) differs materially from the moose, and is the largest of the deer family in America; it roams over the whole Territory ; two other species of deer are distinguished by the hunters ; the bighorn or Rocky Mountain sheep is found in considerable numbers on the mountains and in the lofty valleys, and occasionally the Rocky Mountain goat or goat antelope is seen. The antelope of the plains is rare, if seen at all, west of the mountains, and the buffalo is not now, we believe, seen in this Territory, though said formerly to have been found here in vast herds. Of birds, there are considerable numbers, the raptorcs or birds of prey predominating, though the grouse, pheasant and ptarmigan families are abundant. Song-birds are not as abundant as in more southern climes. There are a few- reptiles and serpents. The rivers and lakes abound with fish. Salmon trout, brook and lake trout and many other species of edible fish, among which the Red fish, found only in four lakes in the world, of which two are in Idaho, is the special boast of the people of the Territory, are abundant in the lakes anJ streams of the Territory. Mines and Mining. — The product of the mines of Idaho from the first attempt at mining there to the present time, a period of about twenty years, is somewhat more than ^70,000,000. More GOLD AND SILVER MINING IN IDAHO, 793 le Pacific ver, more i general, is seldom c and cin- or moun- Dublesome, he western , lynx, pos- , as well as :1 and other ■icanus) are insist that il generally rs materially in America; ; of deer are 5- S c4 »-oi •^ J:*^ O 7q5 OC'A' IVJiSTE/^N EMPIRE, but might have also considcrablL' anion lUs of pjrain to sell to her own people, if it could be transported, and if there were induce- ments in the market, which would be afforded by a rapidly in- creasing [)Opulation, the amount might be greatly increased. She might engage largely in stock-raising and dairy-farming, but she has no roads over which her agricultural and pastoral products could be sent to markets either within her own bounds or without them. It may be asked why does she not build wagon roads, which would at |east facilitate inter-communication, and would in time lead to railroads ? There arc several reasons. The construction of wagon roads over so rough a country, if not impracticable, is very difficult and expensive. If application had been made in season probably the general government would have made some grants of lands for their construction, though that would not perhaps have effected its object; but the policy of the government has been for several years past decidedly opposed to land grants for eidn-r railroads or wagon roads. Private or corporate capital might do this, as it has in other States, but the obstacles are many, and capital is timid. The In- dian tribes have been, until recently, more or less hostile. Ijiit perhaps a still stronger objection to the free immigration which would have forced the construction of these roads, has been the fact that for the last ten years it has been the settled purpose of the Mormon leaders in Utah to take possession of Idaho and of other adjacent Territories also, if possible. They have planted their colonies in every eligible position in Southern and Central Idaho, and have driven away, as far as possible, other immigrants, unless they would submit to their authority and dictation. The result has been disastrous. The Mormon authority is an autocracy or an oligarchy; and free and independent men could not and would not submit to it. The Territory was setiled much earlier than Montana or Dakota, but whereas it had in 1S70 a population of 15,000, exclusive of Indians, it has now only 32,611, and this increase is very largely of Mormon colop.sts sent by the central authority at Salt Lake City to establish them- selves there. There is no enterprise, no progress, and the Ter- ritory, with its great mineral wealth and its favorable position, is THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 797 \\ to her : inclucc- piuly in- icrcusctl. -lurmino;, pastoral n boumls ild wagon ition, and 1 reasons. ntry, If not cation had icnt would on, though ic policy of decidedly oon roads. IS in other id. The In- jstile. But [ation which |as been the purpose of [laho and of ,YC planted .nd Central immigrants, tion. thority is an It men could settled much |l in 1S70 a now only ,n colop.sts tblish them- .nd the Ter- j position, is likely to remain undeveloped and largely unpeopled as a conse- (juence of Mormon greyed and evil inlluence. In such a Terri- tory we cannot invite inuuigrants to settle. CHAPTER VII. THE INDIAN TERRITORY. Minute Details concerninc the Indian Territory not necessary at the rUKSENT TIME IN 11:1s WORK — VVhY ? — A KE\V CIeNERAI, PoIN IS IN VIEW OF the ultimate I'ObsmiLiTV OK A lhan(;e, which may termit Immkjration — Toi'OC'.KAi'HY — Length and Breadth — Latiiude and Longitude — Auea — Boundaries — Division into Indian Resek\ations ok Nations — Areas of MOST OF THESE — TRACTS NOT YET ALLOTTED, AND INDIAN BaI.'DS NOT PERMA- NENTLY located — Number OF Indians in the Territory in 1S78 — Present NUMBER — The five leading TrIIIES, ChEROKEES, Chk:KASAWS, ClIOCTAWS, Cheeks and Seminoles — Their Pko(;ress in Civilization — The Capitals OK THEIR Respective Nations — Their Farm Products in 1S79 — Ih'^'h Live-Stock — Valuation of R'al and Personal Kstaie — Schools, Churches, Benevolent Institutions — Newspapers — Post-Offices — The Smaller Tribes and Bands less Civilized — Surface of the Country — Mountains, Rivers, Lakes — Climate — Meteorology of Forts Gibson and Sill—Geology and Mineralogy — Soil and Vegetation — Forests — Railroads — The Character of the Population— Rev. Timothy Hill's Account of the Territory — The Inpiav Title to the Terriiory — His- tory of the Removal of the Five 1 rimes wn other Indians — Re-pur- chase OF some ok their Lands by the Government — 1£fforts to drive them from this Territory — The Outlook for the Future — Possession OF THEIR Lands in severalty their only hope — Indian Annuity Funds. Tiiounii comprised within the limits of "Our Western Em- pire," and probably destined eventually to form one of its States, when the Indians shall have become citizens, and the aggressive spirit of the Western settlers shall have ceased to covet their lands, or to propound the atrocious sentiment "that the only good Indian is a dead one " — yet, in the present condition of affairs, we should not be justified in going into minute details respecting the Indian Territory, inasmuch as it is by solemn treaties the exclusive home of the red man, and all explorations As^< IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ? :/. ^ z. 1.0 |Z5 !a 12.8 ■50 ""• Jf Ki i2.2 Hi lU u |40 Wuu IL25 i 1.4 2.0 m 11.6 HiotDgrafiric Sciences Corporation 23 WCST MAIN STRiET WEBSTER, N.Y. USSO (716) •72-4503 cc;: ::k^. ccJi £::! a" o 7q8 ovr western empire. or descriptions of it, having in view the promotion of white emi- gration thither, are strictly forbidden. We shall therefore only describe it; briefly give an account of its Indian inhabitants, their locations, condition, property and productions, and their probable future, and pass on to other States and Territories to which the immigrant may have free access. The Indian Territory is situated between the parallels of -x^^^ 35' and 37° north latitude, and between the meridians of 94° 20' and 103° west longitude from Greenwich. The greater part of the Territory is between 94° 20' and 100° west; but a narrow strip thirty-five miles in width, and extending from the looth to the 103d degree of longitude, separates Northwestern Texas from Kansas and Colorado, and that strip watered by the Cimarron and Canadian rivers, forms a part of the Indian Terri- tor3'. Its length from east to west along the northern border is 470 miles, and south of latitude 36° 30', 310 miles. Its breadth east of the looth meridian averages about 210 miles. Its area is now stated as 69,304 square miles, or 44,154,240 acres. It is bounded on the north by Kansas and Colorado ; on the east by Missouri and Arkansas ; on the south by Texas, from which it is separated as far west as the lOOth meridian by the Red river; west of that meridian by the parallel of 36° 30'. Its western boundaries are Texas and New Mexico. Not quite one-thir- teenth of its surface is in forests; the remainder is prairie, deep ravines, or wider valleys, and pleasant mountain slopes. Besides a considerable portion still unassigned, the Territory contains eighteen or twenty Indian reservations. The Chero- kees have two tracts : one of 5,960 square miles in the north- east, east of the 96th meridian, and bordering on Kansas and Ar- kansas. They also own a strip containing about 8,500 square miles, about fifty miles wide along the Kansas border from the Arkansas river, west to the looth meridian. The Choctaw res- ervation, 10,450 square miles, is in the southeast, bordering on Arkansas and Texas. The Chickasaw reservation, 6,840 square miles, joins this on the west, and is separated from Texas by the Red river. The Creek reservation, 5,024 square miles, is in the eastern central part of the territory, between the Chero- ALLOTMENTS OT TERRITORY TO DIFFERENT TRIBES. 799 lite emi- ore only abitants, ind their tories to Is of 33° )f 94° 20' r part of a narrow looth to rn Texas d by the ian Terri- border is ts breadth Its area :res. It is ie east by which it is ed river; :s western one-thir- ■airie, deep is. kees and Choctaws. The Seminole reservation, 312.5 square miles, lies southwest of the Creeks, and north of this that of the Sacs and Foxes, 756 square miles. A tract of 900 square miles, lying west of the Seminole reservation, is set apart for the citizen Pottawatomies and the Absentee Shawnees. West of the Cherokees' second reservation, and bounded north by Kansas, and southwest by the Arkansas river, is the Osage reservation of 2,345 square miles ; and northwest of this is the little reserva- tion of the Kaws, 156 square miles in extent. These are late comers, though not the latest, having been removed from Kansas in 1873. The Kiowas, Comanches and Apaches occupy a tract of 5,546 square miles in the southwest, bounded on the east by the Chickasaw reservation. North of these the Arapahoes and Cheyennes have a tract of 6,205 square miles. Fragments of ten tribes, viz.: the Quapaws, the Confederated Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas, Piankashaws and Miamies, the Ottawas, the Shawnees, the Wyandots and the Senecas, severally, have reservations, aggregating in all 297 square miles, in the north- east corner of the Territory, east of the Neosho river. There are eight affiliated bands of Wichitas, Keechies, Wacoes, Tawacanies, Caddoes, lonies, Delawares and Penetethka Comanches, who are gathered around an agency on the Washita river, west of the Creek country, but they have no reservation. The Modocs, the remnant of Captain Jack's band, and about 400 Kickapoos and Pottawatomies, were sent to the Indian Territory in 1873, and the Modocs were placed tem- porarily on the Shawnee reservation, and the latter settled on a tract on the Kansas border west of the Arkansas river. The Poncas and some bands of the Sioux were sent into the Terri- tory in 1876 and 1877; some of the Arizona Indians about the same time, and some bands of Utes still later. In 1878 the Indian office reported the whole number of In- dians in the Indian Territory as 75,479. The increase by births, and the additional bands which have been sent in since that time, may have increased the total number to 78,000. These are for the most part recognized as civiUzed or partly civilized Indians. The greater part of them wear citizen's dress, and a fair propor- 8oo OUR WESTF.KX EMPIRE. cr;; ^' cell PS iM tion have farms or herds of cattle or sheep, and can read or write at least in tiieir own language. This is especially true of the five leading tribes, the Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chicka- saws and Seminoles. They are capable now of becoming citizens. They have churches and schools, legislatures of their own, and have for many years maintained self-government with perhaps no more failures than some of the States of the Union. The capital of the Cherokee nation is Tah-le-quah ; of the Chicka- saws, Tishemingo ; of the Choctaws, Armstrong Academy ; of the Creeks, Ok-mul-kee ; of the Seminoles, We-wo-ka. In 1878-9 these five civilized tribes cultivated 237,000 acres of land, and raised 565,400 bushels of wheat, 2,015,000 bushels of corn, 200,500 bushels of oats and barley, 336,700 bushels of vegetables, and 176,520 tons of hay. They own 45,500 horses, 5,500 mules, 272,000 head of cattle, 190,000 swine, and 32,400 sheep. Among other products of Indian labor during the same year were 8,100,360 feet of lumber sawed, 132,886 cords of wood cut, 200,600 shingles made, 387,000 pounds of maple sugar made, 1 64,000 pounds of wild rice gathered, 1 7,000 woollen blankets and shawls woven, 2,530 willow baskets made, 3,800 cords of hemlock bark peeled, 211,000 pounds of wool clipped for sale, and 3,600 barrels of fish sold. These tribes were much broken up during the late civil war, many of them having taken part in it, a majority probably on the side of the South, yet in 1872 they had so far recovered from its effects that their property, real and personal, was valued at $15,257,700, and is now estimated at over $20,000,000. The population of these tribes is about 55,000. In 1873 they maintained 164 schools with 182 teachers, and 4,300 scholars in average attendance. The number of churches is not known, but in 1872 there were 7,090 Indian members of the different churches. The Cherokees have an orphan asylum with ninety inmates. The Creeks have also an orphan asylum. There are three weekly papers published in the Territory, one English and Cherokee at Tah-le-quah, one English and Choctaw at New Bogy, and one English at Caddo. There are twenty- eight post-offices in the Territory. Of course, many of the smaller bands of Indians, especially SURFACE AND CLIMATE OF INDIAN TERRITORY. 80 1 read or true of Chlcka- citizens. 3\vn, and perhaps 3n. The 2 Chicka- yj ; of the 000 acres lO bushels bushels of |00 horses, uid 32.400 r the same •ds of wood iugar niade, txi blankets ^o cords of led for sale, uch broken ,ken part in 1872 they •ty, real and [stimated at .out 55.000. |s, and 4,300 rches is not ibers of the [lan asylum han asylum. rrltory, one |nd Choctaw are twenty- those more recently sent there, have not attained to this measure of civilization, but for the most part they are improving and will continue to improve if under favorable influences. Surface, Alounlains, Rivers, Lakes. — The surface of the Terri- tory, like that of Kansas, at the north of it, has a general declina- tion toward the East. In the southwest the Wichita Mountains attain to a moderate elevation, and in the east there is a continu- ation of the Ozark and Washita hills from Arkansas ; beyond these the country spreads out into rolling prairie lands rising gradually to the west, and in the north there are table lands rising from 3,500 to 4,500 feet above the sea. The Territory is well watr- V The Red river, which forms its southern boun- dary, receives numerous affluents great and small on its northern bank: the Arkansas, which is the principal river of the Territory, has for its largest tributaries the Canadian, die north fork of the Canadian, the Cimarron or Red fork, and the Litde Arkansas, on its south bank, and the Neosho, Verdigris, and lllinoi:) on the north, and is itself a mighty stream where it enters the Territory from Kansas. Owing to the falls which obstruct it, the Arkansas is only navigable in the Indian Territory as far as Fort Gibson, where the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway crosses it. The Red river is navigable for nearly the whole distance along the southern border of the Territory. None of the tributaries of the Arkansas are navigable for any great distance, though sev- eral of them are large streams and afford permanent water power. The Territory is well watered, surpassing Kansas in that respect. Climate. — The climate is generally mild and salubrious, but inclined to be dry in the northwest. In the southwest there are tracts of marshy lands where intermittent and remittent fevers prevail. The mean annual temperature in the southeast is 60°, in the northwest 55°. The annual rainfall, which, in the south- eastern extremity of the Territory is fifty-two inches, decreases to thirty-five inches in the central region, and is less than twenty inches in the northwest corner. The following table gives the me 'eorological statistics of Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas river ; at tho mouth of the Neosho, and at Fort Sill, on Cache creek, in the southwest of the Territory. 51 $02 OUR IVE STERN EMPIRE. CCh 00 g Co I g I .J 2 o n H Pi o So ^5 rt •*? «iS 2T3-3 sees ■rt5«§ So TJ- O 00 >o at 00 OS M fo t^ lO ^ \0 o» 00 ^9 00 9 * M M d W ^ CO ■ainmsduisx lo ui "o m M^ lo °f^ t^. t>. »o * ^ sS^ •wnjBJadiusx o 2 vO tr) On in "^ «*• O O r>. oo ^ IT) •aanicjadui.ix tunuijxe)^ •3JiUBjadui->_L |o aaiiCM IKiiiiiiv piiB Amiiio|/^ 0\ On §^ 00 00 00 * OS 0\ 00 l>> NO t» 00 %. 00 fo ■* ■<1- On >n N •* NO vO in U^ LTi lO PI ON in o» og I- J m" > fn u - w ^ " ^ M ;^ M ^ ^ w ;2; S5 tn pL) C/) (/5 5z; ;« ^;. ^ c/j c/i C/3 r w w ui (A i^ C/3 t/5 C/1 15 5/5 u C/) 15* M M W5 W •ira"!«a B O ■"vO 0\ 00 00 I-» ■- vO On O On O fO N NO ^ ro N $ "1 N I- 00 in >o N w N t^ vfi ■J3)3IUOjeg JO C ON ■" ON N vO fn ON On N m 00 ON 5 0> On in ON ON N ? 2 d . d ro fn On no ON 00 00 00 NO NO O ON PI ON PI o 00 ON M ■Xjipunnji ti in ro M t^ m m ON t>. *•* PI O o fO b 1^ S.NO s§ NO ^ ^4 so NO OO m NO m r- •ajnjBJoduiaj^ JO oSuc^ m 00 N m On PO ^ « Tf m nS in m 1^ O PI I- NO in in m m ^ •9jnjBJ3dui3X :? in m PO M On p4 S^ NO ■ o Iz; E 4) U V Q 00 3 C rt v (I4 rt Geology and Mineralogy.— Th^ geology of the Territory has not been very thoroughly explored. It seems to partake more of the characteristics of Kansas than of Arkansas, and some of ? -% s s 8^ o in On On w ^ J ^ W W ^ ^ Jo ^. NO ^ :t ^ S^ ^ " ir> m ■* '^ J5 00 ON a CO 'I- "? 2 c^ ^ S ?: •S := % < a. J2 s iTerritory Bs jartake more [and some of SO/l. AND VEGETATION. 803 its formations extend across the Red river into Northern Texas. Some of its mountains have azoic rocks near the surface, while in others, especially those of the central part of the Territory, the cretaceous period seems to have been predominant. There are in the west and northwest extensive deposits of gypsum, and in the Cherokee country are found coal, iron, good brick clay, marble of fine quality, and a yellow sandstone suitable for build- ing purposes. It is i)robable that there is copper, and perhaps salt in the southwest, as the beds of copper ores come to the R( tl river in Wichita and Clay counties, Texas,* and there are salt springs in the same vicinity. Salt also abounds in the northwest of the Territory, and many of the springs and streams are very salt. There has been no search for the precious metals in the Territory, and their existence is not known with certainty. The coal beds are an extension of the coal deposits of Mis- souri and Arkansas. At McAllister, in tL;' Choctaw country, a mine is worked by a large force of white men, who pay a royalty to the Choctaw government; and near Muscogee, in the Creek Nation, iiafine mine of rich coal. All the coal mined in the Territory is bituminous, and of the best quality. Soil and Vegetation. — The valleys of the Wichita range are fertile and have good timber, water and grass, and generally the region south of the Canadian river possesses a fertile soil and is well adapted alike to cultivation and grazing. There are exten- sive forests in the northeastern portion of the Territory, but about three-fifths of the Cherokee country is rocky, and only fit for grazing. Between the 97th and 98th meridians there is a nar- row belt of timber called the " Cross Timbers," extending from the Cimarron, or Red fork of the Arkansas, to and beyond the Texas border. The region west of this and north of the Cana- dian river is reported to be sterile, without trees or much grass, with only a few sickly shrubs and cacti, and the soil covered with an alkaline or saline deposit. This land will produce nothing without irrigation, and may require also a plentiful application of gypsum, but with these measures it may yield abundant crops. The principal forest trees are the cottonwood, oak of several ^Copper has been discovered, but not mined, at several points in the Territory, cell f^ or? O 804 OUA' IVES-JEKJV EMPIRE. species, sycamore, elm, hickory, ash, yellow pine, osage oranjre or bois d\irc, pecan and hawthorn. Wild grapes of excellent flavor abound. The arable lands of the Territory are well adapted to cereal and root crops, and the yield per acre of wheat, Indian corn and oats is large. In the hilly and broken country the fruits of the temperate zone do well. Apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, and small fruits of good quality are largely raised. Railroads, etc. — Aside from the river navigation, there is one railway which crosses the eastern portion of the Territory from north to south, viz. : the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, extending from Sedalia, Missouri, to Denison, Texas, where it joins other Texas roads. The Atlantic and Pacific Railway, from Pacific, Missouri, also enters the Territory from the nordieast, and forms a junction with the Missouri, Kansas and Texas at Vinita, in the extreme northeast of the Territory. This road, the Atlantic and Pacific, had projected a route crossing the Indian Territory from east to west along the valleys of the Cimarron and Canadian rivers, but in the strife of the different transconti- nental routes and the difficulty of obtaining the right of way through the Territory, we believe this project has been given up. The Character of the Populatioii. — Rev. Timothy Hill, D. I)., long a missionary in the Indian Territory, and thoroughly con- versant with the tribes which occupy it, thus describes them in a communication to the Neio York Evangelist in the summer of 1880: " The present population is about 80,000. I have conversed with a large number of-men, native and long resident there, and none have placed it less than the number given, and some have placed it as high as 100,000. There can be but little doubt of 80,000. Without any claim to absolute accuracy, I place the pop- ulation as Indians and people of Indian extraction about 62,000; colored, 8,000; and whites, 10,000. The Indians are well classi- fied into civilized and uncivilized. In the former class come the Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, Chickasaws, a remnant of Delawares, who are Cherokee citizens ; a part of the Shaw- nees, Pottawatomies, and Senecas. We shall gain in definite •ange or nt llavor aptcd to it, Indian iniry the ss, pears, li largely ire is one itory from i Railway, 1, where It Iway, from northeast, 1 Texas at is road, the tlie Indian I Cimarron transconti- irht of way n given up. Hill. D. I)., lughly con- s them in a summer of /!f:r. MR. HILL o,v the indlin riiRRrroRY. 805 impression if wc consider each of these tribes and classes by themselves. " Easily foremost arc the Cherokces. They occupy the north- east portion of the Territory (i^xcept a limited portion in the ex- treme northeast corner), with only one district or county south of the Arkansas river. The Cherokee government has a [)opu- lation of about 18,000, but only some 12,000 of them an; Indians, tlu! remainder are colored and white. These people all live in houses, some of them large and well furnished. They live com- fortably, and are slowly gaining property and increasing the com- forts of life around them. The war stripped them bare, and they are now only regaining some of their lost property. The lan- guage of the Cherokees is extremely difficult to acquire; but a large number of them speak English, and no dlfficidty would be found in travelling nearly all over their country without an intt-r- preter. But to reach the full bloods, an interpreter will frc- quendy be needed. "2. The Creeks occupy a region directly west of the Chero- kees. They are a lower type of men, less attractive in personal appearance, less keen in intellect, than the Cherokees ; but they are more industrious than the Cherokees, and are probably making more rapid advances in civilization. The Creeks are gready intermingled with the blacks. The Creek government has probably a population of about 13,000, of whom some 2,000 are blacks. " 3. Next to the Creeks are the Seminoles, a separate tribe of the same general origin as the Creeks, and speaking nearly the same language, but with a separate government. They are much mingled with the blacks, but are gaining in civilization rapidly. The long contest which they kept up with the United States in Florida, sufiiciently attests their courage and general skill. "4. The Choctaws occupy the southeast portion of the l>rri- tory. 1 have been among them but little, and from personal observation cannot say much. They are the strongest in numbers of the civilized tribes, numbering about 16,000 Indians. They refused to give the blacks — their former slaves — citizenship, as 8o6 OU/i IVESTEfiX EMPIRE. fc' pen tlic Chcrokees, Creeks and Seminolcs did. They arc less ad- vanced in the arts of civihzed life than the Cherokees, but are j^aininj; steatlily. 5. The Chickasaws are a small tribe of the same o^encral oi\L;in as the Choctaws, and speaking nearly the same langiiat;!;. They are, in some things, in advance of all thq other civilized tribes, as their land is sectionized, ahhoiigh not yet allotteil in severalty, as they cannot do that without consent of the Choc- taws. There are many white men living among them, probably a larger number than any other tribe, many of them intermarried with the half-breeds, and thus citizens, and others living amont> them as renters of land, mechanics, or hired laborers, of tiie Indians or Indianized whites. " 6. Besides the five civilized tribes who have a separate gov- ernment, there are others quite as much advanced as any Indians. There is a remnant of the Delawares, who are well advanced in all the arts of life. They are more quiet and orderly than any other Indians cultivating their land. "Added to the Delawares are the Ottawas, not long since resi- dent in Kansas — a quiet people, supporting themselves by culti- vating their land. The Pottawatomies, a small tribe recently from Kansas, are partially civilized, some of them United States citizens. "All these civilized tribes live in houses, dress like other peo- ple, and many of them speak the English language well. I never saw a blanket-Indian among any of these people ; and perhaps the only peculiarity that would be noticed in the dress, is a fondness for bright colors with the women, and a dis[)osition to place a feather or plume of some sort in the hat of the men. But a trader, who has lived among them many years, recently said to me, ' The change in the character of eoods now sold is v(;ry marked. We sell fewer beads and trinkets and cheap jewelry, and we sell in the place of these a much better qiialitv of cloth, and much more substantial goods for woman's wear. The advance in these things has been quite marked.' "The uncivilized Indians are the remnants of a laree number of tribes gathered from widely different regions, and greatly f : less ad- s, but arc je general langua'^i". ^r civili/AHl allotuit in ■ the Choc- x\, probably ntormarrif.d /inj4 amoni; rers, of the >parate gov- any bulians. advancetl In ;rly than any x\g since resi- :lves by cuiti- .ribe reci:nily [united States ;e other peo- Ivvell. 1 never and perhaps lie dress, is a Idisposition to ; of the men. ,'ears, reccnily Is now sold is ^ts and cheap better qualiiv Lvoman's wear. Id; large number L a^nd greatly CIVILIZED AND UNCIVIl.l/ED ISD/.IXS. f^Q^ differing in character. I suppose them to amount to about 12,000. These remnants differ greatly in personal appearand* and prospective importance. The Osages, Nez Perces and Modocs are line-looking people, fair size, well formed, and inU:r- esting in personal appearance — at least some of them. The* Poncas are less interesting in appearance, and the Kaws and Ouapaws are vile in character, and far gone in physical ruin, in consccpn^nce of the diseases of crime and vice. With most of these bands I have no intimate acquaintance, but I have seen the Modocs, Poncas and Nez Perces, and have been in the Quaker school of tlie Ouapaws. " In looking at the present condition of the Territory, the negro has a prominent place. The civilized Indians were all slaveholders before the war, and some of them held large num- bers. In the reconstruction that followed the war, the Chero- kees. Creeks and Seminoles admitted their former slaves to citi- zenship ; but the Choctaws did not, and 1 think also the Chicka- saws. These negroes are more industrious, as a class, than the Indians and more thievi.sh. "The prejudices of the Cherokees against the blacks are as intense as any white man's can well be, but the Creeks are much less prejudiced than the whites. I never saw a half-breed Chero kee and negro, but some of the most proniinent families of the Creek and Seminole nations are of this mixed race, and it is not a very rare thing to find persons whose ancestry will be found in the three. A former politician of the Creek tribe, a man of honor and influence, possessed the general features and personal appearance of an Indian ; but his African relationship was appa- rent in a woolly head, which he shaved, and covered with a wig of Indian hair. "The white population is an element of great importance, and rapidly gaining in numbers and influence. This class consists ot missionaries and teachers, and their families, aggregating quite a number; railroad employes, licensed traders, mechanics, and a large number who have intermarried in the Indian tribes. There is a large force of coal-miners at McAlister. The government officials are not numerous, but they are in positions where their 8o8 OIK iv/:sTf-:h'/^ e Mi' ire. .^1 CC1( f^ or; a? h' inducnco is strong, .iml in sofiu! instances extremely deleterious. The licensed trailcTs are a niinieroiis ami inlluenlial body. 'I'he cnliri; trade of all the 'lerrilory is in the hands of white men or half-hreeils. I do not think a fiill-Mood can be found behind a count'.T in all the Territory. These men remain lon^^ in the Territory, have their families there, antl many of them intermarry with the educateil half-breeiis, and thus become citizens. I'roin the contact 1 have had with this class of white men, I should place them hiijher in morals and influence for good than the average government oflicials. Another class of white men are scattered all over the Territory — those intermarried with the Indians. Many of them are respectable, honest and good men ; but many odiers of them are abandoned men, outcasts from society. Wicked, corrupt and criminal, they become the teachers of crime and villainy, and the source of unmitigated evil to the Indians. "A most important clement in the estimate of this countr}', is the mixed race, commonly known as half-breeds. All persons who lay claim to any consanguinity widi the Indl.ms, are popu- larly designated half-breeds. This class is rapidly increasing, both by the frequent intermarriage of new-coming white men, and the raising of larger families by the native half-breeds than are usually seen among the full-bloods. It is said that in a given number of half-breed families, and an equal number of full- bloods, the children will be more numerous in the half breed families. The number of births in the two classes of Duiiilics would probably not be materially different, but a larger j)roi)or- tion of full-bloods will die in infancy and childhood. The full- blood father will take but little care of his babe, especial!)' if it is sick ; while the white or half-breed father will have more knowl- edge, and take better care of his child, so that the dealh-raic will be less. The half-breeds occupy the great majority ol all the offices in the native governments ; they an; the law-makers and executive officers and teachers of the people. Some of them are well-educated gentlemen, and occasionally some of die young ladies possess a fair share of personal beauty." T/ie hidiaii Title to this Tcrritojy. — At the first settlement of -terious. y. 'llic t men or bchinil a ^ in the itcrmarry s. I'rom ^ I shouUl than the men :uc with the rood nien ; :asts from u; teachers evil to ti^c , country, is '\ll persons 1, arc popu- increasing, white men, breeds than ,t in a i;iven 3cr of full- half breed of families .er proper- The full- Icially if i^ "'^ liiore knowl- cleath-rate Ljority of all I law-makers )me of them ^f the young ittlement of /.\D/.I.V Tin.E 70 n.KKITOKY. 809 this country by whites, they fouiul the whole continent peopled, sparsely it is true, by trilji;s of bulians. They were of diverse orii;in, and were not tliitniselvcs in all probability liu; original inhabitants of the land. ICvery year brinies us new evidence that one or two, possibly thri;e, races had preceded them in the occu- pation of this vast continent. Yet at that time they iiad the ri^^lu of possession, and had held, at least by that tide, nnich of it for some hundreds of years. The whiles, comin^r in by hun- dreds of thousands, pushed the Indian tribes westward st«'p by step, and gained possession of their lands — sometimes by con- quest, oftener by treaty, ami, perhaps, oftener still by purchase. As a result of these various methods there were, in 1825, two centuries after the advent of the whites in what is now the United States, east of the Mississippi, only some small fra!.Mnents of tribes in New England, New York and I'ennsylvania, some lar*jer but not hostile bands in Michigan and the Northwcit Territory generally, a considerable body of bidians in Wisconsin Territory, and the partially civilized but resolute tribes of Chero- kecs, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks and Scminoles in Northern Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. These tribes had once or twice been at war with our people, and though they had been defeated after a long and vigorous struggle, their de^-^at was not an inglorious one. The first four tribes were no longer nomadic; they occupied their own farms and dwelling-houses, had their own churches and schools, and were in many respects as fully civilized as most of the whites around them. But the white people of these States had looked with envious and greedy eyes upon their lands, and were determined to drive them out and take possession. Some of the streams running through these lands were discovered to carry gold in moderate quanti- ties; the land in these mountain farms was rich, and the careful culture of the Indians put to shame the slovenly farming of the whites ; though there were millions of acres of government lands in these States to be had at nominal prices, yet they seemed poor by comparison with these Indian farms, and it was these that they wanted and must have. Added to this was the argument so decisive with a class of Southern people: "The 8io OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. KarJ CCJl rr; O owners of these lands were nothing but Indians, anyhow ; and therefore had no rights which a white man vas bound to respect." The claim of the whites to these lands, it should be said in justice to the State of Georgia, had been anticipated as early as 1802; for in that year the United States government entered into a compact with that State, covenanting for certain considerations, that as soon as it could be done peaceably and on reasonable terms, the title of the Cherokee Indians to land within the limits cf Georgia should be extinfruished. It wa3 not until the adminis- tration of President Monroe (181 7-1825), that the State of Georgia became clamorous for the fulfilment of this covenant, and very soon thereafter the other States, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, though they had no such compact with the United States, added their clamor to hers, demanding, under threats of forcible ouster, the prompt removal of these tribes frrm their limits. In consequence of their persistence President Tvlonroe sent a message to Congress, we think in 1824, in which he submitted a proposition for the removal of all the Indian tribes from the lands then occupied by them within the several States, and organized Territories east of the Mississippi, to the country west of that river, /. e., to Louisiana Territory. At that time neither Texas nor any part of the region west of the summits of the Rocky Mountain range, below latitude 42^ north belonged to us. In that message President Monroe said, that "experience had demonstrated that in the present state of these Indian tribes it is impossible to incorporate them, in such masses, in any form whatever, into our system. It has been demonstrated with equal certainty, that without • timely anticipation of, and provision against the dangers to which they are exposed, under causes which it will be difficult if not impossible to control, their degradation and extermination will be inevitable. The great object to be accomplished is the r -rnoval of these tribes to the country designated, on conditions which shall be satisfactory to themselves and honorable to the United States. This can be done by conveying to each tribe a good title to an adequate portion of land to which it may consent to remove, and providing for it there a system of internal government which shall protect DELA Y IN TRANSFERKINC THE INDIANS. 8ii its property from invasion, and by regular progress of improve- ment and civilization prevent that degeneracy, v.'hich has gener- ally marked the transition from one to the other state " Presi- dent Monroe in this message overlooked two things, viz., that the lands to which he proposed to move these tribes were already held by other tribes whose tide to them was better than ours ; and that in our onward progress as a nation the time might come, as it has within little more than half a century, when the new lands to which he proposed to remove them would be demanded by the whites, and efforts made to drive them to some other region. Congress was not ready to act, and the matter went over to the administration of President John Quincy Adams. In 1826 the Secretary of War made a full and exhaustive report, in which he suggested many difficulties in carrying out such a pro- ject as Pres'dent Monroe had advocated, and expressed his fears, " that should the removal be made, it would not be effective, since it was probable the same propensity which had conducted the white population to the remote regions which the Indians now occupy, will continue to propel the tide of immigration, till it is arrested only by the distant shores of the Pacific." Notwithstanding these apprehensions, the Secretary of War felt it necessary to submit a plan and prepare a bill for the con- sideration of Congress, providing for this removal. Among the provisions of this bill were: that the country to the west of the Mississippi, to which the tribes should be removed, should be set apart for the exclusive abode of the Indians ; that they should be removed as individuals or families, and not as tribez ; and if circumstances should justify it, the tribal relation should eventu- ally be dissolved, and the Indians amalgamated in one common nation, with a distribution, of the property among the individuals. The great difficulty, that the Indian from past experience could not be induced to trust our promises, must in some way be ob- viated. Notwithstanding the uigency of the Southern people and the excited and anxious condition of the Indian tribes, no ac- tion was taken until 1830, the second year of General Jackson's administration, when Congress p .ssed a law authorizing the President to cause the territory west of the Mississippi, to which cr;; t:r ex:; 8l2 OCA' n'ESTER!\r EMPIRE. the orifj^inal title had been extinguished, and which was not inchided within the limits of any State or organized Territory, to be divided into a suitable number of districts for the reception of surh tribes or nations of Indians as might choose to exchange the lands on which they then resided, and to remove West. The law authorized the President to solemnly assure the Indian tribes with whom the exchange '.vas made, that the United States wotcid forever secure and gvarantee to them and their heirs or suc- cessors, the country so exchanged with them. The President, in pursuance of this law, offered the most sol- emn guaranties, on the faith of the nation, to the tribes that might be willingr to make the exchange, and offered them transportation and certain annuities as a further inducement. Under this offer the larger part of the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctav/s, Chickasaws, and subsequently the Seminoles, Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Chippewas of Roche de Boeuf, Sacs and Foxes, Wees, Piankashaws, Kaskaskias, Peorias, and other tribes, made the exchange, and were told that these lands should be th&w pej^nanent homes forever. Except the tracts which were granted to the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles, the remainder of the transplanted tribes were allotted lands within the boundaries of the present State of Kansas. Since the organization of that State, all these emigrant tribes have, notwithstanding these solemn guaranties and pledges, been removed to the Indian Territory, and their permanent hoiTies taken from them". The government purchased from the Creeks in 1867 a por- tion of their lands, which it still holds, as well as some other lands in the Territory, with the intention of placing other small bands of Indians there, when it has extinguished the tides to their lands elsewhere. Efforts to Drive the Indians from their Territory. — Meanwhile, there has been a very strong pressure on the part of western adventurers, to enter upon these lands solemnly pledged to the Indians, with the ultimate purpose of crowding them out. Dur- ing the last session of Congress, in May, 1880, a bill was intro- duced and strongly urged, for the organization of the Indian Ter- nrs or siic- EFFORTS TO DRIVE THE INDIANS FROM TERRITORY. gjj ntory as a regular Territory under government control, by the name of Oklahoma. Thus far, the government has successfully resisted the encroachments of white settlers and adventurers upon this Territory, except the passage of one or two railways, and these, it is said, were asked for by the Indians ; but the pres- sure is growing stronger every day, and unless the Indians agree to hold their lands in severalty or individually (under certain restrictions in regard to alienating them), it may require the whole military power of the nation to restrain these lawless adventurers from taking it by force. If the lands are allotted to the Indians in severalty, and they, as fast as they become civilized, become citizens, the sur[ lus of their lands may be sold by the government as their guardian for their account and the amount received funded, furnishing a further annuity to each member of the tribes. There are now held by the United States Government funds invested for the Indian tribes to the amount of ^^5, 180,066.84, besides ^84,000 abstracted by officials at the beginning of the late civil war and not yet replaced. Of this amount $1,768,175.30 is held for the Cherokees ; $1,308,- 664.82 for the Chickasaws ; $513,161.70 for the Choctaws ; 5467,501.62 for the Dela wares; $76,993.66 for the Creek orphans, and the remainder for other tribes, some of them those removed from Kansas in 1867. If these measures can be effected without injustice and wrong, the time may come when a part of this great Territory may be legitimately opened to white settlement, and the Indian farmers be led, by the sharp competition which will follow, to become bet- ter agriculturists and better citizens than they would under any other circumstances. But until that time shall come, and it must, in any event, be several years hence, we cannot consider the Indian Territory as either a legitimate or desirable field for immigration. ■ \ I :i -•:ih!>, 8i4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE, CHAPTER VIII. • IOWA. <3 The Situation of Iowa — Meaning of the Name — Migration of the Pau- HOO-CHEES thither IN 1690 — CONTEMPORANEOUSLY CLAIMED BY THE FkFNCH on Account of Father Hennepin's Discovery — Wars of the Pau-iioo- CHEES, OR lOWAS, WITH THE SlOUX — FRENCH TrADING-PosTS ON THE RlVER — Sale OF THE Province OF Louisiana TO the Spanish in 1763 — Retroces- sion TO France in 1800 — Sale to the United States in 1803 — Setile- MENT OF Julian Dubuque — The Wars of the Iowas and Sioux — A New Enemy — The Sacs and Foxes Attack them, and drive them across the Missouri, about 1828 — Great Reduction in Numbers of the Iowas — White Settlement Commenced in 1832 — Death of Black Hawk — The Events in Civil History of Iowa to its Organization as a State in 1846 — Topography and Extent of Iowa — Its Surface — Rivers — Lakes- Prairie and Timber Lands — Black Walnut Shipped to England — Geol- ogy and Mineralogy — The Drift, Loess and Alluvium — Cretaceous Rocks — Coal Measures — The Character of Iowa Coal — Comparison WITH European and other Coals — No Gold or Silver in the State- Lead, Iron, Copper and Zinc — Lime — Building Stone — Gypsum Clays- Soil — Mineral Paint — Spring and Well-water — Natural Curiosities- Climate, General Remarks — Professor Parvin's Tables — The Signal Service Statistics of the River Cities — Zoology — Soil and Agricultu- ral Productions — Iowa an Agricultural State — Statistics of its Crops — Spring and Winter Wheat — Stock-raising — Dairy Farming — Popula- tion OF Iowa at Different Periods — Railroads and Steamboat Lines— The State Easy of Access — Public Lands — Railroad Lands — State Lands — Partially Improved Farms — Manufactures — Iowa as a Home FOR Immigrants — Education — Churches — Future Prospects of the State. I ft! Iowa, the name of one of the easternmost of the central belt of States and Territories composinor " Our Western Empire," lying between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The name, which was that of a river within its bounds, and also of the Indian tribe which dwelt on the banks of that river, is said to mean, in the Indian tongue, " The Beautiful Land." The Indians who gave it and themselves this name were not the original in- habitants of this region, but migrated hither from the country of OF THE pAtT- lY THK FkF.NCH THE PaU-HOO- ^ THE River— •3 — Retroces- [803 — Skt'ile- loux — A New :m across the THE loWAS — : Hawk — The \s A State in ^ERS — Lakes — GLAND — GeoL- : — Cretaceous , — Comparison the State— rpsuM Clays- Curiosities— — The Signal «JD Agricultu- :s OF ITS Crops MING — Popula- ^iBOAT Lines- Lands — State 'A AS A Home 'ECTS OF THE central belt rn Empire," The name, also of the er, is said to The Indians : original in- le country of . } cs;; cell !55: Co- Kt'i t^ Oct O THE IOWA INDIANS OR rAV IIOOCIIEES. gij the great lakes (perhaps Michigan) where they had borne the name of the Pau-hoo-chees, about 1690. They increased in numbers and power here till they became the most formidable of the Indian tribes of the Northwest except the Sioux, with whom they were constantly at war. That portion of the State lying on the Mississippi is supposed to have been visited by Father Hen- nepin in 1680, and it was probably in consequence of his explo- rations that the French government soon after took formal pos- session of it and erected two or th'-ee trading-posts along the river. Their occu tatio of the Territory was, however, of so tri- fling a character as not to excite the displeasure of the Iowa chief, Mau-hau-gaw, or his successors, Mahaska I. and II. Their power remained undiminished, though the French title to this as a part of the province of Louisiana had passed to Spain in 1763, returned to France in 1800, and been purchased as Louisia .a Territory by the United States in 1803. I" this long interval, two or three French families had settled in the Terri- tory. Notable among these was Julian Dubuque, who, in 1788, settled on the banks of the Mississippi, and commenced trading and mining lead there. Eleven years later another Frenchman, Louis Honori, established himself as a trader at the head of the " rapids of the river Des Moines." But the power of the lowas was beginning to wane. They had fought off their old enemies, the Sioux, and held possession of most of the Territory, but a new enemy now came upon them. The Sacs and Foxes, Illinois tribes, finding civilization pressing hard upon them, crossed the river about 1824, and began to make encroachments upon the hunting-grounds of the lowas. Conflicts followed, and finally, about 1828, a fierce battle was fought between the invaders and the invaded near the present village of lowaville, in Davis county, in which, after a long and terrible struggle, the lowas were vanquished and the Sacs and Foxes occupied their hunting- grounds along the Mississippi. The lowas moved sullenly westward, and finally crossed the Missouri. When the whites began to settle west of the Mississippi, in what was then the Territory of Missouri, in 1831 and 1832, the Sacs and Foxes were the occupants of all the eastern and southern portions of 8id OUR WESTI.RN EM P IRE. txi i3: p3 o the Territory, while the waHike Sioux held undisputed posses- sion of th(; northern [)ortion, about the lieadwaters of the Des Moines and tiie hd-ct'S. At this time the lowas, once so powerful and warlike a tribe, had been reduced, in their new home beyond the Missouri, by wars, whiskey and small-pox to about 1,300 souls' After the close of the " Black Hawk War," in 1833, the power of the Sac chief, IJlack Hawk, waned, and his rival, Keokuk, who had favored peace with the whites, was recognized as the chief of the Sacs and I'^oxes. Black Hawk died in October, 1838, on the IJes Moines river. Let us now recapitulate its political or civil history, aside from any claim of Indian proprietorship, which in this case, as we have seen, was merely the right of the strongest. 1. It was first claimed by France in 1682 or 1683, by virtue of Hennepin's discovery. 2. In 1 763, as a part of the province of Louisiana, it was ceded to Spain. 3. October i, 1800, it was retroceded with the same bounda- ries by Spain to France. 4. April 30, 1803, France ceded the province of Louisiana to the United States. 5. October 31, 1803, a temporary government was authorized by Congress for the newly acquired Territory. 6. October i, 1804, it was included in the " District of Louisi- ana," and placed under the jurisdiction of the territorial gov- ernment of Indiana. 7. July 4, 1805, it was Included as a part of the "Territory of Louisiana," then organized with a separate territorial govern- ment. . 8. June 4, 181 2, It was embraced in what was then made the "Territory of Missouri." 9. June 28, 1834, it became part of the "Territory of Michi- gan." 10. July ^, 1836, It was Included as a part of the newly organ- ized " Territory of Wisconsin." 11. June 12, 1838, it was included in, and constituted a part of the newly organized " Territory of Iowa." I.I posses- the Pes powerful c beyond )Ut 1,300 :he power 3kuk, wlio the chief •, 1838, on aside from as we have 3y virtue of t was ceded jnc bounda- .Quisiana to authorized :t of Louisi- ritorial gov- >.rritory of Irial govern- In made the ry of Michi- lewly organ- tuted a part ^A'£A AND EXTENT OF lOlVA. 817 12. December 28, 1846, it was admitted into the Union as a State. Ana and Extent. — Iowa is about 300 miles in length, east and west, and a little over 200 miles in breadth, north and south ; havinj,' nearly the figure of a rectangular parallelogram.^ Its nortiiern boundary is die parallel of 43° 30', separating it from the State of Minnesota. Its southern limit is nearly on the line of 40° 31' from the point where this parallel crosses the Des Moines river, westward. From this point to the southeast cor- ner of the State, a distance of about thirty miles, the Des Moines river forms the boundary line between Iowa and Missouri. The two great rivers of the North American continent form the east and west boundaries, except that portion of the western boun- dary adjoining the Territory of Dakota. The Big Sioux river from its mouth, two miles above Sioux City, forms the western boundary up to the point where it intersects the parallel of 43° 30'. These limits embrace an area of 55,045 square miles; or, 35,228,800 acres. When it is understood that all this vast ex- tent of surface, except that which is occupied by the rivers, lakes and peat-beds of the northern counties, is susceptible of the highest cultivation, some idea may be formed of the immense agricultural resources of the State. Iowa is nearly as large as England, and twice as large as Scodand ; but when we consider the relative area of surface which may be made to yield to the wants of man, those countries of the Old World will bear no comparison with Iowa. Surface. — The surface of the State is remarkably uniform, rising to nearly the same general altitude. There are no moun- tains, and yet but little of the surface is level or flat. The whole State presents a succession of gentle elevations and depressions, , with some bold and picturesque bluffs along the principal streams. The western portion of the State is generally more elevated than the eastern, the northwestern part being the highest. Nature could not have provided a more perfect system of drainage, and at the same time leave the country so completely adapted to all the purposes of agriculture. Looking at the map of Iowa, we see two systems of streams or rivers running nearly at right 5a 8i8 ouK ii'/':s7/:h\v i-.MriKi-:. ^« ecu cm anj;l('s with each other. The streams which discharge their waters into the Mississippi llow from the norlinvest to t!i<; south- east, while those of tile oilier system llow toward the southwest, anil empty into the Missouri. The former drain about three- fourths of the Slate, and the latter the remaining one-foiirth. The water-sheil dividinj^^ the two systems of streams represents the highest portion of the State, and gratlually descends as you follow its course from northwest to southeast. Low-water mark in the Missouri river at Council Bluffs is about 425 feet above low- water mark in the Mississippi at Davenport, At the cross- ing of the summit, or water-shed, 245 mih.'s west of Davenport, the elevation is about 960 feet above the Mississippi. The Dcs Moines river at the city of Des Moines has an elevation of 227 feet above the Mississippi at Davenport, and is 198 feet lower than the Missouri at Council Bluffs. The elevation of the east- ern border of the State at Mc(iregor is about 624 feet above the level of the sea, while the highest elevation in the norlluv(;st portion of the State is about 1,400 feet above the level of the sea. In addition to the grand water-shed mentioned above, as dividing the waters of the Mississippi and Missouri, there are between the principal streams, elevations commonly called "di- vides," which are drained by numerous streams of a smaller size tributary to the rivers. The valleys along the streams have a deep, rich soil, but are scarcely more fertile than many portions of these undulating prairie " divides." ; • Rivers. — As stated above, the rivers of Iowa are divided Into two systems or classes — those flowing into the Mississippi, and those flowing into the Missouri. The Mississippi, the largest river on the continent, and one of the largest in the world, washes the entire eastern border of the State, and is most of the year navigable for a large class of steamers. The only serious obstructions to steamers of the largest size are what are known as the Lower Rapids, just above the mouth of the Dcs Moineji. The government of the United States has constructed a canal, or channel, around these rapids on the Iowa side of the river — a work which will prove of immense advantage to the com- merce of Iowa for all time to come. The principal rivers which irpjc their \\\r. south- southwest, out thrw- jntvfourih. rcprt-'scnls nils as y»'i' kvatcr mark feet above t the cross- \ );ivenport, The Des ution of 227 ^ feet lower of the cast- ^ feet above he northwest level of the led above, as uri, there arc ily called " di- la smaller size [cams have a Kii'EKS OF /nn:i. gig flow throuj^h the interior of tlu! State, east of the water-slicd. arc the Des Moines, Skunk, Iowa, Wapsipinicon, Macpioketa, Turkey and Upper Iowa. One of the 1: rj^est rivers of the State is the Red Cedar, whieii rises in Minnesota, and (lowinj;- in a soiidi- easterly direction, joins its waters with the Iowa river in Louisa county, only about thirty niih.'s from its moutli, that portion below the junction retaining' the name of Iowa river, although it is really the smaller stream. The Des Moines is the largest interior river of the .State, and ris(!S in a group or chain of lakes in Minnesota, not far from the Iowa border. It really has its source-s in two jjrincipal branches, called I'last and West Des Moines, which, after llowing about seventy miles through the northern j)ortion of the State, converge to their junction in the southern part of Humboldt county. The Des Moines receives a number of large tributaries, among which are Raccoon and three rivers (North, SouUi and Middle) on the west, and Boone river on the east. Raccoon (or 'Coon) rises in the vicinity of .Storm lake, in Huena Vista county, and after re- ceiving several tributaries, discharges its waters into tiie Des Moines river, widiin the limits of the city of Des Moines. This stream affords many excellent mill j^rivileges, some of which have been improved. Tlu; Des Moines (lows from northwest to south- east, not less than 300 miles through Iowa, and dra'«\s over 10,000 square miles of its territory. At an early dry, steamboats at certain seasons of the year navigated this river as far up as the "Raccoon Forks," and a large grant of land was made by Con- gress to the vState for the purpose of improving its navigation. The land was subsequently diverted to the construction of the Des Moines Valley Railroad. Before this diversion several dams were erected on the lower portion of the river, which afford a vast amount of hydraulic power to that part of the State. The next river above the Des Moines is Skunk, which has its source in Hamilton county north of the centre of the State. It traverses a southeast course, having two principal branches — . their aggregate length being about 450 miles. They drain about 8,000 square miles of territory, and afford many excellent mill sites. ^J •> .! v; >■; .^ : ■' < ' -'v; .. •. ;w' i^.^-' 83a or : i ::.j : tkn kmI'IRE. a; «:: cr;: ocit Or; PC* %' n ^1 The next is Iowa river, which rises in several branches among the lakes in Hancock and Winnebago counties, in die northern part of the State. Its great eastern branch is Red Cedar, having its source among the lakes in Minnesota. In size. Red Cedar is the second interior river of the State, and is of great importance as affording immense water-power. Shell Rock river is a tributary of Red Cedar, and is valuable to Northern Iowa, on account of its fine water-power. The ag^jregate length of Iowa and Rod Cedar rivers is about 500 miles, and they drain about 12,000 square miles of territory. The Wapsipinicop river rises in Minnesota, and flows in a southeasterly direction over 200 miles through Iowa, drainingr, with its branches, a belt of territory only about twelve miles wide. This stream is usually called " Wapsi " by the settlers, and is valuable as furnishing good water-power for machinery. Maquoketa river, the next considerable tributary of the Mis- sissippi, is about 160 miles long, and drains about 3,000 square miles of territory. Turkey river is about 130 miles long, and drains some 2,000 square miles. It rises in Howard county, runs southeast, and empties into the Mississippi near the south line of Clayton county. Upper Iowa river also rises in Howard county, flows nearly east, and empties into the Mississippi near the northeast corner of the State, passing through a narrow, but picturesque and beautiful valley. This portion of the State is somewhat bioken, and the streams have cut their channels deeply into the rocks, so that in many places they are bordered by bluffs from 30c to 400 feet high. They flow rapidly, and furnish ample water- power at numerous points. Having mentioned the rivers which drain the eastern three- fourths of the State, we will now cross the great "water-shed" to the Missouri and its tributaries. The Missouri river, forming a little over two-thir:!s of the length of the western boundary line, is navigable for large-sized stean: boats for a distance of i ,950 miles above the point (Sioux City) where it first touches the western border. It is, therefore, >l THE MISSOURI AND BIG SIOUX RIVERS. 821 5 among northern r, having Cedar is jrtance as tributary ccount of and Red )Ut 12,000 flows in a 1, draining, reive miles he settlers, machine ry. of the Mis- poo square some 2,000 utheast. and of Clayton 1 flows nearly Iheast corner Lresque and diat bioken, to the rocks, from 30c to [mple water- istern three- I water-shed" lhir-;.s ot the Ir large-sized point (Sioux Us, therefore, a highway of no little importance to the commerce of Western Iowa. During the season of navigation last year, over fifty steamers ascended the river above Sioux City, most of which were laden with stores for the niininjj re -'icious mshed the finest soil i„ .he world B r^""" ^^^etation, fur! wh,ch ,s of varyin.. though evervwh. ^""*"' "■'^ ^"'"'•ace ness, the rivers, which havt- 2^7^^" °' ^""-''erable thick layers, reveal other importan and ' "'"^ ""'•"'g'' "^ '°west The cretaceous beds under! e,h""''"^ "=""=">'« ^'--ata deposit and below them we t„f'^ ^^ ^"-ial and dilul,' arbon,ferous era, whose exisrn J .'°'' '"^^^"■•" of ths the-r outcrop in the river bluff^ " "^^ "^"^ ''-covered from i ne coal of Iowa i*c K.v. • "■•'e. It covers J^rl^ZTZ::':"' " ^ '™^ -^'- "<>' a hV. -successfully mined in mo JTa^^ ° ^•5"^- ■""es. and co!l ".s not of identical quality in Jll parf ^ ^ T"'''' "^ *<= State, pmduced in Appanoose, Boo„e ?,a 1 nl^f ^°f! «<=>''. but that dm, Jefferson, IWahaska M,.: 7, ' ^^''^s, Hamilton, Har Wapello, Webster, and perh"os "' "T"' ^"^^^ ^an Buren lent quality ,„d easily ^"^'^ ^""^ »"'- counties, is of ex::"' i he great productive coal fi^W c t «t n the valley of the DesLotes •'''"' 'J ''"''"''''' chiefly 'e"d;ng up the valley from Le ount ' '?'' "^ '"'^'"^'■'«. ex of \Vebster county. Vithin the coaTL>r\'° '"'^ """^ ""e ;=y deep mining is nowhere nec^ssirv t^ n^''' '" ""' ^^l- 'f larger tributaries have p-ener!n ^' ^^ ^^^ '^o'"" and I'-gh all the coal measure™"^ ™' '^^'^ -^"annels down "The coal of Iowa is eaual in .• 826 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. to reach the coal, as miners are obliged to do in some countries. But httle coal has in this State been raised from a depth greater than one hundred feet. "Professor Gustavus Hinrich, of the State University, who also officiated as State Chemist in the prosecution of the State geological survey, gives an analysis showing the comparative value of Iowa coal with that of other countries. The following is from a table prepared by him — lOO representing the combus- tible : , . :3 PCI) or; POl o Namb and Locality. Brown coal, from Arbesan, Bohemia . Brown coal, from Bilin, Bohemia . Bituminous coal, from Bentheu, Silesia Cannel coal, from Wigan, England Anthracite, from Pennsylvania . Iowa coals — average c i u 3 i ■5 ■J 36 CS < <, 64 3 11 40 67 16 00 51 49 21 5 61 39 10 3 94 6 2 2 50 50 5 5 , e 4.) ?■ i '3 3 . ^ ^ \ \ 114 •23 126 113' 104 I lOi 88, Si 80 96 90 j . "In this table the excess of the equivalent above 100, ex- presses the amount of impurities (ashes and moisture) in the coal. The analysis shows that the average low a coals contain only ten parts of impurities for one part of combustible (carbon and bitumen) being the purest of all the samples analyzed except the anthracite from Pennsylvania. "Twelve years ago (in 1868) the production of this coal in Iowa was reported as 241,453 tons, or more than six million bushels. It has increased steadily since that time, and in 1877 had reached over 1,500,000 tons, or about forty million bushels. It is still increasing, and is used in several of the adjacent States. ■ ''Peat. — During the last thirteen or fourteen years large deposits of peat, existing in several of the northern counties of the State, have attracted considerable attention. In 1866, Dr. White, the State Geologist, made careful observations in some of those counties, including Franklin, Wright, Cerro Gordo, Hancock, Winnebago, Worth and Kossuth. In 1869, Hon. A. R. Fulton also visited the counties named, and from personal observation e countries, pth greater rersity, who )f the State comparative ne following the combus- 3 (A 'o ^ II 114 ! S8 . oo 123 • • ^^ ■ ''Other Metals. — Iron, copper and zinc have been found in 828 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. cc;; cell O limited quantities in different parts of the State — the last-named metal being chiefly associated with the lead deposits. *'Lime. — Good material for the manufacture of quick-lime is found in abundance in nearly all parts of the State. Even in the northwestern counties, where there are but few exposures of rock * in place,' limestone is found among the boulders scattered over tile prairies and about the lakes.- So abundant is limestone, suitable for the manufacture of quick-lime, that it is needless to mention any particular locality as possessing superior advan- tages in furnishing this useful building material. At the follow- ing points parties have been engaged somewhat extensively in the manufacture of lime, to wit: Fort Dodge, Webster county; Springvale, Humboldt county ; Orford and Indiantown, Tama county; Iowa Falls, Hardin county; Mitchell, Mitchell county; and at nearly all the towns along the streams northeast of Cedar river. *' Building Stone. — There is no srarcity of good building stone to be found along nearly all the streams east of the Des Moines river, and along that stream from its mouth up to the north line of Humboldt county. Some of the counties west of the Des Moines, as Cass and Madison, as well as most of the southern counties of the State, are supplied with good building stone. Building stone of peculiarly fine quality is quarried at and near the following places: Keosauqua, Van Buren county; Mt. Pleasant, Henry county ; Fairfield, Jefferson county ; Ottumwa, Wapello county ; Winterset, Madison county ; Fort Dodge, Webster county; Springvale and Dakota, Humboldt county; Marshalltown, Marshall county ; Orford, Tama county; Vinton, Benton county ; Charles City, Floyd county ; Mason City, Cerro Gordo county; Mitchell and Osage, Mitchell county; Anamosa, Jones county; Iowa Falls, Hardin county; Hampton, Franklin county; and at nearly all points along the Mississippi river. In some places, as in Marshall and Tama counties, several spe- cies of marble are found, which are susceptible of the finest finish, and are very beautiful. "Gypsum. — One of the finest and purest deposits of gypsum known in the world exists at Fort Dodge, in this State. It is ast-named ick-lime is iven in the posures of s scattered i limestone, needless to rior advan- the foUow- Ltensively in iter county; town, Tama hell county; ast of Cedar ailding stone Des Moines he north line ^ of the Des the southern lilding stone, at and near county ; Mt. ; Ottumwa, brt Dodge, loldt county; nty; Vinton, City, Cerro ; Anamosa, ;on, Franklin iissippi river. several spe- lof the finest |s of gypsum State. It is MINERALS AND SOIL OF IOWA. 820 confined to an area of about six by three miles on both sides of the Des Moines river, and is found to be from twenty-five to thirty feet in thickness. The main deposit is of uniform gray color, but large masses of almost pure white (resembling alabas- ter) have been found embedded in the main deposits. The quan- tity of this article is practically inexhaustible, and die time will certainly come when it will be a source of wealth to that part of the State. So far, it has only been used to a limited extent for paving and building purposes, if we except the fraud practised upon our Eastern cousins by those who manufactured from it that great humbug and swindle of the century, the 'Cardiff Giant!' Plastcr-of-paris manufactured from the Fort Dodge gypsum has been found equal to the best in quality. ''Clays. — In nearly all parts of the State the material suitable for the manufacture of brick is found in abundance. Sand is ob- tained in the bluffs along the streams and in their beds. Potter's clay, and fire-clay suitable for fire-brick, are found in many places. An excellent article of fire-brick is made at Eldora, Hardin county, where there are also several extensive potteries in operation. Fire-clay is usually found underlying the coal- seams. There are extensive potteries in operation in the coun- ties of Lee, Van Buren, Des Moines, Wapello, Boone, Hamilton, Hardin, and perhaps others. ''Soil. — It is supposed that there is nowhere upon the globe an equal area of surface with so small a proportion of untillable land as we find in Iowa. The soil is generally a drift deposit, with a deep covering of vegetable mould, and on the highest prairies is almost equal in fertility to the alluvial valleys of the rivers in other States. The soil in the valleys of our streams is largely alluvial, producing a rapid and luxuriant growth of all kinds of vegetation. The valleys usually vary in extent according to the size of the stream. On the Iowa side of the Missouri river, from the southwest corner of the State to Sioux City, a distance of over one hundred and fifty miles, there is a continuous belt of alluvial ' bottom,' or valley landi varying in width from five to twenty miles, and of surpassing fertility. This valley is bordered by a continuous line of bluffs, rising from one to two hundred .^. pell i^ cxai 830 <^^'^' ^yi'STERN RMPIKE. feet, and prcsentin{^ many picturesque outlines when seen at a distance. Tiie bluffs are composed of a peculiar formation, to which has been j^iven the name of loess or 'bluff deposit.' It is of a yellow color, and is composed of a fme silicious matter, with some clay and limey concretions. This deposit in many places extends eastward entirely across the counties bordering the Mis- souri river, and is of great fertility, promoting a luxuriant growth of grain and vegetables. ' '• .r. )..), ,, .•...', ''Mineral Paint. — In Montgomery county a fine vein of clay, containing a large proportion of ociire, was several years ago discovered, and has been extensively used in that part of the State for painting barns and out-'houses. It is of a dark red color, and is believed to be equal in quality, if properly manufac- tured, to the mineral paints imported from other States. The use of it was first intro luced by Mr. J. B. Packard, of Red Oak, on whose land there is an extensive deposit of this material. "Spring and IVe/l Water. — As before stated, the surface of Iowa is generally drained by the rolling or undulating character of the country, and the numerous streams, large and small. This fact might lead some to suppose that it might be difficult to procure good spring or well water for domestic uses. Such, however, is not the case, for good pure well water is easily ob- tained all over the State, even on the highest prairies. It is rarely necessary to dig more than thirty feet deep to find an abundance of that most indispensable element, good water. Along the streams are found many springs breaking out from the banks, affording a constant supply of pure water. As a rule, it is necessary to dig deeper for well water in the timber portions of the State, than on the prairies. Nearly all the spring and well waters of the State contain a small proportion of lime, as they^ do in the Eastern and Middle States. There are some springs which contain mineral properties, similar to the springs often resorted to by invalids and others in other States. In Davis county there are some ' Salt Springs,' as they are com- monly called, the water being found to contain a considerable amount of common salt, sulphuric acid, and other mineral ingre- dients. Mineral waters are found in different parts of the State. ; ( seen at a mation, to isit.' It i« uittcr, with any places !()• the Mis- ant growth gin of clay, years ago part of the a dark red rly manufac- States. 'I'he of Red Oak, naterial. 2 surface of ncr character e and small. De difficult to uses. Such, is easily ob- airies. It is to find an good water, jng out from As a rule, iber portions spring and of lime, as •e are some the springs States. In |ey are com- considerable fneral ingre- iof the State. CLliMATE OF IOWA. 83 1 ^'Natural Curiosities. — Aside from its wailed lakes and some very beautiful waterfalls, the .State does not abound in natural wonders. The ' Ice Cave ' at Decorah, in tlic nortiieastern pare of the State, deserves notice. It is under a bluff on the north bank of the upper Iowa river, and has this wonderful peculiarity that while in winter no ice is to be found in it, it forms in spring and summer, and thaws out again upon the advent of cold weather. Nine miles east of Decorah, on Trout river, there is an underground stream navigable for canoes, and which has been explored for a long distance. ''Climate and MeteoroioQ>. — Tlie average or mean temperature, from a series of observations taken at different points and in different years, is found to be 48°. The temperature of the win- ters is usually somewhat lower than that of the I^astern States, but that of the other seasons higher, so that all vegetation is forced forward rapidly to maturity. Thert; is a somewhat less average amount of rain than that which falls in the States bor- dering on the Atlantic. The quantity which falls yearly in Iowa is lound to average about forty and one-half inches, and of snow thirty inches — equivalent to three inches of rain, making a total of forty-three and one-half inches. There is occasionally a sea- son which gready exceeds the average in tlie fall of rain, but never one marked with such extreme drought as to occasion a failure of crops. "The opinion may prevail to some extent that the climate, especially of Northern Iowa, is rigorous, and the winters long and severe. It is true that the mercury usually sinks lower than in the States farther south, but at the same time the atmosphere is dry and invigorating, and the seasons not marked by the fre- quent and sudden changes which are experienced in latitudes farther south. The winters are equally as pleasant and more healthful than in the Eastern or Middle States. Pulmonary and other diseases, arising from frequent changes of temperature and miasmatic influences, are almost unknown, unless contracted elsewhere. Winter usually commences in December and ends in March. The spring, summer, and fall months are delightful. Iowa is noted for the glory and beauty of its autumns. That 832 ova WESTF.R^r EMr/RE. ft": •^ii ta'*. txJ, ■s^ . cell ^ K^ ' S3 «: E-« ►-a. pr? \^ pa :S fX3| ;^ p« o gorgeous season denominated ' Indian summer ' cannot be de- scribed, anil in Iowa it is peculiarly charminjj. Day after day, for weeks, the sun is veiled in a hazy splendor, while the forests are tinged with the most gorgeous hues, imparting to all nature something of the enchantments of fairyland. Almost imper- ceptibly, these golden days merge into winter, which holds its stern reign without the disagreeable changes experienced in other climes, until spring ushers in another season of life and beauty." We have endeavored to obtain definite and detailed statistics of the meteorology of localities which should represent as fully as possible the differences of temperature and rainfall, etc., in different sections of the State. Our statistics are very full for the whole eastern border, and for some of the cities of the interior, but are defective for the western counties, though we know in general that' as we proceed westward the average twn- perature on the same parallels is somewhat higher, the winters a litde less severe, and the rainfall slightly diminished as compared with those on the eastern border. The following statistics of the meteorology of Muscatine and Iowa City are by Professor Parvin, and are from the averages of thirty years : Tai/e showing the Average, or Mean Temperature of the Seasons, for the years 1839 to 1869, inclusive ; also the Mean Temperature of the months neat est thereto, and the Ext) ernes of Temperature, Seasons. Temperaturb. Months Nearest Seasons. Spring Summer. ...... . . 47° 44' 70° 37' 44° 52' 23° 37' 47° 57' April 4S° 50' 70° 70' 49° 50' 23° 25' August Autumn.. Winter Octoher, December Year RANGE OF TEMPERATURE. Highest 99"* 00' -30° 00' 129* 00' August 31st, 1854. January l8th, 1857. Lowest Range )l ears 1839 to 1869, / the Extremes of ASONS. 4S° so' 70° 70' 49° 50' 23° 25' olistiViitons(,thi,>m.,/..,.L , '^'""'^ >» >i<-'ifes f,^ ts Mnrtli..' April May. June. h^y .Vll),M|s(... , Si.'()tt.'iiil)fr '^'"^''^•••...■.■.•:| ^;;' Novciiilier x\.2 iJetcinlier .. . "I i-', S""'" te9'fi7J Yeaks. e 2 ^' S 1 I 1 a I Mtan Lmsi . . , 49 iV 834 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. »2Ui.»i S pClj IE— «■; g I i ■gas H 2 'A m, T •H3-S s -M «0 .« •si's M I' a 1^1 .(A 55 . - !R S5 ;z; »5 . W ^ i? W ?. 'iSiaUIOJKQ lIBJUIBa 'Xtipiiun^ UBa]^ c q; a 5: f!. 8v *& >o" o (^ "8 10 «o n3 p. 3! d « q* rn v> fo r^ »n r^ K rs B. .y ♦ i 'sSuc^ 'UCS]^ 'uiniuiuti^ ■uinuitxej^ ■Svsg- 3 o q 00 in ro in M ^«55 w O en ^"3 ^1 S-" ^' ■- - -td . ■ r «« ^-j^ ?> S5 ;z ' ^ •jsjauiojcg JO 3JnSS3JJ UG3}^ c o> ^ in 00 > *0 eg Cv ON Ov CN O ?! "k t i^ i^ % O Os O* r% o\ 81 %> 8> !? g> S> ?• •ira"!«a ■XtipiuinH g- ^ j s R {i. S t! 2 e B 'ucaj^ •uii\uin:iiY I •u;..,.;:xcj^ I "* a 5 ? ;; ? ;; ¥ % 1 r* in N t» o> ed tn f in t* t^ (« 00 — I. 8 "l S W3 r J W W Ss (1] A (A (d ^w H UT. ? ^ !Z .^^ UsiauicMcg JO MnSS3J({ UE3)V in. 29.916 CO 8^ 00 (J ^ 8> S ft ft in 0\ 00 M 6s in CO 00 •IlBJUtBH in M rn M d in ro rn 0. •Xjip'umjj UB3JV m fi. H "h •?)8UB^ I o •U«3m 00 Q ^0 rn __* fn_ IS. . 00 00 6 u I 6 o iz; p. " 5 S 1-1 hi METEOROLOGY OF lOlVA. »35 . Ss W ^. >:; '^7, I/} Ww %w '^xh ssw •^./; ;(« (^ ^ pj W /) (/i ?. ?< (fl ir, « CO % g> J'^ 0\ _."_ 5 s VO •<=■ in M. M H i «o. in Q 00 ro in in m tn S.1 tn 00 in 0» i 8> g ^ ^ ^ *o p. s ^ -* ^ o» ■♦ >o 00 VO « « ra6/e s/imvinj the Datti of the Earliest and Latest Frost and lee for the years 1839 to 1869, inclusive ; also, the Time of Disappearance and Depth of Frost, and the Ihickness of Ice from 1856 to 1869, according to records kept by Prof. T. S. Farvin, at Muscatine and Iirwa City, Iowa. . . 1839.. 1840. . 1841- ■ 1842.. 1843-. 1844-. 1845.. 1846.. 1847.. 1848.. 1849-. 1850., 1851. 1852., 1853. 1854- i85S. 1856. 1857. 1858. 1859. i860. 1861. 1862. 1863. 1864. 1865. 1866. 1867. 1868. 1869. YSARS. Earliest Frost. >2 Latest May 26 Apr. 17 Apr. 27 Apr. 12 May 4 May 2 May 21 May 25 Apr. 15 May 26 May 10 May I Apr. 23 May 5 May 20 May 25 May 2 May 6 Apr. 19 May 20 Apr. 26 Apr. 23 May I May 4 Apr. 24 Aug. 25* May II May II May 2 May 6 Apr. 5 May 19 Sept. 12 Sept. 28 Sept Sept Oct. Oct. Sept. 21 2 9 Mean Apr. 5 M.ay 4 Oct Oct Sept. 23 Oct. 8 Sept. 7 Sept. 28 Sept. 26 Sept. 10 Oct. 5 Sept. 27 Sept. 24 Oct. 14 Sept. 12 Sept. 2 Sept. II Oct. 23 Oct. 1 1 Aug. 29 Sept. 19 Oct. 2 Sfpt. 21 Oct. 23 Sept. 17 Sept. 26 Oct. 23 Aug. 29 Sept. 24 e 8 a Apr. 10 May 5 Apr. I Apr. I Mar. 20 Mar. 12 Apr. I Apr. 2 Apr. 17 Apr. 10 May 7 May 23 Apr. 15 Apr. 7 May 23 Mar. 12 Apr. 10 11 a V 29 4 2 I I 20 20 18 18 20 20 18 20 21 ICB. Mar. 25 Apr. 18 Apr. 14 Apr. 28 May I Mar. 30 Apr. 8 Apr. 13 May 4 Apr. 26 Apr. 20 Apr. 23 May I Apr. 22 May 13 May 2 May 6 Apr. 19 May 12 Apr. 16 Apr. 23 Apr. 2 Apr, 16 Apr. 6 Apr. 8 Apr. 14 Apr. 6 Apr. 6 Apr. 6 Apr. 8 Apr. 13 29 May 13 II 18 Apr. 2 .5 p3 Nov. 7 Oct, 3 Oct, 17 Oct, 19 Oct, 8 Oct, 16 Oct. 5 Oct, 18 Oct, 14 Oct, I Oct, 13 Sept. 29 Oct, IS Sept. 26 Oct, 2 Oct. 15 Oct. 25 Sept, 24 Oct. 20 Oct. 7 Oct. 6 Oct, 24 Sept, 24 Oct, 25 Oct, 7 Oct, 18 Oct. 15 Oct. 31 Nov. 4 Nov. I Oct. 13 Nov. 7 Sept. 24 0,0 Xi Apr. 18 Oct. IS 27 12 10 10 II 21 20 20 20 18 24 18 22 20 27 10 18 On page 834 we give the Signal Service statistics for Keokuk, Davenport, and Dubuque, which, though a little differently *The year 1863 was very cold, not only in Iowa, but throughout the country, and there was frost in every month of the year. It has only once or twice in thirty years seriously injured the corn crop. When the spring is late the fall is generally lengthened, so that the crop has time to malare. ^1 cell S SI o 836 Of''^ IVESTERN EMPIRE. arranged, give substantially the same particulars in regard to these cities ; the chapter on Nebraska will give the meteorology of Omaha, which very fairly represents Western Iowa. Zoology. — The wild animals of Iowa are rather those of the Mississippi valley than of the " Plains" or the Rocky Mountains, The buffalo and the antelope, which once coursed over its prairies, are not now among its wild game; and the elk (wapiti), if he ever had his habitat in the State, has it no longer. The Virginia deer is abundant in some parts of the State, the black-tailed or mule deer is seldom if ever seen east of the Missouri river. Bears, the black or brown species, are still found, though less numerous than formerly. The fclida — panthers, wild cats and lynxes — and the mustelidcB — fishes, martens, minks, skunks (espe- cially the last), and the muskrat and beaver — are sufficiently numerous to reward the hunter and trapper for his labors. The gray wolf is much less abundant than for (K^rly, and so is the yelping prairie wolf, perhaps miscalled cvjoie. The common or red fox is still found in considerable numbers, especially in the northern, western and southwestern parts of the State. Marmots or gophers, woodchucks or ground-hogs, the porcupine, the raccoon, and more rarely the opossum, are among the other wild animals of the State. Rabbits and hares, squirrels of sev- eral species, brown and black rats, half a dozen kinds of mice and moles of several species, are the other principal mammal? of the State. Of birds and especially game birds Iowa has its full share. Wild geese, many species of ducks, brant and teal, a half dozen or more species of the grouse tribe, ini.Iuding tiie prairie-hen, the quail, the partridge and the ptairni; n, many species of snipe, woodcock and other waders, pigeon; .uu' doves of several species. Song-birds are also in great variety, a;vJ the birds of prey, especially eagles, vultures, hawks and owls, are sufficiently numerous. There are not so many reptiles as in some States, though the number of serpents is considerably large, and includes with many harmless species three or four poisonous serpents, among which two species of ratdesnakes are the most numerous. There are several species cf batrachians, but no true saurians in the State. The numerous n , crs, streams /./ regard to leteorology ;hose of the Mountains. - its prairies, vapiti), if he rhe Virginia ack-tailed or issouri river. , though less vild cats and ;kunks (espe- e sufficiently labors. The and so is the The common ipecially in the ite. Marmots lorcupine, the ,ncr the other I f> luirrels of sev- kinds of mice lipal mammal? Iowa has its [rant and teal, j. ;,luding the h/ir;:n, many ^)ii:' jav'' doves riety. and the land owls, are ■eptiles as in considerably [three or four tlesnakes are C batrachians, k crs, streams BETTER FARMING NEEDED. 837 and lakes are well stocked with fish, mostly of edible species. There are many excellent trout streams, especially in the north and west of the State. Agriculture, Soil ajid Productions. — Wc have already described the constituents of the soil of the State. It is only necessary to say, further, that a soil from four to ten feet deep composed of these substances and with such rocks underlying it as those which constitute the basis of the Iowa lands, and an abundance of water both in its streams and the rainfall, should not be sur- passed in fertility by any soil on the globe. Yet bad farming may make even this soil less productive than it should be. If there is no rotation of crops, and the same fields are devoted to wheat or corn, or other cereals or root crops year after year, and the constituents thus drawn from the soil are not in any way returned to it ; if tiiere is very shallow plowing, no manuring, and litde or no care to eradicate weeds, it will not be matter for surprise if the yield of wheat or corn grows less and less with each year. In this neglect of deep plowing, rotation of crops, and the use of fertilizers, we do not mean to insinuate that Iowa farmers are sinners above the farmers of other States or Territories adjacent ; on the contrary we believe that much of the Iowa larming is better than that of the neighboring States. It is now thirty-four years since her admission into the Union as a State, and her eastern counties have been loi:- cultivated. In many respects in the diversity of her products, the excellence and perfection of her fruits, and the wide introduction of new varieties from Northern nd Northeastern Europe, and the general thrift of her farming, she is entided to high commendation. But with that magnificent soil, and the constant breaking of new land for wheat, the first crop of which is usually the largest, and on lands immediately adjacent, in Dakota and Minnesota, yields from twenty-five to forty bushels to the acre, we cannot but think there is something wrong, when the average wheat crop of the State, year after year, is only from thirteen to fifteen bushels per acre. In England, with a soil by no means so well adapted to wheat culture as that of Iowa, and after centuries of culture, the average crop is OCJt ♦^ Or; 838 OC/JS WESTERN EMPIRE. thirty-four bushels to the acre. Spring wheat is a more certain crop than winter wheat, yields better, and brings a higher price. Iowa is not quite so well adapted to corn as Illinois, Nebraska or Kansas, an untimely frost sometimes, though rarely, injuring the crop ; but in average years she might very easily produce a much larger amount to the acre than she does, and with the attention she is giving to earlier ripening varieties of both corn and sorghum, she might make sure of a crop sufficiently early to escape all danger of frost save in an exceptional year like 1863, when there was frost every month. The average crop of corn per acre in the State ranges from thirty to thirty-five bushels per acre, an amount which leaves very little if any margin of profit. The Agricultural College of the State at Ames, in the centre of he State, raised in 1879, on new land and in a somewhat un- .avorable year, fift)'-seven bushels to the acre on sixty-five acres. The superintendent insists that eighty bushels to the acre ought to be the minimum crop in an average season with fair culture. It is a matter of satisfaction that in 1879 there was a small advance in the average product per acre. Oats are of excellent quality, but the yield is very much less per acre than it should be. In 1876 it was but twenty-three and a half bushels to the acre ; in 1878 thirty-six and a third bushels to the acre, and in 1879 thirty-six bushels. All over the State there are farms, where, with ordinarily good culture, oats, in large fields, average year after year sixty to sixty-five bushels per acre. Barley should yield somewhat more than wheat, especially on new lands, but the average yield, which should be from thirty-five to forty bushels, ranges from twenty to twenty-five bushels. Rye and buckwheat are for the most part raised on the poorest lands, and seldom yield more than from nine to twelve bushels per acre, and are not therefore profitable crops to raise. Potatoes, and the root crops generally, do well in Iowa, espe- cially on the western or Missouri slope, the soil being admirably adapted to them, but the yield, though fair, is not so large as it should be. At the Agricultural College at Ames, in the centre of the State, the yield averages about 240 bushels of potatoes to THE CROPS OF 1878 AND 1879. 839 the acre ; elsewhere it is much lower. With such a soil as that of Iowa, 350 bushels to the acre should be the minimum, in an ordinarily favorable year, and of turnips, beets, carrots, etc., from .600 to 750 bushels. The following table shows the acreage, yield, quantity raised per acre, average price and total value of each of the principal crops of Iowa in 1878 and 1879, according to the United States Agricultural Department: Crops and unit The Crop of i87g. The Crop of 1879. >.-d 2 •si 11 1 1 >.-d u ■3 I B ■a of measure. %\ mber s in e crop h 3 •HS Number acres in es crop. k 3 1 n 5,5. < 0.-0" > 31 SiS. i: O-S. ^\ 3. 3 n 0. > foi6 H OS, s" 1 1 In'lian corn, bus. 175,256.40 > MA 4,686.000 $28,041,024 191,600,000 40. 1 4,790,000 fc.24 $47,421, 000 Wheat, 3o,44o,96j 9.4 3,238,400 • io 15,220,480 37,485,000 10.2 3,675,000 ■92 34,486,200 Rye, 431,600 166 26/101 35 151,000 437.250 15.6 27,500 .54 236,115 Oats, 38,332,800 36.3 1,0:6, J • »3 4,983,264 37,008,000 3b. 1,028,000 •23 8,511,840 Barley, 5,088,000 24. 1 2I2,i.iyo •33 1,679,040 4,796,000 22. 218,000 .45 2,158,200 Buckwheat, " 123,200 14. 1 8,8ju • 5' 62,832 157,500 i3. 8.750 .69 106,925 Potatoes, " 10,070,000 1 ,0 » ■ 100, 7J0 .26 2,618,200 8,901,000 86. 103,500 •32 2,848,320 Hay,* tons, 3,564,000 1 8j 1 ,980,000 11,307,900 3.60 12,830,400 3,064,600 1-54 1,990,000 4-54 13,913,284 165,586,300 11,840,750 1109,681,884 Other crops have attained a considerable magnitude in Iowa. Among them we may name : Sorghum, which has been cultivated to a moderate extent for fifteen or twenty years, but in 1878, 1879 and 1880 has taken a new departure. The Early Amber Sorghum, though not the most profitable variety in the amount of its yield of the saccharine juice, is yet better adapted than most of the others to Iowa, in consequence of its early ripening, the ripening of the seed being the condition precedent to the production of the greatest amount of crystallizable sugar, and giving the additional advantage, that the seed and the leaves, both furnishing excellent food for cattle, can be preserved. The crops of 1879 and 1880 are both very large, and are likely to in- crease very greatly in the future. Other plants of the Zea family, such as broom corn, Hungarian grass, the German and pearl millet and the dhurra and Egyptian * This includes also hay from forage crops, Alfalfa, Hungarian grass, millet, etc. 840 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. m t2 cc;! cell •a 5^ O 1 1/- I rice corn, if these two are not, as some suppose, identical, are coming into somewhat extensive cultivation in the State, and will prove valuable additions to its forage crops, while the rice corn and pearl millet yield grains which are valuable for the food of man and animals, and the broom corn is always a profitable crop. Iowa is well adapted to the culture of the castor-bean, and it proves a profitable crop when it is planted early and has time to ripen before the frost. This crop is one which will be more prof- itable if a sufficient number of farmers engage in its culture to furnish employment to an oil mill in the immediate vicinity, as they can then obtain a much better price for the beans. The pea-nut or ground-nut might be successfully cultivated, especially in Southern and Southwestern Iowa, and while the vines are ex- cellent for forage, the nuts command a good price, and if tiicre is an oil mill near, they may be ground for the oil at a good profit. But notwithstanding its extremes of temperature, Iowa has be- come famous for its fruits. The soil is well adapted to these, and great attention has been paid to the production and culture of hardy varieties which would withstand the extreme cold of some of the winters. The efforts made for this purpose have been very successful. Many varieties of apples and pears have been imported from Northern Russia, Northern China and Japan, which, after acclimation, have proved the best of these fruits for sum- mer, autumn and winter use. The peach does not flourish quite as well, though some of the more hardy varieties do well. The plum and cherry are very successfully cultivated. The value of farm, market garden and orchard products re- ported in the State census for 1S75, as gathered the preceding year, was ^133,440,855. The census of the present year will probably show nearly double the amount. \ But Iowa has been most successful, perhaps, in stock-raising. Her live-stock, as enumerated at the last State census, in 1875, was as follows. We give for the sake of comparison the statis- tics of the United States Department of Agriculture, January, 1880: m:^- LIVESTOCK IN IOWA. 841 ;ntical, are Lc, and will rice corn r the food profitable lean, and it has time to ; more prof- \ culture to vicinity, as Deans. The ;d, especially ;incs are ex- and if there lil at a good Iowa has be- 1 to these, and d culture of cold of some e have been ITS have been Japan, which, lits for sum- flourish quite o well. The products re- le preceding lent year will Istock-raising. isus, in 1875, Ion the stalis- lure, January, Livestock according to Census of 1875. Live-stock Repor of U. S. Agricullural Depart- ment, 1 880. Animals. Number. Number. 778,407 44,702 723.534 1,370,368 454,410 2,798,400 Trice per Head. $52.00 66.00 24.20 23.12 2.50 6.36 Vahie. Horses .... Mules and asses . Milch cows . . . Other cattle* . . Sheep .... Hogs Hogs slaughtered and sold for slaughter in 1875 . . . 700,617 36,820 528,483 1,405,582 t 3.»39,973 2,514,421 540,477.164 2,950,332 17.509.523 31,682,908 1,136,125 17.797.824 Total value . • • • 5111,553,876 Iowa has maintained the front rank in the production of pork, for which its agricultural products give it great advantages. The question has come to be one of mathematics entirely. Given corn, sorghum seed, rice corn or millet at a certain price per bushel, and also given a fi.xed price per loo pounds forpork, either live or dead weight, which pays best, all things considered — to sell the corn or other grain, or to fatten hogs with it ? We have seen in Part II. that in Kansas, with corn at from twenty to thirty cents a bushel according to locality, the farmers decided that there was more profit in using it to fatten hogs than in selling it. The Iowa farmers nearer the great markets have come to the same conclusion with corn at a somewhat higher price. But with the new demand for corn for glucose sugar, the price may be so much enhanced, that unless other grains can be substituted for corn for fattening purposes, such as sorghum seed, millet, rice, corn, etc., the quantity of pork made may be seriously diminished. The present year there seems to be no diminution in the quantity, but what there may be in the future remains to be seen. Iowa is, we believe, sixth or seventh among the States and Territories of " Our Western Empire " in the number of her * Except working oxen in the census of 1S75. In 1880, working oxen are included, f This includes 9,690 thoroughbred short-horns. liv. CC.'. :^i cell *^ O 8^ OC/X WESTERN EMPIRE. sheep. While the cost of rearing a sheep is somewhat greater than in Western Kansas, Colorado or New Mexico, care in the selection of the best breeds and in preserving them from disease and enemies makes it a fairly profitable pursuit. On this subject, facts are worth very much more than theories. We introduce therefore without apology the carefully tabulated results of five years of sheep-farming in Crawford county. Western Iowa, by one of a number of Holstein farmers who had been accustomed to the care of sheep all their lives, and who had emigrated to Iowa, and engaged in the business there. As these farmers all started substantially alike in the business, they have followed the same course of feeding, and the results have been about the same. The staple of wool has been combing, delaine, medium, coarse and fine ; it has been sold in the Philadelphia market at prices ranging from eighteen to twenty- eight and a half cents per pound, netting twenty cents per pound. ». In feeding, they have found the blue joint grass most excellent, and ample for summer feed. In winter they feed corn in the stalk, cut for fodder. The ewes have sheaf oats after January 1st. The grain consumed per head is about five bushels, costing eight to ten cents per bushel, in the shape in which it is fed ; as Mr. Henry Lehfeldt said: "The sheep husk their own corn and thresh their own oats, and the sheep farmer has nothing to do but be lazy." The theory of feeding is, as the food is cheap, to keep the sheep at all times in the very best condition ; and to that end they are allowed all the grain they will eat. They are fed no hay. They found a litde trouble in that the sheep some- times ate too freely of corn and became over-heated. This they have learned to remedy. They also found it injurious to feed corn to ewes with lambs after the first of January; some losses were had from this cause. Straw sheds, open to the east, about four feet high, in a protected yard, are all that is used for shelter. We asked if any diseases affected the sheep. We received the emphatic reply, " No, none whatever." These farmers are from Holstein, and are thoroughly intelli- gent in their business. They were raised shepherds. The ,,/ hat greater :are in the -om disease On this ories. We \f tabulated 3rd county, ers who had es, and who ; there, the business, d the results een combing, sold in the 2n to twenty- ty cents per lost excellent, d corn in the after January ishels, costing |i it is fed ; as iwn corn and lOthing to do is cheap, to ition ; and to X. They are sheep some- This they rious to feed some losses le east, about :d for shelter, received the t)ughly intelli- ^herds. The EXPERIENCES OF HOLSTEIN SHEEP FARMERS. 843 business of raising and fattening sheep for the Hamburg-London market they were brought up to. They handled Cotsvvolds in Holstein, and said Cotswolds did as well here as in Holstein, if not better. They prefer the Cotswold. The Southdown is good for mutton but deficient in wool. It was as profitable to raise and fat them here as in Holstein and more so. COST. S^pt., 1875, cost of 500 ewes at 1^2.50 $1,25000 Sept., 1875, cost of 15 bucks at $20 (Cotswold) 300 00 M-iy, 1876, fed 50 acres corn and oats in sheaf at $5 per acre . . 250 00 Sipt., 1876, cost of attendance 1 year 200 00 May, 1877, fed 100 acres of corn in stalk and oats in sheaf at $5 per acre J . . 500 00 St'pt., 1877, cost of attendance I year 25000 May, 1878, fed 125 acres of corn in stalk and oats in sheaf at $5 per acre 625 co Sept., 1878, cost of attendance I year 25000 May, 1879, fed 125 acres of corn in stalk and oats in sheaf at $5 per acre 625 00 May, 1879, cost of attendance i year 190 00 Add for annual interest account — Sept., 1876, interest on $1,550 i year at 10 per cent, per annum $155 00 May, 1877, interest on $250 i year at 10 per cent, per annum 25 00 Sept., 1877, interest on $1,855 ^ year at 10 percent, per annum 185 50 May, 1878, interest on $775 i year at 10 per cent, per annum 77 50 Sept., 1878, interest on $2,200 i year at 10 per cent, per annum 220 00 May 30, 1879, interest on $1,477.50 13 months at 10 per cent, per annum 160 96 May 30, 1879, interest on $2,769 9 months at 10 per cent. per annum 207 67 Amount of interest charged $1,040 63 Total cost of investment $5,480 63 .■i'r.^.-'l\ ■-?-: -^. .-=:-.- Ii^ RETURNS. ,.^,, May 30, 1876, sold 4,125 pounds wool, clip 1^76, 500 ewes at 20 • - cents per pound net $825 og . cr;; tq on! O f. 844 OUJt WESTERN EMPIRE. * May 30, 1877, sold 8,992 pounds wool, clip 1877, 500 cwcs, 525 yearlings, at 20 cents ^(1,798 40 May 30, 1878, sold 8,992 pounds wool clip 1878, 500 ewes, 525 yearlings, at 20 cents ».798 40 May 30, 1878, sold 525 fat sheep at 1^7.50, sold in March ond April . 3,937 50 May 30, 1879, sold 8,992 pounds wool, clip 1879, 5°° ewes, 525 yearlings, at 20 cents '>798 40 May 30, 1879, sold 525 fat sheep at ^^7.50, sold in March and April . 3,937 50 May 30, 1879, on hand 500 ewes with lamb at ;$4.5o per ewe $2,225 00 15 bucks for service at $20 300 00 535 yearlings (shorn) at $2 1,050 00 Add for annual interest account — May 30, 1879, interest on $825 i year at 10 per cent, per annum J82 50 May 30, 1878, interest on $2,705.90 i year at 10 per cent. per annum 270 59 May 30, 1879, interest on $8,712.30 i year at 10 percent. per annum 871 23 Amount of interest credits $1,224 32 Total returns from investment . $18,894 52 Net returns $13,413 89 A large proportion of the stock-raising in Iowa consists in the purchase of " store cattle," as the English farmers call them, from Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas, and fattening them either for exportation to England or for the Chicago, New York or Boston markets. The distance which the cattle are to be driven is somewhat less, the grain and forage somewhat cheaper, and the distance to a shipping port or to market about the same as from Central Illinois. There is also a greatly increasing demand in Iowa for cattle foi dairy farming. At the recent National Dairy fairs and congresses Iowa has taken the first prizes for the best butter, and has attained high rank also for the production of the best cheese. The demand for these products all over the West is constantly increasing and they command high prices. ,,/ 51,798 4° 1,798 40 3.937 50 1,798 40 3.937 50 ) > $3.5»5 00 59 23 $1,224 32 $18,894 52 $13,413 ''^9 isists in the them, from id fattening licago. New tattle are to somewhat irket about ta for cattle fairs and (best butter, 1 of the best the West is POPUr.ATIOX OF lOlVA. g^j Railroads and Sit am Niivioaiioii. — Iowa is traversed from east to west by five railroad lines, which, with their branches, reach nearly all the counties ; these are, beginning with the northern tier of counties, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, the Iowa Division of the Illinois Central, the Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, and the Chicago, Burling- ton and Quincy. As all these have Chicago for their eastern terminus, so all of them, either direcdy or by the intervention of north and south roads, centre at Council Bluffs and Omaha, on the western border of the State. Six railroads cross the State from north to south, many of them having branches. These are the Dubuque and Minnesota and its continuation, the Chicago, Clinton and Dubuque, the Davenport and St. Paul, the Burling ton. Cedar Rapids and Minnesota, with which a northern branch of the Illinois Central forms a junction at Cedar Falls ; the Cen- tral Railway of Iowa, the Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Keokuk, and the St. Paul and Sioux City, which hugs the eastern bank of the Missouri. The entire number of miles of railway in opera- tion in Iowa, January 1, 1880, was 4,750. This was aside from sidings, double tracks, etc. Population. — The growth of population in Iowa has been rapid, not quite equalling, perhaps, in its percentage that of some of its younger sisters, but sufficiently so for a healthy development. During the last decade, when the tendency of the inhabitants of the States of the Mississippi valley has been to migrate to the newer west, Iowa has not only held her own, but has increased twenty-six per cent. The following table shows the population at different periods of its history. The official figures of the population in 1880 have just been made public, and they give a total footing of 1,624,463. In 1838 . 1840 . 1844 . 1846 . 1847 . 1849 • 1850 . . 185 1 . ' 1852 . 22,859 43."4 75.152 97.588 116,651 153.988 191,982 204,774 a3o»7i3 In 1854 .... 326,013 1856 .... 519.05s 1859 .... 638,775 i860 .... 674,913 1863 .... 701,732 1865 .... 754,699 1867 .... 902,040 1870 .... 1,194,020 1880 .... 1,624,463 846 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. There arc large German and Scandinavian elements in the population, but the m.ijority of the inhabitants are of American birth. There is one small Indian reservation of 692 acres, occu- pied by a band of the Sac and Fox Indians. It is on the Iowa river, in Tama county, and the Indians number 345 ; 164 males and 181 females. They have made considerable progress in civilization, own and occupy permanent houses of their own, cul- tivate their lands and raise horses. They have a considerable amount of property aside from their annuities, good schools, and many of them have adopted citizens' dress. Counties. — There are ninety-nine orgahized counties in the State, the names of which follow : ft*: ^« ecit t^ or? 53 Counties. ' Adair, Davis, Jefferson, Pocahontas, Adams, Decatur, Johnson, Polk, Allamakee, Delaware, Jones, Pottawatomie, Appanoose, Des Moines , Keokuk, Poweshiek, Audubon, Dickinson, Kossuth, Ringgold, Benton, Dubuque, Lee, Sac, Black Hawk, Emmet, Lind, Scott, Boone, Fayette, Louisa, Shelby, Bremer, Floyd, Lucas, Sioux, Buchanan, • Franklin, Lyon, Story, Buena Vista, Fremont, Madison, Tama, Butler, Greene, Mahaska, Taylor, Calhoun, Grundy, Marion, Union, Carroll, Guthrie, ' Marshall, Van Buren, Cass, Hamilton, Mills, Wapello, Cedar, Hancock, Mitchell, Warren, Cerro Gordo, Hardin, Monona, Washington, Cherokee, Harrison, Monroe, Wayne, Chickasaw, Henry, Montgomery, Webster, Clarke, Howard, Muscatine, Winnebago, Clay, Humboldt, O'Brien, V/inneshiek, Clayton, Ida, Osceola, Woodbury, Clinton, Iowa, Page, Worth, Crawford, Jackson, Palo Alto, Wright. Dallas, Jasper, Plymouth, Cities and Large Towns. — The following are the largest cities ments in the of American 2 acres, occu- on tile Iowa : ; 1 64 males progress in leir own, ciil- considerable [ scliools, aiid inties in the Dcahontas, Dik, attawatomie, Dweshiek, inggold, ic, ;ott, lelby, oux, ory, ima, lylor, nion, in Buren, apello, arren, ashington, ^ayne, ebster, innebago, inneshiek, oodbury, orth, right. argest cities Vinton . Inciianola ''^^^ Pclla ''**4 rregor and towns of the State with tU , ^"^^ according to the censt.; oi\Z'Z'"lr °' ^^^^ ^^^ --" census of 1875; °'^*'''''^ according to tlic Hes Moines . Dubuque . Davenport Burlington . Council liluflTs . Keokuk . Muscatine Clinton . Sioux City Ottuinwa Mount Pleasant Iowa City Lyons Cedar Rapids Cedar Falls . Marslialliown . [ Waterloo * * • VVaverley Washington 0.ikaloosi Fort Dodge . Fort Madison 33,408 33,354 3»,834 '9.450 18,059 13,117 9.987 7.038 4.390 6,336 4.563 6,371 3.784 10,104 3.370 4.384 5.508 3,405 3,189 4.363 3,537 4,305 Charles City De Witt Hamburg I'Hlej)endence '.85a 3,369 '.754 3,058 Osceola . " " ' ■'"**'* Maquokcta ' ' * ' ^''°' Webster * ' ' * ''"' Atlantic '''^' Albia . * * ' • ''*'3» Chariton "."'*• ''^^3 Mason City * ' " * ^''^4 Boone . ''-'''703 Winterset. *'^^' Newton ..'''' ^'^-53 Lansing ''^^'^ Marion "'^'^^ Fairfield . ' ' ' * ^'^-^^ Decorah * * ' • 3,343 2,597 Lands for Settlers -TK k -ally belonged ,o .he uI'LI^L^L?,' ""= ''="^' ^'-ch origi. mou„t-35,„8,8oo acres-the "have L """^'''^- ^^ '^e he School and University landT anH ,'" ^^''""'^^ '^ ''>« State ("M all yet approved or patented* T ^■^'^^■^'° ^"'' selected companies in the State ab'out TS^L"'""'' '^"''^^ "> -"'real mo- "; .» .0,000,000 acres ocZ^rr^- °' '" ^" =°"'«»''at des,rablc .Government lands have been It' ^"'"'"' P'« "^ "•« haseo, p,e.e„,p,i ;^ been taken up either by pur- '"^•^ Acts. There are, however n th^ '^'' "' Timber-Cul- ^"■ne lands, mostly alternate M , "f"™ ?«« "f the State pnts, still uhsoll rise an?- " * '.'^ -''•oad la d' '-ds; tl^t is. they- are held 7JToT"' '"""^ •"'"■'>""" at };2.5o per acre. In the fiscal 1 : CI A cc;; CCJl or; 3 348 OUR lF£ST£:/iAr EMPIRE. year 1879 the government disposed of 11,600 acres of these lands to actual setders, 9,750 acres of which were under the Homestead or Timber-Culture Acts. The State has a large amount of land yet for sale, including its School, University, Agricultural College, and swamp lands. The latter are for the most part only entitled to this name in a Pickwickian sense, being, in many instances, the best lands in the State. All the State lands are held at prices above the governiT ^nt rates, though varying with different localities or market facilities, the range of prices being generally from $3 to ^\o or 5^1 f. The railroads have also a considerable quantity of land to sell, and most of it of very good quality. The rail- road lands are all prairie, and are divided according to location, soil, etc., into grazing and farming lands ; the grazing lands, though of fair quality for pasturing cattle or sheep, are not so rich or fertile as the farming lands. They are held at about 1^2.50 per acre, and where taken in considerable quantities are sold on a liberal credit. The farming lands bring from $3.50 or ^4 to ^10, according to locality, fertility, and convenience of access to markets. It is also often possible to buy partially im- proved farms at very reasonable prices. The long period of financial depression, the partial failure of the best crops from storms, cyclones, or other disasters, the grasshopper plague, the prevalence of the Colorado beetle, and epidemics of hog cholera, which greatly reduced their herds of swine for several years, have interfered with the prosperity of Iowa very sensibly in the past. About nine or ten years ago, the farmers of Iowa were very generally in debt either for tlieir farms or their agricultural machines, and the ironclad notes, which the manufacturers' agents exacted ffom the farmers, gave a lien on the farms which resulted in the foreclosure of the mortgages In thou^nds of cases, and it seemed for a time as if the entire body of farmers wou'kI have to go into bankruptcy. It was at this time that the organuation known as '* Patrons of Husbandry " became very popular in the State. The granges, local, county, and State, were well man- aged, and, by associated action, they succeeded in rescuing the greater part of the farmors from their nearly bankrupt condition. 1,1 enabled them to nroci.r,- ^k • . . ^49 and tl,e,r arm supplies in the ^it^lT IV "'" "^*'' P"-' energet,caily for a series of ^^^Tl^.^' , .^'l'^ ^"'•^e Pursued very generally to redeem J^TntlT "^ "'^ '<"'» facers > ey had a succession of poo or tlr ""'"^'"^^^- ^"'' '^ough '■" ;'-"• farms .0 the bes' adva'tr^^^Tl ""P^' ""'' ^^ "«' co„d,t,on of compamtive indepelll "'^ 5"" ^""^■"S'^'l mto a and tl,e,r ambition roused to !«.„'? '"''• *'"> ''"'^^ crops of agr culture i„ W seem, much b^T" '"/"""^' "'^ ^"'-e ago. It .s no part of our purpose to f ■"" '^" ^ ^^^ ^^^^^ Patrons of Husbandry or any otr st ^""^ *■: P-''^<=^ «' '>- these organisations have the^ faul s '„? 7'"'^='"'°"- All of may exert a prejudicial influence ontl,!. '"""' undoubtedly na.,on; but, at the time of ^4 eh w^ ' I'^T °^ ""^ ^tate or owa Kansas, Minnesota, and 1? 'P^^^, their influence in beneficial to the farmers. ^ °""='' States was highly In many instances, the settler „f i- ' • _. chased a tract of Iowa pra rie land T'^f '"'^"'- *''° ^^^ pur- '0 wait for eighteen or twenty "tntf ^r"*^ ''™='='f compiled anythtng from his land, ina much as 'he ^T '^ '""'<' ■•->■■- beaten down for ages by the hoofs 'f!, 'f' ""'^'' P'^'"e sod -« beg an owa farmer who knows bypZnT •"^^'=^"'°'- f™- of the plan he recommends • '^ ' »Penence tl,e success "How to bridge over the' first year.- as been one of the most difficu t of nr T "'"r ^'^'^ "^ ?■■-'"« I'm'ted means to solve Th^ P^^lems for the settler of P»« *eir families unt 1 a c^p ^f"?"^'"'^ ^ "^-"^ able to sup vented thousands from be'Zin! ffc! '." T'' "^ -'-* ^s pre- I'fe of the farmer N^JZ ,T^ l ^ healthful and rndependen, '"- no trifling withtr "Sir ^ '.'"' ^"'' ^°"-'^" - S™n successfully, the touX Xk o^""! P^^^f-^^- To raise =- ^ ^ P"^'™ sod, the result of 8so OUR l^^STERN EMPIRE. untold years of luxuriant vegetation, must be thoroughly rotted. This will not take place the first season of breaking, and there- fore, the most that can be hoped for that season, in the way of grain, is a crop of ' sod corn,' which, though sometimes excel- lent, is yet an uncertain and unreliable resource as a means of support. " Is there any crop which can be planted the first season upon breaking of that year which will afford the farmer assurance of return for his labor from the very beginning of his operations ? This question has occupied the most thoughtful attention of many of our best and most intelligent farmers, and a complete answer has been found during the past three or four years in the culture of flax upon new breaking. From the experiments made during several seasons, it may be considered as setded that the requirements for the growth and maturity of this crop are afforded as amply by new breaking, as by land previously cultivated. From many instances within our knowledge, em- bracing fields varying from lo to 400 acres in extent, we select one, and give below the details. The net result in this case is not as favorable as in some others, but the selection is made because the details are complete, and have been verified by affidavit. " Mr. Eugene Fuller, formerly of Sandwich, 111., upon his farm near Storm lake, in Buena Vista county, Iowa, raised fifty acres of flax on new breaking last year (1878) with the following result: I Receipts. — 275 bushels of flax-seed raised on 50 acres of breaking, sold at ^1.25 per bushel %IM 1^ Expenses. — Breaking 50 acres at $2 per acre J 100 00 25 bushels seed at $1.25 per bushel 3^ 25 Cost of putting in seed, 25 cents per acre .... 12 50 Cost of cutting and stacking, 50 cents per acre . . 25 00 Threshing, 9 cents per bushel 24 75 5193 50 Profit %\io 25 " It will thus be seen that the farmer doing his own breaking, seeding, and cutting would be at an expense of only $1.12 per l.l rhly rotted, and there- the way of imes excel- a means of season upon issurance of operations? attention of d a complete four years in : experiments ed as settled y of this crop :id previously lovvledge, em- ent, we select in this case is ;ction is made n verified by lupon his farm |sed fifty acres the following Ing, sold $343 75 lOO oo 31 25 12 50 25 00 24 75 5193 5° • • ' ^150 25 own b •caking, ,nly $1 .12 per /OIVA MANUFACTURES. - 85! acre for seeding and threshing, and that the net result, after paying all expenses, is 1^3 per acre. Other cases reported to us have given the net profit as high as $5.50 per acre. Besides the profit on cultivation, the crop is a great advantage to the land for the succeeding crop, as it leaves it clean and in better condition than if permitted to remain idle.* The importance of this new departure in farming cannot be over-estimated, for it is nothing less than a year's gain in cropping, and that at the most important time to the settler, the beginning of his enterprise, when the call upon his resources is greatest. The man of limited means need no longer be deterred from buying a home by the fear that a year must be lost after breaking before the farm will yield returns." Manufactures. — Iowa has always been regarded as an essen- tially agricultural State, yet she has from the first taken a deep interest in manufactures, for which her fine water-powers and her large production of excellent coal give her extraordinary facilities. . :; i Her flouring mills are very numerous and on a large scale. She has also extensive smeltmg works, agricultural implements and machine works, carriaci^e, wagon, and car works, creameries, cheese factories, plaster mills, sorghum mills and sugar refineries, cotton, woollen, and s'Mc mills, etc. The growth of manufactures in the State has been very large during the la i lecade and is now rapidly increasing.-)- Until the returns of manufactures for the census of 1880 are received md published, it is useless to conjecture the present amount of these in theStatc but, though the aggregate is certainly less than that of the great manufacturing State of Missouri, which joins Iowa o the south, yet it will reflect high honor upon its industry and enterprise. *The cortical fibre of the flax stalk, though nearly wortlilc > flax, is valuable for paper stock, after being run through a flax breaker, and will bring, any wliere within loo miles of a good paper mill, from seventy to eighty dollars a ton, for that purpose. The best writing and map papers can be made from it. fin 1874, the State census, which omitted all the small industries, and only enumerated nineteen kinds of manufactures, reported 3,203 establishments, employing 18,854 men, and producing goods valued at )P39,263,3io. The probability is that this sum was not at that time one-half of the actual production of that year; and the progress since 1854 has been enormous. cell Z3i :2; 21 O 852 O^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. Educational Advantages. — The State has made ample pro- vision from the first for the education of all its children and youth. Beginning with the higher instruction, it has a State University at Iowa City fully organized and under an able faculty, having 284 students in its collegiate and 232 in its professional departments, and taking rank with any State University in the country; a State Normal School at Cedar Falls, having a prin- cipal and five other professors and 237 teacher pupils in 1879; a State Agricultural College at Ames, well endowed, and with a faculty of 24 professors and teachers, and 305 students. There are also 99 Teachers' Institutes held every year, one in each county, where for from two to four weeks the teachers of the public schools are instructed by the ablest professors and teachers who can be obtained. Below these come the public schools, graded and ungraded. Of these schools there are now 10,951, occupy- ing 10,791 school-houses, of whicli 10,719 are substantial build- ings of fraire, brick, or stone. Tlie appraised value of these school-houses in 1879 was ^'9.066,145, an increase from $38,506 in 1849, thiny yean) before, of 241 times the amount. There were 2i',i52 teachers employed in these schools, viz.: 7,573 males, 13,579 ft;males, and the average compensation for the whole State was $31.71 per month for males, and $26.40 for female teachers. The whole number of persons of school age of both sexes (between five and twenty-one years) in the State was 577,353, out of a total population of about 1.500,000; of these, 431,317 were enrolled on "he school registers, and the average attendance was 264,702. The average cost of tuition per month was $1.49 per head. The total expenditure for school purposes annually was $5,051,478, or about %z.n for each inhabitant of the State ; of this amount $2,927,308 was for teachers' salaries, $1,149,718 for school houses, apparatus, etc., and $979,452 for fuel and other contingencies. The permanent school fund amounts to $3,484,411, and is constantly increasing. The income from this, $276,218 in 1879, is distributed to the schools, but the remainder, $4,775,260, is raised by district taxa- tion and local funds. The teaching is for the most part of a very high order. Ili !,ft; I ^-I'^e tMs HBe., co.se or T 7 ""^^ «" speoal schools for deaf m.Ls H ^'iV"?'™"'""' ""= State has deserted children, and refor, aL f "''' '"'' ^°' "'"Phans and VICIOUS children Ti ""'* fo"" neidcctcl „., , ^™ ■s eminently moral, and, to a co„sK/e'°"^ °^ ''-'"y '" '<>-=' no State west of the Mississipni arr i "'"'• ''^''g'ous 1„ ™ abitants connected withT^e ^^i"■^^=' P™P°«^" of th: ■llethodists take the lead, bothTn h^^ °"\'^™<'"""atio„. The *e adherent population ; the pl, K """"'^^ °f members and nationalists. Baptists, G;rmtn R f'''"?^' C*">°"es, Con're pa.ans,a„d minor sects ^Zl^^^^^J^^^^^^^^^- EpiC nated Every village, even the " "'<-' "''''er desia 854 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER IX. KANSAS. ct;! 5^1 DCJl L<» tC or; O Kansas Geographically the rrjjTRAL State — Its Boundaries — Latitude, LoNoiTUDE, Length, Breadth and Area — Irs Surface, Declination and Elevation at Various Points — Rivers — Lakes— Hills — No Mountains IN the State — Geoloov and Mineralogy — The Geological Format'ons — The Quaternary, Tertiary, Cretaceous and Carboniferous and Lower Carhoniferous Systems Represented — Fossils — Great "Variety OF these — Economic Geology — Coal — Salt — Lead and Zinc — Gypsum— Building-Stone, etc., etc. — Gas or Burning Wells — Soil and Vegeta- tion — Native Trees — Trees Planted under the Timher-Culture Acts- Flowers — Zoology — Natural Curiosities and Phenomena — Climate and Meteorology — Meteorological Statistics — Rainfall — Agricultural Productions — Tables of Productions of 1877, 1878, 1879 — Live-Stock— Valuations of Real and Personal Estate — School Statistics — No Mines or Mining except Coal, Lead and Zinc — Manufactures — Popu- lation — Indians — Sources from which Population is Derived — Counties, Cities and Towns — Schools and Education — Churches — Railroads- KLansas a Home for Im.migrants. Kansas is, geographically, the central State of the American Union, and one of the largest and most enterprising of the great States of the central belt of "Our Western Empire." It is bounded on the north by Nebraska, on the east by Missouri, on the south by the Indian Territory, and on the west by Colorado, It would be a perfect parallelogram, but that the Missouri river cuts off a slice of its northeast corner, and hands it over to Mis- souri. It is situated between the 37th and the 40th degrees of north latitude, and between the meridians of 94° 35' and 102° of ^ west longitude from Greenwich, and is 404 miles long from east to west, and 2o8j^ miles wide from north to south. The latest Land Office Report makes its area 80,891 .square miles, or 51,770,240 acres. Topography a7id Surface — Rivers and Lakes — Plains, Prairies a7id Valleys. — The topography of the State shows an alternation of broad, level river valleys and high rolling prairies, the wb.ole forming a series of gentle undulating plateaus, sloping at an Es— Latitude, CLINATION AND ijo Mountains a FOKMAT'ONS )NlFEROUS AND iREAT 'VARIETY INC— Gypsum— L AND VegETA- :uLTURE Acts— 1,— Climate and - Agricultural (—Live-stock- Statistics— No •ACTURES— Popu- ivED — Counties, ES— Railroads— I > c n m ^ll 1 ^ - -i-i m\'"^i h. m:J 7- the American g of the great pire." It is Missouri, on by Colorado, issouri river over to Mis- ;h degrees of 5' and 102° of , ng from east The latest are miles, or Wains, Prairies Ian alternation |-ies, the wb.ole slopin ; Newton, 1,433; Burlington, 1,055, and Fort Scott, 912 feet. The principal rivers of the State are the Missouri, which washes its northeastern corner for a distance of Torty or fifty miles; the Arkansas, which leaves the State near the 97th meri- dian, after traversing the whole southern and southwestern por- tion of it ; the larger tributaries of this noble river, the North and South Forks of the Cimmaron, Salt and Red Forks of the Arkan- sas, Chikaskia, Verdigris and Neosho rivers on the south bank, and the Pawnee and Walnut creeks on the north bank ; but most important of all for the State, the Kansas or Kaw river, one of the largest tributaries of the Missouri, with the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers, by whose union it is formed, and its numer- ous affluents, the Big Blue, the Solomon, the Saline, the Soldier, the Beaver, the Delaware, the Stranger, the Sappa, the Grass- hopper and the Wakarusa. There are also a few smaller streams in the northeast, affluents of the Missouri, like the Nemaha, etc. These streams form one of the grandest systems of water-courses in the whole country. Though the surface is rolling and attains so considerable an elevation toward the western border of the State, there are no mountains, nor hardly any ranges of hills in the State ; occasion- ally the bluffs along the rivers are of considerable height above the streams, and in rare instances one or two isolated buttes, or masses of rock, like Castle Rock, in Gove county, the Twin Buttes, in Rooks county, or the Bluff, in Clarke county, attract attention. The State is not remarkable for lakes or ponds, but 856 pUK WESTEKN EMPIRE. p.. ltd ^ cc;; 2»-.t cell r^ or; O rather for their absence. There arc more in the comparatively arid western counties than in the eastern. The river valleys or river bottoms, as they are called, are very fertile, but except in the Ar- kansas valley, are sometimes flooded by the swelling of the streams from the melting of the snow. Geology and Afincfalogy. — Professor B. F. Mudge, the emi- nent State Geologist, has described at considerable length, and with maps and sections, the geology, general and economic, of the State. The following summary gives as good an idea of its very simple geological formations as can be obtained without a geo- logical map. As we have already said, the surface has a gradual but double descent to the east and to the south, or south-south- east. The streams follow the same general direction. The sur- face, for the most part, is a gentle rolling prairie, with few steep hills or bluffs, and the ravines are not often precipitous or deep. The soil which forms the surface of the whole State, in both val- ley and high prairie, is the same fine, black rich loam, so common in the Western States. The predominating limestones, by disin- tegration, aid in its fertility, but the extreme fineness of all the ingredients acts most effectively in producing its richness. On the high prairie it is from one to three feet deep ; in the bottom it is sometimes twenty feet. There are a few exceptions to tliis general fertility in the most western and southwestern counties, but they constitute only a small proportion of the whole. The State is so well drained that there are very few valleys with stag- nant ponds, and there is not a peat swamp of fifty acres within its boundaries. The lands toward the Colorado border are often spoken of as alkaline lands, but Professor Mudge says that they are not so. In fifteen years of exploration he had never found but two springs containing alkalies, and had never seen ten acres of land in one place which had been injured by it. m; ; Professor Mudge says that there is nowhere to be seen in the State any violent disturbance of the strata, marks of internal fire, or even any sli*,dit mctainorphic action in any of the deposits. The uplifting of this State and the adjoining country from the level of the ocean must have been slow, uniform and in a per- pendicular ..irection, which has left all the strata in a nearly hori- /ontil position. [[,, i,,.,;,.^ «S7 g"'l".')-. tluu tl.is took ..lad'al-, ^ H '^"">^'«lse of western t;..ns, and ,.o,„u, jy iot'o^' ,'"=."- ''f ''-' I<..cl I H-h pr»te along ,,„,„ ,,j, ™ " ; '-"1 "■. .I.c >„„., „f „„^, ,„, even ,„,^ »'»« '- NCr: t '.or Lrr,""^-^ '"^' 8-" pa" toe, and a pan of ,„„ o,I,cr ,-o„„,i., ° ^ K'lmung a. iIk- Colorado "".Norton, Phi,Hp,, si',' \;;;::';;''s.^ "'^■'-'-' ^--^.i^. Of .he Plioce , dl r """"" "" >■" """■•ean™" t' "' """^ thickness of i, is al„,„ ..joof,,., ,„■""'"■" '"' ''""^- The ,o"I ^embles coarse gravel. I, i, ^Wo, ""■" " ■'''^'"'^ "" .he surface I Colorado border in fi, ^""''^t of the State. It exfnn.i r .: ;"« Morris cot i: l^^^^ Z STy" ^^^^^^U , ^^. I ranges fron. seventy-five^ " o TTV'^"^ '" ^orth An,er a ^h,s group is rich and fertile and t t.' 'P''"' ^^e soil overly ' «"d grazing. :. !'r"^ ^^'"'^^bly adapted both for cuU^ 8s8 OUX IVESTEKi^ EMPIRE. Fort lieHton Group. This group is composed of a white or yellowish limestone, about sixty feet in tliickness, a bluish black or slate-coluruil shale of about tlie same tliickncss, and shales intcrstratified with lime- stone layers containing an abundance of fossil shells, and ranging from 50 to 140 feet in thickness. Tiicre are some thin impure beds of lignite in the lower strata, but of little value. The Kurt iienton occu- pies the central and northeastern portions of the tertiary system in the State. Dakota Group. This grouj) occupies mostly the southwestern portion of the State. There are no triassic or Jurassic rocks in the State, and the Dakota group rests ilirectly on the Permian. The maximum thick- ness may be 500 feet. It is almost wholly composed of sandstone. The soil overlying this formation is regarded as the best in the State, being admirably adapted to wheat, easily drained, and very fertile. It is also an excellent fruit district, especially adapted to pear culture. The whole thickness of the cretaceous formations in the State is estimated to be 960 feet. IV. Carbonii'erous System — Permian Group. — Upper Carboniferous. These t»vo groups may be described together. Tliey cover wholly or in part thirty-eight counties, and an area of nearly 20,000 square miles with a thickness of about 2,000 feet. The strata are nearly horizontal, though dipping slightly to the northwest in most cases. The deposits consist of limestones, clay shales, sandstone, and, in the upper portions, gypsum and chert beds. In the lower strata the limestones are more compact and uniform and the chert beds less numerous. This limestone contains from three to five per cent, of magnesia The soil which overlies them is good, and the underlying limestone helps to fertilize it. Some of the oldest and best counties in the State are in these formations. Coal Measures. The area embraced in the coal measures is about 9,000 square miles, and seventeen counties in the southeastern and eastern part of the State lie wholly or in part within its limits. All these counties are in some degree supplied with coal. How large a portion of this territory may be so situated as to give the opportunity for work- ing profitable mines cannot at present be decided. Most of the mines which have been opened yield good and some of them largely profit- able returns. The material of the deposits of the coal measures, in which scams or veins of coal are found, are similar to those of the Upper Carboniferous, b»it more varying. The blue clay shales and other shales are in some locations very thick and soft — sometimes 1,000 feet or more. The sandstones are firmer, and are used for flag and grindstones. Professor Mudge believes that the indications show that this i)art of Kansas was under the ocean, and then raised to dry land at least sixty times during the period of the coal measures. /''OSS//.S Of-- A'ANSAS. 859 or yellowish slate-c:olorcil eel with lime- ranging from pure beds of Iknton occii- r system in the estern portion the State, iuid maximum thitk- l of santlstone. ;st in the State, nd very fertile, to pear ( iilture. in the State is uiferoui. icy cover wholly f nearly 20,000 The strata are )rth\vest in most |iales, sandstone. In the lower m and the chert three to five per is good, and the ,e oldest and best res is about 9,000 Item and eastern Itnits. All these |w large a portion Vtunity for work- Most of the mines lem largely profit- coal measures, in to those of the clay shales and soft— sometimes are used for flag that this part of and at least sixty V. Lower or Sun-CAunoNiiEkou.s System. Ki'okuk Group. The only representation of the Lower Car!)oniferouii in Kansas is to be found in a small triangle in the extreme southeast, In Cherokee county. Here .ilone in the entire Slate of Kansas there is some evidence of local «listiirl>ancc of the strata, wliic h, however, may have taken plate gradually, as there seems to be no evidence of volcanic action. Tills little tract seems to be allied to the adjacent region of Mis- souri, which contains sonjc of the richest mines of lead and zinc in that State, lloth metals, or rather their ores, have been ft)und in pay- ing quantilit's in this corner of Kansas, along Short creek, and nowhere else in the State, except in most insignificant amounts. The thickness of the stratified rocks of Kansas is in all esti- mated by Professor Miidge as 5,210 feet. All these groups and formations contain more or less fossils, anil some of them are very rich in thfm. In the Blnjf or Loess arc a few fresh water and land molliisks, the maslocfon gigaiticus, the dcpluis Amcricamis, a gigantic horse, probably cquus cxcclstis, and several small mammals. In the PlioccMie there are numerous fossils, most of them silicified. Among them are bones of deer, beaver, a large animal of the ox kind, two and possibly three species of the horse, one three-toed aiul of very small size, an- other very closely allied to the present horse, a wolf, ivory and bones from the elephant or mastodon, bones of the rhinoceros and camel, etc. There have also been foimd the bones and cara- pace of a large fresh water turtle, five feet in length, smaller turtles and mollusks. But the great field for fossils is in the cretaceous system, and especially in the Niobrara group, where from the mollusks and fishes to the saurians, Pterodactyls and birds with jaws and teeth, the palceontologist is constantly stumbling upon new wonders. Fossil sharks, nearly fifty species of fossil fish, of which many hundred specimens have been collected, half a dozen of marine turtles, between thirty and forty species of crocodiles and other saurians, some of monstrous size, one seventy feet long with a head six feet in length, huge Pterodactyls of forms and size hitherto unknown, and birds with teeth and vertebr£e like a fish. 8^X5 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ^ cc;; The Fort Benton group is more noted for the number and variety of its Ammonites, and has also a few fish and saurian remains. The Dakota group has a few fossil mollusks and fish, and one saurian, but is most noteworthy for its fossil flora and plants, especially dicotyledonous plants. Professor Lesquereaux found over seventy species, mostly dicotyledons, in Kansas, and all in this formation. Among these are four sequoias, closely allied to the gigantic redwoods of California, one or more pines, and eight other conifers, five poplars, six willows, eight oaks, six buttonwoods, seven species of sassafras, five magnolias, two figs, one palm, two cinnamon trees and a considerable number of extinct genera and species. Intermingled with these were numerous ferns, some of gigantic size. Professor Gray thinks all these plants migrated hither from Greenland, which once had a sub-tropical climate. In the Permian and upper carboniferous groups there are land plants and a considerable number of mollusks and corals. In the coal measures are found fossil ferns and calamites, crinoids and trilobites, numerous species of fish, and especially fossil sharks, one with nearly 2,500 teeth in the lower jaw, and footprints of reptiles and saurians equal to the famous ones of the Connecticut valley. Economic Geology and Minerals. — Coal is the first mineral in this State in point of importance. It is mined at many points in the region of the coal measures ; and though differing some- what in quality, it is in general a good bituminous coal, coking well and yielding from 8,000 to 9,000 cubic feet of gas to the ton, but requiring more than average care in the purification. That mined at Leavenworth is of the same class as the rest, a shaft over seven hundred feet in depth having been sunk to the coal measures. About 1,500,000 bushels (45.000 tons) are raised here annually, and about 120,000 tons in all the region. Lead and zinc are found in paying quantities in Cherokee county, in the extreme southeast of the State. About 6,000,000 pounds of lead ore are raised at Short creek, and zinc is smelted at New Pittsburg, in Crawford county. Kansas possesses salf • '^-^^v-^^^. g^^ »trcngch and p„,,\„ sup^.f th^'^f ;";i^P-"-f-'fficient necessary. I" , he southwestern part or%^''''''-'''W'' ^''"-T if bend of the Arkansas, there are ev ", ^'*"'' '^'='°«' "'e Jeat 'wenty-e,Vht inches in de^tit ca" ^T 'f"^ "^ -" f™", i to ponds, or the salt branch's oV'h Cmt^ " '^^'"^ "P "'" -'^ region .s not yet settled or easilv ! ^™",'f °" "ver; but as this before it is ready for n,ar< " ^ "" ''' " "" ^^ -"« '^ ■n .be Republican and Sali e valys "r^l'^'^ "^^'o. is tl" sal marshes, yielding a brine of /r J '""'■■' "^"^ '•'^'^"^'ve --frJLSl-;i-n.a.s;Ka^s.i„^ crystals,- ,n Seward and Mead co^'„lr.^' ''^""^•'1 compound the Cmmaron river, there are beds " ,'" •"'" ■'°""'*««' "ear »tent. In Marshall county i„ the n .f f "'" "'">'"=''' °f great ■t underlying at least four^owtH ^s ' f " ''^ ^ ''-^>' l^^d of Blue Rap.ds. In Saline countv k f' , " "manufactured at -'-'• I' is in demand bot'a '^ a f ? '^^ °' "-"-'y -=9"' purposes. ^i^ ^ fertilizer and for buildinJ Lime and hydraulic cement -,re ^^' r^^^^^^^^ --- ^r^yS-anl "l^elat "^r • - -i-:7 we'ls in the eastern part "■here in the coal meaCes t^h''""' °' P^'~'«''» --"e '.000 feet have failed to reach i H T' '" "'« ^epth of "%. These wells are at Wv^ndm, ^ ''''' 'o.ooo cubic feet cubic feet daily_at Fort Scl :Rt daTe°": ! "" ''"''"^ ^S.o^ Tl>e illuminating power is abo,,? '' "'^"^ °""-''- Places c«J gas. '"^°". seven-tenths that of the bes^ •^-■svervlittlepoorlandira ':^;™y.infcr thae "'*> ?. ^., iand which cannot 862 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. «:: M2 C5 by proper cultivation and irrigation be made to yield good crops. This is true. Aside from the barren salt basins and desert lands of Southwestern Kansas on both sides of the Cimmaron (if, indeed, that is wholly an exception), and some few gravelly patches in the northwest, both together not amounting to a single county, there is a smaller quantity of barren land in Kansas than in any State in the Union. We say this with a full knowledge that the counties west of the hundredth meridian are generally unorganized as yet, that the amount of rainfall is less than in the Eastern counties, and that where the land is as yet unbroken, the sage-brush and the bunch-grass grow, and but little else, and that except in the valleys of the streams, or when planted by man, there are very few trees, and the winds rush down from the Rocky Mountains with terrific force. We are not disposed to conceal or diminish any of these apparently untoward facts; yet we adhere to our declaration. This soil, beaten down by the hoofs of buffaloes for centuries, is not now their pasture-ground, and when the hard-packed roots of the bunch-grass and the sage-brush are broken up by the plow, and loosened so that air and moisture can get in, the rainfall increases, the soil drinks it in instead of letting it run away, and t/^m the soil is broken up again, and planted or sown with whf;at, or corn, or flax, or turned over to the blue joint grass, the moisture continues to increase, and in three or four years the rain, which comes most largely in May, June, July, and August (four-fifths of the whole falling in those months), pushes forward large crops, while the trees wiiich have been planted for about the same length of time, break the fierce winds, and help to increase the amount of rain. Of five towns beyond the ninety-ninth meridian — Fort Hays, McPherson, Kinsley, Dodge Citv and Fort Wallace — the rainfall, which has hitherto been about twelve to fourteen inches, was as follows in the order in whidi they are named, in 1879: 16.26 inches; 32.05; 15.03; 15.43; 16.58. The season of the year at which the rain comes makes an immense difference ; the growing crop has the moisture just when it needs it, and it grows thriftily in consequence. This sou ^^J, ysCMTATlO^ OP ^^,ys,, rainfall will continue to in. 863 f f-e as fr^iZ i" ^':^' \"f -■" -ake this portion o should be a lack of rain ;, • ^ ^ ^">^ ^^'^er. But if fh c'evation of the U;!"," .^X^ a'f^"--''^''--^ rngate all these lands when once T '"■"^■"^ "'^■''"ard, tS heu- y,eld will demonstrate "hat .h "• '° "><= P'°^^. and tLe,t ands upon which the sun si ,« [^1 '".'"' ""= "'"'' "^^ five to forty bushels of whea or =. f 7'""'' ""' ^i^'d thirty! eighty bushels of oats and fift' of h ,'"'''"'' '^"-''"-'^ of co™ bushels of potatoes to theTre ^^f ^ ^^^ '" 3°° - moTc even ,f ,t requires irrigation to e;,.M ^^ '^""'^ '"■"'•en land Along the banks of^the vers "f c " '" '" "'" are now many trees, those not on th^''"'' f "''"''^"''^ ^ere very generally planted. The nra«; f""' '''"^' having been for hedges in place of any otheC ""-" '''"^ °-S<= o-nge very greatly to the beauty of tl e far " '"^ ^°'""on. and adds =■0" of the crops and stock from theWh" "!!' " '° '"^ P~'- The trees planted under ,1,. n I »^ "'"*• State laws have been ;:^^l iTj-'''''"- ^« -^ "nder able, the quickly growing trees s!,h^ T'"' *"" «'a^ desir- cottonwood, willows, box elder hnn,"' "'" "'"'•« and yellow and basswood or ^■nde„7te Sta.T A™-^''f'''^"'"^' -f''»aSe srongly urged the addition to the it fT''"'" ^°«"y We llie native flowers of K^n and deck the broad prairfes w^r' "f '^ ^''""''^« and beautiful . be Wly appreciated. ^ " '*'* ^ ^'^O' which must be seell to notlhof 'v^S'jf „^"™=''» of Kansas are those of the 1 • -n are not plenty anywhere -nth/'". ''"'■''=• ^he buffalo o ■I'e vast herds which Lmerit si t T' ^"' "'^ ^'^'""ants of «eay, heavy gallop still Stir " '°''''' ^^"h ^y 1° ^-<«estern Kansas anHLl^l^ ---: *e ^-ovj; inciian lerriforyand PI.; 864 Ot'A' WESTERN EMPIRE. Western Texas. The antelope of the plains is also found in large numbers in Western and Southwestern Kansas. We doubt if the elk is now to be found in Kansas, though some years ago he occasionally appeared in the western counties. Deer are plenty, and the smaller game, hares, rabbits, squirrels, and the rodents generally. Of beasts of prey the black and brown bear, the panther or cougar, lynx, wild cat, opossum, rac- coon, weasel, fisher, marten and skunk, are most common. The gray or black wolf is not abundant in the State, and the coyote or the prairie wolf is found mainly in the central and western counties. Game-birds are very abundant in the west and south- west, ducks, brant, teal, mallards, and wild geese being found in great numbers in their season on the Arkansas river as well as on the Republican and Smoky Hill. On the plains the prairie hen still exists in moderate numbers ; if it had been as plenty as formerly the "grasshoppers" or Rocky Mountain locusts would never have reached the farm lands. Other members of the grouse family are quite abundant, especially sage-hens, quails, and ptarmigan. Song-birds are numerous, and many of them of fiiie plumage. The native edible fish of Kansas are several species of perch, sunfish, catfish, roach, black bass, one or two species of trout, etc. Shad, salmon, salmon trout, grayling, an eastern species of black bass, etc., have been introduced through the Fish Commission, but the success of these introductions is not yet fully demon- strated. The reptiles are much the same as those of Arkansas and Missouri. Natural Curiosities and PJienoi7iena. — In a prairie State like Kansas there are comparatively few of these. The most re- markable are the Monument Rocks in Gove county, the Pulpit Rock in Ellsworth county, the Rock City, and the Perforated Rock near by, in Ottawa county, the Table Rock in Lincoln county, and the masses o^ gypsum and selenite in the gypsum beds. Some of the fossil bones of vertebrates in the tertiary had been so thoroughly siliclfied as to be converted into moss agates of great beauty. This is particularly the case in Wallace and Sheridan counties. The moss agates of that region, not fossils, are very perfect. iJe^'^ ,, -3.i-# .vii-'«if%l^ 3B^ ^Sfii-^i^'Si^S f**';.^'^ » ff ■^-^^^ . "^^fciiA ^-smm^^ 'jm^^^^^i^^iM^^^'^^ff^ "■ :- --.'y'/x*?. .^■r:_^y.. TvWt.v Hm^ *^ \^'' '^mm RUSSIAN VILLAGE. KANSAS— A VUi J-OUT — IIAYINIJ. r^ •'^\'y^\\^*% V' r.^^'^ cr;; a:ii wC Cl.nt.,TF. OF A;i,YS,tS. none ,n.. Our Western Enp.V,. ■^"..^t! '" "',' ^"'""^ ^^^tafnly indeed almost entirely, to the n! ■ ''"" ''•='"' 'J"<= lan.clv tl.o excellent Secreta'; of /|:::f ^' "^"f """ring efforrs ^* late Hon. Alfred Gray, to wl.on, n '' '^.""'u °^ ^Srieulture, the tunsts and scientists everywwl '' "'^ ^'"''•- ^ut a,>r cul can never bo fully repaid 'HLTdr' H ''''' °' ^'-'"u Je w ,ich so much labor and with such a u,"": T''"- ^'^^^^'^^ ^ great bod,ly suffering and vvasthu. ", f^ ''"'' completeness amid *ropy and his devotion to t^ forr^^'""' ^''^'^ "^ P'^Han that he chmate of Kansas is a very desir!f? ""^ '""^ '" e^"--"*! months are in „,os, parts „f the S^e ^ °"'- ^'"= ='™""er ■n<-an temperature being for 1, „! I '■^""^'" '"'f. t'-e averaire and for August about 77.50 "'.^^^ f °"' 75°, for July about H% are sometimes very great ihou'h IT^l °'"'^ ^""'- "ontis average minimum of December is I '°"^ continuance; the about the same, while Febru.rv''l~''^' '''='' "January temper.^ure of December vv™Zr;,o' on ^'^^ ^"^ "'-" and of February ,4 ,» Th„„ '^ ' "'^January about 2a =« air is so pure, U'^ e^ trr„r",r^ ^^^-' ^^'^^ by |t that the climate is a verv- Llh '"'"^ '"'^ ^^ t<-™Pered P™ne States, at times, very JS °"'- ^''^^"^ ^^'^- ''^ '" all ™ ^'°.™-^. "'ough oftener'nor audtf "'T^^ accompanied es,ruct,ve and oftener annoying b", h ^^ ^'"''^ '""^ ^""^'^es fyng and healthful. The rainf^n' "" S^""^' ^^-^ct is puri- -very remote day, becom " ciXr t^' ^"' '"^>-' ^ -- "c of ,t ,s that it is much \J^T,t ""^'^"^ character- J"ly. and August than in all tL c '""'""'^ °f May, June '.7th of June has from one-t IrV,"' °^ ?' ^^^''^ ^"^ '^ X' '^" of the year. With tee 1'! T^^^^ °^ *« -'>°fe rafn ^logical tablesof fit;';, :'.r^.f ^ - -f-it the !>tate for 1877-1880. '^ * *•' '" different parts of the 866 OUR WESTERK EMPIRE. 5>: 2 cc, >-1 ca 1 — , »-3 Crj .23 S .^ oc? ''f^ Wl ::i 3 ^ O STATIOm. NovKMaRM, 1877. I fix E 3 g" l'5l 1 M f a k 1^ ^ B§ 3 •52 .y •S rt " ?; OS Baiter Spring* ^iwruncu . . .. l.«aveiiworlh.. Manhattan. ... Indcponilencc. Fort Hays .... Fort Larncd. Salina Osborm" McPherson.. . Kinsley Dodge City... Fort Wallace. 4a" 64 1 39 n 39 -5 38 -7", 44 -9 J 37 C' 37 .1)6 41 .o-j; 37 •7" 68^ i 64 : 64 65 i 73 68 I 66 66 64 9 9 a 10 10 I -a i 9 I a I 38 .60 36 -S' 7« 73 3.115 146". a6 '■•»7;]44 -O a-44| 44 '■9'l •• .2o|j37 «-38 145 •57 1.50 .56 .c6 .a I .20; .o->' .66 39 -78 68 63 67 7' T 73 66 63 ■4" lu '3 10 '5 .00 .11 68 73 10 8 5-3° '36" •7:. 64°' a. a I 11 1! 55 : 31" 33 56 : 1.6.S 33 .09 l\ 3.10 J7 .T> 3-5°, 33 .00 % a. 441:30 % a. 50 3' f.f> i '35 35 .00 6o a.65 y ■JO a. 70 ^a .61 S4 1 436 a. 15 64 ' 57 i 3a .00 to° j a. JO 43° .33' 64O V! 10 — I 5 3.<'5 s..i4| a.3S 4 36 .75 68 I..8 .47 7-' !4'J •! 5.66] 5.28 4.04 lo.( t ' 1.681 4.65! 1.95 1.64: 1.96 4^>.S 5.18, 1.65 $■32 7.091, 4.631 %4 W E ^ E c « 52 •5S ^, l< -•• 74^.41 90° 60' 6;g .79 89 50 7 J .50 ?; 49 (>7 .-ji 4' 74 .5" 94 60 70 ■74 91 53 72 ■$" 95 50 73 -'■" 9' 48 6) .56 92 50 f«) .27 ■95" 54 70 .30 9' 50 74 •gi 95 57 70 .50 95 4» 5^'^' 5^(7 5^i7 5.11. 8.x 9-:.! jl,;:- 6,'.. 4-7' 4.1/ 5-37 ■ 6-.7, 6.7. 4.<;7l 219! Statioks. Baxter Springs Lawrence... . I..eavenworth.. Manhattan. . , July, 1878. August, 1878. c o •p. 1"^ .E a ." o .§i S !S 80°. 76 icooj 70° 78 .45 98 I ?8 80 .30 100 61 78 .09 95 52 Ji c ^ 3.00 4.30 3.08 E o I - I - o II E'^ 'E i; I n re 77" '4 . , 78 -90 .. 12.71 : 76 .88| 97 ll 98" 99 E-o 56° 58 47 o B '5 pi. 3-3' 2.66 Septemdck, 1878. E o 67° 58 67 .8j ,66 .96 'f.j: 'Sol E 01 E^ OCTOBEH, 1S78. ll <=- S in EC E a' .. c -.3 E o .2 S*- r^"- I ^. 5 PE,|2 I « 94 •S" ;93 I j93 j 4'"l 41 I 37 ! a.iii 2.6.1 55^^ 55 •3«i 87" 20° E6 I 20 89 ■ 17 ■441 1.16I 1.06J METEOROLOGY OF KANSAS. 867 M«V, 1B78. 1 ^-9 "k at .,»' 2.,° 3?r 3.«6: f.6 iS-5 66 1 .« »-94; firt ^ \ «-44i 68 .8 1 3.9a. 70 8 ■t 6)1 Vi 7^ 173 1 I.J9 >75 •4"^ ■64 16 .6,1 1 7" 13 •'3 70 r« 1. 13 JuNn, 1878. S c 5 1 ^?. I »* ! >r!l £ 4,1 90°! 60' 1.791 89 1 50 .5" 94 .741-9' .5", 95 .001 91 5' ■■ 5-<'- 49 4» 60 53 50 I II.:- 48 I 8'-, \-V\ -6 9» 1 50 I 4->M 5-37' 6-.-7; 6.;. I 497I 2 19 1 .27i 95 .301 9» .91; 95 .50, 95 54 50 57 . 48 OcToiuiu, 1S78. o .=5' 87° »° .36' 89 ' 17 Lawrence I,i:avcnwi)rlh. Manhutt.in. .. Independcn i; (ireat Itcnd. . Salin.i Cjaylord Osburne Kinslev ■ . Fort Walla Creswcll Cedar Vale. Dodge City Fort Hays McPherson Stations. ■0 s 1 1 < Lawrence Leavenworth.. Manhattan.... Independence. Great licnd... Salini 38^58' 39 2«' 39 ' = ' 37 8' 38 32' 39 °°' 39 45' 95° '6; 94 54 96 4J' 95 37' 98 38' 98 00' 98 50' 884 8)6 1,21X3 830 1.845 1.343 1,800 Gaylord E 3 c = H3 Hs .5 b c i: o ~ 3 ,, 3= 6q".>;ol 93° 68 .96 92 68 .571 95 69 .30! 91 68 .53 98 71 .00^103 1 •5 c 3 ^ r - = i^: J5 ,« £ E 5 ^^ £•3; «2 e - w 3 •S3 .s = , u rt rt 0: --• ^ 1 1.60 730.22 97° 304 73 -35 93 46 1.79 72 .80 93 53 •9» 76 .90 102 50 •31 77 00 100 33 ••■•'S 75 O" '03 43 1.58 U . 5 SL.3 ^r r: . t r S 3 ■J.C u 3 1 E ^?- ^S .*'? '^l: 1^ E"o 3 'J rt •52 .£5 1 « ;= C« 3 o U .s ^ ^ *S I *5 P6 !, <^ ■4! 7-M{|79' 9.901 79 .8^ 8.48 |79 .20 3-54|,85 .90 3.65 180 .00 8.79'|90 .00 4-'7|l 97' 97 98 104 98 103 62' 61 67 70 62 63 o «•. 3 •3 3-66 4-99 3.3fi 6.79 6.72 4.07 ^8 OUR XVKSTF.R.W EMPIRE. .^^t cell CO' o Lawrence Leavenworth. Manhattan... Independence Great Bend.. Salina Gaylord Osborne Kin.iley Fort Wallace Crcswell Cedar Vale... Dodge City. . Fort Hays McPherson. i8r>. 63° MBKH, 1879. \t '7 77 •" 67 ... Bo ■■1)1 4-55 KCii, i88j u . 1 ^ 11 ,■-■ 7. t-s s E'^ ^ .1^ i s .= S rt <. PS w° 2.S° 2.03 ■6 4.0 -J.JS to -2.0 .50 |8 5-0 1.46 u -l.O •5* i6 -3.0 .90 i3 3.0 .75 78 -40 I2 7.0 35 -8.0 .68 1.42 .04 i.fo KAINtAl.L OF KANSAS. 869 SUMMARY OF RAINFALL FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1878. ¥\\i4 j.) Manhall.in.. .. J« 'J ')6 4 IndciJciii^leiice. J7 « i-, J, B V v. 8jo 3, .5 ■l"j ■.47 iy6 ,12.44 3.1 L07 i 3 j.30 a III 2 ■'« ,3"S 3.lH|J.34 I 6? 12 11 f. 1 to i s < 3^ t 1 1 i n •— > •9 .t'(7 ((HI 4. Co 6 8., S'JJ 3.i»i i.>,6 J 67 5.48 5/16 .V67 43' 2.V4 .). |v, |j.ti6 5.v« 5-V 3.,. 8 1 44 '77 aoJ 4.04 j.oa 12 71 J'»8 3 >.■> 3 5" Jti.ijft U.13 - '/' ,'i ■^ 5 \A 1 I 5 >• il 1 .17-74 ».22 la. 11 .;J?, 1«.,"14 3 i> ■>.' Osbiirnc 49 3"' M, I'licrMin. ..131) ao' Cre»wtll 138 ao' C.^iyluril I 3') 45 KiM-lev. 37 58 K.iri \V;ill;u.c. ,10 i») UuilgcCiiy...! 37 43 1.25 1.29' .88 1.37 4.65 II 22 ■ 2.70 1.75 1.70 1.53 1.95 8.69 I. oil .69 i.cio .501 196 4.19 ' 2.60' 2.I5I 1.9s 3.30 I 4.IJ 10.30 I a.841 2.04:5.08 a. 4a 5.3a I 6.7a 3 35 a 75 la.oj 5 IS 3.67 1 08 ■4J' I.»6 2 5a 2.2.1 .19 3 !I8 1. 10 .21 2 *KI 2. IS 4 7^ 3.94, 24>. 4.06 30.19 2U.93 28. ai 41.8.6s: 4.631 4.7'> S.37 637 a. 19 8.86 J. 75 3,26 1 bi 3 41 ,1.25 'l. CO - •A y CO I- 3.09 c •— > 2.19 2.51 1. 00 2.49 1.4a .60 2 75 • 53 3.04 i.iS .67 2. 88 1.6, 1.08 •C a < CO ■R I . 00 I. " 1 J! I : Its. < r goo o 3.&^ . 1. 21 , .68 ' 6 49 4.44 4.29 583 7.53 5.37 4.97 S.97 6.31 2.64 2.54' a. 74 a. 28 1.56 I 39 I.OJ » 57 Mean for 12 months — First, or Fiistem Hclt 37- 58 inches. " ' Second, or Middle Helt 27.89 " ' Third, or Western Belt ai.73 " SUMMARY OF RAINFALL FOR 1879. FIRST, OR EASTERN BELT. Stations. Lawrc'ii b g 37 Lcivcnworih .. .. 1.16 Manhattan. j .75 Independence ; a. 03 Cedar Vale 1 a.ia 4' .54 1.30 .88 .37 •3» .oa .85 u .a ■ >. V c . gust I ^, 3 •-1 3 —1 <; 1 •c o. 4.18 j 1.60 7.14 3.57 I 3.04 , 9.90 3.21 I 1.79 ' 8.48 4.76 .9a ] 3.54 4.98 ! 1.48 ' 6.37 7'4 O.IK) S..';S .1.54 6.37 1 .03 .j8 I 61 4 »-' 561 .157 3 4' 4.30 '■34 • 49 S 2. Si 5.15 4.''5 7.85 3.63 7.83 2-49 330 387 2.43 SECOND, OR MIDDLE UEI.T. Great Bend iSitlina . . . jGavlord . . . lOsborne . . iCreswell. , 1.07 •»5 .05 4.95 •31 2.65 '79 1.65 135 .12 •30 4.63 1.38 8.79 6.72 2.10 • 75 3.67 •.58 4.>7 4.07 .23 1,00 .10 .... 4.02 2.65 3.83 T.-M 1.90 "55 •45 •»5 6.49 .84 6.93 7.88 2.10 1 ■.>5 1.95 > 30 2.30 ••37 .10 a. 00 .6s 30.82 1.80 4.89 •35 34.37 .23 1.90 .00 17.90 .IS 2.77 .00 22.09 a. 16 4.99 1.5a 36.49 ft/o OUR WIurriiRN EMPIRE. TIIIKD, OR WF.STERN HELT. Sutloni. Kin»luv 85 .38 Fxri Wnllnca k% .36 IIimIui! Clly .87 .oH Kort Hiiyn ' . , . I .... Mcl'livnun 1.50. ...• < I 51 I >-( i "^ i < i/S • »7 ■7J X 4'«> a.ou • 50 j.fts I'll 7.U0 a. .11 7.UI J9> 6,ts 3-37 I "o 1.34 • .97 371 1 8" 3.0a I .3U 4.10 I, as .40 .uo .ou ".fe 9 .04 aj .na .la "•7S 1 15 4! I6w6 3»"5 g5 ffll pri S3 O Aj^^ncuilural Prod uc I ions. — Kansas is prn-rniinently an a^ri- ciilt' .al State, and tlio efforts of her State Agricultural Hoanj and of her railroad companies to develop her agricultural inti;r- ests have been crowned with the most wonderful success. Her race for the supremacy in agricultural products has been rapid beyond all precedent. Take wheat as an example: In 1872 she produced 2,155,000 bushels ; in 1878, 32.315,358, leading all the States in winter wheat. In 1879 the season was unfavorable for winter wheat, but favorable for the spring wheat, and the wheat crop in Kansas fell off to 20,551,000, but the crop of 1880 more than makes up all deficiencies. The following official statement shows wnat were the agricul- tural crops of 1877, 1878, and 1879: Crops. Winter Wheat bii Rye Im Spring Wheat bii Corn ... bii Barley bu Oats .. .bii Buck whc at bu Irish Potatoes bu .Sweet Potatoes bii •Sorghiim gall Casmr Beans bu Cotton lbs Flax Im Hemp lbs Tobacco lbs r.room Con) lbs Millet and Hungarian., .tons Timothy tons Clover tons I'rairie Hay tons Timothy Pasture acres Clover Pasture acres Ulue-grass Pasture ...acres Prairie Pasture, under fence " Total Number of Acres 857, 119, ao6| a,56j 79i 4: 45 I 20 27 164 25 9 503 4 I 21 553 125.00 ,971.00 ,868.00 ,112. IKl 704,00 ,aa6.of> ,112.37 ,018. (XJ ,726,^.3 783.75 .8.t.S.25 597.62 .735.37 ,801.70 7»735 .H7.'4 ,529.00 ,212.50 796.66 ,6i2.oo ,202.25 .445.49 299. 3' ,717.00 Amount of Product. 10,800 2,525 3.5'6 '"3.4Q7 1,87s 12,768 57: 3. "9 2iili a. 39^ 578 101 291 1.657 530 16,917 4*7 40 18, 74> 295.00 ,054, o^.* ,410,00 ,8.^1. 00 ,323.00 ,488.00 974.4 1 c84.util Oofi 0/ tht J-'iiiHi, for |H7«. Crop*. Wiiiicr Wlicui hii. Kyi' I"" Sprinit Whcut lui. C.' ini < Iiii. ll.irU'y Iiii. Oils Iiii IIiiiUaIivuI Iiu. \tn\\ I'.ititoi'i Ini. ^w Li I'i't itiici Iiii. ^urtjliiiiii u.ill ('.i»ii>r Uttiiit Iiii I'ltlon II)''. Ki.ix Ihi II iiip lliH. 'rnli.iccn lIlK Mrioiii iNirrt . .111'.. Millut iiikI Hiintiarluii.. .Imiih. riiiuittiy M.ailuw liin». I'lnvrrM alow ton«. I'lairii' Mrailow . . , , , .Iuiih. I Tiiiii'lliv rasiurc acres. 1 I'liivcr I'aHtiiru ...... .acres. llliuKMis I'.iHturo iicris. 1 I'rairic l•a^lllrc iicrcii. i'i7,H4'J.uii 4JJ.''57'» 9,.tti^,4lij.ui • 6.iSl.i>i 444,iyl.«i 4,sHj.66 3 1, J '9.1 » j.M 91 3".y-H7A ;i7,o€j|.7o 5vy 7'; ?■>.( IS 144,081. iKi 4ii,l.'i.IJ I ii. 4.19 4a 667, ) I !■'*■* 8,Sji>.cx3 .^.7^l•»s ■.(7,876.73 7uI,4J|.LKi I'ruJucl. 96,318 g^^.uo ii,7aj,. 118. u> '..7.j6,4M.OL» 8';. m,v7"."0 i,56i,79j.o.i '7.4' I 473 o" 4.'S6. 136.00 i''y."H.! 57 3 H,«yl.75 86,<,Ui.o<> 4i).77'«« 4H7.4 6 8.> 4"), Ml I') 16,0^15, 6't.O'j 4.ia,a4J.o<» 64.^53-76 '4>3'<)'5'.< 980,963 ou Toul I 6,5j8, 717.85 Avcrng* Value iif I'riUucl. Avirni{': Vi.l.l p«r Acre, ao.44- t'ri t' |><;r Mil , l.li. iir Ton. Avirnge Vallio |ii r Acre. f 13 06- l>i( ,(Vjv.4o 1 .fvi- •J38f ■ 3" 6 .l'>- 1 7Ni.>oo<>7 I7,ul8.y68 7.J .48 f «7iH .17 '3 y '7- 6,31 t Stil.tbit. \\ ■■'7 7»l- .36- v.t 3 917 9>>>.6i 19 1 j- .i«h 68, 74 J. '6 18...8- .8u 1446 ^ 1.63 {.9 t6,<)u 81...7- t^ 3»4a— aa4,H.jfi.(.i iiBAjl- 9*; 7"t I,if6 78133 iir.<.i • 50 57 5° 448.M8. iH ii.f«i k- • as 14 50 7.79'' 1'' I7>i.i>0 .06 55. »o 41. 911. "1 740. 77.o67.3i Tolal v.iluatioii of all other property 231,164,684.95 Grand State Total $300,841,752.26 Number of Acres, Amount and Value of eaih Product of Principal Crops of the Farm, for 1879. Wimcr Wheat bu. Rye bu. ."iriiiij Wheat bu. l'..rn Im. Itnrky Im. (Kits bu. l;ii;kwlaat bu. Ir ^h Piilatoiis bu. Swct't Potatoes bu. H' ruhiim gall. C.istiir Deans bu. (.' itlnn lbs. I'',i.\ bu. Mi:mp lbs, TiiliaLCo lbs. r.nmm Corn lbs, Mlllcl ami Hungarian. .. .tons. iimot'iiy Meailow tons. Cl'ver .Mead nv tons, I'lairle Meadow... tons. Timoihy P.isturc acres. I Clover Pasture acres. Blue-p;niss Pasture acres. Prairie Pasture acres, Totol 17.56,1,259.00 660, 4' 9.cx> 2,qyu,677.i*j 108,7 4,9.;7.oo 7->..,. ,92.111 13,326,637.00 4 1. 3. ,6. 4'! 3,324, ijg.LX) 197,4.7.29 2,721.458.9 1 766,143.37 33.588.6) 6^2,256.02 557,878.80 556,753.80 8,095,145.28 494 ,962. nt) 86,884.98 25,822.90 943.653.60 1,520,659.00 43.67500 413,139.00 2,995,070.00 45,851.00 573,982.00 2, 817. IX) 62,6 ,1.00 3,728.21 33,664.86 68,179.07 197-58 69.383.17 006.39 75a-37 '4.»73-'5 174,890.00 57.481.13 14,769.83 672,994.00 14,212.38 7.007 30 36,166.8* 955,836.00 7,769,936.36 I '160,139,780.73 #■6,187 264 2,361 \ 26,562 361 3.397 37 2. '77 '97 1 ,22.1 ;6C 33 .=.5 : 283 2,042 , 483 152 3.o«7 403 r«j 163.6.) .3"7-45 ,674.46 ,046.00 4'6.33 '75-84 ; 564-55 1 ■4'>7-=9 1 .656.57 ! 143-37 j ,i-.23.<.i6 ,256.03 ; .472-72 I 675-38 ! 330- '5 : .»75-75 , ,812.15 503.9a .472-43 "-55- I5-'2 + 7-25 -t- 36.29 + 15.70 + 33.23- 15.00 53- 'o + 73.36- 115.00 11.34- 1 70.00 8.97- 930.00 740.00 567.16- 2.83 + 1.51- 1-75- 1.40- AveraRe Price per Average Hm., I.b., Valine or Ton. per Acre, -40 -79- -»4 + •50 • 25 f 90 .66- i.oo .45 1.00 .C9 1.00 .06 .10 .o3ji 4-'3- 5-57- 5-9'- 3-»9+ #10.63- 6.05- 5-73- 8 71- 7.85 5.81- '3-50 35-05- 73.36- 5'-75 11.34- 15.30 8.97- 55 ao 74.00 •9-85 + 11.69- 8.41- 10.34- 4.47- 872 OVR WESTERN EMPIRE. «:: cc. .V^i CO ' — 1 3 or:' '^ < i'-i F-i ►i» erj tt: u-x l-r^ fXJ ►U [ T w«J P3 o The followinof statistics show tlic number and increase of live- stock in the State from the close of 1875 to the close of 1879: LIVE-STOCK. H orsus. Mules ind Asses. Milch Cows, U il 3 •>5 1 !> E 3 a Total in 1875 Total in 1878 207,376 274.45" ?9.875,245.i2 16,467,'X) j.tK) 24,964 40,164 i5,6co Ifr ,622,6('o.oo 3 u.^j,3oo.oijj 12 -,028 2S(i,-.>4i $5,747,215.12 7,442,266.00 67,074 $6,59i.754-S8 %\ 419 640.00 61,213 $1,695,050.88 ! Per cent, of increase in 5 years Total in 1878 32.34 274,4-0 324,766 54-7- 40,564 51.981 27.20 H- 286,241 322,02,. Ji6,467,or<> '7. 537. .164 ;p3,"42.3oc> 4,.;8,43u ;f7.442.266 8,964,540 ; Total In 1879 5o.3«6 >• ,070,364 ",417 l»i,ii6,i8o oe.770 • Other Cattle. Sheep. Swine. 3 3 > 1 3 •A 3 > u 1) E 3 1 _3 478,295 586,1. 2 117.77 #:j.o '9,77.5.50 .J 4- ,2, -■..(<) 106,224 243,760 15247,511,92 73i,-.8.:....> T'jlal in 1878 Increase ! i.i95.o-t4 6,1194, 7J4.4U 5.!,3Sj,.(r6.go 137.5.36 j5483,778.'-8 1 9', • i86 *. r,,^ a^o /u i Per cent of increase in ^ vears 3<'8,3( ' ». 195,04; 1,264,494 22.52- 586,002 654,443 129.48- 243.760 311,862 j Total in 1878 )>I^,1?3,242 15,7 '6.632 ?73i.28o >.o^>,5i7 $6,c9t.724 7,586,964 68,441 »J.283,390 1 68,102 ,52.!,274 Swine. ,6i8 j;.!, 077 ,871. So ,,o.H (i," 94.7--t't" :.386 Jll,oi6,85.'.'ij '31' .494 $6,<9t.7=4 7,586,964 ),45o^i^,492^40_J of ao-ricul- iiations of ior 1879: 1879. 3,129,780 73 1^,504,684 20 11,507^715 4<^^ 307,292 4^^ 94-789 30 488,594 88 li, 032,857 05 1.355.-789 74 assessed real \'3.\n- STAT/STICS OF A'AXSAS. %y■^ atlon of assessed property, $24i,55o,4i66.5i ; total valuation of all property, ^322,611,187.86. \'a!ue per capita of prtKJucts of 1879, $97-8o — ; real valuation pt-r capita of assessetl property of 1879, $286.21+; valuation per capita of producis of 1879, together with the real valuation of ass//,./y, 9;4c Booth MrHj( , V 8>^c. yeans, f/r Salem, all wool filled, per yard. 45c. 'I'ricwl 25c. Farmers' 30c. Farmers' and mechanics' cassi- mere 25c. Cheviot shirtings loc. to 1 2|^c. Tickititj, he; 1 feather 20c. to 25c. Ticking, Ije.st straw loc. to I2^c. Sugar. {^For on^ dollar.) 10j4 >oun^ A, 10^ pounds iMmvhi(*4. 11)^ pounds C:.j*fcr.,«»C/' 15 poihul- llVo^iS.- 4 pounds J.iva. 5 pounds best Ki<>', 8 pounds good Rk/. 'I\a. {/>///**(•/) Japan #9 ^ tO'.'lb $0 | XX \ X Gunpowder /,.... wt9' I VD Imperial , , . JO to 80 Oolong, choice 60 Alucellanio^s . Rice, per pound , , , , Jk> oj Codti.h /...////, /y.. ,. 8 Mackerel, (Xr Wtf///////// 70 Bacon— iibouWer*, i^t p«wMi, / • 6 GROCERIES. i Hacon — Hams, canvassed.. . . $0 11 I Hams, plain 8 I Sides, 8 I Apples, per Ijushcl I 00 to I 20 PcMatoes 70 to 80 j Sweet potatoes Hulter ci ackers, per pound. . . I Coal oil, per gallon Flour and Fe(d, 70 25 XXX. , 100 pounds %2 75 3 '5 P'"^'" 3 75 Corn meal 8i,> Bran ; 60 Shorts 70 Corn, per bushel 25 Oats 30 II . per Ion, loose 3 00 Hay, per Ion, Iwled S 00 FURNITURE. Chairt, \ Windsor, set to 6 ou Wa'ihHlnnds 2 00 to 2 50 Commode and drawer stands. 4 50(0 6 V' Kitchen safes 4 00 to 7 50 Lounges, etc. Carpet $S 00 to S30 00 Wood, extension 2 25 to 45° Sofas 1 5 no Bedroom suits 35 00 lo 150 00 Parlor suits 40 00 to 100 00 PRICES OF MERCHANDISE IN KANSAS. 877 7c. 45c. 25c. 30c. 25c. IOC. to I2j4c. 20c. lo 25c. 10c. 10 I2>^C. $0 II 8 8 I 00 to I 20 yo ti> ^'> 70 25 ed. $2 75 325 3T$ 80 "^ 60 , ' 70 25 30 ....••• 3 ^^ . 8 00 \i, etc. \\ ooto$i ^0 2 Y^ M 6 ^ 2 (X> t>» 2 50 4 50 to 6 V 4 00 10 7 5*^ ;J8 00 10 $30 °° 2 25 to 4 50 IS "*' _ 35 00 to »5'J '^ ' 40 00 to 100 00 Hemp, per yard , CARrETS. 50 20 I T.'pestry $0 90 to 40 1 I'loily Brussels I 50 to (!hiiia : 'raw matting. Rattan mattiiiL Ingrain, cotton chain 25 to 50 Two-ply, all wool 55 lo 90 Threcply, all wool 90 to i 10 | Oil-cloth, per square yard MISCFXLANEOUS. Stoves. Cooking, complete if 1 7 OO to $50 00 Heating S 00 and upwards Harness, etc. Farm, double $22 00 to $26 00 Carriage, double 25 00 to 75 00 Buggy, single 12 ck) to 50 00 Saddles, men's 2 50 to 25 00 18 to 35 'o 35 to Saddles, women's $5 00 to $ Collars 60 to IlalliTs 50 to Horse blankets i 10 to t\ 25 2 00 35 75 75 25 00 4 00 2 00 10 00 Shoeing Horses. Putting on set of all-new shoes. Resetting old shoes U so 80 BUILDING MATF-RIAL. Common boards, per M. . Studding and joist Fencing Flooring Siding 1) slock Shingles Lath Finishing lumber. ..,,.., Doors Sash, glazed, per window . $22 50 22 00 22 50 25 00 to 35 00 18 00 to 2 5 (X) 25 00 3 00 to 4 oo 4 00 30 00 to 60 00 I 25 to 3 00 90 to 2 50 l^linds, per lineal foot. 50 35 Cedar posts 17 to 20 I.imc, ]icr bushel 25 Plastering bair, per bushel, . 20 Brick, per M 7 00 to 8 00 \'\a-Ap\ Paris, per barrel. ... 35© Nails, per pouinl, by the keg. 4 ^^ Sii;r;'-, per cord, delivered. .. 3 50 to 400 ' I e.lni'l in the wall,perroot. 8 )iiil(ling hardware is sold at Eastern prices, \A i(h freight added. AGRICULTURAI IMPLEMENTS. Plows, etc-. Wood beam, stirring, from 10 lo 16 inchi'i Steel beam, stirring Iron beam, stirring Prairie breakers Sniky, 12 to 16 inches Riding sulkies, ir plow at- tachments Cum planters ^10 00 to $16 00 12 00 to 20 00 II 00 to 18 00 18 00 to 25 00 Cultivators, walking or rilling 519 00 to 527 00 Ilirrows, Scotch 6 00 to 8 50 Harrows, vibrating 9 50 to 10 50 Hay rakes, sulky 22 00 to 24 cx> ^Vitgons. 380010 45 00 T^;"i'i two-hone jt6o 00 to 7000 Spring , 90 00 to 1 25 00 20 00 to 35 (V5 Buggies. 45 00 Covercfl , , . . . ;S90 00 to 5275 00 i Dperi 60 00 to 1 50 00 WOODEN AND WILLOW WARE. Two-hooii buckets 17c. Tliree-honp buckets aoc. N2>^c. I'ork 8c. to IOC. Corned beef 8c. PickleJ pork loc. WAGES. Carpenters, per day $1 50 to $2 50 S'.one masons 2 00 to 225 Bricklayers 3 00 Blacksmiths i 50 to 2 25 M.ichinists I 5° to 2 25 Moulders, iron 2 00 Tinners ^I 50 to $3 00 Saddle and harness makers, per week 9 OO to 14 00 Printers, per M 25 to 30 Printers, jier week 12 00 to 15 cx) Laliorcrs, per day I 00 to i 50 Boarding. — Board may be obtained at private houses for from ^4 to ^5 per week; at boarding houses, for $4.50 to |i6 ; and at first-class hotels, at from $1.50 to ^3 per day. Railroads and River Navigalion. — The amount of river navi- gation in the State is not large. The Missouri is navigable for the entire distance (some seventy miles), in which it forms the northeastern boundary of the .State, but none of its tributaries in Kansas possess any considerable value in that respect. The Kaw or Kansas, the largest of these, has been ascended in flood time by steamboats as far as the junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers, but ordinarily no boats would be able to navigate it. The Arkansas is not navigable in Kansas, except in flood time. But this lack of navigable rivers is more than made good by the abundance of its railway facilities. Sixty-five of the 103 counties of the State (organized and unorganized) arc; traversed by raihoaus, and many of the others are accessible to them, by their passage near their borders. Directly or indirectly, all the railroads which spread out over the State like a spider's web start from Kansas City, Missouri, so that the emigrant is sure of not going wrong if he buys his ticket at the East for that great railroad centre. We might go farther, and say that with the exception of a sin- • $i 50 to $3 00 on of a sin- ff'e great trunk roar] r-inrf h^ , ' ^79 ■'l '-d - say), al, ZlJZuZ I'l" -y be an exception d,rect,an are under ,l,e „ " ""^ ' "^^<='-se Kansas i„ am ™o.stofthe,nform parts ofTl"',^ ^^'«»'' ««,•]„,,; .C, .s especally the case with al he ' i „ '*'" ''^-'fi^V^'em/ to' we.t ron, Kansas City. Atch o„ l^'sVr "'"f "'^^^ ^ -" - " 's true, so far as the V\ab,s^; ! "'"''^P''' M'^ouri, but eastern part of the State «hiZ^. '""T""^' °^ "'-^e in thl ward to the Indian Territorv .n!n '°"'i!«""-d and southwest and Santa Fe Railway, to I ' -^'"^ ^'^'"•™". Topeka Kansas City and Atchil;;, ^rf h ".'? "• '^^^"=- « at dence of these grand co,nbination , "'^■"'^'■"«' its indepen to the,r consun,mation. So fa " T '""'"''^ "^ own n)" probably continue to do so but /"''■' " ^°"-=-"od it wm -recent arrangements for ;ea,-:'=T^p^ ■?,^ "" °"'»- " does not concern us in this co!,„ ^ I'aafic and Gulf coast, fanning of ,880, about 3 , mi T"-, "^^"^^^ ''-^ at tCbe onts ,03 counties, an^ 1 3^^ ^rLh ™"' "'" °P^-'- ^^^ ^ d^nng the present year. It rTnT! I !, '"""""''' "'^ amount Terntories of our western el^rejl'l """""^ "'^ ^'ates ad F-ng ,t, thot,gh MinnesorLu"^'"^-'' ^''''°"" -r 0" y eight of the States of the Union , ^''""'' '" "'- race '"^:eXi::':--'-"^— ™"""^^'^'^ ways; ''■eirlengthcl:n^ot Sri'l'-r '" ''' '^^ ail- »vcn, as ,t,s so constantly changing KAN,s.is RAILROADS. ver'c?:tfi,:a^!!H:tf r ^.^"™-^ ^^^- Joseph ^ Den ern terminus. Hastings, Nel ''=™'"-- ^t- Joseph, ^lo.; Zl - Kas., p-entt:x;f,t:t's'*^^^ r"'-"-' ^-i"-- At c K^r:' f "- ^-^' ^^^ w-eS. t • ^'^ i^as., western terminno t-- ^astein terminus ^on, Greenleaf nortlnvest L Si, r™'"'/'^'''''-; -■* tranche^ eastern termini, 880 OUR ivEsri':KX empire. 1-3 3 P" s Atchison, Kas., Kansas City, Mo., and Plensant Hill, Mo.; west- ern termini, Pueblo, Col., and Santa I*e, N. M.; with branches from Emporia south to Eureka; from IHorence south to Eldo- rado; from Florence northwest to McPherson; and from Newton south to Winfield and Wellington. Missouri Pacific Raihvay. — Eastern terminus, St. Louis, Mo.; northern terminus, Atchison, Kas., via Kansas City. Kansas Central Railroad. — Eastern terminus, Leavenworth, Kas.; western terminus, Onaga, Kas. Kansas Pacific Railioay. — Eastern termini, Leavenworth, Kas., and Kansas City, Mo.; western terminus, Denver, Col.; with branches from Junction City northwest to Concordia; from Sol- omon City northwest to Minneapolis; and from Salina south to Lindsburg. Missouri, Kansas (jf Texas Railway. — Eastern terminus, Hannibal, Mo.; soudiern terminus, Denison, Texas; with branch from Parsons, Kas., northwest to Junction City, Kas. Osage Division of Missouri, Kansas & lexas Raikuay. — East- ern terminus, Holden, Mo.; western terminus, Paola, Kas.; con- necting at Holden with Missouri Pacific Railway, and at Paola with Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad. Si. Louis & San Prancisco Railroad. — Eastern terminus, St. Louis, Mo.; present western terminus, Cherryvalc, Kas.; with branch from Carl Junction, Mo., northwest, to Girard, Kas. Memphis, Kansas & Colorado Railway. — Eastern terminus, Messer, Kas.; western terminus. Parsons, Kas.; connecting- at Messer with St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad, and at Parsons with Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway. Kansas City, Lawrence & Southern Railroad. — Northern ter- mini, Lawrence, Kas., and Kansas City, Mo.; southern terminus, Coffeyville, Kas.; with branch from Cherryvale southwest to Independence. Kansas City, Burlington <2f Sajita F6 Railroad. — Northeastern terminus, Ottawa, Kas.; southwestern terminus, Burlini^non, Kas.; connecting at Ottawa with K. C. L. & S. R. R., and at Burlington with M. K. & T. Rly. Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad. — Northern termi- nus, Kansas City, Mo.; southern terminus, Joplin, Mo. LANDS FOA' IMM/GA'AXIS. 88 1 (.; WCSt- )ranchcs to VMo- Nevvton uis, Mo.; /enworth, orth, Kas., Col.; with from Sol- ta south to terminus, vith branch vay. , — East- Kas.; con- ,nd at Paola ;rmmus, St. Kas.; ^vlth , Kas. n terminus, nnecting at at Parsons )rthern tei^ rn terminus, )uth\vcst to [orthcastcrn BvuTuv^ton, R., and at Ihera termi- lie. Mamifacturcs, — There are no statistics of manufactures in the State since 1870 which even aj)proximat,j accuracy. In 1870, with a population of 373,299, the ccmisus report, always imper- fect on manufactures, gave the following statistics: 1,477 "lanu- facturinjj^ establishments; $29,456,939 capital employed; $54,- 800,087 of annual product. In the ten years since that time, the population has increased three-fold, the assessed valuation certainly three and a half times, and the true valuation from $188,892,014 to #447,611,187.54. The annual product of man- ufactures in the State cannot fall short of $200,000,000, and may exceed that. Though there are no cities of the first or second class in the State, there are many active and growing towns and cities which arc actively engaged in manufactures of all kinds. Lands for Iuu)iigraiits. — With the immense inllux of immigra- tion in the past four years the greater part of the government lands east of the 98th meridian have been taken up, the excep- tions being for the most part, those lands which were at too crrcat a distance from railroads or markets, or those which were less fertile, or swampy in their character. West of this meridian, the government lands are yet to be bought of good quality, and at the usual rates, $1.25 per acre outside of railroad limits, or $2.50 inside. These lands can also be secured under the Homestead or Timber-Culture Acts or pre-empted; and some of those west of the looth meridian under the Desert Land Act. If the lands are to be immediately cultivated we would suggest to the immigrant that he should not go beyond the frontier of set- tlement; because the rainfall, which, though increasing, is yet scanty, will not have as beneficial an effect upon the newly bro- ken lands which arc isolated, as on those where the new breaking is continuous; and if, as may be the case, irrigation is required, it is better and less expensive that it should be undertaken by many farmers dian by one. If the lands are intended for grazing, "t makes very little difference where the selecdon is made, so that diere are streams for watering the stock, and the setder plants his trees so as to afford them shelter from the winds and cold. Bunch grass will afford good pasturage, and as the land is broken, blue joint and other tame grasses will spring up. 56 882 OVK K7:S/hA'.V EM PI HE S S 3 59 O There arc school, university and so called swamp lands b( - Ionising to the State, to be had on favorable terms, in almost all of the counties. The railway companies all have lands to sell, along their lines, throughout the State, at prices varying from }j^3 or 5^,4 to '^\2 per acre, according to location, and on very favorable terms of credit. We have spoken of these at length elsewhere. If the immigrant has some capital he can often buy partially improved farms on better terms than to break up new land. The soil is good enough to insure good crops every year; but he should be sure of his tide. Very many resdess spirits, bur- dened with debt, are anxious to dispose of their farms at even less than the cost of the improvements in order to begin again un- der more favorable circumstances, and there are many cases in which a shrewd sctder with a litde capital can come into posses- sion of an excellent farm with the hard labor of the early work on it done to his hand by the man of whom he buys it. Population. — The following table shows the population of the State at different dates since i860, and other particulars: 1 1 Year. Population. Males. Females. Valuation f.ir Purposes of Taxa- tion. 60 per cent. >3'..1»7.895 36,i2b,o»xj 92,125,861 128,906,520 12 1,544, (XXI 138,698,811 "44,93".'-'8o (IfScliool.Age, lietween 5 and 31 years. Enrollc'l in \ Stliuul. 186 > 1865 1870 1874 1875 1878 107,206 135.8.7 373.299 53^.367 575.156 7 ■«.4y7 849,978 995.966 59.' 78 302,224 246,939 48,028 162,175 228,875 37.423 45.44' 109,742 199,1.10 > 99,986 266,575 283,336 2,310 26,41)9 6,i,-'i8 j 135.W8 14^,6)6 177,81 .6 188,884 :;:::::;::::;: 536.725 1 459.241 The population, which has so rapidly increased within the last decade, counts 109,705 of foreign birth and twice that number of foreign parentage. In the beginning, there were two distinct im- migradons, one from New England, New York and the Northern States, and the other from the South, struggling fiercely and bit- terly for the supremacy. The settlers from the North triumphed, and made it a free State. Of the influx since 1 870 probably a fifdi has been of foreign birth; Mennonites and their co-reli^ioni.sts from Russia, Germans, Scandinavians, French, Italians, English, Scotch, Welsh and Irish; and with these have come also large lands be- almost all Is to sell, yin^,^ from d on very ; at length ly partially new land. yT year; but spirits, bur- rms at even in again un- any cases in into posscs- 12 early work it. ilation of the ulars: ,rs. I "^ 3.3'" I s6,4"? 186 I 'V'.^* ,'ithin the last lat number of ^•o distinct im- Ithe Northern rcely a"^^ ^''■' l-th triimiphed, Irobably a fifth :o-religionists lians, English, Lg also large POPVI.ATION OF THE STATE BY COVXT/ES, fig^ nimibers from all th(! Atlantic .Staters, Canadians, Mexicans, and of lat<' neg^roes, nuiking their exodiii from the .Southern States to Kansas, as pre-eminently tlie land of freedom. The Indian population, which in 1S70 amounted to over 10,- 000, occupyinfr several large reservations, has, by the action of the United .States government in obtaining their lands by treaties and annuities and removing tht^m to the Indian Territory, been greatly reduced. There are now only 690 tribal bulians in Kan- sas, all of the Pottawatomie and Kickapoo tribes. The Inilian reservations still include 102,026 acres, but the title to a part of this will soon be extinguished. Omniics. — There are 104 counties in the .State, 78 of which were organized and 26 unorganized, in March, 18S0. Their names, area and population in 1879 were as follows: Cuiinlics, .S K ■Jl 1. l.i'.ivcnworih . 2. Sliawnuo. . . . 3. AicliiMm . . •. 4. Mimnl'i'- 5. I 'In ptkce 6. U'lurh'iM 7 l.alii Itu t Cowley y, S'j''iiWir.k 10 .^lar^ll.^ll II. llmkr \i. Inhiisoii ij AliKiluomcry . 14 l><>hi|iliaii .... 15 (K.inc 16. Miami 17. Siumicr ...... l3. l.jnll 19 \\ yandotte . . . A). Crawfurd. . . . 21. I. Milt JJ ]. w II 2',, I'raiiklin =4. .Mil. hell 25. I ir rsdii . . . . 26. I'liilawatonile. 27. Nc.jslui jS. MrlMi Tson ., . 29. Dickinson . ,. . 3.1. Cl'iiiil 31 Saline 32 liiruin 33 k ;ail)lic 34. Ucim 35. WIJMin 36. Washington.. , 37. Smith 38. IJrown J9- l-'lay 455 558 ■4"<) 46, 589 6j7 649 1,123 1 , 20,530 i8,5J5 l8,3iu 18,171 •8.157 17,613 17,1.9 17,.* 6 l6,.Jl2 «5,y7Sl 15.4=.') 15.369 15,161 l5,on. . . . Russill . .... Waubaiinsec. i Davis WoDilson Rush I Kills I Rooks Norton ,. .. ('hasc Ford Kdwards . . . Kinsman Stafford . . . . 'I'rcKo Harper I'ratt I'arlioiir . .. . Hodgeman . Decatur Graham n 3 651 54" 720 954 504 648 97 «.7 7 8.7J- 8,2.-2 7,o 6 7,5.. I 7.448 7 .4 '9 7.197 7 o-'.t 6,741 6,616 6,521 6,-45 6, oh 7 6,01^8 5.282 5.240 5.104 4.797 4.743 2,832 2,801 2.599 2.364 2,310 2.158 2,084 2,016 1,738 750 1,500 Counties. ill 79 8.,, 81. 82. 83. 84. 8^ t6. ii7 b8. 89 9". 91 92 93. 94 ri5. 96. 97 yd 99 ■ loo 101 102 103 104 Ariiiiahoc. . . . Iliiffalo Clieyeiinc Clark ( i.inaiiche .. . Koote tlrant (ireelty liove Hamilton. .. . Kansas Kearney Lane Mcule Ness Rawlins S. ott Sc»|uoyah. . . . Sew.ird Sheridan Slieniian StaiUoii Stevens rhi,nias Wallace Wichita Population of State ill 187J. 576 576 1 ,02' ) 1,170 1,155 7-" W' 86 1 ,081) 9^6 81a £64 576 9-;4 1,080 1,080 720 864 643 9t.xj 1 ,. .80 684 6,(8 i,u8o 3,010 744 5i s- ; "3 , e c 849,978 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT.3) 1.0 [jB^ 1^ I 1^ Wk |2.2 11.! f.-^lS yi iu HI.6 ^1 %\^p z '^^vv % Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN SI REST WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ,< g5 2k^ •>5 oc; £5' '^^ J^ r-. w ?•--» oq »--4 •^ pi» Leavenworth, Lenvenworth county.. .. 16,^30 Topeka, Shawnee county ''5>45l Alcliison, Atchison county 15,100 Lawrence, Douglas county 8,478 Wichita, Sedgwick county 5i''3S Fort Scult, Uonrhon county 5,010 Wyandottf, Wyamloltc couniy 4,6l2 Emporia, Lyon county 4,061 Ottawa, Franklin county 3. 507 Salina, Saline county 3>383 Parsons, Lahette county Z^^Tfi Independence, Montgomery county.. . 2,829 Newton, Harvey county 2,539 Junction City, Davis county. 2,345 Olathc, Johnson county 2,260 Beloit, Mitchell county 2,194 Winfield, Cowley county 2,103 Osage City, Osage county 2,003 Paola, Miami county 1,973 Burlington, Cofifee county I,740 Hutchinson, Reno county '.709 Clay Center, Clay county 1,600 Manhattan, Riley county '>593 Empire City, Cherokee county 1,591 Mound City, Linn county 1,497 Humboldt, Allen county 1,456 Concordia, Cloud county 1,4/11 Great Bend, Barton county i^jO Marysville, Marsh.all county 1,420 Garnelt, Anderson county 1,252 Osage Mission, Neosho county 1,216 Girard, Crawford county 1,(84 Hiawatha, Brown county 1,078 Wamego, Pottawatomie county 1,071 Baxter Springs, Cherokee county 1,069 Minneapolis, Ottawa county 1,045 Holton, Jackson county 1,044 Seneca, Nemaha county I,0_!6 Lamed, Pawnee county 1,031 Education. — Kansas occupies among the newer States the very first rank in her facilides for education. Her school fund has been wisely husbanded, and she has yet 2,200,000 acres of school lands unsold, which, by judicious management, may be made to realize $5 per acre. If this is accomplished the fund will eventually reach more than <^i 3,000,000, the interest of which will be annually distributed to the schools. But this income, amountingin 1878 to ^314,380, is only a small item in the amount annually raised for the support of public schools. In 1878 the amount raised and expended for common schools in the State was ^1,261,459.14, of which $980,435.07 was paid as wages to the teachers, the male teachers receiving $32.99 per month, cities of of them )om cities ilation of ry settle- Lants, and municipal 1, in 1S79, 1.709 1,600 .' 1.593 y I.59I 1,497 ". 1.456 1,4^,1 1,430 ". 1,420 '.' 1.252 ,ty »'2'^ ;. 1,184 1'" 1.078 inty '-°7> ouniy ».°69 J 1,045 ....... 1.044 1,03'^ *.. i.03« States the school fund 000 acres of nent, may be hed the fund irest of vvblch this income, |in the amount In 1878 tbe in the State as wages to per month, EDUCATION IN KANSAS. 38^ and the female teachers ^26.04. There were 6,359 ^^ these teachers in 1878, and the number had increased to 6,707 in 1879. The whole number of scholars enrolled was 1 88,884, ^"<^^ ^'^^ average attendance about 113,000. In the latter year there were 5,575 school districts, and 4,934 school-houses, and the value of school-buildings and grounds was |;3,9i6 93[. Besides these scliools and the graded and high schools of the cities and larger towns, there are four normal schools, with about 800 teacher pupils; a State Agricultural College, near Manhattan, well managed and largely attended ; the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, one of the most efficient of the Western State uni- versities, and eight other colleges, sustained by different religious denominations (two of them Roman Catholic), with about 50 professors and nearly 1,000 students. There are also many collegiate schools and seminaries, generally denominational, which are for the most part well sustained. The immigrant to Kansas may feel fidly assured that his children, if he has any, will not suffer for the want of advantatjfes of education. Cliurckes and Religions De)iomiiiations. — In 1878, with a pop- ulation of 708,497, the aggregate membership of the nine leading denominations was 135,713, nearly one-fifth of the entire population. Their church edifices and other church property was valued at $2,037,508. Of these the Catholics had the largest membership (as they include as members all their adherent population), reporting 63,510 adherents to 223 organ- izations. The Methodist Episcopal Church came next, though widi many more church organizations, having 1,018 churches and 33,767 members. The Baptists were next, with 334 churches and 16,083 members. These were followed by the Presbyterians, with 229 churches, 8,961 members; the Congregationalists, with 157 churches, and 5,620 members; the Lutherans, with 58churches and 4,560 members; the United Presbyterians, with 43 churches and 1,469 members; the Protestant Episcopal Church, with 36 parishes and 1,389 members; and the Universalists, with 16 congregations and 354 members. There are also Mennonite churches, churches of the Disciples or Campoellites, and a con- siderable number of other minor denominations. In the order 886 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. f::^ or; of the valuation of their church property, the different denomina- tions stand as follows : the Methodists first, then consecutively the Presbyterians, the Catholics, the Congregationalists, the Baptists, the Episcopalians, Lutherans, United Presbyterians, and Universalists. Such, so far as we have been able to present them, are the advantages which Kansas offers to the immigrant; — a fertile soil, an atrreeable thouogue Chitto, the Tangipahoa, Tickfaw ami Amite. There are, besides these, several large estuaries or bayous, which are really secondary moudis or outlets of die Mississii)pi, which in flood-time convey a large portion of its waters to the (iul'', and at other times drain Uie greater part of Southern Louisiana. Among these are: Atchafalaya Bayou with its series of lakes and inlets; Vermillion Bayou, Bayou Teche which connects with it, Bayou de Large, Bayou la Eourehc.*, and the lakes, bays and es- tuaries which discharge their waters into Barataria bay. In the ordinary sense of the term there are no lakes in Louisiana, all that are so called being eidier estuaries, bayous or expansions of rivers. Thus Lake Pontchartrain is a landlocktxl estuary whose waters are salt and rise and fall with the ti.le; Lake jMaurepas is closely connected with Lakc^ Pontchartrain, and partakes of its character; Lake Borgne is only a sound or bay; Sabine Irke, Calcasieu . lake, Lake Mermenteau, Grand lake, ]\kirsh lake, Lake Charles, Grand Cheniere, Caillon, Lake Washa, and the rest are all estuaries connected with rivers or bayous, bi the northern part of the State there are ten or fifteen so called lakes which are mere expansions of thi; Red river, or some of its tributaries. There are numerous bays and sounds along the coast, indenting the alluvial delta of the Mississippi in all its borders. Geology and Mine ml o^Q'. — Three-fifdis of the State, including the Mississippi basin and delta, the Red river region and basin, and the Bluff or Loess region, which comprises nearly all of Cal- casieu, .St. Landry and Lafayette parishes, and a long but narrow strip east of the Mississippi river, belong to the alluvial and diluvial formations. The Mississippi delta proper covers over 12,000 square miles, and its deposits are from thirty to forty feet in depdi and of wonderful fertility. The remaining two-fifths of the State is, for the most part, tertiary, the formations in the northwest and west-northwest parts of the State being subdivi- sions of the eocene. There are occasional small outcrops of s OC! CO. 890 O^^ WESTER.V EiiriRE. cretaceous strata in the northwest, west and central parts of the State, and in these are found Hmestone, j^ypsum, and salt-bearing strata. Below the alluvium and tertiary in the southern part of the State, there are deposits of sulphur, and at one point between the Sabine and Calcasieu rivers, the boring of an ar- tesian well demonstrates that, beginning 428 feet below the surface, there is a deposit of sulphur 112 feet thick, which will yield from sixty to ninety-six per cent, of pure sulphur. Of other minerals and metals Louisiana has not a great variety. Brown coal (lignite) is found in the tertiary in considerable quantities and of moderately good quality. Iron (bog ore, probably) and salt arc plentiful in this region, and on Petit Anse island salt has been mined to a depth of sixty feet below the level of the Gulf, fifty-eight feet of it through solid rock-salt of the purest quality. This was in great demand during the late civil war. In the cretaceous rocks, ochre, marl, gypsum, lead, sulphate of soda, sulphate of iron, and a very pure carbonate of lime are found. Petroleum has also been discovered, but not in sufficient quantity to pay for working. Copper and quartz crystals, agates, jasper, cornelian, sardonyx, onyx, feldspar, of fine quality, meteoric stones and numerous fossils have been found in the tertiary. Soil and Vegetation. — The alluvial and diluvial soils are of extraordinary and unsurpassed fertility. The delta lands are admirably adapted for the culture of sugar-cane, cotton, rice, wheat, barley, sweet potatoes, figs and oranges. The orange is quite as successful, and of flavor fully equal, to those grown in Florida. The Sea island or long staple cotton is grown on the islands of the delta, but on the main land the upland or short- stapled cotton is most generally cultivated. The tertiary region has not so rich a soil, but with proper culture yields good crops, Indian corn yields better there than on the alluvial soils, and cotton is successfully cultivated. A portion of the tertiary region is covered with pine forests, which are heavy but not dense, and these lands, though healthful, are not productive. About one- fifth of the area of the State is too swampy and marshy for cul- tivation, and much of it is covered with lofty cypress trees, from which the Spanish moss hangs in graceful festoons. The other rts of the It-bcarinii hern part one pohit of an ar- below the which will Of other ty. Brown e quantities Dbably) and ind sak has of the Gulf, rest quality, var. In the ate of soda, \e are found. :ient quantity gates, jasper, [ty, meteoric tertiary, soils are of ta lands are cotton, rice, The orange lose grown in rown on the ,nd or short- rtiary region good crops, ial soils, and rtiary region ,t dense, and About one- rshy for cul- ,s trees, from The other TREES AXD VKGLTATIOX. 89! forest trees of the alluvial region are the sweet-gum, ash, black walnut, hickory, magnolia, live-oak, Spanish, water, black, chest- nut, whiL(! and post oaks, tulip-tree [iiriodcndron), linden, I'lorida anise, lancoleaved buck-thorn, lour or five species of acacia, wild cherry, pomegranate, holly, arbor-vita:, tillandsia, lime, pecan, sycamore, white and red cedar, and yellow pine; in the tertiary lands, sassafras, mulberry, [)oplar, hackberry, red elm, maple, honey-locust, black locust, dogwood, tupelo, box elder, prickly ash, persimmon, etc. Along the river banks, the inevitable Cot- tonwood, willow-bask(;t elm, palmetto, wild cane, pawpaw, wild orange, etc., are found. Of fruit-trees, the peach, quince, plum, fig, orange, pawpaw, olive and pomegranate are cultivated with great success; the apple and pear do not thrive so well. Local to- pographers classify the lands of the State as "good uplands;" "pine hill lands," usually not very fertile; "alluvial tracts;'' "Bluff or Loess regions;" "marsh lands;" "the prairie regions;" and "the pine flats." The grazing in the uplands generally is excellent; in the Attakapas country, along the Atchafalaya and Bayou Teche, the pasturage is unsurpassed in quality. Louisiana is a land of fragrant flowers, and the sweet perfume of its orange blossoms, magnolias, jessamines, oleanders, virgin's bower, its innumerable varieties of roses and its thousands of other sweet-scented semitropical and tropical flowers, which grow wild upon its rich alluvial lands, feast the senses with perpetual delight. Zoology. — The wild animals of Louisiana are for the most part the same as those of Texas, though there is a greater preponder- ance of reptiles. The jaguar or American tiger, die most for- midable of the North American Fdidcu, is found in the cypress swamps in this State, and in Texas and Arizona. The cougar, puma, panther or American lion, is also an inhabitant of the swamps, and this wild-cat and perhaps some of the other Fdidcs are also found. The black and brown bear are more common in the uplands; while the raccoon, skunk, opossum, otter and most of the rodents are abundant. Alligators of great size and ferocity abound in all the bayous, and are destructive of cattle and sometimes of human beincrs. «: ^< ceil 5^ or; cm 303 OUA' ly/iSTEAW EMPIRE. It is bclitjvcd that the crocodile exists in the cypress swamps here as well as In Moritia. There are several species of marine turtles antl land-tortoises and terrapins. The lizard tribe is lars^ely re])resented; the gecko, chameleon, lizards of all kinds and sizes, as well as a great variety of batrachians, the horned and common frog, many species of toads; and of ophidians, rat- tlesnakes, vipers, moccasins, horned snakes, and a great variety of harmless serpents are common. There are many birds of prey: among them are the bald and gray eagle, the king-vultiire, the turkey-buzzard and other vultures, kites, owls, hawks, gulls, and, very numerous in the bayous and in the gulfs, bays and sounds west of the Mississippi, the pelican, which has been recognized as the patron bird of the State, which very gen- erally bears the name of "th(,- Pelican State." Cranes, herons, ibises, flamingoes and other waders are found only in this State and Texas of "Our Western Iimpire ; " and wild geese, many species of wild clucks, brant, teal, and some swans are inhabitants of its lakes, bayous and ba}s in their season. The game birds, wild turk(,'ys, pigeons, partridges and several species of grouse are plentiful in the uplands. Birds of gay plumage, including the macaw and paroquet, and many othe'-s, and a great variety of song-birds, among which are the mocking-bird, the cedar bird, several of the finches and tanaiiers, a great varietv of hummln<'-- birds, and orioles are abundant in the forests. Climalc. — The climate of New Orleans and of the lower j)or- tion of the delta is somewhat malarious, and bilious and conges- tive fevers, remittent and intermittent, are prevalent. The yellow fever is seldom entirely absent from this n;gion in sum- mer, but becomes epidemic only about once in four or five years. Strict sanitary supervision is maintained, but the drainage is difficult. Hy careful attention to cleanliness the city is healthier than fornnrly. The yellow fever made fearful ravages in 1878, and reapi)eared in a milder form, in 1879: 1880 has been generally healthy, 'i'he cholera has at times made fearful ravages here. The water is so near the surface in New Orleans and most of the adjacent region, that all burials are made in cells of vaults, built above the surface. The climate of the upland region is healthy „,„„„,, „,,, S .ablc.onn™tpn.,,,,i.i,,J, ■;"''''•;'■■''■•• ''^ » m winlcr. Tl,.. represents hw\y .1,<. re.,!;, f f ' ", -^' °^ ^'"'^ Orleans wl i I northwest of the State ™h 1 T 'V"^' "^ ''^'■■■'-•vepor, in th ;■" .^vhibit n,o.e sati:fi.t"V'''" "'''•'="'''-''' '-"t" than any irencril rU. ■ ^ ' ^'""ate of the Kv,. • ^' k«^ etc., Louisiana will be \!to '"°''''^' "^ P™''"etio„s, „a .rants fron, Sonthern and sJ^Z^rf'' ''^'''" ^^ J- Sot-thern Atlantic and Gulf StaTs "7" '-'""'"^ =""' f™"' 'I- ern clunates. The French Sn. ; "^ "'°^<= f™"' '"ore north ■-d ■']-*. C--rn,answil,t'b^;;te:" "'"r»' -" "-e S„t •Scand,nav,ans or inhabitants o G , Vr?" " ''''"'' ^— ^. ■ana are cotton, surar corn ,^ ..''''' '""'"-'"elions of I oni, of rice and the cea^k - ■,;:^;^ " -'" ^ -"orate ./a:; ^■4,483,050 pounds, from JcT ''""■^"'''">" "f -S-S was -era.,e of ,55 p,,„,^ ^^ the'att'/T" " ^■'■^■''' "^ -"V an a very small return for land so ,' ''°"' °"^-""'r'l of a bile yield of ,879 was not n ite o " '■'•\""' "^ L""'--- c acre bein. ,75 p„,„,,,^ At ho Jf '°"^'' " "•'">= "'ore per y|ededbutS,,.57pe,,,,t'i*^P™; per pound in ,S;8 Ws P.ckm. an.ch ot,,ht not to yield at east a balTf ''""'"' '" »«on and of the delta lands there irenon /:*?° ^"""'^'^ '° "'^ acre ;;o ales .0 the acre. The fl n n7 ';'[ f°''.''' >-'' ^ '-ss thi: :- v'-eMin. I :rc:^^; ,:fr ::v^ ^-" --t rs^ ^;e acre (a fair crop is .ta'ted ,0 be from'^ °' ''"^ P°""''» '° ^-l-ich at the current price of ILT ■^°° '° 5.ooo pounds) d-backs on the culdv io^f •U"::" """' ^^^•5°- ^t ofcand never comes to perfe tioX u''' "'^'' " '= an ex- propagation is by layer, ^vh ' Xr a fe,:'!' "" °"'>' "'^^ ^^ ^^"■-ewseoc.. that, is only abottt/^S-Cr 8y4 OUR WESTEKX E.MPlKi:. i^. S3 -— . CO) :^ or; S 2 o ►n (75 t/3 < o I .IJtlVH.-IJ,! |L'.1jJ|1(lll>JI!(| •llUJU|«a •XiipiuiiiH IIIMJV 'ajn|iu.-icliii.i[^ JO nauii>{ ' •ajiiliMicliii 1 1 iiinuMiiji^;' •ajnii;a.n(lui,ii_ iui\iuixi!i\;' U 'A Q ^ ,B^, 0.8 W .g'JC.- V ^3 ;^ « poo r*» H c> c^ a* 3 ^ •* N O 9 O^ fn rn C S \b <* If) ''^ lA fi tai »ft r* »^ r^ « tri ^ ^ tn eo (i \o ^ r«. F4 o 8! .5 8:8;'S.SR.s ^^ f, < 1^. >— , ■3 b .5 * ■3JHSS,-)4J jr3Ul3iii(ui;>| W Ill M m :» "8, ui "^ v 'J ■ ". " f.ii. i^' ■ . r •^- >5S5 W v,w ■■ tr M vO r^ 00 ♦ >-• 3 to q c> o^ -^ « d ch o d d r»-i N fi m rn fn W -X. '^ c/j ■ ■u; , ■ -•/. 55;Jwj5X^ j ir .. ^ ^ ir> N C\ r^ !>. ■* Os in lirjuittH \0 M rn 0^*0 -IT tn fo * « oo rs ■Xiipunni^f per ct. 685 rL \r. •»■ r--, tx d\ « t- O-OO M ir- -»- tr t>* 7> ■ ' •OJIllBJSdlUSJ^ JO a;iiii!>( r^ m a^^ais^g^:: ■3jn)i!J.iUiu.)X iii->ni f1 > q \t. -T ..;. -v M ir.vD «' in f\ >f .f o r* t^zo •3jnii:j.i o <'. rl U1 3 O 1/3 2 .S •r >, •i a V B 0) 3 ) • o-o> 1 0-" ', < z*. — . i-^'-Ti 1 , Oi p\ o^ C. Ci CI I i i a *^ rt rt (75 e: u s o i^i?; ■s is — > u -^ -s o rt .rt -C 3 ■ AGKICCI.TVRAL I'KODrCTWA'S. g^j is successful; that the great fluctuation in price makes the profit uncertain; and that the first plant or outlay for a sujar planta- tion with sugar-house complete is enormous, and only possible where there is large capital at command. The crop of corn, though considerable in amount and covering a large acreage, gives fciually conclusive evidence of indifferent and slovenly farming; the yield ranges from fifteen to twenty bushels per acre, where thirty-five to forty bushels ought to be the minimum. The total yield of 1878 was 16,875,200 bushels, which at sixty cents, the current price of that year, brought ^10,125,120. The crop of 1879 was of smaller amount, and yielded only fifteen bushels to the acre, but the higher price, seventy-six cents, made the money value somewhat grealer. Oats, which might be a profitable crop, give an average yield, one year vvidi another, of but fourteen bushels to the acre. Ri( <• is cultivated more than formerly, and the Louisiana rice crop forms a very considerable portion of the whole rice product of the United States, ranging from twelve to fifteen million pounds. There is some wheat and barley grown; a small amount of very excellent tobacco, and hay and forage grasses in increasing quantities. Fruits and market-garden vegetables are cultivated to a considerable extent, mainly by Creoles; but the cultivation of fruits might be almost indefinitely enlarged. The amount of live-stock in Louisiana in 1879 was: 79,300 horses, worth about }|^4,ooo.ooo ; 80,600 mules, worth about ^5,- 080,000; the number of horses and mules is slowly increasing. There were 110,900 milch cows, a moderate increase from 1875, previous to which time there '- A been a decided decrease. These were worth ^1,864,800. C '" oxen and other cattle, there luul been a marked decrease, 118,700 against 168,650 in 1875, and x\vy\v value did not exceed one million dollars. The num- 1) r vof sheep was only 127.500, and their value about $250,000. 'There were 360,500 swine, worth about 5^1,250,000. Both sheep and swine had largely increased in numbers since 1875. The total value of live-stock was about $13,363,000, and of agricul- tural products somewhat more than $50,000,000. Manufacturing and Mining Industries. — Louisiana is not a . fic; rq or? & '^ SgO OUR WESTERN' EMPIRE. manufacturing State. She produces raw sugar on her sugar plantations, gins her cotton, produces a small amount of refined sugar, aboat three-fourths of a million dollars worth of flour and meal, a million and a half dollars worth of lumber and timber, cotton-seed oil, machiiK Tj, , clothing, tobacco and cigars, and malt liquors. Her entire maniiiucuired products do not much exceed tliirty million dollars. The mining industry of the State consists of some coal mines (lignite), not very efficiently worked, a small quantity of iron mined, the salt mine at Petit Anse island, and a su.phur mine at Calcasieu springs. Commerce. — Louisiana has a very large commerce, both foi- jign and domestic. In the amount of her exports she is second only to New York; in imports she falls behind New York, Mas- sachusetts, Maryland. Pennsylvania and California. In the year ending June 30, 1880, her domestic exports were $90,238,503; her foreign exports $203,516; and her imports, $10,611,353. Copsiderable amounts are imported and trans-shipped without appraisement to interior ports on the Mississippi river and in the Mississippi valley, the aggregate being several millions — while the cotton, rice and sugar exported from Louisiana are not all produced in the State, the cotton especially being largely the product of Arkansas and Mississippi, while some comes also from Tennessee, Alabama and Texas. The amount of exports has been fluctuating for several years past, having reached its hly^hest point in iS/o, when it was $107,658,042; and its next highest in 1 873, when it was $104,329,965. The export of 1879 was the small- est since 1868. Its imports have fallen off in still greater prnpor- tion since 1873, when they were $19,933,344, the largest amount since i860. The exports of foreign merchandise show a still greater propordon of diminution, falling from $1,301,700 in 1S72 to $187,187 in 1879. It is difficult to say whether the coast-wise and interior trade of Louisiana has fallen off in any . 'milar proportion. In 1874 it was estimated at $250,000,001-. It has hardly amounted to that sum In the more recent years. Railroads. — Besides its immense traffic on the Mississippi and Red rivers by steamer, New Orleans, the commercial capital of er sugar )f refined flour and \d timber, , and malt ch exceed te consists ■d, a small and, and a :j, both foi- ic is second York, Mas- In the year ^90,238.503". 1^10,61 1,353- ,ped without er and in the llions— while are not all ^ largely the Jies also from |orts has been Id its hiy;hest xt highest in [vas the small- leater prnpor- jrgest amount show a still 1,700 hi i<^72 linterior trade m. In 1874 lamounted to lississippi and ^ial capital of LOUISIANA IIXANCES. 897 Louisiana, is connected to the northwestern and northern States by one line of railroad, with numerous connections, and with the Atlantic and northeastern States by another. These are both east of tiie Mississippi. West of tliat river there are three com- paratively short routes: one from New Orleans to Brashear, whic'h connects there with Morgan's steamship line to Galveston, a line from Vicksburg. Mississippi, to Monroe, which may at some time possibly be extended to Shreveport, and one from Slii'eveport west, forming a part of the Texas Pacific line. The entire railroad lines operated in the State have a length of only 495 miles. Finances. — The State is heavily In debt, but has repudiated a considerable part of her debt and scaled the remainder, reducing the interest. The financial management has been deplorable for some years. The amount of debt acknowledged and not repudiated v/as, January i, 1879, $12,136,166.24. $3,971,000 were repudiated ; and the bonds which were acknowledged were reduced forty per cent, in order to bring them to ;f 12,136,166. A pait at least of the interest on these is in default. Population. — The following table gives the population at dif- ferent dates: Yeaks. Total I'olTUA- TUlN. Whites. Frrh Col- OKEL'. Sla'/es. Natives. Op FoRF.IGN UlllTH. Op School Age. Op Voting Aresent States , Dakota Ter- rerritory, part of Montana, t of that part irchased from : Territory of ne a State in The popu- ;scendants of ge of mixed whether of Ite number of ,nd somewhat .dation are of ;lish, Germans, 11 a large con- ,re have never except in the Die population idly and good [prevalence of t)W fever deter EDVCATIOy A\D CHURCHES. gfyO many from settling in the State, and neither its financial nor its political condition since the war has had a tendency to attract immigrants. With a good and honest State govern- ment, a prompt and efficient collection and disbursement of its revenues, the protection of the lowlands from overflow, by good and sufficient levees, a stringent, vigilant, and effective Health-Board, and the banishment of its corrupt and self-seeking politicians, of all parties, to some point so remote that they could not return in a hundred years, Louisiana might become a health- ful, prosperous, and wealthy State, with a noble record for hon- esty and integrity. The State has 57 parishes, answering to the cou.ities in other States. Its principal towns and cities are New Orleans, with a population, in 1880, of 216,140 and many attractive buildings and streets, the principal commercial port of the Southwest; Baton Rouge, with 7,000 or 8,000 inhabitants ; Shreveport, with a little more than 11,000; Thibodeaux, Monroe, Donaldson, and Opelousas, about 2,500 each; New Iberia, Natchitoches, and Pla- quemines, nearly 2,000 each. Education. — There is a moderately efficient public school sys- tem in the State originating since the war; but the amount of illiteracy is frightful. The schools of New Orleans have gener- ally maintained a fair standing. Considerable efforts are nov/ making to educate the Freedmen. There are thirty-five or forty collegiate schools for both sexes, and besides, a State University at Baton Rouge, which is not very efficient ; there are six other so-called colleges or universities, three of them for the education of Freedmen for preachers and teachers, and two others Roman Catholic, one a Female College. Out of 900 students in these institutions, 558 are in the preparatory schools. There is one Theological, one Law, one Medical, one Dental, and one Scientific school in the State. Churches. — There were, in 1875, 867 churches or congrega- tions, with 744 church edifices. Of these 124 were Roman Catholic, with an adherent population loosely estimated at 200,000. After these the Baptists had 371 churches with 309 church edifices and 20,734 members ; the Methodists 255 churches, 900 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 22 1 ((Hficcs, and 23,271 members, including probationers. The other leadincr denominations were Presbyterians, Episcopahans, Jews, Conoregationalists, and Lutherans. All tl">e Protestant de- nominations reported a membership of about 58,000, and an ad- heri:nt population of about 263,000. Under existing circumstances Louisiana is not likely to attract a \ ery large number of immigrants either from Europe or the AtUuuic States. oc; CHAPTER XL MimESOTA. Minnesota the Centre of North America — Its Situation, Boundaries, Di- mensions, AND Area — Surface of the Country — The Three Slopes- Rivers, Lakes, etc. — The Lake State — Seven Thousand Lakes— Ckdi,. ocY AND Mineralogy — Some Gold and Silver, moke Iron and CorriR— Minnesota an Agricultural State — Soil and VEGrci'ATioN. — Rich Soil- Forests — The Big Woods — The Prairie LaxD'S — I'ukk-ci.antinc; in Mix- nesota — Fruits — Zoology — Climate — Its S.M.unitrrv— Advance w thk Annual Temperature as the Country is Sf.tii.ki)— ri:ciLiARiTiEs m ihk Climate — Meteorology — Navigable Rivers and Railways — More thax 3000 Miles of Railroad in the State — Projected Railways — 1,axd Grants — Agricultural Products — The Crops of 1878, 1879, and i8 '"e ntory. vv.eh which it shares th d, a J f' '^^^^ ''' ''"'"''' '''^■'■■ nver of the North. ,t i, j,,,^ ,,^„ ,f "^/"."'^ v.,ll,:y „, „,, ,^^,j 01 the pen.nsulas which send o f "l 'ir "i"" '™"' ""• ^■•>l'-^ Arcc Ocean, and the narrouin , t I "", ,''-?^-'-^ '"" "- canoes hghts ahke the l>a,:ilic oln ° "V "*"■■''• ''>' «-^ '•"l- /rom Newfoundland on the east .ndV "'" ^'^'^"^^^*-"> ^-a, west. It lies between the para, ,: : ' t'^''^'^^ '^'-.d on t,,e and between the meridians of ll^J .^ ^° ^"'' 49° N. latitude, fro,n Greenwich. Th,, ,.,;j,„,„„ , ^ "« -"nd 970 ^^, ,, •; »"th is 380 miles, w,^" r-bS;;' ""^ «->-■ '«-. non, about the4Sthparaliel,to =6. miles on,, '"^"""'" -7 miles about 45° 3o.' Its area is esti, t 1 "" '°''"' "'"^-anJ .X, at 0«ceat,S353. square mi^ r "' :"';f/-'^'^ States Land area n.ust be deducted 2 qooa^o f-"**^''"/" ^cres. From this etc (not.-ncludin, that ^TlIZl '■''"' ^"'"-'^' '^'-^ ■ts i.m,.s), leavin. 50,759,840 acres of fanT™"; t"''' "'^^ -"- reservafons. This is .>ear,y equal to tli' T'"^'"^' ""-■ ^"^'-'^ and Pennsylvania, and a little mor L ^l '"r' '""''' "^ Ohio Tennessee. '°'^'- """ that of Kentuckv and that Minnesota should be the w.t r ^T"" " "'^^ '"^^'t^ble great streams which traverse the ctn ' °' '""''''= ^°' ^1' the Hountatns. It has not, it is tr e anv '""' "''' "^ *« R°cky ran,e of mountains or very ,•,■?!" "'""" "^ ^-='' -'X mme nort,.ern part of the sTa e et, ,^""'^"' ^■'^^'^"o" from ,,500 to ,,550 feet above d^: ^^ ^^V" ""-' '-- valleys, is ;"or near the parallel of 4,0 ' """•, ^"°^^ this table-land, '""'■ "<" -""ch, if at all, above- ,00' lee^ T' •",''''='' ''"<= <>'■ '''i'i ««.vard to the bluffs of the Red R " 't'' ""'^ "^^^''^'i"^' southward, and separates the latl of 7 'm'='' *'"" " ""•'- 'ssipp, from those of the Red r^ve / '''""™'^ "^ 'i'e .Mis- 'I'V''^^^ ff-at river and fc v! " ^°^"'- '" "■'=-' '«- fe Mississippi river prone tult"'''" ""-'''^ »'-«% viz Lo."s river and its numeCsbL ,>«,"", ""'■'"'="•- ^ ''-' «'• "'"' "'''"•■'' tojjedier form the 902 OL'K WESTERN EMPIRE. ,^1 cell Xt. Of* ^ ?3 O head antl fountain of those waters which, through tlie great hikes, find their way to the St. Lawrence, and through its broad expanse to the northern Adantic Ocean ; and the affluents of the Red river as well as tliose of Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods, all of which finally discharge their waters into Hudson's Bay and into the Arctic Ocean, There is but one other point in the whole of our Western Empire, or for that matter, in the United States, where rivers (lowing to such distant and diverse ])oints have their sources so near together, and that is the point near the Yellowstone Park, where the sources of the Missouri, the Columbia, and the Colorado of the West are tound within a mile or two of each other. There are then three distinct slopes, differing in soil, vegetation, and geological character, in the State. The northern slope, includ- ing not only the Red river valley, but the valleys and streams drain- ing into the Rainy Lake chain, and into the Lake of the Woods; the eastern slope, occupying the valley of the St. Louis river, and declining gently toward Lake Superior; and the southern slope, drained by the Mississippi and its affluents, comprising about two-thirds of the State, and extending into, and forming jiart of, the great Mississippi valley. The descent from the sum- mit of the divide, which has an elevation in lat. 47° 45' to 48° of about 1,680 feet, to the southern line of the State, lat. 43^30', is not far from 930 feet ; but except in the successive terraces at and near the Falls of St. Anthony, the declination is very gradual, not exceeding two and a half or three feet to the mile. Three- fourths of the State maybe described as generally rolling prairie, interspersed with frequent groves, oak openings, and belts of hard-wood timber, dotted with numberless small lakes, and drained by numerous clear and limpid streams. The remain- ing fourth includes the hills which form the divide, the extensive mineral tract reaching to Lake Superior, and the heavy timbered region (" The Big Woods ") lying around the sources of the Mississippi and the Red river of the North. Rivers, Lakes, etc. — The greater part of the State, all of it, in- deed, except two or three of the northern, and as yet unorganized counties, which are wate:ed by streams falling into the Rainy i RIVERS AND LAKES. 903 the Rrcat h its broad iients of the the Woods, idson's Bay ler point in alter, in the and diverse : is the point Lhe Missouri. Dund NvitlVm a )il, vegetation, I slope, includ- streams drain- )f the Woods ; ;t. Louis river, I the southern its, comprising 3, and forming from the sum- o 45' to 48° of , lat. 43° 30'. is ,ive terraces at J very gradual, mile. Three- rolling prairie, „ and belts of all lakes, and The remain- t, the extensive heavy timbered ,ources of the Lte, all of it, in- [et unorganized into the Rainy Lake chain — is drained by the affluents of the St. Louis, the Mississippi, and the Red river of the North. The St. Louis iias fourteen or fifteen tributaries, several of them streams of con- siderable size ; the Mississippi has about fifty — two of them, the St. Croi-v and the Minnesota, being themselves large rivers ; only the affluents of the Red river on the eastern bank belong to Minnesota, but there are fourteen or more of these, of which the Red (jrass, Red Lake, Sand Hill, Wild Rice, and Buffalo rivers are considerable streams. The Rainy Lake ri\f:r forms a part of the northern boundary, and its aflluents, the Big and Little Fork, and the Vermilion river, which flows into the same chain of lakes, are streams of moderate size. There are fifty or more creeks tlowing into Lake Superior, which aid in watering and fertilizing this northeastern slope. Minnesota is emphatically the Lake State. In the surveyed area of the State there are upwards of 7,000 lakes ; their average extent is about 300 acres, but a number of them exceed 10,000 acres, and others are still larger; Lake Minnetonka covers 1 5,ooo acres ; Lake Winnebagoshish, 56,000 acres ; Leech Lake, 1 14,000 acres; Mille Lacs, 130,000; Red Lake, at least 350,000, and Lake of the Woods and the Rainy Lake Chain, which torm part of the northern boundary, are still larger. Not content with tii^se, Minnesota claims a considerable slice of Lake Superior as her property. Many of the smaller lakes are very deep, and all are well stocked with fish. Ordinarily their shores are dry and firm down to the water's edge, except at their outlets, and the waters are clear, cool and pure. The bottoms are generally sandy or pebbly. The water of Minnesota, whether obtained from lake, spring or well, is of excellent quality. The beautiful scenery around many of these lakes, and the cascades, rapids and falls at the outlet of others, have made them very pleasant re- sorts. Among these Minnetonka and W^hite Bear Lakes, and the Falls of Minneopa and Minnehaha have perhaps the widest reputation. Geology and Mi?iej'alo<^y. — The greater part of the State is covered with a rich and fertile alluvium, or, as in the highlands, 904 OLI^ iniSVAA'^V KMPlRh. c5 II by an older and less fertile drift, which, however, sustains a noble forest growth. Beneath this drift there is, along the northern shore of Lake Superior, and extending southward on both sides of the St. Croix to its junction with the Mississippi, and below that point along the eastern and western banks of that river below the southern line of the State, a broad belt of metamorphic slates and sandstones intermingled with volcanic rocks, traps and porphyries; these are of the Silurian epoch, and many dikes of greenstone and basalt are interjected in the strata. Occasionally deposits of marl-drift and red clay are found above these rocks. This is the principal mineral region of the State. Near the southern boundary of the State, or, rather, in the southeast quarter, between the 92d and 94th meridians, is a small tract of Devonian rocks; west and northwest of the Silurian slates and sandstones, the underlying rocks are eozoic, hornblende and argil- laceous slates, and granite, gneiss and metamorphic rocks. In the western and northwestern part of the State, between the 94th and 96th meridians, but not extending below the 46th parallel, and underlying the low hills which form the divide between the affluents of the Mississippi and those of the Red river of the North, is another belt of Silurian rocks, upper Silurian, In the northern portion, and lower Silurian, nearer the Mississippi. These are mostly limestone, and like those of the same epoch farther east are almost entirely devoid of fossils. West of these, and forming the underlying strata of the Red River valley, we find a broad belt of cretaceous rocks, mostly of the Niagara, Ga- lena and Trenton limestones, with smaller outcrops of St. Peter and perhaps Potsdam sandstones. Lastl3^ in the southwest corner of the State, in and near the valley of the Big Sioux, the eozoic rocks again approach the surface, and some of them 'arc mineral-bearing rocks. The Lake Superior region yields, in lari^c; quantity, iron of the .same character and purity as that found \\\ the upper peninsula of Michigan, and copper ores identical with those of Ontonagon ; but neither have been as yet extensively worked. Gold and silver exist in moderately paying quantities near Vermilion lake, in the northern part of St. Louis county; but the region is yet so wild and inaccessible that the mines are ^0/L AXD VECETATION. not now worked Silf - • 9^5 ■S.a.c., and salt of ::.^Z^t: "' T""' ''"'"'-^ '" "- K-c-r valic,., and ac Hell, ' , „ '"'•""; '^''■'-■" I i" d.c Red A."o„, |l.c other minerals of thC: T ''"I ^'''"'"•■™'^' ''-v-. peat, marl, tripoli, etc. The „,' '.-'•'"■'"''k'".!.-. I^Mildinn. ,t„„,^ ■™;lo their pipe, „ found i;,: ,:;':;;:;';;;• -^.-'-i. .lun.uhals amhs quarriecl and used for „nnv ,■' '" ""-' ''"tuhwest .S-»/ W /•^..r<-/«^W._TI e 2.' T°'''- head,ngof&„y««^/^/^^. ^, "^^*-- slopes named under the vegetable ..rovvths. vZ ZT,- T "'"'' =" ^""■--u soi and and Che basins of the lalsr^r;'-.™^ ."-•<«' «-r v^C boundary of the State, is a rid, Ih i , ''' '"''"' ""^ "orihern '0 'l.e,..owth of cereals a^ o '":';': '''^T''''^'''----''''^- -"'P'" rom s,,xty to seventy miles i„ ^^^^^ ']'' l^"' Kivcr valley, Minnesota, is unsurpassed in fer ha- f ^"' ''"'^ "^ '' '^ i" ,ra„arv of the world in the pr"| -,;"' f'"7 "^" '^^■»'- ">« c Itivated more carelessly than IT n "'"•■''• ^hile it is al.nutw,..nty.tvvoortwentyX K°^'' ""V"-^ ^^'-^i'- only .MS capable of doin,.,nuch ^'^^jf^^'''?' '° ''^ »--• not wanting on land, within twent '""' ""'^ ''"-^'ances are ■n which fifty, si«y. eigluy, a Srrf '^r' "^ ''^' '^'-'<' 8 of wheat to the acre have bee"raised '"T'^''^'"' '"^ l^^-^hefs acre o„, ^.y any tricKery, but ontlll , ' ' "" °" ^ •^'"«'<= acres Th,s reg.on has forests of o,l i , °^ "«>' <"■ '--'ffl'ty •honsjh the greater part i, a °n ,1 ' ,'f ''' <='"' ^"^ n,aple eastern slope has much bro ^„ ZT' H "''"'"'■'"■" P^^'"<=- The a-cultural region; though t.^'feU ^."^^'^ -•"-al than of roots, n,uch of this slo;e as wd .' ! ,'^"'' ""P^- '=-'^Pecially IS covered with a heavy growth of ,r " '' '"^''''^"''^ °'- ''ivides erous trees, of great vVPue a ,lr;r''"l^' ^"'^ °"-- »"-■ - then,, when cleared, is comparat vdv h "^^ ""= =°''' b«"eath P.es about twenty-one th^sa r ''T""'., ^''''^ -S-" occu- s^pe, wh,ch comprises all of the Smte k7 ''• ^'''^ ='"""-'■" composed of alternate rolling ' Jf'" ^^'''^^ "'« l>ighlands, is very nch and fertile soil. Abouton t T~"'"* ^"'^ '"'= a Mmaesota is woodland, and her ctent ° ""= "'^f^-^ °f c.h.ens have Wisely taken meas- ^1 cell Q06 06W WESTERN EMPIRE. ures to renew the forest [growth, and not suffer the land to become dry and sterile for the want of forests. They have planted already nearly thirty millions of trees, to replace those which have been cut off. Hy this wise precaution they have secured to their State its forest supplies, without material diminution. In the soutliern slope there are detached <,^roves and copses of j^reat beauty sprinkled everywhere among the prairies and around the numerous lakes, while growths of dwarfed oaks skirt tlu: prairies and are known as oak openings. There is also a tract on both sides of the Minnesota river, over one hundred miles in length, and of an average width e.xceeding forty miles, comprising an area of five thousand square miles, known as the "Big Woods," which is covered with a dense and magnificent growth of hard- wood timber. This is said to be the largest forest of deciduous timber between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. In this, as well as in the smaller groves, are found almost every species of deciduous trees native to the States and Territories north and east of the Rocky Mountains. The indigenous flora of the State is a combination of the Can- adian, or sub-alpine, which is found along our northern frontier, with the Appalachian or Mississippian of the upper portion of the Great Valley. Owing to the great number of small lakes, streams and marshes in the northeast, the aquatic plants of the sub-alpine flora predominate — wild rice, reeds, callas, and water- loving plants generally. In the northeast part of the State it is estimated that there are 256,000 acres of cranberry marsh, which yield abundantly. Wild fruits come to great perfection, and, in cultivated fruits, all except the peach and the later grapes are produced of remarkable excellence and in great quantities. The apples, pears, plums, cherries, early grapes, strawberries, rasp- berries, currants, blackberries, whortleberries and gooseberries of Minnesota are not surpassed anywhere. Zoology. — The forests abound with wild animals and beasts of prey, but these are not as numerous in the prairie regions. The bear, panther or cougar, wild cat and lynx, and the gray wolf, as well as the marten, fisher, otter, mink, beaver, and muskrat, skunk, raccoon, fox, woodchuck, gopher, hare and squirrel, and other ZOdlOGY ^\ND CLIMATE OF MIXXIISO'/'A. 907 to become ic planted lose which ^e secured inution. In ses of jj;ri:al and around :s skirt thi- also a tract red miles in , comprising liiiT Woods," ,vih of hard- uf deciduous . In this, as ry species of is north and •n of the Can- hern frontier, r portion of small lakes, plants of the s, and watcr- the State it is marsh, which action, and, in r grapes are ntities. The erries, rasp- gooseberries md beasts of regions. The trray wolf, as liskrat, skunk, lei, and other rodents are sufficiently numerous, and the coyote or prairie wolf hunts in packs in the open lands. Of the larger game tlure arc the elk, two species of deer, and possibly the moose. The buf- falo is rarely seen, and the antelope, if ever an inhal)itant of this reirion, north and east of the Missouri, is so no lons-er. Of game birds, land and aquatic, there is no end. Wild turkeys, pigeons, grouse of several species, and partridges, frequent the woods, and wild geese, several species of ducks, brant, teal, etc., ace found in their season in great numbers, around the hundreds of larger lakes. Birds of gay plumage, and those of melodious song, make the woods, lakes and rivers vocal with their sweet notes or brilliant with their varied and beautiful hues. The rep- tile tribes are not so numerous as elsewhere. There are three or four poisonous, and a considerable number of innocuous ser- pents, large and small. The batrachians pour forth their music in the northern marshes, but the lizard family are missiii-. l-'ish abound in all the waters of the State, and the State ImsIi Com- mission, in co-operation with the United States Fish Commis- sion, have been stocking the larger lakes and streams with choice species of edible fish. This work is still progressing. Climate. — A great deal has been written about the cliniate of Minnesota, both in its praise and dispraise. TVom its central situation and the curving northward of the isothermal lines, as well as from its very moderate elevation, the climate is undoubt- edly milder than that of States or countries farther east in the same latitude. The mean average temperature of the State has been given as 44.6° Fahrenheit. This is not y^c true, though it may become so in a few years. Its present average annual mean, from observations made at many different points for from eight to twelve years past, does not exceed 42.9° Fah- renheit, and this is a very decided advance from the mean of eight or ten years since. As the country is settled, the annual temperature rises, and though there may be occasional severe winters like those of 1877-78, and of 1879-80, when the temper- ature sinks to — 53°, or — 60°, yet it is gradually advancing to a milder temperature. The air is very dry and bracing; the rain- fall is not as great as it is farther east, and probably averages^ (pS or 'A' IV/^STF.KiV KAfP/RE. one jcnr with aiiotluT for tlic wliolc State, about 27.5 inches; but it is OIK; of llu.: ])rciiliarili(.'S of Minnesota and Dakota, that tlireofourths of il falls between April and ( )ctolKT, and nu)re than one-half betwt.'en tin: i st of May and the 15th of iXuLjust — th(! season when the L^rowinj^' crops most recjuire it. liic sum- mer is hot, and everythinj^^ (includiny^ weeds) grows with tlu; greatest rapidity. When the harvest is gathered, winter conus, sometimes with al)unilant snows, but oftiner without them ; and the frost-king reigns from NovemluT to April, but tlu; dryness of the air rendc;rs the intense cold more endurable, and the winter is a season of activity. Tlu; climate is heahhful, the death-rate low, and malarious diseases unknown. The climate is regarded as a desirable one for consumptives from its dry and bracing air. It is certain that many of those who come to tile State with weak hmgs, when the disease is not too far ad- vanced, do recover and enjoy good health. The tabh; on page 909 prepared with great cart: and labor, gives all the necessary particulars for determining the climate of all parts of the State. The temperature, rainfall, humidity, etc., are averages from ob- servations continued for froni five to ten years, and are more satisfactory than any statement of the temperature, rainfall, etc., of a single year, which may be exceptional in its character. Rai/roads and Steam Navigation. — There are none of the Western States which have made more rapid progress in railroad construction than Minnesota, and none which possess greater facilities for travel and transportation. Let us begin with the navigable waters. The Mississippi, interrupted only by the Falls of St. Anthony, Sauk rapids, and Litde Falls, is navigable to the foot of Pokegama Falls, distant but 236 miles from its source. As far as to the Falls of St. Anthony, about 175 miles from the point where it enters the State, it is navigable for large steamers, at all seasons of the year, since the recent imprcve- ments made by the United States government; and above Min- neapolis, there is navigation for smaller steamers for 400 miles, except the obstructions mentioned above. On the Minnesota river, in good stages of water, boats run to Granite Falls, a dis- tance of 238 miles from its mouth. That fertile Nile, called the METKOKOI.OGY OF MliWh.SOTA, 909 ; inches; xoui, that lul more \vt;4\ist — The svinv wilh llMi cr c()in»-"^i \\v\w ; anil )c dryness >, antl tlu'. ihiiliil ih^ 'he climate Dm its dry \o come to LOO far ad- l(i on l>a;4c: n necessary 1" the State. js froni ob- d are more •ainfall, etc., •acter. one of the in railroad ,ess i^reater in with die nly by the s navis^able es from its t 175 miles •le for larj;e Int improve- above Min- r 400 miles, Minnesota [Falls, a dis- ;, called the rr H 1 s i 1 1 i 1 ! "% a a a ^ ? *• » W W j( -2" w 1? 1 i ?! M 00 a ^1 is r •c bi 1 00 Ul M Ul M !! Ul g >C en «■ u< •a 8! a Miivtintim 'rciii|irr,iUiro. Mlniiiiiim 'r<'in| f '"J % Ktt \.{ CO M M U> ui be v» 0* w b* N u 111 M M 5! £ 01 Ul Mcnn lliiiiiiillly, Monllily ;>!..) Aiinii.il k.iinl.ill. M an l>.iriiiii '9. b 00 1 ^ a, ^ sis www ji jj jt r 0? ^ .8 op oe CO UJ tJ Ul b\ 1 " 1 in »0 »i - r,i ■* b> « w Ui •sj on \© b b b *o ■ r* i " -to .«^ b C M.ixiiiiiim Tcinii r.iliire. Miiiimiim '\\ nipcriitiire. M.Mll lriii|h nitiirc M..1M lliiiiinlily. Miinttily nn'I Aiiiiiial Kainr.ill, 1 \ I \ ON r i i w « 00 « i» y t. ii w * w V V' ? www w CO '» 4- •'I en y if S w "d ^ 1 \ % « ? ? UI 00 0\ UI Os v-- CO 09 b 2 1 ' V ° M ivininm 'riiiipinilure, Mininiuni '1'. nuii-ratiire. > W o ?^ tn V. V 8 3 -0 Ul 00 05 i ,1 Si IjJ M i 00 CO mm'" ^ ff "3 b Ul M Uj Ul 1 4- M Ul U( 3 .Mf.-in IVnipcraturc. Mran Ihiiiiiilitx. iMi'titMy and .\niitial Kuiiifall. M V4 b 00 so Ul f. in VI p - 00 00 .(» bo 00 0^ A Ul M U. OJ 4» 00 uj « ♦ W « W « Ui M 00 Ui vb 8 p p w 8> UJ ig -3 s8 s i? a A w •«• CO m' vO S, i: £ 00 U) M >3 Ul UJ OS 1 - b Ul VI Ul (3 i i Ul M 1.0 >8 _. Uj 1 * ° Mean riaiM nut Heal Maviiiiiini Ti nip' ratnri.'. Mininiuni 'W iijpi raturc. 1 n M H s "Q. S a. u» 5 M 0-> 1 ^0 ^ 00 "3 ^ 8 is 5^ 8 ■« S 9 8> 8 (J1 M Uj 00 8 VI 8 M M UJ OS Moan Temperature. Ml an Ilnmiflity. 3 y -a •o vb i. ^ -U 8; Uj 00 b vb 5> a ■? W M Ui M M •Si i M •^ S « 8. CO • M so «. vb a' ^ • Miinthly and Anmml Rainfall. n *0 4i *« ^ *? *? ^ ^ % 2 «8 *00 Mean Banimetrical Pressure. 55 § t-«l 9IO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. >^ Cx\ *t\ fic; ^x CO f^. w-m r^' fc-? '^3' :^ ?• *^^ tr; R i-a i!3 >< Cj^ O Red river of the North, gives 38c miles of navigable water on the western boundary of the State. The St. Croix furnishes fifty-two miles of navigable water on the eastern border. Lake Superior gives 167 miles of shore line to the northeastern section of the State, and the St. Louis river, the principal stream of that sec- tion, adds twenty-one miles of navigable waters to the extreme west end of Lake Superior. To sum up, Minnesota has 2,796 miles of shore line of navigable waters — one mile of coast line to every thirty square miles of surface. Of railroads there were over 3,140 miles completed and in operation on the ist of September, 1880. The Northern Pacific Railroad crosses the State from Duluth to Fargo and the North- west, and its principal feeders, the St. Paul and Pacific and the St. Paul and Duluth, connect it with the two chief cities of Min- nesota, Minneapolis and St. Paul, and with the more distant cities of Milwaukie and Chicago, also ; these three lines, with their various branches and extensions, include about 975 miles in the State, and have three lines crossing the State from east to west, and two, the Duluth road and the St. Vincent extension, from north to south. The other four roads which cross the State from east to west at lower points are, .'.le Hastings and Dakota Division of the Chicago, Milwaukie and St. Paul, which also operates two roads running southward to the State line (the River Division and the Iowa and Minnesota Division) ; the Wi- nona and St. Peter's ; the Sioux City and St. Paul, with its ex- tensions ; and the Southern Minnesota. These are crossed in every direction by local railways as well as by two important lines, die Minneapolis and St. Louis, the Rochester and Nonhern Minnesota, and the St. Paul and Sioux City, and the Milwaukie, Minneapolis and St. Paul, now the Iowa and Minnesota Division of the Chicago, Milwaukie and St. Paul Railway. All these roads, or all except a single narrow gauge road, are run in connection with, and controlled, more or less, by one of three great railways, viz. : The Northern Pacific, the Chicago and Northwestern, and the Chicago, Milwaukie and St. Paul. In January, 1880, there was no town or village in the State, except in the great unorganized counties in the north, which was more ^^fL^O.WS Of AU^,yj,sOT.,. - ^. ^*: J AWES OTA than twenty-five miles from a „;, ' 9" membered that the first railrolltn ^^ ^''' '' ^^'"" '' '^ "- =.nd that at the end of that ye r there" T™' ^""^ '" 'S^., road ,n operation, ,vl,i|e bv tL T ? ''"' "^" ""''« ''f rail later there wil, be at least 3*00 r °' "'°' ^«'"-" >- and that the earnings have rs rfr^'"!' '" """^ *ff-<^nt li„es, $8..56.846in .879. some idea n,av iTe r " *^,'^'°°° ■" '^^- 'o crease of the commercial ,.eal "oTm ™=^ "^ "'« "Pi'l in- velopment is destined still ,0 go ^f '' ""°^f ' This rapid de- With the Grand Trtmk road a Man „f ' ' '^"' ^"'J ^'i"noa,,olis another to connect Dt.luth wid ,,f"''° ™'' °" '-^l^<= M'Vlii-an • point with the Canadian Cemalwhr ""T- '''"''' -"' « ^"^ tracted for to tap the Cana*! P, fi r " "^ '" ''^''^'^y ^n- 'atter will open t,p the vast "1':^^ i™-" '^•"""'- Tl/e t^vo northeast, and may make the go " am, 7""' "' "'^' "°"1' and ake, and the copper and ironV the Ul o'T^"" °' ''""'•'•<"> famous as any of the mining distr ct, ofl^, c'''"'""" "'^•'"' as nes farther west. Most o? the roads ,'"'"' ■■■"'' ''^rrito. grants from the United States Cover 'm'^ ^'""' ''"''' ''"'^ able enterprise which they have drsphved ' '"'', ''" "'"""'^"d- em.grants from other lands ..k |ta .s, l'" "'f'"" '""^"•" '° Minnesota had to offer to settlers was ', "''^'"•>"''\"' » "hich part by the desire ,0 sell their ow„l.,"'"""^' '^'■""'P'-'d in reg,o„ through which their u^ pasTe?';"" '° *-'°P 'he large way traffic. It can be s,i I i ' ° ''^ '° ^'"''Id "P a of them, that they Ua.:i^n^^;^-^- ^'^ '-",, of m'ost .n regard .0 securing Govemmen; nl 'f ™"'''" "> ^""-rs empt,on, and by the Homestead Tnd Ti I ^T"^''''- "^V Pre- fnc:,/^ura/ />.od,,,,,_r^e nl-rf ^"'"^"''"■•^ Acts, production has kept pace with the c 'veir""""'' "^ agricultural her n,eans of transportation or t^e cr"",'^ """'■^^'-^ -"' Tim progress has been greatly acceler JT "/'."'' ""^^ ''ai'^ed. years. This is due in part to he pent ra "'f'" ""^ P^" "-« s 2^. crii 9? o 013 Ol/X WESTEKU EMPIRE. Other lands yet sown with tliat grain on this continent. This discovery, widely lieraldcd, was ininiediately Ibllowcd by the con- struction of railways through that valley and across it, which secured to every wheat-grower an immediate cash market for all the wheat he could raise. The great immigration to that region since 1877, and the immense quantity of land which has been broken there for wheat, has had a wonderful effect in bringing this new State into the front rank of grain-producing States. Yet only a very small portion of the vast territory of Minnesota has, up to this time, come into cultivation. Of its 53,459,840 acres, or somewhat more than 50,000,000 after deducting the water surface, not quite one-ninth is yet tilled ; and this not because the land is worthless or difficult of tillage, but because it is so exten- sive that men enough cannot be brought there to till it as rapidly as the demand for the grain requires. In 1850, thirty years ago, there were but 1,900 acres. in the whole territory cultivated ; in i860 there were 433,267; in 1870 there were 1,863,316; in 1877 there w^ere 2.914,654; in 1879, 4,090,039; in 1880, a little more than 6,000,000. There is every reason to believe that 30,000,000 acres yet remain of lands as fertile as any that have been pur- chased and broken by the plow, besides an area of about 15,000,000 of acres of grazing and timber lands. In all, proba- bly nearly 30,000,000 acres have been disposed of, including the lands certified to railroads — something like 8,500,000 acres — and the lands sold and granted to actual settlers — over 15,000,- 000 acres more — and the swamp lands, school, university, inter- nal improvement and other lands held by the State — but as we have said only a little more than 6,000,000 acres of the whole have yet been brought into cultivation. And what are the crops produced on these 6,000,000 acres? The reports of the crops of 1880 are, of course, not yet at hand. We only know that the wheat crop of the summer of 1880 was not less than 44,000,000 bushels, and probably reached 48,000,000 bushels. Of the crops of 1879 we have more definite information. There were, it will be remembered, only 4,090,039 acres under cultivation that year, and of this 2,769,369 acres were in wheat. But 1879 was not, in Minnesota, a particularly good wheat year; AGRICUI. TUKAl. rRODULTlOiXS. 913 .t. This ,' the con- it, which kct for all lat region has been I bringing ates. Vet nesota has, ^840 acres, the water oecause the is so exten- it as rapidly yr years ago, iltivated; in ji6; in i877 ahttle more It 30,000,000 c b(x>n pur- La of about lln all, proba- lof, including •,000 acres — [over 15,000,- ersity, inter- -but as we of the whole iare the crops ]of the crops Lnow that the m 44,000,000 information, acres under fere in wheat. wheat year; the average yield throughout the State was only i 2.3 bushels to the acre. Of course the Reel River valley did much better than this, the yield there being over twenty-two l^ushels to the acre; but other parts of the State fell below the twelve bushels ; yet with this really half-crop, the State reported 34,063,239 bushels of wheat; 19,518,450 bushels of oats, which yielded thirty-five bushels to the acre; and 12,764.955 bushels of corn, which also yielded thirty-five bushels to the acre. The other principal crops were barley, sorghum (of which the Minnesota amber cane was most largely cultivated), potatoes, hay, of which a large propor- tion is what is known as "wild hay," and is derived either from the native grasses, some ol which are of excellent quality, or from the nutritious wild rice which abounds in the vicinity of the lakes, and furnishes a valuable substitute for hay, much relished by catde and sheep. There is, in the older counties, a disposi- tion to cultivate to some extent the forage grasses ; but the State has not yet made such progress in the rearing of live-stock as to make the cultivation of forage plants and grains on a large scale indispensable. The cultivation of sorghum, especially of the early amber variety', which ripens usually before frost comes, is becoming very general in the .State, and mills or factories for crrindinir the cane and making sugar on a large scale are already numbered by the score. For the promotion of this new agricul- tural industry not only in this but in other States, the public is indebted to Hon. William G. LeDuc, the present Commissioner of Aericulture, who is himself a citizen of Minnesota. Mr. LeDuc has labored earnestly, zealously and persistently to bring about this great change from the importing of cane sugar to the raising and producing our own sugar from the sorghura. The success which seems now to be within reach within the next five or ten years, means an increase of our agricultural production to the annual amount of eighty to one hundred millions of dollars, the diminishing of our importations to the same amount or evcm more, since the cheapening of the price of sugar will cause an in- creased consumption and the diminution of the duties to the extent of about forty millions of dollars. We have not the complete statistics of the crops of 1879 and 58 914 OUK WKSTIiK/^ EMPIRE. CCi ^ 0(4 i88o, but the following tabic gives the amount and value of the principal crops, with the yield per acre and the price : ?. ^ Amount of crop acre. .^1= Chop. in biisti'.ls, ton^, pounls or I Numlirr .'f acres in liuij Total value of cri-p. »--. g.lluiis. iii« > > .a Wheat ..hii. ( 1879 J7.'.^,1.tM-J 'J-5 2,762,521 ■H 1^.34.924/" = (iSM. ■(5.;ji..'..i' <5.5 = .96j.."»25 .o3 45.">-' 9 7 Oats ..1)11. .1 >'i79 1 iSSj 11 .II.t.c,(>0 27.536 6 )> 37a5 40.00 567.371 688.415 .2J .29 4.854.44J 7^'.8i.''"4 1 Corn ..bii. ( >i7'; 1 1S8) 16.^98,^. 4 3t'0 36.04 379,7(j6 455.5'4 .27 •35 3.48),992 5.7,>9->76 1 Barley ..bii. i'87> 2 413,199 3,,^6j.6Ho 24 83 30.00 96 ,9 =,1 118,856 •43 .70 1,-37,670 7,495,976 ; Rye i . .bii \ ihci.> 17^.887 15.' 11-534 •49 «4,715 ^'4 54> •75 11,683 ■75 153-4 '5 Buckwheat 1>M ( i!?7) 3!, '6,? 9.81 3.38' .62 2.J,t,fil 1 1;--. 3.i.3r9 10.5 3-'77 • 63 21,016 ! Bans . , li;i (1S7O ;'1.434 11-35 12.00 2,1:6 2.1 S 1.40 34.2 8 4'.f'79 Flaxseed 1.11 .1 'i?; 90.378 7 7 12,966 i-=5 124,223 1 iS«) 407.' •'4 (1 00 45.- 36 1.30 529,261 Potatoes ..bu. J ■■•7v 3,01 5, rOJ >o3 3 37-y ■ 25 978.973 I tStJ) 4,20.', 963 103-7 40,618 •53 2,11.1,982 Sorijhiim Syri;i). ..gal 1 'Sr9 1 iSo..) 4.1(1,9.16 77;,6..2 89.3 106.1 5.'^33 7.317 •30 •3a ■34.' 83 248,103 ; Tame H ly tons J 187.) '94.994 1-35 14-,, 150 4^74 9-..4,272 ( i8So 205,7 JO 1.42 146,928 5^3° I,0J-.,210 .tt;ll-i iiiii.!.'. 1 1879 '( iSSj 1 1S79 ( 1 8b J 1,2x3,506 I,27iJ,O.X» 04<5,iS« 9-'5. 73 3^50 4.00 .26 •3" 4. 201. 771 4.9^.8,o.v. 246-5=8 277.5'-;3 Wild Hay Wool pi Totals 8,S<^7.9i7 Live-Stock. — Minncaot.i is too new a State, and has too much arable land and timb:M-,ancl too many other interests callinii for her special attention to allow her, as yet. to become larj^ely en<;aocd in rearing stock. By and by, wlien her great northern counties become accessible as 1^ razing lands, and when her ample pro- duction of hay, corn, oats, and the forage grasses and nutritious seeds, such as millet, pc-arl millet, rice corn, etc., gives her ample facilities for it, sIk; will receive immense herds of cattle and flocks of sheep to fatten for tb.e foreigo markets. We do not mean to be understood that the young Slate has not a respectable show- ing in the way of live-stock, or that it is not increasing ; but only that, as compared with States where the rearing of cattle, sheep and swine has been made a specialty, and where much of llic land is better adapted to grazing than to cultivation, its numhers may appear relatively small. It is, at most, only anotlier indica- tion of the variety of agricultural and pastoral pursuits of which " Our Western Empire " is capable. The following table shows value of the Tot:il value o( cri.p. ;?34.92't,'''i2 45,.>wg7 4.854.442 7.v8;./"4 3.48 ).9y2 5.7,>9.I76 I, .37,070 ?, 495,976 «4.7i5 '53-4 '5 vj.'.fu 21,016 34.2-8 i',('7) i;4,2i3 ^.'i).26l 978.973 2, 1. .1,1)8.1 '34,' 83 248.103 9-4.J7- l.OJ 1,21.) 4,j(ii.77i 4 9,.8,o.M 246.5:8 277.5-3 I2i,0jj,3_b has too much calliniTfforher p;ely cncraocd hern counties r ample pro- ind nutritious /es her ample ttle and flocks ) not mean to ectable show- sin''- ; but onlv cattle, sheep ; much of th.c n, its numbers nother indica- suits of which g table shows tl.o number and valur. of tl,.r O'S ■879, and January. .^^Z!:'::),"' '^'""''''''^ '" J-"-)' Aiiiiii.ils. ■^fiimht-r in' J'"'-. I.S79. I V./ue llur^f.^ Mules and Avsc-,' Milch Guvs Oxen aa: 2;S.90o' r9.,o ' - ^^•'•''*° 307.500 p., I, ' '9''.?oo' ^ .,Q I 5 ..ii" 0,990 1 "4\.SJS 725.940 Niimlicr in I :; iJ''n.. 18.S0, ; c ' - ' '- 7..5.io loo.oo 304.1 10 20 Hj 322-42. 30.00 .S'J9,ooo , -^ '9^ooo 6.ii ''2.^,.vo,I7X 7.1.5.000 ''•'J2„S,Ss 9.'>72,()(!0 'l-in,? .»« la. .1. J, '1 »;;'-;y increa.-,,, ,•„ ,,„„.^^^^ pounds of butt-.r. and 160 , „ , ™"*-" Pro'lnccd r ..-« ..! 030 pound, but.er,. nd t,'^,'::""*"''^'"^^'^^ ■■" '^i^^i^^ ;- 'O.,4o.,„ pound/oft;:7: :^t^«^ ■■;> -.73 0,;:; 'S74. 10.9,6.943 p„„„^,^ of I, ?;'/■' °P°""''"''' cheese; c ee.,e; n, ,875. .2.000.000 pou,Hlof\ ''^^O- =38 P"""ds of :f;^'-;?,^:r'^^«-^^-'p"-roV:::\''^^^^^^^^^ P^.™l^ of' cL^^An'ts^t '?^6r"f "' ^" '- a,tl\Co";: 586.448 pounds of checs n tsf fr ' """"'» "^ "'-f-.': ; ;-'nd 600,000 pounds of cheese r ' °°'°"° P"'""'' of butter '".? el.e best cows for dat; " '.po': t" TT" '^ ^^'^ '« ■' ' -tus for butter and cheese-n aT,W is " "^^ '■■"'"■-■«' appl .-eat evtension of the cultivau^n o^ " ''™'"'"'>' ■"^''•"""l- Th • ; ated largely by the ,?rowin ! ^ of r'%'"""' ''^^ ^-" -im- tobecon,c large prod,,cers of ,1 u ,? ',"' '^"■"'^■^ '"' ^'innesot. mcrease of 26.000 milch co,vs f ''' '^""'='- '''"^ d'eese. The -of the energy and ent:: ^oHt f''^^ '; ' '''""^ '"'^'^ '^'^Z'^^r^r ''^'- °"^. ■'• ' ^S' :™:,d; . . . -> "f rne Missis.sipp eninl M- ^-ertamlj none in P»»,es. ,n none is there'. aT'orf T""'' '" "^'-'""'■acturin^ of water-power wfth reference r ■\' ™"'ageous di.stributiof a'cessibih-ty to markets h" 1i "''"'"" "^ '^"- "'aterfa and *h gather contr,-bution,r;:„ t,f ^ '"'" '^'^ *- ^^^ " ""■ ™"'".cnt and afford giO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. •Is i5 P3 o the marvellous interior navigation of the North American con- tinent. Vet the abrupt descents which give manufacturing p(>\v; rare in close proximity to the levels which afford navigation tn the heart of the continent. The Mississippi itself lends the .•^tat • a shore line of one thousand miles, half of which it con- tributes to purposes of manufactures and the other to those of c'liiiinerce. The Mississippi originates at an elevation of 836 feet above the mouth of the Minnesota, In its descent from the summit level to this, its water line is broken at long intervals by falls and rapids, which form extensive and valuable water-powers, Pokegama Falls, Little l-'alls, Sauk Rapids, and St, Anthony Falls are among those on the main river, besides numerous others on all the tributary streams, especially those on the eastern slope of the Mississippi, which have a much more rapid descent than this, and form numerous cascades and rapids. St, Anthony Falls, on which Minneapolis is situated, forms one of the most mag- nihcent natural seats of manufactures in the country. The St. Croix affords navigation to the falls and rocky abut- ments which are capable of vast power. The Minnesota river is navigable to the granite obstructions, where busy industry is al- ready in full career. The St. Louis river descends to the level of Lake Superior through a series of jagged falls of incalculable power. Fergus Falls, on Red river, the several falls on the Ziim- bro, on Cannon, Root, Cottonwood, Redwood, and other streams exhibit the distribution of water-power throughout the State. A small fraction only of this manufacturing force is yet made avail- able. Considering its vastness and diffusion, the capacity of the surrounding country for feeding it with raw material and tlie illimitable field for the consumption of the products, it is difficult to limit tile industrial progress which may be reasonably expected of the fi'Lure. The leading staples of manufacturing industry in Minnesota are llour and lumber — one the "manufactured product of its vast areas of fertile soil, die other of the pine forests which cover a large part of Northeastern Minnesota above latitude 46° t^o'. The pine belt is intersected by the St. Croix and its affluents and by the upper Mississippi and its numerous tributaries, which furnish M/XXESOT.fS I.VMBEK TR.inE. 917 •ican con- ufacturing navigation lends the ich it con- o those of ;ion of 836 nt from the intervals by iter-powers. nthony Falls us others on astern slope descent than nthony Falls, e n\ost mag- y- A rocky abui- lesota river is [industry is al- [s to the level ,f incalculable ,s on the Zum- [other streams [the State. A t made avail- apacity of the ■erial and the ,, it is difficult lably expected I in Minnesota Let of its vast Ivhich cover a J 46° 30'- '^^'^ l^uents and by I, which furnish convenient channels for floatini^ the logs cut upon their banks in winter, upon the liigh spring watcM's to Minneapolis and Still- water, which are the principal depots of lumber uianiifactiiie, though lumber is maiuifactured (;.\tensiveiy at Marine Mills and other points on the St. Croix, and also at Hastings, Red Wing, Winona, which receives extcMisive supplies of logs from the Chip- pewa river, and indeed almost all the river towns, A tirst-class boom was constructed in 1879 at St. Paul, and two or three large sawmills were erected in iSi^o. The pine forests which clothe the head waters of the three great river systems which have their .sources in Minnesota are a part of the vast belt of pine which stretches across Northern Wisconsin. The immense areas of prairie country which stretch west, southwest and south of this pine zone, comprising about three-fourths of Minnesota, and all of Iowa, Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, afford an illimit- able market for this lumber, which is constantly increasing with the rapid growth of population, and its extension over the naked plains of the West. The railroad system which centres at St. Paul and Minneapolis, and which extends throughout all this vast region, the vast supplies of lumber manufactured at Minneapolis, Stillwater, Menomonie, Eau Clare, Chippewa Falls, and at other points in Minnesota and W'isconsin, are distributed throughout this great prairie region, and the transportation of lumber forms a very important item in the business of these railroads. Im- mense supplies of logs are annually floated down the Mississippi from the St. Croix river and its Wisconsin tributaries, to be sawed into lumber at different river points, especially at St. Louis. A great proportion of the lumber supply of Western Iowa and Ne- braska has heretofore been derived from Chicago and .St. Louis ; but arrangements have rccendy been entered into by the rail- roads connecting the Wisconsin pineries with those penetrating these prairie .States whereby the cost of transportation has been considerably reduced. They have formed an organization known as the lumber line, with its head-quarters at St. Paul, by which lumber is transported without change of cars from the seats of its manufacture in W^isconsin to the most distant western markets open such terms as will give them the control of the lumber s ■^1 CC3t o pi 8 t^6'A' n'/iSV^A'X EMPIRE. traffic over an immense region of country in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Ikit the chief maniifacluiing industry of Minnesota, measured by the amount of capital invested anel tl\e value of its prochict, is flour. Idour mills are distributed all over the State, but the principal seat of this industry is at Minneapolis, which has in a few years past witnessed an enormous development of this in- terest. Minneapolis has now more than twenty saw-mills, which in i88o produced over 165,000,000 feet of lumber, besides the pro- portionate amount of lath and shingles. Its lumber product alon(; exceeded ^4,500,000. Its flouring mills, including throe erected during the year, were twenty-seven, several among them being the largest (louring mills in the world. They all make* the so-called " Xev; Process " flour, which can only be made in perfec- tion from spring wheat, the only wheat grown to any extent in Mum sola. These mills have the capacity for producing 17,500 b.irrol.'; of flour per day, or 5,250,000 barrels in the year of 300 i!.i«s — the equivalent of 25,000.000 bushels of wheat annually. 1 here are also a great number of flour mills — many of them of the highest rank — along the numerous water-powers of the Can- non, the Zumbro, the Root and other streams of Southeastern Minnesota. Red Wing, Faribault, Cannon Falls, Stillwater, Ro- chester, Winona, and nearly every village in Houston and Fill- more are thrivin'>; seats of flour manufacture. There are almost as many run of stone employed in the mills along the Cannon river or along the Root as at Minneapolis. The number of saw-mills in the State is about 200, and of flouring mills not less than 450, though, of course, of viirying capacity. The amount of lumber produced in the State cannot be accurately stated, but is not less than 1,000,000.000 feet, and is increasing. Most of it is pine, though the mills in the southwest of the State run on the logs from the "Big Woods," which are mostly hard woods. The flour production is more than 10,000,000 barrels, equal to 50,000,000 bushels of wheat, and the Millers' Association, which has its heatl-quarters in Min- neapolis, by its admirable organization and managtrment, has been able to command not only the greater part of the wheat Nebraska and ;>^*-'.«.v „.,„,„,„„ ^^^^^^^^^^^^ - •- ....y^ /•'/.\.//.7,/''9 grown in Winncsoi;, •„,( -,1. ' 9'9 "•-"-''" and X„,u,,;„ ';:.;- ■■;';;;'';' 'i..U ,.,-„d„c«l ,■„ Ka..,.n ->» .;..^ an annual ,,„.u„ct ;,r ,on i"V";"""^"-'""-^ '" ^l"'"- '";l'>lla,-.s. "'" """>-''^'-- 'o lony „n|li„„„ iHil ili"ii.qlit|„:s(. a,-. ,'.,. i ,■ f^y -■<; l^>- "o n.cans Uu-^ n K™ n;;!;'"'''''^'"-™ "^ Minn-sota, ''"■^'0' ". il,c. Smic. Tl.cTo a , ";■' "' "'■•"""■auunn.. in cl.."e .acton, s, .voollcn n.ill.s, en™,, °"'"' '>«™"'""-al ,„a. m.lls ,vood van, fnn>iu„-., . ^ , '' ^^ ''^''"-'"i"^. Hns,.,.! oil foundnes, car ul.cd works boo „' ' -'' '■'"'' ^'''"'' ''''«orics tor.c-.,s, crcan._.rics. chccs,. falrf r' :'""^ '^""nc, cloU.i,,^. fac' glue works, broon, facori.'^b ^ ^ T""?" ''"""'''■ -'^P an I s'lops, conrcction,.rv lar..,. ^ "'■''"• '"-ewcrics coon,., -tablislnnencs. <.c,«^^,, ":;;';;;■: •-"'" ,''-k manu, ^ ^ r. &c.ur,n. indas,ryin .l,e Sta L J Z""' ^'-'-'^ '"■ man : hve millions of dollars. ^-'"nated to c..«:.;d scvcnty- /'/«r«<- ,>/ ira,m and /;, ,,,/./. r^ , . o"!)- availabl, measure oi A.. C^J" T'" ^ "" ■''''"^-VUo tl^at at-forded by the ^■altlatio s ; i;! r^'-"'''',"' "'""esota is «•.)- for ta.xation-a very ,„„,•,;. "''■"''' l^"'' I'-'^onal prop- S^erallyvalnedatmuchLstl ; I """V^"'"= ^'^^1 estate is -a property, even tliat sm. t, "7^^^^- -"iic per- I'-^ted, IS fjenerally valued in il„. . "■'"'^'' '^ "''^ible or 'J-cl, frequently L one-fl: t ,r n^^rr'"' ""," ''^^ '"-' "^^- "■'■^. ..nder the laws of Mi„neso. 1, ' n- ""?' ™'"'''- ^-^-^ cinies colleges, their furnit ran" ""-: -''-I'—, acad- c urchesand the lots on whic ley .aJl,"'', f ■"'"'''»• ^" of -State, county or citv all ,n„i v\ ' ''" ''"'-^"'^ buildin.rs ^■'-ity. all public libraries. e'':iJ;°;';;':'.'-^ "'• --■^.tions o'f -nal property of each person'l "bl " ''''°" '° ''''■'" "'« Pe- 01 one hundred dollars, ire « em ' t n- ' ''"'°"' '° ""-' ■'"-'ount B"t. though the.se valuation,s a ^^of "" '"^"""" <"• -—.en, true value, they will answer very we , ^ ''"''^"■^■"'^-"-^ to the -n. The following table will ^ow L ' ''"T"'"' "'' '■""■P^'"''- e"y and population in Minne so " „cc jC tV/ "^^"^'^ "^P" 920 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Valuation. 1849 J5H.936 1850 806, 4,n «86o 36,738,410 ««7o 1 87.179.257 '879 248,283,215 3 Pofyulfiiiou, — The increase of population in Minnesota has been exceiilingly rapid from the first. In 1850, the first time when there were a sufficient number of white settlers to be enumerated, and when all the region west of the Mississippi was still occupied and held by the Indians, the number reported by the census was, by a siuL^ular coincidence, precisely that of the Indians now r(\si- dent in the Territory — 6,077. ^'^ five years it had increased more than ten-fold ; in ten years, almost thirty-fold ; in twenty years, seventy-five-fold ; in twenty-five years a hundred-fold ; and in thirty years, a hundred and thirty-one times. The following table gives some additicnal particulars of interest in regard to this population. The enumerations of 1870, 1875 and 1880 in- clude the tribal Indians resident in Minnesota : -A t_ 1850 1855 1 86 J i86s 1870 1875 1878 1S80 Total Popula- tion. 6,077 68,812 i7i,o23 250,099 4.56,05,6 6x),777 7.Ki,ooo* Males. 3.7'6 93,084 ■73 e •0 73.939 23S,'^90 316,076 a. 4, 4.. 7 2!.977 "58.7a8 "■ifii% 279,01) 160,697 7,799 370,9781 217,429 14,911 44^,748| 25S,»5a »5.'75t •85 883 3.10 250 3 -"4 45.3 .■;.26 7.24 8.38 9.40 78 36.8 149 12-35 iil 4) in u 4 < "Voting Ag males, and upwar School A Loih sex 5t Military males, 18 t >*> Im 1 s 1 •.75« '.378 '.449 ' 52,73' 41,226 48,186 : 87.-44 »57.';'! 9t.»38 "4.73'} ' C-.?«,j62 I r. 8,3 74 1511,916 ;6.',i28 «47.:!7J ■75.817 294,78" 196.639 * I'.stiin 110(1 friim State' census .if 187'; ami Assessors' returns, t (If which number 5,047 were tribal Indians. J Of which number 6,198 were iril;.! Iiiili.iiis, i For the decade, 77 per cent. From whence are the people who constitute the present popu- lation of this rapidly growing and thrifty State ? An investigation made in 1878 showed that about five-eighths were born in the United States, a trifle more than one-iliird being born in Minne- sota, and about twenty-nine per cent, in other States; one-ninth, or eleven per cent, were natives of some of the German States; fourteen per cent., or about one-seventh, were from Norway and Sweden ; three and a half per cent, were from Ireland ; about >resent popii- T'lK ,.vo/.,x POPULATIOf, three per cent, from tli,- Itrkkl, . • '"' percent. fr,„„ lin.Hand' «„',,:';:,";" T'' ""' =""'' °"-'>^"f l™"> otiKT countries. Tlu- V- I ' ""'''^ '"-''■ "^"f- w.-re irener,llly ,„eferr,.<| MinnL", '":";'"'"' '""«'■•••■«» I'ave very '""" ^ -■•'I - fancied si Xi ^l^tT "'"'^ •-•"' ''"^^'^^ own. and, in son.e of the coun t T^ ■"■' '""'""^ •''■"I '!'-> -Jontyc„-thei„,,al,i,,„t,s. T, ^^ t?"' " ,""^ '■•'n.?..n,.e of „ Pnnte,! „, „„ Swe.lish and l\'nr. ■■',""'"'"-■■■ "'"'■"■^I'npers tnne th,.. laws of the State 1.^.° :^:i;" '-■7'^.'^-. -.I ^U 'o:: ,^ca,„e a State, the Indians e v:rrv";'' 'T,'--^'' "'•" ^<^^- 't ll>';)on.,nally clainu-d the whol T^ "•°"l'l<^son,e neighbors lands east of ,|,e Mississi,,"- T ° ' '•"'""'■y- and their Tide ,o ■«,S' the In,lian title to h^d K "' ""'"^""■^'"^'' 'i" uS s ,° K«lnveroftl,eNortlMvasexti„",'h , '^''^^'"'PPi and the 1 - sonthwest and part of tlu'^ . f' '"'''" "'^' '--rvations. st.ll occnpied by Hk- .Sion.v, and i,' , ' " T;''"'" "^ "'"-■ ■'^'■•"-- "as absence of n.ost of the able-bodiec „, .„ "f ■"'^■'•""•■'S'^ of the treachero,,s .savaj^es tnade an r ' to" '" ' "'" "'="•• ">«= men s and „,„rdered ab<,nt , oo" , r "'"'," ""-' ""^ «'«'e- fann es, bnrnin,. and plundcrin °il f' ^'"";>l"-in,? «h„le swiftly upon the sava,.es- th"v " ' '• ^ "-'"S'-ance came ')- wh.ch. bya provision of the con tlnn '" '" ^■5«9.99o acres 3 Q22 ^' ^' "V'..s//;a'A' r.Mi'iNi:. acrtrs. at an avcra|Lj(^ [)ric(' of $6.ip prr ain-, f)r a little inorr than ont.'-fifih ; $^v^J7'^.472 Iiavc Ix-cn '.hrrivrd lioin this sounc for tli(? school fuiiil ; anil the: adililioii of otlvr it"ins, siiiinpa^^-c, tin: sali; of tiinbi-r from th<' unsoKl school iaiuls, etc., there hail h'-en n;- a!izL\l u|) to .\n;^ir-.t 31. 1S7Q, tlitr suin of $4.067017. which coii- sLJtiites the ju'iiicipal of tli" school hiiul. The remainder of the s hool laiuls arc not inferior in (jiiality to those alread\' sold, and will |>robabl)' )ieUl in all from $iS.ooo,ix-)0 to s«>2C),ooo,cjoo ; but the interest from the school fuml, which is now nearly $250,000 and constantly increasin^^ lornis only a small \)\\v\. of the total annual expenditure for public: school-;. In 1S7S this (expenditure was $1,322,949.07, or f,S..; > to each scholar reporte-d for apjior- tionin.-nl. It is no.v p-oliaMy at least $200,000 rnori;. The e.xcL'ss o\er the current school fund is raised b\' ( ounty and local taxation. Tiu-' ioljowin;;- statement j^ives some particulars in re;^^ard to the condition of the public schools of tlie .State for the year endin;; the 31st of .Xui^ust, 1S79, tin; Iat"st re|)ort y(-'t pub- lished, which iloes honor lo t!ie enter|)risi: and educational zeal of this youthful .State: Permaivnt scliool fuml. $4,067,517 ; cur- rent school fun. 1, $246,942 ; enrolment of pupils, i 71.945 ; school iioases, 3.416; school districts, 4.001 ; av;;ra_L(e months of school, 46; male teachers, 1.797; female tteachers, 3.210; total teachers, 4,907; lotal of tt:achcrs in 1878,4,872; averaL;e wa^es, males, t^jS-?'*^ ;'"^-ivera,!4<' wa^es, females, $27.23 f amf)unt pai(l for teach- ers' wa.;es. inv:ludinL( l)oard, $920,1 2 1.3S ; value of school-houses and sites, $3,382,351.85. Besides ihesi; public schools, th';re were seventy-nine iij^raded schools and sixteen hiL,di schools in the State, in all of which advanced studies were pursued. '11 "lis was in 1878. S':hoois W' II '\\\" number is now increased larj^'ely. 'riuse f^i'adcd r« M-ected at a cost of over $1,500,000. liut the public schools are onl) a part of tli:; educational facilities afforded by t!v State. There are three iioianal schools in the .Stati', at W'i- n');^,a, Mankato and .St. Cloud, all established since 1859, and Invin;^^ buiKlini^-s erected at a cost of $239,932, and receiving- an an:ra;il appropriation of $30,000 from the State. These schools '<■ Thi.-. is :i si i^lii f.iUing off fi oin ihi: w.iyca of llic previous year, which were for males ^37.52 1 for fciiKilcs, £28.12. le for males ^(37.521 ''•" '•■■N"T,iv..ly ,|..v..,, „,,,„ ,,„ , . '"■■'■ m ■^'- ""•• A,,n,„k„„l C-.,||,.,„. • ■ ' ■^'"""■'>l'"lis,„l„V|, i„,,„.l.... i-'^^-ors a,,,, .aci,,.,..,.,,,:! ,,;'';':;:' '";"">■ "'■ .-.i"'... ■„ ; ':'^ «" -.HLnv,,,,,,, |„,„, |-,„,„ , ." ',■"' ■■''""" =50 .s,„i"-^arcofi,„„H.„s(.ovr ; ^^'-'^'•^'1"". Cass ,'t '•^79 this valuation \yu\ ,- , , "■''^' ''-^^^'t^- of $220 70, n, '■■-^--n>.e«J::;;:^^^«-..5,a^a^:-^- "'H-nncpal cities and ,„«,,s are': 924 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. J>^ pc5 rtl cc; >-n ca ;3 f-'i S3 S ^^ CCS, 1- 1S^ ca -_> ^ ^ O 33 23 24 26 '■'7 28 29 30 3« 34 33 34 MO Cities and Towns. St. P.iiil iMJLin..a|iiil Winiina S.illw.iicr Kc.J Will); Rribaiih . Mankato Rtu'liLstcr H.isiings ,l)iilmh lUwaloniia I St. Hctcr. 'Austin .. il.ake City iNcw Ulin. Nur;lili.l(l Si. t:ioiiiI . i Wabasha Shakiipee • Wascfa . Rii^lifortl St. Cliarlcs Spring; Valley Ili.kah ! Aiu.'ka AlDcrt l.ia Ikav.r Fall.s Iliitchinsdn CI-. Counties in which they arc located. I'opiilation Topnlntion Population in i8d I. i:i 1870. ' In 1875. Waleriown iSauk vj-iit.-e. .. . 'R.dvvood I'alls. |Ke Sueur it.Jlenc'ic jSt. Vincent Moorhead Carver . ... Stearns . .. Redwood . l.e .Sueur. Mcl.eod . RitLsoa ... Clay Population in lESi. ^1,498 46.887 10,308 8,500 7.«50 6.950 7.075 5. '25 4.500 3. '70 4. -'50 3.."^oo 94 ^40 8^7 1.581 767 69, I ,Cx 9 487 1,178 '.'77 1,120 1,001 218 1,308 I '.-76 I «.'75 1.059 1,500 Religious De^iomitiations. — The Lutherans (of whom there arc at least six different and not entirely harmonious organizations) are the most numerous of the religious denominations in Min- nesota, having an actual membership in 1877-78 of 112,705, to which large additions have since been made by immigration and otherwise. The Catholics claimed a Catholic population estimated at 1 14,000 in 1877 ; but though they have some strong colonies in the State, there is a large minority of the estimated Catholic population in these new States, which drifts away from that church, and cannot fairly be reckoned as under its control. The Methodist churches come next, with about 24,000 members, and are succeeded in the following order by Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Mennonites, Free Will Baptist.s, Univer.salists and several minor denominations. The following table, which does not give the number of churches or church edifices, except the Catholics, gives some other particulars of interest concerning them in 1877-78. Two years have undoubt'^dly wrought many A'£/./i;/ocs /u..vo:.//x.i r/oxx 925 Populatioi in iB&i. 41.498 46.887 10,208 8.500 7,«!io 6,950 7 •075 5. "25 4.51" 3. '7° n >,3"8 I. '75 1 T,OCQ I.5"0 1 there are anizations) s in I^lin- 112,705. to ration and at 1 \ 4.000 h the State, >pulation in land cannot jst churches leded in the ' 'sbyterians, Irsalists and [which does except the concerning )ught many changes, but have hardly greatly ilisturbccl their relative propor- tions : Metnbenhip 0/ the Various Rclii^iotis Bcdits, Value of Church Property, ititd Bcnefolcnt Con- trU'utioiis ill the Sl,ile. Dcnumination. Mcmbcr- Value of Church property. Miinhirshin | of Siiiulay- Schools. I Contrihtilions to Ik iiL'Volunt ollil'ClS. Niuwctjian-D.iiiisli Kvanj4L'lic;il l,ullit'r.in| 47,46«j Methodist Ej'iscop.il 20,160 Daplist , 6,4.?u CoiifjR'i^nlional , ^',223 I'l-csliytcrian \ 6, 15.S CJcnii.ui ICvnnj^clical Lutheran j 22,ocx) „ . ,. f *Kffi)rine(l I 10 Episcoiialian -i 1, . , . i ^ f. f^' ' \ rnilcstant 1 4,298 Evangelical Association > 3,801 Unilaii.xn FiieiuU Univfis.ilist Swedonhorgian Hebrew Freewill ISaplists Mennoniie Norwegian and Danish Conferents. Other Lutheran Societies *Swedish Evangelicil Lutheran..., ♦Norwegian Lutheian August.iin... . V. M. C. A. of Minnesota. 150 160 966 80 54 1,280 1,408 13,066 5,000 22,268 2,000 2,358 5 1 20.000 757.925 ..::4.i50 ^ 5 5, 000 420,000 2,000 278,245 96,575 i 5,000 1 190,225 8, 000 ' 4,000 5,000 j 20,265 I .**67i.94 5,415 10,046,26 175,000 10,000 6,000 ' 10,430 9.279 4,766 3.690 80 75 560 20 No.ofsch'ols 70 Xo.of>cho'ls 100 Number of Associations 15 >o.595'«7 7,265.00 *5,o69.oo 6,560,71 400.00 730-00 10,904.91 I S, 000.00 * CATHOLICS. Colleges Reli.^ious Orders Academies ( Female) . . Charitable Institutions. Priests I 18 7 5 118 Churches 1 88 Hospitals I Asyl iniis 3 Catholic [population 1 14,000 History. — Feather Hennepin, a Franciscan priest, was the firsv European who is known to have visited Minnesota. In 1680 he ascended the Mississippi with a party of fur traders to the FaPs of St. Anthony, to which he gave the name which they still bear. Some French traders and their descendants settled around the falls, but they soon lapsed into Indian customs and modes of life. In 1763 the country subsequently known as the Northwest Ter- * Report o.'' 1877. f)26 OCA' IVESTERjV EMPIRE, Jl,; w oc; Co o ritory was ceded to Great Britain. In 1766 Jonathan Carver, a nauve of Cf)nnecticiit, explored that part of Minnesota extendins^- from the [jrc-scmt southern border to tlie sonrcer. of the Missis- sippi. In 1783 it was transferred to the United States as a part of the Northwest Territory. In 1805 a tract of land was pur- chased from die Indians at the mouth of tl.e .St. Croix river, in- cludinyf the present site of Hastinij^s, and another at the mouth of the Minnesota river, which inchides tlie I'^dls of .St. Anthony. In 1820 Fort Sneliing- was built, and in 182.-2 a small grist mill was erected on the present site of Minneapolis for the use of the 'jarrison at Fort Sneilintj. In 182^ the first steamboat visited Minnesota. Between 1823 and 1830 a small colony of .Swiss sctded near St. Paul. The Indian title to lands east of the Mis- sissippi was extinguished in 1838. In 1S43 ^ setdement was commenced at Stillwater, on the St. Croix. The Actof Cono-njss establishing the Territory of Minnesota was passed Mai"( h 3, 1849, and the Territory was organized in th? fo; ving June, k extended to the Missouri river, and thus iucuiucd nearly all of Eastern Dakota. Its population was then between 4,000 and 5,000. In 185 1 the Indian title to the lands lying between the Mississippi river and the Red river of the- North, except the res- ervations, was extinguished. Immigration at once commenced, though considerably hindered by the very general impression that the region was too cold to produce any crops. Gov- ernor Ramsey, the first Territorial Governor, now United States Secretary of War, says that when he came to Wash- inofton, and brought with him some ears of corn and wheat raised in the vicinity of St. Paul, he was accused ;_;! trying to deceive, for it was said that it was impossible thai 'i vuiing should orow in such an Arctic climate. P)Ut the ' Vcr' ?rv grew, and in 1857 had about 150,000. inhabitants ; and on tlie 26th of February in that year. Congress passed an enabling act, providing for its admission as a Sta'LC. It uas admitted into tlic Union May 11, 1858. In 1860 it l.ad a population of 172,023. General H. II. Sibley, one of its pioneer settlers, was its first State Gov Tnor, and was succeeded in i860 by Governor Ram- sey. In 1862 occurred the Sioux massacre, to whi ,h we have HISTORICAL .VOTES. 927 arver, a .tcndinLC Missis- is a part vas pur- rivcr, in- ;e mouth Anthony, grist mill use of the lat visited I of Swiss f the iSlis- iment was f Cont.n''.;ss I Manh 3. o- kine. It early all ot , 4,000 and jetween the |ept the res- ommenced, impression ips. Gov- |o\v United [i to Wash- and wheat Id -J trying lat -iviiiing ^ ::it" ory land on t,h^ inablint; act, ted into the of 172,023- ,vas its first |ernor Ranv h we have already alluded. Nearly a thousand of the inhabitants of the State were subjected to the most cruel outrac^u's and butchered in cold blood. It seemed at first that this would paralyze the young Slate, and prevent its growth for a long tiui'.'. But it had just the contrary effect. The summary and terrible punish.ment inllicted on the Sioux for their atrocious crimes and their prompt ejectment from the State, encouraged immigration, and in the eighteen years which have since elapsed, the State has grown with wonderful rapidity. The railroad controversy, involving the power of the .State to limit and reduce the charges for freight, to which all the States of the Northwest were in a greater or less degree participants, was h.'ss severe or jjrotracted in Minnesota than in some of the ol:h(;r .States, and was amicably setded. In the extent and fertility of her soil ; in the cheapness of choice lands, whether purchased from the United States, the State or the railways ; in the accessibility of every settled county of the State to die best markets, diereby securing high prices for her products ; in her abundant water and all the facilities for suc- cessful manufacturing ; in the excellence of her educational system and its expansion over the wdiolc State, and in the moral and religious character of its inhabitants, the immiorant will fmd Minnesota, as a home for himself and his children, unsurpassed by any State or Territory in "Our Western Empire." CHAPTER XII. MISSOURI. Missouri's Situation, Boundaries and Extfa't of Latitude an'd Lonoi- TL'UE— Face oi' the Country — Molniains an'd Hills — Vai.mcvs— Rivki;-; Axii T,Ai. n^ rf »r> 4 T ''> •*' «4 C •• rf» J! *^ Ov« 6» (^ Oh knoo 1^ K Ot VI ^ i/)CO N « f't r< « "g "• fn o to ^»^ g, 1«U to 1) CMS o «- .S S c g ?". a J ^ J ^ M r. M M o s^3;°3;:,i«*iiis.j3,i8^E^°i l'^^'^"^^ ^" I ^ -fc ':? J 3 ^ a fOmO rOOv O OoO'^fOOOO KKO^O ''^O <** o 'e.'&rs^sas-e.' 00 N^^oco M ts.Vr^* OHO ^u 1*0 C«« ^" * ^ r^ ^ M SB "C"? ^ « u e 5 c SoS-E.^^. :es •ot JL<^"?! i'-«^u. P<'oti 5^^-^ s-eS^ = "s^:f -^ >• U Ai 2 *• 2 3 "■ ii - 3 ' g-iii,-"3Svi'3s> S. =5 R 5 i; 2*0 5 2 jj =", o." -J 2 o.Ji'" '35- 5i = 3' 1 rt - = = rt - 1 ' £ V >< E« •is rt t» * rt y *■ y _ u / ■J T = ^ 'J ■■.» ^c!u-^i *w •f, as*** i « « ^ E Sj >> Wc give below the following additional itoms in regard to the meteorology of Sr. Louts, taken from the Signal Service Reports. MoNrll:« II7S. January February . . , March April May June J»iy August September . October November. , December., Year s Inches. jr;.462 29.361 29- 353 39.301 29.362 39.366 29.398 a937a 29-503 29-475 29.467 29.562 29.476 ■s " 3! Per cent. 66.4 65.2 56.6 55-5 63-1 60.8 62.9 64.3 59-9 60.6 61.7 74.0 62.6 Inches. 2.36 1.69 79 ■74 463 2.40 •92 ■75 3-42 3-27 1.38 3-48 40.83 Prcviiloni wIiiiIh unci ilicir dirtcllon cuvli mumli, 2. 6. 3 4- N. W., S., W,, N., K. N.,S.,N. W.,N. 1-:.,S. E. |S.,N. W., S. K., W., N. !s. K.,N.,N. W.,S.,S. W. is.,N. W.,N.,S. K., N. K. s.,N.,s.i<:.,N.w.,w.,N.i!:. S., N., N.i<:., K., s. w. S.,N.,S. VV.,N. \V.,N. K. S., N., S. 1:., E., N. W. S.. N., N. W., W. S.,N.W.,W.,N.,S.E.,N.E. W.,N.W.,S.E.,N.,S.,E. S.,N.VV.,N.,S.E.,W.,N.E.,E. According to a well-known authority, Dr. Englentan, of St. Louis, the mean annual temperature on a line passing across the State from east to west, not far from its northern border, is 50° Fahrenheit ; a little south of the middle, including St. Louis, 53° Fahrenheit ; at about middle, including St. Louis, summer mean 75° Fahrenheit; somewhat north of southern border, also including St. Louis, winter mean 32° Fahrenheit. The Doctor states that the climate on the whole is dry and rarely overloaded with moisture, and that it yields an unusual amount of fair weather. Such meteorological conditions are highly conducive to health, since they admit of and encourage active* out-door life at all seasons. Missouri presents such a diversity of surface that all can find localities within its boundaries suitable to their peculiari- ties of constitution. The Signal Service Reports do not vary greatly from Dr. Engleman's meteorological estimates, but they exhibit one feature which he does not particularly notice, viz. : the great range of the thermometer in the winter, spring and autumn months. The annual range is about 93° ; the range of >< 3 S 3 ^ g f 938 OC/H WESTERN EMPIRE. the spring months averages 80° ; of the summer, about 45° ; of the autumn, about 65° ; and of the winter, a Httle more than 7o^ The average rainfall all over the State is 40.5 inches, and con- trary to the popular belief is greater in the western than in the eastern part of the State, being 46.16 at St. Joseph, and only 37.83 in the same years at Jefferson Barracks, on the Mississippi. Soil and Vegetation. — The Hon. Andrew McKinley, President of the Missouri State Board of Immigration, a man thoronghi) familiar with the soils and productive capacity of the Missouri lands, thus classifies and describes them : " When the territory now embraced within the boundaries of Missouri emerged from the waters that covered it, the marls of the bluff formation were the upper stratum beneath the soil, of all that section of the State lying north of the Osage and Mis- souri rivers, and also of the county of St. Louis and other coun- ties lying on the Mississippi river, to. the southern boundary of the State. This formation furnishes a deep, porous, flexible and imperishable sub-soil, that absorbs moisture like a sponge and enables the soil to endure greater excesses of rain or drouth than any other. It rests upon the ridges and river bluffs and descends along their slopes to the lowest valleys. Reposing on this surface is a great variety of soils, each in its kind of unsur- passed fertility and productiveness. From time to time animal remains and decayed vegetable matter, in vast profusion, but in just proportions, were added, until the soil formation became complete, and now exhibits all of the essentials for the fullest nourishment of the vegetable kingdom. In the process of the formation of the upper soil, a rank vegetation of grasses, plants and trees sprang up, which was suppressed in the dryer portions by fires that overrun "the country. Along the streams, and where there was a scarcity of vegetation, the fires failed to destroy the young trees, which grew apace until strong enough to resis and then they began to encroach upon :he prairies ; this they con- tinuec to dolintil more than one-half of the State was appropri- ated by our magnificent forests. " The marjiins of the rivers fir. t received the most extensive deposits of soil matter from floo Js, which carried down the wealth /./ SOIL AND VEGETATION. 939 It 45° •' of : than 70*^. 5, and con- than in the 1, and only Vlississippi. ■, Presidc'iit thoroii^^hly te Missouri undaries of he maris of the soil, of re and Mis- other coun- boundary of , flexible and sponge and in or drouth :r bluffs and Reposing on nd of unsur- time animal usion, but in tion became >r the fullest ■Qcess of the asses, plants yer portions is, and where ) destroy the to resis -md is they con- as appropri- )st extensive Ivn the wealth of the vast regions they drained, and, upon the subsidence of the waters, deposited it on the lower levels. Each flood furnished its new supply, adding to the height of the bottom lands until, after the lapse of time, they became, for the most part, sufificiently elevated to be above danger of overflow. No rivers of the world can boast of more extensive bottom lands than can the Missouri and Mississippi, and none have soils with ingredients richer, better combined, or more productive. "For practical purposes, the best classification of the soils of Missouri is that adopted by Professor Swallow, which, after de- fining them in general as forest, prairie and alluvial lands, indi- cates their great variety by the kind of timber which is most abundant on them, or, where timber is wanting, by the grasses and plants of the prairie. Following this classification those known as Hackberry Lafids are first in fertility and productive- ness. Upon these lands also grow elm, wild cherry, honey locust, hickory, white, black, burr and chestnut oaks, black and white walnut, mulberry, linden, ash, poplar, catalpa, sassafras and maple. The prairie soils of about the same quality, if not iden- tical, are known as Crow Foot Lands, so called from a species of weed found upon them, and these two soils generally join each other where the timber and prairie land meet. Both rest upon a bed of fine silicious marls, and even under most exhaustive tillage will prove perpetually fertile. They cover more than 7,000,000 acres of land. On this soil white oaks have been found twenty-nine feet in circumference and one hundred feet high; linden twenty-three feet in circumference and quite as lofty; the burr oak and sycamore grow still larger. Prairie grasses, on the Crow Foot Lands, grow very rank and tall, and by the old settlers were said to entirely conceal herds of cattle from the view. These lands alone are capable of sustaining a population greater than that now occupying the State of Mis- souri. "The Elm Lands, whose name is derived from the American elm, which here grows magnificently, are scarcely inferior to the hackberry lands, and possess very nearly the same growth of other timber. The soil has about the same properties, except 940 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ^> TO o that the sand is finer and the clay more abundant. The same quality of soil appears in the prairie known as the Resin Weed Lauds. " Next in order are Hickory Lands, with a growth of white and shellbark hickory, black, scarlet and laurel oaks, sugar maple, persimmon and the haw, red-bud and crab apple, trees of smaller growth. In some portions of the State the tulip tree, beech and black gum grow on lands of the same quality. Large areas of prairie in the northeast and southwest have soils of nearly the same quality called Mulatto Soils. There is also a soil lying upon the red clays of Southern Missouri similar to the above. These hickory lands and those described as assimilating to them, are highly esteemed by the farmers for the culture of corn, wheat and other cereals. They are admirably adapted to the culti- vation of fruits, and their blue grass pastures are equal to any in the State. Their area may be fairly estimated at 6,000,000 acres. " The Magnesian Limestone Soils extend from Callaway county south to the Arkansas line, and from Jefferson west to Polk county, an area of about 10,000,000 acres. These soils are dark, warm, light and very productive. They produce black and white v/alnut, black gum, white and wahoo elms, sugar maple, honey locust, mulberry, chestnut, post laurel, black, scarlet and Spanish oaks, persimmon, blue ash and many trees of smaller growth. They cover all the country underlaid by the magnesian lime- stone series, but are inconvenient for ordinary tillage when they occupy the hillsides or narrow valleys. Among the most fertile £.oils in the State, they produce fine crops of almost all the staples, and thrifty and productive fruit trees and grape vines evince their extraordinary adaptation and fitness to the culture of the grape and other fruits. Large, bold springs of limpid, pure and cool waters gush from every hillside and flow away in bright streams, qriving beautv and attraction to the macrnificent forests of the elm, the oak, the mulberry and the buckeye, which often adorn their borders. The mining regions embraced in this division of the soils are thus supplied with vast agricultural wealth and a large mining, pastoral and agricultural population may here be OAK, BLACK JACK AND PINE LANDS. 941 e same n Weed 'hite and r maple, t" smaller eech and areas of jcarly the soil lying he above. [T to them, orn, wheat , the culti- |ual to any ; 6,000,000 way county 2st to Polk. Is are dark, c and white aple, honey ind Spanish ler growth, lesian linie- i when they most fertile the staples, ines evince ilture of the id, pure and .y in bright nt forests of often adorn division of [ealth and a lay here be brought together in relations scarcely to be found in any other country in the world. Blue grass and other succulent and nutri- tious grasses grow luxuriantly., even on the ridges and hillsides of the upland forests, in almost every portion of Southern Mis- souri. The alfalfa grass {incdicago saiiva), so higlily prized in California, has been introduced into this part of Missouri, and proves a valuable addition to the forage grasses, yielding eight tons of the best of hay at four cuttings, withstanding summer droughts, and furnishing excellent pasture in October and No- vember. "On the ridges, where the lighter materials of the soil have been washed away, or were originally wanting, White Oak Lands are to be found, the oaks accompanied by shellbark and black hickory, and trees and shrubs of smaller growth. While the sur- face soil is not so rich as the hickory lands, the sub-soil is quite as good, and the land may be greatly improved by turning the sub-soil to the surface. These produce superior wheat, good corn and a very fine quality of tobacco. On these lands fruits are abundant and a sure crop. They embrace about 1,500,000 acres. ''Post Oak Lands have about the same growth as the white oak lands, and produce good ( rops of the staples of the country, and yield the best tobacco in tie West. Fruits of all kinds excel on this soil. These lar require deep culture. "The Black yack Z'Wv occupy the high flint ridges underlaid with hornstone and sandston- and under these conditions are considered the poorest in the State, except for pastures nnd vineyards. The presence, however, of black ja^ k on other lands docs not indicate thin or poor lands. 'L\ue Lands are extensive, embracir , about 2,000,000 acres. The pine is the long leaf variety, grows to great size, and is mar- ketable. It is accompanied by heavy gro\\rlT )f oak, which takes the country as successor to the pine. iiis soil is sandy, is adapted to small grains and grasses, and carries fertilizers well. " The bottom lands of the southeast are now being rapidly re- duced to cultivation by the common effort of the lumberman and settler. A more extensive system of scientific drainage is now 942 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ^1 CO, i5 P3 59 O authorized by the State, and effective measures are determined upon. They are of the Hackbcrry variety of soils, and bear the heaviest of timber. The strength of soils is such as to produce great crops with regularity, proved in many fields by more than fifty years of cultivation without rotation of crops." Agricultural Products. — In 1870 somewhat more than one- half the area of the State — 21,707,220 acres — was included in farms, of which, however, only 9,130,615 acres were under culd- vation ; within the last decade, the amount of improved lands has greatly increased. The culture of the grape and the production of wine has been largely developed, and the vineyards of Mis- souri are favorably known. The State possesses some advan- tages for the production of excellent wines, which are not sur- passed by those of any other State in the Union, and not equalled by any except California. Two classes of grapes — those which produce the best wines — the yEstivalis or summer grapes, and the Ripara or river grapes, attain their greatest perfection on her soil ; and many of the best varieties of these are either native Missouri grapes or seedlings from them. Of the ^stivalis class the "Norton's Virginia" and its seedlings, the Hermann and the White Hermann, the Cynthiana, a grape of wonderful ex- cellence, and the Neosho, a native grape, produce the finest red wines. Burgundies, sherries, clarets and white wines, in the world. Of the river grapes, the Taylor, and especially its seedlings, the famous Elvira, the Amber, the Pearl and others, are of the great- est value for the production of the choicest hocks, still wines and champagnes. Most of these, also, are ver}' fine table-grapes. A wide field is open to the State and to immigrants from wine- growing countries for the production of pure wines of the highest qualities. There are six native varieties of grapes, and they are all, so far as known, proof against the phylloxera^ that deadly enemy of the grape-vine. Among other special crops are sorghum, now largely cultivated, both for sugar and syrup ; flax and hemp, both for fibre and seed ; cotton and sweet potatoes in the southern counties, hops and the larger fruits. Apiaculture is also very popular in some portions of the State, and large quantities of honey and beeswax are exported. The following CROPS AND STOCK' RAISIXG IN MISSOURI. 943 lermined bear the produce than ore han one- ckided in »der culti- lands has )roduction is of Mis- me advan- e not sur- ot equalled hose which rrapes, and :tion on her ther native •tivalis class rmann and nderful ex- ,e finest red the world, jedlings, the if the great- il wines and grapes. A from wine- ines of the grapes, and lloxera, that lal crops are syrup ; fl'^^ potatoes in lApiaculture :, and large Lc following tables show the production of agricultural staples in the years 1878 and 1879, and also the amount of live-stock, which is a large and rapidly increasing interest in Missouri : The Principal Crops of Missouri. Crops, 1878. Indi.tn corn, bu. Wheat, bu Rye, bu Oats, bu Buckwheat, bu. . Potatoes, bu . . . . Tobacco, pound. Hay, ton Quantity pro- ^verage 1 ^ Juced in 1878. •' ^^^^> 1 m t 93,062,400 20,196,000 732,000 19,584,000 46,400 5,415.000 23,023,000 1,620,000 Totals , r I Price per 1 ■,, , r of acres l,_. ,., ' jl Value of each crop. bushi'l, jiound or ton. 26.2 II. >S- 30.6 16. 75- 770. 1.62 3,552,000 1,836,000 48,800 640,000 2, goo 72,200 29,900 1,000,000 $ 26 67 .41 .18 •52 •38 each crop. $24,196,224 >3.53'.3i20 300, 1 20 3.5^5. '20 24,128 2,057,700 1, 15'. '50 10,416,600 7,i8i,8oo S55, 202,362 Crops, 1879. Indian corn, bu. . Wheat, ba Rye, bu Oats, bu Buckwheat, bu. . Potatoes, bu Toliacco, pounds . Hay, tons Totals , No. of acres !. ^'l'*:^ ^""' ' Value of Q: AvL-rajje uantity pro-i 1 1 " !■■>'. w, ai.ic» ■ . , • , 1 1- .i,„ yield per . , bushel, pound , duced in 1079.1 ■' ' m each crop. ■ ' ' each crop. ' -^ ' '''■'"" • or tun. ' acre. 153.446.400 18,984,240 688.080 15,077,680 46,864 6,570,200 21,411,390 1,012,500 40 14 17 25 20 9' 663 I, 06' 3,836,160 1,356,016 40,475 603,107 2,871 72,200 32,595 955,200 ? .25 I.OI .61 .26 .63 .48 .06 9-43 #38,36 1, 600 19,174.082 419.729 3,807,114 29.524 3.153.696 1,284,684 9.S47.S75 6,898,624 I i75.778.304 Missouri is remarkably adapted for grazing and stock-raising generally, and has within her own borders markets so accessible and of such boundless capacity that she can increase her live- stock to any extent without fear of glutting the market. In swine husbandry she is very close to her northern neighbor, Iowa, and no other State, except Illinois, equals these two in the number and quality of its swine. In the number of its sheep it ranks below Texas, California, Oregon, New Mexico and Colo- rado, but with more enterprise it might easily pass the last three, as it has ranges for sheep equal to any in the world. Her beeves, whether shipped to Europe or to the New York markets, have an exccUent reputation, and she is a formidable competitor with Iowa for the excellence as well as the abundance of her dairy products. Barley, though not named among the crops in above tables, is t5 «: ca 2 or; 3 944 Ot/H WESTERN EMPIRE. raised to the amount of a million bushels or more annually. The average yield is about twenty-eight bushels to the acre, and the price in 1S79 was sixty-seven cents per bushel. The production of cotton is confined to the southern counties of the State.and seldom exceeds 1,500 bales. The sorghum crop is becoming a very im- portant 011c lor the State. The following statistics show the number, price and value of the live-stock in the State in January, 1879, and January, 1880: Live-stock in Missouri, Jan., 1S79, Livestock in Missouri, Jan., 1S80. Animal-!. Horses Mules ,111(1 as>cs. . . , Milch cmvs 516,200 Oxen and (>thor Ciiitlc 1,6^2,000 Sheep 1 ,296,400 Swine 2,817,600 Numlier. Price. 6j7.;,oo .SJ9.89 191.900 4,5.. ^S 1 7 So '104 '•59 22.1 Tf'< (t-M MANUFACTURES AND MINING PRODUCTS. 945 lly. The ;, and the luction of id seldom a very im- show the n January, ri, Jan.. i88o. Total value. 1^29.115,79"' 1 0.9 5 3. ('CO I 10,114.52'' 3S.4SS.r" 1 2.644,'i5"l I 10,53.5.971 . .. $101,817,75:' antages for [her State cf lem in part. Jnion in the in 1876 was the last do iled, and the of its manu- ■ up in diffcr- lannibal, St. kumbia, L^'>;- lall manufac- Ithree-fouril.s Louis, which |of $27 5,000,- jfactures the ^335.000,000. Ely as follows: ^20,000,000; meat packing, ]|(20,ooo,ooo; t'-. acco, including cigars, $14,000,000; iron and castings, $15,000,000; liquors, $10,000,000; clothing, $1 1,000,000 ; lumber, $10,000,000 ; bags and bagging, $7,000,000; saddlery, $7,000,000; oil, $6,000,000; machinery, $6,000,000; printing and publishing, $5,500,000 ; molasses and sugar, $10,- 000,000; boots and shoes, $5,000,000; furniture, $5,000,000; paints and painting, $4,500,000; carriages and wagons, $4,500,- 000 ; marble, stone-work and m-sonry, $4,000,000 ; bakery pro- ducts, $4,000,000 ; bricks, $4,500,000 ; tin, copper and sheet iron, $4,000,000; sash, doors and blinds, $3,250,000; cooperage, $3,- 000,000; blacksmithing, $3,000,000; bridge building, $2,500,000; agricultural implements, $2,000,000 ; patent medicines, $2,500,- 000 ; soap and candles, $2,500,000 ; plumbing and gas-fitting, $2,000,000. Mining Products. — The principal of these now profitably worked are — i. Lead^ of which the receipts at St. Louis from 1863 to July, 1879, are given in pigs in the following table. (N. B. — A pig of lead is eighty pounds.) YEARS. RECEIPTS. INCREASE. Pigs. 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 187I 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 :-::v/? ' i, 1878 1879 60 79^823 93,035 116,636 149,584 144,555 185,823 228,303 237,939 229,796 285,769 356,037 479,448 579,202 665,557 790,028 754,357 817,594 Pigs. Per cent. 13,212 16.56 23,601 25-36 32,948 28.25 41,268 28.55 42,480 22.86 91636 4.23 55,973 24.36 70,268 24.60 123,411 34.66 99,754 21.00 86,355 14.91 124,471 18.70 DECREASE. DECREASE. 35,671 4.50 INCREASE. INCREASE. 63,237 8.30 946 Oilt WF.STERAT EMPIRE. S :3 09 O The lead industry of St. Louis amounts annually to o" :r $5,000,000. This includes pig lead, white lead, siiot, pipe and sheet lead. ^. ■ ^ .„=v. ,' , nfnn;; ..v ,■ 2. Iron. With ample facilities for making, at the lowest pos- sible prices, iron enough to supply the whole continent, Missouri has fallen far below her proper position in the production of iron. In 1872 the iron ore mined amounted to 509,200 tons, of which 291,200 tons were exported, and the remainder smelted in Mis- souri. The same year 87,176} tons of pig iron were produced and shipped to St. Louis. In 1879 the iron product of St. Louis was over $1 2,000,000. 3. In 1872 11,582440 pounds of zinc ore were raised and shipped to St. Louis. Of this 10,000,000 pounds were smelted for zinc, yielding 1,727,450 pounds, and the remainder was used for the manufacture of white oxide of zinc. The same year 10,- 437,420 pounds of barytes were shipped to St. Louis. In 1879 Kan.sas City alone shipped 15.931,793 pounds of zinc; 32,371,059 pounds of lead, and 55,709,497 pounds of ore. 4. Copper is not now produced except incidentally in connec- tion with other metals. Nickel is shipped to St. Louis from several mines to a large and annually increasing amount. 5. The output of coal in the State was, in round numbers, 900,000 tons in 1877, and 1.000,000 tons in 1878. In 1879 the amount was 36,978,150 bushels, or about 1,100,000 tons. The products of the quarries consist of building-stone of many kinds, granite, sandstones, limestones, marbles, white, black and colored, slate of all kinds, millstones, grindstones, polishing stone, hydraulic lime, glass sand from the saccharoidal sandstone, etc. The amount of quarry products is known to be very large, but we have no statistics of it. Railroads. — The State is traversed by 3,627 miles of railway. The greater part of the railroad lines are great trunk routes, connected with the Union Pacific, the Northern Pacific, the At- chison, Topeka and Santa Fe, or some of the routes to Texas and the Gulf. Of those traversing Northern and Western Missouri, the Chicago railway kings have obtained and hold possession, greatly to the grief of St. Louis, which is, nevertheless, a great POPULA TJON OF MlSSOCJil. 947 ly to o' :r t, pipe and lowest pos- nt, Missouri ;tion of iron, ns, of which Ited in Mis- re produced : of St. Louis ; raised and were smelted ider was used ,ame year lo,- )uis. In 1879 nc; 32»37i.o59 railroad centre, having nineteen trunk lines radiating from it. The Chicago roads include the Chicago ami NorthwesUtrn, the Chicago and Rock Island, Chicago and Alton, the Wabash, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, tiie Missouri, Kansas and Texas. The |>nncipal roads going westward or southwartl from St. Louis are the vSt. Louis, Kansas City and Northern, the Mis- souri I'aclHc, made up of several lines, the St. Louis and San Francisco, the St. Louis, Keokuk and Northwestern, and the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern. Hannibal, Louisiana, Quincy, Illinois, St. Joseph and Kansas City are also points at which several important railways originate. There are also a few merely local railways. Of the 1 1 5 counties in the St;ue, it is stated that only seventeen are without railroads. The actual cost of road and equipment for the roads within the State has been about ^ 1 6o,ooo,cxx:). Of course, their stock and debts rep- resent a still larger sum. Recently combinations have been formed with great railway companies holding possession of trunk lines, by which much of t!ie railroad property of the State will become more profitable. Population, — With the exception of Louisiana, Missouri is the oldest State of *' Our Western Empire," having organized as a State in 1820, and having been admitted into the Union in 1S21. The following table exhibits its population at various dates of its history, their condition of race, color, birth, etc. : POPULATION OF MISSOURI, 1810 182U l8to i8i)u a .2 % t I "a I .^ I •a I (2 § rt . M % ^ •^H. •75 •;^ >r. I' I .^ »>943 .-r ; R-. rt i !5- 607' 3,011 569 »5i'J9t i u.i?;liio.94 1,1:74 «,8,24Q ! 5.87173.18 s,<)i8 87,421 604,511 76,591 J0.44I 77.75 1171,157 t38.»48 362,157 ao.&^i;! It, 390! 9,455i t7,a'a7 66,586^ 36.544; 3'\"42| 55.98* >4'>.4?5! 74. '•■'8! 66,327! "4.795 38,;, 702 203,(195' i8o,6j7 3.'3,888 682,0441357,8321314,111- 5112,004 ... _, .., .,..-. i86o i,iS2,oij 6j2,2oi 559,811 !,■ 63,480 3,57" "4,931 «,o2i,47' '6 j,5di 18.091 73.30 446.397 249. .:40 290,778 1870; i,7.M,295 896,347 824,948 1,603,146 118,071 none 1,499,028 222,267 26.34' 45.6a 577,803 352,998 408,206 1880I «,i68,8o4i, 127,4241,041, 580' 0,023,568 145,4361 none . 1,937,564 ^".Mo 36-341 38. | There are several tilings worthy of notice in this table. One s ■^ en Is O p^8 ^'^^ IVESTERX EMr/K£. is, the marked disproportion at each census between males and females. This is very singular in a State as old as Missouri. Another is that Missouri, having been a slave State until 1863, there should have been so small a proportion of the African race there, n(.*vcr much exceeding ten per cent, of the entire popula- tion, and that after their emancipation their number actually de- cn^ased, A third is that while the State is so great a thoroughfare for immigrants and offers such inducements to them, so small a proportion of its inhabitants should be of foreign birth, never more tlian thirteen per cent., and that the actual number is decreasing. Counties and Cities. — There are 115 counties in the State, which had in 1870 a true valuation of $1,284,922,897. Their present true valuation would probably exceed $2,000,000,000. The following table gives the principal towns and cities of the State, with their population in 1870 and as far as reported in 1S80. St. Louis is considerably the largest city in " Our Western Empire," although somewhat less populous than its enterprising inhabitants hoped. Kansas City has grown very rapidly, and is now the second city in the State. CITIES. u rt 00 1 = — 310,864 32,260 19.565 10,125 5.570 5.555 4,560 4,373 3,978 3.585 3.639 3,678 l4 n CO g-.s Pu i 350.522 55.813 ! 32,484 11,074 CITIES. Population in 1870. Population in 1880. 1 ^r T.oilis Booneville 3.506 3.»84 4.420 2,945 2,363 2,236 2,615 2.554 1.354 2,602 2,018 1,514 1 6,000 , i 1 Kansas City St. Joseph Hannibal Independence Jefferson City Warrensburg 'Canton St. Charles SDriiii/fiiild Columbia Scdalia Lexington Chillicothc Cape Ciirardeau.... Louisiana Macon Palmyra Pleasant Hill Rolla Mexico Iron Mount Moberlv St. Louis is a city of great enterprise, largely engaged in manufactures and in the sale of mining products, dairy products, meats and provisions, mining, agricultural and railroad machiner)', LANDS FOR IMMIGRANTS. 949 1 males and as Missouri. ; until 1863, African race utire popula- r actually do- thoroughfare n, so small a th, never more is decreasing, in the State, • 2,897. Their D00,000,000. kI cities of the as reported in » Our Western its enterprising r rapidly, and is e . o o rt CO 3-506 3,184 4,420 2,945 2,363 2,236 2,615 2,554 1,354 2,602 2,018 i.5»4 c . •z:«3 6,000 rely engaged in [ dairy products. Iroad machiner)', locomotives, cars, wagons, Concord coaches, hollow-waro. and generally articles of steel and iron. Its schools and sonu; of its institutions of higher learning arc models in their way, and it li;is a deservedly high reputation for morality and business probity and honor. Its growth during tl»e past decade has been sonu- what retarded by various causes, but it is now increasing with great rapidity. It is the point of departure for the great volume of travel and immigration to the Western and Southwestern States and Terri- tories, and with its rapidly growing daughter, Kansas City, on the western border, and St. Joseph on the northwestern, manages to secure for Missouri by far the largest part of the passenger and freight traffic of the Gre««- VV^est. Kansas City, as we have elsewhere said, has concentrated within its own bounds all the principal lines traversing tiie West, Northwest and Southwest. Its growth has been very rapid, rising from 32,361 in 1870 to 56,946 in 1880, and its schools, churches, public buildings and general improvement have kept pace with its growth in poi)ulation. Much the same can be said of St. Joseph, Hannibal and Sedalia. They are all railroad centres of considerable importance, and are having a rapid growth. Lands for Immigrants. — Immigrants coming to the State of Missouri, who desire to buy and improve lands, will have their choice of the following, namely : I. There are 1,000,000 acres yet belonging to the United States, subject to sale and homestead entry. These lands lie principally south of the Missouri river, in counties heavily tim- bered, well watered, and are among the best fruit and pasture lands in the United States, It is desirable that these lands should be taken as homesteads by the poorer classes, who will improve them, and add to the taxable wealth of the State. These lands can be purchased at $1.25 per acre where they are not within ten miles of a land-grant railway, and at $2.50 or upwards where they are inside of that limit. They are also subject to entry under the homestead law, which will make the cost of a good farm of 160 acres from 5(^25 to ;ji28, the title being perfect- ible after five years of residence and improvement. The Timber- 950 OUK WICSTKK.V EMPIRE. S ^ CO :5 y O Culture and Desert Land Acts do not apply to public lands in Missouri. 2. There are yet larj^e Ijoditrs of swamp lands in diffi^rent j)arts of die State. These lands are the richest alluvial lands in the world, which are sul)ject to occasional ovcrtlow, which make the best meadow and pasture lands. ' \ >< ■ ^ 3. Much of the land j^rant miide by the ji^en(!ral (government to the Agricultural College remains unsold, and diese lands are now in market. 4. Of the lands belonging to the various railroads, which were granted them by the general government, a considerable quan- tity are yet for sale. These grants embrace some of the best agricultural lands in the State; well located, accessible to market, with all the conveniences of an old settled country, of churches, schools and markets. 5. There is a large amount of land in the State owned by non- residents, speculators, widows and orphans, who are anxious to part with it. 6. There are many large farmers in the State who are anxious to divide their farms to enable them to reduce these farms to cultivation, and still others who through age, infirmity and other causes, desire to change their business, and will put their land into market at a low rate. 7. There are a great many persons whose property is mort- gagetl, and who are compelled to make sale of it, to save their equities diat remain after the payment of the liens. The entire aggregate of these lands amounts to several million acres, and they are scattered through every part of the State. ,The products of these lands embrace everything which may be grown in the temperate zone, from the apple to the orange and fig, from flax to cotton, from the Irish potato to the yam. The advantages of these lands over those more remote from the great markets, from schools, churches and the social sur- roundings which make homes desirable, must be obvious; yet these lands have been taken up slow'ly, while those of Kansas, certainly no more intrinsically desirable, and many of them less so, have found ready purchasers. The reasons for this difference )ub]ic lands in "1 >hc pnst have been ■ The Mi • , «' ;vl» laa',.,ancl wi,h th. co m,"' ,' ";■-• 1'f '-•'''-■'" was some- '"-■'- ^ 'I- lands, ,hou,-h &.",;''''■'''■'' '"»'''•• ■•-'•''■■"io" -"' worthlessness. which fac < T'"" v ""-'''" ''•''"-'«» "■any parts of the Sute was v.t I {"""'^'- ""=■ '■'"»'"« >» as A'ood la„.|s as those of Hi^^/Z"^ ""' '■"'■"^™-'- On h„„Kl never be as low as '.Icv^ChTTT ''"''' °'' '^'•^■»' twentysix bushels to the acre orof ,, ° "'" ••'"'-'■■ "f ''orn 'o 'he acre ; yet these were h; reported """"^-''^« '^-'- efforts o, the State A^ricult, ra 's,* rr'"'" "'' ''"'■ •'''" ■nprovements in these crops b„t ,lw ^ "" ''""'"^"l »"">e what they ou.ht to be^'n.t,:^,^'^' "-"•>"-, nu.ch below country were much inferior to hos^^f h" "1?"''*^''' '" "'^' o>vaand Kansas, whereas th,.y o 1" ir"^^'*-"'°""J.' ''^'ates of than ,n those States. There w' s nl ^ '^' ''^•'■'" ■"■'^'' better S-tate theold taint of slaven- '"^ • '7'^«"7, hanging about the ten. fifteen, sixteen years before but fr'', '',''"-'''" '•'"""cipated less, and son,eti„,es ruffianiT sp t T .'' ''"'°'^'"'' '^-'^■ ".amed ,n some degree, and hisTp rit rer'n'r'' ''^ "• '"" ^'=- '^ now more than half a .reneratinn ^f"'' ""'"'S'-ation. It ™l most of the,,e untowa.'Xlfr^^'^'^'^y "as abolished lo-day Missouri is as good a S, ? r ^™ "°»' disappeared -e Great West, and b^'t ,'rn,f ' ? T""'^'^^"' ^ -> '" and advantages are unsurpased a„d i-T"-'^°''' "'"''«» stranger ,s no longer wanting ,ho ,',,," ' ,™ "'"^ '°»'»'-'' ">e manifested as in some of the newJ^S^ ■■?' ""' ^'"^ »° ^^^^'V '™e. I-- I.:.,,., ^""^ ^""^*^ •• but this will eome in , ^''"<:"l'o„al Advanlans -.tJ. i ,■ man ancnalous condition ' I„ thf ' '''?°'' "^ Missouri are l'«h order, and will compare f.vora.l""' u" ^^'"«"» "^<-' °f a °^c,ty in the Union. In S, I „, [•"'"■ ""'^<-' '" ""V State I an enormous estimate o mC thl':"" ""■■ ''''' "--'e.^owing •^an the city contained, the schoo pop: ^j:? """"^ '"''^^''^"^^ population was supposed to be 952 OUR WErTERN EMPIRE. mucli larger than it really was, and the city superintendent and other oflficers were distressed because the Jicholars enrolled were but two-sevenths, and the actual attendance less than one-fifth of the supposed school population. They understand diis better now. The country schools were, to a large degree, without system or order, and were as much below those of the neighboring States in all good qualities as those of the cities were beyond the same class of schools elsewhere. There are not quite 300 schools of very high character in the State, most of them in the cities; the remainder, numbering nearly 8,200, are of very indif- ferent quality. In 1875, out of 7,224 school-houses in the State, 2,164 were built o'" logs; 4,636 were frame buildings, and only 424 brick or stone. The school fund is pardy available, and partly at present unavailable. About ^3,000,000 are available, and ;*7, 300,000 unavailable now, but will eventually become so. The low condition of the country schools is due in part to the indifference of a considerable portion of the people to education ; in part to the apathy of the legislature, and in part to the vague- ness and incompleteness of the school law. The superintendent is deserving of great credit for his perseverance and efficiency under circumstances of great difficulty, but his efforts have not been so thoroughly sustained by the legislature as they should have been. The following are the school statistics of the State for 1878, the last year whose report is published: School population, 688,248 ; school enrolment, 448,033 ; number of ungraded school districts, 8,142 ; number of graded school districts, 279 ; number of school-houses, 8,092 ; estimated value of school-houses, ance ceded all this territory to the United States. In 1805 St. Louis was made the capital of the new Territory of Louisiana. In 18 10 there were 1,500 inhabitants within the present limits of Missouri. In 181 2 the name of the Territory was changed to Missouri Ter- ritory. In 1820 the people prepared and adopted a State Con- stitution. It was admitted into the Union as a State August 10, 1 82 1, after a bitter and violent controversy in Congress as to its admission as a slave State, by an act known as the Missouri Compromise, which permitted slavery there, but prohibited it in all territory north of 36° 30' north latitude. This act was virtu- ally repealed in 1854. The people took part in the Kansas difficulties of 1S54-59, and were very much divided in the civil war. Several severe battles were fought in the State. A new Constitution was adopted in 1865, and still another in 1875. » VA. 955 CHAPTER XIII. ■' MONTANA. , . SlTUATI0V-B0UNDAR,KS-ExTrNT Xf Silver— CopPFR i r- ^^'"'^ '-'^ i^xiiA'sivr p, ^^'^'"'^''--R'vfus-^ TANA— AgRICUIT.;p., T3 '^ ''"^ SOUTHERN AVM « "'kSTERN roads-Best Rohtps T , ^'""^ '"""WiH-Oi,,., ,„ *'"'-«:i.e AND T„.„ P0,^L™rP """^"'■^ ^•'- ''--N.- DM?,"""'-'*^'^- us.-Av.;Ar vv'rr i"°--— -p--! A;;"rr '"'^ -'""^ Montana Territorv is a central T • of States of ..Qur VVeste.-n E, p,vl'^7'':r "^ ''- "orthe.n belt area l,es east of ,l,e Main D-n!ti,^fl /''°'" f°"r-fifths of its t«en tins Main Divide anc the li , 1°'^^' ^'°""'^'"^- Be - a second range of the R:cJ '1"°°'. '''-""--"^ which bo ndary between Montana and I ,,""""'' ''"'' f"™ the valley through which flows Clark i ^ T ' ''™^''- -'-vated East of the Main Divide tliere Ire f- "'^ ^°'"™'^- river f-a-^. such as the Snake' Head n''"'' '•^''''•"«' '""''^- or pla.' -!"'e Rocky Mountains, tl e W m"'" "'°'^'-''' "^^^^'^ Paw -s farther south. I„\„e "o^^Iea 'rr""'^ ■^"' """ -^'°-' ™ges extending northward fron VV, '' "''= ■^"■^™l »hort apparently connected with thr^ack H'iir'^^'^r' "-' °f "-m "'"s. Jliese are, begin- is ^ g 056 OW? IVESTEKN EMPIRE. ning with the "west, a short spur from the Big Horn range, the Wolf Mountains, Tongue River Mountains, and the Powder River range, which consists of four or five chains of hills of no great elevation, on both sides of the Powder river and its tributaries, and Cabin creek, all affluents of the Yellowstone. Tiie valleys of the Missouri and its three constituent streams, the Madison, Jefferson and Gallatin, of the Yellowstone and its numerous tributaries, of Clarke's fork, the Milk river, Maria's river, Flathead, Musselshell and other rivers, affluents of the Missouri or the Yellowstone, are fertile and level or rolling lands, somewhat ele- vated, but not cold or bleak. The timber of Montana is. peculiar, there being very little hard wood ; if deciduous, the trees are almost wholly willow, poplar, linden and cottonwood ; the only exception being on Tongue river, near the southern boundary, where there are large bodies of oak ; if evergreens, pine, spruce, fir, cedar and balsam. The native grass is mainly the bunch grass, which grows to the height of four or five feet, and is the most nutritious of all the native grasses of this region for cattle, fatten- ing them more thoroughly than corn or barley. Flowers are abundant in their season in all the valleys. Montana is bounded on the north by British Columbia; on the east by Dakota ; on the south by Wyoming and Idaho ; on the west by Idaho, from which it is separated by the Bitter Root Mountains. It lies between the parallels of 44° 6' (its southwest- ern corner only extending below 45°) and 49° north latitude ; and between 104° and 1 16° west longitude from Greenwich. Its greatest length from east to west along the 48th parallel is over 700 miles; and its greatest breadth near the 113th meridian is about 340 miles. Its area is 143,776 square miles, or 92,016,640 acres. Mountains, Lakes, Rivers, etc. — Montana is appropriately named, for mountain ranges, spurs, isolated peaks and hills con- stitute a large portion of its surface. Yet between, around and among these mountains j.*e a great number of as lovely valleys as the sun ever shone upon. The mountain:?, unlike those of Idaho, are not, with a few exceptions, bare, with steep and inac- cessible sides, but rounded summits, covered either with grass ige, the t:r River lo great butanes, e valleys Madison, lumerous Flathead, ri or the iwhat ele- s. peculiar, trees are ; the only boundary, ine, spruce, unch grass, s the most attle, fatten- ?lowers are MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS OF MONTANA. g^j or timber to the very top. They are admirably adapted to grazing, and of all the lands of "Our Western Empire," Montana is likely to be most completely the grazier's paradise. The sum- mits are none of them so lofty as some of those in Idaho or Colorado, none of them reaching ii,ooo feet. There are three peaks in the Yellowstone Park which are credited, not all of them correctly, to Montana. Of these Electric Peak is 10,992 feet; Mount Washburn, io,3cS8 feet, and Mount Doane, 10,118 feet. Aside from these there are but six peaks above 9,000 feet in height. These are: Emigrant Peak, 10,629; Ward's Peak, 10,- 371 ; Mount Delano, 10,200; Mount Blackmore, 10,134; Old Baldy, 9,711, and Badger's Peak, 9,000 feet. There are four passes over the Rocky Mountains within the limits of the Terri- tory : Cadott's pass, between the 47th and 48th parallels, 6,044 feet high ; Deer Lodge pass, between the same parallels, 6,200 feet; Lewis and Clarke's pass, 6»323 feet, and Flathead pass, in the north of the Territory, 5,459 feet. The general elevation of the Territory is from 2,500 to 3,000 feet. Montana is not, like Minnesota, a land abounding in lakes. There are not more than ten or twelve in the Territory ; of these Flathead lake is the largest, and Grizzly Bear lake, a triangular lake in the western part, nearly north of Helena, the most pecu- liar in form. Montana is certainly well supplied with rivers, though portions of it may need irrigation. The Missouri, including its head waters, has a course of more than 1,200 miles in this Territory; the Yellowstone, its largest affluent, about 850; Maria's river, Milk river, Breast or Teton river. Rolling Branch and Park river are the principal tributaries of the Missouri on its north bank ; on its south bank it receives Red Water, Elk Prairie and Big Dry creeks, and the large and important Musselshell river, the Judith river and many smaller streams, besides the three forks, Jeffer- son, Madison and Gallatin, which unite to form the Missouri. The Yellowstone, rising in Yellowstone lake in the National Park, has numerous affluents, especially on its south bank; among these are Clarke's fork, Pryor river, the Big Horn or Wind river, Rosebud creek, Tongue river, the Powder river with its numerous PC? ca. pjS Ot/X WESJEKiV EMPIRE, ., , branches, and Cabin creek. In the valley, between the Rocky and Bitter Root Mountains, the Clarke's fork of the Columbia river has a course of about 300 miles, and the Lewis fork or Snake river, another afiluent of the Columbia, has its source in Yellowstone National Park, and perhaps within the bounds of Montana. The Kootenai, probably still another tributary of the Columbia, has its head waters in Northwestern Montana. Clarke's fork has two or three affluents of considerable size, the most important of which are the Missoula and the Flathead rivtr; the latter passes through Flathead lake. Nearly all thesci rivers furnish abundant water-power. Geology and Mineralogy. — The volcanic action in the past, and the repeated epochs of upheaval, have made the geology of Mon- tana somewhat involved, but some simple explanations will give the reader a tolerable understanding of it. In the early geologic ages, the eastern half of Montana seems to have been a shallow sea, and its deposits were of chalk and the chalky limestones of the cretaceous period. These cretaceous deposits were suc- ceeded farther west by the rocks of the Wealden and Jurassic periods — limestones, sandstones and shales, and during their deposition, as well as that of the cretaceous rocks farther east, there was a great abundance of the lower forms of animal life of gigantic size, mollusks and radiate animals, and some fish. The ammonites, conchifers, gasteropods, terebratulae and other radiates and mollusks found in these rocks are among the largest of these fossils ever discovered. Fossil plants are also plentiful, and, in the Wealden, fossil insects, reptiles and fish abound; at the western limit of these beds there are narrow belts of Silurian rocks. Over all the Rocky Mountain region, in the Bitter Root range and the valley between, as well as in occa- sional patches east of the mountains, especially in the isohtid nfiountains and buttes of Central Montana, we have evidence of repeated and violent convulsions of nature, and the ejection of vast quantities of lava aiui of molten azoic and metamorphic rocks through the superimpo.sed strata. There were at one time numerous active volcanoes in this region. The repeated up- heavals and their time of activity was probably mainly during the GEOLOGY AND Atlf^ERALOGY. 959 le Rocky ;:olumbia 5 fork or source in )ounds of ;ary of the . Clarke's the most river; the ies(i rivers le past, and gy of Mon- ns will give rly geologic ;n a shallow nestones of 3 were suc- and Jurassic .uring their [farther east, animal life some fish, and other among the nts are also lies and fish Inarrow belts ;mon, in the as in occa- the isoUtvcl evidence of ejection of letamorplv.c at one time lepeated up- ]y during the tertiary period, though a la:er upheaval occurred in the post- tertiary or quaternary period, perhaps almost within historic times. As a result of this action, tiie whole of the Rocky Moun- tain summits and those of the Bitter Root Mountains, Bear Paw, Great and Little Belt, Crazy, Judith, Snowy and Highwood Mountains, are composed of eozoic rocks, granite, porphyry, trap, etc., and contain many veins and lodes of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc, and possibly platinum and quicksilver. The course of these veins, as well as the regular position of the stratified rocks, is gready disturbed and deranged by the frequent dikes of porphyry, trap and obsidian which have intruded upon the others when in a state of fusion. Bordering these igneous rocks we find belts of Silurian rocks, and beyond these the Jurassic and Wealden beds, often overlaid by either tertiary or post-tertiary deposits, and these by allu- vium. Farther south, in the Yellowstone Park, we find abundant evidence that volcanic action, though feebler now than formerly, has not yet ceased. After the volcanic action of which we have spoken, Montana must have presented the appearance of a series of large fresh water lakes whose shores were the summits of the present mountain ranges. From these mountain slopes came extensive glaciers, as the elevation was greater than now after many ages of denuding action and the intense cold of that time favored the formation of these glaciers, which carried down in the glacial deposits large quantities of gold and silver, and thus formed those immensely rich placers which have yielded such vast quantities of gold. While the glaciers, by their denudatory action, reduced the mountains and cut them into the most fan- tastic shapes, there must have been also a gradual subsidence of these elevated plains, and this subsidence rendered the climate milder, and thus the ice of the glaciers, melting the moraines oi debris, were deposited along their course. The boulders scat- tered by these glaciers are found all over the western half of Montana, and to a considerable extent in the southeast also. Eastern and Northeastern Montana, having been originally the bed of a lake, have not undergone so many changes, and the super- ficial geology is later ; the tertiary and post-tertiary deposits are § >■* to. CO "S3 3 960 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. the surface rocks of this region, though there are occasional out- crops of the cretaceous rocks. It is a disputed point whether the lignite or brown coal of the region lying west of the Little Missouri river and extending almost to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Black Hills nearly to the British line, belongs to the tertiary or to the cretaceous epoch, but the opinion of the most eminent geologists is in favor of its being a tertiary deposit. It is a very good coal, and is coming into demand largely not only for the Northern Pacific Railway, which traverses it for hun- dreds of miles, but for domestic purposes, for which purpose it is far better than the cotton wood and linden firewood, and is less than half the price of wood. The mineral wealth of Montana is very great. The whole re gion lying west of the Big Horn, Musselshell and Milk rivers, comprising fully three-fifths of the Territory, is full of gold and silver. The placers and gold lodes of this region lying west of the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, comprising not more than one-fourth of the Territory, have yielded in gold since 1863 about <^ 1 40,000,000 in gold and 5^10,000,000 or more in silver. Eastern Montana, except perhaps in the southeast, is better adapted to agriculture and grazing, though this, as we have said, includes extensive beds of coal. Of other minerals, copper, lead and zinc are found extensively, the last two generally in connec- tion with silver. There are immense beds of iron ores. Petro- leum has been discovered at several points. The silver ores of Montana belong to the refractory class, and the principal obstacle in the way of a much greater annual yield from the rich silver mines of Montana has been due to this very refractoriness. The ores averaged perhaps sixty-five to seventy-five ounces of silver, and from twenty to forty-five per cent, of lead to the ton, but in the various processes necessary for their reduction — processes which could only be conducted at Omaha, Newark, N. J., or Freiberg, Germany, and the enormous expense of their trans- portation to a railroad, the nearest being about 300 miles distant, and the freight very heavy, while the reducing processes were also expensive — there was a necessary expenditureof from 5^108 to j^i 14 per ton, and the returns did not come in under from four )nal out- vvhether lie l>»ttle ountains, jlongs to on of the y deposit, irgely not it for hun- purpose it and is less ; whole re /lilk rivers, ,f gold and ing west of t more than since 1863 •e in silver. 3t, is better re have said, copper, lead y in connec- res. Petro- ilver ores of ipal obstacle rich silver iness. The Ices of silver, le ton, but in ^ processes |rk, N. J., or their trans- Tiles distant, ►cesses were from $108 to ler from four SOIL AND VEGETATION. 961 to six months from the time of shipment of the ore. Under these circumstances the mininj:r companies lost money on all ores which did not yield at least 140 ounces of silver to the ton, and even on 150 ounces they only made a mere pittance. Several attempts were made to establish reduction works at some point in the Territory, but owintj^ to the immense cost of their transportation and bad management afterwards, they ail i^roved failures. The last effort was made in 1879 at Wickes, and has proved success- ful, and as the Utah and Northern Railroad now traverses this part of the Territory, and the Northern Pacific will soon he there, the days of costly transportation and high cost reduction have come to an end. Soil and Vegetation. — In the western, central and southern portions of the Territory, the land along the valleys adjacent to the streams is rich and well adapted to agriculture, large crops of grain, vegetables, etc., being produced with little or no irriga- tion. The soil of the table lands is generally good, only re- quiring irrigation, for which abundant water can be had, to pro- duce largely; while the foot hills are covered with an abundant growth of nutritious grasses extending to the timber line. In the northern and eastern portions of the Territory are vast tracts of so-called Bad Lands; but these have a much worse name than they deserve, many portions of them being covered with grasses more or less abundant, and affording grazing to large herds of buffalo, antelope, etc., and where there are stock farms near, to cattle also. The Territory is well timbered throughout, though, as we have already said, the soft wqpds, whether evergreen or deciduous, predominate largely. There are some small groves of ash, and large bodies of oak have lately been discovered on the head waters of Toncjue river, near the southern boundar\'. The forests in the immediate vicinity of the settlements have suf- fered somewhat from the wanton depredations of settlers, who often destroy half a dozen small trees in obtaining one of requi- site size for their purposes ; but even in those sections, where the hillsides have been stripped entirely bare, there is a sturdy and flourishing second growth. The loss from forest fires is far greater than from any other source, but as the country becomes 61 >Hi 001 ::S o q62 ^^'^* ^yi'STKRN EMl'lRi:, more scttlctl, and tlu- Indians, who arc most careless with fire, are ke()t upon their rescTvutions, these will become less frcfjucnt. Until the present year (1880), there bcinjj no railroad lor the transportation of ji;^rain out of the Territory, and the steam- boat navii^ation interrupted by falls and rapids, there was no ix port demand for Montana grain. This is all chan;,;id now; the Northern Pacific enters the Territory from the east, and is already near Powder river, while die Utah and Northern is already at Helena, and w;ll probably go further, and the Pend d'()nill( Division of the North Pacific, which communicates directly with the Pacific through the Columbia riviT, will soon be stretchiiio down the valley of Clarke's Fork, With these three outlets tin; agricultural lands of Montana will be rapidly taken up, and the re is no better land for agricultural crops in the world. The yield per acre of grain, vegetables, etc., with irrigation where it is needed, and without it where it is not, is very large, and the quality is of the best. Montana wheat especially is unexcelled; careful analysis has demonstrated that it contains a larger amount of both the flesh an it producing constituents than any othc-r, and the weight is from sixty-four to sixty-nine pounds to the bush(.l (the standard being sixty), and the average )'ield from thirty tn ;forty bushels. The Territory will not only be self-sustaining in irespect to its cereals, but will have for many years to come a large supply for exportation. Zoology. — The larger game animals are abundant in Montana. This is one of the few remaining haunts of the buffalo, whi( h is now found in considerably numbers both north of the Missouri and south of the Yellowstone. The moose is seen, though not -in large numbers, in the mountain gorges. The elk roam in ilarge herds on the mountain slopes and in the valleys, as do the ttwo species of deer. The Big Horn or Rocky Mountain sheep and the antelope are at home all over the Territory. Bears, badgers, gray wolves, panthers, beaver, otter, marten and mink, ,are found in the forests and streams in great numbers, and are largely captured for their pelts. In the mountain streams are an abundance of salmon trout, brook trout and grayling ; and in their season .the .rivers and lakes are alive with wild geese, f.Ool.OGY ANP Cf.nTATE Of MONTANA. 9^>3 \\ fire, arc frc(\u<'iu. d lor the ic stcam- ras no ex- now ; tin- , is aircaily already at \ a'(v grees; Illinois, 49.9 degrees; Ohio, 51.2 degrees. The Missouri river at Helena is thoroughly open a month earlie-r each spring than at Omaha, 500 miles further south. The rainy season is in June, while the aniount of rainfall is three- fourths that of Minnesota. • The winters are generally open, the long nights at that season being cpiite cold, but the days brilliant and far milder than would be expected in so high a latitude. The dryness of the atmosphere likewise prevents the cold from being as severely felt as it is in damp climates. The snow fall in the valleys is in most winters quite light, and after falling it is quickly'nelted or carried off by evaporation. Th(; army officers stationed at I'ort Keogh declare that until th(; past winter they have never enjoyed sleighing on the prairies for a w(.'ek at a time, except occasionally in March, ■when the clear weather which had prevailed almost imbrokenly since the previous rainy season gave way to a short period of cold squalls accompanied by snow. These wind storms arc liable to occur at any time during the year, resembling in the sudden lowering of temperature which accompanies them the chilling " northers " of die Gulf of Mexico, and occasionally equalling in their vehemence and abrupt subsidence the hurricanes which pre- vail on our South Atlantic coast yearly, from the middle of Au- gust to the middle of September. Another phenomenon of a more agreeable character witnessed frequently in the winter season is the occurrence of the so-called *' Chinook wind," a balmy zephyr, which, wafted from the Pacific Ocean and penetrating the gaps and passes of the Rocky Moun- tains, converts winter cold into summer warmth so suddenly that rnpshlre /'crniont, ■c<;s; yet s Uamp- ;'s sovillv :onsin lor W.\w Vork. , 48.6 cl«r- 1 a monib outh. 'I'^^t U is thrcc- • that season than woviKl atmos\)lu".re it as it is in nost winters arried off by ■oo-h declare s\ei<:jhin:,; o»^ lly in March, unbrokenly rt period ot ■ms arc Viable the sudden the chilVni;-^ equalling;' in |es wbich pre- iddle of Au- [ter witnessed ■ the so-called |m the Pacific Locky Moun- suddenly that fi/./XX.IA'DS AXn "C/Z/XOOA"' UVX/IS. Q65 sometimes a foot depth of snow will evaporate and disappear und(.'r its inlliience in the course of a sin;^i(; day. This is il\e realization of tlxr "Japan current" theory, and while it prevails, it fully justifies that idea. One writer says: "I have known a footof snow on the level to fall durin<^^ the ni^^ht and every patch of it to be melted before noon of th(! next day; and there are open spells in mid-winter, often lastinj^^ niany day.s, when the trapper is comfortable without a coat over his woollen shirt." (ieneral Miles and others at I^'ort Keoi;h tt.-stify to similar lads. TI )tionally cold and d. kvinter of 1879-.S0 was e,\ I'Vom the end of November to the middle of March iheiH! was almost continuous slei^hin*; in the lower Tonyue river rej^ion, tiiough the snow was not deep and the mercury, rani^inL,'^ in the vicinity of zero for several weeks, reached on one occasion, and probably only momentarily, on the; nii^lu of December 24, 1.S79, as low a point as — 57°. The Indians about b'ort Keo^h declared emphatically that they had never known tlu; cold weather befort; to be so inten.se and so lonj; continued. Notwithstanding the remarkably low temperature which prevailed for so long a perioil, no extraordinary discomfort was experienced beyond a few frozt.-n fingers and toes on the part of travellers and soldiers unavoidably exposed on the bleak prairie roads, and not a single instance has been announced of cattle perishing from cold on their snow-cov- ered pastures. The "Chinook wind " did not seem to manifest itself as efficiently as usual during that winter season. There was not much snow, how(!ver, in the valley twenty miles above Miles City; and eighty miles up the Tongue river the cold was not nearly so severe as that above recorded. Subjoined is a condensed summary never before published of the meteorological observations made at die United States signal station at Fort Keogh since the occupation of the valley by white residents. The' observations were begun in the middle of January, 1879. The table shows the highest and lowest temperature recorded during each month, the average daily temperature, the range of temper- ature in each month, and the total rainfall. 966 pa iD OCA' lyESTEKN EMPIRE. Thermometric Observations at Fort Keogh, 1879-80. MONTH. 1079. January (from 13th). TEMPERATURE, Highest. Lowest, 36 IT February | 52 — 15 —25 23 30 40 50 40 33 12 — 5 —46 March Apri May June July. August I 97 September i 96 76 76 85 94 100 October November December. 1880. January.. February March.... 90 94 42 50 54 72 -18 -19 •24 Mean temper- ature. 32 23 40 60 66 74 «3 83 71 58 42 2 Range. 25 67 lOI 53 55 54 50 57 63 78 99 88 68 73 96 i Total rain- ifall. Inches. .26 .69 .28 2.20 2-75 5-23 5-90 1.84 •44 2.47 .11 •58 •32 •17 •51 Annual rangt 146 degrees. Total rainfall and melted snow in 1S79, 22.75 inches. Thefinures in the fifth column form a more eftective refutation of the " barren land " theory than any argument that could be framed in words alone. But the collateral facts speak )et more emphatically than the figures ! In further illustration of the climate, we add the weather report from Fort Benton, Montana, which lies on or near the forty- eighth parallel : Weather Report at Fort Bcfiton Jrom January i, \'6i2, to July i, 1879. I I I I I I , I*''"'-''' ^i" 187.:. 1873. ; 1S74. ! 1875. I i87r,. I 1877. I 187S. i 1879. X ■. of fair .oo 14° 24° 37" 54" 50° 55" 01" 58° 64° 1 30° 32° 36° In. In. In. 20.64 12.72 20.40 no 21° 58° Inc!ies. 21,60 METEOROLOGICAL TABLES. 96; Total rain-1 all, Inches. 1 .26 .69 .28 2.20 2.75 5-23 5-9° 1.84 • 44 2.47 .11 .58 •32 .17 •51 This shows an average of 275 fa-r days for each year. We also give from the Surveyor-General's office in Helena the following record of temperature and weather in 1878-9; Record of Temperature at Helena, MoiUana, fttm Jnly, t*78, t« June, 1879, imiusive, taken at the office of the Surveyor-GencraJ Jmr A/omitamu. Month. fifl o f- ! ji t •0 ^ 1 * •c TJ "O >. ^ 3 » u 1/ a rr. '■J . U CA X July, 1878 ^ Au'^ust, 1873 94 Seplciuhfr, J87S ^'S Octolx!!-, 1878 . 76 Nitvciiiiptr, 1S78 ^2 December, I S78 5^ January, 1S79 5^ Feljiuarv, 1879 ''^ March, 1879 : 7» April, 1S79 ; 70 May, 1879 77 June, 1879 ^ i'lji llie year 9**° 50 12 74 46% l:: 22 ^1% 27^ — 12 23>iJ 1 — II 26 8 38^^ 27 49 30 S3'A 43 S9l4 — II 44.6: 24 28 16 '4 23 9 23 24 16 14 12 222 I 2 10 12 5 »5 S 4 4 >3 12 5 88 t I 2 7 3 5 3 22 6 I 3 4 I 5 »3 33 ■e refutation ,at coukl be [vk ) et more lather report ,r the lorty- \h 1, 1879- l-'ilal six UlolUlli ■' 187S. 1 i»79- We add also the — Meteorolo^ of Virginia City, Montana, 1878. Yi:ar and MllNl'HS. )V„K Jiinuiry Kt;lin!avy.. . Miuv.li April M.;v Jan.- J'lly Au^iisl. . . . Scnt'nibcr. . 0,'lnb,M- Nuv^:inli{:r . . Di-C.tnticr .. . X u n: a. H 9' 43 49 64 65 70 85 92 90 h!j 64 59 46 TEMPBliATUltn. a E -«5 —4 '9 25 35 42 5" 26 9 II -15 42.2 -23.1 27.9 37-8 39-8 45-5 ' 7-2 6y.2 489 3S.9 35-1 17.7 107 47 39 53 46 45 5" 50 40 62 55 48 61 MolSTUKfi. ax. (J ichcs. \KX cent ...lO 54.0 0.45 62.5 0.62 63.2 0,01 58.2 1.83 57.0 5- 1 J 54-8 3.78 48.0 ...88 369 2.16 45-4 I. -,6 54-5 0,98 59-7 0.31 540 0.65 72.0 Bakcimi!- lEU. incl'ts. 29,',' -. 29,661 29,536 29.^57 29.565 29/.fi3 29,7^^6 29,745 29,808 29,771 29.7J4 29,777 29,785 Winds. PrcvaiUni; Winds in the Order of their KriAjucncy. Dirc.jti'Ti. C;ilm, S. I-., W.,S.\V.,N.E. C.ilin.S. i;..S. W., N. li. C;illll, S. \V.. S. !•;.. W. S. K., talui, S. W„ W. \V., 3. i;.. S. W., U., cilm. Cihn.S. 1:.. N. 1;.. W.,S.W. Cnliu, S.i;., \V., N.W., N.i; Cahii, S. 1£., \V., S., N. K. Calm, S. r... N. E., U , W. Calm, S. 1;., W.. N, V.. Calm. W,, N. \V.,S. \V. Calia, S. K., W. W., lalm, S. W., N. W. Mimno-. — It is matter of history that in 1852, a Scotch half- breed from the Red River country, returning from California, ffJ >« s 1 — 1 ;3[ r/l ix; < N H .> pc; ij hJ -i: Ui O p68 01//? WESTERN EMPIRE. found gold on Gold creek, in Deer Lodge county. This was, of course, a placer, though apparently not a very rich one. Others who had heard of this find, in 1856 prospected Benetsee creek, in the same vicinity, and found some gold, as did another party who came thither in 1858 ; but being without provisions or tools, and the Indians being hostile, they soon abandoned the country. In i860, Henry Thomas, better known as "Gold Tom," sunk a' shaft down to the bed rock on Benetsee creek, a depth of thirty feet; but owing to his poverty and disadvantages for work, having but litde food and but few tools, he only made about $1.50 a day. From i860 to 1863, the Stuart brothers, James, Granville and Thomas, a Mr. Anderson, M. Bozeman, S. T. Hauser, F". Louthan and others, were the principal pioneers in gold discov- eries in what is now known as Southwestern Montana. The earlier discoveries were all of placers, some of them exceedingly rich. Alder gulch, on which Virginia City is situated, was prob- ably the richest placer ever discovered in any part of the world. At first the product was from $100 to ^200 a day for each man, and in the first five years after its discovery Alder gulch and its tributaries yielded on an average ^8,000,000 a year. The total product from this single placer up to the end of 1876 was $70,- 000,000. Latterly it has fallen off to se of the Steii^ji^" lA.^/^t, afeen to twenty miles northwest of Helena. The fa}m/>us f'^/ijiohscot and other extensions of the Snow Drift lode are probaUy rf-i^f mostvaliuible gold quartz mines in the world. Mr. Nathan '.6. Ves-f/l hrst dc veloped the Penobscot mine, which is on the summit of the main ran-Tfe of the Rocky Mountains. His first efforts in 1877 did not meet with much encouragement, and late in the year he found himself $7,000 in debt and in doubt where he could obtain the means of payment. But the three shafts he had sunk on the Penobscot claim began to show good results, and the first clean- ups from a little five stamp mill, which had been brought there, gave him ^20,fX)0, with which he paid his debts and had $13,000 over. The yield now increased rapidly, some of the ore yielding $1,000 in gold ^ tbarticle»'^ in the sum.mer of 1878 he sold the mine to Mr. William B, Ffm, of Detroit, on terms from which he re- alized $350,000. h hm^ pftfVcA a very profitable investment, yielding about $23,oo<> * wooc^fl). Mr. Vest ' immediatrly com- menced developing Mi^^httr imn<:\ 900 fc t be!©w the Penobscot, which is yielding about j^f ?/X)0 a month. It s called the jul- mont. Other mines of thW district and vicinity are the Blue Bird, Whip-poor-will, JB'lv^k I lawk, Viola, Grey Eagle, Emma Miller, Mount Pleasant, Green Northern Light, Piegan, Humbug and Long Tom, 'flvs^ are all paying largely. The gold quartz mines have yielde/J mmM f^64 over $20.ooo,oo«.j ; of the $162,- 000,000 of th(^ i/rociou'ji metj»b #ent to market to the end of 1S79, about $145,000////;! re g<>i^i and the remainder silver. The silver ores q( Montana are mostly refractory, and have proved difficult of ri proved very profitable till recendy. But the most remark- able of w\\ the mining districts is Butte and its vicinity, also in Deer Lodge county, but east of the Great Divide. The silver ores were first discovered in 1S64 (or perhaps earlier), but the working of them could not be made profitable on account of their refractory nature and the great cost of transportation. They again attracted attention in 1874-5, and Butte City has a popu- lation of about 3,500, and in its in.Mnediate vicinity are twenty or more mines, all yielding well. The ores are of different kinds, .md re(}u ire different processes for their reduction. There is a silver-gold belt, with no coppvM-, but some galena and o\\(\v. and rarhona'LO of manganese. .Above the water-line this is free mill- ing, aiul can be reduced with a moderate amount of labor. B( low ihe water-line it is baser, and requires chlorcnlization and roa' ting for its reducdon. The silver predominates, but there is a small tits CO S3 O g^2 OUK WESTERN EMPIRE. amount of gold mixed widi it. The yield ranges from twenty-five to one hundred and eigiity ounces of silver to the ton. One mile east of this is a belt of copper ore of great richness, but containing some arsenic. The yield is about 400 pounds to the ton. In a contrary direction, a mile and a half west of the silver-gold belt, just beyond the Butte, is an extensive lode of chloride of silver, on which several mines have been opened, but though apparently very rich, it has not yet been largely developed. There are now extensive reverberatory furnaces for smeldng these ores, and when reduced to a matte carrying from 600 to 900 ounces of silver to the ton, they are sent to Denver to be parted. Most of the mines are what are known as surface mines ; that is, they do not penetrate below the water-line. Indeed, it was found that the ores rapidly depreciated in quality as they approached this line. The owners of the Alice mine, one of the best of the sur- face mines, had the courage, against the opinion of all the other miners, to go below the water-line, and, following the vein, to ascertain whether it would not improve as they reached deeper levels. They have expended ^600,000 on this experiment, all of which, however, had been made out of the mine, and at 300 feet depth found the ore much better, and at 400 and 500 feet they were richer than at the surface. Encouraged by this they have proceeded to strike the vein at a depth of 800 feet. The silver deposits at Butte are believed to be more extensive tlian any yet discovered in Montana, The production of silver and gold at this camp to September, 1880, had been somewhat more than $4,000,000, and is likely to be largely increased. Glendale and the Trapper district, situated in and around the Trapper Creek Caiion, in Beaverhead county, but on the eastern side of the "Great Divide," has come into notice within the last four years, and is regarded by Mr. Z. L. White as one of die two successful silver camps of the Territory, Butte being the other. The mines which have proved most profitable are on White Lion Mountain, about 9,000 feet above the sea. The ore is found in a wide belt of dolomite or soft white limestone, lying between two limestone strata of a much harder texture. The bulk of the ore in these mines is decomposed, earthy, and easily rROli.ini.E KX'IEXSIOX OF M/X/XG DISTRK TS. 973 enty-five )ii(: mile )ntaining )n. In a rold belt, silver, on oparcntly ; are now ores, and )unces of ;d. Most at is, they "ound that iched this )f the sur- 1 the other le vein, to led deeper jriment, all nd at 300 d 500 feet this they Ifeet. The nsive than silver and hat more mined with pick and s[)ade. It consists of silver, copper, sulphur, lead, arsenic, antimony, aluminum and silica, with occasionally a little undecomposed jj^alena. It yields on an average from eighty Lo one hundred and twenty ounces of silver to a ton. There are several copper mines in the Territory, one large deposit of copper ores being at Copperopolis, on the head waters of the Musselshell river. There is also a beginning of iron mining in the Territory. Coal mining is becoming a profitable pursuit along the Missouri and Yellowstone Divisions of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Tiie mining products of Montana in 1879 were about ^10,000,000 — an amount which will soon be doubled. It is worthy of notice that all the vein and lode mining, whether of ofold or silver, has been confined to the southwestern section of Montana, a region lying west of a line drawn southward from the junction of the Dearborn river and the Missouri, and striking the Y llowstone at or near I'ort Ellis, thence along the Yellow- stone: 10 t!"ie Yellowstone National Park. It comprises both slopes of the "Great Divide," extends across the valleys beyond, and includes the eastern slope of the Bitter Root Mountains. Tliat this is not the only part of the Territory which contains gold deposits appears from the fact that rich placers have been found in Missoula county, northwest 175 miles or more from Helena, and east and northeast of the Missouri river as far as the slopes of the Bear's Paw Mountains, northeast of P'ort Ben- ton ; and where there are placers the gold and silver lodes are not far off. We may look confidendy for further discoveries of both gold and silver in the detached and isolated mountains of the Territory, and very possibly extensive gold lodes in the Powder river range, in the southeast of the Territory, diat range having strong geological affinities with the Black Hills. There have been some gold and silver lodes of rich promise recently discovered on Clarke's fork of the Yellowstone, about the middle of the Crow Indian reservation, and negotiations are now in progress with the Crows to cede this part of their reservation. Agricultitral Productions. — Writers on Montana have gener- ally estimated its arable lands at 1 5,000,000, or at the utmost 974 OUR WESTERS' E^IPIRE. m ^ £9 16,000,000 acres ; but tlic recent reports of the Surveyor-General of the Territory, and of the missionaries and travellers who have been up the valley of the Yellowstone and through I'^astcrn Mon- tana indicate that there are millions of acres which, with moder- ate irrigation, for which the facilities are abundant, will yi(;ld immense crops, and in fact a part are already yielding crops which astonish all beholders. Of the agricultural productions of the valleys and benches of Western Montana, the aftliKMUs of Clarke's fork of Columbia river, of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin, and of the Yellowstone and the upper Missouri, we will let Mr. Zimri L. White, the cautious and able correspondent of the Nciu York Tribune, tell us : "The agricultural lands of Montana are the valleys. The main range of the Rocky Mountains extends through the Terri- tory generally in a northerly and southerly direction, and from this there are spurs and auxiliary ranges extending in all direc- tions and covering nearly the whole face of the country except in the north and east, where there are extensive elevated plains. Between these ranges flow hundreds of beautiful clear-water streams, some large and some small, and bordering these rivers and creeks are fine rich valleys from one to ten or twenty miles in width. The soil in the valleys is an alluvial deposit, and the land generally has a gentle and regular slope from the bed of the stream to the foot of the bench which separates the valley from the foot-hills. So true is this slope that in almost every in- stance water taken out in a ditch parallel with the stream can be made to flow over every foot of land below it. The benches, of which there are sometimes several and sometimes cnly one, are simply continuations of the valley at a higher elevation. They frequently look like great terraces rising one above the other, and where the quantity of water in the stream and the fall are suITk lent to make irrigation possible, the bench lands are found to l^e e([iially productive with the valleys proper. Behind the benches rise the foothills, with their rounded, grass-clad tops, now extended for miles and forming the divide betw^een two streams, and again seeming to support a rocky, precipitous ridge that rises beyond them. )r-rjencral who have itcrn Mon- ith niotlcr- , will yi^'ltl (liiv^ crops iluclioiis of Lil'tluriUs of [adison ami Duri, w'o will spondent of alleys. The rh the Terri- 3n, and from r in all direc- )untry except jvated plains. .il clear-water y these rivers twenty niilcs posit, and the die bed of jes the valley nost every in- itream can be te benches, of only one. are vation. Ih^y th(i other, and il are suftui^^^t :ltol)ee(iually inches rise the extentled for |ms, and again rises beyond 77/A FERTILE VALLEYS OF MOXTAXA. ^7^ •' Very few of these valleys arc as yet settled. The Bitter Root Valley, in the vvcst, where the farmers have become rich by the sale of their products to the j^^overnment for use at the military post at Mis.soula, the Gallatin in the east, Prickly Pear, in wiiich Helena is situated, Ueer Lodge and Jefferson X'alleys, have the oldest ranches, and until lately the largest breatlth of lanil under cultivation. "Within the last year or two the imminration to the Yellowstone Valley and its tributaries has been very great. This is about 650 miles long, and the average width of the valley which can be irrigated is about ten miles. It has only recently been safe for white people to go there, but the vigor with which die Northern Pacific Railroad has pushed westward during the past summer (this line will extend through the Yellowsione \'alley for almost its entire length) has attracted many settlers, and I am told that there are already about 400 families there. I saw it reported early in the summer that General .Sheridan told a Chicago re- porter that he .saw on one boat in his late trip up the Yellow- stone twenty-seven threshing-machines bound for the very country in which General Custer lost his life in 1876, and which three years ago was one of the most remote and inaccessible sections of the country. So rapid has been the agricultural development of the Territory that Mr. R. H. Mason, die Sur- veyor-General of Montana, estimates that the acreage under cultivation this year is twice as great as it w^as in 1878, a part of the increase being due to the enlargement of the older farms, and a part to the opening of new farms. " bi all the older setded portions of the Territory the ranchmen are, almost without exception, remarkably prosperous. I have not visited the best agricultural sections of the country, nor shall I be able to do so. The area of the Territory of Montana is three times as great as that of the State of New York, and there is not as yet (in 1879) a single mile of railroad within its limits. Travel here is therefore very slow^ and it would require more than one whole summer to see even the most important points. I did, however, ride through the Jefferson, Boulder and Deer Lodge Valleys, and spent an entire day in visiting a few repre- s§ i-« oa :3 '-^ 5 cq •f ^ 1 s& o 076 OL'/! ly/lSlE^W EMriRE, sentativo farms in the Prickly Pear Valley, so that I can sju-ak from personal knowledge of what 1 saw in those. "Tlicavera^n: yield of wheat in Montana is at least twenty-five bushels to an acre;. Other writers have placed it at from thirty to forty bushels, and fifty bushels is by no nK.-ans an uncommon crop; but taking the whole country toijether, I d(§ubt if the farmer can depend upon much more than twenty-five. This is ten bushels or sixty-six per cent, more than what is considered a good crop in the great grain States of the Mississippi Valley. The wheat of Montana is also of a very excellent quality. An analysis of samples of Montana wheat made at the Agricultural Department in Washington shows eighteen per cent, more nitro- genous or llesh-producing matt(;r than Minnesota wheat, and that bulk for bulk it weighed about six per cent. more. I have before me a sample of spring wheat of the croj) of 1S78, raised by Mr. Reeves in the Prickly Pear Valley, that averages to weigh sixty- four pounds to a measured bushel. Souk; oI the crops of wheat that have been raised in Montana have been almost fabulous. Forty, fifty, and even sixty bushels to an acre, arc not uncommon crops. Several years ago the State Pair Association offered a premium for the best acre of .wheat raised that season, and the award was made to Mr. Raymond, of the Prickly Pear Valley, who had 102 measured bushels on a single acre. The committee who made the award were prominent citizens of Montana, and oncLof them has told me that the same year a farmer in the (jal- latin Valley raised an equally large average crop on a forfy-acre lot, but as he could not show that he had more than 102 bushels on any single acre, the committee decided that he was not entitled to the premium. " I have seen, in August this year, many fields of wheat, both standing and in the shock, in the country around Melena, and 1 have not seen one that appeared to have less than thirty bushels to an acre. In many fields the shocks of grain stood almost as thick as the sheaves in the fields of the Mississippi V^alley." Mr. Robert E. Strahorn, in his "To the Rockies and Beyond," gives the following statement in regard to crops in different val- leys of Montana in 1878: ^s con.sl(Ic;ral)I(' ]y^. \ . ^77 •" -=".« a fc. „,„,,, „,f,, :^' ' '•^■'"1- n.ay be intercs.'l /-•>;• or t.o l,av. co„K. ,„„|„ 2: llT" "^'"— - >or the past low..,,. a,x. U>o „.,,„es .,f scvc™ " "''''"""."^ "^•^ writer, l-ol- y-l^" P- acre for „„e seasc,,,;: e" ^IL' r"'""' "'^ ■^--^- j ^"-'''"^^ Pnco of tlic crop; Name. Location. A. (;. Kiij,'!, 111(1... 77 r—, •Ml-^v.llla V,,||,.y i''it;i(i L, in |<-''<'1> ami Vield acres. ' ■■ ' ' I Rolieit V.iiiMiii, j M. .Stout,-. .; .. I J{rod..ts. *»S O.iis, 4« iWl.tat, 400 Wheat, Mr. White continues; "Oats and barley ^ °" ^^'^^'^^^^ there were i ,3 "1'liis is the bnVhtsido nf tU • ^l-.U not be forgotten ,:'o':n'"; , "" "'^ ""'^ '-"'■ i' ^™P;n certain portions of M^n"::';-,^''' P"'"''™ "' *<= ■?-"> irrassl.oppers.and that there isrn ^'"'"•'""y d«foyecl by •»-n,e,a„d until the a^^ t^Ho ^ ' """'"^ ^°""' > -- becomes „,ueh greater than now these '^■'"°" °^ "'" '^^^'•''"'•y basmess of grain-niising here Tome ,'"'?' P'"' "'" ™^'^'-- "'« «o"rge of locusts l,as not been as ,! ^'"'"'^°"'- ^hat the IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 iill I.I 11.25 ^1^ 1^ ■^ U& 12.2 m -^ Sciences Corporalion 23 WfST MAIN STREfT WEBSTER, N.Y. 149S0 (-^16) 872-4503 4 1 M^ ^ \ :\ % \ n.^ '4^ ^ < m Co ;^ a; ^'5 cq ::i cm q;8 ol'/! western empire. be, is shown by the prosperous condition of all the farmers who have been established for a few years. Those in the neighbor- hood of th6 military posts, especially, have grown rich with wonderful rapidity. General Brisbin told me that the govern- ment has paid as much as 5^^4,000 to one farmer in a single year for grain and hay raised by himself, and that the income of a farmer in the neighborhood of Fort Ellis from the portion of his crops sold to the United States is frequently as much as ^3,000. Corn has not been very successfully cultivated in Montana, ex- cept in the warmer regions west of the main range of the Rocky Mountains. The hay cut in the Territory is wild, and costs the farmer who cuts it from $1.50 to ^2.00 a ton. " The soil of Montana seems to be especially fitted for the production of large crops of garden vegetables. The best market garden I ever saw, if abundant yield is a criterion, is that of Mr, Dorrington, in the Prickly Pear Valley. He sold ^2,000 worth of strawberries, and his root crops, such as turnips, onions, beets, parsnips, etc., seemed literally to fill the ground. He expected to take ten tons of onions from a small patch oi ground, and would receive five cents a pound for them in Helena. The fol- ■lowi.ig table, compiled by General Brisbin, shows what the pro- duct of the gardens cultivated by troops at Fort Ellis was in 1877: Com.pany and Regiment. Number of acres. Bushels Potatoes. Bushels Onions. Bushels Turnips. Bushels Carrots. Bushels Beets. Bushels Parsnips. Bushels Salsify. Heads of Cabbage. F 2d Cav. G " H " L " G7th Inf. 5 6 5 3 1,100 550 1,200 700 313 90 60 130 5° 6 60 60 35 40 60 35 40 25 12 50 •<5 40 10 20 25 3,600 2,500 3.300] 2,300 800 ••■naaaa* 20 3 Totals, 26>^ 3.865 iz(> 345 172 105 75 3 12,500! " The value of the several articles, if bought at the fort, would have been : Potatoes, $3,865 ; onions, $2,352 ; turnips, $85 ; car- TOts, $206.40; beets, $315; parsnips, $225; salsify, $9.40; cab- FRUIT-CROWING. 979 irmers who i neiglibor- n rich with the govern- single year income of a lortion of his :h as |;3.ooo- Montana, cx- of the Rocky and costs the fitted for the ^e best market is that of Mr. ^2,000 worth 1, onions, beets, He expected ■y{ crround, and ena. The fol- what the pro- rt KUis was in the fort, would rnips,$85; car- [ify, $9-40-' ^'^^^ bage, %\i^. Total, %'j,\%2.%o. The garden crops at Fort Ellis in other years have been fully one-third greater for the same amount of ground." The best farmers are turning their attention largely to fruit culture. This for many years to come will be the most profitable of crops, especially when it is not too far from a local market. Writing in 1879, Mr. White said: "Very little fruit has yet been raised {i. e., has come to the bearing stage) in Montana. "It has always been supposed that the part of the Territory east of the Divide was too cold in winter for even the hardier kinds of fruit, and very few varieties have been planted. In the west, in the Bitter Root Valley, orchards planted a few years ago are just beginning to bear, and the rapidity with which the trees have grown and the manner in wliich they have wintered have led to the belief that fruit-raising may yet become one of the im- portant industries of that section. The fruit crop this year is not sufficiently large to affect the price, but the rapid extension of the Utah and Northern Railroad has had a very marked effect upon it. I bought nice grapes, peaches and pears in Helena for fifty cents a pound, which two years ago would have cost ^i. "As a rule the farms of Montana have to be irrigated, and in most of the valleys there is an abundance of water for this pur- pose. The cost of constructing good canals for the irrigation of 160 acres of land is, of course, considerable, but when once com- pleted the expense of keeping them in order is very small, while the ability of the farmer to regulate absolutely the amount of moisfure which his crop shall have, more than compensates for all the extra labor aad expense which irrigation makes necessary. "While some of the valleys near the mining centres of the Ter- ritory have been pretty well settled up, none of them can be said to be full, while in other parts of the Territory the land is almost^ untouched. Finely improved farms near markets are now worth $20 or ^25 an acre; others a little more remote and not as well improved, sell for from -. ca ^--« i-^ --» •>] '-^ ^ a •--« 2 M i:^ 9 ^ 5^ O f)8o <^^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. them under the Homestead law, or pre-empted and purchased for %\.r>.^ an acre." Mr. R. E. Strahorn gives the following,' statement of the pro- ductions of Montana in 1878. The crops of 1879 were of nearly double this amount, and those of 1880 larger yet. In 1878 he says: "The different valleys of Montana, with their mere sprinklinc,'^ of farmers, produced about 400,000 bushels of wheat, 600,000 of oats, 50,000 of barley, i 2,000 of corn, 500,000 bushels of vege- tables, and 65,000 tons of hay, the total value of agricultural pro- ducts being not less than ^3,000,000. A ready market has always been afforded by the non-producing population in the mines and cities, and by the numerous military posts. The con- stant increase in the magnitude of mining and other operations in all parts of the Territory justifies the belief that any consider- able surplus of produce cannot be raised in Montana for years to come, and until that time prices must remain from fifty to one hundred per cent, higher than in the 'States.' The following were ruling prices paid farmers for produce in different Montana cities in January, 1879: flour, $4.75 per 100 pounds; oats, two cents per pound; wheat, two cents; hay, ^12 to «^I4 per ton; potatoes, one and a half cents per pound; onions, six cents; butter, forty-five cents ; eggs, sixty to seventy-five cents per dozen ; squash, four cents per pound ; cheese, sixteen to twenty cents; beets, four cents; cabbage, five cents; carrots, three and a haif cents ; parsnips, four cents ; turkeys, ^3 to ^5 each ; spring chickens, $6 to ^7.50 per dozen." » IVIr. Strahorn has contrasted in the following table the prices of farm and dairy products in Montana and. in Ohio, and the yield in the East with the yield in Montana. The contrast is very instructive : rRODUcTioxs or moxtaxa. 981 irchascd for of the pro- ere of nearly In 1878 ^1^- re sprinklinir It, 600,000 ol ;hels of vei^'.'- ricuUural pro- ^ market has ulation in the 5ts. The con- fer operations t any considcr- ,na for years to •om fifty to one The following ferent Montana .mds ; oats, txvo 5 ^14 per ten; ions, six cents ; -five cents per xteen to twenty rrots, three and ^5 each ; spring ble the prices of . and the yickl :ontrast is very Kind of Produce. j Bacon, per pound. Barley, Butter, ' liCL'tS, Beans, Caltbage, Carrots, Cauliflower," Corn, Clicc;;e, j Chickens, per dozen.... I Eggs " I Flour, i)erc\vt ! Green corn, per dozen. Hay, per ton Hogs, per cwt Oats, per pound Onions, ti << Parsnips, Potatoes, Peas, Rye, Squash, Turkeys, live, ]ier pound. Turnips, per pound Wheat, " I 5c / c 16.; I ^]i T / + -•e 2C e ic ic Sc (2 00 I So 3 00 5c 8 00 2 75 IC IC IJ4 c 7c c o c 15c 2C 40c 4c 5c 4c 4c 5c 17c $6 00 50c 4 00 25c 12 00 10 00 2C 6c 4C 2C 2C 4C 20c ijic 20 W . C u 19 bu 24 bu 34 I'll C w2 ^ 2 o 35 1^''' 37 1^11 6,565 lbs 37 ^'11 ^H ton 23 bu 208 bu 75 bu 25 bu 12 bu ISO bu II bu i;; ton 45 ^>" 385 ^'' 200 bu 40 bu 35 ^^i' i9,ooolbs 225 bu 30 bu "I (irmly believe," he adds, "that no land under the sun offers such a favorable field for diversified rural industry as Montana, Take here, in connection wath grain-raising, the production of poultry, eggs, butter, pork, vegetables, and similar items now almost unnoticed as ' not worth bothering about,' and the indus- trious and frugal farmer and housewife, managing as of necessity do those in the thickly settled States, should soon make them- selves independent. It is often almost imposs'ble in winter to secure fresh eggs at seventy-five cents per dozen in Montana cities, and during the winter of 1878-79, I have seen ninety cents freely offered in Helena. Butter ranges from forty to sixty cents Qg2 C>6/A' WESTERN EMPIRE. the entire winter, and it was frequently impossible to secure a good article. The Montanian who desires to celebrate Christmas in the time-honored way — turkey and all — will make a sad inroad in his bank account ; as for spring chicken — at from fifty cents to <^\ each — they might be of recent origin, but unfortunately that . class is never numerous enough to go round." Dairy-Fanning and Stock- Raising. — Mr. R. E. Strahorn, after several years' residence in Montana, says, in regard to dairy farms : " Climate, pasturage, water and an unequalled market for dairy products, all combine to render dairying here one of the most lucrative and satisfactory pursuits. Cows cost nothing for their keep, and the product of butter or cheese is clear gain, as the increase in stock will pay all expenses. I am personally acquainted with several Montana dairymen who commenced four or five years ago with rented cows and not a dollar of capital. They are to-day the possessors of fine herds, good ranches, and worth from |^5,ooo to $10,000 each — all made by good honest labor in the corral and milk-house. Dairy cows cost about $30 per head, or they can be rented by giving the owner the increase and one-fourth of the butter or cheese manufactured. Of course, dairying is generally carried on only during the seven or eight months of spring, summer and early autumn, as few provide even so much as hay for cold weather, and when wii»ter comes the cows have about enough to do to keep in good flesh. The number of cows milked in Montana in 1878 was placed at 10,000, and the product of butter and cheese in that year at 1,000,000 pounds. Butter sold at from thirty-five to fifty cents per pound, and cheese at from fourteen to twenty cents." Mr. Thomson P. McElrath, a resident of the Yellowstone Valley, says that "in the winter of 1879-80 butter sold throughout the valley at from forty to fifty cents a pound, and home-made was not to be had even at those prices. Fresh milk brought ten cents a quart. The raising of poultry will also for a long time to come be a paying field for enterprise. Winter eggs are scarce at a dollar a dozen. Chickens for eating are correspondingly expensive, and the; thanksgiving turkey, brought from Minnesota in a frozen state, is a very ineffective and costly reminder of that 3 secure a : Christmas sad inroad fty cents to anately that •ahorn, after vrd to dairy d market for •e one of the it nothing for ;lear gain, as ^ personally nmenced four lar of capital. 1 ranches, and u good honest ost about $30 er the increase ;cl. Of course, icven or eight IS few provide , winter comes ,od flesh. The laced at 10,000, ,1- at 1,000,000 nts per pound. -£>&' SJVCA'A'A/S/.\'G' AV AJONTAXA. o^j home luxury by the time it is thawed out and ready for roasting." For stock-raising Montana has unrivalled facilities. " It is," says Mr. Z. L. White, "the best grazing country in the world. I know that diis is a bold assertion to make, but after seeing some- tliing, during the past summer, of the best catde-ranges of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Dakota, Wyoming and Utah, which States and Territories furnish so large a proportion of the beef consucncd in this country, and talking with stockmen, army officers and others whose acquaintance widi the West is far more extensive than my own, and whose experience gives to their opinion great weight, I am certain that it is not an exaggeration. There may be por- tions of South America where cattle, sheep and horses can be raised at less expense than in Montana, but there certainly is no part of the United States where the same grade of animals, ready for market, cost the ranchman less money, while the price which they command is many times greater than in any of the Spanish American Republics, and but very little below that obtained in the less remote States and Territories this side of the Missouri river." In the classification of the area of 93,000,000 acres of Montana to the different purposes for which it could be utilized, after the assignment of 15,000,000 or 16,000,000 of acres to cultivation for farm purposes, an estimate, as we have already said, far below the fact, it has been customary to allot 38,000,000 acres to grazing lai.ds, 14,000,000 acres to timber, and from 22,000,000 to 25,000,000 of acres to mountain, inaccessible, and desert or bad lands. Both the grazing and timber lands have been much underestimated. There are " bad lands," that is, lands of creta- ceous rocks and soil, which, when eroded by the mountain torrents, have been cut into all sorts of fantastic shapes, and the clay strata exposed ; but a large part of these " bad lands " furnish some of the sweetest and best pasturage to be found anywhere, and under the influence of irrigation, for which there are ample facilities, they win yield enormous crops. There are volcanic "bad lands" in the southwest, around the head waters of the Jefterson, Madi- son and Gallatin rivers, and the Firehole river and basin. Part 9-'-'r OUR WESTER X EMPIRE. cq a oc: CQ O of these volcanic lands are unfit either for grazinq;' or cultivation, but 10,000,000 acres is a very large estimate of all the worthless land in the Territory. Mr. Thomson P. McElrath, to whom we have already referred, and whose little work on the Yellowstone Valle)', just published, is admirable for the valuable and interest- \x\<^ information it imparts, has discussed at considerable length in his book the fact and the causes of the superioiity of Montana over other regions of the West in stock-raising. He says : " It is universally conceded that Montana is the best grazing country in the world. The beef raised there is superior, and more profit- able than that raised in the best cattle range.; of Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Dakota, Wyoming or Utah, which States and Territories furnish a large proportion of the beef consumed in this country. -This superiority is largely due to the fact that the Montana grasses are more nutritious than any of the culti- vated grasses which grow elsewhere. The perennial bunch grass [Bouic/oiia oligostachya), superior to all others, shoots from the root in the spring, before the frost disappears, and clothes the whole country, except the mountains, in a' velvety vesture of emerald. It grows in small bunches, close and fine, which aver- age from six inches to one foot in height. The stalk, unlike that of tame grass, is solid, and the head is well filled with small, firm seeds, full of nutriment. Exposed to the summer sun, and unaf- fected by frequent rains or early frosts, it begins to ripen about ^ midsummer, and in the early fall is thoroughly cured, affording a standing hay for winter use, which needs no harvesting, and which unites with all the desirable qualities of good hay the fatteninp- principles of oats and corn.* Professor R. W. Raymond, United States Commissioner of Mining Statistics, says: "To pasture a horse on bunch-grass is like giving him plenty of good hay, with regular and liberal feeds of grain." From August until the fol- • lowing spring the grass has a color somewhat similar to that of * Mr. McElrath says, in describing the grazing lands of the Yellowstone Valley : «' Back from the rich river valleys, and walling in their outer edges, rise the ranges of ' bad lands,' wliich are bare of vegetation and very forbidding in appearance, but which extend back only a few miles, usually terminating in rolling, grassy plains. These fantastic ranges form the escarjimenls of a vast expanse of table-land, covered with bunch grass, and far superior for stock-raising to any Other public laiiils owned by the United States." OSs npe wheat, thoiirrh not anitn u .„• ^S. reaper. The liastern visitor i.., , ^'T ""'"''y "-'^'■'y for il,o vl..cl> wave and .!,»,.„ ,•„ .i.e^lianT T'^' ^"-'""^^ -''P'-- bree.es play over thei,- surfaces ■'?„ rf'"" ""' ""-' -^""""er the steamboat approaches a b nd ^ "°; "''"''■•""' "^''Is, a,u| as t'vely seeks for the far„,.hou,es-and " ' '"""' ""^ '^^ '"^^'"<=- '■normous s.retclK.s of agrictd 're T""-" ''r'^'"'"^' '" "-- press,ons experienced after enterL. the v"m °' ""= •-■"'■''•''•« ■•"'- the mouth of Glendive creek =„ ^T , ^'■•""wstone, far below i«"ecl, the appearances :,a"ttT'^' "" '""•^■°" '•=< »-^- ™g. of the valley, and in er; I ^r ^p°"""'- "-°"Sh the actually g,ve„ up to "bad lands " ^This b 'f ™ ^'°"'^"^ "ot so prohhc ,n growth, is, as already stat I ^""''l-^'^'^' moreover, nutrmous. Cattle fatten on it more ra r"''"''"">- ^"'^'^t and concimon than those which fe d on .l^M ' "'' ''^^P '" better and Southwestern Virginia, or d,e buffdo ^'''^ '" '^'^""-ky Colorado. The beef is remarknM ^'''"' °^ Nebraska and ;:l"ef fauU to be urged aga,: tt^Zt ''"'^'' '"' i"'^'- * t'mes too fat. The bunch-<.ra s ^ '" '"""'" " ''s some- •ys and the benches, b;^ ofd Chiir' "f ^" °^^'- "^ ^^- Ihe mountains. The sunplv of ; f ^""^ '=™" "" "any of "Mer settled portions of tft r Lry'"!^ "^'■^""^- Even i„^h '>;equent, often adjoinino- each orf'"'P™vec farms are -eepand horses do not eat doCl th '" *' ™"^>-'' "^ cattle! ™ges in some sections on each sVr ?"''• ''"'^ ^'though the -lly .taken up, they are stnicapabfof ' ™"^'^'^ ""»' ''^ --'- many animals as now graze 'pon theL'^or"'""" '"'"' ""^ « 'ntendmg to t^ise stock on alaro-e ' I '""'""'^ "" P<^^»n cl..ef business, would think of d'^Uh'' ?' ? '"="^<= ">« h- bcat.ons near the settlements- bu 2 f '"''' "^ ^"''^'^ '" erds are now feeding upon th;m „H wh ""'" "''°^'= """^'^ ^^'^ 'ome, may increase the size nf^'I u ™"' ""-*''■ <^attle near £9 13 q86 (7f/' WESTERN EMPIRE. Yellowstone Valley, " no one need really own an acre of land, and thus far few have cared to. But all stockmen have head- quarters as near their range as is practicable. This is called the ranch, and usually consists of a plain log-cabin, and a large corral or pen in which stock can be iicid at branding time. What ex- tent of the boundless grass lands surrounding are utilized by the owner depends entirely upon the size of h's herd, and his incli- nation to let cattle roam and care for themselves. It is true that ranch sites arc sometimes better improved, and herders em- ployed ; but to feed, water, shelter or salt the steer of the period would be a sad innovation upon the all-prevailing custom of let- ting said steer shift for himself. The improvements need not cost more than %2'^q> — not tlmt, if the owner will rely largely on his own muscle. The additional expense will be the cost of living, if the owner does his own herding, and this will vary from $250 to $400 per year; if herders are employed, they arc paid about ^40 per month and board. One man can easily care for 1,000 cattle, except during the 'round-up' period, which here occurs twice per year, lasts about two weeks each time, and will require three or four extra men during that time. I have before me the statement of a stockman who commenced with $3,500, buying 100 head of cows, putting up a neat log-cabin, and reserving enough of the capital to pay his expenses for one year. At the end of the fourth year the increase from this little herd, at a low valua- tion, was worth $8,000. Another statement made by a well- known stockman of Helena, shows a net profit of $42,500 made in six years from an investment of $13,500. The average profit realized can without any doubt be placed at two per cent, per month on all capital invested in cattle in Montana. Men who put a few hundred dollars into cattle five or six years ago have become lich almost before they could realize how wonderfully the profits multiply in a region where food and shelter for their herds cost nothing. " Very few Montana stock-farmers make any provision for feeding their cattle in the winter, and as yet there is no summer herding as in Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. In the winter season the animals speedily learn to ' rusde/ as it is called, with re of land, have head- 5 called the artre corral What cx- lizcd by the id his incli- is true that iierders em- )f the period stom ot" let- leed not cost rircly on his ost of living, ry from $250 e paid about ire for 1,000 here occurs d will require before me the o, buying- 100 rving enough \t the end of a low valua- e by a well- ,42,500 made .verage profit per cent, per . Men who ,rs ago have wonderfully liter for their Iprovision for |s no summer lln the winter Is called, with fREE PASTURAGE. (j%j their hoofs through the snow to the bunches of sweet hay be- neath, and in ordinary seasons cattle come out in the spring in excellent condition. Old cattle-owners say that a herd which is fed occasionally, on the occurrence of a heavy storm, will not winter as well as one that is not fed. The cattle once receiving hay are likely to remain in the neighborhood of the ranch even after the feed there has become short, and if driven away will return thither. As it is impracticable to feed them all the time, they become lean, while if they remained out on the range where they could ' rustle ' and graze steadily, they would keep in good condition. The grass is stiff on the stalk, and on the hillsides it is rarely entirely covered with snow. The loss from exposure is said to be not more than one or two per cent. It is nevertlieless worth while to note that in Western Montana several of the most careful and most successful stockmen are beginning to put up hay as a precaution against severe cold and deep snows. They claim that the cost of the hay, cut with machines in the natural meadows along the river bottoms, is only from fifty cents to ;^i a ton, and that in the long run, by being prepared to feed their catde a little in the winter if it is found necessary, they can save more than enough animals that would otherwise perish, to pay for the trouble and expense. Judging from the unusually severe winter of 1879-80, which lasted from November to the middle of March, during which time much of the central Yellowstone coun- try was covered with snow, while the mercury ranged from a few degrees above zero to fifty odd degrees below that point, it may be advisable to adopt a similar course in Eastern Montana. The expense would not be greater than that above estimated. It is true, that notwithstanding the protracted severity of the season referred to, no complaints have been heard on the part of the ranchmen in the valley in regard to losing cattle by reason of the cold and exposure. This, however, is partially attributable to the paucity of the herds in the valley. Had the stock been as numerous as it probably will be two or three years hence, the risk would have been very greatly enhanced. Sheep, of course, require more careful handling than cattle, and must be pro- vided with constant means for shelter, as well as with feed in winter. CG s i^ y a|^ Or/v' ll-KSr/'lKX F.Mr IRE. " The customary way of inanaj^inj^ a band of cattle in Montan.i is simply to brand them and turn them out upon the prairie. Some stocis-ovvncrs j^nve no more attention to their calLle until the next sprinj^, when they 'round tiiem up' and brand the calves, select those they intend to sell, and turn the reniainder out at^'ain. UnilcT this careless manajj^ement, which no i)rudent man would hv. lii«;ely to willingly imitate, they are certain lo lose some steers, wliich stray away or are stolen. Others, more careful of their interests, employ herdc^rs, one man for every 1,500 or 2,000 head of cattle, whose duty it is to ride about the outskirts of the range, follow any trails leading away, and drive the cattle back, and seek through neighboring herds, if there are any, for catde that may have mistaken their companionship. At the spring round up. a few extra men have to be employed for sev- eral weeks. In starting a new herd, cows, bulls and yearlings are bought. The older catde of ordinary grade are all American, the long-horned Texan stock being excluded, and cost from -^x^ to 1^25 a head. Calves under one year old running' with the herd are not counted. Yearlings may be obtained for from }j^5 to %'] each. "The average cost of raising a steer, not counting interest or capital invested, is from sixty cents to ^i a year, so that a four year old steer raised from a calf and ready for market costs about |i4. He is worth on the ranch about $20, and if driven to the Missouri river at Fort Benton, or the railroad in Wyoming, fully ;ji25. A herd consisting of yearlings, cows and bulls, will have no steers ready for the market in less than two or three years. Taking into account the loss of interest on capital invested before returns are received, besides all expenses and ordinary losses, the average profit of stock-raising in Montana during the last few years has been at least thirty per cent, per annum. Some well-informed cattle-men estimate it at forty or forty-five per cent. Mr. Z. L. White, from whose correspondence several of the above-mentioned points respecting stock-raising in West- ern Montana have been taken, refers in the following passage to the profits of the business : ' No one can spend a week in any part of Montana without hearing some of the most marvellous \ Montana lu: |)r;iiri{!. •allK: uiuil brand tl\c rciiuiinclcr no prmk'nt tain u) lose loro careful -y 1,500 or iie outskirts c the cattle are any, for ,ip. At the lyed for sev- rearlin^^s are U American, ost from $1S lin^' with the for from $5 cr interest or that a four t costs about riven to the yoming, fully ills, will have three years, ested before linary losses, during the per annum. or forty-five [lence several liner in West- ,ig passage to [week in any It marvellous CATTLE KAMllF.S AV MOXTAXA. 989 rrports ahouf tlv? profits that have boon realized during the last f(!W years in Ine business of stock-raising in this Territory. These stories, many of which iiave reach"d the East recently in enthu- siastic newspaper letters and [>amphlets, are true, so far as I have been able to verify them ; but while, as a rule, they relate only to the exceptionally successful ventures — ^just as the wonderful yield of a bonanza mine in a camp is heralded from one end of the country to the other, while the hundred prospect holes which have bt!en failures are never heard of — the unvarnishi^d truth about the average profits of die business will seem almost incred- ible to eastern peoi)le. It is only now and then that a band of catde, sheep or horses yield a net income of from forty to sixty or even one hundred per cent, per annum ; but I doubt if there is a single instance in which, taking a series of years together, the profits on stock-raising have not been from twenty to dfirty per cent, on the original investment, ami that, too, in cases where the animals have suffered severely from unusual cold weather and snow in the winter, or from disease.' "A large and increasing percentage of the Montana cattle and sheep are not managed by the owners personally, the latter in many cases not being even residents of the Territory. Nearly all the leading merchants and bankers of the larger towns own interests in bands of stock ; and lawyt:rs, doctors and federal officers are following their exami)le, and investing their own money or that of their eastern friends in cattle, sheep or horses. "A man who desires to invest in stock, and who has not the time or inclination to attend to the business himself, takes as an associate some man of experience and known honesty, who lacks the means for going singly into the enterpris , and gives him entire charge of the herd. This man selects the range, cuts tl:e hay, moves the animals when necessary — sheep requiring to be changed to a new range at least every two years — attends to the rounding up, and drives those that are sold to the place of de- livery, paying all expenses, and being entirely responsible for the management of the business. In compensation for these ser- vices he receives one-half the increase of the herd, the capitalist taking the other half. The returns which the latter class obtain 990 CUR WESTEKi\ EMPIRE. O on their money invested on this plan are never less than fifteen per cent., in a flock of sheep twenty per cent, and upward, and in a band of horses mucl\ greater than in either of those men- tioned. A new plan for dividing the profits of this business be- tween capitalists and managers has lately been suggested, and will probably be experimented upon this year. The manager is to take the herd purchased with the money his partner furnishes^ the latter retaining the title to the animals, find a suitable range and defray all the (Expenses of the enterprise, until out of the profits he has paid back to the investor a sum of money equal to that which he at first put in. Then the manager is to become the owner of one-third of the business, and to receive thereafter one-third of the profits, the expenses being paid out of the receipts. It is proposed by responsible men in Montana to organize stock com- panies in the East for the purpose of conducting the cattle and sheep-raising business on this plan, and with adequate precau- tion in the selection of proper men to manage such enterprises there are few ope.iings available for capital in which the security is better, or the certainty of large profits greater. "The export of catde from Montana began in 1874 with about 3,000, increasing during the following four years respectively to 5,000, 6,000, 10,000 and 22,000. In 1879 it is estimated to have been between 30,000 and 40.000. The principal route to market heretofore has been down the Yellowstone to Fort Custer ; thence into Wyoming, via Forts McKinney, Reno and Fetterman, to Pine Bluff, a railroad station fifty miles east of Cheyenne. This route furnishes plenty of excellent grass and water, and the cattle reach the railroad in fine condition after a drive averaging about two months in duration. They ar-^ mostly shipped to Chicago. The completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad to the western extremity of the Yellowstone Valley will completely alter this feature of the cattle trade. Instead of the long drive through the Wyoming wilderness, stock from all parts of the Territory will be shipped by rail direct to its destination in, at the most, one-sixth of the time at present consumed in the journey, and by the shortest possible rail route that can ever traverse that Territory. For the Atlantic seaboard and for foreign export S.'/F.EPF.tKM/XG IX MOXTAXA. 991 nan fifteen mard, and hose men- usiness be- rested, and manager is :r furnishes, itable range )f the profits :^ual to that ne the owner ter one-third ceipts. It is e stock com- le cattle and uate prtcau- h enterprises h the security 74 with about espectively to uated to have te to market [uster ; thence etterman, to [venne. This later, and the [ve averaging ly shipped to ; Railroad to ill completely he long drive parts of the tion in, at the the journey, ;ver traverse [oreign export the route by the great lakes, via Duluth. the eastern terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, Vvill be availed of, the cattle traffic by that route having already assumed considerable dimensions. which are destined to a great expansion in the near future. The great market at Chicago will be no less benefited by the opening of thie new and direct line. "Sheep- Raisin q: — As already stated, the management of sheep is different in many essential respects from that of cattle. A band of sheep containing 1,000 head and upward, in good con- dition and free from disease, are procurable in Western Montana I'or from $3 to $3.25 per head. They must be herded summer and winter in separate bands of not more than 2,000 or 3,000 each, must be corralled every night and guarded against the depredations of dogs and wild animals. Hay must be provided to feed them while the ground is covered with snow, and sheds must be erected to protect them from severe storms. They must, moreover, be raised by themselves. Cattle and sheep cannot live together on the same range. The latter not only eat down the grass sc closely that nothing is left for the cattle, but they also leave an odor which is very offensive to the others for at least two seasons afterward. But, notwithstanding that the cost of managing sheep is greater than that of handling cattle, the returns from sheep-raising are quicker and larger. While a herd of young cattle begin to yield an income only at the expira- tion of three years, sheep yield a crop of wool the first summer after they are driven upon a range, and the increase of the band is much greater than that of cattle, being from seventy-five to one hundred per cent, each year. The wool is of good quality, free from buirs, and brings a good price on the ranch, agents of Eastern houses being always on hand eager to buy it. Many thousand sheep were driven into Montana in 1879 from Cali- fornia, Oregon and Washington Territory, and every band that arrived was promptly purchased by men eager to increase their flocks or to start new ones. These data relate, of course, to the western portions of the Territory, only one experiment in sheep- raising having as yet been undertaken in the Yellowstone Valley. Its results show conclusively enough that at Last equal success 992 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. % ^■^ CQ .^ 3 '/> ^ ^ s »-«.« a? t> u» s 3 ^ U| O in tiiat field of enterprise is attainable in Eastern as in Western Montana. "In the fall of 1876, while the valley was still occupied by the hostile Sioux under Sitting Bull, a man named Burgess drove a herd of 1,400 sheep, a cross of the Merino and Cotswold breeds, from California into Western Montana. He arrived at Miles City about the end of September, having consumed two seasons in the trip, and located on the east bank of the Tongue river, on the site of the present Miles City. In the following fall the flock was purchased by Mr. George M. Miles, the present owner, who moved it to a new range on the Tongue river about three miles farther up, with the intention of entering systematically into sheep- raising, the purpose of the original owner having been to take the (lock to the Black Hills to be sold for. mutton. After a second season Mr. Miles removed again to a new range on the Yellowstone river, about fourteen miles above the mouth of the Tongue, near which the llock yet remains. At the time of his purchase there were 1,001 sheep in the flock, Mr. Burgess having killed ofT a number for mutton. None died that season from dis- ease, and very few were killed by Indians. During their first winter in the valley they had no hay fed to them. A little was fed to them during the heavy snows of 1877, and in the winter of 1878 they received almost none at all. During the first year there was little increase in the flock, and the second was. not much better, the range being a poor one, and the lambs coming too late. Since then they have increased satisfactorily, the lambs being healthy and strong. The Increase In number has proven sufficient to pay the whole cost of care, leaving the crop of wool as net profit. During the first year the clipping averaged from seven to eignt pounds per head. The crop was sent to Phila- delphia, where it realized good prices. In the second year the clip averaged seven pounds. The clipping of 1879 was shipped in July. It amounted to about one and a half tons in weight, and netted thirty-two cents per pound at the Eastern market. The herd's increase during the year was about eighty per cent. The wool is now consigned regularly to the Boston market, where it ranks with the best Territorial wool, and brings the highest SUCCESS nv SIIEf'.PFARMING. 993 Western d by the i drove a d breeds, at Miles seasons ; river, on 1 the llock wner, who hree miles :ically into \a been to 1. After a lo-e on the outh of the time of his n-ess havini( ^ ^ an from chs- k their first A little was the winter [le first year ,nd was not Imbs coming iy, the lambs has proven ;rop of wool ratjed from ;nt to rhila- |nd year the |was shipped s in weight, |tern market, ity per cent, larket, where the highest prices. The cost of shipment from the range above Miles City to Boston is ^i.^^ per one hundred pounds. It should be added that sheep can be readily purchased in California for from $1.50 to $2.50 per head. It costs litde to drive them into the valley in two seasons, as the crop of wool almost defrays the expenses. The range on which they are placed in the Yellowstone Valley at present costs literally nothing, and the sheep are in steady demand in the local market at from ^3 to ^5 per head. "The profits of sheep-raising are generally estimated at a higher figure than those of cattle-raising. The lowest calculation is based upon a net profit of from twenty-five to thirty-five per cent, on the whole investment. Occasionally larger returns re- ward the fortunate stockman, which are sometimes worthy of noting, although they must be regarded in the light of exceptional occurrences, the same as the wonderful yields of gold once in a while recorded respecting bonanza mines. Every miner, how- ever, hopes constantly to stumble upon a bonanza, and in similar manner every stock-raiser is entitled to hope to achieve as brilliant success as others in his line, even though he will be contented with much less. In illustration of the possibilities connected with sheep-raising in Montana, Mr. White cites the experience of Judge Davenport, of the Sun River Valley. In July, 1875, ^^^ purchased 1,000 ewes, which cost him in tne neighborhood of ;f;3,ooo. 'These he put in charge of a young man, who was to take them on a range, care for them, pay all the expenses of the band, and to receive ai his share one-half of the wool produced, and one-half of die increased flock. At the end of four years a settlement was to be made, and Judge Davenport was then to receive back i ,000 of the best ewes which the band contained. The settlement was made last July. In the meantime Judge Davenport had received for his share of the proceeds of the wool $6,500, and for his share of the increase ^8,000. The profits of his investment of ;;^3,ooo for four years were, therefore, $14,500, or $3,625 or 121 § per cent, a year. During the same year other men made only fifty or sixty per cent, on their sheep, and some who, from inexperi- ence or bad fortune, met with heavy losses, perhaps not more than twenty-five percent. ; but I have never heard of a single instance 63 994 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. § cm in which there has been an absolute loss in a period of, say, three or four years. One man, driving a large band of sheep from the south a year or two ago, was caught by the winter in an unfavor- able place, and lost one-half or two-thirds of his flock, but at the end of three years, when he came to balance his books, he found that the remnant of his flock had done so well that his profits had been about twenty-five per cent, a year on his original invest- ment' " * On this subject of sheep-farming, Mr. Strahorn gives the follow ing items of the eight months' experience of his Excellency, Hon. B. F. Potts, Governor of Montana : " Some time ago he purchased a ranch on the Dearborn river, fifty miles north of Helena. Last October he bought and placed upon it 4,cxx) sheep, at a cost averaging $3 per head. He subsequently sold 400. Of the re- mainder 2,700 were ewes. During the months of April and May these gave birth to 2,900 lambs. Two hundred were lost by ex- posure in the severe snow-storm that visited the Territory that spring, to compensate, it would seem, for a very mild winter, but the number of twins equalled the loss, and the net product, as appears from the above statement, was 100 per cent, of the ewes. It is estimated that when a lamb is dropped it is worth ^2, and when three months old it is worth 5^3. The profit on the increase may, therefore, be put in round numbers at $5,000. The Governor has just completed his shearing. He sheared 3,600 sheep, and the average clip was six pounds per head. The wool is worth twenty-six cents in the Eastern market, and the cost of transpor- tation will scarcely exceed four cents. The proceeds of this clip * The increasing significance of the sheep raising industry is attested to by the following par- agiaph in the Philaflolpliia Northwest of February, i88o. The concluding sentence of the extract must be regarded as prophetic rather than >iiicily accurate : " From as far west of the end of the ironed track of the Northern Pacific, in the Yellowstone Valley, as Bozeman, which is in the Rocky Mountains, and from the Musselshell Valley and the Judith Basin to the nonh, inquiries are already addressed to the General Manager of the road for through rates to Nevv York on live sheep, dressed mutton, canned mutton .^nd salted peits. These rates are asked for on refrigerator cars, single and double deck cars, and for all rail to New York and part rail and part lake from Duluth. There is an element of romance in this sudden civilization of a region where, three years ago, Sitting Bull's young men would have ate up all the sheep and scalped all the shepherds that ventured on thsir hunting-grounds. But -the change is made. The Yellowstone Valley is possessed by shepherds and herdsmen." HORSE-FARMING IN MONTANA. 995 f, say, three ep from the an unfavor- i, but at the ,ks, he found is profits had ginal invest- es the follow :ellency, Hon. he purchased Helena. Last eep, at a cost o. Of the re- April and May mre lost by ex- ; Territory that dwinter,butthe duct, as appears the ewes. It is ■h $2, and when ^e increase may, The Governor .,600 sheep, and |e wool is worth ;ost of transpor- :eeds of this clip JtobythefoUowingP"- Icluding sentence of ll^e Lc. in the Yellowstone [Musselshell Valley *nd Iceneral Manager of the Lned mutton and salie L deck cats, and for all L element of romance;" t young men would h. Ir hunting-grounds, m i and herdsmen.' will therefore be about $4,750. A return of nearly $10,000 in less than one year, on an investment of $12,000, is certainly a most seductive showing." The production of a better class of horses, and also of hogs, is beginning to receive some attention. Horses are even more hardy than cattle or sheep ; they have the advantage of being able to paw away the deepest snows that may cover their pas- turage, and they never fail to take good care of themselves in the worst storms. The correspondent just quoted offers these prac- tical suggestions on this business : " What are wanted here are good draught horses, and the market for such would be limitless, at paying prices. Suppose a man, probably in connection with some other business, such as sheep-raising or raising grain, to buy fifty brood-mares (half-breed), which he can procure at $30 each, and one di-aught stallion, costing $1,000. He will thus have invested $2,500. He need be at no expense for feeding or stabling, except in the case of the stallion, and at very little ex- pense for herding, if he gives the business his personal attention. The average of colts is eighty per cent, of the mares, so that at the end of the first year he would have forty colts, worth $20 each, making $800, a return of over thirty per cent, on his invest- ment. Carry this computation forward, supposing him to sell off his geldings when they were four years old to pay expenses and to buy additional stallions, retaining the mare colts for breeders, and it will be seen that in five years he will have a band worth at least $10,000. Mr. Storey placed 200 mares on his ranch In the valley of the Yellowstone only a few years ago, and now has a herd of 1,200, worth an average of $75 each, besides having sold more than enough to pay all expenses." There are about 50,000 horses in Montana, a large proportion of which are the regular " broncho " or mustang stock. However, there are several large bands of thoroughbreds, and fine breeding animals are by no means rare. In the absence of an abundance of corn, or a climate suitable for producing it extensively, a few farmers have been experiment- ing with peas as a substitute upon which to fatten hogs. Pork, by the way, is a rare commodity in all the northern country, and ;^ CXI •;-« ►--r 3 '•O H s ••-« oq ;^ u^ 3 t-3 ■^ U| C> 9q6 ^^^ WESTERN EMP/RE. commands very high prices. Mr, A, V. Nichols, of Gallatin county, sells from 12,000 to 20,000 pound:, of pork annually, which has been produced on peas, and liass I'rothcrs, of Bitter Root Valley, market of bacon alone as hitj^h as 2 1 ,000 pounds per year. These gentlemen are of the opinion that peas make the best food for hogs, and they can produce more pork from an acre of peas than can be made from the same area in corn in Illinois. Pork in different forms sells at from twelve to twenty cents per pound in Montana towns, and hundreds of tons are still imported from distant States to supply the demand. Hogs for breeding purposes are very scarce at from ^12 to |^2o each. Manufachires. — Montana is too new a Territory and has too small a population to have any very extensive manufacturing es- tablishments. There are stamping, smelting and other reduction mills at Helena, Bozenian, Wickes, Butte City, Virginia City and other points in the Territory ; saw-mills and flou ring-mills at sev- eral of the larger towns, and the usual run of small manufactories in most of these places. Probably twelve or fifteen million dollars would cover the products of all the manufacturing establishments yet in existence. Objects of Interest. — About one-tenth of the Yellowstone Na- tional Park is within the bounds of Montana ; but as nearly seven-eiodge, sonu; of which are really geysers, while others have formed cones of their deposits thirty feet in height and fifty feet in diameter at the base, from the apex of which flows a large warm spring. This is sur- rounded by forty other springs, ranging in temperature from 1 1 5° to 150°. The canons and falls on the Upper Missouri are very beautiful and grand. We can only name " The Gate of the Mountains" and the "Great Falls," eighteen miles north of Helena, "Atlantic Canon," " The Bear's Tooth," " The Mysterious Thunder," supposed to be caused by hidden geysers in the moun- tains, "The Devil's Slide" and "The Devil's Watch-Tower ; " and in the northwest, the Flathead Lake Region with its Twin Cascades. Railroads. — Up to January, 1880, there were no railroads in op- eration in Montana, but since that dme the Utah and Northern Rail- road has been opened to Helena, with the intention of an extension westward or northwestward ; and the Northern Pacific Railway has entered the Territory from the east, and will reach the junction of Powder river with the Yellowstone by January, 1881, and Miles City and Fort Keogh by the early spring. The western or Pend d'Oreille Division of the same road will probably also enter the Territory by next spring, and make some progress southward in the valley of Clarke's fork of the Columbia river. The surveyed route of the Northern Pacific will traverse Wester;;, Southwestern and Southern Central Montana, throwing out a branch to the National Yellowstone Park, following the Clarke's fork of Co- lumbia and the Yellowstone river from its source nearly to its junction with the Missouri river, leaving it at Glendive, opposite the mouth of Cabin creek. Both these roads are likely to do a large and profitable business from the beginning, and one which will be increased almost indefinitely. At present immigrants wishing to reach Virginia City, Helena, Butte City, or any of the places in the Clarke's Fork Valley, will find it for their advantage to take the Utah and Northern Railroad ; and those who would pro- cure or who have procured homes in the valley of the Yellowstone, € CSS o II; gp8 OC/^ WESTERN EMPIRE. the Northern Pacific, which will soon be running to Miles City. The only other available route is that up the Missouri river by steam- ers, and for several hundred miles up the Yellowstone. This journey should be made after April and before August. Very soon there will be access to the Territory from the west by way of the Pend d'Oreille and Clarke's Fork Divisions of the Northern Pacific. Indian Reservations and Population. -^'Thc Territory was re- garded as the best place to which to banish the Blackfeet, Crows, Assiniboines, Gros Ventres and Yanktonnais, after the terror in- spired among the settlers by the terrible massacres in Minnesota in 1862-3, had made their longer stay in a new and rapidly grow- ing State intolerable and impossible, and so they were removed to immense reservations north of the Missouri river and south of the YelloTvstone, in 1867 and 1868, in the expectation that there they would be able to remain without molestation. Little did the Indian Office then dream that within ten or twelve years this very region would be found to be the garden spot of American aericulture, and that mines of fabulous wealth would be discovered among the mountains which then seemed to 'be so forbidding. But so it was ; and when, a year or two later, the Flatheads, Pend d'Oreilles and Kootenais were in need of a home, one was as- signed to them also within the limits of Montana. The United States government was lavish in its gifts of land to these tribes — 34,156,800 acres, or ^Va o^ the whole area of the Territory, was made over to them, including nearly all the land north of, and more than one-half of the region south of the Yellowstone, ex- tending to the Wyoming border. The land north of the Mis- souri, though some of it unfit for cultivation, is for the most part good grazing land, and the mountain slopes and river bottoms contain gold lodes and extensive placers; but the region south of the Yellowstone is the garden of the Territory for productive- ness, and contains also extensive lodes of silver and gold, espe- cially on Clarke's fork of the Yellowstone, Rosebud creek, and the Upper Yellowstone itself. At and around the five agen- cies on these reservations, viz. : the Blackfeet Agency, Crow Agency, Flathead Agenc}-, Fort Peck Agency, and Fort Belknap INDIAN RESERVA TIONS. 999 esCity. The er by stcam- rstone. This uaws()n . . Deer Lodge Jefferson Gallatin . . Lewis and Clarke Madison . . Meagher . . Missoula . . Totals . ruimlntion 1880. 2,712 180 8,876 2,464 3.643 6,521 3.9>6 2.744 2.533 1879. $1,029,59600 350,000 00 3,700,000 00 843.683 95 1,586,340 00 3,028,320 00 1,874,543 00 1,187,408 00 735.507 00 1878. 5977,990 00 596,792 00 329,231 02 2,341,268 00 795.663 15 1,386,34000 2,899,810 00 1^790,462 00 867,999 00 647,189 00 IncrenKC. $51,606 00 5«3.I53 00 20,768 98 1.358.732 00 48,020 80 200,000 00 128,510 00 84,081 00 319,409 00 88,318 00 39.'57 *»S. 5*5.272 95 $13,632,674 17 $2,882,598 78 The county of Dawson, organized we believe in 1880, is re- ported in the above table with Choteau county, of which it has been hitherto the eastern part ; but the coming of the Northern Pacific into the Territory has called a considerable population into this region, and it will probably next year report an increased population and assessment. The principal tcnvns of Montana are : Helena, the capital of the Territory, and of Lewis and Clarke county also ; a town which originated in a placer mine, and was at first known by the not very euphonious name of " Last Chance Gulch." The town is not beautiful. Its location forbids that, but it has some good buildings, several churches and a population of more than 5,000. Virginia City is in the soudiern part of the Territory, on the Yel- lowstone, a little north of the Yellowstone National Park. It is also near the famous Alder Gulch. It has a population of nearly 2,000. Butte City, forty or fifty miles south of Helena, is a pretty town, with some smelting works and a population of about 3,000. Bozeman is a flourishing town at the head of the Gallatin Valley, and is on tlie projected route of the Northern Pacific. It has about 1,500 inhabitants. Other towns, which are rapidly grow- ing, are: Bannock, Phillipsburg, Deer Lodge, Radersburg, Vestel, Missoula, Benton, and on the Yellowstone, Miles City and Glen- dive. By way of enlightening our readers as to the cost of living in Montana, we give the following price current of articles of respective Increwe. ^51,606 00 5«3.»53 00 20,768 «jH 1,358.7320° 48,020 80 200,000 00 128,510 00 84,081 00 319,409 0° 88,318 00 $2,882,598 78 1880, is re- which it has he Northern pulation into an increased capital of the town which by the not Ixhe town is some good [e than 5,000. , on the Yel- Park. It is ion of nearly ,a, is a pretty about 3,000. ^Uatin Valley, tcific. It has •apidly grow- [burg, Vestel, ity and Glen- cost of living ,f articles of PK/CflS CU/iREXT—Al'f.KAGF. ir.lG/:S. lOQI general use, furnished by a mcrcliantof Miles City in April, 18S0. The Yellowstone Division of the Northern Pacific will probably reach Miles City in March or April, 1881, and a few articles may then be lower. The Yellowstone is, however, navigable for steamboats for several months of the year. Flour, per cwt $4 25 to ^5 50 Oats, per cwt 5 00 Corn, per cwt 5 00 Potatoes, pur cwt 3 oo Iliittcr, (lioicc, per lb 50 Eggs, per tloz 75 Corn meal, per cwt 4 00 Bacon, per cwt 10 00 Breakfast Bacon, per cwt 25 00 Ham, per cwt 25 00 Lard, per lb 20 Beef, per lb 8 Mutton, per lb 10 Onions, per lb 8 Sugar, per lb • . . . 13 to 16 Coffee, per lb 25 to 35 Beans, per lb 8 Salt, per lb 8 Coal Oil, per gal 60 Whiskey, per gal 3 00 to 8 00 Beer, per case . 7 00 Tobacco, per lb 90 to i 25 Lumber, per M 45 00 to 100 00 Shingles, per M 1 1 00 White Lead, per cwt 5 50 Nails, per cwt 12 50 Iron, per lb 7 to 10 AVERAGE WAGES IN THE EAST AND IN MONTANA IN JANUARY, 1 879. Employment. In the East. In Montana. Bakers, per month and board 1^25 oo $65 00 Blacksmiths, per day 2 50 4 50 Bookkeepers, per month 7000 12500 Bricklayers, per day 3 50 6 50 Butchers, per month and board 24 00 50 60 Brickmakers, " " 20 00 50 00 Carpenters, per day 2 50 4 50 s CCS :^ CQ 3 '^> g s •*■• a? ;^' i^ s 3 •< S9 O 10O2 OrX ItT.STEKX EArriKF. First Cook, IKT month and board Jt^o oo fiiooo Second Cook, " " 3000 55 00 Cooks in tiuni lies, " " 1 1 00 3500 Chambornjaids, " " 10 00 30 00 Ck-rks, piT month 50 00 90 00 Dri'ssniakiTs, prr month 25 00 7000 Dairymen, |)cr month and l)oaril 2500 45 00 Kngint'crs in mills, per day 2 00 3 50 Farm hands, per montii and board .... 15 00 42 5© Harness-makers, per day 2 00 4 50 Hostlers, per month and board 15 00 45 00 Laundresses, *' " 12 00 35 00 Lal)orcrs, '* " 15 00 35 00 Lumbermen, " " 28 00 55 00 Machinists, per day 2 75 4 50 Miners, " 2 25 3 50 Millers, per month and board 25 00 65 00 Millwrights, per day 2 50 4 50 Painters, per day 2 25 4 00 Printers, i)er week 15 00 25 00 Plasterers, per day ' . . 2 50 5 50 School teachers, per month 30 00 80 00 Servants, per month and board 11 00 35 00 Shepherds, " '* 40 00 Stone masons, per day 3 00 6 00 Teamsters, per month and board 18 00 45 00 Waiters ** " 16 00 55 00 Education. — Our latest statistics of education are from Gover- nor Potts' report totiie Secretary of the Interior in October, 1878. Thore has been considerable progress since that time. Grailcd schools had been established at Helena, Virginia City, Bozeiiian, Butte and Deer Lodge, and large, well-ventilated brick school- houses had been erected for them. The other educational sta- tistics were as follows : Number of school-houses 80 Value of school-houses 1^67,700 Whole school census (between ages 4 and 21 years) . . 4,705 Number of scholars enrolled in schools 2*927 Number of teachers employed 104 Salaries of teachers employed J36, 200 Salaries of superintendents $4,500 J(llO oo 55 oo 35 oo 30 00 90 00 70 00 45 00 350 42 50 450 45 00 35 00 35 00 5500 4 50 350 65 00 450 4 00 25 00 5 50 80 00 35 00 40 00 6 00 45 00 55 00 re from Gover- I October, 1878. time. Gratlcd City, Bozeman, d brick school- iducational sta- 80 . $67,700 . 4.705 . 2,927 104 . $36,200 . $4»5oo ^^^i. femes mx;nborof,ra.l.,an.i,.i«,,.,,,,,^ XNiirnhcr of private schools Amount of county tax collcucci; .' ' «"5.c >^V%Vv/.r ncnommui,. 1003 6 10 ions. \i Nllllllli.T III iiM,.- I, I . I I f III ililf v:ilm.- . . I MfinliiT,!,!,, .'..,'• Siiriiliij .,,;,, „, I, <>iii';r-iH„,i„„;.|,;.;;;; .Vlh.l.ir, „f,,|| , Il.iicv,>l,„t .ollccin,,, w »J- lao '5 *-H,.!47 '71 '..I7J . W7 l"J,8. '^\\^ above table also dates f ' ^ tHe items would be dot.blJd in 1^1'^!^' 'T' P''''^"^'>' "^^^^ ^f or population and the efforts o ,2 • ^''^ ^^ ^^'^' '"^'-^ tliat the Con.re.,ationalists, thf L ".'"""'"^-^r'-^' ^"^'^ ^^now "-V organizations, and vve th nk I urcs' "t '"' ''^''^^'•^^•^ ^^--' so.ne other denominations alsr xt ' I f''''^ ''^"^' ^''^^^^^^Y not worse than in other new territo f "^'^^''^^^ '^ P^^^^^^^^^Iy some; bt.t there is less ro Jd fo ''.'"c rr' P^^-*^^^?^ ^^'^^er than bo and infidel ch.bs abotnti wl ' : 'f '^^'^ ^'-" '^^^^ should setdements. gambling and d ink ^^. 1" ' '^^ "^'^^"^'^ °^ "-- -'-e-us This is particularly I :::"! "^' ^^-^^^'-^ v.y t cments. the mining camp at VV^ke he 7'' °^ '^'^ "^^^ «-t- able and conspicuous exception "^' ^'°^^'^^^'^' ^» ^onor- Alter a time these m" • creditable popuia.ion. a I';;!!, ^i:;:;/?' "- » ^eUer and more ments. wi.ero the same scene, a" ' '*5° °" '° "<="^'"«'le- for this state of things is that m ?'"?''• '^'"-' ""'^ ^^"'ecly P-ple, who settle in thes new owns""-. T' "P^^'^"^ ^''-'-n "'e.r religious character, and " td" In"' '""'''■ '''"'"'^ '"'''"'^'n aeon, Sabbath-breal^ing, .amb in" , ^ r.^?™"^ ^"^ ^''--^''ded "e struggle n,ay be se^efe a. fiL .".^ ''""■''"S' '"^ thongh pleasant but greatly advanleous to h:' "'" '"' " "°' ""^^ geous to the permanent prosperity 1004 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of their settlements. Mr. VViches has been successful in doing this at his larj^^^e camp, and is now reaping the reward of his firm- ness for the right. € s :3 a CHAPTER XIV. NEBRASKA. Area and Extent — Boundaries — Comparative Area — Irs Riverine Bound- aries — Surface ok the Country — Sense in which it is a Prairie — Its Gradual Elevation to the Base of the R(^ckv Mountains — The Ne- BRAr.KA "Bad Lands" — The Rivers of Neuraska — The Missouri and Niobrara — The North and South Platte and their Affluents — The Loup and its Forks — The Republican Rivf.r — Clt:NERAL Direction of these Rivers — Geology and Mineralogy — The Loess or Drift — Allu- vial Deposits — The Great Pre-historic Lake — Tertiary Formation — Carboniferous Strata — The Coal Measures — Lignite in the Tertiary — Not much Economic Value to the Coals of Nebraska — The Peat Beds of the State — Soil and Vegetation — Fertility of the Loess — Tree? of the State — Zoology — Climate and Meteorology — Table — Agricul- tural Productions — Crops of 1877, 1878 and 1879 — Wild and Cultivated Fruits — Mk. E. A. Curley on the Wild Fruits-Grazing — The Live- stock of thk State — Manufacturing Industry — Railroads — Population — Rapid Growim of the State — Indians — Financial Condition — Educa- tion — Lands iok Lmmigrants — Government, School, University and Railroad Lands— Advice to Immigrants — Prices — Counties, Cities and Towns — Rkmcious Denominations — Historical Data — Nebraska as a Home for Immigrants. Nebraska, one of the States of the central belt of "Our West- ern Empire," lying between the parallels of 40° and 43° north latitude, and between 95° 20' and 104° of west loniWtiidj from Greenwich. It is bounded on the north by Dakota ; on the crnst by the Missouri river, which separates it from Iowa and Mis- souri ; on the south by Kansas and Colorado, and on the \v(;st by Colorado and Wyoming. Its area, according to the United States Land Office, is 75,995 square miles, or 48,636,800 acres. Its greatest length from east to west is 412 miles, and its breadth SURFACE OF TI/E COUNTRY. lOOS 1 doing lis firm- ME BOUND- lAiRiK— Its -The Ne- ;souri and ENTs— The RECTION OF ilFT — AlLU- DRMATION — [E Tertiary f Peat Beds , — Tree? of ; — AGRICUL- CULTIVATED -The Live- Population ON — Educa- ERSIIY AND Cities and raska as a 3ur West- 43° north tiul:- from ^\^ the east and Alis- hc v.'cst by le United ,800 acres. its breadth from north to south 208 miles. It is larger than all New Eng- land and New Jersey, and as large as Ohio and Indiana together. The Missouri river not only form« its entire eastern boundary, but in conjunction with the Niobrara, one of its larger tributaries, and the Keya Paha, an aftluent of that stream, gives a riverine boundary to nearly one-half of its northern border. Stirfacc of the Comitry — Gradual Descent from IFest to Bast — Rivers, Bluffs, Hills, V^alleys. — The State is calU;d prairie. So it is, in the sense of the word which means meadow ; biit not in that secondary sense which implies a land of unifom flatness. In real truth, Nebraska is a part of the lowest eastern grass- clothed slope of the Rocky Mountains. The eye alone will make no observer aware of. this fact. Nevertheless, from the eastern to the western boundary of Nebraska, there is a gradual and un- interrupted rise of the land of about seven feet to the mile in Eastern Nebraska, and from that to ten feet in the west; and thus it is that while the land on the eastern boundary is 910 feet above sea-level, on the western boundary it is about 5,oqo. The surface form of the State is, cf course, made by the rivers. The eastern front of the country shows bold, wooded bluffs to the Missouri, their outlines bemg cut and scarped into fantastic and picturesque forms by the washing water. West of the Missouri bluffs, except on the table lands, there is no flat, but a land of many changing forms — now broad bottoms, bounded by low hills ; now picturesque bluffs, and, especially in the grazing re- gion, ravines sometimes as rugged as the gulches in the gold fields. In the northwestern part of the State, in the region lying between the sources of the Middle Loup fork and the Niobrara river, there are extensive sand hills, and those clay deposits, cut into the most fantastic forms by the erosion of the mountain streams. Tliese are the " Nebraska Bad Lands," and are con- nected, both geologically and geographically, with the Dakota " Bad Lands," on and near the White Earth river, and between that river and the Big Cheyenne. These *' Bad Lands " are uninhabitable, but they are very in- teresting for their fossils, of which we shall have more to say under the Geology of Nebraska. t- ioo6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Now and aorain a river flows full to the bank, from which the bottom — from a mile to four or more miles wide — spreads out on either hand ; but generally, the streams run in deep beds, the high, steep banks and the narrow first bench being thickly clothed with timber. The general ascending lay of the land is broken from west to east by three main drainage channels. On the northern boundary of the State are the Niobrara and the Missouri rivers, of which latter the Niobrara is an affluent. The Niobrara has many tributaries, some of them of consider- able size ; and several of them, as their names imply, have many rapids and waterfalls.* The Platte, a winding, shallow, spreading stream, has the sources of both of its main streams, the North and South forks of the Platte, far up the main range or Great Divide of the Rocky Mountains in Central Colorado ; the North fork also traversing a great extent of territory in Wyoming; both forks cross Nebraska from west to east to their point of junction at North Platte. Before the division, the Platte river receives two large tributaries, the Loup Fork river, which, with its three branches. North, Middle and South, traverses a large territory, and the Elkhorn, which drains Northeastern Nebraska. On the south bank, neither the Platte nor the North Platte re- ceive any considerable streams. The South Platte receives on its north bank Lodge Pole creek, in the valley of which the Union Pacific road is constructed for 1 50 miles. From fifty to eighty miles south of the Platte, the Republican river, the largest tributary of the Kaw or Kansas river, having its sources in Eastern Colorado, traverses the southern and southwestern counties of the State, receiving three large affluents. Medicine Lake creek, White Man's fork and Rock creek, on its northern bank, and an infini- tude of small streams en both banks. Other smaller but consid- erable tributaries of the Kansas drain the southeast of the State. The general direction and flow of all these rivers is to the south- east. In their gradual descent from the lofty plateau at the west of the State, the rivers and streams, in seeking the lowest level. * Eau qui Court — «' the water that leaps " — ^^ni Chadusa, or Rapid creek, Antelope creek, the Rapid river, are a lew of the names of these affluents. TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 1007 ;hlch the eads out beds, the g thickly le land is iiels. On a and the jent. f consider- lave many , spreading the North ; or Great the North Wyoming ; i\x point of Platte river which, with rses a large n Nebraska. 1 Platte re- receives on :hthe Union eighty miles tributary of |rn Colorado, ,f the State, :reek, White ,nd an infini- |r but consid- of the State. Ito the south- lu at the west lowest level, ek, Antelope creek, have cut their way through the soft and easily eroded deposits, and have worn away their banks to such a degree as to give the appearance of high bluffs along tlicir banks, when in reality no such bluffs exist ; but the stream has eroded for itself a channel at a lower level than that of the surrounding country. Such is the topography of Nebraska in barest outline ; and, with the map before him, the reader can fill in the details. He can imagine the great plain ascending to higher altitudes as the mountains are approached; the rivers, west to east, making three great valleys, and two elevated divides separating the valleys ; and, finally, the smaller streams exhibiting the land as broken into an almost infinite number of gently undulating hills and valleys — with great table lands on the summits — the trend of which is southeast. Geology and Mineralogy. — The geological structure of the State is very simple. In the southeast a triangular tract, extend- ing west as far as where the Little Blue river crosses the southern boundary of the State, and having the apex of the triangle at the point where the forty-second parallel of latitude intersects the Missouri river, is distinctly identified with the upper carboniferous formation. It is covered to a depth of from thirty to ninety feet by a yellowish marl (the loess or surface deposit described by Professor Hayden), but the rocks below belong to the coal measures. There are thin strata of coal of good quality, but ranging in thickness from five to twenty-two inches — not suffi- ciently thick to pay for expensive mining, while clays, limestones and sandstones belonging to the carboniferous era make up the remaining thickness of the coal measures, which aggregate 120 feet or more. The geologists believe this deposit to be the west- ern rim or margin of the great coal basin of Missouri and Iowa, and think that on this border or rini the coal has been subjected to such pressure that it will be found too thin for profita.ble minine. West of these coal measures is a narrow belt of Permian rocks, and to this s'j:ceed the cretaceous deposits, having a breadth of seventy or eighty miles. West of this the whole sur- face rocks and soil of the State belong to the tertiary period. In the southwest the tertiary formation has large deposits of lignite of excellent quality, which will probably supply a large portion ioo8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. P^ tee O of the demand of the State for coal. Of the loess or yellowish marl which forms the superficial deposit over the greater part of the State, we may remark, that this deposit, which is quaternary rather than tertiary, is supposed to be the sediment deposited by the great lakes, one of them in Nebraska and Iowa being esti- mated as 500 miles long, and from fifty to two hundred miles wide, which covered this whole region after the close of the last glacial period. Into and through the greatest of these lakes the Mis- souri, then, as now, the muddiest of rivers, poured its vast flood of yellow waters. As the land gradually rose, this immense lake drained off its surplus water through the Missouri river, became a vast marsh, and eventually, as the rivers cut deeper and deeper through this loess deposit, the land became dry and solid. Of this loess, Professor Aughey, the State Geologist, says: " The loess deposit is in some respects one of the most remark- able in the world. Its value for agricultural purposes is not ex- ceeded anywhere. It prevails over at least three-fourths of the surface of Nebraska. It ranges in thickness from five to one hundred and fifty feet. Some sections of it in Dakota county measure over 200 feet. At North Platte, 300 miles west of Omaha, and on the south side of the river, some of the sections that I measured ranged in thickness from 125 to 150 feet. From Crete, on the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, west to Kearney, on the Union Pacific Railroad, its thickness for ninety miles ranges from forty to ninety feet. South of Kearney, and for a great distance west, along the Union Pacific Railroad, as far as to the Republican, there is a great expanse of territory, covered by a great thickness of this deposit. I measured many sections in wells over this region, and seldom found it less than forty, and often more than sixty feet in thickness. Along the Republican, I traced the formation almost to the western line of the State, its thickness ranging from thirty to seventy feet. One section north of Kearney, on Wood river, showed a thickness of fifty feet. The same variation in thickness is found in the counties bordering on the Missouri. One peculiarity of this deposit is that it is almost perfectly homogeneous throughout, and of almost uniform color, yellowish ir part of Liaternary deposited being esti- niles wide, ast glacial s the Mis- , vast flood s immense iouri river, cut deeper Tie dry and ; Geologist, lost remark- 's is not ex- ,urths of the five to one kota county es west of the sections feet. From ■oad, west to ss for ninety Cearney, and ilroad, as far tory, covered any sections an forty, and Republican, the State, its section north |ty feet. The bordering on .t it is almost oiform color, 77/Z; LOESS DEPOSIT. looo however thick the deposit or far apart the specimens have been taken. I liavc compared many specimens taken 300 miles apart, and from the top and bottom of the deposits, and no difference could be detected by the eye or by chemical analysis. " The physical properties of the loess deposits are also remark- able. In the interior, away from Missouri, hundreds of miles of these loess deposits are almost level or gendy rolling. Not un- frequently a region will be reached where, for a few miles, the country is bluffy or hilly, and then as much almost entirely level, with intermediate forms. The bluffs that border the flood-plains of the Missouri, the Lower Platte and some other streams, are sometimes gently rounded off. They often assume fantastic forms, as if carved by some curious generations of the past. But now they retain their forms so unchanged from year to year, affected neither by rain nor frost, that they must have been molded into their present oudines under circumstances of climate and level very different from that which now prevails. l*'or all purposes of architecture this soil, even for the most massive structures, is perfectly secure. On no other deposits, except the solid rocks, are there such excellent roads. From twelve to twenty-four hours after the heaviest rains, the roads are perfectly dry, and often appear, after being travelled a few days, like a vast floor formed from cement, and by the highest art of man. Yet the soil is very easily worked, yielding readily to the spade or the plow. Excavation is remarkably easy, and no pick or mat- tock is thought of for such purposes. It might be expected that such a soil would readily yield to atmospheric influences, but such is not the case. Wells in this deposit are frequendy walled up only to a point above the water-line ; and on the remainder the spade-marks will be visible for years. These peculiarities of the loess deposits are chiefly owing to the fact that the carbonate of lime has entered into slight chemical combination with the finely comminuted silica. There is always more or less carbonic acid in the atmosphere which is brought down by the rains, and this dissolves the carbonate of lime, which then readily unites with the silica, but only to a slight extent, and not enough to destroy its porosity. Though much of the silica is microscopically minute,, lOIO OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. d- cs S I 3 O it has largely preserved its angular structure, and this of cours aids the slight chemical union that takes place between it and th carbonate of lime. Had there been more lime and iron in thi deposit, and had it been subjected to a greater and longe pressure from superincumbent waters, instead of a slighdy chen ically compacted soil, it would have resulted in a sandston formation incapable of culdvation. There is not enough claye matter present to prevent the water from percolating through i as perfectly as through sand, though a great deal more slowl) This same peculiarity causes ponds and stagnant water to be rar within the limits of this deposit." In the northwestern part of the State, the region of the "Bai Lands," to which we have already referred, the loess is not a sur face deposit. The hills, "Great Hills," as they are called oi some of the maps, are either composed of loose-moving san( which is blown by the winds into round, conical hills with consid erable regularity — hills sometimes covered scantily with tufts oj grass, but oftener with the yuccas or Spanish needles or some ol the custi ; or the fantastic forms of the clay and soft tertiary lime stones, cut by the water-courses into the semblance of ruine( cities, towers, temples and columns, and often covered with spark ling alkaline crystals. This region of " Bad Lands " occupies according to Professor Hayden, an area of about 20,000 squar miles on both sides of the Niobrara river. There are many lift lakes or ponds in this region, some salt, some alkaline, and som very pure and fresli. This whole tract abounds in fossils of t most remarkable ciiaracter. While these lands are e:eolocficaI connected with the " Bad Lands " on the White Earth river Dakota, it is a very interesting fact that the fossils of the Dakot lands belong to an earlier period than those of the Nebrask lands, and that the two seem to have had hardly any anima common to both. These regions have been the favorite huntinf ground for fossils of Professors Leidy and O. C. Marsh. Of tli Nebraska fossils Professor F. V. Hayden says : • " If we pass for a moment southward into the valleys of tl Niobrara and Loup fork, we shall find a fauna closely allied, y entirely distinct from the one on White river, and plainly inte lOSS/LS OF A'EBKASKA. lOII d this of course ;tvveen it and the and iron in this ater and longer f a slightly cheni- in a sandstone ot enough clayey dating through it leal more slowly. It water to be rare egionof the "Bad ; loess is not a sur- they are called on loose-moving sand al hills with consid- cantily with tufts of needles or some of id soft tertiary lime- emblance of ruined covered with spark- d Lands" occupies, about 20,000 square There are many little le alkaline, and some inds in fossils of the [nds are geologically /hite Earth river in Ifossils of the Dakota ,se of the Nebraska hardly any animals the favorite hunting- .C. Marsh. Of the lys : • Ito the valleys of tlie i,na closely allied, yet er, and plainly inter- mediate between that of the latter and of the present period ; one appears to have lived during the middle or miocene tertiary pe- riod, and the other at a later time in what is called the pliocene In the later fauna were the remains of a number of species of extinct camels, one of which was of the size of the Arabian camel, a second about two-thirds as large, also a smaller one. The only animals akin to the camels, at the present time in the western hemisphere, are the llama and its allies in South America. Not less interesting are the remains of a great variety of forms of the horse family, one of which was about as large as the ordinary domestic animal, and the smallest not more than two or two and a half feet in height, with every intermediate grade in size. There was still another animal allied to the horse, about the size of a New- foundland dog, which was provided witii three hoofs to each foot, though the lateral hoofs were rudimental. Although no horses were known to exist on this continent prior to its discovery by Europeans, yet Dr. Leidy has shown that before the age of man this was emphatically the country of horses. Dr. Leidy has re- ported twenty-seven species of the horse family which are known to have lived on this continent prior to the advent of man — about three times as many as are now found living throughout the world. " Among the carnivorse were several foxes and wolves, one of which was larger than any now living; three species of hyse- nodon — animals whose teeth indicate that tiiey were of remark- ably rapacious habits ; also five animals of the cat tribe were found, one about the size of a small panther, and another as larire as the larcjest wolf. Several of the skulls of the ticrer-like animals exhibited the marks of terrible conflicts with the cotem- porary hycenodons. "Among the rodents were a porcupine, small beaver, rabbit, mouse, etc. "The pachyderms, or thick-skinned animals, were quite numer- ous and of great interest, from the fact that none of them are living on this continent at the present time, and yet here we find the remains of several animals allied to the domestic hog, one about the size of this animal, another as large as the African ir2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ^ CO a hippopotamus, and a third not much larger than the domestic cat. "Five species of the rhinoceros roamed through these marslics, ranging from a small, hornless species, about the size of our black bear, to the largest, which was about the size of the existing unicorn of India. No animals of the kind now inhabit the western hemisphere. '•Amonsf the thick-skinned animals were the remains of a mas- todon and a large elephant, distinct from any others heretofore discovered in any part of the world. Dr. Leidy says that ' it is remarkable that among the remains of mammals and turdes there are none of crocodiles. Where were these creatures when the shores of the ancient Dakotan and Nebraskan waters teemed with such an abundant provision of savory ruminating hogs?' During the tertiary period Nebraska and Dakota were the homes of a race of animals more closely allied to those inhabiting Asia and Africa now, and from their character we may suppose that during that period the climate was considerably warmer than it is at present. The inference is also drawn that our world, which is usually called the new, is in reality the old world, older than the eastern hemisphere. " Ever since the commencement of creation, constant changes of form have been going on in our earth. Oceans and moun- tains have disappeared, and others have taken their pla.ce. Entire groups of animal and vegetable life have passed away, and new forms have come into existence through a series of years wiiich no finite mind can number. To enable the mind to realize the physical condition of our planet during all these past ages is the highest end to be attained by the study of geological facts. It has been well said by an eloquent historian that he who calls the past back again into being enjoys a bliss like that of creating. " We may attempt to form some idea of the physical geography of this recrion at the time when these animals wandered over the country, and to speculate as to the manner in which their remains have been so beautifully preserved for our examination. We may suppose that here was a large fresh-water lake during the middle tertiary period ; that it began near the southeastern side THE FOSSIL MAAfAfA/.S OF A'FffA'ASA'A. roi3 e domestic sc marshes, 3f our black the existing the western ins of a mas- s heretofore ys that • it is i turtles there res when the aters teemed lating hogs?' ere the homes Inhabiting Asia I suppose that ^rarmer than it Lir world, which rid, older than .nstant changes ins and moun- . place. Ent"*""^' away, and new of years which I to realize the past ages is the >gical facts. It ^e who calls the , of creating, ■sical geography ndered over the Ich their remains .mination. We lake during the ,utheastern side of the Black Hills, not large at first nor deep, but as a marsh or mud -wallow for the gigantic [)acliyderms that lived at the time; that as time passed on it became deeper and expanded its limits until it covered the vast area which its sediments indicate. We cannot attempt to point out in detail all the changes through which we may suppose, from the facts given us, this lake has passed, during the thousands of years that elapsed from its be- ginning to its extinction, time long enough for two distinct faunie to have commenced their existence and passed away in succes- sion, not a single species passing from one into the other. Even that small fraction of geological time seems infinite to a finite mind. We believe that the great range of mountains that now lies to the west of this basin was not as lofty as now ; that doubt- less the treeless plains were covered with forests or grassy meadows, upon which the vast herds of gregarious ruminants cropped their food. Into this great lake on every side poured many little streams from broad valleys, fme ranging ground for the numerous varieties of creatures that existed at that time. Large numbers of fierce carnivorous beasts mingled with the multitudes of gregarious ruminants, constantly devouring them as food. As many of the bones, either through death by vio- lence or natural causes, were left in the valleys, they would be swept down by the first high waters into the lake, and enveloped in the sediments at the bottom. As the gregarious ruminants came down to the little streams, or by the shores of the lake to quench their thirst, they would be pounced upon by the flesh- loving hycenodon, drepanodon or dinichthys. It was probably near this place also that these animals would meet in fierce conflicts, the evidences of which remain to the present time in the cavities which the skulls reveal ; one of these, of a huge cat, shows on either side the holes through the bony covering which had parti- ally healed before the animal perished ; and the cavities seem to correspond in form and position with the teeth of the largest hyaenodon. ' .» "The remains of those animals which, from their very nature, could not have existed in great numbers, are not abundant in the fossil state, while those of the ruminants occur in the IOI4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. % ►^ ft? greatest abundance, and arc widely diffused in the sediments, not only geographically, but vertically. The chances for the remains of a species seem to depend upon the number of individuals that existed. The remains of ruminants already obtained com- prise at least nine-tenths of the entire collection, while of one species portions of at least seven hundred individuals have been discovered. There is another interesting feature in regard to these remarkable fossils, and that is the beauty and perfection of their preservation ; the bones are so clean and white and the teeth so perfect, that when exposed upon the surface they pre- sent the appearance of having bleached only for a season. They could not have been transported from a great distance, neither could the waters have been swift and turbulent, for the bones seldom show any signs of having been water-worn, and the nice, sharp points and angles are as perfect as in life." Minerals. — The mineral wealth of the State consists largely of the two coal beds which we have described — the true coal in the southeast, which possesses but little economic value, and the lig- nite, which will probably be found profitable. Peat exists in im- mense beds in Central and Western Nebraska, and in the opinion of Mr. E. A. Curley, a competent judge in these matters,* in the best form and condition to be made available for fuel. At some time in the not distant future, these peat beds may prove more valuable than the thin seams of coal in the coal measures. Lime, sandstone, limestone, and marble for ornamental purposes, gyp- sum, and especially salt, are the other principal minerals. There are many salt basins in the central and western parts of the State. The most extensive is in Lancaster county, in a district of twelve by twenty-five miles, surrounding Lincoln, the capital of the State. The spring waters contain twenty-nine per cent, of salt, and the salt is manufactured by the solar evaporation process. The salt is said to be the purest in the world, having 981^0 P^r cent, of pure chloride of sodium. The sandstones, limestones, and marble or m^gnesian limestone, are all of excellent quality for building and ornamental purposes. * "Nebraska and its Resources." London, 1875. SOIL Ai\D PRAIRIE VEGETATION. loi; liments, not the remains inclivkluals tained com- vhile of one Is have been ,n regard to d perfection vhite and the ace they pre- eason. They tance, neither \ox the bones , and the nice, lists largely of rue coal in the le, and the lig- at exists in im- in the opinion atters* in the (fuel. At some lay prove more lasures. Lime, purposes, gyp- linerals. There Irts of the State, listrict of twelve capital of the |er cent, of salt, iration process. lavinggSi^o P^"" •nes, limestones, ixcellent quality Soil and Vegetation. — The soil of the uplands is largely com- posed of loess, and that of the river v.illeys of alluvium. The two deposits are similar in chemical elements, and they form a very rich and durable soil, exceedingly valuable for agricultural purposes, ranging in thickness from five to one hundred and fifty and even two hundred feet. Careful analyses of the soil show that in the loess over eighty per cent, of the formation is finely comminuted silica: so fine that its true character can only be de- tected under a microscope. About ten per cent, of its substance is made up of carbonates and phosphates of lime. There are some small amounts of alkaline matter, iron and alumina ; the result being a soil that can never be exhausted until every hill and valley which composes it is entirely worn away. Its finely comminuted silica gives it natural drainage in the highest degree. When torrents of rain come, the water soon percolates the soil, which, in its lowest depths, retains it like a huge sponge. When droughty periods intervene, the moisture rises from below by capillary attraction, supplying nearly all the needs of vegetation In the dryest seasons. The richer surface soil overlies the sub-soil, and Is from eighteen Inches to three and four, and even six feet thick. It is organically the same as the sub-soil, but enriched with organic matter, the growth and decay of Innumerable cen- turies — a garden soil, easily cultivated, and making the arable farm as a garden. The prairie, clothed only by natural processes, presents its own testimony to the riches of the State. Its whole expanse is cov- ered with grasses, there being not fewer than 1 50 species, and the most abundant, making the best pasture, showing green at the end of April, and affording feed until November. The blue joint grows everywhere except on low bottoms. Under ordinary conditions its growth is two and a half to four feet ; and on culti- vated grounds it is found from seven to ten feet high. Wild oats grow on the uplands, mixed with blue-joint. This grass is relished by catrie and is abundant. The buffalo grass, low in habit, is now found in the western half of the State. It disappears before cultivation, but it is nature's provision of food for grain-eating animals during winter, on the prairie, inasmuch as it retains its I0i6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. § 3 9 nutriment all the year round. Among other feed j^i-asscs arc several varieties of bunch-y^rass; and in the low lands a native bluc-f^^rass and the spanglc-top, which latter makes excellent hay. The Nebraska prairie is not bare of trees — in fact, the native trees furnish a large list. The river bluffs are ciollu'd with them, and the banks of the streams. There are two kinds of buckeye, two of maple, the box-elder, two of locust, four of ash, four of elm, four of hickory, eleven of oak, twelve of willow (eight species being shrubs), three of birch, three of poplar, hack- berry, iron wood, one sycamore, black walnut, two spruce firs, yellow pine, white cedar and red cedar. The shrubs include common juniper, linden, pawpaw, prickly ash, five sumacs, shrub trefoil, two species of red root, spindle-tree, buckthorn, six spe- cies of plum, six currants and gooseberries, five dogwoods, butter bush, buffalo berry, red and white mulberry, hazelnut and beaked hazelnut. Cedars arc found on the islands of the Platte, and along the Loups and the Niobrara there is a goodly quantity of pine. But the point is here : tliis list of trees is proof tiiat trees flourish on the prairie; and that as much timber as is needed for all uses can be raiL,ed on the farm. During the Indian period, when prairie fires annually swept over the country, the timber was confined to the banks of the streams; but since the eraof civilization and cultivation has com- menced, the prairie fires are checked, and groves and forests have become possible on the prairie. ' Zoology. — Buffaloes are still found, though not plentiful, in the southwestern and northwestern parts of the State. The elk [Cef'vus Canadefisis) is the noblest game animal of the plains; it sometimes weighs from 700 to 800 pounds, and its antlers are magnificent. Its range vs h\ the west from the south to the north, feeding on the high prairies, and frequenting also the ravines. The antelope {Aniilocapra Americana),'m plentiful herds and fleet as the winds, is found everywhere west of Plum creek ; and the white or long-tailed deer {Cervus Leucurtis), a.nd the black-tailed [Cenms Macrotis) are denizens of the same region — the white- tailed being found over the whole State. In the far west and among the ravines, the big-horn sheep [Ovis Montana) will now ZOOLOGY OF XKBRASA'A, IOI7 isscs arc a native lU;nthay. he nalive ilu'il with kinds of )ur of asb, of willow plar, hack- iprucc firs, ii)S include nacs, shrub rn, six spc- oods, butter and beaked rlatte, and quantity of of that trees s needed for ually swept toanks of the lion has com- and forests and aq^ain fall to the riric. The time for hunting is from the first of October to the end of Dcctinlnir, the law protectinj^ the ani- mals durini,'' the rcmairKler of the year. The jack rabbit or prairie hare [/.(-pGridw Cdm/^cslris) is common, lie is a stronj^ and flc^el animal, and is j^ood J^^'lme for coursing, and only to be run down by the strongest and lK:etest greyhounds. The little gray rabbit is also common, and affords excellent shooting; and away in tlie west, the sage rabbit. In the timber, the black bear and two species of lynx are found — rarely in the settled parts of the State, and more commonly on the frontier ; and also in the same localities, the large whit*.' and gray wolf. The coyote, or prairie wolf, is also worth hunting, the animal having all the cun- ning of the fox and more than the wit of the prairie foxes, of which there are diree species, the red fox, the prairie fox and the kit fox. Some of die streams are sdll populous with beavers, minks and muskrats. The game birds of Nebraska are plentiful; and in the season afford sport in abundance. The wild turkey is the noblest of them all. CIvIli/.aiion drives it away; but in the wilder parts of the .Stat*', ll/j bird is common enough, and where the woods are thickening in the river counties, its reappearance is beginning to be noteil. The prairie chickens — the grouse of the prairie — are everywliere ; and away out on the frontier, the large sage hen. Quail are j)lentiful and readily shot; and there are several plovers which are woi di the powder and shot of the sportsman. In early spring and late fall, large flocks of wild geese cross the State, resting during the journey on the rivers, creeks and ponds. Mallards, teal, and many other species of wild duck, are plentiful during the same; seasons. Of cranes there are four or five species — the sand-hill crane, the largest, being ac- counted an excellent table-bird! There are numerous hawks, and tlie bald-headed eagle is frequently seen in the sparsely set- tled districts. The streams are w'ell stocked with the common kinds of fish, and in the northwest there is an abundance of trout in the streams. Climate and Meteorology. — Nebraska has a very temperate and healthful climate. The gradually increasing elevation from cast to west secures good drainage everywhere, and though the winds I0i8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 3 9 8 which sweep across its prairies are strong, they are healthful. The climate is essentially a dry one, though the rainfall is suffi- cient and well distributed to secure the best results for the crops. The winters are not so rigorous as in the States and Territories farther north, though the temperature is occasionally low. The summers are long and warm, but the prairie breezes greatly modify and temper the extreme heat. The mean temperature during the winter months ranges from 22° to 30°; that of the spring from 48° to 50° ; that of the summer from 71° to 74", and that of the autumn from 48° to 51°. A record of thirteen yearg at Plattsmouth gives the mean annual rainfall as 38.35 inches, of which 28.82 inches fell between April ist and October ist, and only 9.53 inches between October ist and April ist. Farther west the rainfall is somewhat less, but with very rare exceptions it is sufficient. The table on page 1019 gives the meteorology of six different points for periods of from two to five years, though none of them mdicate either the temperature or rainfall of the extreme west or northwest, which is as yet not inhabited, and some portions of it hardly habitable. In the " Bad Lands," the summer's sun beats down with terrible intensity, the heat reach- ing 1 1 2° Fahrenheit in the shade ; and the winter's cold is, in its way, equally intense. Agricultural Productiojts. — Although Nebraska Is essentially an agricultural State, and has a large amount of good and fertile land, a larger proportion, perhaps, than most of the States adja- cent to her, we have to complain that she has not made the most of her advantages, and in her accounts of her soil and produc- tions has dealt altogether too much in glittering generalities, to the exclusion of those statistics of actual crops which alone can determine the actual capabilities of her soil and lands for new comers who desire to cultivate them. We fear that there has been much slovenly farming on her rich and fertile lands ; for, so far as the scanty statistics enable us to determine, the average yield of the cereals has been much lower than it should have been on lands as admirably adapted to cereal culture as those of the loess beds, and that that yield per acre is diminishing instead of increasing. The numbers and ire healthful, iifall is suffi- or the crops, d Territories y low. The ezes greatly temperature ; that of the ° to 74^, and lirteen yearg 35 inches, of ber I St, and St. Farther e exceptions teorology of 2a rs, though tin fall of the habited, and Lands," the : heat reach- :old is, in its s essentially d and fertile States adja- de the most md produc- neralities, to li alone can ids for new ling on her sties enable ; been much bly adapted it that yield umbers and ''^^^O.co.y 0,- ,;^^,SA-,. lorp Mean Annual fW^IF larometer. w I020 OC/H WESTERN EMPIRE. S *^ OCJl O quality of the live-stock are increasing, and give evidence that the grazing lands which are now rapidly filling up, will prove profitable to the stock-raiser. With greater care in her cultiva- tion, the average crop of wheat on her excellent wheat lands should be not less than twenty-five bushels to the acre instead of 1 3. 1 bushels, as it was in 1S7S, or fifteen bushels, as it was in 1877. She has done better in corn, and as this crop is likely to be in demand for the fattening of her own live-stock, she ■will have strong inducements to do better yet. The quantity of land taxed or reported for taxation was, in 1879, a little more than 14,000,000 acres, or more than one-fourth of the entire area of the State, and it was valued for the purposes of assessment at only ^3 per acre. This included, of course, a large amount of grazing land, and the assessment was high enough for this class of land. The land under cultivation in 1879 probably exceeds slightly 4,000,000 acres, or about one-twelfth of the area of the State. The large amount taken up for farms in the last tv/o c; three years has not yet become subject to taxation. The t n t*» "^ u» " M 4* o 2 ? •*J •?:!- ♦ OJ M Ui o\ *»» o> <» SF M ■s? o M M ^ M M Oi - 1 t-< M Ui in ^ 3 ♦ VO ^ UI "1 30. i * w M ^ S5 H* a H D %. W Ui M Ui T\ "S - Ch ^ g 31 8 0\ -K ^ ^ »0 U 8 ON •a n «A a* *" 53 "^ u« M M Price per bushel, pound, etc. ./I •(»' OJ «k H w 00 M ut o ^ OJ «^ \o 1 ^ ^ M O vO *a a ■3 Ul >< ^ o\ ,n H 00 e. M o M i^ O 00 M ut R * "S? • r ? .n JI 3 . o\ CO bi M vO 5'S-o M *J >i Ov 4k .n OJ i^ M ■^ w ^ bush or t rop. ; 8 U S o* i ■b- 8 OJ Ul u» 1. \ ^r •o M H M w M ^ Oj H Ski • M Ln Ut O^ Oi OI ■K SsI ■ M o ; OO 3 '^ M 00 OJ M M > OJ .o H M h) N Jj N Ui UI M M w 4» M OJ 8 oo * § to Ox M g in U\ ii & a Ov 8 00 8 Ul «» .s £ ^ S OJ Oi OJ o^ 8^ Price per bushel, pound, etc. ■» ■*» H <^ OJ Oi in M *4 M o < ■•^ M W ON M m Ui "Vj "^ "o 00 M 00 Ul i. £. s Oi ti. iT •3 w •s y U» s ■gz M Oi M ig ? 00 5. ■3 00 5'S.o, P"? P c § § 1 1 § § § CO Ul •>> shels, r tons P- u> M M > ff % ••k S, M 0\ ^ %• 2 & M »a •». ^ 00 "§ 8 oj 1 'a o ■§ % f a «l> «« I u H S4 5* t Oi § i ■^ 1 f 5? in s 1 f i ? "3 t s y i o o to Co 5 1022 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 3 5 3 US raspberries, buffalo berries, etc., and its wild grapes.* For a new State it has also made great progress in the cultivation of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, plums, quinces and the other fruits of a temperate climate. In cultivated grapes it has not yet made great progress. At the Centennial Exhibition the State had a collection of 1 63 varieties of apples, many of them of great ex- cellence, and a considerable number of pears. Both fruits received the first premium. But a large portion of Nebraska is and must continue to be, for many years to come, better adapted to grazing than to farming, and while it can hardly at the same cost maintain as large flocks and herds as Texas, Colorado, Wyoming or Montana, there is no question that stock-raising does and will prove very profitable, if righdy managed, in Nebraska. The amount of » '='^ock in these grazing States and Territories increases so r< ly every year that it is very difficult to keep pace with them, but although we cannot procure the statistics of the year 1880 as yet, a comparison of the live-stock of the State for 1877, 1878 and 1879 may give some idea of the rapidity of increase; for our statistics for 1877 ^"^^ \^']'^ are compiled from the State Auditor's reports, and those of 1879 ^^ovs\ the United States Agricultural report, the State report for that year not being yet published. Animals. Horses Mules and asses Mi!»-h cows Oxen and other cattle. .. Sheep Swine Totals of values. 1877. 1878. iia,7iS io,6o» 93,700 23?;, 200 82,858 318,764 < 67.68 9273 •.6.96 21.30 2.77 5.80 3 > ° .A l.i #7,628 983 7,526 5.>'7;i 551 123 122 C6. i?7,6i9 16,482 T27 6 .0 37'i,":3 229 1,843 5'7 83. ■ji.777 6 7,6, J 18,209,804 67 34 87-tS 24.27 2.30 •a > 1879. ^< #10,614,^63 ».44i.36»i| 3,o96,.'<52] 7,314,328; 272,287, 1,841,838 24,580,719 >8o,537 >7,i5o 145,280 458,147 162,520 7ui,750 3 O H 68.10 #12,296, 570 91.00 I i,';6v/,65o 3,777>s8o "■499.-")" 479.434 2,722,790 26.00 25.10 I a.95 I 3-83 32,336,214 * Mr. E. A. Curley, the accompli.shed correspondent of the London "//V/c/," published, in 1S75, a valuable work, largely illustrated, entitled, " Nel)raska, its Advantages, Resources and Drawbacks." In this work he has given engravings of many of these wild fruits, and particu- larly of the plums, strawberries, grapes and buffalo berries. In some of these fruits he thinks Nebraska surpasses any Western State. For a new ion of apples, er fruits of a ot yet made State had a of great ex- ruits received continue to azing than to t maintain as kVyoming or loes and will Draska. The 1 Territories Icult to keep 2 statistics of ; of the State le rapidity of ompiled from m the United hat year not »879. ni ^ u a < 23 I 3 ^ SM 68.10 $12,206,'; 70 ^5^ 91.00 i,';6o,6iO 280 26.00 3.777.280 '47 25.10 ii,499,.<90 520 2.95 479.434 750 3.83 2,722,7JO ... 32,336,214 )W(/," published, in iges, Resources and I fruits, and particu- ese fruits he thinks -"S these are very low a ^°^3 amount of stock i„ ,880 ha??"'"' '"^ *« '""^^^ in the P^cedent, it is probable tht' a f^ ^T ^'""'^ ^" fo^m ' notbe less than $50,000,000. " '^^ ^""^ "^ >SSo would manuracun-n, s"o iarfc.^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ "ot e„,a,ed i„ her ,n domg. With abundant ' ^f '^°'^'''"ary facilities warrant to produce all .he steamtt rir"'^\='"d coal suffici n ma enal for manufactures of all r J needs, and abundant faclities of transportation 1 S'^ "^" ^= "- ^-^ po sib e ■ng State; but at present her a Is, ^f?' ""^^^-^ manufactu ! agnculture. Omaha, Lincoln N K f ^P^"''™^^ i' upon he. and other towns have son e „an!r '■'^' ^">'' "attsmou h ■mportance. Omaha in pa icXr f '"^ ^^'ablishments of refinmg works, and receives an >' ''^"^"'"'^'^ smelting and refractory ores from A on a„, jl""V,'''^'^ <1"-"'"- of 'he Colorado. Flour and feed j"!; '"'' ^'^''' and some fron' and wagons, boots and shoe fuIT "'"''"''^'^ ^^'^' -""C ' hats, d,stilled and fermented L*"' '••^^'ly-made dothift manufacture. In ,87.* ^ °" "'"'^ 'he leadin.. article, r' 'he Sutewere e.st^mltfatrl''™^--^ -"^^^^^^ e«eed $30.ooo,oco. «'5,500,ooo. They now probablv Pa«s of the State wj^e f rfarf -^fl^^^'^^ ^~= a„ awa,t,ngan,arke. South of the PtoeT'""'^ °^ P™^-'^ are connected with the R„ i- "™'' '"o^t of the marl= Nebraska. The if ifufTrhl'"'-,"'^^""' '^-'-T " Plattsmouth. on the Missouri river Ih"'' "'"'"--' at '=< being constructed which w 1. ^ ""'' ^' 'his time a bridge ;ouri in Nebraska, ^^Z^^ZTTv ''"''"'"'" ^"'^ ^^- 'o>va), w„h a branch from Om ha J"h "^'°" ""'' ^"'"'^y ■" Oreapohs, four miles west of Pi!!! -'°'"'' "'^ main line at !'e course of the Platte rve.^orr"\ '',''<= ''"■= 'hen follows .' proceeds over Salt Creek vSlev.h°K°/ ^'" "^^'^•' »'-"« L-ncoln, the State capital • and ,/ ^^ Lancaster county to •hrough Lancaster, lalin, F^ e" 0^ A^ "^'^^^ P^'- ' ^^^y' ^^ams and Kearney 1024 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. % Is 3.^ S counties to a junction with tlie Union Pacific road at Kearney, in Buffalo county. Tiie Beatrice branch of the Burhngton and Missouri road starts from Crete, in Saline county, and runs south along the valley of the Big Blue to Beatrice, in Gage county; and the same company, under the name of the Republican Valley Company, has built a line frojrn Hastings, in Adams county, south over the prairie to the Republican Valley, and thence west along the valley to Naponee, on the west line of Franklin county, which road is novvbeingpushedforwardas rapidly as possible westward to Denver, in Colorado, and a contract for loo miles west of Naponee has recently been made. It is also proposed to continue this line eastward from the point where it strikes the Republican Valley south of Hastings, to Beatrice, in Gage county. The Nebraska Railroad has at present its initial point in Nemaha City, in Nemaha county, and runs north on the west bank of the Missouri river through Brownville, in Nemaha county, to Nebraska City, in Otoe county; thence westward through Otoe and Lancaster counties to Lincoln; and thence through Seward, York, Hamilton and Merrick counties to Central City, where it connects with the Union Pacific, and the track is now surveyed north twenty miles to Fullerton, the centre and county-seat of Nance county. The Atchison and Nebraska Railroad starts at Atchison, in Kansas, and runs through Richardson, Pawnee, Johnson, Gage and Lancaster counties to Lincoln ; and from the capital city this company is now building a road, under the name of the Lincoln and North- western Railroad, through Lancaster, Saline, and Buder counties to Columbus, in Platte county, where it connects with the Union Pacific. The Omaha and Republican Valley Railroad, a branch from the Union Pacific, runs through Douglas, Saunders, Butler, and Pol^ counties to Osceola, the county-seat of the last-named county, and a branch is now building from Valparaiso, i:i Saunders county, to Lincoln. The St. Joseph and Denver Rail- road, which starts at St. Joseph in Missouri, runs westwanl through the north tier of counties in Kansas, and enters Nebraska in Jefiferson county, passing through Thayer, Nuckolls, Adams and Hall counties to a junction with the Union Pacific at Union Paciiir Tr ""'"«■ '° Albion in r1 '^st-named rut "'^'■" "- '° n"Sv:;s--'" ^ ''- ''--X" and R ^u",! °f '''■^'■'=« coun y T. "°" """'y^ ^nd Pierce and B, k Hdls Railroad nms from r """*>"°"' Columbus' mediately opposite Sioux Citv L r "^"""Ston, which is Z to Ponca, the countv-sea, „7t^' °"'^' ""-""K'' DakotnV been sold in 1879 to tie sIT ^°""'>'-- -"d, the road h""'"' tobe™ ,„he/:esrth:o5::,fir «'■ '^au, rS ;■? A the bes.nning of ,8So I "'''"''"'""''e'sofNebrai' t;:^;rrt ■•- ^^ ^''' "-' -- -^- .very rapid, although stXvf'^ P°P"lation in Nebraska ha, 1, -;"-tpopulatit„ thl~i7fr'-enot^^^^^^^^ Hav,„g no mines or mine,.! we^rft hi ' "'" ^"^'^^ ^<'>ce,„ " ^'^ l^nown as those of State? h ^^ """'^en made as 1026 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. very favorably with that of any of the States or Territories belonging to "Our Western Empire:" g ^3 I g i "s . 8 & 4.494 I •'."6" «.433 28,8^1 I ifi,76-i ia,o8i 129,33?* I 71,425 5».568 1-^1,7-7 IIJ.fKX) 1^3, 133 122,6^3 163,327 148,431 2iJi,;35 185,035 >855 1 86 J 1871) >874'234,337 1 1876 257,747" 1878 313.718* 879 386,4 IO> 1880; 436,812* a49.»75>03.'57 28,696 ■22,117 449,805 82 789 3.394 •O 63t 6,416 6,329 5. a 73 4.7"> 4.350 4.64a 32 ,490 9a.a45i 355.04a, e I "E o 6,35110.38 30,748^1.62 3.t.8 3-39 U.>3 I 508 97,390; 6.01 o g a: 3>6.45 993 77.26 5 .8.671 1 4>.3a5 I 7a.99> ! 93,161 'M,73o "3.4" ♦ J, t> <« ^»; .p il s > 9,023 35.677 134,869 9.907 39,080 136,780 I 36,169 Indians. — There are in the State four Indian Agencies, viz. : 1, The Great Nemaha Agency, of the Iowa and the Sac and Fox Indians of the Missouri, having 251 Indians of these tribes, with a reservation of 24.014 acres, most of it arable, and partly situated in Kansas. These Indians are about to be removed to the Indian Territory. 2. The Omaha and Winnebago Agency, including 1,429 Winnebagoes, 1,120 Omahas, and 36 Poncas — also liable to removal. Their reservation comprises 253,069 acres, of which 240,000 acres are arable lands. 3. The Otoe Agency, including 438 Otoes and Missouris,Jand occupying a reservation of 44,093 acres, a part of it in Kansas, of which 40,000 acres are arable. 4. The Santee Agency, including 764 Santee Sioux and 103 Poncas in Nebraska, and 304 Santee Sioux in Flandreau, Dakota. The reservation, which is partly in Dakota, consists of 115,076 acres, of which 39,400 are arable lands. There are in all 4,350 tribal Indians, and their reserved lands amount to 436,252 acres, of which 341,400 acres are arable lands, and 11,645 acres, or one- thirtieth of the whole, are actually cultivated by somebody, though 580 acres are occupied by intruders. About 9,620 acres are cultivated by Indians. The ^najia'a/ condition of Nebraska is good. The State has 'no debt except to its own school fund, on which the interest is 'Including Triballndians. f Tribal Indians not included. {216 of these now in Indian Tenitory. 3 or Territories « ^ J> M H M V M . ■< a i« si % > i 5 S •a U ?1 9."»3 9.907 '5 35.677 39,080 36. "69 )» 1 3i }o II 124,869 136,780 ' ,. Agencies, viz. : lie Sac and Fox se tribes, with a 1 partly situated ed to the Indian jency, including 5 — also liable to acres, of which jency, including v^ation of 44,093 :s are arable. 4. and 103 Poncas , Dakota. The f 1 15,076 acres, all 4,350 tribal 6,252 acres, of 5 acres, or one- by somebody, )out 9,620 acres The State has 1 the interest is V in Indian Tenitory. naif! r.-^ i ^^^tistics. Pa'd promptly, and thourrh f. • '027 auditors rcZn nit/™" ^^'^'"P'ion )lt '"°" °" •"■'■^'■ 000,000. ^ P™P'^"y "O'v exempt, is „„; Je^t '™' ^'■'''"^- now available. The tott " ''''°°' ''''"'' about *, ,„„ «'"'« »'9,ooo,ooo or tor™"' °' ""^ f""<' wilf evrrn T'' -7 school fund for .h*e °;r'°°°- '^''^ ^--P^s of Xf' ^ ''^ amounted .0 *5.9,.76 The^fo^J"*"^ ^--^e IJ^P"" Supenntendent of Public Schol"^ ''^"'»"<=^ ^om the St f ' year endine Annl Number of districts ^ Number of school-houses *'•••••• ^hiJdren between the ajre. nr fi ' ' ' ' ' • Average number of childUIn Jach d' T-^'^-^"^ Average number of dav.fn. " f^^*^ ^'sfict . . • Averagenumberoflto?,''^^^'^^e^cher . • Number of districts in' hi h s r' T ""' ^''^^"^^ Number of teachers emnTov^H '''' "'"" S'-^ded. . Number of distril l'^ I" '" ^^^^^^ -'-ols school . /'/^^'"S^s'^ "months or more Number of distrirfc fL/i '.'■••• Average «,„ar:^'*,;;;'--l'°°'. • Number of bouses „,°,„^t,'^°'?';''»*«. . . Number Of bo.sesJiX::e„.-<,,- " seats , . , ^^^^^"t desks and Number of new school-houses b„ii; a -' ' ' /'-erof....e.S;;rtt.boo.: . STATISTICS OF Pupiro ^„^ Children between the a^es of fi f ^^'"^«^- males . . . '^^' ^^ '^^^ ^^d twenty-one, Children between the'ages of five and. * ' ' ^4,^79 females . "^^ ^"^ twenty-one, 2,856 2,489 '23,411 30 87 107 62 284 ',242 35 269 ''574 191 63 2,344 '37 ^9 3S 3 1028 ^''^' t^'f'-STKKN EMPiKE. \ Children cnroIUd in the schools 73>956 NumlxT of qiiiilified leathers employed, males . . 1.607 NumlKT of qualified teachers employed, females . 2,221 . Aggregate number of days taught by males . . 125,332 Aggregate number of days taught by females . 173,669 Total 299,001 Average wages per month, males 1^33 25 Average wages per month, females »9 55 STATISTICS OF SCHOOL PROPERTY. Value of school-houses $^.622,355 '^ Value of school sites 175,48360 Value of books and apparatus 54,82649 Total value of all school pro|>erty 1,852,66527 Average number of mills levied for school purposes 13 Amount apixirtioned by county sujjerintendents . 224,605 65 Money in hands of county treasurers April 7, 1879 160,201 24 Aside froni these public schools, there are high schools of ex- cellent character at Omaha and other large towns in the State; a normal school at Peru with nearly 300 pupils; a prosperous Stj.te university at Lincoln, the capital of the State, endowed with 1 30,000 acres of land, and to which the State makes an appro- priation of about ^25,000 annually ; an institute for the deaf and dumb at Omaha, and for the blind at Nebraska City. There are also colleges under denominational control ; Doane College at Crete, Saline county; The Bishop Talbott or Nebraska Colh'ge, at Nebraska City ; Creighton College, at Omaha, and a Methodist Episcopal College recently opened at York, in York county. Lands for Immigrants. — There are millions of acres of govern- ment lands yet unsold in Nebraska, which may be obtained either by purchase, pre-emption or under the Homestead, Timber-Cul- ture or Desert Land Acts; but these are mostly in the more western portion o{ the State, and largely beyond the junction of the North and South forks of the Platte river. As we have shown, the rainfall is not so abundant as farther east, and the land must be thoroughly broken before it will yield good crops, but eventu- ally, either with or without irrigation, these lands will be some of the most valuable in the State. It is best for the immigrant ^ho. purpose, to cultivate his l.„H '0^9 -'-y e„,a«e i„ it „ i^.y-^' "-vy •■ ''"t^;::":' ^ r''" miles a vear ti ♦»'t..sc at the rate nf ni *> '" J^- iJiis purposes Tl, '' ''^ ^'^t.' Slate for . .1 i ^"^oimt of F- M. Davk ^Z^'r ^" ^'^^^"^ may be ohf/ ^ . ^^^^''' »"^ - uncoirN^ :,';-;r'""- °f 'it s r,7 - are sold i, «, „! ' '^'"-' mmimun. price -,, ,,,'"''''">.'«• '•"-<•-. anfie^ Lr' "" '^"■'">' ^-^ •' "e, a 't'"-'-^'= '-''■^ '877 and iRyxl f °" ■'•PPraised value ,7 '"-''' "^'-"t- For deteiled •''f '^'"''- ""'"' P"^'^' tht Buriuigton and MissonW l! , '"''^^'^- The ^'^soun Jands in Southeastern I030 OUK WESTERN EAiriRE. §9 o Nebraska arc sold at from $i to$io, on ^;n years' credit, widi dis- counts off lor cash or siiorter time of credit. Tlic lollowinL; instructions and advice to emigrants to Nebraska are of great imi)ortance, and should be carefully read and fol- lowed : * Persons with families should not come West entirely destitute of means to brave the hardships of pioneer life. Many have done so and have succeeded, and in a few years have been numbered among the most influential and well-to-do citizens of the State ; but it more frequently leads to disappointment, homesickness and discontent. A capital of |i2CX) or ;^300, after the land is secured, with which to commence operations, would be of very great ad- vantage. An expenditure of 5*^50 will complete a cabin in which a family can be comfortably sheltered. A neat one-story frame house, with from two to four rooms, can be built at a cost of from ;^200 to ;ji6c)0. Good stabling for stock can be constructed with but litde expense, by the use of a few posts and poles covered with straw or hay. Settlers coming West, and having a long distance to travel, should dispose of their farming implements and heav" or bulky furniture. Bedsteads, tables, chairs, mattresses, croc! stoves, etc., etc., stock, teams, wagons, tools of all kinds, au^ larming implements, better adapted to this country than those left behind, can be purchased here at reasonable rates, frequently at less than would be the cost of transportation. Clothing, bedding, table linen, books, pictures, and other small articles, may be brought with advantage. It is also well to bring choice, graded stock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, swine, poultr)% etc. Prices at the West, as in the older States, are regulated by the supply and demand. As a general rule, groceries, dry goods and articles of domestic use that can be dispensed with, are dearer, and the common necessaries — meats, flour, grain, pota- toes, etc. — are cheaper than in the Eastern States. The following may be taken as average prices, April i, 1879, and there has been very little variation since : :redit, with dis- its to Nebraska ' read and fol- itirely destitute lany have done )een numbered i of the State ; nesickness and and is secured, very great ad- cabin in which »ne-story frame : a cost of from )nstructed with poles covered ance to travel, heav" or bulky roc! stoves, s, aii«a larming ose left behind, itly at less than bedding, table ay be brought , graded stock, ?gulated by the •ies, dry goods nsed with, are ir, grain, pota- The following and tliere has »'"r^« nn.l n.ulcs. „er",V. .V: ^^ °° '" ^'^i "o 330 60 '"'unn ivuL'oin 75 lo Calves...^.. aoooio Sheep 5 00 lo iloL'S. tJr'.i'.'.l', 25010 f J to OJ lo Thresh, nyn.ad.ine, -,_ Harvesiers »5oo 00 to ^5700 00 3500 1800 '"«S per ixnml ^•^efcaulcperpounci.' .1000 4000 50 00' lo 00 4 00 04 ',r;;r":-' • -< •'^''''"K. per M. '-" °° '<» ^jo 00 "•»"...n..,.ard. ,erM ' '°°''' J-cilciiij;, per M_ '•""'S |fcr AJ 4l"iiid doors... "''<;l«,por M... » 25 lo i-inie. per i^^„],^ « 00 lo • 7 00 1800 375 3 CXi 275 3 00 10 00 Mowers '5° 00 to r>iJls an.l sealers.! Corn |)laiiters. I pliinters, Corn .sJicllcrs. 75 00 to 40 00 lo c "ami p|„„„,rs 35 00 to I 00 to S 00 lo orn stock cutters. Culiivaiors .. 40 00 to Cane mills. .'.".' .'.'■_■ 20 00 to Feed cutters Sulky rakes ^ °° '» Revolving rakes..' ^'^ °° '« Harrows 5 00 to Bi-eaking plows.' * °" "» Stirring pl.,^,. ^° °° '" Oang plows '_ '000 to Sulky plows... Headers. 45 00 to Wind Afilis '75 00 to »;"".? and i,.:;sVj„;„,e;-- '°°°''' 0'«^-i"'=hpij 5500 2500 3000 8 00 1000 25 00 2000 7500 5500 2S000 15006 1500 JO ^4 00 4 O.) 7 f'O "•^^^^^"Otn Kt;KNtTURE. '*ecnters,perday.. Masons, per rJay, '■ainters. I'cr day... «'acksn,i,hs,perday" f'"na,.e.n,akers.perday, I>ay-lal,orers.,H;rdny ''"'••■'nakers, per week ' ^° '" '="••" hands. nern,.„..:*V- '5 oo to . jier month, in- c'"<<'"fr hoard. "2 00 to ;P3oo 3 OTMo 400 2 so to 300 2 50 to 3 00 25010 300 » so to 200 5 00 to 2000 Clerks, per annum '5 00 to 20 00 Teachers. per a„,.„„; f ° °« "' 1.50000 ^ . •'"^ 00 '« 2,000 00 Counfu's and Toivrts — TI, « "s b,enn,al session i„ ,»«, 7^' ^°"""«« by the le"'"" '■'°"''' "''"'--'' ■0 d'e intersection of tl e Colorado '^ ""-•"=•= -southeasterly 1034 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 3 5 § O the I I4tli degree west from Greenwich), and the prolongation of the western line of Utah Territory ; thence north, along the west- ern line of Arizona and Utah, to the place of beginning ; contain- ing 71,737,741 acres, or 112,090 square miles." The boundaries of the State have been changed once or twice, but the actual area above given is that of the United States Land Office, and that laid down in the act of Congress enlarging its boundaries. The area as given in the almanacs varies from 81,539 square miles (30,551 square miles below the fact) to 104,- 125 (7,965 square miles too small) ; but the actual area is that given above. The greatest length of the State from north to south is about 490 miles; its greatest breadth about 300 miles. Topography and Surface. — Nevada is. almost wholly within the limits of the great interior American Basin, which includes also nearly three-fifths of Utah. This basin is bounded on the east by the Wahsatch range, a continuation of the Bitter Root and Wind River Mountains of Idaho and Wyoming, extending to and along the northwestern bank of the Colorado river, and on the west by the Sierra Nevada. The two chains meet in Southeastern California, and are connected at the north by spurs running from east to west. Within the basin all streams are either lost in "sinks" or discharge their waters into fresh or salt water lakes within the basin. A small tract in Northern Nevada is outside of the basih, and is drained by the Owyhee river, an affluent of the Lewis fork or Snake river, one of the constituent streams of the Columbia river. In the extreme south two or three small tributaries of the Colorado, as the Virgin river, Muddy river and Las Vegas creek, have cut their way through the mountain bar- riers of the basin, and discharge their waters into the Colorado. The Humboldt, the Little Humboldt, the Reese, the Carson, the Amargosa and many smaller streams, either sink through the alkaline sands and disappear from sight, or fall into deep de- pressions apparently made by the giving way of the roof of some cavern, or fall into some one of the marshes or the numerous lakes, salt and fresh, which are found all over the State. The area of the Great Basin is traversed from north to south by numerous parallel ranges of mountains, having an altitude of LAKES AND /i/y^o. ^^ about, ,000 fee. These are "• are watered by stream flo'nX^t '^ '^""^ valleys, which 6,000 feet. ""^ ^" elevation of (mrr. ^«^«W^/...._The • . I™"- 4,000 to feet n deoth T^ • . "' ^t)out 6,000 feet Jh jc 1 'jcptn. It IS situated m tK^ c- " ''^ ^bout j con fourteen miles from Carson C^ Ti^"' ^^^'^''^ M°"n'a ns" -'• ^- - to hftee„ Situated \n the southwestern n '' ^^^"^ 4,ooo feet !? -rounded by mountatSre :!.Sl'^' -""^- ''' , '■ " lias been sounded and ft, ''"«'" "f about t ooo t gets its name, from a roclc J,; "'' '" ^'^^^ ^'^ fee. d^ r-"«whi:j£-?-"-^^^^ WasiL iLTs- rtSTn wf: -""Winter ."'"'•='"<' shallow and alkaline. It cover! ,' """'y- "» -at.rs are surrounded by mountains on ,h" "'" ^''""'^ '"-• It s w -h it is chiefly fe, by numl o. :;,r3r^ ''"^ ''"-'■ ^o- '"'° 'he valley sink, and then ri,.!, ''''""' w'"'<:'' "' ■' out Walker lake is about tw!m « ^'" '" "'^ 'ake. wf ^ Its area has bel'^ t^™'.- 'ong and ten miles i„ '— 3.a,eroad.former,;r::::rsStr:— I s CO is g 1036 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. ; .. is now under water. It is situated in Mason valley, Esmeralda county. Its elevation above sea-level is about 4,000 feet, and its waters are fresh and clear. ; . ; , • Humboldt lake, more commonly called the Sink of Humboldt, is twenty miles in length and ten miles in width. Its waters are brackish and strongly impregnated with salt and soda. It is sit- uated near the line between Humboldt and Churchill counties, and has an altitude above sea-level of 4,100 feet. It is about the lowest point in the Great Basin. The waters from the east and west meet here. The Carson lakes are situated near the centre of Churchill county. They are about twenty miles apart, and spread out over a vast area of low ground, so that their dimensions vary greatly in proportion to the dryness of the season, and the amount of the snow-fall on the Sierras. In wet seasons they are connected by a slough with Humboldt lake ; and the waters, like that of the latter lake, are impure, and contain a large per cent, of alkali and salt. With the exception of the Colorado, none of the rivers of Nevada are navigable. The Colorado forms part of the southern boundary of the State. Its average width is one-half mile. The average current at ordinary low stages, where no contraction or special cbstruction exists, is about three and one-half miles per hour. I'Vhen it passes over rapids and through narrow canons, the cur- rent is more than twice as rapid, so that it is difficult for steam- boats to stem it. The Truckee river forms an outlet for Lake Tahoe to empty its waters into Pyramid lake. Two-thirds of itj 'entire course is in Washoe county. It affords many excellent sites for mills, but its waters are chiefly used in irrigating the fertile lands of Washoe county. During the past few years many ditches have been con- structed for irrigating purposes, and still there is a large supply of water I-ift. The Carson river heads in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and flows through Douglas, Ormsby and Lyon counties. Although not so large as the Walker, its waters have been made much more useful. Numerous large quartz mills have been erected LA ICES AND HIVEIiS OF X EVA DA. iOS7 Esmeralda ;et, and its Humboldt, waters are . It is sit- iU counties, s about the he east and 3f Churchill ;ad out over vary greatly nount of the onnected by : that of the of alkali and irs of Nevada em boundary The average on or special es per hour. iOns, the cur- ilt for steam- Ihoe to empty Itire course is I for mills, but Ids of Washoe ive been con- large supply [ountains and IS. Although ' made much Ibeen erected on its banks, which are run by water-power. It irrigates thou- sands of acres of fertile lands, and also furnishes the means for the transportation of thousands of cords of wood from the moun- tains to the markets. The Walker river also has its source in the Sierras; it flows through Esmeralda county, and empties its waters into Walker lake. It is only used for irrigation, being situated too far away from the mines to be made available for milling purposes. The Humboldt river Hows from the east. It has its source in Utah, and, after winding through a succession of mountains for a distance of about 3CX) miles, it empties its waters into Hum- boldt lake. The Owyhee river has its source in the mountains which sur- round Independence valley. It Hows north into the Snake and Columbia rivers, and finally empties its waters into the Pacific:. It is the only river which rises within the borders of tlie State that has an outlet to the ocean. Reese river heads in the moun- tains to the southeast of lone. It flows north, and sinks before reaching the Humboldt. In all of these lakes and streams are found several varieties of food fish, chiefly different species of trout. In all of the mountain streams, and in the head waters of the rivers already described brook trout abound, while in the lakes and those streams which empty into them are found silver trout. In Lake Tahoe a very large variety of trout is found, some of which have been caught which weighed diirty pounds each. In the Owyhee river are found salmon and salmon trout. Through the efforts of the Fish Commissioner appointed at the last session of the Legislature, Carson, W^alker and Humboldt lakes and theTruckee river have been stocked with Schuylkill catfish and Sacramento perch, A fish hatchery has been established in Carson, and 200,000 Mc- Cloud river salmon are ready for distribution in the different lakes and streams in the State. In the eastern counties considerable game is found, as prairie chickens, grouse and quail. In the mountains and upland valleys are often seen mountain sheep and antelope. The otter and beaver are sometimes found. The grizzly bear, cougar, wild cat, € S3 3 1i 1038 ^^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. \ lynx, wolf, cinnamon and black bears, coyotes, and generally the beasts of prey found in California, are also inhabitants of Ne- vada, though not as abundant as in some other States. Climate. — The climate of Nevada, owing to the diversities of surface, variations of altitude and other causes, irrespective of the differences of latitude, varies greatly in different localities. The changes of the season are very irrtgular, and pass into each other without notice. Generally the extremes of temperature are not great. Within the Great Basin, during the summer months, the thermometer seldom rises above 95° Fahrenheit ; nor does it often fall below zero in winter, except upon the moun- tains and in the most elevated and exposed valleys. At Carson City, where the elevation above sea-level is 4,630 feet, die annual mean temperature is about 52°, the annual maximum 68°, and the annual minimum 34°. At this point heavy winds from the southwest prevail. During the year 1876 there were 316 windy days, 217 cloudy, and 49 rainy. The fall of rain and snow for the same year was 17.73 inches. The nights are always cool in summer in all parts of the State, This marked peculiarity of climate is due to the cooling effects of the many ranges of snow- covered mountains. The atmosphere is exceedingly dry. There are never any fogs. The moisture of the clouds is condensed on the mountain-tops, so that the fall of rain in the valleys is very limited. The carcaj.ses of dead animals dry up with but little offensive putrefaction, leaving the bones and hides mummified. In the eastern portion of the State cloud-bursts are of frequent occurrence from about the first of July to the middle of Septem- ber, The climate is healthful. No country in the world is more free from infectious diseases. Epidemics are never known. Earthquake shocks are sometimes felt, but rarely severe enough to do any damage. ^ The Signal Service Bureau has but two stations in Nevada, and those have been maintained less than three years. They are Pioche, in Lincoln county, in Southeastern Nevada, and Winne- mucca, on the Central Pacific Railroad, in Humboldt county, Northwestern Nevada. We give the report of these for the year 1878, which, as supplementary to the above notes of the S«>log,ca, explorations of^l,.. fo ' ■ V" ^'"°"«™fecl by tl.e ■■anffes of mountains belon.,! "' '"^""^'l' "'at .Ik. Nev "' wh.ch took place durin. Z- L """'' ^>»'>''" "f upl^c' 4 ! mountainmassesarecompos^, ::";^ period. T,,,,, „" Pnse the largest portion, and extend i- '"'^"''"l b^ds com ••he t;me of upheaval. Tie rock fn °" ""= '^^'^ a.^e unTh ^Peces of sedimentary or enptt'"'""'^ ^"''^='- "-^y 2^1 "Pon the Sierras, the eruptive ro i "ountains which skirf are found the metamorphk a„V°t "'"''''-■ *'"'<= f-*e ets I'ferous deposits and vdn e'is, t'TT' ''°™=«-n- Mel ' tains. whiVh .'r. •-'t-ing intersecter? K,. *! i 't.'^^- wnicn in many p aces linl- f« , ^ ^^^^ ^ow nioun f^ 1 , *^ ^^^^'ons, several r^r. • "& ^'^'d narrow f'-om the Humboldt river to the r T™'"^" ''"' ''''""''. extendTn^ *« State. Many of the vaJle' , ,^!'°-''°. "^= ^"""'e^ hmit^f some are covered with alk,l7 f '''"^ ^"'l ""^t for cultivTl less productive than rh ""'' '^"''' '-''"''e others are ?' '- been main,;iX thTpSt^'t^^ °^ ^^"^-^"a^ ^/^«^r«/^._Of the ororfn.? ^ ''^!"^^'^ ^^ erosion. ^^nd comparison ^mt rpotlrt' ^"T ^^ ^°'<' - '"- the enorn,ou: .: f; ^.^f " ^^"'^^•- ^"^ ^^ ^^Hn^^Ws jear was .877, the bullion shinmen J^ '" ™<''' productive 'ne yield for 1870 „^^ . ^"'Pments amount n S5 ^' ss' is' ?5 w (/} I/) (/I (/) (A I/l (/] VI (/I ^ M OV 00 0« 30 O»O\0 0^0\OV lai 'Xiipjuin^ iitia)^ •||«J"!">t 8> S" 8" if g- •s 8, ft 8> 8- 8" s- 8" ^ o. tn 00 00 >, m * rs 1^ rs ♦ % s 1^ in r ?; fi in fO ^ tn in u-i a On •; . d P '3JII)tIJ3dUI3,I, UII3|\ M m r^ ^ 5 in in 00 m ■3in)BJ3dlU3X JO sSlIB^ ■s % in 9. s •s, v8 ^ in in '3Jn)KJ3dlU3,[, lUMlUjIIII^ 1 ♦ n % IN. g> Ol 1 T ■ ■3JI11BJ3dlU3,I, tuniuixR)^ «6 .g" s £" 0\ 8 s a m i" 8 b3 ii o * in ■Xausnbsjj JO jspjo aqi III spuiMjo uopasjiQ ■J3)3UI0ieg llt!3{^ -Xijpjuinji ue3i^ IIBJUIBH 3 2 iH. J3 ^ •C >^ § 3 I .^ 5 5 u > O S5 II U 2i !Z ^' z z >• - > &' ?' z z z s; u ;i5 ?: t/i tn ?5 t/3 (/> 1/3 W t/) s CK On O^ f* t/) c/5 c/j (/; t/i *N '^ « Os O" eo CO 00 ts> tN s? s* 8- ' ' o\ »« 2. «' d •3jniBJ3dui3X UB3J^ 'ajnicj3dui3Xjo sSuu^ ■sjnjejsduisj, uiniumti^ ■3jn)Bi3dui3j, uinuijxvi^ ^ in NO ?t tn m m in 5: i o* in in M « f. r^ M VO m fO «o "*■ .2 f^ M m m l/» VO VO HI « s a 8. g: •E O U" S" 3 I S -S J3 & JS ^ £ ^ < S § J' I o a II "*. en w ui »5 V) W (J C/3 > ch CT* 6* o\ S> 8" 8^ ir 8* S! o «» i/> Ch o« t^ « lo 1% ?• 2 T 7 ?• a S u > o 55 ^" >■ ="1. "4 >' ^' >' K Z S5 !^ >■ ^ ui w ^ 2; 1 ^ S- fn Oi 3 t^ t>. 7» O m o\ o\ «l ■^ 00 1^ 00 CI in M •4 w f 1- n ■4 in rn M vO ■# m ■^ 3_ _P_ _-9_ 00 7* in in N N ^ 3 ift rn %o n v8 & lO H 9 0\ ts, n t% ^ *^ ^ R vS- ^ ?. 1 ^ E > o a ?""'"-■'—"<'....,.... •"« with .ncrited rowan!' , "' "'" '='''°^ "f the mine. , -"Pl^ci wit,, eh, c„,S„, i™" "- experience of X '^^ districts at present ;, ""J'cat.ons of tlie v=r;„ •' ' "«•• -PPly is still so jteiu rt'^T"""'^ *'■">""' limit at't,'" 'here are otl,er mineral resou' ^ "^ P™''""^ of the Stat, tance. The learl „ i '^*=''°"'^ces wh ch are of n„ ^'*' ■■apidlydurin' df/™''"" °^ ^^^'^rn Nevlda , " ™''" ""P"'" i ne deposits of borax- m /-I ,. efficient to st,pp„ rd ;2:t;' -'■ "r;""'^'^ --- are so far away from the markets tL "°'''''' "^"t '''-•'"g situated inexhaustibllsupp;^:";;;,^- -d ^-''^ Marir laraVlr; ^e^profitable to Z'Cn.t" "--nds of acres mus^ ^"mtd:;' ^nown depths. Th '^ ^ ':| ^^--n^ooo. ^•"" '«7. to ,8;8, inclusive, .as Zt'tf EsmeycUda counly had in ,s„ , .'"'377. twenty-four mines and fining 39 o hi 1044 OCA' irrs/r.h'x f.mpia'F.. establishments, a part of which were merely from the sale or transfer of mines. These yielded that year $1,508,491.69, more than four-fifths beinj; the production of a single mine — the North- ern I>elle. In 1878 the number of mines in operation had been reduced to sixteen. The Northern Melle was still the leadinjr mine, but its production had fallen off largely, being only $236,- ?,7o Tor three (piarters of the year against ;j;i, 250,757 the previous year. The total production of all the mines for three quarters of 1878 was $469,775. The total production of I'Lsmeralda county from 1 87 1 to October ist, 1878, was about $5,400,000. Eureka county is one of the most prominent mining counties of the State. It had in 1877 between seventy-five and eighty mines, some of them of great extent and productiveness, among them the Eureka Consolidated, the K. K. Consolidated, the Richmond and the Richmond Consolidated. These four mines yielded, in 1877, somewhat more than $3,500,000 out of a total of $3,898,878.65 for the whole county. Of this large amount the Eureka Consolidated produced about one-half. In 1878 the number of mines had been reduced to fifty-two, though including eleven or twelve new mines. The Richmond was merged in the Richmond Consolidated, and this and the Eureka Consolidated produced eiglu-ninths of the whole amount raised in the county. This amount for the three quarters to October i, 1878, was $4,503,268,of which Eureka Consolidated produced $2, 295,344and Richmond Consolidated $1,722,689. The only other mine which reported a moderately large yield was the K. K. Consolidat(jd, which produced $165,532. No mines reported from Eureka county till 1873, but between that year and October, 1878, the total product was, in round numbers, $18,700,000. Humboldt county has never been extensively engaged in mining. In 1877 it reported but three mines, and in 1878 but two. The Rye Patch is the largest. The production of 1877 was $307,224, and for the three quarters of 187S, $176,403, The total pro- duction of this county from 1871 till October, 1878, was about $2,600,000. Laftder county had, m 1877, eighteen or twenty mines, only one of which — the Manhattan mine — produced largely. The total reduction of „,„ ""•'""-«'■-"'■'«. -'•n.^ yielded ;';,:;"'>■ -'^ ^.>-9.a.5. of „,,„„ „„ „ , "^' '!(• entire proc uction rW' f f->/ 2,085 uasin,,,, (J,., ixi.., . ' 095; the larjrost Ix-i,,,', ,i, ,,•""• '"''"'y^w mines vi,.U- '1>« Meadow Vdlev .■."^'"•"■'y "•'•'-•'M il o "V'^'''- ^■59..6.. In,8;sL-"'' ""^ '^k"^. wind, t "„;'''' "''*- of which vMn , '-■ ''"'•■'•'-' IJ« nineteen „ ^^"'" y"-lded !■''<= total an,o.,nt of k r" "*"' ""'^'' l-o-nise't',! f' "'" 'S7' 'o October tsX"",''™''"^^'' I" Lh ™l, "'"'<^- "av'n.been m^^h'^/olTr^ltT' ^;-^'-'5o!ooc::tcX^l""' /j'.-. ..«.,/^ had, i„ ,V7 ""= "'^" "><-• 'aler ones ^^^ ounty. The production for tho \ ' '^' entrance in tJii. ?47i,643. of vvliirh jS-6n . ^''''-'^' quarters of ,>^.q Mininp- Comn.n ^^.^''^^•^ '''^^ ''^■ported hv fl/r ^^ ''''^ "'h, company and tlir* w 1 '^ " ^y "le Lvon Miu % HonofLvonV^ ; ' ^^^o<^^\'orth Mill ^m ^°" ^^^'^' and -- -->' ^- -s. to octo.^;',,?;:- p-.^ A;'^ county had in rcj. ^'" more than tu '^ ^)^o Conso idated ,,; u 1 ^" ^- '^""^^ . "^^" ^nree-fourths Tn ro ,/ , ^^<^' yielded JS642 cn^ ^ ^ £9 3 1046 OUK WESTER iV EMPIRE. Ormsby county had no rocorl as a mining county until 1878, and then rather for its mills, which reduced ores from other coun- ties, than for any mines of its own. Its product in the three quarters of 1878 reported was $53,666, all gleaned from the taiiincrs of one mill. Storey county is tlie great mining county of Nevada, the mines of the Comstock lode being wholly within its bounds. Twelve of these were in operation in 1877, the largest being the Cali- fornia, Consolidated Virginia, Jusdce, Chollar-Potosi, Belcher and Ophir. The product of the twelve mines in 1877 was %i'],- 062,252, of which the California yielded $18,913,843, a litde more than one-half; the Consolidated Virginia, $13,725,751, or more than one-third, and the Justice, $2,339,057. The tailings from these mines yielded $770,716 in that year. In 1878 only nine of the mines were operated, and for the three quarters of that year die production had fall°" county was four miles in length and ZZ , " <^°"^^tock lode It L "'ines, which it will d,l ' ? "''^ ""'ificationsof the ll \ fe deepest n,i„es' w ^ ° .^ t''''' "^ ^''-' .>' ""'^ ^'-nneT of ores fron, the mines 1°/^ T'''' '° '^eilitate the removal Tunnel Company own some min" ^V'?"' ^6.000,000 ^V -ss has not thus far been so I™ a as °'" '"'"<= «^ -- "a ly fireatlj- enhance the value of ,, """ ''°P'=''' " ™"st event »'^^ Ae Comstock lode. " °' "" """"^ Property connected ">">rnr or panther, thT :„ ^tT '"''"^""^ nume™ "««e„ tribe, the ly„.,. ^kull Tnd ^''^ ''"'^ ='"'' "'« »'hok ff'-e ani.nals, the elk, tvvo spel rT ''' '"'""^^nt Of oi- b'g: horn ; rabbits, squirrels Z / n ^°'''^ %"ntain sheen :*" b- r ^° ""■""°- a: o X:::: ■ "^ ^°'^'"='- -<^ oti,:^ " "" '^" -- "■•- -e piertS-SptiS::;- 1048 OUK WESTERN EMPIRE. H s 3 same genera and species as in California. Trout and salmon trout are found in the larger lakes, but the smaller lakes are too alkaline for fish. Southern Nevada has few animals. Agriailtural Prodtidions . — While Nevada is essentially a mining State, and contains but a comparatively small proportion of arable land, she can, by the aid of irrigation, raise a sufficient quantity of cereals, root crops, etc., to supply her small popula- tion, and by turning attention to stock-raising soon export many thousand head of cattle. The soil of the State is generally a loam, most fertile where the underlying rock is limestone, but nearly everywhere suffi- ciently so to reward the labors of the husbandman, where water can be obtained for the purposes of irrigation. The immense stretches of barren wastes so often seen are only so because of the want of moistening showers of rain, and streams sufficiently numerous to supply the demands for agriculture. As a large proportion of the land is much better adapted to grazing than to tillage, much attention has been given to the raising of live-stock, and the horses, cattle, sheep and goats bred here are of excellent quality. The winter feed, consisting of bunch-grass and white sage, furnishes the best of sustenance for stock, so that, with rare exceptions, is any provision made or stores of fodder laid up for winter use. During the summer months the pasturage in the vicinity of springs, brooks and creeks on mountain sides and in the canons supplies the feed, but when winter comes, the herds and flocks feed miles away from water in the valleys. The north- ern and eastern sections of the State are the best adapted for grazing. Many of the loftiest mountains are covered with a spe- cies of bunch-grass peculiar to those localities. The table-lands and dry valleys in many places are covered with the white sage,' which makes the best of winter feed for stock. When jjrowinGf in the spring and summer, this sage is bitter and not eaten, but when the frosts of fall and winter come it is tender, sweet and nutritious, and better liked by stock than other kinds of feed. So extensive has the business of stock-raisinjr become that now the supply far exceeds the wants of the population, and thousands of steers and beef cattle are yearly shipped by railroad to the markets yASIED PSODVCTS nn . Of California Tl,. • '"""" ""'-"^y^- proportion to thl ^^"'^"''"ral lands of th^ c, . '°*' fo"nd stream" If "■'"■ '''°"S'' i" aji o th. n" "'" ^"'^" '" c"lt.vatio„'a„dl"'"='' '^""^"^ '^-«s ofla, d ™'^^ "''^'^'^ are The bestofthe ?P'P'-~'"<:«dareverv ^''"'.'"•""a'H under Washoe W ""u "'^ '=""* «^- C;,7cr""'°^ '" ^''■•'™«-- P-aL, £d?and\?r '^•■^■^^' ^-^Pa^If '^ ,^^"-"^' of other smaller valU T'S''"^ Vp.Iiey,,. Th"^!""' ^^^ranaffat, productive thoul ^"' ""'' '" ''"any of them h "?' '"'"^''•'^''^ 'he State but ,2 1 if """' ''^ '■"""d; and ,f/ ^°'' ''^ '^"'•"^ as "•e norther^ I? '"'"'^'^'^d. for agr cukur^ f "^ '^"'' 'n fruits of a tl„ "'-■"-al valleys all fL il " ^ "''■^^'on. I„ »uthern vaTE"^ ^''"-^'^ -' cultivated «",' "■»"'='^"-. and ■■" other sect 'rtrit^" °^ '^'^^^Z::^ '",*^ of water Tim . ^'^''=' ^^cept aboiif . ' '*''*^ "'an - a noti^eab 1 f """"^ '' ''"'^"^ => desert Tr'"«' ^"'^ ^""^ams -warded fo. hi atr .^^ ^^"^y^- ^^^^^^rlT'f''''' "ety known in both temn ' '''"'• '""'^^^^'"S nea v ^ '''""^ '■ated. Growino- 1, "•"P^'^ate and tronic-,1 ^"""'y <=very va- P'"-, ora„";„L^"'^ 1* by side are '^ " 1 1?',"' '" ^"'"•- g'-anate and p^a, .Td M ""°" ''"'' P-ch fi'a'd ^ '^ ^"^ "'« to perfection tI, "'<=*aln„tand pepped ^"'^ apncot. pome- delicious gr^pes^ .r""^"""* P™duce as perff ^''"^ '''" ^row France r?f, "' "'^ "o^' fevered localif ^ "P"""^ and 'ensively.": ""a '"' Z"'-^*'"" l-ave bt'll'" ^^f^"- and pounds of tirr''' ""^ ''"« smaller 'in" t° *^"'°- -P^ are rais^ef^ Sy^^ P-'-- ^o not trri~ J°- o^ sma (rnfn;. ^ 7 v "^^ "le same Janr? u • r- ' ^^0 aboutihe fi;3ToT ;''■ '"'■'^y. O'e and oats ' wh/ '"! ^°"" ^ «- or,arden v^« :r' !^"-'-es. melons and^Xr'" some of tu^ ^cidDies. The mezomV k i. "^'^ ^^n- "^st^^e grasses die in the falJ. I05O OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. % I 3 53 Stock keep as fat upon this feed during the winter months as though fed upon hay and grain. The tables on page 1051 give the latest reports yet published of the crops and live-stock of Nevada — the returns of 1877 and 1878. The Legislature has only biennial sessions, and the reports of tlic assessors and auditor are only made biennially. The amount of arable land enclosed or reported as in farms, was, in 1877, 152,- 810 acres, and in 1878, 158,097 acres; only one four-hundred-and- fifty-fourth part of the area of the State ; and of this small terri- tory — less than seven townships — only 75,743 acres in 1877, and 76,358, or not quite one-half, was under cultivation. It should be said, however, that there is no official record of the lands used for grazing purposes, and that a moderate portion of these is also under cultivation.* Mivrnfacturing Industry. — The fluctuations in the population and the mining industry of Nevada make it exceedingly difficult to determine the amount of manufacturing in the State at any given period. The annual product of its manufacturing establish- ments in 1873 was reported at 5^15,870,839. We doubt whether it is as much as that now, though at some periods during the decade the amount may have been twice as much. There were in 1878 fifteen grist or flouring mills reported in the State, which were said to have produced 5,000 barrels of flour (all from Washoe county, though only one mill was reported from that county, the other fourteen being situated in other counties, and tne same mill ground 1,500 bushels of corn, all * The State Surveyor-General in 1879 makes the following approximate estimate of the area of available lands in Nevada. It is, of coiiise, only an approximation, and may eventually prove to be some millions of acres out of the way : 1 Approximate area of agricultural land 1,067,653 acres. " " " grazing land 9,708,060 acres. " " " timbered land 1,901,410 acres. Mineral lands 1,261,600 acres. Total of available lands now known I3>938,723 acres. This is a little less than one-fifth of the entire area of the State ; but it must not be hnstily concluded that four-fifths of Neva. a is a desert. There is undoubtedly a larger amount of una- vailable land in the State than in ^ny other State of "Our Western Empire; " but there will eventually be found to be thirty or forty million acres which can be made valuable. Inter months as yet published of if 1877 and 1878. le reports of tlic The amount of IS, in 1877, 152,- ur-hundred-and- this small terri- res in 1877, and n. It should be " the lands used rtion of these is n the population eedingly difficult the State at any :turing establish- doubt whether it ■iods during the h. nills reported in 5,000 barrels of Tiill was reported ituated in other hels of corn, all nate estimate of the area ion, and may eventually 1,067,653 acres. 9,708,060 acres, 1,901,410 acres, 1,261,600 acres. 13.938.723 acres. It it must not be hnstly r a larger amount of una- Empire ; " but there will de valuable. I 1877. 187^ J"" — ___ Kind of crop. j" ~~~p"~~— -— ^5Zl____'^78. ,' ^-__ ^"^^- Acre.s, ^^ I B^ ^Vheat, busheLs ;;; ■— ; P°«"3oo* Buckwheat," 449 4,2,, ^,035 3.060* , l^otatoes, " 46 ^ 505 2^ Cabbage, tons. .";;.',' ^,602 ^3 1,053 ^^45 ^""P"' " 90,915 ^^7 ! 459 '397 ?'''': " :.; ^X ^^tyj '°5'7^7 107,698"^ ' Airnips, " I /2' 150 I j^ ^""^T, pounds:::::::: 1 ".*:::::::::■ ■■•i '°^ I 196 Cheese, a _ - 212 ^. G^-Pe vines, nu;;^;;: LZZr ,^J'9oo ^^|;J^5 jy^"^' gallons ••; 577,216 626,807 H^»ey, pounds.... I ^"'959 102,4.0 .... 2,010 ' -^ I res, ^'^'5 -^ -~J_J^:f^ I 16,680 , -______________Live-Stock A . I '^^7. 1878. , ,0,., Animals. — ~~j ~— — ^ ^878. --— - Nu„,ber! Number. ValueT^Pv^""^" " Horses.. — . ■ • . 1 ^'^l"e. iMules.. I 29,1562 ,T ^„A r i ^n •.::::::::::::;::::: ^''«^ ';;6 6,^^'^]^'--.x,572;^ ^''clicows 173 175 lo'rr^ °l 499.666.00; O-'^en and other cattle ^o'f79 50,951 rJp I °-°° ^ ^^>2,o.oo ', S'"-^ 98,8491173,840: i,?7,s7 r°°| ''^71,873.00; .Sheep and lambs.. 5'°68 , 1,032! 6, oSo'°° ' ^'^76,800.00 i Angoraand Cash mere goa;- ^9S.9rr 2ix,x73 397 t^o! ' '''^'^°-^° -' "°.§^-^ ^''^' 4,246 6,698 llZ?.! ' 443,463.00. ^•'^'I^kens 5,537 6,080 16 6?^°°' 73,678.00:' ^"'■'^^ys 54,170 56,820 2;'66.n '9,760.00; ^^^^ 0,'-^/ '1,040 , /c 23410.00) "•^^««fbe,.,: ; 3,997 4,483 2l'| 0° ''^59.oo I ■-— . ..l^- ''°5SI 1,190 io'??o °' 3,362.251 Total values....T;r" / ' —I !!i^Z:°°l '^.9oo.oo ,' Assessors report, evidently inco^;;;^ ,*•■ 10S2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ^ S that was reported, and 50,000 bushels of barley); 55,000 bushels of barley were ground in other counties. This was a falling off from the production of the previous year, but this may be (\\\{i to the fact that the assessors in most of the counties neglected to report. There were twenty-seven saw mills reported ; a part of these sawed 27,490,000 feet of lumber, and made 100,000 shingles. There were eight planing and framing mills. There were 119 quartz stamp mills in operation, six less than the previous year, and they crushed 659,534 tons of quartz, almost 300,000 tons less than the year before ; there were thirty-four smelting furnaces, which smelted 154,651 tons of ore, about 70,000 tons more than the previous year. Seven pan mills worked over 83,563 tons of tailings. Six borax mills were operated, but how much they produced is not tcM. The other manufactures are not reported, and we have no key to the value of the production of these. There were seventeen mining ditches in operation, having a total length of fifty-seven miles, and eight of them used 484 miner's inches of water daily. There were 407 irrigating ditches, having a total length of 1,491 miles, and irrigating 128,004 acres of land. There were also six wood flumes, fifty-three miles in length, and 75,000 cords of wood were flum.ed through them. Railroads. — The entire number of railroads in the State was fifteen in 1878. The total length at the close of 1879 was about 685 miles. Valuation. — The assessed valuation of real and personal estate in 1878 in the State, with one county (Elko) missing, were ^26,018,392, about ^1,400,000 less than that of the previous year. These amounts were absurdly below the real valuation. Either one of the four or five bonanza kings of the State could probably show an inventory exceeding this amount, and the property of the Central Pacific Railroad in the State alone is probably worth considerably more than the entire assessed "^luation of all real property in the State. Population. — Nevada is not a State of large population, and since 1870, the number of its inhabitants has fluctuated remark- ably. When admitted into the Union as a State, its population POFUt^TXON OF MF.I-,:,y,, was far below the iisml r„„ • 'OSJ attained to it. ■iC^J^^^'^^. -"J indeed has never yet to n,i„i„„. „p„,^., - ' ..-e uevotion of .,.. ,^^ managed by foreign companies a, d h ""? "^ "'^'^'^ »'■'•« few of them citizens, has aided in '''"P'''>'^^ "'-•'■<= very '°- %-e. The following table "7"'^ "" '"P"'^"°" «a PopulafonsofarastheyaPelt^nfb,; the particulars of the Indian Reservations.—Thf, i„j:, ^ " «97,8.5 acres, but only a very "t n '■^■^"^^''""^ amount tc arable lands. ^""'^ ""''^" Part of this consists of Counties and Cilics Tho Nevada viz.: Churchill, oL'^f""-" -S^^n-d counties i„ Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Lyo„Lf^°' k'"""'''^' Eureka, and Wh,te Pine; of these Sto^i 1^' ^'°^^>' ^asho Comstock lode, is much the laro-«t ^' '," "'"* ''^ ^''"ated the and Ormsby exceed 5,000 ^ fb^^ "- others only Eureka and towns are Virginia City, whthl P"""P^' «"«^ Gold Hill and Hamilton mininc, f '^•7°5 inhabitants' Carson City, the capital •:^r^:7;—"4,ooo or 5.000 each;' Reno and Pioche, Jith from 5^ tit ^^ ^^u'^"'"'= ^^"y^ ^^ Ediualion.~-Vh^ Stat^ 1?, ^^ to 2,000 each. sale of school lands, and th prowZ f^' m'°°' '""-^ '"™™ "- l:!2L^o°d. Her fund Xn'^: Le Si^f -' «lucntion •Including tribal Ind- - ng that a large number uf those is 3.^ 1054 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. State. In the cities and towns, the schools are well maintained. Among the scattered population of the newer mining ilistricts and the grazing lands there is more difficulty. The only institution for higher education is the State University, uhich has not yet organized anything beyond its preparatory department. ' Religious Dcnaminations. — In 1874 there were in Nevada, as reported, forty-four church organizations of all denominations, thirty-two church edifices, thirty-seven clergymen, priests or ministers, 1,132 communicants, 10,300 adherent population, and $301,450 of church property. Of these tlic; Roman Catholics claimed thirteen church organizations, though but seven church edifices and six priests. They numbered all the adherents of their church as Catholic population, and reported them as 5,000. Their church edifices were the best buildings of the kind in the State, and were valued at ;|s 134,000, probably considerably less than their actual worth. The Methodists came next with eleven church organizations, ten church edifices, twelve ministers, 496 communicants, 2,500 adherent population, and church property reported at ^^76,250. There were nine Protestant Episcopal Churches, six church edifices, nine clergymen, and 269 communicants, with ^^48,000 of church property. Next in order came Presbyterians, with five churches, three church edifices, three ministers, 169 members, and ;^2 1,200 of church property. The only other denominations reported were the Baptists, with three churches, three church edifices, three ministers, and $16,000 of church property ; and the Congregationalists, with one church, one church edifice, and one minister, with twelve members, and $6,000 of church property. Nevada could hardly be called a very religious commonwealth, when less than one- fifth of its population were even adherents to any form of religion, and only one-fiftieth were actual communicants. The condition of things is not much better now. At that date the Mormons had begun to plant their communities, and teach their doctrines in the mining districts, and now, six years later, they claim to have the control there, and we fear their claim is just. This faith, which is also an authority or empire, is the sum of all abominations, and we cannot look at its .spread without '"« and „„,2" '"= f-'-'Valcnce of noK- '°" from Mexico by the V ' '" '" I"" of t/,,, ' ■ admlssfon of that S ''""' "^ CaliionL • ' '" ' ' '""ary, '8«'. bnt had not l" '■: "'= T«-Tritory of mI ■■"' '" "'a'' <"■ "s present bou„ '° '"'^'^ «" area as I l'' '" '^'»'-'^''. admitted into the Un bn, " r*"^' ^^^'•^' ^-^-Mn " 6. '^ ^'''' further accessions of? ''" ^ ^^'^t^' in i86a and ' '^ ^^'^^« soldiers to the rf ^^'"''^'^^'-y '" iS66 ht: 1 '"^'^'^^d sonie i" me civij War pnri '■ '"rnished ifv ^ ^ Commission to the extent' Tfl ''"' """"'^''^^^ aid to t ' 2 ''' °^ immigration r ' "^''"^ does not offer n v« -'■c;ta,^S' ::'■".' ~c:zr ;,rf "r ^- '"SI there are nroh?! °' ^' '''« Present tfm '"'* "^ prove very rich UnJ ""=" '~'«» and „e"" nh '"^^ ''^''""•- "•em. gL nt' °"'-' '^^'"■•^"«te will be r "T" ''*'"'' ™ay better, but' rf "'P™""^ "■"!' herd of V° '""''' °^>^ork 0-«o;;;:,-r-^a^'ar,e capital' ani Si-r't "-- ""eh better ada^ ted tl ''•^'' ^"^ P'^^'-aps Cal for' °"''"'-'' ments to the stnn S^'"''""? as to ieav. ^ ""' ^''^ ''O ">e fertile vlllev "^''^ '° '''art here p "■ """'" '"J^ce- for, with i rSt^n "' ""'■'^'=' S-'fe-nin. wo. .r'"^' '" »"- of -ady market :■ uT ^^" "><-' raised, w,°hwih 7^ ^asible, feeling, and the n T"' ^"^ "'« 'ack of ' ■' ^'°°^ and ■"ake! a Statf ? ?^^ "^ Mormon ,„,tir^P''^''""'^ State State to whtch immigration is r^ttSe" "" ''^'^' <- "i. 1056 OUR WhSTLKN EMi'lRK, CHAPTER XVI. MW MEXICO. Toror.RArnY — Boi'ndarif.s ("F.Nr.ARr.F.D nv the Gadsden Trkaty) — Rxtent AND AkK.A — MoUNlAlNS — RiVKRS AND LaKKS — Cl.lMAlK — V'akIKIY IN TKiM- PERATURK — Mr. Z. I.. White ON the Summer Climate ok the 'Territory — New Mexico as a Health Resoi' r — Meteoroukjy and Rainiai.i. 01 vari- ous Points in the Territory — ClEoi.or.Y and Minerai.ociv -Mim-kai, Wealth ok the Territory — (Iold and Silver — Other Mi;i als and Min- erals — Tt;R(juoisE — Hot Sprinos — Coal — Hituminous, Lionite and 'Iriik Anthracite — Coal kound in New Mexico ok the best Quality and in Inexiiaustii!LE Quantities — Araijle Lands — Their Quantity and (^UALri\ — Naiive Acricui.ture — Grazino I-ands — New Mexico iir.sr Adai'ted to ShEKP-FAKMINC — NUMIIER OK SlIEEP — CrOPS OK 1879 — MlNlNO InDUSIKY— • Governor Wallace on the Minino Districts — The Gold and Silvku Production — Ohjects ok Interest — The CaSons and Terriiii.e Dark Valleys AND Caves ok the 'J'euritory — The Seven Cities ok Cihola-- EVIDENCE.S OK VoLCANIC AcTION — I5ri;iEl) ClTIES — AbO AND US RuiNS-- The Indian Skeleton overwhei • by Volcanic Ashes — The Vasv Crater — Rock Cities — The Pueiu.o 1'ottery — How it was and is Mad p. — The Zuni Blankets — Manukactures — Railroads— Great Devei.oi'mkn r OF Railways — Population — Table — Chiek-Justice Prince on the TiiRrr, Civilizations Found There — The Indian Tribes — The Pueulos — The Apaches — The Navajoes — Counties and Principal Towns — Education — Religion and Morals — Historical Data — Conclusion. New Mexico is a central Territory of the southern tier of States and Territories of "Our Western Empire." It is a portion of the territory ceded by Mexico by the treaty of Guadahipc- Hidalgo, in February, 1848, and, previous to the cession, had been a State of that republic. It was created a Territory by Act of Congress, September 9th, 1850, but the Territorial government was not organized till March i, 1851. The Territory extends from 103° to 109° of west longitude from Greenwich, and from 31° 20' to ;^y° north latitude. It is bounded by Colorado on the north, by Texas and the Indian Territory on the east, Texas and Old Mexico on the south, and Arizona on the west. It is almost a perfect square, a small tract projecting into Mexico, which was acquired by the Gadsden Trkaty) — Extent — VAKrKiY IN Tkm- l'- THE 'rKRRITORY — Rainfall oi vari- KUAL()f;Y— MrXFRAI, Mf.I ALS AND MlN- Lir.NITE AND '1'rUE T Quality and in .NIITY ANI)(^L'ALIT\ > r.r.sT Adai'ted t(> IlNINd iNnrsTRY— • Gold and Silveu D TEKRinLK Dark llTlKS OF CiROLA-- and its Ruins-- Ashes — The Vasv ; WAS AND IS Mai)i; REAT DeYKLOI'MENC NCE ON THE TlfRI'l' 'he PuEiiLos — The svNs — Education— outhern tier of It is a portion '• of Guadalupc- he cession, had I'erritory by Act irial govcrnnicnt treaty in thn , ^'^ ^'^''^ ^//".V/ro. "^ ^- •> is r o sf ""■^' '---■••"'.(. fro T^. ';" •""•"' '" -".I. '-'i20i square nill . ' ' ''"^t to wesf , , , •■ ^"'"■•^"i" in two ran,.,. '' '""'""''"'s uucr „,„,.• . "- l-nt '">'-■'••? '''■••'-•H,r,;'t ;:l■•I'°"'>'•■•"<-•'e- •*<■•"« lo b,. a con,- "' ''"""''-"y. Tl,cn,7 ""■'■■='"«'■ from l^'t in l„,„.,,t' nl, P^''^^ bcovc,,,, tlicm of!, '""'"""'ns of '"""'"ains or ' ' ' """•;"'■"? '">k botvveend' ,";■'■'' •""■ ■"''■'■'•a ^ ^ -eneraJ direction of O 1058 OCA H'KSTEKl^ KMPiKE. nortli and south. Intervening^, there are larpe areas of tabic lands, bisectftl by many lar^e and small valleys of unsurpassed fertility, antl susceptible of the highest state of cultivation. The valleys have a mean altitude above the sea of 4,500 feet, and tiie mountains on either side of the Kio Grande del Norte and Kio Pecos of 6,000 to 8,000 feet. In the more northerly portions of the Territory they rise to 10,000 and 12,000 feet. Rivers and Lakes. — The rivers of New Mexico contribute to both the Atlantic and Pacific slopes. The eastern is watered and drained by divj Canadian and its tributaries into the Mississippi, and the Rio Cirando del Norte and its tributaries into the Gulf of Mexico. Tlie western slope is watered and drained by the Colorado of the West and Rio Gila, and their tributaries, into the Gulf of California. The Rio Grande del Norte takes its rise in the high mountains, north of the boundary line of New Mexico, where it is fed by numerous springs and the meltings of the an- nual snows, and augmented by tributaries, watering and draining a vast area of some of the finest farming and grazing lands on the continent. It flows south through the western division of the Territory, a broad, beautiful river, enriching with its *urbid water a valley riiore than 400 miles long and many miles in breadth— j one of the niost wonderful for fertility and beauty in the world. The Rio Pecos, on the eastern slope of the principal mountains, has its source in the mountains near Santa F"e, watering and draining, through its numerous tributaries, an immense district of country, and flowing through its eastern division into Texas, through a valley only second in importance to that of the Rio Grande del Norte, with which it forms a junction below the southern boundary. The Canadian /iver flows to the east, and throurrh its affluents waters and drains the entire northeastern] part of the country. The Rio San Juan, formed by the Rio Pie- dra, Rio Los Pinos, Rio Florida, Rio de Los Animas, Rio Navajo, Rio de La Plata and other smaller streams, constitutes one of the! most beautiful rivers in the West, watering and draining all thej southwestern slope of the San Juan Mountains. In the south- west the Rio Mimbres, Agate creek. Bear creek, and the SanI Francisco river, together with the head waters of the Rio Gila,J water and drain the region. rpc areas of tabic ys of unsurpassed " cultivation. Tlu; 4,500 feet, and tlu: lei Norte and Rio rthcrly portions ot L'et. ixico contribute to ;crn is watered and ito the Mississippi, aries into the Gulf ,nd drained by the tributaries, into the rte takes its rise in le of New Mexico, Tieltings of the an- ering and draining 1 grazin};!^ lands on Item division of the ith its *urbid water miles in breadth— eauty in the world. rincipal mountains, , F"e, watering and n immense district ivision into Texas, to that of the Rio junction below the ws to the east, and :ntire northeastern led by the Rio Pie- nimas, Rio Navajo, institutes one of thei nd draining all the] ins. In the south- :reek, and the Sanl rs of the Rio Gila, East of fl "--'/CV/.V CltMATP ""T^^^ n^^:J::^ ^'"'^ ^'"- either side of . '°'' ''^ t'lc Terntorv tl "'""^^>''"^^ nearly the n . ,.'^'''*'"^ «^ ""•■til to so tf' ; '•''^■"'''■"•^^ ^''roul^h s ""^:'^"^''"''^' centre ^'•^•-•'^s. supply! ''h'"'*^' " ^^'^^- "'nul..;o/ ' n"''"^"'"-^ ''^ -^ '- Portio Jtt T ''^^^" ^'•^•^'^ «' table ian Is 1 '"''■^ •'»"^' r'"t- Jiving water n • . '^'rant C :\n,\ i.- ,. *a'<-T; also IL ' ">""<-'i-oi,.s snrin,,. , '^'■'^> '"""ni.ii,, f— -ons ";,';:, ^^'-■'"'"'yffno.l spnw't: •'"":'''■"« "■'■' ''•'-^. ■■■ -vt s .:r,;;r'; ■""^■^ ^^^^ r:: ;' ;,:, ""^ '- "- """ "■^' ca.sua| 01, ' "' ""-• '««'='• -supply if, ,;"'"""•""»• '"""•ir\' and ^^^, ,. '*^'0". tiiat many Mnr^r.nc rn ^ ^° O" the ' **'> at aJi seasons io6o OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. % 3 s -, ttl k^ •^ c^ o of the year, I am told that the winters are mild and sunny, witi comparatively little snow. The low altitudes in the central ant southern portions of the Territory are very hot and dry, but or account of tiie absence of nioisture in the atmosphere and the ex ceedingly rapid evaporation, the apparent intensity of the heat is much reduced. The temperature in the mountains is always anc everywhere delightful. Nciv Mexico as a HcaltJi Resort. — New Mexico has a deserved!} high reputation as a sanitary resort in pulmonary diseases, anc that its real character and the diseases which are benefited by i residence there may be better understood, we present the fol lowing testimony from eminent physicians and others long resi- dent in the Territory. Lewis Kennan, M, D., an eminent physician of Silver City, New Mexico, twenty-seven years resident in the Territory, says: "It is certain that even when the lungs were irreparably diseased very much benefit has resulted. Invalids have come here witii the system falling into tubercular ruin, and their lives have been as- tonishingly prolonged by the dry, bracing atmosphere, \ he most amazing results, however, are produced in warding off the ap- proaches of phthisis, ans-l I am sure there are but few casts which, if sent here before the malady is well advanced, would lail to be arrested. Where hardening has occurred or even considerable cavities have been detected in the lungs, relief altogether sur- prising has taken place. The lowest death rate from tubercular disease in America is found in New iMexico. notwithstanding the large number of cases of that disease who resort thither for heal ing. The census of 1870 gives twenty-five per cent, as die death rate from this disease in New l^ngland, fourteen in Minnesota, from five to six in the different Southern States, and three per cent, in New Mexico, I h-avt; never known a case ot broncl or asthma in the Territory tliat was not greatly improved or altogether cu'"eu. bor rheumatism and diseases ot the heart with or without a rheumatic origin, I would not recommend climate. Valvular difliculty in that organ is invariably made worse." "The most wonderful effect of this climate," says an eminent :iotwilh.standino- the - ^ ^ ^"' '^ •'^een ,n those r-,., r ^^^ functions of hnrlw i cases of < m.^r-.J i i r- '^^ or body and lund fl,r>,, > ^ ^^' ^'^'^^'ty of all f-N ^;-^- •" a state of ]an"inu it is in file fol owincr rnKi,.o • ^ ^"X ^^^hcr TernV^. """^^'"g . irive the n. r h ^ P^q^ared from tJie ^- f '>' ^'^ ^^^ate." ^'\e tiie particu ars of Hi,, r- • r ,. -^'^^na Servir^ i^ towns in the T.-mV "'^^''' ''^"^ teinncr.r '"'P''''^'^' I the Rio r r'f''^^>'' ^-^'^^I also at Fl J^^ ' '"^ ''^ ^''^^^rent _ ^_^_f^^ /^S78 ,,,;,/ JS79. e," says an eminent I062 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. B 3 April May 1879. January February March 3 3 -1 October November 1878. July August t Year AND Months. Latitude 35° 41'. SANTA Ffi. Longitude 106° 10'. Altitude 6,851 feet. 4» Ov *. * OJ N M OO 00 C\ O U» J tn tn 1 CO M UJ Minimum Temperature. Ln 0\ tn va vj Os O "-t *^ CO CO Ui <3\ OS tn ""J tn yi tn 8 Range of Temperature. 8 M Ui U •«; 1/1 -*. 4k. ui ^ SO tn Uj UJ tu M On -^ •*» tn M OS (0 OJ 4k ^ 1>J •v* 00 so M tn 4k> Ut •0 n n Mean Humidity. to CO vO *0 *0 so vO SO CO -^ CO -^ -^ -Cl Oj ^ •-• ^4 OO -^ •^ C M M O 00 bo to 00 W 'H so so so CO so sb CO so w -• 0. OS CO "* a» a' Mean Harumetcr. On OS Cs tn ^ Oj t*.> s5 4» 00 00 UJ M tn 4^ t/1 4k OS tn tn 1 00 tn tn On Mean Temperature. s I ^ r r 8 5 % M 8 ^ 5 ^ g" OS tn CO en %4 SO t/\ C so M M 8 Maximum Tcmpciature. ^ OJ to M 1 OS H (0 ^ Si M CO g- 1 10 Minimum Temperature. Ul gltS" §5-3 "S g tn A ^ •^ M Range of Temperature. On ^ Ul 4k 4k 4- ^ SO tn *>4 tn W» 8^ ON "^ "»4 <-n Ut to OJ bo bo M tn Mean Temperature. pi ;3 Q 1 r ^ a. 5' i. f' 5. o> r. .jj -" 1 :^ !r -'' ;^ a V- 00 *«4 CO t*J g" CO 00 ■§ 2 ^ ^ Ma.\iinum Temperature. H 4k M to s) 4k t*J oa Ln OS M Minimum TuinpL-ratiire. Range of Tinipcrature, W 4* OS tn so c^ 4k c> 4k CO tn 00 I 2 - 0\ tn tn tn On 8" g" 8^ Mean Temperature. . H PI w r • p ^ b r = tn :: s- 1 s- 1 i '■ n 1 o ^ O 00 CO CO S= -3 OS 2 g" ^ VI % 4k Ma.ximum I'emperature. ^ 4k ( *i 4k w « "O -J t Cs 5- ■3 t Minimum TcMipcralure. a tn 4- e 4k tn •5 to to OS :g !S «s CO CO •3 Range of T<'mperature. teaii, wWch comnw., , ""^ ''"'■'ace rock.j „r ,i which ar,r '"•■'■'*'■ ««Pt those ln\r ^""tory, belon.r O; trap and basa t Te ilf r'^'^""^^'''^ ^^S, X'.^r .'■derable iracts which a 1 "'" "^^^^Pfonsahe eare M "^ P''^" '^. apparently, only a fr ™'''"'"' ^"<' ^ove ed "h, I "'•■"°"- '" the ZunilV-r"' ""fries old- ,h,.r '"th lava, which San Jose L,! r"''r^' ''^''-^•«" the 'i^ p"' °'""='^ '"^« 's ParaJJe] to the Rio Prl ''^^^'"' '^'^ second 7. ^ ^^'° tJiird is near mT f""^^' '^ '« "early ; .o" ""^'^ ^^' ^"^ ^vestbankofH? p'''^^^^" boundary of ^ r^'^. '" ^^"^'^- the The trarf ""^ '^^'^ Grande and evtel '■'''°'">'' ^^^^^ the "^ tiact east of theRfn r. , extending- to the Rlr. r-i ^7"), and besides he lav?" '." ^""^^ ^?-/ Z'. W b. ^ "'' alternating with sal ?' ""^ ^ ^^^^^ expanse of v i '°""- 'f^- vaffeys of t 7::^ '^^""^ ^-^• branches are tri.! ''°' ^"^ o^' the Can-^df • J'^'-d with cll a;r\' T^"'"^^-^'^' ^-^"^J at some . '^''^^''-^"^ '^^ and c o^^.. "-a^t-s ot the crenp^.,1 i <-'-j uary. beJow ctuu IS cretaceoiic ti r ^ '^'^al cJiarafff^i- ^r ^i "■e J^kZ^TT "" ''--'-water of t rr""^'' ""= '^'■^- "-■P-cious n ':,?:. "r ^"^' 1-""-ties of n ineAl."""". °' both traversed by rn...r.V^:J^;;'^^_ K S 1064 O^'^' WF.S/J'.k.W ////:/y\x£. In tlie sandstone formation beds ^ fygffit^ find "hitmmmous coal from tlir(;<» to live,' l^^-t in thickness -a^*- \ouivi, alteffTTaainjr vvith layers of iron ore of g(yxl quality and f)r'^< earths are abundant and easy of access, but little has Ixvn (ione to dev<;lop the deposits. Zinc, man<;(anese, quicksilver and some minor minerals occur. In the Placer mountains, and at several other points, especially near Pinos Altos and Embudo, iron is worked. Lead is found in the Pinos Altos mines, in the Organ mountains, and at other points. Copper is even more abundant, and some of the mines yield large results. The chief deposits worked are those of the Manzano, Magollon, and Magdalena mountains. Turquoiseo 'rare Jb«attty has Iy,en found in the Cerillos Moun- tains, about twenty miV* )yOuthwes*f of Santa Fe, and mines of it were worked with gre»t ^ofit before the Indian revolt in 1680. The finest turquois<^ i-n i'AW/i>p('„ one of tl>e jewels of the Spanish crown, was obtained m tlves^ «*w*llUins mora than two centuries ago. Hot springs and other nVif!5N^/al ^y/i0^^ji of great medicinal virtue, abound in New Mexico, (k/vernor Wallace says tlhat excellent hot springs have been disa>vcfe4 At Fernandez, in Tios county; at Las Vegas, San Miguel coii-n'ty ; af Ojo Caliente, in Rio Arriba county; near Jemez, in Bernalillo county; near Fort McRae, So- corro county; lort St^kUo, |)ofta Ana county : and at Mimbrcs, in Grant county. 'Hvjk^' m j^emez are probably unj-xcelKnl in the world. At Las Vegas ^ lui/jtAi/' preparations are in progress for the care and ei'kU'.ft'ainrncuii i4 guests and invalids. Any ,'inil all these springs are e.i^tVA\ m curativ*^; qualities, if not superior, to those in. Arkansas, Th-c;/ WAMt certainly the attraction of an unsurpassed climate. In this connection mcnition may be made of the soda springs, of which there are several. One, east of Isleta eighteen or t\\ cnty miles, is particularly worthy of notice as yielding seltzer quite equal to the best impt)ited ariicle. But the chief mineral wealth of this rich Territory is contained '" ''s gold and ,;,„„ . "" ''■^"' ''«->•/«, ^"''O0m,„,„^,^^;" and even with „,e r^^'^"'^ "'« Precfous ^■-P'-tal, abundant wt'"™'^''-'-^'^^"'"l-<"ltst I "'"^ '•'"'' <'- "- ^"-0 d.sid:; t 'r-'- -'i -Hroac : ,:r.'--°^'-nec/. "lines of thi'^ r.. '^^' successful j, , '''""^"n'cation, are t--- ''ep^trcr '■?; -^' ''*' : :'rar:' °' "■^' "■^'' t'lose of Colfav r ' ' ''^' dn,-S ™ld fi,., , ■"' ""= "'ost pro- '^'•"■•^. but tl ese an. T'^' ''^'°»' J-an,la T^d IV"','"''"' ^"'l of 7-''«'. while le ,4:f i'""^' '-- "-' .^; :j" r'-'^" ^^'^^ ;i^-- Of ".a5,u:n::- :L;"^""-' ''o^^^ :::^at:^ '" a perfunctory "v'; ""'^ ^" P^odu., ^^t^^l ^^",::,[''-■ t^"--'o" "mil we :;:'' "™^^ '° ^e '■■> ^-^wM o '^"■^'■'"S'on Terrlton a ? - '"'"""-^""^ -'""bt, 1 ro°iK r"V'° '' P™^^'! beyond tl " " ''"'"''"^ °"') 'ocahty where It has'If " r"'"''-^' "^ '^ "lus /ar k-en found is ^ 1066 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. among the foot-hills of the Placer Mountains, about thirty miles south-southwest of Santa Fe. The formation is tertiary, but it has been subjected at various times to volcanic action, as the lava and metamorphic rocks plainly indicate. Mr. Z. L. White examined these coal deposits very carefully in August, 1880, and though previously faithless in regard to the existence of anthra- cite anywhere in this region, became fully satisfied that it was anthracite, and of the very best quality. The mines already opened are on the "Ortiz Grant," and the coals in this, of which there are twenty-seven veins, ranging from a few inches to more than six feet in thickness, are ensily accessible. The coal was probably originally a lignite of excellent quality of the tertiary, but by volcanic action was changed into anthracite. Mr. White fortifies his opinion by the definition of true anthracite given in the best treatises on coal, and by three analyses made by the geol- ogists of Lieutenant Wheeler's expedition in 1875, by R. D. Owen and E. T. Cox in 1865, and by Professor J. L. Leconte in 1868, and in a fourth -column gives the analysis of the Pennsylvania anthracites from " Dana's Mineralogy." The economic impor- tance of this anthracite coal to the whole West, it being very near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Yd. Railroad, must be our apology for devoting so much space to it. ANALYSES. Constituents. W. O. & C. Lee. Penna. Coal. Water 2.10 3.50 2.90 Oas 6.63 4.50 3.18 3.84 Fixed Carbon .... 86,22 87.00 88.91 87.45 Ash 5.05 5.00 5.21 7.37 Totals . . . 100.00 100.00 100.00 98.66 "True anthracite has a specific gravity of 1.4 to 1.7 ; its hard- ness is 2 to 2.5 ; and it contains 85 to 93 percent, of fixed carbon; ar.d volatile matter, after drying, 3 to 6 per cent. It is amorphous, of conchoidal fracture, brittle, has a sub-metallic lustre, iron black to grayish and brownish black color, and when pulverized forms a black powder. It ignites with difficulty and at a high tempera- ture, but when ignited produces an intense heat. This is an exact description of the coal in the Ortiz mines." Penna. Coal. — «..^.., ,,o.,.„.,,,^ 18.000,000 to 20 000 nr, ""^'•c are in New Ar • "■'-'• can be br^^^Z^"' "' '''''''''^ ''^"^Tor 'm '™ ''?'" cons system or ' '-''■ ■'^"'-cessful culn',,,,' '^^^^' "'•■'t construete I 1 "'■'^'^""'^' «nals and es ' v„ '°"; '''"" '•' J^^f- by means of ln,ll°;: ""''^y ^'" "- str ' ' "n ' P''''''^^"-. "■''ty- Corn Jl '''ff'«--'nd porous =ni '"^ °'*'- rocks '^-ritory ™;:'';^'---'l barieyV::;:, ,f^^-Pris.n,fe. "o"''ern district, a„d I "^ P™''""- '^''^ ce el i' T'' "^ "«^ kinds of fruit' u r ''™'«' plateaux • cor! '''^'' "'" ""e most ■ - ^^'^ ■ bush( 'arm Jand ■'unc'-^ the rudest and •■ -■' ".™c:i7:,;;[ tr- ---^ ^^ l_^:::;^yj^a "«P. -d.hen a L.i.k b.ee.e arise hH: "'"""^" ^^^ '^e thio;vn i„to the air ia io68 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. % ^3 :^g ^ ^ g^ )> •^ ^ in the vicinity of Santa Fe liav»,' been under cultivation over 200 years, and in all tliat time not one ounce of fertilizinor matf-rial has been used to enrich them; yet there is no p(n-cei)tibk; dimi- nution in crops. Tlie valK-y of the Rio Grande del Norte, for 400 miles in Icns^^th, averaj^ing five miles in breadth, can all be irriiiated with the turbid water of the stream from which its name is derived. This stream, like the Nile, is the sole reliance of the fanner; the water iy turbid with sediment, one-fifth of its weight at high water. At such times, each irrigation is equal, if not superior, to a coat pf die richest fertilizer. El-Paso Valley has been cultivated in this way over 265 years. The valley of the Rio Grande del Norte is admirably adapted to grape culture : there is probably no part of the ivorld where all the conditions of soil, humidity and temperature are united to produce this delicious fruit in greater perfection. The frosts of winter are just severe enough to destroy insects without injuring the vines, and the rains seldom fall at the season when the plant is flowering, or when the fruit is coming into maturity, and liable to rot from exposure to moij.ture; as a result, the fruit, when ripe, has a thin skin, scarcely any pulp, and is devoid of the musky taste usual with American grapes. Grapes do well also on the lower valley of the Pecos, and in many other parts of the T'.rritor)'. Mr. White says of the grape culture: "Grapes constitute one of the principal crops of the Rio Grande Valley. The commonest variety is the Muscat, from which a very good wine is made. The vineyards look like plantations of currant bushes, the vines the teeth of the wind, which hlows away the chaff while the wheal falls by itself on the clean floor. At a distance the flying chaff looks like steam escaping by successive pulfs from the ex- haust pipe of an engine. " The Mexicans and some of the Indians are beginning to .Tdopt modern farniing implements, and in a few years iron ))l(>ughs will probably have replaced the wooden ones that have been in u^e here for centuries, .md which are exactly like those with which the F.gyptinns cultivated the valley of the Nile in the time of Moses. I saw one of these jiloughs, but as this is nut the season when the ground is broken up, I have had no o])portunity to ob.-.urve iis use. It cunsistetl sini]i!y of a crooked stick, upon the point of which an iron point was fastened by means of raw- hide thongs. The Pueblo Indian carts are also curiosities. Not a scrap of iron is used in their manufacture. The wiieels are discs made of boards, with a clumsy wooden hub on the outside. The tire is of raw-hide, and the body of the cart is constructed of poles rudely framed itgetlici " ''^"■ff plant,.! i„ '^^'^'''"'""'"'"'''^■y'co. s'lrulxs. tIk f ' • •.'-'■■'•''"•'.'•" I'lr order in,I . • '°^ «'''o, dnrin.r tl,,. .1 ' '"■"">'• «l,o is , „ , '""'""Wo in Uk =""' In.lian nn ''" ""^ "''!<-■» evcrv " '"'•^'''ence liere C-ili(„ P^Pi'lation of N,.„. ,, P >'■'•"■ anionrr ,,,„ ., !'^'^<^' "--'lilornia ,,s ]„.,,,., , 1 ''feico, toli) m T '^'«ican "-u.ac,nrc. of X t/f^""' ^"^ "- cul u oT ''■" "" ^''" "( •"•"' -'' "'e ;.;'■;" "-" X'o Grande Va,,^'''';'.r ••""' *= f ""^ appear to , i; "l,^ ^^-^"-^^ -^^^ ^^1] of f"f ' '" ^>'^- ^ke ''' ^^--^ -seen, to nv.^f^" ^'-^^-i with n. ; J^Vr^'^^'-ds ^^^'-^es .. ;: ^^^ -- certain to ha ,^^ ^ ^;^^ of the pounds each. r..,:„ "'^' °^f^"'' n-ofo-h/n. J!^'" > °^ ^^'ater." to t wo Onion said to Po^'nds each; th possess thQ ^^ s also from thi J-ty to "-U n-ro;v very. larov. , • V '> ^° S'-\' '^^^ '---ed i^th^' r^'^1^"^ from or the h '^'»ton Mou tr''-" ^--.;:;;f:r , '^-•'. P--0. ntain potatoe t^H? Rio B '^ ^re raised f^re th '■;; ^!^^ ^^e-'^iila Vali '^>^ 3''cld enor )es are jrro ''"nously, ty one s are «e::rSr:!,!^'"''-:'nti;:;-;;2'^-s.n^^^ \vn in nveet wJiere. J^ f'-^ns to the nat,V (^ans, nr. es, turnips, parsn fy. on peas and ?;zr-^'---.™w ceo arc also weJI eve 0' f ^1^^ parts of the rn.,i ° ^" ^^^^ hish and " aim ''^I^'-'cots do well ^-''\-o„aic:Tr'^™'^™odo,.. '"clons of aJJ ], proport CO (low '""■'^. and of th ccountrj'. Pea^h '^■''^;' also on tiie'f es, ind pears 'ecos Pe, V ' " "' the mn^t A V ■ "-mas erow tr^ i -^°f "lore than on. "'? '^ ^''^'^'°^'-^ ^avor "' ^° ^^'"g-e cos are \" one-tenth of th ''--^:r:;i:-:''-er r::zi t!^ --^^ vaJl^ '-y^ and terraces alon ^7;;,?^ *"= ^"■'' °f - - ">« ferge streams, and le or an 1070 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. f % is especially so of the hij^^her platc.uix. The most extensive settle- ments are confined to the valleys of the principal streams. Those of the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Mora contain the majority, the balance beinjr located in the small valleys and isolated districts, in and near the mountains, where their pursuits are divided between agriculture and stock-raising. The only forage crop of the grasses that has been attempted here is "Alfalfa," the Chilian or California clover; when cultivated it yields an enormous crop. It grows well throughout the Territory, and in the southern districts often yields three crops per annum. In a country where there is such a profusion of nutritious grasses, as are indigenous to the mesas and mountain slopes, it is not necessary to cultivate forage crops, except for the sustenance of farm animals, and those in use in the towns. Thousands of tons of grama grass are cut annually to supply the demands of military posts and stage stations. As a sample of what can be done in the valley of the Rio Grande, it is only necessary to refer to the beautiful Mesilia Valley ; it is seventy miles long, and embraces 280 square miles, or 179,200 acres, or 560 farms of 320 acres each. It is one of the richest and most delightful valleys in the world. There are farmers who settled in this valley only fifteen years ago, without one dollar to start with, who to-day are worth from 5^^50,000 to ^60,000, and every dollar of it made from the products of the soil. It is the rival of any portion of California in the raising of all kinds of fruit, and as to grapes it is not sur- passed by any district in the world. In the coldest season the thermometer never falls lower than 15° above zero. Snow is scarcely ever seen. It is a district that needs only to be seen to be appreciated. The most valuable timber in New Mexico is the pine, — its growth principally confined to the mountain districts and high rolling lands. Pitch, yellow and spruce varieties grow to a large size, and make excellent lumber. Cottonwood, walnut, locust, box-alder and sugar tree fringe the streams and canons of the mountains. Also live oak of small size, and a peculiar species •"""'■'^'^■•"--'-A--....vv.a iiirsuits arc of cedar call^,l i " '^*-''''«- '■""".I, ft ' ^■■^' """"".^ «■«,., i, , "" "'^ Pl^'n,, a,Kl „„,,,; out see , , """'""•"" ""•"«■ to t vd.t "^ "°' '° '^' "'•""'"''I'-'- ^•••«■'^^ "orsc: rr'^ -^ •■• '^^i' -r : <' ' ; °; °«.>' "'■'« -■". as the bL c ! :.' CT" '■'' ""•">-' ai: ;,':«::;- ""? " - ^ "'onderfull, . "-' "'°'"*= ^'"rtl.ern T ,- / "'""»"'"' acres and tf^sT ':,"■'-■ ^--'J' accessibie o New m"''^'^ "^ 'Kansas "™^ab„ r::; ;;:.,^- Me..,o, ...'"r e';r:,r-^ country for i >^'^'^s to conie t wfll K^ Pf^esent and ''■-ntoo.. ° „::r'';f ""■■"•'^- -J-'- mi'; Pr^7""'-tly ti,e ■^: t;.'^-^- ■■-'"-- Oij ;:*r'<^ '•" Congress e Uccf lionanza," written H,. '^'"'"'''"' 'he author of fa^-ng ,„ New Me.ico; ""^P^^, ^'"""■er, says of sheep- .^ ^.r,% IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A 1.0 I.I 1.25 bi |2£ |2.5 iz2 12.0 ■■4 lil.6 6" Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STMET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145SC (716)S72-4S03 '"^^^^J^ '^ 'v- n 3 o 1072 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. "Without having the data before me, and only judging from what I know of the Territory and of the large sheep-owners in it, I am satisfied that I do not overestimate the number in stating them at 1,500,000 head of ewes. The climate is exceedingly temperate and salubrious ; no diseases, much less those affecting the skin or hoofs, being known. Sheep in our Territory are herded and grazed from one portion of the Territory to another during the same year, thus adopdng what may be termed the migratory plan. The climate is dry and the soil is gravelly, producing the most nutritious grasses and shrubs. Of the former the grama and bunch grass, of which there are two or three different varieties, and the latter the various kinds of sage, which make the best and niost nutritious of browsing, and a large amount of underbrush and seed grass in the mountains. Were it net for the ini^ecurity of life and property caused by the wild, marauding tribes of Indians, especially the Navajoes, but a few years would elapse before New Mexico's hills and plains would be literally covered with fleecy flocks. It is but a fewyears back, andactually within my own personal recollection, when nearly 1,000,000 sheep were actually driven to rfiarket to southern Mexico from our Territory. At that time sheep were worth but twenty-five cents per head, and all those engaged in the business made money. That prosperity in the history of New Mexico was superinduced by twelve years of unintermitted peace with the Navajoes. A sheep-raiser in New Mexico can safely calculate on an increase of eighty per cent, at least. A sheep-raiser in New Mexico, notwidistanding the coarse quality of wool of the present flock, can herd his sheep and make a profit from the product of his wool, and have all the increase of his stock in addldon thereto. I have no hesitation in saying that New Mexico can fairly compete with Australia, South Africa and South America, in the production of cheap wool. These statements may appear to you somewhat exaggerated, but I assure you, on the contrary, that they are within the limits of reasonable bounds. I was born and raised in New Mexico, my friends and relations have always owned sheep, and I myself have to a large extent been an owner of that kind of property, and therefore speak from personal experience." SHEEP-FARMING IN NEW MEXICO. 1073 ncT from crs in it, 1 stating eedingly 5S those Territory -ritory to 3e termed i gravelly, Of the ; are two 5 kinds of wsing, and mountains, ised by the ijoes, but a and plains a few years when nearly to southern were worth icred in the .ory of New |nintermitted Mexico can at least. A ^arse quality land make a |e increase of ,n saying that South Africa [vool. These ^rated, but 1 the limits of ,v Mexico, my and 1 myself of property, Sheep, and especially ewes, are largely sold from New Mexico to other States and Territories to form the basis of flocks there. They are sold at a low price, from ^1.50 to ^2 each. They are small, and yield only from one and a half to three pounds of a coarse wool, which will bring usually only from eighteen to twenty-two cents a pound. By breeding them with pure Merino, Cotswold, Leicester or Lincoln bucks, the size is soon increased, and the quality of the wool is greatly improved. As yet but little attention is paid in New Mexico to improving the breeds, and hence the wool crop there is not nearly as valuable as it might easilv be made. The immipfrants who are cominnf into the coun- try in such numbers are giving more attention to improving their stock. There is reason to believe that sheep-farming will soon become a profitable and extensive industry in tin; Territory; but, like everything else which is to be made profitable, the sheep- farmer must give it his close personal attention. Beginning with a capital of about |i5,ooo, and giving strict attention to his busi- ness, improving his tlocks as rapidly as possible, the wool-grower may in ten years find himself worth from ;fi6o,ooo to ^75,000, and with constantly increasing profits from that time forward. Hon. Henry AL Atkinson, Surveyor-General of New Mexico, in his re- port dated August 27, 1879, gives the following summary of the agricultural and pastoral condition of the Territory. We think his estimate of the number of sheep must be exaggerated, or it is possibly a misprint ; but we give it as stated. The number is undoubtedly larger than has been supposed, but this estimate makes New Mexico exceed both California and Texas in the number of its flocks: " The crops of last year were good throughout the Territory, and a largely increased acreage was sown over that of any previ- ous year in its history; and with the rapid influx of population, new and previously unexplored and uninhabited sections are being settled and subjected to cultivation. "The native wine product in the valley of the Rio Grande, in this Territory alone, is reliably estimated at 240,000 gallons the past year, and in a few years that stream will be properly desig- nated as the Rhine of America. Large crops of corn, wheat, 68 io;4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 3 I § 5 i 3 9 apples, peaches, apricots, pears and other fruits were raised duringf the year. " The business of stock-raising is most successfully and profit- ably engaged in, as no feeding is required during the winter season, the stock subsisting entirely upon the rich and nutritious grasses so abundant in the Territory, It is estimated that 'there are 500,000 head of cattle and 10,000,000 sheep in New Mexico." Mining Industry. — We have given under the head of mineral wealth full particulars, so far as known, concerning the presence of the precious and other metals in the Territory ; but we add, on the authority of Governor Wallace and Z. L. White, Esq., a few particulars in regard to the mining districts and mines in actual operation. Governor Wallace says of the silver mining districts: "The best known districts at this time are the Bremen mines, near Silver City; the Shakspcare mines, in Grant county; the Sandia district, in Bernalillo county; the Socorro district, in Socorro county ; the Cerillos, twenty-two miles southwest of Santa Fe. The San Juan country, in the north part of the Ter- ritory, and the Nogal, Capitan, Sierras Blancas, and Iccarilla Mountains, in Lincoln county, are all attracting a great deal of attention." The gold districts are : The Moreno mines, on Ute creek, Colfax county. One mine proprietor carries water to his claims near Elizabethtown, by ditch and flumes forty-two miles. At Pinos Altos extensive work (quartz mining) is going on with good returns. In this district, gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead and plumbago are all obtainable. The old placers (Spanish placeres) are situated twenty-six miles southwest, or, rather, south-southwest, from Santa Fe. In these placers there are also quartz lodes which are believed to be very valuable. The Ortiz mine grant, described by Mr. Z. L. White, occupies a portion of this district, and is now preparing to work some of these placers, and bringing water from the Galisteo river by extensive hydraulic structures, to work them successfully. The new placers are ten miles south of the old placers. The San Pedro mine and the Canon del Agua property, with whidi rere raised during General Grant's name In, 1,. '"75 '-- one of his so„:^■^rd::;;;';-:««,^-d in w,,ic,, „« be. 40,000 acres, i„c|,Hli„^, , Cy^Zll " , '" ''-■«'""- ••■"'' -"vers ".erous veins of gold," il ,„ ', , " "" "'" '''"'^"' ^"'1 """ n-ntin-es to warrant ex ;;,:?:.:;, .^" ^^ -•- ■" -sufficient '"'-es and placers there are , o b "m"""'"'""" ^''^^ ""■»<-• rescrvo,rs, guaranteed to cleliverat ""r'™"^'^ ''^-"^ •■™1 "»'- C.ly, ,j„,, ,,^,^_^ ji,,, ; ' j; -•« 6.,136.oc« .gallons of the Atd„son, Topeka and San a p" , v ''^'•'^^^^'^'■'^'<-- ''r -ay of can be sent to n.arket at small cost ""' ''"'' ""=''- l^-'^cts ™n.tre at the .,„rtheast, and tlVe ^ '^T;'' ".- ■'^'-■- Diablo the town, have n,any leads of „o i " , ""'7 '' ^""""^=^' of ■nines produce largely every ye.^ -, o'X •-"" ~"«=^- '"'"« IJona Ana county, is one recent v dl ',""' ^'''^^ *^'"«, in ""- Hillsborough, on the li 7of T"?' •^"'' """ ■"--' P™- ■es, ,s another new discovery tL r'" ^"'^ '■""' ^'■"« ™""- the mountains o, the same nam; in ■ ■* r^ ^ ^"'''='"-'^' ''"ween -.d need only an abundance of 1 a, r^f ,"'"">'' ^'''^ -^>- ™'.. Producmg placers of California ,' Vl. f" ''""'' '""■ "«■' '''=^ be sa,d of the gold gulches in d,e No ,"^',""- '""^ ^•'">'-" "•■ty placers near Fort -Stanton, in, llj':^"' "°"'«^"-. and of the already mentioned, are in lier nlii ^ ™"'"^'- '^'^'^ ""' P'acers ™ veins of gold and silv I ."°C', ■ '' '"'''"' ^-™ "-- and Man.ana Mountains (the latter " f^'T' '" "'« ■^'•'"^I'a and ,„ ornear Albuciuero,,; IVh R ' ^ '" ^^''"""^ ««"")'), Mountains, in the western p^rtoV J """'^'^ '" ''"-' Z- " ^na Mountains, in Socorro coul""''' '°""'' • '" "'« "ada- avebeen traced; in the I :r„';;rf P •""/"'' ^''-■'- '«'- the valleys and gtdches of the ChscH ° "^''^^ ™"'«y. i" oth arotmd the head waterlof 1 e affl """'' '" '^'"" '"""^Y. fe west, and in the vicinit; of Tal on ".T "'."^ '''" J- '" "■" - ■ ■ Colfax co^mtv,":,;;:";'':."'^;" '^°*y '^'o.-. ^'Strict, am tain wh will be fo . slopes of th I'nd'in Mora and Sa '>e little doubt tint crold ise- n M or silver, or both, -ocky Motmt-: .r;^:rrv';h -r § 1076 OC/J! WESTERN EMPIRE. coveries are made, every county of New Mexico will have its mining districts of the precious metals. The gold and silver pro- duction of the Territory is much less than it should be, and far below what it will be, now that capital, railroads and water con- tribute to its rapid development. From ^3,000,000 to ^5,000,000 has been the maximum yield for the past twenty or twenty-five years. Objects of Interest in the Territory. — These are of various kinds, archaeological, ethnological, fossil, volcanic, and the re- sults of glacial and erosive action of water. All that portion of. New Mexico lying west of the Rocky Mountains belongs to the great valley between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Ne- vada, which extends from Idaho and the eastern part of Oregon and Washington Territory through Utah and Nevada, Western Colorado, Western New Mexico and Arizona into Mexico, and terminates alona: the eastern shore of the Gulf of California. It is a land of lofty mesas, deep and rugged canons, precipitous mountains, and hot, dry plateaux ; a land of frequent drought, and of terrible volcanic action in the past, and perhaps the not distant past. There are deep valleys, where no water capable of sustaining life is to be had, but where alkaline and sulphurous vapors rise continually, antl lofty, perpendicular walls of por- phyry and trachyte forbid escape, yet to remain there for any considerable time is certain death. Of such as these are the Death Valley, in Southeastern California, the Jornada del Miierto of New Mexico, and the Mai Pais of the same Territory ; while evi- dences of the destruction of former inhabitants by sudden volcanic eruptions, more fatal and extensive than that of Herculaneum and Pompeii, is not wanting. One of the most remarkable of these overwhelmed cities is that of Abo, in the Manzana Moun- tains, about a hundred miles south of Santa Fe, in Valencia county, eighteen miles east of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and perhaps twenty miles from the Rio Grande. It was discovered by Messrs. H. J. Patterson and J. H. Mackley during the summer of 1880. Messrs. Patterson and Mackley are citizens of St. Louis, who have been exploring New Mexico for mining properties for some months past. The following are the principal points in their narrative: • ^''^^-■^■ti VANNED c/rv. ^,r "^KJWED CITY Wanzana Mountains n„.,n \ , , ' 'W -We »prin. of water cal | i,:'';^''^ '^'"""'-"s. There /s a «'o unmense cot.onvvood „ ' , 7''''^' "■'"■^'' '' ^'mded bv AT Ti *=» ^"'^"cii or t('m.>L. . ^"^^ '^'^e seen riv. Wr. ]'atter,son paced it JZtl T"" ""'^ '''^^ of "Z,t square. The wo I L. .i '"'- 'i"u /ound t to h^ ^'ound. 'on,^ since c:;,,:^ ::""•" ■■'- -->' f-".i5 "7,:?' 'i-r-^' ;;;^- Ti. t,ic.n;::t;tr::;ra:;rr"'^'-- '^v;^^ "'"^ stone hammers hnf n^.i • . '-^^tterson savq dged or steel took There;' '"^' '" "- '^"■^Pe of sh , ! Abo and the old Pecos ami , ^"''''- ^"<=no de Abo f Abo in the ,ava bed: ' M ' p::::^''--" ^ f-v „,i,este 't of V.es„o„ was never until c, ii L ,^;:!" ^"^'f "-' ">e old city°„ , Another specin.en brought btti ^ ''''''"■'^'' "^^ *''"- "en "li'ch was exhumed about half a, f; "'" ''>' "'^ ^^th ::- si'ver ..w.'°Tt7t;^^j-e disco:^^:: ;«■ so„,e three months a'>- support '» f""" the top, choking JJZ ''"^ ™"^''' and fallen ;;-ked nearly two week/i"e C L"^"^- '''r'-^^'" "^ *« pary "•^^ t'n>ber, stagnant water and owT'' °"'. "'° '"''"■' ^™'ovin>^ seventy feet deep, with several hn \ "'^'^ ''"""'I "'e n.int fait. The rock is found tote v::r"'f '""' '"""' "- "« , ^pecnnens brought here. '''^ "^''' *» appears from the a-: f it:^~ tr/rr ^"-t- ^-- ^ ---^ found the skeleton of a „nnT""^ "'' °' "'^ fireplace ^ -.dently watching the bone "a"' T^ P°^'"'°"' ^-o Zl 1- l>abitation were over>W e, ^t "f ';°^ '"'^ --'• W'en he and ofiava from the mountain, ft ' aT f' ' ""'''™ '"-''arge .^endmg about fifty „,-,,,, , J'^^ a^ ava beds near there I'at the entire population -in son e f °" " °' """ "^dief been suddenly extirpated by a Treaf ""f^ P"'"" "'"st have '"nks at one time the crater of thle " '"'' ""'P"°"- He long and f^,, fifteen to twenty „, Is""""'""' ""^ ^''"^ ■"''- wh,ch would destroy eve^ hVil ^^^ '"°'^.- a" eruption from The only idea we can fornTof ts^ 'f T' "• ' '"""'^'^ ""'-. ™ms seen on every hand. nt'T '"^"^"'=<= ^ "^V the rams only between the months of . ^^ ="™°-Pl'er., where it an.ma remains are long p^" ' ,ed ^n"? T'^ ^"'^^ ^™"d and served of this ancient people! v' '^ """ ^° "«'« is pre- that ensued. ^ ^^^^^ S"^«^^ "« a good idea of the ruin All over Western New M-vl.^ ' ■"habited once perhaps by the ame""' ™''"\°f f°™er cities. . es m Arizona and Southwes ColoLT" .'1° "'"' "''"''» io8o OCA' tl'I-.S/'/'lKN EMPIRE. 3 5 5 especially worthy of notice as being well known to travellers. One is the extensive stone fortifications at the eastern base of the Sierra I'ajarito. on the southern border of Lincoln county ; the other the large and massive ruins in Socorro county, cast of the Mesa Jumanes, known as ''La Gran Quivira!' These ruins are large enough for a large city, and Mr. S. W. Cozzens, who visited them in 1859, says that the city must have had not less than 60,000 inhabitants. The ruins extended for miles, and showed that while it had undoubtedly been a large city before the advent of the Spaniards in 1540, it had been captured by them, as the ruins of two large stone churches, over which the arms of Spain were carved, fully demonstrated. There were alio extensive ruins of an ancient temple like the Casas Grandes on the Gila, which we have noticed under Arizona. The Acequia or aqueduct, which had brought water for this city, was traced fourteen miles into the mountains to a very large spring. It was built of stone and laid in cement, and was an admirable piece of enrrineerin■ "^ ru, rc.E,,os. .• . . - ^. I a I: rutin/ n< antiquities and objects of i • • 'o'' '"■-"... at Wash,-; 1 , °^ '--^""l .m,.c,st for .,„, n,,.„„,, "- ancion. town or*k., l, J ;'-'>■• f "1... i„ tl,e vicinity, v "te ■"novation, of civiii^ ^ con,pa.ative,y unin.lucnLiri, ^^^ . "'*-■ P°«'^'-y manufactured in,. Reports, and more recendy bv f "'^ °^ ""•' ''"■■"!<■• Kailroad Jast annual report of tl,e United St'^'r^ f '' "^y^'-.twf lerrrtones (,876), ,„ tI,eZer ^ r^'°'°*>"'^^' ^'^""-^ of the ;„:;f i" "- --o"- of ow :",;;: '!•'-«' -veral fine' J fowls. The collection made by the i T ' ""' ''""'e^ticated "■any an,n,al fonns and hundreds of ^'"'"'™"'^" Party includes conceivable shape, scarcely 1*°' TT'"'™'^ °'' "l'""-^' "-e^ -. >v.thout exception, the finest'and ""^^ '^^'■"^^' -"'"ar. U modern Pueblo ware in e.M-"tence T "'' '°"''"^''<-' -"-"on of ;nfe tins pottery are exceed! 'd.Le ■ "'^*°* "•■ "'anufact,°r t'Tows much light on the a dl "rf'"^'' ""' ^ ^'''^'^ "^ " "m most superior aboriginal wire "t d, '"' ^?'^'' P™''"^"' "'e of the United States^ The chv , *''°^«'-^d "ithln the limits -!;--«. and the .Ztl^ ZZ^ '""" "" -'g''^- » hen an unusually fine nier^.-T-^'^ entirely by hand ;;«y the li^s orthTX^--,^;:^!- '^ T -' 7J:7;f:rd:rn:a^u7e^-^^^ ApHv^te Xtl?ir:e!:;:7:'r^'----"'"arma„ner "tains a number oCs3rri,V"™''''='P''''^ ^o™ ther • --ho,ects, While ori—nrdij-ir:^^ ii loH: orfi uF.s7/:/^x i.MriKr.. 3.^ 3 aiul arc (Mnploycil in carr)ii»);^ uuicr on journeys. A common ornament on tliis ware is a paintcti rcprestntation of ilu: I'lU or (k:cr, in which a passaj^^i; invariably cxUmuIs Irom the moiilh to tht.' heart, which hiltcr is ol" trianj^iihir form, 'i he tenahas, or .earthen basins, arc used as receptacles for meal, corn, water, or other substances which constitute the food of the natives. One very old vessel is covered with representations of snakes, a rare liL,aire in the ornamentation of I'ueblo ware, since the j)riests or midicine men no lonijer permit the peoj)le to employ the sun or serpent symbols, but monopolize thi-m in their incantations and stately ceremonies. Tenahas are made of all sizes, from an inch in diameter to those that will hold from twenty to thirty gallons. Mach larije vessel iias a concave bottom, like a cham- pajj^ne-bottle, for steadying it on the head in carrying water from the well. The clay used in the manufacture of the Laguna pottery is of a dark slate color and exceedingly compact, oftentimes ai)i)roach- ing soft rock in texture. This is taken from seams or veins in the mesa walls. I'he Indians soak this clay in water for two or three days, when it becomes perfectly plastic. It is then kneaded with the feet of the workmen on a large Hat stone, and all the hard lumps are taken out carefully. After the vessels arc moulded into form they are left to dry, and then covered with a ground work of white paint. Over this are painted fanciful devices in red, orange and black. The lustre of the ware is hii- parted by polishing the paint, before baking, with an exceedingly smooth stone like an ordinary seashore pebble. The brown or black pigment is made from a black stone somewhat resemblini,^ hematiti:. This is ground fine, mixed with water, and violently agitated for some time. It is then poured from one vessel to anodier to remove all grit, and is applied to the surface of the vessel to be ornamented, as common paint, with a stick. This paint alone would rub off, but to prevent this it is mixed with the . residue of two plants or weeds boiled together Tor a long time until it becomes of the required consistency, after which it is al- lowed to cool ; it then becomes perfectly hard. The clay .employed for the red color is of a yellowish tint, but on being bakoJ cl,a,,,.:s „, a l.rilli.,,,, ,,,, .,., '°«3 b.>kmtr „,„,,,,, ,„ ,., ' '1"^ v,..ss...ls are clos ely ' 1 "'<■ I'~«..ss of l,„r„. l-.-mced u, l>e.o,„... e.,,o.l. '',■.:;;, '"' l"'"i™ of the,,, is '"■■ .l-"i-,lar interest whiJh "'' "■,'' '''•""■^'"".^ 'l>o «a c f. '-t that these peoplVK; '••;/" !''" '''■;'''" Potteryin ->"a are the only aI,ori.,„„ . i^^;' ■-" •;">' '1"^ Alo.^is of ^lr"-'''^'-'^'--'-'-^;tLr:cr::ni:^i;: ">","."'.' "- Pueblo Indian alul tt'M"'" ""^ "••'>■ "'' "'•'"H'fectnres -'l wuh very in,p,r,eet and l"."'/"^'^.?^ "",''""' ■"■^-'■"-^ "•eM-lts. Th,. ieweh-y proch,ce L " '"■"''""' "^'"arkal^le -".arkably artistic des ,„ t"'/^'" "•■',"™ «°'J ="h1 silver is of -" Wankets made frcn th'c < ,.M'r,"\!'°,«-->-. Tl,e scn,pl - tl>c luair of the jjoat are of e^ ijr' °. "'^ "-^ican si- ".p water cannot percolate th,-o„. ' " "^^- -,'' » ''^se that I'orse fixtu,es generally are of et 1 '' ';"''""^'^' '^"■'•"'P'^ ^"d ■sorts have a good deal of b^,]| L, , ' "" '^'f'^' ^'"'1 *- better "l»"t |he,n. ,.,j.„„,, 1,,,,,^^' ° ;.,:'«' » "-le. barbaric splendor '-•, call«l ,na„nfactu,es. •, , , .TV' '""' '""^ "■'■■■^•'' «'" «;1>'J' "ere th.^ir substitnte for , , '"' °'' "o"'''-" "^o«ls <" 'I'e central capstan, with wh,Vh d ''°"'''''''^> ''<'"»'l 'otheanns ■" l>'»vcler, constituted thd „ ' l^^^""""'' *-> 'I"art. ,.ock even lorgotten how to construct 1, ,"^' "''''"^'"^ ' 'h^y had "- '-lians used three c , ^ "' n''^'^' ="-"-^. which ™lroad towns all over the Te n'orv H, " ^f' "-"'^-J^ «"d fectures, and builders, architec L °?'," ' "'" """^ '" "«""" f-" in great nu„,bers thr^^t™ ^^^^ -■" ^<= § I 5 1084 OL'A' n-ESTKKN EMPIRE. Railroads. — The Territory, so long completely isolated, and which one year ago had not a mile of railroad withiu its borders, is now in a lair way to have its full share of railroad communica- tion, not through the enterprise of its citizens, hut because it is on the highway to Mexico and Southern California. The Atchi- son, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which entered the Territory from Colorado by way of the Raton Pass about tiic beginning of 1880 ran its lines southwest to Las Vegas, and dience nearly due west to the Rio Grande, throwing out a branch to Santa Fe, and extending its line down the Rio Grande, expected to reach Me- silla by January, uSSi, and ¥A Paso, Texas, by the spring of that year. Tiie Southern Pacific, controlled by the Central Pacific Railway, which had crossed Southern California and bridged the Rio Colorjido of the West at Yuma in 1879, traversed Arizona, reaching Tucson in the spring of 1880, and crossing Western New 'viexico in the summer, will unite with the Atchison road at Fort Thorne, on the Rio Grande, by January, 1881, and thence proceeding down the Rio Grande to El Paso will probably make its terminus at Galveston a year later. Meanwhile the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, having purchased the charter of the At- lantic and Pacific, and controlling the St. Louis and San Fran- cisco Railway, have commenced and are actively pushing a rail- way west from Albuquercjue through the Zuni country, across Arizona, on or near the thirty-fifth parallel, and crossing the Rio Colorado at " tlie Needles" by a bridge 400 feet above the river, will reach the Pacific at San Diego and Santa Barbara by the end of 1 88 1. Another branch, following substantially the line Oi" the Southern Pacific to Tucson, Ari ona, will turn southward at tiiat point, and reach Guaymas, Mexico, on the California gulf, probably before 1882. Still another line is projected, and from its connection with the Mexican lines recently authorized, m y very soon be built, viz. : the line of the Denver and Rio (jrande, which, starting either from Alamosa or Animas City, Colorado, will proceed nearly due south to the Mexican line, to connect there with a road from the City of Mexico. There may eventually be a railway down the valley of the Pecos, connecting with some of the Texas railroads; isolated, and liu its borders, id communica- : because it is 1. The Atchi- l the 'J'erritory e beginning of :nce nearly due Santa Fe, and 1 to reach Me- spring of that Central Pacific nd bridged the ersed Arizona, issinof Western tchison road at 8i, and thence probably make e the Atchison, irter of the At- ind San Fran- pushing a rail- country, across rossing the Rio ibove the river, Barbara by the ntially the line turn southward California gulf, nection with the m be built, viz. : , starting either ceed nearly due a road from the lilway down the fexas railroads ; ---^^wzy...,,-,^,,^^^ out at present there are no mM ^^85 n^^tive populat on rt thn u,. . / ^Vestern Jimnirf " ti • has cloublllt^,;.™""' '■"'•'-■-'' »-'An,eWca" t' '"f""'' been = I i , "y >'-"ars, anti to ,h;. " Population "■' "'""S'l 1-eckoncd^s ,.:/-'''^'''"' "lice report vr i • ^''l-'<-<-.cst,malc. evidently ex.- io86 OUR WESTERN E MP J RE. § It should be said, however, that the previous enumerations have been very imperfect, because the canvassers were supposed to be unfriendly conspirators against the inhabitants, Indian and Mex- ican, and were purposely avoided or misinformed. We have in- cluded in these enumerations the Indian population, both Pueblos and tribal Indians, so far as it could be ascertained, though in 1850 and i860 the number of the latter could only be conjectured. Chief-Justice Prince, in an address delivered in Brooklyn in the winter of 1880, said of this population: "There is great interest as to this population, there being three entirely distinct civilizaUons and three distinct epochs of history represented. In New Mexico are found the only remains of the aborigines of the people of America. They are living in the same kind of houses, and to all intents and purposes existing as they did 300 years ago. Such are the Pueblo Indians. Side by side with these are the Spaniards and American civilization in its broader type especially. The aborigines or Pueblo Indians numbered in 1879 9,013 souls, all told, and occupied nineteen vil- lages. There are evidences of large Indian cities, not a single inhabitant of which remains, and villages have been deserted in the life oi the present generation. These aborigines call them- selves the children of Montezuma, who has gone from them, but promised to return, and left the sacred fire, which is still kept burninof undl he returns. Their religion is indistinct, but seems to be mainly a worship of the powers of nature, the sun, the clouds, the wind and the rain. Their sacrifices are of fruits and flowers, and resinous gums only. They have been throughout New Mexico nominallv converted to Catholicism, but maintain their old worship in secret. The men and women of this singular people are orderly, peaceable and industrious, and they make good citizens of the Territory. They are the best cultivators of the soil on the Rio Grande. The women grind the corn or wheat, and make pottery, very astonishing in its symmetrical pro- portions. The customs of these people have never changed, and they are extremely neat and cleanly. The Spanish-speaking people are generous and hospitable and most agreeable in their manners. Tliey are a contented people, perhaps too contented. Tla-KK DtSTlxCT Clfrr,,.,-^, They have no ambition to rise and ,1 • '"'^ t''-yev.n don'twant money C, "'•^"' V"''' ^"^ ^° ^w that "ian. oven if he is not ^Z'^ ,.; ^'.' ^""""^ ''"y land fron, a Met '>■» fatlier. Instead of be ' ! T'""^ ''^<^^«'= 't belonged, „ •--1-Kies, tlK.y,,a.. :;:«.-;;; -°".s or dangerous i^",; «cept ,n ,|,e case of those w.o'i" '^''"'^■^^^'and bloodsh^ ••' remarkable fact that they lit fi T'^'^ "" "'« "^""ler. tt ;-; -Is of connship and ^ fr .^fl^tl"" 'T^'"'='^'=^- '" ■'- horn them. The third type in M ^P""'^'' '"'»■<-■'■ very n,uch tyPjcal American life is fo ,^, "f;].'^" - the American Thl of the Indian Territory. A o, . ! "'' "^^""""^^ °^ *« frontier men away from the ristrai, lof r' T, """^ "'"'I ="<' lawless P-ct,cally outlaws. The ll^,, ' f '"^' -">« o.. them bj^ng We.N,co, and en.ijfrants of a be«e tl ' ^"'' Penetrated Ne,f ''"'parts of the country.- ""' '^'^^^ ''^^ (locking there from To the Chief-Justice's list of • ■,• ■ more-the triba/ Indians o loTr"™^ ^''°"''' ^^ added two e Apache.,, of three or'f^ u^ °"t „'^?= ^7 '- distinct races- caleros and Hot Sprin. aLcI , ''' "''' •"■^""'as, Mes- Southeastern New Me;xic7an P'. " -T^'P^' S-"-™ and "'eanest, filthiest, most treaci.erous ' 7'""'"' ^'^eption, the ,f ";e Indian bribes; and 1 Co" "."^ "'^ *^-^e' ""eated by , e of t .0 West, and giv/goo' Ur °nd t' ■ ""' T'" "°"-*-^ '* - °>'l'^ed. There were in'^rs-. ^P'^ "''■" "'"-'y "'av yet be Apaches in the Territo'; '* "'^^o Navajoes, ani ',5,! ^K^Territory,.-,..'r,,t2ri?:8r^'' '"*---■•- '•" Colfa.x, 4,290. Mora,,,,.,,. R "=.'". '^79 .3.025 inhabitants- 595 Santa F,, ,,.,,, /^'n' M^^r' ^^ .T"; f--""°. '9,- L'.coln. 4,450; Socorro, 6 220- rTL ^' ' '^^'^""'''' '°.035 : 1088 OCm WESTERN EMPIRE. these counties Bernalillo, Valencia, Santa Fe and San Miguel are of the most irregular and peculiar shape, Bernalillo and V^alencia having portions entirely detached and separated by other coun- ties from their larger sections. The other counties are of com- paratively regular form. Of the towns Santa Fe, the capital and oldest city, has about 6.500 inhabitants ; Albuquerque, about 5,000 ; La. Vegas, Me- silla and Silver City, from 3,000 to 4.000 each ; Cimarron, Las Cruces, Mora, Placita, Fernando de Taos, Ocate, Tome and San Marcial, growing towns, each of 1,000 or more inhabitants. Education is at a low ebb in New Mexico. The Territory being under the control of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, which largely outnumbers all other denominations in its adherent popu- lation, the public school education has been wholly usurped by them, and the public funds for school purposes are endrely ex- pended by them upon their own schools. Governor Lew Wal- lace, in his report to the Secretary of the Interior, September, 1879, gives the following as the latest report concerning education in the Territory : " The lands set apart for public schools in New Mexico are in very liberal quantity ; nothing, however, has been done to make them available. "In 1871 the legislature passed an act establishing a common school system, for the support of which there were set apart not only the poll-tax and a quarter of all other taxes, but a certain surplus in the various county treasuries. Four years afterwards eight of the twelve counties reported : Schools 138 Pupils in attendance 5; 151 Teachers ( male and female) 47 Wages of teachers per month, $16 to $40. "The amount of school moneys raised by tax in 1874 was $28,523.34. " Education is chiefly in the Spanish language. In Grant and Colfax counties the English is the prevailing tongue. " In addition to the above there are twenty-six private and shin£r a common :ax in 1874 was ^fy^"^.^M.„,, . "'—"e course or 'he Roman CaL, "' ^"^ '7° church ed^ ^t ""'''= ""''•' denomination, "!,""' '''"'' "'ne dmj, V '^ buildings, T"eTerrrr;„h^;';^P-Portio„ is "at tit" "^ •^" °"- «»'e'y Roman r.r, ^^'^^'ra'- Slate wn, J ""^ -'"me to-day. of the peopW^:t " ^■""'''■■"""' ^nd ot°"'--' ""derexci:. ">e nineteenth ^ntv'"" "' ""^ -*'« age^' , '"' °' "'« ^«l»sive, while it L Ti "fi'^r^i-e, imperW " "°' "'=" °f grossly immoral i:;''° '""--'« and^J^hVe '■°^'"' ^"-^ *e fathers of their fl ? "' "'''^ '° « 'amen^hl/ "^^<=P"ons «"'^ regarded as >t°''' '"'' '"-S'-t^aTyt /'''"' '"'^"y ^red or four hunV T °" ""= '^°"'inent of F? """°" ^"^ as Territory, and supplied ,,, ,''P^"°-An.erican bir M r ^""''^ ^^'Sh priest^ f I ^""" 'he expatriation ^be/' *^^ "'^ '™e h '/^■/'■^"ceand *^ large imnn-c/r.^ " '°"'" "-^ason to hoo.T "^ ^"""-^^ ^ hetter 7^'^??"."°^ """'"^ intoL T " " P°"''°" of '" '530 as the Kin J . "'° '^as first heard «f • r. .""-■' obtained tK^ °1^*°'^. ^^m whe f ^ ^M "^"^ '" '540 by Coronal K '' P'^<='">"^ Sems V ^^^""^^n .^-nation^unrn'ttbrclo? ?'. -- 5" u dT S^-t forergners were ».ii '* "^ 'he sixteenfl Spanish obnoxious o 1 '■^''"'^'' at first bu!TJ ""'""■*'• '^^ ^ " mines were made to 1090 OUK WESTERN EMPIRE. I § yield immense sums to the church and the rulers, by the enslav- ing of the natives, and the practice of the most atrocious cruelties upon them. The cathedral of Santa Fe alone received from one mine }^io,ooo,ooo. At last, exasperated beyond endurance, the long-suffering natives rose in rebellion in 1680 and expelled the Spaniards, but only succeeded in keeping them out for ihirteen years. During this time every mine in the country was filled up. Peace was made on condition that there should be no more slavery and no more mining. From that time until 1846, when the American army took possession of the Territory, the history of New Mexico is almost a blank; things went on the same from generation to generation. The governors of New Mexico were practically independent by their isolation ; and the revolution which threw off the Spanish yoke from Mexico made very litde difference with this remote State. In 1846 General Kearney cap- tured Santa Fe, and overran the entire Territory, which was ceded to the United States two years later under the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The land south of the Gila was obtained in 1853 by purchase from Mexico, and in 1854 New Mexico con- tained, besides the region within its present limits, the whole of Arizona and portions of Nevada and Colorado. So much of the country east of the Rocky Mountains as lies between the thirty- seventh and thirty-eighth parallels was annexed to Colorado in February, 1861, and, two years later, Arizona was set off. Sev- eral attempts have been made to secure the admission of New Mexico to the Federal Union, but so far without success. A bill for that purpose -was presented to the Forty-third Congress in March, 1875, but failed to become a law. Until it can come in as a State having a republican form of government and not under the control of a religious hierarchy and an established church, it is to be hoped that all future applications will prove equally unsuccessful. But the vast tide of immigration now flowing into the Territory, and which is likely to be still larger, will soon effect such changes that its reception into the Union will be both proper and desirable. : f- , Conclusion. — There is no use in counselling immigrants to avoid ij. region so rich in mineral wealth, or so well adapted to pastoral pursuits, as New Mexico- I . , 'OQ^ -f vantages to last for eve;.l '^^'"^ '^ ^ -^"^clency of the -^- delays until the ^^^ ^?, '^ --^'^ and the'n.n,V a I -"ntry. and its railways 'nd X;" ''' '"^'>' -"^^^^ an f the t'lan ti,o.se who. in their haste to I "^ ^^^'^'^'^^Ped. will be wiser as they will, that wealth il . ^ ""''' ^"'^^^ ''n now and fi 7 Pn-vations and sacrife. '^ ^^^^^ '^ '^ P-chased by ^eltS; CHAPTER XVJJ. OREGON. BOL'NDARIES. Arra A>.n EXTENT-FArP TiLrrv OP THE So,L T "^^i^^'""" OREnoN-So„ A J„ V O'-^-'w-Mr. FORKT Crow™, 7 " S""'"- *V"" V.a° , ' r r '"""""-f"- T.RALANO PA.TORA,. Pr„ , „:^°''r-2'-'^'°"--0RE0o,, F,S„T,~'r'""'-' -W'HEAr an:, Flour Pv^"'" ^'■■'' '"^'"''er PR„oui?„ '"•'''-'•''•^«- -Ubor-Waof? P ''™''"-^»''««— ToTA. ' ^™'"'"o'' "-w Exports o"HE Pop JZ:i'-,J;';-'-"-PoPu.A„o„i? :;^-^^ -0 Pr,.c,pa,. C,p,es an?iwS'";"''°-^^^™ Tr„..Ua; """""== --THE T,.E OE ™e urotr ro^r r----"-^^^ -^°- tZ Padfe 1 "" ^'^'^^ °f " Our Western K • « mil. .„,j.^ » *« ■ E.„, " , "T" '"Prt-a .ihi. 1092 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. O 1 1 6° 33' and 124° 25' west longitude from Greenwich. It is bounded on the north by Washington Territory, the Cohimbia river forming the boundary to the point where that river crosses the parallel of 46° and the boundary running thence eastward, along that parallel, to the Snake river ; on the east it is bounded by Idaho Territory, the Snake river forming the boundary to the mouth of the Owyhee, and thence a line drawn due south along the meridian of 116° 50' west longitude to the Nevada line; on the south it is bounded by Nevada and California, the parallel of 42° forming the boundary line ; on the west its shores are washed by the Pacific Ocean. Its greatest width from east to west is 360 miles, and from north to south 275 miles; while its coast line is about 300 miles. Its area is 95,274 square miles, or 60,975,360 acres. It is a little larger than the two States of New York and Pennsylvania. Face of the Country. — The principal mountains of Oregon, those having the highest summits, are the Cascade Mountains, a continuation of the Sierra Nevada of California, which stretch across the State from north to south, at an average distance of about 1 10 miles from the coast of the Pacific. Numerous barren snow-capped peaks of volcanic origin rise from them to great heights within the limits of Oregon, of which the most elevated are Mount Hood (i 1,025 feet). Mounts Jefferson, Thielsen, Scott, Pitt and the Three Sisters. The Cascade Range divides Oregon into two distinct sections, known as Eastern and Western Ore- gon. Of these the former contains by far the most territory, but the latter is far more advanced in settlement ; and within its natural boundaries, that is, between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific coast, more than sevenTtenths of the present population of the State arc living. Another chain of mountains, the so-called Coast Range, ex- tends also north and south, over Western Oregon, at a distance varying from forty to seventy miles from the Cascade Mountains, and proportionately nearer to the Pacific coast. Its elevation is, however, much lower than that of the latter, its highest points being only a few thousand feet above the level of the sea. Eastern Oregon is subdivided, so to speak, into Middle Oregon °f •■•bout ,50 „,„,, el ';';"■:!'>"•'« cl/rec,i„n7;' v"""^" "eek, on the I ),.. rZ ™""ieast, from fl, "'"'""a'ns. in a ■-•"<--l but shorter h"-'" "^"- "> 'he S ' "°""' °^ ^rout The Cascade Mountain • ^ ^''°°'^'-"^ ^nd the numerous c at ^'u."'"J""^-'°n wfth tho r "'•"? out from th^m rC, u'"'' "■•'"king an s t °-'''"''-'"?« """.erous vallev, of ""^ "'"•'"''^<-' "f West. A" '"'^ '■''"■ ' he largest rivers of Vl'estern n ^ ^ or less ■'e|>arates it on the nnrM r '''S''" a^ the Cnl„ k- lamette t' - 1-,. ?"' '^'"'^ Washin..fn„ x ^°'"mb,a, which -" Rogue, ™ro'4° S"? '■"'° "'^' ihi:'.'r n '-^-'■^ emptying i„to ,he Padfe ti?'^ ^''^y^' Siuslavv ' anj f ''^I'^ Tl>erearen, "'' *'^"'<="f and Owyhee 'ipal of .^^h"r r K^' '■" '"""--ern Oregon th '^t^s. Lake Ha^ev s""'c' ^°°^'=' Malheur fnd'v' ""'"- &ano lakes. . ^' ^''''^'•' Summer, Albert Chr,"'"'''^ Anion., the Hi.,- • . <-hr,stmas and "%s krZ tll'7 "''"--^^ °^ Oregon are th Md tile min„ '"'^' ^'ated, by the se^^ T ""Serous ■"■norranges issuing from [hem '^' "'°"«^'''' chains 1094 OUR WF.Srr.RN F.MriRE. 5.^ C4 The principal vall(!ys of Western Oregon an^ tliose of tlic Wil- lamette, Umpqua and Rogue rivers, each of which deserves par- ticular mention. Tile Willamette valley is by far the largest, and in every re- spect the most attractive. It has been ai)propriat(:ly named "the garden of the Northwest." None of the famous valleys of the (^Id or New World, not even that of the Nile, or the Sacramento, San Joaquin or Santa Clara valleys of California, surpass it in fertility or salubrity. In beauty of scenery its equal is not to be found anywhere. The Hon. .Schuyler Colfax, late Vice-Presi- dent of the United States, who visited it some years since, enthu- siastically pronounced it "as charming a landscape as ever painter's hand placed upon canvas." It is about 150 miles in length, from thirty to sixty miles in width, and contains within its natural boundaries — viz. : the Columbia river on the north, the Cascade Mountains on the east, the Coast Range on the west, and the Callapoia Mountains on the south — about 5,000,000 acres of unusual productiveness, of which only a part is as yet under cultivation. It is well watered throughout by the Willamette river and its tributaries. This valley was the first portion of Oreoon to be settled, and will alwavs be the Eden of the Pacific. A few years ago it contained two-thirds of the population of Or- egon, but within the past decade odier portions of the State have been rapidly setding up, and its population, though large ant permanent, does not bear as large a proportion to the whole as formerly. The Umpqua valley lies to the south of the Callapoia Moun- tains, and is watered by the Umpqua river and its tributaries. Its eastern boundary is formed by the Cascade Mountains, its western by the Coast Range, and its southern by the Grave Creek Range. It contains about 2,500,000 acres. To the south of the chain of mountains last named lies the Valley of Rogue River, which has the same boundaries to the east and west as the two other valleys described, and is bounded on the south by the Siskiyou Mountain, which separates it from California. Its area is about 2,400,000 acres. There are sev- eral other smaller but fertile valleys, the bottom lands of the numerous small streams which fall into the Pacific. iviicklle Oregon has no '°9S between ,1,0 Casca.le K.r^Za^'^'^''^ ^'"''=>'^' ""' -Won Mountams being almost wl.olt V *''"■'■" 'P'"- "f "><• "lue eau. and ,I,e Des ChuTe I'"""''''?'-''' °f '"gh rollinj; „!»! "'™"*.''. Jeep and narro ^nTj' ''.\"' "■■""« in,pli.s;„ow, cataracts. At the sources of t " '. '"'^ "'"""""-^ '"'"''■^ «nd r" "^"- ''»-'. but the sa°e I ''"""' "'^•^'- '^ ^" «ten ' "ery n,„cl, |ik„| by cattlT- • 1 1 r ""*>' '"'"^'"'l "itl, ,1,,. f " ".em, so that the "Sage U, Lr " ""' "" <'«""-« '"'•a'^eT;, i-o'-d. This whole te."^ ;'t, /r^^ '° be excellent gra,i„„ -'n„rably adapted to graZ an ' '""■' ''"' '^'■" ^™"'l to bf ■" Hr:'^;:^ ^^r '" "''-~ " " "' ^-"-^ "-^ -i- The ^Z:tr-:^:;^;;:::^-"eys, Which ,ield immense (not one-half of those which CeT ^""^ " '''^' "' twenty-two ='^eaof5,S9,,,^,^^ ^;^'' ^"^ known there), which have an valleys will soon have BoodI ~ ? " "'' '■' '"' ''""•'<^- The!! ™ads, now in course of col' "^ u"t'' "'" "--w-gau " Navjgation Company toTa 0"", 'n'? ""'''°" '^-'"a^yafd -i..ch will connect them with Potlf:^ ^''■'>- ''"' '^^^ steamer, and very soon alsoZ rl. ''' ^""'i""- by ra^l o^ wtl. the^ East. "° "^^ ">^ "''V of the Northern Pacific The Surveyor-General r,f r> ^Pcaks as follows of those sJcZT' 1^7 ^^"'"^ C- Tolman, l"*erto been least known I if! re "'' ■'^''''"'' "bich have S"^^ 15. 1879 : ' "^P°« 'o the Land Office, Au- "A small portion nf c i ous, and i.s mostly ada'pfed'Ht;™ ^7"" " ""'"= ■^-"•-- th's class, however, is comparadvei? n ^"'f "»' '"'« =>-« of -- arable tracts to L-^1S7:^:!^:ZZ ocSaSnd-Stottf '''V"^^^^^ -stern and northern slope, rfTe'' '"'' *!"^ "'^ --P'-n of the ^-ce of timber. ,t comprises ^,Z"T ""^'=' "''"''°"'^'^- « P 'ses an area of generally arable land, 3 5 1096 OVK WEHThRN EMPIRE. of about forty by eighty miles in ext('nt, is rapidly settling up in the more eligible locations, and is certain, in the near future, to become a vast wheat-growing region. Where, but a few years ago, only the Indian or the trapper found inducement to remain, is now the scene of busy activity and great attraction. It is in this region that timber is now in most demand, ami dependence is upon the adjacent mountains. There they can cut and saw timber for rails and lumber and draw or raft it to the farms below, and it is here that timber depredations have been most fre(juent. The land has mostly remained unsurveycd where the timber grows, a'nd the citizens could not purchase it, or procure the use of it, even by the payment of 'stumpage ; ' but they felt that tluy must have timber The central portion of Eastern Oregon is mainly mountainous, with occasional valleys and water-courses adapted to settlement and utility. This tract is bounded on the north by the Hlue Mountains, on die west by the Cascade Range (die latter extending entirely dirough the State from north to south), on the east by Snake river, and on the south by the spurs and buttes of the Cascade and other ranges of mountains, embracing a tract of country near 150 miles square. Although mainly devoted to mining at this time there are yet large tracts of this district that are good arable land, and which will, in the course of time, be surveyed and taken up by settlers. At this time it is so far removed from market that it affords little attraction to other than stock-raisers and miners, excepting a narrow strip along the one overland thoroughfare. "Southeastern Oregon comprises about one-fourth the entire area of the State, and is mainly adapted for grazing. It is here that are annually reared and fattened the beeves which furnisli the markets of California, Utah, Nevada and most of Southern Oregon. There are numerous small valleys, however, which are of most excellent agricultural quality, and will be more than suffi- cient for all time to furnish the local demand for produce. This portion of the country is composed principally of vast grassy plains, interspersed with low wooded hills, and thickly set with beautiful lakes. Scattered over it are some marshes and swamps, "H'adow and T'l. "'^'^''> lo the •il.-. .. i , " """)• .•c.i.in.aWc. Such ,A ' "'■'■\"' ''•••^^■'•'. •'"hI tl.cs".c ""\ "•••"•- '^vist only i, ,,rV "^^""''l ^- "■""Klu «■ > t|,v ' ■ '"Z:!,:f "7 -"A' "••'^'™-" "'■ ">- -li) ir. rid!'!,,!;"'" ^''''^"^ <'-Er':,2T"' ""jf'' '""""'-■" -^ ""• ""• "'"""tai,, slopes ),ar,llvT ' " ''""^V'' •^'-■in.' verv '""K-'outl,, i,,,,;,,,,,.,,,/ ""•'• '•■'■•* I'wn burned, will, a 7i actor of til,, c, ■! > Procliictivoncss Ti ''•■"■'*'= mould wul, a clay subsoil Tb ' , ''f'^ '«"" "nd vc-otable t|(rlioi|c f,. ^1 • ^'If^ soil of fli« 1 '"^^>^iuuje •? ^'f ^" t'l^' ^^-atcr-coursp. ; ^ ^""«"i lands con /««« or earth ' ''""'' ''-'ve e land, t^ ,tv" •'■''''•■'•■''''"= P™^"'^';ve„erof -usually long periods of 'ti,:?:;, "^^ P^^-^ive capac.y^: ^ 3.^ ^ a 1098 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. the mountain ranges. The elevated lands not only afford the best natural pasturage, but produce good crops of hay, cereals, vegetables and fruit. In Middle Oregon soil for agricultural purposes is not so gen- erally good on the elevated plateaux as west of the Cascade Mountains ; the best openings are in the valleys along water- courses. In some parts of these districts, artificial irrigation has to be employed to make the soil productive, and with this stimulus, they yield enormous crops. In Eastern Oregon, the river valleys are rich, and most of the land, even in the uplands, is a Strong alluvium, producing from thirty to sixty bushels ol wheat, a like proportion of other grains, and immense root crops These lands are new, and their pro- ductiveness has not been known until within the past five years. . The Cascade Mountains, the Coast Range, and the Callapoia Mountains, as well as a large part of the valleys of Western Oregon, are covered with mighty forests, affording an inex- haustible supply of hard and soft timber. In the valleys different kinds of ash, oak, maple, balm and alder, as well as fir, cedar, spruce, pine and yew, grow in great abundance. In the foot- hills scattering oaks and firs, with a thif ': second growth in many places, are found. The mountains are mostly covered with thick growths of tall fir, pine, spruce, hemlock, cedar, larch and laurel, without much undergrowth. Two kinds of cedar, two of fir, and three of pine, are indigenous to Oregon. Trees attain an unusu- ally fine development, both as regards height and symmetrical form. In the northern part of the State the red fir abounds, and often measures two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet in height, with trunks nine feet in diameter, clear of branches up for one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet. Out of such trees eighteen rail-cuts have been made, and five thousand to ten thousand feet of lumber. Elder stalks from eighteen to thirty inches in circumference, hazei bushes from one to five inches in diameter, are of common occurrence. Lumber is cut from elder saw-logs measuring twenty to thirty inches in diameter. In the forests south of the Umpqua the yellow pine is found, as also an abundance of sugar pine, the wood of which is in great demand. J'or commercial and industrM „ '°99 hemlock, .su.ar pine, map "a, j ^ ,r"' "^ '^^ ^edar, red fir, natural grasses of Western Co 'arof " ""^ ^=""='^'- T''e the.r nutneious and fattening cltaraw • , n 1' ''".^'">'-"d retain The ra.ns which fall regularly 'n M. f\ '""^ '" ""= au.un,n - .-> succulent condition%hro . ''^^T,^ J""« -^-P '<.. pastu^' One acre of this natural PasUro ''if ,'""""'='■ ''"'' «""•"■". year and t>vo acres an ox But 1 •'' '''"'P ""°"g'> tl>e - Middle and Eastern an "teiX's"''','^' '^"* ^^ ^--^ There area great variety of native ,' 1 'T^"^"^'-" O-'efion. character m this vast pasture- 'roun^i'^.^V''' """'' ""'"'''^"s th,rty-tl,ree „,illion acris. The ca.t le f\ '°"'f*- ^^out these grasses thrive better than tho e f'", ''"='P P^^'"^ed on The only difficulty is that the;beco;/f "'r^"'" '" "'e east, where they are moderately accessible to '', ''"''^^'^ '->ds. taken up extensively for dairv Lm / ,"'"'^"' ="■« being butter has already a hi„h ZuJ^ ' ','"' "'" Solden Ore^of rainfall, its streams fed'Cn d r^^r;:'* 'T '•"''"™- -""al ta.ns,and the moist breezes swen r ""^ Cascade Moun- want of water. Lakes. Tend a' d'"fi " ''•'^ '^^^'■«<^' '^ i" "» M.clclle Oregon, on the devat;d "li "' t^''™^' ''^""''- '" scarcty, and occasionally irrioa ion is ' '' sometimes a for th,s are so ample, the cos" oflri J""'''^' "^"^ "'^ f-eilities .the results produced by it so vas' an fn fi '^ T "'°''^™'^' ^"^ - not a drawback to the cultiva^'ln o the f ^ "'^' '''•"^-'-n Oregon the rainfall, though lesTcon o , "*' '" Eastern Port,on of the State, is sufficiendy so fo', ''"' '" "'= "«'ern and the beautiful valleys the e do not uV r''"'r' P"^P°-^. ../^"""■'•-The climate of Western O^ ^om drought, d'ffenng i„ this from that of the Eastern I?" ''^ ™" ^"d equable, '°° ho. in sunmier nor too cofd „™ ^'"'''- "'^' " '^ neither Proxmmy ofthe Pacific and the Gulf str'% u°^""^ '° 'he or frost never prevails to any onsi 'lleT ""' °^^''"' ^"°- emperature explains this fact TI 1 f '^T' ^''^ "^'^"Se or summer, 6;=; for autumn; 53^ anTf^ °' '"""^ '^ ^^l- he.t, showing a mean deviation of only 1T "'"'''■? ^'° ^'''"■«="- only 28 during the year. The IICX) OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. % P^ la* j3 °9 s average yearly rainfall is forty-four inches, about the same as at Davenport (la.), Memphis and Philadelphia. Thunder-storms are almost unknown in Western Oregon, and the disastrous hurricanes and whirlwinds of the Atlantic States entirely so. Eastern Oregon has a dryer climate, a considerably smaller rainfall, a somewhat greater heat in summer and a lower tem- perature in winter, assimilating very closely in these respects to the Red River valley of Minnesota and Dakota, thouidi in gen- eral with less depth of snow in winter. But this climate is eminently healthful, and the smaller rainfall does not interfere with the production of the largest and finest crops of wheat grown anywhere. Middle Oregon has a more equable climate and a moderate rainfall, but on its elevated plateaux both the cold and the heat are felt all the more keenly, that there is no kindly forest to shelter and protect the traveller from the hot rays of the sun, or the bitinir cold of the winter winds. Rheumatic and pulmonary diseases are excessively rare in all parts of Oregon. There are in some of the lowlands near rivers and lakes in Southern Oregon occasional sporadic cases of a mild intermittent fever, but they are never severe enough to be serious, and they yield rapidly to treatment. Some of the small towns on the Pacific, like Astoria, Port Orford and Umpqua City, have a much greater rainfall than the towns of the Willamette valley. In these towns, in the past, the annual rainfall has reached sixty- four, sixty-six, or sixty-seven inches, but the Coast Range robs the weeping clouds of the skies of the coast of a part of their superabundant moisture. According to the census of 1870, the death-rate iii Oregon is lower than in any other State or Territory in the Union, except- ing Idaho, being only .69 per cent, of the population : while in California it is 1.16; in Vermont, 1.07; Massachusetts, 1.77; Indiana, 1.05; Illinois, 1.33; Kansas, 1.25; and Missouri, 1.63. The equable temperature, the absence of high, cold winds and sudden atmospheric changes, render people less subject to bronchial, rheumatic and inflammatory complaints than in other parts of the country, where the extremes of heat and cold are CLUf^TES OF OHEGO^Y greater, and the chancres of ^. ''°' ^'^ -^^- ^ °^ temperature more sudden and We give on pa (re imo fK« -presenting theVonhw: / :,^:':;™'°f "^ P°«'a„d. Oregon, ■•e'^'^nt.ng the southwest and o"f n n'^ ^""= ' °'" K°seburng, 51° o'- ^orjve years: 4341 ; 5 -f. ; \^2';.': '' ^""-^ -infal -^*/'^/'^.^. latitude, 46° it • i '„!•;? ' ^ ^^^ ; 477o. ture for ten vear. q -^ ' ^°"S:'t"de, 123° 50'. Mean f. ' >ears: Spnno- cro r^'. ^ J • mean tempera- 53° 55'; winter, 4.0 J. ^i/' j"^;, ^""'"'^r, 6,0 ,5. ^ ^ inches. «,jear,5. ,,. Annual rainfail, 60 to 67 Corvallis. latitude 44» ,c'. 1 • , -reforten years ! ^^^^i 7;';,^'=; -'" "^'^ ^^^" '^P- Sr 4.',. winter, 39° . '; y ar 5 ^ r'"T' ^7° .3'; autumn, 42.08 mches. ' ■ y "r, 5o . Annual rainfall, 3S.47 to Geology and Mi„cralojry.~Unch of ,. ^en subjected to volcanif action on aland "T °' °'''^«°" ''^^ Oregon th,s has been comparaJveW.er ff?' '"'"'■" Eastern "ot*,thm "^e historic period), and on th! ^ '°"^'' P''°''^'''y The Coast Range and the B ue m! , °" ^'"Pendous scale to* eozoic; the intermed ate Cascade r"' '"' "'^'^ "^P"- are surface rocks, with indications that the ^"^^ " ''°'^^"'e '" its ongmally limestones and a„dsto t" ^r""^ '"' ^^'^^ *ere • Eastern Oregon was so vio"ent aft'o 1 ^° ''"'"^ ^"'•°" in «"ons where the rocks we e rent q ^^'? ''^^P ''^^"^es or '.500 feet deep, and on their DerneL-?'"'°^ *^^^ eafions are of .l>e order of the geol,^c' s ^ata rar T """^ '"""^ '^ ^ -^'d Near the bottom of the fisfure areV ^' ''""'^'" <='^<=*''ere ■"S '" .narine shells, preserve/: pe^l^^ rm^b'^'^/ ^''-"^- penect lorm, but often filled -•n ^3 ^^g JZ oq •^ ^ II02 OC//! WESTERN EMPIRE. o O O few, <^ o OS I < s •g ^ I 3 in 1/1 in ^ i 2 M 5 .2 J S ■jajsiuojcg i >' g U t** CO ON B w en I/} b" ui ^ tfl c« H E u ^ iS 1/3 3 U Id o» M p\ fj N N tn B 13 M di (/) c/i w 2i w ^ 5:- & ^ ^ ?: > > ■Xijpjiun^ Uli3I\[ '3injBJndui.ij_ OS 5 g, ft ft ft ft ft OS CO 5 "S. V ft 00 !>. 6 " 6 C4 ^ d d d •3jn)Bj.idui3j_ lUMUIIUJI^ " •3JnjBJ3duinj_ iunuijxc]\ •3jnjEjndiU3j_ uK,-iv" ON 8 ■« m ^ M in m «r %o in 00 •<• N fn ro n K v£i in f. in ? CO in R ■aDl.1U10.IBfl UBni\i "2 d d d •Xjipiuinn iiBsi^ -U!B>i iBniiuy |juuXm)iioi\[ •3JiU''i^dui3j_ JO aSiiwy •3JniB4ndui3_L I lUlllUjlllI^ •njiUBJodiiin i_ uiniujXBi^ s "■ d ■* M o m NO •«• d 3 -a J3 .3 H •ajnJK-odu's.L iiBsiv: in in in m in in in O t> 00 so n 1^ r*. 00 n % ?; M in in in m m m m in " % 0? 00 00 s R !§ >s, s in 00 00 in q\ 00 in "O rn o\ fO 'T ■^ -g S o o o Q S5 H o a. O u £ >3 s •JsjaiuojKg UB3(^ o ft ft ft 6 ■Xjipiiunjf UB3I^ 111) -iijB^ leiuiuy puB Amiuoj^ ^ R ? ci ^ R H. X o d d d -ajiUBjDduisj, JO oSllBJJ " •3.tnjBi:-dtuaj^ uiiiuiiuijy; o m ■3.ltHB.13dlll3 |_ UIIUU!XB|\{' •3JnjEjodui3L UB3I^ ' o ^ ON % ft 00 o 00 00 v> in .8 S X o In ^ 5) E a u tn o t : >N (4 (A u •t w w Fl u u >5 'A ■3 « -« ^ Ss ^ ^ ^ C/j t/i ifl (/) 1/3 >■ ^' PJ & ^ 'oo N in VP 8, in * t^ H r^ 00 ri» Q IT) tn '*" m CO CO M ON 8 M 00 t^ N m m 5; CO m NO in 8 ^r^" ? "1' ro \0 »A SO vo in in in to M N CO fj ^ ^ ^ ■* m m ro in fo o\ ^ S n r*! fo f*^ ro 00 00 in rn "O fO »n M Is. »^ 00 00 00 ro NO in N * Q m m ^o 2 -S -^ >, C'^o.ooy .., .„^,,,,„^^ ^^ ^^^.^,^_^^ with.chalcedony or calcareo """■'■' ""J tiary strata, with leaf i„p,essio„To7„"'" ''''°'"' "'" '°*'=' ter- ''"d g.ant ferns, as well a's o tl.e oi W '7^-"^ P^'"-. yews are associated fossils of two leS of ? '"■■" ^ "'"' ''■'«'= rf"' " =°""ecti„g link between thelr'"°'' """"^ "I" "'« eral genera of the tapir and peccarv fl^ '"'' '"P"' ^"'l »«=- «'«^?^/».. Upon these lower 1^^'' '"" "'"^ "'^'" "'« penod of volcanic action, wid.a "T' T"^ -'Pervenes the ashes. The region thus rem tT f"""' °'" '^^«. mud and cone-Iike hills, or ridged wl'seo"? ''^'="''"=''= '""' '^'atel fash-on. their strata contorZ into , ^^ "^^'^ ">™«" "P dike chasms filled .with earthtravrHr'' '"^'" °'- '^^«'-" in'" dalo,d, heaps of volcanic con'lon"!? ^'•^'"°""'ains of amyg! basalt walling i„ ,he water-coJ-r^eT 7„V"' ''"'' "' ^"'""'"^^ Des Chutes and John Day rivers th ■'■'^'°" "^ "'^ "PPe- "arked,and here the cretaceouT?^' ""=. ^°''^='"''c action is less face. The whole of the Cascade tT'"" T""""'''^^ "^"^ ^ur! dence of volcanic action, and tWs el f '" ""= ^'^'« S'ves evi- lamette valley. The b, J of tf^VW 11 " "'''""'''' "«° ">-^ Wil- - parfally basaltic, with perp nS::"';,''"'^^ "^^'^ "■' "->"* Cty tt traverses a district of vol ant J /' ' '°""^ "^ Oregon frequently exposed on its banis Q f ' ^"'' "'"^'^ "-^P is strata of limestone, with fossU b' f °""'*«^d °f 'Lis occur S,i„ ^nd again basalt. The p° vint ^ "r ''"''''• ^'^"'^'^ '" ^" 's tmp, while at the head o tie v^,™ a 1 , "" ,'''''"^""=«'= -" X one, possibly tertiary, is found T^,e 'f ^r'"-'' clayey sand- elephants have been found at „e» , T '"""^ ""'' '"sks of At the Dalles, on the hillsides afeboun' !•" "'■' """= ™"^y S'-^n'te. . _ '"'''"""'^'-^ of gray and of a red i%«r«/.._The mineral wealth of n ^ yet very imperfectly developed 1 7^°" > ^"^ e^-«. b"t cap.tal. Gold was firs^^ discoveredt'"^ °"'>" '° "'^ >-« °f Jackson and Josephine, in the e.trem ^V" "'" ™""''^s of nunes have been worked in thLeJe" up to the present time is estin^fj ''""■ '"'a' Product years the yield has declined nc »^7.ooo,ooo; but of C Baker and Grant counts „Ea°s?em'o"" °' ','" "^'" °^ -'^^ .'" ^.astern Oregon, have also yielded 1 104 OUR WESTERS' EMPIRE. o r many millions of the precious metal. In Baker county, espe- cially in the vicinity of Baker City, gold mining is carried on very actively at this time, and with good results. On the ocean beach, near Coos bay, placer mines are worked to a considerable extent. Rich gold quartz lodes have been discovered and partially worked in the southern part of the Cascade Mountains ; but their dis- tance from railroads, and the want of machinery for working them, has, until now, prevented their development on a scale commensurate with their richness. Were the same amount of capital, enterprise and trained skill brought to bear upon the gold mines of Oregon, that is now again increasing the gold product of California at a rapid rate, after years of decline, the former State would not be far behind the latter in the production of precious metals. The yearly gold product of Oregon repre- sents now a value of nearly |i, 500,000. Lead and copper have been found in large quantities in Jack- son, Josephine and Douglas counties, on Cow creek, a tributary of the Umpqua, and also on the Santiam river. The mines on the latter river are successfully worked. Large deposits of rich iron ore exist in nearly every part of the State. The most important of these is situated near Oswego, on the Willamette, about six miles south of Portland. The ore from it yields about fifty-four per cent, of pure iron Other ex- tensive deposits exist in the counties of Columbia, Tillamook, Marion, Clackamas, Jackson and Coos. A large bed of ore has been found at St. Helen's, on the Columbia. That essential element in the development of mineral resources, coal, abounds In Oregon no less than iron. Beds of great thick- ness exist on Coos bay, in Coos county, on the northern Umpqua, and In Douglas county. Beds, as yet but partially explored, have been found on Yaquina bay, at Port Orford, near St. Helen's, on Pass creek, and on the line of the Oregon and California Rail- road, and at different other points In Clackamas, Clatsop and Tillamook counties. But only a few of these coal mines are regularly worked. The Coos bay mines keep a fleet of schooners busy carrying coal to San Francisco, where it Is highly esteemed, and brings about $1 1 a ton. With the exception of that obtained f , y-^l./ir OF OKKCOlf from the Queen Charlotte I,Kn 1 •• , "°5 on the Pacific coast. ''"'''• " '^ "«= best coal produced . What, with the abundance of cnnl , a ,. ■ron ore, the day cannot be far 2J !".""= ""'"^""^ ^eds of well-developed iron industry """' **"=" Oregon will have a in thelat "^° ^"^"'^ °^"~e, bro„„ stone and .arble »f August, .879: ■* ™" ^- Tolman, says in his report " "^^^ ™''n'nff interests of Orecron ar„ , and permanent, assurance of profit L?T"""'^/" ™P'"-'-nce Gravel mming is beino- exten.lvl? heretofore exhibited -h ".e aid of the nC a^ 7o ^a^T"''' '" '"""^ "^^ '"'f'SrI' "'e past year only has bel '''"™''^'= machinery troducion. A new era has undoubld'l ," '° "'"'^ ^^™-^' ■" dustry ,„ .his State. The exi,tj^,ce ^ ^ c'""'^ "P°" "'« in- Eastern Oregon of immense d 1 ^ 'I ^°".^'-" ='"d Middle long been known; but prospectors anH 7°"' «^^"^'' l^^^ surface diggings in conLctfon w"h Ca.eTd" "^'^<" -'^ ='-How the capital and enterprise necessTrv m "" ^'^"^'■^"y have of the modern kinds.' Withirtrp^C""'', '^'■''''"''•^ -•"'■"? as been attracted to these deposits L,! °''-'"'^'= ^^^^'^ ^^P'tal Southern Oregon alone I am credibl 'r'''" '" '"° »"nties of reds of thousands of dollars have bL'°™'- that many hun- cU,ms-m the constructing of d' tche!, T"^'"* ■'" °P'^"-g "P Anery principally. Much labor alnV a'-^angement of ma required to develop and nut in nl """' ^' ^<=" ^^ money is -d although numbers ofX: ^ e"n"f "'" '"' "^ "-- -^'afm "one of them have yet been ,uffici T, '" "°''''''"? ""^^'^ '-« o real worth. A full .^an up • fhe on ' f"''' '" ''"^^'^'"P "^e- after months of labor and Ll u ^ '^"' '«" °f value, even diture. ""' ^"'l "'^"y thousands of dollars of e^pln- "This must be ranked ma' ? 2f"g is, and will indefinitely 1::,::/^"''"'^,' ^'^'^' "'-Sh *e sum of our productions both „ ■ ' ^ '"«^^ '"^"or in , 0- people have never been l' "ctfdt h "' ''""^ ""■"■'"»- i '*» uD/ected to the emotional risks iio6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. % is K, OB S occasioned by stock boards and wild cat speculations which have swept other minin<^ regions, and are thus more disposed to weigh the chances of profit in any enterprise offering inducements. Hence our mining interests have lagged, only to be placed upon a profitable basis when undertaken at all. •' The quartz mining of this district has also attracted a re- newed share of attention. Heretofore, with but few exceptions, this class of mining has been lightly employed, and has yielded but small returns, for precisely the reasons which have been offered in regard to the small effort expended in placers. Some wonderfully rich deposits were discovered many years ago, and were worked with immense profit. Notable among them were the Gold Hill and Steamboat or Fowler lands, in Jackson and Josephine counties respectively. From these, by the ordinary processes then in use, several hundred thousands of dollars were taken from the surface rock alone in the space of a few months. In one instance, from the Gold Hill ledge, one gentleman secured a trifle over i,6oo pounds of surface rock, from which he took $30,000. When these surface deposits were exhausted (nearly twenty years ago) by crushing in ' arastras ' and other almost equally primitive methods, and the serious and expensive work of sinking shafts, driving tunnels, etc., began, those mines were abandoned and have lain idle till this day, with the exception of an effort now being made to resume work on the Steamboat. "In Eastern Oregon quartz mining has been steadily followed, in a small way, by gentlemen of limited means, for a number of years, yielding fair returns where effort merited reward. Several ■ small mills are now in operation there, and prospecting is pushed .with considerable vigor. I have no data as to average yield, but ,.am assured that it has been uniformly satisfactory. The general jQutlook, however, is better now in regard to mining than it has been before for many years. In the course of time 1 believe this State, to the extent of its mining area, will rank with the most flavored mining localides of the coast. Given the mines, and we certainly possess facilities unsurpassed by any region — cheap fud and labor, abundance of water and plenty of all kinds of pro- \irisiQns, all easily obtained." ^«i%^.-_Thc beasts of prcv ar,. ,• 1 ,-, "°' fornu. ; the sri.zly bear, black ,,u'i" ^"* ""''= "^ Cali- or panther, and several of .he ,; , .Tr" ^''"'' "»-• cougar, and ocelot, the Hsher, otte „ a ) ' "^'f^' ""^ -"a">ou.n, l^nx -species offo., the gra^ wolf posS ;','""' ""^ '*^''^'^. »«-al ammals, elk, deer of two pJclf'^'';^ '■•''"°°" •■ and of game Mountain sheep, rabbits anTCi "It "i^""'"'' ^ "^W ="';' '^™ "■• "'ree hares found onk o ^ ■? ^''''''' '■•"^'^'■'' rodents of the coast; andof "amebL n"" ^°^^'^ ="' "'- and ducks of many species,X.sr ' ""^ "'""^' >"''^ «<-■«<= grouse, quail and snipe of ex riorS;-"'" '"'' ■•""' °"'- of song b,rds and birds of prey T '^ '""^ ■'' *?'•'•''« ""ety ■n fi»l. of great delicacy and econo n c H ' 1''''^''" ''"'-'nd -ven species of salmon native ,o ,"''"'-'■ ""'^'^ -<> -'x or salmon and lake salmon have been .''"."■ '"'' "'" '^^^^^ forms an important item in drproduc! ?'',"'"'■ '''''<-' salmon great si.e and excellence a e fotmfl °/ "'" ^'^'<^- Trout of 'om eod flounders and other "ibl'V" ^'""'"^^ "-g-n, shad and black and sea bass h! ,! ' "" abundant. The "- -^dible sheli fish areVund inTea^Ibu ' d ™'"^^''- "^^ ^ „„.„ . »'^^' ^''""Jance on the coast. Number.' ^v. ! v r I Price. Value. Horses Mules .mil asses. ' i - j iMilcIi cows I 3>5oJ 5051 Oven and other catti;' .'sh'?"", '^^S She. p. --aiuc 188, joo 12.15 Swine... >,>6o,6x), ,5- 2»«,9^«! 3.,,; 1880. ANIMAL.S. Number. ' Av. I Price. Value. Total 1 lie real increase in the crmin ^ ' ■: •Probably „,„^ below .he actual numb^ iio8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 3.^ § to ■? K C o ^ I 00 ^ § ^ O 00 "^ 00" s ^ ^ I 8 ^ I ^ ^ '^ •I ^ I ^1 II 'UOI JO 'puiiod 'pi{iiiiq 49d a3|J({ 'd0J3 l{3V3 11) tSJOe JO OJlI ro M ^ ro »n H vQ 4 5 J^ !^ R » ^ '9J3II jsd ppiX aSejaAy ^ <:^ « J »>. « £2 ^ 8. s, s; ?o 8. i? 4 s l\ ^•8 'UOI io 'punod '|3i(«nq jad aafj j », 8 .9. R S. a «3 "t % *? r •<>, ♦ mm in ? ^ Si. 'doj3 i{3ea u{ sajae jo '0{{ 'aj3e jad pjajX aSvjaAy I Q t^ CO Q f^ n g 00 p ^Q in M rn « ^0 i 2 ^. I I « ^ I: I „• I Jfl M »n ♦ m M* IO 2 \o ^ = 9- H-s uo) JO 'punod '|3i(snq jad a3Uj 5 8 if 8 S 8 n 00 in o^ in M fo M* ^ in oi i mm 0\ t* \r\ wo m « m 0\ On K m IO \0 *doJ3 i[3V3 ut saj3e jo *o^ '9J31S Jad ppfX sSeiSAy 8 8 8 8^ 8^ I" m 8 9 2 I 1 « m I « 5 £ I o in n 9, i i s ? f 8 m ^ 2 K :? in '877^0 'Vool is also 1p i n'anufactured in thf ltaTe''°Th'!: wool'T' r'=°°''^ P°""^^ 6.000.000 pounds, and that of ,870 Z '' °^ '^^8 was over Jl'e total exports of the Stafe \ ^■=°°'°~ P°""ds. 'nd were increasing at the rateTf '^" ""«= «■ 6,086,897, ^^'- , '^ °'^ '°"'- "'- five million dollars a ^^aiinfac hires The ! ]• I no OUR WESTERN EAf/'/RE. I S 1:1 is? llax linen jjoods, and lins(!C'd oil, leather, and especially harness leather of excellent (quality, iron furnaces and foundries, and manufactories of iron and tinned goods, wooden ware, agricul- tural inijjlenients, butler, dried and canned fruit, and fruit juices of remarkable excellence, furniture and paper. In 1870 the manufactured products of the year were valued at ;^6,877,387. In 1880 they will exceed ^ji 2 0,000,000. Labor, U'ajiics. — Common laborers earn ^2; mechanics, ;j^3 to i^$ ; farm-hands, from ;iii25 to ^^30 a monUi, and found. I'arm- laborers, and especially female servants, are in good demand. The latter earn as high wages as in California. Persons with some means and a knowledge of farming or a mechanical trade can easily establish themselves, and, with frugality and industry, acquire a competency in a few years. Ruling Prices, — I-'or die past three years wheat In bulk in Portland has ranged from 80 cents to ;^i.25 per bushel; oats, 50 cents; potatoes, 50 cents to 75 cents; apples, 50 cents; corn, $1 ; flax, %2\ onions, #1.50; good average farm-horses, j^ioo each ; oxen, }}>i 25 per yoke ; good average milch-cows, 5^25 ; sheep, 55^3 per head ; wool, common-graded, 35 cents per pound ; beef on foot, 5 to 6 cents; fresh pork, 7 cents. Price of Laud. — In the valley of the Willamette good brush and timber lands can be purchased for $2.^0 per acre and up- wards, according to soil and locality. All the prairie lands are, however, taken up, but can be bought at from )fi8 to ^50 an acre. Along the foot-hills, and near them, small tracts or farms can be purchased, with ample outside pasturage for extensive stock- farms. The Oregon and California Railroad Company, and the Nordiern I'acific Railway, have large grants of land from the United States Government, which they sell on very liberal condi- tions at the low prices of $1.25 to $7 per acre. The purchaser can pay cash, in which case he will be allowed a discount of ten per cent, on the purchase price, or can have ten years' time in which to make up the same by small annual payments, with interest at seven per cent, per annum. In this case the pur- chaser pays down one-tenth of the price. One year from the sale he pays seven per cent, interest on the remaining nine- RA/f.KOADs .ixn A'/r/:/! jv.ir/c.ir/oy. nil lally harness uiHlric^. luul ^iirc, agricul- \ Iruit juices In 1870 th^ tt $6,S77o«7- ichanlcs, $3 ^^ bund. I'arnv goocl Ucmancl. Persons with ichanical trade ^ and industry, icat in bulk in 3ushcl ; oats. 50 50 cents; corn, rm-horses, $100 :ows,$2 5;sl^^^P: ,er pound; beef ettc good brush per acre and up- prairie lands are, 8 to $50 ^" ^^^^• ; or farms can be extensive stock- :ompany, and the »f land from the rery hberal condi- The purchaser ja discount of ten ten years' time in \\ payments, with [this case the pur- ' ,e year from the remaining nine- tcnths of thp principal. At llic (!nd of tlie second year he pays one-tciuli of the principal ami one year's interest on the re- mainder ; and the same at the end of (;ach siiccessiv(! year until all has Ixcii paid at the end of ten ye-ars. There is an abundance of {government land surveyeil and in the market, subject to the 1 lomestead and Pre-emption laws. In ICastern and Middle Orc^j^^on the government lands arc the b(;st, though partially improved farms may sometimes be had. Governmtmt lands may be bought there under the Pre-emi)tion, Homestead, or Timber-Culturt! laws, and in Midtlle Orej^on under the Desert Land Act, for grazing purposes. The immigrant re- quires a litde more capital to lanil him in Oregon, than would be necessary for some of the States and Territories farther east; but once the re, and a small capital will go as far and can be as readily supplemented by labor for others", as anywhere else in iV coimtry. Railroads and River Navio^afion. — The Columbia river, which forms the northern boundary of Orei^on as far as nearly to the mouth of the Snake river, is navigable from its mouth to this point, and above, except at two points: the Cascades, where there is a portage railroad of five or six miles, and the Dalles, near the mouth of the Des Chutes, where there is another portage; railway fourteen miles long. These obstructions, requiring two railway and three steamer transshipments, have gready enhanced the cost of transportation by it, but are now in a fair way to be removed. The Northern Pacific Railway, whose Pend d'Oreille division starts from Ainsworth, at the mouth of the Snake river, has built a branch to Wallula, on the south bank of the Columbia, connect- ing there with the Oregon Railway and Navigation line to Walla- Walla, thirty miles east ; and the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company have undertaken the construction of a railway along the south side of the Columbia river to Portland, where the steamships of this company to San Francisco can receive the freight. This road is now completed to the Dalles, and will reach Portland next season. The United States government are con- structing canals and locks around the Cascades and Dalles, but so leisurely that it will require twelve or fifteen years to complete III2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ft; K tliem ; so that the railway is the only hope for cheap transporta- tion from the Upper Columbia. The Northern Pacific will eventually construct a railway down the north bank of the Columbia, and extend it to Pordand, which is not on the Columbia, but on the Willamette, one of its largest tributaries. The Willamette is navigable partly by slackwater navigation for 138 miles from its mouth. But the Willamette valley is already traversed by two railroads, and is likely ere long to be gridironed by one and possibly two more. The Oregon and California Railroad, stardng from East Portland, extends southward through the Willamette and Umpqua valleys to Roseburg, a distance of 200 miles. Its eventual terminus is to be Redding, in California, where it will connect with the Northern California Railway. The Oregon Central, starting from Portland, extends in a horseshoe curve to Hillsboro, and thence south to Junction City, whence one branch goes to Ellendale, across the Coast Range, and another to Luckiamute, with a probable future terminus at Harrisburg, on the Oregon and California road. The Oregonian Railway Com- pany (limited), a Scottish company, has undertaken to construct two narrow gauge railways, close to the mountains on either side of the Willamette valley, one to cross the Coast Range and reach Yaquima Bay, and the other crossing the Cascade Range to con- nect with a road from the Central Pacific in Nevada, They also propose to build from Portland to Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia. The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company have also commenced several narrow-trausfe railroads from Wallula and Milton southward and southeastward in Eastern Oregon, to points where the great live-stock and wheat crop can be most easily conducted to their main line on the Columbia river. Some of these will eventually extend into Idaho. The Northern Pacific, diough having an extensive land grant in Northern Oregon, from Walla-Walla to the Willamette, has not, and does not intend to have, any portion of its line in Oregon, except, perhaps, a branch of some twelve miles, ex- tending across the Columbia to Portland. Its present terminus on the Columbia is at Kalama, in Washington Territory, forty-five miles north of Pordand. We have already spoken of the short EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES. 1113 transporta- Piicific will )ank of the not on the t tributaries, avigation for ,ey i'.^ already be gridironed nd 'Cahfornia ivvard through a distance of ^ in California, Railway. The in a horseshoe ^ty, whence one •e, and another Harrisburg, on 1 Railway Com- :en to construct IS on either side .ange and reach le Range to con- ida. They also [le mouth of the Company have Is from Wallula Item Oregon, to •op can be most >bia river. Some railway portages (six and fourteen miles) at the Cascades and the Dalles. W^ith the complelion of the railways now under con- tract or in course of construction, Oregon will have nearly 1,000 miles of railroad in operation. Finances. — The government of the State has been economi- cally administered and taxes are light. The entire indebtedness of the State, January i, 1881, will not probably exceed ^4 g &i "cl 1 1 s 3 0. ?! g III 4.522 i6,9S8 i <5 1850 i860 1 8 3 c rt ■5 c i 6 1 rt S5 c 'I •0 a: f V i3 2E .1 se S B 1 S 5- 0^ »3,29» 52,465 8 266 5,036 =.-,,847 13.087 52 , 1 70 TA 1.213 5, "23 ^f^1 .li^rLiti 3'!i27 '77 47 342 2J4.6 t.511 1870 101,883* ^ ? " .6. 4.5"! 4.9-31 5.6'7 4.4-7 ^9.*,« ..44,661 23.959 l^^'^'^i id of the Pacific )f N 'v Hngland Aj^^vi'. r- States, ^hey 1' V e '-eared even wiale their shown their New ier institutions of ^st has, in propor- [coUegiate schools k-rii. >• '• \ For decaJe. of high character, or imparts to the students so thorough training. Eastern Oregon, which is now receiving avast number of emi- grants in its rich and fertile valleys, will have a larger proportion of people of foreign birth, as well as a greater number from the Mississippi valley and the Middle States ; but the State is a de- sirable one for the better class of emigrants, not only from its advantages of soil and climate, and its mining and pastoral facili- ties, but for its educational and religious advantages, and the high character of its inhabitants. Indian Resefvations and Tribal Indians. — The 5,818 tribal Indians credited by the Indian Commissioner to Oregon, though some of them more properly belong to Washington Territorj', are of twenty different bands. Those belonging to the Grande Ronde, Klamath, Malheur and Siletz Agencies, and most of those connected with the Warm Springs Agency, about three-fourth. s of the whole, have adopted citizens' dress, and are becoming quite civilized. They till about 8,000 acres of land of their reserva- tions, and a few have had lands allotted to them in severalty. Their reservations include 3,853,800 acres, but less than 200,000 acres of this is tillable. Cotmlies and Principal Cities and Towns. — ^There are twenty- three counties in the State, whose population in 1880, and assessed valuation in 1S79, was as follows: Counties. Baker Benton Clackamas Clatsop Columbia Coos Curry Douglas Grant Jackson Josephine Lake Lane Population, Ass'd Valuation, 1880. 1879. 4,615 $874,516 00 6,403 1,722,115 00 9,260 1,908,580 00 7,222 1,159,361 00 2,042 287,837 00 4,834 894,113 00 1,208 243^33 00 9*596 2,133,118 00 4,303 1,102,327 00 8,154 1,466,992 00 2,485 278,290 00 2,804 830,591 00 9>4ii 3,301,368 00 iii6 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 5 5 3 Counties. ropu!ation, 1880. Ass'd Valuation, 1879. Linn 12,675 54,490,854 00 Marion 14,516 3,922,25s 00 Multnomah 25,204 10,633,190 00 Polk 6,601 1,599,423 00 Tillamook 970 83,902 00 Umatilla . 9,607 1,523,988 00. Union 6,650 1,117,099 CO Wasco 11,120 2,262,570 00 Washington 7,082 2,069,190 00 Yam Hill . 7,945 2,465,258 00 Total . 174,767 $46,370,673 00 For 1S78 . 46,240,324 00 This valuation was about fifty cents on the dollar of the true valuation. In 1880 the true valuation, including property not taxed, is not less than |i 100,000,000. The largest city in the State is Pordand, on the Willamette, 1 i2 miles by river from the Pacific Ocean. It is a place of con- siderable and increasing business and of great wealth. Its popu- lation in 1880 was 20,549. Salem, the capital, is also on the Willamette, and on the Oregon and California Railroad. It is a pretty town of about 5,000 inhabitants. Oregon City, Albany, Harrisburg and Eugene City, all on the Willamette, have over 3,000 inhabitants each. Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia; Roseburg, the present terminus of the Oregon and California Railroad; Jacksonville, in the southwestern part of the State; Corvallis, Junction City, both in the Willamette valley; Dallas, at the second rapids of the Columbia ; East Pordand, Port Orford and Empire City, on the coast ; and St. Helen's, in the northwest, on the Columbia river, are towns of 2,000 or more inhabitants. These are all in Western Oregon. In tlastern Oregon, La Grande, Baker City, Umatilla, Sparta, Pendleton and Milton are the principal towns. Religions Denominations. — In 1875 there were in Oregon 351 church organizations and 242 church edifices of all denominations ; 320 clergymen, priests or ministers; 14,324 members or com- municants; 71,630 adherent population, and church property valued at ^652,950. This with a population estimated at 1 1 2,000, RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. III7 70,673 00 40,324 00 lar of the_ true r property not the Willamette, a place of con- lalth. Its popu- , is also on the '.ailroacl. It is a A\ City. Albany, liette, have over ,f the Columbia; . and California Irt of the State ; ralley ; Dallas, at nd. Port Orford [in the northwest, ore inhabitants. rn Oregon, La and Milton are le in Oregon 35^ ll denominations ; Jembers or com- [church property iatedatii2,ooo, exclusive of Indians, is certainly a very creditable showing. The Methodists were considerably the most numerous denomination, the Methodist Episcopal Church having 121 church organizations, 63 church edifices, 140 ministers, 5,871 members, 20,1 70 adherent population, and $139,500 of church property, while the minor Methodist denominations (Evangelical Association and United Brethren in Christ) had 42 churches, 23 church edifices, 19 minis- ters, 1,028 members, 4,200 adherent population, and $22,000 of church property. The Baptists came next, the regular Baptists having 59 churches, 54 church edifices, 47 ministers, 2,052 mem- bers, 8,000 adherent population, and $51,300 of church property, and the Christian Connection, Baptists in their practice, had 43 churches, 29 church edifices, 36 ministers, 1,867 members, 7,900 adherent population, and $42,500 of church property ; the Pres- byterians had 28 churches, 26 church edifices, 25 ministers, 1,599 members, 7,000 adherent population, and $64,1 50 of church property. Next in order came the Catholics with 1 7 churches, 15 church edifices, 18 priests, 15,000 adherent population, and 5^134,500 of church property. Then followed the Protestant Episcopal Church with 16 parishes, 14 church edifices, 15 priests, 607 communicants, 2,800 adherents, and $74,300 of church prop- erty, while the Congregatlonallsts were nearly equal to them in numbers. There were five minor sects represented, of whom only the Lutherans have increased very much within the past five years. Of the leading denominations there has been a very decided Increase, most marked among the Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Congregatlonallsts. Histot'ical Data. — Spain seems to have had the first title — that of maritime discovery — to Oregon and Washington Territory, having visited and mapped the coast nearly to the fifty-fifth degree of north latitude, in 1592 by the Greek pilot, De Fuca, In 1640 by Admiral Fonte, and subsequently by other explorers. This tide, with whatever validity it possessed, was expressly con- veyed to the United States by Spain by the treaty of Florida, concluded in 1819. The tide of the United States to Oregon and Washington Territory by no means, however, rested on this alone. Other valid claims were the following : the discovery and explo- iii8 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. S ration of Columbia river by Captain Robert Gray, commanding the siiip " Columbia," in i 792, who gave the name of his ship to the river; his previous exploration of the coast in connection with Captain Kendrick, in the "Washington " and the "Columbia," and his discovery and naming of Gray's Harbor, and exploration of the Straits of San Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, more fully detailed in the chapter on Washington Territory ' the purchase of Louisiana and all that belonged to it from the French in 1S03, this including the Spanish title so far as they had received it from the French in i 762 ;* the exploration of Columbia river from its sources to its mouth by Captains Lewis and Clarke, by order of our government in 1804, 1805, and its continued occupation by American citizens from 18 10, as a result of the knowledge of its resources gained from the report of Lewis and Clarke. In 1 8 10 the first house was built in Oregon by Captain Winship, a New Englander, but the house was carried away by a flood the following year. In 181 1, John Jacob Astor, of New York, estab- lished a trading-post at the mouth of the Columbia river, which was named "Astoria" in his honor. The venture proved disastrous, mainly in consequence of the war between the United States and Great Britain in 181 2. The British took possession of the post in 181 3 and called it Fort George. Subsequently it became the property of the Hudson Bay Company, and remained in its pos- session until 1848. The Northwest Fur Company disputed for a time the rule of the latter company on the Pacific coast, but had to succumb in a few years, and was absorbed by its rival in 1824, from which time, till 1848, the latter ruled supreme in the valleys of the Columbia and Willamette. In 1824 the first fruit trees were planted in Oregon, and in * This claim to Oregon in consequenrc of the Louisiana purchase was a very weak one, and has been abandoned by Greenhow and some other American authorities. The great name of Thomas Jefferson, who was President when the Louisiana treaty was negotiated, has also been cited a<;aiust it ; but the other claims were sufficient, and their justness and completeness cannot be denied. See on this subject two very able and conclusive papers by John J. Anderson, Ph. D., author of several works on the history of the United States, entitled '• Did the Louisiana Purchase extend to the Pacific Ocean 7 " and " Our Title to Oregon " — S^n Francisco and New York, 1880. . , , . HISTORICAL DATA, ZII9 commanding ,f his ship to inection with " Columbia," d exploration Sound, more erritory- the it from the ar as they had ,n of Columbia vis and Clarke, its continued 1 result of the •t of Lewis and aptain Win ship, ly by a flood the ew York, estab- river, which was [oved disastrous, Inited States and ision of the post tly it became the [ained in its pos- any disputed for IPacific coast, but ■d by its rival in supreme in the Oregon, and in las a very weak one, and 's The great name of Lgotialed, has also been |anbr and educated. 1 120 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ^ CHAITER XVIII. TEXAS. Situation and Boundaries of Texas — Its Area and Extent — Vastness ok ITS Area — Comparisons with other States and Countries — Face of the Country — Mountains in the Northwest — Isolated Summits and Ridges Elsewhere — Elevations of Various Points — Rivers, Bays and Estuaries IN THEIR Order from East to West — Texas Rivers Nor Navkjalle — Ge- ographical Divisions of the State and their Characteristics — Geology AND Mineralogy — Minerals — Forests and Vegetation* — Zoji.ogy — Cli- mate — Meteorological Tahle giving the Temperature, Rainfall, etc., at Eight Points in the State — Mining and MANUKAcruRiN(i Industries — Agricultural Productions — Taiiles ok Agricultural Pkoducts and Live-stock — Not all the Arahle Lands of Texas of the First Quality — The Live-stock of the State Commands Lower Prices than that of States and Territories farther North — Why ? — Railroads and Navi- gable Waters — Population — Table of Population — Statistics — Nativi- ties OF THE Population — From Whence the Emigration — Counties and their Finances and Valuation — Principal Cities and Towns — Education -Public Schools — Contradictory Statistics— Lack of Interest in thbm — Universities, Colleges and Professional Schools — Institutions for Blind and Deaf Mutes — Lands for Immigrants — Religious Denomina- tions — Historical Data — Early Settlements in Texas — Its Revolt and Independence of Mexico — The Ri^pcdlic — Annexation to United States — Progress — Secession — Reconstruction — Present Constitution — Con- clusion, Texas is the southernmost State of "Our Western Emoire," and joins on its western border the Republic of Mexico, of which it was once an integral part. It is a vast domain, extending from the parallel of 25° 51' to that of 36'' 30' north latitude, and from the meridian of 93° 27' to that of 106° 43' west longitude from Greenwich. It is of very irregular shape, a part of its boundaries b^'ing of mathematico-geographical lines of latitude and longitude, and a much greater portion* following the natural lines of gulf coast, bay and river. Its northern boundaries are New Mexico from the Rio Grande eastward, to the 103d meridian, the Indian Territory (the narrow strip in the northwest of that Territory) from the 103d to the looth meridian, and the Red river from the rENT — Vastness ok PRIES — Face of the UMMITS AND RiDGES !ays and Estuaries yv Navkjaule — (iE- F.RISTICS — G EOLOGV )N- — ZO'ji.or.Y — Cli- ;e, Rainfall, etc., jTURiNc Industries RAL Pr01>UCTS and IE FiKsr Quality — ices than that of mlroads and Navi- Statistics — Nativi- loN — Counties and rowNs — Education F Interest in thbm —Institutions for ;ligious Denomina- lS — Its Revolt and 4 TO United States ONSTITUTION — CON- cstern Empire," Mexico, of whicii I, extendinof from ititude, and from t lono^itLide from of its boundaries \e and longitude, ral lines of gulf ire New Mexico idian, the Indian r that Territory) :d river from the \ .«v ^ 3 o 1,1 a ,. I t® X si J '^ S?9 ** ;\ rM*.,,, " V TOPOGA\^/'//y OF T/-X.IS. looth nifridlan to thr n.fi, i . "2» ronuh,;,,,i,,,.,,,„,,^^ ^^, --a^^^.^^^^^^^^^ ..s actual boun.ls. ..,„., to the (,„ll „r Mexico, and tlK.^lff":'''' ■•>"'' '"l^e or estuary the K,o ( ;ra,Hle del Norte, Tlt 1"^^ "T"? '" ""= "•"""> « soutlnvesten, l.order. se^,^rati„I ;. fr ''■f''? ''^•' ^orte for„,s it., •-•» fnr as to |.:i ,.aso, wl,e e in!''.'" m" ^'P"'^"^ "^ '"':'<'"' -n< an, passing tl,ro„,h Tal ", ^'T ^'"-■'"■'^°- ''<-■ 'o^ ■^"""'lary. It,, .-'xtretneSen,,,! fro" , T'"' '"^^ "» "-«'<-" somewhat n,ore than Soo n'it, Tnl i:"" ''■'■^' '° "°«'»-« is 750m,les, ^s area i, ,74,6 ';;•""' ''V''''''^'"'^ l-readth about lh.snr,a i,, equal ,0 tll^^^^uTv '"T"' '"•5«7.«4o acres Belgtun,, .Switzerland and l)<.nn,a;r r,' ''"'''"'■ "''"' ^'""and, l-;rger than the Republic of iCnc . •';''"'" "• 't is one-third a^l New Hnjjland, and nearly " , , ,„ '" ^""^ ."'"es Iar,.er than Vork, Penn,sylvania, Ohio. MicW 1 ,, '' """'''""' ^'^eaolNew /■«««/■//.. C««/,.,,_,t ,• ,,''*■'"■ '"^''^"•t «">etween these and trRior"","^- "••^=^' '•""""^■•" and I'resKlio counties. are theP , , Grande. ,n Pecos, tl Paso ' e Sierra Hueco. the S erl ^UUrT "'^ P^"'"™'' 'he Apache •he Chanatte Mountain^ t : ^^t' ''" ''''"'' "<-■' M-S Eagle Mountain, the Sie ra Blat an^'''"°' ''"^ ""'""' ^^ariso Grande for many miles the S erra BIa„l'"''!v'.^"^» '^""^ "^ ^'O tarns carry leads of silver lead and '*• ^"'^ °^ "'^^e n.oun- not attain an elevatio,^ of Ire .h7n'"' T'^ '"^''^^' "^ "'em t,o„s of Texas there are hills TnH'^^'°T'^=^'- 1" other por- ^^o- the plain, but no mo ntl' rrT"^^ '"""-" '"-rin, '" r- -aracr of the ardij ^^ rrcl^J^^t II22 OUK WESTERN EMPIRE. w In 3 indicated by the following elevations ascertained by the coast survey and railway surveys: Goliad, 50 feet; Houston, 65 ; Gon- zales, 150; Jefferson, 226; Silver Lake, 350; Marshall, 377; Webberville, 394; Brenham, 435 ; Dallas, 481 ; San Antonio, 575 ; Fort Worth, 629; Austin, 650; Sherman, 734; Fort Inge, Uralde county, 845 ; Weatherford, 1,000; Sisterdale, in Kendall county, 1,000; Fort Clark, Kenney county, 1,000; Fredericksburg, 1,614; Mason, 1,800; Fort .Concho, 1,750; Fort McKavitt, 2,050; Fort Bliss, El Paso county, 3,830; Fort Davis, Presidio county, 4,700 feet. Rivei"-. Bays, Estuaries and Lakes. — The State, except in the region of the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain, in the northwest, is well wPtered. The Canadian river, the largest tributary of the Arkansas, and the Red river, which forms a part of its northern boundary, both have their head-waters in Northwestern Tevr.s and New Mexico, but neither of them receive any very large affluents in Texas, though the North, Salt, Middle and South forks of the Red river are considerable streams. Beginning now at the east, the Sabine river, which for nearly 200 miles forms the eastern boundary of the State, is a large and for much of its route a sluggish stream, with several considerable affluents ; and the Neches, or Naches, a river of about the same size, runs nearly parallel with it, both discharging their waters into the Sabine lake. The affluents of these streams and of those to be men- tioned interlock with each other, and though not of large size water the country well. All the rivers of Texas except the Can- adian and Red river have a general direction toward the south- east ; at first perhaps rather to the south-southeast, but each successive river makes a larger angle with the meridian. After .the Naches come successively the Trinity, the Brazos, with sev- eral large affluents, the Colorado, the largest river of Central Texas, having its sources on the borders of the Staked Plain, and fed by a hundred or more tributaries, the Guadalupe and its large affluent the San Antonio, Mission river, Aransas riv^r, the Nueces, with its tributary, the Rio Frio, the Aqua Dulce, nd a dozen smaller streams; and on its southwest border the Rio Grande del Norte and its great tributary, the Rio Pecos. rOPUr.AR DIVISIONS OF TEXAS. II23 ^ the coast n, 65 ; C>on- rshall, 377"' ntonio, 575 • Inge, Uralde ndall county, :sburg, 1,614' :, 2,050; Fort county, 4.700 except in the the northwest, :ributary of the of its northern western Te^?.s any very large idle and South Beginning now miles forms the ^uch of its route .uents ; and the lize, runs nearly into the Sabine ,ose to be men- ot of large size except the Can- pward the south- ftheast, but each [meridian. After kazos, with sev- river of Central Staked Plain, and lupe and its large •ansas riv-.r, the ua Dulce, nd a border the Rio Ao Pecos. None of the Texas rivers are navigable for any considerable distance except at high water, but by dredging and the construc- tion of a short canal, Galveston bay and Buffalo bayou have been rendered navigable as far as Houston, fifty miles from Galveston. Most of the so-called lakes in Texas are really estuaries and bays, and when somewhat narrower and without much current, they are called bayous. Of these bays and estuaries the prin- cipal are Sabine lake, at the mouth of the Sabine river, Galveston bay and its two arms, East and West bay, Matagorda bay and Lavaca bay, connected with it, Espiritu Santo and San Antonio bays, one opening into the other, with several small bays con- nected with them, Aransas and Copano bays. Corpus Christi and Nueces bays, and the Long Lagoon, or sound, Lagnna de la Madre. The only considerable lakes not estuaries are Caddo lake, in the east. Forked lake, in Zavala county, Espantosa, in Dimmitt county, and three large salt lakes in Presidio county, in the northwest. Divisions of the Stale. — The State is divided for civil and de- scriptive purposes into — i. The coast counties; 2. Eastern Texas ; 3. Central Texas ; 4. Northern Texas ; 5. Western and Southwestern Texas ; 6. Northwestern Texas. In the coast counties the soil and climate are especially adapted to the culture of the sugar-cane, sea island cotton, rice and many semi-tropical fruits and vegetables. The eastern portion of the State, including some eighteen counties, is heavily timbered, and from here are drawn nearly all the immense supplies of pine lumber required in the prairie por- tions of the State. The natural resources of this section are varied. In it are vast deposits of iron ore of excellent quality and extensive beds of lignite. Large crops of cotton, corn and other grains are grown in its valleyr., and its uplands are noted for the production of fruits and vegetables. It is generally well watered by streams and springs. Central and Northern Texas, though generally a rich prairie country, is by no means devoid of a sufficiency of timber for ordi- nary purposes, its numerous streams being fringed with a large 1 1 24 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. MS growth of forest trees. It is also traversed by what is known as the upper and lower Cross Timbers — a belt of oak, elm and other timber, from one to six miles wide. Western and Southwestern Texas are the great pastoral re- gions of the State. The surface is generally a high, rolling table- land, watered by creeks and ponds, but with little timber, exctj)'.: aloncr the streams and on some of the hills and mountain reirioi;-; of the western part, where forests of cedar, mountain juniper, oak, etc., exist. The luxuriant growth of rich, native grasses found in this sec- tion renders it pre-eminently a stock-raising country, and as such it is unexcelled by any other portion of the continent. I'he pre- cious metals and other mineral deposits are known to exist in this section of the State, and it is believed their development will be rapid when railroads shall have been built across it. Northwestern Texas includes not only the mountainous region comprised in Pecos, Presidio and El Paso counties, but the un- organized region known as the Territory of Bexar, and Tom Green county, and sixty-three counties north of and east of these, extending up to the parallel of 36° 30', and eastward to the me- ridian of 99° 30'. This region, a part of which is known as the " Pan-handle of Texas," has an area of more than 90,000 square miles, and perhaps one-third of it belongs to the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain. It is not well watered, and portions of it are not watered at all except by wells. Its rainfall is very small, and the pasturage, though scanty, is nutritious where any water can be obtained. The mountainous portion is rich in minerals. Sil- ver, lead, copper and iron arc found there, and gold probabl}' will be. If, as is proposed, the great Staked Plain is rendered habitable by water supplied from artesian wells, this will be an excellent country for pasturage. Flocks and herds sufficient to supply the world could be raised there. Geology and Mineralogy. — Texas has never had a State geo- logical survey; it has been once or twice attempted, but has soon failed for the want of means for its prosecution. It is said that the new constitution of the State prohibits anything of the kind — a most unwise provision, if true, as no State in the Union would intam jumper, iie Union would be as much benefited by such . • "^5 rapid and superfichi . i ™"ey as Texa^ P "f ">e State. ^ ^"""'^^ ^"-'" "f the geolol and „, / *' ^■■•N.A. Taylor a T ->' ^"^ mu,eralogy s"m of what is know,, • S*=°'offist, has tfathered , , ine Mississipp delti • ,V • i ^^^"^' t^ian the rl^^^^ •. and farther, into the inter otlf':? " '"" '°° '" '5° mfe .ns ,„ the ren,ote southwes ^ „, j'^:" ^"^ ^«<=P"°" 'o ^L great Terntorv, the Pi;« ^" ^ "^^e not visited nr i ' 'f-.er re,io'^, i'nd' 'r • l,.::br'="'^^ Tertiary occup^ ^ above tide-water. All tl,,! r "' ''' P°«'°" "f Eastern' Te a! fully productive , ,?'^"' '°" and level a n^ , Miocene, or .nWdle/rrtia:: ""''"'"' ^"' -i' i™"- 7" Patche.s above the PW ^' ''^''"^''' ''^'^ an.i tlure .„ « " cannot resf^f ^ ^^ ^' ravines. Usmllu , , ^ ^^^« ^^'t olde.tV ''"^^^- Above thes • ^ P'-o^uctive. but oJdest Tertiary, which occupies ah. '"''''"' '^^^ E^^^ne or -"-.?. and contain n^uckT^rylrZ' r^""'^- ''^^^- ^^-^^ a" ^i^e waves and swells rise f7l" ^"^^ '^^"^"ti^ul sce,^ . ' 1126 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. $ 3 only one of any importance. That is at the place called Damon's Mound, in Brazoria, where several acres of valuable limestone rise many feet above the l^liocene which surrounds it. This limestone cannot be later than Eocene, and may be older. It is the only stone I have seen in the Pliocene territory of Texas, and some day it will be very valuable for quicklime. "Above the Eocene, the Cretaceous formation rises like a rampart and extends north and west a great distance — how far it is not certainly known. Many, say that it goes on northward, with occasional interruptions, until it reaches the plateau of the Rocky Mountains, including the Staked Plains. This is the idea of Professor Buckley. With all deference, I believe it is not so. I believe there is very little Cretaceous after reaching the great outburst of Plutonic and Metamorphic rocks which extend through Burnet, Llano, Mason and Menard counties, and fai-ther west to an unknown distance. After passing this primitive region, the country assumes outlines totally unlike the Cretaceous as elsewhere seen. I have no doubt, indeed I know, that it appears here and there even to El Paso, on the Rio Grande, but the general formation I believe to be Jurassic, including the Staked Plains, and have litde doubt that investigadon will prove it to be so. . -1 " Just north of the primitive region of Llano, etc., there is a large development of Carboniferous, extending northeast toward the Indian Territory, and embracing, as is calculated, 30,000 square miles of coal-bearing strata. It is no doubt a continua- tion of the Arkansas or Ozark system. The Permian formation here and there crosses this coal territory, apd probably flanks it all round. The Permian is also undoubtedly developed largely farther north and west. Not far from Fort Concho it terminates, and here, closely connected with it, there is a narrow streak of coal strata, in which an excellent coal has been found. As in England, so in Texas, this formation, wherever found, seems to indicate unerringly the near presence of coal. I believe the Permian n^ay be found almost anywhere near the foot of the Staked Plains. " Beyond the Pecos, in that almost unknown region below the , resfion below the ^''^ ^fNERALS OF TEXAS. W Paso stapre route .V Jo a-oi , "-^ Seolosical formation; AiT thf wA"? ''' "''« - "'« ruling -«„ to have been tl.rown To^eTer ' "'''''P' "'^ ^eniao! penetrated by valleys of exnuil^t h '" °"' ^''^^ P''''^ °f ruin flunked by Jurassic and CreaZr i"'"'""^ '"PP^'' ""^ rocks predon,inate. They cermin,; '' '''^■"''^P» basaltic forms, son,etimes rising inio pe^e^ T"'^=°"''^ ^"^ry im„,e„,e -J a thousand or mor^e feet'h,^ 'tk" 'p''* "'^"^'"■'« '°ng here, filled with selenite and oltr 1^ ^™'^" ^'»° "PP'^art th most nueresting region in the .oridt t ''''?"'■ '"''^ « yi^/mcm/s.-^U we arf. fill a - . ^ ^"^ geo beist ;o.ica, formations of xSa 'we^^ 1"^ '" ^^^"^^^ '° "^ »- he mmerals that lie hidden in L/!™ T"""^ ^^ '" '"^g-rS to fanes, they contain many valuable T ' '"^"'^' '^^ ■'■«=■- ern Texas, some of which have ten a'r'T "' '""" °- '" E-'" to yeld from forty to sixty per cent of ''" "j. "'"'^^ ^"'f fo"nd are the brown oxides or ifmoni.e Thrr '"""■ ^'-se ores regton, and charcoal is obta t^lble « /""-^'.^ T "'"''' '" '^^ stones are usually within easy dfetL' ^°'"'""' P™"^' ''">'e- These ores are also abundanf in tT;'" ?"' '" ^"PP'>' ^"-'^^■ counties of Central Texas, bu have re 1'™"''°""^"^ °"'^-r Eocene also contains ve^v la IT ,"''' "° ''««""°n- The wh.ch, particularly that found In L'^""'^ "' "^'"■'<=. ^ome of vanety of that sort of coT irwol"'""'^ ™""'>'' '^ ^ -P-io "akmg, but will not coke h T'"' "^•''='="'^« ^r gas- em,ts an unpleasant odor in combtr 'T" ''^ '" ^ Srate,tut whole house and may even T sm l"^ "''"'^ """^^ *™'«h the Some of these layers of I," i^ ^ '', " I ''^'^"^ -^-'de. feet th,ck. They are assoc^ ed Wtri '° ''^ '' '^•''»' "«-'ve and rather soft brown sand sto„e Th ™ '"' """^ ■^'-'«. the Eocene-notably about the fe„s ^7%" T^ »>P-"" ■" »unty, where it is in considerlble 1 ° '''' ^'^^°^' '" falls or manufacturing into plaster of pliTrd /' "'^ ^^'^'^ ^"°"S'' or fert,l,zing West of Corpus Chd, ''' '' """' better formed annually in the lagoons near the "if ^P""'''' "f^^^^re "-.ns are filled with water loZ^ .^J!:,^'^ ^'"^^ ^^^s. ^uit, which evaporates in 1128 OLK WESTERN EMPIRE. summer, leaving the clean white salt. Enough of It is thus formed here every year to salt all Texas. During the war these deposits supplied a large portion of Texas with salt. "The Cretaceous contains a good deal of gypsum, and lime- stone for building or quicklime, without end. About two miles from Round Rock, on the International railroad, tlicre is a great quantity of gypsum, quite p'sre. There is also a good deal of it about Mount Bonnel, near Austin. Both of these points are so convenient to transportation that it is singular that some one has not engaged in making plaster of Paris. Nearly all that article used in Texas comes from Newfoundland, and this when we have it just as good and in great abundance right at our own doors. No chalk has ever been found in the Cretaceous system of Texas, so far as I know. " The granidcand metamorphic region, running through Burnet, Llano, Mason, Menard, etc., abounds in mineral wealth. There are probably no larger and certainly no better deposits of iron ore in the world than those of Llano county ; none easier to get at. These ores are magnetic and specular, and often appear in immense masses resembling solid iron. They have been wrought to a very small extent and found to yield from seventy to eighty per cent, of iron, equal to the best in the world. With such immense masses of iron as this, Texas ought to furnish not only her own railroad iron, but also ship it to other lands. This will be done in time. At present Austin is the nearest point to a railroad, about a hundred miles off. The region is generally timbered, furnishing plenty of material for charcoal ; some coal has also been discovered in this region, and it is known to exist abundantly in Coleman and other counties not far off. There is also abundance of limestone. Soapstone, valuable for furnaces,' also abounds. Some copper, silver, and even gold, have been found in this region, but not yet, I believe, in paying quantities. Its great mineral wealth is doubtless its iron. Marble of excellent quality is found in places throughout this region. Perhaps the largest deposit of it is at the Marble Falls of the Colorado, where the river for a considerable distance cuts its way through walls and mountains of solid marble. It is not uncommon in this region to find the neonlr. " • • '^^9 f ; fences ,.„U o^f Zt:ZZ ''t °' ^^"''"^ ^—^ed shades-some p„re „l,itc iT : ""= """-We is of various -arking, and some blal ' TW plr^"!'' "'"'■ -" .-d Z Aust,n, and ,|,e „,arble nnVht b • h ','''"'''"' =«'y"iles above l^oats, but it is not. ^"^ ^^ ''™"S'>' down d,e river in Zt- "in the same rcrjon tl said, from Silurian'rocks Tnd '1' ""T™"' ''•'''''"'=-^. '■'^^'i"- it is njanufactured .nou,h :; s'lip^^tnt V^ '"'^ '^"^^^ itT ■ ' "''°'*= '••=g'°n is very oi ,«,r '^'^ P""?''-' a^und the ovebest scenery on the American c,?"'' ^""^ ''^^ »"^ of Below this primitive remon f """"ent. southeast, are numerou tCSd"' '"/'" P^'-^s to the >"anym,les from their natiSsK!"' "'"''' '-ve been borne rence wh.ch took place about .4 eloL'T^ ''■"^'''^^'"^ -™- Sora^ of these lost rocks are manv to^ "?' Cretaceous era. and Permian beds are known ^con 1' '" ""f '"■ '^'^^ J"'-assi gypsum and salt. Indeed the b ° ,^"''''" ''"P°=*''" of copper ■n the^worldis found in Nor .tf T "1' °'^>'P-"' "^noun a hundred or more miles in width and of "" ^JP^"'-" Wt is Tile gypsum is of all sorts fromth! ""^no^'n thickness to the common massive fo'rlr TI erl' Ts" ''"l^''^^^'"'' -'-^e the demands of the universe for cemn ' ."^ '"■ '" '° ^"PP'y wander through this c.reat be I . "'""'"'=^' All the streams tha^ and salt-so„re to sudr: d it'^r^^'^f' """ ""'^ ""^- dnnk them. The Pecos is a stra ' t ""^ '"'"'^^^ ^"11 „ot arms of the Brazos is far more brinf t, '',°""''' '"^ °"« °f tl>e th.s region there are snrfn^ T j^?^ '^" **= °'^ean. Y^t ;„ J The Permian, in Arct "f rseve^ir'^'"'^"^ °^P"- --' stored with copper. ^""'''^ ""'''■• counties, is heavily to 'X::^t:::n^ZX ^l^ ^co. I We t^s prophecy reat mmeral wealth. We have e! " "'"=" " "'" develop -tdligent man has eve^ pent , ed i?"" '° ""'"'''-• ^'o lledwtth thisconvictio„,andte motet "'^'°" ""'"'" ""''"^ "e ts the stronger is this convictL upo'n" i'^" Th"' °'"™"^ pon iiim. There is hardly 1 130 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 'k 3 9 a doubt that the geological formation there is but a contin' ition of the rich mineral-bearing system of Colorado, Nevada and Chihuahua. The rocks appear the same ; they contain silver, cop- per and lead. These rich metalliferous rocks run in great systems, and not in isolated protrusions. Thus we find gold in the great Appalachian system of mountains, reaching out thousandsof miles; and thus we find gold and silver in the great Rocky and Andes Range, traversing the length of two continents. For this reason I have ever entertained a lively hope that much silver and gold will be found in the far isolated group of Llano, etc. The moun- tains beyond the Pecos fill every condition for the expectation of great mineral wealth. Here the systems of Colorado and the Sierra Rica, of Mexico, meet and blend. Being so rich elsewhere, why should they not be even richer where they meet and blend? I have no question that they will eventually prove so, and that those now utterly lonely mountains will be filled with great ^vorks and the busy camps of the miners. Silver will be the principal metal, though copper and lead will abound." Forests and Vegetation. — Eastern Texas, east of the Trinity river, is a region of abundant timber, and although the most densely populated portion of the State, full one-half of its surface is still covered with forests. There are two species of pine, here known as the " long straw" and "short straw" pine, both of large size and producing excellent lumber, while the long straw yields a superior quality of turpentine. There are also in Eastern Texas several species of oak, including the live-oak, so called, an everofreen oak which differs somewhat from the live-oak of Florida, and which is found all over the State ; the post-oak and blackjack ; the ash, elm, black walnut, butternut, pecan, box-elder and pride of China ; and toward the coast, the lagnolia (here a stately tree), the cypress, palmetto, etc. In Northern Texas there are two immense belts of woodland, extending from the Red river southward, called the " Lower " and " Upper Cross Timbers." They are each about forty or forty-five miles wide, and extend southward from 150 to 200 miles; the first com- mences in Cooke and Grayson counties, along the Red river, and extends to McLennan county ; the second, which is smaller, J'O/iEST GROWTHS IN TKXAS. nil a contin' ition , Nevada and tain silver, cop- great system;}, •Id in the great asands of miles; cky and Andes For this reason iilver and gold :tc. The moun- the expectation olorado and the ) rich elsewhere, neet and Llend? ive so, and that vith great\vorks be the principal it of the Trinity -lOugh the most talf of its surface :ies of pine, here ne, both of large jng straw yields also in Eastern )ak, so called, an the live-oak of he post-oak and pecan, box-elder -lagnolia (here a Njorthern Texas ending from the "Upper Cross -five miles wide, the first coni- the Red river, Ivhich is smaller, occupies parts of Wise, Jack, Palo Piuto, Mood and Erath coun- ties. Most of the trees in these forests are post-oak and black- jack oak, and they stand so wide apart that a wagon can be driven between them in any direction. Central Texas is mainly rolling prairie ; but with plenty of timber, generally of good quality, though sometimes cottonwood, buckeye, black gum or sweet gum, in the river and creek bottoms. There are also islands of forest trees, live-oak, cypress (which grows on the hills here), post-oak and mesquite scattered through the i)rairies. The coast belt has no forest trees, but frequent chapparals, composed mainly of the different species of cactus. This region has also in spring and early summer rich and nutri- tious grasses, and a profusion of brilliant flowering plants. Western and Northwestern Texas are scantily wooded, though ^ even there the cypress, the live-oak (more rarely), and that won- derful tree, the mesquite, are found. The Osage orange (bois d'arc) and the pecan tree are among the other valuable forest trees of Texas. The bois d'arc grows in almost all soils ; its wood is very hard and durable, and its thorns and rapid growth make it excellent for hedges. The other shrubs and plants most common in Northwestern Texas and in the Llano Estacado are the yucca and four or five genera of the cactus, among which are the prickly pear, the melo- cactus, the mammelaria and several species of cereus. The sage brush is not so abundant, even on the Llano, as in New Mexico and Colorado. The mesquite grass, a very great favorite with catde, is the best of the pasturage grasses of this region. Zoology. — There are still some herds of buffalo and antelope in the northwestern part of the State, though the number is di- minishing every year. In Western Texas the mustang or wild horse of Mexico still feeds in large troops on the prairies ; the gray wolf, more ferocious and stronger than his northern con- gener, the black bear, the puma or cougai, the jaguar or Amer- ican tiger, the wild cat and the lynx, are found in the wooded and thinly inhabited districts ; while deer, peccaries, raccoons, opos- sums, foxes, hares and squirrels abound in the woods. Among the feathered tribes are found : of game birds, the wild II32 OUR WF.STKKN KMPIRR. turkey, pheasant, quail, snipe, curlew, many species of wild clucks, brant and teal, wild j^ecse, swans, and a ^reat variety of birds remarkable for sweetness of song or beauty of plumage; and among the birds of prey, the king vulture, or king of the buz- zards, the common turkey buzzard, and other vultures, eagles, hawks, kites, pelicans, herons, king-fishers, flamingoes, cranes, etc. The streams abound in fish, of which the black bass and the war-mouth perch are the best edible fresh-water varieties, while the waters of the bays and gulf yield immense numbers of the salt-water fish common to all the Atlantic and gylf coasts. The oysters of Galveston bay and its vicinity are considered good by epicures. Alligators, turtles, etc., are abundant in the lower portion of the rivers and bayous, and on the coast are seen, though less frequently, the great sea-turtles, the manatee, octopus and the porpoise. In the mountains and wooded districts, ratdesnakes, moccasin snakes, copperheads, the red-mouthed adder and the milk adder are sufficiently numerous, and several species of the black snake (our American boa) and great numbers of harmless snakes are found almost everywhere. The gecko and other lizards, among them the chanieleon, horned toads, horned frogs, salamanders, etc., abound, and the insect tribes are both numerous and formidable. The centipede, and on the lower coast a small sand scorpion, the large jumping spider, horse flies, buffalo gnats, chigoes and mosquitoes are all more or less troublesome; but they are not found in the same localities nor at the same season of the year. The insects injurious to vegetation are less numerous and destructive than in any other States. Climate. — The climate of Texas is varied from semi-tropical to moderately temperate. Snow and ice are seldom seen in the central portion, and rarely, if ever, in the extreme south. In the northern part one or two snow-falls during the winter, of from one to three inches in depth, are usually expected. Occasionally a much heavier fall is had, and ice from one to two inches in thickness is sometimes made. In the northeastern and eastern sections of the State the mer- cury in summer rarely rises above loo, and as rarely descends to zero. The summers are long and the heat continuous, but CLIMATE or /AXIS. 1133 wiUl clucks, cty of \Ma umuj;c ; aiul of the buz- ures, eagles, roes, cranes, bass and the irieties, while mbers of the coasts. The cretl good by in the lower e seen, though :topus and the i, ratdesnakes, idder and the species of the :rs of harmless ;cko and other horned frogs, 30th numerous r coast a small i, buffalo gnats, ublesome; but le same season less numerous semi-tropical to im seen in the south. In the winter, of from Occasionally two inches in State the mer- rarely descends Icontinuous, but not as intense as in many localities fartlier nortli. The winters arc generally mild and for llie most part pleasant. On the coasr, even at Brownsville, near the mouth of the Kio (irandc, the mer- cury rarely or never reaches ioo°, and as rarely falls below 32° in winter. The entire range of the year is not over 66°. Along the wholt: course of the Rio (irande, and, indeed, gener- ally in Western and Northwestern Texas, the climate is entirely difff.Tcnt, bearing a greater resemblance to that of Arizona and New Mexico. The summer temperature rises to 110°, 112° or 1 16°, and what is remarkable attains its greatest int(Misity in May, when it remains above 100° for fifteen or twenty days together. In winter it falls to about 20° or 25°, the annual range being from 91° to 96°. The rainfall varies as much as the temperature. In Galveston it averages move-, than 50 inches; in Austin, 34.55 ; in Denison, about 31 inches; while west of the looth meridian it gradually diminishes from 21.21 at Brackettsville to 8.99 at Kl Paso. I'Vom the reports of twenty-five stations of the Signal Service Office in Texas, and reports from two or diree others from private sources, we have selected eight points, of which we give temperature, rainfall, and, in two of them, the barometer. These eight points represent as fairly as possible the meteorology of all parts of the .State. ( See pages 1 1 34, 1 135. ) Mining and Manjifachiring Industries. — There can be no question that Texas possesses a vast amount of mineral wealth, and that at some not distant day the mountain districts of Western and Northwestern Texas will be thoroughly prospected, and hundreds of mines of gold, silver and copper opened and profitably worked. The mines of coal, of rock salt and of lead, which are now just developing, will be wrought on an extensive scale, and the soapstone, marble, slate and gypsum w'ill be largely exported. The whole State west of the meridian of San Antonio is full of mineral wealth. But at present there is a lack of the enterprise which is necessary for the development of these trea- sures. The coal mines are worked to a considerable extent, be- cause the railroads need and will have the coal, and the salt mines are worked, and the water of the saline springs evaporated, because there is an importunate and constant demand for salt for "34 OCR iy/:s/V':A\v EMriKK. >« ^ 3 to o o O >5 O H O I o 3; I I u ■|l''.l'i!''M |Bnuuy |iiii! '^l'|i'>"I\; Ajnituaduiax uiniii|ii{|^ 'ajntvjailtuaj, uintu|xniy ■jni.iiiii>ji;(| JO ,-Miih«.iJj uiraj^ o e o o u •IIBJIIIBM innuiiy pui; A|i|iun|y '3JM)cJ3dui» (, JO ailiin}] 'Miuuadui.ix ""•■'N •ajninjaduiax tunmitiij^ o.iiDiTiaduia j_ uinui|xi:|^ JainiU'iJr(( JO .TMIS-..1J([ lllMJ^ •|H-jii|VM i J c o .0 I u ■wmijaduia.l JO nSiicH on •A 11 M 2' R d K vy M f d »n in » u « % "i ■i 5, $ t » Hi D. M in 00 in CO t 1? ft e R R i c « ( i>. A "8. 00 S s £ R <3 8< Crt" »n li 3; M 8 8" "^ m T M CO 1? 1 3; in 8* 1 I •8, i, 8 1 J? •^2 R " R. en * •^ n ^ 00 m * N <8 M M I ^ s> R S R ^ 9. ft iT c i»! 9 o a 3; J? JS- R R. R. R 4 M in On in ?r (2. o. in 6 '8 p; 6 in 6 d ^ ■" ^ ! *^ ! S R; 1^ "* 3; ^ R S? s 9 M 9, •ajniwaduiaj, iicni^ in in in .A >0 to >0 In '^niejadiua,!, tunuiuiiiv ■ajnjBJadui.i j_ luniuixciy » « ■8 i o S 8 8 ■•s, _0 "o u o •in"!«H ]cniiuy pun Amiiioi^ ■9jniejaduia,x, Jo aJJuBH % « 8 ." rn u ^- .^ te H P I-) U 'SjnjBJaduiax ucaj^ it in ■R S •ojnjcj^duiax lunmiuiiy «> «s 8 > s METEOROLOGY OF TEXAS. 1 1 35 •. e>. oo 0\ 5n o CT» tc^inooirteoo 6 M 6 0* d d d -9Jm«43duinx uinui]Uii^ •r 00 00 t* N CI -00 \D cio 00 ^ ^. *0 fn fi m m lA in m tn vc in tn ^o ^o >n m m >ft o ^ ^ S S. i s^ i^. ;j OS CT\ CO 0\ O C •a B o o o U 5 "S 2 t/3 _ _ s J3 3 5 •IIBjiiinji lenuuv put: Xmiuoj^ •ainjBjadiuaj, jo a8ui!}i ^ * 4 d a 6 6 d C4 ti o m ^0 tn 00 N CTi f^ fO ID in i/> >c 'ajntvjadiuax unaj^ in 00 >? in in q H 00 •ajnjKjaduiax uinuiiuij^ !? 4? ^ WESTERN EMPIRE. daily consumption. The manufacture of flour, of lumber, of ma- chinery, furniture, carriag"es and was^ons, of cotton goods, of packed meats, leather and leather goods, might easily be ten-fold what it now is but for a lack of enterprise and push in these mat- ters. The annual product of mines and manufactories in the State in iS 70, according to the ninth census, was ^11,517,302, It is safe to say that at the present time, including the large de- velopnicnt of coal mining, copper mining, salt w'orks, cotton gins and mills, sa>v mills, etc., etc., it is not less than ^50,000,000. Yet there is much tiuth in the words of the editor of the Galveston Daily Nc:>.>s, in December, 1879: " The great want of Texas is manufacturing industry. With the exception of her flouring mills, cotton-seed mills, the New Braunfels woollen mills, and three or four foundries and work- shops — all successful testimonials, however, as to what can be accomplislied in this wa)' — the State is altogether deficient in manufactures. Y."t there is plenty of opportunity and facility in the State for tlie establishnuMU and successful operation of such ;n a variety of lines. State demand is ample, and the means are native here, awaiting the touch of enterprise and capital. Texas, as yet, is dependent upon the outer world for everything, from ax-helves to farm-w-agons, from the hoe to the steam-engine; yet ihe State abounds in mineral wealth, and the timber of the country is profuse in the best of varieties and boundless in extent. With the full achievement of the manufacturing era will come the in- dustrial glory of Texas." Aoriciillf^ral Prodnclions. — In other parts of this work we have devoted much attention to the agricultural productions of Texas, as well as to its flocks and herds, and have endeavored to show that its present products, large as thc^y may be, are very much less than they might be, even with the land at present under cul- ture, and til!' present population, it there were greater enterprise and more skilful farming. We have shown, also, that she has the land ami die capacity to grow all the cotton necessary for the world's convjniption. and a sufficiency of grain to feed the whole human familv, as well as flocks and herds in sufficient number to furnish meat for every person on the globe; yet she is strangely AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS OF TEXAS. H37 iber, of ma- i iToods, of - be ten-fold II those mat- ories in the t\ie large de- ^, cotton gins )00,ooo. Yet ;hc Galveston lustry. With iiiUs, the New ies and work- > what can be er deficient in , and facility in ^ration of such the means are rapital. Texas, very thing, from am-engine; yet r of the country extent. With 11 come the in- Jis work we have Ictions of Texas, lavorcd to show I, are very much L-sent under cul- [eater enterprise To, diat she has [ecessary for the feed the whole ^ient number to fshe is strangely apathetic to her grand opportunities, and prefers to boast of her wealth and productions, and discourse of them in glittering gen- eralities, rather than to work out her destiny by energetic and skilfully directed labor. Meanwhile other States, with not one- fourth of her area or natural advantages, are rapidly surpassing her in population, wealth, and manufacturing and mining devel- opment. The climate, pleasant as it is, may have somcdiing to do with this indisposition to vigorous and continued exertion ; and the former prevalence of slavery there may have had its in- fluence ; but until this apathetic indolence is overcome, the State will make far less rapid progress than she dreams of making. The latest complete statistics of agricultural products of the State are for 1878 and 1879, those of 1880 being simply conjec- tural. There has been undoubtedly a considerable increase in many of the crops in the last year, but nothing except the special investigation made by the census office will account for it. The following table gives the stadstics of products for 1878 and 1879: Agricultural Productious of Texas in 1878 and 1879. rRODUCTs, 1878. Indian corn, bu. Wheat, bu I Rye, bit i Gals, bu I Potatoes, bu . . . . ' Hay, tons * Cotton, pounds. U u 3 o 00 cd a o CI. > < 4, Totals Products, 1879. Indian corn, bu Wheat, bu Rye, bu Oats, l)u Potatoes, bu Hay, tons Cotton, pounds 58,396,000 7,200,000 54,000 604,800 127,200 497,310,000 I 26 16 18 37 «4 275 I 29,198,000 3,454,200 32,400 3,962,500 310,200 131,000 338,625,000 13 7.6 12 25 47 i.oS •75 Totals 4,924,596 ^172,322,918 2,246,000 450,000 3,000 149,500 7,200 So.coo 1 ,808,400 4,744,100 2,246,000 454,500 2,700 158,500 6,600 121.296 1,935,000 o c (U 3 > 44 86 72 42 99 9-75 8.2 1.03 i«5 1.00 .62 1.29 11.64 .10 c _o 3 > *•* .0 $25,694,240 6,192,000 38,8!S0 2,323,230 598,752 1,240,200 40,779,420 $76,866,722 S30.073.940 3,972,330 32,400 2,456,750 400,158 1,524,840 33,862,500 72 CO 3 li 3 H^S Ol/fi tVESTERN EMPIRE. Of the following articles the entire production is unknown, but as there are no large tanneries and but few woollen mills, the exports of both raw-hides and wool must cover nearly the pro- duction. This is partly true also of cotton seed-cake and oil : Wool exported, 14,568,920 pounds, valued at . . 1^52,913,784 Hides exported, 28,104,065 " " . . 2,810,406 Cotton-seed cake and oil, 506,063 Of the next three, probably the export is less than one-half the production ; lumber and shingles . 1,349,691 Sugar and molasses, 433,960 Miscellaneous products, 672,364 $8,686,268 Adding to these the live-stock of the State, January, 1879, and January, 1880, we have the following as an approximate estimate of the entire agricultural and grazing product of the State : Jani'Aky, 1879. Animals, Horses Mules, etc Milch cows ■Oxen and other cattle. Sheep Swine Agricultural products . Special exports Number. Price. I Value. 918,000 J22.40 180,200 40.23 544,500 4,8' 10,000 4.56.1,000 1,957,000 M-53 9 »5 1.80 2.91 ^20,563,200' 7.-'49.446 7.9»>.585; 43,920,000; 8,208,000; 5,694,870 76,866,722 8,686,258 Animals. January, 1880. Number. ' Price. #23,811,^40 8,767,4.Si 7.83-'.978 46,916,640 11,072,592 5.753,580 72,322,918 8,686,258 ' Total agricultural and grazing products, $179,100,081 Total agricultural and grazing products .$185,164,357 ' Horses Mules and asses Milch cows Uxcn and other cattle. Sheep Swine Agricultural products . Special exports Value, 1 $963,9 "HI 1()I,012 566,28^ 4,464,00') 5,198,400 1,917,860 $24.61 45.90 J3-85 10.51 2-'3 3.00 • There is, in the vast area of Texas, much arable land, and some ■of it, especially in Eastern and Central Texas, is of the first qual- ity ; that of the coast counties is inclined to be sandy, but pro- duces excellent crops of tropical and semi-tropical fruits, and sugar and rice. But a very large portion of the arable lands are of the second or third quality, and are not thoroughly culti- vated. The average yield of cotton, Indian corn and wheat per acre is conclusive evidence either that the land is poor or the farming very slovenly. There are farms in the State, and those inot on the land which is considered of the highest quality, where tlie cotton crop in average years is two bales (960 pounds) to the acre, in fields of many .hundred acres; and others where the corn THE GRAZING INTEREST IN TEXAS. H39 inknown, but len mills, the arly the pro- ce and oil : 2,810,406 506,063 1,349.691 433'96o 672,364 ^8,686,268 mary, 1879. and ximate estimate the State : r, 1880. liber. 1.910 ,-80 ,00" I ',86j Price. 1 >385 1 10.51 I 2.>3 3-o° Value. $21,8n,y4'3 I 8,767.45< 7,83-'.978 ^6,916,640 11, 07 =.59- , 5,753.580 72,322.9'* 8,686,258 le land, and some . of the first qual- sandy, but pro- epical fruits, and jthe arable lands [thoroughly culti- In and wheat per is poor or the 'state, and those ^st quality, Nvhere ko pounds) to the Is where the corn crop is forty to forty-five bushels, and the wheat crop twenty-five to thirty bushels. These are not extravagant or fancy crops ; but they prove the truth of the old Georgia adage, that "it is as much in the man as in the land." The State is well adapted to grazing, and even the northwest- ern region, with its small rainfall and its few streams, often dry, is a fair grazing country, if water enough can be found for tlie cattle and sheep. Texas has thejargest amount of live-stock to be found in any one State or Territory in the Union ; but even in this pursuit the carelessness and shiftlessness of her stock- growers prevent her from making as good a showing as her situation warrants. The cattle of Texas are very largely of a comparatively poor breed ; long-horned, not very large, and somewhat unshapely, not inclined to take on flesh rapidly, and yet wanting in the qualities for good milkers. They bring in the market from $5 to $10 per head less than steers of the same age in Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming or Montana, and the larger stock-raisers, with few exceptions, take no pains to improve the breed. The horses, which now number more than a million, are to a very large extent mustangs and most of them wild. The mustang is, for its size, the most vicious horse in the world. There are some bronchos, a cross between some of the better breeds and the Indian pony ; these are better than the mustangs, but are not very valuable. There are, of course, better horses than either in the State, and a few of the more wealthy stock- raisers are making efforts to introduce horses of better quality, but with indifferent success. The sheep are also of poor quality — Mexican sheep which will yield only from one and a half to two and a half pounds of wool at a shearincr. The averaire weight of the fleeces on " King " Carlin's sheep ranche is three and a half pounds, but these are nearly all of improved breeds, and the wool clip is regarded as' something astonishing in Texas ; while in Colorado. Wyoming, Montana, Oregon and Washington, the average weight is from five and a half to seven pounds, and the wool is of much better quality and higher price. The same indifference appears in the rearing of swine. The averag.e Texas hog has long legs, a II40 OUK lV/-:STF.RiV EMriRK. I humped back, a sharp snout, can run Hke a hound, and clear any fence without difficulty ; but he is not given to taking on fat, and though his hams may have a gamy flavor, he excels most in all those points which neither breeder, butcher nor pork-packer regard as desirable in a hog. Of course such swine as these are not very profitable, especially when the adjacent, but much newer, State of Kansas has attained so nearly to perfection in raising swine. Of course therp are farmers, and large farmers, who are not liable to these criticisms ; men who endeavor to raise only the best animals ; but these are the somewhat rare excep- tions to the general rule; and with a most admirable country and climate for rearing stock, it has come to pass, that the average Texas horse, the average Texas steer, the average Texas sheep, and the average Texas hog, are about die poorest specimens of those animals respectively, to be found in all " Our Western Empire," and command the lowest prices. There is no good reason for this either in the soil, the climate or the location. The large ranche-owner may say, indeed, that it is not worth his while to take any more pains, or put himself to any more trouble to raise better animals, for he is becoming rich as fast as he cares to, and he wouldn't know what to do with more money if he had it ; but this is a very poor argument for shiftlessness and indolence. No man lives, or should live, for himself alone. It is every man's duty to do the best he can with the property which comes into his hands, and he who gives the best culture possible to his lands, who rears the best animals, or develops most fully the resources of his estates, is not only enriching himself thereby, but is benefiting his neighbor by his enterprise and example, and brings prosperity and wt;alth to his State, by thus showing its capacity for future growth and expan- sion. He is the Stale's best citizen who does the most for its material and intellectual advancement. Railroads and Navigable Waters. — Texas has over 400 miles of coast line on the gulf, though its harbors are not of the first class. Still Galveston, Indianola, Corpus Christi and Brazos de Santiago are somewhat important ports, and have a foreign com- merce of about $23,000,000 annually, and a much larger coasting nd clear any g on fat, and s most in all pork-packer rine as these nt, but much perfection in [ar^e farmers, lt:avor to raise at rare excep- le country and ,t the average e Texas sheep, t specimens ot 'Our Western soil, the climate say, indeed, tlvAt or put himself he is becoming low what to do poor argument - should live, for St he can with ^e who «2;ives the best animals, or Ites, is not only neighV)or by his nd wealth to his ,wth and expan- tlie most for its over 400 miles not of the first t\ and Brazos de L a foreign com- |h larger coasting 1 aw* "■♦■ b^^'^ ^Ifb^S^^Sy'*^ ""^ %4 - ""'rw-*** i 1 3 i .. ■* P^ * ' ' ^—'- '^ ^S^-^''- ^m sm 'i^ ^^. ^^ .^ ii'lBS.iij*,,. ^^_ *'' :^ .sS "•■ » '-■ J A ^^iJ^M - ^>4vitf mn»j^ .•"^iS, ^^??l;^ COrruN IKAIN. COITUN I'KKSS. CATTLE STAMl'KUK. \IK\V Ol' (iAl.AKSTON ilAKUOR. ? HAILKOADS AND NAVIGABLE WATERS. 1 141 trade. With the exception of the canal and bayou, by means of which Houston has water communication with Galveston and has become a port of entry, none of the rivers of Texas are navigable for any considerable distance. The editor of the Galveston Daily News, in the issue of December 29th, 1879, described the progress of the State in railroad construction since 1865 as follows: "At the close of the war in 1865 there were but six railroads in Texas that had track laid in running order, viz.: the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railroad, from Ilarrisburg to Alleyton, eighty miles ; the Houston and Texas Central Rail- road, from Houston to Millican, eighty miles ; the Washington County Railroad (now the Austin division of the Central), fron. Hempstead to Brenham, thirty miles ; the Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad, from Galveston to Houston, fifty miles; the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, from Houston to Libert)-, forty miles ; and the Columbia and Brazos River Railroad, from Houston to Columbia, fifty miles — making a total of 330 miles of railroad in actual operation fifteen years ago. The Southern Pacific Railroad (now the Texas and Pacific) was under operation from Shreveport, La., to the Texas line, but at that period hail not penetrated the State. Now there are twenty-six different lines of railroad in actual operation within the State, with a total mileage in running order of 2,556 miles, showing that since the year 1865 no less than 2,226 miles of railroad have been con- structed and placed in running order. Twenty of these roads are standard gauge and six are narrow gauge railroads. There are few States in the Union with a better record than this. It speaks volumes for the future of the commonwealth in every direction toward progress and prosperity, and to all appearances the next few years will witness still further advances in the impor- tant work of railroad construction." During the year 1880 considerable progress has been made in railroad construction, and still more in railroad consolidation in the State. None of the Texas railroads are completed west of the ninety-ninth meridian, though the Texas Pacific is, we believe, under contract to El Paso; while the Southern Pacific % ;4- 1 142 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. of California is already at or near El Paso, and is heading directly for Galveston by as nearly as possible an air-line as far as Austin, where it will probably join the Houston and Texas Central. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe is also at or near Kl Paso, and is supposed to have a terminus on the Gulf of Mexico in view, but whether over the Southern Pacific line or not is as yet uncer- tain. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway and tiie St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern arc now virtually under one control, and will probably form some connection with Western Texas. Several short roads and connections have been con- structed in Eastern Texas, and the first of January, 1881, will probably find about 3,000 miles of railroad in operation in the State, with another thousand in prospect by January, 1882. Population of Texas. Year of Enumeration. 1806 7.000 1834 21,000 1836. 1845. 1850. i860. 1870. 1880. c o rt rt Si 52,670 150,000 212,592 604,215 818,579 1,510,000 33.500 91,000 H3.780 320,167 423,557 E 19,170 59.000; 98,813 284,048 39S.022 30,000 ■54.034 420,891 564,700 5,000 397 355 253.475 So B S u V a B 58,161 182,566 17,670 403 724 Year ok Enu- meration. > IS l8o6 , ! : 0.02 1834. 1836. 1845. 1850. l8i')t>. i>S7o. 1S80. .1. > 94.433, 560,793 756,168; 17,681 43.422 62,411 i u u B .• B tcracy V ts ir. ■ Q Pi S 1 1 0.02 i 1 I 0.07 300 j 0.19 »5o ! 0.54 18s 1 0.77 41.70 10,583 2.20 184.22 18,476 3.02 36-46 221,703 5-5° 82.21 ^ pa 83,206 233.4«7 3«9.233 ■~ u-i o2 : 43909 1 119,362 1 158,765 5*;: . ■^'^ -^ - rt 3 52.666 I43.>S« 184,094 jading directly i far as Austin, Central. The r Kl Paso, and /lexico in view, s as yet uncer- ly and tiie St. lally under one with Western ave been con- uary, 1881, will aeration in the ary, 1882. 1/) c a • 3 u •3 iS u c S2 .U (/> iG « C % ;S « (fi f o2 •06 i 43909 tl? i H9.362 !33 I i5«.76s 52.666 I43.'5' 184,094 fOfCL^rWA, OF TEXAS. «hae of ,„os. of the l^Z^^J^T" u'' ^'''" '"°™ ^"P'd than -me of the No„/,ern S at^s Tr. ' T^*" '"» ^^ "■-" "-at o '-.on of .„,. seate at difc:^t pti^rt"''':?"'^^'^'-'^ "-'-''"'P"- Of th,s population, the number off V''"' P««'"ilars. very lar«e. T,., Germans Tave .ItTT '""'' ''^^ — >>-« and ,ts vicin/ty. and there are a . f""""' '" ^'">' «"'""f<-ls tnjrhsh, l.>,,nch and Spall! ! f '""f "^'''«= ""'"''^r of Irish and '>alf-br,.e.lsof thel'ow ' ,a,tr ■'""' ''"' --^ ^'---n two cla.s.s..s find e,nploy„,e„t ^ ' !' ? '"'"" '"*■=""*• l''^' las «c. liut there has [JX t, e pT'T' f '^P'"^"'^' -"«- steady stream of emigration inl^'r'^ "^ ^''^^''^ ''"d more a -d A,i..n.ie States, i^llrth?-/™- '"f «-"-'. oJ Mississip,,, >alley_|i|i„oi3 f„r„; ' """ '•«= States of the f- The peopi'e are b4 rSa':r^%"'^ '^■■«-' "-• !7'S'-''"'^ are n,ade welcome tWebutl. ""^ ''°^P'''^"'=- ='nd nfus,on of Northern thrift !„ • "' "'^''^ '^ "'•-<=d of a larger habits, and perhaps som ^ 'tL ^^ ^n "', '"T"^"""-" Tl" not been entirely eradicated buor'^ ^^ ''^'"y' ''^^^ and eventually thrs vast domain wirSo" T"^ "'"'y y^^' by the efforts of the generation now cotl '' "" f ^™"^ '^^'"'^ counties in Texas, of /hich.howeve^onr"- "'"*-' ^^ "» organized, while some of the unoTrn^::'^' 54 '"■'^ as yet fully as yet unpeopled, and some ofTem ! 7"'"' ""^ ^='^' ""^cts "es rather than counties TheL " ''e^'g""ed as territo- ■«77-.8;S, d,e last published ::""! "'"!;'°" "' "^ V-^ fifty per c.„t. of the true valua^fnT ^ T^''" °" '^ "«»!» of -t. Of the numbers of wS" V' "a^fo ^s °" ^''''^ "^ Acres of land . , ""vvs. Miles of railroad .' .* .* 76,480,450 J^umber of carriages and bugmes ' • • . 575 Number of honscs and mules ^ ,3,,,','^ Number of cattle . . . , 985,561 Number of asses . . _ 3,3x2,356 Number of sheep . 5,37, Number of goats . . *. 2.883,372 • Number of hogs ...;*.;; 229,618 ''292,909 1144 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. S9 3 The total value of all property assessed was 5.^! 8.985,765. A true valuation would be not less than 55^450,000.000. Of the towns and cities, Galveston, the commercial capital and chief port of entry, is the largest. It has a very poor harbor, tlic entrance to the bay being obstructed by a bar nearly four miles across. Its population according to the census of 18S0 is 2 2,J53. It is said not to be growing, though it has a good back country, all of Central and Eastern Texas, to furnish it with trade. Houston, which has already become a great railroad centre, had in June, 1880, 18,646; and San Antonio, which is called the ca()ital of Western Texas, has a large trade from Northwestern Texas, as well as from other sections of the State, and is rich in historic interest, had at the same date 20,561. Austin, the capital of the State, had in June, 1880, 10,960. Waco and Dallas are of about the same size as Austin, the latter having 10.358 and the former a little less than 10,000. Fort Worth has not quite 10,000; Sher- man, about 8.000 or 9,000; Denison, Marshall, Paris, Jefferson, Corpus Chi Brownsville, Laredo, Hrenham, Indianola, and perhaps one or two other towns, have 5,000 or more inhabitants, and there may be a dozen. New Braunfels, the chief town of the German colonists, among them, which range between 3,000 and 5,000. Education. — Public school education in Texas has not been well managed. There is, indeed, nominally, provision for a school fund, which may eventually become large, but the school lands are held at a price considerably higher than other lands of equal value, and the State and railroads have so much land to sell that the school lands are neglected. During the late civil war, the school fund and its income were diverted to other purposes, and though an effort has been made to increase the amount of the fund since the war, it has not proveil very successful, and the schools have been much hampered by bad legislation. The permanent school fund on September i, 1879, was stated at 1^3,300,581, but the income from it, which con- stituted the available school fund, was only 5^132,883. Three and a half months later, viz.: December 15, 1879, the State Treasurer reports the permanent school fund of the State as only 1145 "<« -xiWai,, ,l,e disc"; :^ "t" '""' •" «'°''4°9. We can- actual .xpe„«<>l«, .46 whole nun,ber of illit eratf o'f c tol ^7 '«'"" ^ "<« ^^4',- of organized schools, 4.63, of whtl^ •"^- ^'''°l'= """-ber average time of schoolt in'da ' g '1^°= "' ^°' '^^^''^^''i Pupils; w,th,n d,eyear, at a cost ofl , ' '^u/, ^« ='^''°°'-houses bull reported, 4,330-303 less than i e'nutn 'r"",""'" "^ '^^^''-s ^.■S95 were white n.ales ; yeo " • Ite fell "''°°'^- ^^ ">^- and ' '3 colored females/ Tie a !'"■■ 5,6^ colored males, wasjS4. P-nionth,a„.lof al fe;S7^>' "^^ ^" -ale teachers '"con,„ of public schools was stated ' . 1" "'°""'- 'J''''-- wl>ole -Penditure, ^,,,,,,^, '^ ^f « "^e ^859 484, a„d tj., „„„,: vat'os of the teachers are sad wt a 'I' T.'''''™"^ *»' "'« P rmanent school fund in .87S is stated to , ^l "'""""' "^ "'« *(e a year later it was only oL ^d f T' ''^'" ^.085,57., certainly room for improvement So r " '"'"■ T'>erc is I alias and San Antonio, l^e good Jchf '""'"■ ^^ "-'■^'-. «l>ooIs are those sustained by p^riva Je„l '^^ ^'" ""'^ "-mai associations. ' P"^^'^ enterprise or by religious Jr^t" vL" ;;rs?'Mar"vt?";? "'•■• ^^^■'°'-- southwestern elOlarvinand Salldo Iv'e ^Z t r,"'^" '^ ^"^"•"' ^f-"' '^- '- With young men ^l^:'i::^^ :;:^-2 1146 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. tutions have more than a local reputation. These and the Texas Military Institute and the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, at College Station, in Hrazos county, had together 1,984 students in the preparatory and collegiate departments. There were also one theological, one law and one medical school, and institutions for the deaf and dumb, and for the blind, in the State. Lauds for Immi(i rants. — Texas is the only State or Territory of "Our Western Empire" in which the United States govern- ment holds no land, the State being annexed to the Union as an independent republic, and retaining its unoccupied lands in its own possession. We have given in Part II. of this work a full account of the modes of procuring lands from the State, and it is not necessary that we should repeat them here. (See page 257-) Religious Denominations. — The census returns of th(!se for 1880 are not yet available, and would not give any information in regard to the three important items of number of clergymen, ministers or priests, the number of communicants, and the adhe- rent population, if they were. Our latest information on these points is that of 1875, as exhibited in the following table: DiNOMINATIONS. All Ubnominations I Hapti«ts { Christian Cnnncctlun and Disciples. I Conifrttjati'inalisis Prutestant Kpi.scopal Church lews I Lutherans Methodist Church South Muthoilist K|>isciip il Church Mcthuilist, African, Ziun, etc Aluthodisl, Pnilestaiu Presbyterian, Regular Presbyterian, Cumberland Kunian Catholics Union, and minor lects f church organiza- tioas, 1875. 1 . l£ .n X f church edifices 1875. r clergymen, isters or priests. g - 1 = II 0" 3 0. . K.I5 c - g a 1- (J = 3 u 6 6 dS (J d t -0 d _3 y. J5 2 y, - < f. > 2,050 '■764 '.3"7 167.RV' 8t),.'5o 220,510 #l,Q7'),f'00 i,"47 853 590 59.6 7 jyS.ooo 89,.t.H. 447.5'0 ^\ 29 21 3,8f6 14,1180 5,10.. :'7.1'o 8 7 7 35'J 1,600 75' • 2'".U"W <5 38 4' 2/)I.' 1 3 ,0*>i II,4'J« lCi«,4ou 5 5 5 i,8>. It.S*' l.!>ofJ 21,1100 45 ^^ 32 4.'»7 l8,uoo 7,650 7.'i.'5" 421 298 4),o<«. 315,(X)0 89,300 3.. 5. 1 «i '0.1 124 y^ i6,j()ii 81,000 I2,4'JO i-jjiyyo U.6 83 57 i7,oix> 63 .OCX) 8,300 41 .i;'*! 35 at; 17 2,. Ok) 8,oo. 99 86 97 103,000 26,300 4(11.1100 6 6 6 1,200 6,000 650 4,81.1 Historical Data. — The following memoranda of dates and events in Texan history are from a "Chronological Compcnd HISTORICAL NOTES ON TEXAS. "47 ,a the Texas Mechanical gethcr 1,984 \ts. one medical for the blind, or Territory Lates govern- the Union as pied lands in f this work a the State, and c. (See page s of tht^se for ny information • of clergymen, , and the adhe- \ation on these g table : & o S5 so 350,51" KKJ 89,.("" ,80 5.'"" 5oo 75" »(X> Ii,4'J>' tJiKl l,Si» »X) 7,650 KX> Sy.act' KW 12,4'J" ICK) 8,3»-' 61U iS" a 7,*'^ J SO 9. '5" a6,aoo »o 650 of dates and Ucal Compend of Texas History," pre[)ared for " Burke's Texas Almanac for 1880," l)y I). W. C. liaker. They have been carefully verified by us : " Texas is supposed to have its name from an Indian village called Texas on the Neches river. Its meaning in the Indian language \^ friend. "In 1685 a French cavalier named Robert de La Salle, with a small colony, landed at Matagorda bay and built a fortrt^ss, which he called in honor of the King of France, St. Louis. This colony was soon exterminated by disease and the hostility of the In- dians ; and La Salle was killed by one of his own mutinous fol- lowers. "Spain next attempted the occupation of Texas, and in 1689 a colony was landed and a mission was built near the spot where four years previously La Salle had landed. This colony was soon broken up by the same causes as the former one. "Between the years 1690 and 1720 the Spanish Roman Catho- lics established many missions and fortresses within the borders of Texas. Three missions were built and occupied by monks and friars, and by soldiers who were sent to defend them. "After many vicissitudes the Spanish missions were within a century from their establishment one after another abandoned, leaving throughout the State crumbling ruins of massive build- ings, which to this day sufficiently attest the self-sacrificing de- votion and labors of those Christian ambassadors from the Old World. "The fate of the inmates of the mission of San Saba was one of the most deplorable recorded in history. This mission was established in 1734, and for a while the Indians proved friendly. In 1752 a silver mine was discovered there, which drew to the place a number of adventurers. Trouble soon arose between these and the savages, who in their rage made an onslaught on the fortress, and slew all who were there, not one escaping. " Thus the efforts of France and Spain to effect a permanent occupation of Texas failed. " France formally abandoned her claims in 1763, and in 1821 Mexico threw off the Spanish yoke, and Spain thereafter ceased ^ OQ 3 1 1^8 OLV! WESTERN EMPIRE. to press her claims for it. Texas thus became a province of Mexico in 1 82 1. At that time, despite the blood and treasure which had been expended by the governments of the old world to hold Texas, nothing had been accomplished. It was practically as much a wilderness in 1821 as when La Salle set foot upori its shores in 1685, the white population being only 3,000 in the whole Territory. " But the time had now come when the Anglo-American turned his steps hither, and history has yet to record where he has ever failed of his undertaking. The permanent colonization of Texas by citizens of the United States began in 1821. "In 1821-22 Stephen F. Austin, to whom justly belongs the title, Father of Texas, introduced a large number of colonists, and furnished them homes. After devoting the best years of his life to the accomplishment of his darling enterprise of establishing permanent and prosperous colonies in Texas ; after undergoing hardships and braving dangers such as few men have ever ex- perienced, he was stricken down with disease at Columbia, Brazoria county, and there died, December 25th, 1836, in the forty-fifth year of his age. From the advent of Austin until 1830 the American population of Texas continued rapidly to increase, and at that time numbered about 20,000. "Then the government of Mexico became alarmed at the rapidly increasing strength and influence of the young colony, and took steps to prevent its further gnnvth. The Dictator of Mexico, Bustamente, issued a decree suspending all existing colony c(^)n- tracts, and forbidding under severe penalty any citizen of the United States from settling; in Texas. This measure did not have the desired eftect, and the tide of immigration continued Lo pour into the country. "In 1833 the citizfMis of Texas, in the proper exercise of their rights as freemen, called a council at San F"elipe. Of this council W. H. Wharton was president. A memorial and petition was prepared, setting forth in calm and forcible language the wants and grievances of the colonists, and praying tlie ((Mitral power at Mexico for a separate State organization. This nuiuoria! was sent to Mexico by the hands of Stephen F. Austin. No definite THE TEXAN WAR OF INDEPliXPENCE, 1 149 -ovincc of d treasure ; old world practically ot upori its n the whole ■ican turned he has ever on of Texas belongs the olonists, and irs of his life establishing r undergoing lave ever ex- at Columbia, 1836, in the tin until 1830 y to increase, .at the rapidly )ny, and took )r of Mexico, Irr colony c"" Tl,on,as H. ^'-'ed first e;nstfutioS";::' t" "°"^'- ••"-' M ,! , ,„, Republic. ^' i^resident and Vice Pr„ ■ , ' ™'' "October ,8,6 p- ^ "^^"P'-^'dcnt of the body wise Uws^ere ena'ct';d"^'"l,"'^' ^' C°'""'bia Bv th' Velasco, "ext at Columbifne '"h ""' '' ^^'--ton, ' e^ra -ained°::r^teXrr^t°''^^^ '<' ^""-^^ -nt was removed to tl^^^'^ '''''" "'^ ^'^^ « "- 7 elect,ons were held by wh chCe ','^°' ^"^ ^^ain t, ,8 "' nent V fixed n^ a • '^'"cn tiie capital o^ T^.v.. ^o, "In SrM.7 " ■^"'""' «'''ere it now is """ "'''' P<=™a. '" September, ,8,8 M R lo eected '^-sident andVice;Pr;.^ C 7^ ^"•" '^- Burnet were oHexas was acknow!ed,.ed by t 1 '!^/' "'^ '"dependence £.i.ward Burleson were decte.i P f' ''"^''a' Houston and September, ,844 Anson \T ' """'"'J'^"' and Vice-Pre. 1 Anderson, VicrPres-^rnt^""^^ "'^^'-'^^^ P-side^f fnd Ic'l" :j"'y. .S45. fi-t tte c:::::.,::"''^'' '° "^ ^-■'^'i states ■N-ember, ,845, Constituti::':!;;::,- ^""'"- II52 EMPIJiE. S OS 3 " From 1853 to \%^, jpidafe ImiUfatgs were erected at Austin, tJvi debt of the j^.<«r^«Mu; <*ncelle(i tJae Asylum founded, criminal eod^^ adopted, perma>#*:»t ^^/^l fiamd set apart, and aid given to railroads, "In 1859, General Sam HouM//n and Edward Clark were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor. "February, 1861, the ordinance of secession was passed by Texas Convention, "March i8th, 1861, General Houston 'retired from office to his home in Huntsville, where he died, July, 1S63, "August. 1861, F. R. Lubbock and John M. , Crockett were elected Gu\'';rnor and Lieutenant-Governor. "October, 1862, Galveston captured by P^ederal troops. "January, 1863, Galveston retaken by Confederate forces. '♦August, J 863, Pendleton Murrah and F. S. Stockdale were H©5tfyJ Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. "fe 1865, A. J Hamilton was appointed by the President, pro- yisiooailJ ^/overnor of Texas. "Jui^- iC-yth, 1865, ^'^-neral Granger issued a general ordc; prcK Jaimi^j;^ if^AUim of slaves in lexas, "fe^iM^/ i<:i^, 1H66, first ».onstructiun convention assem- bled at An^n, af).J68, second rec- instruction convention met at Austin and (fdmit^i ^/»«titution. '• Novc«tX'r, />^^, E. J, Davis and J. \V, Flannagati wcr eWif/'xJ (JovariUfr and Lieutenant-Governor. "in f^yo, Senators and Representatives froM\ Texas again admitted into Coni^ress,. "December, 1873, Richard Coke and R. P). luibbard were elected Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of Texas, and they were re-elected to these positions in February, 1876. ' The pr sent State Constitution was framed by a Convei\tioii which assembled at Austin, September 6th, 1 875. Governor Coke, ird Clark were was passed by om office to his (Crockett were President, pro- w Texas atjain havm,, been eloceed United States S "" of Governor, and R. a H„bbard °''' "'''^"'"^ "«= office December ,.,t, ,876. '' ^'''"^'' Governor of Texa, November, 1S78, O M P^i --overnorandU.tX^S:r-i-,S^^ " "^^ n,53, ; in ,844 it wa" .fj'^ T "«» 7,-'47 ; in ,840 -nor was only 9,578, because „-anvn;.T ' ^^ '''^ ™'-= f"^ Got " 847. t was ,4,4-6; in ,84^ t :!fr"''"^"''"><=P°"^; 28.309; ,„ ,853 it was 36,,, In * "■'^'S- •" '851 it was "»- 56,,So,. in ,859^ a's eA'' ■''''' 45.339 in Z 57.443 on account of tl'eneject of ne'V" "" ' '^PP^'' ° when most of the voters ZlinlTr" ? ™"=' '^'"''^ '" '863 ""'y 31.037. In ,866 it rose to 60;. ^°"'^=^-«'^ ••>'-niy, it was' '" 'S73 it was ,.8,36, ; in ,8,° f°'^**^ ' '" '869 it was 79 „^ -^36,9.7, in '880 til. vote frfresirt "'''"^ '" ■«'«''»- C«/./,„„«._Land is so cbe-,,?^ "' '37.337." good, the facilities for stoci- rl "'• ^"^ ^O'ne of it so JesiruMe, the climate s^ Id ,V' ,*<=" ^^ '"°'- f^nnin. a e so of the State is now, or soo.i wi "bttf '"'' -l^' "-»--- pan ".Irnads, that it present, 1!; ° 1 "''''' ''^' ^'^^™^^^ and There should be I etter irrml ^''"^'"'ages to immigrants -ckofankinds.-moroe ™f;7;:: "" '" ''-P^o.i^^^ and .nmin,,, and generally fe I" ^""^7^ '" '"a""faaurinj. ";'"-^fy. thrift and hard .lk\ti h' "["'"^^ ^"^ "-- elevated and improved, and he 1 '^ "'''°°^' '>'°"''i be -fo-A We think immi'l tf^r "T"''''^^ "'"^ "•'^"■^'^ ?," ,^^"'-1 and Southern i: ,ro , 1^", """"™ ^'"'^^ and be be ter pleased with the cou try th h "T *^'^°"'e and rn chmates; but i„ ma„,. respel , °"' "'°^= "°"h- for immigrants. ^ "^ '^'■"' ^'"'^as ,s a very good State 7} II54 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. CHAPTER XIX. VTAH TERRITORY. Utah a Peculiar Territory — Its Location, Roundaries, Area and Extent — Forests and Vegetation — Altitude ok its Mountains and Valleys — Zoology — Geology — Mineralogy — Topograi-hy and General Features — The Great Salt Lake Basin — Cache, San Pete and Sevier Valleys-^ The Colorado Basin, East of the Wahsatch Mountains — Climate — Meteorology of Salt Lake City and Camp Douglas — Notes on the Tem- perature, Rainfall, etc., of other parts of the Territory — Advan- tages of Utah as a Sanitary Resort — Diseases for which its Climate is beneficial — Opinion of Eminent Army Surgeons on the Subject — Soil and Agriculture— Irrigation very generally Required — Immense Crops WHERE IT IS practised — NON-IRRIOAHLE LaNDS SOMETIMES PRODUCTIVE WITH Deep Plowing — Timher — Yield of Cereal and other Products — Fruit- Culture — Stock-Farming — Sheep-Farming — Evils of Migratory Herds — Gov. Emery's Complaints of California Flocks — Mines and Mining Products — Wide Distribution of Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Iron, Coal, Sulphur, Soda, Salt, and Borax — The Mines of the Precious Metals in the Sali' Lake Basin very rich and easily accessible — Rail- roads — Objects of Interest — The "Temple of Music "on the Colo- rado — Temples on the Rio Virgen — The American Fork Canon — It is CALLED THE " YOSEMITE " OF UtAH — ThE GrEAT SaLT LaKE MiNERAL AND 'Hot Si'RiNfJs — Finances — Population-Table — The Population of Utah .PECULIAR — Its early Settlement by the Mormons — Motives which led to their Migration — Mormonism a Religious Oligarchy — Irs Despotic Rule — Its Crimes — Polygamy its Corner-Stone — Irs Defiance of the Government— Its Propagandism — Religious E enominations — Education — Moral and Social Condition — Counties and Principal Towns — His- torical Data. Utah is a peculiar Territory ; peculiar in its situation, half in the Great Salt Lake basin, and half in the equally wild and vdeeply grooved basin of the Colorado river; singular in its geol- ogy, its minerals, its salt and fresh water lakes and rivers, with no outlet beyond its walls of rock; peculiar in its deposits of the .precious metals and coal; peculiar in its r'eserts, and still more peculiar in the character, religious, political, and social, of the •majority of its inhabitants. It is one of the central Territories of the middle belt of States FORESTS AND VEGETATION. "SS jF.A ANP Extent i AND Valleys— EKAL F EAIURES— F.VIER VA1A.EYS— MNS— Climate— dtesontheTem- RRITORY— ADVAN- CH ITS Climate is HE Subject— Soil ,— Immense Crops ; PRODUCTIVE WITH Products— Fruit- MkiRATOJ^y Herds :iNES AND Mining ^R, Copper, Iron, i OF THE Precious accessible— Rail- iic" ON THE COI.O- •ORK Canon— It is ,AKE Mineral and •uLATioN OE Utah .OTIVES WHICH LED ■cHY— Its Despotic Defiance ok the ,TioNS— Education ;iPAL Towns— His- sltuatlon, half ^qually wikl and tular in its geol- fand rivers, with deposits of the [ and still more Id social, of the le belt of States and Territories of "Our Western Empire." It is bounded wholly by mathematico-geographical lines, lyinj:^ between the parallels of 2iT ^nd 42° north latitude, and 109° and 114° \v(?st longitude from Greenwich. Its northern boundaries are Idaho and Wyom- ing; its eastern, Wyoming and Colorado; its southern, Arizona, and its western, Nevada. It is not quite a square, a tract which extends from the 41st to the 42d parallel and from the 1 1 ith to the 114th meridian being added to it on the north to include Great Salt lake. Bear lake, etc., and to make a part of its northern boundary coterminous with that of Idaho and Nevada. It has a maximum length of 325 miles by a breadth of 300 ; area 84,476 square miles, or 54,064,640 acres. Forests and Vegetation. — On the mountains and along the water-courses are found the following trees, shrubs and vines, to wit: Cottonwood, dwarf birch, willow, quaking aspen, mountain maple, box-elder, scrub cedar, scrub oak, mountain oak, white, red, yellow and pinon pine, white spruce, balsam-fir, mountain mahogany, common elder, dwarf hawthorn, sumac, wild hop, wild rose, dwarf sunflower, and of edible berries, service berry, bull- berry, wild cherry, wild currant, etc. Most of the plants belong to the compositcce, crucifcra, legitminoscu, boraginacccr, or rosa- ccce. Altitude of Mountains and Valleys. — It is intersected from north to south by the Wahsatch mountains, dividing it nearly equally between the Great Basin and the basin of the R.io Colorado. The altitude of the surface on both sides of this mountain range is about the same, the valleys 4,000 to 6,000 feet above sea- level; the mountains, 6,000 to 13,000. West of the Wahsatch, the drainage is into lakes and sinks which have no outlet, the largest of which is Great Salt lake, with an elevation of 4,260 feet, a shore line of 350 miles, and an area of 3,000 to 4,000 square miles. It receives the Bear and Weber, and many smaller streams, and, also, the discharge from Utah lake through the River Jordan. The latter is fresh water, about ten by thirty miles in extent, the receptacle of American, Provo, and Spanish rivers. There are numerous valleys, the lowest of them higher than the average summit of the Alleghanies. Following € 3 are the ascertained altitudes of representative lakes, rivers, springs, valleys, and towns, namely: Great Salt Lake. UmIi l.aUo Scviti- I.akc l.iiilr Sill Lake, I'tar Lake, llo.w Kiver, I'e.ir Kiver, Wcl)i.T River, Weiier River, I'rovo River, IVovi) River, Siiii I'itch River, S.in I'itch River, Sevier River, Sevier River, Cache Valley, Snli Lake City, Fort Doiii^las, Bush Valley, Piiragoonah Laketown Randolph ILimpton's Bridge... Kaiiuis t)i;iien Heber I'rovi) Mt. Pleasant Gunnison Pangnilch Bridge Logan Sif^nal Office Near Salt Lake Cily. Tooele County 4,360 4,500 4,600 6,220 6,000 6,440 4.540 6,300 4.30" 5.574 4,520 6,090 5.'44 6,270 4.765 4.550 4.350 4,.Soo 5,200 Skull Valley, Deep Creek, Nephi, Kill more, Antclo|)e S|)rings, Beaver, Fort Cameron, Wall Wall Springs, Buckhorn Spiings, Desert Springs, Iron City, Cedar Cily, St. George, Diamond, Strawberry Valley, Rai)bit Valley, K^inab, I'aria, Kanarra, Tooele Connly Tooele County Juab County Millard County. . . . Millard County, . .. Beaver County Beaver County Beaver County Iron County Iron County Iron County Iron County Washington County. Tiiilic Mines Wahsatch County.. Sevier County Kane County Kane County Riin of Bubin 4.850 S.iJO 4.927 6,024 S.«5o 6,050 6,100 5.4io 5,(11, J 5..S.VO t),lt.O 5.7 -<> 2.1)00 6, ,^70 7.7 1'' 6,.s.(> 4, (,.00 4,512 5,4^0 Zoology. — Among- the animals are the coyote, gray wolf, wol- verine, mountain sheep, buffalo (now extinct in Utah), antelope, elk, moose; black-tailed, white-tailed, and mule deer; grizzly, black, and cinnamon bear ; civet cat, striped sqifirrel, gopher, prairie-dog, beaver, porcupine, badger, skunk, wild cat, lynx, sage and jack-rabbit and cottontail. Birds : golden and bald eagle and osprey; horned, screech and burrowing owl; duck; pig- eon ; sparrow, sharp shinned and gos-hawk : woodpecker, raven, yellow-billed magpie, jay, blackbird, ground robin, song sparrow; purple, grass and Gambell's finch ; fly-catcher, wren, water ouzel, sky lark, English snipe, winter yellow-legs, spotted sand piper, great blue heron, bittern, stork, swan, pelican, Peale's egret, ground dove, red .shafted tlicker, mallard and green-winged teal, goose, ptarmigan, humming bird, mountain quail, sage cock am! pine hen. Reptiles: Rattle-snake, water-snake, harlequin-snake, and lizards. The tarantula and scorpion are found, but are not common. Geology. — The greater part of the rock of the interior moun- tain area is a series of conformable stratified beds,* reaching * Clarence King's ExplanationR 40tfa parallel. lakes, rivers, CEOLOay OF UT,,H from the early Azoic to the h.e I • "'^ beds were raised, and .he Si,t Is^ l"' vv '" "'^ '■•"'" ">«« alh^l rans;,.,, of tl,e (>eat Hn! ^Val.satcl,, and the nar M-va,i„.portant„,a::so :;:::" 7"-^^ ^^r- by quartz, porphyries, fe|,i,e ro ? '= ""■<'"«'>■ accompanied ;v.th s,.„,e gra„uh-.e and ^rl™ tec.:"'' "n'^^'^' ^'""'- ^-n >e Ocean on the west, and , he "'""''"^'l^ TI.en, the^l'acifie Bas,„ on the east, ,aid dol^t^Z' o Cr 'T' ""^ "'^■^■■-W '.trata. 1 hese outlyin.r shor,. I,! T , '-"'^'^'^'^^^ and -lertiarv were then.seives raised and 1^^'^'^^^^ "«. Mioc ^ R^'nffe and the chains east of Tt °''"""» "'« ''■''cific Coas -■"Panyin, this upheava L ,^:^!'''' T'f '^ ^'"'^^'"''^ -"-I- a ;»ter a hnal series of distnrbar ""= ''•"■™'^'- ""c Still but small connection with\ f^ ^^ l";;'"-'' b"' ''-e last hi'" There ,s a general J.arallelis„"'rf „ <^°"^"'t-ration. 'he structural feature.' of lo\l'<^ "T"'--"'" ^'''"-' ■••"'' all great areas of npturned strata tre°>?; "'^' ""^es, strike of e'care nearly parallel wit^the „,,'■■''' "^S'^.-antic rocks metals arrange themselves n on .„ M '"• ''5° "'« precious '^ a zone of quicksilver tin and .'°"2'"'rfinal zones. There one of copper alon. I he 'fo^ 77 "r "" "'^ "^^^ - e fanher up the Sierral the ™W w' "'? ■'''''=""'' ^ °"e of .loM 'ending far into Alaskk /ont o sh" ^"^''-''''ant placens'^eC^ ase metal, along the ;a! base If'l"? -™P-atively hY- e Mexrco ; silver mines wifh ,■ ^"'"''''^' stretchino- int„ mdk Mexico. AnCa m^T'T ^^■^°™"°"^ '^^ h .^-'iferons galena throu^N w Tw ■'";' ^"f"'-''''^''°^ - '^'""tana: and, still farther eas " c'n '"' "''''' ^"^^ Western PosKs m New Mexico, Color,do u; """"' "'''•" °f SoU de- Jxrassic disturbances in all l^l, T°"""'''' "'"' ^'°"'=>"a. The » large class of lodes • r I r,,?^ "''^ ""= ''^tin? Point of -J A those in n,et.::,o,;h thi;:': ?"*^^^ ■•" *^ .^-^'2 *e Azoic to the Jurassi . To L L •' r""' ^«™<'"'« f">m god vems of California, those of he 't 7f' "'^ ^^''"-^ "- »" (MAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT.3) // // % ^ .**% 1.0 ^K£ l££ I.I 11.25 ■" Ui 12.2 £ IS 112.0 I: i UUU i Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MA'N STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. USSO (716) •72-4503 \ iV \ :\ «C\ ^\ %c ii6o OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 53 forks, though they are not forks but independent mountain streams, and Salt creek. All of them but the Malad have their sources in the Wahsatch Range, which collects the snows in winter that give them life and being. Where they emerge from their canons, settlements have been made on them, and their waters appropriated, so far as it can be cheaply done, for the purposes of irrigation, and in some cases, of furnishing power for mills. Of these settlements, the largest is Salt Lake City, located about centrally as regards the length of the entire basin, at the base of the Wahsatch Range, ten or twelve miles from the southeast shore of Salt lake, containing a population, Juue, i88o, of 20,768. The city is supplied with water by City creek. It is laid out with broad streets and sidewalks, and is built up more or less for two miles square, shade and fruit trees largely hiding the buildings in the summer season. It has ample hotel accom- modations, gas, water and streetcars; is peaceful and orderly; is connected with the outside world and adjacent points of inter- est or business by rail. Enjoying the most healthy and agree- able climate of perhaps any large town in the United States, with street cars running to the famous Warm Springs, and the bath- ing shores of Salt lake but a half-hour's ride on the rail distant; with the peaks of the Wahsatch, the Oquirrh, and other ranges ruffling the clouds at every point of the horizon ; with picturesque mountain canons threaded by trout streams accessible by rail, it is one of the most attractive places of summer resort for tourists seeking health or pleasure in all the world. The eastern edge of Salt Lake Basin is dotted with settlements, and is highly culti- vated wherever water can be got on the ground. There are the North String, Bear River City, Corinne, Brigham City, Willard, North Ogden, Ogden,.Kaysville, Farmington, Centerville, Bounti- ful, Salt Lake City, the Cottonwoods, Sandy, West Jordan, Dewey- ville, Lehi, American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Provo, Springville, Spanish Fork, Salem. Payson, Santaquin, Mona, Nephi and Levan. Ogden, at the intersection of the east and west and north and south railroads, is the town next in importance to Salt Lake City, the capital. It is in the forks of Ogden and Weber rivers, is within a short drive of fine fishing and mountain scenery, and is CACHE, SAN PETE AND SEVIER VALLEYS. II61 t mountain 1 have their le snows in ■merge from m, and their lone, for the shing power t Lake City, entire basin, liles from the n, June, 1880, creek. It is built up more largely hiding - hotel accom- [ and orderly; points of inter- thy and agree- ■ed States, with and the bath- .jC rail distant; [d other ranges [ith picturesque Uible by rail, it [ort for tourists eastern edge is highly culti- There are the City, Willard, [erville, Bounti- ordan, Dewey- 'o, Springville, phi and Levan. nd north and ,alt Lake City, eber rivers, is icenery, and is rapidly Improving, The Salt Lake Basin at large has an altitude of about 4,500 feet above the sea, and is the paradise of the farmer, the horticulturist, and the grower of fruit. Cut off from it by a low range, now surmounted by the Utah and Northern Railway, toward the northeast, is Cache Valley. Cache, San Pete and Sevier Valleys. — Cache Valley is oval in shape, and perhaps ten by fifty miles in extent, watered by Logan and Blacksmith forks of Bear river, and by the latter itself, and sustaining a settlement wherever a stream breaks out of the en- closing mountains. Logan is the principal town of Cache Valley, and thence one drives eastward through Logan Canon forty or fifty miles to Bear Lake Valley, Bear river here flowing toward the north. Farther on it bends to the west and southward, and down through Cache Valley, finds its way to Salt Lake. Cache and Bear Lake Valleys have a score of towns and 1 5,000 inliab- itants. To the southeast of Salt Lake Basin, and to be connected with it by rail through Salt Creek or Nephi Canon, this season, lies San Pete Valley, called the granary of Utah, surrounded by mountains, except on the south, where the San Pitch river breaks through into the Sevier, and sustaining eight thriving towns, all still in their infancy, though founded several years ago. San Pete and Cache Valleys are fine grain-growing sections, but having colder winters are not so well adapted to fruit-raising as the Salt Lake Basin. Next southward is the Sevier river, which has its source in Fish (Indian, Panguitch) lake, near the southern bound- ary of the Territory, and runs, like Bear river, a long way north before it finds a way out of the mountains, and turning to the southwest is finally lost in Sevier lake. Most of the streams in the southwest lose themselves in small lakes or sinks, that is, such as rise to the northward of the divide between the Great Basin and the Rio Colorado country. The Sevier River Valley is occupied, like all the other Utah valleys (and there are many in the recesses of the Wahsatch, and some outlying and disconnected with that range, although of minor importance, which have not been particularly noticed), where a stream breaks out of the adjoining mountains, by a settlement; but, like the other streams, the full capacity of the Sevier river for irrigation has not been called into requisition. Il62 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. >« ^ < OS n 3 The western third of the Territory from end to end is an alter- nation of mountain, desert, sink and lake, with a few oases of arable or grazing lands. Great Salt lake covers an area of 3,000 to 4,000 square miles, and the desert west of it a still larger area. The Sevier, Preuss and Little Salt lakes, all together, are small, in comparison. Formerly a mighty river flowed northward from the vicinity of Sevier lake to the westward of Great vSalt lake, the dry bed of which, nearly a mile in width, must be crossed in going west from Salt Lake City to Deep Creek. Since it dried up, hills and spurs of mountains have been upheaved in its course, but the old channel continues on its way up hill and down, and over them all. Divided off from Great Salt lake by a sort of causeway 800 feet high is Rush Valley, containing a lake cover- ing twenty to thirty square miles, where twenty years ago there was hay land and a military reservation. This, as well as the accompanying filling up of Great Salt lake, shows a decided aqueous increase in Salt Lake Basin within that time. Rush Valley has mining and agricultural settlements, but much more pastoral than arable land ; and so has Skull Valley, to the west- ward. But from these south to the rim of the Basin, there are only occasional habitable spots, and they are due to springs. The mountains are the source of the wealth of Utah, present and prospective, which consists in water and metals. They gather the snows in winter which feed the streams in summer. In the northern part of the Territory the Wahsatch Range attains generally a high altitude, with a mass in proportion. There is a large accumulation of snow in winter, and the streams are corre- spondingly large and numerous. Li the southern part of the Ter- ritory the main range is lower and less massive ; the average temperature is higher, of course; there is less snow, smaller and fewer streams, and more desert in proportion. This part of the Territory is not rich in agricultural resources. The isolated ranges in the Great Basin seldom give rise to streams of much magnitude, and the intervening valleys partake more of the desert character. But all the mountains, so far as known, are full of minerals, and there is generally water enough for the pur- poses of mining and reducing them. id is an aiter- few oases of , area of 3,000 ill larger area, her, are small, orthvvarcl from reat Salt lake, t be crossed n\ Since it dried ed in its course, and down, and [ce by a sort of ig a lake cover- years ago tliere ^ as well as the hows a decided hat time. R"sh but much more Hey, to the west- Basin, there are due to springs, tah, present and They gather the iummer. In the Range attains Ition. There is a reams are corre- [n part of the Ter- Ive ; the average [now, smaller and This "part of the Is. The isolated I streams of much ike more of the ,r as known, are ,ugh for the pur- CLIMATE OF UTAH. 1163 The region east of the Wahsatch Mountains and south of the Uintah Range, is wholly in the Colorado Basin. It is not as yet settled to any considerable extent, but the d(;cp canons of the Grand, Green, San Juan and Rio Colorado, wliich traverse it, are full of wonders and terrors. There is every reason to believe that the mineral wealth of this region is fully equal to that of the Great Salt Lake Basin, and unless the lack of water shall prevent their successful working, the whole region will, a few years hence, be honeycombed with mines of gold and silver, lead, copper, iron and coal. Climate. — The climate of a mountainous country like Utah will vary . "iderably with its varying altitudes and exposures. The inhabi.cd parts of the Territory range, in general, between 4,300 and 6,300 feet above the sea; but seventy per cent, of the population is settled in valleys not exceeding 4,500 feet in eleva- tion, and probably fifty per cent, in the basin of Great Salt lake. In these lower valleys the climate is mild and agreeable. Its perpetual charm cannot be conveyed by meteorological statistics. The atmosphere is dry, elastic, transparent and bracing; and the temperature, while ranging high in summer, and not altogc^ther exempt from the fickleness characteristic of the climate of North America in general, compares favorably in respect of equability with that of the United States at large, and especially with that of Colorado and the Territories north and south of Utah. Its range upwards is less than that of St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York, to say nothing of that of Arizona ; while in the other direction there is no comparison, either with the Eastern States, intersected by the same isothermal, or with Colorado, Idaho and Montana. This description applies mainly to Northern and Cen- tral Utah within the Great Salt Lake Basin. Outside that Basin, across the Wahsatch Mountains, and at an elevation not much greater, at Coalville, for example, not more than seven or eight miles farther north, and perhaps thirty-five miles east, the differ- ence of climate is very marked. The annual mean temperature at Salt Lake City is 51° 9'; at Coalv ille, 48° 65'; the spring means at the two places are 51° 7' and 45"^ 9'; the summer means 75° 9' and 69° 2'; the autumn, 54° 8' and 48° 9'; and the winter means, 32° i' and 21° 9'. 1,164 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. In Southern Utah, both within and without the Basin, the cli- mate is much more tropical, approaching to that of Arizona. Metcorcio^y 0/ Sii// Lake City an J Camp Douglas. MONTHS. January .... Fcliiuary . . . March April May Juno July August September.. . October November.. . December. . . For the Year 1877. TEMPKRATURE. Mean. Max. Min. ° i 27.9 SO 3 .IS.7 55 '5 48.0 73 28 48.6 70 30 56.7 83 34 65.9 90 43 78.2 98 50 76.3 96 11 65.0 90 42 51.0 80 25 40.1 60 •5 31-7 5« 8 Si-9 98 3 Rng. 47 40 45 40 49 47 48 43 48 55 45 43 95 HUMIDITY. Per Ct. Rninfali Inches. 74-9 .87 75-3 •38 52.9 2-93 48.6 2.14 42.1 3-49 29.7 .80 24.1 .02 25.1 .28 3'-5 .90 41.0 2.41 55-4 1.02 68.1 1. 11 474 16.35 MEAN PRKSSURE. Iiironieter Indies. 30.071 30.076 29.S94 29-«34 29.791 29.927 29 9'9 29.971 *9'937 29.971 30.078 30.039 29.950 MONTHS. January . . . February . . March April May , June , 'uly August . . September . October. . . Noveml)er . Decemlier . For the Year. 1878. TEMPERATURE HUM Mean. Max. Min. Rng. Per Ct. 30.0 52 5 47 64.8 32.8 60 20 40 66.2 46.6 73 27 46 52.6 49.8 73 30 43 434 56.2 «3 34 49 390 69.4 93 45 48 307 77-7 96 52 44 26.2 7.S.5 97 60 37 33-7 6o.,s 92 3« 54 37-0 ! 4«-5 7« 22 56 44-5 \ 42.7 68 22 46 .54-6 29.7 56 8 48 591 .5 1 -9 97 5 46 459 Rainfall Inches. MEAN PRESSURE. Barometer Inches. 1.07 3-49 2.54 2.63 2.50 •35 1.08 .81 3-15 '•39 .63 .11 19.7s 30.035 29.882 29.926 29.817 29.882 29.939 29.900 29.956 29.975 30.055 30.08 1 30.091 29.979 We have no meteorological statistics of any points in the Ter- ritory, except Salt Lake City and Camp Douglas, which is near it, but 500 feet higher. The above tables give the tempera- CLIMATE OF UTAH. 1 165 isln, the cVi- ^rizona. lY. uifnU 1 IMometer .87 •3^ 2.93 2.14 3-49 .80 .02 .28 .90 2.4< 1.02 l.il 16.35 30.071 30.076 29.894 29.834 i!9-7y' 29.927 29.9'9 29.97 « ?9'937 29.97' 30.078 30.039 29.950 Kainfall Barometer Inches. In'^hes. 30.035 29.882 29.926 29.817 29.882 29.939 1.08 1 29.900 .81 29.956 3.15 29.975 .63 1 30-08 > .11 j 30^ Tg^l 29.979 5ints in the Tcr- vs, which is near |e the tempera- ture, rainfall, humidity and mean barometrical pressure at Salt Lake, and such particulars as are at hand concernint^ Camp Douglas. The latitude of Salt Lake City is 41° 10'; the longi- tude, 112°; the elevation, 4,362.25 feet. The mean air pressure at Salt Lake City is 25.63 inches; water boils at 204.3°. The prevailing; winds are from the north- northwest, and the most windy months are March, Jul)', August and September. The mean velocity of the winds during the entire year is 5^ miles an hour. On the ocean it is 18 miles; at Liverpool it is 13; at Toronto, 9; at Philadelphia, 11. The climate of Utah, on the whole, is not unlike that of Northwestern Texas and New Mexico, and is agreeable except for a month or so in winter, and then the temperature seldom falls to zero, or snow to a greater depth than a foot, and i^ soon melts a.vay, al- though it sometimes affords a few days' sleighing. The spring opens about the middle of March, the atmosphere becomes as clear as a diamond, deciduous trees burst at once into bloom, and then into leaf, while the bright green of the valleys follows the retiring snow-line steadily up the mountain slopes. The summer is not unpleasant in its onset, accompanied as it is by refreshing breezes and full streams from the higher melting snow banks. Springs of sweet water, fed largely from the surface, bubble forth everywhere. But as the season advances the drought increases, every stirring air, near or far, raises a cloud of alkaline dust until the atmosphere is full of it. Sometimes a shower precipitates it, but there are more dry than wet storms. The springs fail or become impregnated with mineral salts, and the streams run low or dry up. Vegetation dies in the fierce and prolonged heat and drought, if not artificially watered. Still, from the rapid radia- tion of the earth's heat, the nights are always agreeably cool, and the heat itself seems to have but slight debilitating quality. The presenile or absence of the sun has a marked effect on the temperature from the great transparency of the air. Let his rays be cut off, even in July, and a fire is pleasant ; while, if they have free passage, the fires are allowed to go out even in January. October ushers in a different state of things. The atmosphere clears up again as in spring, and the landscape softens with the ii66 Oi'K IVESTEK.V EMPIRE. 8 rich browns, russets and scarlets of the dyings vegetation, which reaches up the mountain sides to their summits in places ; but on them the gorgeous picture is soon overlaid by the first snows of approaching winter. The fall is a delightful season, and is generally drawn out nearly to the end of the year. We have been more particular in stating the peculiarities of the climate of Utah because it is just now, and as we think justly, recommended for its sanitary qualities in certain diseases. The following summary of the classes and forms of disease in which it has been found most beneficial has the authority of four very eminent army surgeons — Surgeons P. Moffatt, Charles Smart, E. P. Vollum and J. F. Hamilton ; and will, we believe, be found to be sustained by the experience of most of those who have gone thither for health. It,is important, however, that health-seekers should spend as much of every day as possible in the open air. High altitudes and areas of low barometric pressure quicken the respiration and circulation, and are therefore unfavorable in cases of pulmonary disease that are far advanced, and also in heart disease, and that form of chronic bronchitis associated with it. The other forms of chronic bronchitis, chronic pneumo- nia, and phthisis, are the diseases, par excellence, upon which such localities exercise a favorable influence. Consumption does not originate here, and where the monthly fluctuation of the ther- mometer does not exceed 50°, and the mean monthly tempera- ture is at, or, within limits, above 50°, and the humidity is under 50 per cent., a residence is beneficial to consumptives, if com- menced early enough. The best treatment known for consump- tion is a year of steady daily horseback riding in a mountainous country, diet of corn bread and bacon, with a moderate quantity of whiskey.* The beneficial influence of the climate on asthma is decided. It cannot exist here, except in a relieved and modi- fied condition. Bronchitis appears in a mild form during ilu- wet and thawing periods of spring and fall, but it always yields to treatment. Rheumatic fevers are scattered over the months without reference to season ; but very few cases become chronic. *The more moderate the belter. — L. P. B. : ',. r V. ition, which in places; by tlic first season, and culiaritles of i think jusdy, seases. 'I he ease ni which J of four very harks Smart, ieve, be found vho have gone heaUh-seekers the open air. 2ssure quicken unfavorable in ed, and also in ihitis associated hronic pneumo- ce, upon which ns'umption does ^lon of the ther- )nthly tempera- „midity is under iptives, if com- n for consump- a mountainous Dderate quantity [mate on asthma jieved and modi- i during iho wet dways yields to [ver the months become chronic. VTAI/ AS A SAmrARY A^ESOA'J'. 1167 Th'^ intermittents are imported, and the tendency in tlicm is to longer intervals and ultimate recovery. A remittent, called " Mountain Fever," is indigenous. It yields readily to simple treatment if attended to in time, but if not develops into a modi- fied typhoid, which is liable to prove fatal. Iixperi(jnc(! in the miners' hospitals at Salt Lake City shows that the climatic con- ditions are very favorable to recovery from severe injiirics. The summer heat is great, but not debilitating, and the dry pure air and cool, invigorating nights, enable patients to sustain the shock of surgical operations that could not often be safely att( mpt(-d in more humid climates. Pyemia, or blood poisoning, the frequent accompaniment of severe injuries and of surgerx', is of extremely rare occurrence. One has a choice of altitude, ranging from 4,300 to 7,000 feet above the sea, with access to mineral springs, hot and cold, of decidedly efficacious qualities in the cure of many ills, as experience has amply shown ; and for the whole of Salt Lake Basin, the softening and other healthful influences of at least 3,000 square miles of salt water, giving off a saline air, and affordinij the benefits of ocean bathino' without its discomforts and dangers. The waters of the lake are so dense with the salt in solution that it is impossible to sink in it, and at the same time so pleasant that the bather can remain in the water all day v.ith- out serious inconvenience or injury. Temperature, etc., at Camp Doti;::^lo:s. MONTHS. January.... February... March April May lune July- Anir-; t Sept :ii!l)i,-r. Ociolrjr.... November. December.. 7 A. M. 2 p. M. 9 p. M. 28 35 29 23 34 24 11 47 39 38 50 41 45 55 47 61 77 65 68 85 73 65 80 69 56 74 62 41 56 45 38 53 41 22 51 24 Diurnal Variatioi\. 7 II 14 12 10 16 17 15 18 15 15 9 IVrrentage of Sick 3360 31-30 32-33 36.42 28.74 29.28 23.86 25- 38 20.00 21.97 38.68 40.50 The preceding table relates to Camp Douglas, which is on an Ii68 OL'K U'EST/'H.V EMPIRE. K 39 elevation two miles (!ast of Salt Lak(,' City and 5CXD feet above It, beinj^ 4.S62 feet above the sea. This table j^Mves the diurnal variation of temperature at 7 a. m., 2 p. m. and 9 i*. m. for each monili of the year, and the effect of this variatioiy in reducing or IncreasinL,^ the percentage of the sick in the hospital connected with the camp. The mean temperature of June to September inclusive at .2 p. m. was 79° ; at 9 i'. m. 57^" ; difference 22° ; mean percentage of sick for these months,24.63. I'or the other eight months the mean at 2 p. M. was 47° ; at 9 i*. m. 36° ; difference 1 1°. Mean percentage of sick for these months, 32.93. The months of greatest mean diurnal variation seem to be the healthiest months. Attention is called to the mean temperature of the four warmest months, at 9 o'clock in the evening, viz., 57"^ ; a night temperature which ensures quiet sleep. The second of these tables shows the annual mean, maximum, minimum and range of temperature, and annual rainfall at Camp Douglas for sixteen years, 1863-1878. YEARS. 1863 1864 1865 1866 i8'7 1 52-7« 186S 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1374 1875 1876 1877 1878 Mean for 16 years. TEMPF.RATURE. Mean. Max. Min. Range. 52-93 103 7 96 52.22 97 -4 lOI 50.11 100 6 94 51-87 94 9 85 52.7« 95 95 50.66 96 5 91 53-61 97 7 90 51.66 96 4 02 53-09 104 8 96 50.42 91 91 49.26 98 -3 lOI 50.18 97 8 89 51 26 95 9 86 50.64 99 8 91 51.00 98 5 93 51-29 93 8 85 5»-43 97 5 92 RAINFALL. Inches. 7-47 14.92 15-51 22.29 26. 14 17-25 22.32 20.96 2^.12 I.S.I 2 1 7- 37 19-55 21.07 18.31 14.52 17.86 18.58 feet above it, s the diurnal ,.. M. for each 11 rctUicing or ital connected usiveat2r.M. :entage of sick lis the mean at can percentage greatest mean i. Attention is nest months, at ,perature which nean, maximum, rainfall at Camp AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION. i i6y Soil and Agrinilturc. — Tliere were surveyed of public lands in Utah, down to June 3otli, 1S79, according to the Land ()flic(! Report, 9.341,375 acres, including arabU-, timbereil, coal ami mineral lands. It is impossible to t<.'ll from any accessible data what proportion is arable land. Perhaps an estimate that one- fourth or about 2,350,000 could be cultivated by the aid of irriga- tion, would not be far out of the way. We have in other parts of this book discussed fully the advan- tages and disadvantages of irrigation, and need not repeat here what has been already said elsewhere. Irrigation is almost universally required in Utah, but in different quantities in different localities, and it is usually done by colonies or communities uniting to divert part or the whole of a stream from its natural channel to the adjoining land, each member of the association there having his proportional right to the use of the water. But few of the standard crops of Utah ever require more dian two or three waterings to perfect them, some of them, especially fall wheat, seldom needing more than one. Most of the smaller streams in Utah, diat could easily be diverted from their natural channels, have been already utilized ; but their full capacities as irrigating supplies, which can only be exhausted by means of dams, reservoirs and canals of considerable importance, have not as yet been called into requisition. Irrigation by means of artesian wells has not yet been seriously attempted in the Terri- tory, probably because the necessity for it has not been seriously felt, but the few experiments in that line made by the Union Pacific Railroad have been so successful as to encourage a resort to it hereafter. Flowing water was obtained at a depdi of less than a hundred feet. From a report made to the Legislature in 1875 it appears that one-third of the land under cultivation at that time in the Territory required no irrigation (this propor- tion since that time has been largely increased, it having been discovered that, by deep plowing, lands apparently entirely barren would yield twenty-five to thirty bushels of wheat to the acre without irrigation for many successive years). Of the lands re- quiring irrigation, one-fifth only needed one or two waterings ; 74 •.,,-.• ■ '...- I I/O OUR IV^iSTKRN EMPIRE, five-sevenths required from three to four, and about one-eighth from four to ten. The soil of Utah is partly volcanic, and contains elements of fertility which, when moisture can be had, cause it to produce enormous crops. Timber. — Utah holds an intermediate position, with respect to its supply of timber, between the Atlantic and prairie States. Its arable lands are not interspersed with forests, nor yet is it without an adequate supply of timber within its own limits for building, fencing, mining and fuel. The valleys or plains aie destitute of forest growth, and in early times willow brush was resorted to for fencing, adobe bricks for building, and sage brush for fuel. But the mountains are generally more or less wooded, almost wholly with evergreens, however. The best trees furnish lumber not technically clear, but the knots are held so fast that they are no real detriment, and the lumber is practically clear. The red pine and black balsam indigenous to the mountains make a fence post or railroad tie that will last ten years. The white pine is not so good. More than half of the forest growth of the Wahsatch is of the white or inferior variety. On the Oquirrh the trees are chiefly red pine. Scrub cedar and piiion pine are •quite common in the south and west. They are of little value yfor anything but posts, ties and fuel. In 1875 there were perhaps 1 00 saw-mills in existence, if not in operation, in the Territory. Ordinary rough building and fencing lumber ranges in price from $20 to 5Ji2 5 a thousand. Flooring and finishing lumber is im- ported, and costs about $45 a thousand. Wood is obtained from •the canons for fuel, and soft coal of good quality can be had for '$8 to )i^i 2 a ton in all Northern Utah. When the coal deposits of the Territory shall have been developed and made accessible by railroads, the price should be less by one-half, for there is an abundant supply and it is widely distributed. Products, Yield. — All of the products of the same latitude, east •or west, on or about the level of tide water, with the exception of Indian corn (for which the nights are too cool), are grown in Utah with great •success, and the soil and climate seem peculiarly adapted tc the growdi of wheat and fruit. Following are statistics out one-eighth IS elements of ; it to produce , with respect to i prairie States. ;sts. nor yet is it } own limits for ^s or plains are rt^illow brush was r, and sa^'e brush e or less wooded, best trees furnish ; held so fast that 1 practically clear, to the mountains ; ten years. The le forest growth of On the Oquirrh nd pifion pine are are of Uttle value here were perhaps in the Territory, .nges in price from ng lumber is im- fd is obtained from iity can be had for the coal deposits id made accessible lalf, for there is an I same latitude, east iith the exception l:ool), are grown in ite seem peculiarly 3wing are statistics AGKICVLTUKAI. PRODUCTS OF U7\Uf. 1171 of the area and yield of various crops for the year 1875, on the authority of a legislative commission : ArlicUt. Acre*. Total Yield. Yield per Acrt. Wheat ....;.. 73,020 1,418,783 bushels. 20 bushels. Barley 13,847 359.527 " 25 Oats 19,706 581,849 " 30 " Rye 447 8,987 " 30 " Corn i6,.^S3 317.253 " 20 Buckwheat 11 243 •« 33 " Peas 1,701 30,801 " 18 *' Beans 127 3.176 " 35 " Potatoes 10,306 1,306,957 " 130 " Other Roots 1,433 278,712 •' 125 " Seeds 125 49,501 lbs. 396 lbs. Broom Corn 300 713 tons. 3^ tons. Sugar Cane 1,43^ 103,164 gals. 72 gals. Meadow 81,788 1 12,529 tons. i^^ tons. Lucerne 3,587 13,189 tons. 323 tons. Cotton 113 31.075 lbs. 275 lbs. Flax 5 1,250 lbs. 250 lbs. Total acres, 223,300. Total value of products, about J7, 500, 000. Of tne wheat crop of 1873, 100,000 bushels were exported. There was no surplus for export in 1874-75. Of the crops of 1876-77, 50,000 to 60,000 bushels were exported. There wa^ \ surplus of about 2 70,000 bushels raised in 1 878, one-half of which was shipped to England via San Francisco ; the rest remains in stock. Probably the acreage in wheat has not increased much since 1875, nor the hay crop, but dry farming has, and the growth of lucerne has doubled. Improved lands are held at from f, ^5 to 5(^100 an acre, according to location. They are almost all adjacent to either towns or mines, or both. There are, in different localities, comparatively large bodies of .government lands unoccupied, which can be entered at the Salt Lake Land Office under the United States land laws, the same as in other States and Territories, or bought of the Pacific Railroad companies at low rates, and on easy time ; although, as a general thing, agricultural settlement and improvement In Utah will be undertaken to better advantage by colonies than by iadividuals. The construction of the main irrigating canals may: -J s 1 172 OUR WESTERX EMPIRE. usually be accomplishtid by plow and scraper, each adjoining land-owner contributing his quota of the expense, and having a perpetual right to the water at the additional cost for repairs. Under the Desert Land Law, each person joining in such an enterprise is entitled to pre-empt 640 acres of land, paying one- fifth down and the rest in three years, on condition that the enterprise be consummated within that time. ['"riiit. — The Salt Lake Basin throughout is unsurpassed in the adaptation of its soil and climate to the giowth of all kinds of fruit common to the latitude ; in the south, on the waters of the Rio Colorado, grape culture is followed with great success, and wine-making is there a growing industry ; but in the higher mountain valleys, as well as in Cache and San Pete, the seasons are too short, and not so much attention has been devoted to it. The following table shows the area, the product, and the yield p':.i- acre, of fruits, for the year 1875, as returned and published by order of the Legislature : Fruit. Acres. Total Yield. Yield per Acrr. Apples 3>935 358,277 bushels. 90 bushels. Pears 12S 10,560 " 75 " Peaches 2,687 330'535 " 120 " Plums 259 43.585 " 165 " Apricots 305 44,160 " 145 " Cherries 62 4,661 " 75 " Grapes 544 3.409>2oo lbs. 6,260 lbs. Total acres, 7,920. Value, $1,028,016. -' • No finer, thriftier trees, no fairer, better flavored fruit is pro- duced anywhere. The trees are e tremely bounteous bearers, having to be propped up to enable them to "sustain the weisrht of their enormous burdens. The fruit market in Salt Lake City is almost perpetually deriving its supply from California, when native fruits and berries are not in season. This applies, too, lo many kinds of vegetables, cauliflower, lettuce and asparagus. The season for most fruits, berries and vegetables begins in California a month or six weeks in advance of the same in Utah, and pro- portionally lengthens it. The extreme southern part of the Territory is adapted to the production of many semi-tropical and FRUIT AND STOCK-FARMING. ii73 ich adjoining and having a ,t for repairs, g in such an i. paying one- iition that the jrpassed in the of all kinds of e waters of the at success, and ; in the higher etc, the seasons ;n devoted to it. ;t, and the yield d and pubUshed !s. YieUl per Acrr. f)0 bushel;^ <* 75 i< 120 165 " <« M5 75 " 6,260 lbs. rored fruit is pro- junteous bearers, ustain the welgl^t in Salt Lake City . California, when [his applies, too. to id asparagus. The legins in California in Utah, and pro- Lhern part of the semi-tropical and some tropical fruits, but not much has been done in that line as yet. Cotton is grown in a small way, for use in the making of cloth. Fiers and almonds have also been tried a little. The climate is not greatly different from that of Southern California, where oranges and many tropical fruits do as well as anywhere in the world. Slack-Fanning. — One great resource of Utah, and one easily discounted, so to speak, is the very extensive stock range. Tliere is in such a country necessarily a great deal of land on the foot-hill slopes and river terraces which cannot be artificially watered, and yet is not cut off from water. The native grasses generally are possibly not as good as the buffalo and gramma grasses of the plains east of the Rocky Mountains, but the bunch grass, which seems to be indigenous to the broken and elevated regions between the Sierra Mad re and the Sierra Nevada, is un- surpassed in excellence. Throughout this interior basin millions of acres are not absolute desert, only because of the existence of this grass. It grows in bunches in apparently the most barren places. Early in the season it cures, standing, retaining all its nutriment, and being hard to cover with snow beyond the reach of stock. Its seed is pyriform, and has remarkable fattening properties. In the high, dry, bracing altitudes of the interior, cattle grow and fatten on much less than on the sea-level, and the same degree of either heat or cold, as marked by the thermometer, appears to affect them less. The grazing lands of Utah are almost unlimited ; including the second tables of the river courses, the slopes of the foot-hills and lesser ranges not too far from water ; the shores of the sinks and lakes, and the coves and vallevs of the mountains. In the Salt Lake Br sin, generally, stock winter without fodder; farther south, they not > only subsist, but thrive on the range the year round. In Cache, _ Bear lake, and other valleys more elevated, they require more food and shelter ; and the stock-grower will do well to prepare for occasional cold and snowy spells in all the northern parts of the Territory. There is ample hay ground for this. Under ordinary circumstances, a five-year-old steer, worth ^25, can be turned 3 1 ,74 OCr/f WESTERN EMPIRE. out at a cost of ^^. The statistics returned of stock in Utah in 1875: Stallions 108 Mares l>349 Mules 4*727 All others, not horned 4S>2o6 Thoroughbred horned stock 5^0 Graded " " . 3,511 All other " " 107,468 Thoroughbred sheep 15,620 All other sheep 287,608 Goats 304,806 Graded swine i>397 Common swine 1 ... . 26,540 Total value, including poultry and bees, placed at about $6,500,000. The number of blooded and graded animals has probably in- creased 200 per cent, since 1875, and that of sheep 150 per cent, while the strain of bloc J in all sheep has been so improved that double the wool is sheared from the same number. Consider- able stock is kept in adjoining Territories by residents of Utah. It is estimated by stock-growers and drivers that the Territory turns out yearly 40,000 head of stock from one to five years old, averaging in value 5^15 a head; a total of ;j^6oo,oc)0. Sheep- Farming. — The wool clip of 1875 was returned at 885,- 000 pounds, but it has quite doubled since. Mr. James Dunn, of the Provo Woollen Mills, estimates the clip of 1877 at 1,200,- 000 to 1,300,000 pounds; for 1878, at 1,600,000 to 1,700,000 pounds. Other large growers and dealers concur in this esti- mate. The clip of 1879 was nearly 2,000,000 pounds, and that of 1880 over 2,500,000 pounds. Of the clip of 1878 about 1,250,- 000 pounds was exported, and the remainder, say 400,000 pounds, was used by the Utah .mills. Fleeces average about four pounds for ewes, six for wethers ; part of die wool ranges with the best California wools as to quality, while part of it is in- ferior. Utah and Montana wools are considered better than the wools of the other Territories. Most of the Utah sheep came from New Mexico down to 1870. Since then ewes have been brought in from California, generally fine-wooled Spanish Mer- STOCK-RAISING AND SHEEP- FAR MING. I17S tock in Utah in 1,349 4»727 45'2o6 5.0 107,468 15,620 287,608 304,806 1,397 26,540 ibout $6,500,000. i has probably in- ,eep 1 50 P^^ ^^"^' \ so improved that amber. Consider- residents of Utah, that the Territory le to five years old. )0,000. IS returned at 885,- Mr. James Dunn, of 1877 at 1,200,' Looo to 1.700,000 :oncur in this esti- . pounds, and that , i878abovit 1,250,- nder, say 400,000 :es average about if tlie wool ranges rhile part of it is in- :red better than the Utah sheep came Hti ewes have been [oled Spanish Mer- inos, but little mixed ; fine-wooled bucks from Ohio, and long- wooled from Canada. The same strain of blood in sheep doe*.; not produce quite so long a wool as in the East. It is so dry and dusty, the grease seems to absorb the alkali and mineral dust, which makes it harsher and more brittle. But since the large infusion of Merino blood, which has taken place in late years, there has been a marked improvement in the quality of Utah wool, in respect of length, softness and fineness of fibre. It re- alizes to the grower, here, crude, about twenty cents a pound. Mr. Daniel Davidson, who has imported 1^30,000 worth of . bucks within a few years, has a flock of 16,000 sheep, from which he sheared 90,000 pounds of wool in 1878. Among other large owners are the Provo Manufacturing Company, with 1 3,000 ; a Mr. Mclntyre, with 9,000. Mr. Davidson thinks there are 550,000 sheep in the Territory. Castle Valley, near the corner post of Wahsatch, San Pete and Utah counties, is a great sheep range, several large flocks being kept there. They are worth about $2,25 a head as they run, do not require feeding in winter, and if properly attended to, under ordinary circumstances, will yield a prof t of forty per cent, a year on the investment. They are beginning to be bought up to be driven away. A flock of 5,000, costing from 55^2 to ^^2.50 each, including lambs, was picked up and taken to Montana in the spring of 1878. By the time they got there the lambs were worth as much as the sheep, re- ducing the price in reality to about 5^1.50. ' Governor Emery says on this subject: Another serious drawback to the stock-growers of this country are immense herds of sheep, which have been driven into the Territories from Califoinia. Large flocks of fifteen, twenty and thirty thousand sheep not unfrequently make their appearance here from the West. It is not so much the grass they eat that the settlers complain of, but they poison and kill out what is knovirn here as the buffalo or bunch-grass, which is the only grass of any value indigenous to this soil. Where sheep range for one season there is left a barren waste upon which grass will not grow for several years after. If Congress would pass some law whereby parties can acquire rights to this pasturage, it would Hi 5*^ § 1 1^6 Of/^ WESTERN EMPIRE. undoubtedly be a source of revenue to the government as well as to parties engaged in stock and wool-growing. Mines and Mining Products. — With her increasing population, it is hardly probable that Utah will produce more grains, f^tc, than suffic.ent to supply the home demand for agricultural pro- ducts. She may export some wheat, but she will import more corn ; she may have more than a supply of some fruits and root crops, but she will import as much or more of others. She may have cattle, sheep, ond possibly horses and mules to export, and as her grazing lands become developed, there may be a large trafific in live-stock, for which she has good facilities. But the chief attraction which Utah possesses for immigrants is its mineral wealth. Looking southward from one of the sum- mits of the Wahsatch Mountains, just above their junction with the Uintah Range, and the smoke of the smelters and stamp mills is seen in the clear pure air for a hundred miles, and on both sides of the Wahsatch ; while to the east and southeast the mines of copper, coal, sulphur, alum, borax, graphite and other minerals, with some gold and silver, are found in great abun- dance. There is not a county in the Territory where mines have not been located, and mining districts in greater or lesser number organized. These mining districts now cover over 1,200,000 acres. They are, perhaps, most numerous in Salt Lake, Utah, Juab, Beaver, Box Elder, Tooele, Millard, Pi-ute and Iron coun- ties, but Washington county, Weber, Davis and Summit are coming into prominence either for their silver mines, gold placers, or deposits of coal, sulphur, borax, alum, etc. We cannot under- take to name all these mines or mining districts ; but a few notes in regard to some of the most prominent of them "will be ir.terest- ing. Bingham Canon and its chief town, Bingham City, is about thirty miles southwest of Salt Lake City, and is a rift or canon of the Oquirrh Mountains, through which a small muddy creek flows on its way to the Jordan river, about twelve miles south of Salt Lake City. It has had strange vicissitudes. In X859 rich gold placers were found there by General Conner's soldiers, and were extensively worked and still yield fair pay for working. In MINES AND MINING IN UTAH. 1177 nment as well in"" population, )re grains, etc., rricultural pro- 11 import more fruits and root hers. s and mules to )ped, there may good facilities, s for immigrants one of the sum- eir junction with alters and stamp ed miles, and on md southeast the aphite and other id in great abun- . mines have not I or lesser number ;r over 1,200,000 Salt Lake, Utah, te and Iron coun- and Summit are [ines, gold placers, /e cannot under- ; but a few notes will be ir.terest- lam City, is about is a rift or canon lall muddy creek |ve miles south of ;s. In -1S59 rich ler's soldiers, and for working. In 1869 extensive beds of silver lead ore were discovered and mined with decided profit, and some of the mines are still profitably worked; in 1876 it was discovered that the disintegrated rock which had been thrown aside from the silver mines as waste really contained from '^icf to ^25 of gold to the ton, and was very easily reduced, and as this paid better than the silver, the mining for these quartz-gold ores was immediately resumed. Mean- , while, however, some of the silver mines in the canon had been written up and their productiveness eulogized, and one of these, the Old Telegraph, which was really worth perhaps from 5^700,000 to ^1,000,000, was sold after examination to a French company for ^3,000,000. The mine has not only never paid a dividend, but is run either at a loss or without profit, although all its re- duction works and the appointments of the mine are of the first class. It was another instance in which silver mines in Utah have been sold to European capitalists at prices far beyond their actual value. The sales of the Little Emma, Flagstaff and McHenry, all Utah mines, are still fresh in the public memory, and have entailed an unwarranted disgrace upon mining proper- ties, especially in Utah, The Little Cottonwood Mines, which included the Emma and Flagstaff, are now developing other mining properties there ; but the frauds connected with those mines have destroyed confidence in them, and the present and prospective yield is not sufficient to restore it. The Parley's Park Mines, in the vicinity of Park City, of which the Ontario Mine is the principal, have an excellent property, though in their case the failure of the McHenry Mine to make good the repre- sentations under which it was sold, has proved a serious draw- back. The mill connected with this mine shipped East, monthly, in 1879, from 5^135,000 10 5^145,000, and new mines in the vicinity are promising well. On the Oquirrh Mountains there is also the Ophir District, which has the Hidden Treasure and many other silver mines of note; the Stockton Mines, which have already yielded largely ; and the Tintic Silver District, the mines in which carry gold, silver and copper. In Southern and Southwestern Utah, within the Great Basin and south of Sevier lake, there are many silver mines of great value, and which are € 5a § 1178 OUR WESTERN EMriRE. conducted on sound business principles. In this region the mines are richer as we proceed toward the southern boundary. In the Beaver Lake District there are valuable copper mines, and a little to the east and southeast are silver mines in the same district, and some valuable mines in the Ohio District. A little farther south are the Frisco Silver Mines, to which point a branch of the Southern Utah Railway is running. Among these mines, the Horn Silver Mine, about one mile from the village of Frisco, is said to be the richest silver mine in the world. Professor J. S. Newberry, who visited it in the autumn of 1879, and examined it very carefully, estimated that there was not less than $15,000,000 worth of ore in sight, and a fair pros- pect of at least as much more when the mine was fully developed. This ore is chlorides and horn silver. The Carbonate and Rattler Mines, and the Cave Mine in the same vicinity, are car- bonates easily reduced and very rich ; the last named carries considerable gold; as do the Picacho Mines. Around and just below Little Salt lake are the Silver Belt and the Sumner Mining Districts, and in the same vicinity immense coal beds and exten- sive deposits of iron and alum. Other coal measures are still farther south, and in the extreme southwest is the Leeds Silver Mining District, which has many rich mines ; most of these are chlorides and easily reduced. East of the Leeds District, and on and near the Rio Virgen, is the Harrisburg District, in which are a large number of excellent mines. Among these are those of Silver Reef, where sandstone beds of cretaceous or tertiary age are found impregnated with silver, either native or in chlorides. The Stormont Silver Mining Company owns several mines on Silver Reef, and is steadily producing from ^^40,000 to 55^50,000 of bullion per month, with a fair prospect of increase with larger facilities for reduction. No smelting is needed, but the reduction is effected through stamp-mills and wet amalgamation. Just at the boundary of Utah, Arizona and Nevada is the Silver Park Dis- trict, where the argentiferous deposit is an enormous but irreg- ular vein lying in the contact between porphyry and limestone. Some of the ore is very rich, and Professor Newberry says that " it seems to present very much the same problems as the great AfTNJJVG EAST OF THE WAHSATCIT MOUNTAmS. "79 this region the thern boundary. )pper mines, and les in the same io District. A Mines, to which way is running. Hit one mile from Iver mine in tl'ic it in the autumn ed that there was t, and a fair pros- is fully developed, e Carbonate and 2 vicinity, are car- ist named carries Around and just le Sumner Mining al beds and exten- measures are still the Leeds Silver imost of these are Ids District, and on Istrict, in which are Ithese are those of JUS or tertiary age [ve or in chlorides, several mines on 40,ocx3 to $50,000 crease with larger but the reduction amation. Just at ic Silver Park Dis- iormous but irreg- ry and limestone, ewberry says that >lems as the great veins of the Shakspeare District, New Mexico, or the Ruby Hill District, Nevada; that is, they are very good or good for nothing, and considerable time and money will be required to decide which is true." The eastern slope of the Wahsatch Mountains undoubtedly contains both silver and gold, though, whether it is likely to be of ores which will prove profitable for present working, is a question. The Great Colorado Basin, which has shown itself so rich in the precious metals in Colorado and Arizona, is probably equally rich here. But we know that copper, and iron, and coal are not only abundant but that they are of excellent quality and easily worked. The coal beds of Utah contain coal of good quality, sufficient to supply the entire region west of the Rocky Moun- tains. It is bituminous or semi-bituminous in character, and many of the beds, Professor Newberry says, are excellent cok- ing coals. Whether it is a lignite of the Tertiary formations, or a true coal of the Carboniferous era, does not seem to be fully settled. Possibly the deposits of the north are of a later geo- logic age than those of the south. Volcanic action, here as in New Mexico, may have wrought some changes in it. Ti>e iron is of all varieties, and is pronounced by skilful iron master ; equal in quality to any in the world, and the quantity is vast beyond conception. Its close proximity to good coking coals and the excellent fluxes close at hand in^ire very cheap production of the best qualities of iron, and ahcady several large furnaces are at work. Recently antimony has been discovered. The antimony mines are situated 200 miles south of Salt Lake, and on the headwaters of the Sevier river. The mineral occurs as a bedded or sedi- mentary deposit, in interrupted layers from a quarter of an inch to two feet in thickness. Its line of outcrop forms an irregular contour, which follows the windings of the cliffs. The quantity exposed varies greatly ; in some places perhaps a thousand tons could be obtained immediately. There are large deposits of sul- phur of great thickness, which are worked. Salt is produced from the waters of Great Salt Lake and other lakes in con- siderable quantities and of excellent quality. There are large ii8o OUR Wr.STERN EMPIRE. I I I S I 3 deposits of rock-salt in the Territory. Ozocerite, asphalt, jet and other minerals are known to exist in large quantities. Alum, bo- rax, bicarbonate of soda and caustic soda can also be produced pure for market, with very little trouble. Raib'oads. — There are now in operation in Utah somewhat more than 700 miles of railway, all of it except the small portion of the Union Pacific, between Evanston, Wyoming, and Devil's Gate, Utah, being within the Great Salt Lake Basin. All the railroads of the Territory belong to the Union and Central Paci- fic system, with which they conne.'ct at Ogden. Aside from the main line (the Union and Central Pacific) they consist of: The Utah and Northern Railroad, now extending from Ogden to Helena, Montana ; the Utah Central, from Ogden to Salt Lake City ; and the Utah Southern, a continuation of the last, already constructed to the Beaver river, with branches of narrow gauge to Stockton, to Bingham Caflon, to Alta, to Deer Creek, to Con- nelsville and the coal mines, and from Beaver river to Frisco. It may throw out another branch to Pioche, Nevada, where a short line running eastward has already been constructed, but its eventual destination is probably to a union with the AUantic and Pacific at some point in Arizona, or in California west of the Rio Colorado. The extensive coal lands and grazing lands in the Colorado Basin must eventually lead to the crossing of the Wah- satch by some of the branches of the Utah Central or Southern, unless the Denver and Rio Grande, or the Denver South Park and Pacific, both of which are building rapidly toward Grand and Green rivers in Western Colorado, should enter Utah from the east, and thus form another route to the Pacific, The local business on these Utah roads is sufficient to make them profita- ble stock. Objects of Interest. — In wild, grand, and terrible displays of the power of the forces of nature, Utah is perhaps unsurpassed by no State or Territory of "Our Western Empire." The canons of the Green and Grand rivers and of the Rio Colorado, which they unite to form, as well as those of the San Juan, have been most graphically described by Colonel J. W. Powell and other writers who have descended these rivers for a part or OBJECTS OF INTEREST. II81 isphalt, jet and es. AUim.bo- so be produced Utah somewliat le small portion ing, and Devil's Basin. All the nd Central Paci- Aside from the consist of: The from Ogden to len to Salt Lake the last, already of narrow gauge er Creek, to Con- X river to Frisco. Nevada, where a onstructed, but its with the Adantic ifornia west of the ■azing lands in the ,ssingoftheWah- ntral or Southern, enver South Park lly toward Grand enter Utah from 'acific. The local lake them profita- irible displays of [haps unsurpassed ] Empire." The [the Rio Colorado, fie San Juan, have J. W. Powell and lers for a part or the whole of their course. The greater part of the main stream of the Green river, more than a hundred miles of the Grand rivt;r, and about 250 miles of the course of the Colorado, including some of the most remarkable canons of each, are within the bounds of Utah, and east of the Wahsatch Mountains. Near the southern boundary of the Territory the Monument Canon of the Colorado commenct.'s, and at the mouth of the San Juan is the famous Temple of Music, one of the most wonderful of the results of erosion on these rocks. But it is not the Colorado Basin alone which abounds in remar'^able natural scenery. The Great Inte- rior or Salt Lake Basin is lull of wonders. Among these are the Temples on the Rio Virgen, the only affluent of the Colorado which has its sources in the Great Salt Lake Basin; while the Little Zion Valley, north of that river, is remarkable for its quiet, beauty. Farther north, in the Great Basin, are some very extraordinary combinations of canon, cataract, valley and mountain spires. Of one of these — the American Fork Canon of the Wahsatch Moun tains, which opens upon the minor Basin of Utah lake, and has been called the Yosemite of Utah — a recent writer thus speaks: " This canon is noted not only for the towering altitude of its enclosing walls, but for the picturesqueness of the infinite shapes, resembling artificial objects, towers, pinnacles and minarets chiefly, into which the elements have worn them. At first the formation is granite and the cliffs rise to a lofty height almost vertically. Then come quartzlte or rocks of looser texture, conglomerates and sandstones ; the canon opens to the sky and you enter a long gallery, the sides of which recede at an angle of forty-five degrees to a dizzy height, profusely set with these elemental sculptures in endless variety of size and pattern, often stained with rich colors. 'Towers, battlements, shattered castles, and the images of mighty sentinels,' says one, ' exhibit their out- lines against the sky. Rocks twisted, gnarled and distorted ; here a mass like the skeleton of some colossal tree which lightning had wrenched and burnt to fixed cinder; there another, vast and overhanging, apparently crumbling and threatening to fall in ruin. At Deer creek the canon proper ceases, the road has Il82 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. % ft? 3 climbed out of It 2,500 feet in eight miles. This is the main resort of pleasure parties. Since the railroad was taken up, its bed has become a wagon road, whicii continues to I'^orest City, eight miles above. The surroundings are still mountainous, but there are breaks where the brooks come in, grassy hills, aspens and pines. "To the sublimity of the cafion scenery in summer an inde- scribable beauty is added in the autumn, when the deciduous trees and shrubbery on a thousand slopes, touched by the frost, present the colors of a rich painting and meet the eye wherever it rests. To get the full benefit of this, one must go up and up till there is nothing higher to climb. In winter another and very different phase succeeds. The snows, descending for days and days in blinding clouds, bury the forests and fill the caflon. Accumulating to a great depth on high and steep acclivities, they start without warning and bury in ruin whatever may be in their track. Hardly a year passes that miners and teamsters, wagons and cabins are not swept away and buried out of sight for months. The avalanciie of the VVahsatch is quite as formidable as that of the Alps. Probably forty feet of snow falls on the main range every winter. Seven miles of tramway in Little Cottonwood Caflon are closely and strongly shedded for defence against the awful avalanche. Even this is not always effectual." The Great Salt lake itself is an object of gniat interest. The remarkable density of its waters, which at some seasons and particularly in times of great drought, is so strong a brine as to contain two pounds of salt to the gallon of water, its islands which contain rich deposits of silver and copper and abound in game, its shores covered with salt, and the buoyancy of its waters, in which one cannot sink, all excite the wonder of the visitor. The mineral and hot springs^ which abound throughout the Territory, are worthy of notice. The hot springs near Ogden are a favorite resort for tourists. Finances. — "The finances of the Territory," says Governor Emery, in his report to the Secretary of the Interior, October 29th, 1879, "are in a most satisfactory condition. There is no indebtedness that is not covered by uncollected taxes. The POPULATION OF VTA IT. 1183 the main resort up, its bed has :ity, ei^^ht miles , but there are Is, aspens and immer an inde- I the deciduous \ed by the frost, le eye wherever ist go up and up mother and very ling for d?ys and d fill the cafton. ;p acclivities, they ;r may be in their eamsters, wagons 1 sight for months, nidable as that of the main range ,ittle Cottonwood fence against the tual." ;at interest. The :)me seasons and ong a brine as to water, its islands ,er and abound in fancy of its waters, of the visitor. |d throughout the •ings near Ogden '" says Governor Interior, October :ion. There is no ;ted taxes. The territorial scrip, which three or four years since was worth only forty cents on the dollar, to-day is worth ninety-eight cents on the dollar. There is assessed annually an ad valorem tax on the taxable property in the Territory of Utah, as follows : throe mills on the dollar for territorial purposes ; three mills on the dollar for the benefit of district schools ; and such sum as the county courts of the several counties may designate for county purposes, not to exceed three mills on the dollar." Population. — TIte growth of Utah has been moderately rapid, as much so perhaps as could be expected under the circum- stances. The following table gives the particulars of it so far as they are attainable : I i •a 3 ■3 o 1 s I •a 1850 11,380* 6,046 5,334 n>330 i86j 40,273* au.ass I »",oi8 40,125 I1870 99.581'!' 44,iait 43,665' 86,044 1875 i4o.ooo'|' 66,125 ^3|87S i3n,o(X> J1880 144.659! 74,47ui 69,436 142,381 ; I ill 5" 149 • 3,53s |0,,MIO 1526^ 9,3-j6 »7,5>') 56,084 81, (KK) 99.974 a o fa .8 1-2 s i 5 ■},c^\ 0.051 '54 4,076 12,754 o.i8 255.0 U3 13,788 3o,7,i-j 1 63 147.25, 7.363 33,367 4q,,K<) 1.7s 40,591 30,79211 43.933 '78 10.6a 2, 56'' 6,744 >4.6"3 " « <5 '* >9- •3 o 2.76, I '.535 8,13.) I 4,520 18,042! 10,147 The population of Utah is very peculiar. It is the only one of the States or Territories of "Our Western Empire" which was settled on a professedly religious basis. The Mormon'=' oame here when the country was a howling wilderness, and established themselves as a religious hierarchy, and their plan of settlement from the first contemplated an empire as well as a faith. They have been from the first intolerant of any government except their own, of any immigrants who were not converts to their faith ; of any business which did not contribute to the support of Mormonism ; of any worship which did not recognize the supreme authority of their leaders ; of any social order which did not recog- nize polygamy as a revealed ordinance of God, and did not give ♦Tribal Indians not included, f Including tribal and other Indians. }Sex of Indians not ascertained. I Territorial report — only children from six to sixteen. \ Including 304 negroes and mulattoes, 501 Chinese, 804 Indians and haif-breedii and seventeen East Indians and half-breeds. ? ^1 1^ 8 1 184 OUR WESTERN E MR IRE. free rein to lust. Tlvlr power was for many years so absolute that th(? settlers, who professed another faitli, were; liable to assassination and to every indii^nity and oppression. SiuK! the mineral wcahh of tiie Territory was iliscovered, settlers have been pouring' in, and in sonu; of the minin^j camps, especially in Tooeh; county, the "(ientiles," as the Mormons contemptuously call them, are in the majority. The present census shows that about 107.000 of the 143,807 white inhabitants are Mormons and th(; remainder " Gentiles ; " a decided ^ain since 1S70, wlun there were not more than 15,000 Gentiles in the Territory, liut the Mormons an; artful and shrewd. Knowing that their polygamy and other offences aii^ainst society and good order are violations of the laws of tht; United States, they are yet determined to hold on to them, and to diffuse them in other States and Territories, and with an aL,'-Ljr(!ssiveness worthy of a better cause the\ are plant- ing their mission towns in Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona, and have; even obtained some footing in California. In Idaho and Nevada they claim to have a majority of the inhabitants under their control. They send their missionaries to Englanil, Wales, Scotland, Swinhm, Norway and Denmark, and by a specious and plausible presentation of some of their doctrines (those that are objectionable being kept in die back- ground), and of their country, they persuade many of th(.' ignorant, excitable and superstitious class to emigrate to Utah. Once here they are completely under the control of the leaders; all that they have, and all that they can earn, belongs to the hierarchy, and if it is decided that they must go to the most unpromising desert region in Nevada, Arizona or Idaho, and aid in establishing a new town, however inconvenient or distressing it may be for them to break up their homes, there is no alternative ; they must go, or death and eternal destruction will be their portion. If it is deemed desirable to put some troublesome or inquisitive Gen- tile out of the way, the means ami the men for the work arc speedily found. The large influx of "Gentiles" to the mining cam- s and to business connected with the railroads and mines has modified their open and outspoken opposition to non-Mormon immigration; but at heart they are as much opposed to this irs so absolute wori^ liabU; to ion. Siiuc tho a, sftlUrs hav(! ps, csijrcially i«^ conUMup'-^'^'^'^^y isus shows that re Mormons and iSyo.whm there rriiory. r>i't tl^« ,t ihc'ir i)olyi;amy rare vioUuionsof UM-mintMl to hold i and Ti-rritoric's, use they are plant- antana.Wyo.nin^r, d some loothv^Mn to have a majority d their miss'.onaries ,iiy and Denmark, , of some of their kept in die back- ny of the ignorant. Utah. Once: here leaders; all duU the hi(;rarchy, and inpromisin;^ desert in establishing^' a |ing it may be for rnative; they must [heir portion. If it |or inquisitive Gcn- for the work are es " to the mining ,ads and mines has jn to non-Mormon Si opposed to this KEI./GFOUS DF.yoM/S'AT/OJ^S. ngj immij^ration as ever, and more to the United Slates jrovt'rnmont than at any time in the past. At the same time they are very d'sirous of beinyj admitted into the Union as a Stale, tliat they may legitimize polygamy: and wh(;n in tlieir judgment llie titling timer has come, they propose to secede, taking with them the olher States and '1 erritories tliey have won over to tiieir views, ami start a polygamous empire. They have offi-red their vote antl support to whichever of the two great parties will secure their admission into the Union ; but their practices are so palpably in violation of the constitution, that their admission is not prol)ahle. Relio-ioits Dtnomimitious. — Tlu! non-Mormon inhabitants of Utah are of all religious denominations, or of none ; but diey have a great abhorrence both of polygamy and of religious des- potism. In 1878 there were 167 Mormon church ediluis, and four temj)les built and in course of construction at St. Cieorge, Logan, Manti and Salt Lake City, by the Mormons. They claimed at that time 108,907 souls as belonging to their church. Since that time they have sent out about 10,000 to other States and Territories, and have received about 8,000 immigrants from abroad. Mormonism does not increase by conversions at home, but by the immigration of converts from abroad. At the same time there were thirty-live Protestant congregations, having twenty-two church edifices and twenty-eight regular p:Htors, sus- taining as a part of their work twenty-five mission schools, in twenty towns, with an enrolment of nearly 2,000 scholars. The number of communicants was about 1,400, and of adherent pop- ulation about 8,000. Their church property amounted to about $250,000, while that of the Mormons exceeded 5*^3,200,000. There has been some improvement in these particulars within the past two years. The number of Protestant churches now exceeds forty, the number of communicants is more than 2,500, and of adherent population about 1 3,000. There is also a much larger amount of church property, and an increase in the number of church edifices and schools. All the principal Protestant de- nominations have churches in the larger towns of the Territory, and there are Roman Catholic churches in Salt Lake City and Ogden, and perhaps at some other points. " ' '^^ > 7S ii86 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ? I la Education. — Among the Mormons education is at a low ebb, The school population is reckoned only between the ages of si> and sixteen, and of this scanty enrolment less than thirty-nine percent., or only about 13,000 to 15,000, attendjd school. Tht whole number of schools in 1878 was 346; the time the schools were taught in days, 137; estimated value of school property $382,1 12 ; the whole number of public school teachers was 489 pay of men, ^^35 per month; of women, $22 per month. The total income for school purposes was %\ 13,413 ; the total expen- diture, $113,193. There is no school fund. There are, as already stated, twenty-five or thirty mission schools under "Gen- tile " control, which, though opposed by the Mormon leaders, are prosperous, and afford better instruction than the Mormon schools. There are two or three secondary schools, especially the Salt Lake Academy ("Gentile"), in Salt Lake City; the Brigham Young Academy, at Provo, and two smaller institutions, one at Logan, and the other at Salt Lake City — endowed by Young with lands. These are all Mormon. The so-called Uni- versity of Deseret, which is as yet only a preparatory school with a normal class, is also Mormon, i ■ /j , ,oL' >:, inifrtrj J,4 hftv. Morels and Social Condition. — The moral condition of Utah is very low. So far as the distinctive Mormon institution — polyg- amy — is concerned, it could not well be worse. Licentiousness in all its worst forms, is openly sustained under the forms of po- lygamous marriage, and incest of the grossest character is not uncommon. There is, among the Mormon population, nothing of the family relation, and the Mormon youth, the boys, especially, are early taught the most atrocious depravity. This condition of things has exerted in many instances an untoward influence upon the "Gentile" population. No man should emigrate to Utah who has not his moral principles firmly fixed. But to men of principle and character there is an opportunity of accomplishing much good by en:;aglng in such enterprises as will aid in rescuing this rich and valuable Territory from the control of the mor^ depraved and viilanous despotism which ever prevailed in any country, in ancient or modern times. •. '.. w'Wii ■• (:.■)!•' r( r;r. :.:) r-'v^.rrr ,r,t:iil<*T •;; ;ivj Vr v\\-, :-\,i.^ V,- : / Pleasant, Silver the Utes, a tribe The Mormons, her in 1847 ^^^ ten remote from ed from Mexico nd California, in /as organized as Mormons called I, and demanded his was refused, times threatened 857 a most atro- was perpetrated , in the southern it massacre were rises which have lation have been ^i ; , ' I '1/ I ■ >*' 'I 4 -'i' • 3 9 3 ^h ... X \ SS 53 ■■■', . t^'i —..... - — .... r...,ro.r. nig If , ; CHAPTER XX . ' MouNTA.N Slope* l^.f ""'"'^ '"'■'"'d Sea_t„. |Ht Beauty, Value, ■ Western Wa™","' ''^'=^'"'' WASH^^otrR^ ^'"-""^ '^'"> ™= Governor 1'..L " '" ~ M™oRoLOf;v o, w". ""'"'■-*'"<■:■!- .NOTOn-The V ™ ''™M«-S0II, AND I>R„„r '^"""■■""""AL Pro- THEv coME--,^''r::N ''"™"--«™"-»~™;:' ^t^™^ ^-'- S.«PES AND Mo™,,7™'=''™'- FERT,Urv OE THE SoT VT ""^■^'^^ OE WHEAT-TmRT^r "^ ^' '"™ « ™E Va "LEV^!r ,"" "oraTAm --ON OE THE crNsi^r -" "^ '^-""t^PArA'Tir — OE THE nwhC PALr- f;- ™.™-Tr E^r r 0"r Western Empire" lli, I """'iwestern member of »"d 49° north latitude andlt ''l ''^ P''^^"^'-' of 4r .. '^4° 28' west longitude' from ^ " "'" '"^'■'■*'->"-' of r .t" and "onh and nortlnvfst by ^J^^lf- , '' - "funded on , ' -g-.ag one to give Gre t S^the ^^ ^""'''"^ ""<= ^^'"S ^ clatmed. Our title ran ieg,",^a.e v ,■" T'^"'= ""^ '^"^^ g'timately along the 49th parallel II90 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. to the Pacific; but to have insisted on this would have j^iven us the greater part of Vancouver Island, on which were already im- portant British settlements. The line was finally run, not with- out a long and tedious arbitration, through the centre of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Canal de Haro, and the Gulf of (Jeorgia as far as to the 49di parallel. From the centre of die Gulf of Georgia to the west line of Idaho, the northern boundary is along the 49th parallel. The eastern boundary is the Territory of Idaho, along the 1 17th meridian to Lewiston, where the Snake river makes a sudden bend southward, when that river becomes the eastern boundary to the Oregon line; southward, Oregon forms its limit, the line running along the 46th parallel till it reaches the Columbia river at about the 119th meridian, when the Columbia becomes the southern boundary to the Pacific ; on the west, it is washed by the waves of the Pacific as far as the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Its length from north to south ranges from 200 to 250 miles, its greatest breadth from east to west about 360 miles. It is smaller than most of the Territories, and sev- eral of the States of "Our Western Empire," having but 69,994 square miles, or 44,796,1 60 acres ; yet this area is one and a half times that of New York or Pennsylvania. Topography and Divisions. — The Territory is popularly divided into Eastern and Western Washington by the Cascade Range of mountains, which trend north-northeast from Oregon in a very disorderly fashion from the Dalles of the Columbia river to the line of British Columbia, following for most of the distance the west bank of the Columbia river, and extending in parallel ridges west-southwest to Puget sound, and eastward in several spurs north, east-northeast, and east-southeast. Almost the entire region between the 47th and the 49th parallels lying between the Columbia river and Puget sound is broken, rolling and mountainous, though the mountains are not high. Western Washington^ the part of the Territory first settled, consists of a valley or basin, known as the Puget sound basin, and which lies between two ranges of mountains, the Cascade Mountains on the east and the Olympian or Coast Range on the west. The Puget sound or archipelago, the Mediterranean of SAF£Ty AATD BFAUTV n. the Western r • ''^^'^^ '^^^^^. «: western Contnent n« .v • r "9i B""«li line on the „or"h Xc If 7 ^^"^''' ^-•™<''' from the fuca, Admiralty Inlet or Ur. T I" "- ^^^^'^s of [uan ri The shores of al,£X/;.-- of about .^T;:r:r "f' so that in n,a„y pla e ' "hi — /""^ --eniarkably boW !o mese waters are surrounded is rem. u,., ^ ''"""■O' by wluch every advantage for the accommodt "^ ''-'"brious, and offers m.l.Ury marine, with convere„lt ^ '''''"'"■"^^''■^'*^ Sites for towns and cities 7/ n ''°<^''^' ^"d a great m! -d capable of bei„;::, ' ^ oW ^^r" ^"PP"'^'' ^ wa "e!: round,ns: country, which is we, adlre'?/^"'-^"""^ ^y *e s t: 'The Straits of Juan de R, '^ '°'" '>S"™lture and i,ave an average :idt,'^'r,r'= "'"'^'y-five miles „ length gated throughout. No part of Th t " ""^^ ^ safely navi- ounds, or a greater number of hfrbo'^K "'°'''''' "^"^ '"'a"d the Strans of Juan de Fuel L m '' "'*" "'''^ fo"nd witWn das. of vessels and withor^ dant''°' T'"''^^ '"e large We- I-rom the rise and 6,1 of thf , '"s t".'^"''^'' ''^ ^t fisi- le tides (eighteen feet) every 1 193 OUJi IVESJT.AW EMPIRE. l: facility is offered for the erection of works for a great maritime nation. Tiie country also affords as many sites for water-power as any other." The foothills and slopes of the mountains on both sides are almost wholly covered with immense forests of fir and cedar, reaching to the very summits of the mountains. IHowing^ down from the western slope of the Cascade Range, ten- rivers empty into Puget sound, viz.: the Nisqually, Puyallup, White, Cedar, Snoqualmie, Snohomish, Stillaguamish, Duwamlsh, Skagit, and Nooksakh, affording many hundred miles of inland shore line for logging purposes, and having in their valleys an estimated area of two thousand square miles of alluvial agricultural lands. Most of these rivers are navigable for steamers of light draft, generally as far up as the alluvial deposits extend. The streams descending eastward from the Olympian or Coast Range, except the Skokomlsh and the Dungeness, are shorter and of less importance. The mountains approach close to the western shores of the sound, limiting the area of available territory ; but their sides are covered with vast forests of valuable timber already known to the markets of the world. Between the Olympian or Coast Range and the Pacific are some arable lands, but the soil is not so rich, though well adapted to the growth of timber. There are two moderately good harbors here — Gray's Harbor, and Shoal-water bay, extensive and partially land-locked bodies of water, but in respect to depth and facility of loading and un- loading bearing no comparison to the magnificent harbors of Puget sound. The Chehalis is the principal stream flowing into Gray's Harbor ; it has numerous affluents. The Willopah and some smaller streams fall into Shoal-water bay. There are numerous small rivers flowing into the Pacific and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The other streams of Western Washington are affluents of the Columbia. The Cowlitz and Klikitat are the most Important. All of Western Washington is well watered. Eastern Washington includes all that part of the Territory lying east of the Cascade Mountains, and consists of the Great Plains of the Columbia river, the Great Plateau of the Spokane, and numerous valleys or river bottoms, as of the Columbia, Snake nvcr. WallaAVnlla, Clarke's fc-k .,,„ oi • , "»^ iiicrc arc many lakes in W. i • s'clcrabic size; Lake n?', ^^^f^>"S:ton, some of th^ni of w^o 1- ^ '^^^clann IS t ho 1-,.. .1 ""mo/ con- WasI„„gto„ and Wha.com arc a „ ■ f ' '""/■■•"^« '^''"'"'■^.S C^-'^Svy.—Tho shore.! of ,7 ., ' "1'°"^'" lal;cs. Columbia, and the "r^:,! ! H ""^""-' '"-'■ valley of the H-o ,n the Gulf of Geor-b, '?;""' °^ "'« ^ana de elhnghan, bay is Carbonif.rrou " the C "o ^ ""= "'■^'""y °f eCascad Mountains to abou i,' ' ' ^f ^"«^ '•' E^^'c' e CoIumb,a river in Central and ktteVn"w "i •^""' '"''""^ <>f the Spokane river, are volcanic • No^l „^''""«""' ^^'h of «cept two narrow and smaH n, , " ^^ ""'"'"S'^'is Eozoic extren,e northeast, one east til 'fP" "^ ^'■'"™" ■•'«<-• in The ^^■--%^-VVash n'ton s trb M^' °' Clarkos'fo k "' Foaous metals in the e.4nsi ' "o*^ ^'f^ =.°-'= ^'Po-ts of the b .t they have not yet been develonTd ^ ^^'°"' ''^^^''>' "°ticed, has been found in the northeast ZJi ^^ ^reat extent. Gold were discoveries of placer^nn'^" ^"'"""^ river. There nv- in Whatcom col ;:vCr;t '^ "^'' °" "^ S^^' lodes near the Columbia ri;e;,nSe ^"''""ff'""- The quart, f Oft fooo,c»o. All the d^er „f ^r"7.°""'y- yeWod in' .g" !-« greatest mineral wealth of the Te' °" "" "'''"''"'' but sive beds of excellent coal Thl , '■^' '""^''^'^ '" «s exten Lake Whatcom, in Whatom citntv"! T ^^"'"S''-" Clnd «ens,vely mined. Much of ^ s'^^toT":"' ""^'"^ ^"'l '' ' ■; '" r'=" ^«'"='"d. TT,is is a true coa ; '".^'■^""'^™- ^^ere »nd s bituminous in its character xi *" ""= '=°^' "'easures coal (probably hgnite) back of 1 1 je il'r " ^'^° "^ ^^^ go3 S:Cbut?tSaL:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ . 1194 Oi'K H'ESTEHN EAfriUK. I possible?, as this is within the limits of the volcanic region, but is probable that this is at most only semi-anthracite. Zoology. — The wild animals are the same as in Orejjon. the northern part of the Territory moose are found in considei able numbers. Elk are also plenty. The cougar or panther large and fierce. Game is abundant. Salmon are found in gre; numbers, not only in the Columbia but in Puget sound, an some of the rivers flowing into it. Climate. — The climate of Western Washington is remarkabl mild and temperate, notwithstanding its high latitude, resemblinj, in this respect, that of the British Isles, and dc;monstrating th truth of the law laid down by physical geographers that th western coast of a continent always has a much milder and mor equable temperature than the eastern. Governor I'Y'rry, in pre senting. in his report of October, 1879, to the Secretary of th Interior, the meteorological table of Fort Blakeley, which \v( give on page 1 195, makes some very judicious notes and explan ations in regard to it, and the climate of Western Washington which we here insert in full, and which are fully corroboratec by the corresponding table of Oiympia, which we have i)laced hj its side. One point, which the governor has omitted, is worthy of notice, viz.: that where the extreme annual range of the thermometer does not exceed from 64" to 74°, its maximum not being over 95° nor its minimum less than 19° to 25°, the n;sult- ing climate is as agreeable, healthful and productive as can be desired. The rainfall is by no means excessive, but exerts a decided influence in promoting the gigantic growth of the timber, which crowns the mountain slopes and extends even to the .summits of the Cascade and Coast Ranges. Governor F'erry says : "It will be seen that the lowest temperature during this period of twenty-six months was 25° above zero, in January, 1879, and the next lowest 26+°, in January, 1878. The highest temperature in 1877 was 88°; in 1878, 94°; and in 1879, 86°. The highest monthly average was 67^°, in July, 1877, and the lowest 40^°, in January, 1878. It will also be seen that the annual average rainfall is very little greater than in the Eastern and Western jlcanic region, but it hracite. c as in Oregon. In c found in consider- :ougar or panther is n are found in great Puget sound, and igton is remarkably latitude, resembling, demonstrating the ographers that the ch milder and more ernor Ferry, in pre- he Secretary of the Blakeley, which we s notes and explan- estern Washington, : fully corroborated I we have placed by i omitted, is worthy mual range of the I-*', its maximum not ° to 25°, the n-sult- oductive as can be ssive, but exerts a tic growth of the nd extends even to 2 during this period January, 1879, and jighest temperature 86°. The hiohest d the lowest 40^4°, the annual average tern and Western "/-W/ZA' H. IS J/ ^ AC TOM :::•;::*• i : i i j i • ; i M ; , F i i : : : ! i • • • ^ " ui m * * ^ ^^ v> .? 00 00 u> vj « i „ ■ j; ^* O"^ •s^ ■— ^ ^ Ul OOUl NJ w M K 3 1 1 96 O^'^ WESTERN EMPIRE. States. From June, 1877, to January, 1879, a period of nineteen months, embraciny^ all of one winter and half of another, there was no snowfall, and in January, February and March, 1879, only 71^ inches, which disappeared almost as rapidly as it fell. Tlie greatest rainfall is between the months of October and April, although, during this period, it will be seen that the cloudy days are very little in excess of the clear. " The climatic plienomena indicated by these observations are readily accounted for. "A thermal current, known as the Japan Current, having its origin at the equator, near the one hundred and thirtieth degree of east longitude, Greenwich, flows northwardly to the Aleutian islands, where it separates, one branch flowing castwardly along the peninsula of Alaska, and then southwardly along the coast of British Columbia, Washington Territory and Oregon. This thermal stream, with its concomitant heated atmospheric current, striking the northwest coast of America, operates powerfully in mitigating a climate which otherwise would be cold and rigorous in the extreme. The effect of these currents upon the western portion of this Territory is the same as the effect of the Gulf stream upon the northwest coast of Europe. In fact the climate and natural productions of England are essentially the same as those of Western Washington. In addition to this, the prevail- ing winds in the winter are from the southwest These warm atmospheric currents, coming from the tropical regions of the Pacific, laden with moisture, meeting the cooler currents from the Coast Range and Cascade Mountains, produce the winter rcinfall. These southwest winds also moderate the temperature during the winter. , " The prevailing winds during the summer are from the north- west, which is the cause of the dry, cool weather during that period. There Is a marked difference between the climate of Western and Eastern Washington, In the latter, being that portion of the Territory lying east of the Cascade Mountains, the four seasons are plainly distinguishable. I am unable to present meteorological statistics of this portion of the Territory, and can only say that the temperature is lower in winter and higher in period of nineteen of another, there and March, 1879, rapidly as it fell. October and April, at the cloudy days e observations are Current, having its id thirtieth deirree ;ly to the Aleutian ■ eastwardly along ^ along the coast d Oregon, This nospheric current, "ates powerfully in cold and rigorous upon the western effect of the Gulf [n fact the climate itially the same as > this, the p'revail- 2st These warm al regions of the ier currents from -oduce the winter J the temperature •e from the north- ither during that m the climate of latter, being that de Mountains, the unable to present rerritory, and can er and higher in TliR c, ' '^ • autumn c?o or, 1 . ^ "•'=" as loJJows: A"e summers are at h^^ ^^ ' ^""^ ^^mter, u° " r •ne Chinook winds" ,i ," ""^ the year periodical warm hZT^'r ^^'T'^^ ^P°ken of under AT --•^" - i;;!o'::tn,.^- -"- - <'-h,ow „ea. .H ' erallv ormr a • ; '"junous extpm- -r. . ^^ ^'^^ lasT m [ """^ '^^ "months of \L ' ^^^ ^''^^^^^ts gen- last mo,e than three or four da./ -^t, ''^.f"^ -^""^' -"d rarely ""ere .t'"; t t^b ^™"''- '"^^ -""oe H^'p """f '^'•"> ^""' as c4a.:d^",Mr rr rr » ^^^<^ tli o-^^of tl,e Cascades. "'" ''"" '«' ■"«- desirable location fi^'-'een tee bo«on« and .he n,„ . ' " - ^ < • ^ and .he mountains are la.^e areas of is 3 1198 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. table-lands, quite level or gently undulating near tlie rivers; broken and rugged toward the foot-hills. The soil of these up- lands is inferior to that of the river lands, varying from sandy- loam to clay-loam and unproductive gravel. The growths here are principally fir and cedar, with some hemlock, maple, willow, cherry, etc. South and east of the sound is a district where coarse gravel is found, with occasional granite boulders, extend- ing back from the shore from ten to thirty miles in streaks, and patches, and covering perhaps half the land. In the intervals the soil is a strong, brown clay-loam of excellent quality for farming. Owing to the durability of the fir and cedar, and the difficulty and expense of removing their stumps from the ground, it will be a considerable time before the lands now covered with these fir forests will be cleared and devoted to agriculture — but fortu- nately the timber is worth far more to its owners and to the country than the best open prairie wo; ^ be. Considering the great diversity of the soil and the wooded, broken character of the country. West Washington is likely to be a region of small farms, devoted to a variety of crops, rather than to growing grain or stock on a large scale. With the above explanation it is safe to say that in connection with the mild climate, the productive capacity of the soil of the Puget sound region is great, both as to quantity and quality. The small grains are at home in Washington Territory. The quality and yield of wheat on the Pacific slope are well known to be good, and in this regard Puget sound basin is no exception to the rule. Much of the finest portion of the nain that reaches the Eastern market as "California wheat" v^ ,^ .mj in Washing- ton Territory and Northern Oregon. All oL* < * cereals are grown to perfection; oats are particularly plump and heavy. In- dian corn (maize) has been ripened thirteen years in succession in one locality, and as many as forty bushels to the acre have been raised, but this is exceptional, and as a rule the nights are too cool for the ripening of this crop. Pork is usually fattened upon peas, wheat and barley, and it is claii^^ed can be made as cheaply as upon corn in the Western State .. Fruits of all kinds, except the peach and the grape, are raised ^''"^^ ^^^ L,^^S .^J, rjMB,.,. grape, are raised ^-^ ^'"J-^ TIMBER, The agricultural lands of thr. T • ' ' fined to the river bottoms are noJ " ? ^^^^ S^"^™"/ con- found that even on the sides and '"'""'^ ^- '' - frequenl a 1. or mountain. ^^J:^^::::':^!^' *^ ^"'-'' °' ex St. A noticeable instance is near Z ^""'"' '^'"" "^nds hll.mmed.atelyin the rear of Sna T,'""' °' "" ™— he Columb,a and its confluent stream; ^ T"' ''""''-^ °f the Cowhtz, contain lar-re tract, ! f i t ''"■" ^^ *e valley of About midway between kI ^ a d" T °' "'"■^'^"^"^ ^-'""y Vaey embracing, with its confIuen"s „ °"' '' "" ^''^''^"s o the best agricultural lands in the T^rr'," ''"^ ^-^"^^^ "'"es W^sh,„g,„ „,,^ ,,^ ^^..^^^ ^he Te This valley is to WKlth from five to fifteen miles and '" '^ 0'''=g°"- It varies in Cascade Range to Grays H^C T '°^ "'« baseof th" I'e .n the bottoms of its lower trih !^'^'='J''^"""" of rich lands ■-;nd there are th. Ceda Ni^;?""- , ""-%' -to P ".' -l>.ch are some fine arable l^ds^"'' ^"^^""P "vers,1,n u.^ua ly sparsely timbered with aldt '' "^'^^ "^"""'"^ are «'l..ch are quickly a.J easily 1!'";^"/ '™'''^' '"'' ''PP'^' «»! five to th.rty dollars per acre InH ',? , " ''"P^"''^ '^^%m from fro™ forty to sixty bu'^.he s" / w ,eaT" "'" ^■'■^'''- "" - av"e;:: are produced most abundant yS a't r" ""'" ■^"'^" ^-i" "btams m almost any other locllTtv ' ^ ^^' "^^^^^'^ >'''eld than command the highest marketer L ° ,0'"'°" f "" ^°"""^. -cl have the large non-produciuE. fumh' -^"^^ =^0 'ong as we market will be at home.' ^ ^"""^ Population, the farmers' iitnbcy A ^ •^S- is the n,aSrS£:::":;^<>^'''ePuget;ound ^'pment of timber. This timber I200 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. w S is 39 3 f _. . Til has carried its OWn faniie to all parts of the world. In the East Indies, in Egypt, in the maritime States of Europe, in South Amer- ica, the Pacific Islands, China and Japan, the fir timber of Washington Territory is an article of commerce. Washington Territory, west of the Cascade Mountains, covers an area of about 20,000 square miles (exclusive of interior waters), three-fourths of which are timbered lands. The timber consists of yellow fir, cedar, pine, spruce, hemlock, oak, maple, cotton- wood, ash, dogwood, alder and some of the smaller varieties. The amount of the fir exceeds all the other varieties combined, and the cedar stands second in quantity. As the fir exceeds all other varieties in quantity, so also it does in utility, being valu- able for ship-building, house-building, fencing, spars, and indeed almost every purpose for which wood is used. ' " " ' ; The quantity of all kinds of lumber produced in the Territory, in 1875, ^V'ls estimated at 250,000,000 feet, valued at $3,000,000, and though the market for it was temporarily depressed, the demand is now rapidly increasing. The size of the fir trees and the number growing on given areas in good timber districts are almost incredible to those who have not visited the north Pacific coast. Trees are not uncom- mon which measure 300 feet in length, two-thirds of the distance being free from limbs. Fifty, sixty, and sometimes eighty good timber trees grow upon an acre of ground. It is not seldom that 200,000 feet of nisrchantable fir lumber is taken from a single acre. The rule with Washington lumbermen has been to work no tract of (fir) timber producing less than 30,000 feet per acre. Although lumbering has been carried on along the shores of the sound for twenty years, up to the present time logs have sel- dom been hauled more than a mile — to the estuaries of the sound, or some convenient stream where rafts are prepared for towing to the mills. The main timber region of the sound and lower Columbia has not yet been invaded by the ax. Many rivers and arms of the sound extend into the very heart of this vast Forest Preserve, and by clearing the river channels of drift the spring freshets can be availed of to run out the logs to the mills and the lumber to market. ' — --- - ......V ,.„,,,,,,,^, The regular correspond,.,,! or ,1 c '"°' ^nt,ng under date of Uece ber 8 « ^"".'''■'"■"^'o Ch.o„u,, '-est.ng account of the soil siuL , on '^' ^""^ "^^ f°"°»'ing i «-«/«.«■/««.. Eastern Wash n o ' T ''™^"«'°"s of ^^tj^ to become the richest and mos't r ^""''"^r^^ P™bably destined "1 tlie world Tl,„ "'""lost renowned wheat c.^ ■ '•"""'^a eastern Washington in its entires, -a ^"'"'"bia river. But r'-g.on of great fertility • forTn ^r '''^"""'•^^'y an agricltura P-ries and plains in *;'!;:*:" '^.-f-ast scopfo, "o J ' ■n .tsmore northerly portion, and ex^enH""^*^^'^«'°»^. ">ere arf possessions, numerous rich and w'l " l"^',' '^"'"^ '""''^ BAish Chemakane and Colville Valleys th^T"^ ^'"^■J'^' ^"^h as Z Eastern Washington has b en 11;^; "' '°"«-'='"''ing f „t Columbia river in Washington rtSf, '^ ""^ "^^"^> -f '"e cade Mountans." The -.L . "'°'^yi 'yng east of the c, readily appear bv=„ ^PP^pnateness of this deJ- nf fi,- PP^*"^ °y an examination of the •>,, , "escnption will of this nverand its numerous trib, i, P' '''°"'"^ "><= <-ourses most favorable to health, .he soi y WsTh ,""•= "" ^""-^^ s ^p^r^t:^T^ --' -"'on of the Columbia river on the eas . Tnd eSa"""","" "" ""' -'^ the Wckitatand all of Yakima counfc " ! ' " """''"" ''^'f of „ tT' "'"^' "'"^h, rising Tthe noT'"'^'' ''^ ^ "ver C„l \ ''"'°'y' ""'^^ southeast^!!) i'""" '"""''" P-x-'ion Col mb.a a short distance from a1"1 ' T^ ^"P'-'^s into the - Snake r,ver, the present wesTeTn , *' *' ">« "outh of the S- of the ^rthern^:^ ^Sll "LlJ^ f^nd d'C^^I^T ^ 1202 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. \ hi 8 part of this great wheat-field, not cv.-n excepting the Walla-Walla valley, farther east. The projected line of the Northern Pacific Railroad from the Columbia river at Ainswortli, across the mountains to Puget sound at Tacoma, passes through the heart of this region ; and the construction of a road over it is all that is needed to fill up the country speedily with a teeming popula- tion. It is yet sparsely settled, but new-comers in their prairie- schooners are fast encroaching upon its unoccupied lands. Its climate and soil are admirably adapted for stock-raising, which is the chief occupation of its inhabitants. The food for cattle is a very rich, nutritious bunch-grass, almost as strong as grain, with which the prairies and hills are covered throughout all seasons of the year ; and as the winters, with rare exceptions, ar^ mild and dry, there is no need of housing and feeding the cattje, but they are without fear suffered to roam at will in the winter months, and grow fat on this remarkable grass. This bunch-grass is common all over that country, covering the foot- hills and plains alike, and sometimes even reaching to the moun- tain-tops. ' ' ■■> ' ' J. Ross Browne, in an official report, says, " For grazing, these table-lands and side-hills of Eastern Washington cannot be ex- celled. They are covered with a luxuriant growth of native bunch- grass, of nutritious quality. During the rains of spring it seems to attain its growth ; and through the dry season which follows, it stands to be cured into the best of hay, preserving its strength and esculent properties all winter. Stock abandon the green grass of the bottom-lands to feed upon it, and on it they keep fat the year round." The Yakima country produces the cattle for supplying the market on Puget sound and elsewhere in Western Washington, as well as in British Columbia, whither they are driven through the several passes in the mountains ; and large droves of exceptionally fat cattle go annually out to the Union Pacific Railroad, and are transported to Chicago. Such is the great value of this region for stock-raising ; luit, as the soil is of a character and productiveness that invite tlut ciiange, the cattle-range on the lowlands must give way before the more profitable wheat-field, and confine itself higher up on the foot- Vaknna country has gone I v^! """^.'' »'^"' to which .he 'enge .he best record of Mnol a' """«' " '"'^ ^^^ cl al! g™ or Middle States • for it h! T' °' ""^ °' *«= other East as we„ ,3 to ,uahty Jd'-^of ^r^f/Tt T^ ^''"^-'"' ^- per acre. The railroad only i, „! ', .'° "'^ ^■"°"'" of yield tha .he las. crop was of stich d,L ^ "' " '^ '° ^ --ecorded fec,l,.,es for n,ovi„g , to n,: re ™ r^";- ^ ^'^fy the presen and low water in the river fi„ r approach of cold weather houses at Wallula, a ^^^^Z Tr'" °" """* '" "^ "s^r ^ pducon, there to remain until ,h '°'°°° '°"^-"'« year^, fact ,s a very persuasive appea, L .. T"'"^ "^ ^P""?- This Puget sound. ^P^^' fo-" 'he bu.lding of a raf road to rassmjr eastward from the V=,i • enter the already famous Walla wX vT,°" ""= ^°'"'"''ia, we on .he south and east by the BW I^ "''.^' "'"■^'' ''^ bounded and north by the ColumbLnd Snal. ""'' '""^ °" 'h<^ "est m.n,o„s of acres, as does that of ti"e Pal"""' "^ "^^^ "'- ■nto of Snake river, watered by the Pall '" '°""'^J"° f'e north northward to the Spokane The W r,?/""' ^"'' <=«'="*"» ?„ tnesare being rapidly settled bv",^'"^' ^"'^ Palouse coun yntted States. These'tw: ' egion's'oTf l"" ^" P"'^ °f he do no. ma.erially differ in thd .en r^"'"^™ VVashing.on deed, that a description oftleToifn ^ '''"■^""^•- »°li..le^° -ay answer for all three. ThetJl is f""^' ^"' ^'™ate of ; e »urpr,se the average wheat-g oJer be '" 'PP^^''^''^e "kely to lands, a very light-colored loam conn '^^ ""''^' '" "'« "-"om! percentage of the alkalies and fi °T ■'>' "" """^"ally lar^e "cally the whole of Easte^ VVash '"*' ^""^ '"^-""g pr^ to t,ven.y fee.. N,,, .he S 'hf ^ '° ^.'"^P"' °f ^onf „e a larger proportion of clay which T "'""^ ''' ''^ "lixed with appearance ; bu. in no res^ea dt ' " '°""^»'>at darkeT „ the Mississippi vailed Tet'' "''"'"'"^ "''= '>'ack o of th,s country is, .hat .he s^I on rh "°'' ^-n,arkable fea.ures -any bushels of whea. .o .h acre aVdt 1'"'^" "'"^ >-'* as I204 OUR WESTERh EMPIRE. 3 that this soil on both hill and plain was once the bed of a system of lakes, and was greatly enriched by volcanic ashes blown from the Cascade Range, or thence carried by the streams into the lakes, and thus widely distributed over the entire basin, including the hills in question, which are supposed to have been under water. In the Walla-Walla and Palouse countries, towns are springing up in all directions — mere trading-camps at the outset for the farmers who are crowding in round about ; and the hurry and flurry of settlement, and bustle and haste of preparation for wheat-raising, lends to some of the settlements an appearance resembling that of a mining-camp hastily pitched together, with many of the incidents common to the latter. The Palouse coun- try is traversed about through its centre by the Northern Pacific Railroad, Pend d'Oreille division, and extends from the Columbia at the mouth of the Snake, northeast to Spokane falls, about a hundred and fifty miles. To Dr. Bingham is credited the dis- covery that this was valuable agricultural land. Although it was subject.to entry at a dollar and a quarter per acre, no one thought it worth taking, until the doctor got an idea to experiment. He planted twelve acres in alfalfa ; and, to the amazement of himself and neighbors, it grew more profusely and to a greater height than they had ever before known it to grow. Elated at this splendid success of his experiment, he at once set about procur- ing all the land he was able to buy, and Is now said to be one of the most prosperous planters in the northwest. He tried wheat with a like brilliant result, securing an average yield per acre that paid for the land over and over again ; and thus suddenly the good people of that region were awakened to the astounding revelation that their vast expanse of country known as the Plains . of the Columbia, and, Indeed, the whole of Southeastern Wash- ington, instead of being, as it had always been regarded, an almost useless waste, had a wealth-producing capacity far exceeding that of all the gold and silver mines of California and Nevada. Im- mediately scores and hundreds of people jumped into the business of wheat-raising; and the fame thereof went abroad, starting ^ westward and northward large numbers of farming people, some going through California and by sea,, but a larger proportion ■■;H^.* H: arnvmg from surrounding. T, ■ • ^ "■'''''"''^- ,,05 tlrawn by oxen t *" territories in their nrair.V . i VValb ,-11 ^'"•' '•■■'ooners Walla Illustrates what n.ay be clon!. ^'\^^^^'"'^ "c'ar Walla- Washington Territory M,. I '" ""-' "=>>■ °f farming. ,n years back, and has „L ht fc -'"P-a'iveiy poor :\ '>as one large field of nearl, twoX ",' '" '^"^ '^'^"'^ory. H, - wheat and partly in bar ey U, ^'1! '""'' '"''^'^ "- P-"y At he last harvest, it was nnf , ""''-" ^'"'" forty bushels particular fields to yi'eU n averL^f 7 1 ^^ -''-ord'nary t and even sixty bushels .0 the acrf '"«'' ''^ '"°«yfive and'fif^ Columu: Rair"';^r'[;T\?'''=" °^ '^'>-' on these "0 the Walla- Walhv;!? ''''' ^"^' fo"- fifteen years If '" 01 wheat averajje fifty-six bushH. , , ''^''<-" '^'^'-'n large fields two pounds per bushel ; and :':,:„"; ,7"','^"'^ ""--«" -^y- to fifty bushels per acre from a Tolun, *'"^'' y'^W^d forty he second year from grains sLn """P' "»' '■^. Produc, d '"g during the fall and g o v „ "" °"'/'"™i>' ''^"-v-st, spr'ut years later, in the autunm of ,1?!" "•'"'°« 'arrowing "'ivl' We are just about finirhi" /o' r ,,f ''"" ^^""^"'^n wrot am sure the world never saw f'r ^^^ ^"^ ^^h a harvest I ou neherif 1^'^ ™«--«- -heaf :op?T; ^'"""^''^ sparsely S co t^ th' '"'' ' ^^ ^^ ^sS; of surplus wheat. Thravera! 'is'^'t''"" '"'° ""-'hon bu hd at fron, thirty to forty bushdf ; ^t" M '' '" "-^^^ J-S t the whole country will go*^ over thirt! '' °? ^""^""'"^ '^ acre. A great many lanre hZl I n """y-*« bushels to the field that would not a' er^^e tlr Z r^-''^' "^^ A^y. and a worth cutting. There is^ probabirn '"" " ''^^*^ -"-'Jer d d..nate and other advantaged consL^e . "'""*"' '" '^e world '"S wheat." In October tsvo "„ . ' "'"^' '° ""'^ for grow- , were stored at Walla-Walla a^dvT '" '°'°^ '°"^ of wheat ' achties for tmnsportation on the d'" K^ '"""'"^ ^""P^en, tie for the carriage to that extenf '"■"'" "^^^ ■^•^'"S -adequate A.'a.epartofthi3p.du.o.was„oto„„ew.„d.buto„ I206 OUR ivi:sT/:. .V empire. 3 lands which had been cuhivatcd witli the same crop for ten or twelve years. The crop of i88o was still larger, and its net cash value to the farmers of Washington Territory is reckoned at over $9,000,000. Exports, — In addition to the exports of wheat already referred to, writes Governor Ferry in October, 1879, there have also been large exports of other cereals, wool, tlour, and live-stock from Eastern Washington. Large shipments of tlour have been made direct from Walla-Walla to Liverpool. From the lower counties on the Columbia river there have also been exporta- tions of grain and canned salmon; of the latter, 160,000 cases, of forty-eight cans each. From Puget sound the exports have been lumber, coal, fish, grain, potatoes, wool, hops, hides, barrels, lime, etc. The export of coal for the past year has been 190,000 tons. The lumbering interests are somewhat depressed at present, owing to a falling off in the foreign demand. This depression is regarded as temporary only. Manufactures arc, of course, but of moderate extent in so new a Territory, and with as yet but a scanty population. The prin- cipal is lumber, of which 250,000,000 feet or more are produced annually. There are many flouring mills, establishments for canning and barreling salmon and other fish, barrel factories, some of them of great extent, etc., etc. The production of man- ufactured goods in 1880 was about $8,000,000. Population. — The following table gives the population of Wash- ington Territory at different periods : Vr: B •a 1 . (« g. ! > (S t I Total s Femal ii I !i86o [1870 1878 1879 1880 ^1 1 = »'.594 8,446 3,148 11,138 37.432* i4,99ot' 8,965+ 22,195 64,411*' ' 72,05a*! ; 89.388*145.977 !!'9.»43 67,349 456 «5.»37 15,660 16,038 22,039 •3 8,450 18,931 59.»59 o u a >. •h s •3 (5 (1 3.'44 5.o»4 15,861 0.06 0-34 0.92 1.03 1.28 106.61 72.10 11.86 24.06 438 ".307 u > bo. 6 S Si_2 2 E o - S a 2,279' 5.880 7."60| 7,835 ".9971 11 C (< B 1 = 6,166 9i»4' 4,.'j' 1 7,90a I * Including 13,477 tribal Indians on reservations in the Territory. " 13,960 *• " " " " " 14,268 " " " " " 14,268 " " " " " t Sex of Indians not giv If^DlAhf TRIBES, 1207 crop for ten or and its net cash eckoned at over already referred ;here have also r, and live-stock ' flour have been From the lower o been exporta- r, 160,000 cases, lumber, coal, fish, etc. The export ressed at present, This depression 2 extent in so new lation. The prin- lore are produced istablishments for ^ barrel factories, roduction of man- pulationofWash- ■5 * B 2 o > 9 iO- ,279' 5.880 6,166 4,^3' jloto, 7.835 Q."*' 7-9°^ >».9971 ; of Indian* not sWea. The population of the Territory is, to a very large extent, com- posed of citizens of the Eastern States, with a moderate propor- tion of sturdy and industrious Scandinavians and Germans, and some Hniilish, Irish, Scotch and British-Americans. Indian Tribes and their Rcscn'ations. — There were, in the autumn of 1879, 14,268 tribal Indians in Washington Territory. They were collected on seven reservations, under as many dis- tinct agents, and belonged to forty-three or forty-four bands or sub-tribes, many of them of most unpronounceable names. All of the tribes of this region belong to the Athabascan family, and their languages have, for the most part, a sharp click, which dis- tinguishes them from most of the other tribes of the West. There was a severe war with the Indians in 1855, when they had nearly double their present numbers ; but since their defeat at that time, they have been generally very quiet and friendly to the whites. In May, 1879, the non-treaty Indians in Eastern Washington were removed to a reservation on the west side of the Okinakane river, in Stevens county. These Indians have made "greater advances in civilization than most of those farther east. Of the 14,268, 11,763 wear citizens' dress ; 1,548 families are engaged in agriculture ; 3,444 male Indians are engaged in other civilized pursuits ; 980 houses are occupied by Indians, and of these houses 82 were built during the year; 510 of their chil- dren, 255 of each sex, were in school in 1879. The government spends ^28,783 annually for their education. Of the adult In- dians, 802 can read. They have 18 church edifices and 1 1 mis- sionaries among them. The land of all their reservations amounts to 3,933,504 acres, of which 145,662 is reported tillable, and nearly all the rest good grazing land. A fair proportion of them are good farmers. Over 10,000 acres are cultivated, and they raise'd, in 1879, 46,950 bushels of wheat ; 3,080 bushels of corn ; 16,265 bushels of oats and barley ; 36,810 bushels of vegetables ; 3,1 79 tons of hay ; and they own 23,213 horses and mules (very few of the latter) ; 8,1 78 catde ; 1,182 swine, and 408 sheep. A fair per- centage of them earn from one-half to the whole of their living by civilized pursuits. -*'-i-'^*-t -^'H- nvf~-yx\:. -iVA :.\'r -■ k.^ ■..•;.: ■ Education. — The Territory is awake to the advantages of public 130S OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. W school education. Tho school lands have not as yet been sold in sufficient amounts to afford anything more than a nucleus for a school fund, but a beginning has l)ecn made. We have no offi- cial reports of a date later than 1877, since which time education as well as population has made a great advance there. At that time there were 12,997 children of school age, of whom 5,385 were enrolled in the public schools. There were 262 school- houses and school-rooms, and the average duration of the schools in days was 130 days. There were 279 teachers employed, of whom 134 were men and 145 women. The average monthly pay of the men was $40, and of the women 1130. The amount received and expended for school purposes was about ;fi5o,C)00. There were graded schools in the principal towns, a normal de- partment in Washington University, covering two years* instruc- tion ; and schools of higher instruction at W^alla-Walla, Seattle and some other points. The University of Washington Terri- tory, at Seattle, is a part of the public school system, and is aided by the Territorial Legislature. It had, in 1879, eleven instructors and professors, 120 students, an^' *bur courses of study. It has the nucleus of a library and m m, and an appropriation has been made for necessary apparatus. The Holy Angels' College, at Vancouver, in this Territory, is a Roman Catholic institution, having, in 1878, four professors and eighty-five students, and a library of nearly 1,000 volumes. Counties and Principal Towns. — Olympia, the capital, has about 3,000 inhabitants ; Walla- Walla, between 4,000 and 5,000 ; Se- attle and Steilacoom nearly as many; while Port Townsend, Vancouver, Kalama, Tacoma, and in Eastern Washington, Ains- worth, Wallula, Palouse, Spokane Falls and Colville are thriving and growing towns. .?.' . .. . , , ,, , ,^ ., ^,i.„r>i : Relipious Denominations and Public Morals. — No one of the o States and Territories of "Our Western Empire" has a better moral and religious record than Washington Territory. Settled very largely by the best people from New England and the Middle States, its churches and religious institutions have more nearly kept pace with the growth and progress of the population than those of any other part of the West. In 1875, ^^^^ ^ P^P* RFirarors Dr.xo.vix.i tions. 1209 It boon sold nucleus for a have no offt- no education •re. At that whom 5.385 ; 262 school- of the schools employed, of rage monthly The amount ibout $50'00°- i, a normal de- years' instruc- -Walla, Seattle shini^ton Terri- ;m, and is aided even instructors • study. It ^las propriation has \ngels College, holic institution, students, and a apital, has about [and 5.00°' ^^" ?ort Tovvnsend, ishington, Ains- fille are thriving -No one of the •• has a better i-ritory. Settled [ngland and the lions have more If the population Is? 5, with a pop- ulation estimated at not more than 36,000, there were 94 church organizations, 72 church edifices, 58 clergymen, priests or minis- ters, 2,398 communicants, and 21,465 adherent population, and ciuircli property valued at ;5>i05,7oo. Since 1875 the population of the Territory has more than doubled, and from tiie character of that increase, and the sacrifices it glories in makinif to establish religious institutions at the earliest possible moment, \\v are warranted in believing that the churches and religious denomi- nations have kept pace with the population in their growth. Of these denominations the Methodists, under two or three distinct organizations, are here, as in most of the States and Territories of the West, the most numerous. The census of 1870 recognized only two, viz. : " Methodists" and " United brethren in Christ." It may be, there were no Southern Methodist churclies then, but there were certainly Protestant and probably Primitive Metho- dists there, as well as some Albrights or Evangelical Association Methodists there then and now. Of all these, the present num- ber cannot be less tlian 68 churches, with about 50 church edifices, about 38 nunisters, 3,000 members, and at least 15,000 adherents. Their church property might safely be reckoned at ;5^6o,ooo. The Catholics were next in 1875, and may be now, but at a long in- terval, with possibly 32 congregations, 30 church edifices, and the same number of priests, an adherent population of about 13,000, and church property worth ^35,000. The Baptists and the Chris- tian Connection come next, with at least 35 congregations, per- haps 28 church edifices, and about the same number of ministers, a combined membership of about 1,100, and an adherent popu- lation of over 6,000, and church property worth about $18,000. After these come in their order Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and five or six smaller denominations, the whole having an adherent population in all of perhaps 10,000 or 1 2,000. It is safe to say that five-eighths of the population are nominally, at least, the adherents of some religious denomina- tion. ..•ii.-:* ,. .> If 12IO O^R h'ESTERN EMPIRE. Population and Valuation of Washington Territory in 1878, 1879 and 1880. POPULATION. Counties. Columbia. Chehalis . Clallam . . Clarke . . Cowlitz... Island,. . . iuffcrson . , Lllclcitat . King Kitsap . . , Lewis r,. 1878. 1879. Pacific Pierce San Juan. ... Skar inia. . . . Snc'iomish .. Spokane Stevens Thurston. .. . Wukiakum . . , Walla Walla . Whatcom ... Whitman. . . . , Yakima Total. 50,511 5.820 73a 370 4,288 1.783 6uo '.577 «.99'> 5,543 1,548 1,806 530 1,411 2,801 700 221 1,042 846 2.97" 5,7«« 2,115 3.7«> 1,711 6,894 S.:8 469 4,-94 i,Sio I'n •.4-'7 2,8y8 5, "83 • .799 2.095 560 '.35« 3/J5« 838 495 1,080 1880. 2, 601 3.246 504 6.215 2.33« 5.290 1,912 7.«o3 921 638 5.49^ 2,063 1/.87 1.712 4,037 6,910 '.7J8 2,600 639 '.645 3.319 948 8_.9 4.262 1.245 3.278 i,6uo 8,716 3, '37 7.o'4 2,811 57.784 75,' 20* VALUATION. 1878. ^292,918 00 132,362 00 869,173 OCJ ».52'.4.)4 00 75o,aixj 00 391,570 00 512,035 oti 3,242,804 uo 989,780 46 57**. 3' 3 00 668,81)7 00 364,138 CO 362,380 00 ',736.797 00 154,268 00 117,519 00 382,219 00 j4 1,652 00 1,652,848 00 144,428 50 3,711,010 00 612,202 00 819,142 00 589,585 c» 1879. |(3' 14 ,08 1 00 154,351 00 924,100 00 1,9^8,050 00 968,170 00 372,821 00 468,191 00 '■9'J7,67o 00 '.■^■44,673 00 732,737 OQ 743,571 00 570,331 00 379.258 00 1,619,444 00 182,147 00 143,703 00 390,754 00 484,31.6 00 1,627,184 00 158,6 6 00 2,971,560 00 735,003 00 1,237,189 00 811,932 00 18,930,964 96 I 21,019,832 00 Histoncal Data. — The region about Puget sound was a fa' r»rlte resort of the Indian tribes for centuries. Both the hunting and fishing were such as to render the regular supply of food easy and certain. In 1840 there were 25,000 Indians who claimed Puget sound as their home. The number in the whole Territory is now but a little more than half as many, and the greater part of these are now domiciled along the upper Columbia river. As we have already said under Oregon, the Straits of San Juan de Fuca were first entered by a Greek navigator of that name in the Spanish service, in 1592 ; the coast was revisited in 1775 by Heceta, a Spanish navigator, and in 1787 and 1788 two English captains, Berkeley jiiid Meares, successively entered the straits, and the latter revived the name of the old Greek discoverer. The priority of discovery of the coast and the straits certainly lay with the Spanish. In 1789 an American, Captain Robert Gray, in the sloop "Washington," discovered and entered several of the smaller bays and harbors a!.^ng the coast, both in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca and below; and in 1790 Captain Kendrick, in "ribal Indians not included. HISTORICAL DATA. I2II f9 and 1880. ALUATION. ,2,848 00 , waA 50 1 11,010 00 ' 12,202 00 19,142 00 89,585 "° 1879. «3„4,o8i 00 154.35> 0° 924,100 00 1,948,050 00 968,170 00 372,821 00 468,191 00 1.907.670 «• I,' '44,673 ■» 732,737 °° 743. 57« <» 570,331 00 379,558 0° 1, 6< 9,444 "o iH2,i47 °° 143,703 00 390,754 00 484,3^6 00 1,627,184 00 m8,6 6 00 2,9"7>.56" <» 731; ,003 00 ,,237,189 00 611,932 00 ,30,964 96 1 2ij0^933«_~_ d was a fav Vite he hunting and y of food easy IS who claimed whole Territory be greater part Imbia river. As f San Juan de If that name in [itedin 1775 W ,8 two English red the straits, tscoverer. The jrtainly lay with |ert Gray, in the several of the . the Straits of ,in Kendrick, in the same vessel, passed through the entire length of the Straits of San Juan de Fuca. In 1791 Captain Gray returned to the coast, and discovered and explored and gave his name to Gray's Harbor. It was in this same year also that he discovered and ascended the Columbia river about thirty miles. In 1805 Lewis and Clarke reached and explored the coast from the land side, having crossed the continent for that purpose. Meanwhile the title of the United States to the whole region watered by the Co- lumbia river was further fortified by the setdement of Astoria, at the mouth of that river, by Mr. J. J, Astor, in 181 1, and the tide was perfected as against any European power by the treaty of Florida with Spain in 1819, which expressly ceded to the United States all the rights, claims and pretensions of the King of Spain to any Territory north of the forty-second parallel of north lati- tude. The Hudson's Bay Company attempted to take possession of it between 1825 and 1830, and from 1828 to 1841 it was held in joint occupancy by Great Britain and the United States, with- out prejudice to the title of either. The Ashburton Treaty of 1845 finally setded the right of the United States to the Territory up to the line of 49° north latitude, except at the Straits of San Juan de Fuca and the Gulf of Georgia. It was understood by that treaty that the American tide took to the middle of the chan- nel of those waters ; but as there were several channels and some valuable islands in controversy, the matter was definitely and finally setded by arbitradon in 1873, the Emperor of Germany being arbiter. American setders bogan to come into the Terri- tory in 1845. It was originally a part of Oregon Territory, but was organized as a separate Territory in 1853, and had a severe Indian war in 1855. From 1859 to 1863 it included most of Idaho Territory, but since that time it has had its present bound- aries. Conclusion. — It may be inferred from our sketch of Washing- ton Territory that we regard it as a very desirable region for immigrants who desire to engage in farming, stock-raising, the preparation of timber or lumber for the market, or the packing and exportation of fish. Its mining districts are not yet developed to such an extent as to justify any immigration to them, but for I2I2 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 8 the other pursuits, and for many of the trades, there is certainly no section of "Our Western Empire" which offers greater opportunities for success to an enterprising and energetic man. As to the best route thither there is some room for an honest difference of opinion now, and will be more in a few months. Probably the best plan ncnv is to take passage for San Francisco either by rail or by the Isthmus of Panama. From San Francisco a steamer may be taken for Portland, Oregon, and if by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company's line, and it is desired to go to Eastern Washington Territory the immigrant can pur- chase a through ticket to Walla- Walla, or to any point on the Pend d'Oreille division of the Northern Pacific, or to the termini of the narrow gauge railroads from Ainsworth, Walla-Walla or Wallula. If, on the other hand, his destination is to any point in Western Washington, he should not go on to Portland, Oregon, but land at Kalama some forty miles nearer the mouth of the Columbia river, and take the Northern Pacific thence to Olympia, Tacoma or Wilkeson. If his destination is to W^estern Wash- ington he may, if he chooses, take the Puget sound steamer from San Francisco and land at Bellingham bay, Port Townsend, Seattle, Tacoma or Olympia. These routes are long and some- what wearisome, but safe and without other difficulties. There will soon be two other routes available. The best and most direct will be by way of the Northern Pacific, either from Duluth or Chicago, through Minnesota, Dakota, Montana and Idaho, which will traverse Eastern Washington diagonally from north- east to southwest, cross by one branch (the Cascade Mountain division) from Eastern to Western Washington, and make its terminus at Tacoma on Puget sound, while the Columbia River division will follow the north bank of the Columbia, and sending a branch to Portland.. Oregon, traverse by the Pacific division the greater part of Western Washington. More than one-half of this long route is already completed, and with the ample funds they have at command this company will probably have the whole in operation by the spring of 1883. The other route by the Union Pacific and Utah and Northern, in connection with the Oregonian railway (limited), is not yet fully 'a.-d ou. but > T"'" """'"'"^^ ^^— With .he com^etion nf ;°"' "'■" ""^ *"'> Porlnl n'"^'°"' CHAPTER XXI. —Mountains— P, / ■^'^'^gth and Breadth— f^. MrSSOUR, «v T^Xl ^"'^'^ '^^■^'^ «VTHE BPAR R ^^^'^^'^'^'A "V THE -HE NlOBRAR^rNDpLt ""'" C"^^'^-^'^'^ mro THE J ''^'""'^'^'^•^^-H' OKo..ovANDMr:c;ic:Arr^ «--"M.x?c::::r- ^^' Metals— MiNjNo op p. ^'^^~~P'^TROLEUM-Oor ^ <^ ^^ these- o^E*^ MKNERTron ''°^-^ Metals NOT MUCH Dev^/^" ''^^^•^~«™e^ CL,^UTE-M^T^o^n r'"''"'''"'''"-^' Soil an" v''"'^''^'^^^^ ^^d Stock-ra,s,ng M "' """ ^"^^^^^^-AgCt ^"^""^^^'^^-Zoologv- -vs, ExLST:^'':rr^''^^^ -- M'-'-mLTno p"'""'°^'^^ -- Education- ,, ,2. n ''"''"^-P^^^lation an ' ? ^^^^^^^s-R^il- The Yellowstone V. ^ -Principal T w^s-Onr? ""'""^'^w ^^otes-Earlv SpIn s oc"' "" ^"^"^ '^ S'^-ARr.E Chap:: " ^^^^■^^- AND Spanish BuilZ " ""^'''"^^ «' ^VvoM-Nolo^srv '~""'''°'^'^^^ NATION ^UNNINC B^.r '™"^ ^'^ SMKT-r.p;,,^''"'^^^''^ <^^ AraSTRAS WvoMi^G is one of the centr.1 T • Empire/' both in its nnl '"'^^^'^s of "Our W ''« between the 4,st anrf T'""'"^ "o«h and south of I, and between the ^olth "V *^"' P^'-^''^'^ of north iL' . I2I4 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. ? 1 9 3 the east by Dakota and Nebraska, including in the northeast a considerable portion of the Black Hills region ; on the south by Colorado and Utah ; and on the west by Utah, Idaho and Montana. Its length from east to west is 335 miles, its width from north to south is 276 miles. It is a perfect parallelogram, all its boundaries being astronomico-geographical lines. Its area is 97,883 squares miles, or 62,645,1 20 acres, of which, up to June, 1879, only about one-seventh had been surveyed. Topography. — The main divide of the Rocky Mountains, which, after traversing- Northwestern Montana, turned suddenlv south- westward and formed the southeast boundary of Idaho, separates again into two chains at the Yellowstone park, and enters Wyom- ing from the northwest in two distinct and nearly parallel ranges, the easternmost being known as the Shoshone range, and the westernmost as the Wind River range. Near the forty-third parallel, the Big Horn Mountains, a somewhat lower range from the north-northeast, meets them almost at a right angle, and from this point to the Colorado line both ranges break into a number of mountain groups extending in all directions, and rendering it difficult to define which has the best right to the name of the main range of the Rocky Mountains. Among the groups of this confused mountain mass may be named, beside the Big Horn range already mentioned, the Owl Creek Mountains, aspur of the Shoshone range, the Rattlesnake Mountains, and the Laramie Mountains, still farther east ; the Sweet-Water and the Seminole Mountains, which seem to be continuations of the Wind River range. Near the forty-second paiallel these mountain ranges subside into an elevated plateau from 8,000 to 9,000 feet above the sea, with occasional elevated summits, rising again to higher elevations on either side of the North Park in Colorado. This elevated plateau extends westward and south westward to the foot-hills of the Bear River range on the west, and the Uintah Mountains on the south, both in Utah Territory. In the south- east there are the Medicine Bow Mountains, and some isolated peaks, like Laramie Peak, Iron Mountain, the Red Buttes, etc.; and in the northwest the Heart Mountains and the isolated peaks of the Yellowstone Park. In the northeast, east of the Big Horn W,-^ • '^ 7.401 fepf TL . /^'^dge elevation of Enipire." or of the Unl^ J"^^ °^ Territory of "Onr AV are aJI tributaries tn tu r . creek, and the lolm n . has us sources, and rece ^in: f ^""'' ^^^ '^e Green .Ver -"Inward through North!' :^,:™°'- ^ ^-- affluents flTw; 'ts junction with the r , Colorado and Eastern tt. u Colorado or the wt^""^';'-- ^''h which itfo™" ^'p?° Califor,„-a. In the nonWeS^^^^^^^ »n and Gallatin, two of ",e sol '' ^^''^'y '^'^ «" . There are two lakes of considerable size, Yellowstone and Shoshone, in the Yellowstone National Park, and several of somewhat smaller dimensions, in the southern and central por- tions of the Territory. Geology and Mineralogy. — The crests, and, indeed, the bulk of the mountain masses of all the ranges of the Te»'ritory are eozoic, being composed mainly of red feldspathic granite and syenite and gneiss, while the lower slopes are silurian, forming narrow belts around the higher mountain slopes. To these suc- ceed the more distinctly fossiliferous formations, Devonian, car- boniferous, triassic, Jurassic and cretaceous rocks, succeeding each other in regular order. Between the Big Horn and Wind River Ranges, the plateau is mainly carboniferous, triassic and Jurassic, with a small tract of cretaceous groups in the centre. The elevated plains are mostly cretaceous, but overlaid with ter- tiary sands, gravel and drift, with occasionally extensive deposits of lignite or brown coal. The coal beds along and near the Union Pacific Railway, near Evanston, at Rockspring, from Point of Rocks to Table Rock, at Carbon Station, and, indeed, all along that road, are probably lignite, as they occur in tertiary deposits, but they differ in appearance and quality from the European lig- nites, containing from fifty to seventy-six per cent, of fixed carbon, and are equal to most of the best bituminous coals for all pur- poses of combustion. Some of them are true coking coals. They are used not only on the Union and Central Pacific Railways, but in the villages and towns on the line of those roads between Omaha and San Francisco. Recendy the coal of Utah and Col- orado has come in competition with them, and that of New Mexico will do so. The consumption of Wyoming coal in 1876 was OEoioay MKo mines it.0C V n. '■KALOGY OF n-yoM!xa. 5^4.000 tons anc h, • '■'■"'"' °^ "''■o'"^-o. beds in Sou he"„ W™ '"'' ''"^"^^ '""'^^'^'l- But if th -"'""dance of ^e'S'T^' -« "^nite, there is undoubtd'l """ z: -• - '"«= NoTthVoZ/x:::' •"'^^^r °^ ^>° -if" On C; : tr fj'^'^ --ncer siirr^anrX "'" '" ■"- Mou„tains:;rd^ 7ei™ t r °^ ^"^ '""e sr and at som« ^^i eastern slope of th^ r; /t Seminole /^ ^''"^^^ ^^^es of the United I2l8 OUJi llES'JfiA'N EMriKK. Stales from the first discovery of gold and silver t'- .re to Juno 30, 1880, was but $728,760.33. Doubtless considerable amounts were sent through other States and Tt rritories, and some was not deposited; but even if we allow as much more for these con- tingencies, the amount would be but little more than $125,000 per year. Of other metals and minerals, several ores of iron, particularly, haematite, magnetic oxide, and red oxide of superior quality, occur in immense quantities. The red oxide, at Rawlins' Springs, is used for making a mineral paint of great excellence. Copper and lead are found in paying quantities, but are not as yet de- veloped. Near Laramie City are a cluster of lakes which yield a pure sulphate of soda, many feet in thickness ; and about sixty miles north of Rawlins are two soda lakes, estimated to contain 1 25,000 tons of carbonate of soda of great purity. There are also soda springs near Fort Bridger and at other points in the Territory. Sulpinir deposits and sulphurous springs occur at many points. Wyoming claims that she has tlie finest beds of statuary marble in the United States, twenty-five miles north of Laramie, and easily accessible by way of Cooper Lake Station, on the Union Pacific Railway. Forests, Soil and Vegetation. — The explorations of Professor Hayden and his party, and those of still later surveyors and ex- plorers, justify the estimate that there are not less than 6,000,000 acres of arable lands, and that the grazing lands are not far from 35,000,000 acres. Most of the arable lands require irrigation for successful cultivation, but this is easily obtainable in all the lands fit for cultivation ; and under its influence, even the alkaline and sage brush lands yield bountiful en -s. . u. u<,,.<...,i,,. .\ The grazing lands ar*^ very generally covered with buffalo o rass, and even the desert lands have an abundance of the white sage brush, which, after it is touched with the frost, is preferred by cattle to almost any other food. The mountains are clothed with a thick growth of pine, spruce and hemlock trees, of large size ; the foot-hills have some pine, spruce, aspen, walnut, elm, iish, box-elder, hackberry, ana red cedar of smaller growth, while er t'- :re to JuiU! iderable amounts ,'s, and some was )re for these con- •e than ^i25,cx)o "iron, particularly rior quality, occur wlins' Springs, is ellence. Copper e not as yet de- lakes which yield ; and about sixty imated to contain irity. There are ler points in the r at many points. f statuary marble of Laramie, and on, on the Union ons of Professor urveyors and ex- :ss than 6,000,000 ands are not far require irrigation ainable in all the even the alkaline sred with buffalo lance of the white TOst, is preferred 1 tains are clothed zk trees, of large pen, walnut, elm, Her growth, while I2F9 ^ne river bottoms are ahnn ? , '^" Cottonwood and th lets of n ' '"^^P^'^^' ^'"'^^ ^^o specie, f tracts of alkaline Zf' ^ '''^^'''''' '^'i^ere are cons m P'-ing Hxpeditb^'trT ;'""• '^'- ^ni^d S : :t ^' Z;^'-^ ^95 specie^ ^ , j^'^^^^'* ^^^O'^'-. dcso^^^ ^ »"•*; there are more th;,„\- i '^ '=""56 number of . '^'^ not numerous Tron, " \^' '^'"'"'' °f mollusks r o"" -^ other fresh u.ter"^^^ Z::^T'"! "' '"^ -""' 'in .t I^^ '00- fs about 44° Fahre,rh,-iT In T''"'"'"'''' "^ ""= vvhole Ten-; ,,o ^., ^"^ '^'^een river recrfon ;„ ^k averages 4C0 to 42 . The summers ar^ r^ ., ' " ^^"^ southwest hi. i "t, uay. The niP-hts ir« ^ i J-"* '•" ^03 m the hottP«f * limes intenso th^ • 1 ^ ^^^ ^^oj. The rr,)ri r • ""^-^t ;-erm m the winter i,7'-,7>--d" .s a painV: ,t ^ 25 below zero «i^r. i *"' '"^rcurv fallc r. I220 OU/i IVESJKHiV EMPIRE. and with as much certainty of good crops resulting as in any State or Territory of "Our Western Empire." We give below the iiK'teorology of Cheyenne, which is nearly a fair average of that ot the whole Territory. Meteorology of Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. 1/ ;ili:(K.', 41" 12' north. Longitude, 104° 4a', Elevation above sea, 6,057.25 foot. Datr. Months. .877. •V'ly AtiKO'it ScpleiiibtT (»H >l>t.r \i>venibcr. .. . . . I iQCcmbur 1878. I.vmiary rcliriinry Mar.;li April May .Iiiiic Tolals for year 1878. July August September < )ctobfr November iJucembcr 1879. Jamiary , Vel)niary , .March Av>ril May June Totals for year. Tbmi'bhatiihb. •S .2 70.3 679 56.2 40. u 30.1 38.9 »5-3 30.9 3«-7 43 5 47 9 58.6 44-8 70.3 68.3 5^-4 4» 4 36.7 ao.o »4 3 3'-5 393 56- 3 64.1 u 96 l\ 77 55 64 49 5« I ^" 1 7'i i t;6 96 9a % 7.1 c 8 S 3 a 'c 43 44 -12 •3 35 44 45 »3 4 llAROM- KTKH. 3i \^ S-.i ■2.5 S u u u It!Llie!4. •y >'3'J J'-'i'7.) ■9993 ■9 973 -'9 94a =9953 19.876 .•9 780 aci.868 »9 773 29.907 .(11.025 67 3 56 —12 6j -IS 59 — 6 77 8 iJ 33 30 92 33 45.8 92 -IS 108 "9933 48 30.049 4b 3'-'-'-^4 64 3"02.i 77 29.976 65 29.998 68 29947 75 29.896 65 29.876 09 29957 50 29,925 56 29.947 6) 29.961 107 39.971 Wind*. If II W. w. w. w. N.W. N.W. N.W N.W. N, W. N.W. •3S H N.W. S. N.W. N.W. N.W. N.W. N.W. N.W. W. N.W. N.,N.W.,&W S. w. N.W. 6,621 6,654 7.005 8,970 7.ISS 8,981 7.493 10,024 8,707 4.857 5,288 88,153 Ht/MIDITV. 33 0.9 n •31 < •8 I ■■» I ° * •3 5 inches. 0-43 0.83 3.03 I 99 0.17 0.33 0.08 0.13 1.16 0.19 446 1.71 1347 1-43 3.50 0.75 0.04 0.00 0.19 0.33 0.20 0.44 1.66 1.30 0.07 '-3 '§ 3 Ji S per CI. 8.90 3'-4 36.8 424 61.1 64.9 48.0 521 48.4 5S.9 4H.9 .58-3 579 50.8 52.1 59.2 5 '-4 46.6 55-3 65.9 61.3 52.5 44.2 52.1 41.6 33-4 5«.3 Aj^i'icultural P7'oductions and Stock- Raising. — It is impossible to give any very definite estimates of the amount of agricultural productions of Wyoming Territory, until the census report on tl.at subject is made public. There is very little land in the Ter- ritory which at the present time will produce good crops without ■'rrigation, and the poorest arable lands of the Territory lie along csulting as in any " We give below ' a fair average of ritory. ibove sea, 6,057.25 I'ot't. Humidity. 1 umber of miles Ued by wind. of rainfall ia and decimals. % s ' = s sa -,= Jl 1 1^ Amou inch ^ 5 i s 1 .§ 1 per CI. inches. 6,631 43 4 3'-4 6,398 0.83 7 36,8 1 6.654 3.0a s 42.4 7.005 8,970 1.99 "3 61. 1 0.17 6 64.9 , 7.«5S 0.33 5 48.U j 8.981 o.oB 4 52.1 . 7.493 0.13 7 48.4 10,034 1. 16 7 5».y 8,707 0.19 8 4«-.; 4.857 446 2» 58.3 5,288 > 7« '4 579 , 88.153 >3.47 100 50.8 , • * '■43 52.1 a. 50 59. 2 0.75 .... -''•■4 t 0.U4 . . . . 46,6 0.00 . • • • 55-3 0,19 65.9 0.3a 61.3 0.20 . . . . 53-5 : 0.44 1.66 .... 44.2 • «-3o . .. • 41.6 ! 0.07 33.4 , 8.90 .... S'-3 r. — It is impossible mnt of agricultural census report on tie land in the Ter- good crops without j Territory lie along the route of the Union t- r '-■21 »"d Wind Riv,.r M„ ' • "■ '''"-' ™"<'y^ in .he lil , , ~ 5"fe:; sriv*" =Si":i; ■ v<^ffetables for her own m. k 1 t '" ^"°'''^'^ '"•'■•Ms,,,, , ," "-;^t'eneral market. '"•"'^'^' ""'' ^-V I'"«ibly a sur,:!!:, T:' °"e-l^V:rret.eront'r'^ "''''■" ^-'''•-i.'-?. More ,„ The . k-^ro^erXt i^;;:r rrr °" "-^ -''-• L»uji.s, and improv nrr ^k • '^ *-^uniam, Devon anri ^^^^P by an infusion of the be Tr '"''' "^' ^^^-ny Mexican oi- Lincoln bJood- but. ^'^'''"^' Southdown CoV^m raising Texan .^^ , "'-^'■^' n^ajority content M. T^'^^^^'^' s iKxan steers, wh rJi nh n. -^ ^""tent uiemseJvos w.'^k Mex,ca„ sheep, which wil yi^m '"^''■P-^'"'^-. w"! rear Z "le cattle sent to Chicao^o and Sf r . °°'°°° '^''t-c,, tiie.c , '"•""gin a little more tha^ «, ' ' ^"""^ '^^<"» Wyoniino- „ ol'' H; The „un,ber o wferr'°°°: """ "^*-- "-' ahol , 'f ;-% stock-growers hav^^o e Zfl T'^"^' -'" ---, |^-arep.ba.,._„^„--^J.s,.ss.^^ 1222 OCA' ft^JlSJKAW EMriRR. \ The T(Tritory is li:ss favorable for swinc-brcctang, and there lias not b('en much done in that line. >' •"''''""' '" ■• ' Manufactures and Afininj^. — Manufactures are yet in their in- fancy in the 'iVrritory. In 1870 the products of manufactures were stated in the census as )JiS74,824. In 1877 Mr. Robert K. Straiioin, after careful inquiry, estinialed the amount of products at <;3,9 1 S, 1 20. The lar<;est items wen; machinery, railroad repairing, etc., which amountcrd to ^1,429,420; railroad ties, poles, posts, etc., $455,360; sawed lumber, <^345,ooo; sales of tanned robes, hides and furs, jis295.(X)o; charcoal, ;«;240,ooo; and milled quartz, ;S2i5,ooo; and blacksmithin<^^ 5235,500; in all, about 55^3,200,000 of the }fi3,90O,ooo in manufactures, requiring very little skilled labor. Some branches of manufacture have been largely devel- oped since 1877, and the amount of products is not now probably less than $4, 500.000. Mr. Strahorn estimated the mining pro- duct in 1877 at $2,91 1,000, of which the greater part was coal. There are now some iron mines and petroleum wells, which had not then been discovered or worked, and the mining product, though there has been some falling off in gold, has probably in- creased in all to about $3,500,000. rvtvj.v, i- > j Railways. — The Union Pacific Railway traverses the southern part of this Territory from east to west, having a length of 470 miles in it. There is no other railway in operation in the Terri- tory except five or six miles of the Colorado Central, extending from Cheyenne to Denver. Two or three other railways have been projected, but none of them are yet built. One was pro- posed to the Hlack Hills from the Union Pacific; but if it is ever built, it will probably start from Sidney, Nebraska, and may not . enter Wyoming at all. Another was proposed from Point of Rocks or Green River City to the Yellowstone Park, but this has been forestalled by the construction of the Utah and Northern Railroad, which now proposes to build a branch from Market lake or some other point in that vicinity to Shoshone lake, in the Park, and in that case will not enter Wyoming. Lastly, the Northern Pacific has projected a branch from the point where its Yellowstone Division crosses the Yellowstone river, to follow that river up to Yellowstone lake, in the Park. This road may be built before the close of the present year (iSL-i). J, and there lias /V«/^.//.;/.-.Tho following r.M • '«3 population of Wyon.ln, ^ ^^ ' T' '^^ P-^-''ars of th which anythin.r Jii,,. ^„ "^ " ''vo ami ,sso, the onlv .•> '"^c an cnunuration has been hac|; ^'''' '" ''■"-•'ucJing ,,400 .ribal India., .rr.:"- ~ - '^"^^56.- t'-'-'d-g.. .50 tribal Indian,. 1224 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. 500 of church property. Among these there were 2 Baptist churches, i ordained minister, 50 members, 300 adherent popu- lation, and •^7,000 church property ; the Congregationalists had about the same numbers throughout. There were: 4 Episcopal churches, with 3 church edifices, 2 clergymen, 1 16 communicants, 696 adherent population, and ^12,000 church property. The Methodists had just about the same numbers, but their church property was not estimated at more than ^9,000 ; the Presbyte- rians had almost the same figures, and ^i 2,000 of church property. The Roman Catholics had 3 churches and 10 stations, 2 priests, about 1,000 adherent population, and ;^ 10,000 of church prop- erty. There were two or three of the minor denominations, with one church each. Since 1875 these numbers have materially in- creased, but we cannot give exact figures. Counties. — There are seven counties. The following table gives the names area, populadon and assessed valuation of each: Counties. Albany Carbon Crook Laramie..,. Pease Sweetwater Uintah in a* 10,400 22,080 new 16,800 new 29.532 17,064 95.876 o 00 CO J2 o 4.625 3.43« 239 6,409 637 2,561 2,879 20,788* c o ^ //«/«•/«/ A^,,„ ,,, . «=™'ory and us "- 5v;t£ ="-" -S^^^^^^^^^ "" '■' adventurers of ..'"""^' ^'^-^ probably knn ^"^ ^"'^ ^'^^ contrivance for ^ u- '^^"^ains of an old 9r.. • 1 ' ^ ^'^ discoveries in VV? '" *« ''^me vicinity %? °"'" and f>vn>i^ 1 Jt.i>uit priest anr? ^- • "' ^atner Peter explored much of th^ t ^ niissionarv who ,/ • j - -34. and ;S VXr"-"^" '•" ''"1^^ et^' Captain Brido-er ,.,.. • l , '^™<="ran Fur Comn->„, ^ J.--ation, thatl ?,T '\' ^^'"'-" ''■•'bit ofllofJ" "''• g^vv, and was a 1^^]' ? "'"'" La™™ie Peak itrrK '""'^- '°.ooo feet above de '" "l^''°""^ (Laramie Peak' ^^''"" '° ''a'e :- Vr.,iovv,rov. """'•""-The Canu ct^ov " '" ''""'•■'< L«v,,s ...o s,;, hov-t"7''"^ '----•■ •n.Ew::„:v" ''■•'■""'- '"•D Lower G, vser »r '-""'■' '■'"■ "'H,ch avoids ™ *"' "'•"'■. Fau. a.„ Ca<,o»-:^ ,"; ; 'f ='-r.o.-T„B R„„Ve 7:'""'"" ""' C0M,.AR,:,;i!^,f ™« Ha.„-Pr„,,,3„, ^ ;„ -^:--'- Shapf Com. 7.AKES-THP Y° ! " "■■■"•"•'«• TO Uk,:,: I,,, ,*" "'"'"^'''» State. - ,T3 so"Rc!'!;cr-;:..r"" '■'■■>- ™-'- r;T:,"'-,^'"'-*r-» 1228 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. THE ONLY OTHERS. OF NoTE IN THE WoRLD — CHARACTER OK THE GeYSER Eruption — Old and Recent Geysers — The Ui-pkr Gkyser Uasin — Rev. Edwin Stanley's " Parade of the Geysers " — The (Ieysers not all in Action at once — Lieutenant Barlow on the Fan and Well Geysers— The Grotto — Mr, Norton's Description — Lieutenant Doane on the Grand Geyser — Professor Raymond on the Lower Geyser Basin — The Langs OR Extinct Geysers — Geyserdo.m not Paradise— Dr. Hoyi's De- scription OK the Desolation — The Geysers and Hot Springs of Gm- bon's Fork — Beaver Lake — The Obsidian Cliffs — Mountains of Glass- Review OF the whole — Accessibility of the Park — Irs Future Attrac- tions — Its Quiet and Beautiful Valleys and Glades — Distances wn hin THE Park. Tut Yellowstone National Park is a region about sixty-five miles long by fifty-five miles wide, situated mostly in the northwest corner of Wyoming Territory, but on its north and west sides stretching a few miles into the adjacent Territories of Montana and Idaho. It covers an area of about 3,578 square miles, or 2,298,920 acres, having an extent a little greater than that of the combined States of Rhode Island and Delaware. In this region there are assembled so many grand, sublime and picturesque natural objects, and such a variety of unique and marvellous phenomena, that when an account of some of the most remarkable of these wonders was brought before Congress in the report of the United States Geological Survey, under Professor Hayden, an act was passed by the unanimous vote of both Houses, and approved by the President, March i, 1872, withdrawing from sale and occupancy, and setting apart as a National Park, or perpetual public pleasure ground, for the use and enjoyment of the people, the area above described, with boundaries designed to include the chief wonders of the region, and described as fol- lows : "Commencing at the junction of Gardiner's river with the Yellowstone river, and running east to the meridian passing ten miles to the eastward of the most eastern point of Yellowstone lake ; thence south along said meridian to the parallel of latitude passing ten mlijs south of the most southerly point of Yellowstone lake; thence west along said parallel to the meridian passing fifteen miles west of the most western point of Madison lake ; thence north along said meridian to the latitude of the junction r^ the \ THE Geyser Basin— Rev. is not all in LL Geysers— DANE ON THE R IJ AS IN— The K. Hovr's De- links OF Gni- NS OF Glass — TUKE ATTRAC- iTANt:ES WITHIN Hit sixty-five he northwest id west sides ; of Montana are miles, or an that of the hi this region 1 picturesque id marvellous 1st remarkable the report of sor Hayden, Houses, and rawing from nal Park, or njoyment ot ries designed ribed as fol- Iver with the passing ten Yellowstone |lel of latitude Yellowstone lassing fifteen [lake; thence ction rf the BOUNDARIES FIXED BY CONGRESS. 1229 Yellowstone and Gardiner's rivers ; thence east to the place of beginning." The region, thus bounded, stretches a few miles east of the me- ridian of 1 10°, and about as far west of the meridian of 1 1 1" west longitude from Greenwich, and a few miles north of the paralk;l of 45°, and not quite so far south as 44° north latitude. These boundaries show at once that this National Park is not like the parks of Colorado, which are strictly natural divisions of land, being great areas, level or slightly undulating, enclosed by a rim of lofty mountains, whereas the boundaries of the National Park are purely artificial, merely referring to certain natural objects for their location. ' ' ' . " Situated," says Professor William I. Marshall, who has made this great wonderland a special subject of study, "along the hif *iest part of that great culminating area of North America which has been aptly termed 'The Crown of the Continent,' and from which pour down to the Gulf of Mexico on the southeast, to the Gulf of California on the southwest, and to the open Pa- cific on the northwest, the mightiest rivers of both coasts of the continent, the Park embraces within its boundaries, on the west side of the main range of the Rocky Mountains, the country about some of the headwaters of the Lewis or Snake river, the great southerly fork of the Oregon or Columbia, the greatest river of the Pacific slope, which no longer " ' Hears no sound Save its own dashings,' . ♦ since the steamer's wheels now vex its waters, the hum of varied industry rises from its fertile valleys, and the roar of the railroad startles the echoes along its dales. Most of the Park, however, is on the east side of the main range, and embraces the country about the headwaters of the Madison and Gallatin rivers, which are the middle and eastern of the three streams which unite to form the Missouri river, and much of the upper valley, though not the extreme headwaters of the Yellowstone river, which is a stream as long as the Rhine or the Ohio, far surpasses them in the sublimity of its scenery, and is the greatest tributary of the upper part of the Missouri river.. 1230 OUR WliSTf-KI^ EMPIRE, 3 " Being a volcanic region, the Park (except a little of the north- east corner of it, where silver mines exis'') is valueless for mining purposes, except for sulphur, and as that exists in unlimited quan- tities at points nearer the main line of the Union Pacific, notably at a point forty miles southeast of Evanston, the extra freight on it will make the Park deposit economically valueless. As the lowest valleys of the Park are more than 6,ooo and most of them ' from 7,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea, its altitude and latitude make it worthless for farming purposes, there being few nights without frosts. Though not adapted for a permanent residence of any considerable population, the Park, with its opportunities for sailing, and rowing, and fishing, and hunting, with the grandest of mountains within it and upon its borders, and the purest of air ever sweeping over it, and with the inducements to open air life and exertl.:** offered by its unique and enchanting scenery, is pre- eminendy fitted for a public pleasure ground, from June to Oc- tober, and especially from about the first of August to the middle of October. Tiiough a volcanic region, there is nowhere in the Park any opening from which flame, smoke, ashes or lava issues now, or, as far as known, has issued for ages past, the only mani- festations of the volcanic forces now being limited to eruptions of steam and hot water ; though almost everywhere in the Park, and outside its boundaries in many directions, are vast beds and streams of ancient lava, showing how terrific was the former in- tensity of the volcanic forces, whose declining activity now only sufiices to produce steam and spout boiling water, instead, as anciently, of melting down into indistinguishable ruin the ada- mantine framework of the continent, and spreading it, as a foam- ing torrent o( fiery devastation, over the surface of mountains and plains for an area of scores of thousands of square miles." The Park is not readily accessible from Wyoming; on its east- ern side the Wind River Range presents an impassable barrier of lofty walls of rock, through which none of the exploring parti' ; have ever been able to find a practicable pass even for pack animals; on the southern side a stage road extends from Green River City to Camp Brown, a distance of 155 miles; thence a tolerable wagon road exists to the head of Wind river, a distance A ttleof thenorth- eless for mining unlimited quan- Pacific, notably extra freight on leless. As the id most of them ' le and latitude iing few nights inent residence s opportunities th the grandest le purest of air to open air life scenery, is pre- n June to Oc- t to the middle lowhere in the or lava issues the only mani- I to eruptions •e in the Park, vast beds and the former in- ivity now only er, instead, as ruin the ada- it, as a foam- of mountains lare miles." i: ; on its east- ssable barrier loring partir ; vcn for pack 5 from Green les ; thence a er, a distance 1AI...S OK ril,.; VKL,,,w.sToM,. (r ^^ llowstone). ^3 39 s APPKCAC/iES TO Tllii IWRK. 1231 of 1 10 miles more; but from thence to Yellowstone lake, a dis- tance of fifty miles, is a difficult trail, which can be traversed only on foot with pack animals and with consitlerable dan^^er. On the west side, by way of the Utah and Northern Railway, from Oy^den, Utah, stopping; at Pleasant Valley, there is a wagon road by way of Red Rock and Henry lakes, which reaches the Uppcu" Geyser basin by about sixty-five miles travel. A still better route is that by the Utah and Northern Railway to the vicinity of Bozeman, Montana, from thence a wagon road by way of Boteler's Ranche, only about thirteen miles distant from the Park, with a good wagon road to Gardiner's river and the mammoth Hot Springs. Before the close of the present year (1881), the Northern Pacific Railway will undoubtcdly.be completed to Fort Ellis or beyond, and probably its branch to the Park, so that this great wonderland will then be for the first time easily accessible by the shortest and swiftest route. It should be said that that portion of the Park lying cast of the Yellowstone river and lake is so rough and mountainous and possesses so few attractions, that it is not often visited. The lofty mountain chain which extends from tiie southeastern arm of Yellowstone lake to Slough creek and the Tower creek falls of the Yellowstone, has but a single and very difficult pass over it. ■ The elevated plateau enclosed between this mountain range and the Yellowstone lake and river affords a fine pasture-ground for the elk, black buffalo, deer, bighorns and moose, which, on the other side of the Park, are so ruthlessly slaughtered by wanton tourists, and after being deprived of their skins, anders, or horns, and tongues, are left to be the prey of wolves, panthers and coyotes. Amid these lofty pasture-grounds specimens at least of our great game animals might be kept, hi the extreme north- east corner of the Park, on Clark's fork of the Yellowstone, are some mines of gold and perhaps silver, which might better be ceded to the miners Uian suffered to encroach on the Park. The attractive features of the Park are all on the west side of the Yellowstone river, and west of the east or southeast shores of the Yellowstone lake. Approaching the Park from the north, from 5 39 3 1232 Of^li WKSTEKN EMPIRR. . Bozeman ami Hotcler's Raiichc, the road passes first alonjr what is called outside the Park the U()per Carton of the Yellowstone, a narrow passag(r of that river between perpendicular, rocky walls, from 2,000. to 3,000 feet in height. This extends for about three miles. Ten miles farther on. Cinnabar Mountain, so called from its surface of brilliant red clay (I he color being *\\\i\ how- ever, to red ochre and not to rinnabarV is passed, with its im- mense •' Devil's Slide," a huge stone trough, which extends to its summit, with smooth, dark, nearly vertical parallel walls, thirty feet apart and 200 feet in height. A short distance beyond this we enter the Park, passing between Sepulchre Mountain, the northern terminal mountain of the Upper Madison Range, on the right hand, looking south, and the cafion of Gardiner's river, an affluent of the Yellowstone, which here has a course nearly west by south, through deeply worn banks. Shortly after leaving Sepulchre Mountain we come to a terraced hill, quite steep and of various colors, in which are situated the Mammoth Hot Springs, whose wonderful forms and character we will allow an eye-w ss to describe presently. Crossing at the foot of these terraces the Gardiner river at the point where its canon com- mences, we ride along by the side of a succession of cascades of one of its eastern afiluents, and striking due east, at a distance of twenty miles, reach Barronette's bridge over the Yellowstone, and a litde above, just where the Yellowstone emerges from its Grand Canon, Tower creek comes in from the west, plunging down 156 feet, and within the next two hundred yards by a suc- cession of rapids leaping into a dark and dismal gorge, 260 feet in depth. Basaltic tufa cones and columns, in the form of towers, turrets, pinnat les and cathedrals, in the vicinity of the falls, have suggested its name. At these falls the Grand Canon of the Yellow- stone, twenty miles in length, and one of the great wonders of the Park, terminates. Southward from the Tower falls commences Uk; long, rolling, and somewhat difficult ascent to Mount Washburn, the Pisgah of the Park, from the summit of which can be seen, in near or distant view, all its glories. Descending from the moun- tain, the trail takes us again to the Yellowstone and to the great falls which precede its plunge into the Great Canon. Reserving \ first alonji^ what he Yfllowstonc, L'ndicular, rocky xtends for about Lintain, so calletl beln^ tliin, how- led, with its ini- ;h extends to its llel walls, thirty ice beyond this : Mountain, the ison Range, on lardiner's river, I course nearly tly after leaving quite steep and Mammoth Hot ^e will allow an le foot of these its canon com- of cascades of >t, at a distance le Yellowstone, nerges from its west, plunging prds by a suc- 2^0 rge, 260 feet form of towers, f the falls, have 1 of the Yellow- wonders of the commences th(; Lint Washburn, can be seen, in rom the moun- id to the great n. Reserving a « beautiful Vellowr„; Hkr-:;'r'' ""-• -"hern extrn^ tv «one river leaves it. Tl,t it M '' '*''"' "■'"•■■« "'<-' Vel o fc« above tl,e sea, is twen ■ tl •'"''■''" "^ "W^'' '^ m a^out ft „,„, .„ ,,,7- " -- .n its greatest ^.^J^. .00 m,les fron, its very irretrular o „, T "" °' "'""= """ "-l--'"'!^ n ,t, and its |„.au,y fs ,„o ZZ r ,"" '"'" =* "'""l>er „f I'rehend its loveliness several 2 , ^"J '''''"h^ior,. To com on ..s borders. LVo, .1,17" ^'j;,,::"'! ''=.»Pent in campi, ^ he one .oing. nearly south na,t Ih 7-^ ^' "'""^'- of two trails" ''■■ke. on the oast side of the ^ l • ,"'^'f" "^ "■■= Yollowsto e and across a spur of that Jk • « ^~'; "^"f "'e Rooky Mountains „':;"' «"-'<'-. where ther r od, '^'"■' ''''''■ « "'« foot^ f here are more g-o)sers and a lake r! r '^''o^''""« lake, where Wstone. and thence northward! a I'ffi i' '"'^''"'^ "■■-"■ "'e Yel Mountains to the Upper Gev '. '^™'' P'-"^^ over the Rook • nver. from which no nt ,<,^^' '''''""■ on the Upper M^V -;>e Midway Sp/inTand^I^roCG ""'' L'"<^ ^^^ -^^^^^ Hole nver. Or, we may „„ frolf? ^^''^'' ''■'"'"'■ on the Fire lake by a shorter though dffiouTt ''V"?""'^ °" '"'« Vellowstone Geyser basin, without visi n; "V ""^ "'^»' '° "- ^ From th,s Upper Geyser bislV "'"' "-' Shoshone lakes -e s.,i,^.„ .,,^ M,tlw y'^:;'-- y*eNorrisroad,t:: : f:"" Hole river, the Gfbbon'f^re H r!" """y^'^ ^--". - tlie Howard road, the fall, -,„ j^ ' "°'"= ''^'^'n and o-cysers on ™ent Geyser basin, t^^':::^^''^"'^-^ fork.%t Mo^ '••"'craters of spent vnloanoe d^ ''"^.""''^ ^^^ins, of ^eyse , and Beaver lakes, the ObsH an t" ''"""'^''""e forn,ation of C ™d of ^lass over then, a , so T ^""^ ^'^^^ ^''^^' -d *» N>nngsatthe entrance to the Pa"k '° "'^ ^^"""o*" Hot T234 ^^'^ lynsTEKX i:a/p/ke. . Wc have purposely avoided in this mere itinerary any descrip- tion of these wonders, that wc mij^dit do them better justice in the vivid portrayal of eye-witnesses. The tour of the Park thus described covers 164 miles, and cannot well be gone over in less than twelve days. Turning now to these various points of interest, let us go over them in detail, using the descriptions of those who have; studied them most thoroughly, and been most deeply impressed with their grandeur and beauty. • Let us begin with a description of the Mammoth Hot Springs of Gardiner river, from the facile and skilful pen of Robert K. Strahorn, Esq. : " The first impression of these Springs which tile beholder receives is that of a snowy mountain beauti- fully terraced, with projections extending out in various direc- tions, resembling frozen cascades, as though the high, foam-crested waves, in their rapid descent over the steep and rugged declivity, were suddenly arrested and congealed on the spot in all their native beauty. There are fifty or sixty of these springs of greater and smaller dimensions, extending over an area of about a mile square ; though there are remains of springs of the same kind for miles around, and mountains of the same deposit, overgrown with pine trees, perhaps hundreds of years old. Most of the water is at boiling heat, and contains in solution a great amount of lime, sulphur and magnesia, with some soda, alumina and other sub- stances, which are slowly deposited in every conceivable form and shape as the water Hows along in its course down the moun- tain side. "On each level, or terrace, there is a large central spring, which is usually surrounded by a basin of several feet in diameter, and the water, after leaving the main basin at different portions of the c]clicately- wrought rim, flows down the declivity, step by step, forming hundreds of basins and reservoirs of every size and depth, from a few inches to six or eight feet in diameter, and from one inch to several feet in depth, their margins beautifully scalloped with a finish resembling bead-work of exquisite beauty. Underneath the sides of many of the basins are beautifully ar- ranged stalactites, formed by the dripping of the water ; and, by \ iny descrip- r justice in ic Tark thus over in less !t us go over havt' studied pressed with immoth Hot kilful pen of these Springs untain beauti- various direc- ), foam-crested ggcd declivity, ,ot in all their ings of greater )f about a mile : same kind for wergrown with of the water is nount of lime, nd other sub- iceivable form [own the moun- kl spring, which I diameter, and portions of the , step by step, -very size and diameter, and kins beautifully kquisite beauty. ; beautifully ar- ^ater ; and, by MAM.\tOril IfOT SPRrXGS~K. E. ST/^.U/OAW.'! DllSCK/moX. 1235 digging beneath the surface at places where the springs are in- active, the most delicate and charming specimens of every char- acter and form can be obtained — stalactites, stalagmites, j^^rottos, etc., all delicately arranged as the water filtrates through the crevices and perforations of the deposit. It is a scene sublime in itself, to see the entire area, with its numerous and terraced reservoirs, and millions of delicate litth; urns, sparkling with water transparent as glass, and tinged with many varieties of coloring, all glistening under the j^lare of a noonday sun. " The largest si)ring now .ictive, situated about half way up the mountain on the outer edge of the main terrace, has a basin aliout twenty-five by forty feet in diameter, in the centre of which the water boils up several inches above the surface, and is so trans- parent that you can, by approaching the margin, look ilown into the heated depths many ft:et below the surface. The sides of the cavern are ornamented with a coral-like formation of almost every variety of shade, with a fine, silky substance, much like moss, of a bright vegetable green spread over it thinly, which, with the slight ebullition of the water keeping it in constant motion, and the blue sky reflected in the transparent depths, j^nves it an en- chanting beauty far beyond the skill of the finest artist. Here all die hues of the rainbow are seen and arranged so gorgeously that, with other strange views by which one is surrounded, you almost imagine yourself in some fairy region, the wonders of which baffle all attempts of pen or pencil to portray them. "Besides the elegant sculpturing of this deposit, imagine, if you can, the wonderful variety of delicate and artistically arranged colors with which it is adorned. The mineral-charged fluid lays down pavements here and there of all the shades of red, from bright scarlet to rose tint, beautiful layers of bright sulphur-yellow, interspersed with tints of green, all elaborately arranged in Na- ture's own order. "At the foot of the mountain are several springs whose waters have effected remarkable cures in cases of chronic rheumatism, eruptive diseases, etc. The medicinal properties of each fountain seem to be different, and the invalid can find which are best adapted to his or her own case." xl 1236 ^''^' IV E STERN EMPIRE. On leaving the Hot Springs to make the circuit of the Park, the favorite course is that leadinof eastward to die Yellowstone Canon. The route passes up Gardiner's river, with its three falls, through a pleasant country, twenty-two miles, to Tower creek, a rapid, snow-fed brook, twelve or fifteen feet wide, and one or two feet deep, which here joins the Yellowstone. Tower creek rises in the high divide between the valleys of the Missouri and Yellowstone, and flows for about ten miles through a canon so deep and gloomy that it has earned the appellation of the " Devil's Den." About two hundred yards above its entrance into the Yellowstone, the stream pours over an abrupt descent of 156 feet, forming one of the most beautiful falls to be found in any country. These falls are about 260 feet above the level of the Yellowstone at the junction, and are surrounded with columns of volcanic breccia, rising fifty feet above the falls, and extending down to the foot, standing like gloomy sentinels, or like gigantic pillars, at the entrance of some grand temple. Of these columns the late Hon. N. P. Langford, the first superintendent and his- torian of the Park, said: " Some resemble towers, others the spires of churches, and others still shoot up as little and slender as the minarets of a mosque. Some of the loftiest of these forma- tions, standing upon the very brink of the fall, are accessible to an expert. and adventurous climber. The [H>sition attained on one of these narrow summits, amid the uproar of waters, and at a height of 260 feet above the boiling chasm, as the writer can affirm, requires a steady head and strong nerves ; yet the view which rewards the temerity of the t xploit is full of compensa- tions." Below the fall the stream descends in numerous rapids with frightful velocity, through a gloomy gorge, to its union with the Yellowstone. Its bed is filled with enormous boulders, against which the rushing waters break with great fury. Many of the capricious formations wrought from the shale excite mer- riment as well as wonder. Of this kind, especially, is a huge mass, i'xty feet in height, which, from its supposed resemblance to the proverbial foot of his Satanic Majesty, is called the "Devil's Hoof." The scenery of mountain, rock and forest surrounding die falls is very beautiful. The name of "Tower Falls" was, ot rotrex ckkek f,,jL^ ,,„,. course . , "■'-^-'■'""■■■'0,1, ^,vv> oo,,A'E. course, sug-gestcd by some of .h "^^ "- -enery. The sides 7Z 0^,^"'' '""^'"■'="°- '-'"« of w.th variously tinted moss.J „ot 1 H ^^^ '"'" ^"-"^ ''■- -e from the cataract: ^^2:^^jT^f^'^-^^^^ '^-u'^T.iuis;; rhir lo":::;;:::;,^"-- •■-- be „,ore c,>a.teiy of overshadowing rocks a, w vota t ? "™^ '" '"'' ^'"" '■.^'" ^w nuM„u,r, unheard at the dZ. , ""^ ^''"^'■' '"'»'>'^'J '" a Tl.ousa„ds n,i,du pass by ^^u^ V '"^ '"'"^-^ V-dJ ^-'«ence ; but ouce seen' it pa" es f .T'"""'' "°' ''^^-™ "f its "'eyries.; f^^^^^ to the hst of „,o.st pleasant cliff a'^-rt;:;!:::;,':;;:;:':^!^';^'-'' '■■•on, an easi,y ascended cl.a.u,n,, can be obtained by a'lkin'™;'^"' '""' '^ =™P'y -- lower creek, .,oo yard, and f, I ^ ''°"" '° ""= ">"uth of -utifu, gateway, t^, tl>:;'r foot'""^::!,: VT"' "'™"^"> '^ &"s IS a finely sheltered „icf,„. "'''■'^'' J'^"-''^ above the water abundant. ' '"=""<=»q"<= camp, with grass, wood and routes, on°h^[n""''XZ\!f" "' ''^'" ^ '=''°''^'= between two ■•'■;-. and overlookingthe Grrrr-'^'r "' ""^ ^^"^^^ other ascending by a^on. a ,d ' ?""" '"-^"'y '"■•'«• the »lope of Mount Washburn," o'sH'T"" "'"'^ "'^ "°«hern ^-'""t all the points of inte^^'t ;1 t '^p'V'" ^^"' f™'" »'''°- w.th a good field-glass in thed,, „nd', "'" "" '"^-^-'^ Most v,s,tors prefer this ascent firs Ts ^^''^Pf^"' -'™"er air. Prehenstve idea of the n.agnificence ^T f'^;?''',""='" ^ "^ore com- ti>e.r exan,ple, in imasjinado a! t! / ', '^'^- ^V<= "i" follow land Hoyt, D. D.. of M "kl ' ^"'' '^''" ^"o-" Rev VVav 'General Miles^.^rt , tts '^t uti^ f^- '"' "> '« «t Let us take our stand for a I ttle ° '""'^ ^"■^'■°" ^ * burn. Its rounded crest is more tln„' " 7°" ^'™'" «'^'^''- ":;r^; IZ '-°°° '^^•«' ^^ove the level s < S3 33 < 3 1238 O^'^' WESTERN EMPIRE. of the sea, and perliaps 5,000 feet above the level of the valley out of which it springs. Its smooth slopes are easy of ascent. You need not dismount from your horse to gain its summit. Standing there you look down upon the whole grand panorama, as does that eagle yonder, holding himself aloft upon almost mo- tionless wincfs. I doubt if there is another view at once so ma- jestic and so beautiful in the whole world. Your vision darts through the spaces for 1 50 miles on some sides. You are stand- ing upon a mountain lifting itself out of a vast saucer-shaped depression. Away yonder, where the sky seems to meet the earth, on every side, around the whole circumference of your sight, are lines and ranges of snow-capped peaks shutting your glances in. Yonder shoots upward the serrated peak of Pilot Mountain, in the Clark's Fork Range. Joined to that, sweep on around you, in the dini distance, the snowy lines of the Madison Range. Yonder join hands with these the Stinking Water Moun- tains, and so on and on and around. Do you see that sharp, pinnacle-pointed mountain, away off at the southwest, shining, in its garments of white, against the blue of the summer sky ? — that is Mount Everts, named after the poor lost wanderer, who for thirty-seven days of deadly peril and starvation sought a way of escape from these frowning mountain barriers, which shut him in so remorselessly, and it marks the divide of the continent. " Take now a closer view for a moment. Mark the lower hills, folded in their thick draperies of pine and spruce like dark green velvet, of the softest and the deepest ; notice, too, those beautiful park-like spaces, where the trees refuse to grow, and wliere the prairie spreads its smooth sward freely toward the sun- , light. And — those spots of steam, breaking into the vision every now and then, and lloating off like the whitest ck^uds that ever graced the summer sky — those are the signals of the geysers at their strange duty, yonder in the geyser basins, thirty miles away. And — those bits of silver, flashing hither and thither on the hill- sides amid the dense green of the forests — these are waterfalls and framnents of ice-glaciers, which for ao^es have been at ihcir duty of sculpturing these mountains, and have not yet completed it. And — that lovely deep blue sheet of water, of such a dainty e valley ascent, summit, norama, lost mo- 2 so ma- on darts ■e stand- r-shaped neet the of your ing your : of Pilot at, sweep Madison ?r Moun- ,at sharp, hining, in iy ? — that •, who for a way of shut him inent. he lower like dark lO, those row, and the sun- )n every Ihat ever Lysers at |es away, the h\\\- kterfalls at ///tv> |m pie ted dainty APPRO ACII TO rilE GREAT FALLS AND GRAND CAl^ON. 1235 shape, running its arms out toward the hills, and bearing on i; ; serene bosom emeralds of islands — that is the sweetest sheet of water in the world — that is the Yellowstone lake. And — that exquisite broad sheen of silver, winding through- the green of the trees and the brown of the prairie — that is the Yellowstone river, starting on its wonderful journey to the Missouri, and thence downward to the gulf, between six and seven thousand miles away. But, nearer to us, almost at our feet, as we trace this broad line of silver, the eye encounters a frightful chasm, as if the earth had suddenly sunk away, and into its gloomy depths the brightness and beauty of the shining river leaps, and is thenceforward lost altogether to the view — that is the tremendous canon or gorge of the Yellowstone." Contrary to the Latin adage, "Facilis descensus Avcrnu' th(; descent from Mount Washburn to the Grand Caiion of the Yellowstone is one of considerable difficulty by the old trail ; but by a new one traced by Mr. P. W. Norris, the present superin- tendent of the Park, it is much easier. The old trail, more than twenty miles in length, followed the Washburn Range at a considerable distance from the rivef, through tancrled forest and along rocky and precipitous passes, to the upper and lower falls of the Yellowstone, just where Cascade creek discharges its waters into the river. This is above the Grand Canon, or, rather, at the point where it commences; for these two falls, the upper of about 150 feet, and the lower of 350 feet, with the rapids which follow, constitute a part of the tremendous depth to which the Grand Canon sinks, and which it maintains to the point of emer- gence at Tower creek falls, twenty miles below. At one or two points near its lower terminus daring and adventurous spirits have reached the floor of the canon, but have found it extremely perilous and difficult to clamber out of it; they describe it as having its full share of disagreeable sounds, sights and smells, from the groat number of hot springs of sulphur, sulphate of cop- per, alum, etc. The water is warm and impregnated with a vil- lanous taste of ai un and sulphur, and along the dark margin of the river are numerous chemical and corrosive sprinpis, some depositing craters of calcareous rock, and some casting up vol- < 1:3 u J 240 EMPIRE. umes of mud or rn'^H^ potier^ TBie greater part of the Grand Canon, however, aivJ elJMaaally its jipper two-thirds, had always been regarded as eiifinrly ir»a>v:essli J*^. till the summer of 1878, wlien Messrs. Hoyt an<^ Rou.s< , // Cic\ eland, Ohio, succeeded at tlie imminent peril of tfjeir liv( , n descending to it, a little below th« Great falls. They d6:i-rribe it as fearfully gloomy and uncanny. Rev. Dr. Hoyt and his party i(nyV. the old trail and approached the river at the mouth of Cascade creek, between the upper and lower or Great falls, at the point where they could look down into the Grand Canon at the place of its greatest magnificence, and of the many descriptions of this great wonder of the world, that which he has given may justly be esteemed the most graphic and beautiful. It is as follows: "Well, we have reached Cascade creek at last; and a beautiful g;rov(e o-f trc>",s, beneath whose shade sparkles a clear stream, whos^ waters are free from the nauseous taste of alkali, furnishes a (Ui^U0it(i}\ place i-n whicli to camp. Now — dismounting and seeing- fV«*t y<'/ur hof^^^. is well cared for, while the men are un- loiSbdve^ tlfvf j[>atk-mules and pitching the tents — walk up that trail, v/wfl/lin-c^' '*>p that hillside ; follow II for a little among the solemn pin' - ncf tJlvn pass out fron» the tree-shadows, and take your stan«i of the most stupendous scenes in N*ture— ^niE lower falls and the awful canon of ■ TK E Y F, LLOWST<' /N K . "And n//w, where shall I begin, and how shall I, in any wise, descfily this tr/'mendous sight — its overpowering grandeur, and at the sarn" tim^' i^*, inexpressible beauty? "}/f(fk yOfKW— tho^ are the lower falls of the Yellowstone. They afA n'/f the grandest in the world, but there are ivone more beautiful. 7 Vt'- is not the breadth and dash of Niagara, nor is there the enormous depth of leap of some of the "aterfali.s of the Yosemitf. But here is majesty of its own kind, and beauty, too. On either side are vast pinnacles of sculptured rock. There, where the rock opens for the river, its waters are compro cd fn ; a width of 200 feet, between the upper and KEV. DR. IfOYT'S DLSCRIPTION OF THE GRAND CAi^ON. 1 241 le Grand d always of 1878, ucceeded it, a little y gloomy \ trail and , between they could 3 greatest at wonder esteemed \ beautiful ar stream, i, furnishes mting and ;n are un- Ik up that mong the , and take eanwhile, ircly grow itupcmloua CANON OF any wise, ideur, and |llowst»MU'. lone more [ira, nor Is 'aterlalis Ikind, and iculptured ,'aters are ipp(M- and lower falls, to 1 50 where it takes the plunge. The shelf of rock over which it leaps is absolutely level. The water seems to wait a moment on its verge; then it passes with a single bound of 350 feet into the gorge below, ii is a sheer, unbroken, compact, shininsf mass of silver foam. " But your eyes are all the time distracted from the fall itself, great and beautiful as it is, to its marvellous setting — to tiie sur- prising, overmastering canon into which the river leaps, and through which it flows, dwindling to but a foamy ribbon there in its appalling depths. "As you cling here to this jutting rock, the falls are already many hundred feet below you. The falls unroll their whiteness down amid the canon glooms. Hold firmly on, and peer over the rock to which you cling and gaze down : that apparently narrow stream is the large river flowing nearly 2,000 feet below you ; it is sheer that distance ; these rocky sides are almost per- pendicular — indeed in many places the boiling springs have gouged them out so as to leave overhanging cliffs and tables at the top. Take a stone and throw it over — you must wait long before you hear it st^ik(^ Nothing more awful have I ever seen than the yawning of tha; ■ hasm. And the stillness, solemn as midnight, profound as d(;ath ! The water dashing there as in a kind of agonv against those rocks, you cannot hear. The mighty distance lays the finger ol its silence on its white lips. You are oppressed with a sense of danger. It is as though the vastness would soon force you from the rock to which you cling. Tlic silence, the sheer depth, the gloom burden you. It is a relief to feel the firm earth beneath your feet again, as you carefully crawl back from your perching place. " But this is not all, nor is d^e half yet told. As soon as you can stand it, go out on thai jutting rook again, and mark the sculpturingsof God upon those vast and solemn walls. By dash of wind and wave, by forces of the frost, by file of snow plunge and glacier and mountain torrent, by the hot breath of boiling springs, those walls ha^e been cut into the most various and surprising shapes. I have seen the middle age castles along the Rhine ; there, those casUcs are reproduced exacdy. I have seen 1242 OUR IVESTEKN^ EMPIRE. w i the soaring summits of the great cathedral spires, in the coimtry beyond the sea ; there they stand in prototype, only loftier and sublimer. "And then, of course and almost beyond all else, you are fasci- nated by the magnificence and utter opulence of color. Those are not simply gray and hoary depths and reaches, and domes and pinnacles of sullen rock. The whole gorge flames. It Is as though rainbows had fallen out of the sky and hung themselves there like glorious banners. The underlying color is the clearest yellow ; this Hushes onward into orange. Down at the base the deepest mosses unroll their draperies of the most vivid green ; browns, sweet and soft, do their blending ; white rocks stand spectral ; turrets of rock shoot up as crimson as though they were drenched through with blood. It is a wilderness of color. It is impossible that even the pencil of an artist tell it. What you would call, accustomed to the softer tints of nature, a great exaggeration, would be the utmost tameness compared with the reality. It is as though the most glorious sunset you ever saw had been caught and held upon that resplendent, awful gorge ! "Through nearly all the hours of that afternoon, until the sun- set shadows came, and afterwards amid the moonbeams, I waited there, clinging to that rock, jutting out into that overpowering, gorgeous chasm. I was appalled and fascinated, afraid and yet compelled to cling there. It was an epoch in my life." But we must hasten forward. The trail above the upper falls follows closely the right or west bank of the Yellowstone to the Yellowstone lake, a distance of eighteen or nineteen miles. On the way Sulphur Mountain is passed on the right, and the Sulphur Hills on the left, east of the river, though neither of them are more sulphurous than many other hills and mounds in the Park. Eleven miles from the Great Falls Is the Mud Volcano, an interestin- " he other two." The shore li„e ' f I, , '^'" °^ ^""-""on in '" '«»gth; its superficial area t 1 ? ''"^^ '^ °^^'^ 3oo miles greatest depth, by a series of r ?"'''>' 5°° ^<]"are miles ll has been ascertained to be , 7SS f! !' ''^ '"'^''^'ed observations e.nhus,asticaliy declares that ■ onlv f ' , ^y"''"' ^^^i-n erv «o great an elevation in " ,^ f", '^'^'^^ ^-^^ '^"°-n 'o ha,^ "a">ely Lakes Titicaca, inT4 "n'! ,*''' "°*'' "P '° this Z^ respecfvely ,,,874 ,„j .i^^feet ^ ''°""'='. "■I.ich are Lakes Manasasarovvafc nnd p , "''"'''^ "'e sea-level • n. ? which lie at the great itvdof^t'^'l' '" '"'"'«• Asia oth";' --::t~nf^?--:e-S"^ ^"?-S,s^^dr'?^'Srt:^Sr f;30t feet. Both these are in the P t '"'' ^''*'^°" ^^^ Yel owstone lake, they are emit j f^f ' '"f """'«'' waller than we find ,„ .. Whitney's Survey of r^ f ""'' ''''^"- "oreo^r "ons assigned to some of the h e f1°" *^ f°"°'"'"? eleva- Ch>caso lakes, ,,,500 fee g '^'' °^ "'^' ™°"ntaino„s S a e feet; MaryorSantaMaril o?, 7' '°'°°° ''«'•• Grand s'o l>v,„ lakes, ,,3„ f,,,^ ^^ C i ovtr^o'^r'^''^""^"' ^'^^^-^ S'f-^' feet. Lake Carpenter in t ° R- ^■°°° '^="' ^"d Osborn's - ..ooo feet. '"• '" "'<^ B'ghorn Mountains, is about' We might enumerate some ofi, , -e none of them as larC as VeM "' "'"^ ™'' -"«-• They ^"fficent size to be properly J '''°"'-' '^'^^' '^OLgh a | of P°P"'ar notion, .hich'^is S t,:™:^ ,S; "^ "^^ " me descriptions of 1244 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. V < P! i w Yellowstone National Park, may as well be corrected in this place: the Yellowstone lake is in no sense the source of the Yel- lowstone river. That river rises by two forks at least forty-five or fifty miles southeast of the Yellowstone lake, one aflluent having its source in a small lake in the Shoshone Mountains, presumably higher than Yellowstone lake, and the other in the elevated plateau between the Shoshone and Wind River Moun- tains. One of these sources is in about latitude 43° 45'. and the other in about 43° 50'. The Yellowstone river llows through the Yellowstone lake, just as the Rhine flows through Lake Geneva. But let us return to our lake itself. Situated upon the very crown of the continent, the lake receives but few tributa- ries of any considerable size, the upper Yellowstone being much the largest, and Beaver Dam creek and Pelican creek, bodi on the eastern side, the next in importance. There are, in all, six- teen or eighteen small streams from the mountain ranges, on the north, east, south and southwest sides, which bring to the lake their tribute from the snow-line ; several of these affluents are strongly charged with sulphur, alum or alkalies, and these and ■the springs on the banks of the lake render its waters near the shore, at some points, turbid and unpleasant; but at a little dis- tance from the shore, at all points, and at the very brink of the lake at many, the water is clear, pure and sweet. It abounds with fish, mainly trout, as does the Yellowstone above the Great falls ; but it is a most remarkable fact, that very many of the trout, both in the lake and river, above the falls, are infested by an intestinal worm, of a species not hitherto known as a parasite of any of the salmonidce. In some cases the worms eat their way out, and the fish, if not too severely injured, recovers, but with deep scars. It is said that the larger fish sometimes have from five to fifty of these parasites, and that their presence makes the fish very voracious, snapping viciously at the hook, "which is strange," as Professor Raymond remarks, " when one considers that they have already more bait in them than is wholesome." Of course, not all the trout are thus infested, and usually the visiting parties, after rejecting the diseased fish, find enough that I a» «reat numbers as the trout ' "'"^ ^"'^ '^'"•^'-' '-'< - aln-tt «■•• Marshall, who is no7ov' to f" '''•••"'"' ''>' "^ '"^ - " conta,ns several beautifull H„,| ".•'^""""-■"'••'l ^^"^■<"^. says: '^t' firandest mountains in Nort A m '"■°""''"'' ''V «<""'-■ of the fo- as to give an uncon.mo "b^^: ™^?:.-" '^ '^ - ine.ula clothed with clon^o r ' ''^'"f-t'nK-s rrrassx- hut and feedinrr grounds rln^""' 'P''"^^^ ^nd fir furnish ^ bears ^,,,1 '"'''^'''^"tclope blacl- .n , '/"^"'•^'^ coverts ^ears and mountain sheep. Scat^.' , ''"^' ^^'^^'^^'-^''ilcd deer f-' and on the mountain slots , '^"""^^ '^''' '^^^^^^ of the ^uster, of hot sprin,, solfa^^ ^ to,"'^''?' '' ^^ --v '^t one poun a liot snrin-'!. -nshine falls 'o^ ^ s t.f ?i ' "r? ""= •?''- '^ ^"^' -cl the bright »l'ad,n,. to a delicate ultranTrL ' "' ^"''^''' Sreen cofo -ery beholder. Later TZ^^^'T"'' "'^ admiration o' »'nedown fron, their icy heH.t " "''^ """'"'-■" wind accordance with the (ierce wi £ ' *""' °" ••"' ^^P=ct more „ paved with volcanic rocVr s '" "™""'' "• "=' «'>orcs a " broken and worn into pebWe, o^T'T' ''" "^■^-»' --"in": -nehans, abates and bits of t^t [^i !"' l'"'"'"' ''■^'-''° '" °'^'^''^" «■''' sprinkled witl ClofC^rr'-'"'^"'" »"™""'' jstalb of Cahfornia diamonds." 53 k i 1246 ^^'A' n7:S7'/iA\V £A//'/A\/!. TIk! rntluisi.istic Lani^fonl"' says; " St*c"liKlt.'cl amid the loftiest peaks of the Rocky Mountains, posscssiiii^^ stranoc pt.'ciiliaritics of form and beauty, this watery solitude is one of tlu; most attractive objects in tiu; world. Its southern shop.', indented with lonlL,^ narrow inlets, not unliUe the frequent (lords of Iceland, bears testimony to the awful upheaval and tremendous force of the elemeiits which resulted in its erec- tion. The loni.^ "pine-crowned promontories, stretchin|L^ into it from the base of the hills, lend new and charmini^'^ features to an aquatic scene full of novelty and splendor. Islands of emerald hue dot its surface, and a mari^nn of sparklinj^ sand forms its set- tin_<^. The winds, compressed in their passage through tlu; moun- tain gorges, lash it into a sea as terrible as the fretted ocean, covering it with foam. Hut now it lay befor.e us calm and un- ruffled, save as the gentle wavelets broke in murmurs along the shore. Water, one of the grandest elements of scenery, never seemed so beautiful before." Besides its entrancing shore line, the lake is dotted with nu- merous islands, which lend rare beauty by their luxuriant vege- tation. Fish abound In the lake, game of all kinds inhabit the surrounding forests, and the placid surface of the water and grassy margins render this mountain-locked sheet the earthly paradise for myriads of water-fowl. Professor Rossiter W. Raymond, the man of facts and figures, "with no nonsense about him," felt himself constrained to say: "The scene presented to our eyes by this lake, as wc emerged from the thick forests on the western side and trod with exulta- tion its sandy shore, was, indeed, lovely. The broad expanse of shining water, the wooded banks and bosky islands, the summits of lofty mountains beyond it faintly flushed w-ith sunsei, the deep sky, and the perfect solitude and silence, combine to produce a memorable impression." We add a paragraph or two from Rev. Dr. Hoyt's eloquent address, from which we have already quoted so largely: " From a gende headland, at last we overlooked the lake. It was like the fairest dream which ever came to bless the un- * Late Superintciidciu of the Park, >"ii oi t octttT fli-,., • I ""Ml Upon voii I / from ^^ • , , " '" ^''"^^' words of ^ • ^ ' "^^''"""^ tell 'roin their lahnru • 'p ""««.if>oi ocriDtinv. < c i '•^^•rrace, and strewed new bnVh '^' ''"^'.^^^^•"cd tlu^ lake's P^'J'cans. wiiite-breastednnd ?1 '•'' ^^" '^'^ ^^^^ers. ^•IJ' r mucli ,i,„e and space A^,- °' ""' '^''Ploration will nrr, Jake, and nuist also i)n-sers ort^^ J-ocky Mountain Divide (which h . "^ ^""^ ^^ the Great, enclosing Shoshone hikeW. , '^^ ^^^'^' ^ ^^orseshoe V. 0" the Upper Mn V ' ^"'^^^^>' ^^ the Upner r , '""' ^pper Madison r ver Ti,; ., i^P^^ ; i ' We shall not attempt in this place any explanation of the phi- losophy of the geyser, for two reasons : one, that scientists are not agreed in their views of it; the only thing fully ascertained in regard to it is that the hot water (from whatever source it may be derived) passes up through long tubes or pipes of different diameters ; and the other, that their explanations are too ab- struse to be understood by the masses, pven if (which is doubtful) they understand them fully themselves. Let us, then, turn to a contemplation of these geysers, and espe- cially of those of the Upper Geyser Basin, where, though some- what fewer in number than in the Lower basin, they are of much greater power and magnificence. And, first, let us follow Rev. Edwin Stanley, a visitor to the Park, whose " Rambles in Won- derland " gives a very interesting account of this Upper basin, as he marshals the geysers in a grand parade : , "Let us imagine ourselves for once standing in a central posi- tion, where we can see every geyser in the basin. It is an extra occasion, and they are all out on parade, and all playing at once. There is good Old Faithful, always ready for her part, doing her best — the two by five feet cqlumn playing to a height of 150 feet — perfect in all the elements of geyser action. Yonder the Bee- hive is sending up its graceful column 200 feet heavenward, while the Giantess is just in the humor, and is making a gorgeous dis- play of its, say, ten feet volume to an altitude of 250 feet. In the meantime the old Castle answers the summons, and putting *'TIIE PARADE OF THE UEYSERS." 1253 1, and yellow, with sulphur, saw the pros- destroyed by that we could 3 cluster flow )rmed a minia- y, green waves re whose deso- grassy slopes and across the tion of the phi- vt scientists are fully ascertained rer source it may ,ipes of different ions are too ab- avhich is doubtful) reysers, and espe- [re, though some- they are of much It us follow Rev. .ambles in Won- Is Upper basin, as in a central posi- In. It is an extra ll playing at once. ir part, doing her .leight of 1 50 ^^^"^ I Yonder the Bee- heavenward, while a gorgeous dis- ^^250 feet. In ions, and putting on its strength with alarming detonations is belching forth a gi- gantic volume seventy feet above its crater ; while over there, ju.4t above the Saw-mill, which is rallying all its force to the exhibition, rustling about and spurting upward its six-inch jet with as much self-importance as if it were the only geyser in the basin, we see the Grand, by a more than ordinary effort, overtopping all the rest, with its heaven-ascending, graceful volume, 300 feet in the air. Just below here the Riverside, the Comet, the complicated and fascinating Fantail, and the curiously-wrought Grotto, are all chiming in, and the grand old Giant, the chief of the basin, not to be left behind, or by any one outdone, is towering up with its six feet fountain, swaying in the bright sunlight at an elevation of 250 feet. In the meantime a hundred others of lesser note, we will say, are answering the call at this grand exposition, and coming out in all their native glory and surpassing beauty. Just listen to the terrible, awful rumblings and deafening thunders, as if the very earth would be moved from its foundation — the diou- sand reports of rushing waters and hissing steam, while Pluto is mustering all his forces, and Hades would feign disgorge itself and submerge our world. But then look upward at the immense masses of rising steam ascending higher and still higher, until lost in the heavens above ; while every column is tinseled over with a robe of silver decked with all the prismatic colors, and every majesMc fountain is encircled with a halo of gorgeous hues." As a matter of fact, however, the geysers are never all in action at the same time. Their periods of activity are different at different times, and with some of them are at increasingly long intervals, and probably they will eventually cease to act, as so many others have done. New geysers are constantly forming, and may take the places of the silent ones. Some of the most remarkable of the nun;ber are so uncertain that parties have re- mained at the basins for two or three weeks without witnessing their action, and again perhaps soon after they have sent up a magnificent column twice or thrice in twenty-four hours. One explorer, Lieutenant Barlow, tells us that near the edge of the basin, where the river makes a sharp bend to the southeast, is :-i\i^-.j\ ''^% ''9m' 1254 OC/X WESTERN EMPIRE. I i 3 found the Initial geyser — a small steam vent — on the right. vSoon on either side of the river are seen the two lively geysers, called the "Sentinels," because of their nearness to the gate of the great geyser basins. The one on the left is in constant agi- tation, the waters revolving horizontally with great violence, and occasionally spouting upward to the height of twenty feet, the lat- eral direction being fifty feet. Enormous masses of steam are ejected. The crater of this is three feet by ten. The opposite Sentinel is not so constandy active, and is smaller. About 250 yards from the gate are three geysers acting in concert. When in full action the display from these is very fine. The waters spread out in the shape of a fan, in consequence of which they have been named the Fan Geysers. One hundred yards farther up the side of the stream is found a double geyser, a stream from one of its orifices playing to the height of eighty or ninety feet, emitting large volumes of steam. From the formation of its crater it was named the Well Geyser, Still above are found some of the most interestinqf and beau- tiful geysers of the whole basin. First are two smaller geysers near a large spring of blue water, while a few yards beyond are seen the walls and arches of the Grotto. This is an exceedingly intricate formation, eight feet in height and ninety in circumfer- ence. It is by many called the gem o*" all the geysers. It is absolutely magnificent — a sight of resplendent beauty, that greets the eyes nowhere outside of the region of the National Park. It is simply a miniature temple of alabaster whiteness, with arches leading to some interior Holy of Holies, whose sacred places may never be profaned by eye or foot. The hard calcareous formation about it is smooth, and bright as a clean swept pave- ment. Several columns of purest white rise to a height of eight to ten feet, supporting a roof that covers the entire vent, forming fantastic arches and entrances, out of which the water is ejected during an eruption fifty or sixty feet. The entire surface is composed of the most •delicate bead-work imaginable, white as the driven snow, massive but elaborately elegant, and so peerlessly beautiful that the hand of desecration has not been laid uJ>on it, and it stands without flaw or break in all its primal beauty — a grotto of pearls, " the beautiful princess of all the realm." on the right, lively geysers, to the gate of n constant agi- X violence, and ity feet, the lat- ;s of steam are The opposite :r. About 25O :oncert. When e. The waters e of which they ed yards farther ;r, a stream from :y or ninety feet, ation of its crater .sting and beau- 3 smaller geysers ^•ards beyond are is an exceedingly lety in circumfer- geysers. It is eauty, that greets ational Park. It ness, with arches se sacred places hard calcareous lean swept pave- I a height of eight [tire vent, forming water is ejected entire surface is .ginable, white as and so peerlessly ,een laid upon it, Timal beauty— a he realm." r///-: GIANT AXD OLD FAITHFUL GEYSERS. 1255 Proceeding 1 50 yards farther, and passing two hot springs, a remarkable group of geysers is discovered. One of these has a huge crater, five feet in diameter, shaped something like the base of a horn — one side broken down — the highest point being fifteen feet above tiie mound on which it stands. This proved to be a tremendous geyser, which has been called the Giant. It throws a column of water the size of the opening to the measured altitude of 130 feet, and continues the display for an hour and a half. The amount of water discharged is immense, almost equal in quantity to that in the river, the volume of which during the eruption is doubled. But one eruption of this geyser was ob- served. Another large crater close by has several orifices, and with ten small jets surrounding it, formed probably one connect- ing system. The hill built up by this group covers an acre of ground, and is thirty feet in height. Harry J. Norton, Esq., formerly of Virginia City, made the rounds of all the geysers, and describes the leading ones as fol- lows : "In our opinion, there is no geyser in the entire region that is so richly deserving of mention as our ancient-looking, steadfast friend. Old Faithful ; for its operations are as regular as clock-work, of most frequent occurrence, and of great power. Standing sentinel-like on the upper outskirts of the valley, at regular intervals of sixty-seven moments, the grim old vidette sounds forth his 'all's well' in a column of water five or six feet in diameter, throwing it skyward to a distance of 1 50 feet, and holding it up to that height for eight or ten minutes' duration. The stream is nearly vertical, and in descending the water forms a glittering shower of pearl-drops, plashing into a succession of porcelain-lined reservoirs of every conceivable shape and many- colored tints. The mound is not far from twenty feet in height, and gradually slopes down to the south in regular terraces to a neighboring hot spring. One of the artistic reservoirs nearest the crater is half-filled with irregularly shaped, perfectly polished white pebbles, which must have been thrown out at the different eruptions. When the eruption ceases the water recedes, and nothing is heard but the occasional escape of steam until another exhibition occurs. Old Faithful will ever be the favorite of II CO 3 I 1256 ^l^^ WESTEKN EMPIRE. tourists, as it never fails in regularly giving a display of its powers. "Crossing the river, and proceeding down its cast bank an eighth of a mile, we come to the Beehive. Early in the afternoon an eruption took place without a moment's warning. The column of water ejected filled the full size of the crater, and shot up at least 200 feet. So nearly vertically does the stream ascend that on a calm day nine-tenths of the volume would fall direcdy back into the aperture. From this cause, probably, there is no mound of any consequence built around it. At the time we witnessed its action, the ascending torrent was interposed between us and a bright, shining sun, and through its cloud of spray there was formed a rainbow of magnificent proportions, lending the fountain a crowning splendor and glory that it could not other- wise possess. "To the right, and down stream a few hundred yards from the Beehive, is the Giantess, with a crater eighteen by twenty-five feet. We came upon it during one of its lucid intervals, and looking down into the gaping chasm could just discern the water a great distance below, as in a state of apparent tranquillity. Presently, however, there came up from its gloomy depths a dismal groan, quickly followed by a dense volume of steam and a rumbling sound beneath our feet, as of terrific underground thunder. In a moment more the seething elements below were in wildest commotion. The rolling and clashing of waves, the terrible steam-clouds rushing to and fro under the frail crust, the thunder of the raging waters, as, lashed into fury by the pur- suing steam, they sought to burst apart their prison wall and escape — all were but too distinctly heard and felt. Spell-bound we stood, and, with enraptured awe, silendy awaited the result of this terrible confusion. Spasm succeeded spasm ; the agitated flood boiled up to the surface of the crater, and with a deafening report the immense body of water was hurled into the air over a hundred feet. Like some gigantic fountain impelled by an engine power that could have revolved a world, the boiling jet continued to play for several minutes. Surrounding this majestic liquid dome is a circle of smaller jets issuing from the same and thirl • . 'ountain w thin i r,. 7 . • '" ^"'umn •^"^ cliitlicr in t u' moll y"""i a lountani. I>Im-;„ , i • , '^"0. JUst below us nn f!, vast colu„,„ of stea,„ bur 'fo „ l' T'°''"' '''''"'^ "^ "'<-' river , fact, ,t ,s a ,nas,siv„ natural en..;;,, , "■"" ""'>' "^ "'« otlv.Ts „ staci-- H, , ^^''"'-'•t qi'antities of .f /'"-^^"^'s ceased, ad. then the two valves opened I ' ^''^"' ^"^' ■'^'"oke- jets of steam. The n^^v^ J'^"^^- J'hootino- out swift w -r fron, „e do^: e":i Ir^o^r "'T:^ """'^ l^'' "- Sf t"re a column of watcx 1^ ^ ''"""'""WfiH.and from eil? ^ eighty feet, one asct. 7,,^,;" '''"'"?" ^'- " - T; ->?le of about forty-five Ce\r'"'7'' ^'"'' "''"■ °"'- a^an erupfon would continue from two "r ^°'"''"'^ ">'-' '&...• Th" ;st^ ™ns,ej::: «•- --- rr: Near the middle of th. r I •• . Geyser," ,he most remark. W ''•'"" ^'^^''^ ''^^''" "'^ the "GranH Lieutenant Doane uTa ? '" "'^"^ '•''^P<=«^ in ti'e >vn u ^^^ vicinity in .8;;'^-tL''det,r- ' ^^^ ''^^^ '•" ''^ rme." — - - Hole .e.t a i;,^:;- ^J 3 1:^58 OUR WKSTEKN F.MPIRK. sloping from tlio base of the mountain down to the river. Nu- merous small knolls arc scattered over its surface, the craters of boiling springs, from fifteen to twtjnty-five feet in diameter; some of these throw water to the height of three and four feet. On the summit of this bank of rock is (he i^ rand geyser of the ivorld, a well in the strata, twenty by tw.MUy-tive feet in diametric meas- urements (the perceptible elevation of the rim being but a few inches), and when (juiet having a visible depth of icx) feet. The edge of the basin is bounded by a heavy fringe of rock, and sta- lagmite in solid layers is deposited by the overflowing waters. When an eruption is about to occur, the basin gradually fills wit'i boiling water to within a few feet of the surface, then suddenly, with heavy concussions, immense clouds of steam rise to the height of 500 feet, and the whole great body of water, twenty by twenty-five feet, ascends in one gigantic column to the height of ninety feet; from the apex of this column five great jets shoot up, radiating slightly from each other, to the unparalleled altitude of 250 feet from the ground. The earth trembles under the de- scending deluge from this vast fountain ; a thousand hissing sounds are heard in the air; rainbows encircle the summits of the jets with a halo of celestial glory. The falling water plows up and bears away the shelly strata, and a seething flood pours down the slope and into the river. It is the grandest, tlie most majestic, and most terrible fountain in the world. After playing thus for twenty minutes, it gradually subsides, the water lowers into the crater out of sight, the steam ceases to escape, and all is quiet. This grand geyser played three times in the afternoon, but appears to be irregular in its periods, as we did not see it in eruption again while in the valley. Its waters are of a deep ultramarine color, clear and beautiful. The waving to and fro of the gigantic fountain, in a bright sunlight, when its jets are at their highest, affords a spectacle of wonder of which any descrip- tion can give but a feeble idea. Our whole party were wild wiih enthusiasm ; many declared it was 300 feet in height ; but I have kept, in the figures as set down above, within the limits of abso- lute certainty." "In some of the elements of beauty and interest," says Pro- ;: '•""■^^ ^^'•■"■' —-„, ,.,„„. titerest," says Pro- fessor R \xr ,> •^'™ "■'•■ "'«f. ■essor R. \VM<;, I ,255 «« more s,,nr,li„,/Hval |, , ''"T'' ^"-•;-^'^^ l>'«in is superior ,0 -<•"'• Nothing, cin b : I , ";,""";"™"«. ">-.«l. not so' ^'w *'•';" ««.n,. columns, i . ,' "'."," "'>^ »«'"■ at sunrise, of 2 2-..ns, .,H.. b,,,^,„„,;„ ,''-;"> . ".sy n,orni„,.. ,,J^^ "bovc. Tl,c. variety in f,„ ' " '^ '""-• "--'•^ and ,l,o clear sky n"'"-- reu,a,kaWe. A few of I,? "'T'""''"' "'•^'^^ springs is "'""Si. .I>e f,rea,er nun I . , ' "''^'', ''""" ''^'POsits of suL „ SD ' J"""' ''"">''"° '■" "•»• from vh e U r'"' ""-■ '"°« '"•••"- Sf... auay, .ryin. ,„ boil, like a I ' "^ u 'l'"^.' '"'"'•■I' Wots and ^please a friend in spite nf his «, '^ "•■°'''?7" '^^'■^"•S a lauj,d, fhe /«„4,, or extinct -^evsers nr f"'"'"^ ff''a>''''y- • Around their border^ 1 ^-i i ' : '""'' ''-""•'•"' "bjects of all' besques and orna„,ental , ' s "'"J^!"""' f"™' ^.aint ara fowths. The sides of the res. rv ■""'"''■'''"^ P^nfied ve.vetable fancifully, like the rece es "n 77". ''""^'"'■■'' '''"•I "Stod ™vern. The „ater is br' htb "'""^' P''^-''-'«« of a fa Vv surface curls a li.dn vapo- r^",' ""' ^'-''''>- "ue. Over is e-e, apparently? to u 1 d o^ ' '^-^-^l ^'earnessone , y th.s wondrous mediunMhe Xc 1 1' '' ' '"''' "•■™ "'^°""'' and crusted with pearl. VVl e„ the „ T\"' "'^ "''^■"' *'^'^' tlie last touch of unexp,.cf,.,l 1 '"■"-'' "cross the scene shadow of the decor^NT '''^""'y 's added. The ol„ " ,' .1,. 1 1 ated edge reveils P,„ ""- piojected the depths : every ripple o.^the s, rfac ' 7'"'' "^'" 8'°™^ '" of tnu and shade on the pearlv t^ "'"=' 'larvellous play -e a lovely naiad emerge wi h L ° '"'"• ''? '"'^■^•'^P'=« ' cally carven covert, and gayl' k f r'' ''''""' ™"' ''^^ '"""'asti- blue wave. '^ >"> '^'^'' ''er snowy hand throuoh die '^-5^':::^X!:,:;^::r' r r ''^^ --"-^ ^uf "o kmg or saint was ever m rj C:;^'" '" ""-'' '"» ^"^ *ere, the shnne of St, Antony of PaduT w """','"'°™''«'- Not ^i^^Pacepe^iewem^ht^veascoreofother'^^im::; T^-6o OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. \ CO 3 to the beauty of these vast and exquisitely sculptured and jew- eled cups filled to the brim witli scalding- water, yet so entran- cingly beautiful that you cannot resist the temptation to thrust in your hand and pluck the silver flowers and gather the gleaming jewels — but we are compelled to desist. Yet Geyserdom is not a paradise. "The Geyser basins in themselves," says Rev. Dr. Hoyt, "are very ghastly places. Save the jeweletl cups, and the upward plunge of the white water, there is little beauty in tliem that we should desire them. Where the geysers spurt up their hot and hissing waves, and scatter them about, and then deposit as the scattered waters cool, the lime, and magnesia, and sulphur, with which they are charged, nothing green can grow. The aspect is that of a desert, except only that the sand instead of being brown is white. It seems more like a place of death than life — your horse's feet are Ecalded in the ho«" streams — you must be very careful where you tread, lest the thin crust break beneath }ou, and let you down into the boiling pools, and sudden death below. The air is stenchful with the breath of noxious gases. Flowers do not bloom ; grass cannot spread its greenness ; trees, if they come within the circle of the geyser action, stand bleached, leafless, lifeless. It is the terrible side of nature which you see." Turning our faces northward we follow the Firehole or Upper Madison river for four or five milts from the Lower Geyser basin, till at a point opposite a forty foot fall of the river we enter upon the New Norris road, constructed by Superintendent Norris in 1878, which leads to new wonders of various kinds. The Gibbon's fork of the Firehole or Madison river, vvhi-h has its source in or near Beaver lake, in the upper Madison Ra."ge, from its source to its mouth abounds in geysers, hot-springs, and fumaroles. These are not only found on its banks in its canons, and in the vicinity of 'ts numerous water-fal)-^ >ut along the slopes of the mountains adjacent there are four or five of these Geyser basins. The southernmost of these, near the mouth of the fork known as Gibbon's Firehole Basin, is on the Howard road. Norris's road is some miles east of this, and passes through a valley till it strikes Gibbon's fork just at the foot of the Jong and deep carton of th.r • '^6, bra„c,.orc.ee..vhich:L rwr^uJ" "'" "«°" -^ ™ a o" "ot so deep and carrvm„ I "='J>'"- ^ he canon tself lowstone, is full of romantt K ° '' "'^'^'' "'a" "lat of the v!^' -d near it are pulsatTn^'^tT,? '"' T'^"^''' ^lon^ s led -• Pa.nt springs, and rf I, t?"""' ° '""'' ■^'="°" -"^ r'n" nrow,n. their jets, some at 'a ,"7''' ^"'^y '^°'o^. «eyse s to 60°, instead of vertic-IN, °° '^"<-"' "t angles of fmm o basin along the roah ^:,e" nT " "" '^--' -^ ?„ Hfl - a large crater forn, d o ecTnt?' T" '"' "^-""f^-' TOs around ,t still retain their seared L ^""^ "'"" '^'^-s i" and Ascending the Grand Son "f .""'^■''''^" '^^^<='- head upon the crest of the we tern '''■"'°"' *« ""d at its nearly ve„ically full ,,000 fee' "" "'"''n'afn spur, which rises Canon Walls, a geyser basin of nr"' "'' '"S'"^^' Point of the tent, which is one of the , ' ™°''« "'an five acres ?„ narl- -r ■ • "'e most bf-iit;!',,! ■ . acres in ex- park. To this basin, as its first d; ' ^"^ interesting in the the name of Monument basin t^'r ^^'- Morris has given -W and active geyser-a hrs „. 7 ""^ '^ '^' '-« one po\v- ni'les; two other fumaroles onl tlif T'™'" P'^in'y audible fl P'pe of a huge Corliss engine ^1 J , """'''''"« ""^-^ "'« exhaus ™.na| of its cone hori^onlT'in te-fr '"■"'* *^°"«« and ter- twelve pulsating geyser co 4 from f ""'^^'- ^''^^^ «- afso 2'' ""''^^ '■" ^PPeamnce to t Jfel"™, "t """y f<=« 'n height he „„„ ^^^.^^^ ^^^ slo ;' ::^„t"^-'y cap. a parf of t ese are numerous hot SDrin„« 7^""? away. Minried with ^stance above this Mon m"f u" ''"""'"S S'^ys.rs. " A Zn "Pper cafion of the Gibbo" ^nd h *r '"'"' '" ^"°"'<='-. at the able water-fall come ,0 Te' N ^^'" ""^^ing the irevit f orns fork of the Gibbon HeT:'': '"' ^^'-'-'^ blsins : X" «"nny glades Sve or six miles „ ' ^'''"''^"^ glassy park, and «nd begirt with huge boiling sl-l" '''''"'• ^"^ ■'>- wh<^e d;tted 'ng geysers, and several lxl„ ^'•■'P""^""gPaint-pots spout 'ty. une of these has h^^n , ^^^^^^^ncy and ree^. m 1262 Oi/Ji WESTERN EMPIRE. 3 •-^i^ the fo*-mer, though of considerable extent, being artificial in the sense of having been formed by a succession of beavers' dams. These lakes abound with feathered game, and on their banks are fumaroles and hot springs heavily charged with alum. * w On the bank of Beaver lake there is a wall of vertical columns of obsidian or volcanic glass, many hundred feet in height and for two miles in length. There are cliffs of impure obsidian elsewhere in the Park and in this and other countries, but no- where has there been found any of this volcanic glass so pure a,nd perfect as this, or in such vast quantity. The columns are of black, yellow, mottled, and banded obsidian, but as regular in form as the basaltic columns of the Giant'^ Causeway. Great masses of this volcanic glass had fallen from the columns and formed a ba/ricade some 250 or 300 feet in height, at an angle of 45° to the margin of Beaver lake. Mr. Norris had large fires kindled on this sloping barricade, and then, suddenly cooling it by throwing cold water on it, broke it in pieces and then with great labor crushed it and made a good wagon road over this barricade of glass. ■ ' ■ From the obsidian cliffs there is a good wagon road to the Mammoth Hot Springs, and thence to the northern entrance to the Park. We have thus completed our tour of the most im- portant objects of interest in the Park at the present time. What new wonders will be brought to light when the whole region east of the Yellowstone river and lake shall be thoroughly explored, when the southern portion, now almost wholly unknown, shall have been carefully investigated, and when even the northwest portion, drained by the Gallatin river, shall become better known, remains for o^her and future travellers and tourists to describe. What is already known, stamps it as the most remark- able region on the globe. "This whole region," says Dr. Hayden, "was, in comparatively modern geological times, the scene of the most wonderful vol- canic activity of any portion of our country. The hot springs and geysers represent the last stages — the vents or escape pipes — of these remarkable volcanic manifestations of the internal forces. All these springs are adorned with decorations more beautiful than artificial in the beavers' dams, their banks are urn. I ! ertical columns ;t in hei<^ht and npiire obsidian un tries, but no- : glass so pure I columns are of regular in form Great masses ns and formed angle of 45° to fires kindled on it by throwing ith great labor is barricade of on road to the ern entrance to f the most im- nt time. What lole region east ughly explored, unknown, shall the northwest become better and tourists to ,e most remark- 1 comparatively ; wonderful vol- 'he hot springs • escape pipes — internal forces, •e beautiful than -^cc^ss TO Tim p.u.'a: ^•Jie, he remarl-o «i i ^Mature to form " «t.. • '^'"arks elsewhere "fV.o#- i • ^^ is Prob- of which the fluTd „ " ■ ""^"" ^''^^"'■'^ vents and fil "■' volcanic dust, tt ' ^d i ''T''^' '^^^"^^ 'r:::^ z sea.^" "'-^ '0 a height of ,0,0;: ZuZ^TIT' '"""^ Up to the present f , °" "'^ byior^ and difficult joZ:; :,:::- -f '^'' "- teen only ■'"t the most robust, and alm„ V ? °° S""*^^' fatigue for anv -earisomeness, the ;is 3 ^Z '""'f' <=«'"''<". V i ve J necessary absence of any c:L,..S,:;.,"^- ''°^^'-^' '"' Pari- P™"^'°"^ for a stay of at 1^'t, ='^'=°"'niodations, or -- that :::::::/;--- '.oiti 'it, t/Vd- "- These difficulties are '„ T '"^' '"■•«>"= "■""•'' of v skL f '"' -d Northern Raih ^ay" Tvit^rf "'"°"^- "^^-ecl 1^^ ^°,t -d swift coaches overgood "f ^ ™'" ''f Y'^'iowstone ^Le of 'he way. Before tht Zn^Tl^' "-^^-^^ "'e remainder' « from the middle nf A * ^ '''"^ "^xt season Cth. c Nonhern Pacifictai^LtS^rrf'^""^'^'^ °^ ^-^ He" <;l"»goand St. Paul to p" £,"'""'"? *™ufe'h trains rem -k .tself The hardships oTth';' "'"^ ""' '"'P°^^'^^y to th^ e tune of reaching theri wi t 17^ "'" f '^^ sL. a„d «ays Mr. William I. Marshal ° "'''.r"'"- "Pew, I suppose" spouting geysers and bo^g prfrf^-- to hVe long ^o^ t> P""S». or even upon the banks of 1264 OUR WESTER \' EMPIRE. ^Q A-- ^1 \ * ^''4 *■ c^ ,■ . is V " ^S ■i""' ^2 r" \ H ^i^; ^ •i * '-! i (4 the brilliantly colored Grand Canon of the Yellowstone; but these cover only a small part, probably not more than two or three per cent., of the surface of the Park, which embraces 3,578 square miles, or 2,298,92r acres, an area almost one-half as lary;e as the State of Massachusetts, and, of course, extensive .enough to contain an immense variety of scenery. There are scores c '" miles of beautiful valleys traversed by rivers of the purest water, swarming with trout, grayling and whitefish, and furnishing the finest hunting-grounds for ducks, geese, swans, and other water- fowl. These valleys are generally covered with fine grass, on which numerous antelopes pasture, while the greater part of the mountains which bound them is covered with the forests (inter- spersed with those great grassy slopes which are so marked a feature of the timbered areas of the Rocky Mountains) in which those fond of rifle-shooting can find elk and black-tailed deer and white-tailed deer and mountain sheep, and occasionally a band of mountain buffalo and other large game. There are countless quiet nooks where one can camp under the fragrant pines, besides green meadows gemmed with lovely wild flowers and watered by bubbling brooks, across which the beaver.still builds his cun- ning clam, and beneath whose banks and in whose deep pools the dainty little speckled brook-trout watches for his prey. Not only are there scores of grand mountains lifting their craggy sides and rugged summits (few of which have ever felt the tread of civilized man) far up among the clouds, but Innumerable sunny glades and shady dells, charming bits of quiet, picturesque scenery, where one will see nothing of the striking, but only the gently beau- tiflll. ' ' -:■■ V:. ..; ,;': , :. " I presume the head-quarters for tourists, when the Park shall be made a little more accessible, will be established on the shores of the lovely Yellowstone lake, which, lying at an altitude of. 7, 7 78 feet above the sea, or 1,500 higher than the summit of Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, covers 300 square miles with cool, clear water, which in places is 300 feet deep, and rolls its waves, of as deep a blue as the open sea, on 300 miles of shore line, now of loveliest beauty, and now of wildest grandeur. With its opportunities for rowing and sailing and fishing and hunting, yEl.LOlVSTONE Par A' *.^» when they would .njoyZTZL"" "^"'^ Yellowstone and -•-'.oMtHeltLnnntl^^^^^^^^ with h«man life win !;'^^"<='^ l^y ''"man effon and T"^ "'^ heaUh-giving activities, and to Z T"'"^ ^'"^ ^^^ cea eless" ^- Will o.. vaWed ...tt^ ^d ^1^ r::!^- ° ^^^ ' : ; > , li. i > ; . i'-q ■I ;<-.-.. ^ 4 1260 OCX WESTEAW E At PI RE. ! 01 r 3 '■., , ,1 I !', i' '■ . ■ _" '- / ' .ft;, ,/i ■ CHAPTER XXIII. ALASKA. ,'■ '!:i i , i ./ Relation of Alaska to Our Wkstkrn Kmpirf. — Another Kamschatka — Absiirdity ok ihk Stories told ok its Present or Pkosi>eciive Frouih - rivENKss — Its Furs, Fisheries, and Timber, somewhat valuable — Pecu- liar Form ok the Territory — The Uull's Head with two lonc; Horns — Its three Divisions, Sitka, Yukon, and the Islands — Area — Population — Toi'oijRAi'Hv — Mountains — Rivers — The Limits and Area ok each Di- vision— (Ieoi.ocy — Volcanoes and Glaciers — Minerai.ocv — Coal — Me- tals — Minerals — (loi.D and Silver — Recenp Discoveries — Zoolo(;y — The Divisions in detail — '1'he Siikan Division — Irs Fur Trade, Fisheries, and Timber — lis A(;RicuLruRAL Productions confined to a few ViiciETA- Bi.Es — 2. The Yukon District ok litile Value, exceit for lis Fur Trade, Whale and oiiier Fisheries on the Coast — 3. The Island District — Some Arable Land on the lar(;er Islands, and a posshiility ok ku- TURE Dairy-farms itiere, thouc.h at too (jreat Cost for mui h Prokit — The Capture ok the Fur Seal on the Pribylokk Islands the principal Industry, thouch Fisheries may Increase— Detailed Account ok the Fisheries — The Population, Nationalities, and Character — The Na- tives — Ki'LosHiAN Tribes — Kenaian Tribes — The Aleuts — The Eskimo — Principal Towns and Villages — Meteordlooy of Fort St. Michael's and Unalashka — Objects ok Interest to ihe Tourist — Historical Notes — Can it he Commended to Immigrants? Alaska, the unorganized Northwestern Territory of the United States, bears about the same relation to "Our Western Ivmpire" that Eastern Siberia and Kamschatka do to the Russian Iim- pire ; it is remote from the rest of the Empire, of vast territorial extent, but desolate; and cold to the last degree, and can never become very populous, or of any remarkable economic vahir, until the plane of the ecliptic changes, and what is now an Arctic climate becomes torrid, or at least temperate. We know very well what is said about the ameliorating elTcct of the Kuro-Sivvo or Japan current upon the climate of those high latitudes; but the Cjulf stream, a similar but more powerful current, has not rendered Iceland a paradise,. or Novaya Zemia a fit habitation for men, though both are in quite as low latitudes as most of Alaska, VVc l.on r '="7 -'lay fro,,, „,, fisheries U "' ,t T""-" ,'?'"" "^ "»^ "■^'■""^.1 'I"- fall how ea„ citl„,T„,i„i,,„ " I "'"■" '""""'s lal,. ,„ ,"-■' As to tl„.. absuni 721 "'"T"""'" '"' -^P-""' >" 1 o ^-ome tl,. principal re, ' X' '''•" "■•"'■•" a f-.w years i ^ , '■•> sufficent to say that M, Va k n,""'^ ''"'''""•>• P^xlncts " >*'«o, that there was not -, 1, ^ "''""" "" "^^ TOth of (», ' '•-'••» "•- ice, whfcl, is al ,; T"^''] "'" '" ""^ whole of Al k ' as an article of ev„ort ,1^^ -'bunclant, does „„t prove ,1-, r, , , ■■".' '-„ so far X : ™';;'^-'"- of ice byUd,, ^ J : '' c-o as cheaply as it can be , , r ^ ''""'-«' '" -San^v: ""- -M'o^t«l fro,,, the rlr ' '""" ^''^^''^- No ice -s 1 licit VVc Ill'iu i] • • '";,: T--^ '" -yX' tnV:t,y '^.''-Y ■ "°"'-«'-n land, Alaska ,s no,, as is .s„po„s, ,M^ ., ""^ "' »» ^avor, 'tt e attention to the s„S , ''^ ""'"-' ^"'» '>ave given b„t '! '- been not inapti;con 1"^' ^T''"^' "^" of'ter t„ lexas bull-Yukon distr,V,fr ? ""•■ ''"'" and horn, „fl' soreandarchipela,Jr^::X;n'assivohead^ ^uJa and the Aleiithn i i i "oni, and lie AliasLnn ,. • '■o-are6o=ofX:::ttlr:t;:i""7- '"^ " -^" to ''outhernn.ostof the1,sla„,|soV,;n,""'^'' apart; and fro,n tl °w tn the Arctic ocean, 1 1,!!' Lfn"""" '''™"P "^ ''-"' '^ - ''"^' 'nore than 3o« of latitt de o abour' '"'"' "' ^"l^"" - a "iearea,accordin.. to »l, . i '"'°° ""les. 390 square miles, or%r:o;o ''''"" '^f''>- Und Office, is „; "- ,-'ands and pLnin:,t'an r^.^n"" ■''" ^''^'''^ ''"- aro, ,u, oTtt-T "■" ^"^•""'■--'- o r SL^'"-;-'-"^ -. =5.°°o miles of h,s Terntory at the time of Is a. ■ """■•<•■ Population a'd to be about .,,000, of whih ^ s^"'""°" '"'"' '<"-- was and the ^eniai,>der Caucasians andt' T "■' '='"' '° ^e Indian, '"creased since. ""'' """^ "<-'°'^-'<- It has not materially 1268 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. Topo^i^raphy — Mountains, — The Alaskan range, which seems t be a combination of the Coast, Cascade and Rocky Mountai Chains, passes northwestward through Uritisit Columbia a littl east of the Sitkan I3ivision of Alaska, enters the Yukon Divisio between the sixtieth and sixty-second parallels, and keeping course parallel with and at a little distance from the left bank o the Yukon river, extends north nearly as far as Fort Yukon ii latitude 66°, turns sharply south and forming the backbone of th Aliaskan peninsula and the Aleutian islands, each of which is peak and generally a volcanic peak of the range, till finally it summits are all sunk in the deepest part of the northern Pacifi< ocean. Tliis range has the loftiest peaks in North Americ? outside of Mexico. Among these are Mount St. Klias, 19,50c feet in height; Mount Cook, 16,000 feet; Mount Crillon, 15,900 Mount Fairweather, 15,500; while of tiic partially submergec volcanic peaks, Sheshaldin is 9,000 feet above the water ; Una lashka, 5,691 feet; Atka, 4,852 feet; Kyska, 3,700 feet; while pooi Attu, the westernmost of the group, can only lift its head 3,084 feet above the deep valley of the Pacific. In addition to the Alaskan range, there are several other mountain ranges of less elevation: among them arc the Shakto- lik and Ulukuk Hills, near Norton's sound ; the Yukon and Ro- manzolT Hills, north of the Yukon river ; the Kayiuh and Novvika- kat mountains east and south of the river, and a low range of hills bordering on the Arctic coast. Rivers. — The great river of the Territory is the Yukon, whose sources are in the Chippewayan and Alaskan range, in British America. It is more than 2,000 miles in length, and is navigable, when not frozen over, for 1,500 miles. The delta across its five mouths is seventy miles wide, and the river itself is from one to five miles wide for the first 1,000 miles of its course. One of its largest tributaries, the Porcupine river, has most of its course above the Arctic circle. The Tananah, 250 miles in length, and the Nowikakat, 112 miles, are also tributaries of the Yukon. The Inland river, which flows into Kotzebue sound, and the Col- ville, which discharges its waters into the Arctic ocean, are the only other rivers north of the Yukon. South of it are the Kons- inge, which seems to id Rocky Mountain li Columbia a little the Yukon Division illels, and keeping a om the left bank of • as Fort Yukon in the backbone of the >, each of which is a •ange, till finally its the northern Pacific in North America mtSt. Elias, 19,500 mt Crillon, 15,900; artially submerged ^e the water ; Una- ^00 feet; while poor lift its head 3,084 are several other im are the Shakto- he Yukon arid Ro- ayiuh and Novvika- ind a low range of the Yukon, whose n range, in British I, and is navigable, lelta across its five ielf is from one to Durse. One of its most of its course n'les in length, and es of the Yukon. )und, and the Col- :tic ocean, are the )f it are the Kons- '■<'■''" '(■» Hill O I' ■"'■^<^,A^ " ? 3 l^oquim, about 600 mile, in I , , "«9 f"«owmjf the summits of the Co' r"' ""'' ? ""^ """'> ^-ncU-ast ">'•■»« pouus. with a proviso dm. ,*•'■' '^^'""''"'ains bo.w<.en exceed ten marine l4ues i„ tu ' ''"' "' ^"°- ^'-" "ev 2. iiie Yukon Division .^^ • * H. ^as rar north as tr;;.^ ^e!;^^" ••'--'-"-est of from Alaska .0 Kamscha^L I " "'"■=•" "°«li of Zo\J ^t r ^'» '"^ ^S Xif a"r^ ^' '^<= ^'-•'- "■ak Islands, east of that peninsul, , ^ ' ''"= '^'°diak or Ka - .emarkahle for ./vaTlir:':f't^t-7-'!^H '"'"^fi-torSitkanD--- ••..''" '"^^^^^^^ -tives and some st vht'Tnd e'"? ""^^ '" "'^ ^"out 800 S:t'"-v'-ts,t,3oo„.-:f;:-^--- tlT"' "p°" ^"^ht and?na::;;tfnf """ ''^ ""p^ =•- - the natives. The interior of th^.T !, ™'"'°"' ''<='-'ved from pled by a civilized race k Jl "''" ^"'l '^°'>«s lonjrest De^ »-t line of Bara„:ri LlToT 1 -T^-- '^'"'''' '-- 'tI ^"own and accurately defined uoo !f f'*"" '^ '""'ed. is v^,! -t-relyunexplored. The on /rrdat'sik"^' '"' '''^ '■"'-■- '°''--„ceofamil.andW:t::^-t— t;:;-.^ «i 1270 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE, 1 forest and unclcr^jrovvth. The j^rowth of stunted trees all alonji^ the sliores of the islands and main hind of the Sitkan Division is so thick as to be ahuost imijcnetrable. 'i'liere is one instance, at least, of a man's haviny^ j,nven an entire day to the work of pene- trating inland, and at the end of his labor tinding himself less than a mile from the shore. • . 1 , Ctco/oj^y. — The greater part of this vast Territory has under- gone changes from volcanic eruptions which have completely altered the character of its rocks. This is particularly the case in the Sitkan and Aleutian Divisions, in which there are sixty-one volcanoes which have been active within 1 50 years. The violence of the volcanic action seems to be decreasing, and of these sixty- one only ten are now in a condition of active and constant erup- tion. There are also very many extinct volcanoes in the Sitkan Division, and several are known in Yukon. The immense shore line and the mountain slopes are crowded with glaciers ; some of these are the most stupendous in the world. One of these is described as fifty miles in length, and terminating on the sea-coast in a perpendicular ice-wall 300 feet high and eight miles broad ; another, thirty-five miles above Wrangell, on the Stickine river, is said to be forty miles long at the base, four or five miles across, and variously estimated at from 500 to 1,000 feet in thickness. '. Mineral Wealth. — Alaska is known to possess coal beds of good quality and of great extent. Most of the coal beds are in the tertiary, and are properly lignite, though of the best quality. That in the Sitkan District has been so far changed by volcanic action thac it is in some places a semi-anthracite. Petroleum is said to have been found of excellent quality and nearly odorless near the Bay of Katmai and on Copper river. Copper, nadve, or very rich copper ores, have been found on Copper river, at Kasa-an bay, at Whale bay, below Sitka, and in Kadiak Island. Iron exists all over the Territory, and graphite in several places. There is bismuth of fine quality on Vostovia Mountain, and gypsum, kaolin, marble, and the more common of the pre- cious stones, agate, carnelian, amethyst, etc., are sufficiendy plentiful. •d trees all along iilkan Division is s oiu: instance, at iu; work of pcne- iin«^' himself less •itory has iinilcr- have completely ticiilarly the case ere are sixty-one s. The violence id of these sixty- id constant erup- )es in the Sitkan •pes are crowded iipendoiis in the s in length, and ice-wall 300 feet ve miles above rty miles long at sly estimated at ?ss coal beds of coal beds are in the best quality. ged by volcanic e. Petroleum is nearly odorless '(si ,i T'^i ■■: , , 1 . . . been found on ow Sitka, and in phite in several itovia Mountain, non of the pre- are sufficiently GOLD M/XWG. : ^'Old undoubtedly racists in tho T • ' ''^' ^'ave be. n worked to so.ne .^^ '^T''' "'^'^^ n,ines which ^;o or ti,ree formerly wo ked on l" '''''"^'' (^^ ^^itka) Island P'7M>assage. about seven n' ? '^"'''"^^ '"^'"'"^^ '"nto S te- -!---'; of the sdck^ ^^;:: "t w:;;^ ''i:r ^^-^^". ' I": gold min,..s of Che SH,.L-.„ • """■'' '"•"'"-• '^ays • <-"lm..b,a, arul as ehe stored f "/" "" ■''" '"«"«! in Urkhh -■Pplicsar., furnish,: ,;;;;^:"; "':'''' ""-• '"ost of .ho „ " ? o 'l-e British possc.ssi„„l VoV'"-' "'"' "»^ "^"-'-.^ is ch'v " , , '"» place transferred to the ZT "" "'" ^''"^''"'^ "ver is at clanns have been located ear sl T'T '"'"''"''■ S"-"^' JT'-U to tl>e assay office at Victor ! h^ .' "'' ''•'=""}^"^ '>{ ore tnt ;iuan.i.y of ,„ precious'::.' 7.,'::: .rlT' '° »"•-" »^" 878, and ,t was intended to deve in .' "'""-'■•'•■""l during unpleasant weather and sh„r, i '^.""'^ "^ ""-■ "'i"«. but thf '-mely difficult to ca y on : ''^ "' '^'"- »'« rend r e^! ■"onthsof the year. No sufficln'r."^ '"""^ '"°- ■'»- ix >;-" mvested. nor have .1 el' T""' t "'^"^' '«^ -» X^t 'determine the „,i„„al vvealtl, o " h' 7 " '"'^^''-•""y ^^orked to I'ven the subject ,.reatatte„o„ ::';•;'■"""•>'•. ^^-V W'o hav" deposus of the precious metals cXrr''"^''-'' ">at valu.b.e many years past our Consul a, vftoria k'' '""'■ ""^^ ""^ fo-" 'hat cons,derable quantities of !l d ™i Tf '""^ ''" "'« '^'^'ief M.n who was until recently the Denutv r l ^ '"'""'■ ^'"1 bis ■n st,ll more confident terms of thrvle^ffT' '' SitU. speaks " As we write a reoorh .« r ^ °^ ^'^e ore beds " ■««o,sayin, that X rrTnor '"'"• ''"^'' '^--''- .. cnlated that gold had been disZe V^Tr =" ^^P°" "^ -- tiement on the river of the same 1/ ^''°"' "" '"'iian set- ^..ka, and near the border of Blishc;!^^' "° '"''''' "-"^ » only .ncreased the excitemenT -,„!? ^°'""''^"'- Father reports were brought to Sitka, wSvieTd l". '''"'""^"^ "^ '^e Te 12/2 OCf! IVESTEKN EMPIRE. ^5 prove as rich as they seem to promise. If they do, they will be profitable, although they cannot be worked more tlian four or five months in the year. The Alaskan Mountains curve south westward in the Dist net of Yukon, and extend along the Aliaskan peninsula and throuL;li the Aleutian Islands. They seem to be the consoli- dation of the Rocky, Cascade and Coast Ranges. These moun- tains, according to all analogies, :^hould contain both gold and silver, and in all probability they dr. If the lodes are very rich, it may pay to work them, though the expense will be much greater tkin that of working mines farther south. Zoology. — The animals of Alaska belong rather to the fauna of the Arctic than the Temperate Zone. The musk ox is found in Yukon District, and the reindeer, though of a different species from the European. The polar bear frequents the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and sometimes ventures as far south as Kotzebue sound. The elk and moose are seen, though rarely ; the Rocky Mountain goat and sheep (the bighorn), several species of fox, the mink, beaver, marten, lynx, otter, sea-otter, black bear, wol- verine, whistler, ermine, marmot, skunk, muskrat and wolf. Of amphibia, the seal, sea-otter, whale, porpoise, nar\\iial, etc., are abundant. Its birds are largely game birds, the ptarmigan, grouse, wild geese, teal, ducks, brant, etc., at certain seasons, and eagles, fishhawks, gulls, the great owl, etc., etc. Of the fish we speak elsewhere. Let us now take up the divisions in detail, and endeavor to ascertain what each can produce with profit. And, first, of the Sitkan Division. — " Here,** says Mr. Blaine, " no grass has been grown, and the small gardens at Sitka and Wrangell pro- duce only a few of the hardiest vegetables. So great is the moisture that hay cannot readily be cured, wheat ripened, nor potatoes raised. Even cabbages will not head. While our troops were in the Territory, a few cattle were with great difficulty kept in the District, but there is not at present a cow in the whole military Division of Alaska. Beef is a luxur)' most highly prized, the only meat being an occasional haunch of venison, and, in the proper season, small game. The mountains as a rule descend abruptly to the sea, and the small patches of level land are few o, they will be an four or five southwestward i;kan peninsula be the corsoli- These moun- both gold and ; are very rich, will be mucli r to the fauna sk ox is found fferent species e shores of the 1 as Kotzebue ly ; the Rocky species of fox, ick bear, wol- and wolf. Of •wual, etc., are iie ptarmigi'.n, n seasons, and )f the fish we \ endeavor to , first, of the no grass has ^Vrangell pro- • great is the t ripened, nor . While our E^reat difficulty w in the whole ; highly prized, DH, and, in the ; rule descend ;1 land are few and f. K "'^ '^'""""^ """'"'"^ "' "'"■»■■'■ and far between In n j 1273 absolutely worthless, u/^' f/"="^ffy this whole district is' ground under the most Lrell ' ,T ''^'^''' '"' ^''"''-■. and he poorest varieties of the rTclt " ,; 7"°" ''^'''^ """""fr but the The Si.kan Division does iLl ""= ^'"^^n Division yellow cedar, and sometimes cain Ihe wood, known as ."lost durable of all woods for n'r!, ^'"^P'""-ood, which is the ■" large quantities, and the La 7°''' °^ '^''P-^"'ld'r,g. is found very great value, is most p len^fu V' 'f"""' '° '^is, bu "of ^■' be easily procured atl^'Li^^^^^^f^"''- of these wood ^wed at a total cost of three dja 'f""f- ^"'"'"^^ has been eas.ly command from twelve I fii Pf.'housand, which would another has recently been bZ fn Kll ''"/""' "' S'" ^"^ only trifling ^ 1 !>e vast tracts of timber land in O T"^ ^' ^'"'er place and Northern California wfll fo? °"^'°"' Washington Ternto^' -portrnt"„ttt°' 'it !maT.-.''""°" ''^ '' P--« "- mo^ acted at Sitka is entirely dTpe^der""' °'^'''"'=^^ ""- trans ■^od,ties for furs and peUrts Pn „"P°" "'" '^"hange of com- -^been a sufficient 'de::, f! fo;: r""? ^"^^"''^-"s arg^gams. Fashion has frowned ^hJ^^'^'^ ''«'• P^ces or 'he hard times, and competitfon ! ^ ''"^'*"°"' Perhaps of ^-'iucing the promts. A^l the m T°" "^'^^'^ ''as assisted ;„ money, and it is the .renerll • "''^"'^ P^fess to have Inl! The fur-seal is „o Cnd LT'°" "'' """"^ ''='- -aTe an!' ^ J-tities of othX,;:^^:-- ^f cent "> «"^.^ : and to Wrangell by the Indian/^ """O^ffht to this place tur-trading is i„ j,/,^ ^ naf "e \>1 "f"'?"''"'^'' ''>' '-'e" . Prosperityofacounfy. iT^Zlld^VT'^ ""he permanen "ess as the seat of operations a^H "'^/™""'^r and the wilder- ■s settled and its' r^so^.r^dle op'e7" ^^ "f"''' "' ^ -"""^ ^'■°"':"'''^--«--ir^he'::j^r:riff «; 39 3 1274 OKff WESTERN EMPIRE. an end. Year by year, as the circle of population widens, the trappers are driven farther to the north. Astoria, for years the centre of the trade, loug ago yielded its supremacy, and to day no furs are sold in that market at first hand. A large part of the world's supply must henceforth come from Alaska. She has no rival on this continent, and in the most important branches no formidable competitor on the globe. " .<.i,i ii./ jro..i !<, •,, "The fisheries of the Sitkan waters will perhaps ultimately prove the most valuable resource. They have, however, until very recendy been of but little practical value. A few barrels of salted fish have been annually exported, and the inhabitants have to a large extent sustained life on the products of the sea. Within the past two years two salmon canneries have been built, and quite a large amount of money invested in this enterprise, but lack of information does not permit me to say whether the venture has proved successful. "It was said in support of the Alaskan purchase that all the ice of the Pacific coast was imported from that Territory ; but the value of the export was never in a single year more than •;-. ^' .;■.■■!!./■<.>>'; i./iPr-.. i,; \-r\ 2. The Yukon District. — Of this region the massive head of the bull, whose left horn, the Sitkan Division, we have just been considering, it has been the fashion with some writers to speak in the most glowing tet-ms. It was " the garden of Alaska." Here wheat and all the other cereals except corn, and all the tubers and vegetables required in the market gardens or the markets of the Pacific coast, could be raised in the greatest profusion. In the hot, short summer, everything, it was said, grew .so rapidly that a vast population could be sustained here. The later commis- sioners and explorers do not corroborate these glowing accounts. "The second division, called the Yukon," says Mr. Walker Blaine, "has been less explored than either of the others. There were formerly a few Russian posts in the Territory, but these have now been abandoned. At Cook's inlet, at the mouth of the Sutchino '■'" "''-''^- -^'^^"'cr o. ,,,s.-,. river an^ . ^^ Alaska. ■ found -a^r/C- -<■« V.,„„ ,,,,, .„«,,„, ^''^^ o net .ifj""'"';^ '"'•°'" 'he sea-coas, is IV^' °' "" "'— '" beenk,^ "'"™"' ^'=8«=' 1 j"'°- tslts ""^ ^"" "- TN«. • ^ ^^°' and the wm^ ^P"^'f "lermometer and fattening fo. „,"!, n """'"^ """•'^ ">an harof h "'" peninsulas, there s" f ' '""<= ^' Cook's ?„le.° r'""'^- only persistem! 1 ^°°'' '^ncl, and north of t '^ °" "•« 'o.*e land is from eTpenJ °"'^ ^"■''™- which v^hT;; '° -entific officers of Th^ C ^n"^ ^"'^ '^"-ant ,h" Theyareboth vervun«..- r ^"'°" TeWranh r^ -nufacture ;;:vt:::::,^ ^^^-^^'^-p'ovedi :;;:r°pf- at present unknown P domestic articles, but it, l„ haHbuf " '"'' ^'^•"" Sitka. pToft k"/" ^^-'-^ble for ship. ^^-;;-are ...abundant at CooktlLLTtXirtrS MS 59 3 1276 ^^^ WESTERN EMPIRE. 3. The Island Distncl, which includes the Aliaskan peninsula, the large island of Kadiak and the group of islands which surround it, the Aleutian Archipelago, comprising the three groups of the Fox, the Andreanowsky, and the Blijnie or Rat Islands, the whole constituting the right horn of the bull ; and with these the Priby- loff group (the home of the fur seal), Nounivak, Lawrence, and the St. Matthew group, come next in review. " These islands," says Mr. Blaine, "are the most valuable portion of our Russian purchase. The island of Kadiak and others of the Aleutian group contain very good arable land. The cattle distributed by the Russian Commercial Company succeeded here far better than in any other part of the Territory. There is good pasture land, and hay can be made with greater ease than at the mouth of the Columbia river. There is also an encouraging report that a good variety of potatoes can be grown, although ' the tubers are said to be small.' There is not much timber of good quality upon these islands, but the fisheries are of very great value. The Aleuts, who are the chief native race, are by nature the most honest people in the world. On the islands where there are no forests, driftwood furnishes the principal supply of fuel, and it is said that the unwritten law with reference to the rights of property is so strong that, should an Indian discover a log of wood which it is not then convenient for him to carry away, he may, by carrying it above high-water mark and placing it at right ansfles to the line of the beach, leave it with full assurance that it will not be disturbed until his convenience warrants the removal. ,),rru^^--.f - .. ••^; •'vr,,\ /,:jijt,;i- .i'jii.M'^i. .i.j.,..r "The chief sources of our revenue from Alaska are in what is known as the Pribyloff Islands. St. Paul and St. George, two of the group, now furnish almost all of the seal-skins used in the world. These islands abound with seal, and being the property of the United States, are leased by the government to the Alaska Fur Company. The number of seals killed each year is limited by law to 100,000, and for these a royalty of two dollars each is paid. If the law restricting the number of seals annually killed is strictly enforced, this industry will for many years furnish the cliief part of the revenue from Alaska, and constitute the most valuable product of the Territory." kan peninsula, ivhich surround z groups of the ands, the whole hese tile Priby- Lawrence, and These islands," of our Russian Aleutian group ributed by the "ar better than d pasture land, e mouth of the report that a < the tubers are f good quality ■y great value, by nature the h where there supply of fuel, :e to the rights cover a log of carry away, he 1 placing it at full assurance e warrants the are in what is jeorge, two of ns used in the y the property to the Alaska year is limited 3 dollars each annually killed irs furnish the itute the most "Alaska is destined to s.,n„i .u '■ " |^ I abound in halibut, l,erri ;, eod'a'nd ,"'"" "''"' "'=''• I'" waters « spaces of wl,iei, repf;,'!; ■'''"■°"' '"d«d ti,ere is |,a'dlv ■those above named exkTl ' '"""<" ^ found Whl^ bUck bass, .ock-cod, :Z?Z\i: Tf-'' ''"'"'">"■ "oZtr. arnr;r;:;j;; --' -••-S 1: x^rir:;;''" <""- and ,f desired ten ZJZlL ''"""^ 'he fisi, ,„ dealers ;'F.ve n,i,es fro. .he t:^^.^:^ t''^ ^- -u^d" ' lave a large cannery erected J , "■"' "^ ^"^'^^ & Co from the Eastern markets. WiTT T'' ^°' ^'aska salmon have not the gustable richness 1 h?'™°" '"™'" "'ese waTers Columbia river saln.on ther. ''* "'^ ^avoiy flavor oT fPec.es, particularly in "'he E^.r '™"' ""' ^^-^^^ ^^^ A Iskan This may be, perhaps, accountedfor " ""' '""^'S" ~""'ries" Columb,a river salmon labels find t ^"'' ^°' *<= '''^ason that' of what is puT,orted to be the "1 "'^ °" "'""^ands of cans contents are dog-fish. The estfbh I' '"'*• "'"''^ ''" fact tleir ofVr W'^ '" -^'^^-an r trdL1h^-^^- fi„H .■ , "'*"■• A large number ^fu '"P«"ntendency find steady employment at the "n" 7 '"^ ""^» and Indians «.s remarkable to witness thV^"^ ''""'"» '^e summer and .he Indian boys in m k'^ cans' s""';""'"^" -^^ »- of' busmess of this establishment mavh ^"\\"^^^ of the extensive -d th,s year the superin ^ t'.,^'';'/^ '"^ shipments mal! to San Francisco and the Eastern ml:!"' *°'°°° --"^ of fi^' « J 2/8 OVR WESTERN EMPIRE. "The catching of cod-fish in Alaskan waters is becoming yearly a more prosperous pursuit, and this season Mr. James Haley, of Fort Wrangeli, secured a schooner-load of cod at the Knout-Znu bank, in Chatham straits. He found the bank swarming with fish, but the Indians of that locality, the Knout-znous, are ' hiyu sullux,' over the coming of white men in their waters, refusing to allow the men to fish, performing that work themselves and charging one cent for each and every fish caught. In this way a full load was secured, which is now in process of curation at Wrangell. A ready market for the fish is found at home for supplying the mining camps, the entire cargo being readily dis- posed of at $ioo a ton, delivered at Wrangell. The Alaska cod, when once fairly introduced to Oregon and California mar- kets, will rapidly become a favorite with all lovers of that fish, and in time supplant the eastern-caught fish." Population, its Nationalities and Character. — We have already stated the probable number of the population, though as no cen- sus has been taken, it is impossible to fix it accurately. Of the 2,200 whites and Creoles reported in 1867 nearly one-half were half-breeds with Indian mothers. The number of whites and Creoles has increased, perhaps, 500 since that time; but the in- crease has been almost wholly in the half-breeds. The native tribes were divided by General Halleck's report of 1869 into four groups — I. The Koloshian tribes, which occupy the SItkan Divi- sion, and extend as far as the Atna or Copper river. These tribes, which have been variously estimated at from 800 to 1 5,000 (the latter estimate, however, including the coast Indians of Northwestern British Columbia), are those with which our people have been brought most in contact. They are, like the other Indian tribes of this coast, of the Athabascan family, and origi- nally probably of Mongolian or Northern Tartar stock. They are as a rule more intelligent and possess more mechanical skill than the Dakota or Sioux family, but are more superstitious and idolatrous, and quite as low morally as any of the Indian tribes. Some of these tribes have been hostile to the whites, and have murdered the crews of vessels, but they are now generally peaceful, except when they are intoxicated. They distil a fiery becoming' yearly James Haley, of t tlie Knout-Znu : swarming with znous, are ' hiyii Iters, refusing to themselves and lit. In this way s of curation at ind at home for :iing readily dis- 11. The Alaska California mar- ers of that fish, /e have already ough as no cen- irately. Of the y one-half were • of whites and Tie; but the in- ds. The native •f 1869 into four he Sitkan Divi- r river. These n 800 to 1 5,000 )ast Indians of hich our people , like the other imily, and origi- r stock. They nechanical skill •e superstitious y of the Indian ) the whites, and I now generally ey distil a fiery «-d.ha„dvio,:„^;:,,'^-7-;'he ships, and IZZl^Z kbonn,. a„,o„g them, and a "l!/'- „^"''-°"aries are now converted. « considerable number have bee! 2- I he Kcnaian Tribes «,!,„ D.v,sion south of the Ycl! """P^ "«= *'«''« of the Yukon thnn »I,^ . *UKOn Hver TK^ I llkOn than the preceding, ranging from '■ c ^ "" """'' """'erous 2 , '? ^P^^^H quiet and Z d^'°°° ,'° '°'°°°- They are "luch known of them. '" '^"P°""^' ">ough there is no! 3- ^/ic Aleuts Th A'iaskan peninsula, "-^l"! '"'"'"^ <>' "'e islands and the are 'ndustrious, honest „ ?, ^^''^ '"'^semble the Eskim i %a government i„ Alaskf Ih'T""'"'-'^'"^'-^ '^ to-day no Terntory, one the revenuetiw f °?'^ '"'° '^"'^ '•" force VZ ."- prevention of smug" n! -tnd d T"*^"'"" "^ -«on s and ""Portation of liquor toX^ °"'"' ^ '^'^ P^hibitin' t,"e means of enforcing even ti t I^l'''''^;; ^here are no effi^i ' arresting or punishing a murdee ;,•,!'■' '^ "° ''^^^o" for few simple laws would be suffl T '"^^ ^'^'^er or pirate A Congress has been repettedJXt r^"^'' '"*= --"''- ot tary of the Treasury, nothing' has been ^ "'""^^ ''^ *<= Secre- >n Pnnapal Towns a,,^ u„ "^" "^""e- the present capital of L T """'" ""= S'"^*" Division Sitk on>y importanl" settttt^^^J ^ ^^^ Wrange'l'le t' ■"habitants respectively. I„ ,he li T n"'""' ■'3°° and Soo Kadiak Island, the former cao tl f '^'^''^'■°"' St. Paul's Z 'ashka, the refitting sta"on ZT! T^"" "'^ '^"-a"'. and U„a n^ereial Company^re "I'tr"" P°^' "^ '"'^ Alaska Con " ' fo" St. Michael's and cJok's tft"' '", ""^ ^"'^°" Di,S " 'mportance. „ „„,,^,,^ ^^ '"'« are tl,e only pUces of any •m ? I280 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. We have given some notes of the climate of Sitka. Perhaps a few items from the Signal Service reports in relation to a sta- tion at Fort St. Michael's, in Yukon, and Unalashka Island, in the Aleutian Archipelago, may be worth noting : FORT ST. MICHAEL'S, Yukon District, Alaska. Latitude 6j° 48'. •'i Longitude 161° o*. • ''" '! ','<,^''' '.■} Elevation 30 feet. ' liJ'V i.'UU Jt, Ybaii AND Months. 1878. Year July August . . . September. October . . . November. December . T879. January . . . February. . March April May June Temperature. Hum dity. I i 1 il 2 & 1 t-i E a E E si: 1 3 t% c C 3 s < t'. s c2 s u ill. per ct. 73 -3> 104 21.9 15.6 87.2 7J 36 37 52.1 3.4« 77-a 66 4-" 24 53-4 3.1^ 833 5« 36 3» 46.0 a.7(/ 894 4« 10 3« 29.1 o.6fi 87.4 3= — 12 44 .5.b 0-95 89.9 45 — 3« 76 16.6 i.ii6 93.0 43 — »i 64 •4 9 1.89 99-3 30 —3^ 60 3-5 0.07 91. 1 40 — 20 60 13.6 a.w 83,7 37 — 20 57 19.0 0.4a 87.0 \^ — 2 55 3>-5 0.30 854 64 3a 3a 40.3 1.4U Barometer. UNALASHKA ISLAND, Alaska. Latitude 53° as'. \i^^" ,^ Longitude 1660 49'. i:'.'A\ ; J ; / , . Elevation ab. 30 feat. Temperature. a 2 s inches. 29 734 «9 778 29.695 29.737 ag.659 29.278 29.763 29 642 30.179 29.751 29.677 29945 48 45 48.; 44 49 52 I E V H E a E i e 6 .36 26 30 7 "5 31 27 36 38. 37 34 3« B i e 48.0 40.8 33.5 35.« 34 29.3 32.2 33- 1 Humidity. 8 mull. 3"74 2-55 3.97 3.78 IO.U2 3.88 '•35 3.36 3.93 •5 B a 86.0 92.0 8..0 85.0 845 84.0 80.9 82.3 The Attractions of Alaska to the summer tourist are very great. At Sitka and its vicinity the midsummer night is almost as attrac- tive as at Tromsoe or the North Cape. At Kotzebue sound it is quite as beautiful. Later in the season the brilliant aurora borealis, or Northern lights, are of unsurpassed beauty and magnificence. " *^^'^ ur'u ,Y-rt^;i'jf^>i u.mj k> ii.uqiv/ .\^m Mr. Blaine thus describes the voyage from Nanaimo, the last port of British Columbia, to Sitka: . ^i^ fv>v n^.- ji v^ HUibs^^ui ■'• "The picturesque parts of the voyage are found between Na- naimo and Sitka. The steamer sweeps through a narrow strait guarded on either hand by snow-capped mountains, and so nar- row that despite all your knowledge of perspective it seems as if the shores meet as you look up the channel from the bow of ritka. Perhaps ilation to a sta- ;a Island, in the Z\ ISLAND, Alaska. ude 53° jj'. itude 166° 49'. ition ab. ao feat. ture. Humidity, jl n § s, c & ^ 2i. 12 ^ i g w. H p; X a e ' ^e on' '"enty hours which dsew f ^ ''°"^' ™mp'e.in. 4e ^n ^ *" nigh. g,i„er wi.hl:t7S''^r •"*-■•" ^o-- n^T,;: At,„ '/. ""'■ '"°''" stands tiptoe on ,1, ""^ "'">'• ^>''"'e in sleep." ^ '"" ^t-aminginto the state t::,':;:"' "' ' '" "-<= We can h- ^, " ^'"' fro™ Productf ^I b '"^' '" ""^ ''™«e. Neithel h' "'" ''"^^'''^ sea Off f «'Y^«„ • ^' ^"^ "lany of thn .;, . ;;'■;'";-. ••ca„:,:., rs;: ~r ->''^^. i r.h Son rrr, ^^.t """ '"«= '•"-•- -i'ed bo..nclarybet,.ec„ this and the 1'^°""'^'"'' fo^s the eastern Cascade and Coast Ranges if,?' •'''"'■'' T"*=""<"-y. wMe Z separate chains of moun^^, T """" '"""''^^ "»«M ere fo™ ""'=. ranging fro„ ,„J^'"^ ,?''"'"<= ^^^^^--a' elected si approaching very nearTtl^^ aLT "' "'•°°° <•«'. bu no^e" "urces, one in the Roclcv 1U« . • "^^''' ^'smp- from Cascade Range, drains t^e ce„tfa? ""'' ^""^ "'^ o'heri Z from tL r '*'= S'^Pson and tbe%f,^%^'"°"S^^hkh valleyrbetwe „ "t""""" "' ""^ Macken'ieTver t ' "°^*' nor*east the Pinl.rJZ^'T^Tp^r'.-^- '<> east",: tt we Peace river, which falls i„to I2S4 oi/^ ir:-:sTEKx empirk. 8 th'- Athabasca lake, has its source in the Cascade Mountains, and crosses tiic Rocky Mountains by another pass near the 56th par- allel. There are numerous lakes in the province. The -best harbor is at Esquimault. Vancouver Island and the coast along the Gulf ot Georgia would be a good wheat country if die rains were not so profuse. Oats and barley do better, and the root crops are very good. North of this island there is much fine grazing land. The fisheries on the coast are very important. Cod, haddock, herring, halibut, salmon trout, sturgeon, anchovies, and, above all, salmon, are very abundant. There are many gold mines on the Frazer, Salmon, Simpson and Stickine rivers, and the yield is large. Silver, copper, zinc, and quicksilver are also mined to some extent. There is coal on the mainland, but not of as good quality as that on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Marble of ^/reat excellence is found in the southern part of the province. There is an abundance of good timber. This province and Alaska are now, and are likely to be for many years to come, the chief scats of the fur trade. The population of •British Columbia in 1871 was: whites, 14,- 043 ; Indians and Creoles, about 36,000. The Indians have not increased materially in the last decade, but the white population now prbbably exceeds 25,000. The capital is Victoria, in the southeastern point of Vancouver Island. New Westminster is the next town in size, and is the see of an English bishop. There are a number of forts, but few other towns of considerable size. The province has a lieutenant-governor, and is repre- sented in the Dominion Parliament by three senators and six representatives. II. The Northwestern Territories. — This has been until re- cently the titular designation of all that part of the Dominion of Canada which lay north of the United States and west of the province of Ontario and Hudson's bay, except the provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba. The Parliament of 1880, how- ever, made some changes which restrict the extent of this vast and almost unknown domain. It still retains more than 2,000,000 of square miles; but while it extends from the 49th parallel to the Arctic Ocean, its eastern limit is found in the chain of lakes /lountalns, and • the 56th par- re. The -best le coast along ry if tlie rains and the root is much fine :ry important. :on, anchovies, 2re are many >tickine rivers, [uicksilver are mainland, but rlotte Islands, rn part of the This province >/^ears to come, >: whites, 14,- ians have not te population ictoria, in the Westminster is iglish bishop. f considerable md is repre- ators and six een until re- Dominion of i west of the provinces of jf 1880, how- it of this vast ban 2,cxx),ooo th parallel to hain of lakes which ™.fc ^'" "•"— — ..,,,„,,,,^^ -«' of Manitoba aTcl.!' ^^^ ^V°"-»to„. etc A„^;""'P^^- fario Mich !.» : '''"' ^Vinnine,v to H,„ T , ' ""-' '«'"' ri,,s vast Territory of til m' T ^"^^yi". '""^ ^y the hunter andV '^""hwest is but iltfl„ 1 ■"'5'«y rivers. He „ Tf^r- /' f a Ian; o ' t^^-" --i- and the Grt-nt a ^^ween the foothills of tu r,^ ^^^^^ and ^asin str«re^,:ri 'l^'" and "^ ^'-t rcttH^'"'^'"^ ^-"•c Ocean, at the broad*-'",'?' *''=""• -'>ich exTen* f °" '^ ward through all , , ''''''a of the Marl ■. ™'" "'e '^■^e, the Afha^ ". «'ey of ti,at ri^: C^^--!". »".'.- ">er, with all ,u , , '^ace, the Saskit.l " ''"""- and 'hose ofTe Red •"'''"^ ''''"^'' are ,^ot two ?" 7'^^^ °' 'h- °« vaCthrn ?'? "'^^ '•" 'he wo °d is M "''=^^'PP'' Galley oftheseX^r T "•" '^''"'^ 'engthof , "'"^" ="^h a continu •cbe river valevssvi-r,r , ^ ' ^' a continem- 'n coJd season is ton ^ ^''^'^' ^^'^n "P to th/l , '^ "^'^ There ar/ Protracted for mo/ ,""^ ^^^^e the basca and^rNlo^l '''^'''=*='"' 'heTeatr i^ 'T '^"°" ^ asserted that one-half Ln- 'r-" '""' Athabasca Ik "•"''' 's suitable for whe-,7 *^P'^'"« 'and is arable a„T ' " '" some of the ce^ T'"*"'' ."^ ^' '-^' for the cuhT' •'"""■' P-ayan Mountai s the soT i " '"°°""'"= "^ 'he Let^: '°'; .''f 'endency to be alkaline T^ ""' '1^°°* ^"'' 'he wate S ''" " ^^;;o^of the Indians, the French ""= '■^™"'« *•'»'"«'""'. .-., .■,,„„nr; ^:;^^^;oyageurs, and the *«-^"'eror.. ,, ,.,,,,77r _j;^eurs. and the seven de^rrees warmer th . ' ^°° ""'^^ "orthwest of «/^ ""^i' 's materially 1286 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. X s Scotch traders and trappers. It is, with the provinces and Terri- tories west of it, the main dependence of the civilized world for furs. Buffalo, beavers, sables, martens, wolves, foxes, bears, otter, fishers, etc., are very numerous, and the uttermost diligence of the hunters and trappers does not materially diminish their num- bers. The musk ox, the polar bear, and the blue and Arctic foxes are found toward the mouth of the Mackenzie river and along the coasts and islands of the Arctic Archipelago. Deer are abundant in the south and west, and the elk and moose are often seen. Geese, ducks, swans, ptarmigans and various kinds of grouse are found in great quantities on and near the numerous lakes. The lakes and streams are well stocked with fish. The population until 1871 was mainly Indian, with a small number of Canadian-French voyageurs, Scotch, Irish and Ameri- can trappers and hunters, and some half-breeds. Within the last decade, however, the immigration to Manitoba has v« ry ii> i^-ely migrated from that province to the better and dryer lands aiong the Qui Appelle, or Assiniboine, and the Saskatchewan rivers, and the land has been found well adapted to wheat culture, and the climate more favorable than that of Manitoba. The white popuv lation of the southern part of the Territory has thus largely in- creased. It was computed in 1871 that there were about 67,000 Indians in the Territory, and not over 1,000 whites. There may be now 10,000 whites in the Territory. The completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway through the southern portion of the Territory within a few years will probably greatly accelerate its growth. Battleford is the Cxipital, though until very recently the lieutenant-governor and the bishop of the diocese resided at Winnipeg, in Manitoba. It is not represented in the Dominion Parliament. III. Keewatin, or Kewaydin. — Of this new and unorganized Territory there is little to be said. It is almost wholly in the basin of Hudson's bay, and its numerous lakes and rivers all drain, directly or indirectly, into that bay. Its southern boundary under the report of the commissioners is not lower than 5.-?° of latitude, and this in that longitude insures for it a rigorou i climate. The Canadian almanacs state its area as about 500,000 ices and Terri- ized world for ES, bears, otter, ;t diligence of lish their num- id Arctic foxes ver and along JO. Deer are lOose are often ious kinds of the numerous ith fish. , with a small sh and Ameri- ^Vithin the last IS very ii> i^ely er lajids along A^an rivers, and ilture, and the le white popu^ bus largely in- 2 about 67,000 5. There may ly through the s will probably :apital, though I bishop of the Dt represented i unorganized wholly in the and rivers all bern boundary wer than 5.-?° r it a rigorous about 500,000 "'ostly Indians and Zl' T"^''">". though we Tn ^"^ minion will be fit T^^^" ' ^ut the cen,,,! , l''"°«' " to be "■•ganized with v'" P™''''"'=<= "^ the Dr.L''^''^* ' -noes atld UV:;-" ''"""''-^^n .'r '"r^"''^ -s «^ somewhat re^t 1T""'"'°" P^bably had li J ""'""'■ ^sy to carve ou f ""'■ '^^^^ '" a rL'o^ u'' '" ''° >^"'' «q»are miles as o.nlT""^^ "' P^-^ce of !" "^"^ '•' -as as of unorganized t„ ^ '' «tent,and still ll '^ "^ '°°'°°o of^onlv 14 ,^^ "^'^ "ave contented th ^,^^ ^^e founders f-''alerCn;-™--ude:£^^^^^^^^ , -O-'sites t"a rC-r "'•*■•" ''' ^ "twrs "rf 'T r ingVndsTnd^Ser ' V' -Sat"X' 'Ir"'-' °f;hese Manitoba Shr;a",rh" ^"^ ,^ '"^^ farl'^ a"f ^""^ aaries northward anH , ^ ^^''^ ^^^ by extenW; ^" north and wesTh Tu ^^^^ward. Manitoba ff ^ ^ ''' '^""- 2'!!'!i^!!!i^r6:;acre:r^^- "' i.'ves the area as 1 7027 c '3»923 square nijles. w ^3 3S 3 1288 OCr/! WESTERN EAfPIRE. Surface, Soil, and Geolojry. — The province lies almost entirely in the valley of the Red river, and is nearly a dead level, though rising very gently toward the south. Lake Winnipeg, on its northern boundary, is a little more than 100 feet lower than the Red river where it enters the province on the southern boun- dary ; the surface of the lake being 628 feet above the sea ; Fort Garry, which is at some height above the river banks, 724 feet, while the Red river at Emerson is about 760 feet. So level is the area around Winnipeg that it is often overflowed by the Red river when it is swollen by the melting of the winter snows. West of the river, the streams have cut their way through the yielding soil and flow in deep troughs, or, as they are called in the provincial Canadian voyageur's French, coulees, a. corruption o[ coulisy . The roads, in the spring and autumn especially, are miry and Wi led, and animals, carriages, and wagons are fre- quently stuck m the mire. Most of the country where not cultivated is covered with tall, coarse grass. There is a sufficiency of timber in the province for all immediate wants, and the banks of the lakes and rivers outside of the province are heavily wooded. The soil is alluvial, this whole region having once been the bed of a great lake. The floods in the lower Red river may make the soil richer, but they interfere at times very seriously with the crops and with the comfort of the settlers. East of the Red river, there is more forest than west of it, and the land is nat quite so uniformly level. There are, however, extensive marshes. The climate is remarkably healthful, but the winters are very severe. The rainfall is slightly greater than at Pembina, Dakota, on the southern border, and with the humid atmosphere from the adjacent lakes, is amply sufficient. We give on page 1 289 the reports of the Canadian Signal Service of the temperature at Fort Garry, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and as the Canadian authorities do not report the rainfall, we have added that at Pembina, which is only a little less than that of Fort Garry. >, Agnculture and Agricidtural Productions. — There is hardly any inhabited region of the globe about which so many conflict- ing statements have been made, as Manitoba. These contradic- almost entirely d level, though nnipeg, on its lower than the outhern boun- the sea ; Fort anks, 724 feet, eet. So level rflowed by the winter snows, y through the J are called in r, a corruption especially, are gons are fre- ered with tall, the province es and rivers joil is alluvial, a great lake, oil richer, but i and wfth the lere is more liformly level. ters are very bina, Dakota, lere from the age 1 289 the ' "ature at Fort Luthorities do mbina, which re is hardly lany conflict- se contradic- 1289 m ^ * y ""'■'""'" Temperature. - ^ " ^ *" •=" . - • ° «''"eeofTcmpe^,„„ - - « 0. °| Mean Temperature. "> ' annual. n ____J1"- 6, ° Maximum Temperature. I hi If 1290 OC//! H'ESTERN EMPIRE. tions concern its climate, its soil, its farm products and its graz- ing lands, and live-stock. Here are some brief specimens from two Manitoban farmers, one signing himself "an English farmer," the other " a Canadian." " The English farmer " says : " In my opinion a good farming country should possess the following essentials — viz., good soil, a regular succession of sea- sons and a climate that will admit of outdoor work being per- formed during at least eight or nine months in each year." He admits that the land in Manitoba is much of it good, but com- plains that most of that which is worth anything is either " half- breed reserve," or bought up by speculators; and says that if settlers want free-grant land worth working, they will have to go beyond Manitoba into the Northwest Territory to get it. Hav- ing obtained this, he says, the list of advantages becomes ex- hausted, for good land is absolutely all that the Canadian North- west can give the settler. ; " In the next essential, the regular succession of the seasons, those who come here are woefully disappointed — there being only one season that you can reckon upon with any degree of certainty, and that is a winter extending over more than half the year, and surpassing in its frequency of storms and intensity of cold any region yet discovered outside of the Arctic Circle. It is a winter that Europeans can form no adequate conception of, exceeding in its severity even the cold of Iceland. This is no random assertion, as the following will show : — At the latter end of last winter I was transacting some business with an Icelander, who has been living in Manitoba for the last five years, and in the course of conversation I asked him if it was much colder in Iceland than it was in Manitoba? With a look of mingled aston- ishment and amusement he said : — ' What ! colder in Iceland ? Oh, dear, no ! We not haf so mooch steady cold in Iceland as we haf here in Manitoba.' So if any who happen to read this letter are desirous of coming to a country colder than Iceland let them by all means pack up and start off at once, so as to be in time for the beginning of the ' beautiful winter,' which will soon be upon us.* But if any such be heads of families, I would urge upon them * This complaint of the severity of the winter climate seems to be well founded. Rev. H '• lets and its graz- specimens from English farmer," " says : uld possess the ccession of sea- vork being per- ach year." He good, but corn- is either " half- nd says that if will have to go get it. Hav- -s becomes ex- anadian North- of the seasons, i — there being any degree of 'e than half the nd intensity of ctic Circle. It conception of, id. This is no the latter end 1 an Icelander, i years, and in nuch colder in ningled aston- :r in Iceland? 1 Iceland as we ead this letter sland let them be in time for soon be upon •ge upon them unded. Rev. H '. incr his tPP.h .y °"^ ^^o has har^ ^n at)undance /** , ^ '^^^^ "Pon Manitoba b^.f " opportunity of tP«;^ "She^n A • ' y* almost •^neep-farmmp-. shpf^r, k i- "'•Sfed upon the se tier ?^ ^'^^^ ^"^' ^"^ ^^ol-erowino- a success that was very Me b«f;V^^^^ shtep smce I came here anri ^7 n f ^"^ '^^n ""-ee flock, nf a'ed embodiments of sheep Jife °u '" "^^ '"affgecl, scabby a«e„u sheep tryine to hif» , r • '"'>' "et'e the worst 1 1, ^_JJ^tojwe a hvmg off a hillside in c ' ''^"^ "'^en ;:''''fr^^^;^^;:^^i;^^^^;;;-;:;;^ ^!!fl^^_Spam where there The table of ihe SiVn,i c "'"'* '» 'he autumn of iR-7„Tj ~ —- ,3,0. ces.s.ve months, where the a,ea„ tem^XT^^'j'- T ^^"'' '"°- '"- J4 5. and the amiual range 1292 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. i i 3 was scarce grass enough for a half-grown rabbit. I have watched the little Welsh mountain sheep browsing upon the nourishing refuse of a slate quarry. Yet any of these would have stood forth as veritable Southdowns compared with the sheep 1 have seen in Manitoba. And then the quality of the mutton! Imagine the flavor of 'seven-day veal' combined with the firmness of fif- teen-year-old male mutton and you have it exactly. Some will wonder why this should be the case. The reasons are simple, but yet they are such as cannot be easily overcome. In the first place the prairie grass is too coarse for sheep. In the next place there is a fatal enemy to sheep here in the form of a weed called 'wild barley.' It seems to be growing all over the prairie. The seed of this weed is scarcely a fourth the size of a barleycorn, and it is armed with a hard, sharp spear. This goes into the sheep and the point breaking remains in the skin, causing contin- uous irritation and pain quite sufficient to prevent sheep from ever thriving where such a pest prevails. "Another difficulty that the settlers in Manitoba and the North- west will have to contend with is alkali. It is present in such large quantities throughout the soil that the water everywhere is impregnated with it. To such an extent does this prevail in some places that I have frequently known settlers have to dig five or six wells before they could get one sufficiently fcee from alkali to admit of its being used. This bad water is, I feel cer- tain, the principal cause of the death of such a large proportion (eight out of every ten) of the horses that are brought into Man- itoba from Ontario and elsewhere, within eighteen months of their arrival. In fact I know of one family, father and sons, who brought fourteen horses with them from Ontario, and in two years there was only one alive out of the fourteen. These are matters that should certainly be made known among in tending- emigrants, i; . .,.;;., . ^ "When the three seasons — /. e., the spring, summer, and au- tumn — are squeezed into some four or five months at the most, the thoughtful mind will easily realize that this alone is sufficient to prevent Manitoba from ever being a good farming country ; for you must bear in mind that within this four or five months the ■f I have watched the noiirishinsr >uld have stood he sheep 1 have Jtton! Imagine : firmness of fif- :tly. Some will ons are simijle, ne. In the first 1 the next place f a weed called e prairie. The 'f a barleycorn, I goes into the causing contin- ent sheep from and the North- )resent in such ter everywhere 1 this prevail in rs have to dig endy fcee from r is, I feel cer- 'ge proportion jght into Man- en months of and sons, who o, and in two n. These are ong intending imer, and au- s at the most, ne is sufficient ning country; ve months the LEUGT/f OF TI/P r-^. ^hole of the r. "" ''''"'''''' fi^-^akingthe .trKT'^ ^"'- '^^ J'^^ar h.s to K "'' '•nterval occ rHn T'"'' ^" '^^^^- i^ave o h 7'^ '"^' ''''^'^ ^'^ - -d oro obi; Tr '^^ ^^^'""C^f tfrv'", '"' '^-^ "eaHy;i^fc- ;?'-^ -"-y^ Sr^^^ ^^e or three week, ,f, "^ *> was really come n„ i f ^^^y *as whole counTry wf 1"" ^^f-^ of tCZCAl7 ? '°""''^'^' -"ere the iJd ; Zr^T''''" "'«• -Ip "' ' l.^"'""' "- or sow, and ,l,e J ,2 " T" '""''<= ''"Possible 1, '""""'^'^^ """'bcr of acres of whcafj"T ""''' P"' '" only ol. Tf T Cousin :: l7:^ '- ^^-n. for iZtZTor': "'^ "-"'^ either l.ave •, ^-Ir " ""^^'^ to meet the "°"' ""'"'l^ from the mon'v T ""= ^''^riff or wil t "T' ""'^ «"' ''^s.v,-„,::::^:fj «/rom firtee:!''^;;-^ t -h at 'we've per cent, atd,*"- P™Pe"y they may tr,;;'"'- "^ "::ri;n:::;'-Trio7.tnrj^ the count J::"^, ':?/'''" "^ consider that t'^'"'^°'"""ff'' toes and be'e's" ™"'' '° "« P-'-^ction of « llTo """ °'' As a means of health, , • ""<=«' °«ts, pota- a source of profit i„ , r ""'"yn^'nt for the ftmn ^arm mav n^i- j . ^ ^hat there i*«: o^ Prairie Domi^ot '"" "^^^ "^ -'-^ in thit ^ 1 ^Clri' 77 The " P„ 1 • L . P^^'^ ^^ the ^ne iinghsh farmer " -^ i- the whole ^' ''^''' « Portage k p?^ ^. ^'"''^'"eial Agri- whole d,sp,ay of Manitoba^; t„rar"°^' '«79. iru.t amounted to two 1294 OUR H'F.STF.KU EMPIRE. I i h plates of crab apples almost as large as walnuts— having a smell and taste that would give any one the idea that they were grown in a bed of iron filings and watered with vinegar ? "The general testimony of those I have met, who have been here five, six, and seven years, is that 'scarcely any of the fruit-trees planted here outlive the second winter.' This is no hearsay, but the testimony of men thoroughly conversant with fruit culture, who have tried over and over again to grow apples, pears, peaches, etc., but always with the same results — failure and dis- appointment. I met with a nursery agent here last spring, who told me that he had sold several thousand fruit trees of various kinds during his trip through Manitoba, but he rather thought he should not come again, for from what he saw and heard of the winter he should not e.xpect to find any of the trees alive next year. So the settler in Manitoba will save time and money by leaving the fruit trees alone, as an orchard here is totally out of the question." Per contra, a "Canadian" says, of the climate: "As to Manitoba it possesses a climate exactly the same as Minnesota, at Moorehead, or Dakota, at Fargo. The winters are known to be severe, that is, as the thermometer shows; but they are probably less trjing than the more humid winters on the seaboard. The snowfall is very light, not more than a foot and a half. The horses of the country graze out all winter ; and sometimes, after having been turned out in the fall, return in the spring with increased numbers, from the mares having foaled. They paw the light, mealy snow off the grass and find plenty of nutritious food." Of the lands, he says, "They are contiguous to those of Minne- sota and Dakota, and the same, being only separated by an as- tronomical line. If there is any difference in as far as the lands themselves are concerned, it is that the farther you proceed down ' the Red rive of the North, say from the point of Moorehead or Fargo, the nearer you get to what was u^idoubtedly in previous geologic ages the centre of the great lake which at one time covered the whole of this territory, and the deeper you find the alluvium resting on a lacustrine clay formation. This fact gives V -having a smell icy were grown have been here " the fruit-trees no hearsay, but h fruit culture, apples, pears, failure and dis- ist spring, who 'ees of various rather thought r and heard of he trees alive me and money e is totally out ly the same as 'he winters are ows; but they ^inters on the lan a foot and 11 winter; and , return in the having foaled, find plenty of ose of Minne- ited by an as- r as the lands proceed down ' Moorehead or lyin previous 1 at one time • you find the "his fact gives banks of the rL° f'""°''«. although it;, , , , "^^ sub-soil, has bepn ?"""""". held by a W„ i *• ''•'""<= '">■. for anybody tLl!^ . S'™*"" of v.heJt u "'^K'obo, an of whear,? ""•■ «''"'<-•• and , "The cou„..yl"t °^'"* ^•■•'y P'-oof '" '^"°"" 'o ">ou- 'nstance, the roarir " ''o* new and 1 """^ "'-V ''-^'y spring! X„ tr °' "-^ -"ost pnmltiveTV ""-■"'■■ ^or '■''ce dries, ,?.;„'^;''-s"ow and frost grZj'TV"'' '" "«= ■•oads of the Centml p''? 1° ^"^<= ovef the^; *• "' "'^ «"■- vances they do drv I^' ^''^ York. But 1 , " '" ""^^ "^e '^'■d as anyl 1^'^"'' ">«" the roads h^ "'"^ reason ad- — t ;::;,; -^'^-A,, thist'U;^--^ -.00th and warnings are „• ""^^"^d to, and the vJ/ , '' '" "'<= gov- ">ey may have to '" """sr^"^^ as to Z TT' '"'^ '""''es. Railway,^ :«, 'L'"'°""''=^- ^ section of th T "^ '"'«'="'"« fa"; and thtwrnn' """'' °^ ^nnipeg ll , ^''™*'^" Pacific its line. """ "P"^" "P very grea^ t^^ ^""Pleted this . r^-ereareundoubtedly "'""=^ ^^ -"'e- along ■toba, and these ,° "'^^'y ""any marshes in th. • PWets and maps ' 7^ ''""y ^« forth ntht?™""'^^ ''^^^"■ damage; and!" drii "'^ ^--^ ^" --^1^7'"^"'^^'"- 0" by the provindff * ^"^«'^ °P<='^"ons are now h """^ ""^y Dominion govemm. r';?""^"'' ""der an aL„ ^'"^ "^'"^^ "ot be dn.,i" ::: th?""°""P°"<^-' "yfSd "■"' '"^ prairies. A diffl, "* "^^^s are too „. l ""^se can- s"ch an as:ertor"'\°''"°'"- '"'=« -yven ^ ''' 'r' °' ">- river and the A?- .' "'"' '" *^^ face of ,1 J"^ f°"y to make below the ttZT"' ''^^ ™' their wiif' """ ""^ ^ed 18 I 3 1296 'our correspondent has made to them, perhaps you will permit me to say that they are the same as those of the United States government, with the exception tiiat the fees are a little less. Any man can get a homestead of 160 acres free on any unoccupied surveyed government lands on condition of three years settlement, and he can pre-empt 160 acres more. The lands granted for railway purposes are sold in the same way as in the United States. The government lands open for free settlement arc divided in alternate sections with the railway lands. The ' eighty acre ' restriction, to which your correspondent refers, was done away with about a year ago." It seems, however, that there is some ground of complaint even now, in regard to land grants in Manitoba, and the migra^ tion of some large bands of Mcnnonites across the line to Minne- sota and Dakota on this account the last year would indicate that there had been some favoritism, at least. ' The descriptions of the region north and west of 'anitoba by Mr. Vernon Smith in the "Nineteenth Century,' by Lord Dufferin, at Winnipeg, are very eloquent, and though perhaps a little overstated are worthy of quotation here : "In the very centre of this great Dominion of Canada, equi- distant from the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean, and mid- way in the other direction between the Adantic and Pacific, lies the low depression of Lake Winnipeg, 300 miles long, fifty to sixty miles wide — the future Black Sea of Canada. Its shape is roughly a parallelogram lying north and south ; at three of its four corners it receives the waters of a large river; the main trunk of a hundred smaller ones. At the remaining northeast angle a fourth and larger river — the Dardanelles of the system — conveys the accumulated waters of nearly a million square miles into Hudson's bay. This Lake Winnipeg receives the drainage of the future wheat-field of the world. The Red River of the North, with its affluents, the Assiniboine, the Quiappelle, the Red Lake river, the Souris and a score of others, discharge their waters into it through the grass-covered deltas at the southwest angle. At perhaps not of your columns ; it lias made to :y are the same 1 the exception 1 homestead of nment lands on I pre-empt i6o :ses are sold in ernment lands :e sections with , to which your I year ago." 1 of complaint and the migra* line to Minne- Id indicate that >f initoba by by Lord )ugh perhaps a Canada, equi- cean, and mid- nd Pacific, lies s long, fifty to I. Its shape is at three of its the main trunk rtheast angle a stem — conveys lare miles into he drainage of :r of the North, the Red Lake leir waters into est angle. At tJ'atseek UknWr ^"""^'nts of the Sh J *^ '^'"^^^vatersof consoled bv sailln .i. ^ "'"-'^ °f '"s vovi,.^ n! ■'■- ''eauty orchil ""*'''■ ' ^"««SV„cr,T* '"-" *'" ^ *« far-famed Tho 'T^'^' '"'"'e it resemM '"'''"'' ^"'""n^k, 'acustrine Pa„d ^"'?'"' ''''""ds of ,l,e St ,,'"'' "^'^''"y excels "'c raradiseof svlvan k ^ ^'- Lawrence p. . f^r our friend to the W "'^"'^ "■« are able a, !' "^ ""'^ ^-eiy heart of the 7'"" ""^g. a riVer ,^,0= ""= ■" "-ans. "ffhtful miraclef soT""'"; '^ '" «=«'f one of na:""'.'^"^^ '" "'^ MacKina^ an^Mo'ntr 7'"? ''""' ^^^T^^T' ~"- "ob e exnano<. „f ""'real. The Lake of ,k „, °^Pots at ■covers the areata "''"'^'' "<"» 'o he ll '"'''='" "=""« of " °'''' '"-^ '"'-^ --> sr :rZ 3 1298 ""? thj^'d ""i' "'"=*^'- the lake "ver is a harh^ '*' '° ''^ascend a<.ain T? ''°"'" »"th a cer- °f the continent I T"' "^ "'^^ longitHde ' ^ '^°"^'' '•'"■ ^°* is. Forf,:, ^'^'"y ""■'-=" nearer fo • '" """ ^'^'^ heart ^'•-scletof,^;:-J^P™bab,yZ:t^^^^^^^^^ There is no question ,K^ ""''' "^ the iVorth I y''^'"> -'teamers from June to n "f "' ''^^^^ibiiity for o I "' P°«"- "■hether these sam! °''^''' ''"'' '> only el ■ '"^"^ °«a„ Nelson river andTo 7T^' "'"""^ force th^.r J'"' '° '"^ P^^ed Saskatchewan the o i"'" '^'^°<^^ *rect J" 7 "^ ""^ ?^«at ^muh says of the yield of i ^^^'^ ^ "^ of cereal and root 130O OUR WESTER X EMPIRE. I \ crops in this Northwestern region, not confining his statements, it will be observed, to Manitoba : The fact established by clima- tolosrists, that the cultivated plants yield the greatest products near the northernmost limit at which they grow, is fully illustrated in the productions of the Canadian Territories; and the returns from Prince Albert and other new settlements on the Saskatche- wan show a yield of 40 bushels of spring wheat to the acre, averaging 63 pounds to the bushel, whilst one exceptional field showed 68 pounds to the bushel, and another lot of 2,000 bushels weighed 66 pounds, producing respectively 46 and 42 J^ pounds of dressed flour to the bushel of wheat. In southern latitudes the warm spring develops the juices of the plants too rapidly. They run into stalk and leaf, to the detriment of the seed. Corn maize, for example, in the West Indies runs often thirty feet high, but it produces only a few grains at the bottom of a spongy cob too coarse for human food. " Whatever be the cause, the ascertained results in this new Northwest seem to prove that its soil possesses unusually pro- lific powers. In 1877 carefully prepared reports were made by thirty-four different settlements, and although lessened in many cases by circumstances local and exceptional — as, for instance, a series of very heavy rain-storms which caught the wheat just as it was ripening — the yields per acre were : Of wheat, from 25 to 35 bushels, with an average of 32*^ ; barley, from 40 to 50, aver- age 421^ ; oats, 40 to 60, average 51 ; peas average 32^, pota- toes 229, and turnips 662 bushels to the acre. Individual cases were enumerated of 100 bushels of oats per acre, barley as high as 60 bushels, and weighing from 50 to 55 pounds to the bushel. Potatoes have yielded as high as 600 bushels to the acre, and of a quality unsurpassed, as are all the root crops. Turnips have yielded 1,000 bushels to the acre, 700 being com- mon, whilst cabbage, cauliflower and celery grow to an enormous size, and of excellent quality and flavor." We regret that we are unable to procure later statistics of the crops of the Northwestern wheat region. The earlier crops on these northern alluvial prairies are generally much larger than later ones. But for spring wheat and some of the other cereals \ 1 « his statements, ished by clima- eatest products fully illustrated nd the returns the Saskatche- at to the acre, "* o?cw4o ^wf^" P-fic. a d e :^!r '^'"•^.'' -nnecj Pa^'fic is complied t 1" """y ""^ 'f^ rou e" ? ? " "'■"'^'- "> f^ean nteamers stn f ""' ^^»'-aI assLtnc^Z ;"!; "" DoL-IrC---" °^ ^"Si'-'h company of the po^'""'' ^""'^. ^ubsidief I'TT"' ''"'^^""S '-•'"■ef points of the c' *' ^^'^ a' 2dv '', ^"'' '° ">« , The total length ofT" ^'^ ^''^ged tX'' ""'P'"^"' The '"^^hich it m,;^, °1:' V°-""^<^ ^y«e„, is ,0 h ''"der constructL The '°° -""e^ -^- e tier ! ''T ""■'^^' pared to grant a snh v^^ §'°^on.,„ent, it is ^ ' „ ""'P'^M or •spread ovfr the p ,S °' ^'^'^'Oooi: ZTT'' =""^ P""- 'he construction of 1 ■ '''"''''■ ^^^-m.Toh^^'"''"' '° h^ ""•'e. or about o„e h f^ r""' '" '""""'^ -Zn, , "' '^^ ^^ «'•" be made of '"^^ "^ "'<^ esti,,, ,.,, „'^'''^' '^/'".^ per ,7'.<= -ctions alo'nn^/;- "' '-"■ 'o e loc "J^^^""' l^"'on and Central Padfi/™"^' a>< vvas done in IT '" ^"^'-- struction will be h, j ! "Companies. The «^ '^'^ of the Two hund ed at '^ °"^'- '° 'he compan!^ ™''=^ """^^-0"- ~ntract b^fo„ .?'' "^'^nty-two miles "^"^ "'*"« <=°«- - .s esttit ;;7r->' -4rj:rP''-' under Vancouver's Island to Ytdf'?°- ^ submalne L ^'°'''^^ • ' --onaries among the^ Ldi^ntTCat I302 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. \ >*4 W Catholic archbishop has his see at St. Boniface. There is also an Anglican bishop, whose see is at Fort Garry. The board of edu- cation is composed of equal numbers of Catholic and Protestant members. Separate schools are established, and are maintained partly by fees and assessments and partly by a provincial grant. St. John's College (Anglican) and St. Boniface's (Roman Cath- olic) were incorporated in 1872. There is a very considerable Scotch- Presbyterian element in the population, and Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists and Mennonites are also represented in the province. Pnncipal Towns. — Winnipeg, the capital, has grown up around Fort Garry within the past decade. It is reported as having about 1 2,000 inhabitants, and has considerable business and enterprise. St. Boniface, Selkirk, Shelley, Emerson, Arnaud and Dufrost are growing towns. Historical Notes. — Manitoba is the northern part of the regioi\ purchased by Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, in 18 10, from the Hudson's Bay Company. He planted here the famous " Red River Settlement," called also "Pembina," and later "Assiniboia." The first setders here were Scotch Highlanders. In 181 5 a con- siderable number of Canadians, of English, Scotch and French descent, and some half-breed Indians, joined the colony. When, some years later, the United States boundary line was run through, it was found that the greater part of the colony was south of that line, and especially that what are now Pembina, Dakota, and St. Vincent, Minnesota, were peopled by these colonists. Meanwhile the population did not increase rapidly, owing to the attacks of the Northwest Company, then hostile to the Hud- son's Bay Company, the severity of the winters, and repeated destructive visitations of grasshoppers, which destroyed their crops. The Hudson Bay Company at length took possession of so much of the colony as remained* north of the boundary, and established a local government, with the title of "The Council of Assiniboia," which continued to administer the government till March 1871. In 1869 and 1870 there was a movement to transfer th^^ authority to the Donimion of Canada, then just There is also an le board of edu- and Protestant are maintained >rovincial grant. (Roman Cath- ry considerable nd Methodists, Iso represented own up around as having about and enterprise, .nd Dufrost are rt of the region 1810, from the ; famous "Red if "Assiniboia." In 181 5 a con- ch and French olony. When, line was run he colony was now Pembina, pled by these )idly, owing to lie to the Hud- , and repeated estroyed their ; possession of boundary, and "The Council le government . movement to ada, then just i" the Domin'rp T" "" ' ""^ Dominion ! f "^ ^ov^'"- CHAPTER II ^^^^S FOR IMMIGRANTS n^r . ''l^^^^^lu^.o^....^J^"''''''^'^nAnc SLOPE. «^« OWN People ov Z sZ '"' "" "^ ^" ™= West v ^HE Atlantic SlopeII . ' ''"'"~-^«^ ^here not h^ '''' ^^ ^^^v op ^^'^ Vermont-m;.. ^''"'^^'s-Tennessep ^ ''°''''^ ^^^^ M»ch, -■North Caroun JeII^^ ^ J"^ So-^hern Count 'fv"''^' ^"'^ '~ Conclusion. ''^'^ ^^^'"^^^^^^--Norther/ r '~~^^"-^^ ^^'^^^'n/a ,,, . ^^°^C^A-FLORiBA- While We have p' '^hich is now in -.'""""'^ '<> any odt/''^^""'' ^"d have continuation ofir" ""'' '^''"-^durin/thets?''""" '''"""■s-'''^ States, who '" ""P°^;""'"y. They have rfen, "'"' ^ ^^-'^S'-eat 'hem near;:; ^ 7'"^ ^'-ted, Tnd ^ 1*^ Eastern but scanty mea";!,,^ '"■""""'What advanced ,r '" ''^^« 'he West; or ,hev " 7"''' '"^ ^"tirelyrZl'" '''^^ «"'' '«ve are on the L, ^.''^""^ "^''ildren or p-rand^h-n '' °" "^'''''"g — obusthea,th,andtLTJ2:S: 1304 OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. A r W seem so far, the climate so unlike that to which they have been accustomed, and all the little comforts of an old civilization have become so indispensable to them, that they dread, as those ad- vanced in life always do, the privations to which they will be ex- posed. These things did not seem so real and formidable when they were on the other side of the Atlantic as they do now; and if they persist in going West, these matters will grow more and more distasteful to them, till they develop into a genuine home- sickness and serious discontent. There are also very large numbers of our Eastern people who, after all, make up the larger part of the emigration to the West, who, for one reason or another, while they do not care particu- larly about going to the West, prefer some change, and for many reasons would be better satisfied with an Eastern than a Western location. Their friends and acquaintance are here. They can find here good schools and churches, the land is all broken, ready for their crops, and there is a home market, readily accessible, where they can sell at fair prices all they have to sell, and buy at a reasonable rate all they need to buy. ; ' ;' It is from these classes that we oftenest hear the inquiry : " Is diere not some region east of the Mississippi where, all things being taken into the account, a man or a family can live as well and make as much money as in the West, and at the same time avoid the hardships, inconveniences and discomforts of a life on the frontier ? " We answer: That depends upon several considerations; money is not made quite as rapidly in agricultural and pastoral pursuits in the East as in the West, because a larger capital is required for extensive operations, and it is more difficult to pro- cure the necessary quantity of land ; but with the same resolute will, there is nothing impossible (as Kossuth says) to him who' wills ; and the achievement of a great fortune is not a task which is more impossible to a resolute spirit at the East than at the West. It is also to be considered that many men are not ambi- tious to accumulate large fortunes, if to do this they must forego all the comforts and pleasures of society for a considerable time. To them a copipetence is the extent of their ambition, and with I :hcy have been ivilization have I, as those ad- ley will be ex- rmidable when ^ do now; and row more and ;:enuine home- n people who, \ to the West, care particu- and for many an a Western e. They can broken, ready ily accessible, II, and buy at inquiry: "Is re, all things 1 live as well le same time of a life on isiderations ; ind pastoral rer capital is 'icult to pro- ime resolute to him who' 1 task which than at the e not ambi- must forego erable time, n, and with It, If they can havp f • . ^ti^utk scope ■n'e'lecufal and „o^^"^ society and abundan. . "°' be in .his life"" "'""^ '"""'«. they are as happ " ''""^"'^S" °f ■To these classes we have , '^'^^."^ ""=" -eii can Land is norite 3™V'""^^''f°«' Shf" "'""''' *««of -oid the Jon^g'^nd °ei7' ?--%."bu on JU' '"/'- West f^^^ p-d?c.ro„;:S7 ^■°"™^^ '-^ 'i' We " ir' ^°" d'ffer materially; but th. ^"'""^'''^ "'••cumstenr: ^''^ ^S^"- Portation to a h«* ^"^^ P"«s are low JIT? "' ''°« not y°" have a ^2/ ","'' '■«''^'- -^'^^l^lt ^ '^°^' "^ ""an- pays the highesT": r^' ^' ^""^ d-^^ a^d tf '^' "'"^ ''«'« therecertainly i, in^r '^^ P™duce. If ^CJf. "'«' one which neither the lea '^ T ''"'°'''- *e Eastern ,' ^ *^''"™^^- as r P-vent a ; ""^tr"'" ^° °PP-st::u:'':r; ;? -'-Ithier. less formidable ,„ I ?°" "^a brought he! '' '"'^■^'ent The intensity of t ';.^^"«^' <><"" mfbrill f ''"''^•=''-' "-"ch of States and Te r^ '' °'" ^''"'" « great"' i^^rr' '^^' ^^rious. ftes.andtle':roT:Hr^t'^West?ha:t-^^^^^^^^^^^ desirable?" n ""^^ ^^ ^^^ed, "are the.P l .' -^^a^SS^^^^^aS^r^-^ '^heat, barley, oa^ ' "? .'"'* P^Per culture as,' '"^' "^^'^ -any bushef rfCl" °'-*'"^'^ 'masons ,„">;?! ""P^ °^ In both these le government Is (school and excellent rail- ite prices. A jure of making also extensive ants, but both soil is not as > a close clay benefited by :rops. There cleared before lily the Cum- laccessible to veral colonies ent out under ughes, M. P., Jed a colony n developing their colonial of thecc jny h faster than ral wealth is ility. There ng for them :posits exist in chain of '/t and South Carotin ^T'"""' """'''"' """"-'^rs. Carolina, and Northati r.r. • . '30/ for those who desi^^ e^X„ -'''^-- "-Vable localities cute the timber or lumber "fal " TTf.^ "'><' P-fer to pro e of go^d and silver are fou;dt NorTr ''^ '^ ''""^■>='' '"^o- » and Northern Georgia, Wes Vif ,~''"''' S°""> ^a olina "- most inexhaustiWe r^ourc«T" '^ """' ''"^"""^^'^ ''-« proximity to each other aid oh "' ' "■°" ""^ '™*^ '" close 2^nn.s and petroleum sprl'" t'.^Jr ^ ^ -"^ «•- best sa large tracts of black walnut an^n!. , "f '" "«-' country, with cleared, the lands with pro 'ThII ^'^'t^'^^ "'"ber. When continue to do so permaSy ""'""'^ ''"''' ^-^ -ops, and Z Northern Russians will finTrd ml "''l"^"''^""' F'""' and abundance of timber, and land wicrr"'*" "'^'-" "'^'•'- o»'". an fan- crops. The other New Enia„d sf-^T' '""""'"- "i" > dd wh,ch are capable of becoming pfofitnW '?'''•-' '"=>">' "W farms fon. There are here also op°po tu^t 7^"' '""^-"^^ cultiva- chan,cs and operatives in malfec " ' T ^"^P'oy-ent for me- the vast area known as th^ '!"!%,/" ^'°"''^™ New York Trace .. The Adirondacks" etc ol''^^'^-' "•'°'"' •^'"ovvn's an mdustrious fanner. The lon^f "" ^^'^"''^^^ 'ands to numerous lakes abound in &h a"; -7 r" '''" ""'"^•=''' ^^^ i s g»-e. With the compledon of " 'e "'"''' " ''^^■- -" o*'' easily accessible. ' '^ °" "' ^o^e Projected roads, it will be vorristz:^'^::^:,':-^^^^^^^^^ almost incredible that 6oo,o«,"or u tf "'""'^- '' ^«ms five and ninety miles froHlew y/ri ' ^T^ '^''"^^" ""'"y- ■nexhaustible market in the lorM t"^' *^ ''"' ^"d most '.eaithful climate, well watered and h. ' ^"""^ '°''> ^ very excessive annual rainfall, should from J'"^ " f '""■<="' "^"^ "ot '.e unimproved, and be at the 1™?, ^^^^ "^ "^ """ers fifteen dollars per acre And fh? . '°'' '*'*= =« f^m five to -e find that a railroad passes h!o"°". T" '" "''^ g-^'er,when trac, with several branc'TeT Ld haf„„ ' "'"'^ '<="Sth of th," -ve miles from the railroad, ^^X^^^ Z::::. i3o8 OLM i\'i-.y,T: y r.MriKE. \ V I si i five miles of it, and that this railroad is now offering every facility to farmers to transport their produce to market, and to hrinji: from the city the needed fertilizers. The shores of the islanti abound in the best qualities of edible fish, oysters, clams, mussels, scollops, lobsters, crabs, etc., and the game-birds and four-footed game of the whole region are abundant. On the island are forty factories for the production of oil from tlui menhaden, and the firh. scrap, or guano, one of the best fertilizers known, is now sent away from the island, because there is lltde or no demand for it there. This apathetic condition is now passing away and the Long Island farms are in demand. The land can be cleared at from five to ten dollars per acre, some of the timber being large enough for building purposes or for railroad ties. It will yield from twenty-five to thirty-five bushels of wheat, or from twenty to twenty-eight bushels of rye, to the acre, from 250 to 350 bushels of potatoes of the best quality, and with good cultivation and fair rrianuring, the whole region can be transformed into market gardens, fruit orchards, and strawberry, blackberry and raspberry lands of the greatest productiveness, and for all these products there is an unfailing demand, at the highest prices, in New York and Brooklyn and the cities adjacent. This is a very paradise for the market-gardener. The great c'ties of New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City and Newark, and the smaller cities and towns of Hoboken, Bergen, Bayonne, Long Island City, Yonkers, Garden City, Breslau, Hempstead, Flush- ing, Jamaica and Huntington — having together a population of two and a half millions — are all largely dependent upon this re- gion for market-garden produce. The great summer resorts of Coney Island, Rockaway Beach, Long Beach, Fire Island, Mon- tauk, etc., all on Long Island, which are visited by more than two millions of people every season, furnish additional markets for all the fruits, vegetables and root crops which can be raised. The new system of Ensilage is destined to work wonders on these Long Island and New Jersey lands.* By its use and the * Ensilage is the name given to a preparation of green forage pliints for winter feeding. The plants may be corn (the taller and lar'jer growing varieties preferred), cut when it is " in the silk;" \ every facility ^\u\ to l)rin>■ nerd of "ise m addition at least «, r " '^"" "'' ''"x acres and « would require at least 640 acr^s 'or ,l"'' "" ""-' "'^' »y«'->. tlie same time, tlie lar^e amonn, r^ ''' '^""^ i«"l'o.sc At :'"' '<> keep his whole'f r„Wn ; ;:T""" '^^'"'-"' -"^.all "veness. The system is very 1,5 '''I '"""''''"" '"^ I'rocluc' as more than S^SCoocoL nve^e , , ' " "^"""^"' '-'^^-'itJ-. snow rapid progress in the es,abL '''"'"'""■""'' ^ the counties of y.,eens and Suffolk '"•"' °' '"-"'-tories i„ . ine chmate of I nnrr T I ',^- annual 'emperat.,re bTinJ^' ^nd'd '""■'" ^"^' "'""• "- -ca^ '' ^'""''^ ^ecn held froni the '.Lords Proprietor' •p'^^J^^^'^ '^^-> ^'fc dire a J«g.h and then placedin ' r ' •""''''^' "P' ^^ -'' all i m? "'" ^'""''' '^ -"--d p^! (Which is cai£d a';") V'z Z T ^ ^"^^^ ^"^ -; . ' ;;,7 ;7" -'^' « ha,f i„ th's are laid heavy nlnni, • ^^^' *'''^n » '« covered with '''^"'i''"' «l'>vvii well till the «'her of stone 7i"''''^r'^'^ ^ ^-^-d and «roov7' an Ue ' """" "' ^'^'^"' -'' "I^n hay unnecessary ^'"- '' ""^ l-^«tJy and isld iktZtTZr'''' r "'^''" '""^^P ^ ! - -f ¥ff/ f , , """ ^^^ *"«". rendering any „se of l3»o OUR WESTERN EMPIRE. I i \l s k \ t V estates arc now broken up, and the use of anthracite and other coals for the furnaces and j.Mass- works, and for fuel, has rendered their former business less productive. The soil of these lands is good, a light loam, but easily culti- vated ; it can be readily fertilized by the use of marl, which is abundant in the immediate vicinity, and is worth from <^i to ;jii.75 per ton ; lime, which is worth from twelve to fifteen cents a bushel; or fish guano, which is a very powerful manure, worth from ;j^i 5 to ]^i8 per ton. It will produce almost any crop which you may desire to cultivate, and yields fine crops of the cereals and Indian corn (thirty to sixty bushels of the latter), root crops, melons, market-garden vegetables of excellent quality, fruit of great excellence, and all the small fruits. Railroads traverse all these counties, and both New York and Philadelphia furnish ex- cellent markets. The climate is very mild, the mean annual range of the ther- mometer being only 43^°, the mean average being about 51°, and the extremes being about 90° and 1 5° Fahrenheit. The rainfall is about forty-eight inches. Ploughing can be done every month in the year. The culture of the grape is a favorite industry, and the grape attains great perfection from the long season without frost. The region is remarkably healthy and free from all malarious influences. It is especially commended for sufferers from pulmonary complaints. Here are glass-works, silk factories, iron mines, artificial-stone works, iron furnaces, and a great variety of other manufacturing and mining industries. There are desirable lands at moderate prices also in Central Pennsylvania, Northern Maryland, and large tracts of some of the best lands the sun shines on, though now exhausted by the slovenly farming of the period before the war, in Virginia., These lands can be easily reclaimed, and can be bought at reasonable prices. The lands in Eastern North Carolina, though fertile, are very often subject to malarial fevers. Where they can be freed from these by drainage or the extensive planting of the Eucalyptus, there are no better farming lands on the Adantic coast. i^ :itc and other has rendered It easily culti- nari, which is n#i to;j5i.75 ftecn cents a laniire, worth ly crop which )f the cereals *), root crops, ality, fruit of s traverse all ia furnish ex- of the ther- ^ about 51°, dt. hing can be 3 grape is a ion from the / healthy and commended "tificial-stone anufacturing • in Central of some of sted by tlie n Vif^inia, , bought at' le, are very freed from Eucalyptus, St. Nortrthtn any'X's"^" ^""'^^"^^ -d settl.. r "" ^as had quite nc L ^^^"^'^^-''•n State Jr, V ^'"""^ ^'^^ pulmona'y d sea r^ "^"^^^'^ -^ ^'^^J^ ""'T"^'' ^'^'^^^ fishing, have r • "' ""'^"So cukur. ^'lu r '^''' '''^'''■^' «'' oran,'e as bee/" "'' r^' ^"^-^- - C r' '""^'"^^ ^"^' '^ar. wait for th ^'""^'^^'^'-'^'"PCHI. and Is nror^'n'''"'"" ^''" ^'^« •-^ndfrorth^rV"'^'-'^'' ••''■'''' -o^tf, f«-- They should kills or bli!^u '• ''''''"^''*' ^ «^"vere fit 7 ' ^"''>' l^''"fi^^'>'e. '881) has bo "^'"^' "^ ^'^^" ^^^•-. T^e ^ ''^y-^ ^'^<-^ l*n,it. and are sub;ect to malarial disea^s "' ^^^'"^^ ^^ ^l^e CONCLUSION. I he«Mhe tread of pioneers Wna„on.syctfobej Our task is donp WiriTTiia. since we beram« ."''"""■'' completed P . *■■* accuracy Id c";"T '"^ '"' ^'Cten 1h ' ""' "'"« Mississippi. 'We"7'«<'"ess of detail, the rel' V° P''"'^^ t^e phenomena which I3I2 OUK WESTERN EMPIRE. I make this Western Empire the wonderland, not alone of the globe, as it is to-day, but of all the ages ; we have uncovered the graves of the geologic races of animals, and described the mon- sters of the ages before there were any measurements of time ; and we have searched the leaves of unwritten history to learn something of the races who reared, ages ago, the temples and slirines, the fortresses and towers, which are now without record or inhabitant. And not content with this, but looking forward to that not dis- tant future, when this continent, from the Arctic sea to the Mexi- can gulf, and from Atlantic's surf-beat to the pulsating waves of the Pacific, shall all be part and parcel of the mightiest and grandest of empires ; we have briefly sketched the provinces of the Frozen Zone, and the n'estern portion of that Dominion to the north of us, to whom we stretch forth the hand of welcome ; and yet more briefly, have noticed the advantages which still attract immigrania to our Atlantic States. The efforts of the railroad companies. State boards and emi- gration societies to picture each State and Territory with which they were connected as an earthly paradise, and the unwarranta- ble depreciation of the lands of other organizations, in which they and other- have indulged, have been alike foreign to our purpose ; and having nothing but the truth to utter, we have sought to " nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice." That this fair land may develop far more rapidly than it has done in the past, in wealth, intelligence and virtue, is our most earnest wish and prayer ; and then shall we rejoice to realize the ittered prediction of the genial and Holmes : just witty " I see the living tide roll on ; It crowns with flaming towers The icy cape of Labrador, The Spaniard's land of flowers. It streams beyond the splintered ridge That parts the Northern showers ; From Eastern rock to sunset wave, The continent is ours ! " THE END. alone of the in cove red the bed the mon- ents of time ; tory to learn temples and ithout record that not dis- to the Mexi- ng waves of lightiest and provinces of Dominion to 3f welcome; s which still Is and emi- ' with which unwarranta- I which they ur purpose; I sought to than it has s our most realize the and witty